Prime Minister Narednra Modi has left nothing to chance in choosing his best men and women to assist him with the stupendous task which awaits him. The 45-member Team Modi which was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Pranab Mukherjee is a curious mix of sundry individual talents they bring in with them. Each one has a USP which makes him a worthy pick for the PM. Let's find out who brings what:    

1.Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh

Party president. He pushed Modi's name and backed him within the party when differences arose over Modi's name. Thakur leader from Uttar Pradesh, the big state BJP has swept in the Lok Sabha polls and wants to snatch from Samajwadi Party in the next Vidhan Sabha elections. Rajnath will have to leave the party president's position. USP: Yes man!

2. Arun Jaitley

Legal eagle and the brain behind many of Modi's plans. Lost election in Amritsar but it was certain that he would play a critical role in Team Modi, regardless of the results. USP: Modi man

3.Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari

Former party president and MP from Nagpur. Sangh man. USP: Nagpur

4.Sushma Swaraj

Sushma Swaraj

Only detractor to have won a place in the Cabinet. Openly sided with LK Advani when the latter raised objections to Modi becoming the PM candidate. Being close to Advani, she was also the mediator. USP: Balancing Act

5. Venkaiah Naidu

Introduction to the Human Endocrine System

This page is a basic introduction to the human endocrine system.

General Introductory Notes:

Basic summary notes about the endocrine system include:

• Hormones are 'chemical messengers'.
• Hormones have 'target organs'.
• Endocrine glands are ductless glands that secret hormones directly into the blood.

Functions of Hormones:

1. Hormones help to regulate:
   
   • Volume and chemical composition of Extra-Cellular Fluid (ECF).
   • Metabolism - see also metabolic rate
   • Biological Clock (Circadian Rhythms)
   • Glandular Secretions
   • Contraction of smooth and cardiac muscle fibres
   • Some immune system activities.
     
     
2. Hormones control growth and development.
   
   
3. Hormones govern the opertation of reproductive systems.

Hypothalamus

Releases hormones that regulate the anterior pituitary; includes hormones from the posterior pituitary (see posterior pituitary)

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Posterior pituitary gland

Oxytocin stimulates contraction of uterus and mammary gland cells; Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) promotes retention of water by kidneys

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Anterior pituitary gland

Growth hormone (GH) stimulates growth (especially bones) and metabolic functions
Prolactin (PRL) stimulates milk production and secretion
Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) stimulates production of ova and sperm
Luteinizing hormone (LH) stimulates ovaries and testes
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) stimulates thyroid gland
Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) stimulates adrenal cortex to secrete glucocorticoids

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Thyroid gland

Triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) stimulate and maintain metabolic processes
Calcitonin lowers blood calcium level

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Parathyroid glands

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) raises blood calcium level

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Pancreas

Insulin lowers blood glucose level
Glucagon raises blood glucose level

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Adrenal medulla

Epinephrine and norepinephrine raise blood glucose level; increase metabolic activities; constrict certain blood vessels

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Adrenal cortex

Glucocorticoids raise blood glucose level
Mineralocorticoids promote reabsorption of Na+ and excretion of K+ in kidneys

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Testes

Androgens support sperm formation; promote development and maintenance of male secondary sex characteristics

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Ovaries

Estrogens stimulate uterine lining growth; promote development and maintenance of female secondary sex characteristics
Progestins promote uterine lining growth

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Pineal gland

Melatonin involved in biological rhytms

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About 300 kg of stale chicken and other meat was seized from the Kaloor slaughterhouse on Sunday morning in a joint operation by the city police, Health, and Food Safety departments.

Police found the meat, suspected to be more than a week old, stored in several crates packed with ice at a chicken and meat stall. Ravi, 45, of Thammanam, who operated the stall, and two employees Shekhar, 24, of Sivakasi in Tamil Nadu, and Moosa, 25, of Thenkashi in Tamil Nadu, were arrested.

Police are on the lookout for the stall owner, Khalid of Karukappally.

The stale meat was allegedly procured from various hotels in the city. “Big hotels do not use chicken pieces with plenty of bones. The stall operators procure the meat thrown out by them and sell it here,” said a police officer. While chicken outside costs around Rs. 120 per kg, the accused allegedly sold it for between Rs. 30 and Rs. 60 to individuals and small hotel and food stall owners, the police said.

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Former TRAI Chairman Nripendra Misra was Wednesday appointed Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the government promulgated an Ordinance to amend a law that could have prevented him from getting the key post.

Misra is a 1967—batch retired IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre and his appointment will be co-terminus with the term of the Prime Minister or till further orders, according to an order issued by the Ministry of Personnel.

“The Chairperson or any other member ceasing to hold office as such, shall —— (a) be ineligible for further employment under the Central Government or any State Government or (b) not accept any commercial employment, for a period of two years from the date he ceases to hold such office,” says the TRAI Act of 1997 available on the Law Ministry’s website.

Apart from maintaining healthy bones, vitamin D has a much more crucial role to play in keeping one healthy

In a State which enjoys abundant sunshine for the best part of the year, it is indeed strange that a significant chunk of the population is deficient in vitamin D.

But vitamin D deficiency seems to be a public health issue of global dimensions, spanning ethnicities, age groups and gender, with even developed nations such as the United Kingdom reporting increased incidence of conditions like rickets (bone weakening).

Research suggests that apart from maintaining healthy bones, this sunshine vitamin has a much more crucial role to play in keeping one healthy. Laboratory studies show that vitamin D reduces cancer cell growth and controls infections.

Many studies have pointed to its role in lowering the risk of heart failure and sudden cardiac death. Recent evidence also links low vitamin D levels to the risk of developing Type-I d

sunshine

The virus, first detected in humans two years back, has caused 152 deaths

Despite a recent surge of ‘Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus’(MERS-CoV) cases, a meeting of an expert committee called by the World Health Organisation has concluded that conditions for declaring an ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’ had not been met.

The fifth meeting of WHO’s Emergency Committee for MERS-CoV, which was first convened last July, took place by teleconference on Tuesday. The Committee took into account the fact that there had been sharp increase in cases since this March, particularly in Saudi Arabia but also in the United Arabian Emirates. Moreover, a majority of these cases had occurred in hospital settings, said Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s Assistant Director-General, during a press briefing today.

virus

y relying on blood samples, the new technique, if it passes the litmus test, would be able to side-step the inherent drawbacks of sputum samples and correctly diagnose more children with TB disease.

With bacteriological diagnosis of TB (via sputum samples) in children, particularly in those aged below five years, being riddled with problems, scientists are looking at alternative methods that do not rely on sputum samples. A proof-of-concept study published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine shows promise. The sample used was blood.

Suzanne T. Anderson from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex and others could confirm TB disease by looking for specific signatures in 51 genes. And the presence of these signatures in 42 genes could help distinguishing TB disease from latent TB. The signatures in question were RNA transcripts.

To test the robustness of the signatures in correctly diagnosing TB disease and differentiating latent TB from TB disease, the scientists had a discovery cohort (where TB was suspected) comprising of 655 South African and 701 Malawian children. A validation cohort (children with one or more typical clinical symptoms and were household contacts of people with smear positive pulmonary TB disease) comprised 1,599 Kenyan children.

With 7,79,000 deaths, India has the highest newborn mortality in the world

Globally, about 5.5 million babies — nearly three million neonates and about 2.6 million stillbirths — die every year. In other words, every day, about 8,000 neonates are dying and the number of stillbirths is about 7,000. Stillbirths happen at about 28 weeks of gestation and also during labour. Babies who die during labour — just five minutes before birth — account for nearly half of all stillbirths.

Half of all the newborn deaths across the world occur in five countries. With 7,79,000 deaths, India accounts for the highest number of newborn mortality in the world. The other fo

As eight leaders from SAARC and beyond took the front row at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in on Monday, there was a rare feel-good atmosphere in a tense region that is home to one-fourth of the world’s people.

Apart from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan and other SAARC leaders and representatives, Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam of Mauritius was present. The new Indian Prime Minister’s speed diplomacy, and the readiness with which his invitation was accepted,, has boosted India’s centrality to the region.

Despite the known unknowns about his foreign policy, it has also given rise to huge expectations across South Asia — the enchanting mood at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday evening belied the troubled relations that India has with most of its neighbours. Less than a year ago Mr. Sharif invited former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to his swearing-in, but assailed by the BJP and his own party for being too soft on Pakistan, Dr. Singh did not go.Mr. Sharif is similarly criticised at home for being soft on India. But there he was on Monday evening , witnessing the inauguration of a leader known across Wagah as a Hindu fundamentalist.

“I am carrying a message of peace. Dialogue is the only solution,” Mr. Sharif said as he arrived in Delhi.

On Tuesday, Mr. Modi will hold bilateral discussions with Mr. Sharif, as he will with the other SAARC leaders and the Mauritian Prime Minister. The Modi-Sharif interaction will be brief, but will provide the first indication of the new government’s thinking on Pakistan. From the BJP manifesto, it appears that the new government will focus on economic ties in all its foreign relations.

More immediately, there is the challenge in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military drawdown threatens to worsen the regional security situation, and will impact on ties with Pakistan, which resents India-Afghan ties.