Daily Currentaffairs: 22 Oct 2020

Tables of contents

1.New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START)

2.New Species of sub-aerial Diatoms

3.Anti-Tank SANT Missile

4.Cloud Innovation Centers

5.Ghar Tak Fibre

6.Nilgiris Elephant Corridor

7.Data Security Initiative

8.Asafoetida Cultivation in India

9.Y. S. Malik Committee

1.New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START)

Recently, the Moscow has said that it does not see prospects for extending the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Washington.

About New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START)

• The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) was signed in 2010 in Prague by the United States and Russia and entered into force in 2011.

• It replaced the 1991 START I treaty, which expired in 2009, and superseded the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT).

• The New START is the first verifiable U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty to take effect since START I in 1994.

• Nuclear warhead limit: The New START limits went into effect that capped deployed strategic nuclear warheads and bombs at 1,550 which is down approximately 30 percent from the 2,200 limit set by SORT.

• Missile, bomber and launcher limits: The deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers assigned to nuclear missions are limited to 700.

  • The New START does not limit the number of non-deployed ICBMs and SLBMs, but it does monitor them and provide for continuous information on their locations and on-site inspections to confirm that they are not added to the deployed force.

• The Treaty does not place any constraints on the testing, development or deployment of current or planned U.S. missile defense programs or U.S. long-range conventional strike capabilities.

Source: All India Radio

2.New Species of sub-aerial Diatoms

Recently, the seven new species of sub-aerial diatoms have been discovered from some areas of Western Ghats by city-based scientists from the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI).

What are Diatoms?

• Diatoms are single-celled algae which generate nearly 25 per cent of global oxygen.

• They are commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes and seas.

• They are the only organism on the planet with cell walls composed of transparent, opaline silica.

• Diatoms have light-absorbing molecules (chlorophylls a and c) that collect energy from the sun and turn it into chemical energy through photosynthesis.

• The diatoms remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere through carbon fixation.

  • The CO2 is converted to organic carbon in the form of sugar, and oxygen (O2) is released.

• Diatoms produce long-chain fatty acids.

• Diatoms are an important source of energy rich molecules that are food for the entire food web, from zooplankton to aquatic insects to fish to whales.

Source: The Indian Express

3.Anti-Tank SANT Missile

Recently, India has successfully test-fired it’s Stand-off Anti-tank (SANT) missile off the coast of Odisha.

About Anti-Tank SANT Missile

• It is an air-to-surface missile developed by DRDO for the Indian Air Force.

• It is an upgrade on India’s Helina missile believed to have a range of 7 to 8km.

• It is equipped with a nose-mounted active radar seeker, enabling the launch platform to be located at a safe distance from the target area.

• The SANT missile has both lock-on before launch and lock-on after launch capability.

• The missile will be inducted after a series of tests from the actual launch platform on-board light combat helicopters and advanced light helicopters.

DRDO’s Nag range Missiles

 

The land version of the DRDO’s Nag missile is the Prospina which is meant for infantry.

 

It can be launched via a tracking and launch carrier called NAMICA (Nag Missile Carrier).

 

The system can be mounted on the light infantry vehicle, BMP-2 capable of carrying up to six missiles.

 

The Helina missile is the helicopter-launched version in the Nag range and has an extended range.

 

Its launch system is fitted on to the HAL’s Rudra helicopter via the Rudrasta twin-launcher system.

 

It can also be mounted on the HAL’s Light Combat helicopters.

 

The American Javelin and the Israeli Spike are believed to be the only two other ‘fire-and-forget’ missiles comparable to the DRDO’s Nag.

Source: The Economic Times

4.Cloud Innovation Centers

Recently, the NITI Aayog and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced the establishment of a Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center (CIC).

About Cloud Innovation Centers

• The Cloud Innovation Centers (CIC) Program provides an opportunity for non-profits, education institutions, and government agencies to collaborate with other public sector organizations.

• Its objective is to test new ideas with Amazon’s innovation process and access the technology expertise of AWS.

• Eligibility: Any non-profit, education, or government organization can apply to work on a challenge with our global network of public sector-led innovation centers.

• The NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies CIC will be a great enabler to budding innovators and start-ups.

  • It will help in piloting state-of-the-art, cloud-centric digital innovations by leveraging emerging technologies such as AI, IOT, robotics, blockchain, etc.

• It is also aligned to the Prime Minister’s vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, as well that of NITI Aayog and Atal Innovation Mission.

• The NITI Aayog Frontier Technologies Cloud Innovation Center will enable government stakeholders, start-ups, and local organizations in India to innovate and create new approaches to solving problems.

• The center will identify and prioritize projects as well as collaborate with local leaders, including subject matter experts at the state and district levels, to solve critical challenges.

Source: PIB

5.Ghar Tak Fibre

Recently, the government’s ambitious ‘Ghar Tak Fibre’ scheme is off to a slow start in poll-bound Bihar, the first state that aims to connect all its 45,945 villages by March 31.

About Ghar Tak Fibre

• It aims to connect all the villages with high-speed internet.

• The state would need to dig trenches, lay cables and provide connectivity to an average of 257 villages daily, or a monthly average of over 7,500 villages.

• The main objective of this scheme is to make the broadband services available in rural and remote areas of the nation.

• Under the Ghar Tak Fibre scheme, Bihar has to provide at least five fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections per village, while there should also be at least one WiFi hotspot per village.

Source: The Indian Express

6.Nilgiris Elephant Corridor

Recently, the Supreme Court upheld a 2011 order of the Madras High Court (HC) on the Nilgiris elephant corridor, affirming the right of passage of the animals and the closure of resorts in the area.

Key Highlights

• The Madras HC had declared that the Tamil Nadu government was fully empowered under the 'Project Elephant' of the Union government as well as Article 51A(g) of the Constitution to notify the elephant corridor in the state’s Nilgiris district.

• The elephant corridor is situated in the Masinagudi area near the Mudumalai National Park in the Nilgris district.

• The court also allowed the formation of a committee led by a retired HC judge and two other persons to hear the individual objections of resort owners and private land owners within the corridor space.

• It also directed that resorts and hotels with valid permits would have to produce their papers to the district collector within 24 hours.

• The collector would verify the documents and if she/he arrived at the conclusion that a resort or hotel had been constructed without prior approval, the same was to be closed down within 48 hours.

Mudumalai National Park

 

It is a declared tiger reserve that is located in the northeast of Nilgiri Mountain or the blue mountain.

 

It is located in Nilgiri district and shares its borders with Kerala and Karnataka.

 

The park is a home to numerous endangered species like Bengal tiger, long billed vulture, white-rumped vulture, Indian leopard, Indian elephant and others.

 

The Western Ghats area along with the park is under consideration for recognition as a heritage site, by UNESCO.

 

Mudumalai National Park connects the Western Ghats with the Eastern Ghats and it is a land with rich diversity.

 

The northern part of the park that comes under the reign of Karnataka is called as Bandipur National Park.

Source: DownToEarth

7.Data Security Initiative

Recently, the Chinese government outlined the components of the new Data Security Initiative.

About Data Security Initiative

• The Chinese initiative entails eight broad principles, which include a call for supply chain stability, pledges against data theft and surveillance, norms for data storage and access, and a requirement for technology companies to not abuse their market dominance.

• Under its new “Global Initiative on Data Security”, China would call on all countries to handle data security in a comprehensive, objective and evidence-based manner.

• The initiative would help in maintaining an open, secure and stable supply chain for information and communications technology and services.

• It also would urge governments to respect other countries’ sovereignty in how they handle data i.e. in line with Beijing’s vision of “cyber sovereignty,” whereby countries exercise full control over their own corners of the internet.

• The initiative does not mention the U.S. or its Clean Network program.

• The Chinese initiative would urge countries to oppose mass surveillance against other states and call on tech companies not to install backdoors in their products and services to illegally obtain users’ data, control or manipulate users’ systems and devices.

• The initiative involves eight points:

  • Approach data security with an objective and rational attitude, and maintain an open, secure and stable global supply chain.

  • Oppose using ICT activities to impair other States’ critical infrastructure or steal important data.

  • Take actions to prevent and put an end to activities that infringe upon personal information, oppose abusing ICT to conduct mass surveillance against other States or engage in unauthorized collection of personal information of other States.

  • Ask companies to respect the laws of host countries, desist from coercing domestic companies into storing data generated and obtained overseas in one’s own territory.

  • Respect the sovereignty, jurisdiction and governance of data of other States, avoid asking companies or individuals to provide data located in other States without the latter’s permission.

  • Meet law enforcement needs for overseas data through judicial assistance or other appropriate channels.

  • ICT products and services providers should not install backdoors in their products and services to illegally obtain user data.

  • ICT companies should not seek illegitimate interests by taking advantage of users’ dependence on their products.

Source: The Hindu

8.Asafoetida Cultivation in India

Recently, the Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology (IHBT) took up the Asafoetida Cultivation in India to utilize vast expanses of waste land in the cold desert conditions of the region.

What is Asafoetida?

• Ferula asafoetida is a herbaceous plant of the umbelliferae family.

• It is a perennial plant whose oleo gum resin is extracted from its thick roots and rhizome.

• Asafoetida is one of the top condiments and is a high value spice crop in India.

• India imports about 1200 tonnes of raw asafoetida annually from Afghanistan, Iran and Uzbekistan.

• The raw asafoetida is extracted from the fleshy roots of Ferula assa-foetida as an oleo-gum resin.

• There are about 130 species of Ferula found in the world, but only Ferula assa-foetidais the economically important species used for the production of asafoetida.

• India does not have Ferula assa-foetida, but other species Ferula jaeschkeana is reported from the western Himalaya (Chamba, HP), and Ferula narthex from Kashmir and Ladakh, which are not the species that yield asafoetida.

Favourable conditions for asafoetida cultivation

• The first asafoetida sapling, grown at IHBT’s Centre for High Altitude Biology, was planted by IHBT director Sanjay Kumar in Kwaring village of Lahaul valley.

• The agriculture ministry has identified four locations in the valley and has distributed heeng seeds to seven farmers in the region.

• Asafoetida best grows in dry and cold conditions.

• The plant can withstand a maximum temperature between 35 and 40 degree, whereas during winters, it can survive in temperatures up to minus 4 degree.

• The regions with sandy soil, very little moisture and annual rainfall of not more than 200mm are considered conducive for heeng cultivation in India.

Benefits of Asafoetida

• The medicinal properties of heeng are relief for digestive, spasmodic and stomach disorders, asthma and bronchitis.

• The herb is commonly used to help with painful or excessive bleeding during menstruation and pre-mature labour.

Source: The Indian Express

9.Y. S. Malik Committee

Recently, the general council meeting of the Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE) discussed the recommendations of the YS Malik Committee to transform IAHE into a world-class institute in the highway sector.

Recommendations of Y. S. Malik Committee

• Enhance the scope of IAHE to include three distinct functions i.e. Training, Applied research and development in the Highways and Public Transport sector, and Road Safety & Regulation.

• Successful completion of mid-career training mandatory for promotion to next higher level.

• IAHE to offer customized training courses for State PWD officers for state highways, MDRs and Rural Roads.

• Applied research including field trials to promote use of waste materials, textiles, plastics, new materials and recycling in highway construction.

• Proposed upgradation of existing IAHE laboratory along with certification from NABL to conduct all third parties testing of materials used on NH projects.

Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE)

 

It is registered as a society in January 1983.

 

It has been providing training at entry level/refresher courses/ training on specialised areas of highway, bridge & tunnel engineering/ orientation programmes/management etc. to highway engineers and professionals.

 

Source: The Hindu

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