The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of ancient manuscripts that include the earliest existing copies of books from the Hebrew Bible, date from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD.
Around 900 scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in the Qumran caves above the Dead Sea.
Israeli scholars have recently deciphered one of the previously unread manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The latest deciphered scroll contains references to the 364-day calendar used by the sect, as opposed to the lunar calendar used in Jewish religious practice today.
It also refers to annual wine and olive harvest festivals no longer observed in Judaism.
Discovery of Ape Fossil
Researchers have recently unearthed 11 million years old the Ape fossil in Kutch, Gujarat.
It is the oldest and the only known ape fossil discovered in peninsular India.
Fossils of Ape have been previously unearthed near the Siwalik hill range, spreading across Pakistan, Churia Hills in Nepal and around the Himalayas.
But this new finding, almost 1,000 km south from the previous finds has increased the geographic range of the genus.
Many associated mammal fossils belonging to the Miocene age have been discovered in Kutch in the past, including whales and sea cows.
That’s the reason, Kutch is considered as a paradise for fossils.
The new discovery will help to understand in detail the evolution of great apes.
Bioplastics
Plastics are usually made from petroleum, with the associated impacts in terms of fossil fuel depletion and climate change.
It is estimated that by 2050, plastics could already be responsible for 15% of the global CO2 emissions.
Bioplastics, plant-based plastics is often considered as an alternative to petroleum-based plastics.
They are in principle climate-neutral since they are based on renewable raw materials such as maize, wheat or sugar cane.
Therefore, producing bioplastics consumes CO2 and their net greenhouse gas balance is assumed to be zero.
However, a recent study found that shifting to plant-based plastics could lead to generate increased greenhouse gas emission from cropland expansion on a global scale.
Gulf Cooperation Council
The Gulf Cooperation Council is a regional political and economic alliance of six Gulf States.
Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are the member countries.
It is headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Its aim is to achieve ever closer union between the energy rich Gulf countries.
The 39th GCC summit was recently held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The summit has failed to resolve a diplomatic crisis that continues to grip the region.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE and Egypt have imposed an air, land and sea blockade on Qatar since June 2017.
The blockading countries has accused Qatar of supporting terrorism.
Ideate for India
It is a national challenge to students of classes 6 - 12 across the country to give them a platform to become solution creators for the problems.
It will help inculcate innovation skills in youth and equip all students to utilise technology for the betterment of their communities and the society at large.
It is designed and launched by the National e-Governance Division, Ministry of Electronics & IT in collaboration with Intel India, with the support of Ministry of Human Resource Development.
