TELANGANA
- Telangana recorded over 10,000 dengue cases in three months
- As many as 1,388 new cases of dengue have been reported from across Telangana over the last six days alone — more than half of them from within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits — show records sourced from the state health department. In fact, the total count of dengue cases between June 1 and now, registered at state and private hospitals, stand an alarmingly high 10,876.
- The records underline August as the worst-hit given the month registered 6,800 of the total cases this season.
- Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection causing a severe flu-like illness and, sometimes causing a potentially lethal complication called severe dengue. The incidence of dengue has increased 30-fold over the last 50 years. Up to 50-100 million infections are now estimated to occur annually in over 100 endemic countries, putting almost half of the world’s population at risk.
- The dengue virus (DEN) comprises four distinct serotypes (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4) which belong to the genus Flavivirus, family Flaviviridae.
- The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the main vector that transmits the viruses that cause dengue. The viruses are passed on to humans through the bites of an infective female Aedes mosquito, which mainly acquires the virus while feeding on the blood of an infected person.
INTERNATIONAL
- Vietnam opens Southeast Asia’s largest solar power farm
- Vietnam has inaugurated Southeast Asia’s largest solar power farm which has the capacity to produce 688 million kWh of electricity annually.
- The Dau Tieng Solar Power Complex, a joint venture with the Thai industrial group B.Grimm Power Public Company, occupies 540 hectares in Tay Ninh province.
- The complex was constructed on the Dau Tieng Reservoir – the largest artificial lake in Vietnam – and is expected to generate 10 per cent of the country’s solar energy to guarantee supply to 320,000 homes.
- It will also prevent the emission of 595,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year.
NATIONAL
- DRDO successfully flight-tests indigenously developed MPATGM missile
- In a major boost for Indian Army, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested indigenously developed low weight, fire and forget Man-Portable Antitank Guided Missile (MPATGM) in the ranges of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh.
- The missile was launched from a man-portable Tripod launcher and the target was mimicking a functional tank.
- The missile hit the target in top attack mode and destroyed it with precision. All the mission objectives were met.
- This is the third series of successful testing of MPATGM.
- The missile is incorporated with state-of-the-art Infrared Imaging Seeker along with advanced avionics.
- India’s 2nd Scorpene-class submarine to be commissioned on September 28
- India’s second Scorpene-class attack submarine INS Khanderi will be commissioned into the Navy by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Mumbai on September 28.
- The conventional diesel-electric submarine has been manufactured by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd in Mumbai.
- The first Scorpene-class submarine INS Kalvari had been commissioned into the Indian Navy on December 2017.
- Under the Project 75 programme, India is committed to building six Scorpene-class submarines that also includes INS Kalvari and INS Khanderi.
- Madhya Pradesh govt to allow people to adopt cows online
- The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to turn to the state’s people to seek donations for its ‘Project Gaushala’ by letting them adopt cows online.
- People can adopt a cow for a minimum of 15 days and can go on supporting it till the animal’s lifetime.
- While a lifetime adoption costs Rs 3 lakh, those willing to adopt a bovine for a year will have to pay Rs 21,000.
- Those adopting for a month will have to pay Rs 2,100 and those willing to adopt for 15 days will have to pay 1100.
- Multilingual Mobile App launched for farmers
- Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Parshottam Rupala launched a multilingual Mobile App called ‘CHC Farm Machinery’ for the farmers during a conference onNational Conference on Crop residue Management held in New Delhi. Minster also sought ideas from farmers to ensure zero burning in all villages and also thanked farmers for bringing down incidents of stubble burning.
- It connects farmers with Custom Hiring Service Centers (CHC) in their area.
- It will allow farmers to avail custom hiring services of CHCs located in a radius of 50 km.
- It can be downloaded on any android phone from Google Play Store.
- National Genomic Grid (Cancer)
- Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare announced that government plans to set up a National Genomic Grid, so as to take cancer research to the next level and make treatment viable for people of different economic classes. This National Genomic Grid will study genomic data of cancer patients from India.
- The National Genomic Grid for India-specific cancer research will collect samples from cancer patients from India to study genomic factors influencing cancer and identifying the right treatment modalities for Indian population.
- The grid to be formed will be in line with National Cancer Tissue Biobank (NCTB)set up at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras. NCTB functions in close association with Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and has the capacity to stock 50,000 genomic samples from cancer patients.