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Events around the world between Jan 24 – 31

S. No. Event Options

1. There has been an outbreak of this virus in Latin America and few incidents of it have been reported in Europe too. Name the virus?

Ebola Zika Swine Flu Chikungunya

2. A whale has been washed off to which of the following coast?

Odisha Chennai Vishakhapatnam Mumbai

3. India will be building a satellite tracking station in the following country

Malaysia Sri Lanka Vietnam Myanmar

4. Henry Worsley, an explorer has died crossing the following location?

English Channel Antarctic Crossing Sahara Dessert European Alps

5. A reusable rocket that is designed to put satellites into orbit multiple times has been tested for reusability. What is the name of the rocket?

SpaceX New Shepherd Blue Origin Virgin Galactic

Thought Farm is an experiment, which tries to make learning a curious and inquisitive activity.

The idea is to provide gateway to learning through the events that have either occurred or

occurring around the world and that can have an impact on our daily life.

Being aware of the events will improve our knowledge and help us in making informed choices.

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Question 1

The virus outbreak that happened in Latin America is: Zika

What is a disease (virus) outbreak?

A disease outbreak is the occurrence of cases of disease in more than normal numbers. Two students

having diarrhea in a class (of 40) is a normal occurrence. However, if more than 10 students are affected

with it, it can be called an outbreak. An outbreak may occur in a restricted geographical area, or may

extend over several countries and can last from few days to weeks to years.

Based on the spread and occurrence of a disease, it can be called either an outbreak, or epidemic or a

pandemic.

How does a disease spread across countries?

A bacteria or a virus is normally transmitted through food, water, insects, animals and persons (cough,

sneeze, through direct contact, during blood transfusion and during intimate physical contact.)

People who are travelling across places usually carry diseases/disease causing organisms between

countries and other demographic regions. In most of the cases, a person carrying disease vectors may

not be diagnosed, as he/she may not show symptoms of infection.

What are the precautions that are taken by the Government to restrict disease outbreaks?

Governments issue warnings to its citizens, who are travelling to areas that are affected with disease

outbreaks.

Governments carry screening activities at airports, railways stations and other places of entry, where

people who are arriving from outbreak affected areas can be identified with better efficiency. In the

case of a positive occurrence, persons who have travelled along with the effected person or may have

been in contact with him, will be identified and quarantined.

Government will also provide vaccination information to its citizens through various information

channels like radio, TV, newspaper, etc.

What is Zika virus and what are its affects?

Zika virus gets its name from Zika forest in Uganda, where it was first found. Zika virus (ZIKV) is a

member of the Flaviviridae virus family and the Flavivirus genus. It is related to dengue and yellow fever

viruses and is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes.

Zika virus is linked to Zika fever, whose symptoms include mild headaches, fever, conjunctivitis, and joint

pains, and is treated by rest. A possible link between Zika virus, microcephaly (neurodevelopmental

disorder) and brain damage to newborn children has been suggested. Hence pregnant women are

advised to take necessary precautions.

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Question 2:

A 42 foot long whale has been washed off to Mumbai coast and died on the coast.

Why do whales or other marine animals get washed to shores?

While the exact reason for why whales and dolphins get stranded or washed to the store is not known,

marine biologists have proposed the following reasons.

1. Due to injuries from accidents with boats, ships and other manmade aquatic machines, making

them get stranded accidentally

2. Get disoriented from their natural habitats due to manmade sonar. Whales use low frequency

sounds and high frequency whistles to communicate between each other. Sonar used to

communicate between various sea vessels interfere with whales communication ability and

might lead to stranding of whales.

3. Whales have inbuilt biological navigation, which follows earth’s magnetic field for direction. In

case of changes or abnormalities in the earth’s magnetic field, whales might get disoriented.

There are many other reasons like animals getting sick and weak, pollution in sea, etc. However, an

exact cause has not been established and marine biologists are still conducting research to ascertain the

exact cause.

What happens to animals washed ashore and what is done to them?

Once on the ground, the internal organs of whales get crushed under their own weight (the organs do

not get crushed while in water, due to buoyancy.) and tend to die. Hence all efforts are made to send

the stranded animals back into the sea.

Dehydration is another threat the animals face, as they are not in water continuously.

Sea vessels like boats, ships, etc. are used to pull the animals into the sea, helping them swim against

the tides and reach deeper waters. However, in some cases, due to various reasons, they cannot be sent

back to the sea and end up dying on the shore, which are buried.

Smaller animals like dolphins, sea lions may be taken to animal protection centres.

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Question 3:

India will be building a satellite tracking and imaging station in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Min City.

What does satellite tracking and imaging station do?

A satellite tracking and imaging station will help to communicate with the satellites. Information

collected by the satellites on areas related to weather, agriculture and other scientific and

environmental applications can be accessed by these centers. In this current case of imaging station,

images taken by Indian satellites will be available to Vietnam for their use.

Currently, India has ground stations in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Brunei, Biak in eastern

Indonesia and Mauritius that track its satellites in the initial stages of flight.

India has 11 earth observation satellites in orbit and other satellites for military, communication and

other scientific purposes. National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) is the organization that manages all

the information these satellites generate and helps in processing them.

Why Vietnam?

Before choosing a location, there will be many analysis performed related to technical, operational,

political, economic etc.

While the exact reason on why Vietnam has been chosen may not be known, analysts suggest that it is

military and economic in nature, taking Peoples Republic of China and natural resources available in

South China Sea into consideration. Vietnam is a bordering country of China and is located in the South

China Sea.

Access to natural resources will bring prosperity to a country and China has already laid claim on South

China Sea and in turn its resources. Mild altercations and skirmishes are currently happening between

China, USA and surrounding countries on South China Sea.

India to have a presence in South China Sea and to have access to its resources in the future, may have

felt that helping Vietnam would be a tactical move. India on its behalf has said that it is a civilian facility

and China’s Defence Ministry has said that it is not a military issue.

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Question 4:

Explorer Henry Worsley dies attempting Antarctic crossing

What is Antarctic Crossing?

Antarctic crossing is the crossing of Antarctic continent through the South Pole. Find the proposed

crossing route of Worsley below.

Why do people attempt such rare and dangerous feats?

Many people do such activities to raise awareness on a cause (environmental, health, social, etc.) and

also to raise money for the cause.

Activities such as these require tremendous and utmost levels of mental and physical endurance, which

have the capacity to inspire people to rise above many challenges being faced by them.

Such expeditions are also taken as part of scientific studies.

People also take up such expeditions to challenge and test themselves, to get the satisfaction of

achieving a milestone that is extremely tough and close to impossible.

Other tasks that are taken up by people include cycling from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, climbing all the

highest mountains on earth, travelling from India to Europe on road, etc.

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Question 5

The reusable rocket that has been tested for reusability is New Shepherd.

What is reusable rocket?

Satellites are put into orbits using rockets. India uses Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to put

satellites into orbits.

These vehicles are expendable in nature. They are used only once, which is leading to high cost of

launches. The cost per launch for PSLV is Rs. 90 crore.

Satellites can be put into the following orbits (altitude above mean sea level):

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) – upto 2000 km

Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) – 2000 km to 35,786 km

Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) – 35,786 km

High Earth Orbit (HEO) – above 35,786 km

To reduce the cost of putting satellites into orbits, reusable launch systems/rockets are being designed.

The aim of reusable rockets is to use the engines and other equipment for multiple uses, which can

reduce the cost of launching satellites into orbits

What is New Shepherd?

New Shepherd is the reusable launch system (to deliver payloads into orbits multiple times) that is being

developed by Blue Origin.

Blue Origin is a company founded by Jeff Bezos, founder of e-commerce and online retail giant

Amazon.com

The aim of Blue Origin is to enable private human access to space with the goal of dramatically lower

cost and increased reliability.