SCIENCE &TECH

HRD Minister inaugurates Super Computer PARAM-ISHAN at IIT Guwahati Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on 19 September 2016 inaugurated the super computer PARAM ISHAN at IIT Guwahati campus. Students and faculty members of IIT Guwahati are expected to derive huge benefit from the facility. PARAM ISHAN • It is the fastest and most powerful computer in North East, Eastern and Southern region. • It has been jointly developed by IIT Guwahati and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, C -DAC. • PARAM ISHAN has the power of 250 Teraflops and 300 terabyte capacity and can be used in the application areas like computational chemistry, computational fluid dynamics, computational electromagnetic, civil engineering structures, nana-block self assemble, optimization and others. • It can also be used for weather, climate modeling and seismic data processing.

SCIENCE &TECH

Scientists use stem cells to successfully grow human lungs in a dish A team of researchers from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) created a three-dimensional lung, called as organoids, to study diseases, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The organoids resemble sections of human lungs instead of just cells. The study was published in the journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine. How the researchers grew lungs? • The researchers used stem cells taken from actual adult human lungs to coat tiny sticky hydrogel beads. • The beads eventually grew and self-assembled to envelope the hydrogel beads, which were all placed inside linked wells. • The resulting structure produced evenly distributed three-dimensional patterns consistent with actual air sacs like those in human lungs. • Inside each well, the lung cells grew around the beads, which linked them and formed an evenly distributed three-dimensional pattern. • To show that these tiny organoids mimicked the structure of actual lungs, the researchers compared the lab-grown tissues with real sections of human lung. • Moreover, when the researchers added certain molecular factors to the 3D cultures, the lungs developed scars similar to those seen in the lungs of people who have idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. • The scientists were not able build a fully functional lung. However, they have been able to take lung cells and place them in the correct geometrical spacing and pattern to mimic a human lung. What is Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis? • Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a chronic lung disease characterised by scarring of the lungs. • The scarring makes the lungs thick and stiff, which over time results in progressively worsening shortness of breath and lack of oxygen to the brain and vital organs. • The term 'idiopathic' is used because the cause of pulmonary fibrosis is still unknown. • To study the effect of genetic mutations or drugs on lung cells, researchers have previously relied on two-dimensional cultures of the cells. But when they take cells from people with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and grow them on these flat cultures, the cells appear healthy.

SCIENCE & TECH

MIT develops a spectroscopic technique to detect Martian life Scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) US have developed a spectroscopic technique that would help the 2020 Mars Rover to non-invasively identify sediments that are relatively unaltered, and maintain much of their original composition. Such pristine samples will allow scientists to identify the signs of former life, if they existed, on the red planet.  The new technique is based on an improved way of interpreting the results of Raman spectroscopy, a common, non-destructive process used by geologists to identify the chemical composition of ancient rocks. Raman spectroscopy • It is a common, non-destructive process that geologists use to identify the chemical composition of ancient rocks. • It is used to identify whether a sample contain carbonaceous matter. • The presence of carbonaceous matter suggests that the sample may also have harbors sign of life. • With the new improve spectroscopy techniques; researchers can now also estimate the ratio of hydrogen to carbon atoms in a sample. • Hydrogen can be used as basis to determine if a certain sample is pristine or not. • If the sample has low hydrogen, it is possible that it has experience more heating, altering its organic matter and losing hydrogen in a form of methane. Besides, the 2020 Mars Rover would be equipped with several scientific tools including Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC). SHERLOC is an instrument that will acquire Raman spectra from samples on or just below the Martian surface. SHERLOC will be pivotal in determining whether life ever existed on Mars. Development of the technique at MIT was reported in the journal Carbon. 2020 Mars Rover NASA has plans to launch a new Mars rover that will be tasked to probe the region on the planet believed to hold remnants of ancient microbial life. The rover will collect samples of rocks and soil, and store them on the Martian surface. The collected samples would be returned to Earth sometime in the distant future so that scientists can meticulously analyze the samples for signs of present or former extraterrestrial life.

SCIENCE & TECH

NASA spots possible Water Plumes Erupting on Jupiter's Moon Europa The latest finding has given scientists fresh hope that a robotic spacecraft could one day fly past these potential plumes and learn about their contents without having to drill miles deep into the moon's icy shell. Using ultraviolet images taken by Hubble, a space telescope that was launched in 1990, the potential plumes were seen around the southern edge of Europa and appear as dark fingers or patches of possible absorption. They were spotted over the course of 15 months in 2014 when scientists observed Europa passing in front of Jupiter. This was observed by a team of astronomers led by William Sparks of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore. They observed these finger-like projections while viewing Europa's limb as the moon passed in front of Jupiter. If confirmed, Europa would be the second moon in the solar system known to have water vapor plumes. In 2005, NASA's Cassini orbiter detected jets of water vapor and dust spewing off the surface of Saturn's moon Enceladus. About the Plumes on Europa The plumes are estimated to rise about 125 miles (200 kilometers) before, presumably, raining material back down onto Europa's surface. Europa has a huge global ocean that contains twice water than Earth’s oceans, which is protected by a layer of extremely cold and hard ice of unknown thickness. The plumes provide a tantalizing opportunity to gather samples originating from under the surface without having to land or drill through the ice. Previous Finding Earlier in 2012, a team led by Lorenz Roth of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, detected evidence of water vapor erupting from the frigid south polar region of Europa and reaching more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) into space. Although both teams used Hubble's Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph instrument, each used a totally independent method to arrive at the same conclusion. Next step to confirm presence of water vapor plumes on Europa It is expected that scientists will use the infrared vision of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, which is scheduled to launch in 2018, to confirm venting or plume activity on Europa. Besides, NASA is also formulating a mission to Europa with a payload that could confirm the presence of plumes and study them from close range during multiple flybys. The work by Sparks and his colleagues will be published in the 29 September 2016 issue of the Astrophysical Journal. Hubble Space Telescope It is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA (the European Space Agency.) NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. STScI, which is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy in Washington, conducts Hubble science operations.

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Union Cabinet approves establishment of Higher Education Financing Agency The Union Cabinet on 12 September 2016 approved the creation of the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA). The HEFA will be established to give a major push for creation of high quality infrastructure in premier educational institutions. Key highlights of the HEFA • The HEFA will be jointly promoted by the identified Promoter and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) with an authorised capital of 2000 crore rupees. The Government equity will be 1000 crore rupees. • The HEFA will be formed as a SPV within a PSU Bank/ Government-owned-NBFC.  It will leverage the equity to rise up to 20000 crore rupees for funding projects for infrastructure and development of world class Labs in IITs/IIMs/NITs and such other institutions.  • It will also mobilise CSR funds from PSUs/Corporates, which will in turn be released for promoting research and innovation in these institutions on grant basis. • The HEFA will finance the civil and lab infrastructure projects through a 10-year loan. • All the Centrally Funded Higher Educational Institutions will be eligible for joining as members of the HEFA. • For joining as members, the Institution should agree to escrow a specific amount from their internal accruals to HEFA for a period of 10 years. This secured future flows will be securitised by the HEFA for mobilising the funds from the market. • Each member institution will be eligible for a credit limit as decided by HEFA based on the amount agreed to be escrowed from the internal accruals.

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Union Government notifies new import policy for marble & travertine blocks Union Government on 18 September 2016 notified the new import policy for marble and travertine blocks and marble and granite slabs. The policy will come into effect from 1 October 2016. The new policy ends the quantitative restriction on the import of marble and travertine blocks as well as the cumbersome and restrictive import licensing system.  The Minimum Import Price (MIP) for marble blocks has been reduced to 200 US dollar per metric ton. The basic customs duty on import of marble and travertine blocks has been increased from 10 percent to 40 percent to address the interest of domestic producers. Similarly, the MIP on the import of marble slabs is being reduced to 40 US dollar per square metre and the basic customs duty on the import of marble slabs is doubled to 20 percent. The MIP on the import of granite slabs has been reduced to 50 US Dollars per square metre and the basic customs duty on import of granite slabs has been doubled to 20 percent. The new policy balances the interests of domestic consumers, producers and processors, and ends the cumbersome licensing system for import of Marble & Travertine blocks.

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

India, Samoa tax information exchange agreement approved The Union Cabinet on 21 September 2016 gave its approval for signing and ratification of agreement between India and Samoa for the exchange of information with respect to Taxes. This agreement will stimulate the flow of exchange of information between the two nations for tax purposes which will help curb tax evasion and tax avoidance. As of now, there are no financial implications between the two nations. Only in the event of extraordinary costs exceeding 500 US dollars, the same will be borne by India. India has similar provisions in other such tax information exchange agreement.  Salient features of the Agreement • It enables the competent authorities of the two nations to provide assistance through exchange of information that is relevant to the administration and enforcement of the domestic laws of the two countries concerning taxes covered by this Agreement. • The information received under the Agreement shall be treated as confidential and may be disclosed only to persons or authorities (including courts or administrative bodies) concerned with assessment, collection, enforcement, prosecution or determination of appeals in relation to taxes covered under the Agreement. Information may be disclosed to any other person or entity or authority or jurisdiction with the prior written consent of the information sending country. • The Agreement also provides for Mutual Agreement Procedure for resolving any difference or for agreeing on procedures under the Agreement. • The Agreement shall enter into force on the date of notification of completion of the procedures required by the respective laws of the two countries for entry into force of the Agreement. Negotiations for entering into an Agreement for the exchange of information with respect to Taxes were finalized between India and Samoa in June 2016 and both countries have agreed on the text of the Agreement. Section 90 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 allows the Union Government to enter into an agreement with a foreign country or specified territory for exchange of information for the prevention of evasion or avoidance of income-tax chargeable under the Income-tax Act, 1961.

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

Union Cabinet approves Winding up of Hindustan Diamond Company Private Limited The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave its approval for initiating the process of winding up of Hindustan Diamond Company Private Limited (HDCPL). HDCPL is 50:50 joint venture of the Union Government and De Beers Centenary Mauritius Limited (DBCML). The winding up of HDCPL is not likely to affect supply of rough diamonds to Indian diamantaires because the Indian diamond industry has grown in all these years. At present, India is a house of top diamond producers.  Besides, the Special Notified Zone (SNZ) at Bharat Diamond Bourse, Mumbai established in 2015 also enables the smaller Indian players to have a direct access to the supply of rough diamond. Hindustan Diamond Company Private Limited The HDCPL was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 in 1978. The company was established with an objective to supply rough diamonds to diamond processing industry in India, particularly to small and medium diamond jewellery exporters. In the past, the Indian diamond exporters didn’t had a direct access to rough diamonds from Diamond Trading Company (DTC), London. DTC is the marketing arm of De Beers who held a very large chunk of world’s rough diamonds market.

ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

CCEA approves 5176 crore rupees Capital Grant for GAIL pipeline project The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 21 September 2016 approved the partial capital grant of 5176 crore rupees to GAIL (India) Limited for development of 2539 km long Jagdishpur-Haidia and Bokaro-Dhamra Gas Pipeline (JHBDPL) project.  This grant is 40 percent of the total estimated capital cost of 12940 crore rupees. Highlights of the JHBDPL project • JHBDPL project will connect Eastern part of the country with National Gas Grid. • It will ensure the availability of clean and eco-friendly fuel i.e. Natural Gas to the industrial, commercial and transport sectors in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. • This Capital Grant will encourage the supply of eco-friendly fuel at affordable tariffs to industries and will encourage industrial development in these states. Other Development The CCEA also approved the simultaneous development of City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks in cities namely Varanasi, Patna, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Cuttack etc. en-route of JHBDPL project. These distribution networks will be developed by GAIL in collaboration with the concerned State Governments. It will bring clean cooking fuel at the door step of Domestic households as well as provide clean fuel to transport sector in the eastern region.

Current affairs quiz with answers

1.    Which country recently launched world's biggest radio telescope in search for extraterrestrial life? a)    India b)    China c)    The Netherlands d)    The United Kingdom 2.    Name the Indian player who recently won India's first medal at Asian Beach Games. a)    Pincky Balhara b)    Shivam Bhowmick c)    Rajat Malhotra d)    None of the above 3.    Name the first Russian-Pakistani joint military exercise, which recently commenced in Pakistan. a)    Babar-2016 b)    Cherat-2016 c)    Moskow Friendship-2016 d)    Druzhba-2016 4.    Arnold Palmer, nicknamed as ‘The King’ recently passed away. He was related to which of the following fields? a)    Cricket b)    Tennis c)    Golf d)    Basketball 5.    Who won the 2016 St Petersburg Open Men’s Singles title? a)    Stan Wawrinka b)    Alexander Zverev c)    Roger Federer d)    Andy Murray 6.    Who won the 2016 St Petersburg Open Men’s Doubles title? a)    Dominic Inglot and Henri Kontinen b)    Leander Paes and Andre Begemann c)    Leander Paes and Henri Kontinen d)    Treat Huey and Henri Kontinen 7.    Name the satellite of students of IIT, Bombay that was launched in ISRO’s launch in which it sent eight satellites to space under one mission? a)    Pratham b)    PISAT c)    SCATSAT-1 d)    Junoon 8.    Name the country whose voters have given a strong approval to a law on new surveillance powers for the intelligence agencies. a)    Japan b)    Germany c)    Philippines d)    Switzerland 9.    Who of the following was appointed as the Additional Secretary in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council? a)    CK Asnani b)    Arun Goyal c)    Monika Kapil Mohta d)    Mukund Choudhari 10.    Who of the following won the women’s doubles title at the Toray Pan Pacific Open trophy? a)    Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis b)    Chen Liang and Zhaoxuan Yang c)    Zhaoxuan Yang and Barbora Strycova d)    Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova 11.    Name the person who won the Under-19 Asian Junior Individual squash championship title. a)    Tushar Shahani b)    Yash Fadte c)    Velavan Senthilkumar d)    Mohammad Al-Sarraj 12.    Union Health Ministry has decided to launch the Mission Parivar Vikas in what number of High Focus districts in seven states? a)    96 b)    112 c)    133 d)    145 13.    Name the Indian cricketer who became the fastest Indian and second overall to take 200 wickets, reaching the milestone in his 37th Test. a)    Ravichandran Ashwin b)    Ravindra Jadeja c)    Ishant Sharma d)    Bhuvneshwar Kumar 14.    Name the film that has been selected as India's entry to the 89th Academy Awards (Oscars) to be held in 2017 in the Foreign Language Film category. a)    Neerja b)    Udta Punjab c)    Sairat d)    Visaranai 15.    Name India’s largest civilian research and development agency that celebrated its platinum jubilee on 26 September 2016. a)    Council of Scientific and Industrial Research b)    Defence Research & Development Organisation c)    Directorate General of Civil Aviation d)    Indian Patent Office Answer. 1. (b) China 2. (a) Pincky Balhara 3. (d) Druzhba-2016 4. (c) Golf 5. (b) Alexander Zverev 6. (a) Dominic Inglot and Henri Kontinen 7. (a) Pratham 8. (d) Switzerland 9. (b) Arun Goyal 10. (d) Sania Mirza and Barbora Strycova 11. (c) Velavan Senthilkumar 12. (d) 145 13. (a) Ravichandran Ashwin 14. (d) Visaranai 15. (a) Council of Scientific and Industrial Research

Google launched app allo

Google launches instant messaging mobile app Allo Google on 21 September 2016 launched its latest mobile chat application, Allo, along with Google Assistant that can be used in online conversations with friends. The messaging app, which is available for Android and the iPhone, has similar features to most other messaging applications. In Allo, messages are not encrypted end-to-end by default. However, the messages can be switched to an incognito mode to do so and set how long they exist before they are deleted.  Key highlights of Google Allo • Allo's ‘Smart reply’ function uses Google's machine learning technology to suggest a reply to the last message, which can be selected from a few options. • The feature also analyses images sent to the user in order to suggest responses. • Similar to the smart reply feature seen in Google's Inbox app, it learns from the user's behaviour to adapt its suggestions over time. • It supports Google Assistant, a conversational virtual assistant. • A feature ‘Whisper Shout’ allows the user to increase or decrease the size of a message to represent volume. • Allo also lets users draw on photos before sending them. • Incognito mode is an optional mode that includes expiring chats, private notifications, and end-to-end encryption. • For encryption, the app uses the Signal Protocol. Now get latest Current Affairs on mobile, Download # 1  Current Affairs App   Click below to see the complete story http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/Google-launches-instant-messaging-mobile-app-Allo-1474957698-1 Sent via Jagran Josh

Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh presented Antyodaya Krishi Puruskars

Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh presented Antyodaya Krishi Puruskars Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on 25 September 2016 gave away Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Antyodaya Krishi Puruskars to 12 farmers for their contribution in the agriculture sector. They were felicitated during a function at the birth place of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay in Mathura.  Winners of the award National Award for the year 2016: Krishna Yadav, an enterprising lady farmer from, Dinpur, Najafgarh, New Delhi for her outstanding achievements in the processing and value addition of food especially fruits and vegetables. Zonal awardees includes Award from Zone I: Jinder Singh, a small farmer from Roopnagar, Punjab won the award for starting a nursery of vegetable crops under the brand name ‘Chamkaur Sahib Paniri Farm’. Zone I comprises of the states of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi. Award from Zone II: Pooja Sharma, a small Haryana farmer won the award for her innovative ways of farming. Zone II comprises of the states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi Award from Zone III: Moti, a small farmer from Saidasaunkh village in Mathura won the award for his outstanding skills in innovative ways of farming which includes production of seeds of new varieties and planting material and distributing it among the fellow farmers at reasonable rates. Zone III covers entire Uttar Pradesh. Award from Zone IV: Deepak Kumar Singh from Bishanpur Banka, Bihar won the award for cultivation and sale of mushroom which has enabled him to earn a sizeable income from this activity. Zone IV comprises of the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Award from Zone V: Ashok Kumar Sarkar, Nimbudera, a small farmer from, Andaman and Nicobar Island was awarded for his outstanding entrepreneurial skill in agriculture production. Zone V comprises of the states of West Bengal, Orissa and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Award from Zone VI: Anuradha Chhetri of Pakyong, East Sikkim was awarded for diversification of agricultural activities with orchids can be a boon for the farmers having small landholding in the hilly regions of the country. Zone VI comprises of the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Award from Zone VII: Biswajit Majumder from Sabroom, Tripura has been awarded for establishment of a farmer’s club in his village. Zone VII comprises of the eastern states of Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya. Award from Zone VIII: Hasam Bhai Jumabhai Musangara, an enterprising fish farmer from Gir, Somnath, Gujarat was awarded for his outstanding achievements in Agriculture especially fisheries. Zone VIII comprises of the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Daman & Diu and Dadra Nagar Haveli. Award from Zone IX: Balaram Patidar a progressive and innovative farmer from Sarangi, in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh was awarded for cultivating horticultural and cash crops using scientific technologies. Zone IX comprises of the states of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Award from Zone X: Alluri Suryanarayana Murthy, a small farmer from East Godavari, Andhra Pradesh was awarded for adopting an integrated farming system which has enabled the farmers in his surrounding areas to reap huge benefits. Zone X comprises of the states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Award from Zone XI: A traditional fisherman A Baburaj from Kozhikode, Kerala won the award for successfully adopting sustainable brackish water aquaculture practices as a livelihood option. Zone XI comprises of the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Antyodaya Krishi Puruskar As part of the Centenary Celebrations of Deendayal Upadhaya, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has instituted Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Antyodaya Krishi Puruskar at national and zonal levels in 2016. The awards include one award at national level comprising one lakh rupees and 11 zonal awards comprising of 50 thousand rupees each along with a citation and certificate.  Purpose of setting the award This award was instituted for recognizing the contributions of marginal, small and landless farmers for developing integrated and sustainable models of agricultural farming.

ChinA unveils five hundred meter Apesphericalrthre telescope

China unveils Five-hundred-meter ApeSphericalrture Telescope in search for extraterrestrial life China on 25 September 2016 officially launched the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) in a mountainous region of Guizhou province. The telescope was launched to hunt for extraterrestrial life and explore space.  Key highlights of Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope • The FAST is a radio telescope located in the Dawodang depression, a natural basin in Pingtang County, Guizhou Province, southwest China. • It consists of a fixed 500 m dish constructed in a natural depression in the landscape. • It is the world's largest filled aperture (single dish) radio telescope. • It is the second largest radio telescope after the Russian RATAN-600. • The final cost of the project is 180 million US dollars. • Construction on the FAST project began in 2011 and was completed in July 2016. • The chief scientist of the project is Nan Rendong. • It has a fixed primary reflector located in a natural hollow in the landscape, focusing radio waves on a receiver suspended 140 m above it. • The reflector is made of perforated aluminium panels supported by a mesh of steel cables hanging from the rim. • Its surface is made of 4450 triangular panels, 11 m on a side, in the form of a geodesic dome. • It is capable of pointing anywhere within ±40° from the zenith.

IIT-M develops a lab-on-a-chip diagnostic device

 IIT-M develops a lab-on-a-chip diagnostic device

A team led by Prof. Ashis Kumar Sen, the corresponding author of the paper from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, used a 2-cm-long microchannel device that employs capillary force to draw blood into the device to separate plasma from whole blood and test glucose level in diabetic patients.

The first part of the microchannel device has hydrophilic walls (top and two side walls) that help the blood sample to be drawn in through capillary force. But one centimetre away, all the four walls of the microchannel are hydrophobic. Like a drop of water on a Teflon surface, the blood comes together and forms a large contact angle (more than 90 degrees) when it enters the hydrophobic region. The forward movement of the blood is suddenly impeded and the blood cells tend to accumulate in the hydrophobic region of the microchannel.

Unlike blood cells, the plasma with its low viscosity continues to move forward due to the momentum gained while passing through the hydrophilic region. “The blood cells slow down and then stop moving at the hydrophobic region and form a self built-in filter, while the plasma continues to move past the cells,” says Prof. Sen. “By creating a differential wetting behaviour in the microchannel we were able to separate the plasma from the blood cells.” Separating the plasma from blood cells is essential as it improves sensitivity and reliability. Most blood analyses are based on optical detection techniques, and the blood cells present tend to interfere with the optical path resulting in low sensitivity.

The device does not require any external or internal power as it relies on capillary force to draw blood and the separation of plasma from blood cells is achieved through differential wetting behaviour of the microchannel walls.

“Only 5 microlitre of blood is required and in 15 minutes we get 450 nanolitre of plasma which further increases with time. With suitable design modifications we have also achieved higher plasma volume up to 2 microlitre in 15 min, which is adequate for detection of most analytes,” says M. Sneha Maria, the first author of the paper from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras. It takes 15-20 minutes to test the samples and get the results.

The detection platform for different diseases and conditions can be integrated within the device inside the hydrophobic region. “This is a proof-of-concept study so we used commercially available glucose test strips to detect glucose level in the blood samples,” says Maria. The sensitivity of the disposable device is comparable to conventional blood tests, says Prof. Sen.

Unlike the microchannel device used by the IIT team, commercial glucometers rely on whole blood for testing. Using whole blood can cause measurement errors due to various hematocrit levels (the ratio of the volume of red cells to the volume of whole blood). When the hematocrit levels are high the viscosity of blood is more and this leads to low glucose concentration and underestimation. Overestimation results when the hematocrit levels are low. “There is a likelihood of more than 10 per cent error in glucose detection when whole blood is used,” says Maria.

The team is now testing the device for diagnosis of dengue. Currently, rapid diagnostic test kits (RDTs) either use whole blood which affects the sensitivity or centrifuged plasma for dengue detection. This is where the device can score over others.

Prof. Sen is hopeful that the device can be used for parallel detection of analytes for several diseases using just one blood sample. “We intend to separate the plasma to multiple detection sites for studying several diseases in one go,” he says.

Ten things to know about the PSLV's longest-ever flight

Here are the details of the launch and payloads:

 

— The PSLV-C35 will be launched from the first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota at 9.12 a.m. tomorrow. The total weight of all the eight satellites is about 675 kg.

— The SCATSAT-1 will be released first into a 730 km Polar Sunsynchronous Orbit (SSO) after about 17 minutes and the rest will be injected into a lower orbit of 689 km after around two hours. The flight is PSLV’s longest ever.

— There will be two re-ignitions of the launch vehicle for this purpose. The launch team engineers will shut down and restart the fourth and last stage of the vehicle twice during the flight.

— Besides SCATSAT-1, the others are PRATHAM and PISAT, two academic satellites from India; ALSAT-1B, ALSAT-2B and ALSAT-1N (all from Algeria); and Pathfinder-1 and NLS-19, from the USA and Canada, respectively.

— This will be the 15th flight of PSLV in ‘XL’ configuration with the use of solid strap-on motors.

— The mission objectives of SCATSAT-1 are to help provide weather forecasting services, cyclone detection and tracking. It has a design life of 15 years.

— The five-kg student satellite PISAT carries an imaging camera as payload to capture imagery of 185 km x 135 km area with about 80m/pixel resolution. The satellite is developed by students of PES University, Bengaluru.

— The other student satellite, PRATHAM, is developed by IIT Bombay.

— The PSLV has so far launched 39 remote-sensing satellites of ISRO, including the Chandrayaan-1 of 2008 and the Mars mission of 2013-14.

— It has also orbited 74 foreign commercial and university satellites in a global trend where the demand for its category of launch services is increasing.

Medical Council of India

Medical Council of India

MCI: reforming the unreformed

In news:  A recent report by the NITI Aayog, authored by a committee chaired by its vice-chairperson, Arvind Panagariya, has proposed a sweeping overhaul of medical education in India. The committee’s remit was to suggest an overhaul of the Indian Medical Council Act, which dates back to 1956.

• The Medical Council of India(MCI) is a statutory body for establishing uniform and high standards of medical education in India. The Council grants recognition of medical qualifications, gives accreditation to medical schools, grants registration to medical practitioners, and monitors medical practice in India.
• It is under the aegis of Indian Medical Council Act 1956, with subsequent amendments and ordinances, that the Medical Council of India (MCI) governs medical education in India.

Reforms in the sector

Looking for a big bang reform in an important sector that remains unreformed, there is important reforms proposed under the new Bill that the Panagariya committee has drafted and appended to its report.

• The most arresting and important governance-related element of the proposed reform is the scrapping of the MCI and its replacement by a new body, the National Medical Commission (NMC).

1. Members of the MCI are elected. While the current system of election to the MCI was based on noble intentions, the effect has been to keep serious medical educationists out of the body.
2. The NMC, on the other hand, would have its members selected by a high-powered committee of unimpeachable integrity, to be chaired by the cabinet secretary.

• The evaluation of medical colleges, which at present is conducted based on inputs, will switch over to an output-based evaluation.

1. This will eliminate the possibility of corruption, which has flourished under an opaque input-based system in which the MCI could threaten closure of a medical college
2. The proposed new legislation will mandate both entrance and exit exams for medical professionals. Anyone practicing medicine in India will have to pass the exit exam. This would bring India in line with the norms of medical certification in other major countries.
3. With a mandatory exit exam before anyone is allowed to practice medicine, medical colleges will have to perform. A college which charges exorbitant fees and whose students fail the exit exam will soon be out of business.

• The regulation of fees for medical education:

1. The Panagariya committee’s proposal, private medical colleges will be free to set their own fees in a transparent manner. Further, all colleges will need to announce and post upfront their structure of fees.
2. For-profit medical colleges will be permitted.

• System of Equity with Efficiency:

To take note of the concerns of states, and to work towards a system characterized by equity, not just efficiency, states will be allowed to regulate the fees that up to 40% of students are charged, with colleges free to charge the tuition fees of their choice for the remaining 60%.This amounts to what economists would call a cross-subsidy from the latter to the former group of students.

Criticism of the report

• The Panagariya committee’s proposal for for-profit colleges will increase various capitation and other hidden fees charged by the colleges that will considerably jack up a student’s costs over and above the official, regulated tuition fees.
• This can lead to a completely non-transparent system which has served no one well.

Way ahead

• Our current status is that India’s system of medical education features ostensibly non-profit medical colleges, while profiteering by unscrupulous colleges which are subject to opaque and capricious regulation has continued unabated.
• The Panagariya committee has courageously established the principle that, in medical education as in other sectors, profit is not a dirty word.
• It is far better for society to have well regulated for-profit medical colleges with transparent and upfront fees and with a scrupulous system of entrance and exit exams that will keep them honest, than our current system in which no one is genuinely accountable, standards are poor, and it is both medical professionals—and ultimately patients—who suffer.

Connecting the dots:

• “For achieving the desired objectives, it is necessary to ensure that the regulatory institution remain independent and autonomous”. Discuss in the light of experiences in recent past.
• “India’s system of medical education features ostensibly non-profit medical colleges, yet there are unregulated, profiteering and opaque colleges”. Critically analyze the recent reforms suggested by Arvind Panagariya committee

Plot sell at Allahabad

https://www.olx.in/item/total-area-of-land22000sqyd-total-plotted-ID17wPTP.html