1. USS GERALD R FORD
- It is the world’s largest nuclear-powered aircraft carrier recently inducted in US Navy.
- The ship is named after the 38th President of the US, Gerald Ford.
- USS Gerald R Ford weighs 1 lakh tonnes and is 1,106-feet long equivalent to size of about three football fields.
- Ford-class carriers are part of the new advanced US aircraft carrier design succeeding earlier Nimitz-class class.
2. NOVOBIOCIN – DRUG AGAINST ZIKA
- Spanish scientists have discovered that novobiocin compound could be used as a potential drug to fight the effects of a Zika virus infection.
- The novobiocin molecule was previously used in antibiotic drug to fight“nosocomial” infections (those acquired inside a hospital).
KNOW ABOUT ZIKA VIRUS
- The Zika virus, first identified in Uganda in 1947, is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, the same type of mosquito that carries dengue fever, yellow fever, and chikungunya virus.
- A mosquito bites an infected person and then passes those viruses to other people it bites.
- Outbreaks did not occur outside of Africa until 2007, when it spread to the South Pacific.
- The Zika disease had seen swift expansion between early 2015 and January 2016 throughout South America and Caribbean where babies with abnormally smaller heads due to Microcephaly were born.
- Zika can spread through sex, usually after a person traveled to an area where Zika has broken out, got the virus, and gave the virus to a sex partner who did not travel. Infected women and men can both pass the virus to sex partners — even if they haven’t shown symptoms of infection. In addition, infected pregnant women can pass the virus on to their fetus.
- Some studies have also shown the virus can be found in blood, semen, urine, and saliva of infected people, as well as in fluids in the eye.
- The disease can cause fever, rash, joint pain, and redness in the whites of the eye (conjunctivitis, or pinkeye). But most people won’t know they have it.
- There’s no treatment. The disease usually runs its course within a week or so.
- There is no vaccine against Zika.
- Zika causes microcephaly in babies born to infected pregnant women. Microcephaly stunts a baby’s head growth, causing devastating, sometimes fatal brain damage, and it can result in miscarriage or stillbirth.
3. ENGLAND HAS WON 2017 ICC WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
- England’s women’s cricket team won 2017 ICC World Cup title by defeating India by 9 runs at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
- Tammy Beaumont of England was awarded Player of the Series title.
- Besides the inaugural edition in 1973, England had also won the World Cup in 1993 and 2009 as well.
- Australia has won the women’s cricket world Cup for record six times (1978, 1982, 1988, 1997, 2005, 2013) followed by England (four titles- 1973, 1993, 2009, 2017) and New Zealand (one title- 2000).
4. US OPEN GRAND PRIX GOLD BADMINTON TITLE
- Indian Shuttler H S Prannoy has won the 2017 Yonex US Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament title.
- In the final match held at Anaheim, California, Prannoy defeated his compatriot Parupalli Kashyap by 21-15, 20-22, 21-12.
5. TUNNELS THROUGH SELA PASS
- The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) will to construct two tunnels across the 4170-metre Sela Pass in western Arunachal Pradesh.
- It will cut down road distance to the China border through Tawang by about 10 kms.
- It would particularly make troops movement easier during the winter when heavy snowfall in the eastern Himalayas often cut off road connectivity in the vital sector.
KNOW ABOUT BRO
- The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) develops and maintains road networks in India’s border areas and friendly neighbouring countries.
- It is staffed by officers and troops drawn from the Indian Army’s Corps of Engineers, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Army Service Corps, Military Police and army personnel on extra regimental employment.
- Officers from the Border Roads Engineering Service and personnel from the General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) form the parent cadre of the Border Roads Organisation.
- Formed in 1960.
- Headquarters – New Delhi.
6. CAG REPORT SHOWS DELAY IN WORK ON CORVETTES
- In the report, the CAG has blamed the Navy and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. for delay in construction of anti-submarine warfare corvettes
- It also blamed them for hampering capabilities of the defence projects because of delayed decisions.
KNOW ABOUT CORVETTE
- A corvette is a small warship.
- It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or “rated”) warship.
- The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate.
- The modern types of ship below a corvette are coastal patrol craft and fast attack craft.
- The Kamorta-class corvettes or Project 28 are a class of anti-submarine warfare corvettes currently in service with the Indian Navy.