Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• Hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents and can cause varied disease syndromes in people worldwide.
• The virus is named after the Hantan River area in South Korea, where one of the early strains of the virus was isolated in the 70s.
• They are also an RNA virus just like SARS-CoV-2 (the novel coronavirus).
• These belong to the order called Bunyavirales and have 12 families.
• The virus is transmitted by rodent excreta, saliva and sometimes, infected rodent bites.
• There are different kinds of illnesses caused by different hantaviruses, and they affect either the blood vessels or the lungs.
• Hantaviruses in the Americas are known as “New World” hantaviruses and may cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS).
• Other hantaviruses, known as “Old World” hantaviruses, are found mostly in Europe and Asia and may cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).
• In HPS, there are muscle aches, fever, fatigue accompanied by breathing difficulties later. The most damage is observed in the lung, spleen and gall bladder.

Explanation :

• The United Nations Charter established six main organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council in 1945.
• It gives primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security to the Security Council, which may meet whenever peace is threatened.
• The council has 15 members: five permanent and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.
• The five permanent members are- United States, the Russian Federation, France, China and the United Kingdom.

Non-Council Member States

• A State which is a Member of the United Nations but not of the Security Council may participate, without a vote, in its discussions when the Council considers that country's interests are affected.
• Both Members and non-members of the United Nations, if they are parties to a dispute being considered by the Council, may be invited to take part, without a vote, in the Council's discussions; the Council sets the conditions for participation by a non-member State.

Explanation :

• Boko Haram is an ISIS-aligned jihadist group based in northeastern Nigeria.
• It is also active in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.
• It was founded in 2002 in Maiduguri, Nigeria, by a Salafist cleric named Mohammed Yusuf and seeks to establish a caliphate, or Islamic state, in Nigeria.
• The group's name has always been Jamā'atu Ahli is-Sunnah lid-Da'wati wal-Jihad, meaning "Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawa and Jihad".
• It is also known as Wilayat Garb Ifrqiya, meaning "West African Province", since March 2015 after becoming part of the Islamic State.

Explanation :

• The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), formerly known as the Millennium Dam and sometimes referred to as Hidase Dam is an under construction gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz Region of Ethiopia.
• The dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when completed, as well as the seventh largest in the world.
• The dam is the centerpiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter, with a projected capacity of more than 6,000 megawatts.

Blue Nile

• The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia.
• With the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile. The Blue Nile supplies about 80% of the water in the Nile during the rainy season.

Explanation :

• The Red-crowned roofed turtle is native to India, Bangladesh and Nepal. Historically, the species was widespread in the Ganga River, both in India and Bangladesh. It also occurs in the Brahmaputra basin.
• It is a freshwater turtle species found in deep flowing rivers with terrestrial nesting sites.
• Currently in India, the National Chambal River Gharial Sanctuary is the only area with substantial population of the species, but even this Protected Area and habitat are under threat.

Conservation Status

• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) : Critically Endangered
• Wildlife Protection Act (IWPA) : Schedule I
• The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) : Appendix II

Explanation :

• Luxembourg has become the first country in the world to make all public transport ‘free’ from February 29, 2020.
• Luxembourg abolished fares for trains, trams and buses in a bid to tackle road congestion and pollution, as well as supporting low earners.
• All standard-class journeys on public transport in the country are now free of charge, compared to an annual pass worth 440 euros ($485) before.
• Travellers can still pay for first class, at a cost of 660 euros a year.

Luxembourg

• Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe.
• It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France to the south.
• Its capital, Luxembourg City, is one of the four official capitals of the European Union (together with Brussels, Frankfurt, and Strasbourg) and the seat of the European Court of Justice, the highest judicial authority in the EU.

Explanation :

• Watermelon snow, also called snow algae, pink snow, red snow, or blood snow, is a phenomenon caused by Chlamydomonas nivalis, a species of green algae containing a secondary red carotenoid pigment (astaxanthin) in addition to chlorophyll.
• Capable of surviving in extreme cold, this algae is found throughout the world in polar and mountainous regions. It is the carotenoids in the algae's chloroplasts that give snow a red color.
• The more sunlight the algae receive, the more it produces the “watermelon red” pigment, which causes the snow to melt faster.
• Snow blooms contribute to climate change because of the red-crimson color, the snow reflects less sunlight and melts faster. As a consequence, it produces more and more bright algae.

Explanation :

• The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction-2015-2030 is a global agreement to reduce and prevent disaster risks across the globe.
• The Framework was adopted at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015.
• It aims to achieve the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries over the next 15 years.
• It sets four specific priorities for action:
  • -Understanding disaster risk;
  • -Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk;
  • -Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience;
  • -Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Explanation :

• Also called as pig influenza, swine flu, hog flu and pig flu, H1N1 is a subtype of influenza A virus (a communicable viral disease), which causes upper, and potentially, lower respiratory tract infections in the host it infects.
• Symptoms of H1N1 includes fever, chills and sore throat; and is similar to seasonal influenza but has been characterised by higher fatality rates among healthy young adults and higher incidence of viral pneumonia.
• It spreads from person to person, either by touching the affected person or inhaling.
• The first outbreak of H1N1 was witnessed by the world in 2009 and soon declared as ‘Pandemic’ by the World Health Organisation.

Explanation :

• The Olive Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known commonly as the Pacific Ridley Sea Turtle, is a species of turtle in the family Cheloniidae.
• The turtle is named for the generally greenish color of its skin and shell, or carapace. It is closely related to the Kemp’s Ridley, with the primary distinction being that Olive Ridleys are found only in warmer waters, including the Southern Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• Olive and Kemp’s Ridleys are the smallest of the sea turtles, weighing up to 100 pounds and reaching only about 2 feet in shell length.
• These turtles are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada.
• The Olive Ridley is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), and is listed in Appendix I of CITES.