NewsBytes

Croatia plans to boost defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 and to 3% by 2030, the latest European member of NATO to pledge higher military spending amid pressure from US President Donald Trump. The Balkan nation currently spends 2% of its economic output on defence. "Croatia is intensively working on the development of its defence industry and further cooperation with its allies," Defence Minister Ivan Anusic was quoted as saying by his ministry at the opening of the Adriatic Sea Defence & Aerospace Exhibition and Conference in the capital Zagreb. Anusic said that Croatia's armed forces were negotiating with Germany to buy 50 Leopard tanks that should arrive in 2028, part of a push across Europe to boost military capabilities amid concerns Washington is stepping back from defending the region.

The Supreme Court directed the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, to re-examine its budget proposed to conduct a tree census in the Taj Trapezium Zone. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan observed the timelines provided by the Forest Research Institute (FRI) were too long and said there was a "lot of overlap" in its work in Delhi. "We are of the view that FRI needs to have a relook at the budget proposed as infrastructure which may be used for tree survey in Delhi may be used for the tree survey in TTZ area. Therefore, we direct the FRI to submit a fresh budget and timelines within four weeks," it said. The top court on March 26 directed the FRI to carry out the first tree census in Delhi and also gave its nod to enhance the city's green cover. The FRI would conduct both the exercises simultaneously in three phases over a three-and-a-half-year period. The top court had previously directed the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) authority to appoint the FRI to carry out a tree census in the area.

Ambrosia, a global leader in real-time health monitoring, has launched India's first 24x7 real-time glucose and stress monitoring service, following its successful adoption in the United States and Europe. This groundbreaking service integrates advanced wearable sensor technology, AI-driven analytics, and remote monitoring to provide continuous health insights, empowering individuals to take control of their well-being. India is home to over 100 million people affected by diabetes, with millions more experiencing chronic stress-related disorders. Traditional glucose monitoring methods rely on intermittent testing, leaving critical gaps in data. Many Indian diabetes management companies mislead users by promoting flash glucose sensors as real-time CGMs, complicating effective disease management. Ambrosia addresses this gap with a real-time monitoring system that continuously tracks glucose and stress levels through wearable sensor technology, offering AI-powered alerts and personalised insights for better health management.

A large new study adds to evidence that diabetes during pregnancy is linked with an increased risk of brain and nervous system problems in children, including autism, researchers say. Whether diabetes actually causes those problems remains unclear. But when mothers have diabetes while pregnant, children are 28% more likely to be diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder, according to an analysis of data pooled from 202 earlier studies involving more than 56 million mother-child pairs. The risks for children of mothers with diabetes during pregnancy were 25% higher for autism, 30% higher for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and 32% higher for intellectual disability. They were also 20% higher for trouble with communication, 17% higher for movement problems and 16% higher for learning disorders than in children whose mothers did not have diabetes while pregnant.