Sci&Tech, Medical and Envirnoment

New kid on the nuclear block

India has a formidable new addition to its armoury — Agni-IV. The missile's first test flight under its earlier name, Agni-II Prime, in December 2010 ended in failure. But those problems have clearly been sorted out.
Tuesday's test went without a glitch, and the missile successfully carried a 800-kg warhead to a distance of over 3,000 km. Agni-III missile, which was first successfully tested in 2007, already has a range of over 3,500 km when carrying a 1.5 tonne warhead.
The Agni missile family began with a ‘technology demonstrator' that combined the one-metre, solid-propellant first stage of India's first launch vehicle, the SLV-3, with a liquid-fuelled second stage. When the decision was taken to turn the technology demonstrator into an operational missile, the upper stage too was turned into a solid propellant one. This upper stage was equipped with a ‘flex nozzle' that could be swivelled to control the missile's orientation.
With the addition of a solid third stage, the missile will be turned into Agni-V, with a range of over 5,000 km. This missile is scheduled to be tested in February. The missile team appears to have used its skills to upgrade Agni-II. Agni-II Prime, now known as Agni-IV
These weight reductions meant that more propellant could be loaded, thereby increasing the missile's range. Improvements in the missile's navigation systems, which now use laser gyros, as well as better onboard computers and avionics will make it more accurate too.
Armed as they are with nuclear warheads, these are capable of causing immense destruction. The hope must be that they will never be put to actual use.

Investing in health

The High Level Expert Group of the Planning Commission on Universal Health Coverage for India has laid out a clear road map: it is to provide access to affordable, accountable, and appropriate health services for all citizens in a meaningful time frame.
Free India adopted the goal of preventive and curative care for all, as recommended by the Bhore Committee in 1946. But it faltered and failed to raise public spending.
What the expert group chaired by Dr. K. Srinath Reddy proposes is far-going reform in several areas. On funding, it puts the onus on the government to mobilise the resources necessary, relying mainly on general taxation; complementary funds would come in the form of mandatory deductions for health care from salaried individuals and tax payers.
India's approach to public spending on health needs a radical change. It has a pathetic record of devoting a mere 1.2 per cent of GDP as public expenditure. To scale up care, that must be raised to at least 2.5 per cent by the end of the 12th Plan, and 3 per cent in the subsequent five years.
Moreover, there is adequate room in the tax system to accommodate new demand for a national health plan; after all, India's tax ratio, at a little over 15 per cent of GDP, is much lower than the average of 22 per cent for countries with comparable per capita incomes.
The key principle laid down by the expert group for universal access is to not levy any user charge at all. Levying such fees can perpetuate or widen inequalities in poor and middle income settings.
The recommendations of the expert group, including the emphasis on making essential medicines available free to patients through state funding, must be wholeheartedly welcomed.

‘Develop technology to tap oceanic resources'

India needs to develop several key cutting-edge technologies to survey the country's existing and potential exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as also to design and make underwater machinery and systems to harvest oceanic resources from various depths to the land for further processing, Prof. M. Ravindran, chairman of the Naval Research Board, has said.
Our EEZ is at present two million sq km. The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has put up a claim for a possible addition of nearly 1 million sq. km more and the International Seabed Authority is likely to grant that. Surveying ocean parameters like bathymetry, seabed characteristics, temperature and salinity profiles, pollutants, biodiversity, surface winds, wave characteristics, internal waves and the like in 3 million sq. km of expanded EEZ and analysing and understanding them are by themselves herculean tasks.
The starting point for all these processes is the development of a variety of reliable underwater transducers to measure these parameters and transmit the data ashore
Presenting an estimate of food, gas hydrates, minerals and non-renewable and renewable energy resources embedded in the country's existing EEZ, he said India required to devise cheaper ‘fish finding sonars' to help fishermen find and identify fishing types.
He recommended the Open Sea Cage Culture (OSCC) to avert beach pollution and ensure rich, sustainable harvest
India has no multi-channel seismic survey ship to survey and harvest the country's deep sea hydrocarbon and mineral reserves

International homoeopathic congress in Delhi next month

The 66th World Congress of the Liga Medicorum Homoeopathica Internationalis (LMHI) will be held here in the Capital
This year's theme, ‘Homoeopathy for Public Health'
The collaborators include Department of Ayush, Central Council of Homoeopathy, Board of Homoeopathic System of Medicine (Delhi)
India is a superpower in homoeopathy and is a place full of opportunities for those who wish to learn and undertake research in homoeopathy.
Homoeopathy is a cost effective medical system which has been proven safe and effective over the years. We are also exploring ways to drive public health programmes to improvise general health in conjunction with the theme of the event.

Epilepsy is treatable, say doctors

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder; not a mental illness, and can be easily treated
The Indian Epilepsy Association observed National Epilepsy Day on Thursday, and the theme this year is Epilepsy in Teens.
the prevalence of epilepsy is 5.5 per 1,000 persons in urban areas and 11 per 1,000 persons in rural areas

Wetland Development Project to be taken up in Pulicat lake

The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has prepared a five-year management plan (up to 2017) to maintain brackish water eco-system in the lake, enhance livelihood for fishermen dependent on the water body, restoration of mangrove forests, improve marine productivity and preserve eco-tourism in and around the lake.
Under ‘Pulicat Wetland Development Project', the MoEF will conduct a study on the sources of fresh water flowing into the lake from Swarnamukhi and Kalangi rivers and other catchment areas and the inflow of salt water into the lake from the Bay of Bengal.
Pulicat lake, which is the second largest brackish water lake in the country.
Birds from different countries visit the lake for breeding, roosting and prey every year.

Breathe healthy, don't get hooked to hookah, smoking

Are you one of those youngsters hooked to hookah or cigarettes? Better watch out! You might end up with coronary obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a chronic lung disease.
If not diagnosed and treated early, it could lead to life-threatening exacerbations, including a cardiac attack.
The incidence of COPD, which refers to a group of disorders characterised by chronic airflow obstruction, is on the rise.
it is stated to be the fourth leading cause of death and expected to become the third by 2020, health experts have warned, even as World COPD Day was observed
youngsters visiting hookah joint were a “big potential” source for developing COPD.
besides smoking, outdoor/ indoor pollution, cooking with firewood, exposure to occupational dust and chemicals were the other causes for the chronic lung disease. Triggered by inflammation of lungs to noxious particles, it manifests in the form of bronchitis and emphysema.
The weak lungs then become prone to pneumococcal infections, particularly with the onset of winter and the condition could lead to mortality, especially when associated with co-morbidities like diabetes and heart diseases.
In about 70-75 per cent, the COPD gets exacerbated with bacterial infections and even common cold could become life-threatening in such patients.
about 5-15 per cent population in Indian metros suffers from COPD.
most often COPD was misdiagnosed as asthma and only a lung function test would confirm it.
The experts recommended vaccination against influenza and pneumococcal infections for prevention of COPD. In the general population, influenza vaccine is recommended for those above 50 years and pneumococcal vaccine for people above 60 years.

Punganur cow a craze among the rich

An increasing number of backyards of ultra-rich families in the city is in the possession of a common asset these days: a special breed of cow — the Punganur dwarf cow — which originated in Chittoor district
Considered among the world's smallest breed of cows, the Punganur breed's milk has a high fat content and rich medicinal properties.
Punganur breed's milk contains 8 per cent, similar to buffalo milk
Available only in small numbers, the Punganur cow has become a craze, a status symbol, among the wealthy in the Andhra Pradesh