29 MARCH 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

1. MICROPLASTICS

A study by researchers from The Netherlands found the presence of Microplastics in human blood.

What are microplastics?

Microplastics are tiny bits of various types of plastic found in the environment. The name is used to differentiate them from “macroplastics” such as bottles and bags made of plastic.
There is no universal agreement on the size that fits this bill — the U.S. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and the European Chemical Agency define microplastic as less than 5mm in length.
However, for the purposes of this study, since the authors were interested in measuring the quantities of plastic that can cross the membranes and diffuse into the body via the blood stream, the authors have an upper limit on the size of the particles as 0.0007 millimetre.

What were the plastics that the study looked for in the blood samples?

The study looked at the most commonly used plastic polymers.
These were polyethylene tetraphthalate (PET), polyethylene (used in making plastic carry bags), polymers of styrene (used in food packaging), poly (methyl methylacrylate) and poly propylene. They found a presence of the first four types.

2. SOKOL OIL

India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd. has sold at least one cargo of Russian Sokol oil to India refiners Hindustan Petroleum Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. after failing to draw interest in a tender earlier this month.

About:

Indian companies are snapping up Russian oil as it is available at a deep discounts after some companies and countries shunned purchases from Moscow due to sanctions against Russia for its Ukraine invasion.
India, the world’s third-biggest oil consumer and importer, has not banned Russian oil imports.
ONGC Videsh has a stake in Russia’s Sakhalin-1 project and sells its share of the oil from the project through tenders. In the tender earlier in March, ONGC Videsh did not get any bids for the Sokol crude oil cargo for May loading.
The sources said HPCL and BPCL had been able to offer a discounted price for the cargo. The two refiners will pay ONGC in rupees.

Source : The Hindu

3. ELEPHANT DEATHS

The Union Environment Ministry has constituted a “permanent” coordination committee that includes representatives of the Ministries of Railways and Environment to prevent elephant deaths on railway tracks.

About:

This was stated by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in the Lok Sabha.
Yadav said that 19 elephants were killed across the country on railway tracks in 2018-19, 14 in 2019-20 and 12 in 2020-21.
A Standing Committee on the Railways in 2013 had recommended restricting the speed of trains at vulnerable locations to reduce collisions. This translated into trains slowing down to 50 kmph or less in vulnerable locations.

Several steps were taken to reduce the number of elephants deaths, the Minister noted. These included –

making permanent and temporary speed restrictions in identified elephant corridors and habitats,
making underpasses and ramps for movement of elephants at identified locations,
providing fencing at selected locations,
erecting signs to warn train drivers about identified elephant corridors,
sensitising train crew and station masters to avoid train collisions with elephants and
clearing vegetation on the sides of track within railway land.

Source : The Hindu

4. ZOJILA TUNNEL

Authorities are on an overdrive to build a strategic Zojila tunnel in Kashmir to reduce travel time to Ladakh where China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is aggressively pushing its territorial claims along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

About:

It could be one of the very few development projects in India to be completed ahead of its deadline which was fixed for November 2026.
Officials say the tunnel will be opened for movement of the armed forces in September 2024 if the PLA created any disturbance along the border.
The need for the Zojila tunnel was first felt during the 1999 Kargil war and the recent incursions by China made it an urgent necessity.
The tunnel will provide logistics flexibility and operational mobility to the Indian Army as it will reduce the travel time on Zojila Pass from 3.5 hours to 15 minutes.
Zojila tunnel, which marks the end of the conifer-clad mountains of Kashmir Valley, will connect Sonamarg in Kashmir with Minamarg in cold desert Ladakh.
To be built at a cost of Rs 2,600 crore, the horseshoe-shaped Zojila tunnel will be India’s longest street burrow and the highest tunnel at 3,485 metre.
the tunnel will reduce the distance between Baltal to Minamarg from 40 km to 13 km. The Zoji La project consists of 18-km tunnels and 17-km roads, three vertical shafts, and four bridges.
Presently, the Zojila Pass that connects Kashmir’s capital city Srinagar to Ladakh is motorable only for six months only as the accumulation of snow makes it inaccessible during winters.
It creates inconveniences for civilians in Ladakh who have to stockpile the ration before winter sets in.

Source : The Hindu

5. CONSTITUTION (SCHEDULED TRIBES) ORDER (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2022

The Lok Sabha passed a Bill to include the Darlong community as a sub-tribe of the Kuki tribe on the list of Scheduled Tribes of Tripura.

About:

Moving the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022, in the Lok Sabha, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the Union government was working towards betterment of living conditions of the tribal communities.
During the debate, Opposition members made a strong pitch for comprehensive legislation for inclusion of various castes from the States into Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) rather than doing it in a piecemeal manner.

Source : The Hindu

6. FLEET CARD- FUEL ON THE MOVE

The Indian Air Force (IAF), along with Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL), has introduced a “Fleet Card- Fuel on the Move” for its varied fleet of vehicles.

About:

Availability of Fleet Card will permit the convoy to refuel at any IOCL fuel station thus increasing the pace of movement and reducing the lead time for readiness at operational locations across the nation.
Personnel and other resources which are now involved in fuel management within the IAF can now be re-allocated towards other operational tasks.
This in line with the Shekatkar Committee recommendations of improving the Teeth to Tail ratio with the armed forces.
The ‘Fleet Card’ was launched by IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari at Headquarters Western Air Command, Subroto Park. The headquarters was earmarked as lead agency in the implementation and execution of the “Fuel on Move” concept.

Source : The Hindu

7. CORAL BLEACHING

The management authority of the world’s largest coral reef system, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, confirmed on March 25 that the reef is experiencing a mass coral bleaching event.

Coral reefs

Corals are marine invertebrates or animals not possessing a spine. Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grows when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae.
The algae provides the coral with food and nutrients, which they make through photosynthesis, using the sun’s light. In turn, the corals give the algae a home and key nutrients. The zooxanthellae also give corals their bright colour.
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km. It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.

Coral Bleaching

Coral Bleaching happens when corals experience stress in their environment due to changes in temperature, pollution or high levels of ocean acidity.
Under stressed conditions, the zooxanthellae or food-producing algae living inside coral polyps start producing reactive oxygen species, which are not beneficial to the corals.
So, the corals expel the colour-giving zooxanthellae from their polyps, which exposes their pale white exoskeleton, giving the corals a bleached appearance. This also ends the symbiotic relationship that helps the corals to survive and grow.

Source : The Hindu

8. MALABAR REBELLION

The Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) has deferred its decision on a recommendation to remove the 1921 Malabar Rebellion martyrs, including Variamkunnaathu Kunhahamad Haji and Ali Musliyar, from the list of India’s freedom fighters.

About:

The panel was of the view that the rebellion that took place at Malabar was a one-sided attack on Hindus. Just two Britishers were killed during the unrest and hence the rebellion could not be considered as part of the freedom struggle.
The subcommittee had recommended the removal of the Malabar Rebellion leaders, mostly Muslims, from the list. This is viewed by some as an attempt to distort history.

Do You know?

The Malabar rebellion or Mappila riots occured between August 1921 and 1922 in the southern part of the Malabar district of the Madras Presidency (now part of Kerala).
The uprising was by the Mappila peasantry (mainly Muslims) against the prevailing feudal system in the region controlled by upper-caste Hindus, whom the British had also appointed in positions of authority for their support.

Source : The Hindu

9. UNESCO’s CITY OF LITERATURE

Kozhikode was proposed by the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) to be branded as a ‘City of Literature’ with the help of UNESCO.

About:

It is among the six places that the KILA plans to develop as ‘Creative Cities’. Thiruvananthapuram is vying for the title ‘City of Peace’, Kollam ‘City of Biodiversity’, Kochi ‘City of Design’, Thrissur ‘City of Learning’, and Kannur ‘City of Craft and Folk Arts’.
UNESCO's City of Literature programme is part of the wider Creative Cities Network.
The Network was launched in 2004, and now has member cities in seven creative fields.
The other creative fields are: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Media Arts, and Music. A city designated as ‘Creative City of Literature’ must have a sufficient number of institutions taking care of its literary life.

Source : The Hindu

10. CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (IDENTIFICATION) BILL, 2022

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, that would allow the police and prison authorities to collect, store and analyse physical and biological samples, including retina and iris scans, was introduced in the Lok Sabha.

About:

The Bill also seeks to apply these provisions to persons held under any preventive detention law.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will be the repository of physical and biological samples, signature and handwriting data that can be preserved for at least 75 years.
The Bill seeks to repeal the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 whose scope was limited to recording finger impressions and footprint impressions of limited category of convicted and non-convicted persons and photographs on the order of a magistrate.

Criticism

Opposition members termed the Bill “unconstitutional”.
Opposition members argued that the Bill was beyond the legislative competence of Parliament as it violated fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to privacy.
The Bill, which implied use of force in collection of biological information, could also lead to narco analysis and brain mapping, and claimed that it violates Article 20 (3) of the Constitution as well as the Supreme Court judgment in the K.S. Puttaswamy case.

Source : The Hindu

29 MARCH 2022 DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS | UPSC CDS CAPF AFCAT NDA SSB

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