INDIA
- Fondly called Bihana Didi (Seed Lady) by local communities in Odisha, agriculture scientist Swati Nayak has perhaps begun to reap the fruits of having lived in tribal villages with farmers and understanding their actual needs.
On Thursday, Ms. Nayak became only the third Indian agriculture scientist to win the prestigious Norman E. Borlaug Award for 2023.
What probably attracted global attention to her work was that Ms. Nayak and her team formulated a strategy for introducing the drought-tolerant Shahabhagi Dhan rice variety in Odisha. It brought about a major change in rain-fed areas. The variety became an integral element of every farmer family’s diet and crop rotation.
- The high-altitude passes of the Gurez valley in north Kashmir, out of bounds to civilians, was once prone to frequent shelling from Pakistan. Now, it is all set to connect with the Mushkoh valley, in Kargil’s Drass Sector, Ladakh, the site of the war in 1999. The 130-Km road has been opened up for tourists. Kaobal Gali, the highest pass at a height of 4,166.9 metres in Gurez, connets the two valleys.
- An Online self-learning course in Indian Sign Language and a dictionary containing 10,000 ISL terms were launched on the International Day of Sign Languages on Saturday.
A total of 260 signs for financial terms were also launched. The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry said the primary objective of the course is to facilitate the acquisition of basic communication skills in Indian Sign Languages, including parents of deaf children, siblings, educators, and anyone interested in gaining fundamental knowledge of ISL.
The course comprises 10 modules, covering 30 essential topics, to ensure that learners acquire a comprehensive understanding of basic ISL communication.
SCIENCE
DNA nanoball strategy, a low-cost technology
A new platform using nucleic acids-based diagnostics showcase a way to detect pathogens more quickly in the field. Through loop-mediated isothermal amplification technology, the approach creates nanoballs out of pathogens’ DNA that can then be identified through electrical signalling. The design does not need laboratory techniques to support diagnosis. It is a low-cost technology that can be widely deployed and scalable.