Important TNPSC Current Affairs May (01-10) 2021

Topic: International Events

Operation Samudra Setu II

The Indian Navy recently launched Operation Samudra Setu II. The operation will aid in fulfilling oxygen requirements of the country.

About the operation:

Under the operation, warships have been deployed to carry liquid oxygen filled cryogenic containers. Two ships INS Talwar and INS Kolkata have been diverted for this operation. INS Talwar will transport 40 million tonnes of oxygen from Manama to Mumbai. INS Kolkata is to proceed to Doha to get medical supplies and then to Kuwait to get liquid oxygen tanks.

INS Airavat is to enter Singapore to embark liquid oxygen tanks. INS Jalashwa will also be diverted to the mission. The other ships deployed in Trikand, Kochi and Tabar will also be diverted to join the national effort. The INS Shardul from the Southern Naval Command has been readied to join the operation.

This operation will augment the Oxygen Express mission that is already operating under Indian Railways. These seven ships that are currently deployed in Operation Samudra Setu II are said to be combat ready.

Operation Samudra Setu I:

Operation Samudra Setu I was launched in May 2020. It was launched to repatriate Indian citizens from abroad during COVID-19. It successfully brought back 3,992 Indians to home safely.

Similar Evacuation programmes were undertaken by the Indian Navy in 2006 and 2015. In 2016, Operation Sukoon was launched to bring back Indians from Beirut. In 2015, Operation Rahat was launched to bring back Indians from Yemen.

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Topic: Profile of States

State Assembly Election Results

On May 2, 2021, the votes of the recently held State Assembly Elections for Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and West Bengal were counted.

Election results: The following results were the outcomes of the counting:

Tamil Nadu:

This was the first election in the state without the major leaders J Jayalalitha and M Karunanidhi. The polling was held on 6 April 2021 under COVID-19 guidelines. The DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and its allies are leading.

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly has 234 seats. The votes were counted on 2 May 2021; the SPA amassed 159 seats, with the DMK alone winning in 133 constituencies, securing an absolute majority. The NDA won 75 seats, out of which 66 were of the AIADMK. The DMK formed the Government of Tamil Nadu for the sixth time. Stalin and his council of ministers were sworn in on 7 May 2021.

The DMK-Congress coalition is likely to form the Government under Stalin (son of Late CM Karunanidhi). The DMK’s leader M. K. Stalin became the eighth Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and the 12th Chief Minister since the 1956 reorganization. He replaced Edappadi K. Palaniswami of the AIADMK.

West Bengal:

The state has 294 seats in its Legislative Assembly. Of these seats, the Trinamool Congress led by Mamta Banerjee won 212 seats. BJP has won 77 seats.

Kerala:

The Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan led Left Democratic Front (LDF) is leading. It has won 99 seats. The Chief Minster is likely to form the Government in state for the second time. CPI (M) has won 62 seats, Congress has won 21 seats, 17 by CPI, IUML won 15 seats. BJP failed to open an account.

Assam:

The BJP managed to beat the Assembly elections in spite of the Citizenship Amendment Act protests. The Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal won from Majuli constitution. The star campaigner of BJP, Finance and Health Minister of Assam won from Jalukbari. The anti-CAA activists Akhil Gogoi won from Sibsagar.

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

Indian Army’s First Green Solar Energy harnessing plant in Sikkim

The Indian Army recently launched the first Green Solar Energy harnessing plant in Sikkim. It was launched to benefit the troops of the Indian army.

The plant uses Vanadium based battery technology. It was built at an altitude of 16,000 feet. The capacity of the plant is 56 KVA. It was completed in collaboration with IIT Mumbai.

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Topic: Discovery of Rare Species

Crocidura narcondamica: New Shrew species found at A&N

A team from the Zoological Survey of India has discovered a new insect eating mammal species in Andamans’ Narcondam Island. The animal has been named Crocidura Norcondamica.

About Crocidura Norcondamica:

It is almost the size of the house mouse. It lives in the forest floor and feed on insects. They help to control the insect population in the dense Narcondam forest. It belongs to Shrews family. Shrews are not rodents.

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Topic: Latest inventions Science and Health

Mucormycosis-Black Fungus Infection in COVID Patients

Mucormycosis, also known as black fungus infection is increasing among the COVID patients. The National COVID Task Force recently issued an advisory against Mucormycosis.

Mucormycosis:

The disease mainly affects the skin, lungs and brain. It is rare. But has been increasing among COVID patients in Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra. It is caused by a group of molds called Mucoromycetes.

It mainly affects people who are on medication. The lungs or sinuses of the recovering COVID patients get affected after they inhale fungal spores from the air. It is not a major threat to those with a healthy immune system.

Symptoms:

It causes redness around the eyes, nose. Also, the person suffers from headache, fever, bloody vomits, shortness of breath, altered mental status.

Mucormycosis is suspected when a person suffers from sinusitis, local pain on cheek bone, blackish discoloration over bridge of nose, chest pain, thrombosis, plural effusion, necrosis, blurred vision, etc.

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Topic: Awards and Honours

Laureus World Sports Awards, 2021

The Laureus World Sports Awards, 2021 was held in Seville, Spain. The awards are presented to honour individuals and teams who have achieved in sports throughout the year. It was established in 1999 by the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. It is supported by Mitsubishi, Mercedes Benz. The first Laureus World Sports Awards was presented in 2000.

In 2020, Sachin Tendulkar won Laureus World Sports Award for Laureus Sporting Moment 2000-2020.

Laureus World Sports Awards 2021:

In 2021, the following some Laureus World Sports Awards were presented:

Naomi Osaka (tennis, Japan) won the Sportswoman of the Year

Rafael Nadal (tennis, Spain) won the Sportsman of the Year

This year the Laureus World sports Award for Action Sports person of the year was not awarded.

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Topic: Discovery of Rare Species

Xylophis deepaki

It is a new snake species discovered recently in Tamil Nadu. It is a tiny snake of just 20 cm length with iridescent scales.

The species is named in honour of Indian herpetologist Deepak Veerappan for his contribution in erecting a new subfamily Xylophiinae to accommodate wood snakes.

Wood snakes are harmless, sub-fossorial and often found while digging soil in farms and under the logs in the Western Ghat forests.

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Topic: New inventions on Science and Health

Moorhen Yoga Mat – Assam

It is a biodegradable and compostable yoga mat developed from water hyacinth by six young girls from the fishing community in Assam. It could turn this water plant from a nuisance to wealth.

Background:

The intervention was triggered through an initiative by North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR), an autonomous body under Department of Science & Technology (DST), Govt. of India to involve the entire women community associated with a collective called ‘Simang’ meaning dream, led by the 6 girls to create wealth from water hyacinth plants.

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

Lumpy Skin Disease

Lumpy Skin Disease is a viral illness that causes prolonged morbidity in cattle and buffaloes. Caused by the poxvirus Lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV).

Symptoms:

It appears as nodules of two to five centimetre diameter all over the body, particularly around the head, neck, limbs, udder (mammary gland of female cattle) and genitals. The lumps gradually open up like large and deep wounds.

Spread: It spreads through mosquitoes, flies and ticks and also through saliva and contaminated water and food.

Affected Countries:

LSD is endemic to Africa and parts of West Asia, where it was first discovered in 1929. In Southeast Asia the first case of LSD was reported in Bangladesh in July 2019. In India it was first reported from Mayurbhanj, Odisha in August 2019.

Treatment: There is no treatment for the virus, so prevention by vaccination is the most effective means of control.

Context:

The Bihar government sounded an alert and issued an advisory about the likely spread of the disease.

Concerns:

In India, which has the world’s highest 303 million heads of cattle, the disease has spread to 15 states within just 16 months. This might have a devastating impact on the country, where most dairy farmers are either landless or marginal landholders and milk is among the cheapest protein sources.

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Topic: International Events

China rocket debris falls in Indian Ocean near Maldives

Debris from the last stage of China’s Long March rocket that had last month carried a key component of its under-construction space station fell into the waters of the Indian Ocean west of the Maldives recently.

Key facts:

The Long March-5B Y2 rocket was carrying the Tianhe, or Heavenly Harmony, module, which is the first of three key components for the construction of China’s space station, which will be completed by the end of next year.

Tianhe will act “the management and control hub of the space station” which is called Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace.

The space station, which will be only the second after the International Space Station (ISS), has been designed with a lifespan of 10 years but could last 15 years, or until 2037.