Current Affairs Assam - November 29-30, 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the week of November 29-30, 2018 )
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November 29
IIT-G scientists publish breakthrough research work on metastatic cancer
- A research conducted by Gautam Biswas, IIT-G Director, alongwith his colleagues Siddhartha Sankar Ghosh of biosciences & bioengineering and Amaresh Dalal from mechanical engineering departments, have demonstrated the movement of metastatic cancer cells, a breakthrough in cancer research.
- The research showed how cancer cells can deform, survive and pass through micro capillaries in the human body. Multi-cellular aggregates of cancer cells are the initiators of distant organ metastasis and cause spread of cancer in the body.
- The findings been endorsed in the prestigious Scientific Journal, that publishes scientifically valid primary research from all areas of the natural and clinical sciences. Earlier it was assumed that cancer cells are too large to pass through narrow vessels such as pulmonary capillaries to reach other organs.
- The research work is expected to be helpful for oncologists in devising new methods of cancer treatment.
FACTFILE – Cancer cells
- Cancer cells are cells that divide relentlessly, forming solid tumors or flooding the blood with abnormal cells.
- Healthy cells stop dividing when there is no longer a need for more daughter cells, but cancer cells continue to produce copies.
- They are also able to spread from one part of the body to another in a process known as metastasis.
- The enzyme telomerase is used to extend the cancer cell’s life span. While the telomeres of most cells shorten after each division, eventually causing the cell to die, telomerase extends the cell’s telomeres. This is a major reason that cancer cells can accumulate over time, creating tumors.
Nagaland launches Supply Chain Management for timely delivery of foodgrains
- To ensure timely delivery of goods and services to the people of Nagaland, Supply Chain Management (SCM) was launched by DK Gupta, Director of Public Distribution, Ministry of Public distribution and Consumer Affairs.
- SCM is a powerful monitoring tool for tracking stock inventory starting from the godown to the fair price shops. The application would make the beneficiaries aware about the availability of food grains.
- Under the National Food Security Act, Nagaland has completed all the activities required for beneficiaries except FPS Automation. As per a Supreme Court order, all beneficiaries availing subsidized food grains in Nagaland and across the country have to seed their ration cards with Aadhaar on or before March 31, 2019.
- The SCM will help in accquring accurate information on all storage facilities in the state and would help the department in making effective decision making.
Nagaland Govt. restricts use of plastics
- The Nagaland government notified its policy for restricting the use of plastics in the state to eradicate the serious environmental and ecological challenges posed by rampant use of plastics with immediate effect.
- As per the notification, all single-use plastics less than 50 microns especially plastic bags and plastic cutlery including styrofoam and thermocol disposable plates will be banned from December 1, 2018.
- It said the government offices will stop using packaged drinking water bottles, below 20 litres capacity, by April 1, 2019. Alternatives like filtered water dispensers and reverse osmosis plants will be introduced while the government servants will be encouraged to carry reusable drinking water bottles.
- Alternatives to plastic bags such as cloth, jute, paper bags, bamboo and leaf plates and cutlery will be promoted and popularized.
- State Gvto will set up a taskforce in each district that will include government officials, NGOs and church leaders to devise local strategies and build awareness for plastic-free environment.
- The village councils and municipal bodies will be sensitised to take proactive action for discouraging use of plastics in their jurisdiction and they can decide on the issue of levying penalties for continued use of single-use plastics in their jurisdiction.
- The government will provide incentives to entrepreneurs investing in production of paper bags and cloth bag making units, disposable biodegradable cutlery from areca nut leaves, setting up of water ATMs in public places, plastic shredding units for recycling of plastics among others.
India’s PSLV rocket successfully puts HysIS satellite into orbit
- India put into orbit its own Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite (HysIS) an earth observation satellite.
- The Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle Core Alone (PSLV CA) rocket variant lifted off with 31 satellites, the HysIS and 30 foreign satellites (including 23 satellites are from the US, the rest are from Australia, Canada, Columbia, Finland, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Spain).
- The notable aspect of the rocket mission is the placing of the satellites in two different orbits of different altitude.
- While the HysIS has been placed in its intended orbit, the remaining 30 foreign satellites will be later ejected at a lower orbit, all the foreign satellites were placed in a 504 km orbit.
FACTFILE – HySIS (Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite)
- HySIS is an Earth observation satellite which will provide hyperspectral imaging services to India for a range of applications in agriculture, forestry, defence and in the assessment of geography such as coastal zones and inland waterways.
- Payloads
- HySIS carries two payloads, the first in the Visible Near Infrared (VNIR) spectral range of 0.4 to 0.95 micrometers with 60 contiguous spectral bands and the second in the Shortwave Infrared Range (SWIR) spectral range of 0.85 to 2.4 micrometres with a 10 nanometre bandwidth and 256 contiguous spectral bands.
Indo-Russian joint military drill INDRA concludes
- The 10th edition of Indo-Russian joint military exercise INDRA culminated at Babina Military Station here on Wednesday after a joint tactical exercise and a grand closing ceremony.
- The 11-day long joint training that commenced on November 18 included developing “common understanding of transnational terrorism, interoperability and conduct of joint tactical operations” controlled by a Joint Command Post working under the aegis of United Nations.
- Classes were organised on cordon and search operations, raid on terrorist hideout, intelligence gathering and sharing, perception management, humanitarian laws and hostage rescue.
- The participating contingents also carried out specialised joint training on hostage rescue by slithering from MI-17 helicopters.
- Major General P.S. Minhas, General Officer Commanding of White Tiger Division of the Indian Army and Major General Tsekov Oleg Moosovich, Commander, Fifth Army of the Russian Army witnessed the validation exercise conducted at the field firing ranges.
November 30
Silapathar Science College creates rice bank to preserve indigenous varieties
- The Silapathar Science College, located in Dhemaji district of Assam has not only set up a rice bank to preserve seeds of indigenous varieties that are losing out to new high-yielding varieties but also encouraging farmers to grow them so that they do not become extinct.
- The College has so far documented and preserved 251 indigenous varieties through its rice bank.
- Set up in 1996, the college started to work closely with farmers in the district since 2015 and organised a “Rice Mela” to showcase the indigenous varieties grown in the district.
- Assam produced over 70 lakh tonnes of rice in 2017, compared to 52 lakh tonnes the previous year.
- Besides the normal rice, Assam also produces different varieties of aromatic rice, locally known as “Joha”; some varieties of soft rice, locally known as “Komal Saul” that needs no cooking; and a huge variety of sticky rice, commonly known as “Bora”.
New health project ‘PLUS’ launched in five Arunachal districts
- A health project named ‘Precious Lives under Safety (PLUS)’ is recently launched by Arunachal Government.
- The project is initially launched in five district of Papumpare, Lower Subansiri, West Siang, East Siang and Lohit.
- It was a modified form of Prime Minister Surakshit Matritwa Yojana, which ensures zero mortality of pregnant mother and neo natal babies besides 100 percent coverage of child birth in government run hospitals.
- He said that about 50 percent registered pregnant women in the state gives birth out of government hospital under various reason, but the new project would facilitate them to come to government hospitals for at least four times ante-natal check up and hospital delivery.
Nagaland signed MoU with Estonia for setting up e-governance academy
- The Nagaland government signed an MoU with Estonian to setup as academy in Kohima to enlighten the state people on the e-governance models prevailing in the world.
- The main objective of the five-year agreement with the e-Governance Academy of Estonia is to work together to develop and expand scientific collaboration on setting up e-Governance Academy in Nagaland.
- The agreement was signed during the e-Naga Summit, held with a vision to embark on a process to instill the spirit of innovation and use of technology for impacting positive change in the society.
Manipur emerges overall champion in National School Games
- Host Manipur emerged overall team champion at the end of 5-day 64th National School Games, 2018 in Taekwondo for U-14 Boys & Girls held at the Taekwondo Training Hall of Khuman Lampak Sports Complex in Imphal.
- Manipur won a total of five gold, three silver and one bronze medals and tops the medal tally while Haryana took three gold, four silver and one bronze medals to clinch the overall runner’s up title. The third position in the tally was bagged by Maharashtra with two gold, five silver and two bronze medals.
- With two gold medals and one bronze medal, Nagaland ranked 7th the in medal tally after Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.
- The Youth Affairs and Sports Department organised the games under the aegis of School Games Federation of India.
India-UK joint naval exercise Konkan-2018 begins at Goa
- India-UK joint naval exercise “Konkan-2018” has started at Goa and would go on till December 6, The Royal Navy of UK will be represented by HMS Dragon, a Type 45 Class Destroyer equipped with an integral Wildcat helicopter.
- The Indian Navy will field INS Kolkata, the first ship of latest Kolkata class destroyers, equipped with integral Seaking and an IN submarine.
- In addition, Indian Navy’s maritime patrol aircraft Dornier will also participate in the exercise.
- The thrust of the exercise this year would be on anti-submarine warfare, visit board search and seizure (VBSS), anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare and seamanship evolutions.
- The bilateral Konkan exercise provides a platform for the two navies to periodically exercise at sea and in harbour, so as to build interoperability and share best practices.
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