MAPPING LIFE: GENOME INDIA PROJECT
Details: The Genome India Project, a collaboration of 20 institutions including the Indian Institute of Science and some IITs, will enable new efficiencies in medicine, agriculture and the life sciences. Uses would be in personalised medicine, anticipating diseases and modulating treatment according to the genome of patients. If propensities to disease can be mapped to […]
CAT CONUNDRUM
Why in news? Recently court accepted the plea and ordered the introduction of Cheetahs from Namibia to India, after they became extinct way back in 1947 Backgrounder The same court observed in its 2013 order restraining the Environment Ministry from importing African cheetahs into Kuno, Madhya Pradesh, that there are many seriously threatened Indian species […]
TEST OF GREEN BUILDINGS LIE IN OPTIMISING RESOURCE AND ENERGY USE
‘Green’ and ‘Sustainable construction’ have evolved from a fringe movement to achieving mainstream status The ‘Green’ industry has turned the ideology from being ‘a way of life’ to a mere marketing tool There is no doubt that buildings contribute to over 40 per cent of all carbon emissions in the world and therefore, must be […]
THE HIGH COST OF RAISING TRADE WALLS
Finance Minister in her Budget speech said that, imports under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are on the rise. Undue claims of FTA benefits have posed threat to domestic industry. Such imports require stringent checks,” adding that the government will ensure that all FTAs “are aligned to the conscious direction of our policy”. The case of […]
AIMING A BILLION TRANSACTIONS A DAY: DAWN OF DIGITAL PAYMENT
Digital payment transactions on the Universal Payment Interface (UPI) platform rising from 0.1 million in October 2016 to 1.3 billion in January 2020 represents the magic of entrepreneurs, nonprofits and policymakers working together India was long a financially excluded nation — only 17 per cent of Indians had a bank account in 2011 The World […]
REDUCING CUSTODIAL DEATHS
Context and Details: The police play a major role in the administration of criminal justice. One of the reasons for custodial death is that the police feel that they have a power to manipulate evidence as the investigation is their prerogative and with such manipulated evidence, they can bury the truth Custodial deaths have been […]
FOR A DATA FIREWALL
Why in news? The report by a German cybersecurity firm that medical details of millions of Indian patients were leaked and are freely available on the Internet is worrying. The firm listed 1.02 million studies of Indian patients and 121 million medical images, including CT Scans, MRIs and even photos of the patients, as being available Such […]
ON THE FRONT FOOT
Why in news? The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided at a meeting to keep the interest rates unchanged in the wake of a rise in inflation, but emphasised that there would be space for rate reduction The introduction of one- and three-year term repos at policy rate of 5.15% […]
ELECTRIC VEHICLE ECOSYSTEM’S TAKING SOLID SHAPE IN INDIA
The number of electric cars grew by about 300% in the last decade The absolute number is only around 4,000 electric cars on Indian roads, which is just about 0.1% of close to 3.5 million cars sold in the last year India is a market that provides a tremendous opportunity in the EV space Government […]
THE WORLD MUST ACT AGAINST THE THREAT OF AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS
We are fast approaching a pivotal moment in the global arms race for Lethal Autonomous Weapons (LAWs) Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning will disrupt the way things are being done right now Major countries and technology companies all over the world are developing LAWs capable of acquiring, identifying and engaging targets without any meaningful […]