GS-III

Forest officials, along with an NGO, helped injured animal return Two days after being hit by a train, a female elephant was on Wednesday reunited with its herd in West Bengal’s Kalimpong district. The female elephant, part of a larger herd, was hit by a goods train, while crossing the …

Study covers clinics in 8 countries, including India, that offer various ‘dangerous treatments’ Online appeals to help sick people by raising money for unfounded and sometimes dangerous treatments and purported cures bring in millions of dollars each year, researchers have warned. The study in the Journal of the American Medical …

Airline sees first ever loss at Rs. 652.1 cr. The unrelenting increase in fuel prices, along with the tumbling rupee in a quarter that typically sees weak demand from air-travellers, has led to IndiGo recording its first-ever loss at Rs. 652.1 crore for the quarter ended September. The airline, with …

Indian carriers ferried 11.39 million passengers against 9.58 million last year Domestic aviation traffic witnessed a growth of 18.95% in September with Indian carriers ferrying 11.39 million passengers as compared with 9.58 million during the same month last year. IndiGo recorded its highest market share this calendar year at 43.2%. …

Amid stiff competition, carriers keep fares low despite rising losses, ATF costs Having landed in a Catch-22 situation with the inability to increase airfares despite rising fuel costs, airlines in India have flown into losses. The quarterly loss of Rs. 652.1 crore by IndiGo, despite having more than 42% market …

‘No compromise on public health’ The Supreme Court on Wednesday banned the sale and registration of motor vehicles conforming to the emission standard Bharat Stage-IV in the entire country from April 1, 2020. It said pollution hasreached an “alarming and critical” level all over India. “It brooks no delay,” a …

Robot may speak with Naidu in video-con mode today After disappointing many for not being able to make it to the inaugural of the Vizag Fintech Festival, world’s first humanoid robot, Sophia, finally arrived in the city from Hong Kong on Wednesday. “The robot, which has been granted citizenship by …

Comptroller and Auditor General of India Rajiv Mehrishi on Tuesday questioned the role of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during the time when the banks were “going berserk with their lending”, leading to the high levels of NPAs, saying that there was no public discourse on the role of …

Rupee could fall another 10%, says veteran fund manager Joseph Bernhard Mark Mobius is among the best-known emerging markets fund managers. After having spent over 25 years at Franklin Templeton – including being the lead manager of Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust – the 82-year-old stepped down early this year …

The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed shock over the disappearance of 31 hills in the Aravalli area of Rajasthan and asked the State government to stop illegal mining in the 115.34-hectare area there within 48 hours. The top court said that even though Rajasthan was earning royalty of around Rs. …

Bursting of firecrackers during Deepavali may not be the only reason for air pollution, but the Supreme Court cannot become a mute spectator and allow the deterioration of air quality caused by the bursting during the festival. This is how the Supreme Court’s judgment, declaring a ban on toxic and …

The Rajasthan State Election Commission has postponed by-elections to 11 panchayat samitis and one zila parishad scheduled for October 27, while citing “practical difficulties” in holding the polls even after the nominations were filed by the candidates. The political parties were looking forward to the bypolls which were very close …

NASA scientists have devised a new set of 21 modern gamma-ray constellations and named them after fictional characters such as the Hulk and Godzilla. The constellations, constructed through its gamma-ray telescope, were devised to celebrate the completion of 10 years of operations of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Source : …

A new treatment for a deadly drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis can cure more than 90% of sufferers, according to a landmark clinical trial whose results were revealed exclusively to AFP. Doctors in Belarus treated 181 patients with the new drug, bedaquiline, in combination with other antibiotics. Of these, 168 — …

Scientists have developed a 3D printing technique that can recreate the complex geometry of blood vessels, and could one day be used to produce artificial arteries and organ tissues. A study, published in the journal Nature Communications , outlines a layer-by-layer printing method that features fine-grain, programmable control over rigidity. …

The purple urchin is mowing down kelp forests that are crucial as a critical habitat and a source of food for a wide range of species Early on a grey summer Saturday, an unusual assemblage — commercial fishermen, recreational boaters, neoprene-clad divers — gathered for a mission at Albion Cove, …

Even before the microbiome craze — the hope that the bacteria in your gut holds the key to good health — people were ingesting cultures of living microorganisms to treat a host of conditions. These probiotics have become so popular that they are being marketed in foods, capsules and even …

Tejas Networks, a maker of networking products, has received an Rs. 111-crore purchase order from Sterlite Technologies to implement Indian Navy’s country-wide next-generation digital communications network. Tejas Networks would supply its terabit capacity DWDM systems and high-performance layer-3 multi-gigabit ethernet switches for Navy’s pan-India network, according to a statement. Source …

As many as 88% of the large-cap equity funds underperformed their benchmarks over the one-year period ending June 30, according to the latest analysis by S&P Dow Jones Indices. Further, 62% of mid-cap/small-cap equity funds and 83% of government bond funds underperformed their respective indices as well in the same …

The direct tax base has significantly widened in the last few years, according to new back series data released by the government. The data showed a growth of more than 80% in the number of returns filed in the last four financial years from 3.79 crore in financial year (FY) …