Daily Current Affairs
To the Point Notes
1: Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya
- Birth: September 25, 1916, Dhankia, Rajasthan.
- Early Life: Lost parents early, raised by maternal uncle. Excelled in studies.
- Political Career:
- Joined RSS, Sanatan Dharma College, Kanpur.
- Founded magazines “Rashtra Dharma,” “Panchajanya,” and newspaper “Swadesh.”
- General Secretary, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (U.P. and All India).
- Philosophy: Integral Humanism, combining material and spiritual values. Advocated decentralized polity, self-reliant economy, and village-centric development.
- Tragic Death: Found dead on train in 1968.
- Legacy: Call to serve the entire nation continues to inspire.
2: Mankidia Tribe: A Semi-Nomadic Community
- Location: Mayurbhanj district, Odisha.
- Lifestyle: Semi-nomadic, Austro-Asiatic community.
- Skills: Traditional rope making, monkey trapping, and food gathering.
- Habitat: Temporary forest settlements.
- Language: Munda language.
- Employment: Employed by villagers to control monkey populations.
- Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006:
- Grants forest-dependent communities rights over forest land.
- Strengthens indigenous knowledge and traditional forest management.
- Promotes biodiversity conservation.
- Habitat Rights:
- Mankidia is the second PVTG in Odisha to receive habitat rights.
- Paudi Bhuyan of Deogarh district was the first.
- Odisha has granted habitat rights to six PVTGs (highest in India).
- Odisha has 13 PVTGs, with 1,79,742 households in 1,683 villages across 14 districts.
3: Pact for the Future: A Global Commitment
- UNGA Adoption: Adopted by consensus, including Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations.
- Key Pledges:
- Turbocharge SDGs and Paris Agreement.
- Listen to young people and include them in decision-making.
- Strengthen partnerships with civil society, private sector, local and regional authorities.
- Address root causes of conflicts and protect civilians in armed conflict.
- Accelerate implementation of commitments on women, peace, and security.
- Global Digital Compact:
- International regulation of artificial intelligence.
- Ensure digital technologies contribute to sustainable development and human rights.
- Address risks like digital divides, cybersecurity, and misuse of technology.
- Declaration on Future Generations:
- Focuses on securing well-being of future generations.
- Protects environment, promotes intergenerational equity.
- Considers long-term consequences of today’s actions.
4: Body Roundness Index (BRI): A New Measure of Health
- BMI Limitations:
- Inaccurate for children, athletes, and ethnic minorities.
- Doesn’t consider body fat levels directly.
- BRI Development: Developed by Diana Thomas in 2013.
- Calculation: Uses height and waist circumference to quantify body fat levels.
- Scoring: Ranges from 1 to 15. Very high or very low scores (over 6.9 or under 3.41) indicate increased health risks.
- Advantages: More accurate indicator of health compared to BMI.
5: Retractions: A Growing Concern in Scientific Literature
- Definition: Removal of a published scientific paper due to significant flaws.
- Increase: Retractions have tripled worldwide from 2017-2019 to 2020-2022.
- Reasons: Plagiarism, editorial conflicts, image manipulation, paper mills.
- Retraction Index: Number of retractions per 1000 published articles.
- Impact Factor: Average number of times a paper is cited.
6: Barak Bhuban Wildlife Sanctuary
- Location: Cachar district, Assam.
- Designation: Wildlife sanctuary since 2022.
- Habitat: Between Barak and Sonai Rivers.
- Significance: Vital habitat for king cobras.
- NGT Stay: Construction of a road within the sanctuary halted by the NGT.
- Barak Valley: Southernmost region of Assam, bordered by Mizoram, Tripura, Bangladesh, Meghalaya, and Manipur. Named after the Barak River.
हिन्दी