Intensive exercise slows the course of Parkinson''s disease, study finds

Parkinson’s Disease

• It is a progressive neurological disorder that affects the nervous system and the parts of the body controlled by the nerves.
• It is a condition in which a patient holds limited or no control over his movements and body balance.
• It occurs and progresses with ageing, but in rare cases, it is also witnessed among children and teenagers as well.
• Currently, there is no cure for Parkinson''s disease.
• Many studies have suggested that men are more likely to be affected by Parkinson’s than women.
• Cause:
  • Parkinson''s disease is caused by the degeneration of nerve cells in the part of the brain called the substantia nigra, which controls movement.
  • These nerve cells die or become impaired, losing the ability to produce an important chemical called dopamine.
  • Dopamine operates with other neurotransmitters to help coordinate the millions of nerve and muscle cells involved in the movement.
• Symptoms:
  • Tremors (trembling in the hands, arms, legs, and jaw); rigidity (stiffness of the limbs); slowness of movement; and impaired balance and coordination.
  • Parkinson’s patients may also experience other symptoms such as difficulty in swallowing, chewing, and speaking, urinary problems, constipation, skin problems, depression, emotional changes, and sleep disruption.
• Currently, no blood laboratory or radiological tests are available to diagnose Parkinson’s disease.

PSU banks wary of SBI’s dismal AT-1 bond issue, may delay fund-raising

AT1 bonds

• These are a type of unsecured, perpetual bonds that banks issue to improve their core capital base.
• The money raised through these bonds is kept aside as a shock absorber by the bank.
• They have a call option, which can be used by the banks to buy these bonds back from investors.
• These bonds were created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to absorb the losses.
• These bonds are also called contingent convertible bonds or CoCos.
• These bonds are also mandatory under Basel=III norms.
• The banks must maintain capital at a minimum ratio of 11.5 per cent of their risk-weighted loans. Of this, 9.5 per cent needs to be in Tier-1 capital. AT1 bonds fall under this type of capital.
• These bonds are long-term and do not carry any maturity date. Because of a higher risk, they offer a higher yield.
• Regulation: In India AT-1 bonds are regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

bonds

• A bond is simply a loan taken out by a company.
• Instead of going to a bank, the company gets the money from investors who buy its bonds.
• In exchange for the capital, the company pays an interest coupon, which is the annual interest rate paid on a bond expressed as a percentage of the face value.

CEC Rajiv Kumar participates in the 11th meeting

Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB)

• It is the largest association of Election Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide.
• It was founded in October, 2013 in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
• Theme of 2023 meeting: “A global view on the challenges of regional elections 2023”.
• Vision: The shared vision among its members of achieving sustainable democracy around the world through the strengthening of the processes of election management in member countries.
• Members: It consists of 119 EMBs as Members & 20 Regional Associations/Organisations as Associate Members.
• India is a member of this association and is represented by the Election Commission of India (ECI)
• ECI took over as Chairperson for 2019-22 term and is presently a member of its Executive Board for 2022-24 in its capacity as immediate former Chair of A-WEB.
• In India A-WEB Centre has been established at New Delhi for documentation and research for sharing the best practices and training and capacity building of officials of A-WEB members.

Low-cost perovskite solar cells with superior thermal and moisture stability developed indigenously by Indian scientists

Carbon-based perovskite solar cells (CPSCs)

• It is the first indigenous perovskite-powered niche product developed in India and can pave the way for futuristic stable perovskite solar cells.
• Issues with Perovskite photovoltaic cells
  • They face the problem of degradation during operation when they come in contact with heat, moisture, light, and other environmental factors.
  • This long-duration stability is a major hindrance in the large-scale commercialisation of the product.
• While Carbon-based perovskite solar cells (CPSCs) have been successful in minimizing device stability issues and fabrication costs, the sensitivity of perovskite materials toward humidity and thermal stress is a major obstacle for practical implementation.
• Scientists have engineered MaPbI3 (MAPI-Methylammonium-lead-iodide) to attain thermal stability by incorporating Guanidinium iodide (GuI) and moisture stability by surface passivation using 5- amino valeric acid iodide (5-AVAI).
• Significance:
  • The indigenously developed perovskite solar cells can help resolve stability concerns in PSCs bring down high fabrication costs and could help speed up of commercialization in PSC-based niche products.

Perovskite

• It is a material that has the same crystal structure as the mineral calcium titanium oxide (CaTiO3), the first-discovered perovskite crystal.
• The mineral was discovered in the Ural Mountains of Russia by Gustav Rose in 1839 and is named after Russian mineralogist Lev Perovski.
• Generally, perovskite compounds have a chemical formula ABX3, where ‘A’ and ‘B’ represent cations, and X is an anion that bonds to both.
• A large number of different elements can be combined together to form perovskite.
• Due to its compositional flexibility, scientists can design perovskite crystals to have a wide variety of physical, optical, and electrical characteristics from insulating, semiconducting, metallic, and superconducting characteristics.

Norway''s vast phosphate deposits offer hope for sustainable electric cars

Phosphate

• It is the natural source of phosphorous, an element that provides nutrients to plants for their growth and development.
• It is a sedimentary rock formed millions of years ago by the accumulation of organic matter on the ocean floor.
• Its reserves are found in Africa, North America, Kazakhstan, the Middle East and Oceania.
• The world’s largest deposits are located in Morocco, which is also one of the global leaders in phosphate extraction.
• Phosphorus in India
  • Phosphate rocks are majorly produced only from two States in India, namely Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
  • Rock phosphate is the key raw material for DAP and NPK fertilizers. Currently, India is 90% dependent on imports for this raw material.
• Uses
  • Most of the phosphate rock mined throughout the world is used to produce phosphate fertilizer.
  • It is also used as animal feed supplements.
  • Elemental phosphorus and phosphoric chemicals derived from phosphate rocks find application in detergents, insecticides etc.

Indo-Japanese researchers develop ‘disease-modifying’ treatment for Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy

• Doctors from Tamil Nadu along with scientists from Japan have developed a disease-modifying treatment by using a food additive a beta-glucan produced by N-163 strain of a yeast Aureobasidium pullulans.

Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy

• It is a rare genetic disorder.
• It was first described by the French neurologist Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne in the 1860.
• It is characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness due to the alterations of a protein called dystrophin that helps keep muscle cells intact.
• It is a multi-systemic condition, affecting many parts of the body, which results in deterioration of the skeletal, heart, and lung muscles.
• The dystrophin gene is found on the X-chromosome, it primarily affects males, while females are typically carriers.
• Symptoms
  • It can begin as early as age 2 or 3, first affecting the proximal muscles (those close to the core of the body) and later affecting the distal limb muscles (those close to the extremities).
  • Usually, the lower external muscles are affected before the upper external muscles.
  • The affected child might have difficulty jumping, running, and walking.
  • Other symptoms include enlargement of the calves, a waddling gait, and lumbar lordosis (an inward curve of the spine).
  • Later on, the heart and respiratory muscles are affected as well.
• Treatments: Presently available treatments are gene therapy, exon skipping, stop codon read-through and gene repair.

Indian Army To Introduce K-9 Vajra Guns & Spike Missiles In Eastern Ladakh Amid Standoff

K- 9 Vajra

• It is a 155 mm, 52-caliber tracked self-propelled artillery system.
• It is built by Larsen & Toubro with technology transferred from South Korean defence major Hanwha Défense based on its K9 Thunder.
• Features:
  • It has all-welded steel armour up to 19mm thick.
  • The main weapon is the 155mm / 52 calibre gun.
  • It has a burst rate of fire of three rounds per 15 seconds and a maximum rate of fire of six to eight rounds a minute for three minutes.
  • Range: 40 km
  • The K9 uses a digital fire control system, by which it can fire multiple rounds that can impact a given area at the same time.

Spike missile

• Spike is a fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile (ATGM).
• The Spike family of ATGMs are developed by Rafael Advanced defence Systems, a defence technology company based in Israel.
• Spike missiles are being used by the defence forces of Israel and another 38 countries, including India, Netherlands, Romania, Chile, Colombia, Finland, Germany, Poland.
• Features:
  • These are lightweight, fire-and-forget tactical precision-guided missiles using electro-optical (EO) and fibre-optic technologies.
  • It has the ability to penetrate around one meter of armour and can be operated in either “direct attack or mid-course navigation based on target coordinates only.
  • The missile has an inbuilt seeker, which gives the firer the flexibility to use any of two modes: Day (CCD) and Night (IIR). The dual seeker adds to the missile''s reliability.

Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour: France’s highest decoration, mark of its greatest honour, for PM Modi

Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour

• What is it? The National Order of the Legion of Honour, or simply The Legion of Honour is the highest French decoration, both civil and military, and is one of the most famous national honours in the world.
• Five Degrees: The Legion of Honour has five degrees of increasing distinction: three ranks — Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), and Commandeur (Commander) — and two titles — Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand-croix (Grand Cross). The Prime Minister has been honoured with the highest French honour, akin to the Bharat Ratna in India.
• Origin: The Order was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, and has been presented for more than the past two centuries on behalf of the French Head of State to its most deserving citizens in all fields of activity.
• Are foreigners eligible? Foreigners may be decorated with the Legion of Honour “if they have rendered services (e.g., cultural or economic) to France or supported causes defended by France, such as human rights, freedom of the press, or humanitarian action”.
• The motto of the Order is: Honneur et Patrie, French for Honour and Fatherland.
• Award:
  • There is no material or financial benefit attached to the award.
  • The award badge is a five-armed Maltese asterisk hung on an oak and laurel wreath.
  • On the obverse is the effigy of the Republic and on the reverse two tricolour flags surrounded by the motto. The colour of the ribbon is red.

Rare Bird ''Jerdon''s Babbler'' Spotted In UP''s Dudhwa Tiger Reserve

Jerson’s Babbler:

• Jerdon''s babbler is a passerine bird native to wetlands and grasslands of the Indian subcontinent.
• Scientific Name: Chrysomma altirostre
• It is a member of the genus Chrysomma of the family Paradoxornithidae.
• Geographic Distribution: Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan.
• Habitat: It lives all-year-round near river courses, where it inhabits dense reedbeds and tall grasslands.
• Features:
  • It has rich brown upperparts and a long brownish-red tail.
  • The legs and feet are dark, the bill is greyish-horn colored above and pale below.
  • The eyes'' irides are yellowish-brown and a thin nude ring of greenish-yellow skin surrounds the eye.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Vulnerable

passerine bird

• A passerine is a perching bird in the formal scientific order Passeriformes.
• These are the most familiar, typical birds and the term can be applied to more than half the world''s unique bird species, including all the classic songbirds, sparrows, and finches.

Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR)

• Location: It is located on the Indo-Nepal border in the district Lakhimpur-Kheri in Uttar Pradesh.
• It comprises Dudhwa National Park (DNP) and Kishanpur and Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuaries.
• Rivers: The Sharda River flows by the Kishanpur WL Sanctuary, the Geruwa River flows through the Katerniaghat WL Sanctuary and the Suheli and Mohana streams flow in the Dudhwa National Park, all of which are tributaries of the mighty Ghagra River.
• The Dudhwa National Park is a typical Tarai-Bhabar habitat of the upper Gangetic plains’ Biogeographic province.
• Flora: The vegetation is of the North Indian Moist Deciduous type, containing some of the finest examples of Sal forests (Shorea robusta) in India.
• Fauna: Tiger, Langu, Smooth Indian Otter, Hog Deer, Mugger, Gharial, Python, Sandboa, Banded krait, Russel’s viper, Rat snake etc.

Union government seeks to ally concerns over Rubber Bill

Rubber Board

• It is a statutory organization constituted under the Rubber Act, 1947.
• It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Functions:
  • The Board is responsible for the development of the rubber industry in the country by assisting and encouraging research, development, extension and training activities related to rubber.
  • It also maintains statistical data of rubber, takes steps to promote marketing of rubber and undertake labour welfare activities.
  • A crucial function of the Rubber Board is issuing licenses to rubber producers, manufacturers, and exporters/traders. This license, known as the "Rubber Board license/registration," is mandatory for anyone involved in rubber manufacturing and export
• Structure:
  • The Board is headed by a Chairman appointed by the Central Government.
  • It has 28 members representing various interests of the natural rubber industry.
• Headquarters: Kottayam, Kerala.
• The activities of the Board are exercised through Five Departments viz. General Services, Extension & Advisory Services, Research Services (rubber Research Institute of India), Training (Rubber Training Institute) & Finance.