NASA to launch spacecraft to near-Earth asteroid
WASHINGTON: NASA is set to launch a new spacecraft in
September that will travel to a near-Earth asteroid known as Bennu and bring
back a sample of surface material which may contain building blocks of life. To
identify the regions in which the building blocks of life may be found, the
Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith
Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) team equipped the
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today inaugurated
Phase-II of the Rashtrapati Bhawan Museum, in the presence of President Pranab
Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and other dignitaries. Speaking on the
occasion, the Prime Minister described the publications being released on the
occasion as “Granths” (texts) which will leave a mark on history. He said the
museum inaugurated today is a great
India has assumed the Presidency of BRICS in February,2016.
Starting essentially with economic issues of mutual interest, the agenda
of BRICS meetings has considerably widened over the years to encompass topical
global issues. BRICS cooperation has two pillars - consultation on
issues of mutual interest through meetings of Leaders as well as of Ministers
of Finance, Trade & Health, S&T, Education, Agriculture,
India - Japan Social Security Agreement to come into Force from 01st October 2016
The Agreement on Social Security between India and Japan
shall come into force with effect from 1st October 2016. With this addition
number of Social Security Agreement (SSA) that would become operational would
be sixteen. The Ministry of External Affairs, along with Employees’ Provident
Fund Organisation (EPFO) - the competent authority for negotiating and
concluding SSAs have completed the
International workshop on Health Technology Assessment (HTA) inaugurated
Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste and Smt Anupriya Patel, Ministers
of State for Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the international workshop
on ‘Health Technology Assessment (HTA)’, here today. The three-day workshop is
being jointly organized by the Department of Health Research (DHR), ICMR,
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)-UK and Health
Intervention and Technology Assessment
India-US Launch Innovative Agriculture Programme to Address Global Challenges
Launched of Feed the Future- India Triangular Training
Programme .The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and the U.S Agency
for International Development (USAID) launched today the second phase of the
Feed the Future India Triangular Training Programme, bringing specialized
agriculture training to 1,500 agricultural professional across Africa and Asia.
The Secretary of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare,
Construction of the three new Institutes of AYUSH completed: Shri Shripad Yesso Naik
Construction of the three new Institutes under Ministry of AYUSH,
Government of India has been completed. These institutes are : (i) All India
Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi: It is apex Institute of Ayurveda with
200 bedded referral hospital to impart education in the field of Ayurveda at
M.D. and Ph.D level. (ii) North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda & Homoeopathy
(NEIAH), Shillong: It is a state of the art
All India Institute of Homoeopathy proposed to be set up at
Narela, New Delhi: Shri Shripad Yesso Naik .The Government plans to establish
an All India Institute of Homoeopathy (AIIH) at Narela, New Delhi. It will be a
Post Graduate and Doctoral Research institute. The civil works of the three new
institutes namely, All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), New Delhi, North
Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homoeopathy
ITC appoints Sanjiv Puri as new COO
The board of ITC Ltd. has re-designated Executive Director
Sanjiv Puri as the Chief Operating Officer of the company with immediate
effect. The 53-year old Mr. Puri was brought on ITC’s Board in December 2015 in
a move that was seen as part of Chairman Y. C. Deveshwar’s succession-
planning. Mr. Deveshwar is stepping down as Executive Chairman of ITC in
February next year, after an over two-decade stint as
Eminent Yakshagana Artiste Siddakatte Vishwanatha Shetty Passes Away
Bantwal: Eminent Yakshagana artiste Siddakatte Vishwanatha
Shetty (58), passed away on Friday after a brief illness. He was famous among
Thenkuthittu and Badaguthittu yakshagana lovers. Born on July 24, 1957,
at Ajjibettu, Bantwal taluk in Dakshina Kannada district, Shetty was known for
his oratory skills and giving life to any role during the performance. He was
equally famous in Talamaddale as an eminent
Dennis Green Passes Away
He’ll be remembered more for what he didn’t accomplish as a
head coach, but that doesn’t change the impact that former Minnesota Vikings
and Arizona Cardinals head coach Dennis Green had on the game of football. The
cause of death was reportedly an apparent heart attack. Green coached in the
National Football League for 13 seasons; nine seasons with the Minnesota
Vikings from 1992-2001 where he led the
Former India footballer Marto Gracias passes away in Mumbai
The former striker shot to fame during the late sixties both
for club and country..Former India International footballer Marto Gracias
passed away in Mumbai on Sunday evening following a cardiac arrest. He was
75.The striker is best remembered for his performance in the 1967 Merdeka Cup
in Kuala Lumpur, where he scored four goals. Drawn with the likes of Thailand,
Western Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and South
Forest clearance is now granted within 200 days: Government
NEW DELHI: The government has reduced the average time taken
for granting forest clearance to various projects to 200 days, Rajya Sabha was
informed today. "Forest clearances are given in two stages. Stage I takes
average time of 180 days in which the applications are processed at different
levels in the state forest department. "On receipt of satisfactory
compliance of conditions regarding levies towards compensatory
CAMPA Bill likely to be taken up in Rajya Sabha today
The Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning
Authority (CAMPA) Bill, which was expected to be tabled in the Raja Sabha on
Monday before the House was adjourned, is likely to be taken up today instead.
The Bill, which is likely to unlock over Rs. 40,000 crore, is however expected
to receive opposition from the Indian National Congress on the grounds of the
law lacking sufficient protection for tribal and
China sets up South China Sea environment protection fund
China has set up a 15 million yuan ($2.25 million)
environmental protection fund for the South China Sea having already spent
double that in the past four years, the Xinhua state news agency said on
Monday. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled this month that
China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and it criticised
environmental destruction in the waters. China rejected the ruling and
Solar plane completes round-the-world trip
International Airport, from where it took off in March 2015.
"This is a very special moment for us, we have completed this journey step
by step and we are very excited with the arrival in Abu Dhabi," second
pilot Andre Borschberg told EFE news at the airport. The plane was piloted by
Bertrand Piccard during the last stage between Egypt and the United Arab
Emirates (UAE). Solar Impulse 2 has completed a 40,000-km journey in 17 legs.
It has taken more than 500 hours of flying over the Arabian Sea, India,
Myanmar, China,
LS passes Bill providing for opening of 6 new IITs
A bill providing for opening six new IITs, including at Jammu
and Tirupati, was passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday. Under the Institutes of
Technology (Amendment) Bill 2016, new IITs will also be started in Palakkad,
Goa, Dharward and Bhilai. The Bill also seeks to bring the Indian School of
Mines, Dhanbad, within the ambit of the Act. Replying to a debate on the bill,
HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the
IOC decides against blanket doping ban for Russia
The International Olympic Committee on Sunday ordered
individual sports federations to decide whether Russian competitors should take
part in the Rio Games after failing to agree on a complete ban over Russia's
state-run doping. The IOC executive decided that any Russian athlete wanting to
go to Rio, where the Games start on August 5, will have to prove that he or she
was not involved in the doping. An IOC ethics
Power generation increased by 7.04 percent in 2 years: Piyush Goyal
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha on Monday, Power
Minister Piyush Goel said power generation has increased by 7.04% in last two
years. The Minister said that there is presently power surplus in the country
and states can be provided as much power as they require. In another written
reply, the Minister said more than 13.15 crore LED bulbs have been distributed
by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd.( EESL) as on 18th July 2016 and
approximately 8.0 crore by other suppliers. The Minister further stated that
Ministry aims to
Mars rover Curiosity can now fire laser on its own
For the first time, NASA's Mars Curiosity rover can fire its
onboard laser all by itself, mission scientists say. New software is enabling
ChemCam, the laser spectrometer on Curiosity, to select rock targets
autonomously - the first time autonomous target selection is available for an
instrument of this kind on any robotic planetary mission. The ChemCam
(chemistry and camera) instrument aboard Curiosity "zaps" rocks
PM bows to valiant soldiers on Kargil Vijay Diwas
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has bowed to every
valiant soldier who fought for India, on Kargil Vijay Diwas. “On Kargil Vijay
Diwas I bow to every valiant soldier who fought for India till the very last
breath. Their heroic sacrifices inspire us. India will never forget the
fearlessness with which our courageous soldiers gave a befitting &
unforgettable reply to the intruders. We recall with pride, the firmness
Govt identifies 26 port-rail connectivity work worth Rs 29.5k cr
The government has identified 26 rail-road connectivity
projects under its ambitious Sagarmala programme worth Rs 29,500 crore. Of
this, two projects have already been completed while 16 have been awarded to
the Railways for construction, Minister of State for Shipping P Radhakrishnan
said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. Twenty-six port-rail
connectivity projects have been identified in the National Perspective
Gita Gopinath's appointment as Kerala CM's economic advisor sparks row
Harvard economist Gita Gopinath was appointed Economic
Advisor to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan last week. But the
appointment has stirred a political controversy in the Left-ruled
state. The reason: She is thought to advocate neo-liberal economics, while
the Communist Party of India (Marxist), that leads the Kerala government,
vociferously opposes such policies on a national scale. She is seen as standing
for
India has most stunted children in world: Report
India, which claims to be the world's fastest growing major
economy, is also home to the largest number of stunted children in volume terms
in the world, much ahead of smaller economies like Nigeria, Pakistan and
Ethiopia. Globally, around 159 million children under the age of 5, or one in
every four children in this age group, are stunted and the major cause of this
is repeated instances of diarrhea caused by unclean water.
Supreme Court permitted the ending of 24-week pregnancy on woman's plea
The Supreme Court on Monday permitted the termination of a
24-week-old pregnancy after medical reports said the foetus has severe
abnormalities and the same could gravely endanger the "mental and physical
health" of the mother. The bench comprising Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar
and Justice Arun Mishra, after perusing the report of a medical board of KEM
Hospital-Mumbai, said: "We direct the liberty to terminate
Dasan takes charge as Sports Council chief
Thiruvananthapuram: T. P. Dasan took charge as the president
of the Kerala State Sports Council here on Saturday. Olympian Mercy Kuttan has
been named the vice-president. Other members of the council are M. R. Ranjith,
K. C. Lekha, George Thomas, I. T. Manoj, O. K. Vineeth, D. Vijayakumar and S.
Rajeev. asan is back for a second stint as KSSC chief following the resignation
of Olympian Anju Bobby George. Dasan,
Scientists working toward storing digital information in DNA
Scientists are working towards storing digital data in the
base sequence of DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). Thus they are seeking to make the
genetic material capable to store data for long time in durable format as an
archive data for the future. DNA: information-storing molecule DNA is by its
essence an information-storing molecule. It carries the genetic instructions
used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of
Sharmila Tagore, Shekhar Kapur get Icon Award in London
Indian actress Sharmila Tagore and director Shekhar Kapur
were honoured with the Icon Awards at Bagri Foundation London Indian Film
Festival. “The festival has had a special focus on women and cinema this year
with seven films by women directors,” variety.com quoted Sharmila Tagore as
saying. She added: “I am happy to receive the Icon Award and have enjoyed doing
the master class at this rapidly growing festival.”
India makes first contribution to UN Trust Fund for victims of sexual exploitation
India has contributed US 100,000 dollars to the United
Nations’ Trust Fund in support of victims of sexual exploitation and abuse by
peacekeepers. With this India became the first country to make a contribution
to the fund and to start UN fund for sex abuse victims. Key Facts With this
contribution, India has illustrated its strong commitment to victim-centred
approach in addressing sexual exploitation and abuse by UN civilian
G-20 Finance Ministers pledge to boost global economy
The Finance Ministers from the Group of 20 (G-20) major
economies have pledged to boost the global economy, which is showing a weak
recovery. This announcement was made at the end of the two-day meeting of G-20
Finance ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held in the Chinese city
of Chengdu. Key Highlights of meeting G-20 Finance ministers expressed concern
about Britain’s plan to leave
Dr. Sanjiv Misra appointed as AD and NE (part time) Chairman at Axis Bank
Mumbai-headquartered, Axis Bank has stated that the Reserve
Bank of India has granted approval for appointment of Dr.Sanjiv Misra as
Additional Director and the Non-Executive (Part-Time) Chairman of the bank for
a period of three years with effect from July 18, 2016, up to July 17, 2019 .
Dr. Sanjiv Mishra was earlier the SUUTI ( special under stading of UTI) nominee
on board as Non-Executive Chairmen till May
Navy puts its might in massive search on for missing IAF plane
Eastern Naval Command (ENC) has deployed two P8i Long Range
Maritime Patrol Aircraft with advanced electro-optics and radars, two Dornier
aircraft and twelve ships with integral helicopters to join the search
operations initiated to locate the Indian Air Force AN-32 transport aircraft
reported missing approx 300 km due East of Chennai . The AN-32 was on a routine
sortie from Air Force Station Tambaram to Port Blair
IRCTC, SBI sign MoU on promotion of rail ticketing activities
The country’s largest public sector bank, State Bank of India
(SBI) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to hammer out a detailed plan for promotion
of rail ticketing activities, including internet ticketing and unreserved
ticketing system. Under the MoU, the signatories “will jointly explore areas of
cooperation and draw up a detailed
Sachin Tendulkar to launch new game Sachin SaGa
Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has now made his presence
felt in the digital gaming arena through his official game, ‘Sachin Saga’,
Rajan Navani, vice-chairman and managing director of JetSynthesys Private
Limited, announced. The company’s gaming arm PlayIzzOn Technologies, has
developed this exciting game for the legendary cricketer.The partnership has
been initiated in association with Fluence, a leading celebrity
38 writers returned their Sahitya Akademi awards, Centre tells HC
The Centre informed on Monday the Delhi high court that 38
writers have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards in protest against the
Akademi’s alleged “indifference” over the murder of its member and author MM
Kalburgi. The submission was made before a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and
Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, which was hearing the plea to frame guidelines
that if Sahitya Akademi awardees return their
Scientists decide to launch field trials of oil-degrading bacteria in Kochi
The Malabar Botanical Garden and Institute of Plant Sciences,
Kozhikode, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in July 2016 joined
hands to launch field trials of oil-degrading bacteria in Kochi. The scientists
will undertake the trail to establish the oil-degrading properties of three new
strains of bacteria. The oil-degrading properties of these bacteria will pave
the way for the development of
Wrestler Narsingh Yadav fails Dope Test
Narsingh Yadav, the Indian wrestler qualifier for Rio
Olympics, in July 2016 failed a dope test. He was tested positive for a banned
substance steroid in an out-of-competition test conducted by the National
Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). In the samples collected at the National camp in
Sonepat, he was tested positive for the methandienone — a banned anabolic
steroid. A former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist
CSIR-CMERI develops Solar Power Tree for generation of electricity
Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology
and Earth Sciences, on 22 July 2016 launched the Solar Power Tree in New Delhi.
The Solar Power Tree has been developed by the CSIR-Central Mechanical
Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-CMERI), a constituent laboratory of
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The product harnesses
solar energy for producing electricity with
India’s first Water Metro launched in Kochi
Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala, on 23 July 2016
launched Kochi Water Metro project in Kochi, Kerala. It is the first ever Water
Metro project in the country. German Development Bank, Kreditanstalt für
Wiederaufbau (KfW) is funding 85 million euro for the project. The German bank
has inked an agreement with the Kochi Metro Rail Limited for the project worth
747 crore rupees. The Water Metro will link
Infrastructure hurdle for Pudimadaka tourism
Visakhapatnam: The seaside village of Pudimadaka will develop
into a major tourist destination only if the state government improves the
sanitation and provides road connectivity. Chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu
has announced that Pudimadaka will be developed into a tourist centre. Locals
are elated by the announcement, but they feel that the village will benefit
only if the basic infrastructure is improved.
Shooter Manavaditya Rathore Wins Bronze in Junior World Cup
New Delhi: Promising Indian shooter Manavaditya Rathore on
Sunday won the trap bronze medal in the 'Champion of Champions' match at the
Junior World Cup in Porpetto, Italy. While Manavaditya, son of Athens Olympics
silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, won the bronze in trap event,
Anant Naruka bagged a bronze in 'Champion of Champions' battle in skeet.
'Champion of Champions' battle is where the
Lok Sabha passes Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016
The Lok Sabha on July 25, 2016 passed the Institutes of
Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The Bill seeks to amend the Institutes
of Technology Act, 1961, which declares certain Institutes of Technology as
institutions of national importance. The Bill seeks to add six new Indian
Institutes of Technology (IITs) in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Palakkad in
Kerala, Goa, Dharwar in Karnataka, Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, and
Haryana notifies Freight Assistance Scheme for exporting MSMEs
Haryana Government on 25 July 2016 notified the "Freight
Assistance Scheme" for the exporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs) located anywhere in the State. It has given time till September 9 to
submit the claim application on the web portal of the Industries and Commerce
department for the financial year 2015-16. The decision was taken in backdrop
of the additional cost that is borne by the MSMEs
Budha Rashmi Mani appointed as Director General of National Museum
Noted archaeologist Budha Rashmi Mani was on 25 July 2016
appointed as Director General of National Museum for three years or till
attaining the age of 70 years. His appointment was approved by Appointments
Committee of Cabinet. He had retired as Additional Director General of the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2015. Earlier, he had supervised
the excavation work in the disputed Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri
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