Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 13 September 2023 | Download PDF

Nipah scare returned to Kerala with two deaths from the viral infection being reported from the Kozhikode district.

Nipah Virus

• Nipah virus (NiV) infection is zoonotic disease (disease transmitted to humans from animals) that causes severe disease in both animals and humans.
• The organism which causes Nipah Virus encephalitis is RNA or Ribonucleic acid virus of family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus, and is closely related to Hendra virus.
• Fruit bats or flying foxes of Pteropodidae Family, Pteropus genus are natural host of Nipah virus.
• The virus is present in bat urine and potentially, bat faeces, saliva, and birthing fluids.
• It was first identified in 1999 during outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore.
• It gets its name from Sungai Nipah, a Malaysian village, where pig farmers became ill with encephalitis.
• Transmission:

The virus spread fast and is mostly fatal.

• Infected bats shed virus in their excretion and secretion.
• The virus cannot be transmitted through air.
• But it is transmitted through direct contact with infected bats, pigs.
• Human to Human transmission from other NiV-infected people is also reported

Symptoms: 

• NiV infection can cause acute respiratory syndrome, breathing trouble, inflammation of the brain, fever, headache, drowsiness, disorientation and delirium.

Treatment:

• There is no vaccine for disease either for humans or animals.

More than 5,300 are feared dead, thousands more are missing as eastern Libya is devastated by floods.

Key points

• Libya is mostly desert and oil-rich country in northern Africa.
• Libya has the largest oil reserve in Africa and one of the largest oil producers in the world.

National Green Tribunal (NGT), prohibited operation of cruise and other motor propelled boats in Upper Lake (Bhoj Wetland now called Ramsar site) and other wetlands.

Bhoj Wetland

• The Bhoj wetland is situated in the heart of Bhopal district in Madhya Pradesh.
• The wetland consists of two man-made lakes–the upper lake and the lower lake.
• The upper lake, the oldest among large man-made lakes in central India, was created by king Bhoj in the 11th century by constructing an earthen dam across the Kolans river and the lower lake was constructed nearly 200 years ago mostly from the seepage from the upper lake..
• The lakes are very rich in biodiversity, particularly for macrophytes, phytoplankton, zooplankton, both natural and cultured fish species, both resident and migratory birds, insects, reptiles and amphibians.
• It is designated as the Ramsar site in 2002.

National Green Tribunal (NGT)

• The National Green Tribunal has been established under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010.
• New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai shall be the other four places of sitting of the Tribunal.
• NGT is mandated to make disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of the filing of the same.
• The Tribunal comprises the Chairperson, the Judicial Members, and Expert Members.
• They shall hold office for a term of 5 years and are not eligible for reappointment.
• The Chairperson is appointed by the Central Government in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
• A Selection Committee shall be formed by the central government to appoint the Judicial Members and Expert Members.
• There are to be at least 10 and a maximum of 20 full-time Judicial members and Expert Members in the tribunal.

Series of disruptive weather and climate phenomenon occurring in India linked to food security

El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.

• El Nino and La Nina are complex weather patterns resulting from variations in ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific Region. They are opposite phases of what is known as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.
• The ENSO cycle describes the fluctuations in temperature between the ocean and atmosphere in the east-central Equatorial Pacific.
• El Nino and La Nina episodes typically last nine to 12 months, but some prolonged events may last for years.

El-Nino

• El Nino is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
• It is the “warm phase” of a larger phenomenon called the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
• It occurs more frequently than La Nina.
• El Niño is a loose translation of “little boy” or “Christ child” in Spanish.
• El Niño is the warming of sea waters in Central-east Equatorial Pacific that occurs every few years (Warm phase off the coast of Peru).
• During El Niño, surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific rise
• This weakens the trade winds — east-west winds that blow near the Equator.
• Due to El Niño, easterly trade winds that blow from the Americas towards Asia change direction to turn into westerlies.
• It thus brings warm water from the western Pacific towards America

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually lays foundation stone for Nyoma airfield in Ladakh, inaugurates Nechiphu tunnel in Arunachal.

Key points

• The Nyoma Airfield, to be developed at a cost of about Rs 200 crore, will boost the air infrastructure in Ladakh and augment IAF’s capability along the northern border
• Among the projects dedicated by the defence minister include the Nechiphu tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, two airfields in West Bengal, two helipads, 22 roads, and 63 bridges. Of these 90 projects, 36 are in Arunachal Pradesh, 26 in Ladakh, 11 in Jammu & Kashmir,  five in Mizoram, three in Himachal Pradesh, two each in Sikkim, Uttarakhand and West Bengal and one each in Nagaland, Rajasthan, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

President Droupadi Murmu will inaugurate the ‘Ayushman Bhav’ campaign

Key points

• The ‘Ayushman Bhav’ campaign is a comprehensive nationwide healthcare initiative that aims to provide saturation coverage of healthcare services, reaching every village and town in the country. 
• This initiative builds upon the success of the Ayushman Bharat program and signifies a paradigm shift in healthcare services.
• The campaign is a collaborative effort spearheaded by gram panchayats in coordination with the Department of Health, other government departments, and local elected bodies in the rural and urban areas.
•  Its core objective is to extend comprehensive healthcare coverage to every village and town, transcending geographical barriers and ensuring that no one is left behind.

• PM Modi gifted a timeless masterpiece created by the artisans of Odisha- a traditional mulberry silk stole adorned with the exquisite Ikat technique.
• Kobita Ramdanee, wife of the Prime Minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth was gifted Ikat stole created by the artisans of Odisha. 

Key points

• Ikat is a meticulous dyeing process on silk or cotton.
• It involves tying and dying specific sections of threads to produce a symphony of shades
• Origin is the 12th century when artisans migrated from Gujarat.
• The stole was presented in a Teak wood box, handcrafted by artisans of Gujarat using the hardy and durable teak wood.

The Sambalpur Municipal Corporation has dedicated a smart park to the city.

• The smart park will have several equipment and efforts are on to make it user-friendly for youths and the elderly.
• The facility will have an amphitheatre, yoga platform, space for cycling and walkway. This apart, a musical fountain and rain harvesting structure have been installed in the park.

Odisha government recently decided to redevelop unutilised industrial land to promote employment intensive industries.

Key points

• While special focus will be on unutilised industrial land of Orient Paper Mills and Orissa Textile Mills, Gopalpur industrial parks, the Barpali and Hinjili MSME parks will be expedited.
• The MSME parks being developed at Barpali and Hinjili will be first offered to local MSME units for labour-intensive projects.

The newly-constructed Cuttack Netaji Bus Terminal (CNBT) at Khannagar in the city will be made operational

Key points

• Sprawling over 14.95 acre land, the state-of-the-art bus terminal built at an estimated cost of Rs 90.20 crore can accommodate 190 buses at a time. 
• A three-storey bus terminal building has been constructed over two acre land with facilities such as separate dormitories for male and female passengers and staff, eight private rooms, commercial area, infant care rooms and waiting lounges.

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