China changes tune, says NSG open to discussion about entry of non-NPT members
After raising objections to India's bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, China said on Tuesday that the group is open to discussing the inclusion of countries that are still to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"The door is still open within the NSG for non-NPT members to join," said foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying. "There is always room for discussion."
On Monday, China had said that India's application to join the NSG was not on the agenda of NSG meeting in Seoul on 23-24 June, says the Hindustan Times.
NSG: Pak claims to have 'successfully' blocked India's bid for entry
Sartaj Aziz, the Pakistan Prime Minister's advisor on foreign affairs, said on Tuesday that Pakistan has 'successfully' blocked India's bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
"We have been making successful efforts against India's Nuclear Suppliers Group membership," said Aziz just before the plenary session of the 48-nation NSG in Seoul this week, where India and Pakistan's applications for entry will be discussed.
Aziz said in a statement that Pakistan has a strong case to gain NSG membership on merit and a non-discriminatory basis, according to the Hindustan Times.
Forced to drink phenyl, ragged Dalit student from Kerala struggles to survive
Senior students at Al Qamar College of Nursing in Gulbarga, Karnataka, while ragging a 19-year-old nursing student from Kozhikode, Kerala, forced her to drink phenyl which burnt her food pipe and damaged her internal organs.
The Dalit girl is now in hospital in her home town, battling for her life. She had apparently been subjected to verbal and physical abuse by her seniors, according to the Hindustan Times.
While surgery is essential, doctors said that her internal organs are too damaged for a safe operation. "It is too dangerous to conduct a surgery now," said a doctor at the government hospital in Kozhikode.
I-T probe reveals Asaram has Rs 2,300 crore in undisclosed income
The Income Tax department's investigation into the accounts of jailed self-proclaimed godman Asaram has discovered nearly Rs 2,300 crore in undisclosed income since the financial year 2008-09. It has also found crores worth of 'benami investments' allegedly linked to Asaram and his followers in real estate, mutual funds, shares, Kisan Vikas Patras and fixed deposits.
Official sources say that the department has now recommended the cancellation of tax exemptions given to the charitable trusts controlled by Asaram, according to The Indian Express.
Same weapon and motorcycle used to kill Dabholkar and Pansare: CBI
A CBI investigation has revealed that the killers of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare used the same weapon and motorcycle for both murders.
According to CBI sources, the motorcycle belonged to Virendra Tawde of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti who was recently arrested for Dabholkar's murder.
This motorcycle was apparently used by the two killers, Sarang Akolkar and a yet unidentified person, when they murdered Dabholkar on 20 August, 2013, as he stepped outside his Pune home, says The Indian Express.
In December that same year, Tawde took the motorcycle to Kolhapur where Pansare was murdered in February 2015.
India to grant citizenship to about 2 lakh refugee Hindus by Independence Day
The Union home ministry is working on a bill to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 so as to grant citizenship to about two lakh Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan by Independence Day on 15 August.
A home ministry source said: "The bill is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session as the government wants to complete the process before Independence Day."
Ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha election, the BJP had promised to make minority Hindus from 'any country' citizens of India, says The Telegraph.
India's first transgender band wins prestigious Cannes Grand Prix Glass Lion award
6 Pack Band, India's first transgender band, won the Cannes Grand Prix Glass Lion at the Cannes Lions Festival on Monday night for its campaign for gender rights.
Launched by Y-Films, the band's campaign, 'Hum Hain Happy', in collaboration with Mindshare Mumbai and Brooke Bond Red Label, beat 30 brands from across the world, including four from India, to win the award, says the Hindustan Times.
Ancient DNA tells of two origins for dogs
Genetic analyses of a 4,800-year-old Irish dog and 59 other ancient dogs suggest that canines and humans became pals in both Europe and East Asia long before the advent of farming, says a report in sciencenews.org.
Later, dogs from East Asia accompanied their human companions to Europe, where their genetic legacy trumped that of dogs already living there.
Therefore, dogs were domesticated at least twice. That muddled genetic legacy may help explain why previous studies have indicated that dogs were domesticated from wolves only once, although evidence hasn't been clear about whether this took place in East Asia, Central Asia or Europe.
The idea that dogs came from East Asia or Central Asia is mostly based on analysis of DNA from modern dogs, while claims for European origins have been staked on studies of prehistoric pups' genetics.
A 4,800-year-old dog found in a tomb in Newgrange, Ireland, is the first ancient dog to have its entire genetic instruction book, or genome, deciphered. Researchers don't know much about what the midsize dog looked like; it doesn't bear any genetic markers of particular modern dog breeds, Frantz says. "He wasn't black. He wasn't spotted. He wasn't white." Instead, the Newgrange dog was probably a mongrel with fur similar to a wolf's.
Solar costs will be down 59% by 2025: study
The International Renewable Energy Agency has said in a new report that the average cost of generating electricity from renewable sources by 2025 will be lower by nearly 59 per cent. This fall would be seen in the generation of solar energy, whose costs are already 80 per cent lower since 2009. Average wind energy costs will reduce by 35 per cent (for offshore wind) and 26 per cent (onshore), the report says. Since 2009, wind turbine costs are down 30-40 per cent.
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