Technology for ripening fruits as important as marketing them

“How many times, have the bright red colour of the apples or the golden colored mangoes attracted you to buying them from the shelves?“For all that gloss and glitter: in reality the bright colour can contain lethal toxins dangerous for human health. The method used for ripening fruits must be given due care by farmers and traders as it decides the end use of the fruits — those consuming it,” says Dr. M. Selvarajan, Professor and Head, Department of fruit crops, Horticultural college and research institute, Periyakulam, Tamil Nadu.

At India's insistence, mental health included as non-communicable disease

India achieved a major success on the global platform by pushing for inclusion of mental health in the list of non-communicable diseases. India fought alone to get mental disorders included in the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) list at the just-concluded first Ministerial Conference on Healthy Lifestyles and Non-communicable Disease Control in Moscow. 

Netizens urged caution while searching Osama stuff

Netizens searching for news and pictures related to al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden have been cautioned by cyber experts to beware as their accounts could be hacked or spams could harm their computers. Those active in social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are particularly vulnerable.For instance, Internet security firm McAfee has pointed out that with the news of bin Laden being dead, spam e-mails with videos disapproving of his possible killing are doing the rounds in cyberspace. These e-mails lure users into clicking the link which are then directed to a site that downloads a small file onto your system.

New critical wildlife habitat guidelines may protect forest dwellers’ rights better

Stung by criticism of forest rights activists, wildlife activists and scientists regarding its initial draft guidelines for determining critical wildlife habitats issued in February, the Environment Ministry has now come out with a revised version based on its critics’ feedback.The Ministry was forced to withdraw the earlier guidelines on March 4 after protests that they would facilitate the forced relocation of forest dwellers and tribal communities from wildlife parks and sanctuaries.

U.S. won't release bin Laden death photo

President Barack Obama has decided not to release death photos of terrorist Osama bin Laden, he said in an interview with CBS televison’s “60 Minutes,” amid concerns that the gruesome image could prove inflammatory.Mr. Obama’s decision was reported on the CBS News Web site on Wednesday after the President sat for an interview with the news magazine programme. 

The right priority - Opinion

It is heartening that the Reserve Bank of India, in consultation with the Centre, has picked up enough courage to bite the bullet and take up the issue of tackling inflation as its main priority. So far, it was taking mere baby steps by way of a 25 basis point hike eight times since March 2010 to ensure that GDP growth does not falter. This time, the central bank surprised the market and a section of economic analysts by turning hawkish and raising its short-term lending (repo) rate by an unanticipated 50 basis points to 7.25 per cent and leaving the borrowing (reverse repo) rate to float lower by one percentage point at 6.25 per cent. Even as the bank rate and the cash reserve ratio have been left unchanged so as not to affect the flow of liquidity, the net effect of the annual credit policy action is that short-term funds the banks borrow from the RBI will be available at a higher rate and, as a result, housing, auto, and consumer loans will cost more to the consumer. The policy move, which will mean marginally lower GDP growth in the short term, has come as a disappointment to India Inc. owing to the negative impact on investment. But the higher-than-expected increase in key policy rates should be viewed as a chemotherapeutic dose to combat the cancer of inflationary expectations.

BCCI needs to analyse its system - Opinion

Except for a few notable performances, IPL matches played on substandard pitches have barely entertained the paying public. T20 is nothing but instant entertainment and nothing more should be expected out of it. Fortunately it does provide a platform to some youngsters who might have been victims of state selection politics.That these youngsters have exposed the selection system is very evident but it's time the BCCI analyses the system that looks more like assembly line manufacturing with unskilled labour rather than an institution churning out quality individuals. Currently 239 matches in senior cricket and 192 junior matches are played. A total of 431 matches.

Defence land records to be digitised; military units to guard vacant plots

Concerned over recent instances of misuse of defence land, the government on Wednesday said modern technology would be used for survey and management of records. The Director-General of Defence Estates is the custodian of more than 17 lakh acres of land holdings in cantonments and other defence estates.“A few NoCs [No-Objection Certificates] issued in the past by certain local authorities have earned us a bad name; this must be avoided,” Defence Minister A.K. Antony told the first Performance Appraisal Conference of the Chief Executive Officers of the Cantonment Boards here, a Ministry release said.

Press freedom precarious

From blunt and brutal physical assault to sophisticated technical barriers — and the more insidious corporate threat from within — the Indian media have been under attack over the last year.Several reports catalogued the threats on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on Tuesday.The Free Speech Hub, an initiative of The Media Foundation and its mediawatch website TheHoot.org, has released its latest report tracking the attacks on journalists as well as policy measures that could endanger the freedom of speech and information in the country.

New Delhi says elimination of safe terror havens in Pak is essential to end terror

New Delhi has emphasised that the war on terror has not ended with the death of Osama bin laden, asserting the need for more steps to bring more Mumbai 26/11 perpetraters and conspirators to justice.However, the policy of engaging Pakistan through talks was endorsed.

Worst fear is coming true on the fate of Arunachal CM Dorjee Khandu

Uncertainity continues over the fate of Arunachal CM Dorji Khandu, who went missing on Saturday on a flight from Tawang along with four others after their helicopter crashed in bad weather in the mountains and their bodies and the wreckage were located on Wednesday.Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has said that worst fears may come true after the the search party had spotted from a distance what looked like a plane crash and some bodies in a place between Kyela and Lobothang in the mountainous region of the state this morning.