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Stigma, prejudice against leprosy has reduced: President

New Delhi (NVI): President Ram Nath Kovind today presented the International Gandhi Awards for Leprosy while saying that the stigma and prejudice against the disease have reduced considerably due to constant work of scientists, researchers, organizations & community workers.

The award was presented to Dr NS Dharmashaktu under the Indian nomination (individual) category and the Leprosy Mission Trust under the institutional category.

On the occasion, President Kovind said, “In the fight against leprosy, we have achieved a lot over the years. We have successfully accomplished levels of leprosy elimination defined as less than one case per ten thousand population. Further, the stigma and prejudice against leprosy have reduced considerably, thanks to the constant work of scientists, researchers, organisations and community workers. However, we cannot let our guard down. New cases continue to occur and high-burden pockets of the disease do exist.”

The President also said that the major challenge in leprosy control activities lies in sustaining the same level of focus and commitment especially in low-resource settings where equity of access is an issue.

“We need to intensify our efforts towards early detection of leprosy cases, provide equitable access to appropriate treatment and provide integrated leprosy services in the geographically focused areas,” he added.

The President also said that more than the medical condition, the social stigma attached to the disease persists and this is a cause for concern. We have to become aware and educated on this disease and its different dimensions and spread that awareness among our communities. We need to empower those who have been discriminated on account of leprosy through advocacy and information dissemination.

Almonds may help reduce wrinkles in post-menopausal women

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New Delhi (NVI): Daily consumption of almonds reduces the severity of wrinkles on women’s faces after menopause, claims a first of its kind study that was done to examine the effects of nuts on the skin.

Researchers at the University of California have found that eating almonds daily instead of other nut-free snacks reduces the severity and length of wrinkles that appear on women’s faces after menopause.

Post-menopause is the time when a woman does not experience menstruation for 12 consecutive months. This study, published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, divided women into two groups based on the skin type after menopause in a 16-week control trial.

In both groups, exposure to sunlight divided the severity of the effects on the skin. One of the groups of women ate almonds as a snack. They consumed 20 per cent of their total daily calorie intake or an average of 340 calories per day (60 grams) from almonds. While the other group consumed an equal amount of nut-free snack.

Apart from these snacks, the women involved in the study took their regular diet and did not eat any nutty product. At the beginning of the study, the skins of these women were examined and their skin was tested again at four, eight, twelve and sixteen weeks. High-resolution facial imaging technique was used to examine the skin each time.

Raja Sivamani, the study’s lead researcher and assistant professor of clinical dermatology at US Davis, said, “This high-resolution camera allows 3D reconstruction of any wrinkles, allowing us to identify the main reasons for its length and severity. Estimation of the severity can calculate the depth and length of any one wrinkle.”

The study also assessed skin barrier function by assessing sebum production and transepidermal water deficiency. An attempt was made to find out how to protect our skin from skin barrier function, skin barrier strength and moisturization loss. Not only this, but harmful effects from the environment were also investigated.

Analysis of the photographic image at the end of the study after 16 weeks revealed that the women who ate almonds had less facial wrinkles than the other group and their facial complexion also improved.

Researchers in the study found that eating almonds reduced the width of women’s facial wrinkles by 10 per cent while reducing their severity by 9 per cent. The researchers said that no change in skin barrier function was observed between the two groups.

Sivamani said, “Almonds are a very good source of vitamin E antioxidants and provide us with essential fatty acids and polyphenols. It is the best option for overall good nutrition.’

“Almonds can be part of a healthy ageing diet as a food item, especially for women after menopause,” she said.

US-India Defence relationship will be collaborative: Rajnath

New Delhi (NVI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said that the US-India Defence relationship will transform from traditional buyer-seller to a collaborative one that “can be the biggest of the century”.

“Indo-US relationship will move towards collaboration approach from traditional ‘Buyer-Seller’. I am confident that this relationship will be more dynamic and vibrant in future,” he said while speaking at a seminar organized during ongoing DefExpo2020 in Lucknow by the US-India Business Council (USIBIC).

The Union Defence Minister also gave a message to the US defence manufacturers that India is willing to resolve any problems faced by the industry. He said that the investors must take full advantage of the opportunities present in India’s defence sector.

He further said, “The US is one of the largest defence exporters for India and the world. At the same time, the defence manufacturing sector in India is growing at a rapid pace. In such a situation, our collaboration can prove to be the biggest collaboration of this century”.

Later, Raksha Mantri also visited the UP State’s pavilion. While appreciating the support extended by the state government in organising DefExpo at such a huge scale, he hoped that the investment opportunities would increase in the state with the establishment of defence corridor in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier in the day, Rajnath held bilateral talks with his counterpart from Madagascar, Lt Gen. Rokotonirina Richard here and stressed upon enhancing ties in maritime security cooperation in the region.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the  11th edition of DefExpo in Lucknow. He said that this government aims for establishing India as a leading defence manufacturer while saying that country is eyeing defence export by 5 billion dollars in the next five years.

Mercedes-Benz launches V-Class Marco Polo at Rs 1.38 crore

New Delhi (NVI): German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India has launched the V-Class Marco Polo with the price starting at Rs 1.38 crore on the second day of Auto Expo-2020.

The V-Class Marco Polo model will be offered in two variants, Camper and Horizon variants and will be powered by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine mated to the 9-speed torque converter automatic transmission.

The Mercedes V-Class Marco Polo edition is a variant of the luxury MPV in India that is designed to deliver a comfortable luxurious experience.

The V-Class Marco Polo Horizon is priced at Rs 1.38 crore and the Camper variant is priced at Rs 1.46 crore.

However, Mercedes-Benz India will offer a large amount of customisable options, with the V-Class Marco Polo.

It offers extendable pop-up roof, LED Intelligent light system, 43.2cm (17-inch) 5-twin-spoke light-alloy wheels painted in black with a high-sheen finish, Awning, EASY-PACK tailgate, LED Tail Lamps

The German luxury automaker is trying to focus on a customer base like people who live out of a suitcase and always on the road as well as being a perfect vanity van for actors.

The interior of the V-Class Marco Polo includes swivelling luxury driver’s seat can be turned flexibly, Innovative loading comfort, Tilting and sliding glass sunroof, roof stowage compartment.

Coronavirus: 2 newborns infected, death toll soars past 560 in China

New Delhi (NVI): Two newborn infants have been diagnosed with novel coronavirus in Wuhan, according to the Chinese state media, even as the death toll due to the deadly virus soared past 560.

The youngest baby was diagnosed just 30 hours after being born to a mother who had also been infected, reports said.

However, experts have noted that it may be a case of “vertical transmission”, referring to infections passed from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth or immediately after. The infant is the youngest person recorded as being infected by the virus, according to media reports.

Ten more people on a cruise ship off Japan have been tested positive for the new coronavirus, Chinese local media said, raising the number of infections detected on the ship to 20.

Another report in foreign media said that more than 7,300 people are being quarantined on two cruise ships off Hong Kong and Japan amid concerns that passengers and crew were inadvertently exposed to the Wuhan coronavirus by infected passengers.

There are a total of 28,273 confirmed cases and 565 deaths globally, the vast majority of which are in mainland China. Some countries have seen a surge in cases; Japan now has 45 cases, the highest number for a country outside China.

How Kolkata is tackling air pollution with public transport

New Delhi (NVI): As mega cities across the globe struggle to deal with the air pollution, an innovative project in Kolkata to deploy more electric buses and ferries has put the city on a list a list of places that are reducing their annual emissions.

Setting an exambple for other Indian cities, the West Bengal capital has not oinly improved its rank in reducing emissions as per national levels but also internationally.

Recently launched The Cities 100 report states that Kolkata, which ranked fifth on the list, is just behind megacities Chengdu, Delhi, London and New York in terms of reducing carbon emissions.

The report highlights the forward-thinking and innovative climate action projects in cities around the globe – and they’re often surpassing national targets.

“Kolkata averaged a PM 2.5 concentration of 85.4 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m³) of air in 2018, more than eight times the recommended limit of 10 µg/m³,” as per the report that was launched in November last year.

The report showed that Kolkata was investing in and improving its public transport options.The city plans to deploy 5,000 electric buses and fully electrify the ferries on the Ganges River by 2030, it said.

In fact, air pollution was just one factor that pushed the West Bengal State Government to transition to electric transportation. It also makes financial sense, since battery-operated buses are cheaper to run, with a third of the operational costs of a diesel bus.

As of 2019, 80 electric buses have been introduced to the city, with another 100 planned for 2020. These 180 electric buses will lead to an annual reduction of 14,086 tonnes of CO₂ emissions.

The Cities100 report says others can learn from Kolkata. In this case, the government provided 60% of the funds for the initial 80 electric buses and helped install the charging infrastructure.

The report also noted how partnerships can foster rapid transitions. For example, the long-term vision both at the state and national levels enabled Kolkata to set out the strategy to transition its entire bus and ferry fleets to electric.

J&K: Cop injured in Srinagar grenade attack

Representational Image

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): A day after two militants and a CRPF jawan were killed in Srinagar outskirts, suspected militants today lobbed a grenade at a police station in Lal Bazaar area of old Srinagar in which one policeman suffered injuries.

According to reports, the militants threw a grenade inside the police station at Lal Bazaar area of old Srinagar, in which one policeman suffered injuries.

Soon after the incident, the forces cordoned off the area and search is on to nab the culprits.

In a similar incident on Sunday, militants had lobbed a grenade inside Pratap Park in Lal Chowk Srinagar at a CRPF patrol party in which two CRPF men and seven civilians sustained injuries.

Yesterday, J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh held a press conference on the overall security situation in Kashmir, in which he mentioned about the efforts underway to identify and arrest those behind Sunday attack.

India’s childhood cancer survival rate leaps to 80%

Professor Vaskar Saha

New Delhi (NVI): The bare-walled, seemingly paperless office of Professor Vaskar Saha at the Tata Medical Centre (TMC) in Kolkata belies the amount of work Professor Saha has undertaken since embarking on an Anglo-Indian project, to cure children from the most common type of childhood cancer.

Work led by Professor Saha, a paediatrician from the University of Manchester, shows that around 80% of children with the most common childhood cancer are now likely to survive following treatment at major centres across India, thanks to his revolutionary approach.

Initially, Saha’s research at the University of Manchester has helped increase survival rates among children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) by 10% in the United Kingdom.

Vaskar Saha, a global expert on the disease, has helped cure children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) by 15% during the past five years in which he has led the ICICLE (Indian Childhood Collaborative Leukaemia Group) clinical project, in partnership with Tata Medical Centre, Kolkata.

With survival rates up from 60% to 90% in the West, the challenge was to bring about similar improvements in other parts of the world. It was a challenge that brought Saha to India.

Around 4,000 families across India have benefited from better treatment, thanks to systems and protocols he brought with him from Manchester and shared with other hospitals across the country.

“I wanted to see if the science as applied in the NHS and Europe could also be applied to help children in less developed countries have the same opportunities for surviving,” Saha explains.

Survival rates of most cancer patients in India are usually 15-25% lower than the United Kingdom. However, with Professor Saha’s work challenging the stereotype that cancer cure is a prerogative of affluent nations, his research has increased survival rates in Kolkata from 65% in 2014 to 80% in 2019.

Vaskar Saha said, “In the UK, 450 children are diagnosed annually with ALL, of which 400 will survive. In India, 9,000 of the 15,000 children diagnosed annually will survive. Not so long ago, four in ten Indian children would die because of poor treatment and relapse. The former was mainly due to the absence of standardisation in testing and treatment.”

“If we can improve outcomes in India by 10%, then an additional 1,500 children a year grow up to lead normal lives,” Vaskar added.

Transferring his knowledge to help raise standards of care in the developing world, Professor Saha will soon be facilitating other self-sustaining centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Chandigarh.

Cold wave conditions prevail over north India; Delhi temperature drops

cold
File photo

New Delhi (NVI): Although spring season is slowly knocking on the door, cold wave still continues to reign across several parts of north India, keeping people indoors.

Apart from the snow-clad regions of Jammu Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, there are at least ten places in north India plains where the temperature was recorded below 8 degrees celsius.

The coldest among them is Amritsar in Punjab where minimum temperature was recorded at 2.3 degrees celsius, according to SkymetWeather.

It was followed by Churu in Rajasthan, known for its bone-rattling cold, which recorded a minimum temperature of 3.7 degrees celsius.

Apart from this, Karnal and Narnaul in Haryana recorded 4.0 degrees Celsius each. Hisar also shivered at 4.7degrees celsius. Rohtak witnessed a minimum temperature of 5.0 degrees celsius.

Sriganganagar in Rajasthan saw a minimum temperature of 5.0 degrees celsius.

In UP’s Fursatganj, the mercury settled at 5.4 degrees celsius.

Punjab’s Ludhiana and Patiala recorded a minimum temperature of 5.6 degrees and 6.0 degrees respectively, as per Skymet weather.

The cold Himalayan winds which sweep across most of north India have maintained the chill in many plain areas in these states, even as February marks the start of spring.

Meanwhile, national capital region Delhi and NCR region also shiver due to the cold wave as the minimum temperature dropped to 6.3 degrees from 6.5 degrees Celsius recorded yesterday.

The maximum temperature today is expected to be around 22.0 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Some parts of north India like Punjab and Haryana also witnessed Dense fog in isolated parts.

The IMD has also predicted that due to confluence between easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal and westerly winds at lower tropospheric levels, scattered to fairly widespread rainfall is expected over East India and over central India from February 6 to 8.

The weatherman has forecast that there is no significant change in minimum and maximum temperatures over the country during the next two to three days.

“The shallow to moderate fog is expected likely over northeast India,” it added.

The overall air quality in the national capital today is in “poor” category.

According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital stood at 249 which falls in the ”poor” category.

Nirbhaya: Delhi HC dismisses Centre’s plea

New Delhi (NVI): Delhi High Court today dismissed the Centre’s plea challenging a trial court order which had stayed the execution of all four death row convicts in the Nirbhaya case.

The Court observed that all four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape should be hanged together, not separately. The Court also gave all the convicts one week’s time to seek their legal remedies.

While pronouncing the order, Justice Suresh Kait said that all the four convicts have to be executed together and not separately. “I hereby direct them to file any application they want within a week after which authorities should act,” he added.

The order was passed on a petition filed by the Central government challenging trial court order which had stayed the execution of all four convicts.

The execution of four convicts– Vinay Sharma, Akshay Thakur, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta– was scheduled to take place on February 1.

On December 16, 2012, a 23-year-old woman was gang-raped and assaulted inside a moving bus in South Delhi by six persons, before being thrown out on the road. She later died on December 29, 2012, at a hospital in Singapore.

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