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FLYKEYSNEWS Katie Atkins, January 20, 2018 There hasn’t been much talk of releasing genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys for a while, but a trial could happen in the coming months. British biotech company Oxitec wants to release its genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys this year, calling them “Oxitec Friendly mosquitoes,” the offspring of which it says die almost immediately. According to its website, Oxitec’s male mosquitoes are reared with a self-limiting gene, so when the males are released into the wild to mate with females, that gene is passed on and the offspring never survive to adulthood. This results in a smaller population of Aedes aegypti bugs, officials say, which carry Zika and other viruses. The trial needs approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a release of bugs in the Keys. There was approval in 2016 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a trial in Key Haven, but it was delayed several times and n...

Sunday Guardian Live Special Correspondent February 07, 2018 n the normal course, one would expect that the imperialism that sees Third World countries as suitable guinea pigs for risky biological research would arise from the United States, but in the case of GM mosquitoes, the threat has arisen from the Oxford University in the UK, an institution that after 71 years of “freedom” India’s political, administrative and intellectual leadership still venerates. A subordinate department of Oxford University, Oxitec began experimenting with genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which are carriers for the virus that causes dengue and zika. Soon they began creating problems, which seem not to have been brought to the attention of authorities in India, who for long have been falling over each other to pander to the demands of foreign “health” researchers, especially in the hugely risky field of vaccines. The modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were released into the atmosphe...

The McGill International Review Kody Corwell, January 19, 2018 The Mosquito vs. the Modern Nation State: Climate Change and Dengue Fever in India "Away with a pæan of derision You winged blood-drop. Can I not overtake you? Are you one too many for me Winged Victory? Am I not mosquito enough to out-mosquito you?" So says the penultimate stanza of D.H. Lawrence’s 1920 poem  The Mosquito ,  which reflects upon the insignificant yet seemingly defiant nature of the “winged ghoul” and its “hateful little trump.” Lawrence manages to capture humanity’s ancient adversary – a small insect with a  significant impact  on  human history . Today, their perverse dangers continue to threaten advanced nation-states – states that have otherwise survived colonialism, natural disasters, the slave trade, proxy wars, trade embargos, despotic regimes, and economic recessions. Their range is impressive, aided by travel and exploration: even previous...

The Hindu Jacob Koshi, February 08, 2018 Even as panic spreads worldwide over the Zika virus, harboured by the mosquito species that spreads dengue and chikungunya, a Maharashtra company is getting ready to scale up trials to find out whether genetically engineered mosquitoes can be a useful tool to check the growth of the insect. Gangabishan Bhikulal Investment and Trading Ltd. (GBIT), a sister company of the Maharashtra Hybrid Company (Mahyco) that first brought Bt cotton to India, has been breeding male mosquitoes. These mosquitoes contain genes which when passed on to its progeny render them unable to mature unless they have access to tetracycline, a compound that is not naturally available in the environment. The idea is that once enough of these laboratory-bred mosquitoes mate with the disease-carrying females in an open environment, they would reduce the region’s mosquito population. The technology — licensed from Oxitec, a University of Oxford company — is being...

D igital Journal The Global Chikungunya Fever Market Research Report provides detailed analysis of the key regional market status of the Healthcare Industry. The report gives detail analysis of Global Top Players of Chikungunya Industry In-depth. This press release was orginally distributed by SBWire Pune, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 01/12/2018 -- The International Chikungunya Fever Market is expected to grow at CAGR 5.86% during forecast period. Chikungunya is a mosquito borne viral disease caused by the RNA virus belonging to the alphavirus genus of family Togaviridae. Chikungunya fever has been reported in more than 60 countries of Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. The Its transmission from human to human is facilitated by the bites of infected female mosquitoes. Most commonly, the mosquitoes involved are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Currently, there is no cure for the disease and the treatments are focussed only to relieve the symptoms. In 2016, according to...

Business Line Bureau, February 07, 2018 As was widely expected, the Reserve Bank of India’s rate setting monetary policy committee (MPC) on Wednesday decided to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6 per cent. The status quo on the rate comes as the inflation outlook, in the words of MPC, is clouded by several uncertainties on the upside, including staggered impact of HRA increased by various State governments; pick-up in global growth exerting further pressure on crude oil and commodity prices, with implications for domestic inflation; proposed increase in minimum support price for kharif crops; fiscal slippage; and proposed increase in Customs duty on a number of items. The six-member MPC said there is, therefore, need for vigilance around the evolving inflation scenario in the coming months. RBI Governor Urjit Patel addressed queries from the media on the reasons for keeping the rate unchanged and continuing with a neutral policy stance. Excerpts: The weighted aver...

The Economic Times PTI, February 09, 2018 WASHINGTON: China has both commercial and military interests in the Pakistani port of Gwadar, the US think-tank community has told lawmakers, but Islamabad of late is realising that the Chinese investment there is more about its own economic and strategic interests.  The strategic Gwadar Port in Balochistan province is being built by China under a multi-billion economic corridor.  According to media reports last month, Pakistan may allow China to build a military babase in Jiwani area which is close the strategic Gwadar port being developed by Beijing.  At the same time, recent developments indicate the Pakistani leadership has increasingly been realising that Chinese investment is more about the latter's economic and strategic interest, members of the community told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing on Pakistan by the House Foreign Relations committee.  Going back a decade, a lot of Indian stra...

The Economic Times Surabhi Agarwal and Ruchika Chitravansi February 09, 2018 The government has been in discussions to turn the Permanent Account Number (PAN) into the enterprise unique ID, a feature which was announced by finance minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the Union Budget. Though the idea was first mooted a couple of years ago, the recent discussions suggest that among the plethora of IDs which are held by enterprises, making PAN the unique ID will be the most conducive option. This will mean that even the non-tax paying entities such as not-for profits, trusts or societies will have to now apply for a PAN number. It has also been suggested that this PAN number or the unique identity can be linked with the Aadhaar number at the backend. A government official said that the Centre has been mulling this move for around two years now. "The whole idea is if all are asked to furnish a PAN number regardless of whether they are income tax payees or not, and...

The Economic Times IANS, February 08, 2018 India could be involved in the targeted killing of a Chinese national in Karachi, Pakistan's Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said. Iqbal made the comments in an interview to the BBC. He also claimed that India's intelligence agency RAW was involved in sabotaging the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. "New Delhi continues to dedicate a sizeable amount of money towards covert operations that aim to sabotage CPEC projects," the Express Tribune on Thursday cited Iqbal as telling the BBC. "Representatives of our neighbour country have gone on record to say that India is against the deepening trade partnership between Pakistan and China. "The recent target killing of the Chinese national is another link of this espionage chain," he added. The Chinese national working with a shipping company was shot dead in Karachi on Monday. Last year, two Chinese citizens were kidnap...

T he Indian Express Naveed Iqbal, Muzamil Jaleel February 09, 2018  A fleeting frame of the number plate of a Pulsar motorcycle caught by a CCTV camera outside the SMHS (Shri Maharaja Hari Singh) Hospital in Srinagar helped police track down two of the three men who struck there on February 6 to help Pakistani militant Naveed Jat escape, Additional Director General of Police Muneer Khan told The Indian Express on Thursday. Two policeman were killed in firing. The police were accompanying six militants, including Jat, for a medical checkup. Speaking to The Indian Express, Khan said that once the bike’s owner was identified, the “entire story unfolded before us.” The motorcycle belonged to one Shakeel of Lelhar village in Pulwama. “We scanned CCTV footage and found three suspicious people standing (outside the hospital). Soon, two of them were identified as Tikka Khan and Shakeel,’’ Khan said. Read | Srinagar hospital attack: Four arrested for helping Pakistani mili...