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Daily Current Capsules -19th November 2019

Environment and Ecology
Botulism kills migratory birds at Sambhar lake
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Botulism and about Sambhar lake)
What's the NEWS
  • Thousands of migratory birds of about ten species were found dead around Sambhar Lake, the country's largest inland saltwater lake near Jaipur
Know! more about it
  • Officials said they suspect water contamination as one of the reasons for the deaths but were awaiting viscera test reports. Though the official toll was 1,500, locals claimed the number of dead birds could be as high as 5,000.
  • A preliminary forensic report has indicated that the mysterious death of more than 4,800 migratory birds at the country's largest inland water saltwater lake near Jaipur was caused by botulism, a serious and fatal illness that affects the nerves.
  • The increased salinity of the water could also be another reason, as it increases salt concentration in the blood, which can further lead to slow blood flow and the internal organs like the brain may stop working.
  • Carcasses of hundreds of dead birds including plovers, common coot, black winged stilt, northern shovelers, ruddy shelduck, and pied avocet were scattered on the edge of 12-13 km of the catchment area of the lake, leading to a possible number of over 5,000.
  • The lake is also a favourite of flamingos, stilts, stints, garganey, gulls and a number of other species of birds.
  • The lake every year hosts approximately 2-3 lakh birds, which include about 50,000 flamingos and 1,00,000 waders.
Prelims Factoids
Aadi Mahotsav 2019

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Aadi Mahotsav + about Tribes India) + Mains GS II - Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
What's the NEWS
  • Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah inaugurated the National Tribal Festival "Aadi Mahotsav" at Dilli Haat
  • The theme of the 15 days' Mahotsav (16th to 30th November, 2019) is: "A Celebration of the Spirit of Tribal Culture, Craft, Cuisine and Commerce".
Know! more about the fest
  • The festival will feature exhibition-cum-sale of tribal handicrafts, art, paintings, fabric, jewellery and much more through about 210stalls. Over 1000 tribal artisans and artists from different States creating a Mini-India will participate in the festival.
  • For the first time, this AADI MAHOTSAV will showcase a wide range of products from the tribal artisans from Leh (Ladaakh).
Know! about TRIFED/Tribes India
  • TRIFED an organisation of Ministry of Tribal Affairs has started a new concept of organising "Aadi Mahotsav - National Tribal Festival" to provide direct market access to the tribal master-craftsmen and women in large metros and State capitals.
  • The concept of organising Aadi Mahotsav in major cities has proved to be a boon for tribal artisans by eliminating the middle man and providing direct access to large markets, otherwise impossible to reach for them.
  • The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India, (TRIFED), under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, is engaged in marketing development of tribal products including art and craft items.
  • TRIFED has been marketing tribal products through its own shops called "TRIBES India" and through the outlets of the state emporia on consignment basis. To access the contact details of TRIBES India stores, click here.
  • TRIFED has developed a system of sourcing products of art and craft made by empanelled tribal suppliers.
  • The suppliers comprise of individual tribal artisans, tribal SHGs, Organisations/ Agencies/NGOs working with tribals, who are empanelled as suppliers of TRIFED as per the guidelines for empanelment of suppliers.
  • The products procured by TRIFED are then sold through its marketing platform of "Tribes India".
Space Awareness
After Chandrayaan 2 mission, ISRO aims for Chandrayaan 3 in November 2020
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Chandrayaan 2 and Chandrayaan 3) + Mains (GS III awareness in the field of space)
What's the NEWS
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now planning for its next lunar mission, Chandrayaan 3.
  • According to reports, the agency has started working on Chandrayaan 3 with a deadline of November 2020.
  • Since the Chandrayaan 2 orbiter is functioning well, the new mission is likely to include only a lander and a rover.
  • The overview committee met to review the configuration of Chandrayaan 3. It also looked into the recommendations of sub-committees on propulsion, sensors, overall engineering, navigation and guidance.
  • The new mission is to strengthen the legs of the lander so that it lands with high velocity without problems.
  • ISRO chief K Sivan had said that ISRO will pull all its experience, knowledge and technical prowess to set things right and demonstrate soft landing in near the future.
About Chandrayaan-2
  • ISRO tried to make Chandrayaan-2 lander a soft landing on the moon in September this year.
  • However, Vikram Lander lost contact because it made a hard landing. Chandrayaan-2 tried to land at the south pole of the moon, but it could not succeed.
  • However, the orbiter is functioning properly and scientists say that it will continue to do its work for seven years.
Health Awareness
National Epilepsy Day
  • National Epilepsy Day is to make people aware not to panic form the disease and take proper medication. This day also educate people via seminars, lectures, etc.
Know! about Epilepsy Disease
  • Epilepsy is a chronic brain disorder resulted in recurrent 'seizures' or 'fits'. Seizures occur due to the sudden, excessive electrical discharges in the neurons or brain cells. This type of condition can affect people at any age and each age group suffers from different problems.
  • Therefore, we can say that Epilepsy is a neurological condition in which the tendency to have seizures starts in the brain.
  • According to WHO, around 50 million people in the world are suffering from epilepsy disease and out of 80%, people are living in developing countries. It is a treatable disease but three-fourth people affected by this disease in developing countries do not get proper treatment. Approximately 10 million people in India are suffering from seizures that are associated with epilepsy.
  • Epilepsy is a disease in which seizures occur in brain cells or neurons. It is a treatable disease and taking proper medication, the cure of epilepsy disease is possible.
Space Awareness
Ultima Thule would now officially be named Arrokoth, a Native American word meaning "sky."
Relevance IN - Prelims (about Ultima Thule and Horizon Mission of NASA) + Mains (GS III awareness in the field space)
Ultima Thule
  • Ultima Thule was the informal name NASA used for a small, snowman-shaped object in the Kuiper belt, a desolate region of deep space
  • Although the name was not registered with the International Astronomical Union and Minor Planet Center, which has international authority for the naming of objects in the Kuiper belt. Its official name was the impersonal-sounding "Kuiper belt object 2014 MU69."

Know! more about it
  • In a fitting tribute to the farthest flyby ever conducted by spacecraft, the Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 has been officially named Arrokoth, a Native American term meaning "sky" in the Powhatan/Algonquian language.
  • With consent from Powhatan Tribal elders and representatives, NASA's New Horizons team - whose spacecraft performed the record-breaking reconnaissance of Arrokoth four billion miles from Earth - proposed the name to the International Astronomical Union and Minor Planets Center, the international authority for naming Kuiper Belt objects. The name was announced at a ceremony today at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.
Know! about New Horizon
  • New Horizons launched in January 2006; it then zipped past Jupiter for a gravity boost and scientific studies in February 2007 and conducted an historic first flight through the Pluto system on July 14, 2015.
  • The spacecraft continued its unparalleled voyage on New Year's 2019 with the exploration of Arrokoth - which the team had nicknamed "Ultima Thule" ¬-- a billion miles beyond Pluto, and the farthest flyby ever conducted.
  • Arrokoth is one of the thousands of known small icy worlds in the Kuiper Belt, the vast "third zone" of the solar system beyond the inner terrestrial planets and the outer gas giant planets.
  • It was discovered in 2014 by a New Horizons team using the powerful Hubble Space Telescope.
  • Data from the newly-named Arrokoth, has given us clues about the formation of planets and our cosmic origins

Know! about The Kuiper Belt
  • The Kuiper Belt begins near the orbit of Neptune and continues beyond Pluto.
  • The belt's inner edge is about 30 Astronomical Units (AU) away from the Sun. It's outer edge is about 50 AU away from the Sun.
  • There may be thousands of icy bodies larger than 100 km and an estimated trillion or more comets within the Kuiper Belt.
  • The Kuiper Belt Objects (including Ultima Thule) are thought to be remnants left over from the formation of the Solar System.
  • Besides Pluto, Eris, Makemake and Haumea are the other known dwarf planets in this belt.
Nasa's Mission To Ultima Thule
  • The New Horizons is an interplanetary space probe launched by the US based National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on January 19, 2006, with the primary mission of performing a flyby of dwarf planet Pluto in the Kuiper Belt.
  • The Mission to Ultima Thule came up only in 2014.
  • 3Scientists were searching for an object in the Kuiper Belt that the spacecraft could study after Pluto and they selected Ultima Thule as it could be reached using the remaining fuel with the probe.
  • New Horizons came within 3,500 km of Ultima Thule, three times closer than the spacecraft's encounter with Pluto.

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