Monthly Current Affairs June 2020

Easy to PICK437 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 VTM kits VTM kits with RR Animal Healthcare Ltd.  The isolated and purified RNA is then  Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, in association with RR Animal converted to DNA by an enzyme Reverse Healthcare Ltd and Guwahati Medical Transcriptase (RT), which is used to College and Hospital (GMCH), confirm the presence or absence of has developed low-cost diagnostic kits. COVID-19.  These are Viral Transport Media (VTM) kits, RT-PCR kits, and RNA isolation kits.  The VTM kits are the first-stop source used to collect nasal and oral swab specimens from an individual source to a laboratory safely for culture and testing.  During this period, the virus, if present, in the sample specimens should remain intact until the testing procedure is completed.  The kit consists of a comprehensive solution specially formulated for the collection and transport of SARS-CoV-2.  To bring down the cost of kits, we have used material that are available in the local market and they are as per the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendation.  These kits comprise two transport media, one for nasopharyngeal and the other for oropharyngeal specimen collection swabs.  Both of these are safe to use as they are recommended and validated by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well.  The complete package is suitable for the collection, transport, maintenance, and long-term freezer storage of viral specimens.  The unique formulation of the transport medium helps in preserving the viability of viruses for up to 72 hours (at refrigerated temperatures).  In addition to the sterile VTM kits, the Institute has also developed RNA isolation kits and RT-PCR kits jointly

Easy to PICK438 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Sickle cell disease Sickle cell disease one-third of adults with sickle cell disease and can lead to heart failure.  Sickle cell disease is a group of disorders  Sickle cell disease (SCD) which is the most prevalent inherited blood disorder, is that affects hemoglobin, the molecule in widespread amongst many tribal population groups in India, posing a red blood cells that delivers oxygen to cells considerable health burden in several states. throughout the body.  People with this disorder have atypical hemoglobin molecules called hemoglobin S, which can distort red blood cells into a sickle, or crescent, shape.  Signs and symptoms of sickle cell disease usually begin in early childhood.  Characteristic features of this disorder include a low number of red blood cells (anemia), repeated infections, and periodic episodes of pain.  The severity of symptoms varies from person to person.  Some people have mild symptoms, while others are frequently hospitalized for more serious complications.  The signs and symptoms of sickle cell disease are caused by the sickling of red blood cells.  When red blood cells sickle, they break down prematurely, which can lead to anemia.  Anemia can cause shortness of breath, fatigue, and delayed growth and development in children.  The rapid breakdown of red blood cells may also cause yellowing of the eyes and skin, which are signs of jaundice.  Painful episodes can occur when sickled red blood cells, which are stiff and inflexible, get stuck in small blood vessels.  These episodes deprive tissues and organs of oxygen-rich blood and can lead to organ damage, especially in the lungs, kidneys, spleen, and brain.  A particularly serious complication of sickle cell disease is high blood pressure in the blood vessels that supply the lungs (pulmonary hypertension).  Pulmonary hypertension occurs in about

Easy to PICK439 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Favipiravir drug for COVID-19 Glenmark gets nod for favipiravir  Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals said it has received an approval from India’s drug regulator(CDSO) to manufacture and sell oral antiviral drug favipiravir (FabiFlu) for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients in India.  Favipiravir is the generic version of Japanese firm Fujifilm Toyoma Chemical Co’s Avigan. Global Influenza Data Initiative (GISAID) Global Influenza Data Initiative (GISAID)  GISAID is a global science initiative and primary source for genomic data of influenza viruses and the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19.  It is headquartered in Munich, Germany.  It is a not for profit organisation.  Since its establishment in 2008, as an alternative to sharing avian influenza data via conventional public-domain archives.  GISAID differs from other genetic sequence databases like GenBank and EMBL primarily in that users of GISAID must have their identity confirmed and agree to a Database Access Agreement that restricts the way GISAID data can be used.  GISAID was recognized for its importance to global health by G20 health ministers in 2017.  In 2020, GISAID entered into the global research effort to understand SARS- CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, by making available genomic sequences that are modeled in real time, thereby helping to detect viral mutations and track movement of the virus across the planet.

Easy to PICK440 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)  National Disaster Response Fund is defined in Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 (DM Act) as a fund managed by the Central Government for meeting the expenses for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation due to any threatening disaster situation or disaster.  NDRF is constituted to supplement the funds of the State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF) of the states to facilitate immediate relief in case of calamities of a severe nature.  It is a public authority and comes under the ambit of Right to Information.  Now, individual contributions amidst the COVID19 is also allowed.  The financial assistance from SDRF/NDRF is for providing immediate relief and is not compensation for loss/damage to properties /crops.  In fact, the hitherto existing National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) was renamed as National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) on 28 September 2010 with the enactment of the Disaster Management Act in 2005 and consequent changes in the design and structure of disaster management in India.  The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Disaster Management Authority takes decisions on the expenses from National Disaster Response Fund.

Easy to PICK441 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP)  The National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) is a centre for research in public economics and policies.  It is India’s premier economic think thank.  It is presently headed by Urjit Patel.  Founded in 1976, the institute undertakes research, policy advocacy and capacity building in areas related to public economics.  One of the major mandates of the institute is to assist the Central, State and Local governments in formulating and reforming public policies by providing an analytical base.  The institute was set up as an autonomous society, at the joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance, Planning Commission, several State governments and distinguished academicians. It is registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.  In its 40 years of existence, the institute has emerged as a premier think tank in India, and has made significant contribution to policy reforms at all levels of the government.  It has maintained close functional links with the Central and State governments all along, and has built up linkages with other teaching and research institutions both in India and abroad.  Although the institute receives an annual grant from the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, and various State governments, it maintains an independent non-government character in its pursuit of research and policy.

Easy to PICK442 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 COVID poses trying times for Diabetics Context  Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, who is also a renowned Diabetologist, said here today that COVID poses trying times for Diabetics. Delivering the inaugural address, as chief guest, at the \"World Congress of Indian Academy of Diabetes\" being held for the first time on Virtual platform under the name “Dia-V Con 2020”. Diabetes and COVID19  Those suffering from Diabetes have an immuno-comprised status, which tends to reduce their resistance and make them more vulnerable to Corona like infections as well as consequent complications.  This, he said, leads to an even more vulnerable situation when a patient suffering from Diabetes also has kidney involvement or diabetic- nephropathy, chronic kidney disease etc.  In a situation like this, the Diabetologists owned a special responsibility towards their patients in keeping their blood sugar level strictly under control to avoid infection and at the same time educating them about precautions to be exercised.  He said, even though the COVID related death rate in India has been low as compared to other countries, most of the deaths occurred here were among those Corona positive patients who were also suffering from co-morbidities or chronic disorders like Diabetes.

Easy to PICK443 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Ship owners worldwide invited to now flag their ships in India Ship owners worldwide invited to now flag  A ship entitled to fly the flag of a their ships in India to take advantage of the country needs to be registered in that Make in India policy of the Government country.  Government of India has recently revised  The object of registration is to ensure that its Make in India Policy for public persons who are entitled to the privilege procurement, among others, of all and protection of the Indian flag get services. them.  Under the revised policy, no global tender  The registration affords evidence of title enquiry shall be issued, except with off the ship to those who deal with the the approval of the Competent property in question. Authority, for the procurement of all services with estimated value of  It also gives protection to the members of purchases less than Rs. 200 crores. the crew in case of casualties involving injuries and/or loss of life to claim  Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of compensation under the provisions of the State (Independent Charge) for Shipping Indian Acts in Indian courts. reviewed the readiness of Indian shipping for implementation of the Government’s  Indian Merchant Shipping Act of Cargo Transportation Policy. 1958, for the first time, dealt with registration of ships  It is estimated that the Make in India policy will provide an opportunity to at least Cabotage DOUBLE the number of Indian flag  Cabotage is the transport of goods vessels in the immediate term - from the or passengers between two places in the present approximately 450 to at least same country by a transport operator from 900 and more over a period of 3 years - another country. leaving further scope for additional  It originally applied to shipping along investment in the Indian flag tonnage. coastal routes, port to port, but now applies to aviation, railways, and road transport as  With a modern maritime administration, well. continuous supply of trained seafarers, ship management skills already available, Cabotage rule ship owners worldwide are invited to now  In shipping, a ship flies the flag of the flag their ships in India to take advantage country where it is registered and is of the Make in India policy of the subjected to the tax jurisdiction of that Government in respect of transportation nation. Only Indian registered ships are of Government cargoes. allowed to carry cargo on local routes, according to a so-called cabotage rule.  Singapore-based container shipping company Pacific International Lines Pte Ltd is the first to convert one of its container ships registered in Singapore to the Indian flag to run a service linking Mundra port in Gujarat with the container transhipment terminal at Vallarpadam in Cochin port. Indian Flag vessel

Easy to PICK444 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Atal Innovation Mission partners with Coal India Ltd Atal Innovation Mission partners with Coal supporting the youth in their journey India Ltd to boost its Innovation & of societal innovation, hosting Entrepreneurship initiatives community innovation challenges and other innovation based events to spread the  Coal India Limited (CIL) has agreed to impact of the innovation ecosystems being partner with Atal Innovation Mission built in the under-served regions of the (AIM), NITI Aayog to support proactively country. the flagship mission’s innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives across the country.  A Statement of Intent (SoI) of a strategic partnership between AIM and Coal India Limited was signed and exchanged in a virtual e-summit for the same on Friday June 19. Atal Innovation Mission  AIM has various innovation programs and entrepreneurial ecosystem building initiatives such as Atal Tinkering Labs ( ATL) at a school level, Atal Incubation Centres ( AIC) at institutional levels, Atal Community Innovation Centres ( ACIC) for Tier-2, Tier3 cities and rural India, Atal New India Challenges ( ANIC) at industry level and Applied Research and Innovation ( ARISE) for stimulating innovations in the MSME industry.  The collaboration between CIL and AIM intends to conduct various activities / programs to support greater awareness and promotion of the innovation ecosystem through the above mentioned AIM programmes and newer initiatives.  The partnership has been categorised program wise where in under Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) CIL has agreed for adoption of select ATLs Schools, help in conducting teacher training sessions and providing mentoring support to ATL students via Mentors of Change.  Similarly, under Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACICs), CIL has agreed for adoption and support of ACICs close to their areas of operation,

Easy to PICK445 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 National Auto Fuel Policy,2015 National Auto Fuel Policy,2015 Ministry to give high priority to coverage  The Auto Fuel Policy, 2003 aims at addressing issues of vehicular of more areas under CNG. emissions and vehicular technologies by applying fuel quality standards.  The establishment of a centralised  An Expert Committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Saumitra national data centre for collecting Chaudhari was set up to review the Auto Fuel Policy, 2003. information regarding polluting  Further, the objective of the Expert Committee was to draw a roadmap for vehicles is recommended. In order to the auto fuel quality till 2025. The Standing Committee made observations achieve this objective, if required, and recommendations on the Expert Committee report and the Auto Fuel formulating a plan scheme and specific Policy, 2003.  In order to achieve the unified fuel norm, fund allocation has been recommended by the Ministry should implement the less polluting Bharat Stage (BS)-IV quality of the Standing Committee. fuel standard across the country by 2017.  Further, the Standing Committee  The constitution of an inter-ministerial recommends the implementation of the BS-VI quality of fuel standard by committee of secretaries of the concerned 2020.  Some public sector refineries do not Ministries is required. produce BS-IV quality of fuel. Hence, the Standing Committee recommends all  The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural refineries be upgraded in a phase wise manner to produce BS-IV quality of fuel. Gas is the nodal agency and is expected  The Expert Committee recommended levying a high sulphur cess on to constitute the same. high polluting BS-III automotive fuels.  The Expert Committee also recommended  The Inspection and Maintenance System a special fuel up-gradation Cess on all gasoline and diesel sold. that enhances the safety and emission  The Standing Committee recommends the Ministry to decide on the levy of performance of vehicles has not been cess at the earliest. The sum generated must be utilised for fuel up-gradation implemented. Therefore, it is projects.  As fossil fuel reserves are depleting, the recommended that the Ministry of Ministry must assess the commercial viability of non-conventional fuels. Petroleum & Natural Gas impresses upon  In terms of usage, the share of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is low. Therefore, the the Ministry of Road Transport and Standing Committee recommends the Highways to implement the same.  Formulation of a vehicle retirement policy will improve air quality.  The Ministry should apply the provisions under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 to formulate an age limit for retirement of vehicles.

Easy to PICK446 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Antibodies against coronavirus start to decrease in 2-3 months Context  Besides inducing neutralising antibodies,  A few countries, including the U.K., were novel coronavirus has also been found toying with the idea of issuing some form to induce cellular immunity. of a certificate to people who have been infected with novel coronavirus  As a result, the immune system’s T cells and recovered subsequently, as such and B cells are elevated in an infected people were assumed to be resistant to person. “Generally, when antibody levels reinfection. are high, the T cells are low and vice versa,” says Dr. John. Study reveals  When infected by a virus, non-specific  Now, a study published in Nature immune response in the form of macrophages, neutrophils and other Medicine suggests that antibodies formed cells tend to prevent the virus from causing symptoms. against SARS-CoV-2 begin to decrease in  Soon after, the body makes antibodies number, just two-three months after specific to the virus called the immunoglobulins — IgG and infection. IgM, called the adaptive response.  “We observed that IgG levels and  In addition, the cellular immunity kicks in neutralizing antibodies in a high when the body makes T cells that destroy cells that have been infected by the virus. proportion of individuals who recovered  The combination of adaptive response from SARS-CoV-2 infection start to and cellular immunity “may prevent progression to severe illness or re- decrease within two-three months after infection by the same virus. This process is infection,” Quan-Xin Long from often measured by the presence of antibodies in blood,” WHO says. Chongqing Medical University,  They found that asymptomatic people Chongqing, China and others write. were eliciting a weaker immune  In contrast, circulating response to the virus compared with those who developed symptoms. antibodies against 2002-2003 SARS and  As a result, 40% of asymptomatic individuals had antibody MERS coronavirus were found to last levels at undetectable levels compared with nearly 13% in the case of more than one year. symptomatic individuals.  Nearly 80% of people infected with  In the case of the 2002 SARS, SARS-CoV-2 show no or very mild symptoms. sustained IgG levels were seen for more than two years after infection, while antibody response lasted for nearly three years in the case of MERS. Is re-infection possible? Implications  This does not necessarily mean that people previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 can  The reduction in IgG and neutralizing be reinfected soon after.  Even if the antibody level decreases, it antibody levels in the early convalescent might be protective.  A person with low antibody level can get phase might have implications for reinfected but the viral load will be low, infectivity will be less and he/she may not immunity strategy and serological surveys. progress to a diseased state.  Antibodies specific to a virus even when  These data might indicate the risks of present in low levels will be protective against disease. using COVID-19 ‘immunity

Easy to PICK447 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 passports’ and support the prolongation of public health interventions, including social distancing, hygiene, isolation of high-risk groups and widespread testing.  Besides T cells, people infected with coronavirus also make memory B cells, which rapidly produce antibodies when required.  If they find the virus again, they remember and start to make antibodies very, very quickly.  Another paper published in Nature found that even when the antibodies were present at low levels, it was sufficient to neutralise the virus.  The authors say that “most convalescent plasmas obtained from individuals who recover from COVID-19 do not contain high levels of neutralizing activity” yet antibodies with “potent antiviral activity” were found in all these individuals.

Easy to PICK448 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Wild animals in urban clusters-COVID-19 lockdown Context in Istanbul, dolphins are increasingly  During these days of lockdown across sighted near the shores of the city. various parts of India, we see reports of  Likewise, as the Ganga became less ‘wild’ animals coming over to the cities, polluted in recent days due to decreased towns and urban clusters. industrial and human waste during  In Uttarakhand, an elephant was reported lockdown, the Ganges dolphins and to come down unusually near Hari ki Pauri gharials (fish-eating crocodiles) have in Haridwar. A leopard was sighted in been sighted in larger numbers. Almora. In Karnataka, elephants, spotted  COVID-19 could infect mountain deer and sambar deer had transgressed gorillas which are likely to be particularly into towns, while in Maharashtra, people vulnerable as they share about 98% of spotted scores of civet cats, mongooses their DNA with humans. and porcupines in communities.  They, like all great apes, are already  All these ‘trespasses’ have been happening endangered due to habitat loss, poaching not only in India but across the world, and diseases – only 900 remain in the wherever lockdowns took place and mountains of Central Africa. regular human activities have been Five reasons for increase in wild life along curtailed. Once these lockdowns are lifted, urban clusters animals are expected to retire back to their  Five reasons you might be seeing more wild environment – wherever and however wildlife during the COVID-19 limited they are. pandemic.These are: 1. since restaurants are closed and trash QWild land to Civilised land collections have moved elsewhere, this ‘human handout’ causes rats and insects  To get a perspective of this, note that of to invade towns in search of food; 2. since there are not many humans and the total land area of the world, which is their pets are around, the fear that predatory animals and us, ‘super- about 510 million square km, 30% is predators’, are not there; this has caused the increase of wild animals in urban desert and 24% mountainous, leaving us areas; 3. common birds are not scared of us. We see humans to occupy about 45-50% of the and hear them chattering and singing. During the lockdown, it is nice and quiet remaining area when we started to live as and it appears that birds adjust their songs and the times they sing. (The communities about 17,000 years ago. ongoing study called The Sounds of the City supports this idea); (Prior to that, humans lived in the wild, 4. the seasons play a role too. In the U.S., springtime occurs during March along with animals and plants, as hunter through May, and birds start migrating, snakes come out of gatherers). hibernation and look for food and for mates. (In India, the seasonal farming  And over these millennia, particularly starts around this time as well) and during the present one, we have built cities and urban clusters, thus making what was ‘wild’ land into ‘civilised’ land.  Indeed, geo-zoologists have argued that it is we humans who have transgressed and changed the landscape of Mother Earth.  Incidentally, this appears to be true of not only on land, but in water as well.  BBC news reported how with a lull in traffic in the Bosphorus marine route during lockdown

Easy to PICK449 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 5. we ourselves are (finally) paying more attention to all these features during lockdown than at other times, and exchange all these observations through social media.

Easy to PICK450 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 COVID19-Plasma therapy Antibodies from convalescent plasma protect Promising study against COVID-19  The authors state that the efficacy of the antibodies in Syrian hamsters is  A team of scientists led by Dennis R. “promising” and suggest that human Burton from the Scripps Research Institute studies be undertaken based on animal trial has discovered that neutralising antibodies results. present in the blood of COVID-19 infected  Incidentally, the researchers also identified who have recovered offers powerful one antibody that can neutralise the 2002 protection against novel coronavirus in SARS virus. animals.  According to the release, the antibodies can be injected into patients in the early Role for antibodies stage of the disease to reduce the viral  The small animals that received high dose load and thus protect the patient from of antibodies did not lose weight and the progressing to the severe form of the amount of virus in the lungs was low disease. compared with those that received low  The antibodies also may be used to dose of the antibodies and the control provide temporary, vaccine-like group. protection against SARS-CoV-2  The study suggests a role for neutralising infection for healthcare workers, elderly antibodies in prophylaxis(treatment people and others who respond poorly to given to prevent a disease), and traditional vaccines or are suspected of a potentially therapy, of COVID-19. recent exposure to the coronavirus.  Prior to transferring and testing the ability  The antibodies can then be mass-produced of the antibodies to protect the animals either as a treatment to prevent from the virus, the researchers tested it on deterioration of the disease and as a human cell cultures and found the preventive vaccine, as in the case of Ebola antibodies to have superior ability to virus, the release notes. protect against the virus.  More than 1,000 antibody-producing  Two different antibodies in five different immune cells called the B cells were first concentrations were tested on the small isolated. These antibodies were isolated animals to evaluate dose-dependent based on their ability to bind to the virus protection. and prevent it from infecting the test cells.  The highest dose tested was 2 mg/animal and the lowest dose was 8 Gene sequence microgram/animal.  Each of the 1,000 immune B cells  The animals were challenged with the produced a distinct antibody against the virus 12 hours after the antibodies were virus. In order to mass-produce the transferred. Lung tissues were collected to antibody, the scientists obtained the gene measure viral load on day 5 post virus sequence of each antibody. challenge.  They then screened each antibody and 33  In contrast to the antibody to receptor- antibodies that could block the virus from binding domain(RBD) of the virus, the binding to the test cells were identified. less potent and incompletely neutralising antibody showed no evidence of protection at any concentration compared to the control animals.

Easy to PICK451 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Climate change impact on Ungulates A struggle to co-exist with humans experienced minimal direct human  Today, the whopping 750 crore human disturbance, and this movement can lead to population has made an impact on most the displacement of native species. flora and fauna.  Previous studies have shown that many  Taking into consideration this lack of apex predators have been lost due to fear, abatement in human population growth, an habitat conversion and loss of prey. international team of researchers observes Key issues how these ecological disruptions affect  Issues of the 19th and 20th the life of ungulates (hoofed large century, overharvest, poaching, and mammals). wildlife slaughter will not be the most  The team notes that humans have brought pressing in the 21st century.” Climate about changes in the Himalayan realm – change and rapid destruction of habitat there is an increase in cashmere goats, and will be key. also, stray dogs have started hunting  High-elevation ungulates have been ungulates including threatened, known to be affected through changes in endangered, and rare ones such as kiang, ice and snow and the availability of snow patches. chiru, saiga and takin. Himalaya and Andes  The team also draws similarities between the two giant mountain ranges – the Himalaya and the Andes, both homes to unique ungulate fauna.  Both are currently experiencing increased deglaciation, human colonisation, climate alteration, livestock and tourism-induced changes.  A paper published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution stresses that the “world’s 400 million free-ranging dogs – through disease, predation, and displacement – have changed the face of ungulate communities on every continent.”  Dogs prey on saiga, blue sheep, argali, chiru, kiang, goral, ibex, sambar, chital and blackbuck.  The high elevation dogs of Bhutan also harbour tapeworms which when consumed via grasses by yaks can cause coenurosis, a neurological disease that may result in about 10% mortality of young yaks.  Human activities such as the seasonal relocation of agro-pastoralists to collect the worm fungus Cordyceps can also have an impact on the ungulates.  These high-elevation environments have

Easy to PICK452 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Automated lung ultrasound (LUS) IIT-Palakkad develops ultrasound for COVID- have time limitations in manually 19 screening evaluating ultrasound videos of all patients.  The IIT, Palakkad, has developed  According to Dr.Panicker, the approach is an automated lung ultrasound (LUS) for not only restricted to COVID-19 detection COVID-19 screening and monitoring but also to identifing other lung through cloud-based image analysis and scoring system. infections such as pulmonary oedema, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia,  The app, the first of its kind in India, is pneumothorax, COPD or asthma with now available for clinicians to perform the availability of clinical data. automated analysis by just uploading the  Also, early chest computerised ultrasound video. tomography (CT) has been recommended for screening suspected  Motivated by the promising results that COVID-19 patients. showed the relevance and importance of  However, the high contagiousness LUS in COVID-19 patients, the IIT team of COVID-19 and the risk of conducted LUS analysis of normal, viral, transporting unstable patients make and bacterial infected lungs, using image chest CT a limited option for those processing and neural networks and who have contracted the disease. developed an automated LUS analysis  LUS has the added advantage of ease of tool. use at point-of-care (portability), repeatability, absence of radiation  Following a simple protocol of LUS, exposure, and low cost. acquires the lung images and transfers the  In the past few weeks, he says LUS has images to the cloud (pulseecho.in/alus/). been proposed as the single imaging-based The images are analysed over the cloud screening and monitoring approach for the and scores are assigned according to safety of healthcare practitioners. certain criteria either for the type of  However, LUS is not very commonly infection or its severity. adopted in India and ultrasound, by nature itself, requires specific experience and  He says the methodology will be skill. extremely useful in time-critical COVID-  Dr. Prasad says the uploaded images are 19 working conditions where clinicians classified into healthy lung, viral infection, and bacterial infection. But in the case of severity of infection, the images have been classified into levels of increasing severity such as normal lung characterised by A lines and healthy pleura, slightly infectious lung with A + B lines, infectious lung with only B lines or heavy B patch, and serious lung infection characterised by lung consolidations and air bronchograms.  Currently, the classification of infection type has an accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of 96%, 95% and 97% respectively, whereas the severity

Easy to PICK453 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 classification has accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of 97 %, 92% and 98% respectively.

Easy to PICK454 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Artic Sea It is located mostly in the Arctic North Polar oceans. Region in the middle of the Northern Hemisphere, besides its surrounding waters the  Recently, National Centre of Polar and Arctic Ocean is surrounded by Eurasia and North America. It is partly covered by sea ice Ocean Research (NCPOR) have throughout the year and almost completely in winter. observed the largest decline in the The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans and it Arctic Sea ice in the last 41 years. is also known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization  According to recent observations in the (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Sea. last 40 years (1979-2018), the sea ice has It is sometimes classified as an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, and it is also seen as the been declining at 4.7% per decade, while northernmost part of the all-encompassing World Ocean. The Arctic Ocean's surface temperature the current declining rate was found to be and salinity vary seasonally as the ice cover melts and freezes. Its salinity is the lowest on average of 13% in July 2019. the five major oceans, due to low evaporation, heavy fresh water inflow from rivers and streams,  Thus, it has been noted that the volume of and limited connection and outflow to surrounding oceanic waters with higher salinities. ice formation during winters is unable to Decline in Artic Sea Ice keep pace with the volume of ice loss  Sea ice arises as seawater freezes, because ice is less dense than water, it floats on the during summers. ocean's surface.  Sea ice covers about 7% of the Earth's  Additionally, it has been predicted that surface and about 12% of the world's if this trend continues, there would be no ice left in the Arctic Sea by 2050.  The decrease of the Arctic Sea ice area and the increase in the duration of summer and autumn seasons affected the local weather and climate over the Arctic Ocean and its marginal seas.  It may affect other components of the climate system such as reduction of heat, water vapor, and other material exchange between the atmosphere and the sea.  The northern hemisphere experienced record high-temperature rise, especially during the spring and summer months. National Centre of Polar and Ocean Research  It was established as an autonomous Research and Development Institution of the Ministry of Earth Sciences in 1998.  It is located in Goa.  Earlier known as National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), NCPOR is India’s premier R&D institution responsible for the country’s research activities in the Polar and Southern Ocean realms.  It is the nodal agency for planning,

Easy to PICK455 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 promotion, coordination and execution of the entire gamut of polar and southern ocean scientific research in the country as well as for the associated logistics activities. For arctic council read: https://www.aspireias.com/daily-news- analysis-current-affairs/Arctic-Council For ANITA: https://www.aspireias.com/daily- news-analysis-current-affairs/ANITA-Antarctic- Impulsive-Transient-Antenna

Easy to PICK456 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 SCHEME FOR VOLUNTARY CERTIFICATION OF YOGA PROFESSIONALS  At the behest of the Hon'ble Prime Acharya (being the advanced level).  The scheme is launched by Ministry of Minister of India, a Scheme for AYUSH and implemented by Quality Voluntary Certification of Yoga Council of India. Professionals has been launched by Ministry of AYUSH to spread India’s traditional knowledge worldwide and to provide India's leadership in assuring quality of yoga practices across the World.  The Ministry of AYUSH, in pursuance of the above and in the wake of declaration of International Day of Yoga, identified Quality Council of India (QCI) to develop a Scheme for Voluntary Certification of Yoga Professionals recognising that QCI has expertise in developing such quality frameworks based on international best practices.  The Scheme for voluntary certification of yoga professionals has been developed by adopting the principles and requirements laid down in the international standard, ISO/IEC 17024:2072 (E) General Requirements for Bodies Operating Certification of Persons specially clause 8 that describes the elements of the Scheme. The Scheme aims to certify Yoga professionals using the principles of third party assessment through the following process: a. Defining the competence requirements in terms of knowledge and skills to be complied with by &e Yoga professionals in the form of Competence Standard. b. Defining the process of evaluation and certification in the form of the Certification Process. c. Laying down requirements for competence and operation of assessment bodies through Accreditation.  The Scheme, for Yoga Professionals, as of now, will evaluate four levels of competence, namely, Yoga Instructor, Yoga Teacher, Yoga Master and Yoga

Easy to PICK457 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 World Crocodile Day World Crocodile Day is celebrated on 17th  The information is vital for Australia and June. The day is a global awareness campaign to Africa where such attacks are more likely highlight the plight of endangered crocodiles and than in other parts of the world. alligators around the world. Crocodile spices found in India includes  This is the only database of its kind with such comprehensive collection of  Mugger or Marsh Crocodile information made available online.  Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile  Gharial or River water Crocodile Human-crocodile conflict Hotspots in India includes  Vadodara in Gujarat (in Vishwamitri river)  Kota in Rajasthan,  Bhitarkanika in Odisha  Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Culling had been recommended a few years back in the Andaman and Nicobar islands by the forest department to the MoEFCC) Indian Crocodile Conservation Project The Crocodile Conservation Project was launched in 1975 in different States. The Gharial and Saltwater crocodile conservation programme was first implemented in Odisha in early 1975 and subsequently the Mugger conservation programme was initiated.  Gharial crocodile project started in Tikarpada (1975) aims to increase the sighting to five crocodiles per kilometer length of water.  As a result of the programme, the estimated number of the saltwater crocodiles increased from 96 in 1976 to 1,640 in 2012 in India. CrocBITE CrocBITE is an online database of crocodile attacks reported on humans. The non-profit online research tool helps to scientifically analyze crocodile behavior via complex models.  Users are encouraged to feed information in a crowdsourcing manner, the uploaded information needs to be verifiable.  The database provides key insights into crocodile attack patterns and draws inferences to save human lives.

Easy to PICK458 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Nature Index 2020: Index of Scientific Research Council of Scientific & Industrial Research academic publishing company based in It was established by the Government of India in Germany. September 1942 as an autonomous body. It  The Index is updated monthly and also comes under the Ministry of Science & releases annual tables of countries. Technology. It is known for its cutting edge research and development knowledge base in diverse science and technology areas. It has been ranked first in the Nature Ranking Index-2020. Nature Index 2020: Index of Scientific Research Recently, a journal of science i.e. the Nature Research, has released the Nature Index 2020.  The Nature Index provides a database of high-quality research output and collaboration at the institutional, national and regional level of institutions from different countries.  The top three countries in the index are US, China and Germany respectively.  Criteria for the Ranking o Sectors: Academic and Corporate. o Subjects: Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Science, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences. o Journal Group: Nature and Science.  The overall ranking of India is 12th in the index.  Top 3 Ranking of Institutions from india: o Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) o Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) o Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) The Nature Index  The Nature Index is a database of author affiliation information collated from research articles published in an independently selected group of 82 high- quality science journals.  The database is compiled by Nature Research.  The Nature research is a part of Springer Nature which is an American German

Easy to PICK459 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Decarbonising Transport in India project  The International Transport NITI Aayog in collaboration with International Forum (ITF) is an inter-governmental Transport Forum will launch the 'Decarbonising Transport in India' organisation within the OECD project on with the intention to develop a pathway towards a low-carbon transport system for India. (Organisation for Economic Co-operation Imp Points and Development) system.  India has been a member of ITF, an intergovernmental organisation for  It is the only global body with a mandate transport policy, since 2008. The online event will inform transport and climate for all modes of transport. It acts as a think stakeholders in India about planned project activities. tank for transport policy issues and  It will also offer the opportunity to provide organises the annual global summit of inputs regarding India’s transport challenges and how they relate to CO2 transport ministers. reduction ambitions.  The organization brings together 60  The discussion will help to focus the project further on India’s specific needs member countries with the aim to advance and circumstances. The “Decarbonising Transport in India” project will design a the global transport policy agenda, and tailor-made transport emissions assessment framework for India. ensure that it continues to contribute to  It will provide the government with a sustainable development, prosperity, detailed understanding of current and future transport activity and the related social inclusion and the protection of CO2 emissions as a basis for their decision-making. human life and well-being.  The India project is carried out in the wider  The ITF maintains the International Road context of the International Transport Forum’s Decarbonising Transport initiativ Traffic and Accident Database (IRTAD), a e. comprehensive database of statistics It is part of the Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Eco related to road safety. nomies (DTEE) family of projects, which supports transport decarbonisation across  India has been a member of ITF, an different world regions. India, Argentina, Azerbaijan, and Morocco are current intergovernmental organisation for participants. The DTEE is a collaboration between the ITF and the Wuppertal Institute, transport policy, since 2008. supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. About International Transport Forum

Easy to PICK460 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Decarbonising Transport project by NITI Aayog Decarbonising Transport: International About International Transport Forum  The International Transport Forum at the Project to Develop Pathway to Low-CO2 OECD is an intergovernmental organisation with 60 member countries. Mobility for India  It acts as a think tank for transport policy and organises the Annual Summit of  NITI Aayog in collaboration transport ministers.  ITF is the only global body that covers all with International Transport Forum transport modes. (ITF) will launch the “Decarbonising  The ITF is administratively integrated with Transport in India” project on 24 June, the OECD, yet politically autonomous.  The ITF organises global dialogue for with the intention to develop a pathway better transport.  It acts as a platform for discussion and towards a low-carbon transport system for pre-negotiation of policy issues across all transport modes. India.  It analyses trends, share knowledge and promote exchange among transport  India has been a member of ITF, decision-makers and civil society. The ITF’s Annual Summit is the world’s an intergovernmental organisation for largest gathering of transport ministers and the leading global platform transport policy, since 2008. for dialogue on transport policy.  The online event will inform transport and climate stakeholders in India about planned project activities. It will also offer the opportunity to provide inputs regarding India’s transport challenges and how they relate to CO2 reduction ambitions.  The discussion will help to focus the project further on India’s specific needs and circumstances.  The “Decarbonising Transport in India” project will design a tailor- made transport emissions assessment framework for India.  It will provide the government with a detailed understanding of current and future transport activity and the related CO2 emissions as a basis for their decision-making.  It is part of the “Decarbonising Transport in Emerging Economies” (DTEE) family of projects, which supports transport decarbonisation across different world regions. India, Argentina, Azerbaijan, and Morocco are current participants.  The DTEE is a collaboration between the ITF and the Wuppertal Institute, supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.

Easy to PICK461 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Foldscope could be a better alternative to clinical microscope Foldscope could be a better alternative to evaluated its efficacy as a motivational clinical microscope tool for improving oral health among school children in India.  Foldscope is an affordable origami-based  The study identifies that Foldscope is microscopy device composed of a series particularly convenient to diagnose of paper clippings. urinary tract infection (UTI) and monitor kidney stone.  (Origami is the Japanese art of folding  Using this tool, one can easily monitor paper into decorative shapes and figures) own-kidney stone status at home with a simple glass-slide, a Foldscope and  Upon assembly, the device can hold a a phone in hand. specimen slide for observation, and this  Such monitoring could perhaps avoid specimen can be viewed via a mobile kidney stone reaching a painful state or phone camera attached to it. surgery in recurring cases.  Given the ease of operation and low cost, Dr. Alka Rao‘s group at the Institute of Microbial Foldscope may be employed in public Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh, in healthcare centres for primary diagnosis collaboration with a team of doctors from a of oral health and UTI or as personal health government hospital in Panchkula, Haryana, a monitoring device. private hospital in the National Capital Region  To do the assessment, a patient sample (NCR), and a medical college from Imphal, have like urine is smeared on a transparent explored and validated the clinical utility of glass slide and visualized under Foldscope in the diagnosis of diseases using a Foldscope mounted on a cell phone. various patient samples.  Sample images can be enlarged using the zoom function of the mobile, which  The study evaluated the use of can be stored on mobile memory card for the Foldscope in the clinical diagnosis of later reference/patient records. oral and urinary tract infections and  Foldscope can be assembled using paper clips and mounted on cell phone using coupler and glue drops.  The researchers qualitatively compared the Foldscope to a clinical microscope by examining five different types of clinical samples.  Of the different types of clinical samples, the Foldscope was effective in detecting infection in dental plaque samples and urine samples.  Based on the study findings, Foldscope appeared to be capable of visualizing calcium oxalate crystals, which are a major cause of kidney stones.  The Foldscope can be used as an in-house diagnostic tool and personal health

Easy to PICK462 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 monitoring tool on a routine basis due to its affordability and zero maintenance cost. The study findings have been published in the Journal of Microscopy.

Easy to PICK463 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Sharavathi Monkey Park Karnataka government has decided to develop a monkey park in Shivamogga district. The monkey park will be established on the uninhabited islands in the Sharavathi backwaters region. The park will be the first such in the state and will be set up on 100 acres of land at the Nagavalli forest in Hosanagara taluk, Shivamogga district. The proposed 100-acre monkey park will have fruit-bearing trees, water sources, and solar fence will be put up around the area to avoid monkeys venturing outside the park premises. The idea came up following a spike in the cases of monkeys raiding agricultural and plantation crops in Malnad region in recent times and several protests by farmers. As a solution to the menace, the State government took a decision to establish the park and in the 2020-21 budget, ?6.25 crore was allocated for the purpose. In Himachal Pradesh, there are state-of-the-art monkey sterilization and rehabilitation centers to address the monkey menace, however it has failed to attain its objective.

Easy to PICK464 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Indian Gaur The Indian Gaur or Bison (Bos gaurus) is the exercise and highlighted that there are estimated largest and the tallest in the family of wild cattle 2,000 Indian gaurs across the division. and is a grazing animal. It is categorized as vulnerable under IUCN Red List, and protected under Wild Life Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I. It is kept well and protected in some of the famous national parks of India like Nagarhole, Bandipur, Kabini and Masinagudi (Mudumalai). The destruction in the grasslands has led to the decline in availability of food for these animals. The illegal hunting of the Indian bison is done for their commercial value as well as due to the high demand of gaur meat in the illegal market of India-Nepal border. Recently, the first population estimation exercise of the Indian Gaur (Bison) was carried out in the Nilgiris Forest Division, Tamil Nadu. World Wide Fund for Nature India assisted the

Easy to PICK465 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Malabar Gliding Frog Recently, a rare amphibian, Malabar Gliding Frog (Rhacophorus malabaricus) was spotted in Pullad, Kerala. In the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List it is placed in the Least Concern category. The amphibian is endemic to the rainforest of western ghats. Endemic species are those plants and animals that exist only in one geographical region. It is a green frog with slender body, webbed feet, unusual body positions and very well camouflaged. Camouflage, also called cryptic coloration, is a defense mechanism or tactic that organisms use to disguise their appearance, usually to blend in with their surroundings. It has a body length of 10 cm, making it one of the largest mossy frogs. Mossy Frogs, have the skin which is green in colour and resembles moss growing on the rock. As their body is so soft, they can live only in moist forests with streams.

Easy to PICK466 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Minks Minks are small semi-aquatic mammals raised for their fur. Mink oil is used in some medical products and cosmetics, as well as to treat, preserve and waterproof leather. There are two extant species referred to as \"mink\" - the American mink and the European mink. All European mink have a large white patch on their upper lip, whereas only some American mink have this marking, therefore, any mink without the patch is certainly of the American species.

Easy to PICK467 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Reverse Zoonosis Zoonosis is an infectious disease caused by a pathogen that has jumped from an animal to a human. When the pathogen is transmitted from human to animals, it is known as reverse zoonosis. The animal infected through the process may in turn re-transmit the infection to humans under some circumstances. Recently novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has begun infecting minks farms in the Netherlands. It could largely have been transmitted through indirect routes such as through feed or bedding material, infectious droplets or by contaminated dust from the bedding. Literature has shown that the phenomenon of reverse zoonosis can also happen in case of other pathogens such as resistant bacteria. This can add to the greater spread of bacterial infections in animals. It can also involve an increased use of antibiotics to treat or prevent such infections, eventually contributing to another slow pandemic of antimicrobial resistance.

Easy to PICK468 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP)  NIPFP is India’s premier economic think tank - a centre for research in public economics and policies, located in Delhi.  It is an autonomous body set up jointly by the Ministry of Finance, the erstwhile Planning Commission, and several state governments.  It was founded in 1976 and registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.  It undertakes research, policy advocacy and capacity building in areas related to public economics.  One of the major mandates of the institute is to assist the Central, State and Local governments in formulating and reforming public policies by providing an analytical base.  It receives an annual grant from the Ministry of Finance and various State governments, however it maintains an independent non-government character.  It includes the Revenue Secretary, Economic Affairs Secretary and the Chief Economic Advisor from the Union Finance Ministry and representatives from NITI Aayog, RBI and 3 state governments.  The usual tenure of a chairman is four years, which can be extended.

Easy to PICK469 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Sustainable Developmental Goals Index 2019 The SDG India Index (NITI AAYOG) developed in collaboration with the dashboard displays overall & detailed info on Ministry of Statistics and Programme the progress made by States & UTs on Global Implementation (MoSPI), the United Goals of the United Nations including their Nations, and the Global Green Growth incremental progress from 2018, using interactive Institute. visualizations.  The year 2020 will be the The SDG index shows that Kerala is on the first 5th anniversary of the adoption of SDGs rank for 2019 followed by Himachal Pradesh, by 193 countries at the UN General Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The report Assembly. attributes the improvement in India's performance to several welfare programs including Swachh Methodology Followed Bharat Abhiyan and Ujjwala Yojana.  A composite score for SDG Index (2019) Imp Points was computed in the range of 0–100 for each State/UT based on its aggregate  According to the index, most of the states performance across 16 SDGs. still need to work more on subjects like o The higher the score of a gender equality and nutrition. State/UT, the closer it is towards achieving the 2030  Bihar and Jharkhand need to put more efforts to improve on the major national targets. parameters of the SDG so that they also  States /UTs are classified based on the match the standards of other states. SDG India Index Score as follows:  In Uttar Pradesh and Assam, a lot of o Aspirant: 0–49 good work has been done in the last o Performer: 50–64 year on various parameters like health, o Front Runner: 65–99 education, poverty, hunger, due to which o Achiever: 100 the ranking of these states has improved further. National Analysis  India's composite score improved from 57  When it comes to Uttar Pradesh, it is in 2018 to 60 in 2019-20 with major among the leading states to improve its success in water and sanitation, power performance, which has gained 13 and industry. However, nutrition and points more than the last year. gender equality continue to be problem Analysis areas for India, requiring a more focused NITI Aayog has released the second edition of approach from the government the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)  The ranks of 14 states have dropped in India Index (SDG Index 2.0). the index compared to 2018.  All states and union territories except for  The index documents the progress made Delhi have scored above 65. by India’s States and Union Territories towards achieving the 2030 State/UT Wise Analysis SDG targets.  Kerala has the top rank with a score of 70 followed by Himachal Pradesh  The Index spans 16 out of 17 SDGs which with 69 points. Further, Andhra Pradesh, marks an improvement over the 2018 Tamil Nadu and Telangana shared the Index, which covered only 13 goals. third spot with each state scoring 67 on the Index.  The SDG India Index has been  Bihar has emerged as the worst performer with the lowest score

Easy to PICK470 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 of 50. Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, a government-led, sub-national measure of Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh are also progress on Sustainable Development some of the worst-performing states on the Goals. index.  The SDG India Index acts as a bridge  Uttar Pradesh has shown maximum between these mandates, aligning the improvement followed by Odisha and SDGs with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Sikkim. clarion call of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,  Union Sabka Vishwas, which embodies the five Territories: Chandigarh has topped the Ps of the global SDG movement: people, list with the score of 70 followed planet, prosperity, partnership and by Puducherry with 66. peace.  The Index is designed to function as a tool How will the Index will be useful to States/UTs? for focused policy dialogue, formulation 1. Support States/UTs to assess their progress and implementation, and moving towards against national targets and performance development action pegged to globally of their peers to understand reasons for recognizable metrics. differential performance and devise better  The Index also supplements NITI strategies to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Aayog’s continuous efforts to encourage 2. Support States/UTs to identify priority evidence-based policymaking by areas in which they need to invest and supporting States/UTs to benchmark improve by enabling them to measure their progress, identifying priority areas incremental progress. and sharing best practices. 3. Highlight data gaps related across SDGs  The SDG India Index 2019 also helps for India to develop its statistical systems highlight crucial gaps related to at the national and State levels. monitoring SDGs and the need for improving statistical systems at the Significance and analysis: National/State/UT levels.  India is the first country in the world with  Further, the Index highlights the need for improvements in data collection, reporting and methodology.  NITI Aayog is also exploring partnerships for disaggregating data and developing capacity for real-time monitoring and measuring incremental progress.  There are many schemes to achieve those goals which the central and state governments are running.  There is a need to train and motivate people to achieve the goals.  The SDGs still remain outside of the system. We are not mainstreaming many of the concerns.  There is a lot of overlap. India has 40% food wastage which impact SDG goal 2.  The growth which has taken in technology is very critical in achieving our targets.  If we use cutting edge technology in the monitoring and evaluation in a correct

Easy to PICK471 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 way in achieving SDGs it will give results.  Interconnectivity between the goal is very critical and important.  Each district, taluk and gram panchayats should have a SDG plan.  We should develop proper monitoring measure.  There is a need that Technology and People should converge.

Easy to PICK472 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Information about Country of Origin by the sellers made mandatory on GeM to promote Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat  Government e-Marketplace (GeM), a Policies of the Government in the true Special Purpose Vehicle under sense. the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,  GeM is enabling quick, efficient, has made it mandatory for sellers to enter transparent and cost-effective the Country of Origin while registering procurement, especially in this hour of all new products on GeM. need when government organizations require products and services urgently to  Further, sellers, who had already uploaded fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. their products before the introduction of  The purchases through GeM by this new feature on GeM, are being Government users have been authorised reminded regularly to update the Country and made mandatory by Ministry of of Origin, with a warning that their Finance . products shall be removed from GeM if they fail to update the same. GeM has taken this significant step to promote ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.  GeM has also enabled a provision for indication of the percentage of local content in products.  With this new feature, now, the Country of Origin as well as the local content percentage are visible in the marketplace for all items.  More importantly, the ‘Make in India’ filter has now been enabled on the portal.  Buyers can choose to buy only those products that meet the minimum 50% local content criteria.  In case of Bids, Buyers can now reserve any bid for Class I Local suppliers (Local Content > 50%).  For those Bids below INR 200 crore, only Class I and Class II Local Suppliers (Local content > 50% and > 20% respectively) are eligible to bid, with Class I supplier getting purchase preference.  Since its inception, GeM is continuously working towards promotion of ‘Make in India’ initiative.  The Marketplace has facilitated entry of small local sellers in Public Procurement, while implementing ‘Make in India’ and MSE Purchase Preference

Easy to PICK473 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Compressed Bio-Gas plants to be brought under Priority Sector Lending Financing for Compressed Bio-Gas plants to be potential of about 10,000. brought under Priority Sector Lending  CBG produced from the Plant can fuel Context more than 1000 vehicles per day in  The Government is in the process of Salem – Namakkal region. The Biogas including Compressed Bio-Gas under Plant shall also fuel 2 Priority Sector Lending. industries with green alternative fuel.  The Minister said that there is immense  Shri Pradhan, along with Tamil Nadu potential in India's Oil and Gas sector and Chief Minister, inaugurates CBG Plant at Namakkal in Tamil Nadu and CBG Fuel the projects that have been initiated in the Stations. recent past would go a long way in ensuring India’s energy security.  He further added that Central Financial Assistance or Subsidy for setting up About Biogas CBG plants has been extended to 2020-  Biogas production is growing steadily, as 21 to promote new projects. more people are setting up biogas plants to produce biogas. About SATAT  Biogas is a renewable, as well as a clean, source of energy.  The 'SATAT' (Sustainable Alternative  The gas generated through bio-digestion is non-polluting and it reduces Towards Affordable greenhouse emissions. Transportation) scheme on CBG was  He said “Harnessing the full potential launched on 1.10.2018 which envisages of biofuels to generate alternative energy in various forms, including Compressed targeting production of 15 MMT of Biogas or CBG, ethanol, 2G ethanol, and biodiesel will help achieve our PM Modi's CBG from 5000 plants by 2023. vision of reducing import dependence of oil and ensuring sustainable energy future  Oil Marketing Companies have in the country.” offered long term pricing on CBG to make projects bankable and have agreed to execute long term agreements on CBG.  The Minister said that Bio-manure, an important by-product of CBG Plants, is also in the process of being included in Fertilizer Control Order 1985. Importance of CBG  This will make it easier to market and  Government of India has been promoting provide an opportunity for organic farming Biofuels including CBG to increase across the country as the 5000 CBG Plants the green-energy mix, reduce import are expected to produce 50 MMT dependence, create Biomanure. employment especially in semi-urban & rural areas and reduce pollution. CBG potential of Tamil Nadu  Usage of CBG shall assist in achieving  On the CBG potential of Tamil Nadu from existing waste and biomass sources, Shri climate change goals of India as per Pradhan said that utilizing about 2.4 MMTPA of it shall result in setting up of the Paris Agreement 2015. around 600 Plants across the State which would result in the investment of about  This shall also be in alignment with Rs. 21,000 crore and direct employment schemes of Government of India like Swachh Bharat, Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India.

Easy to PICK474 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Study of optical properties of super-massive black-hole Through 153 nights, 17 scientists from 9 singularity. countries in Europe and Asia including researchers from Aryabhatta Research If black holes are invisible, how can we detect or Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), photograph them? Nainital (PT), an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), 1. By looking for the effects of their extreme Government of India took 2263 image frames gravity, which pulls stars and gases toward and observed the changes in a very high energy them. gamma-ray emitting blazar ‘1ES 0806+524’ using seven optical telescopes in 2. Also, while anything past the event Europe and Asia. horizon is invisible, outside that boundary A blazar is a feeding super-massive black-hole there is sometimes a spiral disk of gas that (SMBH) in the heart of a distant galaxy that the black hole has pulled toward — but not produces a high-energy jet viewed face-on from yet into — itself. Earth. Blazars are one of the most luminous and energetic objects in the known universe with a jet 3. The gases in that accretion disk are composed of ionized matter traveling at nearly the heated up as they accelerate toward the speed of light directed very nearly towards an black hole, causing them to glow observer. extremely brightly. The colours they glow Blazars are among one of the most favourite are invisible to us, but are detectable with astronomical transient objects because they an X-ray telescope. emit radiation in the complete electromagnetic (EM )spectrum, and their flux and polarization 4. Scientists have also detected the are highly variable. gravitational waves generated when two black holes collide. light surrounding the black hole right to the edge of the event horizon, which is the goal of the Event Horizon Telescope. Recent news How big are black holes? The first photograph of a black hole was Small black holes are called stellar-mass black revealed by scientists recently. holes. They have masses similar to those of larger What is a black hole? stars — about five to 20 times the mass of the sun. The other kind is supermassive black holes, which  A black hole is an object in space that is so are millions to billions of times more massive than dense and has such strong gravity that no the sun. That’s the kind the Event Horizon matter or light can escape its pull. Because Telescope has been trying to photograph, as bigger no light can escape, it is black and objects ought to be easier to see. There is some invisible. evidence that black holes between these two sizes exist, but that has yet to be confirmed.  There’s a boundary at the edge of a black While black holes are very massive, that doesn’t hole called the event horizon, which is the mean they take up a lot of space. Because they’re point of no return — any light or matter so dense, they’re actually quite small. According that crosses that boundary is sucked into to NASA, a black hole 20 times the mass of the the black hole. It would need to travel sun could fit inside a ball 16 kilometres wide — faster than the speed of light to escape, the width of the Island of Montreal at its widest which is impossible. point.  Anything that crosses the event horizon is Where are black holes found? destined to fall to the very centre of the black hole and be squished into a single point with infinite density, called the

Easy to PICK475 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Supermassive black holes are found at the centre of most galaxies, including our own Milky Way. The one in our galaxy is called Sagittarius A* and is one of those the Event Horizon Telescope has been attempting to photograph. Sagittarius A* isn’t the only black hole in our galaxy, though. Earlier this year, astronomers discovered another 12 within three light-years of it, suggesting there could be upwards of 10,000 black holes around the galactic centre. Where do black holes come from? Supermassive black holes are believed to form at the same time as the galaxy that surrounds them, but astronomers aren’t sure exactly how. Stellar mass black holes form when a star with a mass greater than three times that of our sun runs out of fuel. It explodes into a supernova and collapses into an extremely dense core that we know as a black hole — something predicted by Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Einstein’s theory also predicts the size and shape of the black holes that the Event Horizon Telescope is trying to photograph. For WHITE DWARFS read: https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/objec ts/dwarfs1.html

Easy to PICK476 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 ULV sprayer through drones To overcome the limitation of importing ft only. equipment, Department of Agriculture,  The tractor mounted sprayers also has a Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW), under Make in India initiative, has taken up the limitation in reaching inaccessible areas challenge to indigenously develop a vehicle and tall trees. mounted ULV sprayer for locust control.  Therefore, the necessity of exploring aerial spray option was explored. What is ULV(Ultra-Low volume) sprayer?  During a review, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Ultra-low volume application of pesticides has Narendra Singh Tomar directed that been defined as spraying at a Volume deployment of Drones should be explored Application Rate (VAR) of less than 5 L/ha for for Locust control. field crops or less than 50 L/ha for tree/bush crops.  As the existing policy guidelines issued VARs of 0.25 – 2 l/ha are typical for aerial ULV by Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) did application to forest or migratory pests. not permit use of drones with payload of pesticides, so DAC&FW requested ULV spraying is a well-established spraying MoCA for permitting the same and technique and remains the standard method Ministry of Civil Aviation approved of locust control with pesticides and is also conditional exemption to Government widely used by cotton farmers in central- entity i.e. Directorate of Plant Protection, southern and western Africa. It has also been used Quarantine & Storage, Faridabad in massive aerial spraying campaigns against (DPPQ&S) for Drone operations for locust disease vectors such as the tse-tse fly. control on 21.05.2020.  Subsequent to the conditional A major benefit of ULV application is high work exemption given by MoCA, two firms rate (i.e. many hectares can be treated in one day). were empanelled for providing services of It is a good option if all (or some) of these drones for spray of pesticides for Locust conditions apply: control.  Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)  large area of land to treat of the United Nations has appreciated  rapid response required that India is the first country in the world  little or no water for making pesticide tank which is controlling Desert Locust through Drones. mixtures  logistical problems for supplies  difficult terrain: poor access to target site Importance of drones to control locusts  At present, the sole supplier of vehicle mounted sprayers is M/s Micron Sprayers, UK. Supply order for 60 nos. of sprayers was placed on the firm in February 2020.  However, the ground control vehicles with sprayers used for locust control can spray up to a height of 25-30

Easy to PICK477 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Minimum Support Price for Mature Dehusked Coconut Government declares Minimum Support Price for Mature Dehusked Coconut  Government of India has declared Minimum Support Price for mature dehusked coconut for the season 2020 at Rs. 2700/- per quintal, thus hiking the MSP by 5.02% from Rs. 2571/- per quintal during season 2019. Homogeneous Development  This decision has given utmost importance to the interests of farmers growing all kinds of crops throughout the country.  The hike in the MSP for mature dehusked coconut facilitates procurement of fresh coconut thereby ensuring that the benefit of MSP reaches the millions of smallholder coconut farmers.  Shri Tomar said that coconut being a small holder’s crop, aggregation and arranging copra making facility at farmer’s level is not common.  Even though MSP for milling copra is Rs. 9960/- per quintal for 2020 crop season, declaration of higher MSP for dehusked coconut ensures immediate cash to the small farmers, who are unable to hold the product and who are having insufficient facility for copra making.  This will be a relief to the coconut farmers who are already affected by the pandemic and the consequent disruption in the supply chain.

Easy to PICK478 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 YUKTI 2.0 About YUKTI 1.0 challenges and physical and mental well- being of students in these challenging  Union Minister for HRD Shri Ramesh times. Pokhriyal “Nishank” has launched a web- About YUKTI 2.0  YUKTI 2.0 is logical extension of earlier portal YUKTI (Young India Combating version of ‘YUKTI’, an initiative of MHRD, to identify ideas relevant in COVID with Knowledge, Technology COVID pandemic.  The minister appreciated the initiative and and Innovation) . portal and said that our Prime Minister has given us  It’s a unique the mission of making Bharat ‘Atmanirbhar’ and, YUKTI 2.0 initiative dashboard to monitor and record the is a very important step in that direction.  This initiative helps the youth to convert efforts and initiatives of MHRD. their ideas into enterprises.  More importantly, initiative like YUKTI  The portal intends to cover the different 2.0 will also help in fostering the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in dimensions of COVID-19 challenges in a our academic institutions. very holistic and comprehensive way.  In the wake of COVID-19 threat, our primary aim is to keep our academic community healthy, both physically & mentally and to enable a continuous high- quality learning environment for learners.  The portal is an effort of HRD Ministry to achieve this goal in these difficult times.  It will cover the various initiatives and efforts of the institutions in academics, research especially related to CoVID, social initiatives by institutions and the measures taken for the betterment of the total wellbeing of the students.  The portal will cover both qualitative and quantitative parameters for effective delivery of services to the academic community at large.  The portal will also allow various institutions to share their strategies for various challenges which are there because of the unprecedented situation of COVID- 19 and other future initiatives.  The portal will also establish a two-way communication channel between the Ministry of HRD and the institutions so that the Ministry can provide the necessary support system to the institutions.  He said that we are confident that this portal will help in critical issues related to student promotion policies, placements related

Easy to PICK479 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 NDRF The NDRF was set up in accordance with Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005. It is meant to “meet the expenses for emergency response, relief and rehabilitation” for any threatening disaster situation. Although Section 46 includes a clause regarding grants made by any person or institution, provisions for such donations had not been made. Contribution to NDRF  Recently the Supreme Court sought a response from the Centre to a plea that contributions made to the PM CARES Fund to fight coronavirus (COVID-19) should be transferred entirely to the NDRF. Following this, Finance Ministry has given approval to a proposal to allow individuals and institutions to contribute directly to the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF).  According to recent procedure laid out by the Finance Ministry “receipts in the form of grants/donations made by any person for the purpose of disaster management may be taken as receipts of GoI under a new minor head” being created for the purpose. Similar procedures may be followed for contributions to the State Disaster Relief Funds as well.  This is a significant development at a time when many have expressed concerns about donations sent to the PM CARES Fund or the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, as both claim they are not public authorities subject to questions under the Right to Information Act.

Easy to PICK480 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code-IBC Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code-IBC and gratuity fund, as well as any other  Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 funds maintained for the welfare of the was enacted for reorganization and workmen. insolvency resolution of corporate persons, partnership firms and individuals Types of creditors in a time bound manner for maximization  Secured creditor is generally a bank or of the value of assets. other asset-based lender that holds a fixed  The Ecosystem of IBC is based on or floating charge over a business asset or 1. Adjudicating authority (AA) - would be assets. the National Company Law Tribunal  When a business becomes insolvent, sale (NCLT) for corporate insolvency. of the specific asset over which security is o It will entertain or dispose of any held provides repayment for this category insolvency application, approve/ of creditor. reject resolution plans, decide in  Unsecured creditor is an individual or respect of claims or matters of law/ institution that lends money without facts thereof. obtaining specified assets as collateral. 2. Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) has  This poses a higher risk to the creditor jurisdiction over individuals and because it will have nothing to fall back if partnership firms other than Limited the borrower default on the loan. Liability Partnerships. 3. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) - apex body for promoting transparency & governance in the administration of the IBC. o It will be involved in setting up the infrastructure and accrediting IPs (Insolvency Professionals (IPs) & IUs (Information Utilities). Waterfall Mechanism under IBC  Section 53 of IBC deals with the waterfall mechanism, which gives priority to secured financial creditors over unsecured financial creditors.  The mechanism says that if a company is being liquidated, these secured financial creditors must be first paid the full extent of their admitted claim, before any sale proceedings are distributed to any other unsecured creditor.  The top most priority, however, is given to costs related to the liquidation process and dues of workmen of the corporate debtor.  The dues of the workmen include all their salaries, provident, pension, retirement

Easy to PICK481 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) is the usage and licensing fee that telecom operators are charged by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). It is divided into spectrum usage charges and licensing fees, pegged between 3-5 % and 8 % respectively. As per DoT, the charges are calculated based on all revenues earned by a telco – including non- telecom related sources such as deposit interests and asset sales. Telcos, on their part, insist that AGR should comprise only the revenues generated from telecom services. Verdict on AGR  In October 2019, SC issued a verdict on the AGR, that it will be used for calculating government dues such as licence fee and spectrum charges.  The Supreme Court has upheld the definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) calculation as stipulated by the Department of Telecommunications.  This means that telecom companies will have to pay up as much as Rs 92,642 crore to the government.  Following this Department of Telecommunication (DoT) had sought Rs 4 lakh crore in past dues from gas utility GAIL India Ltd, electricity transmission firm PowerGrid, Oil India Ltd, Delhi Metro and others.  The state-owned firms challenged the demand, saying telecom was not their core business and revenue from licences such as ISP formed a meagre part of their revenue.  Recently government has informed the SC that the DoT has decided to withdraw 96% of the Rs 4 lakh crore demand for AGR related dues raised against non-telecom PSUs like GAIL.

Easy to PICK482 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Krishi Vigyan Kendras  It is an integral part of the National Agricultural Research System (NARS).  It consists of scientists, technical staff, administration support staff and auxiliary staff.  The first KVK was established in 1974 at Puducherry.  KVKs also produce quality technological products (seed, planting material, bio- agents, and livestock) and make it available to farmers.  The KVK scheme is 100% financed by the Government of India. China’s Tariff Exemption to Bangladesh Recently, China has announced tariff Asia Pacific Trade Agreement exemption for 97% of exports from  Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), Bangladesh. Bangladesh had requested China to previously the Bangkok Agreement, is a exempt its export items from tariffs in the preferential tariff arrangement that aims at background of the economic hardship triggered by promoting intra-regional trade through the the Covid-19 pandemic. exchange of mutually agreed concessions China considered Bangladesh's request and has by member countries. granted the tariff exemption to Bangladesh on  Its current Members are Bangladesh, account of its Least Developed Countries (LDCs) China, India, Republic of Korea, Lao PDR status. The move will help Bangladesh to and Sri Lanka. remove the economic impact of the pandemic and also emerge as a possible beneficiary Least Developed Countries alongside Vietnam and Chile of the U.S.-China  LDCs are low-income countries trade war. designated by the United Nations, The supply chain disruption caused by the confronting severe structural impediments U.S.-China trade war is likely to be filled by a to sustainable development. boost in export of tariff-exempted goods from  They are highly vulnerable to economic Bangladesh. It will also help Bangladesh to and environmental shocks and have low reduce its trade deficit with China. As a result of levels of human assets. the latest announcement, a total of 8256 goods from Bangladesh will be exempted of Chinese tariffs. Earlier, Bangladesh used to receive tariff-exemption for 3095 items under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA).

Easy to PICK483 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 SATYABHAMA Portal SATYABHAMA Portal  Union Ministry of Mines has launched a portal \"SATYABHAMA (Science and Technology Yojana for Atmanirbhar Bharat in Mining Advancement)\".  Its aim is to promote research and development in the mining and minerals sector.  It has been launched to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the Science and Technology Programme Scheme.  Under the Science and Technology Programme Scheme, the Ministry of Mines promotes research in applied geosciences, mineral exploration, mining and allied areas, mineral processing, optimum utilization and conservation of the mineral resources of the country.  The portal has been designed, developed and implemented by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).  The portal is also integrated with NGO Darpan Portal of NITI Aayog. NGO-DARPAN  NGO-DARPAN is a platform that provides space for interface between Non- Government organizations (NGOs)/Voluntary Organizations (VOs) and key Government Ministries / Departments / Government Bodies.  It is an e-governance application offered by NITI Aayog to electronically maintain data and transparency regarding NGOs/VOs in the country.  The NGO-DARPAN was earlier maintained by erstwhile Planning Commission, which has been replaced by the NITI Aayog in 2015.

Easy to PICK484 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 Star Formation Nebula White dwarf and Neutron Star or Black Hole Outlined below are the many steps involved in a 7. White dwarf (in case of a small star) and star’s evolution, from its formation in a nebula, to Neutron Star or Black Hole (in case of a large star). its death as a white dwarf or a neutron star. 1. Nebula: a star’s birthplace. Nebula  A nebula is a cloud of 2. Protostar: an early stage of a star gas (mostly hydrogen and helium) and dust in space. formation where nuclear fusion is yet to  Nebulae are the birthplaces of stars. begin. Protostar 3. T Tauri Star  A Protostar looks like a star, but its core is 4. Main Sequence Star: E.g. Sun – full of not yet hot enough for nuclear fusion to take place (nuclear fusion: the fusion of 2 life (nuclear fusion at the core at full hydrogen atoms into a helium atom with swing). 5. Red Giant (in case of a small star) and Red Supergiant (in case of a large star). 6. Planetary Nebula (in case of small star) and Supernova (in case of large star).

Easy to PICK485 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 the liberation of a huge amount of energy. Sun, is a red dwarf. Nuclear fusion occurs only when the initial temperatures are very high – a Red giant few million degree Celsius. That is why it  Red giants have diameters between 10 and is hard to achieve and control). 100 times that of the Sun.  The luminosity comes exclusively from  They are very bright, although the heating of the Protostar as it contracts their surface temperature is lower than (because of gravity). that of the Sun.  Protostars are usually surrounded by dust,  A red giant is formed during the later which blocks the light that they emit, so stages of the evolution as it runs out of they are difficult to observe in the visible hydrogen fuel at its centre. spectrum.  It still fuses hydrogen into helium in a shell surrounding a hot, dense T- Tauri star degenerate helium core.  A very young, lightweight star, less than  As the layer surrounding the core contains 10 million years old, that it still undergoing a bigger volume the fusion of hydrogen to gravitational contraction; it represents an helium around the core releases far more intermediate stage between a Protostar and energy and pushes much harder against a low-mass main sequence star like the gravity and expands the volume of the star. Sun.  Red giants are hot enough to turn the helium at their core into heavy Main sequence stars elements like carbon, this is how  Main sequence stars are stars that elements were formed one after the other. are fusing hydrogen atoms to form  But most stars are not massive enough to helium atoms in their cores. create the pressures and heat necessary to  Most of the stars in the universe — burn heavy elements, so fusion and heat about 90 per cent of them — are main production stops. sequence stars.  The sun is a main sequence star. Degenerate matter  Towards the end of its life, a star like the  Fusion in a star’s core produces heat and Sun swells up into a red giant, before outward pressure, but this pressure is kept losing its outer layers as a planetary in balance by the inward push of gravity nebula and finally shrinking to become generated by a star’s mass (gravity is a a white dwarf. product of mass).  When the hydrogen used as fuel vanishes, Red dwarf and fusion slows, gravity causes the star to  The faintest (less than 1/1000th the collapse in on itself. This creates a brightness of the Sun) main sequence stars degenerate star. are called the red dwarfs.  Great densities (degenerate star) are  Because of their low luminosity, they only possible when electrons are are not visible to the naked eye. displaced from their regular shells and  They are quite small compared to the sun pushed closer to the nucleus, allowing and have a surface temperature of about atoms to take up less space. The matter in 4000 ?C. this state is called ‘degenerate matter’.  According to some estimates, red dwarfs make up three-quarters of the stars in the Red Supergiant Milky Way.  As the red giant star condenses, it heats up  Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the even further, burning the last of its

Easy to PICK486 – “UPSC Monthly Magazine\" June - 2020 hydrogen and causing the star’s outer the brightness of 100 million suns for a layers to expand outward. short time.  At this stage, the star becomes a large red  The extremely luminous burst of radiation giant. A very large red giant is often expels much or all of a star’s material at a called Red Supergiant. great velocity, driving a shock wave into Planetary Nebula the surrounding interstellar medium.  Planetary nebula is an outer layer of gas  These shock waves trigger condensation and dust (no planets involved!) that are lost is a nebula paving the way for the birth when the star changes from a red giant to of a new star ? if a star has to be born, a a white dwarf. star has to die!  At the end of its lifetime, the sun will swell  A great proportion of primary cosmic up into a red giant, expanding out beyond rays comes from supernovae. the orbit of Venus. As it burns through its Supernovae can be triggered in one of two ways: fuel, it will eventually collapse under the Type I supernova or Type I-a supernova (read influence of gravity. as one-a)  The outer layers will be ejected in a shell  Occurs when there is a sudden re-ignition of gas that will last a few tens of thousands of nuclear fusion on the surface of of years before spreading into the vastness a degenerate white dwarf in a binary of space. system.  A degenerate white dwarf may accumulate White dwarf sufficient material from a companion star  A white dwarf is very small, hot star, to raise its core temperature, ignite carbon the last stage in the life cycle of a star like fusion, and trigger runaway nuclear the Sun. fusion, completely disrupting the star.  White dwarfs are the remains of normal The difference between Nova and Type I stars, whose nuclear energy supplies supernova have been used up. Nova  White dwarf consists of degenerate matter with a very high density due to In a nova, the system can shine gravitational effects, i.e. one spoonful has up to a million times brighter than normal. a mass of several tonnes. As long as it continues to take gas Nova from its companion star, the white  Novae occur on the surface of a white dwarf can produce nova outbursts at regular intervals. dwarf in a binary system.  If the two stars of the system are Type II supernova sufficiently near to one another, material  Type II supernova is a supernova that (hydrogen) can be pulled from the occurs by the gravitational collapse of companion star’s surface onto the white the core of a massive star (mostly made of dwarf. iron). E.g. Supernova of a red  When enough material builds up on the supergiant. surface of the white dwarf, it triggers a nuclear fusion on a white dwarf which Importance of supernova: Creating and causes a sudden brightening of the star. dispersing new elements Supernova  When a star’s core runs out of hydrogen,  A supernova is the explosive death of a the star begins to die out. The dying star star and often results in the star obtaining expands into a red giant, and this now begins to manufacture carbon by fusing