Art and Culture

Irula Tribe - Indian Express

Context:

• The Irula community plays a crucial role in public health by supplying nearly 80% of the venom used for antidotes in India.

Irula Tribe

 

Port Blair Renamed as Sri Vijaya Puram: How the City Got Its Name — and Its Connection with Imperial Cholas - Indian Express

Context:

• Port Blair, the capital city of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, will now be known as ‘Sri Vijaya Puram’, Union Minister Amit Shah said recently.

Port Blair

• About: The capital city and the entry point of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, named after Archibald Blair, a naval surveyor and lieutenant in the Bombay Marine.
• Location: East coast of the South Andaman Island.
• Significance: Hosted the first unfurling of our Tiranga by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Connection with the Imperial Cholas and Srivijaya:

• A Naval Base: Historically used as a strategic naval base by the 11th-century Chola emperor, Rajendra I, to attack Srivijaya, which is in present-day Indonesia.
• Thanjavur Inscription dated to 1050 CE: The Cholas referred to the island as Ma-Nakkavaram land (great open/naked land), which possibly led to the modern name of Nicobar under the British.

 

Geography

Sardar Sarovar Dam About to Reach Its Full Capacity - The Hindu

Context:

• Owing to good rainfall in catchment areas in Madhya Pradesh, the water level of Gujarat's Sardar Sarovar Dam went up to 136.43 metres on Saturday, over two metres short of its full reservoir level, officials said.

Sardar Sarovar Dam

• About: A concrete gravity dam built on Narmada at Kevadia in Gujarat’s Narmada district, named after Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
• Size:
  • Third highest concrete dam (163 meters) in India, after Bhakra (226 metres) in Himachal Pradesh and Lakhwar (192 meters) in Uttar Pradesh.
  • In terms of the volume of concrete involved in gravity dams: Second largest in the world after the Grand Coulee Dam in the USA.
• River Catchment Area: 88,000 sq. km.
• Spillway Discharging Capacity: 87,000 cubic meters a second.
• Canals: Has the longest canal network in the world, including:
  • Narmada Main Canal (458.3 km long, 1,133 cumecs capacity & largest irrigation-lined canal in the world)
  • Around 2,500 km of branch canals
  • 5,500 km of distributaries and other associated channels.
• Power Benefits: Shared among Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat in the ratio of 57:27:16.

 

 

Trilobite Fossils from Upstate New York Reveal Extra Set of Legs - The Hindu

Context:

• A new study finds that a trilobite species with exceptionally well-preserved fossils from upstate New York has an additional set of legs underneath its head.

Trilobites

• About: A group of extinct marine arthropods.
• Literal Meaning: Three-part body in Latin.
• Appearance:
  • First appeared around 521 million years ago, after the beginning of the Cambrian period.
  • Lived through the majority of the Paleozoic Era for nearly 300 million years.
• Extinction: Died out at the end of the Permian era, 251 million years ago, due to the end Permian mass extinction event that removed over 90% of all species on Earth.
• Features:
  • Three-lobed, three-segmented form.
  • External skeleton called exoskeleton, composed of chitinous material.
  • Periodically shed their exoskeleton to accommodate growth (called molting).
  • First organisms to develop multiple appendages for moving around.
  • Some could swim, while others burrowed or crawled around on muddy sea floors.

 

Society

NIMI Launches YouTube Channels for ITI Students - PIB

Context:

• In a significant move to make vocational education more accessible, the National Instructional Media Institute (NIMI), under the Directorate General of Training (DGT) and Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), launched a series of YouTube channels recently. This digital initiative will provide high-quality training videos to millions of learners across India’s Industrial Training Institute (ITI) skill ecosystem, available in nine languages.

National Instructional Media Institute (NIMI)

• Former Name: Central Instructional Media Institute (CIMI).
• Establishment: December 1986 by the Government of India as a Subordinate Office under the Directorate General of Employment and Training (DGE&T), Ministry of Labour & Employment.
• Nature: An autonomous institute under the Directorate General of Training (DGT), Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India.
• Functions: Nodal organization for the development of Instructional Media Packages (IMP), including digital content and Question Banks for assessment, for different vocational courses.

 

Economy

NSE Co-location Case: How Sebi Found Violations in 2019 but Saw No Evidence in 2024 - Indian Express

Context:

• Five years after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) came down heavily on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) for alleged lapses in high-frequency trading offered through its co-location (colo) facility, directing the exchange to disgorge Rs 624.89 crore and prohibiting seven top officials from associating with a listed company or a market intermediary for a period of five years, the market regulator has disposed of the charges and let them off the hook.

National Stock Exchange

• About: One of the two main stock exchanges in India, with the other being the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
• Significance:
  • A prominent and technologically advanced stock exchange that plays a crucial role in India's financial markets.
  • India's largest financial market and the fourth largest market by trading volume.
  • First exchange in India to provide modern, fully automated electronic trading.

Co-location Trading

• Start: Started by NSE in 2009 for its members.
• About: Allows a member to set up their server in a specifically earmarked data centre within the NSE’s exchange premises for a certain price.
• Significance: Allows members wishing to gain access to the entirety of buy and sell orders due to the reduced time taken for order execution.
• Legality: Stock exchanges across the world allow this practice as a paid service. SEBI allowed exchanges to offer co-location in 2008.

 

 

ONDC Launches Saarthi Reference App for Businesses to Create Multilingual Buyer Apps - The Hindu

Context:

• Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) launched Saarthi, a reference application designed to assist businesses in creating their own customised buyer-side apps, co-developed with Bhashini.

Saarthi App

• About: A reference application designed to assist businesses in creating their own customised buyer-side apps, supporting network participants in building buyer apps with multilingual features.
• Languages Supported: Hindi, English, Marathi, Bangla, and Tamil, with plans to scale up to all 22 languages provided by Bhashini.
• Features: Real-time translation, transliteration, and voice recognition allow businesses to expand market reach, enabling companies to tap into new regions and increase customer acquisition.

Bhashini

• About: India's AI-led language translation platform that seeks to enable easy access to the internet and digital services in Indian languages, including voice-based access, and help create content in Indian languages.
• Aim: To make AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) resources available in the public domain for use by Indian MSMEs, startups, and individual innovators.
• Significance: It will help developers offer all Indians easy access to the internet and digital services in their native languages.
• Separate ‘Bhasadaan’ Section: Allows individuals to contribute to multiple crowdsourcing initiatives, accessible via respective Android and iOS apps.

 

Environment

National Green Tribunal Seeks Report from Central Pollution Control Board on Generation, Treatment of E-Waste - The Hindu

Context:

• With complaints that many states were not complying with the E-Waste (Management) Rules, the National Green Tribunal has directed the Central Pollution Control Board to file a fresh status report on the generation and treatment of electronic waste by all states.

Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)

National Green Tribunal (NGT)

 

Bio-decomposer to be Sprayed Over Farms to Prevent Bad Air - The Hindu

Context:

• The Delhi government has started preparations to spray bio-decomposer, billed as an alternative to stubble burning, free of cost over 5,000 acres of farmland in the national capital, the Environment Minister said recently.

Bio-decomposer

• About: A microbial liquid spray that, when sprayed onto paddy stubble, breaks it down so it can be easily absorbed into the soil, eliminating the need for burning.
• Advantages:
  • Enhances soil health
  • Reduces air pollution caused by burning stubble
  • Promotes sustainable farming practices.

 

Assam Cascade Frog Test for Himachal Stream Water Flow Impact - The Hindu

Context:

• Researchers studied the Assam cascade frog (Amolops formosus) in two streams in the Churdhar Wildlife Sanctuary, Himachal Pradesh, to understand the correlation between water parameters and species population density.

Churdhar Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Location: Sirmour district, Himachal Pradesh, at the top of Churdhar Peak.
• Flora: Includes Wild Himalayan Cherry, Aloe Vera (Dhrit Kumari), Amaranthus spinosus (Chulai), oak, and deodar.
• Fauna: Musk Deer, Barking Deer, Himalayan Black Bear, Leopards, and Langurs.

Assam Cascade Frog:

• Distribution: Found in the Himalayan belt in India, northern Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.
• Significance: Serves as an indicator species for monitoring the health of hilly streams.
• Genus: Amolops.
• IUCN Status: Least Concern.

 

 

New Dung Beetle Species Discovered in Meghalaya - Indian Express

Context:

• Researchers identified a new dung beetle species, Onitis bordati, in Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, Meghalaya.

Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary:

• Location: Part of the Eastern Himalayan Global Biodiversity Hotspot in Meghalaya.
• Topography: Undulating plains, low hills, and rugged terrain shaped by rivers like Umtrew, Umran, Umling, and Umtasor.
• Fauna: Clouded Leopard, Elephants, Himalayan Black Bear.
• Flora: Shorea robusta, Tectona grandis, Terminalia myriocarpa, Gmelina arborea.

Onitis bordati:

• Appearance: Males have long, slender forelegs with teeth or spines.
• Ecological Significance: Plays a vital role in seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, and pest control.
• Threats: Habitat destruction and climate change.

 

Science and Technology

Siddha Drugs Combination - The Hindu

Context:

• A combination of Siddha drugs has been found to reduce anemia among adolescent girls, according to recent studies.

 

 

Iran Launches a New Research Satellite - Indian Express

Context:

• Iran launched its new research satellite, Chamran-1, marking another milestone in the country's space exploration efforts.

 

 

IISc Scientists Develop Brain-Inspired Analog Computing Platform - The Hindu

Context:

• Researchers at IISc developed a brain-inspired analog computing platform that can store and process data in 16,500 conductance states within a molecular film, a breakthrough in computing technology.

 

 

OpenAI Unveils o1, a New AI Model for Reasoning - Indian Express

Context:

• OpenAI launched o1, a new AI model designed for complex problem-solving, showcasing advanced reasoning abilities.

OpenAI o1

 

Defence

Third Edition of INDUS-X Summit Concludes in California - PIB

Context:

• The third edition of the INDUS-X Summit concluded, advancing the joint defence innovation ecosystem between India and the United States.

Storm Shadow Missile - The Hindu

Context:

• The UK has cleared Ukraine to use Storm Shadow cruise missiles to target Russian territories.

Storm Shadow Missile:

• Development: Jointly developed by the UK and France.
• Purpose: Targets high-value stationary assets like airbases, radar installations, and port facilities.
• Range: Approximately 250 km.
• Launch Capabilities: Can be launched from aircraft at nearly the speed of sound, equipped with stealth capabilities.
• Induction: Used by countries like Egypt, India, Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE.

 

Indian Army Contingent Departs for India-Oman Joint Military Exercise AL NAJAH V - PIB

Context:

• An Indian Army contingent departed for the 5th edition of the India-Oman Joint Military Exercise AL NAJAH.

Exercise AL NAJAH