1. RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE
Russia has launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, in what is being seen as the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II.
What's the issue between Russia and Ukraine?
- Ukraine, a democratic country of 44 million people with more than 1,000 years of history, is the biggest country in Europe by area after Russia itself.
- It voted overwhelmingly for independence from Moscow after the fall of the Soviet Union and says it aims to join Nato and the European Union.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, has called Ukraine an artificial creation carved from Russia by enemies, a characterisation Ukrainians call shocking and false.
- The Russian President has also claimed that Ukraine is a puppet of the West and was never a proper state anyway.
- Putin has demanded guarantees from the West and Ukraine that it will not join NATO, a defensive alliance of 30 countries. He also wants Ukraine to be demilitarised and become a neutral state.
- But in January last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged US President Joe Biden to let Ukraine join NATO. This greatly irked Russia as it does not want Ukraine to move towards European institutions such as NATO and the EU.
But why do Russia care so much about Ukraine?
- Both Russia and the West see Ukraine as a potential buffer against each other.
- Russia considers Ukraine within its natural sphere of influence. Most of it was for centuries part of the Russian Empire, many Ukrainians are native Russian speakers and the country was part of the Soviet Union until winning independence in 1991.
2. BLOATWARE APPS
Bloatware apps are being criticized for taking up the storage of the device unnecessarily and affecting the system’s battery life and overall performance.
About:
- Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUP), more popularly known as bloatware apps are needless programs that take a toll on your device’s performance.
- Device manufacturers introduced these bloatware apps to provide users with additional programs that they might want to use, while making money on the way. Gradually, these apps, rather than being helpful, end up being a headache for users.
- Generally, these apps that run in the background are hidden and locating them becomes a tough job for the users. It could be any software on your computer, phone or tablet that consumes a lot of resources like — memory, storage and battery life.
Different types of bloatwares found on devices
- There are three most common types of bloatwares that can be found on any device.
- Utilities: These types of bloatwares come from manufacturers and third-party developers and are usually pre-loaded on your device. These offer added functionality to your device.
- Trialware: Users can experience the app as most of them offer free trial modes in new devices. However, these programs keep on consuming your device’s resources, even after the trial period is over.
- Adware: These types of bloatware typically gets downloaded while downloading softwares from the internet.
3. OMBUDSPERSON APP FOR MGNREGA
Union Minister for Rural Development Giriraj Singh launched Ombudsperson App for Mahatma Gandhi NREGA.
About:
- Ministry of Rural Development has developed an Ombudsperson App for smooth reporting and categorization of grievances by Ombudsperson based on complaints he received from various sources viz. physical, digital and mass media, related to the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi NREG Scheme in the States/UTs.
- At present, the reporting of complaints, passing awards and disposal of complaints are in physical form. For the smooth reporting of complaints, passing awards and quick disposal of complaints Ombudsperson App is developed.
- This will strengthen Ombudsperson in the discharge of her/his duty in a hassle-free manner.
4. QUANTUM KEY DISTRIBUTION (QKD)
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that a joint team of scientists and engineers from DRDO and IIT Delhi successfully demonstrated Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) link for a distance of over 100 km between Prayagraj and Vindhyachal in Uttar Pradesh.
About:
- The technological breakthrough was achieved over the commercial-grade optical fibre already available in the field.
- This technology will enable security agencies to plan a suitable quantum communication network with indigenous technology backbone.
- QKD is primarily a mechanism to undertake secure communication, which utilises a cryptographic protocol involving various components of quantum mechanics.
- The technology enables two communicating sides to come up with random secret keys shared by both of them and known exclusively to them, so only they can use it to encrypt and decrypt messages, thus achieving a very highly-secure communication.
5. VICARIOUS LIABILITY
The Kerala High Court on February 23 said admins of WhatsApp groups are not liable for objectionable posts made by group members.
About:
- The court examined whether the admin, the petitioner in the case, has vicarious liability or can be held liable for the act of the social media group member.
- Vicarious liability is a situation in which one party is held partly responsible for the unlawful actions of a third party.
- The third party also carries their own share of the liability. Vicarious liability can arise in situations where one party is supposed to be responsible for (and have control over) a third party and is negligent in carrying out that responsibility and exercising that control.
- Such a liability arises usually because of some or the other legal relationship between the two.
- This often occurs in the context of civil law—for example, in employment cases.
- In a criminal context, vicarious liability assigns guilt, or criminal liability, to a person for wrongful acts committed by someone else.
6. HIV
A US patient has become the third person in the world, and the first woman, to be cured of HIV, the deadly virus that causes AIDS.
About:
- The woman, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2017, recovered after receiving a stem cell transplant from a donor who was naturally resistant to HIV.
- Human immunodeficiency virus or HIV is an infection that attacks the immune system by destroying the body’s immune cells called CD4, which help it respond to infection.
- The umbilical cord (also called the navel string, birth cord or funiculus umbilicalis) is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and the placenta. The umbilical vein supplies the fetus with oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood from the placenta.
Why is this significant?
- First, this was the first time an umbilical cord blood transplant was successfully carried out on an HIV patient.
- Second, the patient was a middle-aged mixed-race woman. This is significant since the majority of donors in the US are of Caucasian descent. Since this breakthrough treatment only requires partial matches and not exact matches, it opens up treatment options for people from diverse racial backgrounds.
7. CORBEVAX
India’s first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) protein sub-unit vaccine for COVID-19, CORBEVAX, developed by Biological E Limited, has received approval for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI)for 12-18 years age group.
About:
- CORBEVAXTM is a 2-dose vaccine administered intramuscularly and can be stored at 2ºC to 8ºC.
- The recombinant protein sub-unit vaccine developed from the Receptor Biding Domain (RBD) of the spike protein on the viral surface is adjuvanted with CpG 1018 and alum.
- Biological E. Limited (BE), a Hyderabad-based Pharmaceuticals & Biologics Company founded in 1953.
Do you know?
- The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) through Mission COVID Suraksha launched under AtmaNirbhar Bharat package 3.0 being implemented by BIRAC, is committed to development of safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccines.
- This is the 2nd vaccine supported under the Mission, to have received EUA for the age group of 12-18 years.
8. WIRELESS CHARGING
The convenience of wireless charging is rapidly making this tech a popular trend.
Working
- Modern smartphones use electromagnetic induction to transfer electric energy from the charger to the smartphone while wirelessly charging it.
- You need your smartphone to support wireless charging and a compatible wireless charger to use this tech. Both the phone and the charger need copper coils as well.
- A fast changing magnetic field interacts with the copper coil present inside the smartphone when you put a compatible smartphone on a wireless charger
- The magnetic field then produces electric energy in an enclosed loop that interacts with that magnetic field using electromagnetic induction. The battery gets charged by the electric current that is produced.
- This form of wireless charging is called tightly-coupled electromagnetic inductive charging.
- Two copper coils need to be placed in close proximity for this technology to function. The copper coils need to align for this type of wireless charging to work.
- There are other forms of wireless charging technologies that aim to solve this proximity issue.
- Radio Frequency (RF)-based charging can charge gadgets wirelessly at a few feet distance, whereas loosely-coupled resonance charging can deliver a charge up to a few centimetres away. Users will be able to charge their phones without going near a charger in the near future using RF charging.
9. SUSTAINABLE CITIES INDIA PROGRAM
The World Economic Forum and the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a jointly designed ‘Sustainable Cities India program’.
About:
- The ‘Sustainable Cities India program’ intends to enable cities to decarbonize in a systematic and sustainable way that will reduce emissions and deliver resilient and equitable urban ecosystems.
- The Forum and NIUA will adapt the Forum’s City Sprint process and Toolbox of Solutions for decarbonization in the context of five to seven Indian cities across two years.
- The City Sprint process is a series of multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder workshops involving business, government, and civil society leaders to enable decarbonization, especially through clean electrification and circularity.
- As per the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2022, densely populated countries that are highly dependent on agriculture, such as India, are especially vulnerable to climate insecurity. Decarbonization in cities is a real opportunity to keep global warming well below 2°C and cities in India can make an enormous contribution in reaching this goal.
Do you know?
- The World Economic Forum’s Net Zero Carbon Cities’ mission is to create an enabling environment for clean electrification and circularity, resulting in urban decarbonization and resilience.
- Established in 1976, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is India’s leading national think tank on urban planning and development.
10. NATIONAL STRATEGY ON ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Ministry of Electronics & IT released a “National Strategy on Additive Manufacturing” on 24th February 2022.
Salient features:
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) aims to increase India’s share in global additive manufacturing to 5 per cent within the next three years, with hopes that it could likely add $ 1 billion to the gross domestic product by that time.
- By 2025, India will aim to achieve certain targets such as 50 India specific technologies for material, machine and software, 100 new startups for additive manufacturing, 500 new products.
- In total, MeitY hopes that these new startups and opportunities will give jobs to at least 1 lakh new skilled workers over the next three years.
- To get ahead in the additive manufacturing or 3D printing space, India must adopt it in all sectors, including in defence and public sectors.
- An apex body which has subject matter experts and leaders from local and global industries could be established to lead the mission.