Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

Daily Current Affair - UPSC/KAS Exams - 31st May 2021

What :

• Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a serious condition that appears to be linked to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Most children who become infected with the COVID-19 virus have only a mild illness.
• But in children who go on to develop MIS-C, some organs and tissues — such as the heart, lungs, blood vessels, kidneys, digestive system, brain, skin or eyes — become severely inflamed. Signs and symptoms depend on which areas of the body are affected.
• MIS-C is considered a syndrome — a group of signs and symptoms, not a disease — because much is unknown about it, including its cause and risk factors. Identifying and studying more children who have MIS-C may help to eventually find a cause.

What are the symptoms : Fever that lasts 24 hours or longer, Vomiting , Diarrhea, Pain in the stomach, Skin rash, Feeling unusually tired, Fast heartbeat, Rapid breathing, Red eyes, Redness or swelling of the lips and tongue, Redness or swelling of the hands or feet, Headache, dizziness or lightheadedness, Enlarged lymph nodes

What is the recent news : Cases of a rare inflammatory syndrome among children who recently recovered from Covid-19, which had been seen last year, have made a comeback in the second wave, doctors said.The exact data about how many children in Karnataka are affected is unknown. However, doctors believe that the condition affects some 5% of Covid-recovered children.

What : Scheme for monetary support to orphans due to COVID-19

Details :

• State government would implement the 'Balaseva Scheme' as per the Centre's directions, under which children who have lost both parents will be eligible for a monthly monetary support of Rs 3,500. The money will be given to the guardians.
• In case the children do not have any extended family or guardians to take care of them, they will be taken into Child Care Institutions (CCIs).
• The government will ensure that these children get education in Kasturba schools, Morarji Desai Schools or any of the government model schools
• Children who have finished Class 10 and have lost parents will be provided with free laptops and tablets to complete their higher education or vocational training.
• Female students above 21 years of age will be provided with Rs 1 lakh assistance, which can go towards their marriage, higher education or self employment

What is the news : Ministry of Education has launched “YUVA- Prime Minister’s Scheme for Mentoring Young Authors”.

Details :

YUVA -

• Stands for “Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors”.

• Scheme is in line with PM’s vision of encouraging young writers to write about India’s freedom struggle. Call on young generation to write about freedom fighters was taken in PM’s Mann ki Baat in January 2021. YUVA is a part of India@75 Project which seeks to bring perspectives of young generation of writers on themes including Freedom Fighter, Unsung Heroes, Unknown and Forgotten Places etc.
• Is an Author Mentorship programme which will train young and budding authors aged below 30 years to in order to promote reading, writing and book culture in India. It will also project India and Indian writings worldwide.
• Scheme will be implemented by “National Book Trust of India” under Ministry of Education. Books written under this scheme will be published by National Book Trust. Books will be translated into different languages to exchange culture and literature.
• Total of 75 authors will be selected by an All-India Contest. Winners will be announced on August 15, 2021. Young winning authors will be trained by eminent authors to prepare manuscripts. Published books will be launched on in January 2022 on the occasion of National Youth Day.

What are Monsoon's : Monsoons are basically seasonal winds that reverse their direction according to the change in season. They are hence, periodic winds. The monsoons travel from the sea to the land in summers and from land to the sea during winters, hence, are a double system of seasonal winds.

Details :

• India gets southwest monsoon winds in the summers and northeast monsoons during the winters. The former arise because of the formation of an intense low-pressure system over the Tibetan Plateau. The latter arises due to the high-pressure cells that are formed over the Siberian and Tibetan plateaus.
• Normal date of the arrival of the monsoon is 20th May in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• The advance of the monsoon is much faster in the Bay of Bengal than in the Arabian Sea.
• The normal date of onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala i.e. the first place of entry in the mainland of India is 1st June.
• The monsoons advance quickly accompanied with a lot of thunder, lightning and heavy downpour. This sudden onset of rain is termed as monsoon burst.
• Sometimes monsoons are delayed or they come much earlier than normal.
• Normally the onset occurs between 29th May and 7th June.
• The earliest onset was on 11th May in 1918 and 1955, while the most delayed onset was on 18th June in 1972.

What is the recent news : The arrival of the southwest monsoon over Kerala has been delayed to June 3, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said 

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

What is the news : Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) has released a publication that highlighted the importance of Vitamin -D in Covid patients

What did the report say :

• The authors  defined the administration of Vitamin D study as ‘Pulse D Therapy’ 
• Improvement of Serum Vitamin D level to 80 to 100 Nanograms per MilliLitre (ng/ml) has significantly reduced the inflammatory markers of COVID 19 (N/L ratio, CRP, LDH, IL6, Ferritin) without any side effects.
• The patients in study were randomised into Vitamin D (VD) and Non-Vitamin D (NVD) groups. The VD group received Pulse D therapy (targeted daily supplementation of 60,000 IUs of vitamin D for 8 or 10 days depending upon their BMI) in addition to standard treatment. NVD group received standard treatment alone.
• When the two groups were analysed for statistical significance it was found that Vitamin D level had increased from 16 ng/ml to 89 ng/ml in VD group and a highly significant reduction of all the measured inflammatory markers was noted. However, reduction of markers in NVD group was insignificant.

What is the news : The last Maharaja of Kutch, Maharrao Pragmalji III, was laid to rest

Details :

• He was 85 and the titular head of the Jadeja dynasty, which traces its origins to 1,000 years back as the rulers of Kutch, having ceded to the Indian Union in 1948.

• Was born as Prithvirajji on May 3, 1936, he was the eldest of five children — three brothers and two sisters.
• Is survived by a brother and a sister, and Maharani Priti Devi, the princess of the erstwhile state of Tripura, whom he had married in 1957.

• The royal family’s contributions included giving land in the port town of Kandla besides Adipur and Gandhidham, to refugees who came from Sindh in Pakistan after Partition.
• A strong advocate for a separate state of Kutch, Maharrao Pragmalji was also the Director (emeritus) of the Sindhu Resettlement Corporation (SRC) Ltd, formed for the resettlement and rehabilitation of people who migrated from Sindh to India during Partition in 1947.
• Upon the death of his father Maharrao Madansinhji in 1991, Prithvirajji was appointed the Maharrao and renamed Pragmalji III, said Pratapsinh.
• Famous palaces of Kingdom : Ranjitvilas in Bhuj,Vijayvilas palace on the Mandvi beach

What : The Open Skies Treaty was signed by United States on March 24, 1992. It came into effect in 2002. The Treaty allows both member countries to fly surveillance aircraft over military facilities. The treaty was signed to promote transparency among member countries. 34 member states had participated in treaty.

What is the news : US administration led by Biden, does not seek to re-join Open Skies Treaty with Russia.

Other details :

• The treaty is a key arms control agreement, that allowed US and Russia to fly surveillance aircraft over their military facilities
• According to US administration, US does not seek to renter the pact because of Russia’s failure to comply with it.
• Now, “New START treaty” is the only major arms control pact between both the countries which was extended for five years recently by US

When : 30 May

Details:

• Goa, known in the bygone days as Gomanchala, Gopakapattam, Gopakapuri, Govapuri, Gomantak, etc., abounds in a rich historical heritage. Early history of Goa is obscure.
• In the first century of the Christian era, Goa was a part of the Satavahana empire, followed by the Kadamba, the Rashtrakutas of Malkhed, the Chalukyas and the Silharas.
• The empire of the Yadavas by the end of the 14th century was displaced by the Khiljis of Delhi and thus Muslim rule came to Goa.
• After the discovery of the sea route to India by Vasco-da-Gama in 1498, many Portuguese expeditions came to India.
• In 1510, Alfonso de Albuquerque with the help of the emperor of Vijayanagar attacked and captured Goa.
• With the arrival of the Jesuit priest Francis Xavier in 1542 proselytisation began in Goa.
• However, the Portuguese continued to rule over the territory except for an interlude during the latter half of the 17th century when Shivaji conquered a few areas in and around Goa.
• Even after India's independence, Goa continued to be in the hands of the Portuguese.
• However, they could not fulfil the aspirations of the Goan people and ultimately on 19 December 1961, Goa was liberated and made a composite union territory with Daman and Diu.
• On 30 May 1987 Goa was conferred statehood and Daman and Diu was made a separate union territory.

IAS OFFICER ON DEPUTATION

POINTS TO BE NOTED

• Rule 16(1) of DCRB (Death-cum-Retirement Benefit) Rules says that “a member of the Service dealing with budget work or working as a full-time member of a Committee which is to be wound up within a short period may be given extension of service for a period not exceeding three months in public interest, with the prior approval of the Central Government”. For an officer posted as Chief Secretary of a state, this extension can be for six months.
• Central deputation: In normal practice, the Centre asks every year for an “offer list” of officers of the All India Services (IAS, IPS and Indian Forest Service) willing to go on central deputation, after which it selects officers from that list. Rule 6(1) of the IAS Cadre Rules says an officer may, “with the concurrence of the State Governments concerned and the Central Government, be deputed for service under the Central Government or another State Government…” It says “in case of any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government and the State Government or State Governments concerned shall give effect to the decision of the Central Government.”

• Karnataka begins a survey of over 1,000 acres near the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) — meant to be developed into an elephant corridor.
• After its successful implementation in a number of urban households in Kerala, the ‘Bell of Faith’ scheme is finally to reach senior citizens staying alone in villages. The safety project conceived under Kerala’s Community Policing Scheme will help elderly citizens attract the attention of their neighbours using a loud, remote-controlled alarm in emergencies.
• The Assam government has approved a proposal to increase the firepower of the guards of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve and provide commando training to them.
• In a study published in Nature Medicine, researchers found that blood cancer patients with Covid-19 who had higher CD8 T cells, many of whom had depleted antibodies from cancer treatments, were more than 3 times likelier to survive than patients with fewer CD8 T cells.
• Apex body of broadcasters, Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has extended its purview to cover digital streaming platforms. Also, it will be renamed as Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF). Significance of the move Extended coverage will bring broadcasters and OTT (over-the-top) platforms, under one roof.
• North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is organising “Steadfast Defender 21 war games” military exercises in Europe as tensions with Russia increases.