July 9
1)Kerala has announced reduction
of Value Added Tax
(VAT) on Aviation Turbine
Fuel (ATF) from the existing
4% to 1% for airlines ready to
operate in the State under
the Union government’s
UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam
Naagrik) scheme, an endeavour
to make r
2) The Advanced Centre for Atmospheric
Radar Research
at the Cochin University of
Science and Technology
(Cusat), which operates the
estimated ₹25-crore Advanced
Centre for Atmospheric
Radar Research
(ACARR), is going global.
In a major scientific collaboration,
ACARR will join
hands with the Swedish Institute
of Physics, which operates
the Moveable Atmospheric
Radar for Antarctica
(MARA ), a 54 MHz wind-profiler
radar. The facility is
used during summer expeditions
in Antarctica.
3) ‘Selfie account,’ one of the
latest trends in digital
banking that offers the
comfort of opening fresh
bank accounts using one’s
mobile phone to furnish the
basic KYC (Know Your
Customer) norms with a
selfie shot, is slowly catching
up among the State’s rural
community.
4) In a major relief to airlines, the import
of aircraft on lease will be exempted
from the Goods and Services
Tax (GST), the Finance
Ministry said in a notification on
Saturday.
5) Besides deciphering the mechanism
by which TB bactria can
develop resistance against Augmentin,
the researchers have
found ways of overcoming this potential
resistance mechanism,
thereby making Augmentin a potentially
powerful drug to treat
both multidrug-resistant TB (MDRTB)
and extensively drug-resistant
TB (XDR-TB).
The beta-lactam class of antibiotics
such as penicillin, ampicillin
and amoxicillin is one of the most
widely used class of antibacterial
drugs. Despite its ability to kill
several types of bacteria, the betalactam
antibiotics have never
been used against TB bacteria.
This is because TB bacteria are
naturally resistant to this class. TB
bacteria inherently produce an
enzyme called beta-lactamase
which breaks down beta-lactam
class of antibiotics (through hydrolysis)
and makes the drug ineffective
against TB disease.
One of the strategies of getting
around using the beta-lactam
class of antibiotics is developing
an inhibitor against betalactamase
enzyme. Clavulanic
acid is one such inhibitor, which
blocks the beta-lactamase enzyme.
Augmentin, which is a combination
of a beta-lactam antibiotic
(amoxicillin) and
beta-lactamase inhibitor (clavulanic
acid), can thus be an effective
drug against TB bacteria.
6) A team of six scientists has discovered
the presence of a large
number of what are known as giant
radio galaxies (GRGs) across
the universe. Such galaxies are, as
the name suggests, huge, and the
smallest one in this batch that has
been discovered could big enough
to hold 33 copies of the Milky Way
placed next to each other. The
galaxies have a supermassive
black hole, which could be even
billions of times as massive as the
Sun, at their centre. Jets of
charged particles are ejected from
this black hole at very high
speeds, close to that of light. In
fact, the jets reach out to a distance
even larger than the giant
galaxies which host them, making
the galaxy prominent when imaged
with a radio telescope.
7) It was thought cancer spreads
from the tumour to the lymph
nodes supplying that area and
thereby to distant organs. This
sequential progression model
is now found to hold true for
only one-third of people. In
the rest, spreading to distant
organs and lymph nodes rose
from independent sub clones
in the tumour.
8) A recent study shows that tea plantations
in the Western Ghats harbour
less-diverse bat communities
— that perform fewer ecological
functions — than those found in coffee
estates and forests. Protecting
existing forest fragments and river
stretches in such intensively-cultivated
landscapes could be crucial for
bats, which are important insect
controllers, pollinators and
seed-dispersers.
9) An editorial in the American Journal of
Clinical Nutrition in 2015 agrees with much
of the conclusions drawn on the positive
effects of cocoa on memory retention and
gain, and points out that unsweetened and
unprocessed dark cocoa powder would be
the best, while that processed with alkali
(which is paler, and more common in
candy-bars) is less effective.
10) Researchers have adapted an existing
diagnostic test for malaria to predict
the dangerous complications that
sometimes arise after the parasite is
eradicated from patients’ blood. An
estimated 3.2 billion people in 95
countries are at risk of malaria infection, and even though
treatment with a class of drugs called artemisinin is associated
with fatality rates lower than 5%, some patients receiving
these agents develop severe anaemia weeks after clearance of
the parasite
11) In a pilot
study, researchers found that participants who took high doses
of vitamin D within an hour of sunburn experienced a reduction
in swelling and inlammation.
12) What is Xicc
++ ?
It’s a new kind of quark, or a subatomic particle, that is a basic
building block of matter. Something like the Xicc++ was known to
exist in theory since decades but was inally ‘observed’ by
physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider facility in
Geneva and made public last week. Nearly all the matter that
we see around us is made of baryons, which are common
particles composed of three quarks, the best-known being
protons and neutrons. But there are six types of quarks — top,
bottom, up, down, charm and strange. Theoretically many
diferent potential combinations could form other kinds of
baryons. Unlike a proton, which is made up of only up and down
quarks, the new entity has two charm quarks.
This is the irst time that researchers have seen two charm
quarks in a baryon and therefore, throws new light on the
relationship between the most fundamental forces of nature.
The mass of the newly identiied particle is about 3621 MeV,
which is almost four times heavier than the proton.
13) Correct and timely diagnosis of TB
is the first step in treating the disease
and preventing its spread. Unfortunately,
both the private and
public sector in India heavily rely
on smear microscopy as the initial
diagnostic test. This is despite
smear microscopy’s ability to diagnose
only about 50% of the positive
cases. The over-reliance on the
century-old method becomes particularly
worrying as the private
sector caters to 70% of TB patients.
The problem becomes exacerbated
with only about 735 Xpert
MTB/RIF molecular diagnostic machines
— a better TB diagnostic tool
— available at reference or tertiary
hospitals across the country.
Except for one
province of China, India is the only
country that continues using intermittent
dosing (thrice weekly) during
the intensive phase of treatment,
says the report. Unlike the
daily regimen, the thrice-weekly
approach more than triples drug
resistance risk.
Though India’s TB control policy
follows WHO’s guidance for bedaquiline
drug for adults with MDRTB,
the drug is currently available
only in five cities — Ahmedabad,
Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and
Guwahati.
“Delamanid, which is another
drug to treat MDR-TB, has been approved
for use in India by the Drug
Controller General of India.
14) Taking ibuprofen and related
over-the-counter
painkillers could have unintended
and worrisome consequences
for people who
vigorously exercise. These
popular medicines, known
as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs, or NSAIDs,
work by suppressing inflammation.
But according
to two new studies, in the
process they potentially
may also overtax the kidneys
during prolonged exercise
and reduce muscles’
ability to recover afterwar
15)dark web and bitcoins are being used for drug peddling
16)Asmara (capital of Eritrea) and Hoh xil nature preserve(china) have been declared as World heritage sites by unesco recently.
July 10
1) Arnos Paathiri was the first
to compile a Malayalam
dictionary. It describes
Malayalam words both in
Sanskrit and Portuguese. He
also wrote a short and
succinct grammar for the
Malayalam language
2) The protest by the villagers
of Vemulaghat(A P) reached the
400th day on Sunday.
Vemualghat is the only
village under the proposed
Mallannasagar Reservoir
that has been protesting
against the government orders
and demanding implementation
of Right to
Fair Compensation in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation
and Resettlement Act –
2013.
3) Concerns regarding a buildup
of resistance to antiviral
drugs used to treat swine flu
are surfacing, after two such
drugs — Oseltamivir and
Zanamivir — were taken off
the restrictive Schedule X of
the Drugs and Comestics
Rules. Now under Schedule
H1, the drugs can be stocked
by all chemists.
Drugs under Schedule X require
three copies of prescription
for the doctor, patient
and chemist, and can
be sold by a chemist who
holds a special Schedule X licence.
Also, the chemist has
to preserve the prescription
copy for up to three years. In
Schedule H1, only one copy
of the prescription is required,
and drugs in this category
can be sold by all
chemists.
4) The failure in Geneva last week of a round of talks
on the reuniication of Cyprus is by all measures a
huge diplomatic setback. This is not the irst time
the United Nations-backed dialogue between the breakaway
Turkish-Cypriot state in the north and the Greek-
Cypriot Republic of Cyprus has been deadlocked.
The split took place in 1974 when
Turkey invaded the north after an Athens-backed coup
in Cyprus aimed at annexing the island.
5) Doka La stand-of, at
the southern tip of the Chumbi Valley
where India, Bhutan, and China
meet, is perhaps the most signiicant
of all the border confrontations
that have roiled the India-China relationship
in recent years.
17 corps…camped at Panagarh..deterrent to china.
6) Gambler’s
fallacy
Psychology
A cognitive bias where an
individual believes that an
outcome is unlikely to happen
because it has already
happened a number of
times in the past. It is considered
a fallacy because
the chances that a random
event will occur in the future
does not in any way
depend on the frequency
of its occurrence in the
past. For example, a
flipped coin landing
“heads” up for 10 times in
a row does not increase
the chances of it landing
“tails” up when it is
flipped the next time. The
probability of the coin
landing either “heads” up
or “tails” up is still 50-50.
7) On the face of it, a relentless
battle between the European
Union and Norway in a
remote part of the Arctic is
about snow crabs.
But the real fight may go
beyond who gets to catch the
modest crustaceans around
Svalbard, a unique
Norwegian archipelago in
the Barents Sea.
What is really at stake is
oil, some experts say, and a
coming race for the
commodity of which there is
a lot in the polar region
8) Often dubbed “the pharmacy
of the world,” India is
home to the most FDA-approved
plants outside of the
U.S. and supplies about 40%
of the $70 billion worth of
generic drugs sold in the
country.
But sanctions and bans
have damaged India’s reputation
and slowed growth in
the $16 billion sector
9) The U.S. economy is
roughly 16-17 trillion dollars,
China is about 10-11 trillion
dollars, India is around two
[trillion]. And India’s nominal
GDP per capita is still
very low.
China is seen as more innovative in IT than India.
10) You stand in a queue in a supermarket
to pay your bills,
if another stranger tries to
jump the line you are bound
to get upset. This is because
you believe you own the
place in the line. This belief
is called anchoring in behavioural
economics.
When we buy a stock at a
certain price, the investor
gets anchored to the price at
which he has bought the
stock. All the future decisions
of the retail investor
get anchored to the price.
Under the normal practice
of the investor, if the price
drops significantly he or she
will not sell the stock and
switch to a more profitable
investment. They wait for
years for the stock to return
to its original price before
selling the stock.
11) Curcumin, the basic ingredient
of turmeric, when administered
in a nanoparticle
formulation has several favourable
properties in the
treatment of tuberculosis in
mice, researchers have
found.
Prof. Gobardhan Das from
the Special Centre for Molecular
Medicine, Jawaharlal
Nehru University ( JNU) Delhi
and his team found nanoparticle
curcumin to be five
times more bioavailable
(which is the proportion of
drug that enters circulation
after introduction into the
body) in mice, than regular
curcumin, and was able to
drastically reduce liver toxicity
induced by TB drug
isoniazid.
More importantly, treatment
of TB with isoniazid
along with 200 nanometre
curcumin nanoparticles led
to “dramatically reduced”
risk of disease reactivation
and reinfection.
Treatment with anti-tuberculosis
drugs takes about sixnine
months in the case of
drug-sensitive TB and 12-24
months for drug-resistant
- Besides improper use,
the long duration to complete
treatment substantially
increases the risk of TB bacteria
developing resistance.
Host-directed therapy
Because of the increased
bioavailability of curcumin,
the duration of treatment to
achieve complete eradication
of the bacteria is reduced
significantly.
“The treatment time required
for complete eradication
of bacteria was reduced
by 50% in the case of mice,”
says Prof. Das.
July 11
1) Articles 105 and 194 clearly lay
down that the “power, privileges
and immunities of the legislature
shall be as may from time to time
be deined by the legislature, and
until so deined, shall be those of
the House of Commons”. The expression
“until so deined” does
not mean an absolute power not to
define privileges at all.
Our legislators also have protection
from arrest in civil cases 40
days before the session, during the
session and 40 days after the session.
The exemption from arrest is
also available for meetings. If we
count the days of three Parliamentary
sessions and meetings then our
MPs have protection from arrest
for more than 365 days in a year
2) July 11 has been designated by the
United Nations as World Population
Day. The UN chooses one aspect of
population to draw attention to each
year; this year the theme is access to
family planning.
3)in north india because of high fertility rate youths will increase and because of less fertility rate elders will increase in the south .So there will be migration of working people from north to south and we have to get ready for that.
4) They say
people generally do not
accept paper as currency,
as it has very little intrinsic
value. But once a paper
currency is established as
a money by the government,
it can continue to
perform its functions
smoothly, even in the absence
of the government
that created it. This, they
say, is because people
have already accepted it as
money
5) India is aiming to break new
ground in its tea exports
with an entry into Chile
where it had recently taken a
delegation.
6) A men-only island in Japan
where women are banned
and male visitors must bathe
naked in the sea before visiting
its shrine, has been declared
a UNESCO World Heritage
site.
The tiny landmass of
Okinoshima is permanently
manned by a Shinto priest
who prays to the island’s
goddess, in a tradition that
has been kept up for
centuries.
Limited numbers are permitted
to land on the island
in the Sea of Japan (East Sea)
— this year it was 200 — for a
yearly festival that lasts just
two hours, but they must adhere
to strict rules.
July 12
1) Kozhikode has become the
first city in the State to have a
comprehensive master plan
with the State government
approving the draft of the
Joint Town Planning Committee
( JTPC)
2)goat pox is in kerala..came from Rajasthan it seems.
3)Godavari is India’s second longest river and efforts to understand its pollution patterns are being done.
4) Rajasthan has become the
country’s first State to lay
down the minimum educational
qualifications for contesting
elections to village
cooperative societies and
various other cooperative
bodies.
The educational qualifications
will range from Class V
to Class VIII for election as
members of governing
boards of dairy societies,
farming societies, consumer
societies, weavers’ societies,
housing construction societies,
urban banks, primary
land development banks,
credit societies, salary
earners’ societies and cooperative
unions.
5) According to estimates by Goldman
Sachs last year, even a 1% increase in rates by the
Federal Reserve alone would lead to losses anywhere
between $1 trillion and $2.4 trillion to bondholders.
This is bigger than the losses incurred during any other
bond collapse in history. Even more important will be
the risks to the broader economy from an end to the
present regime of historically low interest rates. For almost
a decade now, investment decisions have been
based on low interest rates and high levels of liquidity.
An increase in rates, combined with lower levels of liquidity,
will require a change in business decisions and
a reallocation of resources. This will mean some
amount of unavoidable economic pain. In such a scenario,
it will not be a total surprise if central banks decide
to step back from their plans to normalise rates.
6) In India, 70% of women say that
their families cannot afford to buy
sanitary pads.
A 12 % tax on sanitary pads should be reduced or completely abolished to make napkins more affordabale.
7) Eight years ago, in Bihar’s Bettiah district (also known as West
Champaran), someone had worked out a simple solution to
ensure that quality food was served.
The district administration decided to enrol mothers, who
kept a watch on what their children were fed in mid-day meals
at school. The logic: which mother would cheat on feeding her
own? On the blackboard, the menu of the day was displayed.
On the rolls were mothers who cooked nutritious meals for the
children.
(this will be better than providing fortified foods)
8) A military doctrine, also
known as the doctrine of
mutually assured destruction,
which states that
when two adversaries possess
nuclear weapons,
neither of them is likely to
use them. This is because
both sides are likely to suffer
severe losses from a
nuclear attack, irrespective
of who attacks first.
The MAD doctrine is considered
an application of
the Nash equilibrium,
wherein the threat of a
strong retaliatory attack
prevents both sides from
initiating a conflict. The
result is lasting prevention
of a nuclear attack. The
doctrine has been criticised
for assuming that the
victim of the first attack
will possess sufficient capabilities
after the attack to
retaliate strongly.
9) The sixth mass extinction of
life on Earth is unfolding
more quickly than feared,
scientists have warned.
More than 30% of animals
with a backbone — fish,
birds, amphibians, reptiles
and mammals — are declining
in both range and population,
according to the first
comprehensive analysis of
these trends.
On an average, two vertebrate
species disappear
every year.
Tropical regions have
seen the highest number of
declining species.
