As per the rules, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the month of July 2017 has to be paid by 20th August, 2017. Only after the payment of full GST, return in summary Form 3B can be filed.
Concerns have been raised about the form for claiming transitional input tax credit not being available on the GSTN website. This form will be available on the GSTN website from 21st August, 2017. In view of this, a small window of opportunity is being given to all the taxpayers. For those taxpayers who do not want to claim any transitional input tax credit have to necessarily pay the tax and file return in Form 3Bbefore the due date of 20th August, 2017. The taxpayers who want to avail the transitional input tax credit should also calculate their tax liability after estimating the amount of transitional credit as per Form TRANS I. They have to make full settlement of the liability after adjusting the transitional input tax credit before 20th August, 2017. However, in such cases, they will get time upto 28th August, 2017 to submit Form TRANS I and Form 3B. In case of shortfall in the amount already paid vis-à-vis the amount payable on submission of Form 3B, the same will have to be paid with interest @ 18% for the period between 21stAugust,2017 till the payment of such differential amount.
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the creation of one post of Director with basic pay of Rs. 75,000/- + a special allowance of Rs,5000/- and three non-teaching posts (Registrar, Librarian and Principal Students Activity & Sports (SAS) Officer) with Grade Pay of Rs.10,000/- for National institute of Technology (NIT), Andhra Pradesh.
Background:
NITs are Institutions of National Importance known to be among the best teaching Institutions in the field of engineering and technology which have made a remarkable presence with their high quality technical education. The job opportunities will be for the post of Director and three Non Faculty posts i.e. Registrar, Librarian and Principal Students Activity & Sports (SAS) Officer. They will be responsible for running of NIT Andhra Pradesh which will produce high quality, technical manpower which will fuel entrepreneurship and generation of job opportunities throughout the country.
Consequent upon the assent of the President of India on 1st March, 2014 to the bifurcation of the State of Andhra Pradesh, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has established NIT at the successor State of Andhra Pradesh as per Schedule 13 (Education) of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganization Act, 2014.
The next major volcanic eruption could kick-start chemical reactions that would seriously damage the planet’s already besieged ozone layer.
The extent of damage to the ozone layer that results from a large, explosive eruption depends on complex atmospheric chemistry, including the levels of human-made emissions in the atmosphere. Using sophisticated chemical modeling, researchers from Harvard University and the University of Maryland explored what would happen to the ozone layer in response to large-scale volcanic eruptions over the remainder of this century and in several different greenhouse gas emission scenarios. The research was published recently in Geophysical Research Letters.
The Earth’s stratosphere is still recovering from the historic release of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting chemicals. Even though CFCs were phased out by the Montreal Protocol 30 years ago, levels of chlorine-containing molecules in the atmosphere are still elevated. Explosive volcanic eruptions that inject large quantities of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere facilitate the chemical conversion of chlorine into more reactive forms that destroy ozone.
Researchers have long known that when concentrations of chlorine from human-produced CFCs are high, ozone depletion will result following a volcanic eruption. When levels of chlorine from CFCs are low, volcanic eruptions can actually increase the thickness of the ozone layer. But exactly when this transition happens — from eruptions that deplete ozone to eruptions that increase ozone layer thickness — has long been uncertain. Previous research has put the window of the transition anywhere between 2015 to 2040.
The Harvard researchers found that volcanic eruptions could result in ozone depletion until 2070 or beyond, despite declining concentrations of human-made CFCs.
“Our model results show that the vulnerability of the ozone column to large volcanic eruptions will likely continue late in to the 21st century, significantly later than previous estimates,” said David Wilmouth, who directed the research and is a project scientist at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
So, why is this shift happening so much later than previously thought?
“Previous estimates did not take into account certain natural sources of halogen gases, such as very-short lived bromocarbons originating from marine plankton and microalgae,” said Eric Klobas, lead author and Harvard chemical physics PhD candidate.
Accounting for these emissions fine-tunes the timing of the shift from eruptions that cause ozone depletion to eruptions that increase the thickness of the ozone layer. These natural sources of bromine become especially important in the lower stratosphere after concentrations of human-emitted CFCs have declined.
“We found that the concentration of bromine from natural, very short-lived organic compounds is critically important,” said Klobas. “Even small, part-per-trillion changes in the amount of bromine from these sources can mean the difference between a late 21st century volcanic eruption resulting in ozone column depletion or ozone column enhancement.”
The researchers then explored how a volcanic event the size of the Mount Pinatubo eruption, which shot about 20 million metric tons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere in 1991, would impact the ozone layer in 2100. The team modeled four different greenhouse gas emission scenarios, ranging from very optimistic to what is commonly considered the worst-case scenario.
The team found that the most optimistic projection of future greenhouse gas concentrations resulted in the most ozone depletion from a volcanic eruption. Conversely, in the pessimistic scenario in which greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase rapidly throughout the 21st century, a Mount Pinatubo-size eruption would actually lead to a slight increase in ozone. The researchers found that the colder stratospheric temperatures and higher methane levels in this scenario would curb important ozone-depleting chemical reactions.
But, here’s the kicker: all of the above scenarios assumed that the volcanic eruption would only inject sulfur into the stratosphere, like the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. If the eruption were to also inject halogen-containing chemicals such as hydrogen chloride (HCl) into the stratosphere, the results could be dire.
“If volcanic halogens, which are commonly present in large quantities in volcanic eruptions, were to partition substantially into the stratosphere — in any greenhouse gas emission scenario, at any point in the future — it would potentially cause severe losses of stratospheric ozone,” said Klobas.
In such a case, the United States could see a prolonged and significant decrease in ozone layer thickness – upwards of 15 to 25 percent in the highest halogen scenario modeled. Even small reductions in the thickness of the ozone layer, which shields the surface of the Earth from DNA-destroying ultraviolet radiation, can adversely impact human health and other life on this planet.
“These eruptions are highly unusual events but the possibility does exist, as evidenced in the historical record,” said Wilmouth.
Six women officers of the Indian Navy, who are due to circumnavigate the globe on the sailing vessel, INSV Tarini, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today.
This is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. They will begin their voyage later this month from Goa, and expect to return to Goa in March 2018, after completing the circumnavigation. The expedition has been titled Navika Sagar Parikrama. The Parikrama will be covered in five legs, with stop-overs at 4 ports: Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), and Cape Town (South Africa).
INSV Tarini is a 55-foot sailing vessel, which has been built indigenously, and was inducted in the Indian Navy earlier this year.
During the interaction, the crew explained details of their upcoming voyage to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister wished the women crew well, and said he would keep track of their progress around the world. He exhorted them to project India’s capabilities and strengths across the world. He also encouraged them to write and share their experiences, after the successful completion of the voyage.
The vessel will be skippered by Lt. Commander Vartika Joshi, and the crew comprises Lt. Commanders Pratibha Jamwal, P Swathi, and Lieutenants S Vijaya Devi, B Aishwarya and Payal Gupta.
A large long-term study found that breast cancer risk may be higher for women who live in areas with high levels of outdoor light at night.
The link between outdoor light at night and breast cancer was found only among women who were premenopausal and were current or past smokers, and was stronger among those who worked night shifts.
Women who live in areas with higher levels of outdoor light at night may be at higher risk for breast cancer than those living in areas with lower levels, according to a large long-term study from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The link was stronger among women who worked night shifts.
The study will be published online August 17, 2017 in Environmental Health Perspectives.
“In our modern industrialized society, artificial lighting is nearly ubiquitous. Our results suggest that this widespread exposure to outdoor lights during nighttime hours could represent a novel risk factor for breast cancer,” said lead author Peter James, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School’s Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, who did the work while a research fellow in the Departments of Epidemiology and Environmental Health at Harvard Chan School.
Previous studies have suggested that exposure to light at night may lead to decreased levels of the hormone melatonin, which can disrupt circadian rhythms–our internal “clocks” that govern sleepiness and alertness–and, in turn, lead to increased breast cancer risk.
The new study, the most comprehensive to date to examine possible links between outdoor light at night and breast cancer, looked at data from nearly 110,000 women enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II from 1989-2013. The researchers linked data from satellite images of Earth taken at nighttime to residential addresses for each study participant, and also considered the influence of night shift work. The study also factored in detailed information on a variety of health and socioeconomic factors among participants.
Women exposed to the highest levels of outdoor light at night–those in the top fifth–had an estimated 14% increased risk of breast cancer during the study period, as compared with women in the bottom fifth of exposure, the researchers found. As levels of outdoor light at night increased, so did breast cancer rates.
The association between outdoor light at night and breast cancer was found only among women who were premenopausal and those who were current or past smokers. In addition, the link was stronger among women who worked night shifts, suggesting that exposure to light at night and night shift work contribute jointly to breast cancer risk, possibly through mechanisms involving circadian disruption. The authors acknowledged that further work is required to confirm the study findings and clarify potential mechanisms.
Women of color have higher levels of beauty-product-related chemicals in their bodies compared to white women, according to a commentary published today in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The authors say even small exposures to such toxic chemicals can lead to health problems. They go on to say that reproductive health professionals must be prepared to counsel patients who have questions about such exposures. And health professionals can also promote policies that will protect women, especially women of color, from harmful chemicals in cosmetics and other personal care products.
“Pressure to meet Western standards of beauty means Black, Latina and Asian American women are using more beauty products and thus are exposed to higher levels of chemicals known to be harmful to health,” says Ami Zota, ScD, MS, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University. “Beauty product use is a critical but underappreciated source of reproductive harm and environmental injustice.”
Zota and Bhavna Shamasunder at the Occidental College in Los Angeles co-authored the commentary.
The authors point out that the beauty product industry is estimated to bring in more than $400 billion globally. They also say that previous studies have documented that Black, Latina and Asian-American women spend more on beauty products than the national average, often because of marketing practices that emphasize a European standard of beauty.
For example, women of color buy products like skin lightening face cream which often contain hidden ingredients such as topical steroids or the toxic metal mercury, Zota says.
Black women are known to suffer more anxiety about having “bad hair” and are twice as likely to experience social pressure to straighten their hair. Hair products like straighteners or relaxers are likely to contain estrogen and can trigger premature reproductive development in young girls and possibly uterine tumors, the commentary says.
Other studies show that beauty and personal care products contain multiple, hidden chemicals that are linked to endocrine, reproductive or development toxicity. They can be especially dangerous for women age 18 to 34, the authors say. Women in this age group are known to be heavy buyers, purchasing more than 10 types of beauty products per year. Such women and their offspring may experience heightened vulnerability to such chemicals, especially if exposure occurs during sensitive periods such as pregnancy.
Marketing efforts have also encouraged Black women to use douching products with messages about uncleanliness and odors. A study done by Zota and colleagues in 2016 found that in a national sample of reproductive age women, those who reported douching frequently, had 150 percent higher exposures to a harmful chemical known as DEP. This chemical, often found in fragranced beauty products, may cause birth defects in babies and has also been linked to health problems in women, Zota says.
At the same time, research suggests that low-income women of color are more likely to live in an environment with high levels of pollutants contaminating the air, soil and water. Thus women of color are not only heavy users of beauty products but may also be exposed to toxic chemicals simply by living in a more polluted home or neighborhood.
“For women who live in already polluted neighborhoods, beauty product chemicals may add to their overall burden of exposures to toxic chemicals, says Bhavna Shamasunder, as assistant professor in the Urban and Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College. “Certain racial/ethnic groups may be systematically and disproportionately exposed to chemicals in beauty products since factors such as institutionalized racism can influence product use.” In the commentary, the co-authors warn that multiple exposures to chemicals in beauty products and in the environment add up and can interfere with healthy reproduction and development.
Health professionals can advance environmental justice by being prepared to counsel their patients about the risks of exposures to hidden chemicals in beauty products. And the authors say that health care providers and researchers should call for health protective policies such as improved testing and disclosure.
With cyberattacks on 3D printers likely to threaten health and safety, researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Georgia Institute of Technology have developed novel methods to combat them, according to a groundbreaking study.
“They will be attractive targets because 3D-printed objects and parts are used in critical infrastructures around the world, and cyberattacks may cause failures in health care, transportation, robotics, aviation and space,” said Saman Aliari Zonouz, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
He co-authored a peer-reviewed study – “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Feel No Evil, Print No Evil? Malicious Fill Pattern Detection in Additive Manufacturing” – that was published today at the 26th USENIX Security Symposium in Vancouver, Canada. It’s the security community’s flagship event, highlighting the latest advances in protecting computer systems and networks. Among several unique techniques, the Rutgers and Georgia Tech researchers are using cancer imaging techniques to detect intrusions and hacking of 3D printer controllers.
“Imagine outsourcing the manufacturing of an object to a 3D printing facility and you have no access to their printers and no way of verifying whether small defects, invisible to the naked eye, have been inserted into your object,” said Mehdi Javanmard, study co-author and assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “The results could be devastating and you would have no way of tracing where the problem came from.”
3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, plays an increasingly important role in industrial manufacturing. But health- and safety-related products such as medical prostheses and aerospace and auto parts are being printed with no standard way to verify them for accuracy, the study says. Even houses and buildings are being manufactured by 3D printers, noted Javanmard.
Instead of spending up to $100,000 or more to buy a 3D printer, many companies and organizations send software-designed products to outside facilities for printing, Zonouz said. But the firmware in printers may be hacked.
For their study, the researchers bought several 3D printers and showed that it’s possible to hack into a computer’s firmware and print defective objects. The defects were undetectable on the outside but the objects had holes or fractures inside them.
Other researchers have shown in a YouTube video how hacking can lead to a defective propeller in a drone, causing it to crash, Zonouz noted.
While anti-hacking software is essential, it’s never 100 percent safe against cyberattacks. So the Rutgers and Georgia Tech researchers looked at the physical aspects of 3D printers.
In 3D printing, the software controls the printer, which fulfills the virtual design of an object. The physical part includes an extruder or “arm” through which filament (plastic, metal wire or other material) is pushed to form an object.
The researchers observed the motion of the extruder, using sensors, and monitored sounds made by the printer via microphones.
“Just looking at the noise and the extruder’s motion, we can figure out if the print process is following the design or a malicious defect is being introduced,” Zonouz said.
A third method they developed is examining an object to see if it was printed correctly. Tiny gold nanoparticles, acting as contrast agents, are injected into the filament and sent with the 3D print design to the printing facility. Once the object is printed and shipped back, high-tech scanning reveals whether the nanoparticles – a few microns in diameter – have shifted in the object or have holes or other defects.
“This idea is kind of similar to the way contrast agents or dyes are used for more accurate imaging of tumors as we see in MRIs or CT scans,” Javanmard said.
The next steps in their research include investigating other possible ways to attack 3D printers, proposing defenses and transferring methods to industry, Zonouz said.
“You’ll see more types of attacks as well as proposed defenses in the 3D printing industry within about five years,” he said.
Most of the lithium used to make the lithium-ion batteries that power modern electronics comes from Australia and Chile. But Stanford scientists say there are large deposits in sources right here in America: supervolcanoes.
In a study published today in Nature Communications, scientists detail a new method for locating lithium in supervolcanic lake deposits. The findings represent an important step toward diversifying the supply of this valuable silvery-white metal, since lithium is an energy-critical strategic resource, said study co-author Gail Mahood, a professor of geological sciences at Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences.
“We’re going to have to use electric vehicles and large storage batteries to decrease our carbon footprint,” Mahood said. “It’s important to identify lithium resources in the U.S. so that our supply does not rely on single companies or countries in a way that makes us subject to economic or political manipulation.”
Supervolcanoes can produce massive eruptions of hundreds to thousands of cubic kilometers of magma — up to 10,000 times more than a typical eruption from a Hawaiian volcano. They also produce vast quantities of pumice and volcanic ash that are spread over wide areas. They appear as huge holes in the ground, known as calderas, rather than the cone-like shape typically associated with volcanoes because the enormous loss of magma causes the roof of the chamber to collapse following eruption.
The resulting hole often fills with water to form a lake — Oregon’s Crater Lake is a prime example. Over tens of thousands of years, rainfall and hot springs leach out lithium from the volcanic deposits. The lithium accumulates, along with sediments, in the caldera lake, where it becomes concentrated in a clay called hectorite.
Exploring supervolcanoes for lithium would diversify its global supply. Major lithium deposits are currently mined from brine deposits in high-altitude salt flats in Chile and pegmatite deposits in Australia. The supervolcanoes pose little risk of eruption because they are ancient.
“The caldera is the ideal depositional basin for all this lithium,” said lead author Thomas Benson, a recent PhD graduate at Stanford Earth, who began working on the study in 2012.
Since its discovery in the 1800s, lithium has largely been used in psychiatric treatments and nuclear weapons. Beginning in the 2000s, lithium became the major component of lithium-ion batteries, which today provide portable power for everything from cellphones and laptops to electric cars. Volvo Cars recently announced its commitment to only produce new models of its vehicles as hybrids or battery-powered options beginning in 2019, a sign that demand for lithium-ion batteries will continue to increase.
“We’ve had a gold rush, so we know how, why and where gold occurs, but we never had a lithium rush,” Benson said. “The demand for lithium has outpaced the scientific understanding of the resource, so it’s essential for the fundamental science behind these resources to catch up.”
Working backward
To identify which supervolcanoes offer the best sources of lithium, researchers measured the original concentration of lithium in the magma. Because lithium is a volatile element that easily shifts from solid to liquid to vapor, it is very difficult to measure directly and original concentrations are poorly known.
So, the researchers analyzed tiny bits of magma trapped in crystals during growth within the magma chamber. These “melt inclusions,” completely encapsulated within the crystals, survive the supereruption and remain intact throughout the weathering process. As such, melt inclusions record the original concentrations of lithium and other elements in the magma. Researchers sliced through the host crystals to expose these preserved magma blebs, which are 10 to 100 microns in diameter, then analyzed them with the Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe in the SHRIMP-RG Laboratory at Stanford Earth.
“Understanding how lithium is transported in magmas and what causes a volcanic center to become enriched in lithium has never really systematically been done before,” Benson said.
The team analyzed samples from a range of tectonic settings, including the Kings Valley deposit in the McDermitt volcanic field located on the Nevada-Oregon border, which erupted 16.5 to 15.5 million years ago and is known to be rich in lithium. They compared results from this volcanic center with samples from the High Rock caldera complex in Nevada, Sierra la Primavera in Mexico, Pantelleria in the Strait of Sicily, Yellowstone in Wyoming and Hideaway Park in Colorado, and determined that lithium concentrations varied widely as a function of the tectonic setting of the supervolcano.
“If you have a lot of magma erupting, it doesn’t have to have as much lithium in it to produce something that is worthy of economic interest as we previously thought,” Mahood said. “You don’t need extraordinarily high concentrations of lithium in the magma to form lithium deposits and reserves.”
Improving identification
In addition to exploring for lithium, the researchers analyzed other trace elements to determine their correlations with lithium concentrations. As a result, they discovered a previously unknown correlation that will now enable geologists to identify candidate supervolcanoes for lithium deposits in a much easier way than measuring lithium directly in melt inclusions. The trace elements can be used as a proxy for original lithium concentration. For example, greater abundance of easily analyzed rubidium in the bulk deposits indicates more lithium, whereas high concentrations of zirconium indicate less lithium.
“We can essentially use the zirconium content to determine the lithium content within about 100 parts per million,” Benson said. “Now that we have a way to easily find more of these lithium deposits, it shows that this fundamental geological work can help solve societal problems — that’s really exciting.”
Depressed people have a peculiar view of the past – rather than glorifying the ‘good old days’, they project their generally bleak outlook on to past events, according to new research.
It is known depression makes sufferers see the present and the future as sad, but this is the first time research has shown it also casts a long shadow over people’s memories of the past.
Psychologists at Germany’s Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf and at the UK’s University of Portsmouth published their research in Clinical Psychological Science.
It establishes the first clear link between depression and hindsight bias, or a distorted view of the past.
Dr Hartmut Blank, in the University of Portsmouth’s Department of Psychology, is one of the authors.
He said: “Depression is not only associated with a negative view of the world, the self and the future, but we now know with a negative view of the past.”
Hindsight bias includes three core elements: exaggerated perceptions of foreseeability – we think we knew all along how events would turn out; inevitability – something ‘had’ to happen; and memory bias – misremembering what we once thought when we know the outcome of something.
Hindsight bias has been studied in various settings, including sports events, political elections, medical diagnoses or bankers’ investment strategies. Until now, it hasn’t been used to study depression.
Dr Blank said: “Everyone is susceptible to hindsight bias, but it takes on a very specific form in depression. While non-depressed people tend to show hindsight bias for positive events but not negative events, people with depression show the reverse pattern.
“Making things worse, depressed people also see negative event outcomes as both foreseeable and inevitable – a toxic combination, reinforcing feelings of helplessness and lack of control that already characterise the experience of people with depression.
“Everyone experiences disappointment and regret from time to time and doing so helps us adapt and grow and to make better decisions. But people with depression struggle to control negative feelings and hindsight bias appears to set up a cycle of misery.
“We have shown hindsight bias in people who are depressed is a further burden on their shoulders, ‘helping’ to sustain the condition in terms of learning the wrong lessons from the past.”
The researchers tested over 100 university students, about half of whom suffered from mild to severe depression. They were asked to imagine themselves in a variety of everyday scenarios with positive or negative outcomes (from different domains of everyday life, e.g. work, performance, family, leisure, social, romantic). For each scenario, the researchers then collected measures of hindsight bias (foreseeability, inevitability and distorted memory for initial expectations).
The results showed that with increasing severity of depression, a specific hindsight bias pattern emerged – exaggerated foreseeability and inevitability of negative (but not positive) event outcomes, as well as a tendency to misremember initial expectations in line with negative outcomes. Characteristically, this ‘depressive hindsight bias’ was strongly related to clinical measures of depressive thinking, suggesting that it is part of a general negative worldview in depression.
Dr Blank said: “This is only a first study to explore the crucial role of hindsight bias in depression; more work needs to be done in different experimental and real-life settings, and also using clinical samples, to further examine and establish the link between hindsight bias and depression.”
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has greeted the people on the auspicious occasion of ‘Navroz’ the Parsi New Year. In a message, he said that Navroz symbolizes the spirit of fraternity, compassion and respect for all. The Parsi community has made an invaluable contribution to nation-building in various fields, he added.
Following is the text of Vice President’s message:
“My warm greetings to the people of our country on the auspicious occasion of ‘Navroz’ which marks the beginning of the Parsi New Year.
Celebrated with traditional fervor and gaiety, Navroz symbolizes the spirit of fraternity, compassion and respect for all. The Parsi community has made an invaluable contribution to nation-building in various fields, Dadabhai Naroji (freedom fighter), JRD Tata (industry), H.J. Bhabha (nuclear scientist) and Zubin Mehta (music maestro) to name a few are among the several stalwarts who contributed to India’s growth and glory.
May this auspicious occasion bring peace, prosperity and happiness in our lives.”
A team of archaeological scientists have found the earliest copper smelting event at the Late Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in central Turkey, confirming the claim of the site’s archaeological importance.
Whether metallurgy was such an exceptional skill to have only been invented once or repeatedly at different locations is therefore still contentious. The proponents of the latter have just provided conclusive evidence of the incidental nature of what was held to be the key find for the single origin of metallurgy claim.
Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the re-examination of a c. 8,500-year-old by-product from metal smelting, or ‘slag’, from the site of Çatalhöyük presents the conclusive reconstruction of events that led to the firing of a small handful of green copper minerals.
“From the beginning of our study it was clear that the small handful of ‘slag’ samples were only semi-baked. This indicated a non-intentional, or accidental copper firing event, but the ‘eureka’ moment of how and why that happened arrived quite late”, says Dr Miljana Radivojevic, lead author and researcher at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research of the University of Cambridge.
“The co-authors had a lengthy debate about why the semi-baked copper minerals were deposited in a burial, but then when our pigment specialist (Camurcuo?lu) mentioned earlier examples of green and blue copper pigments in graves and our excavation specialist (Farid) reported firing events that charred bones and materials in the shallow graves, the penny started to drop”, she explains.
“The native copper artefacts from the site of Çatalhöyük were not chemically related to this non-intentionally produced metallurgical slag sample”, adds Professor Ernst Pernicka, of the University of Heidelberg, further strengthening the claim these authors elaborated in the article.
Professor Thilo Rehren, of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, explains the significance of these results: “The invention of metallurgy is foundational for all modern cultures, and clearly happened repeatedly in different places across the globe. As we have seen, not every piece of semi-molten black and green stuff from an excavation is necessarily metallurgical slag. Only materials science methods, in combination with good archaeological records, can distinguish between debris from intentional metal smelting and accidental waste from a destructive fire”.
“It has been a long journey for the materials now identified as vitrified copper minerals to be recognised as once important solely for their colour properties, and we can finally put this debate to rest”, comments Professor Ian Hodder, from Stanford University, who has been directing the excavations of Çatalhöyük for the past 25 years.
Earlier, remains of a majestic female statue was uncovered at the archaeological site of Tayinat in Turkey. Excavations led by University of Toronto archaeologists in southeast Turkey near the Syrian border have unearthed a beautifully carved head and upper torso of a female figure. The remnants are largely intact, although the face and chest appear to have been intentionally – possibly ritually – defaced in antiquity.
The preserved remnants are made of basalt and measure 1.1 metres long and .7 metres wide, suggesting the full figure of the statue would have been four to five metres high. The lower body is missing. The statue was found within a monumental gate complex that would have provided access to the upper citadel of Kunulua – later Tayinat – the capital of the Iron Age Neo-Hittite Kingdom of Patina (ca. 1000-738 BCE). The site is approximately 75 kilometres west of the Syrian city of Aleppo.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi unfurled the National Flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort, to celebrate the 71st Independence Day, followed by his address to the nation, here are some sidelights to the national event:
On arrival at Lahori Gate of Red Fort, the Prime Minister was received by the Defence Minister Mr Arun Jaitley, Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre and Defence Secretary Mr Sanjay Mitra.
The Defence Secretary later introduced the General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, Lt. General Manoj Mukund Naravane to the Prime Minister. The GoC Delhi Area then conducted the Prime Minister to the Saluting Base where a combined Inter-Services and Police Guard presented the general salute to the Prime Minister. Thereafter, Narendra Modi inspected the Guard of Honour.
The Guard of Honour contingent for the Prime Minister consisted of one officer and 24 men each from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police. The Guard of Honour was positioned directly in front of the National Flag across the moat below the ramparts.
This year, the Army being the Coordinating Service, the Guard of Honour was commanded by Lt Col Dheeraj Singh of the Indian Army. The Army Contingent in the Prime Minister’s Guard was commanded by Major Sourav Goswami, the Navy contingent by Lt Cdr VV Krishnan, while Sqn Ldr Salil Sharma led the Air Force contingent and the Delhi Police contingent by ACP Ankit Chauhan.
The Army contingent for the Prime Minister’s Guard was drawn from the 8th Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry (Siachen). The battalion was raised as the First Battalion Border Scouts by volunteers who took up arms in the aftermath of communal passion and the smouldering embers of Partition to check the multitude of Kabailies intruding into Poonch on 18 December 1947. ‘Born in Battle and Purified in Blood’, the battalion was re-designated as 8th Jammu & Kashmir Militia on 15 April 1948.
In the 1971 War, the battalion was outnumbered but never outclassed in valour and fought the defensive battle successfully despite the enemy’s passion for Chhamb. For this the battalion was awarded the Battle Honour – Laleali and Picquet 707. The Regiment was rechristened Jammu & Kashmir Light Infantry on 27 April 1976.
During the Siachen tenure in June 1987, the battalion created history by capturing ‘Quaid Post’ at an altitude of 21,153 feet, the highest battlefield in the world. The post was renamed as ‘Bana Top’ in honour of Naib Subedar Bana Singh, Param Vir Chakra. The battalion was awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Unit Citation in 2001 for its sterling performance in Jammu & Kashmir, Poonch Sector. The Battalion established the United Nations Mission in Sudan 2006 and was conferred with the United Nations Unit Citation in the year 2007 for handling the bloodiest of clashes ever in the history of Sudan.
The battalion yet again proved its mettle during its 2008 tenure at Kupwara in Jammu & Kashmir when Naib Subedar Chuni Lal, Vir Chakra, Sena Medal, who laid down his life following the highest traditions of the Indian Army while fighting terrorists, was bestowed with the highest peacetime gallantry award, the Ashok Chakra (Posthumous). With this, the battalion joined the elite group of ‘Bravest of the Brave’ battalions. Apart from this, the battalion was once again conferred with the Chief of the Army Staff Unit Citation in 2009 for its splendid performance on the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir.
The Battalion is presently one of the most decorated battalions of the Indian Army with Naib Subedar Chuni Lal, Ashok Chakra (Posthumous), Vir Chakra, Sena Medal as one of the most decorated soldiers. Presently, the Battalion is performing the prestigious duty of Ceremonial Army Guard to the President of India.
After inspecting the Guard of Honour, the Prime Minister proceeded to the ramparts of the Red Fort where he was greeted by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, the Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre, the Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa and the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba. The GoC Delhi area conducted the Prime Minister to the dais to unfurl the National Flag.
The unfurling of the tri-colour synchronized with the 21 Gun Salute fired by the valiant gunners of the elite 2281 Field Regiment (Ceremonial). The ceremonial battery was commanded by Lt. Col Aditya Kumar Devrani, Shaurya Chakra, Sena Medal and the Gun Position Officer was Regimental Havildar Major (Assistant Inspector Gunnary) Kolate Rajesh Shripati.
The National Flag Guard comprising 32 men and one officer each from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Delhi Police presented the Rashtriya Salute at the time of unfurling of the National Flag by the Prime Minister. Lt Col Saket Bharadwaj from the Indian Army was in command of this Inter-Services Guard and Police Guard. The Naval Contingent for the National Flag Guard was commanded by Lt Cdr MYV Tejas, the Army contingent by Major Gerry Mathew, the Air Force contingent by Sqn Ldr Ravi Tomar and the Delhi Police contingent by Additional DCP Shri Rajiv Ranjan.
The Army Band then played the National Anthem when the National Guard presented the ‘Rashtriya Salute’ while unfurling the National Flag by the Prime Minister. All Service personnel in uniform standing in attention, saluted the national flag. The Band was commanded by Sub Maj Bhaskar Singh Rawat of the Military Band of the Garhwal Rifles Regimental Centre.
Two Army Officers, Capt Md Hasseb Khan and Lt Vinay Budhwar were positioned on either side of the saluting dais for the Prime Minister for ADC duties. Lt Col Kanchan Kulhari assisted the Prime Minister in unfurling the National Flag.
The Army Contingent for the National Flag Guard is drawn from the 25th Battalion of the Rajput Regiment.
The 25th Battalion of the Rajput Regiment was raised by IC-15798K Late Lieutenant Colonel JV Abraham on 01 January 1981 at Fatehgarh (Uttar Pradesh). The Rajput tricolor flew for the first time in the unit’s Quarter Guard on 06 April 1981 and the unit was presented with Colours on 1 November 1987. On completion of its raising on 30 June 1981; the battalion joined the 20 Infantry Brigade (18 Infantry Division) at Alwar on 24 July 1981.
Since raising, the Battalion has participated in all operations of the Indian Army viz OPERATION FAULAD, OPERATION TRIDENT, OPERATION PAWAN, OPERATION RHINO, OPERATION RAKSHAK, OPERATION VIJAY, OPERATION PARAKARAM, OPERATION AMAN, OPERATION NORTHERN BORDERS & OPERATION MEGHDOOT with elan, strong determination and earned the following awards in consecutive tenures for performing exceedingly well; these were Param Vishisht Seva Medal-01, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal-03, Vishisht Seva Medal-01, Yudh Seva Medal-02, Sena Medal-07, Mention-in Despatches-01, Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card-47 , Vice Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card-07 and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Commendation Card-41.
The Battalion was awarded the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command and Northern Command Citations in 2015 and 2017 for its sterling performance in Alwar and Siachen Glacier respectively.
The Battalion came on the orbat of the “CHARGING RAM” Division on 15 July 2016 and since then, as part of offensive formations-always ready to RAM on REGARDLESS. The War Cry of the unit is “Bol Bajrang Bali Ki Jai, Hanuman Ke Hun Pyare.”
After unfurling the National Flag and the Prime Minister’s address, school children and NCC Cadets sang the National Anthem.
Seven hundred cadets of the National Cadet Corps drawn from various schools of the Delhi Directorate comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force wings participated in the flag hoisting ceremony this year. The cadets also took part in the singing of patriotic songs and the National Anthem along with the school children.
In total, 3,500 girl students and 5,000 boy students from 37 schools of Directorate of Education, Government of Delhi had sung the National Anthem, patriotic songs in different regional languages during the occasion and also displayed the formation of ‘Bharat’.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the school children after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the school children after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inspecting the Guard of Honour at Red Fort, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi paying floral tributes at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi, at Rajghat, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
India’s Prime Minster Narendra Modi on 15 August, 2017 addressed the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 71th Independence Day. Following are the highlights from his speech:
1. Greetings to my fellow Indians on Independence Day.
2. For the freedom and glory of the country, those who have contributed, those who suffered and sacrificed their lives, I salute all those noble souls, mothers and sisters on behalf of 125 crore people of the country from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
3. We remember the great women and men who worked hard for India’s freedom.
4. People of India stand shoulder to shoulder with those affected in the wake of natural disasters in parts of the country & the death of children in the hospital.
5. This is a special year- 75th anniversary of Quit India, 100th anniversary of Champaran Satyagraha, 125th anniversary of Ganesh Utsav.
6. The Quit India Movement was “Bharat Chhodo,” but the call today is “Bharat Jodo.”
7. We have to take the country ahead with the determination of creating a ‘New India’.
8. From 1942 to 1947, the country had demonstrated collective strength, in the coming 5 years, we have to take the country forward with the same collective strength, commitment and hard work.
9. In our nation, there is no one big or small…everybody is equal. Together we can bring a positive change in the nation.
10. We have to move forward for making a New India with the collective strength of 125 crore people without any discrimination of small and big people.
11. 1st January 2018 will not be an ordinary day- those born in this century will start turning 18. They are Bhagya Vidhatas of our nation.
12. We have to leave this ‘Chalta Hai’ attitude. We have to think of ‘Badal Sakta Hai’- this attitude will help us as a nation.
13. The country has changed, is changing and can change. We have to move forward with this belief and commitment.
14. Security of the country is our priority. Internal security is our priority. Whether it is our oceans or borders, cyber world or space for all kind of security India is capable to defeat all such inimical forces.
15. Our uniformed forces have achieved the pinnacle of sacrifice in fighting left-wing extremism, terrorism, infiltration and elements disturbing peace. The world had to recognise the strength of India and it clout in the surgical strike.
16. One rank, One Pension policy has boosted the morale of our security forces.
17. Those who have looted the nation and looted the poor are not able to sleep peacefully today.
18. No law was passed for those having Benami property for years. However after the recent passage of the Benami Act, within a short span of time, government has confiscated Benami property worth Rs. 800 crores when these things happen, common men feel that this country is for the honest people.
19. Today, we are celebrating the “festival of honesty”.
20. GST has shown the spirit of cooperative federalism. The nation has come together to support GST & the role of technology has also helped.
21. Today, the poor of the country is joining the main stream and the country is moving torwards the path of progress.
22. Good governance is about speed and simplification of processes.
23. India’s stature in the world is rising. The world is with us in fighting the menace of terror. I thank all nations helping us doing so.
24. We have to work for the progress of Jammu and Kashmir.
25. There is no question of being soft of terrorism or terrorists.
26. Neither by bullet: nor by abuses but by embracing we can solve the problem of Kashmir.
27. Our fight against black money and corruption will continue. We are trying to bring transparency through technology.
28. There is no question of being soft on terrorism or terrorists.
29. People would be the driving force behind the establishment, rather than the other way around – Tantra se Lok nahin, Lok se tantra chalega.
30. New India will be the biggest strength of democracy.
31. Nature of job is changing with changing demand and changing technology.
32. We are nurturing our youngsters to be job creators and not job seekers.
33. I want to mention those women who have to suffer due to ‘Triple Talaq’- I admire their courage. We are with them in their struggles.
34. India is about Shanti, Ekta and Sadbhavana. Casteism and communalism will not help us.
35. Violence in the name of ‘Astha’ is not something to be happy about, it will not be accepted in India.
36. The country is being run by peace, unity and harmony. It is our civilisation and culture to take everybody along.
37. We are taking the nation on a new track (of development) and are moving ahead with speed.
38. We are devoting significant attention to eastern India- Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Northeast. These parts have to grow further.
39. Our farmers have worked hard to ensure a Record foodgrain production.
40. Over 5.75 crore farmers have been covererd under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojaana.
41. Under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, 30 projects have been completed while work is on for 50 more projects.
42. Under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samapada Yojana we are providing handholding to the farmers from availing seeds to accessing the markets for their produce.
43. More than 14000 un-electrified villages have been electrified.
44. 29 crore JanDhan accounts opened.
45. More than 8 crore youth have received loans without any guarantee.
46. We are fighting corruption – for the bright future of India and the wellbeing of our people.
47. Our fight against black money and corruption will continue and move forward and the loot in the country will not be allowed.
48. Our strive for a Corruption Free India has yielded results.
49. Black money worth Rs. 1.25 lakh crore has been unearthed.
50. Over 1.75 lakh fake companies have been shut down.
51. Post GST savings and efficiency in transportation sector has increased. Efficiency has gone up by 30 percent.
52. More money has come to the banks due to demonetization which will give impetus to the economy.
53. Our country has the world’s largest youth population. Today is the era of IT and let’s move ahead on the path of digital transaction.
54. Let us lead from front, promote digital economy and adopt the Bhim App.
55. We have moved from Co-operative Federalism to Competitive Co-operative federalism.
56. It had been said in the old scriptures that if a work is not completed on time, one does not get the desired results.
57. For the Team India it is the right time to commit for a New India.
58. We shall build together an India, where the poor will have concrete houses with water and electricity connection.
59. We will build such an India, where the farmers will have a peaceful sleep without any worry. He will earn double than what he is earning today.
60. Our resolve is to build an India, which provides all the opportunities to the youth and women to fulfill their dreams.
61. Our resolve is to build such an India, free from terrorism, communalism and casteism.
62. We will build together an India, where there will be no place for nepotism and corruption.
63. We will build together such an India, which will be clean, healthy and fulfill the dream of self-rule (Swaraj).
64. We aspire to build a Divya and Bhavya Bharat.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inspecting the Guard of Honour at Red Fort, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the school children after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the school children after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Krishna after addressing the Nation, on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi addressing the Nation on the occasion of 71st Independence Day from the ramparts of Red Fort, in Delhi on August 15, 2017.
The President of India has approved the conferment of Correctional Service Medals to 20 prison personnel on the occasion of Independence Day, 2017. The list of awardees include one President’s Correctional Service Medal for Distinguished Service and 19 Correctional Service Medal for Meritorious Service. Following is the complete list of awardees:
President’s Correctional Service Medal for Distinguished Service
1. Smt. A. Prameela Bai, Chief Head Warder, Special Prison for Women, Hyderabad, Telangana.
Correctional Service Medal for Meritorious Service
1. Shri Madan Lal, Head Warder, Central Jail No.15, Manodli, Delhi.
990 personnel have been awarded Police Medals on the occasion of the Independence Day this year. President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) has been awarded to 01 personnel, Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG) to 190 personnel, President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service (PPMDS) to 93 personnel and Police Medal for Meritorious Service (PMMS) to 706 personnel.
State Wise/ Force Wise list of medal awardees to the Police personnel on the occasion of Independence Day – 2017.
Sl.
No.
Name of States/
Organization
President’s Police Medal for Gallantry
(PPMG)
Police Medal for Gallantry
(PMG)
President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service
(PPMDS)
Police Medal for Meritorious Service
(PMMS)
1
Andhra Pradesh
52
03
12
2
Arunachal Pradesh
00
01
3
Assam
00
11
4
Bihar
03
11
5
Chhattisgarh
01
04
01
08
6
Delhi
01
02
24
7
Goa
01
02
8
Gujarat
01
17
9
Haryana
01
01
11
10
Himachal Pradesh
01
03
11
Jammu & Kashmir
25
02
17
12
Jharkhand
04
02
19
13
Karnataka
03
18
14
Kerala
02
20
15
Madhya Pradesh
03
17
16
Maharashtra
12
03
41
17
Manipur
02
13
18
Meghalaya
07
00
00
19
Mizoram
01
03
20
Nagaland
01
01
21
Odisha
17
01
08
22
Punjab
02
16
23
Rajasthan
02
18
24
Sikkim
00
02
25
Tamil Nadu
03
23
26
Telangana
02
11
27
Tripura
01
06
28
Uttar Pradesh
06
75
29
Uttarakhand
02
05
30
West Bengal
02
28
31
Andaman & Nicobar Islands
01
02
32
Chandigarh
00
01
33
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
00
01
34
Lakshadweep
00
02
35
Puducherry
00
04
CAPFS/Other Organisations
36
Assam Rifles
00
16
37
BSF
14
06
47
38
CISF
02
23
39
CRPF
53
06
62
40
ITBP
03
13
41
NSG
00
04
42
SSB
02
12
43
CBI
06
22
44
MHA(IB)
08
24
45
SPG
01
04
46
NCB
00
01
47
NHRC
00
01
48
NEPA
00
01
49
NIA
01
01
50
NDRF
00
06
51
SVPNPA
01
02
52
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
01
00
53
Ministry of Civil Aviation
00
02
54
Ministry of Railways (RPF)
02
14
Total
01
190
93
706
Click here for the List of President’s Police Medal for Gallantry (PPMG) & Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG)
Click here for the List of President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service (PPMDS)
Click here for the List of Police Medal for Meritorious Service (PMMS)
Organization/State wise list of medal awardees and details are also available on MHA website www.mha.nic.in
BSNL Independence Day offer- Truly One India: Now get the benefits of Voice/SMS STVs and Combo Vouchers while Roaming.
BSNL was the first operator to provide free national roaming on 15th June 2015. Following the same, it has now decided to allow the benefit of Voice/SMS, Special Tariff Voucher (STV) and Combo Vouchers in national roaming on the occasion of 71st independence day on PAN India basis with effect from 15 August’ 2017 in the area where BSNL operates.
The offer is beneficial to those who frequently travel including our jawans and journalists. Presently if you for any STV, the benefit is available in the home state/ Licence Service Area (LSA), but from 15th August this benefit will be available even when a person travels outside his home LSA.
For example, STV 349 which offers unlimited voice call to any network only in home LSA, now the benefit of unlimited voice call on any network will be available even when customer is travelling out from Home LSA in any area where BSNL operates.
Shri R.K.Mittal, Director (CM) BSNL Board said “Armed force personnel, Professionals, Business person & Students all will get more benefit from this scheme.”
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind in his message on the eve of Janmashtami has said:-
“On the auspicious occasion of Janmashtami, I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all my fellow citizens.
The ideals of Lord Krishna’s life are of universal relevance. His message of standing up for righteousness against evil, working for universal well-being and focusing on responsibilities rather than rewards is inspiring for all.
Let us commit ourselves to following the path of virtue shown by Lord Krishna and strengthen our society and nation by contributing to the well-being of our people”.
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the loss of lives due to landslide related accidents in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district.
“Pained by the loss of lives due to landslide related accidents in HP’s Mandi district. My condolences with the families of the deceased.
I pray for the quick recovery of those injured in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh.
Team of NDRF is going to Mandi to take part in the rescue and relief operations and provide all possible assistance required.” the Prime Minister said.
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation tomorrow (August 14, 2017) on the eve of the 71st Independence Day.
The address will be broadcast from 1900 hrs. on the entire national network of All India Radio (AIR) and telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by the English version. Broadcast of the address in Hindi and English on Doordarshan will be followed by broadcast in regional languages by regional channels of Doordarshan. AIR will broadcast regional language versions from 2000 hrs. onwards on its respective regional networks.
Left untreated, malaria can progress from being mild to severe — and potentially fatal — in 24 hours. So researchers at the University of British Columbia developed a method to quickly and sensitively assess the progression of the mosquito-borne infectious disease, which remains a leading killer in low-income countries.
One way malaria wreaks havoc on the body is by causing excessive amounts of toxic heme, the non-protein component of hemoglobin, to accumulate in the bloodstream. Among other things, this free heme induces oxidative stress in red blood cells (RBCs), leading to their rigidification, destruction and subsequent removal from circulation — a condition known as hemolytic anemia.
In their study, which appeared in Integrative Biology, the UBC investigators found that RBCs become increasingly rigid in direct correlation with the concentration of oxidized heme, or hemin, in the blood. Since hemin is difficult to measure directly — it tends to insert itself into cell membranes — monitoring changes in RBC deformability can therefore serve as a reliable alternative marker of hemin-induced oxidative stress and malaria progression.
“Because this method is mechanical, it’s well suited for use in resource-poor countries, where the vast majority of malaria transmission takes place,” says Kerryn Matthews, a postdoctoral fellow at UBC and the study’s lead author. “Other methods of analyzing malaria severity require training or expensive equipment or chemicals that are not readily available in developing nations.”
To measure RBC deformability quickly and sensitively, the UBC investigators developed the “multiplex fluidic plunger”: a simple microfluidic device consisting of a parallel array of 34 funnel-shaped, micro-sized channels across which uniform, carefully controlled pressures can be simultaneously applied.
By loading the plunger with whole blood, docking an RBC at each channel and applying progressively higher pressures until the RBCs are squeezed through — or not, if an RBC is too stiff — one is able to determine the rigidity, or cortical tensions, of many cells at once and build an RBC deformability profile in minutes.
“The device can be easily integrated with a conventional microscope coupled with a digital camera,” says Matthews. “And the accompanying software, which does all the analysis and records the pressures, is simple to use.”
In addition to indicating the status of a malaria infection, RBC deformability information would be valuable in the development of antimalarial drugs, as well as in illuminating the mechanism by which RBCs are sequestered from circulation and destroyed.
Healthy RBCs are extremely flexible, capable of squeezing through spaces — the tiniest blood vessels, for example, or the channels between cells — that are just fractions of their original size. By rendering them less deformable, malaria parasites impair blood flow and ultimately cause organ failure and possibly death.
According to the World Health Organization, malaria killed an estimated 429,000 people and caused approximately 212 million clinical episodes in 2015. It primarily affects children and pregnant women in poor tropical and subtropical countries.
