Global swine flu cases leap past 70,000: WHO

The number of recorded swine flu cases has reached 70,893 worldwide, with 311 deaths, since the virus was first discovered in late March, data released by the World Health Organisation on Monday showed.

The data indicated 11,079 new influenza A(H1N1) infections, including 48 deaths, since the last bulletin on Friday.The largest increase in caseload was reported by the United States, which added 6,268 cases including 40 deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 27,717 including 127 deaths.

Canada posted a jump of 1,043 new cases, with its total infections now reaching 7,775 including 21 deaths.Australia showed an increase of 758 new cases including four deaths, bringing its total to 4,038 infections and seven deaths.

US health authorities said Friday that at least one million people in the United States have had swine flu, or around 50 times more than the number of cases officially reported.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) arrived at its figure based on computer models and surveys of communities known to have been hard hit by the new flu strain.
 
Some affected countries no longer keep track of all cases according to the UN health agency, while others do not report for each of the thrice-weekly bulletins.

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By :  News Team

UAV developed by DCE wins prize in US

A high-tech Unmanned Aerial Vehicle developed by a team of ten undergraduates from Delhi College of Engineering in New Delhi has won the prestigious Unmanned Aircraft System International Competition held recently in the US.

The DCE team surpassed 26 teams from top ranking American Institutes like MIT, Cornell University to notch the widely-acclaimed Directors Award organized by Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) in association with US Navy.

"The team was awarded a cash prize of USD 1,500 for successfully flying at the competition as well as for the best team efforts," R K Sinha, Dean Industrial Research and Innovations in DCE told a news agency.


Talking about the special features of the gadget, Sinha said, UAV, a fixed-wing aircraft powered by a 2-stroke engine, is capable of lifting weights up to 7 kgs, equipped with wireless cameras, sensors, GPS and onboard computers capable of long range wireless communications of more than 10 km.

"The entire autopilot and navigation system of the UAV was designed and developed by the team headed by Rochak Chadha, a second year student of Electronics and Communication Engineering supervised by the seniors in the college," Sinha added.

The competition was held at a US Navy base in Maryland from June 17 to June 22. In 2006, a DCE team had won the similar award under best innovation category.

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By :  News Team