NOBEL PRIZE IN MEDICINE 2023

This year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been jointly awarded to KatalinKarikó and Drew Weissmanm.
It was given for their “discoveries concerning nucleoside base modification that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19. ”
The prize, among the most prestigious in the scientific world, is selected by the Nobel Assembly of Sweden’s Karolinska Institute medical university and also comes with 11 million Swedish crowns (about $1 million).

CHATBOTS FOR RESOLVING

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will launch a modern citizen engagement platform this month with ChatBot to improve services to residents who seek help from officials to resolve civic issues.
The new platform will automate the monitoring of broken calls on the 1913 helpline, which will enable officials to quickly contact residents and resolve their complaints.
Final implementation of the system is expected in 15 days.
The modernised platform is expected to be a step towards utilising aspects such as artificial intelligence systems to enhance communication between officials and residents.

The State of India’s Birds (SOIB) 2023 report shows nearly 110 species of birds recorded in Tamil Nadu are currently facing a state of decline nationwide.
86 species found in Tamil Nadu, including birds such garganey, northern shoveler, common sandpiper, and common teal, are under “rapid decline”.
This has been highlighted by the Salem Ornithological Foundation (SOF) in a Tamil Nadu-specific report using the data in the SOIB 2023 report.

Chief Minister announced a cash award of Rs 25 lakh to nine eminent space scientists from Tamil Nadu in recognition of their services to the nation.
A special event was held to honour the ISRO scientists from Tamil Nadu and and highlighted the significance of Tamil scientists’ contributions to missions like Chandrayaan-3.
The Nine scientists include,

The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), Kalpakkam organised a walkathon under the aegis of the Swachhata Hi Seva Campaign 2023 on Gandhi Jayanthi.
It focused on ‘Zero Waste-No Plastic’.
It aimed to create awareness about ‘swachchta’ and spread the message to ban single-use plastics.

Cervical cancer is a growth of cells that starts in the cervix.
The cervix is the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.
Various strains of the human papillomavirus, also called HPV, play a role in causing most cervical cancers.
HPV is a common infection that’s passed through sexual contact.
When exposed to HPV, the body’s immune system typically prevents the virus from doing harm.
In a small percentage of people, however, the virus survives for years.
This contributes to the process that causes some cervical cells to become cancer cells.
In India, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women, after breast cancer.
India contributes the largest share of the global cervical cancer burden. India accounts for nearly one in every four deaths globally due to cervical cancer.

ASTRA is a Beyond Visual Range (BVR) class of Air-to-Air Missile (AAM) system.
It is designed to be mounted on fighter aircraft.
The missile is designed to engage and destroy highly manoeuvring supersonic aircraft.
The missile has all weather day and night capability.The ASTRA Mk-I Weapon System integrated with SU-30 Mk-I aircraft is being inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF).