Sci&Tech, Medical and Envirnoment

The University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, has achieved a major breakthrough by succeeding in its experiments to develop a rice variety that has high protein content equivalent to that of wheat.
Shylaja Hittalmani, who has been striving for the last seven years to develop the high-protein rice, is confident that it will be available for commercial production in around two years.
Rice has a protein content of only 8 per cent as against 14 per cent in wheat. However, the university has managed to increase the protein content to a range of 14 to 15 per cent. “This is expected to decrease the carbohydrate content in proportion with the increase in protein content,” Dr. Hittalmani noted.
the high-protein rice would help fight malnourishment and would be ideal for consumption by children as well as elderly people.
Another interesting crop that will be showcased is the Grain Amaranth (dhantu), which is expected to be available for commercial production in around a year. Unlike the normal practice of eating the leaves of amaranth, this variety yields seeds which are edible and have high protein content.
This is an improvement of an amaranth variety that has been cultivated in Mexico for the last 5,000 years.

The observation of World Diabetes Day in Chennai, a city that has evolved as a destination for high-end medical care, has picked up steam over the years.
While various quarters conduct awareness and health camps, rallies, screening programmes, and walkathons, the year through, all this was stepped up several notches on Monday.
A rally on ‘Diabetes Education and Prevention' was carried out by the Madras Medical College, MMC, and the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) at Marina Beach
Hundreds of students, nursing staff and faculty members from MMC carried placards and banners to create awareness about diabetes among the public.

World Diabetes Day is the primary global awareness campaign of the diabetes mellitus world and is held on November 14 of each year. It was introduced in 1991
For 2009–2013, the theme is Diabetes Education and Prevention

Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced.
This high blood sugar produces the classical symptoms of polyuria (frequent urination), polydipsia (increased thirst) and polyphagia (increased hunger).
All forms of diabetes have been treatable since insulin became available in 1921, and type 2 diabetes may be controlled with medications. Both type 1 and 2 are chronic conditions that usually cannot be cured.
Pancreas transplants have been tried with limited success in type 1 DM; gastric bypass surgery has been successful in many with morbid obesity and type 2 DM. Gestational diabetes usually resolves after delivery.
Serious long-term complications include cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, retinal damage.
Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common, affecting 90 to 95% of the U.S. diabetes population.

Russia successfully launched a manned spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS)
A Soyuz TMA-22 spaceship with two Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut blasted off as scheduled at 8.14 a.m. local time from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The mission had been delayed for two months following the crash of an unmanned Progress cargo ship in August due to engine failure in the third-stage booster, which is the same as in the Soyuz spacecraft.
Monday's launch was the first manned flight to the ISS after the U.S. shut down its space shuttle programme, leaving Russia responsible for the maintenance and supply of the space station.