Daily Currentaffairs: 24 Oct 2020

Tables of contents

1.Tubarial Glands

2.Migration of Butterflies holds signals of Climate Change

3.Radhanagri Wildlife Sanctuary

4.Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) NAG is in the news?

5.T-55 Main Battle Tank

6.Life in Miniature Project

7.Kisan Suryodaya Yojana

1.Tubarial Glands

Recently, researchers from the Netherlands Cancer Institute have discovered 'Tubarial Glands'.

Key Highlights

• The researchers who investigate the side-effects of radiation on the head and neck were studying a new type of scan as part of their research work.

• The researchers have found two “unexpected” areas that lit up in the back of the nasopharynx.

• The salivary gland system in the human body has three paired major glands and over 1,000 minor glands that are spread throughout the mucosa.

  • The glands produce saliva necessary for swallowing, digestion, tasting, mastication and dental hygiene.

• The researchers have found a bilateral structure at the back of the nasopharynx and these glands had characteristics of salivary glands.

• It is not clear yet if these glands will be classified as a conglomerate of minor glands, as a major gland, a separate organ or a new part of an organ system.

• The researchers believe that these glands would qualify as the fourth pair of major salivary glands.

  • The proposed name is based on their anatomical location, the other three glands are called parotid, submandibular and sublingual.

• The researchers suspect that the physiological function of the glands is to moisten and lubricate the nasopharynx and the oropharynx.

Source: The Hindu

2.Migration of Butterflies holds signals of Climate Change

Recently, an unusual phenomenon took place when thousands of butterflies were seen travelling from the Eastern Ghats to the Western Ghats.

Migration of Butterflies and Climate Change

• The two seasonal butterfly migrations is an annual event which occurs between the Western and Eastern Ghats of the Indian peninsula in search of food and survival.

• The intense rain in the Western Ghats complex during the southwest monsoon makes it difficult for the butterflies to survive.

• Before the onset of southwest monsoon, butterflies start their first migration from the Western Ghats to the plains and to the Eastern Ghats in order to avoid the inclement weather.

• The Eastern Ghats provide the ideal climate for the butterflies to survive during the southwest monsoon.

• The migratory adults become reproductive, breed, lay eggs, and die the successive generation starts to migrate back from the Eastern Ghats.

• The second migration took place early in 2020 due to heavy rainfall in the Eastern Ghats during the southwest monsoon.

• The butterfly offspring population would not have been able to survive in the Eastern Ghats with unviable weather conditions and a lack of food, forcing an early migration.

Butterflies: Indicators of Climate Change

• The Butterflies are bioindicators and the early migration means an early arrival of monsoon.

• With climate change altering weather phenomena across the world, tracking and studying seasonal butterfly migrations have assumed greater significance.

• The butterflies originate from Western Ghats ranges, such as Kodagu, Wayanad, Nilgiris, Siruvani and Anamalai, and move toward the Eastern Ghats consisting Yercaud, Pachamalai, Kolli, and Kalvarayan hills during the first migration.

• The migration between the Ghats is a form of local migration but other types of migration are also prevalent among butterfly species in the hills of peninsular India.

• In the Western and Eastern Ghats, it is clear that altered rain patterns have affected the migration patterns of butterflies.

Source: The Indian Express

3.Radhanagri Wildlife Sanctuary

Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified 250.66 sq km around Radhanagri Wildlife Sanctuary (RWS).

About Radhanagri Wildlife Sanctuary

• It is a wildlife sanctuary and natural World Heritage Site, located in Kolhapur district, Maharashtra.

• It lies at the southern end of the Sahyadri hills in the Western Ghats.

• It is notable as the first declared wildlife sanctuary in Maharashtra, notified in 1958, as Dajipur Wildlife Sanctuary and is popularly known as the Bison Sanctuary.

• The Krishna River tributaries i.e. Bhogavati River, Dudhganga River, Tulshi River, Kallamma River and Dirba River flow through the sanctuary area.

Source: The Indian Express

4.Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) NAG is in the news?

Recently, the final user trial of 3rd generation Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) NAG was carried out by Ministry of Defence from Pokhran range.

About Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) NAG

• It has been developed by DRDO to engage highly fortified enemy tanks in day and night conditions.

• The missile has “Fire & Forget” “Top Attack” capabilities with passive homing guidance to defeat all MBTs equipped with composite and reactive armour.

• The NAG missile carrier NAMICA is a BMP II based system with amphibious capability.

• The missile will be produced by Defence PSU Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL), whereas Ordnance Factory Medak will produce the NAMICA.

• It is developed under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme of the DRDO.

NAMICA

 

The Nag Missile Carrier (NAMICA) is a tracked, amphibious, armored ‘missile-carrier’ vehicle based on the BMP chassis.

 

The main visible change from the early version to the NAMICA-2 was the reduction of missiles carried from eight to six, along with an additional six in reserve totaling to twelve missiles carried.

 

The vehicle is also equipped with the NBC protection suite, protecting its crew from Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical threats.

Source: The Indian Express

5.T-55 Main Battle Tank

Recently, the Ministry of Defence has installed the 'T-55 Main Battle Tank' in the premises of the Office of Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Officer) Pune.

About T-55 Main Battle Tank

• It is a Soviet-made main battle tank, a derivative of the T-54B, which was adopted for service in 1956 by the Russian armed forces.

• It was developed by Nizhnyi Tagil under the designation Obiekt 155.

• It is a T-54 with a new turret without the rooftop mushroom ventilator dome.

• The T-55 main battle tank is outfitted with smoke generating equipment used to set a smokescreen, which masks the tank from enemy observation.

• It is also fitted with an infra-red searchlight with a range of 400 m mounted on the forward part of the commander's cupola and another infra-red searchlight to the right of the main armament with a range of 800 to 1,000 m.

• The main battle tank (MBT) was inducted into Indian Army in 1968, extensively used in the 1971 war and it remained in service till 2011.

Source: PIB

6.Life in Miniature Project

Recently, the Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism has virtually launched “Life in Miniature” project.

About Life in Miniature Project

• It is a collaboration between the National Museum (Ministry of Culture) and Google Arts & Culture.

• Under the project, several hundred miniature paintings from the National Museum can be viewed online on Google Arts & Culture by people around the world.

• The project uses technologies like machine learning, augmented reality and digitization with high-definition robotic cameras, to showcase the special works of art in a magical new way.

• The users will be able to see famous miniature collections of the National Museum like the Ramayana, Royal Saga, Pahari style paintings etc.

Source: All India Radio

7.Kisan Suryodaya Yojana

Recently, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has announced the 'Kisan Suryodaya Yojana' along with key projects in Gujarat.

About Kisan Suryodaya Yojana

• It is an initiative for the farmers of the Gujarat in order to provide day-time power supply for irrigation.

• Under this scheme, farmers will be able to avail power supply from 5 AM to 9 PM.

• The state government has allocated a budget of Rs.3500 crore for installing transmission infrastructure under the scheme by 2023.

• 234 ‘66-Kilowatt’ transmission lines, with a total length of 3490 circuit kilometers (CKM) will be established under the project, in addition to 220 KV substations.

Source: PIB

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