Author Archives: Arun Kumar N

About Arun Kumar N

Arun has been associated with India International Times since 2018 and he has been a key reporter in covering science and space related stories. He can be reached at arunKnn@indiainternationaltimes.com.

NASA sees wide-eyed Typhoon Noru headed for landfall in Kyushu, Japan

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Typhoon Noru was churning just south of the southwestern-most island of Japan when NASA’s Terra satellite captured an image of the storm with an eye over 35 miles wide. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center expects Noru to make landfall in Kyushu by August 6.

On August 4, 2017 at 0220 UTC (Aug. 3 at 10:20 p.m. EDT), NASA’s Terra satellite passed over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument captured a visible-light image of the storm. The image revealed that Noru’s eye had become more apparent since the previous day. The western quadrant of the storm was affecting Japan’s Tokara Islands, which lie to the south of Japan’s large island of Kyushu. The Tokara Islands is an archipelago in the Nansei Islands, part of the Ryukyu Archipelago. The chain of islands consists of twelve small islands between Yakushima and Amami-Oshima.

Animated enhanced infrared satellite imagery and radar imagery indicate that Noru was re-intensifying with improved deep convective thunderstorm banding and a 37-nautical-mile-wide eye.

On August 4, 2017 at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC), Noru’s maximum sustained winds were near 86 mph (75 knots/139 kph). Noru’s eye was centered near 29.3 degrees north latitude and 130.3 degrees east longitude, about 218 nautical miles northeast of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan. Noru has tracked to the west-northwestward at 5.7 mph (5 knots/9.2 kph).

Warnings are already in effect for the sub-prefecture regions of Kyushu including: Satsuma Chiho, Osumi Chiho, Tanegashima-Yakushima Chiho, Amami Chiho, Nambu Heiyabu, Hokubu Heiyabu, Nambu Yamazoi and Hokubu Yamazoi.

For watches and warnings from the Japan Meteorological Agency on Noru, visit: http://www.jma.go.jp/jma/indexe.html

Noru is forecast to turn north-northeast and make landfall in Kyushu on August 6. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts the storm will then move in a northeasterly direction and move west of Kyoto on the big island of Japan before moving into the Sea of Japan.

Smt. Sharbati Devi, a 103 year old widow ties a Rakhi on PM

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Smt. Sharbati Devi, a 103 year old widow, today visited the PM’s residence, and tied a Rakhi on Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s wrist on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

Smt. Sharbati Devi lost her brother about 50 years ago, and would always miss him, especially on Rakhi. Her son wrote to the Prime Minister and subsequently, the Prime Minister invited Smt. Sharbati Devi and her family to his residence today. Smt. Sharbati Devi was extremely delighted to meet the PM and tie a Rakhi. They had a wonderful interaction today.

Why is conducting research in some countries so difficult?

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Low- and middle-income countries such as Brazil face a lack of epidemiological data, and one of the key priorities for researchers is developing high-quality surveys. Investigators at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health with collaborators at the Federal University of São Paulo studied the difficulties in conducting a longitudinal epidemiological survey in a school-based sample in Brazil. The findings are published online in the journal BMC Psychiatry.

“Overall, researchers in countries like Brazil lack knowledge about the importance of scientific research,” said Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. “In particular, there are very few studies assessing the potential impact of social inequalities and exposure to traumatic experiences on psychiatric outcomes at the population level.”

Martins and colleagues studied a sample school-attending adolescents born in 2002 now in the 7th grade in nine public schools during 2014 in two neighborhoods of in Sao Paulo with different levels of urbanicity. One neighborhood had low exposure to urban violence and scored high on the Human Development Index, while the other experienced high exposure to urban violence and low Index scores. In total, nine public schools located at the most socially vulnerable regions of each neighborhood were selected.

“At the start, we experienced several hardships,” said Martins. “These included achieving unbiased sampling, reaching subjects, scheduling interviews, keeping participants’ updated contact information, and counting on a highly-trained research team.”

Some classes’ records contained names of students who had never actually studied in those schools. “Inaccurate lists of enrolled students were a major source of concern,” noted Martins. In terms of communications, the researchers found that poor internet access, deficient telephone and postal services also affected results.

“Our study offered some important insights on the problems faced when conducting epidemiological field work in low- and middle-income countries and provides some alternatives on how to deal with these difficulties. Working closely with community leaders, organizing group efforts to perform interviews, using a short, easy to understand instrument and providing a reward for participants are some of the strategies to be used, not only in Brazil, but also in other low- and middle-income countries,” observed Martins.

Measles-Rubella (MR) Campaign widens its reach

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2nd phase of MR vaccination campaign rolled out.

India, along with ten other WHO South East Asia Region member countries, have resolved to eliminate measles and control rubella/congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) by 2020. In this direction, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has initiated measles-rubella (MR) vaccination campaign in the age group of 9 months to less than 15 years in a phased manner across the nation. The campaign aims to cover approximately 41 crore children and is going to be the largest ever vaccination campaign worldwide. All children from 9 months to less than 15 years of age will be given a single shot of Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination during the campaign. Following the campaign, MR vaccine will become a part of routine immunization and will replace measles vaccine, currently given at 9-12 months and 16-24 months of age of child.

The first phase of measles-rubella vaccination campaign has been successfully completed in five states, namely, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. More than 3.3 crore children were vaccinated, reaching out to 97% of the intended age group. The campaign was carried out in schools, community centers and health facilities. The next round is starting in 8 states/UTs (Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana and Uttarakhand) from August 2017, aiming to cover 3.4 crore children.

The campaign aims to rapidly build up immunity for both measles and rubella diseases in the community so as to knock out the disease, therefore, all the children should receive MR vaccine during the campaign. For those children who have already received such vaccination, the campaign dose would provide additional boosting to them. In order to achieve maximum coverage during the campaign, multiple stakeholders have been involved, which includes, apart from Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, other Ministries, development partners, Lions clubs, professional bodies, for example, Indian Association of Pediatrics, Indian Medical Association, Civil Society Organizations etc.

The Measles-Rubella campaign is a part of global efforts to reduce illness and deaths due to measles and rubella/CRS in the country. Measles immunization directly contributes to the reduction of under-five child mortality, and in combination with rubella vaccine, it will control rubella and prevent CRS.

So lonely I could die

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Social isolation, loneliness could be greater threat to public health than obesity, researchers say.

Loneliness and social isolation may represent a greater public health hazard than obesity, and their impact has been growing and will continue to grow, according to research presented at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.

“Being connected to others socially is widely considered a fundamental human need–crucial to both well-being and survival. Extreme examples show infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die, and indeed, social isolation or solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment,” said Julianne Holt-Lunstad, PhD, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University. “Yet an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly.”

Approximately 42.6 million adults over age 45 in the United States are estimated to be suffering from chronic loneliness, according to AARP’s Loneliness Study. In addition, the most recent U.S. census data shows more than a quarter of the population lives alone, more than half of the population is unmarried and, since the previous census, marriage rates and the number of children per household have declined.

“These trends suggest that Americans are becoming less socially connected and experiencing more loneliness,” said Holt-Lunstad.

To illustrate the influence of social isolation and loneliness on the risk for premature mortality, Holt-Lunstad presented data from two meta-analyses. The first involved 148 studies, representing more than 300,000 participants, and found that greater social connection is associated with a 50 percent reduced risk of early death. The second study, involving 70 studies representing more than 3.4 million individuals primarily from North America but also from Europe, Asia and Australia, examined the role that social isolation, loneliness or living alone might have on mortality. Researchers found that all three had a significant and equal effect on the risk of premature death, one that was equal to or exceeded the effect of other well-accepted risk factors such as obesity.

“There is robust evidence that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase risk for premature mortality, and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators,” said Holt-Lunstad. “With an increasing aging population, the effect on public health is only anticipated to increase. Indeed, many nations around the world now suggest we are facing a ‘loneliness epidemic.’ The challenge we face now is what can be done about it.”

Holt-Lunstad recommended a greater priority be placed on research and resources to tackle this public health threat from the societal to the individual level. For instance, greater emphasis could be placed on social skills training for children in schools and doctors should be encouraged to include social connectedness in medical screening, she said. Additionally, people should be preparing for retirement socially as well as financially, as many social ties are related to the workplace, she noted, adding that community planners should make sure to include shared social spaces that encourage gathering and interaction, such as recreation centers and community gardens.

Early term babies are at greater risk for diabetes and obesity-related diseases

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Early term deliveries impact babies’ long-term health with increased risk of diabetes and obesity-related illnesses as well as a shortened life span, according to a new study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers.

“Early term” is defined as delivery between 37 and 39 weeks. Pregnancy is considered at full term when gestation has lasted between 37 and 42 weeks. Babies born between 39 and 41 weeks of gestation have better outcomes than those born either before or afterward.

In the study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the researchers investigated hospitalizations of children up to age 18 to determine the impact that early-term versus full-term gestation had on pediatric health and hospitalizations. A population-based cohort analysis was conducted of 54,073 early-term deliveries and 171,000 full-term deliveries.

“We found that hospitalizations up to the age of 18 involving endocrine and metabolic morbidity were found to be more common in the early-term group as compared with the full-term group, especially at ages five and older,” says Prof. Eyal Sheiner, M.D., Ph.D., a vice dean of the BGU Faculty of Health Sciences (FOHS) and head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Soroka University Medical Center. What’s more, “Obesity was significantly more frequent among the early term.”

The researchers also discovered that children older than five exhibited significantly higher rates of type I diabetes mellitus when born early term.

“Pregnancies ending at early term were more likely to be complicated by hypertensive disorders and maternal diabetes (both gestational and pre-gestational). Deliveries were more often cesarean, and mean birthweight was significantly smaller,” Dr. Sheiner says. “Babies delivered at early term were also more likely to be low birthweight — less than 5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms).”

These diseases may increase the likelihood of other associated maladies with a detrimental long-term impact on one’s health and well-being, increased lifetime healthcare expenditures and a shorter life span, the researchers conclude.

Gold specks raise hopes for better cancer treatments

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A tiny medical device containing gold specks could boost the effects of cancer medication and reduce its harm, research suggests.

Scientists have completed a study which showed that gold increased the effectiveness of drugs used to treat lung cancer cells.

Experts say that the findings could help researchers use the device to reduce side effects of current chemotherapies by precisely targeting diseased cells without damaging healthy tissue.

Gold is a safe chemical element and has the ability to accelerate – or catalyse – chemical reactions.

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh discovered properties of the precious metal that allow these catalytic abilities to be accessed in living things without any side effects.

Minute fragments, known as gold nanoparticles, were encased in a chemical device by the research team to control these highly-specific reactions in exact locations.

The device was shown to catalyse a directed chemical reaction when implanted in the brain of zebrafish, suggesting it can be used in living animals.

Gold nanoparticles also activated anti-cancer medicines that had been applied to lung cancer cells in a dish, increasing the drugs’ effectiveness.

Some 450 people die from cancer every day in the UK. A cancer diagnosis is made every two minutes. Medications are improving, but often damage healthy cells.

The study was carried out in collaboration with researchers at the University of Zaragoza’s Institute of Nanoscience of Aragon in Spain. It was part-funded by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and is published in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

Dr Asier Unciti-Broceta from the University of Edinburgh’s CRUK Edinburgh Centre, said: “We have discovered new properties of gold that were previously unknown and our findings suggest that the metal could be used to release drugs inside tumours very safely.

“There is still work to do before we can use this on patients, but this study is a step forward. We hope that a similar device in humans could one day be implanted by surgeons to activate chemotherapy directly in tumours and reduce harmful effects to healthy organs.”

Dr Áine McCarthy, Cancer Research UK’s senior science information officer said: “By developing new, better ways of delivering cancer drugs, studies like this have the potential to improve cancer treatment and reduce side effects. In particular, it could help improve treatment for brain tumours and other hard-to-treat cancers. The next steps will be to see if this method is safe to use in people, what its long- and short-term side effects are, and if it’s a better way to treat some cancers.”

President Greets Nation on ‘Raksha Bandhan’

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President Ram Nath Kovind in his message on the eve of Raksha Bandhan has emphasized on the sacred bond of commitment between sisters and brothers in the country.

“On the auspicious occasion of Raksha Bandhan, I offer my warm greetings and good wishes to all fellow citizens. This unique festival celebrates the sacred bond of commitment between sisters and brothers,” he said in his message.

Raksha Bandhan symbolises the virtues of love, affection and mutual trust, and bring happiness and prosperity to all people of the country, he said. “I hope that the day is an occasion for all of us to renew the spirit of fraternity among the citizens of India,” he noted.

Monday, August 7, 2017 marks the festival of Raksha Bandhan celebrated by sisters across the country, especially the north, tying the sacred thread on their brothers for protection. The ancient Hindu tradition has tied brothers and sisters throughout the Hindu culture and is still visibly celebrated by Indian expatriates across the world.

Origin or the legend goes that Indra, king of the gods, was tied a sacred thread around his wrist by his wife Sachi at Lord Vishnu’s advice, and he was able to regain Amaravati, the abode of the gods from a demon. Even Bali, a demon king but known for his philanthropy, requested Lord Vishnu to stay at his abode and this irked Vishnu’s wife Lakshmi who went and tied Rakhi and requested Bali to give back her husband as a gift, which he obliged.

In history, when Alexander invaded, King Porus could not kill him because he was wearing a rakhi around his wrist tied by Porus’s wife. In India, Babar’s son Humayun was sent a rakhi by the widowed queen of Chittorgarh that he rushed to help her out of the clutches of the ruler of Gujarat then keeping up the spirit of protection of a sister.

The Raksha Bandhan was, however, popularised by Rabindranath Tagore as part of bringing unity among Indians to fight for the freedom struggle in modern India and the tradition has become so popular that many girls express their affection and love for brothers and those who they want to provide brotherly protection.

In recent days, many boys are afraid of girls who turn away their love by just tying rakhi on this day.

 

PM Congratulates Venkaiah Naidu, New Vice President-Elect (Profile)

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated M Venkaiah Naidu on being elected the 13th Vice President of India and expressed confidence that he would serve the nation and help nation-building.

The Prime Minister said, “Congratulations to M Venkaiah Naidu Garu on being elected India’s Vice President. My best wishes for a fruitful & motivating tenure.My mind is filled with memories of working with M Venkaiah Naidu Garu, in the Party & Government. Will cherish this aspect of our association.I am confident M Venkaiah Naidu will serve the nation as a diligent & dedicated Vice President, committed to the goal of nation building.”

The Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari congratulated the Vice President-elect, on his election as the next Vice President of India.In a telephonic conversation after the results were declared, Mr Ansari wished Venkaiah Naidu the very best for his future role as the Vice President of India and the Chairman, Rajya Sabha.

Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, 67, was elected India’s Vice President on Friday with a huge majority.A BJP leader for decades, Naidu served as the Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Urban Development and Information and Broadcasting in the Modi Cabinet.

He was the national president of BJP from 2002 to 2004 and also served as the Union Cabinet Minister for Rural Development in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Naidu was born on 1 July 1949 at Chavatapalem, in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh and completed schooling from V. R. High School, Nellore, and pursued his bachelor’s degree in politics and diplomatic studies from V. R. College.

Later, he acquired a bachelor’s degree in law with specialisation in international law from Andhra University College of Law, Visakhapatnam.

He was an RSS swayamsevak and joined ABVP during his college days and got elected as the president of the students union of colleges affiliated to the Andhra University. His political career began during the Jai Andhra Movement of 1972. In 1974, he became the convener of the anti-corruption Jayaprakash Narayan Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti of Andhra Pradesh and staged protests against the emergency and was imprisoned.

 

Hiroshima Day 2017: How World Leaders Reacted Then?

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Residents in Hiroshima observed a minute of silence marking the 72nd anniversary of the first atom bomb usage on August 6, 1945 by the US to end World War Two, bringing peace to the world but the death toll has climbed up to 164,621 so far.

The event at Hiroshima’s memorial park was witnessed by people who released thousands of lanterns the adjoining Motoyasu river that saved all those who jumped into it to save the radiation and heat on that fateful day.

The second bombing on Nagasaki on August 9 will be held three days later.

A US B-29 bomber dropped the Enola Gay (uranium bomb) on Hiroshima some 600m (1,800ft) above the city, at 08:10 on 6 August 1945. While 70,000 immediately died, 70,000 more died gradually by the end of the year while others died with symptoms of radiation over a period.

About 30,000 people attended the ceremony at the Hiroshima Memorial Park near Hiroshima’s epicentre or ground zero where the bomb was dropped. The Hiroshima bombing has left behind Japan, startled and shaken, while survivors vouch for a ban on nuclear arms.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matusi called on the Japanese government to sign the treaty banning nuclear weapons. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said: “For us to truly realize a ‘world without nuclear weapons,’ the participation of both nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states is necessary.”

The adherence to non-nuclear world remained strong across the nations ever since and here are some quotes from famous world personalities on Hiroshima Day:

1) If I had foreseen Hiroshima and Nagasaki, i would have torn up my formula in 1905.
— Albert Einstein

2) “We must strive towards the goal of abolition of nuclear devices and disarmament and through mutual trust in each other, we must realise One World.”
— Jawaharlal Nehru

3) Dropping those atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a war crime.
— George Wald

4) I find wholly baffling the widespread belief today that the dropping of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs was an immortal act, even possibly a war crime to rank with Nazi genocide.
— J.G. Ballard

5)    “If the radiance of a thousand suns,
         Were to burst at once into the sky,
         That would be like the splendour of the Mighty One…
         I am become Death,
         The shatterer of worlds.
[Quoted from the Bhagavad Gita after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.]”
— J. Robert Oppenheimer

6) “So, let us be alert in a twofold sense: Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of. And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.”
                                                                                                                                                   — Viktor E. Frankl

7) “Hiroshima and Nagasaki were atomized at a time when the Japanese were suing desperately for peace. ”
— David T. Dellinger, Revolutionary Nonviolence: Essays

8) “What the diary does not reveal, for it stops too soon, is the appalling fact that from late 1945 until 1952 Japanese medical researchers were prohibited by U.S. occupation authorities from publishing scientific articles on the effects of the atomic bombs.”
— John W. Dower, Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician

9) The use of the atomic bomb, with its indiscriminate killing of women and children, revolts my soul.                                                                                                                                                         — Herbert Hoover

10) “Oh my God! Tell that to the people in Hiroshima… Good. Good. When you declare war, you declare war. They started it. We now don’t count who’s dead. You’re dead, you deserve to be dead.
                                                                                  — Joan Rivers, TV personality and Jewish comedian

LG V30 to Sport 6-Inch FullVision P-OLED QHD+ Display

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The next flagship smartphone from LG Electronics (LG) will be the first ever device to feature a plastic OLED FullVision display, retaining the company’s smartphone display strategy that started with the LG G6 and continues with the LG Q6.

As LG’s first OLED smartphone since the LG G Flex 2 in 2015, the shift marks a move by LG to extend its OLED leadership from the premium TV sector into the premium smartphone space. Beyond their slim profile and excellent visuals, OLED displays in smartphones are ideal for VR applications, one of the key growth areas in the smartphone industry.

“Expertise in OLED has long been a core competency of LG, and the technology has always been seen as a potential value-add for smartphones,” said Juno Cho, president of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “With competition in the global smartphone space fiercer now than ever, we felt that this was the right time to reintroduce OLED displays in our mobile products.”

With consumers seeking bigger displays but eschewing larger phones that are uncomfortable to hold in one hand, LG’s FullVision display is a key contributor in the trend toward minimized bezels in smartphones. OLED was simply the next evolution for FullVision displays, delivering incredible quality, vividness and clarity to smartphone visuals.

At six inches, the OLED FullVision display will be LG’s largest in four years while the actual body will be smaller than last year’s LG V20. As the upper and lower bezels have been reduced by 20 and 50 percent when compared to the V20, the LG logo has been moved from the bottom of the display to the back of the phone to maximize viewable screen space.

The FullVision display’s immersive and expansive visual experience is enhanced on the 4.15 million pixels of the QHD+ (1440 x 2880) OLED screen. Superb image quality is achieved via emissive OLED technology which reproduces perfet black and colors with greater accuracy across a wider color spectrum.

By implementing optimal image algorithms gleaned from years of OLED research and development, visuals on this OLED display deliver 148 percent of the sRGB color space for digital images and 109 percent of the DCI-P3 color space for digital cinema.

Another intrinsic advantage of OLED technology is operational response time, which is tens of times faster than LCD. This accelerated response time effectively eliminates afterimages, an important consideration for action movies and VR. And with support for HDR10, watching compatible movies and videos on this display offers a whole new eye-opening experience.

And because the screen in the upcoming smartphone will be based on plastic OLED technology – also known as P-OLED – the edges can be curved to allow for a more ergonomic design and a better feel in the hand. P-OLED is created by placing pixels on a plastic substrate which is much stronger than a glass base. What’s more, the display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 that incorporates shatter-resistant technology.

Most importantly, using advanced encapsulation and pixel-scanning technology, the burn-in problem that has affected OLED technology in the past has been eliminated in the P-OLED technology in LG’s upcoming device, said the company.

Encapsulation significantly reduces oxidation of the pixels and LG’s pixel-scanning technology allows for less energy to be applied to each pixel, also saving battery power.

NASA-ISRO Joint Project NISAR to be Ready by 2021: Minister

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ISRO and NASA are working towards realisation of NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission by 2021, said MoS for Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, August 3, 2017.

In NISAR mission, NASA is responsible for development of L-band SAR and ISRO is responsible for development of S-band SAR. The L&S band SAR will be integrated with ISRO’s spacecraft and launched on-board India’s GSLV.

The total cost of the project includes ISRO’s work share cost of about Rs.788 Cr and the cost of JPL’s work share is about US$808 million.

After the launch in 2021, the plan of action includes (i) calibration of instruments & validation of data products; (ii) development of science acquisition plan; (iii) development of data processing procedures & applications; and (iv) conduct of outreach activities in research institutes & academia.

NISAR employs a futuristic SweepSAR technique, which enables very wide swath of more than 200 km and very high resolution of the order of 5-10m. The L & S band microwave data obtained from this satellite will be useful for variety of application, which include estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle; assessing soil moisture; monitoring of floods & oil slicks; coastal erosion, coastline changes; assessment of mangroves; surface deformation studies, ice sheet dynamics etc.

ISRO and NASA have a framework agreement for cooperation in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes signed in 2008. Under this framework agreement, ISRO and NASA have executed an implementing arrangement for cooperation in NISAR mission, which is valid until 2034 and provides scope for joint activities on science & applications of NISAR data after the launch.

Japan-India Panel Meets on Northeast Development

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The first meeting of the Japan-India Coordination Forum (JICF) for Development of North-Eastern Region was held in New Delhi on Thursday, August 3, 2017 to focus on the region’s infrastructure development including power sector and transportation.

Secretary, Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Naveen Verma led the Indian side while the Japanese delegation was led by the Japanese Ambassador to India, Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu. Senior Officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Department of Economic Affairs, and line Ministries of Government of India including Road Transport & Highways, Agriculture, Power besides Resident Commissioners of the eight States of the NER participated in the meeting.

The Japanese delegation included Mr. Kenko Sone, Minister, Economic Affairs, Embassy of Japan, besides representatives from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) and Japan Foundation.

Priority areas of cooperation identified by Indian side including Connectivity and Road Network Development, especially inter-State roads & major district roads; Disaster Management; Food Processing; Organic Farming and Tourism were discussed in the meeting.

Secretary, DoNER, Naveen Verma said regular meetings of the Forum would not only enhance Assistance by JICA but also promote B2B and people to people contacts.

Welfare of Transgenders taken up

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The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has constituted an Inter Ministerial Committee to pursue implementation of the Expert Committee’s recommendations. So far, four Inter Ministerial Committee meetings have been held.

The Registrar General of India (RGI), during Enumeration of Census 2011, for the first time provided three codes i.e. Male-1, Female –2 and others -3 for enumeration. This was at the discretion of the respondent. In case the respondent wished to record neither ‘1’ nor ‘2’, then enumerator was instructed to record sex as ‘other’ and give code ‘3’. Still, it is important to note that the Census on India does not collect any data specifically on ‘transgender’. Thus, the category of ‘other’ would not only include ‘transgender’ but also any person who desires to record sex under the category of ‘other’. It is also possible that some transgenders would have returned themselves either male or female depending upon their choice. The population of ‘other’ as per Census 2011 is 4,87,803.

The Bill titled “The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016” was introduced by the Ministry in the Lok Sabha on 2.8.2016. The Bill was referred to the Lok Sabha Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment for examination and report. The Committee has submitted its report on 21.07.2017.

The Kochi Metro Rail Ltd (KMRL) has informed that they are providing employment opportunities to 23 transgenders who work alongside the Kudumbashree women in customer service operations.

This information was given by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Vijay Sampla in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Eligibility Criteria for Senior Citizens to be decided soon

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Adoption of Uniform age criteria of sixty years for benefits of Senior Citizens being extended by different organizations (such as Airlines, Insurance companies, State Governments, etc) is under consideration in this Ministry, pursuant to the recommendation of the Group of Secretaries on Education and Social Development, Constituted by the Government. It is proposed to bring suitable amendment to the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act in this regard.

This information was given by Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Shri Vijay Sampla in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

Quota of OBCs in higher education

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The University Grants Commission(UGC) has circulated the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 and Amendment Act, 2012 to all Central Educational Institutions directing them to implement reservation provisions for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) including admission of OBC students to these Institutions. UGC has issued instruction to all the grant-in-aid institutions funded by the Central Government, except minority Institutions under Article 30(1) of the Constitution of India to implement 27% reservation for OBCs.

As per the information available with the Ministry, during 2015-16, 22 out of 40 Central Universities have successfully achieved the prescribed percentage of student intake from OBC Community. Some of the universities like Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Milia University and some like Mizoram University, Nagaland University, North Eastern Hill University could not achieve the prescribed percentage as these were either minority institutions or were situated in Tribal dominated areas where less OBC students apply for admissions. All Indian Institutes of Technology/National Institutes of Technology/Indian Institutes of Information Technology achieved the stipulated 27 % intake of OBC students. Further, 13 Indian Institutes of Management out of 19 and 22 out of 31 National Institutes of Technology recorded more than the stipulated 27% student intake.

The Government of India and UGC has been continuously monitoring the progress of implementation of Reservation policy for OBCs in admission to courses at all level in Universities/Institutions.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development through UGC instructs Universities/Institutions to furnish periodic reports on the implementation of reservation guidelines for OBCs for admissions to courses at all level and Hostel accommodation for students.

UGC has a dedicated SC/ST/OBC section which monitors effective implementation of the Reservation Policy for all communities including OBCs in admission and recruitment to various posts in universities and colleges.

This information was given by the Minister of State (HRD), Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey today in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question.

Fixation of Pension: How to Calculate?

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In implementation of Government’s decision on the recommendation of the Seventh Central Pay Commission (7th CPC), orders have been issued vide Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare O.M. No. 38/37/16-P&PW(A) (i) dated 04.08.2016 for revision of provisions regulating pension/gratuity/ commutation of pension/family pension/disability pension/ex-gratia lump-sum compensation, etc. in respect of the employees retiring on or after 01.01.2016.v For revision of pension of pre-2016 civil pensioners, the 7th CPC recommended the following two formulations:

(i) Notional Pay of employees who retired prior to 01.01.2016 may be fixed in the Pay Matrix on the basis of the Pay Band and Grade Pay at which they retired, by adding the number of increments he/ she had earned in that level while in service, to the minimum of the corresponding level in the matrix. Fifty percent of the total amount so arrived at shall be the revised pension.

(ii) The pension, as had been fixed at the time of implementation of the 6th CPC recommendations, may be multiplied by 2.57 to arrive at an alternate value for the revised pension.

7th CPC recommended that the pensioners may be given the option of choosing the formulation which is more beneficial to them. Orders were issued for revision of pension as per Formulation (ii) above vide Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare O.M. No. 38/37/16-P&PW(A) (ii) dated 04.08.2016 and the pension disbursing authorities were advised to make payment of revised pension accordingly without waiting for the revised pension payment authority. A Committee under the chairmanship of Secretary, Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare was constituted to examine the feasibility of Formulation (i). The Committee observed that Formulation (i) as recommended by the 7th CPC might be difficult to implement in a large number of cases and this method may also cause anomalies.

In implementation of the recommendations of the aforesaid Committee, orders have been issued vide Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare O.M. No. 38/37/16-P&PW(A) dated 12.05.2017. It has been provided that the revised pension/family pension w.e.f. 01.01.2016 in respect of all Central civil pensioners/family pensioners may be revised by notionally fixing their pay in the pay matrix recommended by the 7th CPC in the level corresponding to the pay in the pay scale/pay band and grade pay at which they retired/died by notional pay fixation under each intervening Pay Commission based on the Formula for revision of pay. 50% of the notional pay as on 01.01.2016 shall be the revised pension and 30% of this notional pay shall be the revised family pension w.e.f. 1.1.2016. Higher of the two Formulations i.e. the pension/family pension already revised in accordance with this Department’s OM dated 04.08.2016 or the revised pension/family pension as worked out by notional pay fixation method, shall be the revised pension/family pension w.e.f. 01.01.2016.

There were around 55.51 lakh pensioners/family pensioners (including defence pensioners/family pensioners) as on 31.03.2016. All Pension Sanctioning Authorities have been advised to accord top priority to the work of revision of pension and issue revised Pension Payment Authority in implementation of the above orders expeditiously.

There is no proposal for creation of any other organisation for pension related issues.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to question by Adv. Narendra Keshav Sawaikar and Shri P. Nagarajan in the Lok Sabha today.

Millions may face protein deficiency because of carbon dioxide emissions by Humans

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Human-caused carbon dioxide emissions lower the nutritional value of staple crops, increasing the risk for dietary deficiencies among the world’s most vulnerable people.
This study provides further evidence for the need to curb human-caused CO2 emissions.
Boston, MA – If CO2 levels continue to rise as projected, the populations of 18 countries may lose more than 5% of their dietary protein by 2050 due to a decline in the nutritional value of rice, wheat, and other staple crops, according to new findings from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Researchers estimate that roughly an additional 150 million people may be placed at risk of protein deficiency because of elevated levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. This is the first study to quantify this risk.

“This study highlights the need for countries that are most at risk to actively monitor their populations’ nutritional sufficiency, and, more fundamentally, the need for countries to curb human-caused CO2 emissions,” said Samuel Myers, senior research scientist in the Department of Environmental Health.

The study will be published online August 2, 2017 in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Globally, 76% of the population derives most of their daily protein from plants. To estimate their current and future risk of protein deficiency, the researchers combined data from experiments in which crops were exposed to high concentrations of CO2 with global dietary information from the United Nations and measures of income inequality and demographics.

They found that under elevated CO2 concentrations, the protein contents of rice, wheat, barley, and potatoes decreased by 7.6%, 7.8%, 14.1%, and 6.4%, respectively. The results suggested continuing challenges for Sub Saharan Africa, where millions already experience protein deficiency, and growing challenges for South Asian countries, including India, where rice and wheat supply a large portion of daily protein. The researchers found that India may lose 5.3% of protein from a standard diet, putting a predicted 53 million people at new risk of protein deficiency.

A companion paper co-authored by Myers, which will be published as an Early View article August 2, 2017 in GeoHealth, found that CO2-related reductions in iron content in staple food crops are likely to also exacerbate the already significant problem of iron deficiency worldwide. Those most at risk include 354 million children under 5 and 1.06 billion women of childbearing age–predominantly in South Asia and North Africa–who live in countries already experiencing high rates of anemia and who are expected to lose more than 3.8% of dietary iron as a result of this CO2 effect.

These two studies, taken alongside a 2015 study co-authored by Myers showing that elevated CO2 emissions are also likely to drive roughly 200 million people into zinc deficiency, quantify the significant nutritional toll expected to arise from human-caused CO2 emissions.

“Strategies to maintain adequate diets need to focus on the most vulnerable countries and populations, and thought must be given to reducing vulnerability to nutrient deficiencies through supporting more diverse and nutritious diets, enriching the nutritional content of staple crops, and breeding crops less sensitive to these CO2 effects. And, of course, we need to dramatically reduce global CO2 emissions as quickly as possible,” Myers said.

 

Employment to Differently Abled

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Section 34 of the “ The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016” mandates every appropriate Government to appoint in every Government establishment, not less than four per cent of the total number of vacancies in the cadre strength in each group of posts meant to be filled with persons with benchmark disabilities of which, one per cent each shall be reserved for persons with benchmark disabilities under clauses (a), (b) and (c) and one per cent for persons with benchmark disabilities under clauses (d) and (e), namely:-

(a) blindness and low vision;

(b) deaf and hard of hearing;

(c) locomotor disability including cerebral palsy, leprosy cured, dwarfism, acid attack victims and muscular dystrophy;

(d) autism, intellectual disability, specific learning disability and mental illness;

(e) multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (d) including deaf-blindness in the posts identified for each disabilities.

Section 34 of the Act also provides that the reservation in promotion shall be in accordance with such instructions as are issued by the appropriate Government from time to time.

Promotions to the higher grades are made as per provisions of the relevant Recruitment Rules. In some of the Recruitment Rules, provisions exist for promotion either on the basis of seniority in service or through Limited Departmental Competitive Examinations. The candidates, who do not qualify the Limited Departmental Competitive Examination are promoted on the basis of their inter-se-seniority in the feeder grade.

However, in cases where the departmental promotion test is the only mode of promotion, proposal to give promotion on the basis of the seniority or merit in service alone is not under consideration.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office, Dr Jitendra Singh in a written reply to question by Shri Chandu Lal Sahu in the Lok Sabha today.