Apr 30, 2020

As the divergent experiences of the US and South Korea show, testing can be the difference between disease containment and catastrophe. Rather than relying on national governments to ensure the rapid development, production, and deployment of diagnostics during outbreaks, the world needs a global coordinating platform.

The agriculture department had earlier fixed May 10 as the date to begin sowing of paddy nursery and June 20 for paddy transplantation, during the current kharif season. The farmers had raised concerns about meeting the cultivation/sowing requirements in view of the labour shortage resulting from migrant labourers returning to their homes in view of the COVID-19 crisis.

The coral is composed of many small polyps and forms large colonies approximately 2 metres across. The polyp skeleton is a dusky pink colour.

As of December 2017, fewer than 50 individuals are thought to be remaining in three subpopulations that are scattered over 140,000 square km in Iran’s central plateau. The cats have been nearly wiped out by excessive hunting, habitat degradation and scarcity of prey species.

These wild mushrooms usually fetch between 50 and 70 Euros per kilogram. This encourages people to collect and sell the mushrooms, often before they are mature. It is estimated that only 250 White Ferulas make it to maturity each year.

Since the 1940s, this species has attracted considerable attention because of its plasticity; in the 1950s, tests were carried out to introduce the species into various open stretches of water (Baltic Sea) or closed areas (lakes). The farming of this species

These birds are part of the Lapwing genus Vanellus, which diverged from all other species of birds 28 million years ago! Two sociable lapwings, satellite tagged in Kazakhstan, flew more than 5,000 miles to central Sudan where they spent the winter before their return flight to breeding grounds in the central Asian republic.

Georgia aster is currently found in five US counties in Alabama, 15 in Georgia, nine in North Carolina and 14 in South Carolina. It was once known from Florida, but is no longer found there. Across its range, 146 total populations have been known, of these, 28 have likely disappeared.

Unlike other members of this family, the eyes of the Ganges shark are tilted dorsally, instead of laterally or ventrally, indicating that it may swim along the river bed scanning the waters above for prey. Its sharp and slender teeth suggest that it is primarily a fi sh-eater. It is often confused with the bull shark, which is known to attack humans

Environmentalists feel that carbon emissions may have reduced drastically but are likely to go back to the pre-corona levels in a few weeks' time, once the virus threat mitigates.

The plant has been listed as a threatened species in the United States since 1989, and in 2008 it was listed as an endangered species by the IUCN.

Between 2012 and 2018, the Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis) population across Africa has grown at a modest annual rate of 2.5% from an estimated 4,845 to 5,630 animals in the wild, respectively. Population models predict a further slow increase over the next five years, according to IUCN’s March 2020 update.

Illegal hunting, habitat loss and changes through expanding agriculture and mining, increasing humanwildlife conflict, and civil unrest are all pushing the species towards extinction.

In 1945, the tree, also known as ‘Kaikomako Manawa Tawhi’, was visited by professor Geoff Baylis, who brought a cutting back to Auckland and nurtured it to maturity at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).

This incredibly metallic blue tarantula is found within a 39-square mile reserve forest in Andhra Pradesh. Its behaviour parallels that of many arboreal spiders. In the wild, it lives in holes of tall trees where it makes asymmetric funnel webs. Spiders of this genus may live communally when territory, i.e. the number of holes per tree, is limited.

The species is known as the “rice bird” in China, where it is hunted for food — a practice that has been illegal since 1997, but continues on the black market to this day. This practice on migratory passerines in Asia has pushed not only the Yellow-breasted Bunting to the edge of extinction; but led to all migratory bunting species in eastern Asia declining.

The Aye-aye is endangered and on the IUCN red list due to hunting and habitat destruction caused largely by humans setting fi res, illegal logging, making charcoal, as well as agriculture and livestock expansion.

Speaking at the Idea Exchange, organisers are optimistic of bringing Rushdie to the JLF.

Naina Lal Kidwai, Group General Manager and Country Head of HSBC India, will be our guest at Idea Exchange on March 23. Send us your questions for her here.

Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Tuesday, March 20 at 4 pm. Send us your questions for him here.

Ram Gopal Yadav, senior Samajwadi Party leader, will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Tuesday, March 27 at 3.45pm. Yadav is party supremo's Mulayam Singh Yadav's cousin. Send us your questions for him here.

Sriprakash Jaiswal, Union Minister for Coal, will be our guest at Idea Exchange on April 2, 2012. Send us your questions for him here. Check out the reactions from Facebook:

S Y Quraishi, Chief Election Commissioner, will be our guest at Idea Exchange on April 12. Send us your questions for him here.

The Chief Minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Tuesday, April 17.

Mohamed Nasheed, the first democratically elected president of Maldives who was ousted from power earlier this year, will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Thursday.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Tuesday.

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Friday, May 4. Reactions on Facebook and Twitter

Israel's Ambassador to India, Alon Ushpiz, will be our guest at Idea Exchange. Ask your questions for him here.

Mushirul Hasan, Director General, National Archives and the author of 2 books on cartoons in India, will be our guest at Idea Exchange. Send us your questions for the internationally known historian, author and ex-Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia University at Delhi.

Presidential aspirant P A Sangma, who was also a former Speaker of the Lok Sabha, will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Friday, May 25. Send us your questions for him.

Cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who recently led his team Kolkata Knight Riders to victory in IPL season 5, will be our guest at The Idea Exchange on Saturday, June 9. Send us your questions for him.

Baba Ramdev will be our guest at The Idea Exchange, an interactive session organised by The Indian Express. Send us your questions for him.

Union HRD and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal will be our guest at Idea Exchange, an interactive session organised by the Indian Express. Send us your questions for him.

Former Union Minister, Virbhadra Singh will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Friday June 29, at 3.45 pm. Send us your questions for him.

Journalist Kuldip Nayar, whose autobiography has just been published, will be our guest on Monday, July 9. Send us your questions for him.

British High Commissioner to India Sir James David Bevan, who recently received Queen's birthday honour for Diplomatic Service And Overseas honours, will be our guest on Tuesday, July 10. Send us your questions for him. Send us your questions for him.

Senior BJP Leader and NDA's Vice-President candidate Jaswant Singh is our guest at the Idea Exchange today. Send us your questions for him.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Tuesday. Send us your questions.

Arun Jaitely, senior BJP politician and leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha will be our guest at Idea Exchange. Send us your questions.

Salman Bashir, Pakistan High Commissioner to India, will be our guest at Idea Exchange. Send us your questions.

Shooting ace Gagan Narang, bronze medallist at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, will be our guest at Idea Exchange. Send us your questions.

CPI M leader Sitaram Yechury will be our guest at the Idea Exchange on Thursday. Send us your questions for him.

Veerappa Moily, Union Minister for Corporate Affairs and Power, will be our guest at the Idea Exchange. Please send us your questions for him.

Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Alhuwalia is our guest at the Idea Exchange on September 19. Send us your questions.

Joon-gyu Lee, South Korea's Ambassador to India, will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Thursday, October 4, 2012. Please send us your questions for him.

NHRC Chairperson, Justice KG Balakrishnan will be our guest at Idea Exchange on October 11. Send us your questions for him.

Idea Exchange with Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur

BJP President Nitin Gadkari will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Monday. Send us your questions for him.

Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar will be our guest at Idea Exchange on Thursday, November 1. Send us your questions for him.