Current Affairs May 18 – GES Reporter

Indian Language Learning App

Why in News?

MyGov in partnership with Department of Higher Education has launched an Innovation Challenge for creating an Indian Language Learning App.

Why?

This Innovation Challenge has been launched to take forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of celebrating India’s cultural diversity through greater interaction among its constituent parts.
MyGov has launched the Innovation Challenge to create an app that will enable individuals to learn simple sentences of any Indian language and acquire working knowledge of a language.

Objective

The objective of this challenge is to create an app that will promote regional language literacy, thereby creating greater cultural understanding within the country.

PIB

Magnetometer

Why in News?

Researchers have demonstrated a low-cost digital system to efficiently measure unknown magnetic fields.

About Digital Signals

Digital signals are the backbone of communication systems processed by hardware systems that transmit and receive the signals with the help of intermediate systems called ‘digital receiver systems’ or DRS.
When magnetic matter creates signals, analysing them with DRS lets scientists study the magnetic fields. Analysing the properties of the signals, for example, how they vary with time, scientists can measure the fields and study their small fluctuations.
In a new study, scientists from Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru have devised a more efficient, faster, and low-cost digital receiver system that can make precise measurements of magnetic fields.
Computer codes are implemented that make these devices perform mathematical operations on the signal they receive, enabling DRS systems to measure fundamental properties of matter like ‘Spin’. The spin of electrons determines the magnetism of most of the objects around us.
The electrons’ spin is not constant at room temperatures.
These spin fluctuations cause what scientists call ‘spin-noise’. By measuring the tiny fluctuations in the magnetic field, the researchers can infer the spin-noise accurately.

PIB

Ventilation System

A compact, economical ventilation system for PPE kits developed by a Pune based startup can prevent excessive sweating while wearing such kits.
The ventilation system when attached with the conventional PPE kits with one simple modification, keeps the health workers’ well ventilated preventing not only bodily discomforts but also possible fungal diseases in the body.
The ‘Cov-Tech Ventilation System’ can be fastened over the waist just like a simple belt over which the traditional PPE is worn and can provide comfort to the doctors and medical practitioners working in the hospitals to treat Covid infected patients.
The design of the ventilation system ensures a complete air seal from the PPE kit. It provides a breeze of fresh air to the user in a gap of just 100 seconds.

PIB

ELDERLINE (14567)

Why in News?

In order to address the problems of elders in the context of the ongoingCOVID pandemic, the Ministry of Social Justice has started state wise call centres in major states under the ELDERLINE project.
The facility is already made operational in 5 major States of UP, MP, Rajasthan, TN and Karnataka.In Telangana, this facility has been working for more than a year.
Efforts are being made to make them functional in all States by end of May, 2021.
All elders may be advised to use this facility. The ELDERLINE is a facility operationalised with the assistance of Tata Trusts and NSE foundation.

PIB

Digital Transformation of Tribal Schools

Why in News?

With a vision to build an inclusive, skills-based economy, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MTA) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Microsoft to support the digital transformation of schools such as Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) and Ashram Schools, among others under the Ministry ‘Empowering Youth For Success’.
This program will prove beneficial in terms of readiness, preparedness of our students at various international forums.
Though these programs, students would get the required skill set through digital transformation and this would open a new chapter with AI and coding being a part of the curriculum.
Under this program in the first phase, 250 EMRS schools have been adopted by Microsoft out of which 50 EMRS schools will be given intensive training and 500 master trainers would be trained in the first phase.
Teachers across states in India will be trained in a phased manner for using productivity technologies like Office 365 and AI applications in teaching, helping them deliver blended or remote learning experiences to students in a more personalized, productive and secure manner.

PIB

SAMVEDNA

Why in News?

With an objective of providing psychological first-aid and emotional support to children affected during COVID-19 Pandemic, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)is providing Tele-Counselling to children through SAMVEDNA(Sensitizing Action on Mental Health Vulnerability through Emotional Development and Necessary Acceptance).
A Toll-Free Helpline launched to provide psycho-social mental support for Children affected during COVID 19 Pandemic.
SAMVEDNAtele counselling service is for psychological support to children to address their stress, anxiety, fear and other issues during the Pandemic.
This service is exclusively for children who are willing to talk and arein need of counseling.

Tele counselling is provided to the children under three categories:

Children who are in Quarantine/isolation/COVID Care centers.
Children who have COVID positive parents or family members and near ones.
Children who have lost their parents due to Covid-19 Pandemic.

PIB

Plasma Therapy

Why in News?

The use of convalescent plasma has been dropped from the recommended treatment guidelines for COVID-19, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The National Task Force of the ICMR, along with experts from the Health Ministry, periodically updates guidelines on recommended modes of treatment. Registered Doctors anywhere, however, aren’t bound by the Task Force recommendations.
Though a trial by the ICMR on 400 patients last year — called the PLACID trial — had found no significant benefit from the use of plasma it continued to find a place in the recommended guidelines, in ‘off label’ use.
Several other international trials had also found no benefit from plasma therapy. In fact some experts have said the use of such plasma may have even played a role in the facilitating new worrisome mutations to the virus.
The ICMR guidelines continue to recommend Ivermerctin and hydroxychloroquine for mild disease but has also underlined that both drugs had “low certainty of evidence”.

THE HINDU

Creating a new district

Why in News?

Recently, Punjab Chief Minister declared Malerkotla the 23rd district of the State.
This led to an angry response from Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.
Section 5 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 says the “State government may, by notification, vary the limits and alter the numbers of tehsils, districts and divisions into which the State is divided.”

How are new districts carved?

The power to create new districts or alter or abolish existing districts rests with the State governments. This can either be done through an executive order or by passing a law in the State Assembly.
Many States prefer the executive route by simply issuing a notification in the official gazette.

How does it help?

States argue that smaller districts lead to better administration and governance.
For example, in 2016, the Assam government issued a notification to upgrade the Majuli sub-division to Majuli district for “administrative expediency”.

Are there are any exceptions?

The State government has been vested with unfettered powers under Section 5 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 to create new districts
This power is generally held temporarily in abeyance only during active census operations or during the delimitation exercise of Lok Sabha/Vidhan Sabha constituencies.
Does the Central government have a role to play here?
The Centre has no role to play in the alteration of districts or creation of new ones. States are free to decide.
The Home Ministry comes into the picture when a State wants to change the name of a district or a railway station.
The State government’s request is sent to other departments and agencies such as the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Intelligence Bureau, Department of Posts, Geographical Survey of India Sciences and the Railway Ministry seeking clearance. A no-objection certificate may be issued after examining their replies.

THE HINDU

Why do herbivores have strong jaws?

Herbivores, or plant-eaters, are known to have strong jaws with broad, flat back teeth which help them grind and eat tough plant tissues. Some of the early herbivores including plant-eating dinosaurs also had strong jaws.
A new study has shown that herbivores developed strong jaws after the mass extinctions that happened millions of years ago.
They had to eat different kinds of plants and chew harsher materials, so they evolved stronger jaws.
The researchers note that as plants diversified during the Triassic era (252–201 million years ago) the herbivores also evolved to eat the new kinds of plants.
The drying conditions in the Late Triassic, led to many softer plant groups becoming less common, and dry-adapted conifers spreading worldwide.
These changes also drove patterns of extinction. The hardy herbivores thrived, as other herbivores died out.

THE HINDU

New dinosaur found in Mexico

Why in News?

A new species of dinosaur identified by Mexican paleontologists is believed to have been “very communicative” and used low-frequency sounds like elephants to talk to each other.
The specimen, which has been named Tlatolophus galorum, is thought to have died around 72 million years ago in what is now Mexico’s northern state of Coahuila.
Researchers believe that these dinosaurs were very communicative.
They even produced and perceived low-frequency sounds like those made by elephants, which travel several kilometers and are imperceptible to humans.
These “peaceful, but talkative” dinosaurs could also have had the ability to emit loud sounds to scare off predators.
The name Tlatolophus is derived from tlahtolli — which means word in the indigenous Nahuatl language — and lophus, meaning crest in Greek.

THE HINDU

World’s Oldest Cave Art

Why in News?

Scientists have warned that environmental degradation is killing one of the oldest and most precious pieces of the world’s human heritage.
Pleistocene-era rock paintings dating back to 45,000-20,000 years ago in cave sites in southern Sulawesi, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, are weathering at an alarming rate.

Significance of the cave paintings

A team examined 11 caves and rock-shelters in the Maros-Pangkep region in Sulawesi.
The artwork in the area includes what is believed to be the world’s oldest hand stencil (almost 40,000 years ago), created by pressing the hand on a cave wall, and spraying wet red-mulberry pigments over it.
A nearby cave features the world’s oldest depiction of an animal, a warty pig painted on the wall 45,500 years ago.
The cave art of Sulawesi is much older than the prehistoric cave art of Europe.

Findings of the study

salts in three of the samples comprise calcium sulphate and sodium chloride, which are known to form crystals on rock surfaces, causing them to break.
The artwork made with pigments was decaying due to a process known as haloclasty, which is triggered by the growth of salt crystals due to repeated changes in temperature and humidity, caused by alternating wet and dry weather in the region.
Indonesia has also experienced several natural disasters in recent years, which have quickened the process of deterioration.

2-DG, DRDO’s new oral drug for Covid-19

Why in News?

Defence Minister and Health Minister released the first batch of the indigenously developed anti-Covid-19 drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose or ‘2-DG’.
The national drug regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), had cleared the formulation on May 1 for emergency use as an adjunct therapy in moderate to severe Covid-19 patients.

The formulation

2-DG has been developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), New Delhi, a lab of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), in collaboration with Hyderabad-based pharma company Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL).

How it works

Clinical trial data show that the molecule helps in faster recovery of patients hospitalised with Covid-19, and reduces their dependence on supplemental oxygen.
The drug accumulates in virus-infected cells, and prevents the growth of the virus by stopping viral synthesis and energy production. Its selective accumulation in virally-infected cells makes this drug unique.

Advantages

According to the government, 2-DG being a generic molecule and an analogue of glucose, it can be easily produced and made available in large quantities.

Sharks use Earth’s magnetic field as ‘GPS’

Why in News?

Scientists in Florida have concluded that sharks possess an internal navigation system similar to GPS that allows them to use Earth’s magnetic forces to travel long distances with accuracy.
When the sharks were exposed to magnetic cues emulating a site about 375 miles south of where they were captured, they turned to swim north, exhibiting a “homeward orientation” suggesting the use of magnetic forces in their navigation.
It helps explain why sharks can travel across vast oceans but return to exactly the same location annually to feed, breed and give birth.
These abilities are also observed in other species like the great white to migrate 20,000km out and back to the same spot.
In 2005 a great white shark was tracked swimming from South Africa to Australia and back again in almost a straight line, leading scientists to believe sharks have a magnetic sense to steer themselves similar to those found in sea birds, lobsters and turtles.

THE GUARDIAN