Mepco bill

What is ‘healthocide’?

representational image only | Photo Credit: AP In a remarkable addition to Kerala’s biodiversity records, researchers from the Shadpada Entomology Research Lab at Christ College (Autonomous), Irinjalakuda, Thrissur, have identified nine species of solitary bees from the subfamily Nomiinae (Hymenoptera: Halictidae) – all documented for the first time in Kerala. Unlike the social honeybees that … Read more

Palestinians pray over the bodies of journalists, including Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohamed Qreiqeh, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike, during their funeral outside Gaza City’s Shifa hospital complex, Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. | Photo Credit: Jehad Alshrafi/AP An Israeli strike on Al Jazeera staff in a tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in … Read more

Every monsoon, a quiet menace surges across India’s waterways, turning glistening rivers, backwaters and lakes into green deserts. This threat is the water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), an innocuous-looking aquatic plant which has delicate lilac flowers that belies its destructive power. Nowhere is its impact more pervasive than in Kerala — a State renowned for its … Read more

Image used for representation purpose only. | Photo Credit: The Hindu First made-in-India semiconductor chip will be launched in the market by the end of this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday (August 15, 2025). Independence Day LIVE Addressing the nation on the 79th Independence Day, Mr. Modi said that six semiconductor units … Read more

The model of Gaganyaan crew module, spacecraft that will carry a crew of three astronauts into orbit and back to Earth. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu India is working towards becoming self-reliant in the space sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday (August 15, 2025).  “The nation is proud of our space sector, … Read more

A day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel intends to take full control of the Gaza Strip, the country’s security cabinet, on August 8, approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City. Israel then stepped up its bombardment. While Israel continues to pound one of Palestine’s non-contiguous regions — Gaza — and … Read more

Since Independence, India has drawn on science and technology as key pillars of the nation-building process. The vision of its first leaders, but especially Jawaharlal Nehru, was to foster a rational temper among the populace, empowering citizens not only to adopt technological advancements but also to imbue everyday life and national development with evidence-based reasoning … Read more

Since Independence, India has drawn on science and technology as key pillars of the nation-building process. The vision of its first leaders, but especially Jawaharlal Nehru, was to foster a rational temper among the populace, empowering citizens not only to adopt technological advancements but also to imbue everyday life and national development with evidence-based reasoning … Read more

This article forms a part of the Data Point newsletter curated by The Hindu’s Data team. To get the newsletter in your inbox, subscribe here Welcome back, data enthusiasts! On August 11, the Supreme Court issued a directive asking for all stray dogs in Delhi to immediately be captured and put into shelters. The SC on … Read more

Watch: How many stray dogs are there in India? No one knows

On August 15, 1950, India was celebrating its Independence Day. The mood was upbeat throughout the country. Just as celebrations were winding down for the day, a great disaster struck. At around 7:30 pm, an earthquake of magnitude 8.6 — the strongest ever recorded on land — jolted the country’s Northeast and some neighbouring areas … Read more

Elephants roam in Tsavo West National Park near Voi town in Taita-Taveta County, Kenya, August 7, 2025. | Photo Credit: AP For farmers in the Taita hills in southern Kenya, elephants are a menace: they raid crops and will occasionally injure or even kill people. Farmer Richard Shika, 68, has had some close encounters. “One … Read more

The Supreme Court on Monday directed authorities to remove all stray dogs from Delhi-NCR localities | Photo Credit: Swastika Rajput On August 11, the Supreme Court directed the Delhi government and local bodies to immediately capture stray dogs and put them in shelters. The Court was hearing a suo motu case on the increasing instances … Read more

Migrant workers arrive at Bengaluru city railway station from Eastern states. The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Bihar has raised concerns about possible disenfranchisement of migrant voters. Bihar, along with Uttar Pradesh, is a key source of outmigrants, and people from these two States are relocating in large numbers. This mobility … Read more

Bread stored in the refrigerator often goes stale faster. | Photo Credit: Charles Chen/Unsplash When bread becomes stale, it loses its soft, fresh texture and becomes dry and hard. As it happens, this isn’t just because it dries out. Staling is mainly caused by a process called starch retrogradation. When bread is baked, the heat … Read more

Science Quiz: Overturned ideas in the history of science Visual: In the mediaeval era, astronomers defended the geocentric model of the universe using the idea of epicycles and Z, shown here as the smaller and larger dashed circles, respectively. Name Z. START THE QUIZ 1 / 6 | In the mediaeval era, astronomers defended the … Read more

Can you weigh an elephant before and after it picks up a one-rupee coin, and tell the difference?  You can if the measurement is precise. To detect a 4-gram coin on a 4-tonne creature, the scales must come with a resolution of at least 1 part per million (ppm). Precise measurements such as these routinely … Read more

Prof Arnab Bhattacharya, Prof Ajit Kembhavi, Chief guest Prof Ajay Kumar Sood, Prof Aniket Sule during the opening ceremony of 18th International Olymopiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on August 12, 2025. | Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI India is ensuring that technology is the priority for Viksit Bharat, … Read more

The Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) on Tuesday announced the selection of the PixxelSpace India-led consortium to design, build, and operate India’s first fully indigenous commercial earth observation (EO) satellite constellation under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. The Bengaluru-based PixxelSpace India consortium comprises Piersight Space, Satsure Analytics India, and Dhruva Space. IN-SPACe … Read more

(1) Flash floods in Uttarkashi kill at least 4, with 43 still missing Flash floods triggered due to heavy rainfall pulverized the village of Dharali in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand. At least 4 people have been killed and 43 people are still missing as of August 12, 2025. Around 1,308 people have been rescued … Read more

File photo of Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. | Photo Credit: PTI The Union Cabinet has approved four new semiconductor projects worth ₹4,594 crore, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday (August 12, 2025). Mr. Vaishnaw said “Semiconductors are a foundational, strategic industry without which no country can count … Read more

NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore en route to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 on June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Florida, ahead of their lift0off on the Boeing Starliner capsule. | Photo Credit: AP One of NASA’s two astronauts who piloted the ill-fated Boeing Starliner crew capsule has retired … Read more

Watch: Elector deletions after SIR in Bihar: Many problematic questions emerge: Data Point

The specific components of the immune response in a human body that protect against a dengue virus (DENV) infection and the subsequent illness remain unclear. Scientists are still trying to understand how natural infection and vaccination protect people so that they can develop better vaccines. Now, a novel study has revealed important insights into developing … Read more

Clockwise from top-left: nearly defect-free 2D square array with 2,024 atoms; 2D pattern of the letters ‘USTC’ with 723 atoms; trilayer cuboid array with 1,077 atoms; trilayer twisted graphene structure with 752 atoms. | Photo Credit: arxiv:2412.14647 Quantum computing holds the promise to revolutionise science and technology by solving problems currently beyond the limits of … Read more

Over the last two years, India’s private sector banks have been expanding their physical presence. The two biggest lenders — HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank — opened 3,284 and 1,341 branches, respectively, between 2022 and 2024. Both lenders also increased their workforce, adding 40,305 and 9,204 employees in FY 2024, respectively. In FY25, however, HDFC … Read more

What are emotions, really? And why do we have them? Simply put, emotions are intangible responses to what we see happening around us. They arise spontaneously, without conscious thought. Emotions allowed early humans to efficiently dodge dangers as they explored the world around them. While the world and our lives in it are very different … Read more

C.P. Radhakrishnan, Governor of Maharashtra, presenting an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science to V.Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO, at the 21st SRM Institute of Science & Technology Convocation on August 10, 2025. | Photo Credit: Ragu R. After marking a humble beginning in the Indian space programme with a tiny rocket supplied by the United States, … Read more

An aerial view shows the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in August 2023. The tanks contain treated radioactive wastewater the facility has been slowly releasing into the Pacific Ocean. | Photo Credit: Reuters Most monitoring of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant’s release of tritiated wastewater has thus far focused on local coastal waters. No … Read more