1. DISC-FOOTED BAT

Meghalaya has yielded India’s first bamboo-dwelling bat with sticky discs, taking the species count of the flying mammal in the country to 130.

About:

• The disc-footed bat (Eudiscopus denticulus) was recorded in the north-eastern State’s Lailad area near the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, about 1,000 km west of its nearest known habitat in Myanmar.
• There are a couple of other bamboo-dwelling bats in India. But the extent of adaptation for bamboo habitat in this species is not seen in the others.
• The flattened skull and sticky pads enabled the bats to roost inside cramped spaces, clinging to smooth surfaces such as bamboo internodes. The disc-footed bat was also found to be genetically very different from all other known bats bearing disc-like pads.
• Scientists analysed the very high frequency echolocation calls of the disc-footed bat, which was suitable for orientation in a cluttered environment such as inside bamboo groves.
• The disc-footed bat has raised Meghalaya’s bat count to 66, the most for any State in India. It has also helped add a genus and species to the bat fauna of India.

Source : The Hindu

2. JAN ANUSHASHAN PAKHWARA

The Rajasthan government announced a Jan Anushasan Pakhwara (JAP), or the Public Discipline Fortnight.

About:

• The decision came on a day when the state crossed 10,000 new cases for the first time since the Covid 19 pandemic began.
• The JAP is essentially an extension of the curfew the Rajasthan government had announced for the weekend (6 pm, April 16 – 5 am, April 19).
• However, the government has neither called it a lockdown, nor a curfew, mainly because of the interpretations associated with both, as they have been implemented in the past.

Source : Indian Express

3. INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR MONUMENTS AND SITES

Every year, the United Nations marks April 18 as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, in many countries also celebrated as World Heritage Day. The theme for this year is “Complex Pasts: Diverse Futures”.

About:

• Globally, the day is promoted by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).
• ICOMOS in 1982 had decided to celebrate April 18 as the International Day for Monuments and Sites or World Heritage Day.
• Approved by UNESCO in 1983 during its 22nd General Conference, the day is dedicated to recognising sites of historical importance, raising awareness regarding them, and stressing the need to restore and preserve them.

World Heritage Sites in India

• Currently, there are 38 World Heritage Sites located in India.
• Of these, 30 are ‘cultural’, such as the Ajanta Caves, Fatehpur Sikri, Hampi monuments and the Mountain Railways of India, and 7 are ‘Natural’, including Kaziranga, Manas and Nanda Devi National Parks.
• One is classified as ‘Mixed’, the Khangchendzonga National Park.
• In 2019, ‘Jaipur City’ became the 38th addition to the India list under Culture.

Source : Indian Express

4. ‘ON TAP’ LICENSING OF UNIVERSAL BANKS AND SMALL FINANCE BANKS IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR

Eight institutions and individuals have applied for on-tap licences to set up universal banks and small finance banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

About:

• This comes weeks after RBI set up an advisory panel, led by former deputy governor Shyamala Gopinath, to evaluate applications for universal and small finance banks, which are mandated to focus on priority sector lending and small loans.
• The last time RBI handed out universal bank licences was in 2015 when it cleared IDFC Ltd and Bandhan Financial’s applications.
• In August 2016, RBI released guidelines for on-tap licensing for universal banks.
• Among eligible promoters for banks were resident professionals who have 10 years of experience in banking and finance at a senior level. Private sector entities owned and controlled by residents and have a successful track record for at least 10 years are also eligible, provided they have assets of ₹5,000 crore or more, and the non-financial business of the group does not account for 40% or more of total assets or gross income.
• Existing non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) controlled by residents and with a successful track record for at least 10 years were also allowed to apply for licences.

Source : LiveMint

5. HOT SPRINGS AND GOGRA POST

During the 11th round of discussions between the senior military commanders of India and China on April 9, to resolve the over 11-month long standoff in eastern Ladakh, China had refused to vacate two of the four original friction points.

About:

• At two friction points, Patrolling Point 15 (PP15) in Hot Springs, and PP17A near Gogra Post, China still has a platoon-level strength each, along with vehicles.
• Along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India in China, Indian Army has been given certain locations that its troops have to access to patrol the area under its control. These points are known as patrolling points, or PPs, and are decided by the China Study Group (CSG).
• PP15 and PP17A are two of the 65 patrolling points in Ladakh along the LAC.
• PP15 is located in an area known as the Hot Springs, while PP17A is near an area called the Gogra post.
• Both of these are close to the Chang Chenmo river in the Galwan sub-sector of the LAC in eastern Ladakh. While Hot Springs is just north of the Chang Chenmo river, Gogra Post is east of the point where the river takes a hairpin bend coming southeast from Galwan Valley and turning southwest.
• The area is north of the Karakoram Range of mountains, which lies north of the Pangong Tso lake, and south east of Galwan Valley.

Source : Indian Express

6. FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

China has asked Japan to take back its decision to release more than 1 million tonnes of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

About:

• The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a 3.5-square-kilometre site in the towns of Ōkuma and Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan.
• The plant suffered major damage from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011.
• The chain of events caused radiation leaks and permanently damaged several reactors, making them impossible to restart. By political decision, the remaining reactors were not restarted.
• In April 2021, the Japanese government approved the dumping of radioactive water of this power plant into the Pacific Ocean over the course of 30 years.

Source : All India Radio

7. RAMANUJACHARYA

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu paid tributes to the great philosopher, saint & social reformer, Shri Ramanujacharya Ji on his Jayanti.

About:

• Ramanuja or Ramanujacharya (c. 1017–1137 CE) was an Indian philosopher, Hindu theologian, social reformer, and one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism.
• His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.
• Ramanuja's guru was Yādava Prakāśa, a scholar who was a part of the more ancient Advaita Vedānta monastic tradition.
• Sri Vaishnava tradition holds that Ramanuja disagreed with his guru and the non-dualistic Advaita Vedānta, and instead followed in the footsteps of Tamil Alvārs tradition, the scholars Nāthamuni and Yamunāchārya.
• Ramanuja is famous as the chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita subschool of Vedānta, and his disciples were likely authors of texts such as the Shatyayaniya Upanishad.
• Ramanuja himself wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit.
• His Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-dualism) philosophy has competed with the Dvaita (theistic dualism) philosophy of Madhvāchārya, and Advaita (non-dualism) philosophy of Ādi Shankara, together the three most influential Vedantic philosophies of the 2nd millennium.

Source : All India Radio

8. PRESSURE SWING ADSORPTION (PSA) OXYGEN PLANTS

The Health Ministry said that 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption, PSA oxygen plants have been sanctioned by Government of India for installation in public health facilities in all States and these will augment medical oxygen capacity by over 154 Metric Tonnes.

About:

• Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a technology used to separate some gas species from a mixture of gases under pressure according to the species' molecular characteristics and affinity for an adsorbent material.
• It operates at near-ambient temperatures and differs significantly from cryogenic distillation techniques of gas separation.
• Specific adsorbent materials (e.g., zeolites, activated carbon, molecular sieves, etc.) are used as a trap, preferentially adsorbing the target gas species at high pressure. The process then swings to low pressure to desorb the adsorbed material.

Source : Indian Express

9. COVID-19 VACCINES AND BLOOD CLOTS

Reports of rare blood clots occurring after COVID-19 vaccination have led some countries to limit the usage of AstraZeneca’s vaccine for certain categories of people, while other countries have paused the administration.

About:

• An adverse effect following immunisation with the AstraZeneca jab is not merely blood clots in large vessels, but also a low platelet count.
• The effect is similar to heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), where heparin, which is used to clear clots, actually causes blood clots and a fall in the platelet count.
• The heparin combines with platelet factor 4 to form a complex. This immune complex induces an abnormal immune response, in which antibodies are generated against the complex.
• This antibody-platelet factor 4-heparin immune complex binds to platelets and activates them. The platelets form clots everywhere. The low platelet count is because the platelets are used up.
• A similar process seems to follow vaccination, except there is no heparin trigger. Scientists are still trying to establish a clinical definition for this adverse effect.

Source : The Hindu

10. OCCULTATION

Skygazers watched a rare celestial event when the moon came between Earth and Mars. The phenomenon is known as occultation.

About:

• An occultation is an event that occurs when one object is hidden by another object that passes between it and the observer. The term is often used in astronomy.
• If the closer body does not entirely conceal the farther one, the event is called a transit. Both transit and occultation may be referred to generally as occlusion; and if a shadow is cast onto the observer, it is called an eclipse.
• Occultations by the Moon: The term occultation is most frequently used to describe those relatively frequent occasions when the Moon passes in front of a star during the course of its orbital motion around the Earth.

Source : All India Radio