Latest news with #TIGS
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
COVID cases rising again but nothing to be worried, says top scientist
COVID virus seems to have a made a comeback with cases being reported in different parts of the country, but scientists insist that there is nothing to be worried since those affected are only showing mild symptoms of low grade fever and cough while hospitalisations too have been less. 'Yes, we are seeing COVID wave in some parts of the country. It is also being reported in certain other Asian counties. It could be a variant of JN.1 which is already circulating among the population. But people may not have realised as most of them are asymptomatic and there are no major clinical symptoms', said noted scientist and director of Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS) Rakesh Mishra. His institute has been closely monitoring the wastewater surveillance reports in Bengaluru (Karnataka) and Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh), where a spike in COVID virus has been noticed from the samples taken from Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) since last week in these two cities. 'We have an agreement with the local municipal authorities in those two cities. We are studying the wastewater samples taken from open drains in Hyderabad since we do not have such a pact here. Most likely, people are shedding the COVID virus at the same level in the twin cities too,' said Dr. Mishra, a former Director of CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and who continues to supervise research scholars in his lab here. Although there is no uniform or coordinated environment surveillance for COVID across the country, he stresses the need to keep a close watch on the developments. 'Every few months, we are bound to have a spike in infections because the virus has become very infectious. Yet, it is always good to be cautious. We have to keep a watch on the severity of the symptoms lest we are caught unawares if there is a rush for hospitalisations due a more potent strain that could arise,' points out the top scientist. Citizens can take precautions like isolating or sporting a face mask when outside, especially, if one has COVID symptoms showing civic responsibility. Plus, it is always better to wear the face mask when in a crowd, added Dr. Mishra.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Army adds new space operations specialist MOS for enlisted soldiers
A space career field for enlisted soldiers is coming to the Army as the U.S. builds up its space-based capabilities. The Army is planning for a couple hundred 40D space operations specialists who would be integrated into Space and Missile Defense Command to provide communication and support to counter the threat of satellites and other technologies facing troops on the ground. The new military occupational specialty, or MOS, will be open to enlisted soldiers between the E-4 and E-9 pay grades. 'It's going to be very competitive,' Lt. Gen. Sean Gainey, commanding general of Army's Space and Missile Defense Command told reporters Friday. 'The personnel that are gravitating towards some of those high-tech MOS are going to naturally gravitate towards space also because they served their initial term in whatever it is — signal corps, air defense.' The Army's space units currently borrow enlisted soldiers from other fields like air defense, signal corps and military intelligence for three years to support space operations. But with the new MOS, the Army wants dedicated enlisted soldiers who can build on their space expertise throughout their careers, Gainey said. 'To date, most expertise and experience in space operations reside in the officers corps instead of the noncommissioned officers corps,' Gainey said. 'This new space operations MOS will ensure that specialities through command sergeant majors arrive at Army space formations with expertise and experience in space operations.' The new 40D military occupational specialty will be open to soldiers who want to reclassify and are between the ranks of E-4 to E-9 — specialists to sergeant major. The MOS will go live in October 2026, but the Army is currently looking for soldiers with the relevant skill sets across its formations, Gainey said. Space operations specialists will attend Initial Qualification Training and gain an Additional Skill Identifier at the Space and Missile Defense School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they will be trained on electronic warfare systems and other space-based systems like the Tactical Integrated Ground Suite, also known as TIGS. The new MOS comes as the military is adding new space-based capabilities across the force since the Space Force was stood up in 2018. On Thursday, Sandboxx News reported that the Space Force plans to stand up its own component within U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees operations of elite units like Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets. While the Space Force is the military's prime space-focused unit, the Army's role in space involves soldiers who 'provide close space support to Army conventional and special operation forces, protecting them from space-enabled attacks,' Gainey said. The Army's 'space vision,' describes its soldiers using commercial space technologies for operations that require positioning, navigation, sensing, beyond line-of-sight communications, force tracking, environmental monitoring, and space reconnaissance capabilities. To counter enemy space-based threats, the Army intends to mix 'necessary fires and effects' to protect friendly forces 'from observation and targeting by counter-satellite communications, counter-surveillance and reconnaissance, and navigation warfare operations,' according to the document, which was published in January. The 40D soldiers could be assigned to a Multidomain Task Force, Theater Strike Effects Groups, the Space and Missile Defense Center of Excellence, SMDC's Space and Missile Defense School, 1st Space Brigade, 100th Missile Defense Brigade, or a space support element. Marine in top enlisted spot leaving the Pentagon after just 2 years Army sergeant found guilty in spree of barracks break-ins and attempted murder End of the 'yeet': the standing power throw is out as new Army fitness test goes 'sex-neutral' for combat jobs Good luck figuring out the Air Force's algorithm for shaving waivers Army cuts athletic trainers from fitness teams, with medics to take up slack
