PIB – January 20 , 2020


General Studies- II

Topic-  Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health.

Novel Corona Virus (nCoV)

Context

Health Ministry reviews preparedness for Novel Corona Virus (nCoV).

About

  • Recently, 41 confirmed cases of novel Corona virus (nCoV) including one death has been reported from Wuhan, China.
  • According to WHO, the situation is still evolving and preliminary investigations suggest link to the sea food market.

What is the Corona Virus?

  • Coronaviruses are large family of viruses, which cause illnesses to people and also circulate in animals including camels, cats and bats.
  • It causes illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).
  • Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people.
  • Rarely, animal coronaviruses can also evolve and infect people.

Common human coronaviruses

  • Common human corona viruses, usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses, like the common cold.
  • Most people get infected with these viruses at some point in their lives.
  • These illnesses usually only last for a short amount of time.

Symptoms may include

  1. runny nose
  2. headache
  3. cough
  4. sore throat
  5. fever
  6. a general feeling of being unwell

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

  • MERS-CoV was first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia.
  • It has since caused illness in people in more than 25 other countries, including the United States.
  • Most people reported to have MERS-CoV infection developed severe acute respiratory illness, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath.

Transmission

Human coronaviruses most commonly spread from an infected person to others. It can be transmitted through-

  • The air by coughing and sneezing.
  • Close personal contact.
  • Touching an object or surface with the virus on it, then touching your mouth, nose, or eyes before washing your hands.
  • Rarely, fecal contamination.

General Studies-III

Topic- Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL)

Context

14th Foundation Day of Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) celebrated

About DFCCIL

  • The DFCCIL is a corporation run by the Ministry of Railways.
  • It aims to undertake planning & development, mobilisation of financial resources and construction, maintenance and operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors.
  • DFCC has been registered as a company under the Companies Act 1956.

Genesis of DFCCIL

  • The Indian Railway is linking quadrilateral the four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Howrah.
  • Commonly it is known as the Golden Quadrilateral.
  • Its two diagonals (Delhi-Chennai and Mumbai-Howrah) are adding up to a total route length of 10,122 km.
  • It is comprising of 16% of the route carried more than 52% of the passenger traffic and 58% of revenue earning freight traffic of IR.
  • Ministry of Railways initiated action to establish a Special Purpose Vehicle for construction, operation and maintenance of the dedicated freight corridors.
  • This led to the establishment of “Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCC)”.
  • DFCC was incorporated as a company under the Companies Act 1956 on 30th October 2006.

Mission

As the dedicated agency to make the vision into reality, DFCCIL’s mission is:

  • To build a corridor with appropriate technology that enables Indian railways to regain its market share of freight transport.
  • To set up Multimodal logistic parks along the DFC to provide complete transport solution to customers.
  • To support the government’s initiatives toward ecological sustainability by encouraging users to adopt railways as the most environment friendly mode for their transport requirements.

Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC)

  • The Eastern and Western Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) are a mega rail transport projects.
  • These are being undertaken to increase transportation capacity, reduce unit costs of transportation, and improve service quality.
  • The Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridors (1839 route kilometres (RKM) extends from Dankuni near Kolkata to Ludhiana in Punjab.
  • The Western Dedicated Freight Corridors (1499 RKM) extends from the Jawahar Lal Nehru Port (JNPT) in Mumbai to Dadri /Rewari near Delhi.

Significance

  • The DFC will separate freight and passenger traffic to increase the speed of freight movement.
  • It will be used to transport fertilisers, food grains, salt, coal, iron & steel and cement.
  • The project will eventually be linked to the Eastern DFC to form four hubs known as India’s Golden Quadrilateral including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

For Prelims

Wings India 2020

Highlights

  • Wings India 2020, a flagship event of the Indian Civil Aviation industry will be held at Begumpet Airport, Hyderabad.
  • Theme: ‘Flying for All’
  • Wings India 2020 is also Asia’s largest and most popular gathering in the industry.
  • Organized by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Govt. of India, AAI and FICCI.

Z Morh tunnel

Highlights

  • Z-Morh tunnel is located in Jammu and Kashmir.
  • It is 6.5-kilometre long.
  • The tunnel is capable of allowing 1,000 vehicles an hour at a speed of 80 km per hour.
  • The project was however transferred from Border Road Organization (BRO) to IL&FS in 2016.
  • APCO will now complete the balance work.

 

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