Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

What is the news : The rural surge of the pandemic unfolding in South Karnataka is beginning to have an impact on agricultural activities

Details :

• Situation in rural areas was such that labour was difficult to come by to start land preparation for sowing or even harvesting of summer crops.
• people in villages were reluctant to hire workers from outside because of the widespread prevalence of COVID-19
• local residents are objecting to the presence of workers from other places because of the pandemic.
• People in villages were hiding illness to avoid testing and isolation, and there were scores who had tested positive but were forced to remain in their villages as there were no hospital beds

All These will have impact on other agricultural process which are labour intensive

What is Hypoxia : It is a  condition  rooted to low oxygen levels in the blood supply. Hypoxia serves as a warning signal for the imminent failure of vital body organs like the kidneys, brain, heart, and is usually accompanied by prominent breathlessness.

What is Happy Hypoxia : In the case of Happy Hypoxia, there is something that prevents the respiratory system from understanding that oxygen content in the blood is declining, Dr Mehta added. Consequently, in the initial stages of sickness, the patient appears to be outwardly fine and “happy.”

What is the recent news : Amid the ongoing ICU bed shortage, a percentage of Covid-19 sufferers are finding themselves out on the lurch after their oxygen saturation levels dropped without warning. This has become the most reason for covid-19 Bangalore

When : May 16

History :

• Sikkim was a  country with a king known as a Chogyal or dharma king, who ruled till 16 May 1975 was an independent country ruled by the monarchs.
• The Treaty of Tumlong in 1861 made Sikkim a protectorate of the British.
• Initially, Sikkim remained an independent country, until it merged with India in 1975 after a decisive referendum.
• Indian independence and its move to democracy spurred a fledgling political movement in Sikkim, giving rise to the formation of Sikkim State Congress (SSC).
• After India’s independence in 1947, the guarantees of independence that Sikkim had acquired from the British were transferred to the new Indian government.
• In 1950, a treaty was agreed between India and Sikkim which gave Sikkim the status of an Indian protectorate.
• The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave special protectorate status for Sikkim, which was to be a ‘tributary’ of India.
• Sikkim came under the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defence, diplomacy and communications.
• In 1973, anti-royalist riots took place in front of the Chogyal’s palace.
• In 1975, the Prime Minister of Sikkim appealed to the Indian Parliament for Sikkim to become a state of India. In April 1975, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and disarmed the Chogyal’s palace guards.
• Thereafter, a referendum was held for abolishing the monarchy, effectively approving union with India.
• On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished.
• To enable the incorporation of the new state, the Indian Parliament amended the Indian Constitution. First, the 35th Amendment laid down a set of conditions that made Sikkim an “Associate State”, a special designation not used by any other state.
• The 36th Amendment repealed the 35th Amendment, and made Sikkim a full state, adding its name to the First Schedule of the Constitution.

ADDITIONAL INFO:

• The procedure for formation of new States laid down in Article 3 of the Constitution.
• Article 3 assigns to Parliament the power to enact legislation for the formation of new States. Parliament may create new States in a number of ways, namely by:
  • separating territory from any State
  • uniting two or more States
  • uniting parts of States
  • uniting any territory to a part of any State
• Parliament’s power under Article 3 extends to increasing or diminishing the area of any State and altering the boundaries or name of any State.
• Note: A state has no say over the formation of new States beyond communicating its views to Parliament.
• A bill calling for formation of new States may be introduced in either House of Parliament only on the recommendation of the President.
• The bill must be referred by the President to the concerned State Legislature for expressing its views to Parliament if it contains provisions which affect the areas, boundaries or name of that State.

What : Indian regional airline based at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.

What is in news : The State government has helped resume the TruJet airline services between Chennai, Kadapa and Vijayawada airports by providing the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) of around ₹20 crore for one more year as an extension to the Centre’s Regional Connectivity Scheme-UDAN

What is Viablity gap funding : Viability Gap Funding (VGF) means a grant one-time or deferred, provided to support infrastructure projects that are economically justified but fall short of financial viability.

About UDAAN scheme

• Ude Desh ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) was launched as a regional connectivity scheme under the Ministry of Civil Aviation in 2016.
• The objective of the scheme is to create affordable yet economically viable and profitable flights on regional routes so that flying becomes affordable to the common man even in small towns.
• The scheme envisages providing connectivity to un-served and underserved airports of the country through the revival of existing air-strips and airports. The scheme is operational for a period of 10 years.
• Under-served airports are those which do not have more than one flight a day, while unserved airports are those where there are no operations.
• Financial incentives from the Centre, state governments and airport operators are extended to selected airlines to encourage operations from unserved and under-served airports, and keep airfares affordable.

Additional facts :

UDAN 4.1:

The UDAN 4.1 focuses on connecting smaller airports, along with special helicopter and seaplane routes.

News : Common crane, a bird that is part of its folklore and was a popular pet during medieval times, has returned to the island nation.

Info: A pair of cranes was spotted last year on a restored peat bog –a type of wetland that is mostly found in northern latitude countries.

The exact location of these birds are kept secret to protect them

Details about Cranes :

• Last year was the first time in over 300 years that they were spotted nesting in Ireland during winter .
• Cranes stand at 4 feet tall with a wingspan of over 7 feet, and used to be the largest birds in Ireland. They are connected with the history and culture of the country, featuring in folklore tales and in the names of towns. Although they were once common, the destruction of their habitat saw them disappear around the 16th and 17th century.
• It is also being suggested that the common crane is reestablishing its presence in Ireland, given another the spotting of a young crane in County Dublin last year.

Why is bog restoration important?

• Bogs (also called quagmires) are soft, spongy wetlands that accumulate peat– a fossil fuel that is used for heating homes and businesses in northern Europe. They are formed in northern climates, and take thousands of years to develop.
• Bogs also act as carbon sinks, sequestering around 200 million tons of carbon from the environment in Siberia and Scandinavia. For centuries, however, they have been drained for extracting peat or for development, leading to the destruction of their delicate ecosystems, including damage to species such as cranes that breed here.
• Efforts are now underway around the world to restore these wetlands by rewetting them and reintroducing bog plants. If bogs in Ireland recover, experts say, there is a chance that cranes too would re-colonise them.

What are Zeolites?

• Zeolites are aluminosilicate minerals. They are microporous material that is used as adsorbents and catalysts.
• They can accommodate cations such as K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+. When the zeolite minerals come in contact with a solution, they exchange these cations for other ions in the solution. The most common zeolite minerals are stilbite, phillipsite, natrolite, heulandite, chabzite, analcime.

Natural Zeolites

• The Zeolites are naturally formed when the volcanic rocks react with alkaline ground water.
• They also crystallize in marine basins for thousands to millions of years.
• The naturally occurring zeolites are contaminated with other minerals like quartz. They are rarely pure. For this reason, the naturally occurring Zeolites are excluded from commercial applications where purity is essential.
• The Zeolites transform into other minerals under hydrothermal alteration, weathering and metamorphic conditions. Weathering is breaking down of rocks through contact with water, atmospheric gases and biological organisms.

Artificial Zeolite: The zeolites are also produced by the process of slow crystallisation of silica-alumina gel. They are mainly used in commercial water purification. Also, they are used as sorbents and catalysts.

Zeolites in Oxygen Production

• Zeolites are used as adsorbent material in Pressure Swing Adsorption.
• An oxygen concentrator uses Zeolites to adsorb atmospheric nitrogen and then vents out the nitrogen. This leaves oxygen gas remaining to be used for patients.
• In high pressure, the surface area of zeolites increases and thus is capable of adsorbing large quantities of nitrogen.

What: DSR Technique is Direct Seeding of Rice Technique.

Recent news: This year Punjab Government has decided to bring one hectare of land under DSR technique. This is being done as the Government is expecting shortage of migrant labour.

What is DSR Technique?

• DSR technique is direct seeding of rice. Here the seeds are sown in the field directly rather than transplanting the seedlings. A tractor powered machine is used to drill the seeds in to the soil.
• There is no nursery preparation in DSR technique.

Transplanting Paddy

• In the traditional method, where the paddy is transplanted, the farmer first prepare nurseries. The seeds are sown in these nurseries and raised to young plants. After 25-35 days, these seedlings are uprooted and sown in the field.
• Benefits of DSR Technique
• The technique reduces cost by Rs 6000 per acre
• It uses 30% less water. This is because, during transplantation, the field has to be kept irrigated almost daily maintaining a water depth of 4-5 centimetres.

Limitations

• It requires timely sowing needs for the crops to come out properly before monsoon rains.
• Seed requirement is high. In transplanting, it is 4-5 kg per acre and in DSR, it is 8-10 kg per acre.

Issues:

• In 2020, the Punjab Government sanctioned 4,000 DSR machines and 800 paddy transplanters with 40% to 50% subsidy.
• Around July 2020, farmers complained rodent attacks. Usually in normal transplanting method, the crops are not vulnerable to rodent attacks. This is because, they cannot survive in flooded fields. However, the rodent attack in Punjab is common and every crop faces this issue. Around 2% to 15% damages are caused by rodent attacks in the state every year.

What: Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer of the European Space Agency

About Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer

• It is called JUICE.
• It is an interplanetary spacecraft developed by European Space Agency. It is under its development phase.
• The main contractor of the mission is Airbus Defence and Space.
• The JUICE Mission will study three Galilean Moon of Jupiter. They are Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
• All these three moons have significant amount of water beneath their surfaces.
• The spacecraft is to be launched in June 2022.
• It will reach Jupiter in October 2029.
• It will reach Jupiter after five gravity assists. Gravity Assists is the use of the gravity of other planet or astronomical object to increase speed of a spacecraft or to alter its path. This is done to save the propellant and reduce expenses.

Objectives

• Detailed investigation of Ganymede and evaluate its potential to support life.
• Characterisation of ocean layers
• Detection of putative subsurface water reservoirs
• Geological and Topographical compositional mapping of the surface
• Study of physical properties of the icy crusts
• Investigation of Ganymede’s atmosphere. Study about its magnetic field.

What is the news : In the pandameic year, the export of rice has hit 13 M tonnes and Wheat export 2 M, a all time high since 2014-15

Additional info :

• The two cereals averaged just 62.69 mt during the previous five years, while amounting to 62.19 mt in 2019-20. The total grain channelled through the public distribution system (PDS) in 2020-21 was, in other words, nearly 50% higher than in normal years.
• These twin records – of the country exporting close to 20 mt of grain and also distributing 92 mt under schemes such as NFSA (entitling 80 crore-plus persons to 5 kg each of wheat or rice per month at Rs 2 and Rs 3/kg, respectively) and PMGKAY (additional 5 kg monthly allocation for April-November 2020, free of cost) – is a remarkable story of surplus production and stocks in public warehouses.
• Exports, on the other hand, have been surging mainly on the back of international prices.

Good export stratergy :

• Wheat sourced from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan at below MSP – say, Rs 18,000 per tonne – can easily be exported today from Kandla and Mundra even after adding Rs 1,500-2,000 towards cost of bagging, cleaning, transport, port handling and loading.
• The possibilities for it can also be seen from the fact that wheat from Shahjahanpur, Gonda or Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is now being delivered by rail wagons in Bengaluru at Rs 2,050-2,100 per quintal. Flour millers are getting a 1.5% cash discount on top of that.
• The same wheat is selling at Rs 1,600-1,650/quintal in central/eastern UP and Bihar, where hardly any MSP-based procurement takes place.

AGRI-TOURISM

What :

• In Agri-Tourism the urban tourists stay in farmers home. During their stay they engage in farming activities, tractor ride, bullock cart ride. Also, they enjoy folk songs and dances. They buy fresh farm produce.
• In return, the farmers greet the tourists, provide accommodation and entertain them during their stay. This acts as an additional income for the farmers. Also, it employs the local youths as tourist guides. This way the programme provides employment opportunities as well.

Recent news: World Agri-Tourism day celebrated

Details:

• This year, on the fourteenth World Agri-Tourism Day, Government of Maharashtra, Agri-Tourism Development Corporation is to organise International Conference on Agri-Tourism. 
• 2021 Theme: Rural Women Sustainable Entrepreneurship Opportunities through Agri Tourism
• Maharashtra is the pioneer state to develop and promote agri-tourism in the country.
• In September 2020, Maharashtra passed Agro-Tourism policy. This aims to provide the tourists the pleasure of farming and also help increase farmer income.

Agri Tourism Development Corporation

• It was established in 2005.
• It mainly implements the Agri Tourism Project. The project is implemented in a village near Pune in about 28 acres.

About the fund :

• It was created in 1995-96 with an initial corpus of Rs 2,000 crores.
• In 2020-21, Rs 29,848 crores was allocated to RIDF. With this the cumulative allocation has reached Rs 18,500 crores.
• Eligible Activities: The fund shall be used for 37 eligible activities as approved by the GoI. These eligible activities are classified under the three broad categories. They are social sector, agriculture and related sector and rural connectivity.

Recent news: The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) recently announced that it provided Rs 1,236 crores to Assam in 2020-21 from its Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF).

What: Report on job losses

By : Azim Premji University

Points to be noted :

• Pandemic had forced people out of their formal jobs into casual work, and led to a severe decline in incomes. This lead to sudden increase in poverty over the past year.
• Women and younger workers have been disproportionately affected. Households have coped by reducing food intake, borrowing, and selling assets. Government relief has helped avoid the most severe forms of distress, but the reach of support measures is incomplete, leaving out some of the most vulnerable workers and households
• The report also provided the impact on livelihoods before the second Covid wave unfolded and, in that sense, it is quite likely that more bad news will follow unless the government urgently undertakes steps to compensate people for the loss of earnings.

STATE-LEVEL JOB LOSS INDEX

What :

• Ratio of a state’s share in jobs lost to its share in India’s workforce
• Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, contributed disproportionately to job losses. Unsurprisingly, these are also the states that suffered the maximum Covid caseload.

When : May 15

Details:

• The World Family Day was introduced in the United Nations in 1993. This was done to emphasis the role of the families in shaping the individuals.
• The United Nations is to celebrate International Year of Families in 2024.
• 2021 THEME : Families and New Technologies

Family Homelessness in India

• There is a shortage of 18.78 million houses in India.
• Around 78 millions live in slums. 17% of world slum dwellers are in India.
• The main reason behind homelessness in India is migration from rural to urban. Other reasons are disability, unemployment, lack of affordable housing.
• Only 3% of the homeless people in India possessed an ID card.

What :Very severe cyclonic storm

Where : Arabian sea

Who classifies cyclone severity: IMD

Why is Cyclone Tauktae unique?

• Tauktae is the fourth cyclone in consecutive years to have developed in the Arabian Sea, that too in the pre-monsoon period (April to June). All these cyclones since 2018 have been categorised either ‘Severe Cyclone’ or above.
• Once Tauktae makes its landfall, three of these will have hit either the Gujarat or Maharashtra coast.
• After Cyclone Mekanu in 2018, which struck Oman, Cyclone Vayu in 2019 struck Gujarat, followed by Cyclone Nisarga in 2020 that struck Maharashtra.
• Tauktae has been intensifying very rapidly. From a depression formed in the southeast Arabian Sea on May 14 morning, it strengthened into a VSCS by the early hours of May 16. Compared to Tauktae’s 2 days, Cyclone Vayu had taken 36 hours to become a VSCS, while Cyclone Mekanu (4 days) and Cyclone Nisarga (5 days) had developed slower.
• Also, the first cyclones to form in 2020 and 2021 were in the Arabian Sea during the pre-monsoon period, both in the VSCS category.

What is aiding such rapid intensification?

• Any tropical cyclone requires energy to stay alive. This energy is typically obtained from warm water and humid air over the tropical ocean. Currently, sea water up to depths of 50 metres has been very warm, supplying ample energy to enable the intensification of Cyclone Tauktae.
• The more the heat released through condensation of water vapour, the steeper the drop in pressure. A low-pressure system undergoes multiple stages of intensification to form cyclones.
• Typically, tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean region (Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea) develop during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon (October to December) periods. May-June and October-November are known to produce cyclones of severe intensity that affect the Indian coasts.

Is the Arabian Sea becoming cyclone-friendly ?

• Annually, five cyclones on average form in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea combined. Of these, four develop in the Bay of Bengal, which is warmer than the Arabian Sea.
• In the Arabian Sea, cyclones typically develop over Lakshadweep area and largely traverse westwards, or away from India's west coast.However, in recent years, meteorologists have observed that the Arabian Sea, too, has been warming. This is a phenomenon associated with global warming.

 

LIGHTNING AND ANIMAL DEATHS

HOW DOES LIGHTNING KILL ANIMALS:

• DIRECT FLASH: An animal in an open field may be struck directly by lightning if part of its body protrudes over other objects in the vicinity. Taller animals are more vulnerable.
• SIDE FLASH: When lightning strikes a tall object such as a tree, it may generate a side flash that can strike an animal standing underneath the tree.
• TOUCH POTENTIAL: If one part of a tall animal’s body is in contact with the ground while another part, at a higher elevation, comes in contact with a lightning-struck object, a partial current may pass through its body.
• STEP POTENTIAL: The most common lightning hazard among four-legged animals. When an animal’s front and hind feet are far enough apart, a partial current may pass through the body in certain circumstances.

WHAT HAPPEN IN ASSAM:

• Recently, as many as 18 elephants died due to Lightning strike in  Bamuni Hill, Assam
• When current flows through the ground following a lightning strike, the electric potential (voltage) is highest at the point of the strike, and decreases with distance along the direction of the flow.
• If an elephant is facing the strike point, the current will flow from the front feet (higher potential) to the hind feet (lower potential), electrocuting it in the process.
• Death of 18 elephants  happen because in a single lightning flash, the current flows to the ground several times. These are termed subsequent strokes. This is why we see a flash of lightning flickering. There is a possibility of each subsequent stroke attaching to different nearby objects due to a few reasons explainable in physics.

WHY ARE ELEPHANTS VULNERABLE :

• Distance between their front and hind feet(when compared to a rat).
• What impact distance between legs make: The potential difference increases with increasing distance between the two feet. The larger the potential difference, the greater the current through the body
• Chances of getting directly struck by lightning highly depends on the vicinity. Tallest objects in the vicinity attract the lightning. So if there are tall trees (higher than the elephants) the chance that lightning strikes them directly is not big. But if they are in an open grassfield the chances are bigger.

PREVIOUS INSTANCES:

• In 2007, five elephants were killed in a similar incident in Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal.
• In 2016, over 300 reindeer were killed on Norway's Hardangervidda plateau following thunderstorms.
• In 1972, 53 reindeer were killed in a lightning strike in Alaska.

• Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Former Akal Takht Jathedar and Survivor of 1984 Attack on Darbar Sahib, Passes Away
• The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has expressed deep grief over the demise of Noted Journalist Shri Sunil Jain.
• PM Modi condoles demise of mathematician MS Narasimhan
• The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi is creating a virtual museum space through its online summer programme NAIMISHA 2021. This unique art fiesta will provide a platform to create and engage with the arts.
• Government of India has reviewed the existing procedure for approval of global manufacturers for importing oxygen cylinders by Petroleum and Explosive Safety Organization (PESO). In view of the COVID pandemic, PESO shall not carry out physical inspection of global manufacturers' production facilities before grant of such approval. Now, such approvals shall be granted online without any delay on submission of manufacturer’s particulars; ISO certificate of manufacturer; List of Cylinders their specifications, drawings & batch number; Hydro test certificate and Third-Party inspection Certificate. Every foreign manufacturer/importer who wants to import oxygen cylinders is required to apply for import permission through PESO online system.
• The Palaeontologists recently identified a new species of dinosaur called the Talkative Dinosaur. It was identified in the northern Mexico.
• The National History Museum located in London is to display a piece of the meteorite that touched down the town of Winchcombe in Gloucestershire in the UK. The meteorite touched the UK soil in February 2021.
• Italian Open, 2021 was won by Rafael Nadal. This is his tenth title of the Rome Masters. The Italian Open, 2021 was held on May 16, 2021 in Rome.
• The researchers in the University of Oxford recently launched “Com-COV Study “. The study was launched to investigate alternate doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccine. The researchers have concluded that mixing the administration of these doses in a more frequent mild to moderate reactions will increase the reactogenicity of the vaccine.
• The mice population in Australia has increased exponentially. The mice are causing extensive damages to the cultivated crop and stored food grains. This is being referred to as Mice Rain. Also, plague in the country has increased.
• The Black Fungus disease has been declared as notified disease in Haryana. This means that the Government Authorities have to be informed about each case of Black Fungus Disease.
• The Chinese Mission to Mars Tianwen 1 recently landed in the Utopia Planitia. It is the place where the Viking 2 lander touched down. Utopia Planitia is an Impact basin of Mars. Impact Crater is a circular depression in the surface of planets formed due to hypervelocity impact of smaller bodies. It may be due to meteors.

Doomsday Surfing: It is the tendency to scroll through bad news even though the news is saddening or depressing. The term Doomsday Surfing is one of the new lexicon of words the COVID-19 has introduced into the daily lives of man.