Chairperson of the Atomic Energy Commission of France Bernard Bigot on Monday said the controversial European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) technology was re-evaluated after the Fukushima disaster and it had got the green signal from the nuclear safety regulatory bodies of his country, the United Kingdom and Finland. The three regulatory bodies had expressed reservations about the design aspects of the EPR. This happened due to greater transparency, which was the top...

What is our national aim? To my mind, our national aim must be to make India a highly prosperous country for its citizens, and for that it is necessary to have a high degree of industrialization.  Even setting up and running a single primary school requires a lot of money, e.g. for buying land, erecting the school building and providing for the recurrent expenditure for salaries of teachers, staff, etc. We...

-The Hindu   ‘It has become imperative in view of climate change' Bio-fortified varieties of staple food grains, such as Vitamin-A-enriched ‘Golden Rice', or iron-enriched wheat, could improve the nutritional status of the world's poor, P. Pushpangadan, Director General, Amity Institute for Herbal and Biotech Products Development, said here on Thursday. Presenting a paper on the “Recent advances of agricultural biotechnology in the light of climate change” at the 81st annual session of the...

Marking a major shift in zoology and life sciences curriculum which was being followed in the country for over 90 years, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced phasing out of animal dissection for experimental purposes at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, replacing these by alternative models including virtual dissection. Animal ethics will also be included in the appropriate course to sensitise students. The decision was take based on the recommendations...

-BBC   Aids-related deaths are at the lowest level since their 2005 peak, down 21%, figures from UNAids suggest. Globally, the number of new HIV infections in 2010 was 21% down on that peak, seen in 1997, according to UNAids 2011 report. The organisation says both falls have been fuelled by a major expansion in access to treatment. Its executive director, Michel Sidibe, said: "We are on the verge of a significant breakthrough." He added: "Even...