Daily Quiz: UPSC Prelims Marathon – January 17, 2019

Government recently launched project KISAN – that will use space technology and drone-based imaging for estimating crop yield in better way and also launched an Android App, designed by the country’s space agency ISRO, to assess real time data on hailstorm occurrences to figure out crop loss in affected areas.

Both these technical support systems will help the government in effectively running the crop insurance schemes and disbursing compensation to farmers.

Lactobacillus is a type of bacteria. There are lots of different species of lactobacillus. These are “friendly” bacteria that normally live in our digestive, urinary, and genital systems without causing disease. Lactobacillus is also in some fermented foods like yogurt and in dietary supplements.

Lactobacillus is used for treating and preventing diarrhea, including infectious types such as rotaviraldiarrhea in children and traveler’sdiarrhea. It is also used to prevent and treat diarrhea associated with using antibiotics.

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)– a diverse group of communicable diseases that prevail in tropical and subtropical conditions in 149 countries – affect more than one billion people and cost developing economies billions of dollars every year. Populations living in poverty, without adequate sanitation and in close contact with infectious vectors and domestic animals and livestock are those worst affected.

Some prominent examples of NTDs include-Buruli ulcer, Chagas disease, Dengue and Chikungunya, Dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease), Leishmaniasis, Leprosy (Hansen’s disease), Lymphatic filariasis,Rabies, Soil-transmitted helminthiases (Kala-Azar), Yaws (Endemic treponematoses) etc.

Azolla is an aquatic floating fern, found in temperate climate suitable for paddy cultivation. The fern appears as a green mat over water. The Blue Green Algae cyanobacteria (Anabaena azollae) present as a symbiont with this fern in the lower cavities actually fixes atmospheric nitrogen. The rate of nitrogen fixed is around 25 kg/ha. As green manure, Azolla is grown alone for two to three weeks in flooded fi Afterwards, water is drained out and Azolla fern is incorporated in the field before transplanting of paddy. Dry Azolla flakes can be used as poultry feed and green Azolla is also a good feed for fish. Azolla can be supplemented with regular feed of the animal @ 2-2.5 kg of azolla per cattle. It can be used as a bio-fertilizer and as a mosquito repellent.

Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs are more efficient than Compact Fluorescent (CFL) and traditional incandescent bulbs because LED bulbs produce light by running an arc of electrical current between two electrodes. This method of generating light is a more efficient than generating light by the heating of tungsten filaments in incandescent/halogen bulbs and exciting mercury gas by electricity in CFL bulbs.

Diseases By Air Pollutants

Yokkaichi asthma (SO2)

• Burning of petroleum and crude oil releases large quantities of sulfur oxides which causes severe smog
• Results in severe cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, pulmonary emphysema, and bronchial asthma

Pneumoconiosis / Black Lung Disease

• an occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of coal dust, often in mines

Asbestosis

• a lung disease, which leads to long-term breathing complications, caused by exposure to asbestos (No cure)

Silicosis

• a lung disease that is caused by inhaling tiny bits of silica mainly by the workers working in silica industries or sand blasting sites

Emphysema

• Breaking down of lung tissues due to air pollution & cigarette smoke leading to difficulty in expanding & contracting of lungs

All are correctly matched

• An asteroid is a celestial body – composed of rock, metal or a mixture of both – that is orbiting the Sun. Most of them are in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Even though there are millions of asteroids with sizes up to more than 500 km (like Pallas and Vesta) they are of no danger to the planet Earth. The biggest body in the asteroid belt – Ceres – is officially not called an asteroid anymore but a dwarf planet.
• Comet- A smaller celestial body mainly composed of ice and dust. If a comet approaches the Sun it can generate a tail of gas and/or dust.
• Meteor- A bright tail of light caused by a meteoroid during its atmospheric flight, also called a shooting star or falling star.