Published on: August 12, 2024
Snippets : 12 AUGUST 2024
Snippets : 12 AUGUST 2024
- CSIR-NBRI has developed ‘NBRI-Gout Out’, a herbal product to address gout. Gout is a common and complex form of arthritis that can affect anyone. It results from increased uric acid in blood serum, affecting men more often. Women tend to have lower uric acid levels, making them less prone to gout. Obesity, certain medicines, and purine-rich foods/drinks can increase uric acid levels. Alcohol and sugary drinks are examples of purine-rich substances. ‘NBRI-Gout Out’ combines five medicinal plants to help manage gout. This herbal product offers a natural solution to alleviate gout symptoms.
- Bangalore University (BU) is enhancing employability skills of its students by introducing new-age courses like Data Science, Machine Learning, and Full Stack Development, and partnering with Wadhwani Foundation to integrate AI-driven skills into the curriculum, aiming to improve career readiness and sustainment.
- Kerala’s ‘Degree for all’ initiative, supported by IGNOU, offers graduation education to anyone regardless of age, empowering individuals, especially women, to pursue higher education, with over 600 enthusiasts, mostly women, already enrolled, proving age is no barrier for education.
- Entomologists from ATREE, Bengaluru, discovered three new edible bug species in Northeast India. The species, Coridius adii, Coridius esculentus, and Coridius insperatus, are traditionally consumed by indigenous people. The discovery highlights the need to document and protect traditional knowledge of insects. Over 500 species of edible insects were documented, including grasshoppers, caterpillars, and beetles. The Coridius bugs feed on plant sap and are found in Arunachal Pradesh. Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects, is a tradition and sustenance in Northeast India. The study found potential pharmaceutical applications and raised concerns about side effects
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi released 109 high-yielding, climate-resilient, and biofortified seed varieties of agricultural and horticultural crops to enhance farm productivity and farmers’ income, developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).
- Karnataka wins 40th Sub-junior and 50th junior national aquatic championships in Bhubaneswar
- Biotechnologists at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University have discovered a significant variation in nitrogen-use efficiency among popular Indian rice varieties, which can be utilized to develop high-yielding, nitrogen-efficient varieties, reducing fertilizer expenditure and environmental pollution. Cereals consume two-thirds of all urea in India, led by rice. Poor nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) wastes N (nitrogen)-fertilizers worth ₹1 trillion a year in India and over $170 billion per year globally
- A team of climbers from the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI) in Darjeeling scaled Uhuru Peak, the highest peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, recently.
- CPCRI issues advisory to control Koleroga disease in arecanut plantations, recommending spraying of 1% Bordeaux mixture or Mandipropamid 23.4% SC on all bunches, improving drainage, removing diseased nuts, and applying dolomite/lime and fertilizers in September to mitigate the impact of the disease prevalent due to recent rains. Koleroga/Fruit Rot is caused by a number of different fungi, bacteria, and viruses, and it can be difficult to prevent and treat. Continuous heavy rainfall coupled with low temperature (20 to 23 °C), high relative humidity (>90%), and intermittent rain and sunshine hours favour the occurrence of fruit rot.
- Recently, a new flowering plant species from ‘ceropegia’ genus has been discovered inside the Vishalgad premises in Maharashtra and named it as Ceropegia Shivrayiana.
- Recently, Indian Air Force and Royal Malaysian Air Force participated in Exercise Udara Shakti 2024. It is the joint air exercise was conducted in collaboration with the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) at Kuantan, Malaysia. It was aimed at bolstering operational efficiency, technical experts of both Air Forces engaged in exchange of their maintenance practices
- The Indian Army and the Sri Lankan Army will kick off their joint exercise, “Mitra Shakti,” at Maduruoya in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi released 109 climate-resilient crop varieties, including two drought-tolerant cardamom varieties, IISR Manushree and IISR Kaveri, developed by ICAR-IISR, which can be cultivated in Karnataka and Kerala.
- The Ministry of Textiles has launched the Kasturi Cotton Bharat program, a QR code certification technology-based initiative to ensure quality and traceability of cotton, with 343 modernized ginning units registered and 100 bales of Andhra Pradesh cotton certified so far.
- Neelakurinji, a purplish flowering shrub, has been listed as a threatened species on the IUCN Red List. It blooms once in 12 years and is endemic to the Western Ghats. The species is vulnerable due to habitat loss, invasive species, infrastructure development, and climate change. There are 34 subpopulations spread across 14 ecoregions in southwest India. Neelakurinji has cultural significance, with the Nilgiri Hills named after its blue flowers. The IUCN Red List is a comprehensive inventory of global conservation status.
- The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has initiated a new project to enhance weather, water, ice, and climate information in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, focusing on improving observation systems, Earth system models, and forecasting services, addressing the rapid temperature rise impacting Indigenous populations and local communities; running from 2024 to 2028, this project is part of WMO’s World Weather Research Programme (WWRP), led by the Norwegian Meteorological Institute and University of Canterbury, and faces challenges like complex physical processes and understanding user needs, while the WMO itself is a global organization with 193 member countries and territories dedicated to advancing meteorology and hydrology cooperation.
- The Union Cabinet has launched the Clean Plant Programme (CPP) to provide affordable clean plant material to all farmers, focusing on engaging women farmers and addressing diverse agro-climatic conditions across India. It will establish nine advanced Clean Plant Centers (CPCs) with diagnostic facilities, targeting specific fruits and regions, and includes a strong certification system and regulatory framework. The program ensures accountability and traceability, supports large-scale nurseries and infrastructure, and will be implemented by the National Horticulture Board and ICAR. By prioritizing women farmers and regional disparities, the CPP aims to enhance food security and farmer prosperity.
- India will introduce the BPaL regimen, an advanced treatment for multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), recommended by WHO 20 months ago. BPaL combines bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid to target drug-resistant TB, especially pre-XDR TB or MDR pulmonary TB, with a shorter 26-week treatment duration compared to traditional 18-month regimens. A phase-3/4 trial with 400 participants demonstrated an 85%+ cure rate, surpassing the 60-65% rate of conventional treatments. BPaL is generally safe, with manageable side effects like linezolid-induced neuropathy and reduced hemoglobin and platelet counts. Ongoing optimization of linezolid dosing aims to minimize side effects while maintaining effectiveness. Successful implementation of BPaL could revolutionize DR-TB treatment globally, enhancing adherence and outcomes, with further assessments needed for long-term efficacy and potential global standardization.
- The central government announced the first-ever Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) 2024 awards to recognize outstanding contributions in science and technology, with Govindrajan Padmanaban, a noted biochemist, receiving the Vigyan Ratna, India’s highest science award, which honors lifetime achievements in the field; other awards include Vigyan Shri for distinguished contributions, Vigyan Yuva for young scientists, and Vigyan Team for notable collective contributions; the RVP aims to recognize significant achievements in various domains, including physics, chemistry, and biological sciences, with the selection committee led by the Principal Scientific Adviser choosing the awardees, and the awards honor scientists, technologists, and innovators from any sector, including those abroad benefiting Indian communities.
