ZOONOTIC VIRUS

 Nipah virus

     Nipah virus (NIV) is a zoonotic virus that is transmitted from animals to humans and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people. It is known to cause illness in pigs and people. Fruit bats, also called flying foxes are animal reservoirs for NIV in nature. 

     Infection with NIV is linked to encephalitis (swelling of the brain). It can cause mild to severe illness and even death. Outbreaks occur almost annually in parts of Asia, primarily Bangladesh and India. It was first discovered in 1999 following an outbreak of disease in pigs and people in Malaysia and Singapore. The outbreak resulted in nearly 300 cases and more than 100 deaths. Over 1 million pigs were killed to help control the outbreak.

How the disease spreads: People can become infected if they have close contact with an infected animal or its body fluids such as saliva or urine.  

                                  

     Once it spreads to people, person-to-person transmission can also occur. Symptoms typically appear in 4 to 14 days following exposure to the virus. 

Symptoms: Fever, headache, cough, sore throat, difficulty in breathing, vomiting, disorientation, drowsiness or confusion, seizures, coma, brain swelling (encephalitis), long-term side effects, including persistent convulsions and personality changes in survivors. 

Prevention: 

* Wash hands regularly with soap and water.

* Avoid contact with sick bats or pigs.

* Avoid areas where bats are known to roost.

* Avoid eating or drinking products that could be contaminated by bats, such as raw date palm sap, raw fruit or fruit that is found on the ground.

* Avoid contact with the blood or body fluids of any person known to be infected with NIV.

How cases are detected: Real time polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR from throat and nasal swabs, cerebrospinal fluid, urine and blood samples can confirm.

     Later in the course of illness and after recovery, testing for antibodies is conducted using an Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA).

     No treatment or vaccine is available for either people or animals, primary treatment for humans is supportive care as per WHO.

     According to Centres For Disease Control And Prevention, death may occur in 40%-75% of cases.

DO YOU KNOW

 In stock exchange, who are bulls and bears?

     The expressions 'bulls' and 'bears' are part of stock exchange terminology. These have been in use for over two centuries. Bull is used to denote an optimistic investor, and a bear pessimistic one. Bears sell stocks which they do not yet own, betting that when the time comes to actually buy and deliver the stock they have sold, the prices would have fallen, and they would be able to buy the stock at a discount, thus making a profit. Bulls, on the other hand, bet in the opposite way. Assuming that the market is rising, they buy the stock in the expectation that they would be able to later sell it at a higher price. A bull market is one in which stock prices are rising. A bear market is one marked by falling prices. 

     How did this terminology originate? 

     'Bear comes from the term 'bearskin jobber' which was used in the 18th century to denote a person selling short (that is, stock which he did not own). Possibly this usage was derived from  an old English proverb which goes 'Don't sell the bearskin before the bear is caught'. (This is exactly what the stock exchange bear does.) As for the 'bull', it probably got the name due to the alliteration with 'bear', and also because both bull and bear 'baiting' were popular sports in old England.

THE MAN BEHIND SULABH TOILETS

 Bindeshwar Pathak

     A wonderful man named Bindeshwar Pathak has left us. You might have not heard his name before. However, you most probably have benefited from his work. He is the man behind Sulabh Toilets that we find near railway stations, bus stands and other public places. 

     Mr. Pathak was born in Hajipur, Bihar, in 1943. He went to Banaras Hindu University to study Sociology. As part of his Ph.D. research, he stayed with families who did manual scavenging. It is a really unfair job where people have to clean poop and such waste materials by hand. It is not safe and makes people sick. Mr. Pathak felt very sad that people had to do such a dirty work. So he decided to change all this by building toilets in public places and homes.

     In 1970, he founded Sulabh International with the goal of providing affordable and hygienic toilets to everyone. 

     Sulabh International has built over 1.3 million household toilets in villages, over 10,000 public toilets in cities, over 20,000 toilets in schools and over 2,500 toilets in slums. The organisation also teaches people about the importance of keeping the environment clean, maintaining hygiene and managing waste. It also provides clean drinking water at an affordable rate to poor people.

     Mr. Pathak travelled all across the country to make people aware of the practice of manual scavenging. His goal was to end it entirely. He started schools to provide free education to children of sanitation workers and others who come from economically weak backgrounds.

     He also showed that no job is inferior. He came from a Brahmin family, so many people tried to convince him not to work with toilets. He did not listen to them and continued his great work. However Mr. Pathak was committed to making sure everyone had clean toilets and a good life. He even invented a toilet that required less water. 

     Mr. Pathak received many awards for his work. One of them was the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour. He was a special person who had big ideas. His death is a great loss to India and the world. He was a true visionary who made a real difference in the lives of millions of people.

                                                                                                             

OLD IS GOLD

 Our Grandparents

     Grandparents are the most understanding and loving people in the world and we can never underestimate their importance and influence on us. Though ideologies and trends may be far apart, our grandparents speak the most common language, the language of ‘love’, and are thus often able to successfully bridge the generation gap between themselves and us.

     Grandparents set examples as they have years of parenting experience. Our system provides us with an umpteen number of courses to develop our skills and knowledge, however, one of the most important callings in life is left to trial and error. Here, none other than our dear grandparents are fully capable of being the guiding star during challenging family situations with years of wisdom to their credit.

     Our grandparents are the foundation of a more secure future,  as parents take off to work and young ones are often looked after by their grandparents. Here’s where culture and tradition have the opportunity to be handed over to younger generations. Apart from that, they usually display tremendous patience while tending to their grandchildren, thus inculcating a loving attitude and mannerisms towards life and other living things at an early age.

     Here are some activities we can do with our grandparents to show our gratitude for what they do for us throughout the year: 

* Listen to interesting stories from their lives. 

* Adopt some of their hobbies and learn from them (cooking, baking, gardening, playing an instrument etc.). 

*Ask them to sing their favourite song and then sing along with them. 

* Go with them to buy some groceries. 

* Help them with family chores. 

* Put on their favourite movie and watch it with them. 

* Gardening together. 

* Star gaze over a cup of coffee. 

* Accompanying them on a walk to the seashore. 

* Play music that they are fond of.

* Take out board games like Scrabble and Ludo.   

    We are moving towards an aging world, and over the next thirty years, our aging population will double. We need to embrace this reality and develop a sensitive attitude towards all the elderly angels around us. 

     Yes, at times circumstances might be demanding, and people can be difficult; however, with a loving, thoughtful and patient heart, we must appreciate all that our grandparents have done for our parents, and us, and reciprocate this affection that has been passed down over the years. Making our world a better place begins at home; let’s make this world a better place to live for our grandparents and elders, too!

ONE OF THE FIRST MACHINES TO BE USED IN HOMES

Sewing machines      

     The first practical sewing machine was invented in 1830 by Barthelemy Thimonnier, a French tailor. He used a wooden hooked needle to produce a consistent stitch. Many 18th century inventors tried to improve the machine so that it would work faster.

     In 1851, Issac M Singer invented the first sewing machine with an arm to rotate, making it easier to sew. 

     He also invented the foot treadle and the spring-equipped pressure foot sewing machine that is commonly used today. By 1863, Singer had established a company and it sold 20,000 home-use sewing machines in a year.

     There are many types of sewing machines, such as electronic, computerised, pedal and hand. A modern home-sewing machine can create as many as 1,500 stitches per minute, while an industrial sewing machine can sew as fast as 5,000 stitches per minute. Different kinds of machines are used to sew different materials like leather, paper and plastic.

Facts:

* Sewing machines were one of the first machines to be used in homes.

* Sewing machines can make a variety of plain and patterned stitches.

* The first electronic sewing machine was invented in 1889.

* Besides clothes, sewing machines are used to make toys and books too.

* Embroidery machines come with built-in-designs, memory storage and USB port to access new designs.

TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES IN

 Indian Agriculture

     Technological innovation has played a major role in increasing the supply of food and other agricultural products in India. From a meagre 55 million tonnes at the time of independence, food grain production increased to a record 308.65 million tonnes in the period between July 2020 and June 2021. India is now among the world's top 10 agricultural product exporters. 

     Soon after the severe Bengal famine in 1943, attempts were made to bring more land under cultivation to boost food production. However, programmes such as the Grow More Food Campaign were not very effective. The Integrated Production Programme was initiated in 1950. The most logical course of action back then was to bring more land under cultivation. This led to a steady increase in food production. 

     However, soon a new problem emerged. Soil fertility was affected, groundwater levels dropped and new pests and diseases emerged. Yield per unit of land began to steadily decline. At this point, the need for technology to boost yield per hectare became increasingly important. 

     Technological changes in agriculture took the form of a step-by-step process that began with the development of land, irrigation and other inputs. Later, high-yielding varieties (HYVS) of seeds were explored and an improved 'package of practices' came into existence. Finally, post-harvest and marketing aspects were explored. 

Laying the Path for the Green Revolution: From the 1950s onwards, a lot of emphasis was given to agriculture. The focus was placed on expanding irrigation, land reclamation and the domestic production of inorganic fertilisers. However, the yields of wheat and rice suffered. The reason was that improved varieties of wheat and rice tended to grow tall after a heavy dose of fertilisers. The stems were thin and at the time of maturity, the plants used to slump as they could not bear the weight of the grain. As a result, the immediate focus had to be to find a technology that could rectify this problem.

 The Green Revolution (1966 to 1990): US agronomist Norman E Borlaug (often called the Father of the Green Revolution), the director of the Cooperative Wheat Research and Production Program in Mexico, was successful in developing genetically modified wheat that was shorter and could respond better to high doses of fertilisers. India imported the dwarf variety. Indian scientists then developed high-yielding, pest-resistant dwarf wheat varieties by crossing the imported dwarf variety with local high-yielding varieties.

      India also actively participated developing and cooperated in new rice varieties. Numerous varieties were introduced with the help of the Central Rice Research Institute, the All-India Coordinated Rice Improvement Programme and various state agricultural universities. In 1966, high-yielding rice varieties were released for large-scale commercial cultivation all over India. Soon, high-yielding varieties of coarse cereals, including sorghum, bajra and maize, were also developed and made available for commercial cultivation during the late 1960s.

      This is how the Green Revolution began. The emergence of the agritech sector in India empowered many farmers to adopt new farming methods that boosted productivity and had a low environmental impact.

 The Growth of Digital Farming: It is estimated that by 2050, India will have an estimated population of 1.64 billion and will need 333 million tonnes of annual food production. Climate change is expected to reduce yields of major crops by 25%. Given these estimates, the advent of digital farming as an effective and efficient means of farming is a source of hope.

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE WORD

 Bubble

     ‘Bubble’ is an echoic word that has risen from the Middle English days. It echoes the sound of ‘b-b-b’, the sound of bubbles breaking one after the other, and together. The bubble is a small ball of air or gas that cannot, and will not, last long.

     When bubbles burst all of a sudden they seem to wink at us. For bursting bubbles look like eyes that shut at once. The winking process continues as the bubbles break one by one till nothing remains of them to be seen.

     The bubble shows emptiness, as it contains nothing but air or gas. Many people are noted for their bubbles of laughter. They are not sincere in their dealings. They are colourless characters. Their vacant words reveal their worthless inner selves.

     There is hardly anyone in this world who does not want to be rich and famous. Likewise, we would love to be honoured by anyone and everyone. We tend to forget that fame and honour are mere bubbles.They may appear to be smiling realities today, but they disappear tomorrow!

     No doubt, the world is full of toils and troubles, cares and worries. We should not be discouraged by them; we should treat them as meaningless bubbles. We shall have the sterner stuff in us to face them, and to bring them under our control.

We should not forget that life is not forever. It may be now full of sound and fury. But like a bubble, it will vanish into the air. 

     The truth is that life is mostly froth. It presents a passing brightness; a glory that glitters only for a while. The ocean waves break into foams of bubbles, which soon end up in airy nothingness. So does life. Even the mightiest of men can be a bubble, and be no more in a moment.

     The bubble is perhaps the smallest example of something that dies out in an instant. Of course, the whole universe bears witness to the absence of permanence in creation. The bubble dies as the dew dries up, and the wind blows out.

     The word ‘bubble’ is most likely to call up the image of bubble gum to the minds of youngsters. One can go on chewing and chewing and chewing. And then the gum is blown into large bubbles. The bigger the bubble, the greater the chewing power. O, the figure that a bubble makes!