GS-III

Can exercise itself be replaced and substituted with biochemical treatment, thereby supplying patients with ‘bottled exercise’? Over the last 30 years, the longevity of Indians, on average, has shot up remarkably. It was 41 years in the year 1960 and has risen to 68 years of age in 2015. While …

A small molecule attached to carbon nanospheres could cross the blood-brain barrier Using a small molecule that activates two enzymes (CBP/p300 histone acetyltransferases), researchers from India and France have been able to completely recover long-term memory in mice with Alzheimer’s disease. Neuron-to-neuron connections that form the network were re-established leading …

losing money overseas, it is working on a solution. Furthermore, he praised the ability and leadership of Ford’s chief executive, Jim Hackett, who he said was doing “a really good job.” “I don’t think it’s even close to a crisis,” he said. Not everyone shares his confidence. The automaker’s bottom …

Temple Adventures, a recreational scuba diving operator, has been conducting ghost net removal programmes since its inception in 2008, and with support from the Wildlife Trust of India since February 2018. Dive against debris “We usually find ghost nets about 12 km off the coast of Puducherry, at depths of …

What happened? On September 16, Facebook noticed an unusual spike in the number of times the platform’s ‘View As’ feature was being used. The feature allows users to see how their Facebook page will appear to another user. On September 25, Facebook announced that it had identified this as a …

Habitat for Humanity India, an NGO, plans to build or repair 6,000 homes of those affected by the deluge in Kerala. The initiative is being taken up by the NGO as part of the second edition of Jacqueline Builds — a unique campaign featuring Bollywood actor Jacqueline Fernandez. The second …

Ukraine launched on Friday a park of photovoltaic panels at the former Chernobyl power plant as the country seeks to use solar power to give the scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster a new lease on life. The $1.2-million, one-megawatt plant is located just a hundred metres from a …

NASA has announced the first crewed flight by a SpaceX rocket to the International Space Station (ISS) is expected to take place in June 2019. It will be the first manned U.S. launch to the orbiting research laboratory since the space shuttle program was retired in 2011, forcing U.S. astronauts …

Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg on Friday said the GDP growth is expected to be higher than the RBI’s projection of 7.4% for the current fiscal. “Government welcomes MPC statement and decision to keep the rates unchanged. Government’s assessment of inflation is in line with the MPC’s assessment. We …

‘Focus on equity for long-term funding’ The on-going crisis in IL&FS has made Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to consider tightening the norms of asset-liability management (ALM) of non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). The RBI observed that those entities were relying heavily on short-term funds for lending to long-term projects. “I …

As new data comes in, we would look into changing our policies, says RBI Governor It is important that the fiscal deficit target is maintained, says RBI Governor Urjit Patel, in an interaction with the media. Edited excerpts: Is there a risk to fiscal deficit in an election year as …

‘The agencies seem to have gone by names of IL&FS’ shareholders, overlooking the cash flow situation’ The role of credit rating agencies has come under the scanner in the wake of the Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) imbroglio. IL&FS and its subsidiaries were rated AAA for their commercial …

Changes policy stance to ‘calibrated tightening’ to indicate that rates can only rise or stay stable hereon in this cycle Contrary to market expectation, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to hold the key policy rate at 6.5% in the fourth bimonthly policy …

Confirms Canine Distemper Virus killed Gir animals The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has confirmed that the Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) was responsible for lion deaths in the Gir forest of Gujarat and recommended that the remaining lions be vaccinated to prevent further outbreaks. This goes against recommendations by …

Policy doesn’t go down well with markets; rupee takes a hit Ahead of the festival season, consumers have been spared the burden of another increase in their EMIs (equated monthly instalments), thanks to the Reserve Bank of India holding its key rate unchanged at 6.5% in its policy review announced …

Survey conducted in 2011 still holds good: Centre The Centre on Friday dismissed the need for conducting a fresh study on the backwater effect of the Polavaram dam on Telangana, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. The Union government made its position clear in the litigation when it submitted before a Bench led …

DST institutes awards for best designs The Department of Science and Technology (DST) is commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with a project to give a fillip to solar cooking. As the first of many activities taken up by the government to uphold Gandhi’s ideals, DST has instituted …

Canadian Cancer Society releases international status report India has been ranked fifth in the listing of countries that have pictorial health warning on tobacco products, with experts here quick to add that the country is making tremendous progress towards creating public awareness on the health hazards of tobacco abuse. ‘The …

Personal I-T collections increase 19.1% Gross direct tax collection during the first six months of the financial year rose 16.7% to Rs. 5.47 lakh crore, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday. “The provisional figures of direct tax collections up to September 2018 (half-yearly figures) show that gross collections are at …

Decision after creditors’ committee appeals to Bench for another chance to parties to pay off debts The Supreme Court on Thursday struck a reconciliatory note in the ArcelorMittal-Numetal spat in relation to the auction of distressed Essar Steel by giving both companies a fortnight to pay off the NPAs of …