Defence Diary

,b>Flag Day collection: Collector calling schools

District collector Chandrakant Dalvi has appealed to parents and schools to encourage children to contribute to Flag Day collections. “The Flag Day collection is taken by the government to create awareness,respect and affection among schoolchildren regarding soldiers who fight for the nation. The motive behind Flag Day collection is to encourage children to join the armed forces,” said Dalvi. The collection is used for the betterment of lives of soldiers who have incurred physical disabilities during war,ex-servicemen and widows of martyrs.

Kashmiri elders on a visit to NDA

A group of 25 Kashmiri elders visited the National Defence Academy as part of Operation Sadbhavana on October 24. The visit was sponsored by one of the Rashtriya Rifle Battalions under the aegis of 14 Sector Rashtriya Rifles of the Army. It has been a sincere effort by the Army to include the elderly locals of Jammu and Kashmir in the efforts to bring back strayed youth to mainstream. The members of the group expressed happiness visiting the prestigious institution and assured that they are going to carry a message for the future generation to opt for Defence Services as career. The group also visited many other places of historical interest like Ajanta,Ellora,Aurangabad. NDA authorities presented NDA crested caps to all the members as a token. Earlier last week,the group visited the Armoured Corps Centre and School,Ahmednagar.

Nano drug for diabetes from DIAT

Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) scientist Dr Sangeeta Kale has been working on a diabetes kit that can sense glucose levels in blood with the help of Zinc Oxide nano particles. Developed using nano material,the kit is a strip which indicates glucose level when blood sample is put on it. The current kits that are in use require 1 ml of blood sample as against the nano kit that gives more accurate results in not more than 100 micro litres of blood sample which is far less in quantity than the current used samples. “We have experimented with basic enzymes,used eight to 10 blood samples and tried to identify the results in pathology labs and the outputs are satisfactory,” said Dr Kale. Using nano technology,the conversion of starch into sugar can be controlled which can be a leap in putting a direct check on diabetes as a medicine. “The medicine project is still on a conceptual level and its commercial viability needs to be tested. And it will take few years before the medicine is actually available in the market as the solution for diabetes,” added Kale.