🔆Elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV)

✅The Haemorrhagic disease (HD) affecting the Asian elephant population, caused by the elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), has raised concerns due to increased mortality among elephant calves in both captive and free-range environments in India.

✅EEHV belongs to the Herpesviridae family and specifically affects elephants.
It comprises several subtypes, with EEHV1A being the most common and associated with severe disease in young Asian elephants. EEHV1B and EEHV2 are also identified but with varying prevalence and impact.

✅EEHV spreads primarily through contact with infected bodily fluids like saliva, blood, or urine. Additionally, indirect transmission via contaminated objects, including equipment and surfaces, poses a risk.

✅Infected elephants can shed the virus intermittently, even when not displaying clinical symptoms, making detection and prevention challenging.

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Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)

✅Asia’s first “Pre-clinical Network Facility” under the Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) at the Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI) was inaugurated recently.
✅This facility, capable of handling BSL3 pathogens, becomes the 9th such lab globally and the first in Asia, enhancing research capabilities for infectious diseases.
✅The Genetically Defined Human Associated Microbial Culture Collection (Ge-HuMic) Facility was also inaugurated which will serve as a repository for microbial cultures and genetically characterized animals, fostering collaborations among academic institutions, hospitals, and industry for R&D.

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🔆Magic mushrooms

A recent study found, Psilocybin the hallucinogenic compound found in magic mushrooms cam temporarily reset entire network of neurons in the brain

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CSE 2024 mains value addition

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Economic Survey Complete 2023-24

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🔆Dyson sphere

✅A Dyson Sphere is a hypothetical megastructure proposed by physicist Freeman Dyson in 1960.

✅It's essentially a massive, spherical structure constructed around a star to harness its energy output.

✅While often depicted as a solid shell encasing the star completely, various designs and configurations have been theorized over the years.

📍Concept and Purpose:

✅Energy Harvesting:The primary purpose of a Dyson Sphere is to capture and utilize the energy emitted by a star. This energy can be used for various purposes, including powering advanced civilizations, interstellar travel, or even terraforming planets.

✅Sustainability:Dyson Spheres offer the potential for nearly unlimited energy, making them attractive for civilizations seeking long-term sustainability and growth.

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🔆Nipah virus

✅Nipah Virus Infection: A zoonotic virus transmitted from animals to humans, causing severe disease in both animals and humans

📍Transmission:
✅The disease spreads through fruit bats or ‘flying foxes,’ of the genus Pteropus, who are natural reservoir hosts of the Nipah and Hendra viruses.

✅The virus is present in bat urine and potentially, bat faeces, saliva, and birthing fluids.

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Pralay Missiles

✅This potential deal would enhance India’s reputation as a missile exporter, following the success of the Brahmos missile export.
✅The Pralay, developed by DRDO, has a higher percentage of indigenous content compared to the Brahmos, making it more profitable for India.
✅The Pralay is a mobile, canister-based short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) with a range of 150-500 km, utilizing inertial guidance and a DSMAC seeker for terminal guidance.

🔆Marburg Virus Disease (MVD):

✅It is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever which affects both people and non-human primates.
✅ It is caused by the Marburg virus, a genetically unique zoonotic (or, animal-borne) RNA virus of the filovirus family.
It is in the same family as the virus that causes the Ebola virus

📍Transmission:

✅Human infection with MVD initially results from prolonged exposure to mines or caves inhabited by Rousettus bats.
✅Once an individual is infected with the virus, Marburg can spread through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g., bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids. 

📍Symptoms:
✅After an incubation period of 2-21 days, symptom onset is sudden and marked by fever, chills, headache, and myalgia.
✅Around the fifth day after the onset of symptoms, a maculopapular rash, most prominent on the trunk (chest, back, stomach), may occur.
✅Nausea, vomiting, chest pain, a sore throat, abdominal pain, and diarrhea may appear.
✅Symptoms become increasingly severe and can include jaundice, inflammation of the pancreas, severe weight loss, delirium, shock, liver failure, massive hemorrhaging, and multi-organ dysfunction.
✅The average MVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 24% to 88% in past outbreaks, depending on the virus strain and case management.
✅There is no specific treatment for MVD. Early supportive care with rehydration, and symptomatic treatment improves survival.

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Tirzepatide

✅India is set to approve the weight-loss drug tirzepatide marking a significant advancement in obesity treatment.

✅This follows global trends where drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic and Wegovy) have shown dramatic weight loss effects.
✅Tirzepatide, originally approved for diabetes, also induces weight loss by boosting hormones GLP-1 and GIP, which promote satiety and manage glucose levels.

✅Clinical trials have demonstrated substantial weight loss with tirzepatide, with participants losing up to 20.9% of their body weight.
✅However, ongoing use is necessary to maintain these results, as stopping the medication leads to weight regain.
✅Side effects include nausea, vomiting, and risk of thyroid tumours.

🔆ICMR has developed CRISPR cas based TB detection system

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🔆Pink Bollworm (PBW) Menace And project sanvardhan

✅Pink Bollworm (PBW) Menace
PBW pests have severely damaged cotton crops over the past 3-4 years.

📍Pink Bollworm

✅Pink Bollworm is considered possibly the most destructive pest on cotton worldwide. 
It is native to India but is now found in nearly all the cotton-growing countries of the globe.
✅Description: The larvae have distinctive pink bands, and the larval stage, is the most destructive and identifiable stage. The adults are small moths about 3/8 inch long. 

📍Threat:
✅Adults lay eggs on cotton bolls; once hatched, the larvae burrow into the developing fruits (bolls) of cotton plants, eat the seeds and damage the fibres of the cotton. 
✅The damage affects both the weight and quality of the harvested bolls containing the lint fibre and seeds inside, thus, reducing both the yield and quality.
✅When the larvae mature, they cut out the boll and drop to the ground and cocoon near the soil surface. 
✅The larvae can also survive in the seed after the ginning process and if the seed is not fumigated, they will emerge from the stored seed the next spring.
✅Apart from cotton, they can also attack hibiscus and okra.

📍Project San-Vardhan (Cotton You Can Trust)

✅Purpose: Promote CREMIT technology in Punjab and Haryana.
✅Objective: Eco-friendly population control through "Insect Family Planning" by disrupting mating of PBW.
✅Mechanism: Uses synthetic sex pheromones to confuse male moths during mating season, reducing PBW incidence.

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🔆Decentralised genome sequencing

Kerala's Institute of Advanced Virology (IAV) successfully tested a Nipah virus sample in four hours

The decentralised model, as seen in Kerala, enables a quick response to emerging pathogens, contrasting with delays experienced when relying solely on centralised facilities.

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