CHEMICAL NOTICEBOARD

• Electoral ink, indelible ink, electoral stain or phosphoric ink is a semi-permanent ink or dye that is applied to the forefinger (usually) of voters during elections in order to prevent electoral fraud such as double voting. 
• Election ink uses silver nitrate

M. VISVESVARAYA

Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, more commonly known as Sir MV (15 September 1860 – 14 April 1962) was an Indian civil engineer and statesman and the 19th Diwan of Mysore, serving from 1912 to 1919. He received India's highest honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the British Indian Empire (KCIE) by King George V for his contributions to the public good. His birthday, 15 September, is celebrated as Engineers' Day in India, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania in his memory. He was the Chief Engineer of Krishna Raja Sagara dam in the north-west suburb of Mysuru city, and also served as one of the Chief Engineers of the flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad.

BIOGRAPHY

Visvesvaraya was born into an Orthodox Mulukanadu Brahmin family in Muddenahalli, Chikkaballapur Dist, during Kingdom of Mysore (now Karnataka). Sir M.V completed his schooling in Chikkaballapur and joined Central College, Bengaluru, and completed a B.A degree. In Pune, he studied Civil Engineering at the College of Engineering, Pune. He first took a job as an assistant engineer with the Public Works Department of Bombay, Nashik Division in Dhule district, and later was invited to join the Indian Irrigation Commission. He implemented an intricate system of irrigation in the Deccan Plateau, and designed and patented a system of automatic weir water floodgates that were first installed in 1903 at Khadakvasla Reservoir near Pune. These gates raised the storage level in the reservoir to the highest level likely to be attained without causing damage to the dam. Based on the success of these gates, the same system was installed at Tigra Dam in Gwalior and Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) Dam in Mandya/Mysore, Karnataka. In 1906–1907, the Government of India sent him to Aden to study water supply and drainage systems. The project prepared by him was implemented in Aden successfully. Visvesvaraya achieved celebrity status when he designed a flood protection system for the city of Hyderabad. He was instrumental in developing a system to protect the Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion. This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia when it was built. Visvesvaraya gave his technical advice for the location of Mokama Bridge over Ganga in Bihar. At the time, he was over 90 years old, and was called the "Father of Modern Mysore State".

During his service with the Government of Mysore state, he was responsible (under the patronage of the Mysore government) for the founding of Mysore Soap Factory, Parasitoid Laboratory, Mysore Iron & Steel Works (now known as Viswesvarayya Iron and Steel Limited) in Bhadravathi, Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Bangalore, Bangalore Agricultural University, the State Bank of Mysore, Century Club, Mysore Chamber of Commerce (Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry), the Apex Chamber of Commerce in Karnataka, University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (Bangalore) and numerous other industrial places. He encouraging private investment in the industry during his tenure as Diwan of Mysore. He was instrumental in charting out a plan for road construction between Tirumala and Tirupati. He was known for his sincerity, time management, and dedication to his cause. The Bangalore Press and the Bank of Mysore were established during his tenure. A very important part of his nature was his love for Kannada. He set up Kannada Parishat for the improvement of Kannada. He wanted seminars for Kannada supporters to be instituted and conducted in Kannada itself. Visvesvaraya is known to have designed and planned an entire area of Jayanagar in South Bangalore. The foundation of Jayanagar was laid in 1959. It was one of the first planned neighborhoods in Bangalore and, at the time, the largest in Asia. It is believed that the locality, designed by Visvesvaraya has one of the best-planned layouts in Asia.

CAREER TIMELINE

• Assistant Engineer in Bombay, 1885; served in Nasik, Khandesh (mainly in Dhule), and Pune
• Services lent to Municipality of Sukkur, Sind, 1894; designed and carried out waterworks for the municipality
• Executive Engineer, Surat, 1896
• Assistant Superintending Engineer, Pune,1897–1899; visited China and Japan, 1898
• Executive Engineer for Irrigation, Pune, 1899
• Sanitary Engineer, Bombay, and member, Sanitary Board, 1901; gave evidence before Indian Irrigation Commission
• Designed and constructed automatic gates patented by him at Lake Fife Storage Reservoir; introduced a new system of irrigation known as "Block System", 1903; represented the Bombay Government at Simla Irrigation Commission, 1904; on special duty, 1905
• Superintending Engineer, 1907; visited Egypt, Canada, the United States, and Russia, 1908
• Consulting Engineer to Hyderabad/Nizam State supervised and carried out engineering works on Musi river; Hyderabad floods of 1909
• Retired from British Service, 1909
• Chief Engineer and Secretary to Government of Mysore, 1909
• Diwan of Mysore, Public Works Department and Railway, 1913
• Board of Directors of Tata Steel, 1927–1955

AWARDS AND HONOURS

RECOGNITION

Visvesvaraya received recognition in many fields, most notably education and engineering. Visvesvaraya Technological University in Belagavi (to which most Engineering Colleges in Karnataka are affiliated) was named in his honor, as well as prominent colleges like University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore; Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bangalore; and Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur. The College of Engineering, Pune, his alma mater, erected a statue in his honor. The Viswesvarayya Industrial and Technological Museum Bangalore is named in his honor. Two metro stations in India, one in Bengaluru on the Purple Line (Sir M. Visveshwaraya Station, Central College), and another one in Delhi on the Pink Line (Sir Vishweshwaraiah Moti Bagh), is named after him.

MEMORIAL AT MUDDENAHALLI

Viswesvarayya National Memorial Trust manages a memorial for Visvesvaraya at his birthplace of Muddenahalli. The memorial exhibits his awards, titles, and personal belongings, including his living room, spectacles, cups, books and block with which his visiting cards were printed. Models of Krishna Raja Sagar Dam, which Visvesvaraya designed and supervised the construction of, are exhibited. The memorial is adjacent to his house, which was refurbished and regarded as a temple by locals.

Several other reasons:

1. Mosquitoes detect heat. If you lower your skin temperature then you are not identified as easily.
2. Air conditioning creates a breeze, this makes it harder to fly. This is the same reason why mosquitoes do not tend to bite you when it is windy.
3. Air conditioning dries the air, Mosquitoes seek out moist locations.
4. Usually Air conditioning requires doors closed. Mosquitoes thus find it hard to enter the home.
5. A breeze blows carbon dioxide around, thus making it hard for mosquitoes to identify the source.

At least 100 people were killed and nearly 4,000 injured in a MASSIVE EXPLOSION AT LEBANON’S CAPITAL BEIRUT. The explosion, according to the Lebanon government, was of over 2700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored for six years in a warehouse in the port.

CAUSE FOR THE EXPLOSION

Usually, AMMONIUM NITRATE will not get ignited itself. It needs fire source, oxygen content and it acts as fuel (as per the Fire Triangle). So, this explosion is also caused based on the above principle only. If the stored ammonium nitrate is not maintained properly, then it starts to decompose. While decomposing, it will release Nitrous oxide and water. The NITROUS OXIDE is a strong oxidizer.

This is what happens exactly. Due to the decomposition, there will be present of enormous amount of nitrous oxide. There occurs a fire accident in the nearby warehouse. When this fire came in contact with this nitrous oxide, it produces heat. The produced heat will make the Ammonium Nitrate to decompose at a faster rate. After few seconds, all these Nitrous oxide acts as oxidizer and with the presence of fire source, a huge explosion happens.

KEY POINTS

1. There were two explosions in the central port area of Beirut which occurred barely within minutes of each other within nearby buildings.
2. The blast affected residents living as far as 10 kilometers away from the site and was felt up to 250 Km.
3. The blast created seismic waves equivalent to a magnitude 3.3 earthquake.
4. The blasts were likely triggered by over 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been confiscated and stored by authorities near the port for over six years.
5. A two-week state emergency has been imposed in Beirut following the blast.

AMMONIUM NITRATE

USES:

• It is a common chemical ingredient of agricultural fertilizers.
• It is used as an ingredient for the production of an aesthetic gases and cold packs.
• It is also the main ingredient in the manufacture of commercial explosives used in mining and construction.

AS EXPLOSIVE:

• It is the main component of the explosive composition known as ANFO- ammonium nitrate fuel oil.
• Pure ammonium nitrate is not an explosive on its own. For Ammonium nitrate to be explosive a primary explosive or detonator like RDX or TNT is required.
• Many Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) used by terrorists around the world have ANFO as the main explosive.
• Stored ammonium nitrate is a fire hazard and can explode in two ways.
• It may come in contact with some explosive mixture.
• Due to the oxidation process at large scale, heat may be generated starting a fire and then explosion. This seems to be the primary likely cause of the incident at Beirut port.

EXPLOSIONS IN PAST:

1. In the majority of terror attacks in India, including those in Pulwama, Varanasi, Malegaon, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, ammonium nitrate has been used along with initiator explosives like RDX.
2. There have been accidental explosions of ammonium nitrate causing large numbers of fatalities. Eg. China in 2015 and in Texas in 1947.

REGULATIONS:

GLOBAL:

• It is classified as an oxidizing content (Grade 5.1) under the United Nations classification of dangerous goods.
• The United Nations Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods categorizes the types of dangerous goods, under nine classes like Explosive Materials, Inflammable liquids, easily oxidizing contents etc.

INDIA: 

• In India, the manufacture, conversion, bagging, import, export, transport, possession for sale or use of ammonium nitrate is covered under The Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012.
• The Explosives Act, 1884, define ammonium nitrate as the “compound with formula NH4NO3 including any mixture or compound having more than 45% ammonium nitrate by weight including emulsions, suspensions, melts or gels but excluding emulsion or slurry explosives and non-explosives emulsion matrix and fertilizers from which the ammonium nitrate cannot be separated”.

Storage of ammonium nitrate in large quantities in populated areas is illegal in India.

For the manufacture of ammonium nitrate, an Industrial license is required under the Industrial Development and Regulation Act, 1951.

A license under the Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012 is also required for any activity related to ammonium nitrate.

  v  ASPHYXIA IS A CONDITION ARISING WHEN THE BODY IS DEPRIVED OF OXYGEN, CAUSING UNCONSCIOUSNESS OR DEATH.

Poisoning is an act of causing disturbances to organisms when subjected to a sufficient amount of poison as lead, mercury, carbon monoxide, cyanide, and so on. When inhaled, poisoning effects are catastrophic due to their disruption the physiologic function of heme proteins which are essential for oxidative metabolism with their role of maintaining a supply of oxygen.

DAILY LIFE EXAMPLE

·         Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning

·         Cyanide (CN-) poisoning

CARBON MONOXIDE (CO) POISONING

Possible mechanisms of toxicity include a decrease in the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood due to CO binding to heme proteins. CO combines preferentially with hemoglobin to produce carboxyhemoglobin (COHb), displacing oxygen, and reducing systemic arterial oxygen (O2) content. CO binds reversibly to hemoglobin with an affinity 200–230 times that of oxygen. Consequently, relatively minute concentrations of the gas in the environment can result in toxic concentrations in human blood. The net result is a hemoglobin molecule that is poorly equipped to release oxygen at the tissue level. The decreased oxygen delivery is then sensed centrally, stimulating ventilatory efforts and increasing minute ventilation. The latter will increase uptake of CO and raise COHb levels and will result in respiratory alkalosis and hypoxia and asphyxia eventually.

CYANIDE (CN-) POISONING

This gas is produced by a chain of reactions which serve as a defence mechanism:

1.     Chopping an onion causes damage to cells which releases enzymes called alliinases.

2.     These break down amino acid sulfoxides and generate sulfenic acids.

3.     A specific sulfenic acid, 1-propenesulfenic acid, is rapidly acted on by a second enzyme, the lacrimatory factor synthase, producing the syn-propanethial-S-oxide.

Syn-Propanethial S-oxide

4.     This gas diffuses through the air and soon reaches the eyes, where it activates sensory neurons.

5.     Lacrimal glands produce tears to dilute and flush out the irritant.

WAYS TO REDUCE TEARS WHILE CUTTING ONION

1.     Eye irritation can be avoided by cutting onions under running water or submerged in a basin of water.

2.     Leaving the root end intact also reduces irritation as the onion base has a higher concentration of sulphur compounds than the rest of the bulb.

3.     Refrigerating the onions before use reduces the enzyme reaction rate and using a fan can blow the gas away from the eyes.

4.     The more often one chops onions, the less one experiences eye irritation.

The amount of sulfenic acids and lacrimal factor released and the irritation effect differs among Allium species. In 2008, the New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research created "no tears" onions by genetic modification to prevent the synthesis of lachrymatory factor synthase in onions. In early 2018, Bayer released the first crop yield of commercially available LFS-silenced onions under the name "Sunions". They were the product of 30 years of cross-breeding; genetic modification was not employed.

Guinea hen weed and honey garlic contain a similar lachrymatory factor. 

COMMERCIAL USES

Synthetic onion lachrymatory factor has been used in a study related to tear production, and has been proposed as a nonlethal deterrent against thieves and intruders.