TNPSC Current Affairs January 12, 2018

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs January 12, 2018 (12/01/2018)

 

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Topic : Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health.

Kala Azar

India has missed the 2017 deadline that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had announced for elimination of Kala Azar (black fever) in his Budget speech last year.

In fact, endemic blocks have increased from 61 to 68 in 17 districts of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Background:

Kala-azar is endemic to the Indian subcontinent in 119 districts in four countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal). This disease is the second-largest parasitic killer in the world.

Elimination is defined as reducing the annual incidence of Kala Azar (KA) to less than 1 case per 10,000 people at the sub-district level.

Kala-azar:

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, black fever, and Dumdum fever, is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality.

Spread: Caused by protozoan parasites of the Leishmania genus migrates to the internal organs such as the liver, spleen (hence “visceral”), and bone marrow.

Signs and symptoms include fever, weight loss, fatigue, anemia, and substantial swelling of the liver and spleen.

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Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space

ISRO Launches Its 100th Satellite

Space agency ISRO has successfully sent up a rocket carrying India’s 100th satellite along with 30 others, four months after failed launch.

The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV lifted off from Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh.

Key Facts:

The PSLV-C40 placed 31 satellites, originating from seven countries. This is the 42nd flight of the PSLV.

The 30 other satellites onboard include two other satellites from India and 28 satellites from six countries — Canada, Finland, France, Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The mission is a unique one, since the satellites were launched in two orbits.

Thirty of the satellites were launched in an orbit 550 km about, and one 359-km above the Earth.

This was done through what scientists call the “multiple burn technology” under which the rocket’s engine is switched off and then switched on to control its height.

This is ISRO’s first launch in 2018 and it is also the first after the unsuccessful mission of IRNSS-1H in August last year.

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Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space

BeiDou

China has sent twin satellites into space on a single carrier rocket, as part of efforts to enable its BeiDou system to provide navigation and positioning services to countries along the Belt and Road by the end of 2018.

This is the first launch of the BeiDou satellites in 2018. The twin satellites are coded the 26th and 27th satellites in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS).

Background:

The BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is a Chinese satellite navigation system.

BeiDou has been described as a potential navigation satellite system to overtake GPS in global usage, and is expected to be more accurate than the GPS once it is fully completed.

The current third generation of BeiDou claims to reach millimeter-level accuracy (with post-processing), which is ten times more accurate than the finest level of GPS.

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Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space

SPARCS

Scientists are planning to launch a small telescope into the Earth’s orbit that will monitor the flares and sunspots of small stars to assess how habitable the environment is for planets orbiting them.

The spacecraft is known as the Star-Planet Activity Research CubeSat, or SPARCS.

About SPARCS:

SPARCS is a new NASA-funded space telescope and will be launched in 2021.

The mission, including spacecraft design, integration and resulting science, is led by Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE).

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Topic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space

James Webb Space Telescope

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope the world’s premier infrared space observatory of the next decade — has successfully completed critical testing in a massive thermal vacuum chamber, enabling it to function properly in the extremely cold and airless environment in space in 2019.

James webb space telescope:

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is the largest space telescope ever built.

It is an international collaboration between of about 17 countries including NASA, European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).

When it is launched in 2019, it will be the world’s biggest and most powerful telescope.

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Topic: conservation of Animals, Environment and Ecology

Chiru goat

India’s environment ministry has ruled out the possibility of conservation breeding of the Chiru goat, a ‘near threatened’ species whose underfur is used for making the famous Shahtoosh shawls.

Key Facts :

Chiru, or Tibetan antelope, is assessed as ‘Near Threatened’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature 2017.

The Tibetan antelope is the sole species in the genus Pantholops.

Endemic to the Tibetan Plateau, the Tibetan antelope inhabits open alpine and cold steppe environments between 3,250 and 5,500 m (10,660 and 18,040 ft) elevation.

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Topic : Latest Diary of Events, Profile of States

In a first, collegium selects woman advocate for SC judge

Senior Advocate Indu Malhotra will be the first woman lawyer to be directly elevated from the Bar to the Supreme Court as a judge.

Malhotra will be the seventh woman judge since Independence to make it to the Supreme Court.

Indu Malhotra is a senior counsel practising in the Supreme Court of India for the past 30 years.

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Topic : Latest Diary of Events

Indian Air Force Conquers ‘Seven Summits’

An expert team of IAF mountaineers had successfully scaled highest peaks of six different continents earlier and had recently embarked upon its culminating expedition to Mt Vinson in Antarctica to complete Mission Seven Summits.

With this, Indian Air Force becomes the first organisation in India to have completed ‘Seven Summits’, indeed a rare feat to achieve.

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Topic : Latest Diary of Events

Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthplace becomes U.S. national park

Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthplace has officially become National Historical Park, in a move to mark his birthday, which is observed on the third Monday of January each year as a U.S. federal holiday.

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Topic : General Administration, Public Awareness, Profile of States

Tamil Nadu Golden Jubilee celebrations

Tamil Nadu Government has decided to celebrate the Golden Jubilee on January 14, 2018 for the state getting rechristened as “Tamilnadu”.

It has hence been decided to observe its golden jubilee through events to mark the eminence of Tamil language and Tamil people, and honoring young Tamil research scholars at the valedictory.

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Topic : Awards and Honours

Krititva Samagra Samman award 2018 for writer Malan

The Bharatiya Bhasha institution’s Krititva Samagra Samman 2018 Award, which is regarded as one of India’s most prestigious literary awards, is presented to Tamil writer Malan this year.

Key facts:

It works for the development of Indian literature through publication of books on literature and implementation of various literary projects.

It honors Indian writers for the contribution to Indian literature through their respective languages.

About Maalan Narayanan:

Maalan Narayanan, is a journalist and writer from Tamil Nadu, India.

He is a member of Tamil Advisory Board of Sahitya Akademi, member of Board of Studies for Tamil Literature (PG) of University of Madras, member of Commonwealth Journalists Association and South Asian Literary Association.