Current Affairs Question - 09 September 2019

Explanation :

• Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT) is a tribunal set up by the Central Government in 1969 under the Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 to resolve the disputes between the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and then undivided Andhra Pradesh over sharing of Krishna river water.
• The first report (1976) divided the 2060 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of Krishna water at 75 per cent dependability into three parts: 560 TMC for Maharashtra, 700 TMC for Karnataka and 800 TMC for Andhra.
• The second KWDT was instituted in 2004 and delivered its report in 2010, which made allocations of the Krishna water at 65 per cent dependability and for surplus flows as follows: 81 TMC for Maharashtra, 177 TMC for Karnataka, and 190 TMC for Andhra Pradesh.
• After the creation of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh in 2014, Andhra Pradesh insisted that the allocation of Krishna waters be reworked among four states, instead of three.

Krishna River

• It is an east-flowing river that originates at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra and merges with the Bay of Bengal,.
• It flows through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Together with its tributaries, it forms a vast basin that covers 33% of the total area of the four states.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• With effect from 3rd September 2019, India has been declared free from Avian Influenza (H5N1), which has also been notified to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).
• India was last declared free of the disease in 2017.
• Humans can be infected with avian, swine and other zoonotic influenza viruses, such as avian influenza virus subtypes A(H5N1), A(H7N9), and A(H9N2) and swine influenza virus subtypes A(H1N1), A(H1N2) and A(H3N2).

Avian Influenza

• It refers to the disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) Type A viruses.
• It was first reported from Hong Kong in 1997. Since then, there have been many outbreaks across the world. India too has had multiple outbreaks since 2005.
• Human infections are primarily acquired through direct contact with infected animals or contaminated environments, these viruses have not acquired the ability of sustained transmission among humans.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

• The government’s plan of establishing National Genomic Grid for India-specific cancer research, the grid to be formed will be in line with the National Cancer Tissue Biobank.
• It will collect samples from cancer patients to study genomic factors influencing cancer and identifying the right treatment modalities for the Indian population.
• It will have four parts, with the country divided into east, west, north and south.

National Cancer Tissue Biobank (NCTB)

• It is a state-of-the-art non-profit community-based tissue bank, is a joint initiative of Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM).
• It is the first of its kind facility in India, aimed at providing researchers with high quality of cancer tissues and the patient data in order to facilitate cancer research that will lead to improvements in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online