External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has described Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement under government’s Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package under Atma Nirbhar Bharat as “bold initiatives” and noted that freign policy begins at home, hinting at changes soon to foreign policy too. “Foreign Policy begins at home. A strong economy allows our voice to be heard in the world. ...
Read More »Author Archives: Sridhar P
Texas Indian American Engineer faces charges over $10 million fraud PPP loan
An Indian-origin engineer by name Shashank Rai has been charged by Texas prosecutors for fraudulent applications for $10 million loans under the COVID-19 relief program claiming to be for his firm employees. The charges include bank fraud and making false statements to a federal agency. Paycheque Protection Programme (PPP) is an initiative of the federal government to provide emergency help ...
Read More »Reddit study finds peak of public interest in COVID-19 topics in March itself, so is Twitter
Using machine learning to track surges in interest in health topics on popular online comment boards, especially Reddit, a new study conducted during the COVID-19 outbreak by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn Medicine) fund peaks of interest among the public. Such insight could help public health officials better understand and address public ...
Read More »2 billion years ago, Earth had higher oxygen levels, finds new study of ancient rocks in Russia
Earth had far more oxygen levels early in its history than previously thought, which culd have aided setting the stage for the evolution of complex life on it, said a study by scientists at the University of Alberta and the University of Tartu in Estonia. The international team of researchers, led by UA scientists, studied a Russian drill core containing ...
Read More »After Uday Shankar, Farhan Akhtar joins trend to donate PPE kits to Coronavirus frontline warriors
Bollywood actor Farhan Akhtar has donated 1,000 PPE or protective equipment for the Coronavirus frontline warriors in Mumbai, on the lines of many other donors such as Uday Shankar, Chairman of Star and Disney India. PPEs will be extremely helpful during the lockdown that has been caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Since there was a shortage of supply of personal ...
Read More »Climate change familiar to these Chinese 1 million years ago
One million years old early stone tool used by hominins (early humans) has been unearthed by archaeologists in the Nihewan Basin, China which has thrown light on how the early civilizations were able to adapt to climate change and lead a sustainable living. These stone tools show the skills of ancient humans who modified their tool manufacturing behaviour in Eastern ...
Read More »Trailer of Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Paatal Lok’ sizzles many
After building a high buzz around the story line and characters in their their upcoming series, the makers of Amazon Prime’s Paatal Lok recently released the trailer bringing the intensity to the series. From the looks, the series had created a buzz with the social media raving about the characters, actors, story line and the graph of captivating content the ...
Read More »What’s Mars made of ? Japanese study throws light and opens up new study
Since going to Mars, one of our closest terrestrial neighbors, is still very far away, Japanese scientists have tried something on our own planet with simulations and found that the iron-sulfur alloys thought to comprise the core of Mars to reveal details about the planet’s seismic properties for the first time. This information will be compared to observations made by Martian ...
Read More »Move over plain helium, Pionic helium is here
A helium atom in which one of the two electrons has been replaced by a negative pion gives out a composite particle made of one quark and one antiquark. Exotic atoms can help physicists to make exquisitely precise measurements of the fundamental constants of nature, such as the size of the proton. Pionic helium is the latest addition to a ...
Read More »Covid-19 Impact on Farmers: Time to re-orient returned migrants and make rural economy vibrant again
By Dr. S. Naresh Kumar / Dr. Om Prakash / Jitender Kumar Gupta The Covid-19 epidemic is spreading rapidly across the country and the number of patients infected with corona virus is increasing. India has done a great job so far in keeping these numbers low, relative to other countries. However, the indirect impact of this infection is on the ...
Read More »Styrene chemical leak turns worst nightmare for 5,000 villagers near Vizag, death toll at 11 so far
Eleven people were killed in Visakhapatnam (Vizag) styrene gas leak tragedy that shook the coastal city in Andhra Pradesh in India during the wee hours on Thursday between 02:30 to 03:00 AM. More than 1,000 people who live in villages surrounding the factory have been shifted to hospitals in the city of Vizag and a massive hunt is on for ...
Read More »Arogya Setu app team refutes ethical hacker’s claim on ‘security issue’
Following a tweet by ethical hacker and French cybersecurity expert under the alias “Elliot Alderson” claiming that there is a “security issue” within the Aarogya Setu app developed by the National Informatics Centre, a part of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the developers refuted the allegations over security or privacy concerns of 9 crore people who are using ...
Read More »India to undertake biggest evacuation of citizens stranded abroad amid coronavirus pandemic
India is preparing the ground for what is billed as the biggest evacuation of its citizens, millions of them, stranded in several countries abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic beginning with the registration forms being opened online onTuesday, May 5, on their respective Indian embassy website. Once the information is collected, India’s flag carrier Air India is ready to screen ...
Read More »India coronavirus cases reach 42,533 as of Sunday, May 3
So far, a total of 42,533 confirmed coronavirus cases have been reported in India, an increase of 2,553 has been noted in the last 24 hours, while the number of recovery stood at 11,706. The current rate of recovery rate is 27.52%, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family ...
Read More »DRDO develops UV Disinfection Tower to ward off coronavirus aerosols
India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an Ultra Violet (UV) Disinfection Tower for rapid and chemical free disinfection of high infection prone areas as coronavirus is continuing its spread in the country with more than 42,000 affected already. The equipment named UV blaster is a UV based area sanitiser designed and developed by Laser Science & Technology ...
Read More »Bollywood stars perform for ‘I FOR India’ concert online, raise Rs.3.75 cr
The online concert ‘I for India’, organized to raise funds for those affected by the coronavirus pandemic in India, has brought together both Hollywood and Bollywood stars to perform from their homes and engage their viewers across the continents. The benefit reportedly raised Rs. 3.75 crore ($496,025). Lakhs of people on Sunday watched more than 70 of the country’s biggest ...
Read More »Aamir Khan, A R Rahman, Aishwairya Rai Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, Russell Peters join for ‘I FOR INDIA’ concert to help fight COVID-19
Bollywood actors Aamir Khan, A R Rahman, Aishwairya Rai Bachchan, Alia Bhatt, filmmaker Zoya Akhtar are all set to be a part of a fundraiser concert, I For India, of which, the entire proceeds would go to the India COVID Response Fund managed by GiveIndia, to support on-ground relief efforts. The vision for the concert by leaders from the entertainment ...
Read More »AstraZeneca UK to produce vaccine after tie-up with Oxford University
AstraZeneca Plc agreed to make an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University researchers as the race for vaccine heats up. In India, the Serum Institute, the world’s largest maker of vaccines by volume, has already started producing millions of doses of the Oxford University shot and it remains to be seen whether market share will be entered at a ...
Read More »India ramps up hydroxychloroquine production, exports 50 mln tablets to US
India has ramped up its exports of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) amidst demand from the US and Europe as it is being touted one of the treatment drugs for coronavirus, though severalside-effects have been noticed over its usage among patients. After allowing 60 drug makers in Uttarakhand to produce HCQ, an Indian source with direct knowledge of the exports said 50 million ...
Read More »Is North Korea leader Kim Jong-un really dead? No!
Reports are going viral speculating not merely the post-surgery complications of North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un but hints from medical quarters that he passed away are going viral with no reaction from the official quarters of Pyongyang. The news of his successor are equally attracting the world attention. Associated Press has brought them to a halt showcasing a train ...
Read More »