NASA’s Psyche mission fires lasers at Earth from 16 million kilometres away

Psyche Mission

• It is a NASA mission that will explore a 140-mile-wide (225-kilometer) metallic asteroid called 16 Psyche.
• The spacecraft will enter the 16 Psyche asteroid''s orbit in 2029 and spend two years mapping the asteroid’s topography, scanning the surface, taking pictures, and more, with the aim of gaining information about its makeup as well as learning how metal core asteroids and planets are formed.
• The objectives of the mission include determining the age of regions on the asteroid, studying its formation, characterizing its topography, and studying dips in the asteroid''s gravity. Through the mission, scientists also hope to explore an unknown building block of planet formation: iron cores.
• It will also be the first time that a spacecraft will study a world made not of rocks and ice but of metal.
• With the Psyche mission, scientists have a chance to study how terrestrial planets were formed without having to carve up the Earth.
• 16 Psyche:
  • It is currently orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.
  • It was discovered in 1852 by the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis.
  • It is made up of gold, silver, and nickel deposits, making it metal-rich.
  • According to NASA, it could be worth more than Earth''s economy put together.
  • The outer surface of this asteroid is nickel-rich, which resembles an early planet''s core.
  • It is also one of the biggest asteroids in our solar system279-km across at its widest point.

India launches global repository of Digital Public Infrastructure

Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository

• It is created by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• It is a comprehensive resource hub, pooling essential lessons and expertise from G20 members and guest nations.
• Its primary aim is to bridge the knowledge gap in the choices and methodologies required for the design, construction, deployment, and governance of DPIs.
• The GDPIR showcases the information in a standardised format from countries and organisations that have developed DPIs at scale, incorporating elements such as maturity scales, source codes (where available), and governance frameworks. Currently, the GDPIR features 54 DPIs from 16 countries.
• The DPIs from India that have been incorporated in the GDPIR are: Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), DigiLocker, Umang, eSanjeevani, API Setu, Co-WIN, Government e-marketplace, Diksha, E-Hospital, Poshan Tracker and Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)

Digital public infrastructure (DPI)

• It encompasses foundational elements or frameworks like digital identification, payment infrastructure, and data exchange solutions.
• These components play a crucial role in facilitating countries to provide vital services to their citizens, fostering empowerment, and enhancing lives through the promotion of digital inclusion.

Social Impact Fund (SIF)

• It is envisioned as a government-led multistakeholder initiative to fast-track DPI implementation in the global south.
• This fund will offer financial support to provide upstream technical and non-technical assistance to countries in developing DPI systems.
• It offers a platform for all relevant stakeholders, including other governments, international organizations, and philanthropic entities, to contribute to this fund and help accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) through DPIs.
• India has pledged an initial commitment of $25 million.

Kyasanur forest disease: Study confirms its presence in 2 more Karnataka districts

Kyasanur Forest Disease

• It is a zoonotic disease.
• The disease was first reported in Kyasanur Forest of Karnataka, in 1957, hence it is known as Kyasanur Forest disease (KFD).
• It is also known as “monkey disease/monkey fever” because of its association with monkey deaths.
• This virus has spread along the entire stretch of the Western Ghats region, which also includes Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Goa.
• Symptoms
  • Sudden onset of high-grade fever, prostration, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and occasionally neurological & haemorrhagic manifestations.
• Transmission: It is transmitted through the bite of ticks and bonnets, and black-faced langur monkeys are highly susceptible to the infection. They play a significant role in the spread of the virus in the human population.
• Treatment
  • No specific treatment for KFD is available; however, prompt symptomatic and supportive therapy, including maintenance of hydration, hemodynamic stability, and management of neurological symptoms, decreases morbidity and mortality.

Union minister launches PM Shri scheme in Odisha

Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme

• It is a centrally sponsored scheme by the Government of India, announced in 2022.
• Objective: Development of more than 14,500 schools across the country by strengthening the existing schools among those managed by the Central Government/State/UT Government/local bodies.
• It will nurture students in such a way that they become engaged, productive, and contributing citizens, building an equitable, inclusive, and plural society as envisaged by the National Education Policy 2020.
• The duration of the scheme is from 2022-23 to 2026-27, after which it shall be the responsibility of the States/UTs to continue to maintain the benchmarks achieved by these schools.
• The total cost of the project will be Rs 27360 crore spread over a period of 5 years, which includes the central share of Rs 18128 crore.
• The selection of PM SHRI schools will be done through Challenge Mode, wherein schools compete for support to become exemplary schools.
• Features:
  • The selected schools will act as exemplary schools, showcasing all components of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) and offering mentorship to other schools in their vicinity.
  • The PM SHRI Schools will be developed as Green Schools, incorporating environment-friendly aspects.
  • The pedagogy adopted in these schools will be more experiential, holistic, integrated, play/toy-based (particularly in the foundational years), inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centric, discussion-based, flexible, and enjoyable.
  • The focus will be on the learning outcomes of every child in every grade.
  • Assessment at all levels will be based on conceptual understanding and application of knowledge to real-life situations and will be competency-based.
  • Linkage with Sector Skill Councils and local industry for enhancing employability and providing better employment opportunities will be explored.
  • A School Quality Assessment Framework (SQAF) is being developed, specifying the key performance indicators to measure outcomes. A quality evaluation of these schools at regular intervals will be undertaken to ensure the desired standards.

‘AGNI’ Initiative to Promote Innovations by Ayurveda Practitioners

AGNI Initiative:

• AGNI – ‘Ayurveda Gyan Naipunya Initiative’ - A CCRAS, (Ministry of Ayush) Initiative
• Aim: To provide a platform for Ayurveda practitioners to report their innovative practises and experiences in various disease conditions, along with promoting the culture of evidence-based practise among Ayurveda practitioners.
• Objectives of the Initiative
  • To promote the culture of reporting evidence-based practise among Ayurveda practitioners.
  • To document the reported successful therapeutic regimens for various disease conditions involving single drug/ Formulation/ Procedures for the purpose of education and academics.
  • To identify interested Ayurveda practitioners for collaboration in the creation of a database through applications and capacity building through training in research methods and good clinical practises.
  • To undertake research for mainstreaming pragmatic practises through scientific validation and evidence-based appraisal

Central Council for Research in Ayurveda Sciences

• It is an autonomous body under the Ministry of AYUSH, Govt. of India.
• It is an apex body in India for undertaking, coordinating, formulating, developing, and promoting research on scientific lines in Ayurvedic sciences.
• The research activities of the Council include Medicinal Plant Research (Medico-Ethno Botanical Survey, Pharmacognosy, and Tissue Culture), Drug Standardization, Pharmacological Research, Clinical Research, Literary Research & Documentation and Tribal Health Care Research Programme.
• Headquarter: New Delhi

Warm temperatures for prolonged periods may have led to massive pest attack in Assam

Mythimna Separata

• It is a typical long-distance migratory insect that is a major, polyphagous pest of grain crops in China and other Asian countries.
• The pest was first reported as a sporadic pest in Tamil Nadu in 1937 and Kerala and Odisha in 1957.
• The pest is known as the ear-head-cutting caterpillar, rice ear-cutting caterpillar, or armyworm.
• It feeds on leaves and can cut off panicles from the base of a crop plant.
• It frequently leaves the field looking like it has been grazed by cattle.
• During an outbreak, the pest multiplies in large numbers and moves in swarms from field to field, like an army, to feed and attack the crops.
• Favourable condition: An increase in temperatures with dryness creates a favourable condition for the pest population to increase.

Polyphagous pest

• Polyphagous insect pests are primarily agricultural pests that feed on economically important agricultural and horticultural crops of wide taxonomic diversity across the globe.

Rules for activities at Assam''s Deepor Beel to be simplified

Deepor Beel

• It is a perennial freshwater lake located 10 km southwest of Guwahati city, Assam.
• It is a permanent freshwater wetland in a former channel of the Brahmaputra River.
• It covers an area of 40.14 sq. km and varies in depth from approximately 4 m to 1 m depending on the season (monsoon or dry season).
• Its basin is drained by a system of rivulets and hill streams that connect the neighbouring hills and the forests to the river Brahmaputra through an outlet called the Khanajan.
• It was recognised as a Ramsar Site in 2002 and as an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) in 2004. It is the only Ramsar site in the state of Assam.
• It is a staging site on migratory flyways, and some of the largest concentrations of aquatic birds in Assam can be seen, especially in winter.
• Some globally threatened birds are supported, including the Spot-billed Pelican, Lesser and Greater Adjutant Stork, and Baer''s Pochard.
• About 50 fish species and aquatic resources provide livelihood support to about 1,200 households residing in about 12 villages on the fringes of the wetland.
• The Rani and Garbhanga hills, the habitat of the Asiatic elephants on the southern side of the beel, are part of this ecosystem.

Myanmar exports to China increasingly difficult due to conflict

Shan State:

• It is a state in Myanmar.
• It borders China to the north, Laos to the east, Thailand to the south, and five administrative divisions of Myanmar to the west.
• The largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km2, almost a quarter of the total area of Myanmar.
• The state gets its name from the Burmese name for the Tai people: “Shan people”.
• The Shan constitutes the majority among several ethnic groups that inhabit the area. The Shan are Theravada Buddhists and have their own written language and literature.
• The Thanlwin River (also known as the Salween/Namkhong) cuts across the state, which is also home to Inle Lake, the second-largest natural expanse of water in Myanmar.
• Shan is largely rural, with only three cities of significant size: Lashio, Kengtung, and the capital, Taunggyi.
• Shan State, with its many ethnic groups, is home to several armed ethnic armies.
• While the military government has signed ceasefire agreements with most groups, vast areas of the state, especially those easts of the Thanlwin River, remain outside the central government’s control and in recent years have come under heavy ethnic-Han-Chinese economic and political influence. Other areas are under the control of military groups, such as the Shan State Army.

Poor people much more likely to die from sepsis, study finds

Sepsis

• Sepsis is a serious condition that happens when the body’s immune system has an extreme response to an infection. The body’s reaction causes damage to its own tissues and organs.
• Sepsis happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body.
• Infections that lead to sepsis most often start in the lung, urinary tract, skin, or gastrointestinal tract.
• It can affect anyone, but people who are older, very young, pregnant, or have other health problems are at higher risk.
• Common signs of sepsis include fever, fast heart rate, rapid breathing, confusion, and body pain.
• Severe cases of sepsis can lead to septic shock, where your blood pressure drops to a dangerous level and multiple organs can fail.
• Sepsis is usually caused by bacterial infections but may be the result of other infections such as viruses, parasites, or fungi.
• Treatment for sepsis requires medical care. It will include antimicrobials, intravenous fluids, and careful monitoring.

SEBI Chairperson Launches IRRA Platform to Enhance Investor Risk Reduction

Investor Risk Reduction Access Platform

• It has been developed to reduce risks faced by investors in the eventuality of technical glitches at the trading member’s end at both the primary site and disaster recovery site.
• Its purpose is to provide investors with an opportunity to square off/close their open positions and cancel pending orders using the IRRA platform in case of technical glitches or unforeseen outages that render the trading member’s site inaccessible.
• It has been designed to reduce risks for investors participating in the market.
• It is not meant for taking fresh positions or orders, but only to cancel the pending orders.
• This platform will be available to trading members supporting internet-based trading (IBT) and Security Trading through Wireless Technology (STWT) for their investors. However, it will not be accessible for algo trading and institutional clients.
• It has been jointly developed by all the stock exchanges – BSE, NSE, NCDEX, MCX and Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India (MSE)

How will this platform work?

• Stock exchanges can also monitor parameters like connectivity, order flow, and social media posts, and Suo moto initiate the enablement of the IRRA service if needed, irrespective of any such request by the trading member.
• This service shall be enabled by the exchanges, Suo moto, only in case of disruption of trading services of trading member across all the exchanges, where the trading member is a member
• On invocation, after basic checks, the platform downloads trades of the trading member from all the trading venues and sends SMS/email to investors using internet trading or wireless technology, along with a link to access IRRA.
• Once the trading member is migrated to the IRRA platform, the investors of the affected trading member will be enabled to access the IRRA platform through a secure login system using their Unique Client Code (UCC) or investor’s PAN number.