15 May 2024, The Hindu
‘NISAR satellite can monitor tectonic movements accurately’
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GS 3: General awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nanotechnology, bio-technology
- Amid the hectic activity at the Indian Space Research Organisation ahead of its NISAR satellite launch, the space docking experiment (SPADEX), the Gaganyaan mission and Chandrayaan-4, The Hindu spoke to ISRO Chairman S. Somanath in his Bengaluru office.
Young people fade away when there is no vision
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- Last month, a young person decided to end his life.
- And days before this, another young man committed suicide.
- Both incidents were in Kota, Rajasthan, the “coaching capital” of India, and these young people took this desperate step as they were unable to cope with the stress of entrance examinations.
- Across India, every year, there are several suicides that are related to competitive examinations, the pressures of entrance examinations and the compulsions of social pressures, including those from family — often openly stated in suicide notes.
- Why are our young people perishing? We must pay attention to this alarming development, because if we do not, our young people will continue to perish.
Candid notes on the NHRC’s status deferral
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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance
- The National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) was formally informed late last week that the deferral of its status would continue for a year more.
- The deferral was put in place by the sub-committee on accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) for a year, in 2023.
- While the SCA did not agree with the plea of some leading international non-governmental organisations, to put the NHRC in category ‘B’, it also rejected India’s request to lift the deferral.
Little respite
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GS 3: Indian Economy (Inflation)
- April’s retail inflation data flattered to deceive. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based provisional headline print shows year-on-year retail price gains, across the broad spectrum of goods and services that combine to constitute the CPI, slowed fractionally to a 11-month low of 4.83%, from March’s 4.85%.
- This slowing, however, did little to mask the more disconcerting acceleration in food price gains.
- Inflation based on the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) quickened by 18 basis points from the preceding month’s year-on-year pace to a four-month high of 8.7%, with the month-on-month rate accelerating to 0.74%, from 0.16% in March.
- Rural consumers fared worse than their urban counterparts with both food and broader headline inflation reflecting faster price gains.
The challenge of extra-pulmonary TB
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- While the most common form of tuberculosis (TB), which is pulmonary TB, infects the lungs, some 20% of TB infections develop in the lymph nodes, brain, gut, eyes, or other organs.
- Some of these organs have immune privileges in the body.
- This means that extra-pulmonary infections can persist even after the TB infection in the lungs is resolved.
- Just as we have an undercount of the people infected with TB, the public health challenge of extra-pulmonary TB (EPTB) may be larger than our current estimates.
On the importance of regulatory sandboxes in artificial intelligence
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GS 3: General awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nanotechnology, bio-technology
- The advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies has posed both unprecedented opportunities and complex challenges for societies worldwide.
- As AI applications continue to proliferate across industries such as healthcare, transportation, finance, and more, concerns have emerged regarding ethical implications, data privacy, and potential risks associated with their deployment.
- In response, many governments and regulatory bodies have turned to innovative approaches such as “AI regulatory sandboxes” to strike a balance between fostering AI innovation and ensuring responsible development.
Pine-needle power projects to check forest fires prove inadequate
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GS 3: Environment- Conservation
- Bio-energy projects set up by the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA), to use the vast quantities of flammable pine needles for generating electricity have been “unsuccessful”, with officials saying appropriate technology does not yet exist to use them.
- “We have commissioned six plants so far but it is unlikely that we will add more.
- It has not been a major success as the technology to use pine needles for generating electricity isn’t sustainable as of now,” Y.S. Bisht of the UREDA said.
U.S. lawmakers to introduce legislation to formalise strategy for Indian Ocean Region
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GS 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting the Indian interests
- Members of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee will introduce legislation on Tuesday requring the U.S. administration to present a formal and “cohesive” Indian Ocean strategy across key departments.
- The Indian Ocean Region Strategic Review Act, sponsored by Joaquin Castro (Democrat, Texas) and Darrell Issa (Republican, California), is based on a recommendation of the Bipartisan US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, a body set up in 2000 to review and report on the US-China relationship.
More solar storms brewing after last week’s aurorae as Sun ‘wakes up’
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GS 3: Science and Technology- Recent developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
- On Friday night, people from across the world were treated to a rare spectacle: vivid aurorae hanging like curtains of light in the sky.
- They appeared even in places where aurorae aren’t usually visible. For instance, people at the Indian Astronomical Observatory spotted an aurora over Hanle in Ladakh — far away from places near the poles, where they are a more common sight.
