GS-III

For over a week now, more than 100 Forest Department officials, guards, tranquillising experts, shooters, trackers, rescue teams, veterinarians and two elephants, brought from Madhya Pradesh, have been carrying out a massive hunt for a tigress in the Ralegaon area of Yavatmal district of Maharashtra. What happened? They are looking …

Congress chief calls for clarification from Modi after Hollande’s statement Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday, “We are absolutely convinced that the Prime Minister of India is corrupt. This question is clearly settled into minds of people that Desh Ka Chowkidar Chor Hai (the country’s watchman is a thief),” …

Per capita alcohol consumption in India has more than doubled from 2005 to 2016, according to a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO). The consumption of alcohol has increased from 2.4 litres in 2005 to 5.7 litres in 2016 with 4.2 litres being consumed by men and 1.5 litre …

In their fight to get Abu Zubaydah released from the U.S. military detention facility, lawyers are trying to collate details of his stay in Karnataka More than 27 years after he abandoned his undergraduate studies in Mysuru to wage jihad against the Soviet-backed regime in Afghanistan, Zainalabdeen Mohammad Hussein Abu …

Meet Ushakumari, the lifeblood of a school in a forest settlement in south Kerala At 7 a.m., even before the sleepy Amboori village in southern Thiruvananthapuram is fully awake, R. Ushakumari begins her day. The only teacher of the Kunnathumala Agasthya Eka Adyapaka School (one-teacher school) inside the Agasthyavanam biosphere, …

The battery is made from lithium metal, carbon and an electrolyte that the researchers designed Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a new battery made partly from carbon dioxide captured from power plants. While still based on early-stage research and far from commercial deployment, this battery could …

Animal poop may seem inconsequential but it supplies scientists with precious information: from a tiger’s identity to elephant stress levels. Most recently, faeces of Royle’s pika – a small rabbit-like mammal found in India’s Himalaya – reveal that these animals survive almost entirely on specific plants that grow only in …

A study points out that corneal blindness may no longer be the leading cause A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report has estimated that, across the world, 19 million children are visually impaired and 1.4 million among them are legally blind. According to the National Program for Control of Blindness, …

This column writer recently had a severe attack of very bad cold and cough, and no amount of swallowing antibiotics and vitamin C helped. His wife, Shakti, then recalled her mother’s traditional treatment, ground up a little jaggery and raw ginger, and asked him to have it three times a …

Museum celebrates weird inventions A gadget to “translate” dog barks for humans, a “babypod” that plays music inside the mother’s vagina for unborn babies and the world’s first self-colonoscopy method were among the whacky inventions on show Friday at a new Tokyo exhibition. The museum celebrates weird and wonderful inventions …

Smart speaker boasts improved sound and design From the kitchen to the car, Amazon is seeking to make its Alexa digital assistant and online services a bigger part of people’s lives with an array of new products and partnerships launched on Thursday. Updates to the Internet giant’s Alexa-infused Echo smart …

The robots are expected to collect minerals that may throw light on the origin of the solar system A Japanese space probe on Friday released a pair of exploring rovers towards an egg-shaped asteroid to collect mineral samples that may shed light on the origin of the solar system. The …

Dickinsonia had oval-shaped bodies and came in a variety of sizes A strange fossil that looks a bit like a giant leaf, or a fingerprint the size of a coffee table, has intrigued scientists for decades. Thousands of the fossils have been found over the past seven decades, revealing that …

‘No benefit from Sterlite unit closure’ The trade friction between the U.S. and China is worrisome and can have an impact on India, said Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman, Aditya Birla Group. Hindalco’s subsidiary Novelis has presence in both the U.S. as well as China and so has Aleris Corporation which …

IRDAI sets uniform Rs. 750 annual premium for the cover The minimum Compulsory Personal Accident (CPA) cover for owner-drivers under the motor insurance policy has been increased to Rs. 15 lakh. The enhanced, mandatory cover that came into force with immediate effect will lead to a higher annual premium of …

NRIs, OCIs, resident Indians allowed to be part of such entities investing in India The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has announced the revised guidelines for know your client (KYC) requirement for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) allowing non-resident Indians (NRIs), resident Indians (RIs) and overseas citizens of India …

Sensex nosedives intraday before institutional buying in select index stocks restores order; sale of a HFC’s debt paper at discount by a mutual fund seen as the trigger Driven by fears about fresh defaults from non-banking finance companies and regulatory restrictions on housing finance companies, the stock markets went into …

Centre plans randomised monitoring by reputed government institutions The Union Environment Ministry proposes to allow research organisations and accredited agencies to monitor if companies are complying with environmental conditions. “…the Central Government proposes to introduce the concept of randomised third-party compliance monitoring of the environment clearance conditions through national-level reputed …

‘Thousands and lakhs of students want to hear about it’ Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD) Prakash Javadekar said on Friday that the celebration of September 29 as Surgical Strike Day in universities was not compulsory, but said such an event was decided on the advice of many students. …

Roadmap to put Indian crew in space The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is setting up a third launch pad at Sriharikota to undertake the Gaganyaan manned space flight programme, an ISRO official said on Friday. In addition, ISRO is scouting for a location on the western sea coast near …