GS-III

Many believe that a historic Jesus statue, paraded every year, brings good fortune Throngs of believers flung themselves at a historic statue of Jesus Christ as it was paraded through the Philippine capital on Wednesday in an annual festival that is one of the world’s biggest shows of Catholic zeal. …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made some changes in the Gold Monetisation Scheme (GMS) by including charitable institutions and the Central government, among others. Apart from individual and joint depositors, the scheme could now be availed by charitable institutions, the Central government, the State government or any other entity …

Upswing in consumption and investment to drive growth India’s GDP is expected to grow at 7.3% in the fiscal year 2018-19, and 7.5% in the following two years, the World Bank has forecast, attributing it to an upswing in consumption and investment. The bank said India will continue to be …

Rate cut for under construction properties, composition scheme for small service providers on cards Some of the key issues likely to be discussed during the 32nd GST Council meeting on Thursday include increasing the Rs. 20-lakh threshold for GST eligibility, reducing tax rate on under-construction properties in a bid to …

Two clear images of a Royal Bengal Tiger going up and down a path beside a camera trap laid at 9,538 ft have provided the first visual evidence of a tiger in the Himalayan State of Sikkim. “The images were captured on the night of December 6 at 6.23 p.m. …

Tech giant unveils ‘interpreter mode’ that can translate between two people in real time Dumb charades in hotel lobbies between a concierge and tourists who don’t speak the local language may soon be a thing of the past. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019 currently on in Las Vegas, …

HD 21749b orbits a dwarf star about 53 light years away in the constellation of Reticulum NASA’s latest planet-hunting probe has discovered a new world outside our solar system, orbiting a dwarf star 53 light years away.This is the third new planet confirmed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) …

Researchers have identified glucagon producing cells in the pancreas that can mimic functions of damaged or missing insulin-producing cells, an advance that may lead to cures for diabetes. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-life/our-body-may-cure-itself-of-diabetes-in-future-study/article25936011.ece

Besides affecting health, prolonged exposure to air pollution can also reduce employee’s productivity, finds a study. The study showed that daily fluctuations in pollution did not immediately affect the productivity of workers. However, a definite drop in output was witnessed when measured for more prolonged exposures of up to 30 …

Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras have experimentally shown that methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) can exist as gas hydrates at temperatures and pressures seen in interstellar atmosphere. Gas hydrates are formed when a gas such as methane gets trapped in well-defined cages of water molecules forming crystalline …

Direct tax mop-up grew 14.1% to Rs. 8.74 lakh crore during April-December 2018, the Finance Ministry said on Monday. Refunds amounting to Rs. 1.3 lakh crore have been issued from April to December, 2018, which is 17% higher than refunds issued in the year-earlier period. Advance tax As much as …

Aimed at contributing to India’s cruise tourism, Zen Cruises, a company promoted by Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra’s family office, has announced plans to start cruise services on India’s coastline starting April 17. Karnika, the first ship under the Jalesh brand, with a capacity to take 1,900-2,000 people on board, …

With the number of exchanges offering commodity derivatives on the rise and national-level equity bourses also entering the fray, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is making all attempts to bring uniformity among the bourses in a segment which came under its regulatory purview only three years ago. …

The Reserve Bank of India has not yet taken a decision regarding the quantum of the interim dividend it will transfer to the government, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Monday. The central bank would not delay in announcing the decision once made, he said. Mr. Das was responding to …

It is time to stand by those who are being jailed for activism or persons like Naseeruddin Shah who are raising questions about growing intolerance in the country, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen said here on Monday. “There is growing intolerance compared with the past. Many activists are now jailed as …

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Election Commission to respond to a plea that the counts from electronic voting machines and voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) units should be cross-verified in at least 30% randomly chosen polling stations in each Assembly and Lok Sabha constituency, especially in light …

The government has projected GDP growth for the full year 2018-19 to come in at 7.2%, which implies that growth in the second half of the year would slow significantly to 6.8% from the 7.6% clocked in the first half of the year, according to the first advance estimates of …

A 14-year-old boy in the U.S. who was allegedly driving an SUV that caused a fatal car accident has been arrested on a murder charge.The Texas Harris County Sheriff’s Office says the SUV was filled with teens who were throwing eggs at other cars on Tuesday afternoon when another driver …

Inspired by the magic carpet featured in the folk tale of ‘Aladdin’, researchers have designed a two-dimensional, shape-changing sheet that moves autonomously in a reactant-filled fluid. The ‘magic carpet’ in tales from One Thousand and One Nights captures the imagination not only because it can fly, but because it can …

Ultima Thule, an icy celestial body, is aptly shaped like a giant snowman, NASA scientists have announced.The first detailed images beamed back from the U.S. agency’s New Horizons mission allowed scientists to confidently determine the body was formed when two spheres, or “lobes,” slowly gravitated towards each other until they …