The Hindu prelims Sure Shot

16^th Sep 2019

Gooseberry

Gooseberries (R. uva-crispa L.) are one of the four wild Ribes species growing in the Northern Hemisphere. As in currants, gooseberry grows best in regions where summers are humid, but winter is severe and chilling
Indian gooseberries, also known as Amla in the subcontinent, belongs to a different family of Euphorbiaceae. Their scientific name is Phyllanthus emblica. Indian gooseberry features round to transversely spherical shape with light green colour. Amla berries are exceptionally high in anti-oxidants and vitamin C. For the same reason; they are excessively acidic and bitter (astringent) in taste.

INS Beas

INS Beas (F37) is a Brahmaputra-class frigate of the Indian Navy. She was built at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata.
The design and construction of the ship is entirely Indian, and is a modification of the Godavari-class frigate. She is fitted with an array of modern sensor suites and matching weapon systems. Beas is named for the River Beas.

Pampa River

The Pamba River (also called Pampa River) is the third longest river in the South Indian state of Kerala after Periyar and Bharathappuzha and the longest river in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore. Sabarimala temple is located on the banks of the river Pamba.
The River Pamba flows through Pathanamthitta District and the Kuttanad area of Alappuzha District and few areas of Kottayam.

Keoladeo National Park

Keoladeo National Park, located in the State of Rajasthan, is an important wintering ground of Palaearctic migratory waterfowl and is renowned for its large congregation of non-migratory resident breeding birds. It was declared as a Bird Sanctuary in 1976. The area declared a national park in 1982. It was declared a national park in 1982 and then later tagged as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.
Two rivers flow through it – River Gambhir and Banganga. It is the Richest Bird Area in the World.
This is the only park in India that is completely enclosed by a 2 m high boundary wall that minimises the possibilities of any encroachment and biotic disturbances, but there is no possibility of a buffer zone.

Vultures India

In the late 1990s, the population of the vultures in the country had begun to decline sharply.
To study the cause of deaths of vultures, a Vulture Care Centre (VCC) was set up at Pinjore, Haryana. At present there are nine Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centres (VCBC) in India, of which three are directly administered by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).
The major reason behind the vulture population getting nearly wiped out was the drug Diclofenac, found in the carcass of cattle the vultures fed on. The drug veterinary use was banned in 2006.

White Backed Vulture

The white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is an Old World vulture in the family Accipitridae. Sometimes it is called African white-backed vulture.
The white-backed vulture is a typical vulture, with only down feathers on the head and neck, very broad wings and short tail feathers. It has a white neck ruff. The adult’s whitish back contrasts with the otherwise dark plumage. Its status was changed to Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List in 2015.

Herpes Virus

The herpes simplex virus, or herpes, is categorized into 2 types: herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2).
HSV-1 is mainly transmitted by oral-to-oral contact to cause oral herpes (which can include symptoms known as “cold sores”), but can also cause genital herpes.
HSV-2 is a sexually transmitted infection that causes genital herpes. Both HSV-1 and HSV-2 infections are lifelong.
Most oral and genital herpes infections are asymptomatic. Symptoms of herpes include painful blisters or ulcers at the site of infection.
Herpes infections are most contagious when symptoms are present but can still be transmitted to others in the absence of symptoms.