News

By recognising the transgender community as a third gender entitled to the same rights and constitutional protection as all other citizens, the Supreme Court has put in place a sound basis to end discrimination based on gender, especially gender as presumed to be assigned to individuals at birth. Further, beyond prohibiting discrimination and harassment, the Court has extended global principles of dignity, freedom and autonomy to this unfairly marginalised and vulnerable community. The verdict lays down a comprehensive framework that takes into its fold not merely the negative right against discrimination, but also “the positive right to make decisions about their lives, to express themselves and to choose which activities to take part in.” In particular, its direction that they should be treated as ‘socially and educationally backward’ and given reservation in education and employment, is a far-reaching contribution to their all-round development. The jurisprudential basis for the jud...

The Election Commission drew attention to Section 126A of the Representation of the People’s Act which bars media from publishing outcome of exit polls. Taking exception to the telecast/publication of `opinion polls’ on the general election in States and Union territories where polling has already concluded, the Election Commission has cautioned the media to desist from the practice to “maintain a level playing field.” In a communication address to all Chief Editors/Heads of television channels and print media, the Commission drew attention to Section 126A of the Representation of the People’s Act (RPA) which bars media from publishing outcome of exit polls. In a communication, the EC referred to the opinion poll broadcast by a TV channel on April 14 and said it included results of 111 Lok Sabha constituencies where balloting has taken place, which "in effect becomes dissemination of result of exit polls in respect of the said constituencies." "The prohibited period f...

Whenever the caste issue is raised, it is alleged that it is a nefarious design to divide an otherwise united Hindu community, and a problem that is internal to it. How is it a ‘Hindu problem’ when Islam, Christianity and Sikhism in India are equally bedevilled by it? What then did you expect when you unbound the gag that had muted those black mouths? That they would chant your praises? Did you think that when those heads that our fathers had forcibly bowed down to the ground were raised again, you would find adoration in their eyes? Jean-Paul Sartre

I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. No, fans of "The Graduate," the word isn't "plastics." It's "graphene."

Stem cells culled from bone marrow may prove beneficial in stroke recovery, scientists say. Scientists at University of California — Irvine’s Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center identified 46 studies that examined the use of mesenchymal stromal cells — a type of multipotent adult stem cells mostly processed from bone marrow — in animal models of stroke. They found MSCs to be significantly better than control therapy in 44 of the studies. The effects of these cells on functional recovery were robust regardless of the dosage, the time the MSCs were administered relative to stroke onset or the method of administration. The cells helped even if given a month after the event and whether introduced directly into the brain or injected via a blood vessel. “Stroke remains a major cause of disability, and we are encouraged that the preclinical evidence shows [MSCs’] efficacy with ischemic stroke,” said neurologist Dr Steven Cramer, clinic...

he Election Commission’s order banning two political leaders from addressing public meetings and rallies for their divisive and inflammatory speeches during the ongoing election campaign sends out a strong message to those who seek to exploit communal sentiments for electoral gains. Such resolute action is bound to find resonance with a vast majority of the people. For the past few weeks, the

  Demonstrating the function of the flare rack that carries silver iodide for cloud-seeding through an aircraft.  Water is essential for life on the earth. Precipitation from the skies is the only source for it. India and the rest of Asia are dependent on the monsoons for rains. While the South West Monsoon is the main source for India as a whole, Tamil Nadu and coastal areas of South Andhra Pradesh get the benefit of the North East Monsoon, which is just a less dependable beat on the reversal of the South West Monsoon winds.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin with Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh.    India and China will on Monday afternoon hold the sixth round of their strategic dialogue, with the talks expected to lay the groundwork for a series of high-level engagements between the two countries set to take place in coming months following the Lok Sabha elections.

The U.N.’s expert panel on climate change on Sunday highlighted the disconnect between international goals to fight global warming and what is being done to attain them. Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases must drop by 40—70 per cent by 2050 to keep the global temperature rise below the 2—degree C (3.6—degree F) cap set in U.N. climate talks, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. The opposite is happening now. On average global emissions rose by 2.2 percent or 1 gigaton a year between 2000 and 2010, outpacing growth in previous decades to reach “unprecedented levels” despite some efforts to contain them, the IPCC said. “There is a clear message from science- To avoid dangerous interference with the climate system, we need to move away from business as usual,” said Ottmar Edenhofer, one of three co-chairs of the IPCC working group looking at ways to fight climate change. The panel didn’t get into w...

Number of deaths may shoot up to 1.2 million by 2035” Every year nearly one million new cancer cases are diagnosed in India, the prevalence being 2.5 million. With mortalities of 6,00,000-7,00,000 a year, cancer causes six per cent of all adult

On April 4, India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) marked its 25th consecutive successful mission by lofting the second spacecraft required for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has given its starkest warning of the likely impact of climate change. The IPCC’s

Maritime Silk Route emphasises on improving connectivity but more importantly, it aspires to improve China’s geo-strategic position in the world China is experiencing a “Deng Xiaoping Moment 2.0.” The new Chinese leadership

Indian deltas are sinking, and no, it is not because of sea level rise. “Humans are sinking deltas four times faster than the sea level is rising,” says American professor of oceanography and geology at the University of Colorado, James Syvitski. A proliferation of large dams that starve deltas of sediment, groundwater mining that causes land compaction, and artificial levees that affect river courses, have been responsible for the subsiding of major Indian deltas including Ganga-Brahmaputra, Krishna-Godavari, Brahmani and Mahanadi, Prof. Syvitski demonstrated in his lecture ‘The Peril of Deltas on the Indian Subcontinent: Welcome to the Anthropocene,’ at the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme held here recently. “The Krishna delta is perhaps the worst off because large dams are preventing almost any of the river’s sediments from reaching it,” he later told The Hindu. In a research paper co-authored by Professor Syvitski and published ...

The paintings were done by prehistoric man with white kaolin Rock art showing bulls with humps and without humps, deer, line drawings of a human being and jungle fowl and men celebrating perhaps after a successful hunt or a cattle raid have been found in two rock shelters in Tamil Nadu. Prehistoric man did them with white kaolin. While one group of paintings can be dated to the Iron Age (circa 1500 BCE to circa 500 BCE), the second one may belong to the early historic age (circa fifth century BCE to circa third century CE). P. Balamurugan, research scholar, Department of History, Pondicherry University, discovered them in March. He found them on the right bank of the river Vaigai, near Arugaveli village, seven km east of Mayiladumparai, in the Kadamalaikundu region of Andipatti taluk, Theni district. The two rock shelters are in different locations on a small hill, forming part of the Western Ghats. K. Rajan, Professor of History, Pondicherry University, said the two rock shelters...