President Pranab Mukherjee receives highest civilian award of Ivory Coast
June 15, 2016 President Pranab Mukherjee has been presented National Order of the Republic of Ivory Coast, the highest civilian award of the West African country. The award was bestowed upon Pranab Mukherjee during his two days visit to Ivory Coast on the second leg of his three-nation African tour. With this, Mr Mukherjee’s became the first Indian President to visit Ivory Coast. He was invited by Ivory Coast
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Australian Great Barrier Reef rodent: first mammal species wiped out by human-induced climate change
June 15, 2016 Australian Great Barrier Reef rodent (also known as Bramble Cay melomys) has become the first mammal species driven to extinction by human-induced climate change. It was revealed after researchers in extensive survey (searches) failed to find a single specimen from its only known habitat on a sandy island in far northern Australia. The extensive survey in the hope of conserving the species was conducted by
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Union Government Launches Scheme for setting up 1000 MW CTU - connected Wind Power Project
June 15, 2016 The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched a scheme for setting up of 1000 Mega Watt (MW) Wind Power Project connected to transmission network of Central Transmission Utility (CTU). The objective of the scheme is to facilitate supply of wind power to the non-windy states at a price discovered through transparent bidding process. Key Facts The Scheme will
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Peter Thomson elected as President of 71st session of United Nations General Assembly
June 15, 2016 Fijian diplomat Peter Thomson has been elected as President of 71st session of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). In the secret ballot election for the post, Peter Thomson defeated Andreas Mavroyiannis of Cyprus by 94 to 90 votes, with one abstention. With this, Peter Thomson becomes the first representative from the Pacific island states to get elected for the largely honorific post in
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Direct investment abroad by India Inc up 48% in May at $2.7 billion
MUMBAI: Direct investments by Indian firms overseas increased by 48.2 per cent year-on-year to $2.69 billion in May, according to the RBI data. They had invested $1.82 billion in their overseas ventures in same month of last year. However, the overseas direct investment in May was much lower than $4.11 billion in April this year. The investments by the Indian companies were a mix of issuance of guarantees ($1.95 billion), loans (365.93 million) and equity ($383.71
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In A First, NASA Spacecraft Spots Single Methane Leak On Earth
WASHINGTON: For the first time, an instrument onboard an orbiting NASA spacecraft has measured the methane emissions from a single, specific leaking facility on the Earth's surface, the US space agency has said. The observation -- by the Hyperion spectrometer on NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) -- is an important breakthrough in our ability to eventually measure and monitor emissions of this potent greenhouse
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Maria Sharapova Appeals Two-Year Doping Ban to Court of Arbitration for Sport
Laussane: Russian superstar Maria Sharapova has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against her two-year doping ban, CAS confirmed on Tuesday. The 29-year-old tested positive for the controversial banned medication meldonium during January's Australian Open. The ban, announced by the International Tennis Federation last week, is backdated to January 26 this year, when she tested positive for the
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El Salvador Confirms First Zika-Linked Birth Defect
The infant was born in April, link to Zika virus proved 'short while ago'. Over 10,000 cases of Zika have been recorded in South America since Nov. Microcephaly is a birth defect that causes abnormally small heads. El Salvador on Tuesday confirmed its first case of microcephaly in a baby that was linked to a Zika infection in the mother. Microcephaly is a birth defect that causes an abnormally small head and deformed
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Nissan to develop ethanol-based fuel cell technology by 2020
TOKYO: Nissan Motor Co said on Tuesday it was developing fuel cell vehicle (FCV) technology using ethanol as a hydrogen source in what would be an industry first, and planned to commercialise its system in 2020 as part of efforts to develop cleaner cars. The Japanese company said using ethanol, produced from crops including sugar cane and corn, to generate hydrogen-based electricity inside vehicles would be cheaper than fuel cell technology developed separately
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India, Ghana To Enhance Security And Defence Ties To Combat Terror
ACCRA: Terming international terrorism as a scourge which is a threat to the world, India and Ghana today agreed for greater security and defence cooperation to combat terror. The Joint Statement issued by the two sides said that while India has been a victim of cross-border terrorism for a long time, Ghana is situated in an increasingly volatile region. "International terrorism is a scourge, and is a threat to the entire civilised world.
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Life's first handshake: Chiral molecule detected in interstellar space
A team of scientists using highly sensitive radio telescopes has discovered the first complex organic chiral molecule in interstellar space. The molecule, propylene oxide (CH3CHOCH2), was found near the center of our Galaxy in an enormous star-forming cloud of dust and gas known as Sagittarius B2.Scientists applaud the first detection of a "handed" molecule, (propylene oxide) in interstellar space. It was detected, primarily
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IN A FIRST, ISRO TO LAUNCH 20 SATELLITES ON JUNE 20
Cartosat-2 Series Satellite -The Cartosat-2 series satellite is the primary satellite carried by PSLV-C34. This satellite is similar to the earlier Cartosat-2, 2A and 2B. After its injection into a 505 km polar Sun Synchronous Orbit by PSLV-C34, the satellite will be brought to operational configuration following which it will begin providing regular remote sensing services using Panchromatic and Multispectral cameras.The
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World Elder Abuse Awareness Day observed
15 June: World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day was observed globally on 15 June 2016. The day is observed to voice against abuse and suffering inflicted on older people. On this day, number of events is held across the globe to raise awareness of elder abuse and highlight ways to challenge such abuse.
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Jupiter-like planet, Kepler-1647b, orbiting two stars discovered
Scientists have discovered a Jupiter-like planet, Kepler-1647b, orbiting a system of two stars, making it the largest such cosmic body ever found. The planet Kepler-1647b, located in the constellation Cygnus, was discovered by astronomers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre and San Diego State University (SDSU) in the US. Researchers said that the Kepler-1647 is 3700 light-years away and about 4.4 billion
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DNA shaping up to be ideal framework for rationally designed nanostructures
DNA shaping up to be ideal framework for rationally designed nanostructures: Shaped DNA frames that precisely link nanoparticles into different structures offer a platform for designing functional nanomaterials
Nanoparticles (yellow balls) capped with short single-stranded DNA (blue squiggly lines) are mixed with polyhedral DNA frames (from top to bottom): cube, octahedron, elongated square bipyramid, prism, and
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Nano 'hall of mirrors' causes molecules to mix with light
When a molecule emits a blink of light, it doesn't expect it to ever come back. However researchers have now managed to place single molecules in such a tiny optical cavity that emitted photons, or particles of light, return to the molecule before they have properly left. The energy oscillates back and forth between light and molecule, resulting in a complete mixing of the two.Previous attempts to mix molecules with light have been
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Shaping atomically thin materials in suspended structures
dding a mechanical degree of freedom to the electrical and optical properties of atomically thin materials can provide an excellent platform to investigate various optoelectrical physics and devices with mechanical motion interaction. The large scale fabrication of such atomically thin materials with suspended structures, remains a challenge. Led by Associate Prof. Toshiaki Kato, the team has used a bottom-up approach to demonstrate wafer-
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Miniature scaffolding could support fight against superbugs: Carbon nanodots can graft molecules, making them more effective antimicrobials
Tiny molecular scaffolding that joins molecules together could be the key to our battle against antibiotic resistance. Research published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters shows that carbon nanodot scaffolding assembled with small molecules called polyamines can kill some dangerous drug-resistant bacteria, including Acinetobacter baumanii and Klebsiella pneumonia. According to the World Health
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X-ray snapshot of butterfly wings reveals underlying physics of color
"Over millions of years, butterflies have evolved sophisticated cellular mechanisms to grow brightly colored structures, normally for the purpose of camouflage as well as mating," says Oleg Shpyrko, an associate professor of physics at UC San Diego, who headed the research effort. "It's been known for a century that the wings of these beautiful creatures contain what are called photonic crystals, which can reflect light of only
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The use of nanoparticles and bioremediation to decontaminate polluted soils
Soils affected by organochlorine compounds are very difficult to decontaminate. Among these organochlorine compounds feature some insecticides mainly used to control insect pests, such as DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, endosulfan, hexachlorocyclohexane, toxaphene, chlordecone, mirex, etc. It is a well-known fact that the use of many of these insecticides is currently banned owing to their
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Flipkart, Intel launch laptop campaign ‘Lap it Up!’
New Delhi, Jun 15 (UNI) Aiming to avail easy access of the latest range of laptops and technology, the leading e-commerce portal Flipkart in collaboration with Intel today launched a ‘Lap it Up!’ sale event. The event has been organised to focus on tier II and III cities across the country. Adarsh K Menon, vice president, Electronic and Auto, Flipkart said, “Today, close to 50 per cent of our
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Symantec to buy Blue Coat Systems for $4.65 bn
Symantec Corp. agreed to buy Blue Coat Systems Inc. in a $4.65 billion deal that will give the computer-security company a new portfolio of cyberdefense technologies along with a new chief executive. Blue Coat Chief Executive Greg Clark is set to take that role at Symantec after the deal closes, which is expected to occur before October. Symantec has been searching for a new CEO
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India's wholesale prices up 0.79 percent year-on-year in May
India's wholesale prices rose a faster-than-expected 0.79 percent in May from a year earlier, mainly driven by higher food prices, government data showed on Tuesday. The data compared with a 0.42 percent annual rise forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. In April, prices rose a provisional 0.34 percent, their first gain in 18 months.Wholesale food prices last month rose 7.88 percent year-on-
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McCartney's Wings' guitarist Henry McCullough passes away
Henry McCullough, who played guitar in Paul McCartney's band Wings, passed away on Tuesday.
He was 72. His LIVE music agent Nigel Martyn said McCullough died after a long illness. He said the guitarist never fully recovered from a severe heart attack suffered four years ago. McCullough played with the Grease Band with Joe Cocker at Woodstock, and worked at various times with
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With all-women crew, INS Mhadei sails into Mauritius
In a historic feat, Indian Navy's INS Mhadei sailed into Port Louis in Mauritius on Tuesday, after the successful completion of her maiden ocean voyage, with an all-women crew. The sailing vessel Mhadei had set sail from Goa port on 24th May. The 2100 Nautical miles voyage was covered by
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RBI eases guidelines for lenders
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) relaxed guidelines for lenders restructuring large stressed loans, in a move that could allow banks to more effectively manage bad loans. Under a new 'Scheme for Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets' (S4A), RBI allowed banks to take equity in debt laden firms permitting them to split total loans of struggling companies into sustainable and unsustainable
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All online purchases to attract GST, says law
All purchases made online will attract a uniform Goods and Services Tax , likely to take effect from April next year, according to the model Goods and Services Tax (GST) law approved by state finance ministers on Tuesday. The tax, in lieu of local levies, will be imposed at the first point of financial transaction. This clears the air on applicability of GST in e-commerce in cases where
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Mumbai girls rule the pool in state water-polo tourney
Spearheaded by Mahima Moses, Mumbai girls put up dazzling show while beating Amravati 9-4 in the girls water-polo final in the 43rd Maharashtra State Junior water-polo Championships held at the Goregaon Sports Club. Mahima scored four of the nine goals to be adjudged the best girls player of the tournament.
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Glenfiddich India appoints Thinkstr and PPR South Asia as its agency partners
Glenfiddich, the world’s most awarded single malt Scotch whisky, has chosen Thinkstr and PPR South Asia as its agency partners in India. Thinksr will handle the creative mandate along with PPR South Asia that will manage the communications campaigns for Glenfiddich. Commenting on the appointment, Shweta Jain, Head of Marketing at William Grant & Sons said, “It’s exciting times for
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PCB rubbishes Danish Kaneria's discrimination claims
Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board has rubbished claims by banned Test leg-spinner Danish Kaneria that he was discriminated against by the board because he is a Hindu. The PCB’s media director Amjad Hussain Bhatti reminded Kaneria that he had played 61 Tests for Pakistan. “If he was discriminated against at any time because of his religion he would not have played even one
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Apple announces Swift Playgrounds for iPad
Apple wants to bring many more people into coding; this is their solution. The app incorporates lessons and challenges -- it is very much a teaching tool, technology website 9to5mac.com said. The free Swift Playgrounds will be available in the App Store and a developer preview was released on Monday.The code appears on the left with a preview on the right. Apple has made several
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RBI launches inflation expectations survey across 18 cities
"The survey seeks qualitative responses from households on price changes (general prices as well as prices of specific product groups) in the next three months as well as in the next one year and quantitative responses on current, three- month ahead and one-year ahead inflation rates," the RBI said. The RBI, which factors in inflation while arriving at monetary decision, said the results of the survey provide useful policy information.
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IISc, 4 IITs among Asia's top 50 varsities: QS rankings
IISc, which is placed 33rd this year, had emerged as the top Indian institute last year as well when it was ranked 34th. IIT-Mumbai has been ranked 35th, closely followed by IIT-Delhi (36th), IIT-Madras (43rd) and IIT-Kanpur (48th). IIT-Kharagpur was placed 51st and two other IITs -- Roorkee (78) and Guwahati (94) -- made it to the top 100. Delhi University (DU), which had got
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represent India at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum
The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan will be visiting St Petersburg, Russia from 16-17 June 2016 to represent India at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). SPIEF is an annual international conference dedicated to economic and business issues. It attracts over thousands of participants, including political and
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1st Meeting of National Committee on Ramayana Circuit & Krishna Circuit under Swadesh Darshan Scheme held
The “1st Meeting of National Committee on Ramayan Circuit and National Committee on Krishna Circuit” under Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism held under the chairmanship of the Minister of Tourism & Culture Dr. Mahesh Sharma here today. Secretary, M/o Tourism Shri Vinod Zutshi, experts and senior officers of M/o Tourism were present. Presentations were made
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Ministry of Railways Signs JV Agreement with Government of Odisha
Ministry of Railways signed a Joint Venture Agreement with Govt. of Odisha today i.e. 14.06.2016. Shri A K Mittal, Member Engineering, Railway Board presided over the signing function. The agreement was signed by Shri V. P Dudeja, ED/Works on behalf of Ministry of Railways and Shri Sanjay Rastogi, Pr. Secretary/ Transport, Govt. of Odisha. This is a very important step for
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Government Sanctions Rs. 164 Crore for Rajasthan, Rs. 156 Crore for Telangana for Compensatory Afforestation
The Centre today sanctioned Rs. 164 crore for Rajasthan and Rs. 156 crore for Telangana, following a meeting on Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) with the two States, here today. Speaking after chairing the meeting, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar, said
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Conservation and Preservation of Lakes in Bengaluru ‘24x7 Monitoring of All Sewage Treatment Plants’: Javadekar
Government Approves Series of Measures for Conservation and Preservation of Lakes in Bengaluru ‘24x7 Monitoring of All Sewage Treatment Plants’: Javadekar.
The Government has approved a series of measures for the abatement of pollution and for the conservation and preservation of lakes in Bengaluru. The decision was taken at a meeting jointly
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Decanter World Wine Awards 2016 results: Winners revealed
See which of the 16,000 wines entered into the Decanter World Wine Awards 2016 has scooped one of the 31 coveted 'platinum - best in show' awards, plus all of the medal winners. Wines from Chile and France led the field in the most prestigious category of the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2016, taking six and nine of the ‘platinum – best in show‘ medals. Out of nearly 16,000
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Rod Stewart knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
Rocker Rod Stewart has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in her annual Birthday Honors List, which also included recognition for astronaut Tim Peake and “Downton Abbey” star Penelope Wilton. Stewart, the raspy-voiced singer of “Maggie May,” “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” and “Some Guys have All the Luck,” was honored in Friday’s list “for services to music and charity.” The 71-
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Prime Focus Technologies Salutes Its PromaxBDA India Award Winners
Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology arm of Prime Focus, is proud to congratulate its clients such as Star India, Novi Digital (Hotstar), Epic and Turner India for winning a total of 16 awards for projects that PFT worked on (10 Golds and 6 Silvers) at the recently concluded PromaxBDA India Awards 2016. Across the world, PromaxBDA Awards stand for marketing
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Ozhivudivasathe Kali adjudged best film in Kerala State Film Awards 2015
It is a day in the life of five friends from different backgrounds who meet in a resort deep in the remote forest to spend a off day. They have only one aim - to enjoy life for a day far from the hassles. So they drink and get into heated discussions on everything from politics to caste and the male attitude towards women. The presence of a female aggravates the situation further. To end
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LG PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD 2014 BHUVNESHWAR KUMAR
India fast bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar has won this year’s LG People’s Choice Award. He now becomes only the fourth cricketer to win this coveted prize after Sachin Tendulkar, who was the first-ever recipient in 2010, Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara, who won it in 2011 and 2012, and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who won it last year. Other nominees for this year’s LG
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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated Child Labour Tracking System
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on 12 June 2016 inaugurated Child Labour Tracking System (CLTS). The system was launched to keep a track of rescued child labour for their proper rehabilitation. Besides, CM Nitish Kumar also announced that he had in principle accepted the Charter of Demands submitted by the rescued child labour. A committee headed by Chief
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Jupiter-like planet, Kepler-1647b, orbiting two stars discovered
Scientists have discovered a Jupiter-like planet, Kepler-1647b, orbiting a system of two stars, making it the largest such cosmic body ever found. The planet Kepler-1647b, located in the constellation Cygnus, was discovered by astronomers from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre and San Diego State University (SDSU) in the US. Researchers said that the Kepler-1647 is 3700
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Is the appointment of Parliamentary Secretary unconstitutional?
Delhi is not the only State where the post of Parliamentary Secretary has been challenged. Various High Court judgments in the past have deemed the appointment of Parliamentary Secretaries unconstitutional and have ruled against such appointments. On Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reacted strongly to the President’s rejection of proposed legislation by the Delhi government to exempt the post
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Govt. rejects offer of medical colleges
Minister of State for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil said the government is exploring all options and a decision would be taken in the next four days. The offer by 12 medical colleges to part with 85 per cent of their total seats (1,500) on the condition that the fee be Rs. 4 lakh per seat per year has been rejected outright by the State government. Sources in the Medical Education
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Andhra Pradesh to start Internet-based phone service
Andhra Pradesh is perhaps the first State to have obtained a telecom licence and it can issue phone numbers starting with the ‘797’ series from August this year! It indirectly got the opportunity to start an internet based telephone service ‘without requiring any further registration’ after it obtained permission from the Telecom Ministry for starting its own IPTV — Internet Protocol based
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Avian brains packed with neurons: Study
Scientists have long been baffled by the smarts displayed by some birds with tiny brains. But a new explanation may turn the term “bird brain” on its head: Birds have more densely packed neurons in their brains than other animals, contributing to cognitive ability on pa