Space Applications Centre (SAC), ISRO, Ahmedabad has developed a weather data explorer application - Real Time Analysis of Products and Information Dissemination (RAPID) which is hosted in India Meteorological Department (IMD) website. This software acts as a gateway to Indian Weather Satellite Data providing quick interactive visualisation and 4-Dimensional analysis capabilities to various users like application scientists, forecasters, and the common man. The INSAT series of satellites carrying Very High Resolution Radiometer (VHRR) have been providing data for generating cloud motion vectors, cloud top temperature, water vapour conten... Read More...
It is a move towards better management of Japanese encephalitis (JE) cases across the country. JE is an important public health concern in the country accounting for substantial morbidity, mortality and disability. JE is caused by a mosquito-borne virus. Since the virus attacks the brain of the child, the chances of the child becoming mentally retarded are high. By declaring JE as a notifiable disease healthcare providers will have to notify every JE case to the local authorities every week. In order to ensure early diagnosis and case management, reduce transmission, address the problems of emergency and spread of disease in newer geogra... Read More...
2016 Nobel prize in economics has been awarded to UK-born Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström of Finland for their work on contract theory, which has covered a range of issues from public-private partnerships to executive pay. As it announced the prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences described the pair’s work as key to the understanding of the real-life contracts and institutions that hold together modern economies. Their research was praised for shedding light on how contracts help people deal with conflicting interests in areas such as insurance and employment. They were also recognised for helping... Read More...
It is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge. Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. It is a geologic process in which tectonic plates—large slabs of Earth's lithosphere—split apart from each other. Read More...
The National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) is an integral part of the three-tier institutional structure dealing with national security issues with the National Security Council at its apex. The other important wing is the Strategic Policy group. The NSAB normally meets at least once a month. Its principal function is to undertake long-term analysis of and provide perspectives on issues of national security. It reports to the National Security Council headed by the PM. The National Security Advisory Board consists of senior retired officials, civilian as well as military, academics and distinguished members of civil society drawn from and having exper... Read More...
The Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment under the WTO means every member should all others normally for trade relations. Preferential terms are allowed but not negative discrimination. Exceptions to the general MFN rule on grounds of National Security, via Article XXI are permitted. There are other exceptions as well, in Article XX of the GATT. India in 1996 gave MFN status to Pakistan. Pakistan, which is bound by WTO rules to extend the MFN status to India has not done so, using the provisions of Article XXI. India has not taken the issue to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, partly because it is difficult to challenge P... Read More...
A startup ecosystem is formed by people, startups in their various stages and various types of organizations in a location (physical or virtual), interacting as a system to create new startup companies and increase the productivity of the existing ones.. These organizations are universities, funding organizations, support organizations (like incubators, accelerators, co-working spaces etc.), research organizations, service provider organizations (like legal, financial services etc.) and large corporations. Different organizations focus on specific parts of the ecosystem function and startups at their specific development stage. 1. Government pol... Read More...
Currently, there are measures to control wholesalers and importers and not retailers. Retail prices are fixed by market forces, leaving very little room for the government to check undue spike in prices. The amendments to the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, have a provision to fix retail price of any essential commodity. If retail sale price of any essential commodity is fixed and notified by the competent authority under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, the same shall apply. This rule will apply to essential commodities that are sold both in loose and packaged form in retail markets. Fixing retail prices of essential items will be do... Read More...
Himansh, the glaciological research facility of India is located in Spiti Valley, one of the most uninhabited parts of the country, Himansh is considered to be the highest point from where an Indian glacier research facility is functioning. The research lab, established by the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), has automatic weather stations, ground penetrating radars, geodetic GPS systems and other sophisticated facilities to study glaciers and their discharge. The facility will serve as the base for Terrestrial Laser Scanners and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to digitise glacier movements and snow cover variations, said a c... Read More...
It belongs to 9th century BC and associated with the post-Rigvedic Vedic civilization. In some sites, BRW pottery is associated with Late Harappan pottery, and according to some scholars, the BRW may have directly influenced the Painted Grey Ware and Northern Black Polished Ware cultures. BRW pottery is unknown west of the Indus Valley. Use of iron, although sparse at first, is relatively early, postdating the beginning of the Iron Age in Anatolia (Hittites) by only two or three centuries, and predating the European (Celts) Iron Age by another two to three hundred years. Recent findings in Northern India show Iron working since ... Read More...
The term "Janapada" literally means the foothold of a tribe. The fact that Janapada is derived from Jana points to an early stage of land-taking by the Jana tribe for a settled way of life. This process of first settlement on land had completed its final stage prior to the times of the Buddha and PÄṇini. The Pre-Buddhist north-west region of the Indian sub-continent was divided into several Janapadas demarcated from each other by boundaries. In PÄṇini's "Ashtadhyayi", Janapada stands for country and Janapadin for its citizenry. Each of these Janapadas was named after the Kshatriya tribe (or the Kshatriya Jana) who ha... Read More...
The Northern Black Polished Ware culture ( NBPW/NBP ) is an urban Iron Age culture of the Indian Subcontinent, lasting c. 700–200 BC, succeeding the Painted Grey Ware culture and Black and red ware culture. It developed beginning around 700 BC, or in the late Vedic period, and peaked from c. 500–300 BC, coinciding with the emergence of 16 great states or mahajanapadas in Northern India, and the subsequent rise of the Mauryan Empire. After recent excavations at Gotihwa in Nepal, by radiocarbon datings it was found that proto-NBPW is at least from 900 BC. Excavations in India at Ayodhya, Juafardih near Nalanda, and Kolhua near Vaisali, ... Read More...
British-born scientists David Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz were awarded 2016 Nobel Prize in physics for studies on exotic matter that could result in improved materials for electronics or quantum computers. They discovered unexpected behaviours of solid materials and devised a mathematical framework to explain their properties.The academy cited the three for “theoretical discoveries of topological phase transitions and topological phases of matter.” Topology is a branch of mathematics that describes properties of objects. “This year’s Laureates opened the door on an unknown ... Read More...
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2013, issued a judgment, on the construction of Kishanganga Hydro-electric Project (KHEP) by India, which restructures and modernises the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) between India and Pakistan. The Kishanganga river, rising near Gurez, is a tributary of the Jhelum. Flowing through J&K it crosses the Line of Control to enter POK as the Neelum river before merging with the Jhelum near Muzaffarabad. Since 2009, a hydro-electric project is being constructed by India with a planned capacity of 330 MW by diverting the waters of the Kishanganga river through a 23-km-long tunnel. It is expected to be c... Read More...
In July 2016, the tribunal of five judges at Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration issued an award in Republic of Philippines v. People’s Republic of China, a case filed in 2013 by Manila concerning maritime entitlements and the status of features in the South China Sea, among other issues.The Tribunal ruled that China’s nine-dash line claim and accompanying claims to historic rights have no validity under international law. China rejected the award. Beijing’s response to the PCA ruling on South China Sea contrasts with Indian acceptance of the PCA judgment on its maritime boundary dispute with Ba... Read More...
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia has been active since1964. The operations of the FARC were funded by kidnap and ransom; illegal mining; extortion;production, and distribution of illegal drugs. The conflict has claimed 220,000 lives and displaced about six million people.In June 2016, the FARC signed a ceasefire accord with the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos in Havana. This accord has been seen as a historic step to ending the war that has gone on for fifty years. Under the accord, the Colombian government will support massive investment for rural development and facilitate the FARC’s reincarnation as a legal political ... Read More...
Moral support is a way of giving support to a person or cause, or to one side in a conflict, without making any contribution beyond the emotional or psychological value of the encouragement. For example, in a war between two countries or alliances, a third nation may give moral support to one side, without actually participating in the conflict. Like India supported the cause of Balochs in Pakistan. Another common example can be found in sports. By coming out to watch one's friend's team play a match, one is likely not directly supporting their team in any significant way (especially if there is no charge to ... Read More...
Adam's Bridge also known as Rama's Bridge or Rama Setu is a chain of limestone shoals, between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the southeastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island, off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka. Geological evidence suggests that this bridge is a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka. The bridge is 18 miles (30 km) long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (southwest) from the Palk Strait (northeast). Some of the sandbanks are dry and the sea in the area is very shallow, being only 3 ft to 30 ft (1 m to 10 m) deep in places, which hinders navigation. Read More...
India and ITER Tokamak is the machine to produce unlimited supplies of cheap, clean, safe and commercial energy from atomic fusion. The international nuclear fusion project known as ITER is based on the 'tokamak' concept. Indian engineers are fabricating the world's largest high-vacuum cold storage vessel called the cryostat which will be home to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), the largest and the most advanced facility of its kind being built in Cadarache, France. India is part of a seven nation consortium that is building the fusion reactor designed to produce electricity. Apart from the ... Read More...
Without the sun, there will be no life on earth. Surya Namaskar or 'Sun Salutation' is a very ancient technique of paying respect or expressing gratitude to the sun that is the source of all forms of life on the planet. Symbolically, the sun becomes our source of energy as well. About the history of this technique, it has been said by the ancient rishis of India that the different parts of the body are governed by different devas (divine impulses or divine light). Literally translated to sun salutation, these postures are a good way to keep the body in shape and the mind calm and healthy.Surya Namaskar is best ... Read More...