India’s first dragon blood-oozing tree
Assam has added to India’s botanical wealth a plant that yields dragon’s blood — a bright red resin used since ancient times as medicine, body oil, varnish, incense and dye.
A trio of researchers led by Assam forest officer Jatindra Sarma has discovered Dracaena cambodiana, a dragon tree species in the Dongka Sarpo area of West Karbi Anglong. The team’s report has been published in the latest issue of the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.
This is for the first time that a dragon tree species has been reported from India.
CBDT celebrates Aaykar Diwas
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is celebrating the 159th Income Tax Day today.
It was on 24th July, 1860 that Income Tax was introduced for the first time in India by Sir James Wilson to compensate for the losses incurred by the British regime during the first war of independence against British Rule.
In a release, Finance Ministry said, the week preceding the Aaykar Diwas has been marked by various activities undertaken by the regional offices of the department across the country. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will attend an event to mark Income Tax Day in New Delhi.
The event will include release of departmental publications, e-journal, publicity kit for outreach programmes among other things.
Citing weak demand, IMF lowers India’s growth projection to 7%
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday lowered the growth estimate for India by 30 basis points (100 basis points means 1 percentage point) for the current as well as the next financial year.
“India’s economy is set to grow at 7 per cent in 2019, picking up to 7.2 per cent in 2020. The downward revision of 0.3 percentage point for both years reflects a weaker-than-expected outlook for domestic demand,” the multilateral agency said in its update on “World Economic Outlook” (WEO). The revision is relative to the April WEO.
However, the good news is despite the revision, India’s growth rate will still be the fastest in the world followed by China. The WEO update says that in China, the negative effects of escalating tariffs and weakening external demand have added pressure to an economy already in the midst of a structural slowdown.
With policy stimulus expected to support activity in the face of the adverse external shock, China’s growth is forecast at 6.2 per cent in 2019 and 6.0 per cent in 2020, which is 10 basis points lower each year relative to the April projection.
Abhay, Tanvi win Bengal Open squash titles
Abhay Singh of Tamil Nadu and Asian Games medallist Tanvi Khanna clinched the men's and women's titles respectively in the sixth Bengal Open squash tournament in Kolkatta today.
Second seed Singh defeated top seed Abhishek Pradhan 11-6 11-6 11-4, while Tanvi fought her way past Tamil Nadu's Aparajitha Balamurukan 11-7 11-6 5-11 13-11.
Earlier, the under-15 category witnessed a thrilling battle with fifth-seeded Tamil Nadu girl Shameena Riaz upsetting top seed Soniya Bajaj from Maharashtra 9-11 11-7 11-5 7-11 11-8.
Daughter of former India hockey captain Mohammed Riaz, Shameena recently won the U-15 title at the Goregaon Sports Club All India Squash Open in Mumbai.
Li Peng: Former Chinese premier known as 'Butcher of Beijing' dies at 90
Former Chinese Premier Li Peng, who ordered martial law during the 1989 Tiananmen protests, has died at the age of 90, state media have announced.
Li died on Monday evening in Beijing of an unspecified illness.
He served in several top positions in China in the 1980s and 1990s.
But he was best known as the "Butcher of Beijing" for his role in the Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989. Soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed civilians.
Li later defended his actions as a "necessary" step.
In its obituary, the official Xinhua news agency says Li "took decisive measures to stop the unrest and quell counter-revolutionary violence" during the Tiananmen protests.
China has consistently censored the massacre for the last three decades, and avoids making reference to any atrocities that occurred during it.
Dejan Papic appointed India's table tennis coach, will join in August
he uncertainty over Dejan Papic's joining as the new head coach of the Indian table tennis team came to an end on Tuesday when the Canadian accepted a one-year contract offered by the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
The Indian paddlers haven't had a head coach since the Asian Games last year, and have lost crucial time ahead of the qualification events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) had short-listed Papic back in March but it was only a couple of weeks ago that SAI sent him the contract. And there was a further delay in the process as Papic took time to sign the contract owing to administrative issues.
Govt sets target for installation of Solar projects of 40,000 MW by 2022
he government has set a target for the installation of Rooftop Solar projects of forty thousand MegaWatt by 2022 in the country.
In a written reply in Rajya Sabha today, New and Renewable Energy Minister RK Singh said, the projects include installation of solar panels on the rooftop of houses. He said, over 1700 Mega Watt of grid-connected rooftop systems has been installed in the country till 18th of this month.
Mr. Singh said his ministry is implementing Grid Connected Rooftop Solar programme. The Minister said on an average it is estimated that 1.5 million units per MegaWatt per year are generated from solar rooftop plants.
India to give Ten thousand scholarships to heirs of liberation war fighters in Bangladesh
The scheme started in 2017-18 awards scholarship to one thousand students each at the higher secondary and undergraduate levels every year.
The Undergraduate students will get a onetime amount of Taka 50,000 and Higher Secondary students Taka 20,000 under the scheme.
In a Press statement today High commission of India in Dhaka said that it has partnered with the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, Government of Bangladesh to select deserving students covering all districts of Bangladesh.
M.M. Naravane to be next Vice-Chief of Army Staff
Lieutenant-General M.M. Naravane, currently General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Army Command, has been appointed the next Vice-Chief of the Army Staff in a series of changes in the Army’s top brass, defence sources said on Monday. He will take over from Lt. Gen. D. Anbu when he retires on August 31.
Lt.Gen. Naravane, the senior-most officer in the force after the Chief of the Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, is in line to succeed him on his retirement on December 30.
Lt.Gen. R.P. Singh will take over as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Army Command, from Lt.Gen. Surinder Singh, who retires on July 31.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano who oversaw Iran deal dies at 72
Yukiya Amano, the Japanese diplomat who led the International Atomic Energy Agency for a decade and was extensively involved in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and the cleanup of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, has died at 72, the agency announced Monday.
Amano, who had wide experience in disarmament, non-proliferation diplomacy and nuclear energy issues, had been chief of the key U.N. agency that regulates nuclear use worldwide since 2009.
The news of his death comes at a time of increasing concerns and escalating tensions over Iran’s nuclear program, after U.S. President Donald Trump left a 2015 deal with world powers that restricted Iran’s nuclear program in return for sanctions relief. Amano was heavily involved in the yearslong negotiations that led to the landmark Iran nuclear deal.