06 MARCH 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

1. NORTHERN RIVER TERRAPIN (BATAGUR BASKA)

Recently, forest officials installed GPS transmitters on the northern river terrapin in the Indian Sundarbans. However, In just six weeks after the release, at least three of the 10 turtles of the critically endangered Batagur baska species have travelled hundreds of kilometres and are now in Bangladesh.

About:

The northern river terrapin (Batagur baska) is a species of riverine turtle native to Southeast Asia.
It is one of Asia's largest freshwater and brackwater turtles, reaching a carapace length of up to 60 cm and a maximum weight of 18 kg. Its carapace is moderately depressed.
The species is currently found in Bangladesh and India(in the Sunderbans), Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia.
It is strongly aquatic but uses terrestrial nesting sites, frequenting the tidal areas of estuaries, large rivers, and mangrove forests.
It is classified Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and considered extinct in much of its former range, principally due to exploitation as a food item (including egg harvesting).

Source : The Hindu

2. MEDICAL EDUCATION

Among Indians waiting to be evacuated from Ukraine following the Russian invasion are students of medicine enrolled in colleges located across the country — from Kharkiv in the east to Lviv in the west.

About:

For about three decades now, Indian students have been heading out to Russia, China, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, the Philippines to pursue a medical degree.
The medium of education for these students is English, a language they are comfortable with, and the amount spent on living and the medical degree are far more affordable than paying for an MBBS seat in private medical colleges in the country.

Medical colleges in India

There are certainly far more MBBS aspirants than there are MBBS seats in India. In NEET 2021, as per a National Testing Agency press release, 16.1 lakh students registered for the exam, 15.4 lakh students appeared for the test, and 8.7 lakh students qualified.
Union Minister of Health, told the Lok Sabha in December 2021, that as per data from the National Medical Commission (NMC), in 2021-22, there were 596 medical colleges in the country with a total of 88,120 MBBS seats.
Additionally, these colleges are also not distributed evenly across the country, with States such as Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala having many more colleges.
The costs of an MBBS degree in a Government college tot up to a few lakhs of rupees for the full course, but in a private medical college, it can go up to ₹1 crore for the five-year course.
From 2003, the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana has been working to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country.

Source : The Hindu

3. ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR PLANT

Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station, Europe’s largest nuclear power plant was hit by Russian shelling, sparking a fire and raising fears of a disaster that could affect all of central Europe for decades, like the 1986 Chernobyl meltdown.

About:

Concerns faded after Ukrainian authorities announced that the fire had been extinguished, and while there was damage to the reactor compartment, the safety of the unit was not affected.
But even though the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is of a different design than Chernobyl and is protected from fire, nuclear safety experts and the International Atomic Energy Agency warn that waging war in and around such facilities presents extreme risks.
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is located in Enerhodar, Ukraine, on the southern shore of the Kakhovka Reservoir on the Dnieper river.
it is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe and among the 10 largest in the world. The plant has 6 VVER-1000 pressurized light water nuclear reactors (PWR).

Source : Indian Express

4. NO-FLY ZONE

Russia’s attack on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has renewed calls for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine, despite the repeated rejection of the idea by western leaders concerned about triggering a wider war in Europe.

About:

A no-fly zone would bar all unauthorized aircraft from flying over Ukraine.
Western nations imposed such restrictions over parts of Iraq for more than a decade following the 1991 Gulf War, during the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1993-95, and during the Libyan civil war in 2011.

Why won’t NATO take this step in Ukraine?

Military analysts say there is no chance that the US, Britain and their European allies will impose a no-fly zone because it could easily escalate the war in Ukraine into a nuclear confrontation between NATO and Russia.
Declaring a no-fly zone could force NATO pilots to shoot down Russian aircraft.
In addition to fighter planes, NATO would have to deploy refueling tankers and electronic-surveillance aircraft to support the mission.
To protect these relatively slow, high-flying planes, NATO would have to destroy surface-to-air missile batteries in Russia and Belarus, again risking a broader conflict.

Source : Indian Express

5. FOREIGN MEDICAL STUDENTS

The National Medical Commission (NMC) has made a significant relaxation for students who are unable to complete their MBBS internships because of compelling situations like the Ukraine war or the Covid-19 pandemic.

About:

Background: Currently, Indian regulations do not allow foreign medical graduates to transfer to an Indian medical college for internships or examinations. The regulations strictly state that the MBBS course, training, and internship should be done in the same foreign medical institution.
Recent change: Now, however, the NMC has made one relaxation related to internships. The regulator has said that foreign medical graduates with incomplete internships due to the war can apply to complete the remaining part of the internship in India.
Can any foreign medical student apply in India? The NMC has said state medical councils have to ensure the candidates applying for completion of internship in India must have cleared the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) — a licensure examination conducted by the National Board of Examinations in India.
Benefit: The change is likely to provide some relief for final year medical students returning from Ukraine, and several students who are not able to complete their internships in China due to Covid-19 restrictions that continue to be imposed in the country.

Source : Indian Express

6. BELARUS

Belarus, the largest landlocked European country bordering the two warring nations has found itself in a precarious position amid its political proximity with Russia.

About:

The country is now at the receiving end of the West’s economic sanctions, meant to deter the Russian assault on Ukraine. The Belarusian border serves as the site for dialogue between Russia and Ukraine to possibly end the war.
Historically, Belarus has acted as the site of negotiations between the two nations – two sets of agreements were signed in the Belarusian capital of Minsk in 2014 and 2015 to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Key facts:

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.
Its capital is Minsk.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, Belarus became a sovereign nation, and its first presidential elections were held in 1994.
Alexander Lukashenko has served as the country's first president since 1994. Belarus has been labelled "Europe's last dictatorship" by some Western journalists, on account of the country's poor human rights record and Lukashenko's self-described authoritarian style of government.

Source : Indian Express

7. PREDATORY PRICING

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has dismissed allegations of predatory pricing against e-commerce platform Shopee arguing that Shopee did not hold significant market power as it is a relatively new entrant in a market with well-established players.

About:

Predatory pricing is the illegal act of setting prices low to attempt to eliminate the competition.
For a business to be engaging in predatory pricing requires that the enterprise be a dominant player in the relevant market, besides establishing that its goods or services are being marketed below cost and that sub-tactics are being used with the intention to eliminate competition.
Predatory pricing violates antitrust laws, as it makes markets more vulnerable to a monopoly.
However, allegations of this practice can be difficult to prosecute because defendants may argue successfully that lowering prices is part of normal competition, rather than a deliberate attempt to undermine the marketplace.
Under the Indian jurisprudence, Predatory pricing is described as ‘unfair or discriminatory’ pricing, and is forbidden by law under Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002, which refers to the “Abuse of a Dominant Position”.

Source : Indian Express

8. SCHOOL OF ADVANCED MATERIALS (SAMat)

The foundation stone of the School of Advanced Materials (SAMat) was unveiled to bring together all the materials research activity of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Research (JNCASR).ut:

The setting up of new building facility will lead to new ideas, new thought processes, new facilities. SAMat in Sanskrit stands for equanimity. The idea of creating the SAMat was realized in 2018 and it consists of 28 faculty members drawn from several units.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) is a multidisciplinary research institute located at Jakkur, Bangalore.
It was established in 1989 by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Government of India, to mark the birth centenary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India.
It is an autonomous institution under DST and an institution Deemed-to-be-University.

Source : PIB

9. BRAHMOS LAND ATTACK MISSILE

The Indian Navy successfully demonstrated the accuracy of an extended-range land attack Brahmos supersonic cruise missile from the stealth destroyer INS Chennai, on 5th March, 2022.

About:

The missile hit its intended target with pinpoint accuracy after traversing an extended range trajectory and performing complex manoeuvres.
Both Brahmos missile and INS Chennai are indigenously built and highlight the cutting-edge of Indian missile and ship-building prowess.
This achievement establishes the Indian Navy's ability to strike even deeper and influence land operations further away from sea, when and where required.
BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russian joint venture, produces the supersonic cruise missiles that can be launched from submarines, ships, aircraft, or land platforms.
BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
The range of the advanced version of the missile is learnt to have been extended to around 350 km from the original 290 km.

Source : PIB

10. PUNE METRO RAIL PROJECT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Pune on 6th March 2022 and inaugurate the Pune Metro Rail Project.

About:

Prime Minister will inaugurate 12 km stretch of the total 32.2 km Pune metro rail project.
Foundation Stone of the project was also laid by the Prime Minister in 2016.

Other projects

He will also lay the foundation stone of rejuvenation and pollution abatement of Mula-Mutha River projects. Mula-Mutha River pollution abatement project will be implemented on the concept of “One City One Operator” at a cost of over Rs 1470 crore.
Prime Minister will also launch 140 e-buses and e-bus depot constructed at Baner.
Prime Minister will inaugurate the R.K Laxman Art Gallery-Museum constructed at Balewadi, Pune. The main attraction of the Museum is a miniature model based on the village of Malgudi which will be made alive through the audio-visual effects.

Source : PIB

06 MARCH 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

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