-The Hindu The India Meteorological Department announced on Thursday that the coming monsoon would “mostly likely” be normal. The average rainfall would be 99 per cent of the long period average [LPA], with a model error of plus or minus five per cent. There was a 47 per cent probability of the rainfall being between 96 per cent and 104 per cent, 24 per cent probability of its being between 90 and...

-The Hindu   Public sector participation in discovering, developing and making a drug available at affordable prices may be the only way to find new cures for diseases like TB, says Pof Samir Brahmachari on the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day Tuberculosis (TB), a raging problem in Europe and Americas till early 20 century, now predominantly affects the developing world where it continues to be a major health problem and is making in...

The verdict on yoga guru Baba Ramdev's weight loss drink, lauki juice, is out. First, slice a piece from lauki (bottle gourd), taste if it's better. If it's bitter, discard it immediately, says an expert panel commissioned by the Indian Council of Medical Research ( ICMR). The panel - headed by professor S K Sharma, who is the head of department of medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences -...

-The Times of India   Do not drink your bottle gourd ('lauki' in Hindi, and 'sorakaya' in Telugu) juice if it tastes bitter, it could kill you. This recommendation comes after some investigation by an experts' committee. The death of 59-year-old scientist, Sushil Kumar Saxena, a deputy secretary in the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in New Delhi in June 2010, spurred an investigation into the effects of the consumption of...

Biotechnology can provide effective solutions to the rising food security problems of the country on the back of rising population and inflation concerns. “With rising population, depleting land and water resources, and a rapid increase in food prices in India, the application of innovation and crop biotechnologies will be critical in enhancing agricultural yields along with achievement of food security for the nation,” G Padmanaban, NASI-Platinum Jubilee Chair of Indian Institute...