Expert panel to review Meril’s price exemption bid for stent

• NPPA verified the company’s submissions and decided that the matter be sent to an expert body for re-examination
• The company says its stents are made of biodegradable material, and are an alternative to the traditional metal stents

Six different ‘colour morphs’ of Asiatic golden cat discovered in Arunachal

• The 'near-threatened' wild cat species is native to north-eastern Indian subcontinent
• Colour morphs are basically occurrence of two or more discrete colour forms of the animal within a population

India successfully test fires hypersonic cruise missile

• HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration vehicle that can cruise up to a speed of mach 6 (or six times the speed of sound) and rise up to an altitude of 32 km in 20 seconds
• It has a range of uses, including missiles of the future, and energy-efficient, low cost and reusable satellite-launch vehicle

Elon Musk not needed to help Russian space agency

• Dmitry Rogozin, the Head of Russian space agency Roscosmos said he would not hire SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to get help with reusable rocketry
• "He's a busy man, I'm a busy man, why should I invite him?" Roscosmos head was quoted in Russia Today

Govt to procure 2 supercomputers for augmenting weather forecast

• These supercomputers are used to compute data related to weather forecasting and running different weather and climate models
• The new supercomputers will be set up at the two existing institutes of the MoES

Govt mulls mandatory barcoding of all medicines sold within India

• The move seeks to offset India’s growing reputation as a source of counterfeit medicines
• Globally, there are stringent regulations against fake drugs and medical devices, which could cause injury or fatality to patients

Soon, NASA will open International Space Station for tourists

• NASA is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities, said NASA chief
• The space station was built along with Russia starting in 1998, and other countries participate in the mission and send up astronauts

Got $50 million for a vacation? NASA to open space station to private citizens

• Arrangements for the trip were being left to Boeing and SpaceX, NASA said
• NASA estimated the cost of a flight would be around $50 million per seat

Opinion: Maths that I bet will light up an 11-year-old’s eyes

An 11-year-old might enjoy the way a seemingly intractable mathematical problem can be solved easily by approaching it from a different perspective

Gujarat unveils India’s first emissions trading scheme to curb air pollution

• Gujarat sets a cap on emissions and allows industries to buy and sell permits to stay below the cap
• This market-based system is expected to slash air pollution at low cost for both govt and industry

China successfully launches its Long March-11 rocket from sea for first time

• A Long March 11 rocket was launched from a ship in the Yellow Sea just after midday
• China now spends more than Russia and Japan on its civil and military space programmes

NASA plans to send equipment to Moon from 2020, first time since 1970s

• NASA has chosen Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and Orbit Beyond to send equipment to the Moon
• Donald Trump has accelerated the timetable for putting humans back on the Moon with 2024 the new target date

Ahead of PM Modi's second term, PSA calls for young scientists, researchers

• The ‘Principal Scientific Adviser’s consultative group’ would include as many as hundred scientists from different scientific backgrounds
• The call has also been given to researchers who have moved to industries, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), universities and research laboratories

Early humans deliberately recycled flint to create tiny, sharp tools: Researcher

• 'Recycling was a way of life for these people,' Professor Barkai said
• The researchers are continuing to investigate prehistoric recycling by applying their analysis to other sites in Africa, Europe and Asia

As govt begins fresh innings, all eyes on healthcare promise

• Both central and state budgetary allocations will have to be raised steadily every year to increase its public health spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2025
• NHP 2017 affirms that two-thirds of public financing will go to primary health services

Lack of cross-equatorial flow hinders progress of monsoon

• Monsoon reached the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on May 18
• The weather department said the monsoon was yet to get traction from the Arabian Sea

Chandrayaan-2 launch to take place between July 9-16: ISRO

• According to ISRO, Chandrayaan-2 is the second lunar mission and has three modules Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan)
• After launch into earth bound orbit, the integrated module will reach Moon orbit using Orbiter propulsion module

Robot drones that fly; Hummingbird robot that emulates drones

• The hybrid flying sprawl-tuned autonomous robot (FSTAR) can fly over obstacles or run underneath them
• It can run on the ground at a speed of up to eight feet per second which, with low energy consumption using the same motors to fly

We've shed a kilo but gained a new one

• Kilogram will be officially defined in terms of atomic properties and fundamental physics constants
• Over its lifetime, that standard kilo is estimated to have lost about 50 micrograms, MIT researchers noted

Oral polio vaccine made by govt-owned firm fails quality tests

• The Central Drugs Laboratory has declared 16 batches manufactured by Bibcol as ‘substandard’
• Approximately 90 million doses of polio vaccine are required for the sub-national programme in June