TELANGANA

In a 1st, Telangana to deploy drones to drop vaccines in remote areas

Telangana happens to be the first state in the country to receive permission from the ministry of civil aviation to use drones for delivering coronavirus vaccines to various primary health centres, authorities said.

The one-year conditional exemption for Telangana’s ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project will kick off on a trial mode in early May at the Vikarabad Area Hospital.

As part of the project, eight selected start-ups would be divided into four batches of two consortia and each batch would carry out the sorties for 6 days to complete the 24-day trial. A week to conduct an on-ground recce would also be given to all consortia before the start of the programme.

Each drone would carry a combination of dummy vials and regular vaccines over the course of the trials and the performance would be recorded in detail and this data shall be used to guide further policies regarding full-scale adoption.

The state government has asked the district administration to plan the on-ground operations and has also identified nodal officers to bolster the move.

INTERNATIONAL

Report-99 of 100 Cities with Environmental Risk Are in Asia

Verisk Maplecroft, a private company, discovered that Asian cities are the most vulnerable to environmental concerns. Natural disasters and air pollution are examples of this.

Out of 100 most vulnerable cities, 99 are located in Asia.

Of these 100 countries, about 37 are in China and 43 are in India. China and India are the world’s first and third largest emitters of greenhouse gases.

NATIONAL

Scheme in News – One Stop Centre scheme

Recently, One Stop Centre Schemes (OSCs) have been in the news. It has aided over 3 lakh women so far. It is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development

The scheme is implemented by State Governments and Union Territory (UT) administrations.

Objectives: To provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence and in distress, both in private and public spaces, under one roof, and to facilitate immediate, emergency, and non-emergency access to a range of services such as police, medical, legal aid, and counselling, as well as psychological support, in order to combat all forms of violence against women.

So far, 701 OSCs have been operationalized in 35 states/UTs.

Range of All of the Invasive Whiteflies Increasing

Researchers discovered that the host range of all invasive whiteflies was expanding due to their polyphagous nature (ability to feed on a variety of foods) and prolific breeding.

Highlights:

Whiteflies are Hemipterans that eat the undersides of plant leaves.

They are members of the Aleyrodidae family, the only family in the superfamily Aleyrodoidea. Whiteflies are a major crop protection issue in warm or tropical climates, particularly in greenhouses.

These are one of the top ten most destructive pests in the world, causing damage to over 2000 plant species and acting as vectors for over 200 plant viruses.

Cotton is one of the most severely affected crops by these, and Bt. Cotton is not resistant to white flies.

India Biodiversity Award 2021 Biodiversity Day

The Indian Biodiversity Award 2021 was awarded on the occasion of International Biodiversity Day on May 22.
Highlights:

KrishiAvam Paristhitiki Vikas Sansthan (KRAPAVIS) won an award in the category “Sustainable Use of Biological Resources”.

Shaji N.M (also known as the “Tuber Man” of Kerala) won an award in the individual category of “Domestic Species Protection”.

The Khonoma Nature Reserve and Tragopan Nature Reserve (KNCTS) in Nagaland received awards in the category of “Sustainable Use of Biological Resources”.

Delivered nearly 14,500 tonnes of medical oxygen to various states so far: Railways

The Railways has delivered nearly 14,500 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen in over 884 tankers to various states since it started its operation, the national transporter said.

So far, 224 ‘Oxygen Express’ trains have completed their journey and brought relief to various states, while eight others, loaded with over 563 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) in 35 tankers, are currently on their way.

Relief by ‘Oxygen Express’ trains has reached 13 states — Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

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