Daily Current Affairs
To the Point Notes
1.Delaying of La Nina
Context:
- Global agencies were incorrect in La Niña predictions this year.
About La Nina:
- Means “Little Girl” in Spanish.
- Weather phenomenon in Pacific Ocean.
- Counterpart of El Niño.
- Part of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.
- Stronger trade winds push warmer waters towards Indonesian coast, making eastern Pacific colder.
Impacts:
- Increased rainfall in Southeast Asia, northern Australia, and parts of South America.
- Drier conditions in southwestern United States and parts of Africa.
- Stronger Atlantic hurricanes.
- Cooler temperatures in Pacific Northwest of the United States and parts of South America.
2.Konyak Tribe
- Apex body: Konyak Union.
- Concerns: Inaccurate representation of traditional territory on Google Maps.
- Race: Mongoloid.
- Largest tribes: One of the largest tribes in Nagaland.
- Historical practice: Headhunting.
- Religion: Formerly Animism, now predominantly Christianity.
- Society: Patriarchal.
3.BPaLM Regimen for Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB)
Context:
- Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare approves BPaLM regimen for MDR-TB.
About BPaLM Regimen:
- Four-drug combination: Bedaquiline, Pretomanid, Linezolid, Moxifloxacin.
- Reduces treatment duration to six months from 20 months.
- Safer, more effective, and cost-saving.
National Tuberculosis Elimination Program (NTEP):
- Formerly known as RNTCP.
- Aims to achieve TB elimination by 2025.
- Emphasizes detecting all TB cases.
Other Related Initiatives:
- Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (PMTBMBA): Launched in 2022 for TB elimination.
- Ni-kshay Mitra: Provides support to TB patients.
- Laboratory Network: India has 7,767 rapid molecular testing facilities and 87 culture & drug susceptibility testing laboratories for MDR-TB detection and treatment.
4.FAO Food Price Index (FFPI)
In News
- Recently, the benchmark for world food commodity prices, the FAO Food Price Index (FFPI), showed a marginal decline in August 2024.
About FAO Food Price Index (FFPI)
- The FAO Food Price Index was introduced in 1996 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as a public good to monitor developments in global agricultural commodity markets.
- It serves as a barometer for the global food commodity market, tracking price fluctuations of major food items and providing insight into potential food security challenges.
- The index is a measure of the monthly changes in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the weighted average of five commodity group price indices, with weights based on the average export shares of each group over the period 2014–2016.
- Components of the FFPI: Meat, Dairy Products, Cereals, Vegetable Oils, Sugar etc
5.VisioNxt: India’s First Fashion Forecasting Initiative
Context:
- Union Minister of Textiles launched VisioNxt.
About VisioNxt:
- Funded by Ministry of Textiles.
- Affiliated with NIFT.
- Combines AI and EI to generate fashion trend insights.
- Mission: Identify, map, and analyze geo-specific trends in Indian fashion.
- Developed “Deep Vision” trend forecasting system.
Importance:
- Reduces dependence on global forecasting agencies.
- Provides unique insights into Indian fashion consumers.
- Integrates India’s strength in information technology with textiles.
- Combines artificial and human intelligence.
- Enhances India’s global presence in the fashion industry.
6.Alzheimer’s Risk Linked To Light Pollution
Context:
- Researchers found link between light pollution and Alzheimer’s disease risk.
About Light Pollution:
- Human-made alteration of outdoor light levels.
- Strongly correlated with Alzheimer’s disease prevalence in people under 65.
About Alzheimer’s Disease:
- Most common type of dementia.
- Involves plaque and tangle formation in the brain.
- Early symptoms: Forgetfulness, confusion, disorientation, difficulty with planning and tasks.
- Prevalence: Over 55 million people worldwide suffer from dementia, 75% due to Alzheimer’s.
- India has 3-9 million people with Alzheimer’s, expected to grow with aging population.
7.Saturn’s Rings Disappearing
Context:
- Saturn’s rings will briefly disappear from view in 2025 due to optical illusion.
About Saturn:
- Sixth planet from the Sun.
- Tilted at 26.73 degrees.
- Takes 29.4 Earth years to orbit the Sun.
About Saturn’s Rings:
- Tilted at the same angle as the planet.
- Appear to change orientation when viewed from Earth.
- Align directly with Earth every 13-15 years.
- Incredibly thin, only 30 feet thick.
- Composed mostly of water ice.
Other Planets with Rings:
- Jupiter: Faint rings of dust particles.
- Uranus: Complex ring system of dark, narrow rocky rings.
8.Exercise VARUNA
Context
- The Indian and French navies held their 22nd edition of bilateral naval exercise ‘VARUNA’ in the Mediterranean Sea.
About
- The bilateral exercise VARUNA, which began in 2001, has evolved significantly over the years and a series of advanced naval operations were conducted during the present edition.
- The conduct of ‘VARUNA’ in the Mediterranean Sea marks a significant milestone in the maritime domain between India and France displaying Indian Navy’s outreach and commitment towards sustained operations far away from the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).
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