29 August 2023 : Daily Current Affairs

Daily Current Affairs

29-August-2023

Daily Current Affairs For UPSC ,Daily Current affairs of The hIndu and Indian Express.

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1. How does ISRO’s latest mission plan to examine the Sun? And why is it important to study the Sun?

Topic: GS3-Science and Tech

Context:

• Barely 10 days after creating history by landing near the South Pole of the Moon, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch its spacecraft to study the Sun.
• Aditya-L1 will be launched on September 2 at 11:50 am from Sriharikota.
• The spacecraft will travel 1.5 million km from the Earth to the Lagrange1 or L1 point between the Earth and the sun.
• This distance is nearly four times that travelled by the Chandrayaan missions, but just 1% of the 150 million km between the Earth and the Sun.

ADITYA-L1 MISSION:

• The Aditya-L1 mission will see the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) carry the 1,475-kg spacecraft to an elliptical orbit around the Earth.
• Like the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the orbit as well as the velocity of the spacecraft around the Earth will be increased till it is slingshot towards the Sun.
• The distance to L1 point will be covered in nearly four months.
• The spacecraft will then be inserted into a halo orbit around the L1 point.
• It will collect data for five years.

What is the L1 point?

• There are five Lagrange points, L1 to L5, between any two celestial bodies. These points can act as parking spots in space where the gravitational pull of the celestial objects equals the centripetal force required to keep a satellite in orbit.
• First, going to Lagrange1 places the spacecraft at a point beyond the Moon between the Earth and the Sun. This offers the spacecraft an unobstructed view of the Sun even during phenomenon like an eclipse.
• Second, with the mission covering only 1% of the distance between the Earth and Sun, the payloads will be able to look directly at the Sun.

Mission objectives:

• The main objective of the mission is to get a deeper understanding of the star closest to us, and how its radiation, heat, flow of particles,and magnetic fields affects us.
• The payloads on the mission will study the upper atmospheric layers of the Sun called chromosphere and corona. They will study the expulsion of plasma and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejection (CME).
• Importantly, it might provide clues to scientists about a long-standing mystery i.e. why the not-so-bright corona of the Sun is a million degree C hot, when the temperature on the surface of the Sun is just about 5,500 degree C.
• It will also help scientists understand the reasons behind acceleration of particles on the Sun, which leads to solar winds.

What are the payloads?

• The main payload is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VLEC), designed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, which will help study the solar corona from the lowermost part upwards.
• The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) designed by the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) will capture the UV image of the solar photosphere and chromosphere. It will help study the variation in light energy emitted.
• The Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) and High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS), developed by the UR Rao Satellite Centre, will study X-ray flares.
• The Aditya Solar wind Particle EXperiment (ASPEX) and Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) are designed to study the solar wind and energetic ions.
• The first payload has been developed by ISRO’s Physical Research Laboratory and the latter by the Space Physics Laboratory of ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

Why study the Sun from space?

• The Sun is the nearest star to us and therefore can be studied in much greater detail than others.
• Studying the Sun can also help us understand more about other stars.
• While the Sun supports all life on Earth, it also has various explosive phenomena. These can damage our satellites and communication systems. Studying the Sun may help in providing early warnings for such events.
• It is important to study the Sun from space because the Earth’s atmosphere and the magnetic field act as protective shields that block out harmful radiations, such as UV light. This means studying the Sun from the Earth can’t provide a complete picture.

2. 50 crore came into banking system under PMJDY: FM

Topic: GS3-Economy

Context:

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that Jan Dhan Yojana-led interventions and digital transformation have revolutionised financial inclusion in the country, as more than 50 crore people have been brought into the formal banking system with cumulative deposits surpassing Rs 2 lakh crore.

About PMJDY:

• Launched in 2014, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is a scheme run by the Ministry of Finance of the Government of India.
• This scheme assists underprivileged and needy sections of our society with simple access to financial services such as remittance, credit, insurance, pension, savings, and deposit accounts.
• The Jan Dhan account is targeted towards the rural and urban Indian population that was earlier unable to get benefits from the financial services listed above.

Basic tenets of the scheme

• Banking the unbanked– Opening of basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) account with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero charges
• Securing the unsecured– Issuance of Indigenous Debit cards for cash withdrawals & payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance coverage of Rs. 2 lakh
• Funding the unfunded –Other financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension & micro-credit.

Details:

• On the ninth anniversary of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which is one of the biggest financial inclusion initiatives in the world, Sitharaman said that 5 percent bank accounts have been opened by women, and 67 percent have been opened in rural/semi-urban areas.
• Under the scheme, the number of bank accounts grew 3.4-fold from 14.72 crore in March 2015, to 50.09 crore as on August 16, 2023.
• Total deposits have swelled from Rs 15,670 crore as of March 2015, to over Rs 2.03 lakh crore as of August 2023.
• The average deposits have increased 8 times from Rs 1,065 as of March 2015, to Rs 4,063 in August 2023.

3. How are sites on the Moon named?

Topic: GS3-Science and tech

Context:

• PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi announced Saturday that the point where the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the Moon will be named Shiv Shakti, and the point where the Chandrayaan-2 lander “left its footprints” will be Tiranga.

Names in space:

• The exploration of outer space is governed by the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, which came into force in October 1967.
• The International Astronomical Union (IAU), an association of scientists, scientific organisations, and member nations, says on its website that it “has been the arbiter of planetary and satellite nomenclature since its inception in 1919”.
• India is a party to the Outer Space Treaty and one of the national members of the IAU.

Process of naming:

• According to the IAU, when the first images of the surface of a planet or satellite are obtained, themes for naming features are chosen and names are proposed, usually by members of the appropriate IAU task group. Anyone may suggest a name.
• Names successfully reviewed by the task group are submitted to the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN), which approves them through a vote among its members.
• The names are then entered into the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. WGPSN decisions are not enforceable by any international law, but they help establish conventions for easier understanding of astronomical objects.
• The process for confirming a name can take some time. China’s Chang’e 5 mission landed on the lunar surface on December 1, 2020. Its landing site was named Statio Tianchuan, which was approved by the IAU in May 2021.
• The IAU says names should be “simple, clear, and unambiguous. “Commemoration of persons on planetary bodies should not normally be a goal in itself, but may be employed in special circumstances.

Moon’s Indian names

• In 2008, the spot where the Moon Impact Probe of the Chandrayaan-1 mission crashed (as it was meant to for the purposes of the mission) was named Jawahar Sthal after India’s first PM.
• There is also a Sarabhai crater on the Moon, named after ISRO’s first chairman, Vikram Sarabhai.
• The late astronaut Kalpana Chawla, the first Indian-born woman to go to space, has a Chawla crater named after her.

4. 51,000 ‘Amrit Rakshaks’ get job letters at Rozgar Mela.

Topic: GS-3- Employment.

Context:

• Over 51,000 appointment letters via video conferencing to newly inducted recruits as part of the Rozgar Mela were distributed by PM Modi.
• PM Modi said that Indian economy was on the path of rapid growth which has created big opportunities for employment of the youth.

About Rozgar Mela

• It is an initiative of the central government to provide employment opportunities to the youth of the country.

Details:

• The new recruits, selected from across the country, will be joining various posts such as constable, sub-inspector and non–general duty cadre positions under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• The Rozgar Mela was held at 45 locations across India and through it, the MHA is recruiting personnel to various Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) – CRPF, BSF, SSB, Assam Rifles, CISF, ITBP and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) as well as the Delhi Police.
• ‘Amrit Rakshak’ as the new appointees will not only serve the country but will also protect the country and its people.
• There were major changes in the recruitment of paramilitary personnel “The process of recruitment got speeded up from application to final selection, also examinations were being conducted in 13 local languages in place of English or Hindi as was the case earlier.
• There was also recruitment of hundreds of tribal youths in Naxal affected areas of Chhattisgarh by relaxing norms and the special quota for the youth from the border area and extremism-affected areas.
• Giving the example of Uttar Pradesh, PM Modi mentioned that the state once lagged behind in development and was also one of the leading states in terms of crime.
• With the introduction of the rule of law in Uttar Pradesh, the state is now able to scale new heights of development and a new society free from fear is being established.

5. Article 35A denied many in J&K their rights: CJI

Topic: GS2 – Indian polity

Context:

• Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud has stated that Article 35A, which provided special privileges to “permanent residents” of Jammu and Kashmir, denied fundamental rights to non-residents.

More about the news:

• Article 35A granted special rights including state employment opportunities, property acquisition, and settlement in Jammu and Kashmir exclusively to permanent residents.
• Chief Justice Chandrachud, leading a Constitution Bench, questioned whether the abrogation of Article 370 and the downgrading of J&K to Union Territories adhered to federalism principles.
• He highlighted the dissolution of the J&K State Legislature and the imposition of President’s Rule as steps preceding the abrogation of Article 370.
• The provision to Article 3 required consultation with the State Legislature before altering a state’s status, but President’s Rule in 2018 eliminated this requirement.
• The Solicitor-General argued that J&K remains a state with its legislature intact, except for police powers held by the President.
• The concept of “permanent residents” in the region dated back to 1927, during J&K’s princely state status.

6.ISRO to launch Aditya-L1 on Sept. 2 to study the sun

Topic: GS3 – Science and technology

Context:

• India’s first space-based solar observatory, Aditya-L1, will be launched on September 2 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• The spacecraft will be launched from Sriharikota at 11.50 a.m. IST.

More information about the news:

• Aditya-L1 will be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1), located about 1.5 million km from Earth in the sun-earth system.
• The spacecraft’s orbit will provide continuous observation of the sun without any occultation or eclipses.
• The mission aims to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and outermost layers of the sun to study solar activities and their impact on space weather in real time.
• The spacecraft carries seven payloads dedicated to solar observation and analysis.
• It is expected to take approximately 120 days for Aditya-L1 to reach the Lagrange point 1 orbit.

7. China releases new map showing territorial claims

Topic: GS2 – International relations

Context:

• The Chinese government has released the “2023 edition of the standard map of China,” which depicts Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region within China’s borders.
• The map reaffirms China’s territorial claims on its western borders and the controversial nine-dash line covering the entire South China Sea.
• The map also features a “tenth dash” east of Taiwan, asserting Beijing’s claims over the island.
• This release follows Beijing’s announcement in April of “renaming” 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, seen as a response to India’s activities leading up to the G-20 summit.

China’s territorial disputes:

• China has territorial disputes with several neighboring countries.
• South China Sea disputes involve overlapping claims with countries like Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and others.
• Taiwan is claimed by China as a part of its territory, while Taiwan considers itself a separate sovereign state.
• Border disputes with India involve areas like Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh.
• These disputes often lead to tensions, regional instability, and international concerns.

Territorial dispute between India – China:

• The India-China territorial dispute primarily centers around the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a loosely demarcated border between the two countries.
• The Aksai Chin region is a major point of contention, with China controlling it but India claiming it as part of its territory.
• Arunachal Pradesh is another key area of dispute, with China claiming it as “South Tibet” and India considering it an integral part of its territory.
• The dispute has led to military standoffs, such as the Doklam standoff in 2017 and the Galwan Valley clash in 2020.
• Both countries have engaged in diplomatic negotiations and agreements to maintain peace and tranquility along the border.
• The unresolved dispute continues to impact bilateral relations and regional stability.

Mains question:  What are the key territorial disputes between India and China and what are their implications?

8. Population growth not a panacea’

Topic: GS2 – Indian economy.

Context:

• Moody’s Investors Service report highlights India’s population growth impact on its labor force availability but emphasizes that this alone won’t enhance the economy or fiscal outcomes due to education quality.

Key highlights of the report:

• The report emphasizes the importance of better educational outcomes to avoid potential job losses from digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, particularly in call centers and BPOs.
• Moody’s compares India’s education outcome levels with those of Pakistan and Bangladesh, pointing out the education quality gap.
• While continued population growth is expected to support economic expansion, other factors like education quality and infrastructure are crucial for reaping benefits.
• India, along with Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam, will contribute significantly to global population and working-age population increases.
• The report highlights India’s notable gender gap in upper secondary education completion, particularly when compared to China and other Southeast Asian peers.

Mains question:  How does population growth impact economic growth? Explain the key factors influencing this relationship and discuss potential implications for developing economies.

9. Construction debris needs right disposal’

Topic: GS3 – pollution

Context:

• Godrej Properties Ltd. (GPL) calls for sustainable waste management practices in the real estate sector to address the surge in construction and demolition waste.
• GPL releases a handbook titled ‘Waste Matters’ to guide better construction waste management.

Status of construction sector:

• Global waste generation reached 2.24 billion tonnes in 2020 and is projected to peak at 11 million tonnes per day by 2100, with significant environmental and socio-economic implications.
• India’s construction sector is expected to reach a market value of $1.4 trillion by 2025, contributing substantially to waste generation.

Issues with construction debris:

• Uncontrolled construction debris poses environmental and ecological challenges.
• Improper disposal leads to pollution of land, water bodies, and air.
• Inadequate waste management affects public health and quality of life.
• Lack of recycling and reuse options exacerbates resource depletion.
• High demand for construction materials contributes to excessive waste generation.
• Inefficient waste handling results in increased construction costs and project delays.
• Illegal dumping of debris further aggravates problems.
• Sustainable waste management practices are essential to mitigate these issues.

Mains question: Discuss the environmental and socio-economic challenges posed by the increasing generation of construction and demolition waste in India.

10. LK-99 is probably not a superconductor

Topic: GS3 – Science and technology

Context:

• In July 2023, the team from South Korea published preprints claiming that LK-99 is a room-temperature superconductor at temperatures of up to 400 K (127 °C; 260 °F) at ambient pressure. This would make it the first room-temperature superconductor ever discovered.
• However the claims have been rejected by other scholars in following time.

More about the new finding:

• Conventional superconductors can transport electric current with zero loss but require extremely low temperatures and pressure.
• LK-99’s claim of room-temperature superconductivity has sparked excitement due to its free-to-access preprint papers with promising data.
• The importance of independent verification is crucial for such valuable and prestigious discoveries.

Possible applications of the discovery:

The discovery of a room-temperature superconductor, if verified and confirmed, could have significant applications across various fields. Some potential applications include:

• Revolutionizing power transmission and distribution systems.
• Enabling high-speed transportation with Maglev trains.
• Enhancing medical devices like MRI machines.
• Supporting energy storage systems and grid stabilization.
• Advancing computing and data storage technologies.
• Propelling quantum computing and communication
• Utilizing in aerospace and defense applications.
• Enhancing industrial processes and automation.
• Contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Question: What are the potential applications of room-temperature superconductors?

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