New Critically Endangered Tree species discovered in the Andaman Islands

• A 15-metre-tall tree that belongs to the genus of the coffee family has recently been discovered in the Andaman Islands by a team of researchers from India and the Philippines.
• The new species, Pyrostria laljii, is also the first record of the genus Pyrostria in India, the researchers said.
• Plants belonging to the genus Pyrostria are usually found in Madagascar, but the recently discovered species is new to science.
• The tree is distinguished by a long stem with a whitish coating on the trunk and oblong-obovate leaves with a cuneate base and was first reported from the Wandoor forest in South Andaman.
• The other places in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands where the tree could be located are the Tirur forest near the Jarawa Reserve Forest and the Chidia Tapu (Munda Pahar) forest.
• Pyrostria laljii has been assessed as ‘Critically Endangered’ based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List criteria.
• While the genus Pyrostria is not found in India, there are several genera from the family Rubiaceae that are common in India.
• These plants, including cinchona, coffee, Adina, hamelia, Ixora, galium, gardenia, mussaenda, rubia, morinda, have a high potential for economic value. More studies should be carried out to ascertain whether Pyrostria laljii could have some economic value.
• Another physical feature that distinguishes the tree from other species of the genus is its umbellate inflorescence with eight to 12 flowers.

Inflation and Industrial output data.

The latest retail inflation and industrial output data from the National Statistical Office (NSO) offer some relief from the pall of gloom cast by the relentless second wave of the COVID19 pandemic.

The recent statistics

• Provisional headline inflation slowed to a three-month low of4.29% in April, helped by softer food prices and a statistical base effect. The rate using an imputed index for the year earlier period was 7.22%.
• Index of Industrial Production (IIP) estimates show all three sectoral constituents of the index-mining, manufacturing and e suffered effecting, which accounts for 77.6% of the IIP, saw production shrink 12.6% from March, and contributing to a 13% sequential contraction in overall industrial output.
• The output of capital goods and consumer durables also lagged the corresponding 2019 levels by 14.3% and 11.6%.
• Consumer non-durables, comprising household essentials, witnessed an almost 11% contraction from March, testifying to the demand destruction that has accompanied the second wave.
• A separate NSO release showed March industrial output jumped by22.4%, benefiting again from the fact that the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had posted an 18.7% contraction in March 2020, when the economy was halted by the start of a nationwide lockdown.
• Composite PMI Output Index slid from 55.4 in April to 48.1 in May indicating a moderate reduction in activity. New vehicle registrations more than halved in May from the previous month, another tell-tale sign of the demand drought.
• A closer look at the inflation data reveals a substantial cooling in the prices of cereals, milk and milk products, vegetables, and pulses and products.
• While both cereals and vegetables saw a deflationary trend widen to 2.96% and14.2%, respectively, dairy products, which have the second largest weight in the food and beverages category, also slid into deflation territory at 0.13%.
• And price gains in pulses, having been stubbornly stuck in the double digits over an 18month stretch, decelerated into single digits to reach a 20month low of 7.51%.
• The combined impact slowed inflation across the food and beverages group by more than 250 basis points to 2.66%.
• Still, the same Consumer Price Index data also point to persistent price pressures that could potentially fan faster inflation in the coming months, especially at time when the socioeconomic burden of the crippling pandemic and the impact of the lockdown that several States are resorting to is yet to be fully gauged.
• Price gains in meat and fish quickened to 16.7% and was little changed at 10.6% in the case of eggs, while inflation in oils and fats accelerated almost 100 basis points to25.9%.
• Transport and communication also remained in the double-digit range at 11.04%, despite benefiting from the virtual freeze in the pump prices of petroleum products that coincided with last month’s Assembly elections.
• Now, with global crude oil starting to firm again and local petrol and diesel prices resuming their upward trajectory, the prospect of haulage costs —for transporting goods from factory and farm gates — rising in the near term is very real.
• The rising international commodity prices and the outlook for inflation gets even more cloudy.
• Industrial production numbers may also provide cheer only for a limited period, aided in no small measure by output having cratered in the first few months of the last fiscal.
• HIS Markit’s PMI survey for April showed new orders and output having slowed to eight month lows, and with the pandemic triggered factory shutdowns threatening supply disruptions, industrial production and inflation face challenges. Policymakers must stay vigilant to ensure price stability even as measures to bolster demand are the need of the hour.

For more on economic impact due to pandemic

IIT Ropar develops the nation's first power-free CPAP device 'Jivan Vayu'

• Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar has developed a device ‘Jivan Vayu’ which can be used as a substitute of a CPAP machine.
• What is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)?

1. CPAP is a treatment method for patients having breathing problems during sleep called sleep apnea.
2. The machine uses mild air pressure to keep the airways open for easy breathing.
3. It is also used to treat infants whose lungs have not fully developed.
4. The machine blows air into the baby's nose to help inflate his or her lungs. The treatment is all the more necessary during early stages of the Covid-19 infection.
5. It reduces lung damage and allow patients to recover from the inflammatory effects.

• However, this is Nation’s first such device which functions even without electricity and is adapted to both kinds of oxygen generation units like O2 cylinders and oxygen pipelines in hospitals.
• These provisions are not available in otherwise existing CPAP machines.
• Fulfilling all the medically required parameters, this leak-proof, low-cost CPAP delivery system, “Jivan Vayu’ is designed for a 22mm CPAP closed circuit tube. It can even be customized as per the size of the tube. Since it can run during power failures, this can be used to safely transport a patient.
• It has an inbuilt viral filter at the air entrainment end which has a viral efficacy of 99.99%. The viral filter ensures that the air does not bring in any pathogens from the environment.
• The device has been manufactured using 3D printing and has also been tested mechanically.
• ‘Jivan Vayu’ can deliver high flow oxygen (20–60 LPM) while maintaining a continuous positive pressure of up to 20 cm H2O. The device is designed to maintain an FiO2 of above 40% with a PEEP (positive end-expiratory pressure) of 5-20 cm H2O.

Figure 1: Jivan Vayu breathing circuit for CPAP therapy delivering a positive pressure of up to 20cm H2O and accelerated flow rate of up to 60 LPM