1. LIGHT COMBAT AIRCRAFT (LCA) TEJAS
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) expects to deliver all Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas in the Final Operational Clearance (FOC) variant to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 2022 while the LCA MK-1A, with specific enhancements, will take flight by middle of this year, said R. Madhavan, Chief Managing Director, HAL.
About:
- Last February the Defence Ministry had signed a ₹48,000 crore deal with HAL to supply 83 LCA MK-1A to the IAF. HAL will be delivering the first three aircraft in 2024 and 16 aircraft per year for subsequent five years, the Defence Ministry had stated earlier.
- The LCA MK-2 features enhanced range and endurance including Onboard Oxygen Generation System (OBOGS), which is being integrated for the first time.
- Heavy stand off weapons will also be integrated on the MK-2.
- The MK-2 will be a heavier and much more capable aircraft than the current LCA variants with the aircraft 1350mm longer, featuring canards and can carry a payload of 6,500 kg compared to 3,500 kg by the LCA.
Source: The Hindu
2. FATIMA SHEIKH
On 9 January 2022, Google honoured Fatima Sheikh with a doodle on her 191st birth anniversary.
About:
- Fatima Sheikh was an Indian educator, who was a colleague of the social reformers Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule.
- Fatima Sheikh was the sister of Mian Usman Sheikh, in whose house Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule took up residence.
- One of the first Muslim women teachers of modern India, she started educating Dalit children in Phules' school.
- Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule along with Fatima Sheikh took charge of spreading education among the downtrodden communities.
- Sheikh met Savitribai Phule while both were enrolled at a teacher training institution run by Cynthia Farrar, an American missionary.
- She taught at all five schools that the Phules went on to establish and she taught children of all religions and castes. Sheikh took part in the founding of two schools in Bombay in 1851.
Source: Times of India
3. LIQUID MEDICAL OXYGEN (LMO)
Indian Railway has transported more than 14 thousand tons of Medical Liquid Oxygen, LMO to the Hospitals and Covid care centers in the state of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttrakhand and Delhi through its 8 hundred 58 Special freight trains run by Northern Railway.
About:
- Oxygen is crucial for the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19, since the disease affects lung functioning.
- One of the ways in which this oxygen can be supplied is through Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO). LMO is nothing but high purity oxygen used for medical treatment, and is developed for use in the human body.
- Why in liquid state? Due to its low melting and boiling points, oxygen is in a gaseous state at room temperature. Liquification enables storage in larger volume and easier transportation.
How Liquid Medical Oxygen is produced?
- There are several methods. The most common production method is separation of oxygen in what are known as Air Separation Units or ASUs.
- ASUs are basically plants that separate large volumes of gases. They use a method called Fractional Distillation Method to produce pure oxygen from atmospheric air, which consists mostly of nitrogen and oxygen - 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and remaining 1% other gases including argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, and hydrogen.
- In this method, gases from the air are separated into various components after cooling them into a liquid state and then liquid oxygen is extracted from it.
- Atmospheric air is first cooled to -181°C. Oxygen liquifies at this point. Since, the boiling point of Nitrogen is -196°C, it remains in a gaseous state. But Argon has a boiling point similar to that of oxygen (–186°C) and hence a significant amount of Argon liquifies along with Oxygen.
- The resultant mixture of Oxygen and Argon is drained, decompressed and passed through a second low-pressure distillation vessel for further purification.
- We then get the output as final purified liquid oxygen, which is then transported using cryogenic containers
Source: PIB
4. NATURAL GAS HYDRATE
Bangladesh has discovered huge potential natural gas hydrate deposits of 0.11 to 0.73 trillion cubic feet (TCF) in its exclusive economic zone area.
About:
- It is equivalent to 17-103 TCF of natural gas reserves. The finding of the huge reservoir of the natural gas hydrate is a landmark event in resolving the energy crisis in future.
- The production technology of methane gas from the hydrates is fundamentally different from the extraction of oil and natural gas which flows naturally through the pores of the reservoirs to the well.
- Hydrates are solids and need to be dissociated through techniques like hot water pumping, depressurisation and Carbon Dioxide injection to release the methane gas from the hydrates.
- Work is going on in the world to develop economically viable technology to extract gas from the hydrates
Source: All India Radio
5. ALKA MITTAL
ONGC Director (HR) Alka Mittal has been given the additional charge of Chairman and Managing Director of ONGC.
About:
- This makes her the first woman to head the Energy major.
- She was given the additional charge after incumbent Subhash Kumar superannuated on 31st of December last year. Alka Mittal is the senior-most director on thr ONGC board.
Source: All India Radio
6. ELIGIBILITY NORMS FOR ENTITIES TAPPING CREDIT BUREAU DATA
The Reserve Bank of India, RBI has laid down eligibility norms for entities tapping into data from credit information companies (CICs), or credit bureaus.
About:
- The rules said that a company must be owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens to become a specified user with a credit bureau, amid reports of lending apps with Chinese links operating in India.
- In order to be eligible as a ‘specified user’ under the Credit Information Companies (Amendment) Regulations, 2021, an entity must be a company incorporated in India or a statutory corporation established in India.
- The norms said that the governing statute of the statutory corporation or memorandum of association of the company should allow the business or activity of processing of information for the support or benefit of credit institutions.
- It added that in the case of a company, it should have a net worth of not less than 2 crore rupees as per the latest audited balance sheet, and shall meet the requirement on a continuing basis.
- The ownership of the company shall be well diversified. It also stated that the company shall have at least three years of experience in running the business or activity of processing information for the support or benefit of credit institutions and shall have a clean track record.
- It further said that the company, its promoters or directors should not have at any time in the past been convicted of any offence involving moral turpitude or any economic offence.
Source: All India Radio
7. SYNAPSES
Neurons, or nerve cells, in the brain connect by means of junctions known as synapses through which they transmit signals. Recent work by researchers at the National Centre of Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, has thrown light on what stimulates these synapses to form.
Types of synapses:
- There are two types of synapses – chemical and electrical.
- In chemical synapses, there is a space of about 20 nanometres between two neurons, and the way they communicate is this: One neuron converts electrical signal into chemical signals and this chemical is released into the synaptic space and the receiving neuron converts the chemical signal back into an electrical signal.
- As far as the electrical synapse goes, this is not the way it operates. In these synapses, the two neurons have a physical connection and the conversion of electrical to chemical need not occur, and they communicate directly.
- Electrical synapses are like a physical wire, communication is faster but they are also fewer in number.
Zebrafish
- Researchers from TIFR-National Centre of Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, have chosen Zebrafish as a model organism to study this process.
- Zebrafish are transparent and neuron development in larval zebrafish can be observed from day to day by injecting a dye or by engineering the fish to express fluorescent proteins.
Source: The Hindu
8. CYBER VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
Taking cognisance of multiple complaints that photographs of Muslim women had been posted on one “Bulli Bai” mobile app for fake auctions, the police in Delhi and Mumbai have registered separate cases.
What are the legal provisions invoked?
- The police have invoked Sections 153A, 153B, 295A, 354D, 500 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
- Section 153A pertains to the offence of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony; while Section 153B relates to imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration.
- Section 295A provides punishment for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings.
- Section 354D provides that any man who monitors the use by a woman of the internet, email or any other form of electronic communication with malintent, commits the offence of stalking.
- Under this provision, the punishment may extend to five years of imprisonment with fine, in the case of second or subsequent conviction.
- While Section 500 defines the punishment for defamation, Section 509 of the IPC addresses the offence of word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman.
- Section 67 of the IT Act lays down the punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.
- The first conviction attracts imprisonment up to three years and fine up to ₹5 lakh and the second or subsequent conviction may lead to imprisonment up to five years and fine that may extend to ₹10 lakh.
Important Info :
What are the other provisions related to cybercrimes?
- Section 66E of the IT Act prescribes punishment for violation of privacy.
- Also, sections 354A (sexual harassment and punishment for sexual harassment) and 354C (voyeurism) of the IPC, which were introduced along with sections 354B and 354D in 2013, may also be applied in conjunction with the relevant IT Act provisions, based on the nature of the offence.
Source: The Hindu
9. JANSHATABDI EXPRESS TRAINS BETWEEN MANIPUR AND TRIPURA
Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) G Kishan Reddy flags off the first Janshatabdi express trains between Manipur and Tripura.
About:
- The long standing demand of the people of Manipur, Tripura and South Assam was fulfilled by inauguration of special trains Jan Shatabdi connecting Agartala – Jiribam - Agartala. The inaugural special trains were flagged off from Agartala and Jiribam railway stations simultaneously.
- The first Janshatabdi express train from Manipur to Tripura via Arunachal station (Silchar) in Assam will connect some important and historic towns like Silchar, Badarpur, New Karimganj, Dharmanagar and Ambassa apart from Jiribam and Agartala the two terminal stations.
- The Train journey will minimize the travel time by half as the journey time will be around 06 hours covering a distance of 300 Kms against about 12 hours or so it takes to travel by road.
Source: PIB
10. "2 VS 2" AGRI MARKET ACCESS ISSUES
In pursuant to the 12th India – USA TPF meeting held on 23 Nov, 2021 Department of Agriculture and farmer’s welfare (DAC&FW) and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have signed a framework agreement for implementing the 2 Vs 2 Agri market access issues.
About:
- 2 Vs 2 Agri market access issues involves inspection / oversight transfer for Indian mangoes & pomegranate and market access for pomegranate arils from India and market access for US cherries and U.S Alfalfa hay.
- Mango and pomegranate exports will start from Jan – Feb 2022 and pomegranate aril exports from Apr 2022. Exports of Alfalfa hay and cherries from USA will begin in Apr 2022.
- In addition, based on the ministerial discussions, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) also conveyed its readiness to provide market access for U.S pork and requested the U.S side to share a signed copy of final sanitary certificate for finalizing the same.
Source : PIB