Daily Current Affairs

To The Point Notes

1.Nova Experiment

Context

• New NOvA (NuMI Off-axis ve Appearance) data challenges understanding of neutrino mass.

About NOvA

• Acronym: NuMI Off-axis 𝜈e Appearance
• Goal: Determine neutrinos’ role in cosmic evolution.
• Method: Studies neutrino types and their mass hierarchy.
• Implications: Understanding how light and radio waves disperse after traveling vast distances.

Neutrinos

• Subatomic particles with no electric charge, small mass, and left-handed spin.
• Second most abundant particles after photons.
• Created from lepton interactions with matter.
• Rarely interact with matter, producing muons, electrons, or tauons.
• NOvA uses a neutrino beam and two detectors (near and far) to study neutrino oscillations.

 

2.Greenium

Context

• Economic Survey 2023-24: India’s good green bond framework failed to attract significant ‘greenium’.

Green Bonds

• Fixed-income instruments for funding environmental or climate projects.
• Issued by governments, companies, and financial institutions.

Greenium

• Premium received by green bond issuers.
• Investors accept lower yields due to project’s sustainable nature.
• India’s lack of greenium indicates potential gap in investor awareness or perception of green projects.
• Enhancing green project transparency and impact measurement crucial for attracting greenium.

 

3.India is Epicenter of Global Capability Centre (GCC) Growth

Context

• Economic Survey 2024 highlights India as a leading GCC destination.

GCCs

• Previously known as ‘captive centers’, now referred to as GICs or GCCs.
• Offshore units of multinational corporations for strategic functions.
• Enable companies to focus on core competencies while leveraging global talent.
• Serve as innovation hubs fostering collaboration and diverse perspectives.

India’s Advantage

• Government initiatives like Digital India streamlined processes.
• Favorable business environment attracts GCCs.
• India offers a large pool of skilled talent at competitive costs.
• Potential for significant export earnings from GCC operations.

 

4.Nine-Dash Line

• Disputed boundary claimed by China in South China Sea.
• First appeared on a 1947 Chinese map.
• Represents China’s historical maritime claims.
• Overlaps claims of Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
• Major source of regional tension and conflict.
• Legal status and extent of the line remain unclear.
• Contested by international law, particularly UNCLOS.

 

5.Letter of Intent: AIM and WIPO

Context

• AIM and WIPO signed a joint Letter of Intent to collaborate on innovation and IPR.

Aim of Collaboration

• Expand AIM’s ATL and AIC models to global south countries.
• Enhance IPR awareness among Indian students, teachers, innovators, and entrepreneurs.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)

• Established by NITI Aayog in 2016.
• Promotes innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Programs: ATL, AIC, Atal New India Challenges, Atal Grand Challenges, Mentor India.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

• UN agency for protecting intellectual property.
• 193 member states.
• Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.
• Aims to facilitate global innovation and creativity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moidams

Context

• India hosting first World Heritage Committee meeting.
• Moidams under consideration for World Heritage status.

Moidams

• Burial mounds of Ahom kings, queens, and nobles.
• Derived from Tai word “Phrang-Mai-Dam” (bury the spirit).
• Located in upper Assam districts.
• Structure: vaulted chamber, hemispherical mound, brick structure (Chaw-chali), octagonal boundary wall.
• Reflect Ahom belief in divine kingship.
• Comparable to Chinese royal tombs and Egyptian pyramids.

World Heritage Committee

• Annual meeting for World Heritage matters.
• Decides on World Heritage listings.
• 46th session examining 27 nominations, including Moidams.