Facts in News
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Statehood Day of Sikkim
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Recently, Prime Minister Narendra greeted the people of Sikkim on their Statehood Day.
Historical Background
- Sikkim was founded by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century.
- The Namgyal dynasty ruled Sikkim until 1975.
- It became a princely state of British India in 1890.
- Declared as Protectorate of India in 1950 following the Indo-Sikkimese Treaty.
- Under this treaty, India is responsible for the external relations, defence, and strategic communications of Sikkim.
- Became the 22nd state of India on 16th May 1975.
Key Points
- Location: Northeast India (mainly eastern Himalayas).
- Capital: Gangtok
- Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest Indian state.
- Borders:
- North and Northeast: Tibet (China)
- Southeast: Bhutan.
- South: West Bengal.
- West: Nepal
- Geography:
- Mount Kanchenjunga (India’s highest peak and the world’s third-highest mountain) is situated here.
- Kanchenjunga National Park (KNP) is India’s high-elevation conservation area.
- In 2016, UNESCO declared KNP as a World Heritage Site under the ‘mixed’ category (sites containing elements of both natural and cultural significance).
- Major Rivers: Teesta River and its tributaries such as the Rangit, Lhonak, Talung, and Lachung.
Image Courtesy: Sikkim Tourism
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Winchcombe Meteorite
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A piece of Winchcombe meteorite will be displayed at the National History Museum, Gloucestershire (UK).
- The Winchcombe meteorite is known as a carbonaceous meteorite.
- This kind of meteorite can’t be modified, by either melting or differentiation of the parent body.
Meteorite
- Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains to small asteroids.
- Also known as “space rocks”.
- When meteoroids enter the Earth’s atmosphere they are called meteors.
- But if a meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and hits the ground, it is called a meteorite.
Significance
- It dates back to the birth of the solar system nearly 4.5 billion years ago.
- Provide clues to scientists and researchers about the beginning of the solar system and Earth.
- Space missions to Asteroids:
- NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission (2018) for asteroid Bennu.
- Japan’s Hayabusa 2 mission for asteroid Ryugu (2014).
Image Courtesy: BBC
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Zhurong Rover
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China’s uncrewed ‘Tianwen-1’ spacecraft landed safely on the northern hemisphere of Mars (also known as Utopia Planitia), with ‘Zhurong’ rover, the onboard lander.
- Aim: Study the Martian atmosphere and geology.
- China became the 2nd country after the USA send a rover to explore the mysterious Red Planet.
- If ‘Zhurong’ is deployed successfully then China will become the first country to successfully orbit, land and offload a rover during its maiden Mars mission.
Other Mars missions
- United States: Viking 1, Viking 2, Opportunity & Spirit and Perseverance rovers to explore Mars.
- Soviet Union (present Russia): Launched Mars probe in 1971, but communication was lost.
- India: Launched Mangalyaan (Mars Orbiter Mission) in 2014 and became the 1st Asian nation to reach Martian orbit (in 1st attempt) in the world.
Image Courtesy: Bangkok Post
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Zeolite Cargo Flights
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Air India has started the first of its “zeolite cargo flights” to import zeolite for use in medical oxygen plants.
- Zeolites are crystalline solid structures made of silicon, aluminium and oxygen.
- Zeolites occur naturally and are also produced industrially on a large scale.
- They are often also referred to as molecular sieves.
Key Points
- Administered under: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- DRDO will utilize the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund, to set up these medical oxygen plants.
- Significance:
- These oxygen plants will help in supplementing oxygen supplies for COVID-19 patients.
- The technology uses the pressure swing adsorption process and molecular sieve zeolite in oxygen generation.
- The pressure swing adsorption process is a cyclic process that uses beds of solid adsorbent to remove impurities from the gas and generally produces higher-purity hydrogen
- The technology will be especially useful in urban, remote and rural settings with the on-site generation of medical oxygen in a cost-effective manner.
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Asian Gracile Skink
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Recently, an Asian gracile skink species have been discovered from the Western Ghats.
Key Points
- Scientific name: Subdoluseps nilgiriensis.
- They are non-venomous and their inconspicuous limbs make them resemble snakes.
- It also looks like Subdoluseps pruthi that is found in parts of the Eastern Ghats.
- Size: 7 cm
- Colour: Sandy Brown
- Diet: Not known
- IUCN Status: Vulnerable
- Threats: Forest Fires, construction activities, afforestation, rapid urbanisation etc.
Image Courtesy: The Hindu
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Mice Rain in Australia
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Recently, New South Wales (Southern Australia) has faced mouse plague due to sudden Mice Rain.
- This sudden mice rain happens due to unusually abundant grain harvest this year.
- To control the plague, the government has now authorised the use of a poison called bromadiolone.
- Plague:
- It is an infectious disease caused by Yersinia pestis bacteria, usually found in small mammals and their fleas.
- The disease is transmitted between animals via their fleas and, as it is a zoonotic bacteria, it can also transmit from animals to humans.
Key Points
- The mice have a short breeding cycle (a pair of breeding mice can give birth to a new litter every 21 days or so) and are not very choosy about food.
- The rodents (which includes rats and mice) are the second most successful mammals on the planet after humans.
- Impact:
- Rodents can cause damage to food grains, domestic households, commercial businesses, farms, manufacturers and livestock.
- They can not only gnaw through materials but can also ruin supplies by excreting them.
- Spread diseases such as leptospirosis and typhus fever.
- They can also carry fleas or ticks that can harm pets and humans.
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Bogs
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Recently, a pair of cranes were spotted last year on a restored peat bog in Ireland.
Key Points
- Bogs (also called quagmires) are soft, spongy wetlands that accumulate peat– a fossil fuel that is used for heating homes and businesses in northern Europe.
- Bogs also act as carbon sinks, sequestering around 200 million tons of carbon from the environment in Siberia and Scandinavia.
- Threats:
- The extraction of peat or for development activities, the ecosystem got destroyed including damage to species such as cranes.
- Restoration:
- Rewetting and reintroducing bog plants.
Image Courtesy: Science Mag
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MS Narasimhan
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Recently, a famous mathematician Professor MS Narasimhan passed away.
Key Points
- Along with C.S. Seshdhari, he introduced the Narasimhan–Seshadri theorem.
- This theorem is related to geometry, in which stable holomorphic vector bundles lie over a compact Riemann surface.
- He was also elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom.
- He has been the only Indian to receive the King Faisal International Prize in the field of science.
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