Ocean Cleanup team heads to the Pacific
A supply ship towing a long floating boom designed to corral ocean plastic has set sail from San Francisco for a test run ahead of a trip to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Finance Ministry crafting strategy to boost GST revenues
Alarmed by a nearly four-fold rise in GST compensation to states for June-July, the finance ministry is crafting a strategy to shore up tax revenue and engaging with states to identify issues hindering their collections.
Government sets up panel to look into e-commerce issues
According to an official, with concerns being raised on some proposals of the draft e-commerce policy, the government has set up a group of secretaries to look into the issues.
Allow NRIs to manage FPI : panel
A SEBI panel headed by H. R. Khan, Former Deputy Governor of the RBI, has suggested that NRIs, along with Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) and Resident Indians (RIs), be allowed to manage foreign funds that invest in India subject to certain holding limits.
First quarter CAD at 2.4% of GDP
As per the data released by RBI, India’s current account deficit (CAD) stood at $15.8 billion (2.4 per cent of GDP) in the June quarter of 2018-19 compared with $15 billion (2.5 per cent of GDP) in the same period of last year.
Nutrition guidelines approved by Niti Aayog
The NITI Aayog has approved the supplementary nutrition guidelines, prepared by the Ministry for Women and Child Development, bypassing Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi following intervention by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)
Eight avian species declared “extinct” in new study
Scientists have declared eight species of birds to be extinct in what are being seen as the first avian extinctions of the 21st century
LEMOA fully operational now
The India-U.S. foundational agreement for mutual logistics support, the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), has been fully operationalised over the past few months.
Aptamer inhibits TB bacteria entry into cells
By using a small single-stranded DNA molecule (DNA aptamer) that specifically binds to a single protein (HupB) present in TB bacteria, researchers have been able to achieve 40-55% reduction in the bacteria’s ability to enter into human cells and infect them.
COMCASA to help keep a watch over Indian Ocean
The foundational agreement Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) which India concluded with the U.S. at the 2+2 dialogue will enable Indian military to get a better picture of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) which is seeing increasing Chinese movements.