India Climate Energy Dashboard (ICED) 3.0: NITI Aayog recently launched India Climate Energy Dashboard (ICED) 3.0. It is the country’s one-stop platform for near real-time data on the energy sector, climate, and related economic datasets based on government-published sources. It was developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the energy and climate think-tank Vasudha Foundation.
Developed as a user-friendly platform, ICED 3.0 enables users to freely access and analyses datasets using an analytical engine. It will facilitate insights and enhance understanding of the energy and climate sectors while identifying the key challenges.
The Portal will draw insights from the available data parameters and hence immensely useful in monitoring the progress of India’s clean energy transition journey. This dashboard offers more than 500 parameters, over 2000 infographics, and a number of interactive visualizations, allowing users to gain a holistic understanding of India’s energy sector.
Besides energy and climate, the dashboard also offers information on economy and demography for comparative study and its combined analysis along with the energy and climate issues.
National Tele Mental Health Programme: Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele MANAS) has been launched in October 2022. It aims to provide free tele-mental health services all over the country round the clock, particularly catering to people in remote or under-served areas. There are 42 active Tele Manas cells across 31 states and Union Territories. The service is accessible through toll-free numbers with options to choose preferred languages (20 languages included till now).
Tele-MANAS will be organised in a two-tier system: Tier 1: It comprises state Tele-MANAS cells which include trained counsellors and mental health specialists.
Tier 2: It will comprise specialists at District Mental Health Programme (DMHP)/Medical College resources for physical consultation and/or e-Sanjeevani for audio-visual consultation.Services offered by Tele MANAS:
Tele counselling by trained counsellors, Tele Consultation by Mental Health professionals when required, and Referral Services to other Mental Health Establishments such as Medical Colleges, District Mental Health Program (DMHP) services and speciality institutes.
Fragile X Syndrome: It is an inherited genetic disease passed down from parents to children that causes intellectual and developmental disabilities. It is also known as Martin-Bell syndrome. It is the most common hereditary cause of mental disability in boys. It affects 1 in 4,000 boys. It’s less common in girls, affecting about 1 in every 8,000. Boys usually have more severe symptoms than girls. People with FXS usually experience a range of developmental and learning problems. The disease is a chronic or lifelong condition. Only some people with FXS are able to live independently. The peculiar quality of this disease is that if it is inherited by the father, then it will only affect the daughter, but if it is inherited by the mother, then it can affect both genders. It is caused by a defect in the FMR1 gene located on the X chromosome. The defect, or mutation, on the FMR1 gene, prevents the gene from properly making a protein called the fragile X mental retardation 1 protein. This protein plays a role in the functioning of the nervous system. The exact function of the protein is not fully understood. A lack or shortage of this protein causes the symptoms characteristic of FXS. It cannot be cured.
