Antariksha Abhyas

• ‘Antariksha Abhyas, 2024 is a three day Exercise to war-game the growing threats from and to Space Based Assets and Services.
• It is conducted by the Defence Space Agency of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff.
• It is a first of its kind exercise being conducted and is expected to help secure national strategic objectives in space and integrate India’s space capability in military operations.
• The Space Exercise aims to provide enhanced understanding of space based assets and services and to gain understanding of operational dependency on space segment between stakeholders.
• Representatives from Indian Space Research Organisation and the Defence Research & Development Organisation will also take part in it.

4B Movement

As Donald Trump returns to the White House, social media in the US is seeing the rise of the ‘4B’ movement, to protest against patriarchal and often misogynist institutions and practices.

• The 4B movement originated in South Korea a few years ago, around 2016, that advocates to avoid sex with men as a political protest.
• In this movement, women swear off sex and marriage with men to protest patriarchal and often misogynist institutions and practices.
• 4B stands for four bis, or no in the Korean language that includes bihon, bichulsan, biyeonae, and bisekseu.
• It translated to meaning the refusal of (heterosexual) marriage, childbirth, romance, and sexual relationships, respectively.
• The 4B movement belongs to the strain of radical feminism that believes that heterosexual relationships at their heart remain structures of oppression, and women need to break free of them to be truly independent and happy.
• The proponents of the 4B movement believe that unless men work more actively for a gender-just society, women should not reward them with children, love, and emotional and other forms of labour.
• 4B is largely an online movement and it is difficult to measure its impact.

According to the New York Times, South Korea now has the lowest fertility rate in the world and in 2020, it recorded more deaths than births.

• South Korea does have very low birth rates, but that can be attributed to a range of factors.

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad

India celebrates National Education Day on November 11, 2024 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.

• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was born as Abul Kalam Ghulam Muhiyuddin on November 11th 1888 in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
• Azad was inspired by the modernist writings of Indian philosopher and educationist Sir Syed Ahmed Khan.
• As a teenager, Azad published Al-Hilal, a Calcutta-based Urdu newspaper that was subsequently banned by the British.
• Azad had a brief participation in the Khilafat Movement, during which he held the post of president of the All-India Khilafat Committee.
• He actively participated in the Dandi March and the Quit India Movement.

Maulana Azad was a journalist, freedom fighter and senior Congress leader.

• He was involved in the negotiations for independence with the British, and he vehemently opposed partition.
• He became the president of the Indian National Congress on two occasions, in 1923 and 1940.
• After independence, Azad was appointed as the Education Minister and he held the post for a decade until 1958 in the cabinet of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
• During his tenure as the education minister of India, he founded the following statutory bodies:
  • All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE),
  • The University Grants Commission (UGC) and
  • The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, the first IIT in the country.
• He also played a key role in the establishment of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI).
• Maulana Abul Kalam Azad is credited with setting up the following:
  • Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR),
  • Sahitya Academy and Lalit Kala Academy,
  • Sangeet Natak Academy, and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
• Maulana Azad was posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country, in 1992.

Securities Transaction Tax (STT)

Securities Transaction Tax (STT) collection was recently hit rupees 36,000 crore, reaching 97% of Budget target.

• Securities Transaction Tax (STT) was implemented in 2004 by then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram during the first term of the Manmohan Singh Government (2004-09).
• STT is a direct tax that was designed to combat tax evasion on capital gains and has undergone various adjustments to its rates and structure since its inception. (Statement 1 is incorrect)
• It is governed by the Securities Transaction Tax Act, 2004.
• It is charged on the value of securities that include equity, derivatives and units of equity-oriented mutual funds.
• It is not charged on the commodities and cash. (Statement 2 is incorrect)
• STT also applies to unlisted shares sold under an offer for sale to the public that is subsequently listed on stock exchanges.

Gluten

• Gluten can be defined as the rubbery protein mass that remains when wheat dough is washed to remove starch.
• Gluten and gluten-related proteins are present in wheat, rye and barley and are used widely in food processing to give dough the desired baking properties, add flavours and improve texture.
• Two important types of these proteins are gliadins and glutenins.
• The ability of gliadins and glutenins to create gluten makes them prized ingredients in the food industry.
• At the microscopic level, gluten is an elastic mesh of the protein molecules.
• Gluten is equally infamous for the allergic reaction it induces in some people.
• Gluten exposure in genetically predisposed individuals may lead celiac disease.
• Celiac disease (CD) – Is a chronic, multiple-organ autoimmune disease that affects the small intestine in genetically predisposed children and adults.
• It is precipitated by the ingestion of gluten-containing foods.
• It is also referred to as celiac sprue, gluten-sensitive enteropathy, or non-tropical sprue.
• It’s characterised by a severe allergic reaction in the small intestine, prompting the immune system to produce a large number of antibodies that attack the body’s own proteins.
• The disease is present in around 2% of the general population.
• Its primary symptom are severe loose diarrhoea and anaemia, but there are other symptoms too.
• It can be diagnosed using a blood test, an endoscopy, and/or a test looking for genetic predisposition to the condition.
• The diagnosis is often delayed the symptoms are often misattributed to a different cause.