18 OCTOBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

1. DALIT SIKHS

The deafening silence of the political establishment, in both Punjab and Haryana, over the lynching of a Dalit Sikh by a group of Nihangs at the Singhu border for the alleged desecration of their holy text speaks volumes about the fault lines it exposes — and hardens.

About:

In the run-up to the Assembly polls in Punjab, religion has become a hot potato along with caste.
Only last week, the Akal Takht head priest Giani Harpreet Singh, had warned against what he called were the dangers of forced conversions by Christian missionaries in the border belt. Dalit activists had blamed it on the poor representation of SCs and STs in the Sikh clergy.
This concern was raised just weeks after the elevation of Charanjit Singh Channi as the first SC chief minister of the state.

Source : Indian Express

2. BHUTAN-CHINA BOUNDARY TALKS

In a step towards resolving their boundary disputes, Bhutan and China signed an agreement on a three-step roadmap to help speed up talks, at a meeting of Foreign Ministers.

About:

The roadmap “for Expediting the Bhutan-China Boundary Negotiations”, is expected to kickstart the progress on the boundary talks process that has been delayed for five years, first due to the Doklam standoff in 2017 and then by the pandemic.
The timing of the agreement is particularly significant for New Delhi, given the border talks on their 17-month old standoff at the Line of Actual Control appear to have hit an impasse this week.
The Bhutanese Embassy in Delhi declined to comment on the details of the three steps and sources said information on the process of negotiations is ‘sensitive’ and could not be shared at this stage.
The roadmap had been finalised during the 10th expert group meeting in Kunming in April 2021, and presented for approval to their Governments in Thimphu and Beijing respectively.

Source: The Hindu

3. IMF

Over the past week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been in the news for both desirable and undesirable reasons.

About:

A big part of the focus on the IMF has been due to the controversy surrounding its Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva’s role in the alleged rigging of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Rankings while she was the chief executive at the Bank.
the IMF has also been in the news for unveiling its second World Economic Outlook (WEO). The IMF comes out with its WEO twice every year (April and October).
On the whole, the IMF’s central message was that the global economic recovery momentum had weakened a tad, thanks largely to the pandemic-induced supply disruptions across the planet.
But possibly the most important takeaway from the WEO this time is about the employment growth likely to lag the output recovery.

Source: Indian Express

4. DLX1 PROTEIN

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, have discovered that a particular gene (DLX1) plays an important role in the development of jaws, skeleton, and interneurons in the brain has an important role to play in the growth and development of prostate cancer.

About:

The DLX1 protein is found at elevated levels in prostate cancer patients, the reason why the DLX1 protein has been used as a urine-based biomarker.
Now the team of researchers at IIT Kanpur has found that the DLX1 protein, which is expressed at higher levels in the prostate cancer cells, has a huge role in the growth and development of the tumour and the spread of the cancer to other organs in the body (metastasis).
Using small molecules as inhibitors, the researchers have shown in mice a new therapeutic strategy to treat people with DLX1-positive prostate cancer

Source : The Hindu

5. HYPERSONIC GLIDE VEHICLES

China’s military has carried out its first-ever test of a “nuclear capable hypersonic missile”, according to a report on October 17.

About:

The missile in August “circled the globe before speeding towards its target, demonstrating an advanced space capability that caught U.S. intelligence by surprise.”
The Chinese military launched a rocket that carried a hypersonic glide vehicle “which flew through low-orbit space before cruising down towards its target.”
The missile “missed its target by about two-dozen miles”, but it “showed that China had made astounding progress on hypersonic weapons and was far more advanced than U.S. officials realised.”
Only the U.S., Russia and China were developing hypersonic glide vehicles, that are launched on rockets and then orbit the earth on their own speed. They are difficult to track because unlike ballistic missiles, they “do not follow the fixed parabolic trajectory”.
The test would post a big challenge to U.S. missile defence systems because “the weapon could, in theory, fly over the South Pole.” “That would pose a big challenge for the U.S. military because its missiles defence systems are focused on the northern polar route,” the report said.

Source: The Hindu

6. UNDERNOURISHMENT

The value of a key indicator used in the Global Hunger Index is ‘inflated’ as only 3.9% of the anganwadi children were found to be undernourished, the Union Government said.

About:

The real-time data of beneficiaries registered on the Anganwadi platform include 7.79 crore children aged between 6 months to 6 years as per real-time Poshan Tracker data [as on 16-10-2021].
Corresponding number of undernourished children reported on Poshan Tracker is 30.27 lakh which comes to only 3.9%,” according to a reply from the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
The GHI 2021 ranked India at 101 out of 116 countries. The index is based on four indicators — under-nourishment, wasting, stunting and under-five mortality. Of these, India’s performance is shown to deteriorate only for undernourishment, which is what the Government has challenged.
According to FAO’s data, which is used in the Index, the prevalence of undernourishment in India rose from 14% in 2017-2019 to 15.3% in 2018-2020 which the Government has called exaggerated.
However, undernourishment and undernutrition used as synonyms by the Government are treated as two different indicators by FAO and in the GHI.
The Government has also alleged that there has been a “selective approach adopted to deliberately lower India’s rank” by relying on higher values of indicators such as stunting and wasting from different datasets available.

Source : The Hindu

7. SYAMA PRASAD MOOKERJEE PORT

For the first time in the history of major ports, the Ship-to-Ship operation of LPG was undertaken at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port.

About:

Port of Kolkata or Kolkata Port, officially known as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust (Formerly Kolkata Port Trust), is the only riverine major port of India, located in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, around 203 kilometres from the sea.
It is the oldest operating port in India and was constructed by the British East India Company in 1870.
Kolkata is a freshwater port with no variation in salinity.
The port has two distinct dock systems — Kolkata Docks at Kolkata and a deep water dock at Haldia Dock Complex, Haldia

Source: PIB

8. RAINFALL IN KERALA

After two years, rain fury and floods have returned to haunt parts of central and southern Kerala districts. In Kottayam district — among the worst-hit — the Army and the Air Force have been deployed to carry out rescue operations.

About:

Flash floods, mudslides and landslides were reported in most districts located between central and southern Kerala, which included Thrissur, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram.

Is the rainfall associated with the southwest monsoon withdrawal?

This year, the southwest monsoon withdrawal has been significantly delayed. It has withdrawn completely from west, north, central and eastern India regions, but continues to remain active in the southern peninsula.
With the withdrawal entering the peninsula regions, southern states, including Kerala, have reported thunderstorms for over a week now.
But, the rainfall during the last four days is mainly a localised phenomenon triggered due to the low-pressure system formed in the Arabian Sea.

Reason

A low-pressure system developed in the east-central Arabian Sea on October 14. This system moved closer to the Kerala coast and triggered severe weather.
Under the influence of this system, Kerala experienced heavy to very heavy rain (115.5mm to 204.4mm in 24-hours), and extremely heavy rain (over 204.4mm in 24-hours) in at least six of its southern districts since Thursday.

Source : Indian Express

18 OCTOBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

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