Month: January 2017

May not be what it seems

The scientists who claim to have crushed hydrogen into a metal might have made one important mistake, according to experts. Two physicists claimed that they had finally succeeded in a feat that scientists have been attempting for almost a hundred years — crushing hydrogen and turning it into metal through an “alchemical” process. Such a...

January 31, 2017

Essential Organelle

Peroxisomes, like the Golgi complex and lysosomes, are bound by single membranes. This organelle is found in all euk-aryotic cells but is especially prominent in mammalian kidney and liver cells, in algae and photo-synthetic cells of plants, and in germinating seedlings of plant species that store fat in their seeds. Peroxisomes are somewhat smaller than...

January 31, 2017

Steering them away from targets

This unexpected bias of mosquitoes, which has been recently discovered, is one of the factors that have been considered in developing a mathematical formula of how an outbreak of malaria may progress.  Xiunan Wang and Xiao-Qiang Zhao, of the department of mathematics and statistics, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St John’s, Canada, published their study of...

January 31, 2017

Anger with Akalis bubbles over

The anger against the Badals gushes out like molten lava from a volcano the minute you mention the Akali Dal in Punjab. “Ae te vapas nai andene (they aren’t coming back),’’ is the unanimous refrain of voters from Amritsar to the family belt that runs from Jalalabad through Lambi to Bhatinda.  “They’ve done nothing for...

January 31, 2017

Busting two myths about the railways

The myth-making propensity of a self-contained, insular entity is immense and the insularity of the Indian Railways has given birth to various myths. Lack of knowledge about a huge organisation creates imaginary concoctions about its strength, potential and achievements. Indian Railways, projected as a huge organisation under a single management, has generated different myths in...

January 31, 2017

Republic Day Guest

The Chief Guest at the Republic Day ceremonies this year was the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Though nominally only second in his country’s hierarchy, the Crown Prince has become steadily more prominent and is now regarded as the effective decision maker in his realm. His elder sibling remains formally enshrined but the effective takeover...

January 31, 2017

River of discord

The waters of the Mahanadi have become choppier still with the BJD government in Odisha rejecting the formula proposed by the Centre to settle the raging dispute over the river with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s government in Chhattisgarh. Specifically, the Naveen Patnaik administration has rejected the constitution of the negotiation committee by the Union water...

January 31, 2017

Not a ‘know-all’

The humility was refreshing. As he took guard at the start of his new innings, former Comptroller & Auditor General, Mr Vinod Rai, impressed the cricketing community by asserting that he saw himself playing the role of night-watchman: indicating thereby that his job was temporary, a “holding-brief”. And more importantly, the reins of the administration...

January 31, 2017

Sikh advocacy group urges Gurdwaras to be alert, vigilant

A Sikh advocacy group on Tuesday urged gurdwaras in the country to be alert and vigilant in view of the prevailing atmosphere in the US. "Given the current situation of our country, and other parts of the world, we advise Gurdwaras to step up their security measures, especially following Sunday's deadly mosque attack in Quebec,"...

January 31, 2017

Minor fire in Parliament, no one injured

A minor fire broke out in the Parliament complex here on Tuesday night due to a short circuit in a computer and was doused in about half an hour, a fire service official said. No one was injured or any damage reported. The fire broke out at around 8.30 p.m. in a CPU of a...

January 31, 2017

Congress demands discussion on demonetisation in current session

The Congress on Tuesday demanded a discussion on various issues in the current Budget session of Parliament, including demonetisation, militant activities on the international border in Jammu and Kashmir and erosion in autonomy of institutions. The opposition party said the central government had not yet accepted any of its demands. "We have requested the government...

January 31, 2017

India, Russia agree on joint action plan to counter terrorism

India and Russia on Tuesday agreed to have a joint action plan to counter the global scourge of terrorism, the External Affairs Ministry said. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting here where the Indian side was led by Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry, Preeti Saran, while the Russian delegation was led...

January 31, 2017

3rd T20I: All eyes on captain Kohli as India gear up for series decider

Third T20I promises to be an exciting contest with India aiming to pocket another series win.

January 31, 2017

Mukund recalled, Saha back at Parthiv’s cost for Bangladesh Test

Mukund's consistency in domestic cricket was recognised by the BCCI selectors, who picked him for the one-off Test against Bangladesh.

January 31, 2017

India ranks 4th globally in wind power installation

India has attained the fourth position globally in installed wind power capacity after China, US and Germany as a result of various steps in the "right" direction, the Economic Survey said on Tuesday. With the legal framework in place for the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the brainchild of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and launched during...

January 31, 2017

Economic Survey reflects ‘sorry state’ of Indian economy: Congress

The Congress on Tuesday said the Economic Survey reflects the "sorry state" of Indian economy and the government is unable to find short or long-term solutions to the problems faced by it. "Indian economy is in doldrums and a downwards trajectory on account of massive mismanagement and misdirected experimentation of Modi government," Congress chief spokesperson...

January 31, 2017

Kashmiri athlete denied US visa

Kashmiri snowshoe athlete, Tanveer Hussain Parra, on Tuesday claimed he was denied visa by the US Embassy here, with officials citing the "current policy" under the Donald Trump administration. Parra, 24, was scheduled to attend the World Snowshoe Federation (WSSF) World Championship on February 25 in Saranac Lake, New York. President Trump last week signed...

January 31, 2017