26 DECEMBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

1. TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT BOARD (TDB)

India will soon develop and manufacture receiver modules essential for the NavIC (NAVigation with Indian Constellation), an application developed by ISRO for the constellation of seven satellites that, together, provide navigation support over India and 1,500 km around it.

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Technology Development Board, a statutory body of Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, has approved financial support to Hyderabad based Manjeera Digital Systems Private Limited (MDS), a Digital Signal Processing (DSP), Research & Development company, which will be essential for the NavIC App.
The company has also designed and fabricated a baseband processor using patented Universal Multifunctional Accelerator (UMA).
This UMA can be used in generic Digital Signal Processing (DSP) applications such as Server Acceleration, Edge Computing, Node Computing, Computer Vision, Signal Processing, etc.

Source: PIB

2. SULPHUR MOLLY

In the sulfur-infused ponds of Tabasco state in Mexico lives a tiny silver slip of a fish, the sulphur molly.

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Every few seconds, thousands of these fish will repeat a quick diving motion to generate the wave, sometimes for up to two minutes.
The mollies are prey for an array of winged predators, including egrets, kingfishers and kiskadees. When birds dive to attack, the mollies flash and swirl.
It seems to be aimed at predators perched on the shore,
The sulphur molly (Poecilia sulphuraria), locally known as molly del Teapa, is a critically endangered species of fish in the family Poeciliidae. It is endemic to Mexico, specifically to the Baños del Azufre (Grijalva River basin) near Teapa, Tabasco.
The Baños del Azufre are sulfidic springs that contain high concentrations of toxic hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Poecilia sulphuraria has apparently evolved the ability to tolerate the toxic conditions. A few other Poecilia species are known from similar habitats in Mexico.

Source: Indian Express

3. WORLD’S OLDEST FAMILY TREE

By conducting archaeological and genetic analysis of the remains of 35 individuals who lived about 5,700 years ago, a team of international scientists has presented what is being called the “world’s oldest family tree”.

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Their study claims to be the first of its kind to reveal in detail how prehistoric (the period before written records existed) families were structured.
The team of scientists analysed DNA extracted from the bones and teeth of 35 individuals who were entombed at the Hazelton North cairn in the Cotswolds-Severn region of Britain.
The researchers were able to detect that 27 of these individuals were close biological relatives.
Significantly, the study says that most of the people buried in the tomb were descended from four women who had children with the same man

Source: Indian Express

4. MAGNETAR

An international group of researchers has succeeded in measuring for the first time the characteristics of a flare on a distant magnetar.

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A magnetar is a rare compact type of neutron star teeming with energy and magnetism.
The magnetar they have studied is about 13 million light years away, in the direction of the NGC 253, a prominent galaxy in the Sculptor group of galaxies.
The flare, which spewed within a few tenths of a second as much energy as the Sun would shed in 100,000 years, was captured accidentally on April 15, 2020, by the Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor instrument (ASIM) of the International Space Station.
This is the first study to characterise such a flare from so distant a magnetar.
Magnetars are relatively rare objects, with only about thirty having been spotted within the Milky Way so far. The present magnetar is only the second one to be studied which is located outside the galaxy and is also the furthest, at 13 million light years distance.

Source: The Hindu

5. SHYAMA PRASAD MUKHERJI RURBAN MISSION (SPMRM)

Telangana stood first in the implementation of the Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) that was launched four years ago to stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services and create well-planned clusters.

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Sangareddy and Kamareddy districts stood in the first two positions among the 300 clusters across the country where the programme was being implemented.
Tamil Nadu and Gujarat took the second and third positions respectively.
In Telangana, in as many as 17 clusters (12 non-tribal and five tribal), the programme was being implemented at an estimated cost of ₹1,885.12 crore.
The provision of urban infrastructure in rural areas is the main purpose of the Rurban Mission, with Telangana having the highest points due to the outstanding performance of Panchayat Raj and rural development

Source: The Hindu

6. FACTORS IN DETERMINING INSTITUTIONAL DELIVERY

Poverty, education, and exposure to a community health worker are more important than age at marriage in determining whether a mother will be able to have a safe birth in a medical facility, according to a first-of-its-kind study on utilisation of institutional delivery in the country.

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Published in the peer-reviewed journal Global Health Action, the study analyses data on State-level maternal mortality ratio (2016 to 2018), as well as the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16).
The study has been authored by Ria Saha, a public health consultant in the U.K., and Pintu Paul, a Ph.D. candidate in Jawaharlal Nehru University.
It focuses on nine low-performing States (LPS) with high burden of maternal mortality — Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
As far as socio-demographic factors are concerned, poverty (1.4 to 3.5) is responsible more than twice as much as age at marriage (.78) in determining whether a woman will seek institutional delivery. Education (1.2 to 3.8) is 1.5 times more important than age at marriage.

Source: The Hindu

7. MISSION INDRADHANUSH

Mission Indradhanush which was launched on 25th December 2014 as a special drive to expand full immunization coverage in India has completed seven years.

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Under the Mission, 701 districts across the country have been covered and 3 crore 86 lakh children have been vaccinated.
Around 97 lakh pregnant women have also been immunized under the Mission.
Full immunization coverage among children aged 12 to 23 months have increased to 76.4 per cent.

Important Info :

Timeline

Immunization Programme in India was introduced in 1978 as ‘Expanded Programme of Immunization’ (EPI) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. In 1985, the programme was modified as ‘Universal Immunization Programme’ (UIP)
To strengthen and re-energize the programme and achieve full immunization coverage for all children and pregnant women at a rapid pace, the Government of India launched “Mission Indradhanush” in December 2014.
To further intensify the immunization programme, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) on October 8, 2017.

Source: All India Radio

8. GOOD GOVERNANCE INDEX 2021

Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation, Mr Amit Shah released the Good Governance Index 2021 prepared by DARPG on Good Governance Day.

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Good Governance Index, GGI 2021 Framework covered ten sectors and 58 indicators.
The sectors of GGI 2020-21 are 1) Agriculture and Allied Sectors, 2) Commerce & Industries, 3) Human Resource Development, 4) Public Health, 5.) Public Infrastructure & Utilities, 6) Economic Governance, 7) Social Welfare & Development, 8) Judicial & Public Security, 9) Environment, and 10) Citizen-Centric Governance.
The GGI 2020-21 categorises States and UTs into four categories, i.e., (i) Other States – Group A; (ii) Other States – Group B; (iii) North-East and Hill States; and (iv) Union Territories.
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa top the composite rank score covering 10 sectors.
Rajasthan has topped the Other States (Group B) category in Judiciary and Public Safety, Environment & Citizen Centric Governance.
In the North-East and Hill States category, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir have registered an overall increase of 10.4% and 3.7% respectively over GGI 2019.
In the Union Territories category, Delhi tops the composite rank registering a 14 percent increase over the GGI 2019 indicators.

Source: PIB

9. TASTE THE TV (TTTV)

A Japanese professor has developed a prototype lickable TV screen that can imitate food flavours, another step towards creating a multi-sensory viewing experience.

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The device, called Taste the TV (TTTV), uses a carousel of 10 flavour canisters that spray in combination to create the taste of a particular food. The flavour sample then rolls on hygienic film over a flat TV screen for the viewer to try.
In the COVID-19 era, this kind of technology can enhance the way people connect and interact with the outside world, said Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita.
The goal is to make it possible for people to have the experience of something like eating at a restaurant on the other side of the world, even while staying at home.
Potential applications include distance learning for sommeliers and cooks, and tasting games and quizzes.

Source: The Hindu

10. JAMES WEBB TELESCOPE

World’s largest and most powerful space telescope has been launched successfully into orbit to make breakthrough discoveries on the origins of the Universe and Earth-like planets beyond our solar system.

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The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's premier space observatory of the next decade, was launched in an Ariane rocket from the European Space Agency's base in French Guiana on Christmas Day.
The Webb telescope will reach its destination in solar orbit some 1.5 million km from Earth - about four times farther away than the moon.
And Webb's special orbital path will keep it in constant alignment with the Earth as the planet and telescope circle the sun in tandem.
It will see farther into our origins, from the formation of stars and planets, to the birth of the first galaxies in the early Universe. It intends to show humans what the Universe looked like even closer to its birth nearly 14 billion years ago.
Webb, named after one of the architects of the Apollo Moon landings, is the successor to the Hubble telescope. Jointly built by NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, the new observatory is, however, 100 times more powerful.

Source : All India Radio

26 DECEMBER 2021 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

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