Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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Four more deaths on traffic-jammed Everest

News

• A traffic jam of climbers in the Everest “death zone” was blamed for two of four new deaths reported, heightening concerns that the drive for profits is trumping safety on the world’s highest peak.

Beyond News

• Nepalhas issued a record 381 permits costing $11,000 each for the current spring climbing season, bringing in much-needed money for the Himalayan country.
• But a small window of suitable weather before the short season ends has in recent days triggered bottlenecks of hundreds of climbers wanting to achieve for many although perhaps not for purists the ultimate in mountaineering.
• The four latest deaths, taking the toll from a deadly week on the overcrowded peak to eight, include two Indians and a Nepali on the Nepal side and an Austrian on the way down on the northern Tibetan side.
• Last week, an Indian climber died and an Irish mountaineer went missing after he slipped and fell close to the summit and is presumed dead.
• Mountaineering in Nepal has become a lucrative business since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent of Everest in 1953.
• Most Everest hopefuls are escorted by a Nepali guide, meaning more than 750 climbers were expected to tread the same path to the top in the current season.
• At least 140 others have been granted permits to scale Everest from the northern flank in Tibet, according to expedition operators. This could take the total past last year’s record of 807 people reaching the summit.
• Many Himalayan mountains including Everest are at peak climbing season, with the window of good weather between late April and the end of May.
• Eight other climbers have died on other 8,000-metre Himalayan peaks this season, while two are missing.

In 2015, 18 people were killed at the Everest base camp because of an avalanche triggered by a quake.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

WHO unveils plan to tackle snakebite

News

• The World Health Organization unveiled a new strategy to dramatically cut deaths and injuries from snakebites, warning a dearth of antivenoms could soon spark a “public health emergency”.

Beyond News

• Each year, nearly three million people are bitten by poisonous snakes, with an estimated 81,000-138,000 deaths.
• Another 4,00,000 survivors suffer permanent disabilities and other after-effects, according to WHO figures.
• WHO, which two years ago categorised “snakebite envenoming” as a Neglected Tropical Disease, presented a strategy aimed at cutting snakebite-related deaths and disabilities in half by 2030.
• An important part of the strategy is to significantly boost production of quality ant venoms.
• The UN agency called for “the restoration of a sustainable market for snakebite treatment”, insisting on the need for a 25% increase in the number of manufacturers. It plans a pilot project to create a global antivenom stockpile.

SEBI panel moots changes to FPI rules

News

• As part of its attempts to streamline the regulations to encourage foreign inflows in the Indian market, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has proposed fast track on-boarding procedure for such investors, apart from a simplified registration process.

Beyond News

• The capital markets regulator released the report of the working group formed under the chairmanship of former RBI deputy governor last year.
• As a key source of capital to the Indian economy, it is important to ensure a harmonised and hassle-free investment experience for international investors and improve transparency as economic regulations evolve, stated the report released.
• Against this background, the group’s primary objectives were consolidation, simplification, rationalisation and liberalization.
• Among other things, the group has also recommended pension funds to be considered for Category I FPIs registration, removal of opaque structure and the review of broad-based conditions for appropriately regulated entities.
• The committee has further proposed a liberalised investment cap under a review of prohibited sectors for foreign investment for FPIs, restriction on Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) for investment in corporate debt securities, and permitting FPIs for off-market transactions.
• The committee has also proposed alignment of regulations for FPIs and Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) and the harmonisation between investment restrictions in FPI regulations and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
• Interestingly, in terms of restrictions on FPI investments in mutual funds, the group said that there was a need for further deliberations on whether such restrictions should be there.
• FPIs are currently not permitted to invest in liquid and money market mutual fund schemes.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

One billion year old fungi is found to be earth’s oldest

News

• Microfossils of a globular spore connected to a T-shaped filament excavated in an Arctic region of northwestern Canada represent the oldest-known fungus, a discovery that sheds light on the origins of an important branch in earth’s tree of life.

Findings

• Scientists said the multicellular fungus that they namedOurasphaira giraldae forerunner to an immensely diverse group that today includes the likes of mushrooms, yeasts and molds lived in an estuary environment about 900 million to 1 billion years ago.
• Until now, the oldest-known fungus fossil was one about 410 million years old from Scotland. Fungi play a key role in global ecosystems such as in the organic decomposition process.
• Fungi belong to a broad group of organisms, called eukaryotes, that possesses a clearly defined nucleus and also includes animals and plants.
• A fundamental difference between fungi and plants is that fungi are incapable of photosynthesis, harnessing sunlight to synthesize nutrients.
• The microscopic fossils, contained in shale rock from the Northwest Territories of Canada, date back to the Proterozoic era, before the advent of complex life forms.

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh declared a banned terrorist organisation

News

• Bangladesh-based terror outfit the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh(JMB) was banned by the Centre under the anti-terror law

Beyond News

• JMB allegedly involved in the 2016 terror attack at a cafe in Bangladesh’s capital city Dhaka was declared as an unlawful association by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• A notification issued by MHA said that the outfit was planning to set up permanent bases within ten kilometres along Bangladesh border in several districts of West Beny, Assam and Tripura.
• The notification said the group planned to sread its network in South India with an overarching motive to establish Caliphate in the Indian subcontinent.
• MHA said the outfit has committed and promoted acts of terrorism and has been engaged in radicalisation and recruitment of youths for terrorist activities in India.

IMTECH’s novel compound treats colistin-resistant bacteria

News

• A novel compound isolated from a soil bacterium shows promise in killing Gram-negative bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae and E. coli) that are resistant to colistin, a powerful, last-line antibiotic.
• The compound was effective in killing colistin-resistant bacteria in studies done in vitro and on mice models.

Findings

• Unlike colistin, the compound was found to be safe and did not damage the kidney of mice.
• The bacterium (Paenibacillus sp) was found in the soil at Malvi village in Jind district, Haryana in January 2016.
• Colistin-resistant bacteria are increasing at an alarming rate in India and outside. It is a serious medical issue. The extent of resistance varies from one bacterial species to another and from one hospital to another. If colistin-resistant bacteria are found in the blood there is 80% chance of death.
• The K. pneumoniae sample was from a human isolate and E. coli was from a food sample.
• Based on the amino acid composition and other studies, the team found the compound to be a new variant of the tridecaptin family; the variant was named tridecaptin M (the letter M standing for Malvi).
• Colisitin belongs to a different class of antibiotics, and so there is no cross resistance with the tridecaptin family of compounds.
• The compound is novel and this is also the first time that antibacterial effects of tridecaptin family of compounds on colistin-resistant bacteria have been studied.
• The new compound is equally effective on K. pneumoniae bacteria that are colistin-resistant and colistin-sensitive, the team found. When the purified compound was tested on colistin-resistant bacteria, 16 times less amount of the compound was enough to kill the bacteria, compared with colistin.
• Studies found that there is less likelihood of bacteria developing resistance against the compound. Very low concentration of the compound was able to kill all the bacteria in four to eight hours; there was no regrowth of bacteria even after a day. So this suggests that the compound resists spontaneous mutation.
• The compound affects the ATP synthesis by the bacteria. With less fuel being produced, the bacteria are unable to multiply and thus killed.
• The effectiveness of the compound was tested on mice by infecting the thigh muscle with colistin-resistant bacteria. Whereas colistin failed to kill the bacteria, about 90% of bacteria were killed by the compound.

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