Current Affairs 01-DEC-2023 (The Hindu)

Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) System

(C => Pg-3)

Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) System

Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) is a wastewater treatment process that involves recovering and treating all wastewater for reuse, ensuring zero (liquid) discharge.

Applications

• Waste treatment in:
  • Power plants
  • Textile industry
  • Chemical & petrochemical industries
  • Metallurgical industries
  • Municipal Wastewater treatment

How the Zero Liquid Discharge System Functions

Effects

• Treated water can be reused.
• Safe disposal of dry solid waste.
• Recovery of salts, minerals, and chemicals from the dry waste.

Advantages of this System

• Zero effluent pollution.
• Water conservation.
• Economically beneficial.
• Good public health.

UPSC PYQ 2013

Which of the following can be found as pollutants in the drinking water in some parts of India:

1. Arsenic

2. Sorbitol

3. Fluoride

4. Formaldehyde

5. Uranium

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

a) 1 and 3 only

b) 2, 4 and 5 only

c) 1, 3 and 5 only

d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

HIV and AIDS

D => Pg-Science)

HIV and AIDS

About HIV

• HIV - Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
• Lentivirus - sub-classification of the retrovirus.
• If not treated - Leads to AIDS.
• Attacks & destroys the CD4 cells of the immune system.
  • Loss of CD4 cells – difficult to fight infections, illnesses, and certain cancers.

Transmission of HIV

• Carrier person to another - when certain bodily fluids, shared between them.
  • Includes - Blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, vaginal fluids, rectal fluids & Breastmilk.
  • Transmission route:
    • Unprotective sex,
    • Sharing needles for injecting drugs or tattooing,
    • Getting stuck with a needle – Possess a HIV infected Blood,
    • Pregnancy & through breastfeeding.

Symptoms of HIV

• Stage 1 or Acute HIV infection stage.
  • Symptoms - similar to the flu or other viral illnesses:
    • Fever, Muscle pains, Headache, Sore throat, Night sweats, Diarrhea.
    • Many people have no symptoms in stage1.
• Chronic or Asymptomatic HIV infection (Stage 2) - NO symptoms.
  • Lasts - 10 years or longer.
• If not treated - Almost all people infected with HIV will develop AIDS (Stage 3).
  • People with AIDS - Higher risk for certain cancers, especially lymphomas & skin cancer called Kaposi sarcoma.
• 3rd stage - symptoms depend on the particular infection & which part of the body infected.
  • General symptoms - Weight loss, Fever, Sweats, Rashes and Swollen lymph glands.

Prevention and Treatment

• Curing of AIDS - Early stage.
• Prevention - Protective sex, Proper checking of Blood for HIV before Transfusion etc.
• Diagnostic test - Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) test.
• Effective antiretroviral medications - keep the viral load low & prevent multiplication of HIV.
• If patients take HIV takes drugs - Normal life without developing opportunistic infections.

How Is HIV Transmitted?

HIV can be transmitted only through specific activities including:

1. Having unprotected sex
2. Transmission of infected blood
3. Sharing infected needles or other sharp instruments
4. From a mother to her baby during pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding

Options:

1. Only one
2. Only two
3. All three
4. All

Fiscal Deficit

D => Pg-18)

Fiscal Deficit

Fiscal Deficit = Total expenditure (Revenue expenditure + Capital expenditure) - Total receipts other than borrowings/total income (Revenue receipts + Non debt creating capital receipts).

• Shortfall in the income of a government as compared to its expenditure.
• Expressed as a percentage of its GDP.
• Fiscal Deficit of the government will be equal to its market borrowings (G-Sec & T Bills).

Fiscal consolidation

• Reducing government spending.
  • Reducing unnecessary expenses
  • Enhancing efficiency in public service delivery
  • Making government programs and projects cost-effective
• Increasing government revenue.
  • Implementing tax reforms
  • Broadening the tax base
  • Improving tax collection efficiency
  • Closing loopholes in the tax system
  • Disinvestment and selling assets.
• Increasing GDP as the fiscal deficit is expressed as a percentage of GDP.

Practice Question – Prelims

Which of the following are a part of capital receipts:

1. Amount borrowed from Japan for construction of Metro.
2. Government building new schools and hospitals.
3. Amount received by the privatization of LIC.
4. Sri Lanka paying interest for the amount borrowed from India.

Select the correct code from the codes given below:

a) 1 and 2 only

b) 1 and 3 only

c) 2 and 3 only

d) 2 and 4 only