GS-III

In the agriculturally-rich Hanumangarh district of northern Rajasthan, the seepage of water from the Indira Gandhi Canal into about 30 villages of Pilibanga and Rawatsar blocks is set to decide the depth of support to different political parties in the Assembly election. Two generations of farmers, facing the problem for …

The Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Nand Kumar Sai, has said the Centre may like to revisit its decision to lift the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) system from 29 islands of Andaman and Nicobar, after the death of U.S. citizen John Allen Chau. Mr. Sai, who is …

Coming down heavily on the Karnataka government for failing to “protect and rejuvenate” Bellandur, Agara and Varthur lakes, the National Green Tribunal (NDT) on Thursday directed the State government to transfer Rs. 500 crore to an escrow account. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/ngt-tells-state-to-set-aside-rs-500-cr-for-water-bodies/article25684940.ece

Scientists have successfully used a virus to engineer a better type of memory in computers. The research, published in the journal Applied Nano Materials , found that a key way to develop faster computers is to reduce the millisecond time delays using the virus M13 bacteriophage. These delays usually come …

Uniparts India, manufacturer of engineering systems and solutions, has filed draft papers with the markets regulator SEBI to float an initial public offering. The IPO comprises fresh issuance of shares worth Rs. 100 crore besides an offer for sale of 1,30,60,770 stocks by existing shareholders, according to the draft red …

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has written to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asking him to push the deadline for filing of annual GST returns to March 31, 2019 from December 31, 2018, now. “It is to bring to your kind notice that till today the format of filing …

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U), being implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs under the Housing for All by 2022 mission since June 2015, needs a concerted push to succeed, according to Crisil Research. The government will need another Rs. 1 lakh crore in three …

Delhi’s air quality remained ‘very poor’ on Thursday, with seven areas recording ‘severe’ air quality. The Central Pollution Control Board listed an overall air quality index (AQI) of 355. An AQI between 201 and 300 is considered ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’ and 401 and 500 is ‘severe’. A …

Separately, the Cabinet also gave its ‘in-principle’ approval for the strategic sale of the government’s existing 52.63% total paid-up equity shareholding in Rural Electrification Corporation to the Power Finance Corporation, along with the transfer of management control. “In my Budget speech, I had said that where multiple PSUs are operating …

Tests on over 100 sea turtles — spanning three oceans and all seven species — have revealed microplastics in the guts of every single turtle, scientists say. Synthetic particles were found, the most common being fibres, which can come from clothing, tyres and cigarette filters, and equipment such as ropes …

Researchers have created a new artificial intelligence tool that can read text captcha schemes used to defend the majority of the world’s most popular websites from cyber attacks. It can solve a captcha within 0.05 of a second by using a desktop PC, researchers said. This means that this first …

In a medical first, a mother who received a uterus transplant from a dead donor gave birth to a healthy baby, researchers reported on Wednesday. The breakthrough operation, performed in September 2016 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, shows that such transplants are feasible and could help thousands of women unable to …

Fertiliser subsidy arrears to the industry have come down by 75% to Rs. 10,000 crore in the last four years and the outstanding amount is expected to be cleared by the end of this fiscal year, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Sadananda Gowda said Wednesday. The Central government will also …

Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor Viral Acharya assured that the central bank was ready to stand as the lender of last resort in the context of liquidity needs of the non-banking finance sector. At the same time, Mr. Acharya said the present situation did not warrant any drastic steps …

In the post-policy interaction with the media, RBI Governor Urjit Patel declined to answer questions on the issues of RBI autonomy and rift with the government. You have given some hope on interest reversal, that is, in case the upside risks [to inflation] do not materialise. So when will the …

Move will permit flexible hedging of rupee interest rate risk The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Wednesday issued draft guidelines on non-residents’ participation in the interest rate derivative (IRD) market. The draft norms have proposed non-resident Indians’ (NRIs) access to the IRD market, allowing them to hedge their rupee interest …

Linking retail loans with external yardstick aimed at bringing in more transparency in pricing In a bid to bring in more transparency to loan pricing mechanism, particularly for small borrowers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked banks to link the floating interest rate on retail loans and loans …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has left the key interest rate or the repo rate unchanged at 6.5% during the fifth bimonthly monetary policy review on Wednesday — which was on expected lines — while maintaining the ‘calibrated tightening’ stance though it reduced the inflation projection sharply. All the …

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on a plea seeking deletion of a chapter from school textbooks that refers to the leader of Khalistani movement, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, as a ‘terrorist.’ Advocate Amritpal Singh Khalsa filed the petition in 2017 stating that there was no material, no …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested that efforts must first be made to clean the Ganga and then the question of ensuring environmental flows could be addressed, Nitin Gadkari, Union Water Resources Minister, said at the India Water Impact Summit here on Wednesday. This is a significant statement, as prioritising …