Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 2nd May 2023

Kashi Telugu Sangamam-Ganga Pushkara Aradhana:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently addressed the Kashi Telugu Sangamam-Ganga Pushkara Aradhana held in Varanasi through video conferencing.

• The Prime Minister said, the Kashi Telugu Sangamam is the confluence of India’s ancient civilization, culture and traditions.
• He highlighted the age-old relations between Kashi and Telugu land.
• He also remembered prominent saints of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on the occasion.
• The Prime Minister mentioned Tailang Swami who was born in Vizianagaram but was called the living Shiva of Kashi by Swami Ramakrishna Paramhans.
• The Prime Minister mentioned the Kashi Khandamu Granth by Srinath Mahakavi, the Kashi Yatra character of Engul Viraswamayya and the popular Kashi Majili Kathalu.
• The Prime Minister said, the centuries-old relation between Kashi and Telugu people is the reflection of Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat.
• The 12-day-long Kashi Telugu Sangam began in Varanasi on the 22nd of this month and will go on till the 3rd of May.
• The festival is celebrated every 12 years.

Yellow Fever:

A total of 117 passengers of Indian Origin that have arrived from Sudan are currently quarantined because they were not vaccinated against Yellow Fever.

• Yellow fever is often associated with jaundice, hence the name yellow.
• Yellow fever occurs in 47 endemic countries in Africa in Central and South America. Around 90% of cases reported every year occur in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The yellow fever virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes, most commonly from the Aedes species – the same mosquito that spreads the Zika, Chikungunya and Dengue virus. Haemogogus mosquitoes also spread it and are mostly found in the jungle.
• The disease cannot be spread by contact from one person to another.
• Once contracted, the yellow fever virus incubates in the body for 3 to 6 days. Symptoms usually present themselves in 2 phases.
• The first, “acute”, phase usually causes fever, muscle pain or vomiting. Most patients improve and their symptoms disappear after 3 to 4 days.
• However, a small percentage of people enter a second, more toxic phase within 24 hours of the initial remission.
• They will experience high fever, JAUNDICE, and abdominal pain with vomiting and deteriorating kidney function.
• Yellow fever can be prevented by a vaccine that is protective for life. As single dose of yellow fever vaccine, known as 17D, provides life-long immunity against the disease.
• There is no specific treatment for yellow fever but good supportive treatment of symptoms, such as dehydration, fever and infection, improves survival rates.

Bluebugging : Increase In Cybercrime

Concerned over an increase in instances of cybercrime, Andhra Pradesh police recently asked the people to be wary of “bluebugging.”

• It is a form of hacking that lets attackers access a device through its discoverable Bluetooth connection.
• Once a device or phone is bluebugged, a hacker can listen to the calls, read and send messages and steal and modify contacts.
• It started out as a threat for laptops with Bluetooth capability. Later hackers used the technique to target mobile phones and other devices.
• This attack is often limited due to the range of Bluetooth connections, which goes up to only 10 meters.
• Bluebugging attacks work by exploiting Bluetooth-enabled devices.
• The device’s Bluetooth must be in discoverable mode, which is the default setting on most devices.
• The hacker then tries to pair with the device via Bluetooth.
• Once a connection is established, hackers can use brute force attacks to bypass authentication.
• They can install malware in the compromised device to gain unauthorised access to it.

International Labour Day 2023:

International Labour Day, popularly known as International Workers’ Day or May Day is observed on May 01 every year.

• International Labour Day is celebrated every year on 1 May to commemorate the struggles and sacrifices of the workers’ and labours’ movement.
• It is also known as May Day.
• It is celebrated in more than 80 countries, including India, Cuba, and China
• People in different parts of the world hold marches on this day to promote the rights of working-class people and to protect them from exploitation.
• The tradition of Labour Day dates back to 19th century America.
• On May 1st, 1886, workers in Chicago organized a strike to demand an eight-hour workday.
• However, workers across the US came together to demand their rights and to fight for better working conditions after a bomb exploded at a labour rally in Haymarket Square in Chicago, USA.
• In 1889, the International congress of socialist parties met in Paris and decided to celebrate Labour Day or Worker’s Day on May 1.
• The first labour day was celebrated in India on May 1, 1923, in Chennai.

National Medical Device Policy 2023:

The Union Cabinet has approved the National Medical Devices (NMD) Policy, 2023.

• Policy lays down a roadmap for accelerated growth of the medical devices sector to achieve the following missions viz, Access & Universality, Affordability, Quality, Patient Centred & Quality Care, Preventive & Promotive Health, Security, Research and Innovation and Skilled manpower.

NMD Policy 2023:

• “Single Window Clearance System” for licensing medical devices will be created.
• This system will involve all relevant departments and organizations, such as MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), and DAHD (Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying).
• Large medical device parks with world-class infrastructure facilities will be established, near economic zones.
• It will be done as envisioned under the National Industrial Corridor Program and the proposed National Logistics Policy 2021 under the ambit of PM Gati Shakti, and in collaboration with state governments and the industry, to improve convergence and integration with the medical device industry.
• The policy aims to promote Research & Development in India, complementing the proposed National Policy on R&D and Innovation in the Pharma-MedTech sector.
• It also aims at establishing Centres of Excellence in academic and research institutions, innovation hubs, ‘plug and play’ infrastructures and support to start-ups.
• The policy encourages private investment and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to complement existing schemes such as Make in India, Ayushman Bharat program, Heal-in-India, and Start-up mission.
• The policy aims to ensure a skilled workforce in the medical device sector by providing skilling, reskilling and upskilling programs through the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
• It will also support dedicated courses for medical devices in existing institutions to produce skilled manpower for futuristic technologies, manufacturing and research.
• The policy envisages the creation of a dedicated Export Promotion Council for the sector which will be an enabler to deal with various market access issues.

FM Transmitters : Recently Launched

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched 91 new 100-watt capacity FM transmitters.

• Frequency Modulation is the encoding of information in a carrier wave by varying the instantaneous frequency of the wave.
• In analogue FM (radio broadcasting), the instantaneous frequency deviation has a functional relation to the modulating signal amplitude.
• FM transmitters is a low-power FM radio transmitter that broadcasts a signal from a portable audio device to a standard FM radio.
• Most of these transmitters plug into the device’s headphone jack and then broadcast the signal over an FM broadcast band frequeny so that it can be picked up by any nearby radio.
• This allows portable audio devices to make use of the louder or better sound quality of a home audio system or car stereo without requiring a wired connection.
• Being low-powered, most transmitters typically have a short range of 100-300 feet (30–91 metres), depending on the quality of the receiver, obstructions and elevation.

Index Of Eight Core Industries (ICI):

Recent reports show that the combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 3.6 per cent (provisional) in March 2023 as compared to the Index of March 2022.

• ICI measures combined and individual performance of the production of eight core industries.
• These include Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.
• These Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
• Details of annual and monthly indices is compiled and released by the Office of Economic Adviser (OEA), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It provides an advance indication of the production performance of industries of a ‘core’ nature prior to the IIP

International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO):

India will start participating in the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA).CORSIA is the first global market-based measure for any sector.

• The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is a specialized funding agency of the United Nations.
• It changes the principles and techniques of international air navigation.
• It fosters the planning and development of international air transport to ensure safe and orderly growth.
• Its headquarters is located in the Quartier International of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
• It has 193 Member States.
• India is one of ICAO’s founder members, having attended the Chicago Convention in 1944
• The ICAO Council adopts standards and recommended practices concerning air navigation, its infrastructure, flight inspection, prevention of unlawful interference, and facilitation of border-crossing procedures for international civil aviation.
• The Air Navigation Commission (ANC) is the technical body within ICAO.
• ICAO defines the protocols for air accident investigation that are followed by transport safety authorities in countries signatory to the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation.
• Convention on International Civil Aviation also known as the Chicago Convention, established the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a specialized agency of the UN charged with coordinating international air travel.
• The Convention establishes rules of airspace, aircraft registration and safety, security, and sustainability, and details the rights of the signatories in relation to air travel.
• The Convention also contains provisions pertaining to taxation.

Millets Experience Centre:

The Indian government has launched a first of its kind Millets Experience Centre (MEC) in collaboration with the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).

• This initiative comes in light of the UNGA’s declaration of 2023 as the International Year of Millets (IYM 2023).
• Millet has been referred to as ‘Shree Anna’ in Union Budget 2023-24.
• The MEC is a unique concept that will promote millets as a versatile, healthy grain by showcasing its dietary benefits and offering customers a unique dining experience.
• Visitors to the center can purchase a variety of ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook products from local millet start-ups.
• The MEC will help widen the horizon for consumers who are actively looking for healthier alternatives.
• The establishment of the MEC is a step in the direction of India’s goal to become a “Global Hub” for millet.
• The MEC will not only promote the dietary benefits of the ancient grain but also popularize millet as a nutritional powerhouse fit for cooking a variety of dishes such as millet dosa and millet pasta.
• This initiative will bring visibility to India’s robust millet-based start-up community and will help in the recognition of the immense potential of millets as a versatile and healthy grain.