Prelim Bits 10-04-2024 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Quick Facts

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

• Andaman and Nicobar Islands, union territory, India, consists of two groups of islands at the southeastern edge of the Bay of Bengal.
• The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, form an arc stretching southward between Myanmar and the island of Sumatra, Indonesia.
• The arc constitutes the boundary between the Bay of Bengal to the west and the Andaman Sea to the east.
• Port Blair (on South Andaman Island) is the territorial capital.
• The Andamans were visited by the navy of the English East India Company in 1789, and in 1872 they were linked administratively by the British to the Nicobar Islands.
• The two sets of islands became a union territory of the Republic of India in 1956.

Quick Facts

Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

• Hadrons – A hadron is a subatomic particle that contains quarks, antiquarks, and gluons.
• The LHC typically uses protons, which are made up of quarks and gluons.
• The LHC, built by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), conducts experiments with highly energized particles.
• It energizes the protons by accelerating them through a narrow circular pipe.
• The LHC consists of 9 detectors, including CMS, ALICE, LHC-B and ATLAS, located over different points on the beam pipe and study particle interactions in different ways.
• Working – The LHC collides two beams of protons together at the highest energies ever achieved in a laboratory.
• Large – It is the world’s largest science experiment (27km long circular pipe).
• Hadron – The particles used here are Hadrons.
• Collider – It accelerates 2 beams of particles in opposite directions and smashes them head on.

The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN)

• It is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world.
• Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Geneva, on the France–Switzerland border.
• The CERN convention was signed in 1953 by the 12 founding state.
• India was granted Observer status to the CERN Council in 2002.
• CERN has 22 member states.
• India, Turkey, Pakistan, Ukraine are Associate members.

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)

• Led by – Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) is USA led alternative to China’s economic statecraft in the region.
• Launched in – The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) was launched in May 2022.
• Partners – It currently includes 14 partners, namely, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States and Vietnam.
• The 14 IPEF partners represent 40 % of global GDP and 28 % of global goods and services trade.
• Objective – IPEF provides a platform for countries in the region to collaborate on advancing resilient, sustainable, and inclusive economic growth, and aims to contribute to cooperation, stability and prosperity in the region.
• Pillars – The IPEF comprises four pillars of cooperation namely: Trade, Supply Chain, Clean Economy and Fair Economy.
• The IPEF is flexible as IPEF partners are not required to join all four pillars.
• Trade Tariff – IPEF proposal completely removes the tariff element of typical trade deals.
• India – India has joined 3 pillars expect the trade pillar.
• The Department of Commerce is the nodal agency for the IPEF engagements.

Other Important Topics

Neptis philyra

A rare butterfly species named Neptis philyra has been discovered for the first time in Tale Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Arunachal Pradesh.

• Neptis philyra is a rare species of butterfly commonly known as the long-streak sailor, Common Sailer, belongs to the Nymphalidae family.
• Distribution - The species was known to be found across various regions of east Asia, including eastern Siberia, Korea, Japan, central and southwest China.
• Appearance - The butterfly has serrated wings with rich brownish-black on the upper side and yellow brown on the underside.
• Distinction – The species’ fore wing white cell streak forms “hockey stick” markings with spots in space.

Tale Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

• Tale Valley Reserved Forest and Tale Wildlife sanctuary is situated in the in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.
• Rivers - Pange, Sipu, Karing and Subansiri rivers flowing through the Sanctuary.
• Forest - It comprises sub-tropical and alpine forests.
• It is home to highly endangered species like
• clouded leopard.
• Pleioblastus simone is a bamboo variety only found in Talley Valley.

KUSH

Sierra-leone (West African country) has recently declared a national emergency following the craze behind the psychoactive drug, KUSH.

• It is a narcotic drug first appeared in Sierra Leone in 2018.
• It is made from a variety of toxic substances including human bones.
• The drug gives a hypnotic high that can last several hours.
• Sierra Leone does not have an official death toll linked to "kush" abuse but the illnesses linked to Kush rose by 4,000% between 2020 and 2023.

Sierra Leone currently has only one functioning drug rehabilitation centre in Freetown, the capital of the country.

Changpa Tribes

The leaders of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) recently decided to call off the Pashmina March as the Ladakh Lieutenant Governor’s administration stepped up measures to block the march from going forward.

• Pashmina March – It was to highlight the plight of the Changpa tribes who are losing their land due to Chinese incursion in the north and our own corporates in the south.
• Changpa Tribe is a small nomadic pastoral tribe living found mainly in the Changtang plateau of southeastern Ladakh.
• Distribution – They were distributed across the Tibetan Plateau in India, China and Nepal.
• They are high-altitude pastoralists herding livestock such as yaks, sheep, and goats, and moving with their animals to different grazing grounds throughout the year.
• Religion - All Changpa families profess Tibetan Buddhism as their religion.
• The Changpa can be identified by their conical yak-skin tents called reboo.
• The Changpa who live nomadic lives are known as Phalpa, while those who have settled down in fixed locations are called Fangpa.
• The ruling aristocracy is known as the Nono.

Shakti (festival of music and dance)

Sangeet Natak Akademi is organizing the festival under the title ‘Shakti a festival of music and dance’ during the holy Navaratri at 7 different Shaktipeeths.

• The festival is organized under the series of Temple Festivals, Kala Pravah.
• Organized by - Sangeet Natak Akademi, Ministry of Culture.

Global Hepatitis Report, 2024

The World Health Organisation recently flagged that Hepatitis is the 2nd leading infectious cause of death globally, with 1.3 million deaths per year.

• The report was released by the World Health Organization.
• Findings - This report presents the latest estimates on the disease burden and the coverage of essential viral hepatitis services from 187 countries across the world.
• The report also pointed out disparities in pricing, service delivery, and funding.
• The disease increased from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022, of these, 83% were caused by hepatitis B, and 17% by hepatitis C.
• Half the burden of chronic hepatitis B and C infections is among people 30–54 years old, with 12% among children under 18 years of age and Men account for 58% of all cases.
• Every day, 3,500 people are dying globally due to hepatitis B and C infections.
• Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, and Vietnam collectively shoulder nearly 2/3rd of the global burden of hepatitis B and C.

Shogunate

• A shogunate is a form of government in Japan where a shogun, or military dictator and landowner held power from 1192 to 1867, ended to Meiji Restoration.
• It is also known as bakufu and shogunshoku.
• The shogunate system was characterized by a feudal hierarchy, with the shogun at the top and regional lords, known as daimyo, holding authority over their respective territories.
• The shogun's officials were known as the bakufu, which translates to "tent government".
• The tent symbolized the shogun's role as the military's field commander, but also denoted that the office was meant to be temporary.

C-Dome

Israel for the 1^st time deployed the C-Dome, against a “suspicious” target that entered the country’s airspace near the southern city of Eilat recently.

• The C-Dome is a naval version of the land-based shorter-range Iron Dome air defence system of Israel.
• It is used to shield against rocket and missile attacks.
• It was first unveiled in 2014, and declared operational in 2022.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

NPPA revises ceiling prices of over 800 scheduled drug formulations recently.

• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is an independent regulator responsible for fixing and regulating the prices of pharmaceutical products in the country.
• It was established in 1997 and operates under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
• The organization regularly monitors the prices of pharmaceutical products and takes necessary actions to control any unjustified price hikes.