Monkeypox
Context:
Recently, The World Health Organisation (WHO) that it would start using the term “mpox” for monkeypox, which has infected about 80,000 people in the first major outbreak of the viral disease outside Africa that began early this summer.
Relevance:
GS II-Health
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Monkeypox virus
- Zoonotic disease
- Symptoms and treatment
About Monkeypox virus
- The monkeypox virus is an orthopoxvirus, which is a genus of viruses that also includes the variola virus, which causes smallpox, and vaccinia virus, which was used in the smallpox vaccine.
- Monkeypox causes symptoms similar to smallpox, although they are less severe.
- While vaccination eradicated smallpox worldwide in 1980, monkeypox continues to occur in a swathe of countries in Central and West Africa, and has on occasion showed up elsewhere.
- According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), two distinct clade are identified: the West African clade and the Congo Basin clade, also known as the Central African clade.
Zoonotic disease
- Monkeypox is a zoonosis, that is, a disease that is transmitted from infected animals to humans.
- According to the WHO, cases occur close to tropical rainforests inhabited by animals that carry the virus.
- Monkeypox virus infection has been detected in squirrels, Gambian poached rats, dormice, and some species of monkeys.
- Human-to-human transmission is, however, limited — the longest documented chain of transmission is six generations, meaning the last person to be infected in this chain was six links away from the original sick person, the WHO says.
Transmission:
- Transmission, when it occurs, can be through contact with bodily fluids, lesions on the skin or on internal mucosal surfaces, such as in the mouth or throat, respiratory droplets and contaminated objects.
Symptoms and treatment
- According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), monkeypox begins with a fever, headache, muscle aches, back ache, and exhaustion.
- It also causes the lymph nodes to swell (lymphadenopathy), which smallpox does not.
- The WHO underlines that it is important to not confuse monkeypox with chickenpox, measles, bacterial skin infections, scabies, syphilis and medication-associated allergies.
- The incubation period (time from infection to symptoms) for monkeypox is usually 7-14 days but can range from 5-21 days.
- Usually within a day to 3 days of the onset of fever, the patient develops a rash that begins on the face and spreads to other parts of the body.
- The skin eruption stage can last between 2 and 4 weeks, during which the lesions harden and become painful, fill up first with a clear fluid and then pus, and then develop scabs or crusts.
- According to the WHO, the proportion of patients who die has varied between 0 and 11% in documented cases, and has been higher among young children.
Treatment:
- There is no safe, proven treatment for monkeypox yet.
- The WHO recommends supportive treatment depending on the symptoms.
- Awareness is important for prevention and control of the infection.
-Source: Indian Express
Central Bank Digital Currency
Context:
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the launch of India’s much-awaited Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), a sort of official cryptocurrency, for retail users from December 1.
Relevance:
GS III: Indian Economy
Dimensions of the Article:
- What’s RBI’s plan?
- What is E-rupee?
- What are the forms of CBDC?
- What’s the model for issuance?
- What are the advantages of e-rupee?
- Can e-rupee be transacted in offline mode?
What’s RBI’s plan?
- The central bank said that the development of CBDC could provide the public a risk-free virtual currency that will give them legitimate benefits without the risks of dealing in private virtual currencies.
- The approach for issuance of CBDC will be governed by two basic considerations —
- To create a digital rupee that is as close as possible to a paper currency
- To manage the process of introducing digital rupee in a seamless manner.
What is E-rupee?
- E-rupee is the same as a fiat currency and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency.
- Only its form is different. It can be accepted as a medium of payment, legal tender and a safe store of value.
- The digital rupee would appear as liability on a central bank’s balance sheet.
What are the types of e-rupee?
Based on the usage and the functions performed by the digital rupee and considering the different levels of accessibility, CBDC can be demarcated into two broad categories —
Retail CBDC
- It is an electronic version of cash primarily meant for retail transactions.
- It will be potentially available for use by all — private sector, non-financial consumers and businesses — and can provide access to safe money for payment and settlement as it is a direct liability of the central bank.
- However, the RBI has not explained how e-rupee can be used in merchant transactions in the retail trade.
Wholesale CBDC
- It is designed for restricted access to select financial institutions.
- It has the potential to transform the settlement systems for financial transactions undertaken by banks in the government securities (G-Sec) segment, inter-bank market and capital market more efficiently and securely in terms of operational costs, use of collateral and liquidity management.
What are the forms of CBDC?
The central bank says e-rupee, or CBDC, can be structured as
Token-based CBDC
- It would be a bearer instrument like banknotes, meaning whosoever holds the tokens at a given point in time would be presumed to own them.
- In a token-based CBDC, the person receiving a token will verify that his ownership of the token is genuine.
- A token-based CBDC is viewed as a preferred mode for CBDC-R as it would be closer to physical cash.
Account-based system
- It would require maintenance of record of balances and transactions of all holders of the CBDC and indicate the ownership of the monetary balances.
- In this case, an intermediary will verify the identity of an account holder.
- This system can be considered for CBDC-W.
What’s the model for issuance?
There are two models for issuance and management of CBDCs under the RBI’s consideration —
Direct model (single tier model)
- The central bank will be responsible for managing all aspects of the digital rupee system such as issuance, account-keeping and transaction verification.
Indirect model (two-tier model).
- An indirect model would be one where the central bank and other intermediaries (banks and any other service providers), each play their respective role.
- In this model, the central bank will issue CBDC to consumers indirectly through intermediaries and any claim by consumers will be managed by the intermediary.
What are the advantages of e-rupee?
- Reduction in operational costs involved in physical cash management,
- It will foster financial inclusion,
- It will bring resilience, efficiency and innovation in the payments system.
- It will add efficiency to the settlement system and boost innovation in cross-border payments space and provide the public with uses that any private virtual currencies can provide, without the associated risks.
Can e-rupee be transacted in offline mode?
- The offline functionality as an option will allow CBDC to be transacted without the internet and thus enable access in regions with poor or no internet connectivity.
- It will also create digital footprints of the unbanked population in the financial system, which will facilitate the easy availability of credit to them.
- However, the RBI feels in the offline mode, the risk of ‘double-spending’ will exist because it will be technically possible to use a CBDC unit more than once without updating the common ledger of CBDC.
- But it can be mitigated to a larger extent by technical solutions and appropriate business rules including monetary limits on offline transactions.
-Source: Indian Express
Mauna Loa
Context:
Recently, Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano, erupted after 38 years, spewing ash and debris, and covering the night sky of Hawaii’s Big Island in an incandescent red hue.
Relevance:
GS I: Geography, Facts for Prelims
Dimensions of the Article:
- Where is Mauna Loa?
- Why do volcanoes erupt?
- Some famous volcanoes
Where is Mauna Loa?
- Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii, which is the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago.
- It’s not the tallest (that title goes to Mauna Kea) but it’s the largest and makes up about half of the island’s land mass.
- It sits immediately north of Kilauea volcano, which is currently erupting from its summit crater.
- Kilauea is well-known for a 2018 eruption that destroyed 700 homes and sent rivers of lava spreading across farms and into the ocean. Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago.
- In written history, dating to 1843, it’s erupted 33 times. The Big Island is mostly rural and is home to cattle ranches, coffee farms and beach resorts.
- It’s about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Hawaii’s most populous island, Oahu, where the state capital Honolulu and beach resort Waikiki are both located.
Why do volcanoes erupt?
- The deeper one goes under the surface of the Earth towards its core, the hotter it gets.
- The geothermal gradient, the amount that the Earth’s temperature increases with depth, indicates heat flowing from the Earth’s warm interior to its surface.
- At a certain depth, the heat is such that it melts rocks and creates what geologists call ‘magma’.
- Magma is lighter than solid rock and hence it rises, collecting in magma chambers.
- Chambers which have the potential to cause volcanic eruptions are found at a relatively shallow depth, between six to ten km under the surface.
- As magma builds up in these chambers, it forces its way up through cracks and fissures in Earth’s crust.
- This is what we call a volcanic eruption. The magma that surfaces on the Earth’s crust is referred to as lava.
Some famous volcanoes
- Any volcano that has erupted within the Holocene period (in the last 11,650 years) is considered to be “active” by scientists.
- “Dormant” volcanoes are those active volcanoes which are not in the process of erupting currently, but have the potential to do so in the future.
- Mauna Loa was a dormant volcano for the last 38 years.
- “Extinct” volcanoes are ones which scientists predict will never face any further volcanic activity.
- Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK, is an extinct volcano.
Here are some famous volcanoes in the world.
Krakatoa, Indonesia
- One of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions ever occurred in Krakatoa in 1883 (VEI 6). The volcano released huge plumes of steam and ash.
- The explosions were so brutal, they were heard 3,100km away in Perth, Western Australia. According to the Dutch colonial authorities, Krakatoa’s eruption and the consequent tsunamis caused 36,417 deaths, though modern estimates peg the number to be much higher.
Mount Vesuvius, Italy
- In 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted (VEI 5), in one of the deadliest eruptions in European history, killing as many as 16,000 and destroying the town of Pompeii.
- According to scientists, the explosion released 100,000 times the thermal energy that was released with the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
- It is said to have instantly boiled the blood of all those who were too close to it.
Mount Fuji, Japan
- A defining image of Japan, Mount Fuji towers over the countryside with its snow-capped peaks and barren surface.
- It last erupted in 1707-1708 (VEI 5) and had a devastating effect on the local population.
- The tephra release led to significant agricultural decline, leading to widespread starvation in the Edo (now Tokyo) area.
- Although this eruption itself did not directly kill a lot of people, its subsequent impact proved deadly.
Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland
- Sometimes referred to as E15, it is one of the many volcanic features of Iceland.
- In 2010, a relatively small eruption (VEI 4) managed to bring air traffic in Europe to a complete standstill.
- 20 countries closed their airspace, impacting approximately 10 million travellers.
Kīlauea, Hawaii
- Adjacent to the Mauna Loa, this is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet. It has been erupting intermittently since recorded history, with its eruption lasting from 1983 to 2018 being the longest continuous eruption ever recorded.
- It is a major tourist attraction, with the earliest hotel built at the edge of the volcano in the 1840s.
Mount St Helens, USA
- Located in Washington State, Mount St. Helens was a major eruption that occurred on May 18, 1980 (VEI 5), and it remains the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history.
- It started after an earthquake hit the region, killing 57 and causing property damage over $1 billion.
- It remains an active volcano and one that is considered to be amongst the riskiest by scientists.
-Source: Indian Express
SARAS 3 Radio Telescope
Context:
India’s SARAS radio telescope has helped scientists determine the properties of the earliest radio luminous galaxies formed 200 million years after the Big Bang, a period known as the Cosmic Dawn.
Relevance:
GS III: Science and Technology
Dimensions of the Article:
- About SARAS 3
- What are the Findings?
About SARAS 3
- The SARAS 3 radio telescope was invented and built by the astronomers at Raman Research Institute (RRI).
- It is the first telescope worldwide to reach the required sensitivity.
- SARAS aims to design, build and deploy in India a precision radio telescope to detect extremely faint radio wave signals from the depths of time, from our “Cosmic Dawn” when the first stars and galaxies formed in the early Universe
Radio Telescope:
- Weak radio light waves are collected, focused, amplified, and made available for examination by radio telescopes.
- They aid in the study of astronomical objects like as black holes, galaxies, and stars that emit naturally occurring radio radiation.
- These uniquely constructed telescopes study the light with the longest wavelengths, from 1 millimetre to over 10 meters.
- For reference, a nanometer is only 1/10,000th the thickness of a sheet of paper, while visible light wavelengths are only a few hundred nanometers long. In reality, we typically refer to radio light by its frequency rather than its wavelength.
What are the Findings?
- The new information on the period Cosmic Dawn gave an insight into the properties of the earliest radio loud galaxies that are usually powered by supermassive black holes.
- SARAS 3 had improved the understanding of astrophysics of Cosmic Dawn by telling astronomers that less than 3% of the gaseous matter within early galaxies was converted into stars, and that the earliest galaxies that were bright in radio emission were also strong in X-rays, which heated the cosmic gas in and around the early galaxies.
-Source: Indian Express
Wet Leasing of Aircraft
Context:
In efforts to boost international air traffic, the civil aviation ministry has allowed Indian airlines to take wide-body planes on wet lease for up to one year.
Relevance:
Facts for Prelims
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is wet leasing?
- Why airlines lease aircraft?
What is wet leasing?
- Wet leasing means renting the plane along with operating crew and engineers, while dry leasing refers to taking only the aircraft on rent.
- The technical term for wet leasing is ACMI which stands for aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance.
- These are the aspects of the operation that the wet lease airline takes care of, while the airline client will still be responsible for paying for direct operating costs such catering and fuel as well as fees such as airport fees, ground handling charges and navigation fees.
- Operations of an aircraft on wet lease is not encouraged by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as the crew is often not approved by Indian authorities.
- Also, wet leasing is generally a short-term arrangement, as it is more expensive than a dry lease.
Why airlines lease aircraft?
- A lot of planes used by airlines in India are not owned but leased.
- Airlines and aircraft operators prefer leasing planes in order to avoid massive lump sum payments that buying them would entail, and to quickly increase capacity, perhaps temporarily, on certain routes or sectors.
