Prelim Bits 29-01-2024 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Nitrogen Hypoxia

Alabama carried out the 1^st ever execution using nitrogen gas in the United States.

• Execution method – Forcing the inmate to breathe in pure nitrogen which deprives the body of oxygen needed to maintain bodily functions and ultimately causes death.

The Alabama attorney general’s office had reported that the nitrogen gas will cause unconsciousness within seconds, and cause death within minutes.

• Technology used – NIOSH approved ‘Type-C full face piece supplied air respirator’, a type used in industrial settings to deliver life-preserving oxygen was used to deliver the nitrogen.
• Issues – Human rights advocates criticise it as a method of cruel and inhumane action.

Execution by Nitrogen hypoxia marks the United States’ 1^st execution using the method, and the 1^st time in over 4 decades that a new method of execution was introduced, since lethal injection was 1^st used in 1982.

Reference

The Indian Express| Execution by Nitrogen Hypoxia

75^th anniversary of Supreme Court

Recently, Prime Minister of India inaugurated Diamond Jubilee celebration of Supreme Court (SC).

• SC – It is the apex judicial body under the Constitution of India.

Article 124 of the Indian constitution states that ‘there shall be a Supreme Court of India’.

• Establishment – It came into existence on 26 January 1950 with the coming into force of the Constitution.
• Inauguration – 28 January 1950, 2 days after India became a Sovereign Democratic Republic.
• Location – It initially functioned from the old Parliament building where the Federal Court of India sat for 12 years from 1937 to 1950.
• It moved to the present building in New Delhi in 1958 which encloses a life size figure of Mahatma Gandhi and a 7-foot tall statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
• Strength of SC – 34 Judges, including Chief Justice of India.

Harilal J. Kania is the 1^st Chief Justice of India.

• 75th Anniversary – 3 new initiatives have been launched.
• Digital Supreme Court Reports (Digi SCR) – It has 36,308 cases of SC since 1950, accessible to the public in the digital format.
• Digital Courts 2.0 – It enables access of court records to the Judges of the district courts in digital form, it is coupled with the use of AI for transcribing speech to text on a real-time basis.
• New website of the SC – It will be in bilingual format in English and Hindi and has been redesigned with a user-friendly interface.

Measures taken by India for improving judicial system

• Over  Rs. 7,000 crore has been disbursed since 2014 for bettering physical infrastructure.
• A fund of Rs 800 crore had been approved for the expansion of the Supreme Court building and other facilities.
• Initiatives to translate SC judgments into regional languages.
• Abolished the outdated colonial criminal laws and introduced new legislation such as the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Samhita, Bhartiya Nyaya Samhita, and Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam.
• Enacted the Jan Vishwas Bill to help in reducing the number of pending cases, thereby alleviating pressure on the judiciary.

References

1. PIB| Diamond Jubilee celebration of SC of India
2. SC of India| History of SC of India
3. Business Standard| Initiatives for SC of India

E Ink Displays

E Ink displays are a special type of screen technology often used in e-readers like the Amazon Kindle.

• Development – In 1990s at MIT, now owned by E Ink Corporation.
• Working – It is made of a thin film on top of millions of microcapsules filled with particles floating in a clear fluid.
• They are charged black or white particles which are set to move around depending on what type of electric charge they receive.
  • For example, black will rise when exposed to a negative charge, and white will rise when exposed to a positive charge.
• Rising of particles to the surface creates the text and images on the display.

• Other applications – In Mobile devices, bus stop displays, walking direction signs and E Ink menu boards in restaurants.
• Advantages - They consume very little power compared to LCD and OLED displays, draws power only when the image is changed.
• It cause less eye strain for the user as there is no backlight.
• The matte surface and high contrast also make them easily readable outdoors and under bright light.
• Disadvantages – It has a slow refresh rate compared to LCD and OLED displays, making them unsuitable for video or animation.
• It has limitations on colour and resolution compared to others.
• The niche nature of E Ink manufacturing means the displays remain expensive, which limits their use to mostly e-readers and a handful of other products.

References

The Indian Express| E Ink Displays

Modified PKC-ERCP Link Project

Recently, a MoU was signed for implementation of the Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal-ERCP (Modified PKC-ERCP) Link Project.

• An integration of PKC link project with ERCP of Rajasthan.
• It is the 2^nd project under the national perspective plan (NPP) of interlinking of rivers (ILR) program of India.
• Signing parties – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh with the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.
• Objectives – To provide drinking and industrial water in 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan, Malwa and Chambal regions of Madhya Pradesh.
• To provide irrigation in 2.8 lakh ha. area (or more) each in both the states (total of 5.6 lakh ha or more) including supplementation of enroute tanks in the states.

• Significance – Optimal and economical utilization of the available water resources of Chambal basin.
• Achievement of consensus amongst both the states strengthens inter-state cooperation and cooperative federalism.

References

1. PIB| MoU on Modified PKC-ERCP Link Project
2. NWDA| River Chambal

White Rhinoceros

An international team of researchers from BioRescue, a consortium backed by the German government announced the 1^st successful embryo transfer in a white rhinoceros.

• 2 distinct subspecies – Northern and southern white rhinos.
• Northern white rhinos – Despite their name, they are actually grey.
• Once roamed freely in several countries in east and central Africa, their numbers fell sharply due to poaching for their horns.

The last male northern white rhino ‘Sudan’ died in 2018 with only 2 female members remaining, neither are able to carry a calf to term.

• Southern white rhinos - They are more abundant than northern sub species, roughly 20,000 remain in Africa.

World Rhino Day is celebrated each year on 22 September.

In-vitro fertilization of Northern White Rhinos

• The eggs of female northern white rhinos were harvested and sperm from dead northern male rhinos of the subspecies was used to produce embryos.
• The embryo was successfully transferred to southern white rhino surrogate mothers.
• It was the world’s first IVF rhino pregnancy.
• Significance – It offers hope for saving the critically endangered northern white rhino subspecies from extinction.

References

The Hindu| World’s 1^st White Rhino IVF Pregnancy