World Health Day 2016 observed globally with
the theme Halt the rise: beat diabetes
07-APR-2016
7 April: World Health Daya
World Health Day (WHD) 2016 was observed globally on 7 April 2016. The theme for the year is Halt the rise: beat diabetes.
The goals of the World Health Day 2016 are:
• Scale up prevention
• Strengthen care
• Enhance surveillance
The day is celebrated every year since it was first celebrated in 1950 to mark the anniversary of the World Health Organisation (WHO) formation in 1948.
The theme of the WHD 2015 was Food safety.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic, progressive noncommunicable disease (NCD) characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (blood sugar). It occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough of the insulin hormone, which regulates blood sugar, or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.
Key findings from WHO’s Global report on
diabetes
• The number of people living with diabetes and its prevalence are growing in all regions of the world. In 2014, 422 million adults had diabetes, compared with 108 million in 1980.
• The epidemic of diabetes has major health and socioeconomic impacts, especially in developing countries.
• In 2014, more than 1 in 3 adults aged over 18 years were overweight and more than one in 10 were obese.
• The complications of diabetes can lead to heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and lower limb amputation. For example, rates of lower limb amputation are 10 to 20 times higher for people with diabetes.
• Diabetes caused 1.5 million deaths in 2012. Higher-than-optimal blood glucose caused an additional 2.2 million deaths by increasing the risks of cardiovascular and other diseases.
• Many of these deaths (43%) occur prematurely, before the age of 70 years, and are largely preventable through adoption of policies to create supportive environments for healthy lifestyles and better detection and treatment of the disease.
• Good management includes use of a small set of generic medicines, interventions to promote healthy lifestyles, patient education to facilitate self-care; and regular screening for early detection and treatment of complications.
Low cost and environment-friendly solar
lighting device, Solar Jyoti, launched
07-APR-2016
Union Government on 5 April 2016 launched the low cost micro solar device, Surya Jyoti. The solar dome would help rural and urban population to have a reliable access to electricity.
This low cost and environment-friendly solar lighting device was launched by Union Minister for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. The device would light up homes without electricity and save millions of units of power.
The device has been developed under the aegis of the Department of Science & Technology.
Salient features of the device
• According to preliminary estimates, if this technology is adopted in 10 million households only, it has the potential of saving 1750 million units of energy.
• It would also lead to an emission reduction of about 12.5 million ton of CO2 equivalent, hence giving a fillip to the mission of ‘Clean India, Green India’.
• The manufacturing process, being labour-intensive, would also generate huge job opportunities in the economy.
Functioning process of the device
• The Micro Solar Dome captures sunlight through a transparent semi-spherical upper dome and concentrates it inside a dark room.
• The light passes through a sun-tube having a thin layer of highly reflective coating on the inner wall of the passage.
• It also contains a lower dome having a shutter at the bottom that can be closed if light is not required in the daytime.
• It is leak proof and works for almost 16 hours daily, that is, throughout the day and 4 hours after sunset.
The Photo-Voltaic Integrated Micro Solar Dome costs about 1200 rupees and the Non Photo-Voltaic version around 500 rupees. These cost figures are expected to get further reduced to 900 rupees and 400 rupees respectively post the scaling-up of the manufacturing process and future linkages with the subsidies under various schemes of the Ministries of Urban Development, Rural Development and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
According to a TERI University test report, the illumination level of the light during mid-day goes as high as a 15W LED bulb. Extensive Testing of the device for select parameters has been completed at IIT Bombay, TERI University and Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Kolkata. Field trials have been conducted and 300 Micro Solar Domes are being installed in the slums of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Bengaluru.
Indian men won Asian Nations Cup Chess
tournament
07-APR-2016
Indian men won the 2016 Asian Nations Cup Chess tournament with a 3-1 victory over Vietnam in the final round played in Abu Dhabi on 6 April 2016.
In the final round match against Vietnam, Grandmasters S P Sethuraman and K Sasikiran won on the second and fourth boards while B Adhiban and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi drew their respective matches on top and third boards.
To clinch the title, India collected 17 points, two more than World and Olympiad champions China. India drew Mongolia and beat the rest of the teams in a 22-team tournament.
Top seed China who stood at second position in the ranking chart defeated UAE 4-0 in their final round match. Kazakhstan and Iran took the third and fourth places respectively.
This was the third time that Indian men won the event. They won at Esfahan, Iran in 2005 and Kolkata 2009 when China did not participate on both occasions.
In the women's section, top seed China won the title with 15 points. Uzbekistan was second with 14 and Kazakhstan third with 13 points. Indian women finished fourth with 12 points.
Hashim Thaci sworn-in as Kosovo's President
08-APR-2016
Hashim Thaci, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, was on 7 April 2016 sworn-in as President of Kosovo. The sworn-in ceremony at the Kosovo Assembly was boycotted by Opposition parties.
Thaci, who succeeded Atifete Jahjaga, was elected for the post on 26 February 2016 in the absence of nearly all opposition lawmakers who had earlier tried to disrupt the voting with tear gas.
After taking the oath, Thaci said, his goals were Kosovo's integration into NATO and European Union, and the continuation of the process of normalizing relations with Serbia.
Who is Hashim Thaci?
• In the 1990s, he was a leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which fought a guerrilla war against Serbia from 1998-99.
• He was the first Prime Minister of Kosovo and the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the cabinet led by Isa Mustafa, which assumed office on 12 December 2014.
• In 2008, he declared Kosovo’s independence from Serbia.
Future Group acquired online furniture store
FabFurnish for 20 crore rupees
08-APR-2016
Future Group in the first week of April 2016 acquired Rocket Internet’s online furniture platform FabFurnish for 20 crores rupees. It is the Future Group’s first acquisition of an e-commerce portal.
The all-cash transaction will see Future Group bring its entire portfolio of home furnishings and decor business under the FabFurnish brand, making it the largest home furnishings and decor business in the country.
About Future Group
• Future Group is an Indian private conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai.
• The company is known for having a significant prominence in Indian retail and fashion sectors, with popular supermarket chains like Big Bazaar and Food Bazaar, lifestyle stores like Brand Factory.
About FabFurnish
• FabFurnish.com is an Indian furniture and home décor retailer selling furniture, furnishings, décor and kitchenware.
• The company retails online, and has partner showrooms in India.
• The company is headquartered in Gurgaon, NCR.