Infrastructure Development/Information Technology/GSIII
NITI Aayog Launches Geospatial Energy Map of India

What's the NEWS

• NITI Aayog in collaboration with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a comprehensive Geographic Information System (GIS) Energy Map of India with the support of Energy Ministries of Government of India.

Know! about Geographic Information System (GIS) Energy Map

• The GIS map provides a holistic picture of all energy resources of the country which enables visualisation of energy installations such as conventional power plants, oil and gas wells, petroleum refineries, coal fields and coal blocks, district-wise data on renewable energy power plants and renewable energy resource potential, etc through 27 thematic layers.
• The map attempts to identify and locate all primary and secondary sources of energy and their transportation/transmission networks to provide a comprehensive view of energy production and distribution in a country.
• It is a unique effort aimed at integrating energy data scattered across multiple organizations and to present it in a consolidated, visually appealing graphical manner.
• It leverages latest advancements in web-GIS technology and open-source software to make it interactive and user friendly.
• The Geospatial Energy Map of India will be useful in planning and making investment decisions.
• It will also aid in disaster management using available energy assets.
• GIS-mapping of energy assets will be useful for ensuring real-time and integrated planning of energy sector of India, given its large geographical distribution and interdependence.

Prelims Factoids
National Research Development Corporation

What's the NEWS

• Commodore Amit Rastogi (Retd), has taken over as Chairman & Managing Director of National Research Development Corporation

National Research Development Corporation (NRDC)

• It was established in 1953 by the Government of India, with the primary objective to promote, develop and commercialise the technologies / know-how / inventions / patents / processes emanating from various national R&D institutions / Universities
• It is presently working under the administrative control of the Dept. of Scientific & Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology.
• NRDC has also successfully exported technologies and services to both developed as well as the developing countries.

Government Initiatives/GS II
Aadhaar Hackathon 2021

What's the NEWS

• UIDAI is hosting a Hackathon titled "Aadhaar Hackathon 2021" targeted at young innovators - who are still at various Engineering institutes and eager to step into the real world.
• The hackathon is starting on 28 Oct 21 at 0000Hrs and would continue till 31 Oct 21 up to 2300Hrs.

Know! about Aadhaar Hackathon 2021

• Aadhaar Hackathon 2021 is themed around two topics. The first theme is around "Enrolment and Update", which essentially covers some of the real-life challenges being faced by the residents while updating their address.
• The second theme of the Hackathon is around the "Identity and Authentication" solution offered by UIDAI.
• Under this theme, UIDAI is soliciting innovative solutions to prove Identity without sharing the Aadhaar number or any demographics information.
• Also, it is looking for innovative applications around face authentication API - the newly launched authentication modality of UIDAI.
• The objective is to popularize some of the existing and new APIs to solve the needs of residents.
• To solve these challenges through innovative technological solutions, UIDAI is reaching out to the young minds of all the Engineering colleges.
• The winners of each theme would be rewarded by UIDAI through prize money and other lucrative benefits.
• All the young minds are encouraged to form teams and participate in this first-ever event being conducted by the Aadhaar team.

International Organisations/GSII
Fourth International Solar Alliance General Assembly

What's the NEWS

• The fourth general assembly of The International Solar Alliance (ISA), is to be held virtually between October 18^th and October 21^st, 2021
• It will be presided over by Shri R.K. Singh, Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy, Government of India and the President of the ISA Assembly.

Know! about the 4th assembly highlights

• The Fourth Assembly of the ISA will deliberate on the key initiatives around the operationalisation of the OSOWOG initiative, the $1 trillion Solar Investment Roadmap for 2030, and approval of a Blended Financial Risk Mitigation Facility.
• The concept of a single global grid for solar was first outlined at the First Assembly of the ISA in late 2018.
• It envisions building and scaling inter-regional energy grids to share solar energy across the globe, leveraging the differences of time zones, seasons, resources, and prices between countries and regions.
• OSOWOG will also help decarbonise energy production, which is today the largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions.
• With India's Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, the World Bank and the ISA signing a tripartite agreement on OSOWOG, the initiative could be the world's most important renewables catalyst.
• It can unlock unprecedented economies of scale in energy generation and transmission.
• The ISA will also discuss the partnership with Global Energy Alliance (GEA) to scale up technical and financial support to LDCs and SIDS.

Know! about ISA assembly

• The Assembly is the apex decision-making body of ISA, in which each member country is represented.
• This body makes decisions concerning the implementation of the ISA's Framework Agreement and coordinated actions to be taken to achieve its objective.
• The Assembly meets annually at the Ministerial level at the seat of the ISA, assesses the aggregate effect of the programmes and other activities in terms of deployment of solar energy, performance, reliability, as well as cost and scale of finance.

Know! about OSOWOG

• The idea for the One Sun One World One Grid (OSOWOG) initiative was put forth by the Prime Minister of India, at the First Assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in October 2018.
• Objective - connecting solar energy supply across borders.
• In May 2021, the United Kingdom and India agreed to combine forces of the Green Grids Initiative and the One Sun One World One Grid initiative and jointly launch GGI-OSOWOG at the COP26 summit being hosted by the UK at Glasgow in November 2021.

International Solar Alliance (ISA)

• It is an Indian initiative that was launched by the Prime Minister of India and the President of France on 30^th November 2015 in Paris, France on the side-lines of the Conference of the Parties (COP-21), with 121 solar resource-rich countries lying fully or partially between the tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn as prospective members.
• Objective: To collectively address key common challenges to the scaling up of solar energy in ISA member countries.
• This is a treaty-based intergovernmental organization.
• The Headquarters is in India with its Interim Secretariat being set up in Gurugram.
• It has 122 sun-belt countries as its prospective member countries and currently boasts a membership of 86 countries globally.
• It is the largest grouping of states, after the United Nations.
• The Assembly is the apex decision-making body of the ISA. It meets annually at the Ministerial level at the seat of the ISA.

Science & Technology/GSIII
Solar flares & Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)

What's the NEWS

• Astronomers exploring regions on the Sun with disturbed magnetic fields or active regions that sometimes exhibit solar flares without accompanying Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) have confirmed that changing structure of the magnetic field on the Sun's surface determined whether a flare or a CME was emitted.
• This understanding will be useful in improving predictions of solar weather, which can affect electrical, and communication systems in Earth and satellite systems in space.

Know! about solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)

• The Sun has a complex magnetic field near its surface that is connected to its hot plasma and changes its configuration all the time as the plasma itself moves around in this field.
• This magnetic field can erupt out of some regions (called Active Regions) on the Sun's surface in loops, become twisted, realign its geometry, and release tremendous amounts of energy in the process, which was stored as magnetic energy till then.
• The light (in many wavebands) emitted in this process is called a solar flare.
• On the other hand, a CME is when a huge amount of hot gas, with its embedded magnetic field, is ejected at high velocities into the solar corona.
• It is known that some Active Regions produce flares, some produce CMEs, and some produce both. What determines this difference remained a puzzle though earlier studies indicated that the mystery lies in the magnetic field in this region.
• The underlying magnetic configuration that stores energy is typically seen having twisted magnetic fields, which are quantified by a parameter known as magnetic helicity.
• The corona of the active region (AR) is being pumped with such twists or magnetic helicity.
• When helicity reaches beyond a threshold level, CME is the only way to remove the excess helicity.
• However, finding the threshold level of the coronal helicity budget is still a formidable problem for the prediction of a CME eruption in due course of the AR evolution.

Know! the difference between solar flares and Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)

Know! some basic terminologies

• Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun.
• They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the Sun's surface.
• Solar flares are a sudden explosion of energy caused by tangling, crossing or reorganizing of magnetic field lines near sunspots.
• The surface of the Sun is a very busy place. It has electrically charged gases that generate areas of powerful magnetic forces. These areas are called magnetic fields.
• The Sun's gases are constantly moving, which tangles, stretches and twists the magnetic fields.
• This motion creates a lot of activity on the Sun's surface, called solar activity.
• A solar flare occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released.
• Solar flares extend out to the layer of the Sun called the corona.
• The corona is the outermost atmosphere of the Sun, consisting of highly rarefied gas.

Geographical features and their location
Kerala Rainfall
What's the NEWS

• Flash floods, mudslides and landslides were reported in most districts located between central and southern Kerala,

Know! the reasons behind the sudden rainfall

• The rainfall during the last four days is mainly a localised phenomenon triggered due to the low-pressure system formed in the Arabian Sea.
• A low pressure system developed in the east-central Arabian Sea on October 14. This system moved closer to Kerala coast and triggered severe weather.
• Under the influence of this system, Kerala experienced heavy to very heavy rain (115.5mm to 204.4mm in 24-hours), and extremely heavy rain (over 204.4mm in 24-hours) in at least six of its southern districts

Southwest monsoon withdrawal

• This year, the southwest monsoon withdrawal has been significantly delayed.
• It has withdrawn completely from west, north, central and eastern India regions, but continues to remain active in the southern peninsula.
• With the withdrawal entering the peninsula regions, southern states, including Kerala, have reported thunderstorms for over a week now. (but this not the reason behind the sudden rainfall in Kerala)

Prelims Factoids
DLX1 PROTEIN
What's the NEWS

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, have discovered that a particular gene (DLX1) which plays an important role in the development of jaws, skeleton, and interneurons in the brain has an important role to play in the growth and development of prostate cancer.

Know! about DLX1 protein

• The DLX1 protein is found at elevated levels in prostate cancer patients, the reason why the DLX1 protein has been used as a urine-based biomarker.
• Now the team of researchers at IIT Kanpur has found that the DLX1 protein, which is expressed at higher levels in the prostate cancer cells, has a huge role in the growth and development of the tumour and the spread of the cancer to other organs in the body (metastasis).
• Using small molecules as inhibitors, the researchers have shown in mice a new therapeutic strategy to treat people with DLX1-positive prostate cancer.

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