19 AUGUST 2016

Ø  Legendary tigress Machhli, who was the world's oldest tigress in the wild, died in Ranthambhore National Park in Sawai Madhopur district of Rajathan on Thursday after a prolonged illness. She had stopped eating for the last five days. She was 19 years old, while the average age of a tiger is 14 to 15 years. According to some estimates, she was contributing Rs. 65 crore a year as tourism revenue to the National Park for the last 10 years.

Ø  Venezuela is counting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attendance at this year’s Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) meeting in September, despite reports he is unlikely to, said visiting Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez. Ms. Rodriguez met with Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the government’s offer of supplying Venezuela much needed pharmaceutical products in exchange for oil. Later in the evening, she met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to discuss preparations for the summit.

Ø  The Department of Science and Technology has funded a wide range of research institutions — including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Haridwar-based Patanjali Research Foundation, promoted by yoga proponent Baba Ramdev — to study the efficacy of yoga and whether it has a role in alleviating stroke, type-2 diabetes, Parkinson’s and schizophrenia. After it advertised for research proposals last August, the department got over 700 which it shortlisted to 16 for the first year. “We’ve had a tremendous response,” said Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, “but we’ve been highly selective and made it clear that [results] should be publishable in the top international journals.” SATYAM, an acronym for Science and Technology of Yoga and Medicine, has been conceived to develop good science around yoga and has nothing to do with religious beliefs, say associated officials. “We can’t say it [yoga] will cure everything, say 4{+t}{+h} stage cancer but we want good science based on analytical rigour that tests it,” Mr. Sharma said. The bulk of the studies, as a review of the approved proposals seen by The Hindu, are about measuring brain activity using electro-encephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging — standard tools that are used to check what kind of electrical activity takes place and which regions of the brain are most active — when the brain is involved in a variety of cognitive tasks.

Ø  Russia is ready to tap India as a global aeronautics manufacturing base and is willing to partner local firms in developing their technological and production capabilities in the aviation sector, an official representing a delegation from the country said during bilateral talks held here.