Art and Culture

ASI copying old stone inscriptions on temple walls in Tiruchi district - The Hindu

Context:

• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been involved in copying important stone inscriptions on the walls of two temples in Srirangam and Manachanallur taluks in Tiruchi district.
• Recently completed a similar exercise at two temples in Periyakulam taluk, Theni district.
• Preliminary reading of the inscription at Thiruvasi temple revealed it belonged to the Kulothunga Chola period.

Kulothunga Chola

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

 

 

International Buddhist Confederation to organize a Two-day Conference at Nalanda, Bihar on the Life and Legacy of Guru Padmasambhava - PIB

Context:

• The International Buddhist Confederation, in collaboration with the Nava Nalanda Mahavihara, organized a two-day International Conference on the Life and Living Legacy of Guru Padmasambhava.

International Buddhist Confederation:

• About: A Buddhist umbrella body headquartered in New Delhi that serves as a common platform for Buddhists worldwide.
• Members: Comprises more than 320 organizations, both monastic and lay, in 39 countries.

Guru Padmasambhava/Guru Rinpoche:

• About: Lived in the 8th century in ancient India; one of the most revered figures in Buddha Dhamma.
• Role:
  • Considered one of the founding fathers of Tibetan Buddhism, who appeared in Tibet in 749 A.D.
  • Spread the message of Lord Buddha to India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Tibet.
  • A Tantrist and a member of the Yogācāra sect.
  • Taught at Nalanda, a center of Buddhist studies in India.
  • Consolidated Yogic and Tantric practices into meditation, art, music, dance, magic, folklore, and religious teachings.

 

 

Society

Are lie-detector tests legally valid? - The Hindu

Context:

• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recently conducted a second round of polygraph tests on seven people concerning the rape and murder of a resident doctor at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Polygraph Test:

• Principle: Operates on the premise that physiological responses triggered when a person is lying differ from those when telling the truth.
• Mechanism: Instruments like cardio-cuffs or sensitive electrodes are attached to measure variables such as:
  • Blood pressure
  • Pulse rate
  • Respiration
  • Sweat gland activity
  • Blood flow

Outcome based on response: Each response is given a numerical value to determine if the individual is telling the truth, being deceptive, or uncertain.

Guidelines for Polygraph Test:

• In Selvi & Ors vs State of Karnataka & Anr (2010), the Supreme Court held that:
  • Polygraph tests can only be administered with the accused’s consent.
  • The accused must have access to legal counsel and receive a thorough explanation of the test’s implications.
  • National Human Rights Commission’s Guidelines for polygraph tests (issued in 2000) must be followed.
  • The accused’s consent should be documented before a Judicial Magistrate.
  • Any evidence or information obtained through a voluntarily consented polygraph test can be admitted in court.

 

Polity

RULE 170 OF DRUGS ACT, OVER WHICH AYUSH MINISTRY WAS PULLED UP - Indian Express

Context:

• Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta, while hearing the ongoing Supreme Court case against Patanjali Ayurved, reprimanded the AYUSH ministry for its July 1 notification asking state licensing authorities “not to initiate/take any action under” Rule 170 of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

 

World Affairs

How will morality law hit Afghan women? - The Hindu

Context:

• The Taliban recently announced a new law on the “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.”

 

Economy

Centre plans to boost ‘2G ethanol’ production, set up enzyme-manufacturing facilities to reduce imports - The Hindu

Context:

• Following the unveiling of the BioE3 policy to boost biotechnology-centric manufacturing in India, the Department of Biotechnology is considering establishing enzyme-manufacturing facilities to enhance ethanol production. The first plant may come up in Manesar, Haryana.

BioE3 (Biotechnology for Economy, Environment and Employment) Policy:

• Nodal department: Department of Biotechnology
• Aim:
  • Foster high-performance biomanufacturing.
  • Support research, development, and entrepreneurship across thematic sectors.
  • Facilitate the expansion of India’s skilled workforce and surge in job creation.

 

 

CBDT rolls out Dispute Resolution Scheme (e-DRS), 2022, to minimize litigation - PIB

Context:

• In pursuance of section 245MA in the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notified the e-Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2022 (e-DRS).

Dispute Resolution Scheme:

• Aim: Reduce litigation and provide a faster, more cost-effective resolution for taxpayers.
• Establishment: Under section 245MA of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
• Provision: Allows taxpayers to resolve disputes electronically through Dispute Resolution Committees (DRCs).

Eligibility: Taxpayers must meet certain conditions, including:

• Disputed amount does not exceed 10 lakh.
• Taxpayer's income is below Rs. 50 lakh.

Exclusions:

• The dispute must not involve information from searches or international agreements.

DRC:

• Established in all 18 regions across the country.
• Can modify orders, reduce penalties, or waive prosecution and must decide within six months of receiving the application.

 

WGC raises India's gold consumption projection to 850 tonnes in 2024 - Indian Express

Context:

• The World Gold Council (WGC) has raised its projection for India's gold consumption in 2024 to 850 tonnes from 750 tonnes. A good monsoon coupled with a duty cut on gold will drive the demand, according to John Reade, market strategist for Europe and Asia, WGC.

 

 

 

Trade ministry proposes anti-dumping duty on Chinese aluminium foil imports - The Hindu

Context:

• The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recommended imposing an anti-dumping duty on aluminium foil imported from China after surging shipments captured nearly a third of India's market share despite ample local production capacity.

Anti-Dumping Duty

• About: A protectionist tariff imposed by a domestic government on foreign imports priced below fair market value.
• Dumping: A process where a company exports a product at a significantly lower price than it charges domestically.

Significance:

• Protects local businesses from unfair competition.
• Intended to restore fair trade, permitted by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Negative Impact:

• Can lead to higher prices for domestic consumers.

 

 

Mastercard chooses India for world debut of Payment Passkey Service - The Hindu

Context:

• Mastercard announced the worldwide launch of its new Payment Passkey Service to enhance online shopping security.

Payment Passkey Service:

• About: Uses device-based biometric authentication methods (e.g., fingerprints or facial scans) for transaction management.

Working:

• When users first sign into an account, their device creates a pair of keys:
  • Public key: Shared with the website to validate the passkey.
  • Private key: Stored on the device to unlock the passkey for account access.

Advantages:

• Speeds up transactions, enhances security against fraud and scams by replacing traditional passwords and OTPs.
• Provides a secure, easier way for cardholders to authenticate during e-commerce transactions.

 

Environment

Guppy fish - Indian Express

Context:

• A recent study revealed that long-term exposure to fluoxetine (Prozac), a common antidepressant, significantly disrupts the behavior and reproductive traits of male guppy fish.

Guppy Fish:

• About: Small tropical freshwater fish popular in home aquariums.
• Reproduction: Sexually dimorphic, with distinct differences between males and females.
• Appearance: Brightly colored in various shades, featuring patterns like speckles, spots, and stripes.
• Distribution: Native to several countries and islands in South America.

 

Why Namibia plans to kill hundreds of its majestic wild animals for meat - Indian Express

Context:

• Namibia plans to cull hundreds of its most majestic wild animals, including elephants and hippopotamuses, to provide meat for its population, which is facing severe drought.

Drought in Namibia:

• Location: Drought-prone southern Africa, frequently affected by such events.
• Beginning: The drought began in Botswana in October 2023 and intensified across several southern African nations.
• Factors: Influenced by the El Niño weather pattern.

Impact of drought 

• Low food availability: Staple crops such as maize have dried up, large numbers of livestock have died, and almost 84% of the country’s food reserves are exhausted. 
• Inflation: As stocks have diminished, prices have skyrocketed, curtailing access to food for a large number of people.
• Severe acute malnutrition among children under five: Deaths have been reported in some areas.
• Increased vulnerability of women due to the drought: As women and girls are required to walk longer distances to collect food and water, their risk of being subjected to gender-based violence also increases.

Impact of culling of wild animals 

• Drought to force the animals to migrate in search of food and water: It could bring them into conflict with human populations. 
• Could reduce the effect of the drought on wildlife: It would help in managing the current grazing pressure and water availability.

 

Poba Reserve Forest - Indian Express 

Context

The Poba Reserve Forest in Assam’s Dhemaji district will soon be notified as a wildlife sanctuary, a major boost to conservation efforts in the state.

Poba Reserve Forest

• About: A rainforest located in the northeastern part of Assam created in 1924.
• Area: ~ 10,221 hectares.
• Boundaries:
  • North: Foothills of the Himalayan range in Arunachal Pradesh; 
  • East and south: Siang, Dibang, and Lohit River systems confluencig into the mighty Brahmaputra and the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park; 
  • West: Revenue villages of the Jonai Sub-division of the Dhemaji district of Assam.

• Tribes: Mising, Bodo, Sonowal Kachari, and Hajong (Rabha). 
• Significance: 
  • One of the richest rain forests of North-East India in terms of the flora and fauna.
  • Home to various arboreal species, including the slow loris, capped langur & wild boar.
  • Habitat for about 45 species of birds and reptiles
  • Place of confluence of the Siang and Lohit rivers supports a diverse range of fish species.
  • Second significant elephant migration route from the north to the south bank of the Brahmaputra River, the other being the Panpur-Kaziranga route.

 

Odisha plans to bring 12 tigers to Satkosia with National Tiger Conservation Authority approval - Indian Express 

Context 

Four-and-half years after suspending the country’s first big cat relocation project in Satkosia Tiger Reserve, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has finally given a green signal to the state government to resume the programme.

Satkosia Tiger Reserve

• Location: Odisha spreading over Angul, Cuttack, Boudh, and Nayagarh districts.
• 2 adjoining sanctuaries: Baisipalli Sanctuary and Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary.
• Area: 1136.70 sq.km (523.61 sq.km. as a core area). T
• Meeting point of 2 biogeographic regions: Deccan Peninsula and the Eastern Ghats.
• Topography: Hilly, with moderate to steep slopes and narrow valleys.
• River: Mahanadi flows through the valleys in the middle of the reserve.
• Average elevation: 37 m - 932 m, with the lowest point being at Katrang and the highest point being at Sunakhania.
• Vegetation: North Indian tropical moist deciduous forests and Moist peninsular low-level sal.
• Flora: Asan (Terminalia alata), Dhaura (Anogeissus latifolia), Bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus), and Simal (Bombax ceiba).
• Fauna: Tiger, leopard, elephant, spotted deer, sambar, chowsingha, barking deer, bison, wild dog, sloth bear, jackal, giant squirrel, porcupine, freshwater crocodile and the gharial.

 

Sci and Tech 

Will an extended space stay affect astronauts? - The Hindu

Context

• Recently, NASA said Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule that took astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore to the ISS, as part of its first crewed test flight, wasn’t safe enough to transport them back. Instead, NASA extended Williams’s and Wilmore’s stay onboard the ISS until February 2025.

 

IACS scientists discover a new target for cancer treatment - The Hindu

Context 

Using human breast cancer cells, a team of scientists at the Kolkata-based Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) has discovered a new target for killing cancer cells, which can potentially lead to new therapies. This target is used by cancer cells to regulate DNA repair during cell division. Results of the study were published recently in The EMBO Journal.

 

C. elegans (Caenorhabditis elegans) worms - The Hindu

About: A nematode worm which is a small, relatively simple, and precisely structured organism.

• Gestation: Grows within 3-5 days from a fertilised egg to a millimetre-long adult. 
• Significance: Used in research to understand neuronal and molecular biology & the first multicellular organism to have its full genome sequenced and neural wiring mapped. 
• Characteristics:  A hermaphrodite (two sexes).

 

Novel nano polymers pave way for low-cost, efficient sensors - PIB 

Context

Novel electrochemical and optical sensors developed with the help of a new group of nano polymer materials called Metal-organic frameworks (MOF) and 2-dimensional (2D) materials, can be used for rapid and convenient detection of several health, food quality, and environmental parameters. 

 

Metal-organic framework

• About: Uniform structured porous materials suitable for solid-phase extraction.
• 2-dimensional (2D) materials: A class of nanomaterials defined by their typical and unique property of being hardly one- or two-atom thick.
• Characteristics of MOFs and 2D materials:
  • Have large surface area, functionality, and optoelectronic properties.
  • They have a wide range of synthesis methods 
  • They can be developed into disposable electrodes, optical kits, fiber optic sensors, colorimetric strips, etc.
• Applications:
  • To develop electrochemical and optical sensors for bacteria, Aflatoxins, and heavy metals.
  • Rapid detection of several health, food quality, and environmental parameters. 
  • Analyzing food toxins like Aflatoxins and Zearaloene in water, milk and staple food samples.

 

Centre to establish foot-and-mouth disease-free zones in eight States - The Hindu 

Context

The Union government has decided to establish foot-and-mouth disease-free zones in eight States - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Gujarat to expand export opportunities for Indian animal products, and enhance the country’s global market presence.

Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD)

• About: A severe, highly contagious viral diseaseof livestock that has a significant economic impact which affects cattle, swine, sheep, goats, and other cloven-hoofed ruminants but does not affect horses, dogs, or cats.
• A transboundary animal disease (TAD): Affects the production of livestock and disrupts regional and international trade in animals and animal products.
• Impact on humans: It is not a human health or food safety threat & not related to hand, foot, and mouth disease, a common childhood illness caused by a different virus.
• Cause: An aphthovirus of the family Picornaviridae.
• Strains: 7 strains (A, O, C, SAT1, SAT2, SAT3, and Asia1) endemic in different countries worldwide.
• Transmission: Found in all excretions and secretions from infected animals which breathe out a large amount of aerosolised virus, which can infect other animals via the respiratory or oral routes.
• Mortality: Rarely fatal in adult animals, but has high mortality in young animals.
• Symptoms: Fever and blister-like sores on the tongue and lips, in the mouth, on the teats, and between the hooves, depression, hypersalivation, loss of appetite, weight loss, growth retardation, and a drop in milk production, which can persist even after recovery. 
• Specification: It was the first disease for which the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE) established official status recognition.
• Treatment: Vaccines for FMD are available but must be matched to the specific type and subtype of virus causing the outbreak.

 

Five hospitalised after inhaling some chemical compound in Andhra Pradesh’s Vizag - The Hindu 

Context

Five persons fell unconscious and were hospitalised when they were engaged in shifting acetanilide bags (a crystalline powder) from one container to another in the godown of Shravan Shippings recently.

Acetanilide/ N-phenylacetamide/ Acetanil

• About: A synthetic organic compound with a designated molecular formula of C8H9NO.
• State of matter: A white, odorless solid introduced in therapy in 1886 as a fever-reducing drug.
• Usage: Relieving pain, treating such common complaints as headache, menstrual cramps, and rheumatism. 
• Side effects: It interferes with the function of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying pigment of the blood. 
• Applications: An intermediate in the production of dyes, rubber, and other chemicals.

 

Defence 

INDIAN ARMY LAUNCHES PROJECT NAMAN - PIB 

Context

The Indian Army launched the first phase of Project NAMAN.

Project NAMAN