Today’s Current Affairs: 28th Sep 2023 for UPSC IAS exams, State PSC exams, SSC CGL, State SSC, RRB, Railways, Banking Exam & IBPS, etc
Table of Contents
Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite:
Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers recently detected a new exoplanet orbiting a distant star.
- It is a NASA mission to discover exoplanets around nearby bright stars.
- It was launched on April 18, 2018, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket out of Cape Canaveral.
- TESS circles Earth in a unique high Earth orbit of 12 to 15 days, which is inclined in a way that the telescope’s sky view is largely free from obstructions by our bright planet and the Moon.
- The prime mission ended on July 4, 2020, and TESS is now on an extended mission.
- TESS is finding planets ranging from small, rocky worlds to giant planets, showcasing the diversity of planets in the galaxy.
RoDTEP Scheme : Extended Benefits:
The Government recently extended export benefits under the RoDTEP scheme for one more year.
- Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme was introduced by the Government as a duty remission scheme on exports and is being implemented from 1st January 2021.
- It was enforced to repeal and reduce taxes for exported products, thereby encouraging the conditions of exported and increasing the amount of exports in the country.
- The scheme will be administered by the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
- The Scheme provides a mechanism for reimbursement of taxes, duties and levies, which are currently not being refunded under any other mechanism at the central, state and local level but which are incurred by the export entities in the process of manufacture and distribution of exported products.
- This does not only include the direct cost incurred by the exporter but also the prior stage cumulative indirect taxes on goods.
- It is a WTO-compliant scheme and follows the global principle that taxes/duties should not be exported.
- RoDTEP replaced the Merchandise Export Incentive Schemes (MIES), in response to the US challenging the Indian export subsidies under the MEIS at the WTO.
- Rebate under the scheme is provided to eligible exporters as a percentage of the freight on board (FOB) value of exports.
- Remission is issued in the form of transferrable e-scrips (type of certificates with some monetary value) maintained in an electronic credit ledger by the CBIC (Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs).
Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award 2021:
The Union Minister of Information & Broadcasting announced that legendary actress Ms Waheeda Rehman will be honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award for the year 2021.
- Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India’s highest award in the field of cinema.
- It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
- The recipients are recognized for their ‘outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema’.
- The award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of 10 lakh rupees.
- The award was introduced by the Government of India to commemorate Dadasaheb Phalke’s contribution to Indian cinema, who is popularly known as and often regarded as “the father of Indian cinema”.
- It was first presented in 1969. The first recipient of the award was actress Devika Rani, “the first lady of Indian cinema.”
Balsam : Full Bloom In Munnar
Presenting a visual feast to tourists, balsams (genus Impatiens) are in full bloom in Munnar.
- Balsam is locally called as Kasithumba and Onappovu.
- It is known as ‘touch-me-not’ because of the bursting of mature seeds and seed distribution.
- They are commonly known by different names including balsams, touch me not, jewel weed etc.
- It is distributed in the tropical, sub-tropical and northern temperate regions of the world.
- It is found mainly in India, China and Africa and some parts of Europe and North America.
- India is home to 220 balsam species in which 135 are found in the southern Western Ghats.
- Anamudi, the highest mountain in the Western Ghats, and the surrounding high ranges are known for the diversity of wild balsams.
- The normal lifecycle of balsams is from June to December.
- The plant mainly grows inside pockets of forest areas.
- It is a major indicator species of climate change.
5th World Coffee Conference (WCC) At Bengaluru:
International Coffee Organization (ICO), in collaboration with the Coffee Board of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, Government of Karnataka is hosting the 5th World Coffee Conference (WCC) at Bengaluru.
- International Coffee Organization was established in 1963 under the aegis of the United Nations and following the approval of the first International Coffee Agreement in 1962.
- The ICO is the only intergovernmental organization for coffee, bringing together exporting and importing Governments.
- It currently represents 93% of world coffee production and 63% of world consumption.
- The mission of the Organization is to strengthen the global coffee sector and promote its sustainable expansion in a market-based environment for the benefit of all actors in the Global Coffee Value Chain (G-CVC).
- Member countries: 49 (42 coffee exporting and 7 importing countries) 49 Members
- India is a member of this organisation.
PRIP Scheme:
The union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India launched the Scheme for promotion of Research and Innovation in Pharma MedTech Sector (PRIP).
- PRIP scheme is to transform Indian pharmaceuticals sector from cost based to innovation-based growth by strengthening the research infrastructure in the country.
- To promote industry-academia linkage for R&D in priority areas and to inculcate the culture of quality research and nurture our pool of scientists.
- This will lead to sustained global competitive advantage and contribute to quality employment generation in the country.
- Time period: Five years (2023-24 to 2027-28).
- The scheme has two components-
- Component A:Strengthening the research infrastructure by establishment of 7 Centre of Excellence (CoEs) at National Institutes of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPERs). -These CoEs would be set up in pre identified areas with a financial outlay of Rs 700 Crores.
- Component B: Promoting research in pharmaceutical sector by encouraging research in six priority areas like New Chemical Entities, Complex generics including biosimilars, medical devices, stem cell therapy, orphan drugs, Anti-microbial resistance etc.,
- Financial assistance will be provided for the Industries, MSME, SME, Startups working with government institutes and for both in- house and academic research.
DNA Nanoball Strategy:
In a remarkable scientific development, the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) nanoball strategy has emerged as a groundbreaking, cost-effective technology for the rapid detection of pathogens in the field.
- Pathogens are microorganisms that can cause disease in their host.
- They can be viruses, bacteria, protozoans, or fungi.
- The DNA nanoball strategy combines nucleic acids-based diagnostics and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technology for rapid pathogen detection.
- LAMP is a process that amplifies circular DNA molecules into long strands that contain multiple copies of DNA.
- These strands then fold into spherical structures called DNA nanoballs, which can be easily observed by a microscope or an electrical device.
- The design does not need laboratory techniques to support diagnosis.
- It is a low-cost technology that can be widely deployed and scalable.
Counter Terrorism Field Training Exercise (FTX) 2023:
The Indian Army Contingent departed for the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus Expert Working Group (EWG) on Counter Terrorism Field Training Exercise (FTX) 2023.
- Counter Terrorism Field Training Exercise (FTX) 2023 25th to 30th September 2023.
- It is a multinational joint military exercise being hosted by Russia as a co-chair of the EWG along with Myanmar.
- It was preceded by the Table Top Exercise of the ADMM Plus EWG on Counter-Terrorism at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar from 2nd to 4th August 2023.
Mewar-Style Painting : Discovered
A Mewar-style Mahabharata painted by a Muslim was discovered in Udaipur, Rajasthan.
- A trunk in a dingy room in Udaipur’s City Palace had been sheltering thousands of miniature paintings of the Mahabharata, painted by Allah Baksh between 1680 and 1698.
- In The Mahabharata by Baksh, they highlight how literature undergoes constant reinterpretation through centuries and millennia.
- A 300-year-old text, in this Baksh’s illustrations is not a Sanskrit Mahabharata but a Rajasthani one.
- It is not painted by a Muslim but by a proponent of the Mewari school of thought, in such a manner that when one sees the paintings, and visualizes Mewari culture in its entirety.
- Mewar-style painting 17th and 18th centuries.
- Mewar painting is one of the most important schools of Indian miniature painting.
- It is a school in the Rajasthani style
- It developed in the Hindu principality of Mewar (Udaipur).
