Must Read News Articles – December 16th, 2018

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Will induct women in the military police: Army chief

Chief of the Army Staff Bipin Rawat on Saturday said the Army would induct women jawans in the corps of military police, and further scope of recruiting women in Army posts would be explored thereafter.

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Can business behave better?

India has taken a number of steps to improve corporate governance and protect the interests of investors, lenders and other stakeholders. The Companies Act, one of the most massive pieces of legislation in the world, has been comprehensively reworked.

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Making India’s polluters pay

When the Centre published the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules in 2016, a key element of it was “extended producer responsibility” or EPR. The idea of EPR was to make the polluter pay. So, all sellers of plastic packaging were required to, within six months, install a system to collect their waste. Two years later, after much confusion about how EPR sewould work, experts say companies have finally begun to take baby steps.

Nations inch towards climate deal at UN summit

Nations on Saturday inched towards a deal to implement the Paris climate goals, after all-night negotiations over a plan to limit global temperature rises exposed a range of conflicts.

NGT sets aside Sterlite’s ‘unjustifiable’ closure

The National Green Tribunal has set aside the Tamil Nadu government’s order for the closure of Sterlite’s copper smelter in Thoothukudi, terming the decision “unjustifiable.”

India, Nepal and Bhutan plan task force to protect wildlife

The governments of India, Nepal and Bhutan are actively considering having a joint task force for allowing free movement of wildlife across political boundaries and checking smuggling of wildlife across the Kanchenjunga Landscape, a trans-boundary region spread across Nepal, India and Bhutan.

Tamil Nadu, Karnataka are sparring over Mekedatu

Irritants resurfaced in relations between the riparian States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka last month after the Central Water Commission (CWC) allowed the Karnataka Cauvery Neeravari Nigam to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) on a nearly Rs. 6,000 crore plan to build a balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project across the Cauvery at Mekedatu.

Vital cog in the health-care wheel 

The health-care landscape in India is getting transformed at a blistering pace. Minimally invasive surgeries, improved patient outcomes, advanced techniques and smarter machinery are among a wave of innovations being led by the ever-evolving medical device industry. Aiding all this are industry experts who are bringing them to us. A significant contribution is being made by biomedical engineers, who are at the core of all patient safety measures.

IIT researchers 3D bioprint load-bearing bones

Researchers from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and IIT Kanpur have used a different approach to mimic the development biology pathway by which adult load-bearing, long bones are formed.

IISER Pune develops new model of evolution of bacterial colonies

Researchers from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune propose a change in the way epidemiologists estimate the growth and adaptation rate of bacteria. The paper, to be published in Evolutionary Biology,poses this challenge to both theoreticians and experimentalists who are studying the growth of asexual populations subject to periodic bottlenecks.

New markers to monitor TB treatment

Besides treatment, there is an urgent need for monitoring tuberculosis treatment to achieve better results. Researchers from the National Jalma Institute for Leprosy and Other Mycobacterial Diseases, have succeeded in identifying a couple of cell-based markers to study the response of TB patients to treatment.

Mutations that influence bipolar disorder, schizophrenia identified

By sequencing the exome (the part of the genome composed of exons that gets translated into proteins) of 32 people from eight families who suffer from mental illness such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and psychosis, Bengaluru-based researchers have identified 42 rare mutations in the genes implicated in very severe mental disorders.

Now, graphene can detect brain disorders

Graphene, a form of carbon and a super-strong, ultra-light material discovered in 2004, enables flexible electronic components, enhances solar cell capacity, and promises to revolutionise batteries. Now scientists have added one more use to this list.