Enhancing Combat Capabilities 2035 with Affordable Defence Spending

It is feasible to significantly enhance combat capabilities by 2035, within the resources realistically available. However, aiming to enhance combat capabilities by 2035 cannot be done by merely presenting wish lists and hoping that funds will be somehow available. It can only be achieved if we plan ahead realising that defence spending has to be affordable for the nation. Other major countries are restructuring their armed forces with this realisation, and there is no reason why we cannot do so too. There are opportunities that can be seized and realised within the budgets available, provided we are ready to think differently. From historical service-specific and turf-conscious thinking, we need to move on to adopt a whole-of-nation approach in support of our national security goals. We need to learn the lessons of recent experience, and look at optimal trade-offs accordingly

Enhancing Combat Capabilities 2035 with Affordable Defence Spending

It is feasible to significantly enhance combat capabilities by 2035, within the resources realistically available. However, aiming to enhance combat capabilities by 2035 cannot be done by merely presenting wish lists and hoping that funds will be somehow available. It can only be achieved if we plan ahead realising that defence spending has to be affordable for the nation. Other major countries are restructuring their armed forces with this realisation, and there is no reason why we cannot do so too. There are opportunities that can be seized and realised within the budgets available, provided we are ready to think differently. From historical service-specific and turf-conscious thinking, we need to move on to adopt a whole-of-nation approach in support of our national security goals. We need to learn the lessons of recent experience, and look at optimal trade-offs accordingly

Effect of Diseases and Insect-Pests on Forage Quality of Cowpea

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) an important forage legume is mainly cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical regions of India for its food and fodder value. It is highly nutritive with 23.0, 67.0, 1.8 per cent protein, carbohydrate and fats respectively, and is also a rich source of calcium and iron. Cowpea is also prone to a number of diseases and inset-pests causing great losses in yield and quality of green fodder. High incidence of diseases profoundly reduces yield and quality, whereas insects typically reduce yield more than quality. Cowpea is grown globally in an area of 14 million hectares with an annual production of 4.5 million tonnes. In India, it is cultivated in an area of 1.5 million hectares with annual production of 0.5 million tonnes (Reddy, 2006). In Himachal Pradesh, cowpea is either taken as sole crop or intercropped with maize mainly as Kharif crop in low lying and mid hill areas of state., Wet and humid environmental conditions during the cropping season predispose the crop to the attack of various fungal pathogens and insects pests which cause substantial yield losses

Genetic Diversity of Genus \u3cem\u3eAvena\u3c/em\u3e in North Western-Himalayas assessed by Morphological Traits

Oat (Avena sativa L.) is a cool season, annual crop grown mainly in moist areas of temperate climates of the world serving as a food for mankind and forage for cattle. Oat is an important rabi fodder crop in India.In India, oat is also cultivated in Himalayan states like Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Oat in these regions have a wider adaptability, because of its excellent growing habitat, quick re-growth and better nutritional value (Misri, 2004). Oat breeding programme in Indian regions has not achieved much impetus due to a narrow genetic base of cultivated gene pool within the regionally adapted germplasm. The competition for utilization of land for food grains and fodder necessitates intensified efforts towards more efficient forage research and production, for which it is imperative to characterize and evaluate Avena species in order to identify donors for different traits and diversify primary oat gene pool. Historically, morphological traits have been important in the diversity analysis of crop species. The characterization of germplasm using morphological traits help the plant breeders to select the accessions to be utilized in hybridization programme. Considering the potential forage value of oats and limited genetic information available at morphological level, present study was aimed to assess the genetic diversity of genus Avena using morphological characterization. The information generated from this study will be helpful in characterizing the genus Avena germplasm and in the selection and utilization of diverse genotypes to enhance variability and productivity of commercial oat for future crop improvement endeavors in the Indian North-Western Himalayan region

Family-led rehabilitation after stroke in India (ATTEND): a randomised controlled trial

Background Most people with stroke in India have no access to organised rehabilitation services. The effectiveness of training family members to provide stroke rehabilitation is uncertain. Our primary objective was to determine whether family-led stroke rehabilitation, initiated in hospital and continued at home, would be superior to usual care in a low-resource setting. Methods The Family-led Rehabilitation after Stroke in India (ATTEND) trial was a prospectively randomised open trial with blinded endpoint done across 14 hospitals in India. Patients aged 18 years or older who had had a stroke within the past month, had residual disability and reasonable expectation of survival, and who had an informal family-nominated caregiver were randomly assigned to intervention or usual care by site coordinators using a secure web-based system with minimisation by site and stroke severity. The family members of participants in the intervention group received additional structured rehabilitation training—including information provision, joint goal setting, carer training, and task-specific training—that was started in hospital and continued at home for up to 2 months. The primary outcome was death or dependency at 6 months, defined by scores 3–6 on the modified Rankin scale (range, 0 [no symptoms] to 6 [death]) as assessed by masked observers. Analyses were by intention to treat. This trial is registered with Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI/2013/04/003557), Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12613000078752), and Universal Trial Number (U1111-1138-6707). Findings Between Jan 13, 2014, and Feb 12, 2016, 1250 patients were randomly assigned to intervention (n=623) or control (n=627) groups. 33 patients were lost to follow-up (14 intervention, 19 control) and five patients withdrew (two intervention, three control). At 6 months, 285 (47%) of 607 patients in the intervention group and 287 (47%) of 605 controls were dead or dependent (odds ratio 0·98, 95% CI 0·78–1·23, p=0·87). 72 (12%) patients in the intervention group and 86 (14%) in the control group died (p=0·27), and we observed no difference in rehospitalisation (89 [14%]patients in the intervention group vs 82 [13%] in the control group; p=0·56). We also found no difference in total non-fatal events (112 events in 82 [13%] intervention patients vs 110 events in 79 [13%] control patients; p=0·80). Interpretation Although task shifting is an attractive solution for health-care sustainability, our results do not support investment in new stroke rehabilitation services that shift tasks to family caregivers, unless new evidence emerges. A future avenue of research should be to investigate the effects of task shifting to health-care assistants or team-based community care

Nations within a nation: variations in epidemiological transition across the states of India, 1990–2016 in the Global Burden of Disease Study

18% of the world's population lives in India, and many states of India have populations similar to those of large countries. Action to effectively improve population health in India requires availability of reliable and comprehensive state-level estimates of disease burden and risk factors over time. Such comprehensive estimates have not been available so far for all major diseases and risk factors. Thus, we aimed to estimate the disease burden and risk factors in every state of India as part of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2016

Genetic and Biochemical Diversity among Valeriana jatamansi Populations from Himachal Pradesh

Valeriana jatamansi Jones is an important medicinal plant that grows wild in Himachal Pradesh, India. Molecular and biochemical diversity among 13 natural populations from Himachal Pradesh was assessed using RAPD and GC-MS to know the extent of existing variation. A total of seven genetically diverse groups have been identified based on RAPD analysis which corroborated well with the analysis based on chemical constituents. The essential oil yield ranged from 0.6% to 1.66% (v/w). A negative correlation between patchouli alcohol and viridiflorol, the two major valued constituents, limits the scope of their simultaneous improvement. However, other few populations like Chamba-II and Kandi-I were found promising for viridiflorol and patchouli alcohol, respectively. The analysis of chemical constitution of oil of the populations from a specific region revealed predominance of specific constituents indicating possibility of their collection/selection for specific end uses like phytomedicines. The prevalence of genetically diverse groups along with sufficient chemical diversity in a defined region clearly indicates the role of ecology in the maintenance of evolution of this species. Sufficient molecular and biochemical diversity detected among natural populations of this species will form basis for the future improvement

Genetic and Biochemical Diversity among Valeriana jatamansi Populations from Himachal Pradesh

Valeriana jatamansi Jones is an important medicinal plant that grows wild in Himachal Pradesh, India. Molecular and biochemical diversity among 13 natural populations from Himachal Pradesh was assessed using RAPD and GC-MS to know the extent of existing variation. A total of seven genetically diverse groups have been identified based on RAPD analysis which corroborated well with the analysis based on chemical constituents. The essential oil yield ranged from 0.6% to 1.66% (v/w). A negative correlation between patchouli alcohol and viridiflorol, the two major valued constituents, limits the scope of their simultaneous improvement. However, other few populations like Chamba-II and Kandi-I were found promising for viridiflorol and patchouli alcohol, respectively. The analysis of chemical constitution of oil of the populations from a specific region revealed predominance of specific constituents indicating possibility of their collection/selection for specific end uses like phytomedicines. The prevalence of genetically diverse groups along with sufficient chemical diversity in a defined region clearly indicates the role of ecology in the maintenance of evolution of this species. Sufficient molecular and biochemical diversity detected among natural populations of this species will form basis for the future improvement

Sodium fluorescein dye as an adjunct in vitrectomy for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in oculocutaneous albinism

A 48-year-old male with oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) presented with bilateral diminution of vision. Ocular examination revealed bilateral central corneal thinning, scarring with ectasia, depigmented irides, transillumination defects, and pseudophakia. Examination of the right eye also revealed a hyperoleon, emulsified silicon oil in the vitreous cavity, and an attached retina, while the left eye had a total rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). This case describes a unique set of challenges (the presence of an ectatic scarred cornea and a hypopigmented fundus) and sodium fluorescein dye as an adjunct in the surgical management of a complex RRD. A review of literature highlighting the association of keratoconus and RRD in OCA is also presented in this report

Hepatotoxicity of Eupatorium adenophorum to rats

Freeze dried Eupatorium adenophorum leaf powder mixed in rat feed at a level of 25% elicited hepatotoxicity. The affected animals were jaundiced and had marked increase in plasma bilirubin levels and activities of alkaline phosphatase, glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase. The liver of intoxicated animals had focal areas of necrosis and bile duct proliferation. Elevation in plasma bilirubin concomitant with alterations in enzyme profile and histopathological lesions are consistent with liver injury and cholestasis. This is the first report of the toxicity of E. adenophorum to rats