Dilemma for first-time Bru voters in their new home

• Bru or Reang is a community indigenous to the Northeast, living mostly in Tripura, Mizoram, and Assam.
• In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
• They belong to Indo-Mongoloid racial stock. Their languages have an affinity with Austro-Asiatic groups under the Tibeto-Burman family.
• Ethnically they are divided into 2 major clans namely Meska and Molsoi.
• Their language is known as “Kaubru” which has a tonal effect on the Kuki language though broadly it is the Kok-Borok dialect.
• Occupation: They are still a nomadic tribe and a large number among them maintain their livelihood involving Hilltop Jhum Cultivation and other food gathering activities.
• They believe in spirits and the existence of a soul.
• By religion they are Hindus and most of their deities are akin to gods and goddesses of the Hindu faith. Among Reangs followers of Vaishnavism are found in good numbers.
• This tribal community traditionally are endogamous and does not marry outside their community.
• The village council chief known as “RAI” permits Divorce and Widow marriage.

India strikes ''White Gold'', 5.9 mn tonnes lithium deposits found in Jammu and Kashmir

• It is a soft, silvery-white metal that heads group 1, the alkali metals group, of the periodic table of the elements.
• Features:
• It has the lowest density of all metals.
• It is the lightest of the solid elements.
• It reacts vigorously with water.
• It has a body-centered cubic crystal structure.
• Occurrence:
• Lithium does not occur as a metal in nature but is found combined in small amounts in igneous rocks.
• Lithium is found in brine deposits and as salts in mineral springs. Its concentration in seawater is 0.1 part per million (ppm).
• Major Reserves: Lithium reserves are concentrated in the lithium triangle in South America – Argentina, Bolivia & Chile, with 50% of the deposits concentrated in these regions.
• Uses:
• Lithium is important in rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras, and electric vehicles.
• It is also used in some non-rechargeable batteries for things like heart pacemakers, toys, and clocks.
• Lithium metal is made into alloys with aluminium and magnesium, improving their strength and making them lighter.
• Lithium oxide is used in special glasses and glass ceramics.
• Lithium stearate is used as an all-purpose and high-temperature lubricant.
• Lithium carbonate is used in drugs to treat manic depression

Lithium 

• • Lithium (Li), sometimes also referred as ‘White gold’ due to its high demand for rechargeable batteries, is a soft and silvery-white metal.
• Extraction:
  • Lithium can be extracted in different ways, depending on the type of the deposit — generally either through solar evaporation of large brine pools, or from hard-rock extraction of the ore.
• Uses:
  • Lithium is an important component of electrochemical cells used in batteries of EVs, Laptops, Mobiles etc.
  • It is also used in thermonuclear reactions.
  • It is used to make alloys with aluminium and magnesium, improving their strength and making them lighter.
    • Magnesium-lithium alloy - for armour plating.
    • Aluminum-lithium alloys - in aircraft, bicycle frames and high-speed trains.
• Major Global Lithium Reserves:
  • Chile > Australia > Argentina are top countries with Li reserves.
  • Lithium Triangle: Chile, Argentina, Bolivia.
• Lithium Reserves in India:
  • Preliminary survey showed estimated lithium reserves of 14,100 tonnes in a small patch of land surveyed in Southern Karnataka’s Mandya district.
  • Other potential sites:
    • Mica belts in Rajasthan, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh.
    • Pegmatite belts in Odisha and Chhattisgarh.
    • Rann of Kutch in Gujrat.

Kanpur’s GSVM becomes 1st institute to cure blindness through stem cell transplants

• These are cells with the potential to develop into many different types of cells in the body.
• Under the right conditions in the body or a laboratory, stem cells divide to form more cells called daughter cells.
• These daughter cells become either new stem cells or specialized cells (differentiation) with a more specific function, such as blood cells, brain cells, heart muscle cells or bone cells.
• No other cell in the body has the natural ability to generate new cell types.
• They serve as a repair system for the body.
• Stem cells are present inside different types of tissue. Scientists have found stem cells in tissues, including the brain, bone marrow, blood, and blood vessels, etc.
• There are two types of stem cells.
• Embryonic stem cells:
• These stem cells come from embryos that are 3 to 5 days old.
• At this stage, an embryo is called a blastocyst and has about 150 cells.
• These are pluripotent stem cells, meaning they can divide into more stem cells or can become any type of cell in the body.
• This versatility allows embryonic stem cells to be used to regenerate or repair diseased tissue and organs.
• Adult stem cells:
• These stem cells are found in small numbers in most adult tissues, such as bone marrow or fat.
• Compared with embryonic stem cells, adult stem cells have a more limited ability to give rise to various cells of the body.

Induced pluripotent stem cells

• These are adult stem cells that have been changed in a lab to be more like embryonic stem cells.
• These cells behave in a similar way to embryonic stem cells, so they could be useful for developing a range of therapies.

Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train to be first in India to have undersea station

• It is an inlet along the shoreline of the Arabian Sea that isolates the city of Mumbai from the Indian mainland.
• The east bank lies in the Thane and Navi Mumbai districts, while the west bank is in the Greater Mumbai district.
• It is Asia''s largest creek, with a length of 26 km.
• Thane Creek is fed by numerous freshwater sources (of which Ulhas river is the largest), making the water brackish.
• The creek is covered with mangroves on both sides.
• Thane Creek is a very important wintering ground for waterbirds. It supports over 1,00,000 birds during winter, including the iconic flamingos.
• A major part of the creek has been declared a bird sanctuary called Thane Creek Flamingo Bird Sanctuary (TCFS).

Thane Creek Flamingo Bird Sanctuary (TCFS):

• TCFS also referred to as the Airoli Flamingo Sanctuary, is the first flamingo sanctuary in India located along the western bank of the Thane creek.
• It encompasses more than 1600 hectares of mudflats, mangroves, and water bodies.
• The area was declared a flamingo sanctuary in 2015 and is home to substantial bird life – both residential and migratory.
• TCFS was declared a Ramsar site by the International Wetlands Convention in 2022.
• Flora: Avicennia marina, Rhizophora mucronata, Acanthus ilicifolius, Aleuropus lagopoides, Sesuvium protulacastrumetc.
• Fauna: Over 205 species of birds have been reported from this area, including Lesser Flamingo, Greater Flamingo, Asian Openbill, White Stork, Pied Avocet, Eastern Golden Plover, etc.

2.25 lakh people renounced Indian citizenship in 2022: Govt. data

• The Citizenship Act 1955 lays down the three modes by which an Indian citizen, whether a citizen at the commencement of the Constitution or subsequent to it, may lose their citizenship. These are,
• By Renunciation:
• An Indian Citizen of full age and capacity can renounce his Indian citizenship by making a declaration to that effect and having it registered.
• But if such a declaration is made during any war in which India is engaged, the registration shall be withheld until the Central Government otherwise directs.
• When a male person renounces his citizenship, every minor child of him ceases to be an Indian citizen.
• Such a child may, however, resume Indian citizenship if he makes a declaration to that effect within a year of his attaining full age, i.e. 18 years.
• By Termination:
• If a citizen of India voluntarily acquires citizenship of another country, then the citizenship of India gets terminated.
• This provision does not apply during times of war.
• If any question arises as to whether, when, or how any person has acquired the citizenship of another country, it is to be determined by such authority and in such manner as may be prescribed by the rules.
• By Deprivation:
• It is a compulsory termination of citizenship of India.
• A citizen of India by naturalization, registration, domicile and residence may be deprived of his citizenship by order of the Central Government if it is satisfied that:
• The citizen has obtained the citizenship by means of fraud, false representation, or concealment of any material fact;
• The citizen has shown disloyalty to the Constitution of India;
• The citizen has unlawfully traded or communicated with the enemy during a war;
• The citizen has, within five years after registration or neutralization, been imprisoned in any country for two years;
• The citizen has been ordinarily resident out of India for seven years

ISRO Successfully Launches New Rocket To Deploy 3 Satellites Into Orbit

• The new vehicle was developed to capture the emerging small and microsatellite commercial market.
• The SSLV caters to the launch of up to 500 kg satellites to low earth orbits on a ''launch-on-demand'' basis.
• The launch vehicle uses three solid stages followed by a liquid-fuel-based Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) to place satellites in orbit
• The rocket provides low-cost access to space, offers low turn-around time and flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites, and demands minimal launch infrastructure.
• It placed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) earth observation satellite EOS-07 and two co-passenger satellites — Janus-1 and AzaadiSat2

Janus-1

• Janus-1 is a technology demonstrator satellite built by United States-based Antaris and its Indian partners XDLinks and Ananth Technologies.
• It weighs only 10.2 kg and is a six-unit cube satellite with five payloads on board — two from Singapore, and one each from Kenya, Australia, and Indonesia.

AzaadiSat2

• The payloads have been built by 750 girl students from across India.
• The payloads include: LoRa amateur radio, a sensor to measure radiation levels in space, and sensors to measure the health of the satellite such as temperature, reset count, and inertial data.

Science For All What is a kilonova?

• The newly found star system has been labelled CPD-29 2176 and is located about 11,400 light-years from the earth.
• CPD-29 2176 is currently a neutron star and a star orbiting each other.

Kilonova

• A kilonova is a cosmic event that occurs when a neutron star smashes into another neutron star or a black hole.
• It releases heavy metals like gold, silver, and selenium into outer space at tremendous velocities, as well as radiation.
• A kilonova radiation also accompanies a gamma-ray burst, one of the most energetic cosmic events ever known.

Neutron star

• The stars which are formed when a massive star runs out of fuel and collapses are called neutron stars
• The very central region of the star – the core – collapses, crushing together every proton and electron into a neutron.

7 Adani Group Stocks Down After MSCI Cuts Free Float; 4 Scrips Hit Lower Circuit

• The free float is also known as Public float which refers to the shares of a company that can be publicly traded and are not restricted.
• It generally excludes promoters'' holding, government / strategic holding and other locked-in shares, which will not come to the market for trading in the normal course.
• Free Float=(Outstanding shares-Restricted Shares-Closely held shares)
• Outstanding shares refer to the number of shares held by all of the company’s shareholders
• Restricted shares refer to shares that are not transferable until certain conditions are met. Restricted shares are generally held by corporate management, such as executives and directors.
• Closely-held shares refer to shares that are typically held onto for a very long-term basis. Examples include major long-term shareholders and insiders.
• Free Float Methodology is used to provide a more accurate reflection of market movements and stocks actively available for trading in the market.
• The free-float methodology has been adopted by many of the world''s major indexes.
• MSCI calculates free float-adjusted market capitalization for each security to calculate the weights of the securities in the MSCI indexes.

India rated among top five accreditation systems in the world

• The GQII ranks the 184 economies in the world based on quality infrastructure (QI).
• India’s overall QI system ranking continues to be in the Top 10 at the 10th position, with the standardization system (under BIS) at 9th and the metrology system (under NPL-CSIR) at the 21st position in the world.

GQII

• The GQII is an initiative of the independent consulting firms Mesopartner and Analyticar to research and disseminate data on Quality Infrastructure.
• It measures the relative development of countries'' quality infrastructure.
• A formula calculates a score for each country based on its position in the sub-rankings for metrology, standards and accreditation.

Quality Council of India

• It was established in 1997 jointly by the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT), the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, and the Indian industry.
• It is registered as a non-profit organization under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860.
• It is operated through the constituent Boards of QCI, primarily the National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB), and the National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories (NABL),
• Composition
• It is governed by a Council of 38 members with equal representations of government, industry and consumers.
• The Chairman of QCI is appointed by the Prime Minister on the recommendation of the industry to the government.

Quad partners launch Cyber Challenge to advance cybersecurity across nations

• Under the challenge, QUAD has invited Internet users across the Indo-Pacific and beyond to become part of the challenge and practice "safe and responsible cyber habits.
• The challenge provides resources, including basic cybersecurity information and training for all users, from corporations to educational institutions, small businesses and individuals.
• The action in India is being coordinated by the office of the National Cyber Coordinator with the National Security Council Secretariat.

QUAD

• The Quad, officially the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, is a group of four countries: the United States, Australia, India, and Japan.
• One of the primary objectives of the Quad is to work for a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
• The group met for the first time in 2007 on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
• It is considered an alliance of maritime democracies, and the forum is maintained by meetings, semi-regular summits, information exchanges and military drills of all the member countries.