The WHO’s Emergency Committee for MERS-CoV has raised concerns about the sharp surge in the number of ‘Middle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus’(MERS-CoV) cases since March 2014. The sharp increase has been seen particularly in Saudi Arabia and in the United Arabian Emirates. The Emergency Committee has advised a number of measures to be urgently taken, including better national policies for infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities.

Since the virus was first detected in humans 2 years back, a total of 152 people have now died and 495 have been confirmed to have contracted the virus in Saudi Arabia. Recently, cases have also been reported from Egypt, Greece, Malaysia, Philippines, and the U.S. in which infected individuals had travelled there from the Middle East.

Although it is known that the virus is widespread in camels in the Middle East and north-east Africa, it is yet to be ascertained how transmission from animals to humans takes place. As MERS-CoV causes mostly respiratory disease in humans, the common thinking is that such transmission takes place via a respiratory route.

President Pranab Mukherjee appointed former Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Mathur (64) as the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). Mathur succeeds Sushma Singh as the head of the transparency watchdog. His name was recommended by a three-member selection panel headed by outgoing PM Manmohan Singh. His term will be of just 3 months.

At present, there are seven Information Commissioners — Vijai Sharma, Basant Seth, Yashovardhan Azad, Sharat Sabharwal, Manjula Prasher, M A Khan Yusufi and Prof Madabhushanam Sridhar Acharyulu.

Andhra teen becomes youngest female climber to scale Mount Everest

Andhra teen becomes youngest female climber to scale Mount Everest
Purna was accompanied by Sadhanapalli Anand Kumar (16), a Class IX student from the Khammam district of Andhra Pradesh, and completed the feat on Sunday morning.

Anand and Purna are both students of Andhra Pradesh Social Welfare Educational Society.

"They climbed Everest at 6am today after a 52-day long expedition," he said.

"Purna created a record by becoming by youngest girl to climb the Everest," he said.

The duo were selected among about 150 children who were initially chosen for adventure sports as part of the society's initiative to promote excellence in the students of the society, he said.

Twenty of them were sent to a prestigious mountaineering Institute in Darjeeling for training and nine among them were sent on expedition to Indo-China border earlier.

The two students with a higher degree of toughness and endurance were sent to the Everest Expedition in April, he said.

The two students were now returning to the base camp, the official added.

Biofuel production from oilseed is the future

Biofuel production from oilseed is the future
Straw from crops such as wheat, barley, and oats is seen as a potential source of biomass for second generation biofuel production. With new findings, scientists have now come closer to making the production more efficient. 

Researchers at the Institute of Food Research in Britain looked at the steps needed to unlock the sugars tied up in the tough straw structure.

They discovered the key factors that determine the efficiency of saccharification — the process that converts enzymes into glucose.

"The sugars in the straw are in a form that makes them inaccessible to the enzymes that release them for conversion into biofuels, so pre-treatments are needed," the researchers said.

The pre-treatments make the complex carbohydrates more accessible to enzymes that convert them to glucose which is then fermented by yeast into ethanol.

In the pre-treatment stage, the researchers focused on steam explosion, which involves 'pressure-cooking' the biomass, to drive a number of chemical reactions.

A rapid pressure-release then causes the material to be ripped open, to further improve accessibility.

They varied the temperature and duration of steam explosion and then used a variety of physical and biochemical techniques to characterise what effects varying the pre-treatments had on the different types of sugars before and after saccharification.

The amount of cellulose converted to glucose increased with the severity of the pretreatment.

Saccharification efficiency is also associated with the loss of specific sugars, and subsequent formation of sugar breakdown products.

In a further study, the scientists discovered the key factors that determine the efficiency of saccharification.

Singapore replaces Mauritius as top source of FDI in India

Singapore has replaced Mauritius as the top source of foreign direct investment into India, accounting for about 25 per cent of FDI inflows in 2013-14. 

During the last financial year, India attracted $5.98 billion in FDI from Singapore, whereas it was $4.85 billion from Mauritius, according to the data of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).

According to experts, the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with Singapore incorporates Limit-of-Benefit (LoB) clause which has provided comfort to foreign investors based there.
"LoB clause in India-Singapore treaty justifies the substance in Singaporean entities, bringing certainty and avoiding chances of litigations," head of Tax and expert on FDI with corporate law firm Amarchand & Mangaldas Krishan Malhotra said.

FDI inflows from Mauritius have started drying up on fears of the impact of General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) and possible re-negotiation of the tax avoidance treaty, he added.

The inflows from Mauritius in the last fiscal are lowest since 2006-07. On the other hand, FDI inflow of $5.98 billion in 2013-14 is the highest ever received from Singapore since 2006-07.

The controversial General Anti Avoidance Rules provision, which seeks to check tax avoidance by investors routing their funds through tax havens, will come into effect from April 1, 2016 in India.

The GAAR provision will apply to entities availing tax benefit of at least Rs 3 crore.

It will apply to Foreign Institutional Investors that have claimed benefits under any DTAA.

The India-Mauritius DTAA is being revised amid concerns that Mauritius is being used for round-tripping of funds into India even though that country has always maintained that there have been no concrete evidence of any such misuse.

Foreign investments are crucial for India, which needs about $1 trillion by March 2017 to overhaul infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways and boost growth.

Overall FDI into India grew by 8 per cent year-on-year to $24.3 billion in 2013-14.

Zuma sworn in as South Africa's President for second term

Jacob Zuma was on Saturday sworn in as South African President for a second term in the presence of thousands of guests in Pretoria.

Mr. Zuma, whose African National Congress won the May 7 elections with 62 per cent of the vote, was sworn in by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng at the government complex Union Buildings.

More than 40 foreign leaders in attendance included the Presidents of Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritius, Madagascar and the Vice-Presidents of Gambia, Angola, Sudan and Gabon.

The ceremony began with a gun salute and inter-faith prayers, followed by a recital of the preamble of the Constitution.

Only 200 Great Indian Bustards left: WWF

Only 200 Great Indian Bustards left: WWF
Government urged to evolve an action plan to protect the bird, which is on the verge of extinction.

“We are losing our Great Indian Bustard,” WWF-India Secretary-General and CEO, Ravi Singh told The Hindu here on Friday. The total number of birds now was as low as 200, he said, calling for quick efforts to protect the species.

“Otherwise, we will lose this bird in the wild,” he added.

Mr. Singh wanted the Government of India to evolve an action plan to protect the bird, which is on the verge of extinction.

He said the breeding of these birds was under threat. According to anecdotal estimates, the largest population (110) of this bird was in Rajasthan, while it was also found in Gujarat and Karnataka. Around 10 birds were sighted five to six years ago at Rollapadu in Andhra Pradesh.

Listing destruction of forests, break-up of corridors, illegal trade, poaching and change in land use as reasons affecting conservation of wild life, Mr. Singh said a large amount of illegal trade in lesser species like pangolins and turtles was taking place. Steps taken by the government to prevent poaching have made a difference with regard to lions and elephants, he added