Malabar Exercise 2018
- Malabar is a trilateral naval exercise of the US, Japan and India.
- The Malabar exercise usually features both ashore and at-sea training.
- The maritime exercise has grown in scope and complexity and aims at increasing the level of mutual understanding of the best practices among the three navies.
- This is the first time that the prestigious Malabar exercise is being conducted off Guam, a major US Naval Base in the Western Pacific.
The Hornbill Housing Crisis
- Great hornbills are found in the forests of North eastern region of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Mainland South East Asia, Indonesian Islands.
- Hornbills propagate forests by eating fruits and pooping their seeds far and wide and in turn, they rely on stately old trees to survive.
- During breeding season they need ready-made cavities in soft wood trees made either by a broken branch or the drilling efforts of woodpeckers and Mynas.
- The female squeezes herself into the hollow and uses her droppings to seal the entrance until a only narrow slit remains.
- Humans threaten the bird’s habitat by hunting the birds and Illegal logging of their forests, due this there is a habitat crisis for these species.
- Nest adoption programmes to save hornbill habitats in Arunachal Pradesh has been recently launched.
Breast cancer
- Breast cancer is a type of cancer that forms in the cells of the breasts, it can occur in women and rarely in men.
- Symptoms of breast cancer include a lump in the breast, bloody discharge from the nipple and changes in the shape or texture of the nipple or breast.
- Its treatment depends on the stage of cancer, It may consist of chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy and surgery.
- In India there are more than 1 million cases of breast cancer are reported per year.
- A recent study on breast cancer has found Higher levels of vitamin D are associated with decreasing risk of breast cancer.
Functional Cure for HIV
- Recently 'functional cure' for HIV has been found in Hong Kong, according to the research treatments must be taken daily and do not eliminate the infected cells from the body
- This is found to be a major breakthrough that could see a new antibody be used for both prevention and treatment.
- People infected with HIV can keep the virus under control with antiretroviral drugs, which stop the virus from infecting new cells.
HIV Virus
- The HIV virus disables the immune system and makes people far more vulnerable to infections and disease.
- The virus can be transmitted through contact with infected blood, semen or vaginal fluids.
- Within a few weeks of HIV infection, flu-like symptoms such as fever, sore throat and fatigue can occur.
- Then the disease is usually asymptomatic until it progresses to AIDS.
- AIDS symptoms include weight loss, fever or night sweats, fatigue and recurrent infections.
Source: The Hindu, Business Standard
