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Kasanagottu Nageshwar
African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) on the decline
- January 24, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
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Key facts Sleeping sickness occurs only in 36 sub-Saharan Africa countries where there are tsetse flies that can transmit the disease. The people most exposed to the tsetse fly and therefore the disease are in rural populations dependent on agriculture, fishing, animal husbandry or hunting. Trypanosoma brucei gambiense (T.b.g.) accounts for 95% of reported cases of sleeping sickness. After continued control [...]
Why Men ‘Exhibit Warrior Tendencies’
- January 23, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
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A new study has looked into how our psychology concerning war and conflict may have been shaped by our evolutionary past. Following a review of current academic literature by psychologists, biologists and anthropologists, the study concludes that men are biologically programmed to be warriors because of our deep ancestral history of inter-tribal war and conflict. Meanwhile, females have evolved a [...]
Inclusive Growth: Two decades of Economic Liberalisation – Pranab Mukherjee
- January 23, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
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Today India has begun playing a global role unlike ever in the past. Our economy had been relatively stagnant during the initial years after India’s independence. Then from the early 1980s the growth rate picked up. It rose further after the economic reforms of the early 1990s. And since 2005 there has been no looking back. The economy grew for [...]
Pioneering Role of Indian Statistical Institute- Pranab Mukherjee
- January 22, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
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The Indian Statistical Institute began its journey as the Statistical Laboratory in Presidency College in 1920s and was later founded as a learned society on December 17, 1931. It has now developed into a massive institution of higher learning. A lamp was lit by Professor Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, the doyen of Indian statistics, in establishing the ISI. The Institution had [...]
Destinies of India and Bangladesh are Interlinked – M. Hamid Ansari
- January 22, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
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The destinies of India and Bangladesh are interlinked. Our people share in great measure a common history, culture, language and tradition. They have co-operated and faced challenges together. Our relationship is rooted in shared values and commitment to secularism, multi-party democracy, social justice and fundamental human freedoms. The landmark visits of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in January 2010 and of [...]
Empowering India: Global Financial Crisis and Emerging Markets- Pranab Mukherjee
- January 22, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
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The world economy is going through turbulent times. The overall recovery from the impact of the global financial crisis has been fragile. The lingering Euro zone sovereign debt crisis has taken its toll and major economies of the world are fighting to get out of a recessionary phase and persistently high levels of unemployment. The complex mix of financial and [...]
Indian Education Needs More Flexibility: Indian American Mathematician – Sourabh Gupta
- January 22, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
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Shortage of top quality mathematicians in India today could be due to lack of flexibility in the education system, feels prize-winning Indian American mathematician Srinivasa Varadhan. “We do produce in India a large number of excellent engineers and doctors. But science today tends to be multi-disciplinary and perhaps our education process for the most part is not flexible enough to [...]
India: Fixed Deposits Of Grain Turn To Gold – Sarada Lahangir
- January 22, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
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Consider what life was like in Kotrakund village located in Boipariguda block of Odisha’s Koraput district. Mukta Pradhani, 40, a widow from this village, had a family land holding that amounted to about two acres of un-irrigated land. Her meagre wages as a farm labourer just could not keep her family of five fed. “Every year, I used to borrow [...]
India: New-Age Moms Struggle To Breast Feed – Rakesh Kumar
- January 22, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
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Dr Smita Dashora, 36, was back to work just five weeks after she delivered a girl in November 2011. She runs an antenatal clinic at Jaipur’s Santokhba Durlabji Memorial Hospital (SDMH) where she offers holistic care to pregnant women. Being a gynaecologist, Dashora knows that a new mother needs to be at home for at least six months to ensure [...]
India: Nutrition Gardens And Seed Banks: Women Farmers Adapt To Climate Change – Aditi Kapoor
- January 22, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
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Innovative measures by women farmers across India are helping several poor families adapt better to climate change and keep hunger at bay. As Sursati from village Janakpur, districtGorakhpurin Uttar Pradesh, explains, “Earlier, we could not produce enough food for a year because our village would get water-logged by the flood waters. Now, using early maturing paddy varieties and organic manure [...]
Minor Hiccups in India-China Relations – Yohannan Chemarapally
- January 22, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
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SINO-INDIAN relations continue to hog the headlines in the establishment media. A motivated section of the Indian media seems to be bending over backwards to vitiate bilateral relations between the two countries. The most recent illustration is the reportage relating to the Indian businessmen facing trial in Chinese courts on charges of cheating and financial skulduggery. A senior Chinese official [...]
Malnutrition of Children – Should The Govt Not Feel Ashamed? – K Hemalata
- January 21, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
- 1 comment
PRIME Minister Manmohan Singh has lamented the high levels of malnutrition among the children in the country and called it a ‘national shame’. It is indeed strange that it took a report of a study by a corporate NGO to rouse the indignation of the prime minister about the unacceptably high child malnutrition in our country. Many earlier reports including [...]
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Kasanagottu Nageshwar
Low employability, particularly in the IT sector, of thousands of engineering graduates hitting the Indian job market every year is prompting academia and industry leaders to make efforts to end the demand-supply mismatch. However the interaction between academics and the IT sector is still not on wide scale nor is it regular even though alarm bells have been ringing for [...]
Every year National Voters’ Day (NVD) is observed on 25th January, a practice that was initiated in 2011 to commemorate the foundation day of the Election Commission of India and also to enhance the participation of the voters, especially the youth, in the democratic process. The Election Commission’s objective behind National Voters’ Day is to increase enrolment of voters, especially [...]
Empowering the Adolescent Girls – Sabla
- January 25, 2012
The world is home to 1.2 billion individuals aged 10-19 years generally known as the phase of ‘Adolescence’. Adolescence is a phase during which major physical and psychological changes take place in children, along with changes in their social perceptions and expectations. Adolescence is also the stage when young people extend their relationships beyond parents and family and are intensely influenced by [...]
Strategies to Enhance Mining Sector
- January 25, 2012
Ministry of Mines is responsible for survey and exploration of all minerals, other than natural gases, petroleum and atomic minerals; mining and metallurgy of non-ferrous metals like aluminium, copper, zinc, lead, gold, nickel etc. and for administration of the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957 in respect of all mines and minerals other than coal, natural gas and [...]
Improving Road Transport
- January 25, 2012
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs) in the country. NHs comprises only 1.7% total road network and carry about 40% of the road traffic. At present, total length of NHs in the country is 71,772 km. About 22 per cent of the total length of National Highways (NHs) is single lane/intermediate [...]
Assistance to Deserted NRI Indian Women
- January 25, 2012
The revised Scheme to provide legal /financial assistance to such Indian women through the Indian Missions/Posts overseas has come into effect from November, 2011. This was launched in February, 2007 to assist the deserted or divorced overseas Indian women. The details of the scheme are available on MOIA’s website “http://moia.gov.in/”.A recent review of the Scheme undertaken by MOIA and the [...]
Kasanagottu Nageshwar
A Robot Which Moves On a Ball
- January 27, 2012
Rezero, a robot that moves on a ball, was unveiled here Wednesday. Crafted by a team of Swiss engineers and designers, the ballbot follows people around and can carry heavy loads with a grace of an ice-skater. Ballbots are robots designed to move on a single sphere instead of wheels. This allows for omnidirectional, organic motion, exceptional agility and manoeuverability [...]
How birds avoid hitting trees
- January 27, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Science-Tech
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Birds don’t have to bother about overcrowded roads, but they do stick to a speed limit to avoid hitting trees or other objects. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) believe their findings could help the military fly unmanned drones as fast as possible without crashing. They looked at birds such as the daredevil northern goshawk and developed mathematical [...]
Madhavan Nair takes on government, says ISRO gone to dogs
- January 27, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Science-Tech
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Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief G. Madhavan Nair Wednesday described as “improper” the move to blacklist four scientists, including him, from a government job and said the space agency had “gone to the dogs”. In a Jan 13 order, the Department of Space barred Nair and three others from holding any government positions over the soured deal between [...]
Smoking, hypertension the biggest killers in Japan
- January 27, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Science-Tech
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Even though the Japanese have the world’s highest life expectancy, smoking and high blood pressure (BP) still remain the biggest health hazards, reveals a study. An analytical study, led by Nayu Ikeda from the University of Tokyo, found that in 2007, tobacco smoking and high BP among adults aged 30 years and above accounted for 129,000 and 104,000 deaths respectively [...]
Infant brains are primed with ‘intuitive physics’
- January 27, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Science-Tech
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The brains of infants come primed with “intuitive physics,” inspite of their seeming helplessness and rounds of eating, crying and sleeping. “We believe that infants are born with expectations about the objects around them, even though that knowledge is a skill that’s never been taught,” said Kristy vanMarle, assistant professor of psychological sciences at the Missouri University’s College of Arts [...]
Key facts Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection. The infection causes flu-like illness, and occasionally develops into a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. The global incidence of dengue has grown dramatically in recent decades. About half of the world’s population is now at risk. Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas. [...]
‘Agneepath’ is Brilliant in its Brutality – Subhash K. Jha
- January 27, 2012
Film: “Agneepath”; Starring: Rishi Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Om Puri; Written and Directed by Karan Malhotra; Rating: **** Long before the damsel in the den Katrina Kaif signs her writhe petition ‘junta ke naam’, the film’s imposing villain and by extension the film, have written their destiny. In bold bloodied letters. E-mail didn’t exist in the 1990s. [...]
Kasanagottu Nageshwar
- January 27, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
IN the context of Swami Vivekananda’s 150th birth anniversary (celebrated on 12 January), it would be pertinent to recall what Sri Aurobindo had said about his contribution to national reawakening: “British rule has been the record success in history in the hypnosis of a nation. It persuaded us to live in a ‘death of the will’, creating in ourselves the [...]
A Robot Which Moves On a Ball
- January 27, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
- no comments
Rezero, a robot that moves on a ball, was unveiled here Wednesday. Crafted by a team of Swiss engineers and designers, the ballbot follows people around and can carry heavy loads with a grace of an ice-skater. Ballbots are robots designed to move on a single sphere instead of wheels. This allows for omnidirectional, organic motion, exceptional agility and manoeuverability [...]
- January 27, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
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Due to easy availability of supplements, about 78 per cent of adolescents in urban centers of India consume at least one dietary supplement such as pills, energy drinks, steroids and high protein supplements, reveals a just concluded survey by apex industry body ASSOCHAM. The statistics are shocking as many children are becoming overly involved and obsessed by a wide variety [...]
Kasanagottu Nageshwar
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Manisha Koirala Is Almost Unrecognizable
- January 28, 2012
We recently spotted the Nepali beauty at Rohit Roy’s bash and for a moment we thought she was the actor’s not-so-good-looking older sister! Seen in a body-hugging black T-shirt teamed with an insipid long grey jacket, Manisha Koirala looked haggard and pale. The wrinkles and double chin showed and the zest to party was clearly missing. If not presentable, this once-upon-a-time bootilicious [...]
Priyanka and other teasers: Poll scene hots up – Amulya Ganguli
- January 28, 2012
Why did Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra jump into the election fray in Uttar Pradesh, breaking her long absence from active politics? Is it to give Rahul Gandhi a helping hand or to let everyone know that she, a one-time favourite of the masses, is also preparing for 2014, the year of the general election? This is one of the teasers which makes [...]
THE Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996 (PESA) was the first to assert the rights of panchayats over minor forest produce (MFP). However, hardly any state implemented the provisions of this act seriously, and the Left and other organisations fighting for tribal rights continuously demanded that forest produce gatherers must be given ownership rights and minimum support prices (MSP) [...]
Schistosomiasis Affects 230 Million Each Year
- January 28, 2012
Key facts Schistosomiasis is a chronic disease caused by parasitic worms. Over 230 million people require treatment for schistosomiasis yearly. The number of people treated for schistosomiasis rose from 12.4 million in 2006 to 33.5 million in 2010. People are at risk of infection due to agricultural, domestic and recreational activities which expose them to infested water. Hygiene and play [...]
India Buys More US Weaponry – D. Raghunandan, Newsclick,
- January 28, 2012
When India rejected the two US contenders for its prestigious and much awaited $10 billion order for medium multi-role combat aircraft, many in the US raised shrill protests that India was not living up to US expectations and gratefully repaying the US for the Indo-US nuclear deal and for helping India break the international nuclear embargo and related impediments in [...]
Indian Steel – The Story of the Growth – Naginder Singh Kishor
- January 28, 2012
Steel in India is an industry that has spurred national development since the very infancy of the IndianRepublic. From supporting the infrastructure development requirements of the nation to aiding growth by catalyzing the economy, its role has been much more than that of a morbid alloy. Despite all the multi pronged development that has been possible because of Steel, its uses have not [...]
Kasanagottu Nageshwar
India International Centre : A meadow of the mind – M Hamid Ansari
- January 29, 2012
Dr. Sarvapelli Radhakrishnan presided over the inaugural ceremony of the India International Centre on January 22, 1962. The stated purpose of the venture, emanating from a pooling of ideas and models from different lands, was for ‘the quickening and deepening of the true and thoughtful understanding between peoples of nations.’ Jawaharlal Nehru, present on the occasion, was realistic enough to accept that ‘the [...]
There was much less of a furore when “The Satanic Verses” was banned in 1988. Some major newspapers even approved of it. The probable reason for endorsing what would now be considered a retrogressive step was that the country was in an uncertain frame of mind at the time. A popular prime minister had been assassinated following the army’s storming [...]
High heels could be bad for your health
- January 29, 2012
While many women may view high heels as a style statement or find them as an essential in their wardrobes, it could actually be proving bad for their health, a study has suggested. A first of its kind scientific study has found that lovers of heels walk markedly different from those with flat shoes and put greater strain on their [...]
Visitors to Goshal village and nine tiny hamlets located in its vicinity in Kullu district have been warned not to make a noise as the ‘gods’ are in deep meditation. Every year, life in these villages – with a population not more than 10,000 – almost comes to a grinding halt for 42 days from Makar Sankranti. The residents stop [...]
Lokpal … What Next? – Dr.Jayaprakash Narayan
- January 29, 2012
The year 2011 ended leaving dissatisfaction all round, and the much-anticipated law creating a strong, independent, high Ombudsman is delayed. Inevitably, there is a lot of blamethrowing and finger-pointing going on. What went wrong, and what can we do to set things right? Even in the best case scenario, it is hard to persuade law makers to create a high [...]
NASA’s Kepler Announces 11 Planetary Systems Hosting 26 Planets
- January 29, 2012
NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, the star. Such systems will help astronomers better understand how planets form. The planets orbit close to their [...]
Kasanagottu Nageshwar
Egypt’s Uprising Continues to be a Work in Progress
- January 30, 2012
Courtesy: Issandr El Amrani , The National There is a dramatic video made by Egyptian activists that has been circulating online lately. In it, actors play the roles of some of the major protagonists of the Egyptian uprising and its aftermath: Hosni Mubarak, the military, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafists, the liberals, and of course the courageous activists who took [...]
Second National Voters’ Day (NVD) will be observed tomorrow, a practice that was initiated last year to commemorate the foundation day of the Election Commission of India and also to enhance the participation of the voters, especially the youth, in the democratic process. The Former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam will grace the second National Voters’ Day function and distribute [...]
The year 2011 ended leaving dissatisfaction all round, and the much-anticipated law creating a strong, independent, high Ombudsman is delayed. Inevitably, there is a lot of blamethrowing and finger-pointing going on. What went wrong, and what can we do to set things right? Even in the best case scenario, it is hard to persuade law makers to create a high [...]
- January 29, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
NASA’s Kepler mission has discovered 11 new planetary systems hosting 26 confirmed planets. These discoveries nearly double the number of verified planets and triple the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits, or passes in front of, the star. Such systems will help astronomers better understand how planets form. The planets orbit close to their [...]
Kasanagottu Nageshwar
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Bizarre case of India versus the Internet – Prasanto K. Roy
- January 31, 2012
It isn’t just one angry Indian against Google and Facebook. Internet freedom is on trial in India! The ham-handed, state-backed censorship of Salman Rushdie at the Jaipur Literary Festival earlier this month grabbed headlines — “The Republic bows before the Mob”. Yet, a far more serious free-speech drama was quietly playing out. It started with Vinay Rai, editor of a [...]
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Pakistan is again going through a crisis. But this time for optimists like me the instability is dynamic. It is dynamic because this kind of struggle between a civilian government and the judiciary can also nudge the country towards a real democracy. In this case the fight is between a principled chief justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry, who is trying to establish [...]
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A vision to end the misery of neglected tropical diseases
- January 31, 2012
WHO lays out vision to end misery of neglected tropical diseases by 2020 The World Health Organization (WHO) today released a roadmap that outlines its goals and objectives for the enhanced control, prevention, elimination and eradication of neglected tropical diseases. Accelerating work to overcome the global impact of neglected tropical diseases – A roadmap for implementation builds on the success of [...]
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Radars will not tell you if it is going to rain tomorrow. However, when something arises on the horizon and that cloud floats to your city, the Polarimetric Doppler radar will be at your service with precise information with estimated rain, storm structure, snow rates etc. The First C-Band Polarimetric Doppler Radar of the country started working in Delhi on January 15th, 2012 i.e. from the 137th Foundation [...]
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- January 30, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
- no comments
Who gained most from Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and what if he had lived a little longer? These questions were posed to leading Gandhians in the Taj city Monday, his death anniversary. Most said it was a huge national tragedy. Gandhiji’s presence after independence would have made a world of difference to India’s politics and governance, they felt. Surely Gandhiji would [...]
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- January 30, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
- no comments
Pointing to a rise in child labour in domestic units, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is seeking to bring households under the ambit of labour laws. India is estimated to have at least 13 million child labourers. “There is growth in child labour, especially in the informal sector, the household units. The child labour law doesn’t [...]
Egypt’s Uprising Continues to be a Work in Progress
- January 30, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
- no comments
Courtesy: Issandr El Amrani , The National There is a dramatic video made by Egyptian activists that has been circulating online lately. In it, actors play the roles of some of the major protagonists of the Egyptian uprising and its aftermath: Hosni Mubarak, the military, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafists, the liberals, and of course the courageous activists who took [...]
- January 30, 2012
- By India Current Affairs
- Features/ Articles, Focus
- no comments
Cancer cells, which kill nearly 12,000 people in the US alone every year and affect more than half a million worldwide, could be eradicated with grape seed extract, reveals a study. The extract creates conditions unfavourable for the cancers’ growth by damaging both their cells’ DNA and stops the pathways that allow repair. “It’s a rather dramatic effect,” said Rajesh [...]