Here is today’s digest of important newspaper articles and current events quiz!
Confirmation of Zika virus causing Microcephaly
Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) have concluded based on evidence that Zika virus causes microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects.
The conclusion was not based on any single piece of evidence but on review of all available evidence in the literature. The authors note that the evidence to draw this causal relationship included three main factors – Zika virus infection during pregnancy and the observed defects in brain development; a specific, rare phenotype involving microcephaly and associated brain anomalies in fetuses or infants with presumed or confirmed congenital Zika virus infection; and strongly biologic plausibility arising from the identification of Zika virus in the brain tissue of affected fetuses and infants.
It is to be noted that although a causal relationship has been established not all pregnant women will have babies with micrcephaly.It just increases the chance of such health problems.
Analysis
What is the Zika virus? – Zika virus is an emerging mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in Uganda in 1947 in rhesus monkeys through a monitoring network of sylvatic yellow fever. It was subsequently identified in humans in 1952 in Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. Outbreaks of Zika virus disease have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific.
During large outbreaks in French Polynesia and Brazil in 2013 and 2015 respectively, national health authorities reported potential neurological and auto-immune complications of Zika virus disease. Recently in Brazil, local health authorities have observed an increase in Guillain-Barré syndrome which coincided with Zika virus infections in the general public, as well as an increase in babies born with microcephaly in northeast Brazil.
What is microcephaly? – Microcephaly is a medical condition in which the brain does not develop properly resulting in a smaller than normal head. Microcephaly may be present at birth or it may develop in the first few years of life.Often people with the disorder have an intellectual disability, poor motor function, poor speech, abnormal facial features, seizures, and are short.
Source: TheHindu, WHO, Wikipedia
Reward for auto drivers who help accident victims
The Delhi government is planning a policy where it will reward Rs.2000 to autorickshaw drivers who rush road accidents and trauma victims to hospitals. The rationale behind the step is that auto rickshaws can reach the victim faster than ambulances. The decision comes weeks after the Supreme Court approved guidelines to protect Good Samaritans who help accident or trauma victims.
Analysis
What is the status of road accidents in Delhi? – In India, 16 people died every hour in 2014 due to accidents, that’s approximately 385 road accident deaths per day and over 1.41 lakh deaths during the year.
The maximum number of fatalities was reported on the roads in Delhi with 2,199 deaths during the year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
Nearly half the accident deaths in India can be prevented if the victims are rushed to the hospitals within the ‘golden hour’ – the first hour following an accident. If given prompt medical attention, the accident victim has the highest likelihood of survival.
Source: TheHindu
US visa fee increase discriminatory
India has expressed concern over the hike in H-1B and L1 visa fee by the U.S., saying it is “discriminatory†and largely affects Indian information technology professionals.
During a bilateral meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Michael Froman, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also underlined the need for early conclusion of Totalisation Agreement which would benefit Indians working in America.
Analysis
What are the H-1B and L1 visa? – The L-1 visa and H-1B visa are both employment-based non-immigrant visas with recognition as dual intent, or allowance to enter the U.S. while simultaneously seeking a green card. The L-1 visa is an internal permit for a foreign employee of an international company. The H-1B visa allows foreign workers to work in specialty occupations for qualified sponsoring employers in the United States. What this means is that an L-1 visa must be sponsored by a current employer while an H-1 may be sponsored by a prospective employer before employment begins.
What is the Totalisation Agreement? – Totalization agreements are a means of protecting the benefit rights of workers who divide their working career between two or more countries. They also help to eliminate situations in which workers or employers are required to pay Social Security taxes to two countries on the same earnings.
Source: TheHindu
Google Railtel to expand free Wi-Fi service
In association with Railtel Google has announced the the roll out of free WiFi services at nine more stations after Mumbai Central. The companies are also looking at making the service, which is currently free for users, financially sustainable.
Google and RailTel had collaborated to make WiFi network available across 100 stations to deliver high-speed Internet to 10 million Indians a day by the end of the year. The project will eventually be rolled out to cover 400 railway stations across India.
Analysis
What is Railtel? – RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. is a Miniratna enterprise of Government of India focusing on providing broadband and VPN services. RailTel was formed in September 2000 with the objective of creating nationwide broadband, telecom and multimedia network, to modernize Train Control Operation and Safety System of Indian Railways. RailTel’s network passes through around 5,000 stations across the country, covering all central business districts, towns, cities, mini/major-metros.
Source: TheHindu, Wikipedia
Hidden vetoes in UN must be reformed
After the Chinese blocked India’s bid to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar a terrorist, India sought changes in the procedures to designate a group or an individual a terrorist. Earlier too, China delayed moves against the Pakistan-based terror groups such as the Jamaat-Ud-Dawa and the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The existing rules allow Security Council members to oppose any move in the sanctions committees in a clandestine manner and without offering any explanation. The sanctions committees can take decisions only unanimously, and this means any of the 15 members can veto a move. For instance, China put a ‘technical hold’ on action against Azhar, and India came to know only informally from members of the council.
Analysis
What is the UN Security Council? – The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations, charged with the maintenance of international peace and security as well as accepting new members to the United Nations and approving any changes to its United Nations Charter. Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions; it is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.
The Security Council has five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve two-year terms.
What is the security council terrorist designate? – The Security Council has Al-Qaeda, Taliban and Islamic State Sanctions Committees that can mandate international sanctions, which will require countries to freeze the targeted group’s or individual’s assets, ban designated individuals from travelling and prevent the supply of weapons, technology and other aid.
Source: TheHindu, Wikipedia
Sacred Grove conservation in Kerala
The State Medicinal Plants Board (SMPB) is embarking on a project for conservation of sacred groves in Kerala. The attempt could be seen to arrest the depletion of the rich gene pool and protect the hotspots of local biodiversity.
Funded by the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB), the Rs.1.34-crore project involves conservation and resource augmentation of sacred groves with medicinal plants in over 100 hectares. The proposed activities include bio-fencing, inventorisation of plant wealth and cleaning up of water bodies.
The project seeks to conserve the diversity of indigenous medicinal plants, maintain ecological balance and enhance ground water resources. The other objectives are to ensure a healthy environment, besides creating awareness about conservation and tracing the history of vegetation in the locality.Distinct and unique in biological diversity, sacred groves are valuable gene pools of immense ecological significance. They are rich repositories of valuable medicinal plants including rare, endangered, and threatened species.
Over the years, several sacred groves in the State have disappeared, thanks to urbanisation, encroachments, and reckless exploitation of biological resources.Of the 10,000 sacred groves in the princely State of Travancore, hardly 1,200 exist now, and among them, several are on the verge of extinction, according to the subject committee of the Assembly on Forests, Environment and Tourism.
Analysis
What are sacred groves? – Sacred groves of India are forest fragments of varying sizes, which are communally protected, and which usually have a significant religious connotation for the protecting community. Hunting and logging are usually strictly prohibited within these patches. Other forms of forest usage like honey collection and deadwood collection are sometimes allowed on a sustainable basis.
The introduction of the protected area category community reserves under the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002 has introduced legislation for providing government protection to community held lands, which could include sacred groves.
Source: TheHindu, Wikipedia
Buddhist Inscription found in Gadag district
A new inscription that sheds more light on the history of Buddhism in Karnataka has been discovered at Lakkundi village in Gadag district.
The inscription, whose lower portion has been severed off, makes salutations to Lord Buddha, ‘dhamma’, ‘sangha’ and Tara Bhagavati. It also admires Hoysala ruler Veeraballala II and others. There is also a mention about a merchant but that part has been lost. There are possibilities of the inscription speaking about donations to a Buddhist monastery located at Lakkundi. Besides, it was among a handful of inscriptions making specific reference to the Tara Bhagavati cult of the Vajrayana Buddhism which was in vogue till 12th century.
The period of this inscription could be assigned to the regime of Hoysala king Veeraballala II (1173–1220 CE).
Analysis
What are the three jewels of Buddhism? – The ideals at the heart of Buddhism are collectively known as the ‘Three Jewels’, or the ‘Three Treasures’. These are the Buddha (the yellow jewel like the Buddha’s robe.), the Dharma (the blue jewel representing the vast, ocean-like freedom of the Dharma), and the Sangha (the red jewel).
What is Vajrayana Buddhism? – Vajrayana, ( Sanskrit: “Thunderbolt Vehicle†or “Diamond Vehicleâ€) form of Tantric Buddhism that developed in India and neighbouring countries, notably Tibet. Vajrayana, in the history of Buddhism, marks the transition from Mahayana speculative thought to the enactment of Buddhist ideas in individual life. The term vajra (Sanskrit: “thunderbolt,†or “diamondâ€) is used to signify the absolutely real and indestructible in a human being, as opposed to the fictions an individual entertains about himself and his nature; yana is the spiritual pursuit of the ultimately valuable and indestructible.
Source: TheHindu, Britannica
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