31st Jan & 1st Feb 2021 Current Affairs Analysis - IASToppers
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31st Jan & 1st Feb 2021 Current Affairs Analysis
By IASToppers' Editorial Team | 2021-02-01 17:00:00
Polity & Governance
New Zealand, Vietnam top COVID-19 performance index, India at 86
Lowy Institute, an Australian think-tank, has recently published COVID-19 performance index.
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Global highlights:
Best performers: New Zealand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand and Cyprus.
Worst performers: United States Brazil, Iran, Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil.
South Asia:
Sri Lanka (10) was the best performing nation in South Asia.
Maldives (25), Pakistan (69), Nepal (70), and Bangladesh (84).
India ranked 86th with the score of 24.3.
Asia-Pacific region performed the best with an average score of 58.2.
Americas (North and South) were the worst affected continent globally.
Europe registered the greatest improvement over time of any region before succumbing to a
second wave which it attributed to more open borders.
On an average, democracies had “marginally” more success than authoritarian countries which
had no “prolonged advantage” in containing the virus.
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Conclusion of the index:
The level of economic development and regime-type were less significant.
A more level playing field between developed and developing countries could have been created
due to relatively ‘low-tech’ nature of the health measures.
In the deployment of vaccines richer countries could get an advantage.
Countries with smaller populations, cohesive societies, and capable institutions had a
comparative advantage.
Smaller countries (fewer than 10 million people) consistently outperformed their larger
counterparts throughout 2020.
Policy choices and political circumstances played an important role over a society’s regional
provenance, political system, economic development, or size in shaping national responses to
the pandemic.
About the index:
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It sought to gauge the relative performance of countries.
Aim: Determine the variations that existed in the way different nations handled the pandemic.
It assessed 98 countries in the 36 weeks that followed their hundredth case.
It measured six indicators:
Confirmed cases
Confirmed deaths
Cases per million people
Deaths per million people
Cases as a proportion of tests
Tests per thousand people
Key facts:
Lowy Institute is an Australian think-tank.
It sought to assess the impact of geography, political systems and economic development
in assessing outcomes.
[Ref: The Hindu]
Issues Related to Health & Education
National Polio Immunization Drive begins across the country
The government has launched the National Polio Immunization Day (Polio Ravivar) for 2021 by
administering polio drops to children less than five years old.
About Poliovirus
Polio (poliomyelitis) is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus.
It can infect a person’s brain and spinal cord, causing paralysis.
It is very contagious and spreads through person-to-person contact.
It enters the body through the mouth and spreads through:
Contact with the feces (poop) of an infected person.
Droplets from a sneeze or cough of an infected person (less common).
It lives in an infected person’s throat and intestines.
Types of Poliovirus
There are three wild types of poliovirus (WPV)-
Type 1
Only type 1 wild poliovirus remains in India.
Type 2
Type 2 wild poliovirus was declared eradicated in September 2015, with the last
virus detected in India in 1999.
Type 3
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Type 3 wild poliovirus was declared eradicated in October 2019, with the last
detected in November, 2012.
Prevention & Treatment
The disease is preventable with the two types of polio vaccine:
Oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV)
It is still used widely across the world.
Inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV)
It is given as an injection in the leg or arm.
About Pulse Polio immunization campaign
In 1995, Pulse Polio Immunization programme was launched in India with the global initiative of
eradication of polio in 1988 following World Health Assembly resolution.
Children in the age group of 0-5 years administered polio drops during National and Sub-
national immunization rounds (in high-risk areas) every year.
Objective:
To achieve 100% coverage under Oral Polio Vaccine.
To immunize children through-
Improved social mobilization
Plan mop-up operations in areas where poliovirus has almost disappeared
Maintain high level of morale among the public.
[Ref- PIB]
World Leprosy Day 2021
World Leprosy Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of January every year all over the world.
Significance of Leprosy Day:
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In India, in the year 2021, the day is being observed on January 30, which is also remembered as
the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation.
About Leprosy:
Leprosy is also known as Hansen’s disease.
It is known to occur at all ages ranging from early infancy to very old age.
It is curable and early treatment averts most disabilities.
Causes:
It is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae, a rod-shaped bacillus that
is an obligate intracellular (only grows inside of certain human and animal cells) bacterium.
Transmission:
The infection is spread from person to person by nasal secretions or droplets.
Leprosy is rarely transmitted from chimpanzees, mangabey monkeys, and nine-banded
armadillos to humans.
Effects:
The disease develops slowly (from six months to 40 years) and results in skin lesions and
deformities.
It most often affects the cooler places on the body (for example, eyes, nose, earlobes, hands,
feet, and testicles).
The disease is similar to tuberculosis, because it produces inflammatory nodules
(granulomas) in the skin and nerves over time.
Types of Leprosy:
Indeterminate
Tuberculoid
Borderline tuberculoid
Mid-borderline
Borderline lepromatous
Lepromatous
Paucibacillary
Multibacillary
Leprosy in India:
In 2014, India had the largest number of latest leprosy cases globally.
India, has reported a decreasing number of new cases for the past years, by nearly 15,000
cases (135,485 in 2016 to 120,334 in 2017–2018) and reduction in new paediatric cases, to
less than 10,000 (9227 in 2018).
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Although, a serious hurdle is that the social stigma related to leprosy as well as lots of persons
affected by leprosy still be outcast from society.
The Law Commission has prepared a model draft legislation, titled “Eliminating Discrimination
Against Persons affected by leprosy (EDPAL) Bill, 2015”.
This draft law contains principles of equal protection that must be provided to all persons affected
by leprosy or members of their family.
Challenges to tackle Leprosy in India:
Operational:
Human resources capacity and motivation
Programme management capacity and poor infrastructure
Referral services and linkages
Coordination and establishment of partnerships
Empowerment of various stakeholders
Technical:
Continued occurrence of new cases
Quality of care
No Early detection of cases
Poor Laboratory services
Social/economical/cultural:
Difficulty of integrating persons affected by leprosy and their acceptance in the community
Low knowledge of the population about the disease - changing health-seeking behaviour
Access to health-care services/leprosy services
Government efforts to eradicate Leprosy:
National Leprosy Elimination Project:
Early detection through active surveillance by the trained health workers.
Regular treatment of cases by providing Multi-Drug Therapy (MDT) at fixed in or centres a
nearby village of moderate to low endemic areas/district.
SPARSH Leprosy Awareness Campaign:
In order to reduce stigma and discrimination, the Sparsh Leprosy Awareness Campaign
(SLAC) was launched on 30th January, 2017.
National Leprosy Eradication Programme 2019:
Aims at reducing the disease burden, prevention of disability and to improve awareness
among the mass about Leprosy and its curability.
[Ref: News18]
Social Issues
Matua community
Matua community are staging protest over delaying an announcement about implementation of the
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Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019.
They have been demanding citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
About Matua community
Matuas are a community of Schedule Caste Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh, spread in
several parts of North 24-Parganas and Nadia districts and some parts in north Bengal.
They entered West Bengal after Partition and after the formation of Bangladesh.
They live on either side of the Bengal border.
About Matua Mahasangha
The Matua Mahasangha was formed by Harichand Thakur in East Bengal in the 1860s.
It is a religious movement and a sect of folk Hinduism, following Vaishnavism.
They don’t follow Chaturvarna system of Hinduism.
They believe in Swayam-Dikshiti.
They belong to the Namasudras family, Political representation of Matua community
Matua community constitute the second largest SC population of West Bengal with around 17%
of the state’s electorate.
They can influence the election results in directly 40-45 and indirectly 30 of the 294
Assembly seats of West Bengal.
They have currently at least six parliamentary seats representation.
Issues of Matuas related to citizenship
The Matuas were demanding an amendment to the Citizenship Act of 2003, whose provisions
made it difficult for refugees to get citizenship.
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With an amendment in Citizenship Act in 2019, they are given hope to get the citizenship of
India.
But the implementation of CAA is lacked with clarity, which is upsetting the Matuas
community.
[Ref- The Indian Express]
Economy
Bare Necessities Index
Underling the importance of access to bare necessities, the Economic Survey 2020-21 newly
constructs a Bare Necessities Index (BNI) at the rural, urban and all India level.
About Bare necessities
Bare necessities are basic needs of human life to prevent ill health and under nourishment,
which are consumed by all the members of the household.
It includes food, clothing, housing, water, sanitation, electricity, and clean cooking fuel.
About Bare Necessities Index (BNI)
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The Index shows inequalities in access to bare necessities exist between urban and rural India.
The BNI builds on the idea of Thalinomics in the Economic Survey for 2019-20.
It summarises 26 indicators on five dimensions-
The other facilities include the availability of Kitchen, Kitchen with a water tap, good
ventilation in house, access to bathroom, electricity use and type of fuel used for cooking.
The index classifies areas on three levels of access to bare necessities, namely-
High
Medium
Low
Key findings of BNI
Inter-State disparities in the access to the bare necessities have declined.
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The access of the bare necessities has improved disproportionately for the poorest
household when compared to the richest household across rural and urban areas.
There is a positive correlation between access to bare necessities and better health and
education outcome.
Improvement in child survival, decline in still births, malnutrition, and infant
mortality with improved access to sanitation and clean drinking water.
Electrification and access to toilets in schools has also increased educational outcome.
[Ref- The Hindu]
Britain Set to join Asia-Pacific Free Trade Bloc
United Kingdom recently announced that it will apply to join the Pacific free trade area, the
Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
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Highlights:
The step is taken one year after Britain left the European Union following more than forty years of
membership.
It will be the first new country to join the CPTPP.
Significance:
New partnership would bring enormous economic benefits for the people of Britain.
It shows the ambition to do business on the best terms all over the world and be
an enthusiastic champion of global free trade.
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Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP):
It is a free trade agreement between 11 Pacific Rim nations: Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile,
Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.
Aim: To remove trade barriers in the Asia-Pacific region in a bid to counter China's growing
economic influence.
The agreement is currently in force among 7 countries: Canada, Australia, Japan, Mexico, New
Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.
For others (Brunei, Chile, Malaysia and Peru), it will enter into force 60 days after they
have ratified the agreement.
Background:
CPTPP evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which never entered into force due to
the withdrawal of the United States.
In January 2018, participants agreed to suspend 22 items from the original TPP agreement. It was
subsequently signed in March 2018, in Chile.
Significance:
It helps in creating jobs, strengthen economic relations and boost trade among important
trading partners.
It will form a trading bloc representing 500 million consumers and 13.5% of global GDP, providing
countries with preferential access to key markets in Asia and Latin America.
It covers virtually all aspects of trade and investment.
It establishes rules that help create a consistent, transparent and fair environment to do business
in CPTPP markets.
It covers key issues like technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures,
customs administration, transparency and state-owned enterprises.
[Ref: The Hindu]
Environment, Ecology & Disaster Management
Periyar Tiger Reserve trains abandoned tiger cub
Recently for the first time in the country, the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) is training a tiger cub to
naturally hunt its prey in the forest environment.
Periyar Tiger Reserve:
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Location:
It is a protected area located in the districts of Idukki and Pathanamthitta in Kerala.
It is situated:
In the Cardamom Hills and Pandalam Hills of the South Western Ghats.
It is drained by 2 important rivers of Kerala, the Periyar and the Pamba.
The highest peak in the park is the Kottamala.
It surrounds the Periyar Lake.
Features:
Its conservation started in 1934 by the Maharaja of Travancore, Chithira Thirunal Balarama
Varma as Nellikkampatty Game Reserve.
It was consolidated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1950.
It is considered as International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Category
II national park.
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Vegetation: Tropical evergreen and moist deciduous forests, grasslands.
Fauna: Bengal tiger, Asian elephants, white tigers, gaur, sambar, wild pig, Indian giant
squirrel, Travancore flying squirrel, jungle cat, sloth bear, Nilgiri tahr, lion-tailed macaque, Nilgiri
langur, Salim Ali's fruit bat, stripe-necked mongoose, and Nilgiri marten.
[Ref: The Hindu]
Geophysical phenomenon
Tropical cyclones move closer to land
A new study found that the Tropical cyclones across the globe, except Atlantic hurricanes, are moving
closer to land in recent decades.
Highlights of the new study
Tropical cyclones generally have been moving westward by about 30 kilometres per decade
since 1982, putting them closer to land and making them more dangerous.
Each decade since the 1980s, an additional two cyclones have come within 200 kilometres of
land.
Although the new study found storms are getting closer to land, researchers still haven’t seen
a significant increase in landfalls.
Possible factors for the change:
Stronger trade winds: Storms generally move east to west because of trade winds in the tropics,
so a greater westward shift usually puts them closer to the land.
Storms that form west of land, such as in the Pacific off the California and Mexican
coasts, are usually moving away from land.
Atmospheric currents: Changes in atmospheric currents that steer storms tend to be pushing
cyclones farther west.
Possible reason why there is no westward shift in Atlantic hurricane basin: because the
Atlantic hurricane zone is more closely surrounded by continents.
Other factors:
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Other shifts in atmospheric patterns have been connected to human-caused climate
change and that’s a possible factor in the shift.
Tropical cyclones:
Tropical cyclones are formed over warm oceans near the equator only.
They are intense circular storms that originate over the warm tropical oceans.
They are among the foremost destructive weather phenomena and also known as typhoons or
hurricanes.
Condition for formation of tropical cyclones:
Large sea surface with temperature higher than 27° C;
Presence of the Coriolis force;
Small variations in the vertical wind speed;
A pre-existing weaklow-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation;
Upper divergence above the sea level system
Formation stages of tropical cyclone:
Tropical cyclones move from south west direction to the north east direction.
Tropical cyclones in the northern hemisphere move in the anti-clock wise direction where as in
the southern hemisphere they move in clockwise direction.
In the northern hemisphere Coriolis force deflect the wind to the right side so tropical cyclones
in the northern hemisphere move in anti-clock wise direction.
Whereas in the southern hemisphere Coriolis force deflect the wind to the left side so
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cyclones in southern hemisphere moves in clockwise direction.
What are Tropical cyclone basins?
Traditionally, areas of tropical cyclone formation are divided into seven basins.
These include the north Atlantic Ocean, the eastern and western parts of the northern Pacific
Ocean, the southwestern Pacific, the southwestern and south-eastern Indian Oceans, and the
northern Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal).
The western Pacific is the most active and the north Indian the least active.
[Ref: The Hindu]
Indian History
Bargi: referred to cavalrymen in Maratha and Mughal armies
The ruling party of the West Bengal has attacked the ruling central party by calling them as bargi.
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Who were the bargis?
The word comes from the Persian bargir, meaning Burden taker as noted by historian Surendra
Nath Sen in his 1928 work The Military System of The Marathas.
But in the Mughal and Maratha armies, the term signified a soldier who rode a horse furnished
by his employer.
In the Maratha cavalry, any able-bodied person could enlist as a bargir, unless he had the
means to buy a horse and military outfit. In this case he could join as a silhedar, who had much
better prospects of advancement.
Both the bargirs and silhedars were under the overall control of the Sarnobat (Commander in
Chief).
Why did the Marathas raid Bengal?
Maratha incursions into the Mughal province of Bengal (which included the regions of Bihar,
Bengal and Orissa) between 1741 and 1751 came at a time of intense political uncertainty in
both the Maratha and the Mughal courts.
As the Mughal Empire was collapsing by the 18th century, the two Maratha chieftains, the
Peshwa dynasty of Pune and Raghoji I Bhonsale of Nagpur, were struggling to secure
taxation rights in its far-flung regions, and violently disagreed over their spheres of influence.
In Bengal, Nawab Subahdar Sarfaraz Khan had been overthrown by his deputy Alivardi Khan.
After Khan’s inauguration, the provincial governor of Orissa, Murshid Quli II, rebelled against the
autocrats.
The revolt failed.
Raghoji was also motivated by internal politics within the Maratha camp, trying to establish his
claim over Bengal first at this time of political disturbance in the province.
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Maratha invasions on Bengal:
The Marathas first entered the Mughal province in August 1741.
In 1743, the Bengal province faced the wrath of two Maratha armies, both aggressive with each
other.
Khan took advantage of the rivalry bringing the Peshwa to his side, promising him to pay
tribute for the foreseeable future.
Raghoji returned to Bengal in 1744 and 1745, when his army reached as far as Murshidabad.
In 1748, the Marathas reached Bihar.
In 1750 they once again raided Murshidabad, with each wave of invasion, the damage done
became more and more severe.
Finally, in 1751, the Marathas reached an agreement with Alivardi Khan.
The Nawab promised an annual tribute of 12 lakh rupees and the cession of Orissa to
the Marathas. In return, the Bhosales’ gave word to not return to Bengal.
Impact of the Invasion:
The Dutch believed that 400,000 people had been killed.
Losses of weavers, silk winders and those who cultivated mulberry were particularly high.
People were so distressed that they would take flight even on imaginary alarms, and wander
around.
Poorer districts like Birbhum felt the effects of the invasions for a much longer period, marked by
shortages and a sharp rise in prices.
The 18th century Bengali text ‘Maharashtra purana’ provided grim details of the deep impact
that the invasions had left on the traditions of the Bengali people.
They shouted over and again, ‘give us money’, and when they got no money, they filled people’s
nostrils with water, and some they seized and drowned in tanks, and many died of suffocation.
How did the word ‘bargi’ enter Bengali language and literature?
In the 18th century, the Maratha invasions were popularly referred to as the massacre done by
the ‘bargis’.
The word also appears in the popular Bengali folk song, ‘Dhitang dhitang bole’.
[Ref: The Indian Express]
Science & Technology
How neutrinos aid in the death of massive stars
Recently, the researchers from IIT Guwahati have claimed that a three-flavour model is needed to
predict the dynamics of the dramatic death of massive stars resulting into Type II supernova.
About Lifecycle of a star:
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A life cycle of a star is determined by its mass-
The larger the mass, the shorter the life.
The amount of mass is determined by the amount of matter available in its Nebula.
Nebula:
It is the giant cloud of gas and dust around the sun, from which it was born.
Protostar:
Hydrogen gas in the nebula is pulled together by gravity and it begins to spin faster,
which heats up and thereby it becomes a protostar.
Sun-Like star:
When temperature reaches around 15000000 degrees and Nuclear fission occurs in the
cloud core, the cloud begins to glow brightly.
The heat generates internal pressure which pushes outwards and prevents the star
from collapsing inward due to the action of gravity on its own mass.
This process continuous for millions or billions of years.
Red-Giant:
When hydrogen in its core is converted into helium by nuclear fission, the hydrogen
supply at the core runs out and star will no longer to generate heat.
It makes core unstable, which contracts, whereas outer shell containing hydrogen
expands.
As it expands, it cools down and glow red, which is called as Red-Giant.
In the core, helium fuses into carbon.
White Dwarf and Black Dwarf:
For the low mass stars, after helium has fused in to carbon, the core collapses.
The outer layer of stars is expelled, which forms a planetary nebula.
The core remains as a White Dwarf and eventually cools to become a Black Dwarf.
Supernova explosion:
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After the Red-Giant phase, a massive star will undergo a supernova explosion.
Neutron Star:
If remnant of explosion is 1.4 to 3 times of the mass of Sun, it will become a neutron
star.
Black hole:
If remnant of explosion is greater than 3 times of the mass of Sun, the force of gravity
overcomes the nuclear forces.
When the core is swallowed by its own gravity, it becomes a Black Hole.
About supernova explosion:
Supernova explosion send the outer layers of the star shooting into the surrounding space.
Many stars form supernovas towards the end of their lifetimes.
After the Red-giant phase, the force of gravity wins against the lower internal pressure of
cooler star, therefore, the star starts to collapse inwards.
It happens very suddenly that builds up shock waves which sends the outer material of the star
flying.
There are two main types of supernova-
Type-I
Type-I supernova is a rare phenomenon and are created only when there is a
strange binary star situation.
Type-II
Type-II supernova happens in the star when the star is more than eight times
massive than the Sun.
It is accompanied by a collapsing of inner material of dying star. Thus, It is also
called as core collapse supernova.
About Neutrinos
Neutrinos are tiny particles with no charge and which interact weakly with matter.
Most of the energy of the supernova explosion is carried away by neutrinos.
They come in three flavours (Types), which are is associated with a light elementary particle.
1. The electron-neutrino: Associated with the electron.
2. The muon-neutrino: Associated with the muon.
3. The tau-neutrino: Associated with the tau particle.
Neutrino Oscillations
The neutrinos can change from one flavour to another as they spew out of the massive
supernova.
This process is known as neutrino oscillations.
Collective Neutrino Oscillations
The high density and energy of the supernova exhibits several interesting features in a Nonlinear
phenomenon.
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This may generate neutrino oscillations happening simultaneously over different energies,
which is termed as collective neutrino oscillation.
Fast Oscillations
When the oscillations happen at a nanosecond time scale, it is termed as fast oscillations.
It happens due to the dramatical change in the oscillations when one allows the evolution with the
angular asymmetry.
The presence of asymmetry between the muon neutrinos and antineutrinos will be
crucial for the neutrino oscillations, in turn influencing the supernova mechanism.
The fast nonlinear oscillations of neutrinos are sensitive to three flavours.
[Ref-The Hindu]
Key Facts for Prelims
Vembanad Lake
Recently, Mr. Rajappan, a man paralysed below his knees have earned recognition for cleaning up
Vembanad Lake.
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About Vembanad Lake
Vembanad is the largest lake of Kerala and longest lake in India.
It is the second largest Ramsar site in India after the Sunderbans (West Bengal).
It is also known as-
Vembanad Kayal or Vembanad Kol.
Punnamada Lake in Kuttanad
Kochi Lake in Kochi
Vembanadu Lake in Kottayam
It is separated by a narrow reef on the right from the Arabian Sea.
The lake has its source in four rivers-
Meenachil
Achankoil
Pampa
Manimala
It is recognised as the wetland under the National Wetlands Conservation Programme by the
government.
One of the most outstanding features of this lake is the 1252 m long saltwater barrier,
Thanneermukkom, which was built to stop saltwater intrusion into Kuttanad.
It is famous for the Nehru Trophy Boat Race conducted in a portion of the lake.
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Silk
Recently, Union Textiles Minister has inaugurated 8th India International Silk Fair.
About Silk of India
India is the 2nd largest producer of Silk, contributing to about 18% to the world production. (China
is the largest producer of Silk.)
India is the only country in the world which produces all the four major varieties of silk-
Mulberry
Eri
Tassar
Muga
Karnataka accounts for more than 70% of the country's total silk production.
India has around 11 Geographical Indications (GI) –
Pochampally Ikat- Telangana
Chanderpaul Silk-
Mysore Silk- Karnataka
Kanchipuram Silk- Tamil Nadu
Muga Silk- Assam
Salem Silk- Tamil Nadu
Arni Silk- Tamil Nadu
Champa Silk- Chhatisgarh
Bhagalpur Silk- Bihar
Banaras Brocade and Sarees- Uttar Pardesh
It is used in large varieties of products such as Garments, fabrics and sarees, made-ups,
carpets, hi-fashion silk apparels, gift items, scarves, stoles, home furnishing, curtains etc.
UAE Adopts Amendments to Grant Citizenship to Investors
To attract talents, UAE adopted law amendments that allow granting the UAE citizenship to investors,
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specialized talents and professionals including scientists, doctors, engineers, artists, authors and their
families.
Key highlights:
Previously, it extended its “golden” visa system which grants 10-year residency in the Gulf state
to certain professionals, specialised degree-holders and others.
Location of United Arab Emirates:
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It is a country in Western Asia located at the Eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula.
It forms a federation of seven emirates: Abu Dhabi (capital), Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al
Khaimah, Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain.
It borders Oman and Saudi Arabia, and has maritime borders in the Persian
Gulf with Qatar and Iran.
It forms protrusion north toward Iran forming the Strait of Hormuz linking the Persian Gulf to
the Gulf of Oman.
The Tropic of Cancer passes through it.
The UAE's oil reserves are the sixth-largest in the world while its natural gas reserves are the
world's seventh-largest.
It is a federal elective constitutional monarchy.
Relief:
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The entire country is desert, containing broad areas of sand.
Important deserts: The Arabian desert, Al Khatim desert, The Gulf of Oman desert etc.
It consists of the world’s largest sand dunes are located east of Aradah in the oases of Al-Liwa.
Important oases are at Al-Ayn along the Eastern portion of the Musandam Peninsula, the
Northern extension of the ?ajar Mountains.
Drainage:
It has no perennial streams nor any regularly occurring bodies of surface water.
Sabkhah are the inland salt flats which act as the termination point of the seasonal wadis.
[Ref: News18]
Antifreeze
Eleven US soldiers fell sick after accidentally drinking ethylene glycol, a chemical found in antifreeze.
What is antifreeze?
Ethylene glycol is an industrial compound found in consumer products including automotive
antifreeze, hydraulic brake fluids, some stamp pad inks, ballpoint pens, solvents, paints,
plastics, films, and cosmetics and is also used as a pharmaceutical vehicle.
It is a synthetic liquid, odourless and is used to make antifreeze and de-icing solutions for
cars, airplanes and boats.
It has a sweet taste and is often accidentally or intentionally ingested.
Ethylene glycol can be disseminated through indoor air, water, food, outdoor air and
agricultural products.
Impacts:
Once ingested, ethylene glycol is chemically broken down into toxic compounds.
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These by-products then affect the central nervous system (CNS), the heart and then the
kidneys.
Depending on the quantity of ethylene glycol consumed, death can occur within the first
24 hours and permanent damage to the nervous system may also occur, which can
cause blindness and decreased mental functioning.
[Ref: The Indian Express]
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