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A study spanning 13 years has shed interesting light on flowering in Melocanna baccifera, a tropical bamboo species that has long fascinated researchers for its association with the occurrence of ‘bamboo death,’ ‘rat floods’ and famines in northeast India. Among other things, researchers detected a correlation between the sugar content in …

In recent years, there has been a grave erosion of constitutional provisions, constitutional morality, and constitutional ethos being witnessed among various constitutional bodies. If the manner of functioning by institutions such as the Election Commission of India and the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has left much to be …

There is a deafening crescendo around the pitch for aatmanirbharta in the field of the defence inventory and not a day passes without the media featuring stories on some breakthrough or the other about indigenisation. Things have improved vastly but what is debatable is whether these events are being guided by some …

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally inaugurate the month-long Kashi-Tamil Sangamam in Varanasi on Saturday. The 30-day event aimed at rediscovering centuries-old bond of knowledge and ancient civilisational linkage between the country’s north and south will give a glimpse of the Dravidian culture and the cuisine and music of Tamil …

Ahead of India’s presidency of the UN Security Council in December, India and Russia agreed to “deepen cooperation” on counter-terrorism issues and “enhance bilateral coordination” at the United Nations, statements issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The statements followed talks …

North Korea fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile that landed near Japanese waters on Friday in its second major weapons test this month that showed a potential ability to launch nuclear strikes on all of the U.S. mainland. While it’s unclear whether North Korea possesses functioning nuclear-armed missiles, some experts say …

The longest cross-border tunnels Hamas has built,” said a uniformed Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) officer, opening the iron door of a concrete structure in the middle of barren lands on the Israeli-Gaza border. The door opens to concrete steps that disappear underground. The officer asked journalists to turn on the …

A session on Accelerating Resilient Infrastructure in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) was held at the UNFCCC Pavilion on the side lines of COP 27 today. Union Minister The agenda of this session was to present the IRIS vision and announce the first ‘Call for Proposals’. The session focused on the IRIS …

Exercise Sea Vigil-22, the two-day Coastal Defence exercise was conducted from 15-16 Nov 22. The conceptual and geographical expanse of Sea Vigil included contingencies ranging from Peace to War-time across the entire coastline and EEZ of the country. In addition, mitigation measures, on shore, in case of any breach in Coastal Security mechanism were …

Secretary Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals Shri Arun Baroka inaugurated 4th edition of Indian Chemicals Council (ICC) Sustainability Conclave on the theme of ‘boardrooms to Community-ESG, Carbon Neutrality, Operational Safety, Greener Solutions’ today at New Delhi. The two-day event promotes sustainability in the management of the entire life cycle of …

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to expand its operations and explore ways to crowd in private capital for projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline, PM Gati Shakti and National Infrastructure Corridor. The loan book of two major infrastructure focused non-banking finance companies, …

In terms of weight, there has been an increase in the seizure of rhino horns after 2017, despite an overall reduction in poaching, says a global threat assessment report presented at a convention of wildlife conservation agencies in Panama City. The report says that “prolific” Vietnamese and Chinese criminal networks …

On November 7, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the 103rd Constitution Amendment which provides 10% reservation to the economically weaker sections (EWS), but excludes from this quota the ‘poorest of poor’ among the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and Other Backward Classes …

First, in the months prior to the latest extension made in late September 2022, there was much debate on the relevance of freebies. Second, there were reports in June that the Expenditure Department at the Centre did not favour it, citing a funds crunch. It also held the view that …

The discourse around political finance in India usually revolves around the issue of corruption. We see this in the political contestation over the introduction of electoral bonds. It is either presented as a pious instrument for ‘cleansing’ politics, by routing funding through legal channels, or as a murky mechanism for …

India has a great scope to emerge as a sizeable player in electronics and semiconductor products manufacturing as part of China-plus-one diversification strategy, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said here on Thursday. “We are well-positioned to become a trusted global partner under China-plus-one strategy …

A rare winter migrant, Siberian rubythroat (Calliope calliope), has been recorded in the Nilgiris. The bird, which breeds in the coniferous forests of Siberia, is known to winter in Thailand, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Chandrasekar Das, an ecologist with the Keystone Foundation, has recorded the bird at Kotagiri. He said …

COLLEGIUM SYSTEM REVIEW Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud on Thursday agreed to list in due course a writ petition to reconsider the Collegium system of judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and the High Courts. The petition sought the revival of the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), which briefly …

The National Commission for Women (NCW) launched the fourth phase of Digital Shakti Campaign, a pan-India project on digitally empowering and skilling women and girls in the cyberspace, yesterday. In line with its commitment to create safe spaces for women and girls online, Digital Shakti 4.0 is focused on making women …

With the handover of the gavel from Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over leadership of the G-20 process on Wednesday, which will position India at the helm of forming consensus among the most advanced economies over the next year. India’s presidency, which begins on December 1, …