Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 25 November 2021

::NATIONAL::

India will release 5 million barrels of crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserves in a concerted effort to bring down global crude oil prices. This is roughly equivalent to a day’s consumption in the country.

About:

India is dependent on imports of crude oil to meet around 85 per cent of the domestic requirements. The country imports roughly 226 MT of crude oil every year.
This coordinated release of crude oil from strategic reserves will be the first of its kind globally.
Brent, the most popular benchmark for trade in international trade in crude oil, touched at $86.40 a barrel on October 26.

Strategic Petroleum Reserve:

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is an emergency stockpile of petroleum maintained by the United States Department of Energy (DOE).
It is the largest known emergency supply in the world, and its underground tanks in Louisiana and Texas have capacity for 714 million barrels (113,500,000 m3).
The United States started the petroleum reserve in 1975 after oil supplies were interrupted during the 1973–1974 oil embargo, to mitigate future supply disruptions.

Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying organized a National Stakeholder workshop on theNational Action Plan to combat Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR).
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respondto medicines making infections harder to treat.

The National Action Plan focuses on

Awareness and understanding through education, communication and training;
Strengthening knowledge and evidence through surveillance;
Infection prevention and control;
Optimised antimicrobial use in health, animals and food;
Strengthened leadership and commitment at international, national and sub-national levels.

The UK government’s Department of Health and Social Care announced that an independent review will be carried out to find out if there is a potential bias in medical items such as pulse oximeters and how they impact patients from various ethnic groups.
This move comes amid rising concerns that many medical devices are designed and calibrated for white patients.

What is a pulse oximeter and how does it work?

A pulse oximeter is a small clip-like device used to calculate the amount of oxygen in your blood. It can be attached to the fingertip, earlobe or toes.
The oximeter has a small electronic processor and a pair of LEDs – one emitting red light and another infrared. The oximeter shines these two lights which pass through your finger and the device senses what comes through the other side.
Our blood contains haemoglobin and when it is saturated with oxygen it is called oxygenated haemoglobin and is bright red in colour. The hemoglobin without oxygen is called deoxygenated haemoglobin.
Oxygenated haemoglobin and deoxygenated haemoglobin absorb red and infrared light differently. Oxygenated haemoglobin absorbs more infrared light and allows more red light to pass through than deoxygenated haemoglobin.
The amount of light that is transmitted is measured by the processor and the device displays the oxygen saturation or the percentage of oxygenated haemoglobin in your blood.
A normal blood oxygen saturation rate is often considered between 95 percent and 100 percent.

About:

The report exposes the fragility of our agrifood systems and offers solutions on how to deal withsudden shocks.
Agri-food systems include production, food supply chains, transport networks and consumption.
Currently, there are approximately 3 billion people who cannot afford a healthy diet.
The report estimates that an additional 1 billion people would join their ranks if a shock reducedincomes by one-third.
Risk management strategies for shocks (such as droughts, floods and pests) including multi-riskassessments, timely forecasts, early warning systems and early action plans, are key to help allagri-food systems.

Smartchem Technologies Limited (STL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (DFPCL), today announced the formal launch of its fertilizer – ‘Croptek’ for onion growers under its flagship brand Mahadhan.
STL is one of India’s leading manufacturers of Nitro-Phosphate fertiliser and Bentonite Sulphur and the market leader in the water-soluble and speciality fertiliser category.

About:

It is a fertiliser to be used by onion growers.
It is the first and unique crop-specific crop nutrition solution having essential primary, secondaryand micronutrients required by the onion crop.

Need:

Due to intensive cultivation practices post green revolution, deficiency of primary, secondaryand micronutrients resulted in making the soils un-sustainable for cultivation.

A white dwarf star that completes a full rotation once every 25 seconds is the fastest spinning confirmed white dwarf, according to a team of astronomers.
They have shown that it is an extremely rare example of a magnetic propeller system: The white dwarf is pulling gaseous plasma from a nearby companion star and flinging it into space at around 3,000 kilometres per second. It is only the second magnetic propeller white dwarf to have been identified in over 70 years, thanks to a combination of powerful and sensitive instruments.
Put into context, one rotation of the planet Earth takes 24 hours, while the equivalent on J0240+1952 is a mere 25 seconds. That’s almost 20% faster than the confirmed white dwarf with the most comparable spin rate, which completes a rotation in just over 29 seconds.
A white dwarf is a star that has burnt up all of its fuel and shed its outer layers, now undergoing a process of shrinking and cooling over millions of years. This particular star, named LAMOST J024048.51+195226.9 — or J0240+1952 —is the size of the Earth but is thought to be at least 200,000 times more massive. It is part of a binary star system; its immense gravity is pulling material from its larger companion star in the form of plasma.