Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 14th Oct 2023

Aerosol Increase In Hindu Kush-Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau Region:

A new analysis by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Physical Research Laboratory has shown that the Hindu Kush-Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau region has been witnessing an alarming increase in aerosol levels.

• Aerosols are tiny solid or liquid particles suspended in air or as a gas.
• Aerosols can be natural, such as fog or gas from volcanic eruptions, or artificial, such as smoke from burning fossil fuels.
• Aerosol particles are either emitted directly to the atmosphere (primary aerosols) or produced in the atmosphere from precursor gases (secondary aerosols).
• Aerosol particles are tiny, but numerous, and often comprise of a number of inorganic and organic substances.
• True aerosol particles range in diameter from a few millimicrometres to about 1 micrometre (equal to 10-4 cm).
• Particles with a diameter of less than 0.1 micrometre are sometimes referred to as Aitken nuclei.
• Visible forms of atmospheric aerosol plumes include smoke, smog, haze and dust.
• Aerosol particles, such as dust, play an important role in the precipitation process, providing the nuclei upon which condensation and freezing take place.
• They affect climate by reflecting or absorbing incoming solar radiation and enhancing the brightness, and thus reflectivity, of clouds.

USS Gerald R Ford:

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier strike group has arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea amid the Israel conflict with Hamas.

• USS Gerald R Ford is US Navy’s newest and most advanced aircraft carrier.
• The ship was named in tribute to Ford, who was president from 1974 to 1977, giving a ‘lifetime of service’ to the United States.
• The ship was commissioned in 2017.
• It is the world’s largest ship, measuring approximately 1,092 feet (333 meters) in length, with a beam of 256 feet (78 meters) at its flight deck and a height of 250 feet (76 meters).
• It is a first-in-class aircraft carrier. First-in-class technology includes a new nuclear plant, the ability to generate nearly three times the amount of electrical power, innovative advanced arresting gear, and the electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS).
• It has a displacement of a whopping 112,000 tonnes.
• It has the capacity to hold around 4,660 crew members.
• It can reach a speed in excess of 30 knots.
• It comes with a slew of surface-to-air missiles, including the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow, and the RIM-116, and M2 machine guns.
• It can carry more than 75 aircrafts.

Project Nilgiri Tahr:

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister recently launched ‘The Nilgiri Tahr’ project for the conservation of Tamil Nadu’s state animal.

• Nilgiri Tahr is an endangered mountain ungulate endemic to the southern part of the Western Ghats.
• Scientific Name: Nilgiritragus hylocrius
• Locally, the animal is called ‘Varayaadu’.
• They are known for their gravity-defying skills in climbing steep cliffs, earning them the nickname Mountain Monarch.
• It is the state animal of Tamil Nadu.
• Their present distribution is limited to approximately 5% of the Western Ghats in southern India (Kerala and Tamil Nadu).
• Eravikulam National Park in Kerala has the highest density and largest surviving population of Nilgiri tahr.
• They inhabit the open montane grassland habitats at elevations from 1200 to 2600 m of the South Western Ghats.
• Features:
  • It has a stocky body with short, coarse fur and a bristly mane.
  • Males are larger than females and of a darker color when mature.
  • Both sexes have curved horns, which are larger in the males, reaching up to 40 cm in males and 30 cm in females.
  • Adult males develop a light grey area or ’saddle’ on their backs and are hence called ‘saddlebacks’.
• It has a short grey-brown or dark coat.
• Conservation Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Endangered
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act of India, 1972: Schedule I

Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI 5.0):

Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI 5.0), a campaign of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will conclude all 3 rounds on 14th October 2023.

• Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI 5.0) Launched by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Objective is to enhance immunization coverage for all vaccines provided under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) as per the National Immunization Schedule (NIS).
• It is the flagship routine immunization campaign of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• The campaign will be conducted across the country during the months of August, September and October this year.
• During these three rounds, children of the 0-5 years age group and pregnant women, who have missed any dose of vaccine as per the National Immunization Schedule ( NIS), will be vaccinated.
• This year, for the first time the campaign is being conducted across all the districts in the country and includes children up to 5 years of age (Previous campaigns included children up to 2 years of age).
• Government of India is committed to achieving the target of Measles-Rubella Elimination ( MR Elimination) by December 2023 and the Intensified Mission Indradhanush 5.0 program is a major step toward achieving this goal.

141st International Olympic Committee Session : Inauguration

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session on 14th October 2023.

• The 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session, will be held at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai.
• IOC session is being held in India after a gap of about 40 years.
• India is hosting the IOC Session for the second time.

International Olympic Committee (IOC):-

• Establishment: 1894.
• HQ: Lausanne, Switzerland.
• Objective: to promote the Olympic movement and uphold the Olympic values, which include friendship, respect, and excellence, globally.
• They are responsible for organizing and managing the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

Resilient And Inclusive Supply-Chain Enhancement (RISE) Initiative : World Bank And Japan

The World Bank and Japan, have launched the Resilient and Inclusive Supply-chain Enhancement (RISE) initiative in Morocco.

• This initiative is designed to tackle the dual challenges of job creation and climate change by aiding emerging markets and developing countries in expanding their clean-energy product manufacturing and increasing their participation in the minerals industry.
• The initiative aims to stimulate economic growth and generate local employment opportunities, ultimately contributing to poverty reduction.
• This collaborative effort emphasizes the importance of international cooperation in promoting economic growth in these countries while strengthening clean energy and critical minerals supply chains.

Global Hunger Index 2023:

India ranks 111 out of a total of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2023.

Key findings of GHI-2023:

• India’s ranking is based on a Global Hunger Index score of 28.7 on a 100-point scale.
• This categorises India’s severity of hunger as “serious”.
• The 2023 GHI score for the world is 18.3, which is considered moderate.
• Latin American and the Caribbean is the only region in the world whose GHI scores have worsened between 2015 and 2023.
• South Asia and Africa South of the Sahara are the world regions with the highest hunger levels, with GHI scores of 27.0 each.

Global Hunger Index:

• It is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
• It is prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and German organisation Welt Hunger Hilfe.

One CGIAR Global Initiative:

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) joined the One Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) global initiative.

• One CGIAR global initiative aims to build a unified approach to transforming food, land, and water systems to address the challenges posed by climate crisis.
• This initiative involves the CGIAR System Organisation and 12 One CGIAR research centres.
• The CGIAR is a publicly-funded network of agrifood systems research centres, works for transforming food, land, and water systems in a climate crisis. It is working in over 80 countries.

ICRISAT:

• It is a non-profit, non-political public international research organisation that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia & sub-Saharan Africa.
• It helps farmers by providing improved crop varieties and hybrids and also helps smallholder farmers in the drylands fight climate change.
• It conducts research on five highly nutritious drought-tolerant crops: chickpea, pigeonpea, pearl millet, sorghum, and groundnut.
• It has been awarded 2021 Africa Food Prize for the Tropical Legumes Project that has improved food security across 13 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.