Indian benchmark indice Sensex fell by 800 points as of 01:30 p.m. on Friday. which is at 58,314.78 points or 804.94 (1.36%) points down from the previus day, revealing the deep impact caused by the US Fed Reserve decision to hike interest rates steeply and its pledge to continue further to tame the inflation.
Nifty is also down to 17,407.05 or 222.75 points down (1.26%) today.
Stocks of Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), ITC, Dr. Reddy’s, Infosys, HCL Tech, Titan Company, and Maruti Suzuki were among top Sensex gainers. IndusInd Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), M&M, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank were among top index draggers.
Tata Steel is in positive zone following the board’s approval on Friday to the scheme of amalgamation between seven of its group companies and itself.
Rupee to fall further: Experts
The Indian Rupee fell to its lowest level in 20 years reaching 80.81 per US dollar on Friday. The Indian Rupee fell to its lowest level against the greenback to 80.12 in August and again on Thursday, revealing the inherent weakness to go down further in value. Experts suggest that this time the Indian Rupee may weaken up to 82.00 level in the near future.
In a move to boost exports of unique agricultural processed food products, the centre through apex export promotion body — Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Authority (APEDA) — facilitated the export of first consignment of plant-based meat products under Vegan food category from Nadiad in Kheda district in Gujarat to California,the United States of America (USA).
With the growing popularity of vegan food products in developed countries, the plant-based food products have a huge export potential in the international market due to the high nutrient value of the vegan food products. Due to its rich fiber and lesser cholesterol contents, vegan food products are becoming alternative food products across the globe.
The first shipment that was exported to the USA from Nadiad has vegan food products like momos, mini samosas, patties, nuggets, spring rolls, burgers, etc. The logistics support was provided by the Kheda district administration.
Stressing on exploring new foreign destinations, APEDA Chairman, Dr M Angamuthu said that APEDA is working towards promotion of plant-based meat products in a big way without disturbing the conventional animal-based meat export market.
Millets
On the occasion, Kheda district magistrate Shri K.L. Bachani assured all needed support to APEDA for export-related activities in future. “It has become possible with the efforts of Regional Head, APEDA Gujarat that first consignment of plant-based food products is being shipped to U.S.A from Nadiad,” Bachani said.
The APEDA has planned to promote a variety of vegan foods products, including pancake, snacks, cheese, etc, to the countries of Australia, Israel, New Zealand and others in coming months.
On the occasion, APEDA, Gujarat’s Regional Head stressed on adding more plant-based meat products in APEDA’s export basket.The first consignment of plant-based food products were exported by Greennest and Wholesome Foods.
APEDA has taken number of export promotion activities and initiatives, by way of development of virtual portals for organizing Virtual Trade Fairs, Farmer Connect Portal, e-office, HortiNet Traceability system, Buyer Seller Meets, Reverse Buyer Seller Meets, product specific campaigns etc. APEDA has been closely working with the state government for creating infrastructure and promotion of export from the state.
food
APEDA assists in upgradation and strengthening of recognized laboratories for export testing and residue monitoring plans. APEDA also provides assistance under the financial assistance schemes of infrastructure development, quality improvement and market development for boosting export of agricultural products.
APEDA organizes participation of exporters in the International Trade Fairs, which provides a platform to the exporters to market their food products in the global marketplace. APEDA also organizes national events like AAHAR, Organic World Congress, BioFach India etc. to promote agri-exports.
In order to ensure seamless quality certification of products to be exported, APEDA has recognized 220 labs across India to provide services of testing a wide range of products to exporters.
A study led by Durham University’s Fetal and Neonatal Research Lab, UK, took 4D ultrasound scans of 100 pregnant women to see how their unborn babies responded after being exposed to flavours from foods eaten by their mothers.
Researchers looked at how the fetuses reacted to either carrot or kale flavours just a short time after the flavours had been ingested by the mothers.
Fetuses exposed to carrot showed more “laughter-face” responses while those exposed to kale showed more “cry-face” responses.
Their findings could further our understanding of the development of human taste and smell receptors.
The researchers also believe that what pregnant women eat might influence babies’ taste preferences after birth and potentially have implications for establishing healthy eating habits.
The study is published in the journal Psychological Science.
pregnant lady/Commons.wikimedia.org
Humans experience flavour through a combination of taste and smell. In fetuses it is thought that this might happen through inhaling and swallowing the amniotic fluid in the womb.
Lead researcher Beyza Ustun, a postgraduate researcher in the Fetal and Neonatal Research Lab, Department of Psychology, Durham University, said: “A number of studies have suggested that babies can taste and smell in the womb, but they are based on post-birth outcomes while our study is the first to see these reactions prior to birth.
“As a result, we think that this repeated exposure to flavours before birth could help to establish food preferences post-birth, which could be important when thinking about messaging around healthy eating and the potential for avoiding ‘food-fussiness’ when weaning.
“It was really amazing to see unborn babies’ reaction to kale or carrot flavours during the scans and share those moments with their parents.”
The research team, which also included scientists from Aston University, Birmingham, UK, and the National Centre for Scientific Research-University of Burgundy, France, scanned the mothers, aged 18 to 40, at both 32 weeks and 36 weeks of pregnancy to see fetal facial reactions to the kale and carrot flavours.
Mothers were given a single capsule containing approximately 400mg of carrot or 400mg kale powder around 20 minutes before each scan. They were asked not to consume any food or flavoured drinks one hour before their scans.
A 4D scan image of a fetus showing a neutral face/CREDIT: FETAP (Fetal Taste Preferences) Study, Fetal and Neonatal Research Lab, Durham University.
The mothers also did not eat or drink anything containing carrot or kale on the day of their scans to control for factors that could affect fetal reactions.
Facial reactions seen in both flavour groups, compared with fetuses in a control group who were not exposed to either flavour, showed that exposure to just a small amount of carrot or kale flavour was enough to stimulate a reaction.
Co-author Professor Nadja Reissland, head of the Fetal and Neonatal Research Lab, Department of Psychology, Durham University, supervised Beyza Ustun’s research. She said: “Previous research conducted in my lab has suggested that 4D ultrasound scans are a way of monitoring fetal reactions to understand how they respond to maternal health behaviours such as smoking, and their mental health including stress, depression, and anxiety.
“This latest study could have important implications for understanding the earliest evidence for fetal abilities to sense and discriminate different flavours and smells from the foods ingested by their mothers.”
Co-author Professor Benoist Schaal, of the National Centre for Scientific Research-University of Burgundy, France, said: “Looking at fetuses’ facial reactions we can assume that a range of chemical stimuli pass through maternal diet into the fetal environment.
“This could have important implications for our understanding of the development of our taste and smell receptors, and related perception and memory.”
The researchers say their findings might also help with information given to mothers about the importance of taste and healthy diets during pregnancy.
They have now begun a follow-up study with the same babies post-birth to see if the influence of flavours they experienced in the womb affects their acceptance of different foods.
Research co-author Professor Jackie Blissett, of Aston University, said: “It could be argued that repeated prenatal flavour exposures may lead to preferences for those flavours experienced postnatally. In other words, exposing the fetus to less ‘liked’ flavours, such as kale, might mean they get used to those flavours in utero.
“The next step is to examine whether fetuses show less ‘negative’ responses to these flavours over time, resulting in greater acceptance of those flavours when babies first taste them outside of the womb.”
Activated carbon is used in kitchen fans to eliminate food odours. A new dissertation from the University of Gothenburg shows that activated carbon could also eliminate the smell of urine from diapers. Experiments with the odour molecule p-cresol show that activated carbon, which largely consists of the carbon variant graphene, can lock in odour instead of it being released to the surroundings.
Modern diapers can absorb and lock in a lot of liquid, meaning they do not have to be changed as often as in the past. But odour is still a problem. In a dissertation by Isabelle Simonsson at the University of Gothenburg, she looked at a specific odour molecule and discovered that in the right setting, it can choose to remain in the liquid and not cause foul odour.
“The odour molecule is called p-cresol and is an organic, volatile hydrocarbon. It’s what causes the strong odour associated with pig farming and horse stables. p-Cresol is also found in human urine and is hydrophobic, which means it avoids water. That’s one of the reasons why it is released from urine into the surrounding air, in other words, that the odour spreads,” says Isabelle Simonsson.
Electrically charged surfaces can adsorb odour
Manufacturers of diapers and other hygiene products have long known that an electrically charged surface can adsorb odour. There is even an old patent covering this, but a great deal has involved conducting tests on different materials and seeing what works. The tests have not resulted in a solution.
The main goal of the dissertation is to investigate what material properties are important for adsorbing odour molecules in urine. One of the materials used was activated carbon, which is found in almost every kitchen fan these days to neutralise odour; it is also an inexpensive and environmentally friendly material.
Tests with carbon materials that had been manipulated in various ways showed that carbon with the least charge was most effective at attracting p-cresol molecules from the liquid, resulting in less odour. Activated carbon, consisting mainly of the carbon variant graphene, was best at capturing the odour molecule.
“Our findings show a direct ‘ion-specific effect’ on the material’s properties and adsorption capability in synthetic urine. Activated carbon has a large surface area, which is good at adsorbing odour molecules,” says Simonsson.
Baby Diapers/wikipedia
Salts in urine enhance the effect
The same effect was not achieved in tests in which p-cresol was dissolved in water, which is due to the salts in urine. The salt ions, including sodium, reduce the water solubility of organic molecules, which then bind to the activated carbon instead.
The dissertation primarily involved fundamental research, but its findings may be useful in many industrial processes, including for the mining industry, water and sewage treatment, the development of new hygiene products, pharmaceuticals and construction materials.
“These results are promising, but there are obstacles to developing an odourless diaper. Like colour. Can you sell a diaper that’s black?”
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows off its capabilities closer to home with its first image of Neptune. Not only has Webb captured the clearest view of this distant planet’s rings in more than 30 years, but its cameras reveal the ice giant in a whole new light.
Most striking in Webb’s new image is the crisp view of the planet’s rings – some of which have not been detected since NASA’s Voyager 2 became the first spacecraft to observe Neptune during its flyby in 1989. In addition to several bright, narrow rings, the Webb image clearly shows Neptune’s fainter dust bands.
“It has been three decades since we last saw these faint, dusty rings, and this is the first time we’ve seen them in the infrared,” notes Heidi Hammel, a Neptune system expert and interdisciplinary scientist for Webb. Webb’s extremely stable and precise image quality permits these very faint rings to be detected so close to Neptune.
Neptune has fascinated researchers since its discovery in 1846. Located 30 times farther from the Sun than Earth, Neptune orbits in the remote, dark region of the outer solar system. At that extreme distance, the Sun is so small and faint that high noon on Neptune is similar to a dim twilight on Earth.
Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) images objects in the near-infrared range from 0.6 to 5 microns, so Neptune does not appear blue to Webb. In fact, the methane gas so strongly absorbs red and infrared light that the planet is quite dark at these near-infrared wavelengths, except where high-altitude clouds are present. Such methane-ice clouds are prominent as bright streaks and spots, which reflect sunlight before it is absorbed by methane gas. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
This planet is characterized as an ice giant due to the chemical make-up of its interior. Compared to the gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune is much richer in elements heavier than hydrogen and helium. This is readily apparent in Neptune’s signature blue appearance in Hubble Space Telescope images at visible wavelengths, caused by small amounts of gaseous methane.
Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) images objects in the near-infrared range from 0.6 to 5 microns, so Neptune does not appear blue to Webb. In fact, the methane gas so strongly absorbs red and infrared light that the planet is quite dark at these near-infrared wavelengths, except where high-altitude clouds are present. Such methane-ice clouds are prominent as bright streaks and spots, which reflect sunlight before it is absorbed by methane gas. Images from other observatories, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the W.M. Keck Observatory, have recorded these rapidly evolving cloud features over the years.
More subtly, a thin line of brightness circling the planet’s equator could be a visual signature of global atmospheric circulation that powers Neptune’s winds and storms. The atmosphere descends and warms at the equator, and thus glows at infrared wavelengths more than the surrounding, cooler gases.
Neptune’s 164-year orbit means its northern pole, at the top of this image, is just out of view for astronomers, but the Webb images hint at an intriguing brightness in that area. A previously-known vortex at the southern pole is evident in Webb’s view, but for the first time Webb has revealed a continuous band of high-latitude clouds surrounding it.
What do we see in Webb’s latest image of the ice giant Neptune? Webb captured seven of Neptune’s 14 known moons: Galatea, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Proteus, Larissa, and Triton. Neptune’s large and unusual moon, Triton, dominates this Webb portrait of Neptune as a very bright point of light sporting the signature diffraction spikes seen in many of Webb’s images. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
Webb also captured seven of Neptune’s 14 known moons. Dominating this Webb portrait of Neptune is a very bright point of light sporting the signature diffraction spikes seen in many of Webb’s images, but this is not a star. Rather, this is Neptune’s large and unusual moon, Triton.
Covered in a frozen sheen of condensed nitrogen, Triton reflects an average of 70 percent of the sunlight that hits it. It far outshines Neptune in this image because the planet’s atmosphere is darkened by methane absorption at these near-infrared wavelengths. Triton orbits Neptune in an unusual backward (retrograde) orbit, leading astronomers to speculate that this moon was originally a Kuiper belt object that was gravitationally captured by Neptune. Additional Webb studies of both Triton and Neptune are planned in the coming year.
Robotic eyes on autonomous vehicles could improve pedestrian safety, according to a new study conducted at the University of Tokyo (Todai) in Japan.
Participants played out scenarios in virtual reality (VR) and had to decide whether to cross a road as the moving vehicle is there. When that vehicle was fitted with robotic eyes, which either looked at the pedestrian or away, the participants were able to make safer or more efficient choices.
The Gazing Car
The cart was fitted with robotic eyes which could be moved in any direction, controlled by one of the research team. The windshield was covered to give the impression that there was no driver inside. Self-driving vehicles seem to be just around the corner. Whether they’ll be delivering packages, plowing fields or busing kids to school, a lot of research is underway to turn a once futuristic idea into reality.
While the main concern for many is the practical side of creating vehicles that can autonomously navigate the world, researchers at Todai have turned their attention to a more “human” concern of self-driving technology.
“There is not enough investigation into the interaction between self-driving cars and the people around them, such as pedestrians. So, we need more investigation and effort into such interaction to bring safety and assurance to society regarding self-driving cars,” said Professor Takeo Igarashi from the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology.
The four scenarios. In the experiment, participants had to decide whether or not the cart had noticed them and was going to stop. The images show the first-person view of a participant. In (a) the cart is paying attention to the participant (safe to cross); in (b) the cart is not paying attention to the participant (unsafe to cross); and in (c) and (d) the participant doesn’t know.
One key difference with self-driving vehicles is that drivers may become more of a passenger, so they may not be paying full attention to the road, or there may be nobody at the wheel at all. This makes it difficult for pedestrians to gauge whether a vehicle has registered their presence or not, as there might be no eye contact or indications from the people inside it.
So, how could pedestrians be made aware of when an autonomous vehicle has noticed them and is intending to stop? Like a character from the Pixar movie Cars, a self-driving golf cart was fitted with two large, remote-controlled robotic eyes. The researchers called it the “gazing car.” They wanted to test whether putting moving eyes on the cart would affect people’s more risky behavior, in this case, whether people would still cross the road in front of a moving vehicle when in a hurry.
The team set up four scenarios, two where the cart had eyes and two without. The cart had either noticed the pedestrian and was intending to stop or had not noticed them and was going to keep driving. When the cart had eyes, the eyes would either be looking towards the pedestrian (going to stop) or looking away (not going to stop).
Video of VR experience:
Participants played out the scenario 40 times each, as if they were crossing a road on the University of Tokyo campus.
As it would obviously be dangerous to ask volunteers to choose whether or not to walk in front of a moving vehicle in real life (though for this experiment there was a hidden driver), the team recorded the scenarios using 360-degree video cameras and the 18 participants (nine women and nine men, aged 18-49 years, all Japanese) played through the experiment in VR.
They experienced the scenarios multiple times in random order and were given three seconds each time to decide whether or not they would cross the road in front of the cart. The researchers recorded their choices and measured the error rates of their decisions, that is, how often they chose to stop when they could have crossed and how often they crossed when they should have waited.
“The results suggested a clear difference between genders, which was very surprising and unexpected,” said Project Lecturer Chia-Ming Chang, a member of the research team. “While other factors like age and background might have also influenced the participants’ reactions, we believe this is an important point, as it shows that different road users may have different behaviors and needs, that require different communication ways in our future self-driving world.
“In this study, the male participants made many dangerous road-crossing decisions (i.e., choosing to cross when the car was not stopping), but these errors were reduced by the cart’s eye gaze. However, there was not much difference in safe situations for them (i.e., choosing to cross when the car was going to stop),” explained Chang. “On the other hand, the female participants made more inefficient decisions (i.e., choosing not to cross when the car was intending to stop) and these errors were reduced by the cart’s eye gaze. However, there was not much difference in unsafe situations for them.”
Ultimately the experiment showed that the eyes resulted in a smoother or safer crossing for everyone.
Real life role-play
The researchers imagined the scenario of someone wanting to cross the road in a hurry when not at a traffic light or crosswalk.
But how did the eyes make the participants feel? Some thought they were cute, while others saw them as creepy or scary. For many male participants, when the eyes were looking away, they reported feeling that the situation was more dangerous. For female participants, when the eyes looked at them, many said they felt safer.
“We focused on the movement of the eyes but did not pay too much attention to their visual design in this particular study. We just built the simplest one to minimize the cost of design and construction because of budget constraints,” explained Igarashi. “In the future, it would be better to have a professional product designer find the best design, but it would probably still be difficult to satisfy everybody. I personally like it. It is kind of cute.”
The team recognizes that this study is limited by the small number of participants playing out just one scenario. It is also possible that people might make different choices in VR compared to real life. However, “Moving from manual driving to auto driving is a huge change. If eyes can actually contribute to safety and reduce traffic accidents, we should seriously consider adding them. In the future, we would like to develop automatic control of the robotic eyes connected to the self-driving AI, which could accommodate different situations,” said Igarashi.
In a significant achievement and recognition to country’s efforts against hypertension, India has won an UN award for its “India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI)”, a large-scale hypertension intervention under National Health Mission. IHCI has been recognized for its exceptional work within India’s existing primary healthcare system.
Complimenting the healthcare initiative, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare stated in a tweet: “IHCI has strengthened PM @NarendraModi Ji’s mission to ensure health & wellness for all”. We are committed to building a healthy & fit India, he further noted.
A collaborative initiative of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), State Governments and World Health Organization-India, IHCI has won the ‘2022 UN Interagency Task Force, and WHO Special Programme on Primary Health Care Award’ at the UN General Assembly side event held on 21st September 2022 at New York, USA. The award recognizes outstanding commitment and action of India to: (i) prevent and control Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and (ii) deliver integrated people-centric primary care. The UN Task Force has identified organisation which has multisectoral approach in prevention and control of NCDs and multisectoral action with demonstrated results at primary care for prevention and control of NCDs and related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Significance of the initiative can be adjudged from the fact that one in four adults in India has high blood pressure. The control of hypertension at primary care system level will contribute to reducing deaths due to heart attacks, stroke and kidney failures.
IHCI has been able to leverage and strengthen the existing healthcare delivery system, hypertension control interventions under National Health Mission and improve the linkages between populations-based screening initiative with health care. The initiative was launched in 2017 and expanded in a phased manner to cover more than 130 districts across 23 states. Under the initiative, more than 34 lakh people with hypertension are taking treatment in government health facilities, including Ayushman Bharat Health Wellness Centres (HWCs). The project strategies are easily scalable within the health system. The strategies include a simple drug-dose-specific standard treatment protocol, ensuring adequate quantity of protocol medications, decentralization of care with follow-up and refills of medicines at Health Wellness Centres, task sharing involving all health staff and a powerful real-time information system which can track every patient for follow-up and blood pressure control. Under IHCI, nearly half of those who were treated had blood pressure under control.
The IHCI complements the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Diabetes, Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke (NPCDCS) of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. IHCI accelerates the achievement of targets of the Government of India by ensuring a continuum of care and giving a boost to the ongoing “Ayushman Bharat” programme.
Following uproar among IT companies on many workers indulging in moonlighting, Wipro had warned against it and now took stern action firing 300 employees for moonlighting with its key rivals at the same time.
Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji said in Wednesday that the “reality is that there are people today working for Wipro and working directly for one of our competitors and we have actually discovered 300 people in the last few months who are doing exactly that.”
Speaking at the All India Management Association (AIMA) National Management Convention, Premji reiterated that moonlighting is a complete violation of integrity “in its deepest form.” Wipro has now terminated their employment for “act of integrity violation”.
Premji recently said that the concept of a second job to the regular job is “plain and simple” cheating. “There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating — plain and simple,” he had tweeted.
There is a lot of chatter about people moonlighting in the tech industry. This is cheating – plain and simple.
As the issue of moonlighting or working elsewhere to make extra money in India is plaguing many tech giants after the Work From Home concession that entailed them work remotely, several Indian tech giants are facing the challenge to keep their workforce committed and focused.
The ethical issue has been raised by tech services giant Infosys first, followed by cloud Major IBM last Wednesday. Infosys has already made it clear that the practice is not ethical and the company may fire those who are moonlighting.
Rishad Premji
However, Wipro has become the first to fire its employees who are moonlighting. Infosys, IBM are still pondering the issue though they are with the industry against moonlighting.
IBM Managing Director Sandip Patel said, “All of our workers when they are employed, they sign an agreement which says that they are going to be working full-time for IBM. So moonlighting is not ethically right for them to get into.”
However, some startups are encouraging employees to opt for moonlighting or work outside their primary working hours. Swiggy has encouraged the practice but the traditional companies are calling it cheating and unethical and issued warning to employees from practising Moonlighting even in extra hours.
In one case, a techie who was interviewed by a Hyderabad-based company and hired in turn hired another techie to work on his behalf, while he is engaged in working on other projects. He has been summarily fired now but the issue has brought to light the glaring anomaly in misuse of a pact with the company.
Infosys has already warned employees that involvement in such practice can result in “disciplinary action including termination of employment”. “No two-timing, no moonlighting”, the company said in an internal memo.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the PM CARES Fund on Tuesday in which new member Sudha Murthy from Bengaluru was appointed recently.
A presentation was made on the various initiatives undertaken with the help of PM CARES Fund, including the PM CARES for Children scheme which is supporting 4345 children. Trustees appreciated the role played by the fund at a crucial time for the country. PM Shri Narendra Modi appreciated the people of the country for contributing wholeheartedly to PM CARES Fund.
It was discussed that PM CARES has a larger vision on effectively responding to emergency and distress situations, not only through relief assistance, but also taking mitigation measures and capacity building.
Prime Minister welcomed the Trustees for becoming an integral part of the PM CARES Fund.
The meeting was attended by Trustees of the PM CARES Fund, i.e. Union Home Minister and Union Finance Minister as also, the newly nominated trustees of the PM CARES Fund:
Justice K.T. Thomas, Former Judge, Supreme Court,
Kariya Munda, Former Deputy Speaker,
Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus, Tata Sons.
The Trust further decided to nominate following eminent persons for constitution of Advisory Board to PM CARES Fund:
Rajiv Mehrishi, Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India
Sudha Murthy, Former Chairperson, Infosys Foundation
Anand Shah, Co-founder of Teach for India and Former CEO of Indicorps and Piramal Foundation.
Prime Minister said that participation of new Trustees and Advisors will provide wider perspectives to the functioning of the PM CARES Fund. Their vast experience of public life would impart further vigour in making the fund more responsive to various public needs.
Mosquitoes that spread Zika, dengue and yellow fever are guided toward their victims by a scent from human skin. The exact composition of that scent has not been identified until now.
A UC Riverside-led team discovered that the combination of carbon dioxide plus two chemicals, 2-ketoglutaric and lactic acids, elicits a scent that causes a mosquito to locate and land on its victim. This chemical cocktail also encourages probing, the use of piercing mouthparts to find blood.
This chemical mixture appears to specifically attract female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, vectors of Zika as well as chikungunya, dengue, and yellow fever viruses. This mosquito originated in Africa, but has spread to tropical and subtropical regions worldwide, including the U.S.
Mosquitoes use a variety of cues to locate their victims, including carbon dioxide, sight, temperature, and humidity. However, Cardé’s recent research shows skin odors are even more important for pinpointing a biting site.
Aedes aegyptii mosquito biting a person./CREDIT CDC
“We demonstrated that mosquitoes land on visually indistinct targets imbued with these two odors, and these targets aren’t associated with heat or moisture,” Cardé said. “That leaves skin odor as the key guiding factor.”
Given the significance of odor in helping mosquitoes successfully feed on humans, Cardé wanted to discover the exact chemicals that make our scent so potent for the insects. Part of the equation, lactic acid, was identified as one chemical element in the odor cocktail as long ago as 1968.
Since then, several studies have identified that carbon dioxide combined with ammonia, and other chemicals produced by humans also attract these mosquitoes. However, Cardé, who has studied mosquitoes for 26 years, felt these other chemicals were not strong attractants.
Methods that chemists typically use to identify these chemicals would not have worked for 2-ketoglutaric acid, Cardé said. Gas chromatography, which separates chemicals by their molecular weight and polarity, would have missed this acid.
“I think that these chemicals may not have been found before because of the complexity of the human odor profile and the minute amounts of these compounds present in sweat,” said chemist Jan Bello, formerly of UCR and now with insect pest control company Provivi.
Searching for mosquito attractors, Cardé turned to Bello, who extracted compounds from the sweat in his own feet. He filled his socks with glass beads and walked around with the beads in his socks for four hours per odor collection.
Credit: MINDY TAKAMIYA/KYOTO UNIVERSITY ICEMS
“Wearing the beads felt almost like a massage, like squeezing stress balls full of sand, but with your feet,” said Bello. ‘The most frustrating part of doing it for a long time is that they would get stuck in between your toes, so it would be uncomfortable after a while.”
The inconvenience was worth the investment. Bello isolated chemicals from the sweat deposited on the sock beads and observed the mosquitoes’ response to those chemicals. In this way, the most active combination emerged.
Future studies are planned to determine whether the same compound is effective for any other mosquitoes, and why there is such variation in how individuals are apt to be bitten. “Some are more attractive than others to these mosquitoes, but no one’s yet established why this is so,” Cardé said.
Though this discovery may not lead to insights for the development of new repellants, the research team is hopeful their discovery can be used to attract, trap, and potentially kill disease-spreading mosquitoes.
Continuing the streak of significant seizures, in a major swoop down, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized 394 pieces of foreign origin gold bars weighing approximately 65.46 kg and valued at Rs. 33.40 crore (approx.) which was being smuggled from neighbouring north eastern countries.
Specific intelligence indicated that a syndicate is actively planning to smuggle foreign origin gold from Mizoram and using domestic courier consignment of supply chain & logistic company (hereinafter referred as logistics company).
In order to interdict the contraband, “Op Gold Rush” was launched by DRI and a particular consignment declared to contain ‘Personal Goods’ destined to Mumbai was intercepted. Examination of the consignment at Bhiwandi (Maharashtra) on 19.09.2022 led to recovery and seizure of 120 pieces of foreign origin gold biscuits weighing approximately 19.93 Kg and valued at about Rs. 10.18 crore.
Further analysis and investigation revealed that 2 other such consignment, sent by same consignor from same location to same consignee, destined to Mumbai and in transit, were despatched through the same logistics company. The location of the consignments was traced.
DRI foils attempts of gold smuggling.
The second consignment was located and intercepted in Bihar. Upon examination at the Warehouse of the logistics company, it led to recovery of 172 foreign origin gold bars weighing approximately 28.57 kgs and valued at about Rs.14.50 crore. Similarly, the third consignment was intercepted and examined at the Delhi hub of the logistics company which led to recovery and seizure of 102 pieces of foreign origin gold bars weighing approximately 16.96 kg and valued at about Rs. 8.69 crore.
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence foils attempts of gold smuggling.
These series of detections have helped unearth novel modus operandi of smuggling foreign origin gold into India from the north eastern part of the country and through domestic courier route of logistics company. Such detections reinforce DRI’s ability to detect and combat unique and sophisticated methods of smuggling. A total of 394 foreign origin gold bars weighing approximately 65.46 Kg and valued at approximately Rs 33.40 crore were recovered and seized in multi city operations.
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has condoled the demise of renowned comedian Raju Srivastava.
The Prime Minister tweeted;
“Raju Srivastava brightened our lives with laughter, humour and positivity. He leaves us too soon but he will continue to live in the hearts of countless people thanks to his rich work over the years. His demise is saddening. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti.”
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the United States on Monday released its early estimates of traffic fatalities for the first half of 2022. An estimated 20,175 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes, an increase of about 0.5% as compared to 20,070 fatalities NHTSA projected for the first half of 2021.
However, NHTSA projects that the second quarter of 2022, from April to June, had the first decline in fatalities after seven consecutive quarters of year-to-year increases in fatalities that began in the third quarter of 2020.
“Traffic deaths appear to be declining for the first time since 2020, but they are still at high levels that call for urgent and sustained action. These deaths are preventable, not inevitable, and we should act accordingly,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
From 1987 to 2017, frontal air bags saved 50,457 lives.
934 children have died due to Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke (PVH) since 1998.
6,549 people aged 65 or older were killed in traffic crashes in 2020, 17% of all traffic fatalities.
In January, Secretary Buttigieg unveiled the National Roadway Safety Strategy, which outlines the Department’s comprehensive approach to significantly reducing serious injuries and deaths on highways, roads and streets. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides unprecedented funding for safety to achieve the Department’s ambitious, long-term goal of reaching zero roadway fatalities.
“Although it is heartening to see a projected decline in roadway deaths in recent months, the number of people dying on roads in this country remains a crisis,” said Ann Carlson, NHTSA’s Acting Administrator.
USDOT has begun work on a number of action items in the NRSS, including:
In May, the Federal Highway Administration issued Complete Streets guidance and is encouraging States to develop complete streets using the formula funding delivered through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
In March, NHTSA issued a request for comment to proposed significant upgrades to the New Car Assessment Program, in part by proposing to add four more advanced driver assistance system technologies to those NHTSA already recommends. These new technologies would include blind spot detection, blind spot intervention, lane keeping assistance and pedestrian automatic emergency braking. The notice also describes the roadmap of the Agency’s plans to update NCAP in phases over the next 10 years, to potentially incorporate consideration of the vehicle’s safety features for people walking or biking around the car.
In June, NHTSA issued a final rulemaking on rear impact guards for trailers and semitrailers.
USDOT issued a notice of funding opportunity for $1 billion for the first year of the brand-new Safe Streets and Roads for All program funded by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Additionally, NHTSA has issued a Standing General Order to collect more data about crashes that occur when automated driving systems and advanced driver assistance systems are engaged.
The preliminary data from the USDOT’s FHWA shows vehicle miles traveled in the first half of 2022 increased by about 43.2 billion miles, a 2.8% increase from the same time period last year. The fatality rate for the first half of 2022 decreased to 1.27 fatalities per 100 million VMT, down from the projected rate of 1.30 fatalities per 100 million VMT in the first half of 2021.
NHTSA has also announced that the projections for two of the regions (NHTSA Regions 3 and 9) were revised. Projected deaths during the first quarter of 2022 for Region 3 were revised lower, while projections for Region 9 were revised higher. There were minor changes to the projections for the other regions. This did not result in a revision of the projected fatalities for the Nation as a whole.
Russian TV anchors, known for crossing the lines of journaistic ethics, have been vociferously seeking blood in the countries which are opposed to the Ukraine war since the beginning of this year.
In a remark on the program 60 Minutes, Olga Skabeyeva of the Russia-1 channel said that there is a clamour for raids on Western countries for their support to Ukraine in the war.
As the defeat in several border towns s looming large, the Russian TVs are now joined by legislators drawing their attention to global events including the Queen’s funeral where 2,000 world leaders congregated on Monday.
In a bizarre remark on Monday, a legislator too joined the bllitzkriez suggesting that Moscow should have taken advantage of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral to launch a nuclear missile strike on London, which did not invite the Russian Preesident Vladimir Putin for the event.
Queen Elizabeth II funeral
In a remark on during a discussion on Monday, Andrey Gurulyov, a Russian member of parliament and a former army commander, refuted US President Joe Biden’s appeal to Vladimir Putin not to use weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear arms.
Target UK, not Ukraine
“What made him think we would conduct a nuclear strike against Ukraine? We’ll still have to live over there, in Ukraine. We have plenty of targets…Why would we bomb Ukraine and Germany when there is Britain, the root of evil?” he said.
Then Skabeyeva interrupted with a remark: “We should have done it today. All the best people are there for the funeral.”
Taking it further, Gurulyov hovered around the aftermath the UK would face in the event of a nuclear strike. “Will they defend a Martian desert as per their 5th Article?” he told Skabeyeva, referring to NATO’s collective defense pledge, “there will be nothing left. What do they call it, an unshakeable island? We’ll shake it up.”
Targeting UK
Co-anchor of 60 Minutes, Evgeny Popov, then joined the debate saying, “Let me remind you that Great Britain…also has nuclear weapons,” to which Gurulyov said the UK’s warheads could be “instantly decimated”. The legislator, already on sanctions list of the US, suggested last month that Putin should launch missile strikes on the UK which “would be the end of the British Crown.”
Meanwhile on Russian state TV: State Duma deputy Andrey Gurulyov threatened Britain with nuclear strikes.
Host Olga Skabeeva said that Russia should have conducted a nuclear strike on Monday, since many important people were in attendance for the Queen’s funeral. pic.twitter.com/qRBbiPo52L
The Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on Monday was attended by leaders and state heads from around the world, including US President Joe Biden, Japanese Emperor Naruhito, French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian President Droupadi Murmu among others to pay their respects to the queen, after a week of national mourning in the UK which has seen an outpouring of grief and reverence over the death of the British monarch.
The ire against the British is apparently evident after TV news revealed several English-speaking foreigners are taking part in the Ukraine war, which helped Kyiv restore several bordering towns defeating the Russian forces.
NASA Television will provide live coverage of the upcoming Artemis I cryogenic demonstration test on NASA TV beginning at 7:15 a.m. EDT or 4.30 pm IST on Wednesday, Sept. 21.
The demonstration test will allow teams to confirm the repair to a hydrogen leak seen during an early September Artemis I launch attempt, evaluate updated propellant loading procedures, and conduct additional evaluations. The demonstration will conclude when the objectives for the test have been met.
NASA remains on track for an Artemis I cryogenic demonstration test.In the days since the previous launch attempt, teams have analyzed the seals that were replaced on an interface for the liquid hydrogen fuel line between the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the mobile launcher and adjusted procedures for loading cryogenic, or supercold, propellants into the rocket. Engineers identified a small indentation found on the eight-inch-diameter liquid hydrogen seal that may have been a contributing factor to the leak on the previous launch attempt.
NASA’s Cryogenic Demonstration Test .Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
During the test, teams will load propellants into both the core stage and upper stage tanks, and Orion and the SLS boosters will remain unpowered. Meteorologists currently predict favorable weather for the test with a 15% chance of lightning within 5 nautical miles of the area, which meets criteria required for the test, and will continue to monitor expected conditions.
US investigating agency FBI’s agent Ashley T. Johnson is warning the public about a Technical Support Fraud currently targeting older Americans in the Chicago area.
Technical Support Fraud involves a criminal posing as technical support to defraud unwitting individuals. Criminals may offer support to resolve issues such as compromised email or bank accounts, computer viruses, or software renewals. In this scam currently affecting Illinois residents, it begins with a computer intrusion.
FBI response team in action
Victims of this scam experience a frozen computer followed by a pop-up on their screen advising that their computer has been hacked. The pop-up contains a number claimed to be for a well-known computer software company; however, this number really belongs to the scammers. Once the number is called, the scammer(s):
Answer the phone pretending to be an employee of the computer software company. The “employee” claims that the victim’s bank accounts and social security account number have been compromised and connects the victims with other scammers impersonating bank representatives and Social Security Administration employees.
Direct victims to download an application that allows remote computer access.
Convince victims to withdraw money from bank/investment accounts to avoid “hackers.” Victims are told their money will be transferred to the Social Security Administration where it will be converted to Bitcoin for safekeeping and returned once they are assigned a new social security account number.
Tips to avoid this scam:
Avoid installing apps or programs that allow strangers remote access to your computer.
Never call the number in a pop-up window.
Always disconnect your device from the Internet immediately if you see a scam-related pop-up screen. Do not turn your computer off or reboot.
Always be skeptical if someone tells you not to talk to your family about a money transfer.
Always be skeptical if a “government agency” asks you to conduct business in Bitcoin.
Always call companies, banks, or government agencies directly with numbers you have independently verified.
Always contact the FBI at ic3.gov to make a report.
One approach to treating cancer is photodynamic therapy using photo-uncaging systems, in which light is used to activate a cancer-fighting agent in situ at the tumor. However, suitable agents must be stable under visible light, have an anti-tumor effect in low-oxygen environments, and have the ability to be activated by low-energy tissue-penetrative red light – a combination of properties that is difficult to achieve. Now, a team from The Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo has developed a new platform that uses, for the first time, organorhodium(III) phthalocyanine complexes to achieve this combination of traits.
Conventional photodynamic techniques depend on the formation of reactive oxygen species to destroy tumor cells, but many tumors contain environments that lack oxygen. Photo-uncaging systems, where the agent is administered in an inactive form and then activated, or “uncaged”, in the location of the tumor, address this issue. They uncage alkyl radicals, which are known to be capable of inducing cell death both with and without the presence of oxygen. Alkyl radicals are converted into terminal aldehydes in the presence of oxygen, and these terminal aldehydes can also induce cell death. The team used molecules called “organorhodium(III) phthalocyanine (Pc) complexes” to develop, for the first time, a novel platform for photo-uncaging therapy.
Researchers from The Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo have developed a streamlined photo-uncaging system for photodynamic cancer therapy, using a pulse of light for tumor-specific activation of a cancer-fighting agent/CREDIT Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
“The organorhodium(III) phthalocyanine (Pc) complexes we developed are highly stable under ambient light during the processes of synthesis, purification, and measurement, but can be activated by a laser that gives out nanosecond pulses of red light,” explains lead author Kei Murata. These nanosecond-pulsing lasers (pulsing for a billionth of a second) are relatively easy for medical staff to handle.
They went on to show that the compounds that were released after the organorhodium(III) phthalocyanine (Pc) complexes were activated showed toxicity to HeLa cells, a cell line developed from cancer, indicating that these compounds would have the ability to fight cancer if released inside a tumor.
“Our new technology could allow the photochemical generation of a wide variety of alkyl radicals and aldehydes, making possible the site-selective release of various bioactive molecules,” says senior author Kazuyuki Ishii. As an improvement on other photo-uncaging systems, it opens an exciting new avenue for the treatment of cancer by phototherapy.
When a patient gets transferred from a hospital to a nearby specialist or rehabilitation facility, it is often difficult for personnel at the new facility to access the patient’s electronic health records – which includes important patient-specific information such as their medication history and allergies. This lack of electronic compatibility often leads to wasteful and expensive duplication of tests, X-rays and paperwork that can interfere with the treatment of patients.
A recent study at the University of Missouri highlights how the use of electronic health records have resulted better quality of care – which can direct the next steps of government programs to ensure hospitals use electronic health records in a way that promotes interoperability, or the ability for various health care organizations to quickly access a patient’s records, reduce waste and speed up decision-making to improve patient health outcomes.
So far, the adoption and implementation of electronic health records has been a bumpy road, said Kate Trout, assistant professor in the MU School of Health Professions and lead author on the study. Electronic health records have widely been cited in research literature as the most cumbersome technology ever implemented in the health care industry.
“They have the potential to be very helpful, but in practice they tend to be very disruptive because it’s time consuming to train personnel how to use them. They’re expensive, and there’s always new complicated updates and new forms that come out, and there is often a lack of interoperability for the data to be shared among different health care organizations,” Trout said. “Given the massive national investments, we wanted to see if electronic health records are being utilized in a meaningful way to promote interoperability and ultimately improve quality of care.”
electronic health records/University of Missouri
More than $30 billion has been invested by the federal government in the adoption and use of electronic health records by health care organizations in an attempt to improve the quality of care delivered to patients.
In 2011, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid established the “Meaningful Use” program – now known as the “Promoting Interoperability Program” – which offers financial incentives to health care providers who effectively utilize electronic health records in a way that promotes information sharing, public health reporting and interoperability.
Trout analyzed the impact of electronic health records on mortality rates for patients with various medical procedures and conditions. More than 5 million patients in 300 U.S. hospitals were included in the study, which merged large datasets from the electronic health records, the American Hospital Association and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
Three main categories emerged:
hospitals that meet the “Meaningful Use” requirements with their electronic health records,
hospitals that fully implement electronic health records but not in a way that meets the “Meaningful Use” requirements, and
hospitals that have either none or only partially implemented electronic health records.
Trout found that the hospitals that meet the “Meaningful Use” requirements were able to improve quality of care and reduce patient mortality rates to a greater extent than hospitals in the other two groups. While the results show some optimism, Trout cautions that more still needs to be done, including the need to analyze the impact of interoperability and advanced electronic health record functions on quality of care.
“This research highlights the importance of using electronic health records in a way that promotes interoperability to streamline processes, speed up decision-making, reduce wasted time and ultimately improve patient health outcomes,” Trout said. “Ideally, the United States could implement one standardized electronic health records system for everyone to ensure compatibility, so policy makers can hopefully benefit from this research.”
Trout added that with the use of data mining and analytics, electronic health records can be better used going forward to potentially identify patient characteristics that put them at higher risks for possible infections or other conditions.
healthcare
“With this information, are there alerts we can put in after a surgery to ensure we follow up at critical points in time?” Trout said. “Are there certain patient populations that we can use the data to catch them earlier and make sure we give them extra care and not just put them through the same routine protocols as everyone else? That is how we move away from only focusing on implementing the technology and progress toward encouraging innovative ideas that ultimately improve patient health outcomes.”
Trout said this research can be particularly useful for rural hospitals that historically have less resources and lag behind their urban counterparts in adopting health technology like telehealth and electronic health records. There have been many closures of rural hospitals, an issue that has been worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, and rural patients tend to have more co-morbidities and worse health outcomes.
“I am passionate about helping vulnerable, underserved populations, and our personal health is often tied to where we live and various social determinants of health,” Trout said. “Those ideas are not incorporated into our clinical data yet, but they should be going forward. My overall goal is to harness the data in a way that we can hopefully start to spend less and get more.”
InSight, which has hit headlines this week with the realtime recording of sound from the Mars when meteoroids struck Mars’ surface at four places since its landing on the Red Planet in November 2018, is nearing the end of its mission by mid-2023.
The first NASA mission to explore Mars’ deep interior, InSight rover landed on Mars surface on Nov. 26, 2018, in the Elysium Planitia region and collected enormous data over the past four years.
To its credit, the lander has detected more than 1,300 marsquakes since touching down on Mars, providing information that has allowed scientists to measure the depth and composition of Mars’ crust, mantle, and core.
As power on the spacecraft diminishes, the InSight team hopes to maximize the science and increase the possibility of recording additional marsquakes.
However, the lander achieved a milestone when NASA released the sound of a meteoroid striking Mars that was captured by its Reconnaissance Orbiter’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera. The sound resembled like a “bloop” due to a peculiar atmospheric effect and the sound can be heard three times.
In addition, the InSight lander has provided visuals of three craters created between 2020 and 2021, ranging between 53 and 180 miles (85 and 290 kilometers) at Elysium Planitia.
It has proved a point that Mars has escaped from many such meteoroids as its atmosphere is just 1 per cent as thick as Earth’s, and several meteoroids pass through it without disintegrating, according to NASA. InSight’s team also said other impacts may have been obscured by noise from wind or by seasonal changes in the atmosphere.
The data helps NASA scientists to know the impact rate and estimate the age of different surfaces by counting its impact craters. The more they find, the older is the surface.
Auto shutdown of seismometer deferred
Initially, the lander was to automatically shut down the seismometer, its last operational science instrument by the end of June in order to conserve energy, surviving on what power its dust-laden solar panels can generate until around December.
Now, the team plans to program the lander to keep the seismometer operate three more months though batteries get discharged sooner and cause the spacecraft to run out of power soon. The team hopes that it might enable the seismometer to detect additional marsquakes.
“InSight hasn’t finished teaching us about Mars yet,” said Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division in Washington. “We’re going to get every last bit of science we can before the lander concludes operations.”
This collage shows three other meteoroid impacts that were detected by the seismometer on NASA’s InSight lander and captured by the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its HiRISE camera. / NASA/JPL
As of September 10, 2022, InSight was generating an average of 420 watt-hours of energy per Martian day, or sol. The tau, or level of dust cover in the atmosphere, was estimated at .80 (typical tau levels outside of dust season range from 0.6-0.7).
All instruments but the seismometer have already been powered down. Like other Mars spacecraft, InSight has a fault protection system that automatically triggers “safe mode” in threatening situations and shuts down all but its most essential functions, allowing engineers to assess the situation. Low power and temperatures beyond pre-determined limits can trigger safe mode.
Seisomometer helps detect more Marsquakes
To enable the seismometer to continue to run for as long as possible, the mission team is turning off InSight’s fault protection system. While this will enable the instrument to operate longer, it leaves the lander unprotected from sudden, unexpected events that ground controllers wouldn’t have time to respond to.
“The goal is to get scientific data all the way to the point where InSight can’t operate at all, rather than conserve energy and operate the lander with no science benefit,” said Chuck Scott, InSight’s project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) celebrated its 38th Raising Day on 20th September 2022 by organizing a parade for the first time at the central level at Jag Jeewan Ram RPF Academy, Lucknow. This is the first time that a National Level Parade of RPF was organized outside New Delhi. The choice of venue at the Jagjivan Ram RPF Academy at Lucknow – the Centralized Training Institute of RPF and the alma mater of the officers of the Force recruited through the civil service exam, assumes notable significance.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) celebrated its 38th Raising Day
The Union Minister of State for Railways and Textiles, Smt. Darshana Vikram Jardosh, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and took the salute of the Parade. The programme was attended by Shri Brij Lal, MP, Rajyasabha, senior officers of Central Armed Police Forces, State Police, various Government Departments, Railways and other dignitaries.
The Minister of State for Railways presented the ‘President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service’, ‘Indian Police Medal for Meritorious Service’, ‘Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak’, ‘Uttam JeevanRaksha Padak’ and ‘ Jeevan Raksha Padak’ to 23 RPF personnel, including award of Sarwottam Jeewan Raksha Padak posthumously to Late Shri Gyan Chand, Head Constable RPF NCR who laid down his life at the altar of duty while saving a lady who had jumped in front of a moving train with intention to commit suicide. The force remembered Shri Gyan Chand with tearful eyes and chest swelling with pride.
The Chief Guest inaugurated and hoisted a 100 feet high Monumental National Flag at the Academy Campus and unveiled and dedicated the installation of a Railway Coach with Engine for train intervention training. The renovated main-hall of the Academy, which has now been air-conditioned was also inaugurated by the Minister. A Special “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” Edition of the “Rail Sainik”, the quarterly e-magazine of RPF was released on the occasion.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) celebrated its 38th Raising Day
The Minister of State for Railways praised the poise, turnout and march of the contingent. In her speech, she appreciated the role of RPF in ensuring safe travel for women passengers. She heaped fulsome praise on Meri Saheli teams for providing security to women traveling alone in long distance trains. She outlined the prominent role of training and skill up gradation in improving the performance of any organization and announced sanction of Rs 55 Crores for enhancing training facilities in RPF.
Smt. Jardosh also announced setting up of a skill up-gradation training centre in the premises of 3rd Battalion RPSF, Lucknow for up-gradation of skills of family members of RPF personnel, especially ladies at the cost of Rs 3 Crores. Further, she announced construction of rest shelters cum mobilization halls for lady RPF train escorting personnel at 75 locations across the country.
The Director General, RPF, Shri Sanjay Chander, welcomed the Minister and outlined the various new initiatives taken by the force to provide a safe and secure train travel to the passengers. He stated that the RPF is making use of technology in various spheres of its working to ensure an optimal utilization of the manpower. The force has been on the forefront in providing assistance to the needy passengers, the elderly and the children. The RPF has been doing commendable work in preventing Human Trafficking, Transport of Narcotics, Hawala Money, Prohibited Wildlife and other illegal activities on trains and stations. He pointed out that we have entered the Amrit Kaal which would last till 2047 during which we have to work with our heart and soul to take India to the pinnacle of glory that she deserves. The vision 2047 is the roadmap towards such a lofty ideal. He mentioned the vision 2047 of the force which will include innovation, use of technology, optimum utilization of resource to increase the response, reach and effectiveness of the force. He underlined that the goal of the force is Sewa Hi Sankalp and all members of the force, from Constable to DG, have to work towards reinforcing its service commitment.
The Railway Protection Force was constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1957 for providing security to Railway property. Subsequently, the force was empowered to enquire, arrest and prosecute the offenders involved in unlawful possession of railway property in 1966. Over the years, it was felt that the force needed to be given the status of “An Armed Force of the Union” and finally the status was bestowed upon the force on 20th September 1985 by amending the RPF Act by the Parliament. Therefore, 20th September is celebrated every year as the Raising Day of RPF by members of the force and their families.
The Raising Day is an important milestone in the growth of a force and celebrated with festive spirit by members of the force where they share their happiness with the public and reaffirm their commitment to serve them and work for the overall public good.
Earlier the Raising day was celebrated by organizing parades and other functions at the zonal, divisional and battalion levels. However, from this year it has been decided to organize only one parade at the central level to symbolize the national character of the force.
