Important TNPSC Current Affairs May (21-31) 2021

Topic: Profile of States

Cyclonic Storm Yaas

India Meteorological Department has informed that, Cyclone Yaas is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm, week after cyclone Tauktae had its landfall on the western coast of India. Cyclone Yaas is likely to affect the coastal parts of Odisha and West Bengal on May 26, 2021.

The name Yaas was provided by Oman, and it means “a Jasmin-like tree” in Persian. In Arabic, the name Yaas is known as despair or desperation.

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Topic: Sports

India to host 2022 FIFA under-17 Women’s World Cup

India is all set to host “2022 FIFA under-17 Women’s World Cup” from October 11 to 30, 2022. It will be the second FIFA tournament to be hosted by India.

Earlier, India had to organise 2021 Under-17 Women’s World Cup but it was cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic. India had also hosted FIFA under-17 World Cup in 2017. The 2017 event has set a record for being most attended youth World Cup in the history.

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Topic: Latest Diary of Events

Cheetah to be re-introduced in India

World’s fastest land animal, Cheetah is expected to be reintroduced in India. Cheetah will be introduced at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh in November 2021.

Why it is being reintroduced?

India had spotted its last Cheetah in Chhattisgarh in 1947. After the death of last Cheetah, it was declared extinct in 1952.

Supreme Court of India had also given its approval in January 2020 to introduce African cheetahs in a suitable habitat in India as an experiment to see if they can adapt to the environment. Thus, Cheetah Reintroduction Project was prepared by Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

How it will be reintroduced?

Madhya Pradesh had started the process of creating an enclosure for around 10 cheetahs. It includes five females as well. They will be brought from South Africa.

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Topic: Profile of States

Kerala’s new Smart Kitchen Scheme

Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, announced a secretary level committee will formulate guidelines and recommendations on implementation of “Smart Kitchen Scheme” in state to fulfil commitments of LDF.

About the scheme:

Smart Kitchen Scheme will be launched by July 10, 2021. Under the scheme, women of state will be given loan to refurbish their kitchen. Loan will be provided with a low-interest rate in instalment schemes. Scheme seeks to reduce workload of women’s domestic labour.

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Topic: Awards and Honours

Amartya Sen conferred Spain’s Top Award in Social Science

Indian economist and Nobel Laureate, Amartya Kumar Sen, was conferred with “Princess of Asturias Award” in social sciences category which is Spain’s top prize. He was selected out of 41 candidates from 20 countries.

Why he was selected?

Amartya Sen was selected for his best-known work– “Poverty and Famines”.

About the Award:

Sen has been conferred which Spain’s highest prize in social science category for called “Princess of Asturias Award”. It comprises of a Joan Miro sculpture as a symbol, an insignia, a diploma, and a cash prize of 50,000 Euros. His candidature was forwarded by Director General of Casa Asia (Barcelona), Javier Parrondo.

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Topic: Welfare Oriented Govt Schemes and their Utilities

YUVA – Prime Minister’s Scheme for mentoring young authors

Ministry of Education has launched “YUVA- Prime Minister’s Scheme for Mentoring Young Authors”.

Key facts:

YUVA is an Author Mentorship programme which will train young and budding authors aged below 30 years to in order to promote reading, writing and book culture in India. It will also project India and Indian writings worldwide.

About YUVA:

YUVA stands for “Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors”. The scheme is in line with PM’s vision of encouraging young writers to write about India’s freedom struggle. Call on young generation to write about freedom fighters was taken in PM’s Mann ki Baat in January 2021. YUVA is a part of India@75 Project which seeks to bring perspectives of young generation of writers on themes including Freedom Fighter, Unsung Heroes, Unknown and Forgotten Places etc.

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Topic: Latest inventions on Science and Health

White Fungus

As the central government asks states to notify black fungus or mucormycosis an epidemic, an infection called white fungus or Candidiasis has also been found to affect some people.

Covid-19 patients are more prone to white fungus as it affects the lungs and similar symptoms are created like that of coronavirus.

Black fungus is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of molds called mucormycetes, which is abundant in the environment.

Key facts:

White Fungus or Candidiasis is a fungal infection caused by a yeast (a type of fungus) called Candida. Candida normally lives on the skin and inside the body, in places such as the mouth, throat, gut, and vagina, without causing any problems.

Candida can cause infections if it grows out of control or if it enters deep into the body (for example, the bloodstream or internal organs like the kidney, heart, or brain). The most common species that causes infection is Candida albicans.

Cause:

This infection can be caused due to low immunity, or if people come in contact with things that contain these moulds like water, etc. Children and women are more at risk of contracting the fungal infection.

Like the black fungus, white fungus is also more likely to afflict people with compromised immune systems, pre-existing medical conditions, AIDS, a recent kidney transplant or diabetes.

Symptoms:

People experience symptoms similar to Covid if it reaches the lungs such as chest infection, despite testing negative for the virus. White fungus affects the lungs as well as other parts of the body including the nails, skin, stomach, kidney, brain, private parts and mouth.

Diagnosis and Treatment:

CT scans or X-Rays can reveal the condition. Patients with the white fungus are currently being treated with known anti-fungal medication.

Prevention:

Special caution is required of moulds in water that can lead to infection.

Proper sanitation is very important.

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Topic: Places in News

Sun Halo/Kaleidoscope Effect – Bangalore

Recently, the people of Bangalore witnessed a bright rainbow ring around the sun for a few moments – a rare optical and atmospheric phenomenon called “22 degree circular Halo”.

Key facts:

The phenomenon popularly known as the 22 degree circular halo of the sun or occasionally the Moon (also called a moon ring or winter halo), occurs when the sun’s or moon’s rays get deflected/refracted through the hexagonal ice crystals present in cirrus clouds. This is also called the Kaleidoscopic Effect.

These halos are called 22-degree halos, as the halo or ring has an apparent radius of 22 degrees around the sun/moon.

Circular halos specifically are produced by cirrus clouds, which are thin, detached, hair-like clouds. These clouds are formed very high up in the atmosphere, at a height of over 20,000 feet.

Just like a rainbow, a halo is visible when viewed from the right angle — sometimes appearing just white but often with colours of the spectrum also clearly present.

The halo is the brightest at the inner edge of the circular disk, with no light inside the disk as no light is refracted at smaller angles.

Red light is refracted less than other colours of light, so the halo’s inner edge is reddish. Other shades typically tend to overlap and wash out.

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Topic: Latest inventions on Science and Health

Yellow Fungus

After black and white fungus, the recent case of yellow fungus has become a cause for concern.

Key facts:

Yellow fungus, also called mucor septic, initially develops by the presence of moulds (a type of fungi) in the environment. It may be present with unnecessary fatigue, rashes, burning sensation on skin etc. Humidity levels below 30-40% can promote the growth of fungus. It may not start from the lungs but it invades internal organs of the body and affects the entire functioning.

Potential Causes:

Prolonged use of steroids, contaminated environment, uncontrolled diabetes, unhygienic habits, lesser immunity, comorbidities. The treatment for Covid-19 includes steroids and immunosuppressants that leave the body with weak immunity.