on 28-Sep-2020 (Mon)

Importers will have to do their due diligence from Monday to ensure that imported goods meet the prescribed ‘rules of origin’ provisions for availing concessional rate of customs duty under free trade agreements (FTAs), the Finance Ministry said.

Ministry sources said the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) FTA allows imports of most items at nil or concessional basic customs duty from the 10-nation bloc. Major imports to India come from five ASEAN countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.

The benefit of concessional customs duty rate applies only if an ASEAN member country is the country of origin of goods.

This means that goods originating from China and routed through these countries will not be eligible for customs duty concessions under the ASEAN FTA.

CAROTAR 2020 supplements the existing operational certification procedures prescribed under different trade agreements.

The entry of private service providers brought with it the inevitable need for independent regulation. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was, thus, established with effect from 20th February 1997 by an Act of Parliament, called the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997, to regulate telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central Government.

The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000, establishing a Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI. TDSAT was set up to adjudicate any dispute between a licensor and a licensee, between two or more service providers, between a service provider and a group of consumers, and to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction, decision or order of TRAI.

Telecom regulator TRAI on Friday issued a fresh set of rules for publication and advertisement of tariff plans by telcos, in a bid to boost transparency in mobile offers and to help subscribers make informed decisions.

The consumer-oriented move assumes significance as telecom subscribers often grapple with issues such as lack of information, unclear or hard to find plan details — a situation that affects subscribers’ ability to make proper choices.

Tightening the rules for telcos, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday issued directions on tariff publication and tariff advertisements

State-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI), which runs more than 100 airports and has been a cash-rich entity that pays a dividend to the government, will likely be in the red at the end of the current fiscal, the government told Parliament.

The government had ordered AAI to pay its entire profit after tax (PAT) as dividend to it from FY18, raising it from 30% of PAT it used to pay earlier. This was despite AAI’s own financial requirement for maintenance and expansion of airports. According to its last annual report, it paid ₹1,780 crore to the government in FY18.

UAE has announced the operations of Barakah nuclear power plant. It is the UAE’s first nuclear reactor that has achieved criticality. The plant is located in the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi. It was built by a consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation.

Favipiravir is the only oral anti-viral treatment approved in India for the potential treatment of patients with mild to moderate Covid-19 disease.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has announced the introduction of FluGuard (Favipiravir 200 mg) at a price of ₹35 per tablet, for the treatment of mild to moderate cases of Covid-19 in India.

There’s a widespread impression that the new Consumer Protection Act will only regulate the operations of the legacy e-commerce players Amazon and Flipkart. However, that’s a misconception as the new law brings the entire B2C online sector strictly within its ambit, said a top official at the Ministry of Consumer Affairs.

“The Consumer Protection Act has already kicked in, but many online service providers still want to believe they are outside its scope,” said the official on condition of anonymity. “All kinds of B2C online services, irrespective of their size and reach, all mobile app-based services and all businesses running on social media platforms, will come within the bill’s purview.

Simply put, e-pharmacies, e-tutoring, e-groceries, e-taxis, e-bikes, e-food chains, online air, rail, bus ticketing services, online hotel or tour booking platforms, e-payment services, e-deliveries, e-buying and selling platforms, OTT services, app stores, websites of FMCG companies and also ventures that run on Facebook, WhatApp, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. will come within the ambit of the new legislation. rule.

As per RBI’s extant Basel III guidelines, if a bank holds a debt instrument directly, it would have to allocate lower capital as compared to holding the same debt instrument through a mutual fund (MF)/exchange traded fund (ETF).

State-owned Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on Friday said it has slashed its base rate by 0.10% to 9.35%.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday set up an expert committee under veteran banker K.V. Kamath to suggest financial parameters for resolution of coronavirus-related stressed assets.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday constituted the proposed expert committee under the chairmanship of veteran banker K.V. Kamath to make recommendations on norms for the resolution of COVID-19 related stressed loans.

The other members of the committee include Diwakar Gupta (effective September 1, 2020, after completion of his term as vice-president, ADB), T.N. Manoharan (effective August 14, 2020, after the completion of his term as chairman, Canara Bank), Ashvin Parekh, strategy advisor, and Sunil Mehta, CEO of Indian Banks’ Association, as the member-secretary. The committee will submit its recommendations on the financial parameters to the RBI, which in turn, will notify the same along with modifications, if any, in 30 days.

The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) will function as the secretariat to the committee and the committee will be fully empowered to consult or invite any person it deems fit.

Sun spots are relatively cooler spots on the Sun’s surface. Their number waxes and wanes in cycles that last 11 years approximately. We are currently at the minimum of one such cycle. Amidst claims that the Sun would “go silent” and not give out sunspots for an extended period, a group from IISER Kolkata has shown that the next sunspot cycle has begun and the Sun has indeed spoken. Their results were published in Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society.

Sunspots occur in pairs, with a leader and a follower. They originate deep within the Sun and become visible when they pop out. Their number is not constant but shows a minimum and then rises up to a maximum and then falls again in what is called the solar cycle. So far, astronomers have documented 24 such cycles, the last one ended in 2019.

Maunder minimum

Why is this so important to us on earth? After all the sunspots look small and are hardly even visible to us. Contrary to this, sunspot activity may be correlated with climate on earth. In the period between 1645 and 1715, sun spot activity had come to a halt on the Sun – a phenomenon referred to as the Maunder minimum.

Created with polyurethane and silicon dioxide nanoparticles, the coating can be easily spin-coated on steel

Fascinated by the beauty of water rolling off a lotus leaf, a team of chemical engineers has now created a similar superhydrophobic coating that can be used to save steel from rusting.

The team from the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, and Ohio State University used polyurethane and silicon dioxide nanoparticles to create the coating which can be easily spin-coated on steel.

“Not just steel, the coating can be done on other metallic surfaces, such as aluminum, copper, brass. We have also successfully developed superhydrophobic coatings for glass, cloth, paper and wood,”

The time is right for OneHealth science

A small trial (Nix-TB) undertaken at three sites in South Africa to test the safety and efficacy of three oral drugs — bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid — in 109 patients (57 males and 56 females were HIV positive) with extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) and multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) showed encouraging results — treatment success rate was 90%. The favourable results held true regardless of the HIV status of the patients.

“This study shows that XDR tuberculosis and complicated MDR tuberculosis can be treated with a regimen consisting of three oral agents for 26 weeks,” the authors write. The results of the study were published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

TIFR study reveals role of glucose in regulating liver functions, ageing

Now, working on a different angle, the group has discovered that glucose controls the functions of a protein SIRT1 which in turn maintains everyday feed-fast cycles and is also associated with longevity. “In normal healthy individuals, SIRT1 protein levels are known to increase during fasting and decrease during feed, which is essential to maintain a balance between glucose and fat metabolism,” says Prof Kolthur-Seetharam.

In recent times, there has been a lot of interest among primatologists in studying object handling and tool-use in non-human primates such as apes and chimpanzees. A study from IISER Mohali has looked into how long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis umbrosus) in Greater Nicobar Island handle objects and use tools to simplify their efforts.

Fish fossil show how fins evolved into human hands

Palaeontologists, including those from Flinders University in Australia, said the fish specimen has yielded the missing evolutionary link in the transition from fish to four legged animals.

They said this happened during the Late Devonian period, millions of years ago, as fish began to foray in habitats such as shallow water and land.

A tool to detect diabetic retinopathy has been developed by Google and an international team of researchers

From diagnostics to drug development, artificial intelligence (AI) today has become a valuable extension of the medical field. A new addition to its long list of uses is a hi-tech screening tool developed by Google and an international team of researchers for detecting diabetic retinopathy a diabetic complication in the eye.

“Beyond diabetic retinopathy we are also working on a number of other research projects using AI to tackle healthcare problems. Earlier this year, we showed in a research paper that AI models can help detect breast cancer in mammography images more accurately than doctors. Our research is still in the early stages, but it shows that AI can be a path forward to improve screenings for breast cancer and boost the chances of survival.”

Lettuce grown in space as nutritious as ones on Earth: NASA

Ability to repair

A paper recently published in Development shows that a protein named PLETHORA (PLT), which encodes stem cell promoting factors, helps in the regeneration of the vascular system at the site of injury. This protein binds to and activates the expression of another gene (CUC2). These two together increase the production of a plant growth hormone called auxin at the wound site. The combination of these proteins and hormones gives the plant the ability to repair wounds.

“Though it was known that plants communicate within their different parts and with other plants during injury, not much was known about how they handle the injury. Though we carried out the initial studies on the roadside mustard plant, we noticed similar results when tested the using rice PLT protein too,” he adds.

It was seen that the injury healed not just at the surface but the veins regenerated too. “There was proliferation of the epithelial cells to seal the wounds and also functional restoration of tissue cells. The vein regeneration is very essential as transport of food, hormone, water, happens through it and any disruption may further hinder the plant growth,” explains Dhanya Radhakrishnan, PhD scholar and first author of the paper from IISER-Tvm.

Another interesting find was that these two proteins did not play any role in the general development of vascular system but stepped into action only during its injury.

With over 4,00,000 deaths in 2018, according to the WHO, malaria still remains one of the biggest killer infections globally, concentrated mainly in Africa and India. The disease is caused by the parasite Plasmodium and transmitted by the Anopheles mosquito.

The team found that two large protein complexes (condensins) called SMC2 and SMC4 played essential roles in the parasite proliferation.

Prof. Tewari adds in a release: “This malaria parasite is very adaptable. Even if you kill it in the human bloodstream, some of these sex cells taken in by the mosquito during a bite can develop and multiply further in the mosquito. Over time, it [the parasite] has adapted to survive and multiply using different modes, which is why it is difficult to control the disease.”

• Established under UNIDO in 1983, the ICGEB is a unique, autonomous, Intergovernmental Organisation, with biotech labs in Italy, India, and South Africa.

Researchers from National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, and SASTRA University, Thanjavur, have discovered how small molecules called microRNAs are made in plants. This finding makes it much easier for studying processes in plants. MicroRNAs are small molecules, about 21 nucleotides long, and help in controlling the levels of proteins in the cell. The research was published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.

In order to decrease the level of a particular protein in specific cells, the microRNAs destroy the messenger RNA molecules that help with the production of that specific protein in the cell. The microRNA molecules do this by cutting down that particular messenger RNA thereby destroying it. This process is called the silencing of the messenger RNA. The microRNA that achieve this silencing are evolutionarily conserved – that is, they are found in all flowering plants, whether they are mosses or roses.

On February 11, the WHO announced COVID-19 as the name for the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The “CO” in COVID stands corona, while “VI” is for virus and “D” for disease. The number 19 stands for the year 2019 when the outbreak was first identified.

The WHO and the Study Group use two very different criteria and approaches while deciding the names. The WHO arrives at the name of a new disease by following the May 2015 guidelines. According to the guidelines, the disease name should not include geographic locations and people’s names as this can be stigmatising. Also, names of animals such as swine flu should be avoided as this leads to confusion. The guidelines also say that it should avoid “terms that incite undue fear” while choosing a name.

The Study Group adopts a “scientific approach” while naming a new coronavirus. Based on whole genome sequence shared by China and other countries, scientists have confirmed that the novel virus belongs to the same species as the one that caused the SARS epidemic, which is called SARS-related coronavirus.

Jupiter was likely the first planet to form, and it contains most of the gas and dust that wasn’t incorporated into the Sun, finds scientists

Water makes up about 0.25% of the molecules in Jupiter’s atmosphere along its equator — almost three times that of the Sun, according to a study based on data from NASA’s Juno mission launched in 2011. The study, published in the journal Nature Astronomy on Tuesday, provided the first findings on the gas giant’s abundance of water since the space agency’s 1995 Galileo mission.

As The Hindu reported on February 17, SUTRA-PIC or ‘Scientific Utilisation Through Research Augmentation-Prime Products from Indigenous Cows’, has five themes: “Uniqueness of Indigenous Cows, Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Medicine and Health, Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Agricultural Applications, Prime-products from Indigenous Cows for Food and Nutrition, Prime-products from Indigenous Cows-based Utility Items”, according to a concept note on the DST website.

Scientists with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) created a machine learning computer model looking for chemical features that make molecules effective at killing E. coli.

US researchers used an artificial intelligence algorithm to identify a powerful new antibiotic compound, which could kill many of the world’s most problematic disease-causing bacteria in lab tests.

Himalayan wolves, also called as Tibetan wolves, which live at more than 4,000 metres altitudes are genetically distinct from grey wolves, according to a study published in the Journal of Biogeography

Interestingly, unlike the grey wolves that inhabit the lower elevations the Himalayan wolves showed clear hypoxia adaptation. The admixed wolves had a mixture of genes belonging to Himalayan wolves and grey wolves but always carried the Himalayan wolf hypoxia adaptation.

In the past five years, the Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), India’s first interplanetary endeavour, helped India’s space agency prepare a Martian Atlas based on the images provided by the orbiter.

Looking at the mounds at the Harappan site of Rakhigarhi, where locals dry cow dung cakes and dump garbage, there is little to show the thousands of years of history beneath. But the Centre is moving ahead with its plan to develop the site as a tourist hub and set up a museum, and this has got residents in two villages in Haryana’s Hisar district — Rakhi Khas and Rakhi Shahpur — known as Rakhigarhi worried.

He said that all five archaeological sites mentioned in the Budget – Rakhigarhi, Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh, Shivsagar in Assam, Dholavira in Gujarat and Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu – would be developed into “iconic sites” simultaneously.

The astronomer said it was a “big deal” as “this is just the second asteroid known to orbit Earth [after 2006 RH120, which was also discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey].”

Earth has acquired a second “mini-moon” about the size of a car, according to astronomers who spotted the object circling our planet.

The mass — roughly 1.9-3.5 metres (6-11 feet) in diameter —

Only 15% R&D workforce are women: President Kovind

Black holes don’t just draw matter in. They also blast out jets of material and energy.

Astronomers used NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory to make the discovery, along with a European space observatory and ground telescopes. They believe the explosion came from the heart of the Ophiuchus cluster of thousands of galaxies — a large galaxy at the center contains a colossal black hole.

Black holes don’t just draw matter in. They also blast out jets of material and energy.

Scientists reported on Thursday that the blast came from a black hole in a cluster of galaxies 390 million light-years away.

The explosion was so large it carved out a crater in the hot gas that could hold 15 Milky Ways, said lead author Simona Giacintucci of the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington.

Incineration is a way to treat waste through controlled burning. Waste is shredded and heated to over 1025 degree Celsius in a furnace Incineration has several benefits.

The process has mainly three by-products:

1) Pavers bricks

Incineration is a way to treat waste through controlled burning. Waste is shredded and heated to over 1025 degree Celsius in a furnace Incineration has several benefits.

The process has mainly three by-products:

1) Pavers bricks

One tonne of incinerated waste will yield 20-30 kg of ash which can be converted into paved bricks. One tonne of waste will yield 60 kg of bricks

2) Fly ash with carbon

Fly ash with O.1% to 0.2% carbon content and weighing 2 kg will be produced by a tonne of waste. The fly ash can be used in agriculture.

3) Activated carbon

Approximately one kg of activated carbon will be produced in the plant. This can be used in sewage treatment, metal extraction, gold purification and medicine.

The incineration process doesn't use external fuel. The passage of exhaust is through a pollution control unit which releases only water vapour into the atmosphere. It reduces level of groundwater pollution in residential areas near dump yards.

We have shown that there is a lot of plasticity within the spinal cord. We now know that even after the brain has issued the command for a movement, changing the properties of motor neurons can alter the final behavioural outcome,” says Prof. Thirumalai.

reflexive behaviour called optomotor response in freely swimming zebrafish larvae. They were able to pinpoint how speed was controlled during this behaviour at the level of single nerve cells.

Such alternative definitions of arrow of time are needed, for example, in cosmology to explain cosmological models like the oscillating universe. According to this model, the universe, which we know to be expanding, will reach a maximum size and then start contracting once again due to gravity. In such a contracting phase, entropy may actually decrease. If this happens, it will mean the arrow of time defined using entropy will reverse, and that sounds physically impossible

Oscillating universe

“The second law of thermodynamics encounters difficulties in explaining cosmological arrow of time for oscillating universe. However, energy transfers can predict the arrow of time for the collapsing universe,” says Prof. Verma.

In a gravitating system, such as the collapsing universe, cluster or star formation is somewhat similar to the formation of cyclones or hurricanes. “[In contrast to the example of coffee] here the energy flows from small scales to large scales. For such systems, the clustering or structure formation is in the forward direction of time,” he adds in explanation.

According to the scientists, including those from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US, a seawater current called the Beaufort Gyre keeps the polar environment in balance by storing fresh water near the surface of the Arctic ocean.

According to the scientists, including those from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US, a seawater current called the Beaufort Gyre keeps the polar environment in balance by storing fresh water near the surface of the Arctic ocean.

The Sun's surface, imagined to be like a sprouting volcano, is indeed entirely “turbulent ‘boiling’ plasma”. This discovery was announced yesterday by researchers who captured photographs of the Sun’s surface with unprecedented detail using the Daniel K. Inouye Solar (DKIS) Telescope in Maui, Hawaii.

While the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) prescribes a maximum residual level (MRL) for some of the organophosphate pesticides used, it does not prescribe it for some other pesticides used in the cultivation of fruit and vegetables.

Progressive damage modelling (PDM) methods, which in general employ failure criteria for predicting damage initiation, and evolution laws for damage propagation, have been developed and widely used by the research community to predict failure in composite materials [1–3].