08.02.2008

• How do athletes participate in the Olympics from our country?
• It appears there is a contest – the Federation Cup – which is going to be held during February 26 to 29. Every state will send its contingent to this Cup. This is from where the Olympics contingent gets picked up.
• Bacteria could be used as vaccine carriers
• Nobel laureate Barry Marshall said that efforts are going on to clone vaccine molecules into Helicobacter. If this proves successful, what we can expect is that there can be vaccines for chicken flu, HIV, malaria etc. The vaccines could be carried into the human body on top of this bacteria.
• He won the prize in 2005 along with Robin Warren for the discovery of bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer.
• On the recent kidney racket expose
• I am sure all of you would have noticed the manhunt launched for the kidney racket kingpin – Amit Kumar and his arrest in Nepal.
• Kidney commerce began in our country in the 1980s.
• The adoption of the Transplantation of Human Organs Act in 1994, has done little to check the kidney trade, which is not only illegal but also goes against all canons of medical ethics.
• The Act prohibited commercial dealings in all human organs, recognized brain death in law, and also introduced provisions to regulate the removal, storage and transplantation of human organs.
• Illegal kidney rackets thrive because of the huge gap between demand and supply. If the gap is to be narrowed, a serious debate needs to be initiated on adopting a law of presumed consent. What this means is that the law has to recognize the system of organ procurement that assumes that individuals have agreed to donate their organs upon certified brain death unless they have expressly opted out. Such a system is in vogue in countries like Austria, Columbia, Norway, Italy and Singapore. It is these countries that have witnessed a marked increase in the rate of organ recovery.
• India inks biggest arms deal with US
• It is a $1 bn deal for supply of six aircraft – the Super Hercules C-130J. It is a transport plane that will enable the armed forces to move quickly to the scene of action.
• The first deal with US after the 2001 upswing in relations with that country is artillery battery locating radars from Raytheon. Then it bought the INS Jalashwa (USS Trenton) for landing troops and equipment beaches.
• Indian economy’s performance
• With the presentation of the budget just a few days away, the CSO (Central Statistical Organization) has released its forecast for the current fiscal. The economy is slated to grow at 8.7%. This is lower than the 9.6% growth achieved in 2006-07.
• The investment rate has climbed to historic high of 38.5% of the GDP. Savings rate is projected to grow at 37% of the GDP.
• Economic performance of Andhra Pradesh
• The state is poised to achieve a GDP growth rate of 10.37% in 2007-08, as against 8.87% in 2006-07.
• The farm sector is likely to achieve a growth of 4.5% for the 11^th Plan.
• Foodgrain production is expected to touch 180 lakh tonnes.
• Manufacturing sector has been growing at over 8% during the last three years.
• Software exports have registered a growth of over 50% in the last three years against the national average of 35%.
• Revenues have been buoyant. Revenues from VAT and CST grew by 24% to touch Rs. 15,587 crores in 2006-07. The budgeted collection for the current fiscal is Rs. 20,852 crores.