Sikkim has recently been declared as the first organic state in the country. In view of above, Union Minister has given approval to execute NOFRI. The Institute will provide research and technological backstopping to Organic Production System in the country in general and North East Hills Region in particular. The institute will undertake basic, strategic and adaptive research on efficient, …
The curious case of Julian Assange
Personal liberty still eludes WikiLeaks founder and Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange, despite a ruling by a United Nations legal panel that has declared his confinement “arbitrary and illegal”. The ruling of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention — the authoritative UN body that pronounces on illegal detentions based on binding and legal international instruments — has met with support, but …
Govt. to build more national highways
In a bid to decongest traffic in the country, government has decided to increase the length of national highways from 96,000 km, at present, to two lakh km. As much as 40 per cent of the traffic moves on these 2 per cent national highways and as a result five lakh accidents take place, killing more than 1.5 lakh …
Adopt open source for connectivity: TRAI
While Facebook is working on a venture that deploys drones in remote and rural areas to provide Internet connectivity, Google’s Project Loon envisages use of helium-filled balloons to provide data connectivity in remote regions. The two are trying these approaches as alternative models to reach data connectivity aerially to users instead of the traditional route of installing towers and optic …
146 million tonne milk production in 2014-15
India stands first on global milk production scenario. Milk production has increased to 146.31 million tonne in 2014-15. Despite increase in total milk production in the country, milk productivity per animal is far less than the average in developed dairy nations. Science and technology led development in agriculture has resulted in many fold enhancement in productivity and production of different …
Why Siachen must be demilitarised
The February 3 avalanche on the Siachen glacier at a height of 19,600 feet that buried 10 Indian Army soldiers is a stark reminder to both India and Pakistan about the cost of military deployment in such inhospitable territory. This was not an isolated incident but part of a growing trend in that region, as global warming dramatically affects the …
CSIR
CSIR-Tech Pvt. Ltd. has been involved in the work of technology commercialization for the last 3 years. Technology and intellectual property being developed at government funded institutions like CSIR, BARC, IITs, DST labs, DRDO is finding its way to touch common lives through CSIR-Tech Pvt Ltd. CSIR-Tech had does technology transfer to small and medium enterprises in India. It invests …
Nuclear ambiguities
India’s nuclear politics was in the limelight again last week, and not for the best of reasons. More than five years after it signed the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC), India ratified the insurance pooling agreement, which pertains to civil liability in the event of a nuclear accident in any of the acceding countries. Prima facie, this was a good …
U.S., India in talks to settle solar power trade dispute
The U.S. and India are in talks that could settle a long-running solar power trade dispute, delaying the announcement of a ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO), an Obama administration official said. Washington filed the WTO challenge three years ago, claiming that India’s national solar power programme illegally discriminated against imported solar panels and related products through its domestic …
No nod for GM mustard
Amid growing outrage by farmer groups and green activists against commercialisation of the country’s first genetically modified (GM) food crop, mustard, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) decided to put on hold any decision on it for now. The GEAC, the apex body to accord approval for large-scale use and commercial release of genetically modified organisms in India, discussed safety …