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Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan Context Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched massive employment -cum- rural public works Campaign named ‘Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan’ to empower and provide livelihood opportunities in areas/ villages witnessing a large number of returnee migrant workers affected by the devastating COVID-19. Need for Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan The Abhiyaan was flagged off from village Telihar, Block Beldaur, district Khagaria, Bihar on J

21 June, 2020
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Antibodies against coronavirus start to decrease in 2-3 months,

Antibodies against coronavirus start to decrease in 2-3 months, study finds Context A few countries, including the U.K., were toying with the idea of issuing some form of a certificate to people who have been infected with novel coronavirus and recovered subsequently, as such people were assumed to be resistant to reinfection. Study reveals Now, a study published in Nature Medicine suggests that antibodies formed against SARS-CoV-2 begin to decrease in number, just two-three

21 June, 2020
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Water worlds

Water worlds Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Europa are still interesting as candidates that may support life because scientists have spotted water plumes bursting from their icy shells. NASA guesses that more than many exoplanets could be ‘water worlds’. This includes some members of the Trappist-1 system which is 40 light years away.

Wild animals in urban clusters-COVID-19 lockdown

Wild animals in urban clusters Context During these days of lockdown across various parts of India, we see reports of ‘wild’ animals coming over to the cities, towns and urban clusters. In Uttarakhand, an elephant was reported to come down unusually near Hari ki Pauri in Haridwar. A leopard was sighted in Almora. In Karnataka, elephants, spotted deer and sambar deer had transgressed into towns, while in Maharashtra, people spotted scores of civet cats, mongooses and porcu

21 June, 2020
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COVID19-Plasma therapy

Antibodies from convalescent plasma protect against COVID-19 A team of scientists led by Dennis R. Burton from the Scripps Research Institute has discovered that neutralising antibodies present in the blood of COVID-19 infected who have recovered offers powerful protection against novel coronavirus in animals. Role for antibodies The small animals that received high dose of antibodies did not lose weight and the amount of virus in the lungs was low compared with those that rece

21 June, 2020
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Climate change impact on Ungulates

A struggle to co-exist with humans Today, the whopping 750 crores human population has made an impact on most flora and fauna. Taking into consideration this lack of abatement in human population growth, an international team of researchers observes how these ecological disruptions affect the life of ungulates (hoofed large mammals). The team notes that humans have brought about changes in the Himalayan realm – there is an increase in cashmere goats, and also, stray dogs have s

21 June, 2020
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Juneteenth

Juneteenth Juneteenth is also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day is a holiday celebrating the emancipation of those who had been enslaved in the United States. Originating in Texas, it is now celebrated annually on the 19th of June throughout the United States, with varying official recognition. Specifically, it commemorates Union army general Gordon Granger announcing federal orders in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, proclaiming that all slav

Automated lung ultrasound (LUS)

IIT-Palakkad develops ultrasound for COVID-19 screening The IIT, Palakkad, has developed an automated lung ultrasound (LUS) for COVID-19 screening and monitoring through a cloud-based image analysis and scoring system. The app, the first of its kind in India, is now available for clinicians to perform automated analysis by just uploading the ultrasound video. Motivated by the promising results that showed the relevance and importance of LUS in COVID-19 patients, the IIT team c