NEW DELHI, SEPT 07 (DNA) – India’s army chief has said his country must be prepared for war and accused China of “testing our limits”, days after the nuclear-armed neighbours ended one of their worst border stand-offs in decades. General Bipin Rawat said India could not afford to be complacent and should be prepared for the possibility of an all-out war. “As far as our northern adversary is concerned, flexing of muscles has started,” Rawat said late Wednesday at a Delhi-based think-tank, in reference to China. “The salami slicing, taking over territory in a very gradual manner… testing our limits of threshold is something we have to be wary about and remain prepared for situations which could gradually emerge into conflict.”
Better trade facilitation to reduce trade costs in Asia by up to 9pc annually: ADB
ISLAMABAD, SEPT 05 (DNA) – Improved trade facilitation the simplification, modernisation, and harmonisation of export and import processes – can reduce trade costs by up to 9 per cent in Asia and the Pacific, according to a new joint report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) launched Tuesday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Forum in Yogyakarta.
Tajikistan hosts counter terrorism summit
DUSHANBE, SEPT 05 (DNA) – Meeting of Quadrilateral Counter Terrorism Coordination Mechanism (QCCM) held at Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The meeting was attended by senior military leadership of member countries i.e. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Pakistan, Gen Li Zuocheng China, General Sobirzoda Imomali Abdurrahim Tajikistan and General Sharif Yaftali Afghanistan. All four leaders welcomed the QCCM initiative and expressed hope that an inclusive and cooperative regional approach will prove best for eradication of terrorism.
Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan included in banned list by SCTO
DUSHANBE, SEPT 05 (DNA) -Regarding to recognizing of IRPT as a terrorist organization by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)and including into the list of terrorist-extremist organizations of the CSTO member States On June 8, 2016 in Yerevan, a meeting of the Committee on Security Council members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was held under the chairmanship of Armenia. The sides agreed on a list of organizations recognized by the CSTO as a terrorist and extremist group, with a relevant resolution.
These five plants help you sleep at night
SEPT 03 (DNA) – Having plants inside the house not only adds to the aesthetic value of the house but it also have many positive impacts on the surrounding as they bring in a lot of positive energy along with them. Bringing plants inside a house adds a splash of colour, helps people relax and acts as a natural purifier. In a latest study, it is proven that plants can also help people get sleep at night too and use far less oxygen than what is usually perceived about them omitting oxygen in the night. Here are few plants which can help you sleep well in the night by keeping them in the bedroom.
Dutch scientists say human lifespan has limits
THE HAGUE, SEPT 02 (DNA) – Dutch researchers claimed on Thursday to have discovered the maximum age “ceiling” for human lifespan, despite growing life expectancy because of better nutrition, living conditions and medical care. Mining data from some 75,000 Dutch people whose exact ages were recorded at the time of death, statisticians at Tilburg and Rotterdam’s Erasmus universities pinned the maximum ceiling for female lifespan at 115.7 years. Men came in slightly lower at 114.1 years in the samples taken from the data which spans the last 30 years, said Professor John Einmahl, one of three scientists conducting the study.
Trump names former Navy aviator to head NASA
WASHINGTON, SEPT 02 (DNA) – US President Donald Trump announced Friday he plans to appoint James Bridenstine, a former navy pilot and Republican congressman. Bridenstine, 42, who backed Trump during the US presidential campaign, had long been considered the favorite for the job of NASA administrator. But the nomination drew fire from two US senators from Florida who questioned the Oklahoma representative’s qualifications to lead such a complex and highly technical agency. Senator Bill Nelson, the ranking Democrat on the committee that oversees NASA, told the news site Politico the agency’s new leader should be “a space professional, not a politician.”
Human stem cells restore mobility in Parkinson’s monkeys: study
PARIS, AUG 31 (DNA) – Lab monkeys with Parkinson’s symptoms regained significant mobility after neurons made from human stem cells were inserted into their brains, researchers reported Wednesday in a study hailed as “groundbreaking”. The promising results were presented as the last step before human clinical trials, perhaps as early as next year, the study’s senior author, Jun Takahashi, a professor at Kyoto University. Parkinson’s is a degenerative disease that erodes motor functions. Typical symptoms include shaking, rigidity and difficulty walking. In advanced stages, depression, anxiety and dementia are also common.
Study challenges conventional wisdom on fats, fruits and vegetables
OTTAWA, AUG 30 (DNA) – Global dietary guidelines should possibly be changed to allow people to consume somewhat more fats, to cut back on carbohydrates and in some cases to slightly scale back on fruits and vegetables, a large study suggests. Over the course of about seven years, diets with roughly 35 percent of calories from fats were tied to a lower mortality rate than diets with about 60 percent of calories from carbohydrates. “What we are suggesting is moderation as opposed to very low and very high intakes of fats and carbohydrates,” said Mahshid Dehghan from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
India exceeds expectations for first month of GST collection
NEW DELHI, AUG 30 (DNA) – India collected nearly $14.5 billion from a new goods and services tax in its first month of operation, well beyond government estimates, according to official data. The government promised that the national tax, which replaced more than a dozen separate levies, would transform India s $2 trillion economy into a single market for the first time. In the first month of collection the tax netted just short of $14.5 billion, some $200 million more than forecast for July, data from the finance ministry showed.
