Daily Current Capsules
25 January 2023

National Voters' Day

 

 

What's the NEWS

 

• National Voters' Day has been celebrated on January 25 every year since 2011, all across the country to mark the foundation day of the Election Commission of India, i.e. 25th January 1950.
• The theme for 2023: Nothing Like Voting, I Vote for Sure.
• The main purpose of the celebration is to create electoral awareness amongst citizens and encourage them to participate in the electoral process.
• Dedicated to the voters of the country, National Voters' Day is also used to facilitate the enrolment of voters, especially the newly eligible young voters.

 

GST Compensation cess

 

What's the NEWS

 

• Government of India is planning to utilize GST compensation cess to finance carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) policy.

 

Know! about GST Compensation cess

 

• GST is comprehensive indirect tax which was rolled out in July 2017
• As GST is destination based and consumption based tax , several manufacturing state suffer potential losses in revenue due to rolling out of GST. Hence GST cess was introduced to compensate them.
• GST compensation funded by levying cess(it is tax on tax which is levied for specific purpose) on demerit goods (also known as sin goods) like coal, pan masala, cigarettes and tobacco , aerated water etc.
• The deadline for levying cess is extended by government from 2022 to 2026.

 

Concerns with GST compensation cess

 

• There is gap in state's potential loss and cess collected.
• There is delay in payment of compensation from centre to state.
• List of demerit goods is very subjective.
• Several crucial sectors like automobile are facing high burden of compensation cess.
• It might be misused by government to finance fiscal deficit.

 

Carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS)

 

• CCUS involves capturing carbon dioxide from cement, steel, iron and other polluting industries.
• The captured carbon is then transported using road, rail or pipelines and stored in underground oil fields or deep saline aquifers, so that it should not leak to atmosphere and contribute to global warming
• This captured carbon is useful in many industries like methanol, food, urea etc.

 

 

Olive Ridley Turtles

What's the NEWS

 

• There has been mass mortality of olive ridley turtles observed on Andhra Pradesh coast.

 

Know! about Olive Ridley Turtles

 

• Olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle. They are smallest sea turtles found in India.
• Generally they spend their lives in ocean but they are known for their unique synchronised mass nesting called Arribadas, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
• They are carnivores and feed on shrimps, crabs, fish etc.
• Their gender is determined by temperature at which they hatched. Male if hatched below 29 degree Celsius and female above that.
• They are found in tropical areas of Pacific, Atlantic and Indian ocean.

 

Distribution in India - Mainly eastern Coast of India in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh

 

• Gahirmatha beach (Bhitarkanika National Park).
• Mouth of river Devi.
• Rushikulyarookery coast (Odisha).
• Coastline between Kakinada and Antarvedi in the Godavari region of Andhra Pradesh.

 

Conservation status

 

• IUCN Red List: Vulnerable.
• CITES: Appendix I.
• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.

 

Threats to them

 

• Effluents released from aqua ponds and onshore oil exploration facilities.
• Human poaching.
• Tourism and recreational activities.
• Marine pollutants like microplastics, nets and fishing gears etc.
• Sea bottom trawling by fishing trawlers.

 

Five species of sea turtles are found in India including Olive Ridley turtle.
Remaining are

 

• Green turtle
• Hawksbill turtle
• Loggerhead turtle
• Leatherback turtle

 

 

Norovirus

 

What's the NEWS

 

• The Kerala Health Department confirmed two cases of the gastrointestinal infection norovirus in class 1 students in Ernakulam district.
• The two samples were tested after 62 persons - students and their parents - developed symptoms such as diarrhoea, abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea, a high temperature, headache, and body aches.

 

Know! about bout Norovirus

 

• The Norovirus, also known as the "winter vomiting bug," causes vomiting and diarrhoea.
• Infection agents: The most common infective agent is contaminated water or food.
• The virus spreads via faeces to the mouth. Consuming contaminated food or liquids, touching contaminated surfaces or objects, or coming into direct contact with an infected person.
• Symptoms: Acute gastroenteritis is caused by inflammation of the stomach or intestine. Diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach ache are also symptoms. Fever, headaches, and muscle pain may also persist.
• The symptoms usually appear 12 to 48 hours after the virus has been exposed.
• It affects particularly children, the elderly, and people suffering from other illnesses.
• Although these virus outbreaks are rarely severe, they can spread quickly if proper precautions are not taken.

 

B V Doshi

 

What's the NEWS

 

• Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi was an Indian architect. He is an important figure in Indian architecture and noted for his contributions to the evolution of architectural discourse in India.
• He was a pioneer of modernist and brutalist architecture in India and had worked under Le Corbusier and Louis Kahn.
• He studied at the Sir J. J. School of Art in Mumbai.
• His noteworthy designs include Mahatma Gandhi labour Institute, FLAME University,CEPT University (1966, Ahmedabad), ECIL township (1972, Hydrabad), IIM Udaipur, NIFT Delhi (1989), Amdavadni Gufa (1990) etc.
• He was instrumental in establishing the nationally- and internationally-known research institute Vastu-Shilpa Foundation for Studies and Research in Environmental Design. The institute has performed pioneering work in low-cost housing and city planning
• In 2018, he became the first Indian architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize (the Nobel equivalent for the field).He was also recipient of the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushanand the Royal Institute of British Architect's Royal Gold Medal.
• His work on the reunification of Indian and English heritages through his practice was awarded a Global Award for Sustainable Architecture.
• He was also awarded with France's highest honour for the arts, the Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2011.

 

BharOS

 

What's the NEWS

 

• Recently, BharOS, an indigenous mobile operating system was developed by JandK Operations Private Limited, a non-profit organization incubated at IIT Madras and funded by the Department of Science and Technology.

 

Know! about BharOS

 

• BharOS is a mobile operating system similar to Android or iOS; it is based on an AOSP (Android Open Source Project) operating system and does not use any Google apps or services.
• It would support Native Over The Air (NOTA) updates as well as No Default Apps (NDA).
• It has a minimalistic home screen with the Indian flag, a list of app categories, and a selection of apps that have passed the OS's trust and security standards.
• It will employ the Private App Store Services (PASS) system to examine and curate apps that are safe for users.
• These systems enable smartphone users to interact with their devices and access their features while also ensuring their safety.
• The current version of BharOS includes third-party apps such as DuckDuckGo and Signal by default.
• Native Over The Air (NOTA) - Security updates and bug fixes will be automatically installed rather than users having to check for updates and implement them on their own

 

 

Tethered Drones

 

What's the NEWS

 

• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) today sought technical and commercial bids to add to the Army robotic mules, jetpack suits and tethered drones that will look across the Himalayas.

 

Know! about Tethered Drones

 

• A tethered drone is an unmanned aerial vehicle tethered to the ground.
• It consists of a base station on the ground and the drone, which is connected to the station through the tether (cable).
• The drone can be operated remotely to perform specific tasks.
• Tethered UAVs are perfect for data capture and telemetry due to the reliability of tethered connections.
• Tethered drones dramatically reduce technical and human error crashes in flight.
• Tethered drones provide a secure line of communication between the ground station and the aircraft.
• It also does not require GPS navigation.
• Many tethered drones have longer flight times compared to free-flying, battery-operated drones.
• Due to the restricted movement of a tethered drone, the operator does not need piloting skills and can mainly focus on their tasks.

 

Light Tank Zorawar

 

 

What's the NEWS

 

• The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) of the Defence Ministry recently accorded the approval for Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for purchasing 354 of these tanks through Make in India

 

Know! about Light Tank Zorawar

 

• It is an indigenously designed and developed Light Tank.
• Developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in collaboration with Larsen & Toubro Limited.

Features:

• It is designed to operate in varying terrain from high altitude areas and marginal terrains to island territories.
• It will be highly transportable for rapid deployment to meet any operational situation.
• It will be equipped with all the modern technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Drone Integration, a high degree of situational awareness, and amphibious operation capability.
• It will weigh less than 25 tonnes with a high power-to-weight ratio as well as superior firepower and protection.

 

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