GS-III

Six months after Maharashtra imposed its ban on plastics, raising fears of job losses and a sizeable financial impact on local industry, urban bodies in the State have reported reductions in plastic waste of up to 40%, officials said.This even as the State’s Finance Department is still studying the impact …

When the devastating floods in August submerged large tracts of farmland across Kerala, the Pokkali paddy variety, which grows to a height of up to 2 m, survived the rising waters. The GI-tagged Pokkali is a saltwater-tolerant paddy grown in the coastal fields of Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. Endemic …

The Goods and Services Tax Council cut rates on 17 items and six types of services during its 31st meeting on Saturday, leaving only one common use item — cement — in the 28% bracket.Cutting rates on cement would have a significant impact on revenues and so the Council decided …

With garbage piles increasing over the years and more sewage flowing in open canals, the amount of bacteria and fungal microbes in the air is on a steady rise.Since 2010, the Department of Environmental Science in Bengaluru University has been studying the amount of bioaerosols — a term to cumulatively …

Researchers have genetically modified a common indoor plant, pothos ivy, to remove pollutants inside the house, according to a new study. They put modified plant and normal pothos ivy in glass tubes and added either benzene or chloroform gas into each tube. They found that the concentration of either gas …

Researchers at University of Cambridge programmed it to play a number of short musical phrases Scientists have been building and programming piano-playing robots for decades. But there’s something different about a new robotic hand that tickles the ivories with techniques usually reserved for humans. Rather than relying on a maze …

A study on 16 breeds through physical fitness and behavioural tests is underway How do you measure a chicken’s happiness? Is it in the way it runs for food? How much time it spends preening? To size up what might make chickens happy in their brief lives, researchers at the …

Street artist and social commentator Banksy has apparently popped up in Wales, leaving a new artwork on a garage in Port Talbot that refers the town’s air pollution. A video posted to his official Instagram account on Wednesday afternoon had close-ups of the piece. With the children’s song Little Snowflake …

The Centre has sought Parliament’s nod for an additional equity infusion of Rs. 2,345 crore for debt-laden Air India (AI) and a separate sum of Rs. 1,300 crore for a special purpose vehicle (SPV) which houses the national carrier’s debt and non-core assets. Special purpose vehicle The SPV, Air India …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday has announced a cap for funds raised via external commercial borrowing (ECB) at 6.5% of the country’s GDP. Based on GDP figures for March 31, 2018, ‘the soft limit works out to $160 billion,’ the central bank said in a statement. Outstanding …