05 FEB 2024 Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CDS, CAPF, NDA & SSB

1. Aldabra rail

The flightless Aldabra rail went extinct over 130,000 years ago, but the species then reappeared via iterative evolution.

About Aldabra rail:

Scientific name: Dryolimnas cuvieri aldabranus
It lives on a coral atoll off the southeast coast of Africa.
Appearance: It's about the size of a chicken, with a flecked gray back, a rusty red head and chest and a white throat.
It is a subspecies of the white-throated rail (Dryolimnas cuvieri) and is the only living flightless bird in the Indian Ocean.
In losing its ability to fly once again, the Aldabra rail has essentially evolved twice, rising from the dead through a process called iterative evolution.
A 2019 study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society examined the fossil record of rails in Aldabra and found evidence of a flightless rail on the atoll from before it was submerged beneath the waves 136,000 years ago.

What is Iterative evolution?

Iterative evolution can be defined as "the repeated evolution of a specific trait or body plan from the same ancestral lineage at different points in time."

Source : Aldabra rail: The bird that came back from the dead by evolving twice

2. INS Sandhayak

The Indian Navy commissioned its latest survey vessel, Sandhayak, at Naval Dockyard in Vizag in the presence of defence minister.

About INS Sandhayak:

It is the first in a series of four Survey Vessel (Large) ships being constructed at Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata
The primary purpose of the ship is to conduct comprehensive coastal and deep-water Hydrographic Surveys for Port and Harbour approaches, as well as determining navigational channels and routes.
The operational zone extends up to maritime limits, covering the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and extended continental shelf.
Additionally, the vessel is equipped to gather oceanographic and geophysical data, serving both defence and civil applications.
In its secondary role, the ship can offer limited defence capabilities and serve as a hospital ship during wartime or emergencies.
It is equipped with cutting-edge hydrographic tools, including a Data Acquisition and Processing System, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Remotely Operated Vehicle, DGPS Long-range positioning systems, and Digital side-scan sonar.
Powered by two diesel engines, the vessel boasts a speed capability exceeding 18 knots.
Measuring 110 meters in length and displacing 3400 tons, INS Sandhayak has an indigenous content of over 80 per cent by cost.
This ship is re-incarnated in its present avatar from erstwhile Sandhayak, which was decommissioned in 2021.

Source : INS Sandhayak, first Survey Vessel Large ship, commissioned into Indian Navy in the presence of Raksha Mantri in Visakhapatnam

3. Stingless bees

To protect Amazon, conservators try to save pollinator Stingless bees.

About Stingless bees:

A stingless bee is a bee that appears very similar to a honeybee, but is incapable of stinging.
These bees are eusocial, which means that they live together in hives and produce honey.
These are native to the Amazon.
Their honey, which is runny enough to be drunk like a liquid and is said to have a citrusy aftertaste.
It is used by many Indigenous Peruvians as a natural medicine.
Distribution: Stingless bees can be found in most tropical and subtropical regions.
These bees cannot sting but nature has made sure to give them other ways of defending themselves.
These bees do possess stingers, but they are too small to be useful in defense. Instead of stinging, stingless bees use their mandibles to bite their attackers.
Threats:
- The Amazon is home to hundreds of species of stingless bee, but as deforestation converts the tropical landscape into farms and ranches, these and other native pollinators are in danger of disappearing.

Source : In Peru, a Mission to Save the Stingless Bee

4. National Research Foundation

Despite approving a Bill to set up a National Research Foundation (NRF) to boost scientific advancement in the country just eight months earlier, the Union government was silent on allocation for the institution or progress made so far in the interim budget for 2024-25.

About National Research Foundation:

It is an apex body to provide high-level strategic direction of scientific research in the country in accordance with the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP), will be established at a cost of 50,000 crore over the period 2023-28.
It enhances “India’s national research infrastructure, knowledge enterprise, and innovation potential, for scientific pursuit”.
Goals: To increase private sector contributions to research in India and to ensure that a larger portion of government funds go to state universities and colleges.
Nodal Agency: The Department of Science and Technology (DST) will be NRF's administrative department.
Governing body:
- The Prime Minister will be the ex-officio President of the Board.
- The Union Minister of Science & Technology & Union Minister of Education will be the ex-officio Vice-Presidents.
- NRF’s functioning will be governed by an Executive Council chaired by the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
Functions
- Forge collaborations among the industry, academia, and government departments and research institutions, and create an interface mechanism for participation and contribution of industries and State governments in addition to the scientific and line ministries.
- It will focus on creating a policy framework and putting in place regulatory processes that can encourage collaboration and increased spending by the industry on R&D.

Source : Union Budget 2024-25: Scientists disappointed over silence on National Research Foundation

5. Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs

The 7th session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs (CCSCH) was held from 29th January 2024 to 2nd February 2024 at Kochi.

About Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs

It was established as one of the Commodity Committees under the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) in 2013.
India hosts this prestigious Committee since the beginning and Spices Board India serves as the secretariat organization which organizes the Committee's sessions.
In CCSCH 7th session quality standards for 5 spices, namely small cardamom, turmeric, juniper berry, allpice and star anise were finalised.

Codex Alimentarius Commission

It was jointly established by FAO and WHO.
It is an international, intergovernmental body which is based in Rome.
Members: It consists of 189 member countries.
Membership of the Commission is open to all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO which are interested in international food standards.
The Commission meets in regular sessions once a year, alternating between Geneva and Rome.
Funding: The programme of work of the Commission is funded through the regular budgets of WHO and FAO, with all work subject to the approval of the two governing bodies of the parent organisations.
The Commission works in the six official languages of the UN.
The standards of CAC are recognized by the WTO as international reference points for the resolution of trade disputes concerning food safety and consumer protection.
The standards developed by the Committees under the CAC, including the CCSCH, are voluntary in nature, which the member countries of the CAC adopt and use as reference standards to align their national standards.
The works of CAC contribute to harmonization of food standards across the globe, facilitate fair global trade in food, and enhance food safety to safeguard the health of global consumers.

Source : 7th session of the Codex Committee on Spices and Culinary Herbs held at Kochi, 31 countries attended the meet Quality standards for 5 spices finalized

6. What is the rule of 'Reading Down' the clause?

The Supreme Court recently observed that if a plain reading of a clause fulfills the object and purpose of the statute, then the rule of 'Reading Down' the clause would not be applied just because the clause imposes harsher consequences.

About 'Reading Down' the clause:

“Reading Down” provision is one of the many methods the court may turn to when it finds that a particular provision, if for its plain meaning, cannot be saved from invalidation.
It refers to a legal interpretation approach where a court, while examining the validity of a statute, attempts to give a narrowed or restricted meaning to a particular provision to uphold its constitutionality.
When a court encounters a provision that, if interpreted according to its plain and literal meaning, might lead to constitutional or legal issues, the court may opt to read down the provision.
Reading down involves construing the language of the provision in a manner that limits its scope or application, making it consistent with constitutional or legal principles.
So, by restricting or reading it down, the court makes it workable to salvage and save the provision from invalidation.
This principle is rooted in the idea that courts should make every effort to preserve the validity of legislation and should only declare a law invalid as a last resort.
The rule of “Reading Down” is only for the limited purpose of making a provision workable and its objective achievable.

Source : A Perfectly Valid Provision Can't be 'Read Down' Just Because It Imposes Harsher Consequences: Supreme Court

7. What are Obelisks?

Scientists recently uncovered a never-before-seen class of virus-like entities named obelisks in the human body.

About Obelisks:

It is a newly discovered class of virus-like entities present in the human body.
It comprises a class of diverse RNAs that have colonized and gone unnoticed in human and global microbiomes.
Named after the highly symmetrical, rod-like structures formed by their twisted lengths of RNA, the Obelisks' genetic sequences are only around 1,000 characters (nucleotides) in size.
These mysterious bits of genetic material have no detectable sequences or even structural similarities known to any other biological agents.
They're also significantly larger than other genetic molecules that coexist inside cells, from plants to bacteria, called plasmids, which are more commonly composed of DNA.
Obelisks represent their own class of organism. They lie somewhere between viruses and viroids.
Although the hosts of other obelisks remain unknown, there is a possibility that some of them may be found in bacteria.
Different types of Obelisks appear to be present in different areas of our bodies.

What are Viroids?

Viroids are tiny loops of RNA, a genetic cousin of DNA, and they've been found to infect primarily plants.
Viroids differ from larger, RNA-based viruses in several ways.
- First, they're naked, lacking the protective shells that viruses use to hold their genetic material.
- Second, their RNA doesn't contain instructions to build proteins; whereas viruses carry instructions for their outer shells and for certain enzymes they need to replicate, viroids co-opt these enzymes from their hosts.

Source : Mysterious virus-like 'Obelisks' found in the human gut and mouth

8. What is Trichoglossum?

Researchers recently discovered a new fungus species in Kerala named Trichoglossum syamviswanathii.

About Trichoglossum:

Trichoglossum is a genus of fungus classified within the family Geoglossaceae (Ascomycota), commonly known as “hairy earth tongues” fungus due to their numerous filaments resembling mushrooms.
They are black, dark, or brown in colour.
They exhibit saprotrophic behavior but can also be found as endophytes in plant roots.
55 Trichoglossum genera have been identified globally. Of these, 21 are recognized species.
They are globally distributed in tropical and temperate forests at least five out of seven continents of the world.
They play a critical role in the decomposition of organic matter.

Key Facts about Fungi:

Fungi, along with Animalia (animals), Plantae (plants), Protista, Archaea/Archaebacteria, and Bacteria or Eubacteria, form the six ‘kingdoms’ of biology.
They are eukaryotic organisms, i.e., their cells contain membrane-bound organelles and clearly defined nuclei.
Reproduction: Fungi usually reproduce both sexually and asexually.
Distribution:
- Fungi are either terrestrial or aquatic, the latter living in freshwater or marine environments.
- They are found in all temperate and tropical regions of the world where there is sufficient moisture to enable them to grow.
- A few species of fungi live in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, although they are rare and are more often found living in symbiosis with algae in the form of lichens.
Importance of fungi:
- They help in breaking down dead organic material; they continue the cycle of nutrients through ecosystems.
- Fungi, as food, play a role in human nutrition in the form of mushrooms.
- They also act as agents of fermentation in the production of bread, cheeses, alcoholic beverages, and numerous other food preparations.
- Secondary metabolites of fungi are used as medicines, such as antibiotics and anticoagulants.

Source : New species of fungus aiding in increasing soil fertility discovered in Kerala

9. What are Atmospheric Rivers?

A second, more powerful atmospheric river storm was headed for Southern California recently, threatening to unleash life-threatening floods and landslides.

About Atmospheric Rivers:

Atmospheric rivers are long, concentrated regions in the atmosphere that transport moist air from the tropics to higher latitudes.
They are responsible for 90 percent of the movement of moisture from the tropics toward the poles.
They are the largest transport mechanisms of freshwater on Earth.
They form when large-scale weather patterns align to create narrow channels, or filaments, of intense moisture transport.
Ten or more atmospheric rivers can be happening at once across the globe.
A well-known and strong one is the Pineapple Express, with moisture transported from the tropical Pacific around Hawaii to the US and Canadian West Coasts.
Features:
- Typically, 250 to 375 miles wide, atmospheric rivers can stretch more than a thousand miles long.
- They primarily occur during the winter of the respective hemisphere, when extratropical cyclones are most prevalent.
- The average atmospheric river carries an amount of water vapor roughly equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River (second-longest river in North America).
When atmospheric rivers run up against mountains or run into local atmospheric dynamics and are forced to ascend, the moisture they carry cools and condenses, so they can produce intense rainfall or snowfall.
While they are an incredibly important source of rainfall, they can also bring flash flooding, mudslides, and landslides, sometimes killing people and destroying property.
When atmospheric rivers pass over land, they can cause conditions similar to those of hurricanes with intense and rapid rainfall, cyclone-force winds, and significantly increased wave heights.

Source : Another 'atmospheric river' storm to hit California with potentially deadly floods

10. Key Facts about Forest Owlet

Three back-to-back sightings of endangered Forest Owlet took place in the Melghat Tiger Reserve during a camp held recently.

About Forest Owlet:

It is a member of the typical owl family, Strigidae.
Scientific Name: Athene blewitti
It was first described in 1873. As it was not sighted after 1884, it was considered extinct for many years. In 1997, it was rediscovered.
Distribution:
- It is endemic to the forests of central India.
- It was observed in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, and at a few locations in the Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra.
Habitat: The natural ecosystems and habitats of these species include tropical and subtropical moist lowland woods, dense deciduous woodlands, open dry deciduous teak woods, and tropical and subtropical dry forests.
Features:
- It is small and stocky. It measures 20 to 25 cm in length and weighing 240 gram.
- It is a typical owlet with a rather unspotted crown, presence of full throat collar, thickly feathered legs, heavily banded wings, and a tail.
- The upperparts are dark grayish brown. The underparts are whitish with dark barring.
- The bill of the owlet is short and pale yellow in color.
- These birds are diurnal and have been observed to hunt during the day.
- They eat rodents, reptiles such as lizards and skinks, and insects.
Conservation Status:
- IUCN Red List: Endangered
- CITES: Appendix I

Key Facts about Melghat Tiger Reserve:

Location:
- It is located in the Amaravati district of Maharashtra.
- It is located on the southern offshoot of the Satpura Hill Range in Central India, called Gavilgarh Hill.
It was the first tiger reserve in Maharashtra.
The name 'Melghat' means the confluence of various 'ghats' or valleys, as is typical of the landscape of this tiger reserve.
Vegetation: The forest is tropical dry deciduous in nature, dominated by teak.
Rivers: The reserve is a catchment area for five major rivers: the Khandu, Khapra, Sipna, Gadga, and Dolar, all of which are tributaries of the river Tapti.
The Tapti River and the Gawilgadh ridge of the Satpura Range form the boundaries of the reserve.
Flora: Some of the common species are teak, Lagerstroemia Parviflora, Terminalia Tomentosa, Ougeinia Oojeinensis, Emblica Officinalis, Bamboo, etc.
Fauna:
- Apart from tigers, the other prominent animals are Sloth Bear, Indian Gaur, Sambar deer, Leopard, Nilgais, dhole, hyena, jungle cat, langur, etc.
- It is considered a stronghold of the endangered forest owlet.

Source : Wildlife Odyssey at Melghat Tiger Reserve to spot the endangered Forest Owlet

05 FEB 2024 Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CDS, CAPF, NDA & SSB

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