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GS: 2
India’s proposed Assumption Island deal drifts(The Hindu)
Nearly two weeks after an official announcement by Seychelles President Danny Faure cancelling the agreement with India for the development of Assumption Island in the Indian Ocean, the government has refused to respond to the move, with Defence sources saying they are yet to be informed of the decision.
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‘Time to shift focus from land to water productivity in farming’(The Hindu)
Indian agriculture needs to stop being “obsessed” with land productivity and instead start worrying about water productivity, says a report released by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) this week.
Why Modi should visit Costa Rica(The Hindu)
Costa Rica would become the world’s first ‘zero carbon’ economy in two decades, starting with the initial goal of eliminating fossil fuels from the transportation sector by 2021.
Vitamin D armour for cancer(The Hindu)
Higher levels of vitamin D are associated with decreasing risk of breast cancer, says a study led by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine, U.S. The scientists pooled data from two randomised clinical trials with 3,325 combined participants and a prospective study involving 1,713 participants to examine the association between risk of female breast cancer and a broad range of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D —25(OH)D — concentrations, which was chosen as the marker because it is the main form of vitamin D in the blood.
Handling a threat(The Hindu)
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is in the process of finalising an Accelerated Plan for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (APELF). Lymphatic Filariasis (LF), a mosquito-borne parasitic disease, has been endemic in India since antiquity. In 1955, the government launched the National Filaria Control Programme to eliminate LF.
In a first, WHO recommends quadrivalent influenza vaccine(The Hindu)
Sanofi Pasteur’s injectable influenza vaccine (FluQuadri) containing two A virus strains — H1N1 and H3N2 — and two B virus strains — Victoria and Yamagata — for active immunisation of adults of age 18 to 64 years was approved in May last year by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
Treating latent TB of the uterus improves pregnancy outcomes in infertile women(The Hindu)
For the first time, researchers have been able to find a direct association between latent TB of the endometrium (inner lining of the uterus) and fewer eggs in the ovary, technically called low ovarian reserve, in infertile women.
