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02 Jan 2024 Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CDS, CAPF, NDA & SSB

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Written by NDI EDITOR

Jan 02 2024

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02 Jan 2024 Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CDS, CAPF, NDA & SSB
1. KH-22 Missile
Ukraine Air Force spokesperson recently disclosed that the country’s air defense units were unable to shot down any of the Kh-22 supersonic cruise missiles launched by Russia.

About KH-22 Missile:

  • It is a Soviet-era long-range airborne supersonic cruise missile.
  • Armed with a nuclear or highly explosive fragmenting cumulative warhead, it was initially designed to destroy aircraft carriers and other large warships, or even groups of such carriers.
  • The Kh-22 family was developed in the USSR in the 1960s and specifically designed to be launched from Tupolev-22 bombers.
  • Later, both the missiles and the aircraft were modernized as part of the so-called "Kh-22 special air-to-surface missile complex."
  • Upgraded in the 1970s, the missile had an impressive speed of 4,000 kilometers per hour, a 1,000-kilogram warhead, and a range of 500 kilometers.
  • It weighs 5,820 kilograms.
  • A total of approximately 3,000 such missiles were produced in the USSR.
  • After the USSR collapsed, quite a few of them remained in Ukraine. However, soon after independence in 1991, Ukraine gave up its nuclear and strategic aviation arsenal.
  • In 2000, Ukraine transferred 386 Kh-22 missiles to Russia as an installment against the gas debt.
  • The successor to the Kh-22 became the Kh-32, which can be carried by the new Russian Tu-22M3M bombers. The new missile features a conventional warhead, an improved rocket motor, and a new radar imaging terminal seeker. It has a longer range but a smaller warhead.
Source : Deadlier Than Hypersonic Weapon, Why Ukraine Fears Russia’s Kh-22 Missiles More Than Kinzhals?
 
2. Indian Pangolin
The pangolin conservation project launched to protect pangolins has succeeded at Pench Tiger Reserve and Satpura Tiger Reserve, as the mammals have started to breed there.

What are Pangolins?

  • Pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters, are the only known mammals with large keratin scales covering their skin. 
  • Of the eight species found worldwide (four each in Asia and Africa), two are found in India: the Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) and the Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla). 

About Indian Pangolin:

  • The Indian pangolin, also called the thick-tailed pangolin, is native to the Indian subcontinent.
  • They are one of the most trafficked mammals in the world, despite an international ban on their trade.
  • Distribution: It lives in India (south of the Himalayas), Bangladesh, Southern Nepal, Sri Lanka, and small parts of Pakistan.
  • Habitat:
    • They are well adapted to desert regions and prefer barren, hilly areas. Their habitat extends up to 2,500 feet above sea level.
    • Overall, they prefer soil that is soft and semi-sandy, suitable for digging burrows.
    • They have also been shown to survive in various types of tropical forests, open land, grasslands, and in close proximity to villages.
  • Features:
    • Like other pangolins, it has large, overlapping scales on its body, which act as armor.
    • The Indian pangolin’s armor is among the most effective in the mammalian world. It has about 13 rows of moveable, sharp scales covering its body, which are shed periodically.
    • The colour of its scales varies depending on the colour of the earth in its surroundings. 
    • It can also curl itself into a ballas self-defense against predators.
    • It is an insectivore, feeding on ants and termites.
    • It is nocturnal and it rests in deep burrows during the day.
  • Conservation status:
    • IUCN Red List: Endangered 
    • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
    • CITES: Appendix I
Source : MP Wildlife: Pangolin Conservation Project Succeeds In State

3. Bubble Baby Syndrome
A two-month-old girl with bubble baby syndrome underwent bone marrow transplant (BMT) in Mumbai recently.

About Bubble Baby Syndrome:

  • 'Bubble baby syndrome,' known medically as Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID) is very rare genetic disorder that causes life-threatening problems with the immune system.
  • It is a type of primary immune deficiency.
  • The disease is known as “living in the bubble” syndrome because living in a normal environment can be fatal to a child who has it. 
  • What happens in SCID?
    • In a developing baby, the immune system starts in the bone marrow. Stem cells can become any of three different types of blood cells.
      • red blood cells
      • white blood cells
      • platelets
    • White blood cells (WBCs) protect the body from infections and foreign invaders. There are different kinds of WBCs, including lymphocytes.
    • Lymphocytes come in two main types: B-cells and T-cells. These cells are key to fighting infections.
      • T cells identify, attack, and kill "invaders."
      • B cells make antibodies that "remember" an infection and are ready in case the body is exposed to it again.
    • SCID is a "combined" immunodeficiency because it affects both of these infection-fighting white blood cells.
    • In SCID, the child's body has too few lymphocytes or lymphocytes that don't work properly.
    • Because the immune system doesn't work as it should, it can be difficult or impossible for it to battle the germs—viruses, bacteria, and fungi—that cause infections.
  • Causes:
    • Inherited mutations in more than a different genes cause SCID.
    • This means one or both birth parents pass down the disease to their child.
  • Symptoms: Babies with SCID may appear healthy at birth, but problems can start soon after, such as:
    • failure to thrive
    • chronic diarrhoea
    • frequent, often serious respiratory infections
    • oral thrush (a type of yeast infection in the mouth)
    • other bacterial, viral, or fungal infections that can be serious and hard to treat.
  • Treatment:
    • SCID is a pediatric emergency. Without treatment, babies are not likely to survive past their first birthday.
    • The most common treatment is a stem cell transplant (also called a bone marrow transplant). This means the child receives stem cells from a donor. The hope is that these new cells will rebuild the child's immune system.
Source : Two-month-old becomes the youngest to get bone marrow transplant in Mumbai

4. Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities
India and Pakistan exchanged the list of nuclear installations and facilities through diplomatic channels recently under the agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear installations and facilities.

About Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack against Nuclear Installations and Facilities:

  • It was signed on December 31, 1988, by the then Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi.
  • The treaty came into force on January 27, 1991, and has two copies each in Urdu and Hindi.
  • Need for the Agreement:
    • In 1986, the Indian army carried out a massive exercise ‘Brasstacks’, raising fears of an attack on nuclear facilities. 
    • Since then, both countries have been negotiating to reach an understanding towards the control of nuclear weapons, which culminated in the treaty.
  • Provisions:
    • The agreement mandates both countries to inform each other about any nuclear installations and facilities to be covered under the agreement on the first of January of every calendar year, providing a confidence-building security measure environment.
    • The term ‘nuclear installation or facility’ includes nuclear power and research reactors, fuel fabrication, uranium enrichment, iso-topes separation, and reprocessing facilities, as well as any other installations with fresh or irradiated nuclear fuel and materials in any form and establishments storing significant quantities of radioactive materials.
Source : India, Pakistan exchange list of nuclear installations

5. Eurozone
The eurozone economy is set for only modest growth next year, despite wages rising faster than inflation for the first time in three years, according to a recent poll of economists.

About Eurozone:

  • The eurozone, officially known as the euro area, is a geographic and economic region that consists of all the European Union countries that have fully incorporated the euro as their national currency.
  • As of January 2023, the eurozone consists of 20 countries in the European Union (EU): 
  • Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain.
  • Not all European Union nations participate in the eurozone; some opt to use their own currency and maintain their financial independence.
  • The European Central Bank (ECB)exercises the sole power to set the monetary policy for the Eurozone countries.
    • The ECB exercises the sole authority to decide the printing and minting of euro notes and coins. It also decides the interest rate for the Eurozone. 
    • The ECBs is headed by a president and a board, comprising the heads of the central banks of the participating nations.
  • How do countries join Eurozone?
    • In order to join the euro area, EU member states are required to fulfil so-called 'convergence criteria' which consists of price stability, sound public finances, the durability of convergence, and exchange rate stability.
    • These binding economic and legal conditions were agreed upon in the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and are also known as 'Maastricht criteria'.
    • All EU Member States, except Denmark, are required to adopt the euro and join the euro area once they are ready to fulfill them.
    • The Treaty does not specify a particular timetable for joining the euro area but leaves it to member states to develop their own strategies for meeting the condition for euro adoption.
    • The European Commission and the ECB jointly decide whether the conditions are met for euro area candidate countries to adopt the euro.

What is European Union (EU)?

  • The EU is a political and economic union of 27 member states located primarily in Europe.
  • The EU was established by the Maastricht Treaty, which entered into force on November 1, 1993.
  • The main goal of the EU is to promote cooperation and integration among its member states in order to enhance economic and political stability in Europe.
  • It has a single market where goods, services, and capital can move freely.
Source : Eurozone set for weak growth next year, say economists

6. Cigaritis meghamalaiensis
The pristine hills of the Meghamalai in Tamil Nadu have thrown up a new species of ‘silverline’ butterflies.

About Cigaritis meghamalaiensis:

  • It is the new species of butterfly.
  • It has become the first butterfly species to be described from the Western Ghats in 33 years.
  • The researchers had first come across the distinct species belonging to the Cigaritis genus in the high elevations of Periyar in Idukki in 2018.
  • Further explorations have revealed the species to be confined to the Meghamalais and the adjoining Periyar Tiger Reserve. 
  • There are seven species of Cigaritisin the Western Ghats, viz., C. vulcanus, C. schistacea, C. ictis, C. elima elima, C. lohita lazularia, C. lilacinus, and C. abnormis. Of these, all except C. lilacinus have been reported from the southern Western Ghats.

Key facts about Periyar Tiger Reserve

  • It is located in the Western Ghats of Kerala.
  • It gets its name from the River Periyar, which has its origin deep inside the reserve.
  • Two main rivers, Pamba and Periyar, drain the reserve.
  • It is home to many tribal communities, including the Mannans and the Palians.
  • Vegetation: It consists of tropical evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous.
  • Flora: Teak, mangoes, rosewood, jamun, jacarandas, terminalias, tamarind, royal ponciana, bamboos etc.
  • Fauna: Includes Elephants, Wild Pigs, Sambar, Gaur, Mouse Deer, Dole or Barking Deer, Indian Wild Dog and Tiger etc.
Source : Meghamalai Hills present a new winged beauty

7. Exercise Desert Cyclone
The Joint Military Exercise 'Desert Cyclone 2024' between India and UAE will be held from January 2 to January 15 in Rajasthan.

About Exercise ‘Desert Cyclone’:

  • It is the inaugural edition of joint military exercise "Desert Cyclone 2024" between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 
  • The exercise aims to enhance interoperability by learning & sharing best practices in Urban Operations.
  • This exercise is marking a significant milestone in the strategic partnership.

Key facts about India and UAE relations

  • India and the UAE established diplomatic relations in 1972 and UAE opened its Embassy in Delhi in 1972 whereas, India opened its Embassy in Abu Dhabi in 1973.
  • The first-ever India-UAE Joint Air Forces exercise took place in September 2008 at the Al-Dhafra base in Abu Dhabi.
  • India has also been a regular participant at the biennial International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi.
  • Earlier this year, two ships of the Indian Navy, INS Visakhapatnam, and INS Trikand participated in bilateral exercise ‘Zayed Talwar’ with the UAE to enhance interoperability and synergy between the two navies.
Source : Joint Military Exercise 'Desert Cyclone 2024' between India and UAE to be held in Rajasthan

8. XPoSat mission
Recently, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the PSLV-C58 X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) mission.

About XPoSat mission:

  • It is the first dedicated scientific satellite from ISRO to carry out research in space-polarisation measurements of X-ray emission from celestial sources.
  • It carries two payloads namely
    • POLIX: It is an X-ray Polarimeter for astronomical observations in the energy band of 8-30 keV.
    • The payload is being developed by Raman Research Institute (RRI), Bangalore in collaboration with U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC).
    • It is expected to observe about 40 bright astronomical sources of different categories during the planned lifetime of XPoSat mission of about 5 years.
    • This is the first payload in the medium X-ray energy band dedicated for polarimetry measurements.
    • XSPECT: It is an X-ray SPECtroscopy and Timing payload onboard XPoSat, which can provide fast timing and good spectroscopic resolution in soft X-rays.
    • It can provide long-term monitoring of spectral state changes in continuum emission, changes in their line flux and profile, simultaneous long term temporal monitoring of soft X-ray emission in the X-ray energy range 0.8-15 keV.
    • It would observe several types of sources viz X-ray pulsars, blackhole binaries, low-magnetic field neutron star (NS) in LMXBs, AGNs and Magnetars.
  • The launch put India in an elite category as it has become the second (after NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) launched in 2021) nation to send an observatory to study astronomical sources such as black holes, neutron stars among others
Source : ISRO successfully launches PSLV-C58 XPoSat mission

9. What is the e-SCR portal?
The Supreme Court of India’s monumental project of translating all of its 36,000 judgments into Scheduled Languages achieved unprecedented speed in 2023, with the E-SCR portal starting with just 2,238 translated judgements as of January and ending the year with over 31,000 rulings translated

About e-SCR portal:

  • It is an initiative to provide the digital version of the apex court's judgements in the manner as they are reported in the official law report.
  • The Supreme Court has developed a search engine with the help of the National Informatics Centre.
  • It is comprising elastic search technique in the database of e-SCR and the search facility in e-SCR provides for free text search, search within search, case type and case year search, judge search, year and volume search and bench strength search options.
  • It will provide free access to its about 34,000 judgements to lawyers, law students and the common public.
  • These verdicts will be available on the apex court website, its mobile app and on the judgment portal of the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG).

Key facts about National Judicial Data Grid

  • It is a national repository of data relating to cases instituted, pending, and disposed of by the courts across the length and breadth of the country.
  • It has been developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC) in close coordination with the in-house software development team of the Computer Cell, Registry with an interactive interface and analytics dashboard.
  • The entire database shall be periodically updated on the NJDG portal.
  • Through this one may access case related information, statistics such as institution, pendency and disposal of cases, case-types, year-wise break-up of the Supreme Court of India.
Source : SC’s translation projects raced ahead in 2023 as retd. HC judges, law clerks help AI

10. What is radiocarbon dating?
The technique called radiocarbon dating brought the first verifiable way to do this to many fields of science, transforming them – and our world – to a significant degree.

About Radiocarbon dating:

  • It is a method by which the age of an object can be determined. Radiocarbon dating refers to a method that does this using radiocarbon, a name for the isotope carbon-14.
  • How does Carbon-14 form?
    • It is created in the earth’s atmosphere when cosmic rays– energetic streams of charged particles coming from sources in outer space – slam into the atoms of the gases and release neutrons.
    • When these neutrons interact with the nitrogen-14 isotope, they can produce carbon-14.
    • Since cosmic rays are ceaselessly passing through the earth’s atmosphere, carbon-14 is created constantly there.
    • It readily combines with atmospheric oxygen to form radioactive carbon dioxide.
    • This compound then enters the bodies of plants (via photosynthesis), animals (when they consume plants), and other biomass through the carbon cycle.
    • It is in the form of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds, would have to be able to diffuse into the earth’s various ecosystems such that the concentration of carbon-14 in the atmosphere was comparable to the concentration of carbon-14 in the planet’s other biospheres. 

How does radiocarbon dating work?

  • When an organic entity – like the human body – is ‘alive’, it constantly exchanges carbon with its surroundings by breathing, consuming food, defecating, shedding skin, etc.
  • Through these activities, carbon-14 is both lost from the body as well as replenished, so its concentration in the body is nearly constant and in equilibrium with its surroundings.
  • When this individual dies, the body no longer performs these activities and the concentration of carbon-14 in the body begins to dwindle through radioactive decay.
  • The more time passes, the more the amount of carbon-14 lost, and the less there will remain. This decay rate can be predicted from theory.
  • Radiocarbon dating dates an object by measuring the amount of carbon-14 left, which scientists and/or computers can use to calculate how long ago the body expired.
  • The modern radiocarbon dating setup is more sophisticated and one of the most sensitive dating setups uses accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), which can work with organic samples as little as 50 mg.
Source : What is radiocarbon dating?
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Written by NDI EDITOR

National Defence Institute's Editor

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