Agriculture: Arsenic accumulation in rice grains is one of the serious agricultural issues in India. To address this, researchers at Lucknow-based CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute have developed transgenic rice by inserting a novel fungal gene, which results in reduced arsenic accumulation in rice grain. This was achieved by cloning Arsenic methyltransferase (WaarsM) gene from a […]

Appointments: Tanzanian national Joyce Msuya was appointed as acting Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) following the resignation of the executive director Erik Solheim. Solheim had quit in wake of internal audit report accused of rule-breaking UNEP. The report has accused him of gobbling up $500,000 in unnecessary and budgeted travel expenses in […]

Appointments: The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF appointed Millie Bobby Brown, the star of hit Netflix series “Stranger Things”, as its youngest ever goodwill ambassador on Tuesday and the 14-year-old had a message for world leaders: “Listen to us.” The appointment – marked on World Children’s Day at United Nations Headquarters and the Empire State […]

Business: The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the IIM Calcutta Innovation Park to help facilitate incubation of start-ups. The Innovation Park will incubate and handhold the start-ups, and provide them with training and mentorship.IIM-Calcutta Innovation Park is a not-for-profit company and is currently incubating 40 start-ups. Day of […]

Accidents_Roads/India_States: In a move to combat the rise in road accidents, drivers caught speeding, talking on the phone and jumping a signal could have their licences confiscated for a minimum of three months in Maharashtra. The Additional Director General (Traffic) has issued a directive to all police units in the state to take strict action […]

Appointments: Jalaj Srivastava, a 1984 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has been appointed the chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). Banking: The cumulative losses of the State-owned banks widened nearly three-and-a-half times to Rs.14,716.2 crore in the July-September quarter of the current fiscal. This loss is due to the mounting of […]

Health & Hygiene: The Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) will celebrate the World Toilet Day tomorrow with mass awareness and mobilization activities across States and districts. The focus is on usage of toilets, which is closely linked to the Prime Minister’s call for a Swachh Bharat by October 2019. India_States: Three people were killed and 20 […]

Awards: Dr Saroj Suman Gulati has been conferred with the coveted Global Education Leaders Award 2018 by His Highness Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan (member of the Cabinet and Minister of State for Tolerance) UAE. The award has been conferred on Dr Gulati in recognition of her exemplary contribution to ‘K-12 education and promotion of […]

Day of Observation: on 16 November, the international community celebrates the International Day for Tolerance with activities that target both educational institutions and the general public. In 1995, to mark the United Nations Year for Tolerance and the 125th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, UNESCO created Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of […]