11 July 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
AIIMS blood test offers hope & help in early Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Page no- 1
GS3-Achievements of Indians in Science & Technology; Indigenization of Technology and Developing New Technology
- A simple blood test, developed by researchers and doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi, may help in early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease, a progressive type of dementia that mainly affects those aged 65 and above.
- For the last four years, researchers have been working with 90 patients from Delhi-NCR, all between 50 and 75, at the memory clinic and geriatric departments of AIIMS to develop a blood screening test for early diagnosis of the disease and help understand what caused their memory to fade.
- Considering an estimated 8.8 million Indians older than 60 have some form of dementia, a predictive blood test can help sift those with Alzheimer’s and help in better disease management.
The food price constraint
Page no- 10
GS3-Issues of Buffer Stocks and Food Security
- Monetary policy in India has been navigating diverging economic trends.
- While GDP growth continues to surprise on the upside, core inflation seems set on a downward trajectory.
- However, food inflation — typically considered idiosyncratic — has stayed stubbornly elevated, restricting the fall in the consumer price index (CPI) and restraining the Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India.
- Mint Road wants to rein in inflation at 4 per cent on a durable basis from 4.8 per cent now. But is this possible without falling food inflation?
It’s heating up
Page no- 10
GS3-Environmental Pollution and Degradation
- The average global temperature between July 2023 and June 2024 was the highest on record, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service’s latest bulletin.
- The agency, among the World Meteorological Organisation’s key sources of climate data, has revealed that in the past 12 months, the planet was 1.64 degrees Celsius hotter than in the fossil fuel era.
- The findings do not immediately mean that the world has defaulted on the Paris Climate Pact’s 1.5 degrees threshold — that target is measured in terms of decadal averages and not yearly temperature. Last month was the Earth’s hottest June on record.
- The onset of La Nina might bring relief to people in several parts of the world.
Russia razor’s edge
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GS2-Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s successful visit to Russia has once again demonstrated India’s ability to walk the geopolitical equivalent of a razor’s edge and give everyone something to cheer about while providing stability to ties with a consequential partner.
- The proponents of the bilateral relationship will refer to the warm words Modi had for Russia and President Vladimir Putin: The synergy of the political vision of the world; the charting of new areas of economic and scientific cooperation, and the slew of agreements that will open the path to reaching a trade turnover of $100 billion by 2030.
Drone with 25-kg payload tested at world’s highest pass
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GS3-Indigenization of Technology and Developing New Technology
- A Bengaluru-based firm has claimed to have successfully tested a 100-kg Max Take Off Weight (MTOW) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) at an altitude of 19,024 feet at Ladakh’s Umling La pass, which also happens to be the highest motorable pass in the world.
- MTOW includes the weight of the drone and the payload. The NewSpace Research and Technologies claimed to conducted the test flight on Tuesday.
CrPC & personal law: Divorced Muslim women’s right to alimony
Page no- 13
GS2-Indian Constitution—Historical Underpinnings, Evolution, Features, Amendments, Significant Provisions and Basic Structure
- The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by a Muslim man against a Telangana High Court order allowing his ex-wife to seek maintenance under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC).
- A two-judge Bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and George Masih reiterated that a Muslim woman is entitled to seek maintenance from her husband under Section 125 of the CrPC — a secular legislation — even if they were divorced under religious personal law.
Hannibal directive
Page no- 13
GS2-Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests
- As Hamas raided southern Israel on October 7 last year, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) activated the “Hannibal Directive”, a purported operational doctrine of using maximum force to ensure no soldiers are captured, even if it means sacrificing military and civilian lives, a media investigation has found.
- The Hannibal Directive, also known as Hannibal Procedure and Hannibal Protocol, was used from the first hours of the attack in at least three military facilities that Hamas infiltrated, the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported on Sunday.
Mega dam, protest in Arunachal
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GS3-Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment
- Two anti-dam activists from Arunachal Pradesh were put in preventive detention on Monday (July 8), ahead of Union Power Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s visit to the state.
- The police claimed to have received reports that the duo was “likely to attempt to cause a public order issue”.
- The activists, however, said that they simply wanted to hand a memorandum to the minister regarding the contentious proposed Upper Siang Multipurpose Storage Project.
$100-bn FDI pledge by EFTA: Goyal to visit Switzerland soon
Page no- 15
GS2-Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal will visit Switzerland to take forward a $ 100 billion investment commitment for India made by the four-nation European Free Trade Association (EFTA) under a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
- In the FTA that India signed in March with EFTA – which apart from Switzerland includes Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein – India secured the investment pledge from EFTA over next 15 years in return for tariff concessions to the members of the grouping.
Budget may retain fiscal deficit target at 5.1%
Page no- 15
GS3-Government Budgeting
- US investment bank Morgan Stanley has said the central government is likely to retain fiscal deficit target at 5.1 per cent of GDP in FY25, in line with the interim budget.
- Fiscal prudence, capital expenditure spending to help create jobs and targeted social sector spending are likely to be key themes of the Budget, it said. The government will unveil the Union Budget on July 23.
