Today Current Affairs: 28th October 2021 for UPSC IAS exams, State PSC exams, SSC CGL, State SSC, RRB, Railways, Banking Exam & IBPS, etc
Table of Contents
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB):
AIIB has said that it would look to fund both social as well as climate-resilient infrastructure in India in the coming years.
- Meanwhile, it has also asked India to strike a balance between ramping up physical infrastructure and the social infrastructure such as healthcare systems.
- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond.
- The Parties (57 founding members) to agreement comprise the Membership of the Bank.
- It is headquartered in Beijing.
- The bank started operation after the agreement entered into force on 25 December 2015, after ratifications were received from 10 member states holding a total number of 50% of the initial subscriptions of the Authorized Capital Stock.
- By investing in sustainable infrastructure and other productive sectors today, it aims to connect people, services and markets that over time will impact the lives of billions and build a better future.
- There are more than 100 members now.
- China is the largest shareholder with 26.61 % voting shares in the bank followed by India (7.6%), Russia (6.01%) and Germany (4.2 %).
- The regional members hold 75% of the total voting power in the Bank.
Amur Falcons:
With the arrival of the migratory Amur falcons to Tamenglong district of Manipur for the annual stopover, State Environment Minister has appealed to the people not to hunt the seasonal visitors.
- The Amur falcon (Falco amurensis) is a small raptor of the falcon family. It breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China before migrating in large flocks across India and over the Arabian Sea to winter in Southern and East Africa.
- These falcons visit the Tamenglong district of Manipur every year from breeding grounds in China and Russia before beginning their onward voyage to Africa for the winter — a journey of more than 30,000 km
- Hunting of this bird is punishable under the Manipur Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and could lead to three years of imprisonment and a fine of ₹25,000.
- IUCN status is Least Concern.
- In another development, officials said the population of the brow-antlered deer (Sangai) found only in Manipur stood at fewer than 300 in its natural habitat, the 40 sq km Keibul Lamjao National park in Bishnupur district.
Radio Over Internet Protocol (ROIP) System:
In view of a much needed solution for providing effective long range Marine communication, the Radio over Internet Protocol (ROIP) System at Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata (SMP, Kolkata), was inaugurated.
- ROIP system is being introduced as a marine communication mode, for the first time in any Major Indian Port.
- It shall cover the entire Hugli river Estuary from Kolkata to Sandheads, having base stations at 4 Locations.
- With this facility, vessels at Sandheads can be directly communicated via Radio, from Kolkata, specially during storms and inclement weather.
- Radio over Internet Protocol, or RoIP, is similar to Voice over IP (VoIP), but augments two-way radio communications rather than telephone calls.
Traffic Management Framework For Drones:
The Civil Aviation Ministry has notified a traffic management framework for drones.
- The framework has been issued under the Drone Rules 2021.
- Public and private third-party service providers will manage their movement in the airspace under 1,000 feet.
- The framework allows third-party service providers to give services such as registration, flight planning, dynamic deconfliction and access to supplementary data like weather, terrain and position of manned aircraft.
- Also, a set of supplementary service providers will also be permitted under the framework to provide services such as insurance and data analytics to support the UAS (unmanned aircraft system) Traffic Management (UTM) ecosystem.
- All drones (except Nano drones operating in the green zone) shall be required to mandatorily share their real-time location through the network to the Centre either directly or through third-party service providers.
- Service providers will be permitted to charge drone operators a service fee and a small portion of it might have to be shared with the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which manages the ATM.
- Current air traffic management (ATM) systems have not been designed to handle the traffic from unmanned aircraft.
- Also, Integration of unmanned aircraft in the Indian airspace using conventional means may require unmanned aircraft to be equipped with bulky and expensive hardware, which is neither feasible nor advisable.
- Moreover, traditional traffic management services provided by ATCs (air traffic controllers) for manned aircraft cannot be scaled for managing drone traffic which is expected to become at least 100 times higher since the traditional ATM is manual and requires human intervention.
- The Union government had on September 15 approved a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for drones and drone components with an allocation of Rs 120 crore spread over three financial years.
- The ministry had on August 25 notified the Drone Rules, 2021 that eased the regulation of drone operations in India by reducing the number of forms that need to be filled to operate them from 25 to five and decreasing the types of fees charged from the operator from 72 to four.
Barbados Has Elected Its First President:
Barbados has elected its first President, a key step in preparations to become a republic and remove Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II as head of state of the Caribbean island.
- Sandra Mason, the current governor-general, is set to be sworn in as President on November 30, the country’s 55th anniversary of independence from Britain.
- In September 2020, Ms. Mason, 72, announced the break with Britain, saying “the time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind.”
- Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands.
- Its capital and largest city is Bridgetown.
- It is at roughly 13°N of the equator.
- Barbados lies on the boundary of the South American and the Caribbean P
Descendant Of The Delta Variant Of COVID-19: AY.4.2
AY.4.2 is a descendant of the Delta variant of COVID-19. The Delta variant, also known as B.1.617.2, was first identified in India in October 2020.
- The AY.4.2 (dubbed “Delta Plus” and now named VUI-21OCT-01 by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)) sub-lineage contains 2 mutations in its spike protein — A222V and Y145H.
- Presently, the United Kingdom accounts for 96 per cent cases of AY.4.2, followed by Denmark and Germany at 1 per cent each. It has also been reported in the US, Israel, and Russia.
- In India, cases have been detected in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
- The UKHSA stated that though evidence on AY.4.2 is still emerging, as of now, it doesn’t appear to cause more severe diseases. In terms of COVID-19 jabs, the sub-lineage does not render the vaccines currently deployed any less effective against it.
- Variants of a virus have one or more mutations that differentiate it from the other variants that are in circulation.
- Essentially, the goal of the virus is to reach a stage where it can cohabitate with humans because it needs a host to survive.
- Errors in the viral RNA are called mutations, and viruses with these mutations are called variants. Variants could differ by a single or many mutations.
