UPSC Prelims News of 16 November 2022
Dengue
Context: The National Capital of Delhi has witnessed dengue caseload cross 2,500 in the past few days.
About Dengue:
Occurrence:
- Dengue is an illness that is prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas of the world.
Pathogen:
- Dengue is caused by a virus of the Flaviviridae family.
Spread:
- The infection spreads from one person to another through Aedes mosquitoes, which act as vector.
- There is also a possibility of maternal transmission between pregnant mother and the baby.
Symptoms:
- General symptoms include fever, vomiting, nausea, muscle pain, headache, swollen glands, rash etc.
- Severe symptoms are bleeding from gums, blood in stool and urine, severe stomach pain, fatigue etc.
Mortality:
- Mild dengue causes a high fever and flu-like symptoms. The severe form of the illness, called dengue hemorrhagic fever, can cause serious bleeding, a sudden drop in blood pressure and death.
Prevention and Treatment:
- The best preventive measure is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes and to take steps to reduce the mosquito population.
- The vaccine Dengvaxia has been approved by regulatory authorities in many countries.
- No specific treatment for dengue exists after diagnosis.
Bhagwan Birsa Munda
Context: The President of India paid respects to tribal leader Bhagwan Birsa Munda on the occasion of Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.
About Bhagwan Birsa Munda:
- Birsa was born in 1875 in Khunti district of Jharkhand. He received early education under Jaipal Nag and later converted to Christianity in order to join the German Mission school.
- Influenced by the Sardari agitation, Birsa opposed the British oppression of the tribal communities. He favoured a tribal social order.
- He was revered as a God-like figure by fellow tribals, which led to emergence of a religious sect known as Birsait.
- The popularity of the sect among tribals proved to be a challenge to British conversion activities.
- Ulgulan movement:
- The Ulgulan movement of 1899 made use of weapons and guerrilla warfare to drive out foreigners from tribal territories. Birsa encouraged the tribals to denounce colonial laws and paying rent.
- Birsa mobilized the tribal community against the British and forced the
- colonial officials to introduce laws protecting the land rights of the tribals.
- Birsa was called by his followers as ‘Bhagwan’ (God) and ‘Dharati Aba’ (Father of the earth).
- He also encouraged changes in the social sphere by challenging superstitious religious practices.
Conference on Countering Financing of Terrorism-NMFT
Context: Prime Minister of India will inaugurate the third global ‘no money for terror’ NMFT conference in Delhi.
About:
- It is third ministerial conference on counter-terrorism financing.
- It aims to progress the discussions on combating terrorist financing held by the international community in the previous two Conferences in Paris (2018) and Melbourne (2019).
- It intends to include discussions on technical, legal, regulatory and cooperation aspects of all facets of terrorism financing.
- Major Theme:
- Global trends in terrorism and terrorist financing.
- Use of formal and informal channels of funds for terrorism.
- Emerging technologies and terrorist financing.
- International cooperation to address challenges in combating terrorist financing.
Ahyi Seamount
Context: According to studies, a submarine volcanic activity appears to be taking place in the Ahyi seamount volcano area of the Northern Mariana Islands since mid-October 2022.
About the Ahyi Seamount:
- Ahyi seamount is a large conical submarine volcano that rises to within 75 m of the sea surface about 18 km SE of the island of Farallon de Pajaros (Uracas) in the Northern Mariana Islands of USA.
- It forms a part of the Mariana Back-arc segment of the Izu-Bonin trench in the western Pacific Ocean.
- The remote location of the seamount has made eruptions difficult to document.
What are Submarine Volcanoes?
- Submarine volcanoes are underwater ventsor fissures in the Earth’s surface from which magma can erupt.
- Many submarine volcanoes are located near areas of tectonic plate formation, known as mid-ocean ridges.
- Although most submarine volcanoes are located in the depths of seas and oceans, some also exist in shallow water, and these can discharge material into the atmosphere during an eruption.
- The total number of submarine volcanoes is estimated to be over 1 million of which some 75,000 rise more than 1 km above the seabed.
- Hydrothermal vents, sites of abundant biological activity, are commonly found near submarine volcanoes.
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