About:
- The Kamov Ka-226 is a small, twin-engine Russian utility helicopter.
- The Ka-226 features an interchangeable mission pod, rather than a conventional cabin, allowing the use of various accommodation or equipment configurations.
Deal with India:
- In 2015, India and Russia had concluded an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for at least 200 Ka-226T twin-engine utility helicopters estimated to cost over $1 billion with 60 helicopters to be directly imported and remaining 140 manufactured locally.
- They are to replace the ageing and obsolete Cheetah and Chetak fleet of the Army and the Air Force.
- A joint venture India Russia Helicopters Ltd. (IRHL) has been set up between Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) and Russian Helicopters (RH) which will assemble the helicopters in India.
- The Ka-226T deal with Russia has been stuck over indigenisation. So the Army is approaching the Ministry of Defence [MoD] for a waiver to conclude the deal.
About:
- Wistron Corporation is a major original design manufacturer (ODM) based in Taiwan.
- It was the manufacturing arm of Acer Inc. before being spun off in 2000.
- As an ODM (original design manufacturer) Wistron designs and manufactures products for other companies to sell under their own brand name.
- Wistron focuses on ICT (information and communication technology) products, including notebook PCs, desktop PCs, servers, storage, LCD TVs, handheld devices, and devices and equipment for medical applications.
Narasapura Violence:
- The Narasapura (industrial area) is located in Kolar District, Karnataka.
- In December 2020, two thousand workers coming off night shift rioted at a Wistron iPhone factory in Narasapura, causing damages estimated to $7.1 million.
- The workers claimed to have been underpaid in the previous months.
About:
- A mutation means an alteration in genetic material.
- In an RNA virus such as SARS-CoV-2, proteins are made of a sequence of amino acids. Such a virus contains some 30,000 ‘base pairs’, which are like bricks placed next to each other to form a structure. An alteration in this base can be a mutation, effectively changing the shape and behaviour of the virus.
- In the UK variant, one mutation has made the virus more likely to bind with human proteins called receptors. This is called N501Y.
N501Y:
- In simple words, the amino acid represented by the letter N, and present at position 501 in the coronavirus genetic structure, has been replaced in that position with another amino acid, represented by Y.
- The position where this alteration has taken place is in the spike protein’s receptor-binding domain. (It is the spike protein of the virus that binds with the human receptor.)
- Therefore, the mutation has increased the binding affinity of the coronavirus. The mutated virus reportedly accounts for 60% of recent infections in London.
P681H and HV 69/70:
- According the World Health Organization (WHO), other than N501Y, mutations that “may influence the transmissibility of the virus in humans” are P681H and HV 69/70.
- P681H: This mutation has occurred in the amino acid present at 681 — another position in the receptor-binding domain. Here the amino acid P has been replaced with H.
- HV 69/70: This mutation is the result of a deletion of amino acids at positions 69 and 70. These positions are again in the spike protein of the virus. This deletion has been observed in France and South Africa as well.
About:
- Using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a radio telescope in the Netherlands, the researchers uncovered emission bursts from the Tau Bootes star-system hosting a so-called hot Jupiter, a gaseous giant planet that is very close to its own sun.
- Tau Bootes is an F-type main-sequence star approximately 51 light-years away in the constellation of Bootes. It is a binary star system, with the secondary star being a red dwarf.
- If confirmed through follow-up observations, this radio detection opens up a new window on exoplanets and provides a novel way to examine alien worlds that are tens of light-years away.
Background:
- The Ministry of Education in April 2020 had appointed a committee for suggesting measures for effective implementation of reservation in student admissions and faculty recruitment in IITs.
- This committee, headed by IIT-Delhi V Ramgopal Rao, submitted its report in June 2020, the contents of which were recently reported in the media.
Recommendations:
- Instead of implementing quotas in faculty positions, the 23 IITs should be exempted from reservations altogether under the CEI Act, 2019.
- Rather than specific quotas, diversity issues should be addressed through outreach campaigns and targeted faculty recruitment.
- IITs should be added to the list of “Institutions of Excellence” mentioned in the Schedule to the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act 2019.
- Section 4 of the Act exempts “institutions of excellence, research institutions, institutions of national and strategic importance” mentioned in the Schedule and minority institutions from providing reservation.
Current status of reservation in faculty recruitment at the IITs?
- The 23 IITs reserve posts while recruiting faculty at the entry-level of Assistant Professor. There is no SC/ST/OBC quota for recruiting at senior faculty posts such as Associate Professor and Professor.
- And even at the entry-level, if the IITs cannot find suitable SC, ST and OBC candidates, they can de-reserve these posts after a year.
- In humanities and management courses, quotas are offered at all three levels.
About:
- IISER scientists have identified the gene ‘BBX11’ and their study was recently published in the prestigious British journal New Phytologist.
- The synthesis of chlorophyll in plants is a lengthy, multi-step process. When a seedling emerges from under the soil it must quickly synthesise chlorophyll to start supporting its own growth.
- In order to facilitate quick synthesis of chlorophyll, plants make a precursor of chlorophyll called ‘protochlorophyllide’ in the dark, which glows red when blue light is shone on the plant.
- As soon as the plant comes out into the light from under the soil, light-dependent enzymes convert protochlorophyllide to chlorophyll.
- Using genetic, molecular and biochemical techniques, the duo found a mechanism where two proteins oppositely regulate the ‘BBX11’ gene to maintain optimum levels of ‘BBX11’.
- The amount of protochlorophyllide synthesised needed to be proportional to the number of enzymes available to convert them to chlorophyll.
- If there is excess of free protochlorophyllide, then exposure to light converts it into molecules that cause ‘photobleaching’.
About:
- The GST Council Secretariat said that the move, aimed at controlling the menace of GST fake invoice frauds, was recommended by the Council’s law committee.
- Separately, a new rule has been introduced by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs that mandates businesses with monthly turnover of over ₹50 lakh to pay at least 1% of their GST liability in cash instead of using input tax credits to discharge their entire liability.
- The validity of e-way bills has also been tweaked, doubling the distance to be covered for each day of validity, effective January 1. Till now, an e-way bill for transporting goods under GST allowed transporters to cover 100 km in one day. Now, that distance for each day of validity has been increased to 200 km.
About:
- IISF is an annual event organised jointly by science & technology-related Ministries and Departments of the Government of India and Vijnana Bharati (Vibha).
- The first and second IISF were held in New Delhi, the third in Chennai, the fourth in Lucknow, and the fifth IISF was held in Kolkata.
- IISF is a festival to celebrate the achievements of India’s scientific and technological advancements with students, innovators, craftsmen, farmers, scientists and technocrats from India and abroad.
IISF-2020:
- IISF-2020 was held from 22nd to 25th December, 2020 at virtual platform. This year’s theme for IISF was ‘Science for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Global Welfare’.
- IISF 2020 is being organized jointly by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in association with Vijnana Bharati (VIBHA).
- The nodal institution for science festival this year is CSIR-National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS), New Delhi.
About:
- Japan would remain the world's third-biggest economy, in dollar terms, until the early 2030s when it would be overtaken by India, pushing Germany down from fourth to fifth.
- The United Kingdom, currently the fifth-biggest economy by the CEBR's measure, would slip to sixth place from 2024.
Indian scenario:
- India, which appears to have been pushed back to being the world's sixth biggest economy in 2020, will again overtake the UK to become the fifth largest in 2025 and race to the third spot by 2030
- India had overtaken the UK in 2019 to become the fifth largest economy in the world but has been relegated to 6th spot in 2020.
About:
- This extends the scope of employee well-being beyond work — that is, the office —to his/her personal life and home.
- HUL’s policy comes at a time when a significant number of its office-based staff are working from home. The policy seeks to protect and grant relief to employees who are survivors of abuse, or acts of physical/emotional abuse beyond the workplace.
Domestic violence during Lockdown:
- During the lockdown, cases of domestic violence have gone up significantly.
- The complaints the National Commission for Women (NCW) received on domestic violence against wo men doubled in the first month of the lockdown from 123 during February 27-March 22 to 250 between March 23-April 22.