Art & Culture

Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple

Trimbakeshwar Shiva Temple

Trimbakeshwar Temple is an ancient temple of Lord Shiva and identified as one of the divine 12 Jyotirlinga.

About

• The present Trimbakeshwar temple was constructed by third Peshwa Balaji Bajirao (1740-1760) on the site of an old temple.
• It is dedicated to the god Trimbakeshwar (the supreme deity, Lord Shiva).
• It is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in Trinetra, which honours Lord Shiva, as the three symbols of Lords Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. 

About Jyotirilingas

• Jyotirlingas are sacred shrines of Lord Shiva; it is believed that Lord Shiva himself visited these places.
• There are 12 of them in India.
• Jyotirlinga means ‘column or pillar of light’.
• The ‘stambha’ symbol represents that there is no beginning or end.

Polity & Governance (GS-II)

Changathi Project:

Recently, Migrant workers write the Changathi literacy examination in Malayalam conducted by the Literacy Mission in Thrissur district.

About:

• The Changathi project was introduced by the Kerala Literacy Mission to teach migrant labourers to read and write Malayalam and Hindi.
• There were no women among the 92 migrant labourers who attended the examination.
• The examination was conducted based on ‘Hamari Malayalam’, a textbook specially prepared by the literacy mission for the purpose.

Polity & Governance

Kudumbashree

Kudumbashree is the largest network of women in Kerala for empowerment and poverty eradication, which is completed 25 years recently.

About: Kudumbashree Initiative

• Kudumbashree is the poverty eradication and women empowerment programme implemented by the State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM) of the Government of Kerala.
• The name Kudumbashree in Malayalam language means ‘prosperity of the family’.
• The name represents ‘Kudumbashree Mission’ or SPEM as well as the Kudumbashree Community Network. What is commonly referred to as ‘Kudumbashree’ could mean either the Kudumbashree Community Network, or the Kudumbashree Mission, or both.
• Kudumbashree was set up in 1997 following the recommendations of a three member Task Force appointed by the State government.
• Its formation was in the context of the devolution of powers to the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) in Kerala, and the Peoples’ Plan Campaign, which attempted to draw up the Ninth Plan of the local governments from below through the PRIs.

International Relation

Group of Seven (G7) Meet

Leaders of the world's wealthiest countries decided to toughen sanctions on Russia and to limit reliance on trade with China.

Kay highlights of the summit:

• Concerning Russia: The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) vowed to ban any exports to Russia that could aid it in its 15-month invasion of Ukraine.
  • This includes exports of industrial machinery, tools, and other technology that Russia uses to rebuild its war machine.
• Concerning China: The G7 countries increasingly perceive as a danger to economic security, they were to agree to reduce excessive reliance in vital supply chains and to combat malicious practises in technology transfer and data sharing.
  • It reiterated the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and urged China to put pressure on Russia to halt its aggression in Ukraine.
• The G7 countries are the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Canada.
• Background of Site
• Hiroshima was destroyed 78 years ago by US nuclear strikes that concluded World War II.
• Hiroshima, Japan, was chosen for the global assembly to draw emphasis on arms control.
• Shifting Objective
• The objective of net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, but it also noted what it saw as the continued role of liquefied natural gas as reliance on Russian energy was reduced.

Economy

Sagar Parikrama

Phase-V of Sagar Parikrama covering Maharashtra-Goa coastal districts have been kick-started.

About

• Sagar Parikrama program is being organized through a pre-decided sea route covering coastal states/UTs. 
• Objective:
  • to resolve the issues of the fishers and other stakeholders
  • to facilitate their economic upliftment through various fisheries schemes and programs being implemented by the Government of India such as PMMSY
    
    

    India is the 3rd largest fish producing and 2nd largest aquaculture producing nation in the world

ECONOMY

RBI Surplus Transfer

The Reserve Bank of India has approved the transfer of Rs 87,416 crore as surplus to the Union Government for fiscal year 2022-23, offering a significant boost to its fiscal position.

About RBI’s Surplus

• This represents the amount RBI transfers to the government.
• There are two unique features about RBI’s financial statements.
  • It is not required to pay income tax
  • It has to transfer to the government the surplus left over after meeting its needs
• RBI’s income comes mainly through interest on the securities it holds and in 2017-18 the largest component of expenditure was a provision of about Rs 14,200 crore it made to the contingency fund.
  
  

  Liquidity refers to the ease with which an asset, or security, can be converted into ready cash without affecting its market price.

ECONOMY

Liberalised Remittance Scheme

Spending in foreign exchange through international credit cards will be covered under the RBI's liberalised remittance scheme (LRS), under which a resident can remit money abroad up to a maximum of $2.50 lakh per annum without the authorisation of the Reserve Bank, as per a Finance Ministry notification.

About: LRS

• The RBI introduced the LRS scheme or Liberalised Remittance Scheme to facilitate hassle-free foreign exchange. Under this scheme, an Indian resident can transfer funds of up to USD 250,000 in a financial year outside India.
• Indian residents, apart from corporates, partnership firms, HUFs, etc., are eligible for LRS. Even minors are eligible for LRS, given that their guardian signs Form A2.

Economy

Bima Sugam

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is pushing to implement two high tech projects - Health Claims Exchange and Bima Sugam, to deepen insurance penetration and simplify the claim procedures.

Key highlights:

• IRDAI is setting up the Health Exchange platform, which will digitize and simplify the process of filing health insurance claims.
• It will reduce the cost per claim to the insurer and enable automatic fund transfer of the claim amount.
• The proposed exchange will help insurers to have a unified platform for claims and policyholders’ medical history, reducing the number of insurance frauds.
• NHA has invited contributors and developers from the open community to test, contribute and become a participant in the Health Claims Exchange ecosystem.
• Bima Sugam is a revolutionary step with ambitions of becoming the largest online market for insurance products and services.
• The overall budget for Bima Sugam has been hiked to Rs 200 crore.

Polity & Governance

Arsenic Consumption

In a recent study it has been found that even low levels of ‘arsenic consumption’ may impact cognitive function in children, adolescents, and young adults.

About: Arsenic

• Arsenic is a natural component of the earth’s crust and is widely distributed throughout the environment in the air, water and land. It is highly toxic in its inorganic form.
• Arsenic exposure is a serious public health concern due to its toxic nature.
• Arsenic can enter the body through various routes, but one of the major sources of exposure is through contaminated drinking water.
• Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic, mainly through drinking-water and food, can lead to chronic arsenic poisoning. Skin lesions and skin cancer are the most characteristic effects.
• Arsenic exposure through inhalation of contaminated air is relatively rare and usually associated with occupational settings or specific environmental incidents.
• Ingestion of contaminated water or food is the most common route of arsenic exposure for the general population.
• While arsenic is a naturally occurring element and has some industrial applications, it is not considered beneficial or essential for human health.

Environment

Sea butterflies threatened by climate change

Sea butterflies, found in the Southern Ocean, are extremely vulnerable to climate change and their population is shrinking in a warming world, according to a new study.

About

• The sea butterfly (Thecosomata) is a suborder of swimming sea snails and a gastropod mollusk of the class Gastropoda.
• The sea butterfly is as Pteropod, and is included in the group Pteropoda.
• They incorporate many species of gastropods and play a fundamental role in the oceanic ecosystem.
• These tiny creatures play a big role in the marine ecosystem.

Environment & Ecology

Greater Flamingo

A greater flamingo was rescued from Najafgarh wetland, bordering Haryana.

About:

• Out of the six species of flamingo on our planet, the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most common and widespread member of the flamingo family.
• The Greater Flamingo is an easily identifiable, colorful wading bird and is often found flocking together with the Lesser Flamingo in the great salt lakes across Africa.
• These famous pink birds can be found in warm, watery regions on many continents and also occur in Asia in the coastal regions of India and Pakistan, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and in Southern Europe.
• The closest relatives to the Greater Flamingo are the Chilean Flamingo, Caribbean Flamingo and the Lesser Flamingo. There are no subspecies of the Greater Flamingo.
• The flamingo’s pink coloration comes from its diet of Shrimp and other pink crustaceans.

Environment

Jwala: A cheetah’s cub

The latest fatality took the toll of cheetahs in Kuno National Park to four in the last two months, including three felines translocated from African countries.

Key highlights:

• One more cheetahs, this time a cub, has died at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh.
• The two-month-old cub was one of four born to the cheetah, Jwala, who was among the set of eight animals imported from Namibia.
• The likely cause of death was from weakness.
• Survival Rate of Cheetah: Literature and experience from Africa suggests that cheetah cubs, in the wild, have a survival rate of 10%, and roughly the same fraction make it to adulthood, the government’s press release noted.
• This is the fourth cheetah to have died in India since 20 of the animals were relocated from Namibia and South Africa respectively to KNP, in an experiment at establishing a community of cheetahs, the only large cat to have gone extinct from India.

Science & Technology (GS-III)

World Hypertension Day

World Hypertension Day is held on 17 May.

About

• Hypertension (high blood pressure) is when the pressure in your blood vessels is too high (140/90 mmHg or higher).
• It is common but can be serious if not treated.
• Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).
• In general, hypertension is a blood pressure reading of 130/80 mm Hg or higher.

Science & Technology (GS-III)

Open Radio Access Network (ORAN)

Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) test bed project was recently launched for conformance, certification and interoperability testing of O-RAN based solutions in New Delhi.

About:

• An Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) is a nonproprietary version of the Radio Access Network (RAN) system that allows interoperation between cellular network equipment provided by different vendors.
• In the traditional set-up, Radio Access Network is provided as an integrated platform of both hardware and software.
• Therefore, it is difficult to mix vendors for the radio and baseband unit, and in most cases, they come from the same supplier.
• The idea of Open RAN is to change this, and enable operators to mix and match components. 
• It goes a step further by opening the interfaces inside the base station. The Open RAN architecture allows for the separation - or disaggregation - between hardware and software with open interfaces.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Radiometric Dating

Scientists have suggested using Calcium-41 for Radiometric Dating as an alternative to Carbon-14 for determining the age of fossilized bones and rocks.

About: Calcium-41 for Radiometric Dating

• Calcium-41 (Ca-41) is a radioactive isotope of calcium that can be used in radiometric dating methods. It undergoes radioactive decay and transforms into Argon-40 (Ar-40) over time.
• The ratio of Ca-41 to Ar-40 in a sample can be measured, and by knowing the half-life of Ca-41, the age of the sample can be determined.
• Ca-41 dating is not commonly employed in dating methods involving carbon-based materials like charcoal and bone, as mentioned in option D. Carbon dating methods, which rely on the decay of Carbon-14 (C-14), are specifically designed for dating organic materials. Therefore, option D is incorrect.
• In summary, Calcium-41 (Ca-41) decays into Argon-40 (Ar-40), and the ratio of Ca-41 to Ar-40 can be used to calculate the age of rocks and minerals.
• It is not suitable for dating organic materials, has a half-life of approximately 100,000 years, and is commonly applied in geological dating rather than carbon-based dating methods.