Cracks in paint coatings could soon become a thing of the past. In a new study, researchers from the Raman Research Institute (RRI) in Bengaluru have found a way to delay the onset of cracks after studying them in great detail. As playful as this sounds, the technique has potential applications in diagnosing diseases and … Read more
The NVS-02 navigation satellite in Sriharikota. | Photo Credit: ANI The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been unable to perform the intended orbit raising operations for the NVS-02 satellite due to a valve malfunction. The NVS-02, the second satellite in the NVS series, was launched by the ISRO on January 29 as part of … Read more
Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore ahead of the first crewed flight test of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft. | Photo Credit: PTI/File photo NASA has affirmed a plan it set last year to work with Elon Musk’s SpaceX in returning two astronauts from the International Space Station, saying it will do so “as soon as practical,” … Read more
Donald Trump has tasked Space X CEO Elon Musk to bring back stranded astronauts home from ISS. File | Photo Credit: Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday (January 28, 2025) said that he has tasked Elon Musk and SpaceX to bring back stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore home from the International … Read more
The return capsule containing a sample collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is seen shortly after touching down in the desert at the Department of Defense’s Utah Test and Training Range in Dugway, U.S., September 24, 2023. | Photo Credit: NASA/Reuters Rock and dust samples retrieved by NASA from … Read more
You’ve seen these crown bottle caps, haven’t you? A type of bottle cap that has almost become indispensable and are found in bottles across the globe, the crown bottle cap, though small, played a big role in revolutionising the bottling industry. American inventor William Painter was the head behind these crowns. William Painter | Photo … Read more
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a ₹20,000 crore ‘Nuclear Energy Mission’ to develop indigenous Small Modular Reactors (SMR). File | Photo Credit: The Hindu Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a ₹20,000 crore ‘Nuclear Energy Mission’ to develop indigenous Small Modular Reactors (SMR). The Budget proposes that at least five of these reactors will be operationalised … Read more
Prevalence of underweight children was more rural schools, while obese children were from urban schools A genetic study of childhood obesity in about 6,400 school-going children aged 9-18 years has found that socioeconomic status significantly modulates the inherent genetic susceptibility to obesity. Unlike in the case of adult obesity, genetic studies to understand obesity in … Read more
A worker fumigating a private building surroundings to control mosquitoes and to prevent spread of dengue, in Bengaluru A study that looked at dengue deaths and meteorological conditions in Pune during the period 2004 to 2015 using both statistical tools and machine learning methods found that temperature, rainfall, and relative humidity were associated with increased … Read more
Traditional approaches to prostate cancer screening involve blood tests, MRI, and biopsies. However, in addition to being uncomfortable, some of these procedures result in overdiagnosis of low-grade cancers. In a new study, researchers at the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have clinically validated a previously developed urine test, which can potentially bypass these invasive procedures among … Read more
Unlike land mammals, dolphins and other marine mammals have limited olfactory capabilities — their sense of smell is largely nonfunctional in aquatic environments. Researchers have therefore speculated that dolphins have other ways of sensing their surroundings and detecting food. A recent study has discovered that juvenile bottlenose dolphins have specialised receptors for detecting the fatty … Read more
Union Budget 2025: What’s in it for the energy sector? | Video Credit: The Hindu A look at what the Union Budget 2025 had in store for renewable energy, solar power and nuclear energy. Video: Sabika Syed Editing: Tayyab Hussain Published – February 01, 2025 08:41 pm IST
The share of allocation to IITs in FY26 remained the same as the revised estimates in FY25. | Photo Credit: VELANKANNI RAJ B In FY26, the government is expected to spend ₹50,077.95 crores on higher education. The allocation increased by ₹3,595.6 crore, when compared with the revised estimates for the year FY25. While the allocation … Read more
PLI schemes were introduced by the government to reduce India’s import dependence, attract investments and provide a filip to the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative Funding for the various production linked incentive schemes (PLI) has more than doubled in the recent Union Budget 2025-26 underscoring the importance for the manufacturing sector and the government’s push for making … Read more
Under India’s EV mission, the country aims to incentivise electric vehicles as an alternative to fossil fuels in transportation Schemes promoting electric mobility (e mobility) in India have got a renewed push in the Union Budget 2025-26 with a funding increase of over 20% compared to last year. Collective allocation for such schemes has risen … Read more
For income taxpayers, the ‘nil tax’ slab was increased to Rs 12 lakh in the Union Budget 2025. Despite announcing that no income tax needs to be paid up to an income of Rs 12 lakh under the new regime, the government is still expecting the share of income tax in gross tax collections to … Read more
The IndiaAI mission got the highest increase in allocation Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2025, unveiling the eighteenth Cabinet’s plans for funding the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various fields. Allocations for all schemes related to AI have seen significant increases since the previous Union Budget. In her 8th Budget … Read more
Currently, four VVER 1,000-MWe reactors are being built at the KKNPP site. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Boosting state’s power distribution and opening the nuclear power sector was announced by Union Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her eighth Budget speech on Saturday (February 1, 2025). She announced incentivisation of distribution reforms to help the financial … Read more
The Deepseek logo is seen in this illustration taken on January 29, 2025. | Photo Credit: Reuters China-based startup DeepSeek’s latest AI models, primarily the DeepSeek-R1 reasoning model, has caused a stir in the world of Large Language Models (LLMs) which has been dominated by giants like OpenAI. Apart from being on par with OpenAI’s … Read more
Questions: 1. On January 30, 1982, computer programmer Richard Skrenta wrote the world’s first computer virus that ‘escaped’ to other networks. Among other things, the virus would display a poem about itself every 50th time a programme containing it was run. Name the virus. 2. What was the first virus of the original IBM Personal … Read more
New Delhi: Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman chairs the eighth pre-budget consultation in New Delhi, on Jan. 6, 2025. With Budget FY2025-26 scheduled to be presented on February 1, here is a look at some of the recently launched schemes, older schemes with significantly reduced funding, schemes under the Production Linked … Read more
Axiom Mission 4 crew clockwise: Commander Peggy Whitson, Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewsk, and Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu. Photo: X/@Axiom_Space Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will be the pilot of the upcoming Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA and its international partners announced on Thursday (January 30, 2025) … Read more
New Delhi: Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman chairs the eighth pre-budget consultation in New Delhi, on Jan. 6, 2025. With Budget FY2025-26 scheduled to be presented on February 1, here is a look at some of the recently launched schemes, older schemes with significantly reduced funding, schemes under the Production Linked … Read more
Members of a rapid response team collecting ducks from a farm in Alappuzha for culling following a bird flu outbreak. An awareness programme on menstruation in Bengaluru. Under a very high magnification of 12000X, this scanning electron micrograph shows a large grouping of Salmonella bacteria. Two European regulators said they were tracking variants of the … Read more
Stubble burning solution: Chennai students win IIT Kharagpur award | Video Credit: The Hindu Every November, Delhi chokes under a blanket of smog. There are many reasons for why this happens. One is the much discussed and debated stubble burning in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana. Farmers have taken to using alternative varieties … Read more
Data Point: R Ashwin’s achievements | Video Credit: The Hindu A colossus in Indian cricket, Ravichandran Ashwin, has called it quits in international cricket after a stellar career on the last day of the third Test match between Australia and India in Brisbane. The match had petered out to a draw but Ashwin’s abrupt decision … Read more
Mourners in Nuseirat on December 16, 2024 pray in front of the body of Al Jazeera journalist Ahmad Baker Al-Louh, who was killed along with Civil Defence members in an Israeli strike the day before. | Photo Credit: AFP As many as 757 journalists and media workers have been killed worldwide since 2015, as of … Read more
Layer of smog seen over Kartavya Path, Delhi. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma The air quality in Delhi nosedived to hazardous levels on December 16, triggering the Central Air Quality Management (CAQM) in National Capital Region (NCR) and the adjoining areas to reimpose the Stage-IV restrictions under its Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). When … Read more
For many low-and middle-income countries, remittances act as a major source of income. In 2024, India received an estimated $129.1 billion worth of remittances, the highest ever for a country in any year. Moreover, India’s share in global remittances was 14.3% this year, the highest such share since the turn of the millennium for any … Read more
Sci-Five | The Hindu Science Quiz: On Clean Energy Wind turbines dot the coastline along a giant solar farm near Weifang in eastern China’s Shandong province on March 22, 2024. START THE QUIZ 1 / 5 | Which of the following is a benefit of renewable energy? Produces zero greenhouse gas emissions Requires fewer natural … Read more