Daily Current Affairs :  29-11-2020

Table of Contents :

1. Core Sector Industries 
2. Kalpakkam Atomic Power Plant(KAPP)
3. India Climate Change Knowledge Portal
4. National Organ Donation Day
5. India's Push for gender equity in Science
6. Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling(BEOSP )
7. Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)
8. Lingayats
9. Sustainable peatland Management can prevent future pandemics
10. Navy is Information management and analysis center (IMAC) to become national maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) Center

1. Core Sector Industries 

• Output at India's eight core sectors shrank 2.5%in October.
• Eight core sector industries are ( n the order of weightage from highest to lowest): Refinery Products, Electricity, Steel, Coal, Crude   Oil, NaturalGas, Cement, Fertilizers.
• Since these eight industries are the essential basic and/or intermediate ingredient in the functioning of the broader economy, mapping their heath provides a fundamental understanding of the state of the economy.

Source: The Hindu

2. Kalpakkam Atomic Power Plant(KAPP)

• KAPP also is known as Madras Atomic Power Station recently activated the cyclone protection machinery against Cyclone Nivar.
• KAPP is one of the operational nuclear plants in the country situated in Tamil Nadu.
• It was the first indigenously built nuclear power station in India.
• It has two Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors of 170MWe each.

Source: Times of India

3. India Climate Change Knowledge Portal

• Portal was recently launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• It will be a single point Information resource on different climate initiatives taken by various Line Ministries.
• It will help in disseminating knowledge among citizens about all the major steps Government is taking at both the national and international levels to address climate change issues.
• Major components of the portal: India's Climate Profile, National Policy Framework, Bilateral and Multilateral Cooperation, International Climate Negotiations, etc.

Source: News Minute

4. National Organ Donation Day

• It is celebrated as an attempt to raise awareness regarding organ donation in India.

Govt. initiatives for organ donation

• National Organ   Transplant Programme which aims to improve access to life-transforming transplantation for needy citizens by promoting deceased organ donation.
• NationalOrgan &TissueTransplant Organisation (NOTTO), mandated under the transplantation of  Human Organs (Amendment) Act 2011to carry out activities for the promotion of organ donation from deceased persons.

Source: Indian Express

5.  India's Push for gender equity in Science

• Department of Science and Technology, under new Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, is incorporating a system of grading institutes depending on the enrolment of women and advancement of careers of women faculty and scientists.
• In 2015-16, the share of women in scientific research and development was 14.71%
• This concept is borrowed from the Athena SWAN (Scientific Women's Academic Network) program of the UK.
• Athena SWAN Charter is an evaluation and accreditation program enhancing gender equity in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine.

Source: The Hindu

6. Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling (BEOSP )

• All accused in Hathras case will undergo BEOSP test.
• BEOSP also is known as brain fingerprinting is a neuropsychological method of interrogation in which the accused's participation in crime is investigated by studying their brain's response.
• It is carried out via electroencephalogram, conducted to study the electrical behavior of the human brain.
• According to the Supreme Court (Selvi versus the State of Karnataka), narco analysis, polygraph, and brain mapping tests cannot be forced upon any individual without their consent and test results cannot be admitted solely as evidence.

Source: Indian Express

7. Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)

• GMRT has been selected as a Milestone facility by the U.S.-based  Institute of  Electrical and Electronics Engineers{IEEE).
• It is operated by the Pune-based  National  Centre for Radio Astrophysics, which is part of the Tata  Institute of Fundamental Research.
• GMRT is a low-frequency radio observatory for Investigating a variety of radio astrophysical problems ranging from by Solar system to the edge of the observable Universe.
• IEEE Milestones program honors significant technical achievements that have a global or regional impact.

Source: News Minute

8. Lingayats

• Karnataka govt. has deferred plan to provide OBC status to the Lingayat community in the CentralOBC List.
• Lingayats are members of a Hindu sect with a wide following in southern India that worships Shiva as the only deity.
• They are followers of a 12th-century social reformer, Basaveshwara who was against the caste system and Vedic rituals.
• They have been classified as a Hindu subcaste called "Veerashaiva Lingayats"
• Lingayats had distanced itself from Hindu Veerashaivas because latter followed Vedas and supported caste the system, which Basaveshwarawas against.

Source: The Hindu

9. Sustainable peatland Management can prevent future pandemics

• As per a recent study, peatlands being in rich biodiversity including many potential vertebrate and invertebrate Vectors of carriers disease.
• They also faced high levels of habitat disruption such as wild or human-made fires etc that were perfect conditions for potential zoonotic infectious diseases.
• The first reported case of Ebola in 1976 was from a peatland area and HIV/AIDS
• pandemic was also believed to be from a peatland in Congo.
• Therefore, sustainably managing peatlands can prevent the spread of Zoonotic diseases and future pandemics.

About Peatlands

• Peatlands are terrestrial wetland ecosystems in which waterlogged conditions prevent plant material from fully decomposing.  Consequently,
• the production of organic matter exceeds its decomposition, resulting in a net accumulation of peat.
• They are generally found in permafrost regions towards poles and at high altitudes, In coastal areas, beneath tropical rainforest, and In boreal forests.

Source: The Hindu

10. Navy is Information management and analysis center (IMAC) to become national maritime Domain Awareness (NMDA) Center

• In the backdrop of 12 year anniversary of the 26/11 attacks,  India is set to upgrade IMAC as N MOA.
• IMAC, established in 2014, is the nodal center for maritime security Information collation and dissemination.
• It is based in Gurugram and disjointly operated by the Navy and Coast Guard.
• It tracks only non-military or commercial ships, known as white shipping passing through the Indian Ocean Region.
• Now, NMDA will see all major agencies- civilians, as well as defense, being on board.
• MDA is the effective understanding of anything associated with the global maritime domain that could impact security, safety, economy, or environment.

Various other initiatives are taken post 26/11 for coastal security:

• National Investigation Agency was set up to deal with terrorist offenses.
• A three-tier security grid was installed with Indian Navy, Coast guard, and Marine Police jointly patrolling India's near-seas.
• National  Command Control Communication and Intelligence Network (NC31) for surveillance of the entire coastline and prevent intrusion of undetected vessels.
• India has a coastline of 7,516.6 km and its physical proximity of India's coasts to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Gulf countries adds to its vulnerability for cross-border terrorism.

Source: Indian Express

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