Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 15th February 2023

Marburg Virus Disease : First-Ever Outbreak

The World Health Organization recently said that Equatorial Guinea had confirmed its first-ever outbreak of Marburg disease.

• Marburg virus disease (MVD) earlier known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, is a rare but severe hemorrhagic fever that affects both people and non-human primates.
• MVD is caused by the Marburg virus, a genetically unique zoonotic (animal-borne) RNA virus. Marburg and Ebola viruses are both members of the Filoviridae family (filovirus).
• Marburg virus was first recognized in 1967, when outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever occurred simultaneously in laboratories in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany and in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia).
• The reservoir host of the Marburg virus is the African fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus.
• The Marburg virus is transmitted to people from fruit bats and spreads among humans through human-to-human transmission.
• The average MVD case fatality rate is around 50%.
• There is no specific treatment for Marburg virus disease.
• Supportive therapy, such as intravenous fluids, electrolyte replacement, supplemental oxygen, as well as blood and blood products replacement, improves survival.

President’s Colour Award:

Union Home Minister will present the President’s Colour Award to the state police at a ceremony at the Haryana Police Academy

• The President’s Colour is one of the highest honour that can be awarded to any military unit, military training establishments, and state/UT Police Forces of India.
• It is bestowed upon in recognition of exceptional service rendered to the Nation, both in peace and in war.
• It is also known as “Rashtrapati ka Nishaan” in Hindi.
• Indian Navy was the first Indian Armed Force to be awarded the President’s Colour by Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 27 May 1951
• A special flag, also known as ‘Nishaan,’ is given to a unit as part of the award.
• The flag consists of a golden border in the middle; it has insignia of a respective military unit, training establishments, and police forces in the center.
• The flag may also contain the motto, important achievements, and battle participation of those military units to which the award is bestowed.
• During any ceremonial parade, the President’s Colour is kept at a special position, and soldiers often march with the President’s Colour on important dates like on their establishment anniversary.

TAPAS UAV:

The Prime Minister of India has shared aerial coverage of Ground and Air displays captured from an indigenously developed Medium Altitude Long Endurance TAPAS UAV during rehearsal from a height of 12000 feet.

• TAPAS UAV is known as Tapas-BH (Tactical Airborne Platform for Aerial Surveillance-Beyond Horizon 201), formerly referred to as Rustom-II.
• The UAV is named after Rustom Damania, a former professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
• It is designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru with production partners being Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Bharat Electronics Limited.
• It is being developed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles and is capable of carrying different combinations of advanced payloads and capable of auto-landing among others.
• It is being designed to acquire real-time, high-quality pictures and signal intelligence from fields of concern at medium to long ranges.
• Technologically it matches contemporary UAVs available and is also cheaper than the imported ones.

14th Edition Of Aero India 2023:

The Prime Minister of India inaugurated the 14th edition of Aero India 2023 in Bengaluru.

• Aero India is a premier global aviation trade fair, which provides an opportunity for the Indian aviation-defence industry, to showcase its products, technologies and solutions to the national decision-makers.
• The Aero India show is held every 2 years.
• This year it is being organised by the Bengaluru-based defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)
• The theme of 2023: ‘‘The runway to a billion opportunities”.
• Besides the major entrepreneurs and investors in the defence and aerospace industries, the event will witness the participation of prominent defence think tanks and defence-related bodies from across the world.

Aadi Mahotsav 2023:

Prime Minister of India will inaugurate the Aadi Mahotsav festival of the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED) on February 16 in New Delhi’s Major Dhyan Chand Stadium.

• Aadi Mahotsav is an annual Tribal Festival that was started in the year 2017.
• It is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs & Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED).
• It aimed to familiarise the people with the rich and diverse craft, and the culture of the tribal communities, in one place.
• Theme: “A Celebration of the Spirit of Tribal Crafts, Culture and Commerce”

TRIFED

• It came into existence in 1987 under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act, of 1984.
• It is a national-level apex organization functioning under the administrative control of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
• Objectives of the Organisation: Socio-economic development of tribal people in the country by way of marketing development of tribal products.
• The organisation assists tribal people in exploring and creating opportunities to market the developed products in national and international markets on a sustainable basis.
• Under the TRIBES Indiabrand, the sourced handcrafted products from the tribal people are sold.

All India Domestic Workers Survey Is At Final Stage

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment recently informed Lok Sabha that the Labour Bureau has undertaken an All India Domestic Workers Survey.

All India Domestic Workers Survey:

• This is the first-ever such surveyin independent India which was initiated in 2021.
• The survey would cover all States and Union Territories, covering 1.5 lakh households in 742 districts.
• The main objectives of the survey are:
  • Estimate the number/proportion of domestic workers at the National and State level.
  • Household Estimates of Live-in/Live-out DWs.
  • The average number of DWs engaged by different types of households.
• Labour Bureau is an attached office under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, which was set up on 1st October 1946.
• It is entrusted with the work of compilation, collection, analysis and dissemination of statistics on different aspects of labour.
• It releases Consumer Price Index Numbers for Industrial Workers, Agricultural/Rural Labourers, Retail Price Index of Selected Essential Commodities in Urban Areas etc.

Growth In Agriculture Sector : Report

The agriculture sector in India has experienced buoyant growth in the past two years.

• India’s agricultural exports are poised to scale a new peak in the financial year ending March 31, 2023.
• But so are imports, bringing down the overall farm trade surplus.
• The value of farm exports in April-December 2022 was 7.9% higher (USD 39 Billion) than the USD 36.2 bn for the corresponding period of the previous year.
• However, imports have grown 15.4% (USD 27.8 bn) in Apr-Dec 2022, over the USD 24.1 bn for Apr-Dec 2021.
• As a result, there has been a further shrinking of the surplus on the farm trade account.
• The two big contributors to India’s agri-export growth have been Rice and Sugar.
  • Rice: India in 2021-22 shipped out an all-time-high 21.21 million tonnes (mt) of rice valued at USD 9.66 billion.That included 17.26 mt of non-basmati and 3.95 mt of basmati rice.
  • Sugar: Sugar exports hit a record value of USD 4.60 billion in 2021-22, as against USD 2.79 billion in last fiscal.
• This fiscal has seen a further surge of 43.6%, from USD 2.78 billion in April-December 2021 to USD 3.99 billion in April-December 2022.
• However, exports of some big-ticket items have faltered or slowed, such as spices, wheat, buffalo meat etc.
• India’s total edible oil imports rose from 13.13 mt in 2020-21 to 14.03 mt in the 2021-22 oil year (Nov-Oct), and increased further by 30.9% from 2.36 mt in Nov-Dec 2021 to 3.08 mt in Nov-Dec 2022.
• India has turned from a net exporter to a net importer of cotton.
• Cashew: During April-December 2022, imports have posted a 64.6% rise to USD 1.64 billion from USD 996.49 million in April-December 2021, even as exports of cashew products have plummeted from USD 344.61 million to USD 259.71 million for the same period.

MicroLEDs : New Display Technology

Apple is reportedly working on a new display technology called microLEDs, which is considered the next big thing in the display industry.

• MicroLEDs are self-illuminating diodes that have brighter and better colour reproduction than Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) display technology.
• MicroLED technology is based on the use of sapphires, which are known for their ability to shine on their own indefinitely.
• The technology involves the use of tiny light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that are packed tightly together to create a bright and high-quality display.
• Unlike OLED displays, microLED displays use inorganic material such as gallium nitride.
• A microLED is as small as cutting a centimetre of hair into 200 smaller pieces. Each of these microLEDs are semiconductors that receive electric signals.
• Once these microLEDs are gathered, they form a module. Several modules are then combined to form screens.
• Benefits:
  • Brighter screens with better colour reproduction and viewing angles.
  • Limitless scalability, as microLED displays are resolution-free, bezel-free, ratio-free, and even size-free.
  • The ability to freely resize the screen in any form for practical usage.

Diyodar Meteorite:

Scientists from Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad, are claiming that the meteorite that crashed in two villages in Banaskantha, Gujarat on August 17, 2022, has been identified as an aubrite.

• The PRL group used a gamma-ray spectrometer to determine the mineral composition of aubrite.
• The group also classified the meteorite as a monomict breccia.
• Aubrite meteorite is a coarse-grained igneous rock that formed in oxygen-poor conditions and contains exotic minerals not found on Earth.
• India has seen hundreds of meteorite crashes, but this is only the second recorded crash of an aubrite.
• The meteorite has been named the Diyodar meteorite after the taluka in which the villages are located.
• The last crash of an aubrite before this was in Basti, Uttar Pradesh on December 2, 1852.
• Around 90% of the meteorite was composed of orthopyroxene.
• Pyroxenes are silicates consisting of single chains of silica tetrahedra (SiO 4); orthopyroxenes are pyroxenes with a certain structure.
• Pyroxenes such as diopside and jadeite have been used as gems.
• Spodumene was historically used as lithium ore.
• Rocks with pyroxene have also been used to make crushed stone that is used in construction.
• Aubrites have crashed in at least 12 locations worldwide since 1836, including 3 in Africa and 6 in the U.S.

Meteorite:

• A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from space that survives its passage through the Earth’s atmosphere and lands on the Earth’s surface.

Nirman Se Shakti Initiative:

Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) presented an initiative named as ‘Nirman Se Shakti’ to modernize infrastructure.

• The ‘Nirman Se Shakti’ initiative includes :
  • upgradation/modernization of ESI Scheme (ESIS) hospitals and dispensaries in a phased manner,
  • formulation of standard design for 100/200/500 bedded hospitals with better modern facilities,
  • online real-time dashboard for project monitoring/supervision,
  • adoption of new building technologies to ensure quality of construction, elimination of delays, cost overrun,
  • digitalization of land/property documents etc.
• The Employees’ State Insurance Scheme (ESI) is an integrated measure of social Insurance for worker population and immediate dependent or family embodied in the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948.

Definition Of Broadband Upgraded:

The definition of broadband was upgraded to mandate a minimum speed of 2Mbps

New definition of Broadband:

• Broadband is a data connection that is able to support interactive services, including internet access and has the capability of the minimum download speed of 2 Mbps to an individual subscriber from the point of presence (POP) of the service provider intending to provide broadband service.
• The minimum download speed was previously 512 kbps (kilobits per second).

Broadband:

• It refers to high-speed Internet access that is always on and faster than traditional dial-up access.
• White Spots: Places without cellular connectivity at all are called “white spots”.
• Grey Spots: Places which show simply being “connected” but have very slow and intermittent connectivity

Cyclone Gabrielle : New Zealand

Cyclone Gabrielle hit the New Zealand coast and caused severe damage. After Three Dead, New Zealand declares state of emergency

• At least three people have died and about a third of the country’s population of five million live in affected areas.
• On Wednesday, the cyclone weakened and moved away from the North Island. But many people remain displaced.
• Some were forced to swim from their homes to safety after rivers burst their banks.
• Others have been rescued from rooftops.
• About a quarter of a million people are without power.
• Falling trees have smashed houses, and landslides have carried others away and blocked roads.
• The storm’s damage has been most extensive in coastal communities on the far north and east coast of the North Island – with areas like Hawke’s Bay, Coromandel and Northland among the worst hit.

Bima Sugam Portal:

Bima Sugam Portal is an electronic platform to sell insurance. Policyholders can view their insurance plans here.To create a common platform for insurance buyers and sellers, the GoI recently launched the Bima Sugam Portal. 

• They can also manage their plans.
• The portal is accessible to insurance buyers, and sellers.
• Agents and intermediaries can also have access to the portal.
• The growth rate of the insurance sector in the country is very slow.
• Indian insurance sector accounts for less than 1.5% of world insurance.
• GoI has been taking several measures to increase investment in the sector.
• The FDI limit was increased to 49% from 26%.
• LIC was disinvested; Sampoorna Bima Gram Yojana has launched; Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana; Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, etc.

Remembering Pulwama Attack:

Pulwama district is in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2023, the CPRF marked the fourth anniversary of its fellowmen.

• The Pulwama Attack killed more than 40 CPRF personnel on February 14, 2019.
• The Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.
• The attack was conducted by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber.
• The UN and several other countries condemned the attack
• India launched the Balakot Airstrike in response to the Pulwama attack.
• During the airstrike, The IAF dropped bombs into Balkot and blasted the training camps of Jaish-e-Mohammed.
• Around 300 to 350 terrorists were killed during the operation. India conducted the strikes crossing the Line of Control!