Prelims Focus – 8th May 2024

Catatumbo Lightning

In News: A captivating natural event of nearly constant lightning strikes is observed over the Catatumbo River in Venezuela, particularly at the point where it meets Lake Maracaibo, the country’s largest lake.

Details:

• Warm, moist air from the Caribbean Sea is pushed toward the Andes, where it encounters cooler air descending from the peaks. 
• This collision creates a kind of perfect storm as warmer air is forced to rise quickly due to the shape of the local landscape. 
• As it does so, it cools and condenses, forming tall cumulonimbus clouds. 
• Meanwhile, a combination of strong winds and temperature changes generates electrical charges within these clouds. 
• Cumulonimbus clouds, sometimes reaching heights of more than 5 km, accumulate static electricity. 
• When the electrical potential inside clouds becomes too great, it discharges as lightning. 
• Catatumbo lightning is notable for its frequency and duration, with lightning strikes occurring on up to 160 nights per year, with an average of 28 lightning strikes per minute at its peak. 
• This constant flow of current has earned the area the title of “lightning capital of the world.

Chloropicrin

In News: The U.S. State Department has accused Russia of violating the Chemical Weapons Convention by using the chemical agent chloropicrin in Ukraine.

Details

• Chloropicrin, also known as nitrochloroform, is a chemical compound used as a warfare agent and pesticide. 
• It is a colourless to yellow oily liquid with irritating and tear-inducing effects. 
• It is manufactured through chemical reactions involving bleach and nitromethane, or chloroform and nitric acid. 
• Chloropicrin is widely used as a fungicide, herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, and antimicrobial. 
• It was first used as a poison gas in World War I by both the Allied and Central Powers. 
• Chloropicrin is known to be highly toxic, carcinogenic, and can induce vomiting. 
• The Chemical Weapons Convention is an international treaty that prohibits the use and production of chemical weapons, requiring signatory countries to destroy their stockpiles within a set timeframe. 
• It was ratified on April 29, 1997, and requires countries to disclose their chemical weapons facilities and stockpiles to the OPCW. 
• India is a member of the Convention, having signed it in 1993 and enacted the Chemical Weapons Convention Act in 2000.

Areca Nut

In News: The Areca Research Centre at Shivamogga found that the areca nut grown in the Tirthahalli region are the best quality areca among the varieties grown in Karnataka.

• • It is the seed of the Areca palm (Areca catechu L.), and an essential cash crop of India.
  • It is the fourth most normally used psychoactive substance in the world after caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol.
  • It is used as a key component in several types of Smokeless Tobacco (SLT) arrangements.
  • An estimated 600 million people chew it, with southern Asia, in particular India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, being excessive incidence regions.

• Cultivation:

• • Arecanut requires ample and well-dispersed rainfall.
  • It grows well in the temperature range of 14-36°C.
  • Laterite, purple loam, and alluvial soils are maximum acceptable.
  • Major states cultivating the areca nut are Karnataka, Kerala, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Meghalaya and West Bengal.

Fusobacterium Nucleatum

In News: Researchers have observed a notably higher abundance of Fusobacterium nucleatum bacteria in oral tumors compared to the oral cavity of healthy individuals.

• It is a Gram-negative, anaerobic bacterium that is commonly found in the human oral cavity.
• In the oral cavity, F. nucleatum is considered a ‘bridging’ organism that can flourish and, along with other microbes, trigger inflammation leading to gum, or periodontal, disease.
• F. nucleatum is rarely seen in the guts of healthy people. However, in cases of colorectal cancer, the bacteria are found in tumors in the gut, where they help cancer cells escape from the immune system and spread to other parts of the body.

Orangutan

In News: An Orangutan named Rakus in Indonesia used a medicinal plant, Akar Kuning to treat a wound.

• The name orangutan means “man of the forest” in the Malay language.
• They have a feature ape-like shape, shaggy reddish fur and grasping fingers and feet. 
• They are the biggest arboreal mammal, spending most of their time in bushes.
• They are the nearest dwelling spouse and children of humans and that they proportion 96.4% of Human genes and are noticeably clever creatures.
• There are 3 species of Orangutan  – the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli – which differ a little in look and behaviour.
• Habitat and Distribution : They can arise up to one,500m above sea level, maximum are observed in lowland areas and prefer forests in river valleys or floodplains.
• These extremely good apes are most effective found within the wild at the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

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