Every Monday, UPSC Current Affairs Pointers in UPSC Essentials aim to go beyond the headlines and provide content relevant to your UPSC Prelims, State PCS, and other competitive examinations.

If you missed the UPSC Current Affairs Pointers of the past week | October 7 to October 13, 2024, from the Indian Express, read it here.

— The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has written to the chief secretaries of all States and Union territories recommending that madrasa boards be “discontinued and closed down.”

— It has been constituted by the Government of India, under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act,2005 for the protection and promotion of child rights.

— The commission consists of a Chairman who, is a person of eminence and has done outstanding work for promoting the welfare of children, and six members out of which at least two are women.

(Source: ncpcr.gov.in)

— With the Air Quality Index dropping in Delhi, after the Dussehra celebration, Stage 1 of GRAP has been invoked.

— GRAP is a set of emergency measures that kick in to prevent further deterioration of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold in the Delhi-NCR region.

— Stage 1 of GRAP is activated when the AQI is in the ‘poor’ category (201 to 300), Stage 2 is when it’s in the ‘Very poor’ category (301-400), Stage 3 is when the AQI is the ‘Severe’ category (401-450) and finally Stage 4 is when it rises to the ‘Severe +’ category (more than 450).

— The GRAP was first notified in January 2017 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. This was based on a plan submitted by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in November 2016.

— The Union Minister for Education has announced the establishment of three AI Centres of Excellence (CoE) focused on Healthcare, Agriculture, and Sustainable Cities in New Delhi.

— The CoES will be led by top educational institutions, in consortium with industry partners and startups.

— The guidelines were issued by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) which works under the Consumer Affairs Ministry. The move is part of the government’s crackdown on misleading advertisements.

— Greenwashing refers to the growing tendency of companies, organisations or even countries to make dubious or unverifiable claims about their activities, products or services being environment-friendly or climate-friendly.

— In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court on 17th October upheld the constitutional validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, which granted citizenship to immigrants who entered Assam on or before March 24, 1971.

— Section 6A was added to the statute in 1985 following the signing of the Assam Accord between the Rajiv Gandhi government at the Centre and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU).

— According to Section 6A, all persons of “Indian origin” who entered the state before January 1, 1966 and have been “ordinarily resident” in Assam ever since “shall be deemed to be citizens of India”

— It provides that anyone who entered and resided in Assam after January 1, 1966 but before March 24, 1971 who has been “detected to be a foreigner” would have the opportunity to register themselves according to rules made by the Central Government.

— Following such registration, they would be granted the rights of citizens except that they would not be included in electoral rolls for the purposes of voting in elections for a period of 10 years. Those entering after March 24, 1971, would be considered illegal immigrants.

 

— India has expressed concern over the “deteriorating” security situation after two UN peacekeepers from Sri Lanka were wounded in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.

— The Security Council created UNIFIL in March 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, restore international peace and security and assist the Lebanese Government in restoring its effective authority in the area.

— India is the second largest contributing country in the UNIFIL after Indonesia (as of April 2024).

(Source: peacekeeping.un.org)

— The 149th Assembly of the IPU took place in Geneva, Switzerland, on 13-17 October 2024.

— The theme is Harnessing science, technology, and innovation (STI) for a more peaceful and sustainable future and providing a platform for delegates to deliberate, exchange views and galvanize parliamentary action.

— The Indian delegations were led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

(Source: ipu.org)

— The 23rd Heads of Government Meeting of the SCO concluded in Islamabad. It was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

— The SCO was established in Shanghai on June 15, 2001, as an international organisation, and included Uzbekistan as a sixth member.

— Today, it comprises 10 member countries- India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus. India and Pakistan became full members in 2017, Iran joined last year, and Belarus this year. Afghanistan and Mongolia hold Observer Status.

 

(Just FYI: UPSC has directly asked questions about the publication of important indices and reports. In 2016, a question was asked by UPSC on indicators used in calculating the Global Hunger Index. In this regard, knowing about these indices, method of calculation, publication agencies, and India’s performance in these indices becomes important.)

— India ranked 105th out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2024, with a score of 27.3, indicating a serious level of hunger.

— The hunger levels in 42 countries are at alarming levels, making the goal of Zero Hunger by 2030 unattainable.

— The GHI is published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe annually to measure and track hunger at global, regional, and national levels.

— GHI is calculated based on a formula that combines four indicators that together capture the multidimensional nature of hunger: undernourishment, child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality.

— The performance of India on various parameters of GHI:

13.7 per cent of India’s population suffers from undernourishment,

35.5 per cent of children under the age of five are stunted

18.7 per cent experience child wasting and

2.9 per cent of children do not reach their fifth birthday.

— The 2024 Multidimensional Poverty Index was published on 17th October on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty by OPHI and the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme. It was launched in 2010.

— The five countries with the largest number of people living in poverty are India (234 million), Pakistan (93 million), Ethiopia (86 million), Nigeria (74 million) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (66 million). Together, these five countries account for nearly half (48.1 percent) of the 1.1 billion poor people.

— The MPI uses 10 indicators covering three main areas: (i) health, (ii) education, and (iii) standard of living. These three dimensions have one-third weight each in the final index.

(Source: ophi.org.uk)

 

— Europa Clipper is a NASA spacecraft that is the first mission designed to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter’s moon Europa. It was launched on October 14, 2024, and will reach Jupiter in April 2030.

— Europa is one of Jupiter’s 95 known moons and is almost the size of our own moon. It’s encased in an ice sheet estimated to be 10 miles to 15 miles or more thick. Scientists believe this frozen crust hides an ocean that could be 80 miles or more deep.

(Source: nasa.gov)

 

— US to send THAAD defence battery system to Israel underlining its “ironclad commitment to the defence of Israel”.

— THAAD stands for Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence, and the battery is used to intercept and destroy enemy missiles.

— A THAAD battery consists of 95 soldiers, six truck-mounted launchers, 48 interceptors (eight per launcher), radar surveillance and radar, and a tactical fire component.

— THAAD provides a “rapidly deployable capability against short-range (up to 1,000 km), medium-range (1,000–3,000 km), and limited intermediate-range (3,000–5,000 km) ballistic missile threats inside or outside the atmosphere during their final (terminal) phase of flight.

— It Employs “hit-to-kill” technology to destroy threat missiles, the THAAD can defend a larger area than the older Patriot Air and Missile Defense System. It has been developed by Lockheed Martin Corporation.

 

(Just FYI: UPSC has consistently included questions on health and diseases in its examinations over the years. For instance, in 2014, a question about the Ebola virus appeared in the Prelims, and in 2017, a question about the Zika virus was featured. Therefore, it is crucial to stay updated on diseases that are currently in the news.)

— Recently, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud shared the challenges faced by his foster daughters, who are battling a rare congenital disorder called nemaline myopathy.

— Nemaline myopathy, also known as rod myopathy or nemaline rod myopathy, is a rare congenital disorder that affects the skeletal muscles, causing muscle weakness and other associated symptoms.

— The term “nemaline” comes from the Greek word “nema,” meaning thread-like, referring to the rod-like structures (nemaline bodies) found in the muscle cells of affected individuals.

— One of the primary challenges in diagnosing nemaline myopathy is its rarity. So it can be misdiagnosed as existing muscular disorders. This delay can be costly.

— A three-year-old girl died of suspected diphtheria in Punjab’s Faridkot last week.

— A toxin produced by some strains of the Corynebacterium diphtheria bacteria results in diphtheria. It affects the respiratory tract and spreads throughout the body.

— The common symptoms are fever, chills, swelling in lymph nodes, fatigue, shortness of breath, etc. It is also a highly contagious disease, although fatality rates are low.

— A 75-year-old man from Kerala who recently travelled to Vietnam and Cambodia was on Friday (October 11) diagnosed with the bacterial disease murine typhus.

— Murine typhus is an infectious disease caused by the flea-borne bacteria Rickettsia typhi.

— It is transmitted to humans through the bites of infected fleas. The disease is also known as endemic typhus, flea-borne typhus or flea-borne spotted fever.

— Rodents like rats, mice and mongoose, are known to be reservoirs of the disease.

— The symptoms usually appear seven to 14 days after the exposure and include fever, headaches, body aches, joint pains, nausea, vomiting, and stomach aches.

 

— Professor Shubha Tole, neuroscientist and dean of graduate studies, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, is president-elect of the International Brain Research Organisation (IBRO).

— IBRO is a global association of neuroscience societies established in 1961 that aims to promote and support neuroscience around the world through training, education, research, outreach and engagement activities, and the publication of two journals, Neuroscience and IBRO Neuroscience Reports.

— Yahwa Sinwar, de facto chief of Hamas, was killed by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) during a military operation in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on 16th October.

— Israel has long viewed Sinwar as the mastermind of the October 7 attack, and referred to him as “a dead man walking”.

 

(Just FYI: The location of the place is important, considering that UPSC has asked several questions about places that were in the news, such as Aleppo and Kirkuk, in the 2018 UPSC Prelims. The best way to remember them is to plot them on a world map.)

— Former cricketer Ajay Jadeja has been declared heir to Jamnagar’s royal throne.

— Jamnagar was founded by Jam Rawal in 1540 CE as the capital of the Princely State of Nawanagar. The district is now known as Jamnagar.

— The Ranji Trophy is named after Ranjitsinhji, nawab of Jamnagar, and was started by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 1934 after his death in 1933.

— Over 1,000 foreign tourists have been stranded in Nepal after bad weather led to the cancellation of flights to Lukla, the gateway to Mt Everest, according to state-run media Tuesday.

— Lukla is a small hill town in Nepal that has the airport nearest to the Mt Everest base camp.

— Lukla Airport was built in 1964 with the help of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to summit Mount Everest.

— A fuel tanker overturned in Nigeria’s state of Jigawa after the driver lost control of the vehicle, spilling petrol which exploded and killed at least 147 people.

— Jigawa is located in northern Nigeria. It was created from the northeastern half of Kano state in 1991.

 

— The Supreme Court has unveiled a new “Lady Justice” statue.

— The new, six-foot-tall statue in the judges’ library is of a saree-clad woman with no blindfold, holding scales and, instead of the sword, a copy of the Constitution of India.

— The first Roman emperor Augustus (27 BCE-14 CE) introduced the worship of Justice in the form of a goddess known as Justitia (or Iustitia).

 

(Just FYI: With the unpredictability of the UPSC examinations and questions like the ICC World Test Championship question 2021, you can’t be sure of anything. It is wise to know what it is and not go into too much detail.)

— The eighth edition of the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy Hockey is scheduled in Rajgir, Bihar, from November 11 to 20.

— The mascot for the tournament is ‘Gudia,’ which is inspired by Bihar’s state bird, the sparrow. The logo symbolizes the rich cultural and historical heritage of glorious Bihar and its overall development.

— The Indian women’s hockey team won the tournament back in 2016 and also reclaimed the title last year in Ranchi, beating Japan in the final.

— On 14th October, Bihar’s Chief Minister kicked off the Trophy Gaurav Yatra from Patna. This yatra will pass through Punjab, Haryana, Odisha, Jharkhand, and all the 38 districts of Bihar.

(Source: olympics.com)

 

— Dragon drones: Dragon drones essentially release a substance called thermite — a mixture of aluminium and iron oxide. When ignited (usually with the help of an electrical fuse), thermite triggers a self-sustaining reaction that is quite difficult to extinguish. It can burn through almost anything, from clothes to trees to military-grade vehicles, and can even burn underwater. On humans, it causes severe, possibly fatal, burns and bone damage. It is recently used in the Russia-Ukraine War.

— Bone Ossification test: One of the accused of killing Baba Siddique underwent bone ossification test to determine the age of the person. Ossification is the natural process of bone formation. This starts from the early developmental stage of the foetus and continues until late adolescence, but differs slightly from individual to individual.

— Marine Heat Waves (MHWs): MHWs are defined by the unusual warming of ocean waters. In recent years, global warming has made MHWs more frequent and intense.

 

(Note: The best way to remember facts for UPSC and other competitive exams is to recall them through MCQs. Try to solve the following questions on your own.)

A. Consider the following statements:

1. Murine typhus is an infectious disease caused by the flea-borne bacteria Bartonellosis.

2. Rodents like rats, mice and mongoose, are known to be reservoirs of the disease.

Which of the following statements is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

B. The Europa Clipper mission to study Jupiter’s moon Europa, was initiated by which space agency?

(a) NASA

(b) ESA

(c) JAXA

(d) ISRO

C. Multidimensional Poverty Index is released by which of the following organisations?

(a) UNDP

(b) Concern Worldwide

(c) WEF

(d) UNICEF

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