Connect to Current -Daily Current Capsules 21st January 2019

Science and Technology ISRO to launch one-month Young Scientists programme

Relevance IN – Prelims(about the programme) + Mains (GS III – awareness in

the field of space)

What’s the NEWS

ISRO is launching a 1 month Young Scientists program, under this

program, 3 students from each state will be selected, they will be

taught & given access to research & development labs giving them

practical experience in building satellites.

ISRO Chief K Sivan announced that the space agency would launch a one

month 'Young Scientists programme.

Know! about the programme

Under this new programme, three students from each state will be

selected. The chosen students will be trained and will also be given

access to research and development labs.

The idea behind is to provide them with practical experience in building

satellites.

The space agency will develop an incubation centre at Tripura and

four more will be created at Trichy, Nagpur, Rourkela, and Indore.

Some of the key takeaways from last week's ISRO briefing include the

reusable launch vehicle from ISRO will also see a test launch this year,

and a total of 32 missions planned for this year which will consist of 14

rockets, 17 satellites, and one tech demo mission.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission has once again been re-scheduled, and ISRO

has said that it will launch its second moon mission between March 25 to

end of April.

Environment conservation

Flamingo festival at Pulicat lake

Over 90,000 avian visitors provide a visual treat to domestic and

foreign tourists

Relevance IN -Prelims ( about flamingo ) + Mains (GS Paper III environment

conservation)

What’s the NEWS

The three-day annual Flamingo Festival begins at Pulicat lake and

Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary in Sullurpet mandal.

The Flamingo Festival begins with tourists, both domestic and foreign,

making a beeline for the picturesque Pulicat lake, a safe haven for

migratory birds

It was a virtual treat for bird watchers as over 90,000 birds have come

from far away places to the lake this year, though belated in view of the

late arrival of the northeast monsoon and the failure of the southwest

monsoon.

The lake is the second largest brackish water ecosystem in the country

after the Chilika lake in Odisha.

A large number of birds dotted the barringtonia trees, where they have

built nests to raise their offspring.

The birds return to their homeland once the offspring gain the capacity to

withstand the long journey.

Nelapattu Bird Sanctuary

It is located about 20 km north of the Pulicat Lake on the Andhra

Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border Sanctuary and it is one of the biggest

habitats pelicans and other birds as it plays important role in nesting of

various birds especially migratory birds.

Pulicat lake

Pulicat Lake is the second largest brackish water lake or lagoon in India

after Chilika Lake.

It is located on border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with over 96%

of it in Andhra Pradesh and 4% in Tamil Nadu

The barrier island of Sriharikota separates the lake from the Bay of

Bengal and is home to Satish Dhawan Space Centre. Arani and Kalangi

are two rivers which feed the lagoon. The Buckingham Canal, a

navigation channel, is part of the lagoon on its western side

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Art and Culture ASI finds 2,300-year-old artefacts in Odisha

Excavation at the Asurgarh Fort in Kalahandi points to an advanced

civilisation

Relevance IN -Prelims( facts regarding the excavation) + Mains(GS I – Indian

heritage and culture)

What’s the NEWS

Archaeologists have unearthed artefacts believed to be 2,300-year-old

while carrying out excavation at the Asurgarh Fort in Odisha’s

Kalahandi district.

Know! more about the excavation

A nine member team of Archaeological Survey of India , excavated the

items dating from Mauryan to Kushan period

The present archaeological work reveals a number of brick structures.

Wedge shaped bricks are also noticed in the circular structures. Most of

the structures have terracotta tiles with groves and hole for socketing

The Asurgarh people during that time probably used stone rubbles and

tile fragments for flooring their houses and the streets.

Besides, silver punch marked coins, silver and copper toe ring and ear

rings, beads of carnelian, jasper, beryl, garnet, agate and coral have been

found and some of the artefacts were as old as 2,300 year.

Other discovered artefacts include, glass bangle pieces of different

designs and colours, sling balls, pestle, iron equipment like small wheel,

ring, and arrow head.

The findings of coral beads and imperial variety of silver punch mark

coins strongly indicates about long distant trade and association of

hinterland people with seafaring people

It is believed that the fort is surrounded by moat on its northern, eastern

and southern sides. “Close to the western rampart, the river Sandul

flows to the north thereby forming a natural moat on the western side of

the fort.

On the eastern side of the fort there is an extensive lake. The fort had four

wide gates in four cardinal directions and at each gate was installed one

guardian deity.

These guardian deities are named as Ganga at the eastern gate, Kalapat at

the western, Vaishnavi at the northern and Dokri at the southern gate

State Specific Kerala police to crack down on child porn

Relevance IN – Mains ( GS III -cycle security)

What’s the NEWS

The Kerala police have launched a covert cyber surveillance and

infiltration programme to crack down on child pornography.

Know! more about the programme

An internal analysis recently revealed that online search engine queries

related to child pornography were on the rise in the country.

Moreover, images of children captured furtively on mobile phones were

increasingly finding their way to porn websites, and Kerala could be a

significant contributor.

Investigators say that shadowy groups that create disseminate, exchange

and even retail child abuse material conduct their business in extreme

secrecy. The administrators of such groups operate under fictitious

names.

The Kerala Police Cyberdome facility law enforcers use deception as a

tool to insinuate themselves into such groups and manipulate

suspects into divulging information about themselves and their

criminal acts.

The police said instant messaging groups were the platform of choice for

bartering prurient videos featuring juveniles.

The police operation involves close coordination with national and

international law enforcement agencies because child pornography rings

have transcended State and national borders, given the enormous profits

involved.

The Kerala police are also making a list of porn websites that peddle

child sexual abuse content.

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Defence Induction of Women in Military Police

Relevance IN – Prelims( about military police) + Mains ( GS I – role of women

+ GS III – defence and security challenges)

What’s the NEWS

The Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced the

decision to induct women in Personnel Below Officer Rank, PBOR,

role in Corps of Military Police.

The women will be inducted in a graded manner to eventually comprise

20% of total Corps of Military Police The Army chalked out induction

of approximately 800 women in military police with a yearly intake of 52

personnel per year.

Military Police

Military Police are the corps responsible for the enforcing discipline and

the maintenance of law and order in the military environment and for

military purposes.

The functions of the Military Police includes policing cantonments and

Army establishments, preventing a breach of rules and regulations

by soldiers, maintaining movement of soldiers as well as logistics

during peace and war, handling prisoners of war and extending aid to

civil police whenever required.

Health Sector/AYUSH

2nd World Integrated Medicine Forum 2019 from 23-25 January,

2019 in Goa

Relevance IN – Prelims ( about AYUSH) + Mains ( GS II – development in the

field of health )

What’s the NEWS

Goa will host the 2nd World Integrated Medicine Forum 2019 on the

‘Regulation of Homeopathic Medical Products; Advancing global

collaboration’

Know! about the forum

The organizers of the forum are the Central Council for Research in

Homeopathy, under the Ministry of AYUSH.

International drug regulators dealing with homeopathic/traditional

medicines from various countries like France, Switzerland, Germany,

Belgium, Spain, Russia, Brazil, Cuba, South Africa, United Arab

Emirates, Thailand, Malaysia, Oman, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Nepal, etc.

are expected to participate.

The themes of the forum are: Regulatory collaborations, Converging

on minimum regulatory & legal standards, Advancing safety and

quality standards, Regulatory trend towards standardization and

minimizing complexity, Recognizing homeopathy as distinct holistic

medical system and Veterinary homeopathy.

The regulation of homeopathic medicinal products is highly variable

worldwide, ranging at a national level from highly advanced to none

whatsoever.

The potential benefits of regulatory collaboration and harmonization for

patients and global markets are significant, but supranational

collaboration is advancing only slowly due to highly disparate national

situations.

The forum will explore and illustrate the potential benefits and pitfalls of

bi-lateral/multilateral collaboration and advance global cooperation on a

synergistic basis.

The increasing demand for homeopathic products by patients and health

care providers worldwide needs to be underpinned by appropriate

regulatory frameworks which respect the national context as well as

benefit from experiences and collaboration at an international level.

Know ! all about the ministry of AYUSH

The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and

Homoeopathy, abbreviated as AYUSH, is a governmental body in India

purposed with developing, education and research in the field of

ayurveda, yoga, unani, naturopathy, siddha and homoeopathy.

Created in March 1995 as the Department of Indian System of Medicine

and Homoeopathy (ISM&H), under the Ministry of Health and Family

Welfare, it was renamed to AYUSH in November 2003.

On 9 November 2014 it was became a ministry in its own right.

The ministry is headed by a Minister of State (Independent Charge) and is

currently occupied by Shripad Naik

Prelims Practise questions

Consider the following statements

1. The first ever World Integrated Medicine Forum 2019 on the ‘Regulation

of Homeopathic Medical Products; Advancing global collaboration is

going to be organize by the Ministry of AYUSH

2. The Defence Ministry has decided to induct women of officer Rank in the

Military Police and it eventually comprise 20% of total Corps of Military

Police

3. Pulicat Lake is the world’s largest brackish water lake or lagoon in

India which is located on border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

with over 96% of it in Andhra Pradesh and 4% in Tamil Nadu

Find the correct statement from the option given below

a. 1 and 3

b. 2 and 3

c. All

d. None of the above

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