Assorted

Los Angeles, Aug 3: A couple has been arrested in the US for abandoning their two-year-old son alone at home while they drove around playing the widely popular location-based augmented reality game Pokemon Go. Brent Daley, 27, and Brianne Daley, 25, left their 2-year-old boy at San Tan Valley home in Arizona for 90 minutes in scorching heat without water while they played Pokemon Go in surrounding...

Toronto, Jul 30: Researchers have identified "superstar" varieties of rice that can reduce fertiliser loss and cut down on environmental pollution. The study looked at 19 varieties of rice to identify which ones were more efficient at using nitrogen. "We have this bucolic idea of agriculture - animals grazing or vast fields of majestic crops - but the global reality is it is one of the biggest...

Kasaragod, Jul 30: The United Democratic Front (UDF) has retained control of the Kasaragod district panchayat winning the by-election in the Uduma division. Congress nominee P.K.M. Shanawas won the by-poll with a margin of 1,886 votes. Mr. Shanawas, son of Congress leader and standing committee chairman Padur Kunhamu Haji, whose demise on April 23 necessitated the by-election, defeated Indian...

Kolkata, July 28: A litterateur with the zeal of an activist, Mahasweta Devi used creative expression as a tool to fight for the rights of the indigenous people and marginalised sections. With the sincerity of an activist and the passion of a writer, the Bengali writer was the voice of the oppressed in her novels and short stories, which won her a number of awards including the Padma Vibhushan...

Abu Dhabi, Jul 26: Solar Impulse 2 landed today in the UAE, completing its epic journey to become the first sun- powered airplane to circle the globe without a drop of fuel to promote renewable energy. The plane touched down at 04:05 (0535 IST) in the capital Abu Dhabi after a more than 48 hour-long flight from Cairo, the final leg in its journey which began on March 9 last year. Cheers and...

United Nations, Jul 22: India is ranked at a low 110 of 149 nations with regard to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, according to a new index topped by Sweden that shows all countries face major challenges in achieving these ambitious goals. The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann Stiftung launched a new Sustainable Development Goal Index and Dashboard...

New Delhi, Jul 17: Drug trafficking in India is on a new 'high' with anti-narcotics agencies having detected the crime being perpetrated through the cryptic 'darknet' and the clandestine and unregulated currency Bitcoin. The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), chief law enforcement and intelligence agency responsible for fighting drug trafficking and abuse of illegal substances, has interdicted two...

Kerala: The opening salvos of the fight against fat have been fired in the southern Indian state of Kerala. On Friday, the state government announced a 14.5 percent "fat tax" on burgers, pizzas, donuts, tacos, sandwiches and pasta served in branded restaurants. With Kerala having the second highest rate of obesity in India, the new tax is a "preventive measure," the state's finance minister Thomas...

New Delhi, Jul 14: India ranks second after Indonesia on the global list of shark fishing nations as fishing of the species in the country has progressed from being “incidental” to “targeted”, a wildlife body said on Thursday. “Shark fishing in India has progressed from being incidental to targeted over the years. The transformation occurred only during the 1990s due to increasing demand in the...

Washington, Jul 6: Underlining that India's 7.5 per cent growth rate may be "overstated", the US has said the Narendra Modi government has been "slow" to match its rhetoric in economic reforms even as it appreciated measures taken by it in areas like bureaucracy and easing FDI restrictions. Highly appreciative of the series of economic reforms, in particular streamlining bureaucratic decision...