11 Dec 2024 Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CDS, CAPF, NDA & SSB

Subaru Telescope

The Subaru Telescope recently captured a pair of interacting galaxies designated as NGC 5257 and NGC 5258.

About Subaru Telescope:

It is a Japanese 8.2-metre optical-infrared telescope.
It is located on the dormant volcano Mauna Kea (4,163 metres) on the island of Hawaii.
The telescope is named for the Japanese name for the Pleiades (a star cluster in the Taurus constellation) and is operated by the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.
Its powerful light-collecting capability can capture weak light from celestial objects.
To minimize air turbulence near the telescope, the dome that surrounds the telescope is cylindrical instead of a hemisphere, as is the case with most other observatories.
The Subaru Telescope has observed various celestial bodies, from nearby shooting stars to galaxies located 13.1 billion light years away.

Source : Subaru Telescope captures spectacular pair of interacting galaxies.

2. What is Marbled Duck?

Bird enthusiasts recently spotted a marbled duck — an unusual winter migrant at Sultanpur National Park after 30 years.

About Marbled Duck:

The Marbled Duck, also known as marbled teal, is a relatively small duck characterized by its black bill, pale-spotted gray-brown plumage, dark eye patch, and the absence of a speculum.
Scientific Name: Marmaronetta angustirostris
Distribution: It is distributed throughout the central and southwestern Palearctic biogeographic region in several highly fragmented populations that stretch from Central Asia to northwest Africa and the Iberian Peninsula.

Palearctic includes Europe, Asia north of the Himalayas, and Africa north of the Sahara.

Migratory Patterns: Populations in colder regions migrate south during winter, reaching areas like North Africa and the Indian subcontinent.
Habitat:

It is typically found in temporary or semi-permanent wetlands, although it is ultimately tolerant of many types of wetlands, both natural and artificial, provided they offer shallow areas.
It tends to prefer brackish wetlands over fresh or saline ones, and well-structured vegetation.
It is a gregarious, non-territorial, and non-aggressive species.
Marbled ducks are usually monogamous.
They fly low and slowly and have noticeably long necks and wings.
IUCN Red List Status: Near Threatened

Source : Marbled duck spotted at Sultanpur park after 30 years

3. What is Voronezh Radar?

India is set to finalise a landmark USD 4 billion defence agreement with Russia, aimed at acquiring a Russian Voronezh ballistic missile attack early warning radar.

About Voronezh Radar:

The Voronezh radar system is a critical component of Russia’s early warning and missile defence infrastructure.
It is capable of identifying and tracking a range of threats, including ballistic missiles and aircraft, over distances of up to 8,000 kilometers.
These radars are strategically deployed across Russia to provide extensive coverage against potential missile threats.
They employ phased array technology, which allows for rapid electronic steering of the beam. This makes them highly efficient and less mechanically complex than older systems.
There are several varieties of these radars operating in the meter (Voronezh-M), decimeter (Voronezh-DM), or centimeter (Voronezh-CM) wavelength range, as well as a few others that combine several ranges.
Multiple Voronezh radars can work in unison as part of an integrated Missile Attack Early Warning System to generate a comprehensive radar picture of potential missile threats and space activity.

Source : India, Russia set to sign USD 4-billion deal for advanced radar system

4. Article 67(b) of the Constitution of India

Opposition parties have decided to move a notice under Article 67(b) of the Constitution to remove the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha from his office.

About Article 67(b):

The Vice President of India serves as the ex-officio Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Article 67(b) of the Constitution of India outlines how the Vice President can be removed from office.
It states that the Vice President may be removed from her/his office by a resolution of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) passed by the special majority and agreed to by the House of the People (Lok Sabha) by a simple majority.
No such resolution can be moved unless ‘at least a 14-day notice has been given of the intention to move the resolution. The notice must clearly state the intention to initiate the resolution and outline the reasons for it.
The Constitution does not specify particular grounds for removal, leaving it to the discretion of the Members of Parliament.

Source : Opposition to move notice to remove Vice-President of India.

5. Bima Sakhi Yojana

The Prime Minister of India recently launched the Bima Sakhi Yojana in Haryana's Panipat.

About Bima Sakhi Yojana:

It is an initiative of the State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).
It is designed to empower women aged 18-70 years who have passed out of Class 10.
They will receive specialised training and a stipend for the first three years to promote financial literacy and insurance awareness.
After training, they can serve as LIC agents and the graduate Bima Sakhis would have the opportunity to qualify for being considered for Development Officer roles in LIC.
Women LIC agents will get a stipend of Rs. 7,000 per month for the first year, Rs. 6,000 per month in the second year, and Rs. 5,000 per month in the third year.
Bima Sakhis will also get commission of Rs 48,000 (excluding bonus) for the first year.
The plan is to appoint two lakh Bima Sakhis over a period of three years.
Relatives of existing agents and employees are not eligible for the scheme. Retired employees are also ineligible.

Source : PM launches LIC’s ‘Bima Sakhi Yojana’

6. Melye-amiley

A recent study published in the prestigious journal ‘Food Frontiers highlighted that extract from a traditional fermented bamboo shoot variety of Tripura, popularly called ‘Melye-amiley’ has anti-obesity effects.

About Melye-amiley:

It is a traditional fermented bamboo shoot variety of Tripura.
It has anti-obesity effects and offers a solution to weight management and metabolic health.
It reduces lipid accumulation and increases fatty acid β-oxidation.

Highlights of the research:

Based on in-vitro cell culture studies, the team has observed that the ‘Melye-amiley’ can reduce intracellular lipid accumulation.
The process involved increase in the expression of lipolytic (HSL, LPL, and Agtl) and fat browning regulator genes (UCP1, PRDM16, and PGC1-alpha).
Furthermore, the study demonstrates that treatment with Melye-amiley leads to the upregulation of thermogenic protein expression via the AMPK signaling pathway.
This process stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis and enhances fatty acid β-oxidation, offering a multifaceted approach to weight management and metabolic health.
These findings suggest that fermented bamboo shoot extract has promising anti-obesity effects by boosting energy expenditure in white adipocytes.

Source : Fermented bamboo shoot of Tripura possesses anti-obesity property.

7. GG Tau A System

Recently, researchers from the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) in Odisha, studied a unique triple-star system called GG Tau A.

About GG Tau A System:

It is a unique triple-star system which is located 489 light-years away from Earth.
The system is young - 1 to 5 million years old, which makes it perfect for studying the early stages of planet formation.
Around these stars is a disk made of gas and dust, which is where planets begin to form.
The three stars in GG Tau A interact with each other and affect the disk of gas and dust around them, making it harder to predict how planets might form.
The forces between the stars could cause the disk to behave differently than in a system with just one star, unlike our solar system.
This makes GG Tau A, a perfect system to study how planets can form in more complicated, multi-star environments.

Source : India makes breakthrough discovery in a solar system with three suns.

8. Amrit Gyaan Kosh Portal

Recently, the Union Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions launched "Amrit Gyaan Kosh" Portal.

About Amrit Gyaan Kosh Portal:

It has been jointly developed by the Capacity Building Commission and Karmayogi Bharat.
It is a platform to promote self-reliance in governance training and strengthen governance training.
It is developed on the iGOT platform, serves as a comprehensive repository of best practices in governance and policy implementation.
It aligns with 15 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), covering critical themes such as health, education, agriculture, and digital governance.
The curated resources enable faculty to align their teaching with global standards while addressing India's unique administrative challenges.

What is Karmayogi Bharat?

Under the Mission Karmayogi, a comprehensive Institutional Framework has been designed to deliver the program objectives effectively.
The Karmayogi Bharat, a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), forms a key pillar of the institutional framework with an aim to operate the iGOT Karmayogi platform, manage its overall governance and ensure that it meets the objective of anytime, anywhere, any-device learning for civil service officials to enhance their overall competency.
The SPV has been incorporated in the name of Karmayogi Bharat under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 as a 100% Government owned not for profit Company.

Source : Union Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions launches "Amrit Gyaan Kosh" Portal to strengthen governance training.

9. National Panchayat Awards

The National Panchayat Awards Conferment Ceremony 2024, organized by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, will take place at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

About National Panchayat Awards:

These awards are pivotal in recognizing and encouraging Panchayats for their efforts in poverty alleviation, health, child welfare, water conservation, sanitation, infrastructure, social justice, governance, and women empowerment.
These awards have been revamped and launched during the year 2022 aligning them with 9 Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) themes aggregating 17 SDGs.
Primary objective through this competition is to assess the performance of Panchayats in attainment of SDGs, promote competitive spirit among them and catalyze the process of LSDGs through Panchayati Raj Institutions for attaining LSDGs by 2030.
These 9 LSDG themes are: Poverty-Free and Enhanced Livelihoods Panchayat, Healthy Panchayat, Child-Friendly Panchayat, Water-Sufficient Panchayat, Clean and Green Panchayat, Self-Sufficient Infrastructure in Panchayat, Socially Just and Socially Secured Panchayat, Panchayat with Good Governance and Women-Friendly Panchayat.
This award has been conferred under the following categories:
- Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar (DDUPSVP): This award is for top-3 ranking GPs/Equivalent bodies for their outstanding performance under each of the above mentioned 9 award themes.
- Nanaji Deshmukh Sarvottam Panchayat Satat Vikas Puraskar: This award is for top 3 Gram, Block and District Panchayats each for their aggregate performance under all the 9 award themes of DDUPSVP.
Special categories of Awards:
- Gram Urja Swaraj Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar is for top 3 GPs/Equivalent Bodies for their performance in adoption and usage of renewable sources of energy.
- Carbon Neutral Vishesh Panchayat Puraskar is for top 3 GPs/Equivalent Bodies for their performance in adoption and usage of renewable sources of energy. This year, total 3 awards have been conferred under this category.
- Panchayat Kshamta Nirmaan Sarvottam Sansthan Puraskar is for 3 Institutions across the country who have provided institutional support to GPs in achieving LSDGs.

Source : The President of India to confer National Panchayat Awards 2024 on 11th December at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.

10. Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Scheme

Recently, the central government has revised the prices of food items provided to children under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Yojana.

About Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Scheme:

In 2021, Mid-Day Meal Scheme was renamed as Pradhan Mantri POSHAN Scheme.
It is a centrally sponsored scheme, which aims at providing nutritional support and enhancing school participation of students.
Under the scheme, one hot cooked meal is served to students studying in Balvatika (pre-primary education program) and classes I to VIII, in Government and Government-aided schools on all school-days.
The objectives of the Scheme are to address two of the pressing problems for majority of children in India, viz. hunger and education by:
- Improving the nutritional status of eligible children in Government and Government aided schools.
- Encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities.
- Providing nutritional support to children of elementary stage in drought-affected and disaster affected areas during summer vacation.
The Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour provides data on inflation for the items under the PM POSHAN basket on the basis of Consumer Price Index – Rural Labourers (CPI-RL).
- The CPI-RL is constructed by Labour Bureau on the basis of collecting continuous monthly prices from the sample of 600 villages spread over 20 States of the country.
Recently, on the basis of CPI-RL, the Government of India has enhanced the ‘Material Cost’ of the items under the PM POSHAN basket by 13.70 %.

Source : Enhancement of ‘Material Cost’ under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme.

11 Dec 2024 Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CDS, CAPF, NDA & SSB

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