Science & technology

A decision has been taken at the recent Army Commanders Conference that all officers of the rank of Brigadier and above — Major Generals, Lieutenant Generals, and General — will wear common uniform items irrespective of their regimental or corps affiliation. All officers of the rank of Brigadier, Maj General, Lt General, and General will …

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) and Ministry of Railways jointly signed an MoU with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for ‘Station Area Development along Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail’ (Project-SMART). Project-SMART envisages to develop surrounding areas of Mumbai – Ahmedabad High Speed Railway (MAHSR) Stations. Aim: To enhance accessibility and convenience of commuters & …

We have never witnessed domestic or foreign pharmaceutical companies recall substandard or mislabelled drugs in India. India has been mulling the creation of a mandatory recall law for substandard drugs since 1976, and yet no law exists that mandates such medicine be removed from the market to this day. The issue has come up repeatedly in regulatory meetings in …

Recently, the Advertisement Monitoring Committee at the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) flagged 32 fresh cases of food business operators (FBOs) making misleading claims and advertisements. What are the regulations? FSSAI uses the Food Safety and Standards (Advertising & Claims) Regulations, 2018 which specifically deals with food (and related products). The Central Consumer …

Three civilians were killed after an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-21 fighter jet crashed into a house in Rajasthan. About MiG-21: The MiG-21s are among the six fighter jets presently flown by the Indian Air Force (IAF). The MiG-21s are single engine, single-seater multi-role fighter/ground attack aircraft. It was inducted into the IAF in the early 1960s. …

The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology (CSTT) is working on technical and scientific terminology in 10 Indian languages that are under-represented in the learning landscape. Key details: The CSTT will bring out what it calls fundamental (basic) dictionaries with 5,000 words per language. These will be in digital, searchable format, and free of cost. Which …

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first vaccine, Arexvy for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to lower respiratory tract disease in people older than 60 years. This is the first RSV vaccine to be approved anywhere in the world. The trial showed that a single dose of the vaccine reduced the risk of people, older than 60 years, developing lower respiratory tract disease caused …

Two drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease showed promising results. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurologic disorder that causes the brain to shrink (atrophy) and brain cells to die. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia — a continuous decline in thinking, behavioral and social skills that affects a person’s ability to function independently. The early signs of the disease include …

Bluesky has come to the fore as a potential claimant to Twitter’s throne. What is Bluesky? Bluesky is a micro-blogging platform and social website. It is built on the AT Protocol (Authenticated Transport Protocol). Bluesky might be classified as a Twitter competitor but it is different in terms of its structure, as it is meant to form part of …

The penumbral lunar eclipse happened recently. A penumbral lunar eclipse is a celestial event that occurs when the moon passes through the outer part of the Earth’s shadow, known as the penumbra. Although it is not as visually striking as a total or partial lunar eclipse. During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the alignment of the Earth, Moon, …

The Indian Astronomical Observatory located over Mount Saraswati in Hanle, Ladakh, India, captured aurora lights on its camera. An intense geomagnetic storm that hit Earth resulted in mesmerising auroras in several regions of Earth, including Ladakh. It is extremely rare to see auroras at latitudes as low as those of Ladakh. Auroras are seen only in high-latitude regions, near the Arctic and Antarctic …

Frequent reports of dogs attacking people to death have made the management of stray dogs an administrative and legal issue. Dog bites and poor waste management The carrying capacity, i.e. the ability of a city to support a species, is determined by the availability of food and shelter. Free-ranging dogs, in the absence of …

11 people died due to a gas leak in the Giaspura area of Ludhiana, Punjab, while four people fell ill and were hospitalised. Neurotoxins Neurotoxins are poisonous substances which can directly affect the nervous system. Neurotoxicity occurs when exposure to natural or man-made toxic substances alters the normal activity of the nervous system. These substances …

The Maharashtra government started conducting soil testing at Rajapur tehsil’s Barsu village in the coastal Ratnagiri district. To know if the site was suitable for the proposed multi-billion dollar Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited project which is touted as the world’s largest single location refinery complex. India’s oil refining capacity stood at 251.2 million metric tonnes per annum, making …

Psychedelic drugs, banned in India under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, are emerging in research as promising ways to treat treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder Psychedelics Psychedelics are a group of drugs that alter perception, mood, and thought-processing while a person is still clearly conscious. Psychedelics are non-addictive, non-toxic and compared to illicit drugs, they are less harmful to the …

A group of researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel reported that they had been able to pick up distress noises made by plants which was already shown by Jagadish Chandra Bose more than a century ago. A physicist-turned-biologist who lived between 1858 and 1937, made pioneering contributions in both the fields. He was the first …

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch Singapore’s TeLEOS-2 satellite. The launch will be carried out by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV. TeLEOS-2 is an Earth Observation Satellite. In 2015, ISRO launched TeLEOS-1, the first Singapore commercial Earth Observation Satellite. More about the satellite: TeLEOS 2 is a Singaporean SAR Earth Observation satellite. It is built …

Users of the digital newsletter platform Substack reported they could not like or retweet Twitter posts with Substack links Substack Substack, launched in 2017, is an online publishing platform that lets writers and podcasters publish and share content directly with their target audience. The platform allows content creators to generate income directly from subscribers on their terms. The platform …

The deaths of 11 people in Mumbai due to heatstroke, while they were attending a government meeting in an open space, is possibly the largest heatwave-related death toll from a single event. Key details: According to the IMD, heatwave conditions are currently prevailing in some areas of Gangetic West Bengal, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. What …

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is about to take its most daring leap yet with a round-the-world test flight of its mammoth Starship. SpaceX Space is a rocket company founded by Elon Musk. It was created with the mission of taking humans to Mars. Headquarters: Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of …