International Day For Elimination Of Violence Against Women

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

• It is observed annually on November 25.
• It is a United Nations (UN)-designated day marked to create awareness of the different types of violence faced by women, promoting advocacy, and creating better opportunities for women.
• 2023 Theme: This year’s theme, "UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls", emphasises the need to fund prevention strategies proactively to stop gender-based violence.
• History:
  • Since 1981, women’s rights activists have marked 25 November as a day against gender-based violence, paying homage to the Mirabal sisters—three Dominican political activists brutally murdered in 1960 by order of the country’s ruler, Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961).
  • The UN General Assembly, on 20 December 1993, adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, laying the groundwork for global efforts to eradicate such violence.
  • On 7 February 2000, the General Assembly, through a resolution, officially designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
  • This resolution urged governments, international organizations and NGOs to unite in organizing activities annually on this date, fostering public awareness and collective action to address and eliminate violence against women and girls worldwide.

CGTMSE Achieves Landmark Milestone, Approves a Credit Guarantee of Rs. 1 Lakh Crore in Just 7 Months of FY 2023-24 - Union Minister Shri Narayan Rane

Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) Scheme

• It was launched in 2000.
• Funding: The corpus of CGTMSE is being contributed by the Government of India and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in the ratio of 4:1.
• Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) is jointly set up by the Ministry of Micro, Small, & Medium Enterprises (MSME), the Government of India, and the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) to catalyse the flow of institutional credit to Micro & Small Enterprises (MSEs).
• CGTMSE has been instrumental in providing guarantee cover to collateral and/or third-party guarantee-free credit facilities extended by eligible Member Lending Institution [MLIs] to MSEs.

Small Industries Development Bank of India

• It was established under an Act of Parliament in 1990.
• It is the Principal Financial Institution engaged in the promotion, financing & development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector and the coordination of the functions of the various institutions engaged in similar activities.
• The main objective of SIDBI is to offer loans (both direct and indirect) to MSMEs to help address the development and financial gaps in the ecosystem of MSMEs.
• SIDBI helps MSMEs acquire the funds they require to grow, market, develop, and commercialise their technologies and innovative products.
• It was made responsible for administering the Small Industries Development Fund and National Equity Fund.

Exercise SURYA KIRAN : 17th Edition

Exercise SURYA KIRAN

• It is a joint military exercise between the Indian army and the Nepali army.
• It is an annual event and is conducted alternately in the two countries.
• The Indian Army contingent, comprising 354 personnel, is being led by a battalion from the Kumaon Regiment. The Nepal Army contingent is represented by the Tara Dal Battalion.
• The aim of the exercise is to enhance interoperability in jungle warfare, counter-terrorism operations in mountainous terrain, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief under the United Nations Charter on peacekeeping operations.
• The exercise will focus on the employment of drones and counter-drone measures, medical training, aviation aspects and environment conservation.
• The exercise will provide a platform for soldiers from India and Nepal to exchange ideas and experiences, share best practises, and foster a deeper understanding of each other’s operational procedures.
• This exercise signifies the strong bonds of friendship, trust, and common cultural linkages that exist between India and Nepal.
• It sets the stage for a productive and fruitful engagement, showcasing the unwavering commitment of both nations towards broader defence cooperation.

Annual tiger census in Sunderbans from Nov 27

Sundarbans Tiger Reserve (STR)

• Location:
  • STR is situated in the coastal districts of West Bengal, i.e., South 24-Parganas and part of North 24-Parganas.
  • It lies at the southernmost extremity of the lower Gangetic delta, bordering the Bay of Bengal.
• It is a part of the famous "Sundarbans," the largest delta in the world, formed by the convergence of two Himalayan rivers, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, both of which flow into the Bay of Bengal.
• It is not only a Tiger Reserve but also a National Park and a Biosphere Reserve.
• Borders:
  • It is bound to the east by the international boundary with Bangladesh, formed by the rivers Harinbhanga, Raimangal, and Kalindi.
  • On the south lies the Bay of Bengal.
  • The western border is formed by the river Matla, which acts as a common boundary with the territorial Forest Division of South 24- Parganas.
  • Towards the north-west, the area is bound by the rivers Bidya and Gomdi.
• It can be described as a maze of estuaries, river channels, and creeks encompassing a number of islands of various shapes and sizes.
• It is the only mangrove forest throughout the world (besides Bangladesh) to harbour a significant tiger population.
• Flora: These comprise of true mangroves or major elements, minor elements of mangroves or/and mangrove associates, shrubs, non-halophytic non-mangrove associates, halophytic herbs, shrubs, weeds, epiphytes, and parasitic plants.
• Fauna: It is home to a large number of endangered and globally threatened species like the tiger, fishing cat, estuarine crocodile, Gangetic dolphin, Irrawaddy Dolphin, king cobra, water monitor lizard, and other species.

Lake project threat to Sangai: Manipur to Centre

Sangai

• It is subspecies of Eld''s deer that is endemic to Manipur.
• It also has immense cultural relevance to Manipur.
• Distribution: It is found only in Keibul Lamjao National Park; the largest single mass of phumdi is in Loktak Lake – in Manipur’s Bishnupur district.
• Appearance
  • It is a medium-sized deer with uniquely distinctive antlers and extremely long brow tines, which form the main beam.
  • The forward protruding beam appears to come out from the eyebrow, hence called the brow-antlered deer.
  • It has a dark reddish-brown winter coat, which turns paler in summer.
  • The deer walks on the hind surface of its pasterns with mincing hops over floating foliage and is hence also called the Dancing Deer.
• Conservation status
  • IUCN: Critically Endangered
  • The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule-1

Loktak Lake

• It is a freshwater lake in the state of Manipur.
• It is famous for unique floating islands called Phumdis with multiple plant species.
• The Keibul Lamjao National Park, located on the Loktak Lake is the last natural habitat of the “Sangai” the dancing deer of Manipur.
• It is regarded as among the most beautiful and ecologically diverse lakes in the Northeast.
• The lake is designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.

Scientists identify new dinosaur species from footprints in Brazil

Farlowichnus rapidus

• The new species of dinosaur was a small carnivorous animal about the size of a modern-day seriema bird, or about 60-90 cm (2-3 feet) tall.
• It was a very fast reptile that ran across the ancient dunes.
• The fossilized dinosaur "trackways", were first found in the 1980s by Italian priest and palaeontologist Giuseppe Leonardi
• It lived during the early Cretaceous period.

Cretaceous Period

• In geologic time, it is the last of the three periods of the Mesozoic Era.
• It began 145.0 million years ago and ended 66 million years ago; it followed the Jurassic Period and was succeeded by the Paleogene Period (the first of the two periods into which the Tertiary Period was divided).
• The Cretaceous is the longest period of the Phanerozoic Eon.
• The Cretaceous Period began with Earth’s land assembled essentially into two continents, Laurasia in the north and Gondwana in the south.
• These were almost completely separated by the equatorial Tethys seaway, and the various segments of Laurasia and Gondwana had already started to rift apart.

Will deliberate on Old Pension Scheme after panel report

National Pension System (NPS)

• It is a retirement benefit scheme introduced by the Government of India to facilitate regular income post-retirement for all subscribers.
• NPS was launched on 1st January, 2004.
• Initially, NPS was introduced for the new government recruits (except the armed forces). With effect from 1st May, 2009, NPS has been provided for all citizens of the country, including the unorganised sector workers on voluntary basis.
• Voluntary: It is a voluntary scheme for all citizens of India. People can invest any amount in their NPS account at any time.
• Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN): It is based on a unique PRAN, which is allotted to every subscriber.
• Portability: NPS account or PRAN will remain the same irrespective of changes in employment, city, or state. It can be used from any location in India.
• PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) is the governing body for NPS.
• There is no defined benefit that would be available at the time of exit from the system, and the accumulated wealth depends on the contributions made and the income generated from the investment of such wealth.
• Under NPS, individual savings are pooled into a pension fund, which is invested by PFRDA-regulated professional fund managers into diversified portfolios comprising Government Bonds, Bills, Corporate Debentures, and Shares.
• Contributions made by individual subscribers are accumulated until retirement, and corpus growth continues via market-linked returns. Subscribers also have the option to exit this plan before retirement or opt for superannuation.
• PRAN will provide access to two personal accounts:
  • Tier I Account: This is a non-withdrawable account meant for savings for retirement.
  • Tier II Account: This is simply a voluntary savings facility. The subscriber is free to withdraw savings from this account whenever he or she wishes. No tax benefit is available on this account.

New regulations to tackle deepfakes soon: IT Minister Vaishnaw

Deepfakes

• Deepfakes are a compilation of artificial images and audio put together with machine-learning algorithms to spread misinformation and replace a real person’s appearance, voice, or both with similar artificial likenesses or voices.
• The term "deepfake" combines the deep learning concept with something fake.
• It can create people who do not exist, and it can fake real people saying and doing things they did not say or do.
• Background: The origin of the word “deepfake” can be traced back to 2017, when a Reddit user with the username "deepfakes", posted explicit videos of celebrities.
• Working:
  • They are created by machine learning models, which use neural networks to manipulate images and videos.
  • To make a deepfake video of someone, a creator would first train a neural network on many hours of real video footage of the person to give it a realistic “understanding" of what he or she looks like from many angles and under different lighting.
  • Then they''d combine the trained network with computer-graphics techniques to superimpose a copy of the person onto a different actor.
• Deepfake technology is now being used for nefarious purposes like scams and hoaxes, celebrity pornography, election manipulation, social engineering, automated disinformation attacks, identity theft, and financial fraud.
• Deep fakes differ from other forms of false information by being very difficult to identify as false.

FIRST discovery of dozens of new giant radio galaxies

Radio Galaxy

• Radio Galaxies, also known as radio-luminous galaxies or radio-loud galaxies, are a particular type of active galaxy that emits more light at radio wavelengths than at visible wavelengths.
• These happen through the interaction between charged particles and strong magnetic fields related to supermassive black holes at the galaxies’ centre.
• Radio galaxies are driven by non-thermal emissions.
• They are much bigger than most of the other galaxies in the universe.
• The first radio galaxy to be discovered, and still the brightest, is called Cygnus A.
• There are two broad classes of radio galaxies:
  • Core-halo radio galaxies:
    • They exhibit radio emission from a region concentrated around the nucleus of the galaxy.
    • The region of radio emission is comparable in size to the optically visible galaxy.
  • Lobed radio galaxies:
    • They display great lobes of radio emission extending, in some cases, for millions of light years beyond the optical part of the galaxy.
    • Some radio galaxies have a single lobe, but more often, the lobes are double, arrayed on both sides of the optical galaxy.

Survey of India, Genesys tie up for 3D digital twin-mapping programme in India

Digital Twin

• It is a virtual depiction of a real-world entity, be it a product, process, person or location, capable of comprehending and gauging its tangible counterparts.
• The twin digital copy will also help policymakers understand how infrastructure will function in different situations, such as high-footprint events, an increase in population, or natural disasters.
• The strategic partnership aims to create digital twins of major cities and towns, leveraging Genesys’ all-India highly accurate navigable maps.
• The Genesys constellation of sensors and SOI''s recently launched Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) network allow for real-time high-precision positioning data.

Survey of India

• It was set up in 1767.
• It is the National Survey and Mapping Organization of the country, under the Department of Science & Technology.
• It is the oldest scientific department of the Government of India.
• It bears a special responsibility to ensure that the country''s domain is explored and mapped suitably, provide base maps for expeditious and integrated development, and ensure that all resources contribute with their full measure to the progress, prosperity and security of our country now and for generations to come.