It aims to conserve and develop indigenous breeds in a focused and scientific manner.
RGM is a focussed project under National Programme for Bovine Breeding and Dairy Development, with an outlay of Rs 500 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan.
The Mission will be implemented with the objectives to:
development and conservation of indigenous breeds
undertake breed improvement programme for indigenous cattle breeds so as to improve the genetic makeup and increase the stock;
enhance milk production and productivity;
upgrade nondescript cattle using elite indigenous breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Deoni, Tharparkar, Red Sindhi and
distribute disease free high genetic merit bulls for natural service.
Under this component it is proposed to establish Integrated Indigenous Cattle Centres or Gokul Grams in the breeding tracts of indigenous breeds.
The Gokul Gram will be self sustaining and will generate economic resources from sale of A2 milk, organic manure, vermi-composting, urine distillates, and production of electricity from bio gas for in house consumption and sale of animal products.
The Gokul Gram will also function as state of the art in situ training centre for Farmers, Breeders and MAITRI’s.
‘See-through’ frog
A newly identified frog species, with transparent skin through which its beating heart is visible, is under threat of extinction.
The frog, discovered in the Amazonian lowlands of Ecuador, has unique physical and behavioural traits.
The dark green spots on its back and its reproductive behaviour mark it out as different from known frogs.
Glass frogs need pristine streams to breed in. Males guard the eggs, which are attached below a tree’s leaves, until they hatch and fall on the water stream below.
If the stream dries up, or becomes polluted, the frogs can’t survive.
3 cases of Zika virus in Gujarat
WHO has reported the first three “laboratory-confirmed cases of Zika virus disease” in India — all from Bapunagar area of Ahmedabad.
Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae. It is spread mostly by the bite of an infected Aedes species mosquito (Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus).
Its name comes from the Zika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947.
It can be passed from a pregnant woman to her fetus. Infection during pregnancy can cause certain birth defects.
There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika.
Zika infection during pregnancy can cause a birth defect of the brain called microcephaly and other severe brain defects. It is also linked to other problems, such as miscarriage, stillbirth, and other birth defects.
There have also been increased reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome, an uncommon sickness of the nervous system, in areas affected by Zika.
rs145556679* - an unique gene
Scientists have identified a unique gene variant in people living in isolated Greek villages that protects them from heart diseases.
The variant, rs145556679*, is associated with lower levels of both ‘bad’ natural fats and ‘bad’ cholesterol, the factors that lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.
The cardioprotective variant was found in Mylopotamos in northern Crete, where the population is isolated and live a long life despite having a diet rich in animal fat.
