The Ministry of Earth Sciences is set to extend the Monsoon Mission from the predicting the rains of the monsoon to disaster management. The facility will improve monsoon forecasts over the short and extended range. The programme is aimed to help the farming sector manage thier agricultural operations and water reservoirs.

Increasing participation by women in the informal sector could provide a boost to the economy by increasing the income opportunity for a family, but how does it affect the individual's? Prof. Anjula Gurtoo, an Associate Professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru has studied the effect of this increased participation from two perspectives-- social empowerment and economic empowerment.

Recent study shows that chronic illnesses might be shared with the members of a household. A team of public health professionals from from various universities in India and the USA have studied 2,574 households during 2013 and 2014, to understand the prevalence and stage of diagnosis of five chronic diseases.

Scientists from Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneshwar (IIT BBS), Odisha and Vikram Sarabhai Space Center, Kerala studying desert dust over the Indian region have noticed a decline in their amounts which in turn might be slowing the monsoon circulation pattern over the Indian subcontinent.

Cervical cancer plagues the life of many women around the globe. Sometimes the disease can be caused by an aggravated and repeated infection by the Human papilloma virus (HPV). Researchers from the Cancer Research Program, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Kerala, use gene editing molecules rid the virus of the genes, which form a protein that can cause malignancy in humans.

Scientists from the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) in Tamil Nadu, and the Salim Ali School of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Pondicherry University, have studied the natural causes that led to the near complete absence of tigers within KMTR for over two decades.

Microbes live with us and among us. They occupy portions of our body and help us perform many daily bodily functions. Scientists call these microbes that live in our body the Human microbiome. In their latest research, scientists from the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany, study the salivary microbiome in Indians.

How does the 'safe' way of just learning theoretical lessons affect the brain of a child in school? Can touching feeling and playing be effective ways of teahing science? See what Arvind Gupta of Arvind gupta toys, says about how childern can effectively learn science through play.

Most of the knowledge a common man has about reptiles is based on stories and hearsay. It is high time we find out authentic truths and coexist with the wildlife that often finds its way to our homes, farms and other urban spaces. Let us learn about one of the most fascinating reptiles, snakes and appreciate how the human race is indebted to them.

Venkata S. Murthy Gudlavalleti from the Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad has been studying childhood blindness in the country to understand the causes, severity and extent of the disability.