Important Facts for Prelims (21st August, 2018)

• 21 Aug 2018

Fruit Rot Disease

• The Fruit rot disease, also known as ‘Kole roga’ and ‘mahali’, has become a cause of concern in arecanut plantations of Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka.
• Fruit rot of arecanut is caused by the fungus Phytophthora arecae.
• This disease occurs during South West monsoon and appears usually 15 to 20 days after the onset of regular monsoon rains and may continue up to the end of the rainy season.
• Continuous heavy rainfall coupled with low temperature (20 to 23 degree Celsius), high relative humidity and intermittent rain and sunshine hours are factors that favour the occurrence of fruit rot.
• Disease spread is through heavy wind, rain splashes and flies.
• This disease leads to rotting and excessive shedding of premature nuts from the areca tree.
• When affected nuts fall off ,white mycelial growth of fungus can be seen on them.
• Farmers usually spray prophylactic solutions for the prevention of this disease.
• Disease can be managed by clean cultivation, covering areca bunches with polythene covers, destruction of affected trees,collection and burning of fallen areca nuts,spray of Bordeaux mixture etc..

Sangham Radio

• Sangham radio station is at the verge of closure and crowdfunding campaign is going on to keep the station alive.
• It is India’s first community radio station which is situated in Machanoor village ( Sangareddy district ) of Telangana.
• Station is owned and run by 5000 odd poor ,mostly dalit women from underprivileged areas.
• It is an initiative of Deccan Development Society (DDS) a local organisation working on issues related to farmers .
• Radio station was started in 1998 and got licence to broadcast in the year 2008.
• It caters the need of Sanghams (Self-help groups) of underprivileged ,rural women who are largely agricultural based.
• Deccan Development Society also established an FM radio station, a transmission tower and recording facilities, with the support of UNESCO.

Antidepressants may counter effects of Brain age

• Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US showed that they could restore a significant degree of lost plasticity to the cells by treating mice with the commonly used antidepressant medication fluoxetine, also known as Prozac.
• The study revealed that structural alterations in neuronal morphology and synaptic connections are features most consistently correlated with brain age, and may be considered as the potential physical basis for the age-related decline.
• Plasticity, in turn, is key to enabling learning and memory and in maintaining sensory acuity.