Mepco bill

A large share of women’s work takes the form of unpaid household labour, which does not count as employment in official statistics | Photo Credit: M A SRIRAM The female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) measures the share of women who are either employed or actively seeking work. A higher FLFPR is often seen as … Read more

Women-led development has been recognised as a structural game-changer for advancing India’s economic ambitions, yet its full potential remains under-leveraged. Nowhere is harnessing this potential more urgently than in the agriculture sector, the backbone of India’s economy and the largest employer of its women. Despite their growing presence on farms, women’s contributions remain systematically unremunerative. … Read more

The west coast of India, nestled between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats, has long been a melting pot of diverse human populations. Over centuries, it has witnessed the movement of various West Eurasian groups — including the Portuguese, Middle Easterners, Jews, Parsees and Christian missionaries. Now, scientists at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular & … Read more

Andre Geim remains the sole scientist to have won both an Ig Nobel prize and a Nobel Prize. | Photo Credit: Bengt Oberger (CC BY-SA) Recent reports stated that two Indian scientists had received Ig Nobel prize in the Engineering Design category in 2025. We know of the Nobel Prizes but the Ig Nobels?  As … Read more

Watch: Is climate change driving people out of the Sunderbans?

Daily Quiz | On Jane Goodall Visual Question: What was the name of this plush monkey that was a constant companion to Goodall for many years? START THE QUIZ 1 / 8 | Name the facility on the banks of Lake Tanganyika which was the location of her famous long-term study of chimpanzees? 2 / … Read more

India’s digital transformation has revolutionised communication, education, commerce, and governance. From smartphones to smart homes, convenience has become the cornerstone of contemporary urban living. Yet, beneath this technological leap lies a growing environmental and public health catastrophe: electronic waste (e-waste). E-waste, the fastest-growing solid waste stream globally, is now one of India’s most pressing yet … Read more

The vortex is the liquid’s way of balancing rotation, pressure, and gravity. | Photo Credit: TPMotion/pixabay When you stir liquid in a tumbler, you are forcing it to spin in circles. For anything to move in a circle, it needs an inward pull. In a liquid, this inward pull comes from pressure differences: the pressure … Read more

The SARAL tool, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation’s CEO Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, said would help generate lay person summaries of complex scientific research. Photo: X/@ANRFIndia As part of its outreach to make scientific research more accessible, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), India’s newest science funding agency, has developed a tool called SARAL (Simplified and Automated … Read more

Jane Goodall, a primatologist and ethologist known worldwide for chronicling the life of chimpanzees in East Africa, died on October 1 at the age of 91. Goodall died of natural causes in Los Angeles while on a speaking tour of the U.S., a statement from the Jane Goodall Institute said.  Goodall’s films and books reshaped … Read more

Scientist and global activist Jane Goodall, who turned her childhood love of primates into a lifelong quest for protecting the environment, died on Wednesday (October 1, 2025) at 91, the institute she founded said. Dr. Goodall died of natural causes, the Jane Goodall Institute said in a social media post. “Dr. Goodall’s discoveries as an … Read more

Cartilaginous fish like sharks, among many vertebrate animals, have an orifice called the cloaca from which they excrete urine and faeces. | Photo Credit: Gerald Schömbs/Unsplash The transition from fins to limbs is one of the most important events in vertebrate evolution. It explains how animals that once lived in water eventually walked on land. … Read more

Cartilaginous fish like sharks, among many vertebrate animals, have an orifice called the cloaca from which they excrete urine and faeces. | Photo Credit: Gerald Schömbs/Unsplash The transition from fins to limbs is one of the most important events in vertebrate evolution. It explains how animals that once lived in water eventually walked on land. … Read more

Trader businessman searching on smartphone, analyzing in dynamic stock exchange investment | Photo Credit: NanoStockk At a time when foreign investors have been pulling money out of the Indian stock market, domestic investors have kept it afloat with their steady contributions. Data show that this trend has persisted for some time now. But who are … Read more

Smoke billows from an abandoned house set on fire by miscreants in the violence-hit Manipur, in Imphal on August 5, 2023. Manipur reported over 6,200 cases of arson in 2023 — a dramatic surge from fewer than 30 cases annually in each of the previous five years. The State alone accounted for 45% of all … Read more

A laboratory technician collects river water samples to test for faecal coliform bacteria from the Ganges river in Varanasi on March 5. | Photo Credit: Getty Images The story so far: Pathogens (usually bacteria and viruses) that cause diseases in humans and animals, can be tracked in samples taken from the environment, for example, by … Read more

An infographic featuring the outer regions of the heliosphere based on data from the Voyager spacecraft. | Photo Credit: NASA/JPL Space isn’t empty. The sun issues a continuous stream of charged particles called the solar wind, which create a vast region around our solar system called the heliosphere. This region acts like a protective bubble … Read more

(1) Ladakh statehood protest turns violent Protests demanding statehood and constitutional safeguards for Ladakh turned violent on Thursday (September 25, 2025) when protesters clashed with the police. The next day, Sonam Wangchuk, the activist spearheading the movement, was arrested under provisions of the National Security Act. This marks a downturn in the talks between the … Read more

Geoengineering is a hotly contested topic both among scientists and policymakers. While some call it an innovative solution that could buy a warming world some time, others believe it’s a reckless cop out that could further environmental exploitation. A new study, led by University of Exeter geoscience professor Martin Siegert, has now tipped the balance … Read more

Identity has been a central part of Ladakh’s journey, from being part of Jammu & Kashmir, to attaining Union Territory status in 2019, and now to witnessing widespread demands for Statehood. Ladakh shows a stark duality in its religious and linguistic makeup. As of 2025, it comprises seven districts, though before the Jammu & Kashmir … Read more

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras explained the universe using the ‘Music of the Spheres’, orbs on which celestial objects moved in consonance with mathematical harmonies to create a cosmic symphony of sorts. Today, astronomers are treated to this ethereal ‘music’ every time they eavesdrop on the universe using radio telescopes to unravel its mysteries. The bass … Read more

Secretary to Centre’s Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying Narendra Pal Gangwar, NDDB Chairman Meenesh C.Shah and IIL MD K. Anand Kumar at the vaccine launch. | Photo Credit: Arrangement Indian Immunologicals (IIL) has launched India’s first indigenously developed glycoprotein E (gE) deleted DIVA marker vaccine against infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR). The vaccine named Raksha-IBR … Read more