UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | August 19 to August 25, 2024

— The lateral entry was recommended by NITI Aayog in its three-year Action Agenda and Sectoral Group of Secretaries (SGoS) on Governance in 2017.

A timeline of the MUDA land ‘scam’

• MUDA Land Scam

— Karnataka Governor Thawarchand Gehlot has accorded sanction for prosecution against Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the allotment of 14 housing sites in Mysuru to his wife in 2021 in exchange for 3.16 acres of land acquired from her by Mysuru authorities.

— It alleged that the CM’s wife was an illegal beneficiary of a controversial land exchange scheme that was devised by the Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) in 2020 to resolve cases in which the authority had illegally acquired land without informing owners about the acquisition.

— The land was exchanged under the “50:50” Scheme- where land equivalent to half the acquired land is allotted in a developed area.

• Revised Model Foster Care Guidelines

— The Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry has permitted single individuals-  including those who are unmarried, widowed, divorced, or legally separated — aged 35 to 60 years, to foster a child and adopt after two years.

— A single woman can foster and eventually adopt a child of any gender, a man can only do so for male children.

—  The revised guidelines have specified – to foster a child in the six to 12 years and 12 to 18 years age brackets, the “composite age of the married couple” is to be a minimum of 70 years, while a single foster parent is to be of minimum 35 years.

 

Environment

• Orangutan diplomacy

— In line with China’s ‘Panda diplomacy,’ Malaysia announced its own ‘Orangutan diplomacy’ in May this year, intending to gift orangutans to palm oil-buying countries. However, after widespread criticism regarding the removal of orangutans from their natural habitat, the policy has been changed.

— According to the latest proposal, importers of Malaysian palm oil will be offered to “sponsor” one or more orangutans.

— Malaysia, the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, has been under immense pressure to make its palm oil industry more sustainable.

— These apes are found in the rainforests of the islands of Borneo and Sumatra — shared by Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.

Orangutans have an element of yogic gentleness about them (Wikimedia Commons)

• Orangutan Status

— Orangutans are found only in Indonesia and Malaysia.

— IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Critically Endangered

— Species: Bornean (Pongo pygmaeus), Sumatran (Pongo abelii), and Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis).

(Source: iucn.org)

 

Bilateral Relationship

PM Narendra Modi paid respects at the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar Memorial in Warsaw, Poland. (X/@PMOIndia)

• Jamsaheb Memorial Youth Exchange Programme

— Recently, the Prime Minister of India visited Poland. This was the first visit by the Indian Prime Minister after 45 years.

— During the visit, he noted that the Dobry Maharaja, Kolhapur, and Battle of Monte Cassino memorials were shining examples of vibrant people-to-people ties

— He paid tribute to the Dobry Maharaja Memorial in Warsaw, which honors the Jamsaheb of Nawanagar, Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, for sheltering over a thousand Polish children during World War II. The Jamsaheb, from modern-day Jamnagar in Gujarat, is fondly remembered in Poland as the “Dobry (Good) Maharaja.

— PM Modi also paid tributes at the monument dedicated to the Battle of Monte Cassino. This Monument commemorates the sacrifice and valour of soldiers from Poland, India, and other countries who fought alongside each other in the famous Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy during the Second World War.

Ibrahim began his three-day visit to India on Monday night in his first trip to the country as the prime minister. (X/ anwaribrahim)

• India-Malaysia

— Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is on a three-day visit to India. This is Ibrahim’s first visit to India as the Prime Minister.

— Malaysia appreciated India’s initiative in hosting the Voice of the Global South Summit (VOGSS), providing a platform by which countries of the Global South could deliberate and address their concerns, interests, and priorities as well as exchange ideas and solutions.

• India-Japan

— The third Japan-India 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting was held in New Delhi. The next 2+2 Ministerial Meeting will be held in Japan.

— In defence cooperation, both countries welcomed the first air visit by Japanese fighters and their participation at Tarang Shakti.

— Tarang Shakti-2024 is the Indian Air Force’s first multinational air exercise. The phase-2 of the exercise is scheduled to be held in Jodhpur.

 

Science and Technology

• Californium

— On August 9, Bihar’s Gopalganj police seized what they suspected was a highly ‘radioactive’ substance Californium.

— Californium is a silvery-white synthetic radioactive metal with the atomic number 98 on the periodic table.

— It was first made in 1950 at Berkeley, California — from where it derives its name — Californium is a very strong neutron emitter and is used in portable metal detectors for identifying gold and silver ores, to help identify water and oil layers in oil wells, and detect metal fatigue and stress in aeroplanes.

— It is highly radioactive and prohibitively expensive, with one gram costing Rs 17 crore in the international market.

• Neffy

— The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved the first-ever nasal spray called Neffy for treating anaphylaxis.

— Anaphylaxis is a severe and life-threatening allergic reaction that demands immediate medical attention and an injection of epinephrine.

— Epinephrine is a hormone medication that relaxes the muscles in the airways and constricts the blood vessels, making it the only life-saving treatment for anaphylaxis.

• Mars Insight Lander

— According to the data from NASA’s Mars Insight Lander, the scientists have discovered liquid water on Mars.

— The Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) robotic lander was designed to study the deep interior of the red planet. It landed on Mars in 2018 and retired in December 2022. It was the first spacecraft to document a marsquake.

The training will cover monitoring of patients for adverse effects and determining the appropriate line of treatment. (File Photo)

• BPaLM

— India is set to roll out training of healthcare professionals in administering BPaLM, after nearly two years of WHO recommendations to use it for drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB).

—  BPaLM is composed of bedaquiline, pretomanid, linezolid and moxifloxacin (BPaLM) for treating multi-drug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB).

• Tanager-1

— A coalition of companies and organisations developed tanager-1 which was launched by SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on August 16.

— The satellite will use imaging spectrometer technology developed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory to track methane and carbon dioxide emissions.

— Methane is an invisible but strong greenhouse gas, and the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide that’s why researchers want to track it.

• Hayflick limits

— Leonard Hayflick, who discovered that normal somatic cells can divide (and thus reproduce) only a certain number of times, died on August 1 at the age of 98.

— He has discovered that cell division in somatic (non-reproductive) cells stopped after roughly 40-60 times. This cessation causes aging. This means that there is an in-built cellular clock in the human body. This “ultimate Hayflick limit”, as scientists have termed it, is around 125 years for humans.

Report

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan receiving the report of the Hema Commission from Retired Justice K Hema. (Photo: Facebook/File)

• Justice Hema Committee report

— In 2017, the Justice Hema committee was formed by the Kerala government based on the petition filed by the Women in Cinema Collective (WCC) to study the challenges faced by women in the industry.

— The report was released on 20th August and it made significant revelations, highlighting extreme discrimination and exploitation faced by women in the Malayalam film industry.

 

Persons in News

• Maria Branyas

— Maria Branyas, the world’s oldest person, passed away at the age of 117 in a Spanish nursing home.

— Branyas became the world’s oldest person in January 2023 and celebrated her 117th birthday on March 4.

— According to the Guinness World Record, Tomiko Itooka became the world’s oldest living person at age 116.

•  Rakesh Pal

— The Director General of the Indian Coast Guard Rakesh Pal dies of cardiac arrest on August 18.

— He had taken charge as the 25th Indian Coast Guard Chief on July 19 last year.

— Dinesh Kumar Tripathi is the Chief of the Naval Staff.

Places in News

(Just FYI: The location of places is important, considering that UPSC has asked several questions about places that were in the news, such as Aleppo and Kirkuk, in the 2018 UPSC Prelims. In 2014, a question was asked about the location of the Chechnya region. Similarly, in 2017, a direct question was asked about the Teesta River. The best way to remember these locations is to plot them on a map.)

•  Chechnya

— Russian President Vladimir Putin recently visited Chechnya, a mainly Muslim republic within the Russian Federation. This marked his first visit in nearly 13 years.

— It is situated on the northern flank of the Greater Caucasus range. Grozny is the capital of Chechnya.

• Pokrovsk

— Civilians in Ukraine’s eastern strategic logistics hub of Pokrovsk have no more than two weeks to evacuate as Russian troops press towards it.

— The Pokrovsk front remains the area with the most intense fighting in eastern Ukraine.

— Myrnohrad (Ukraine), less than five kilometres further northeast of Pokrovsk, has also been under Russian artillery fire for three days now.

• Dipu Dara

— A massive landslide at Dipu Dara near Singtam in the Gangtok district of Eastern Sikkim damaged a dam on the Teesta river and affected the hydroelectric project.

— Teesta is a 414 km-long river flowing through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal, before flowing into the river Meghna in Bangladesh. It is the fourth-largest trans-boundary river shared between India and Bangladesh after the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna river systems.

Magic practitioner Xurobh Nath, who completed his BA from Mayang Anchalik College in 2013. (Express photo by Sukrita Baruah)

• Magic Festival – Mayong

— A ‘magic festival’ was organised by the district administration in Assam’s Mayong on 18th August.

— Mayong, a region in Central Assam’s Morigaon district, has long been associated with mysticism and ‘magic’ practices, including ‘magical healing’ and folk medicine.

 

Sports

(Just FYI: With the unpredictability of the UPSC examinations and questions like the ICC World Test Championship question 2021, you can’t be sure of anything. It is wise to know what it is and not go into too much detail.)

India’s Neeraj Chopra in action during the men’s javelin throw. (Reuters)

• Lausanne Diamond League

— Neeraj Chopra stood second at the Lausanne Diamond League with a javelline thrown of 89.49m.

— The first position was taken by Anderson Peters of Gernada with 90.61m javelline throw. The third position was acquired by  Julian Weber of Germany with a throw of 87.08 metres.

• Paris Paralympics

— Satya Prakash Sangwan has been appointed as the chef de mission (CDM) of the Indian contingent at the upcoming Paris Paralympics.

— The Paris Paralympics is scheduled between 28 August and 8 September 2024.

Terms making buzz

Prime Minister Narendra Modi being welcomed as he arrives at the Kyiv Central Railway Station from Poland to begin his one-day visit to Ukraine on Friday. (ANI Photo)

— Rail Force One: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv from neighbouring Poland by train on August 23. This train is nicknamed as “Rail Force One.” The Ukrainian airspace has been closed ever since Russia launched its invasion in February 2022. Political leaders have since used trains to visit the country.

— Long-pimple rubber: It is a defensive ploy used in Table tennis. It puts the opposite effect on the spin that the opponent plays. If the opponent plays a backspin shot, when one returns with this rubber, the ball will have topspin and vice-versa.

— Fahrenheit 451: It is a book written by American writer Ray Bradbury which was published in 1953 at the height of the “McCarthy era” of political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and ideas in the United States. It is about a dystopian society where books are banned, and “firemen” like the protagonist Guy Montag, are hired to burn them.

— Namdharis: This sect was founded by Satguru Ram Singh on Baisakhi in 1857. He challenged the status quo, advocated social reform, and resisted the Raj in various ways. The British inflicted terrible punishments on the Namdharis and deported Ram Singh to Rangoon.

Test Your Knowledge

(Note: The best way to remember facts for UPSC and other competitive exams is to recall them through MCQs. Try to solve the following questions on your own.)

A. With reference to river Teesta, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2017)

1. The source of river Teesta is the same as that of Brahmaputra but it flows through Sikkim,

2. River Rangeet originates in Sikkim and it is a tributary of river Teesta.

3. River Teesta flows into Bay of Bengal on the border of India and Bangladesh.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 2 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

B. Which one of the following makes a tool with a stick to scrape insects from a hole in a tree or a log of wood? (UPSC CSE 2023)

(a) Fishing cat

(b) Orangutan

(c) Otter

(d) Sloth bear

C. Jamsaheb Memorial Youth Exchange Programme is started by India which of the following countries?

(a) Ukraine

(b) Poland

(c) Finland

(d) Italy

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