Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 15th October 2024

T-90 Bhishma Tank:

In a significant move towards self-reliance, the Indian Army has rolled out its first overhauled T-90 Bhishma tank, further enhancing its operational readiness.

• T-90 Bhishma Tank is Indian Army’s main battle tank since 2003.
• It is known for its firepower, speed, and protection. With this overhaul, the tank has become even more powerful and lethal.
• The tank is manned by a crew of three—commander, gunner, and driver—who work in close coordination to engage and destroy targets.
• It is equipped with a 125 mm smoothbore gun, capable of firing various types of shells.
• An anti-aircraft gun mounted on top can bring down targets within a two kilometre range, and the tank can fire up to 800 shells per minute.
• Its compact size enables it to manoeuvre quickly through forests, mountains, and marshy terrain at a speed of up to 60 kilometres per hour.
• It has advanced thermal sighting system, the tank can detect targets up to 8 kilometers (5 miles) away, day or night.

Tele MANAS:

Tele MANAS is now available as a comprehensive mobile platform – Tele MANAS App – developed for the public.

• Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele MANAS) was started by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare 2022.
• It seeks to function as a comprehensive, integrated, and inclusive 24×7 tele-mental health facility.
• It aims to provide free tele-mental health services all over the country round the clock, particularly to people in remote or underserved areas.
• Tele-MANAS will be organised in a two-tier system:
• Tier 1 comprises state Tele-MANAS cells, which include trained counsellors and mental health specialists.
• Tier 2 will comprise specialists at the District Mental Health Programme (DMHP)/Medical College resources for physical consultation and/or e-Sanjeevani for audio-visual consultation.
• Currently, there are 51 operational Tele-MANAS cells functioning across all 36 States and UTs, offering services in 20 different languages.
• Another feature added to the programme this year is the video consultations facility which will be undertaken by the mental health professionals who are taking audio call escalations to get further information about the caller as part of history taking and clarification.

UK Naga Skull Auction Controversy:

A 19th-century “horned Naga skull” was withdrawn from an auction in the UK following significant backlash from authorities in Nagaland and India, bringing attention to the sensitive issue of Indigenous human remains and the broader debate surrounding colonial legacies.

• At the auction 19th-century Naga human skull was valued at 3,500-4,500 Pounds, alongside remains from Papua New Guinea, Borneo, Solomon Islands, and African countries like Benin, Congo, and Nigeria.
• Nagaland Chief Minister and the Civil society led the protest against the auction.
• They view it as a continuation of colonial violence and racism, perpetuating harmful stereotypes such as labelling the Naga people as “savages” and “headhunters,” a characterisation rooted in British colonialism.
• The sale of Indigenous human remains, particularly those stolen during colonial rule, was strongly condemned as an ethical violation.
• The auction of human remains is said to violate Article 15 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which states: “Indigenous Peoples have a right to the dignity and diversity of their cultures, traditions, histories, and aspirations, which shall be appropriately reflected in education and public information.”
• The Naga community has been involved in efforts to repatriate ancestral remains from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, which holds around 6,500 Naga artefacts collected during the British colonial period.

Europa Clipper mission:

NASA is set to launch Europa Clipper mission today.

• The spacecraft is scheduled to launch from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket.
  About Europa Clipper Mission
• Europa Clipper Mission is a NASA mission aimed at exploring Jupiter’s moon Europa, which is considered one of the top candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life.
• The mission is expected to last several years, with the spacecraft making multiple flybys of Europa.
• The main objective of the Europa Clipper mission is to determine whether Europa’s subsurface ocean could support life. The mission will investigate the moon’s ice shell, ocean, composition, and geology.
• Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. Its solar arrays span over 100 feet (30 meters) when deployed.
• The spacecraft is expected to reach Jupiter and begin its scientific investigations by April 2030
• The mission ends in 2034 with a planned crash into Ganymede — Jupiter’s biggest moon and the solar system’s too.

Serious Fraud Investigation Office : In News

The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) recorded the statement of daughter of Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and owner of a now-dormant information technology firm, raising a political storm.

• The Union Corporate Affairs Ministry had ordered an SFIO inquiry based on the finding of the Interim Settlement Board (ISB) under the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
• The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is a specialized agency established under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), tasked with investigating serious financial frauds in India. It plays a critical role in ensuring corporate governance and financial integrity, especially concerning complex and large-scale frauds.
• The SFIO was set up in 2003 based on the recommendations of the Naresh Chandra Committee on Corporate Governance.
• It gained statutory status under the Companies Act, 2013 (Section 211), empowering it to investigate frauds relating to companies.
• It is a multi-disciplinary organization, consisting of experts in the field of accountancy, forensic auditing, banking, law, information technology, investigation, company law, capital market and taxation, etc. for detecting and prosecuting or recommending for prosecution white-collar crimes/frauds.
• SFIO is headed by a Director as Head of Department in the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India.
• SFIO take up for investigation cases characterized by –
  • complexity and having inter-departmental and multi- disciplinary ramifications.
  • substantial involvement of public interest to be judged by size, either in terms of monetary
  • the possibility of investigation leading to or contributing towards a clear improvement in systems, laws or procedures
• SFIO Investigate into the affairs of a company on: –
  • on receipt of a report of the Registrar or inspector under section 208 of the Companies Act, 2013.
  • on intimation of a special resolution passed by a company that its affairs are required to be investigated in the public interest
  • on request from any department of the Central Government or a State Government.

Water chestnut (Goer):

Water chestnut, or “goer” in Kashmir, is a vital income source for families around Wular Lake, one of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes. However, environmental changes have led to declining production, affecting local livelihoods.

• Water Chestnut (Goer) in Kashmir Grows in Wular Lake, Kashmir; known as “Singhara” in other parts of India.
• Collected during autumn, typically starting in late September.
• Harvested by villagers using boats, with protective footwear to avoid injuries from sharp barbed spines on the plants.
• The edible kernel is peeled, dried, and ground into flour. It’s widely consumed during festivals like Navaratri.
• Uses:
  • Food: White, crunchy, sweet flesh is eaten fresh or dried and used in fasting rituals.
  • Fuel: Dried outer shells are used as fuel in traditional Kashmiri fire pots (kangri) during winter.
  • Nutritional value: Rich in potassium and fiber, low in sodium and fat, and high in carbohydrates.
  • Economic importance: Primarily harvested by poorer communities around Wular Lake; provides seasonal income.

AI-Generated Synthetic Medical Images:

The rise of AI-generated synthetic medical images can provide an ethical, scalable, and cost-effective solution to the medical field.

• Synthetic Medical Image is generated by AI or computer algorithms without being captured by traditional imaging devices such as MRI, CT scans, or X-rays.
• These images are entirely constructed using mathematical models or AI techniques like Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), diffusion models, and autoencoders.
• In the medical field, synthetic medical images are created in a similar way, where the AI generates entirely new medical scans or radiological images that mimic real ones but are not derived from any actual patient data.
• A Variational Autoencoder (VAE) takes an image, compresses it into a simpler form called the latent space, and then tries to recreate the original image from that compressed version.
• The process continuously improves the image by minimising the difference between the real image and the recreated version.
• GANs involve a generator that creates synthetic images from random data and a discriminator that determines whether the image is real or synthetic.
• Both improve through competition—the generator tries to make its images more realistic, while the discriminator gets better at spotting fakes.
• Diffusion models begin with a bunch of random noise and gradually transform it into a realistic image, using a step-by-step process that slowly shapes the noise into something that resembles the images it was trained on.
• These methods generate synthetic images in various fields, including healthcare and research.

Raising of Asset Monetisation Target:

The NITI Aayog has increased the asset monetisation target for 2024-25 (FY25) by Rs 23,000 crore to Rs 1.9 trillion.With this, NITI Aayog moved closer to the overall Rs 6 trillion (Rs 6 lakh crore) target set under the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) for a four-year period (FY 2022-25).

Income Rise for Rural Households NABARD Reports 57.6% Increase:

A recent survey by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) highlights a remarkable increase in the average monthly income of rural households, which rose by 57.6% over the past five years.

Nobel in Economics 2024 Awarded to Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson:

2024 Nobel laureates in the economic sciences are Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson – have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for a country’s prosperity. Societies with a poor rule of law and institutions that exploit the population do not generate growth or change for the better.

L Satya Srinivas Appointed CEO of GeM Portal:

The Indian government has appointed L Satya Srinivas, currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce, as the additional CEO of the Government e Marketplace (GeM). This decision follows the recent appointment of the previous CEO, P K Singh, as secretary of the renewable energy ministry.

HAL Becomes 14th Maharatna Company:

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been upgraded to the status of Maharatna, making it the 14th Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) to receive this prestigious classification from the Government of India.

PM Modi’s visit to Maharashtra:

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi was on one-day visit to Washim and Thane in Maharashtra on 5th October, 2024. PM Modi launched several initiatives related to the agricultural and animal husbandry sector worth around Rs 23,300 crore in Washim, Maharashtra. He inaugurated over 7,500 projects under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), worth more than Rs 1920 crore .

IFC Partners with Axis Bank to Provide USD 500 Million Loan to Fund Green Projects in India:

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), private lending arm of the World Bank Group (WBG) has partnered with Axis Bank Limited, India’s leading Private Sector Bank, to provide a loan worth USD 500 million (about Rs 4,200 crore) to help develop a blue finance market and scale up financing of green projects in India.This marks the first blue investment by the IFC in India and the 1st blue transaction by a financial institution in the country. This loan funding will enable Axis Bank to expand its climate finance portfolio.