Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 03 July 2024 | Download PDF

• India has successfully developed and certified SEBEX 2.

About SEBEX 2:

• Description: SEBEX 2 is one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosives in the world.
• Composition: Utilizes a high-melting explosive (HMX) formulation.
• TNT Equivalence:
  • SEBEX 2 is approximately 1.01 times more deadly than standard TNT (Trinitrotoluene).
  • Explosive performance is measured by TNT equivalence; higher values indicate greater lethality.
• Manufacturing:
  • Manufactured by Economic Explosives Limited (EEL), Nagpur, a subsidiary of Solar Industries.
  • Developed under the Make in India initiative.
• Certification: Evaluated, tested, and certified by the Indian Navy under its Defence Export Promotion Scheme.

• Recently, it was revealed that many tech companies and startups are marketing themselves as using AI, but are not actually doing so. This practice is known as “AI washing.”

About AI washing:

• AI Washing: Exaggerating or lying about a product or service’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to appear more advanced.
• Objective:
  • Capitalize on the interest in AI.
  • Make offerings seem more cutting-edge than they are.
• Examples:
  • A company claims their chatbot is “Powered by the latest AI technology” but it only matches keywords with pre-written responses.
  • Businesses claim AI integration when using less sophisticated technology.
• Origins: Derived from “greenwashing,” where companies exaggerate their environmental friendliness.

• A UK-based teenager, Oran Knowlson, has become the first person globally to be fitted with a brain implant using a deep brain stimulation (DBS) device to help control his epileptic seizures.

About Deep Brain Stimulation Device:

• The device uses Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), a technique also used for movement disorders associated with Parkinson’s and other neurological conditions.
• Working: The neurostimulator delivers constant electrical impulses to the brain to disrupt or block abnormal seizure-causing signals.
• Post-Surgery:
  • The device was switched on after Knowlson recovered from surgery.
  • It can be recharged by a wireless headphone.

• Jeff Bezos-led Blue Origin has partnered with the Space Exploration and Research Agency (SERA) to offer common Indian citizens the opportunity to travel into space aboard the New Shepard spacecraft.

About New Shepard Spacecraft:

• • Name and Inspiration: Named after Alan Shepard, the first American in space.
  • Design: Fully reusable rocket system designed for human spaceflight.
  • Components:
    • Reusable booster
    • Pressurized crew capsule
  • Journey Details:
    • 11-minute flight beyond the Karman line.
    • Passengers experience several minutes of weightlessness.
    • Controlled descent back to Earth aided by parachutes.
  • Uses:
• Space tourism

• • Platform for scientific research.

Think:

• Know about the Karman line.

• Astronomers have recently discovered a new radio galaxy using the LOw-Frequency ARray (LOFAR).

About LOFAR:

• Innovative Pan-European Radio Interferometer:
  • First of its kind, distributed across Europe.
  • Developed by the Dutch Institute for Radio Astronomy (ASTRON).
• Observation Capabilities:
  • Observes the Universe at low radio frequencies (90 to 200 MHz), close to the FM radio band.
  • Capable of exploring the early, distant universe, solar activity, and the terrestrial atmosphere.
• Geographical Distribution:
  • Main core located in the north of the Netherlands.
  • Additional stations in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

• In a landmark decision, the Orissa High Court has ruled that women who become mothers through surrogacy are entitled to the same maternity leave rights as natural and adoptive mothers. 

Key points:

• Legal Mandate: Directed government to amend rules for equal treatment of surrogacy-born children.
• Case Background: Involves Supriya Jena, denied maternity leave as OFS officer after surrogacy.
• Judicial Perspective: Justice SK Panigrahi’s ruling emphasizes:
  • Equality with natural and adoptive mothers.
  • Importance of maternity leave for all new mothers.
  • Constitutional rights under Article 21 for motherhood.
• Reproductive Rights: Supports India’s stance on reproductive rights and gender equality.
• Legislative Interpretation: Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, to include all forms of motherhood.

• Dr. Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, a judge at the Orissa High Court, has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court by the President of India. 

Key points:

• Throughout his tenure, Dr. Justice Sarangi garnered recognition for his academic excellence, receiving numerous awards including the prestigious ‘Haricharan Mukherjee Memorial Award’ with a Gold medal in 2002. 
• This accolade celebrated his exceptional professional ethics and performance as a lawyer.
• In June 2013, after 27 years of dedicated practice, Dr. Justice Sarangi was elevated to the Bench and took office as a Permanent Judge at the Orissa High Court.

• Mousumi, a white tigress born on August 5, 2016 at Nandankanan Zoological Park, Odisha, is confirmed pregnant.

About:

• Nandankanan Zoological Park covers a sprawling 437 hectares (1,080 acres) of lush greenery. It was established in 1960 and opened to the public in 1979. This park is not only a zoo but also a botanical garden.
• White Tigers: Nandankanan is renowned for its successful captive breeding programs, especially for white tigers—a rare pigmentation variant of the Bengal tiger. It’s the first zoo in India with a white tiger safari.

White Tigers:

Leucistic Variant:

• The white tiger, also known as the bleached tiger, is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the mainland Asian tiger.
• It has the typical black stripes of a tiger, but its coat is otherwise white or near-white, and it often has blue eyes.
• White Bengal tigers are distinctive due to the absence of the pigment pheomelanin, which is found in orange Bengal tigers.
• These tigers tend to grow faster, become heavier, and are somewhat bigger at birth and as fully grown adults.

• Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest aluminium producer, won the Kalinga Energy Excellence Award and Kalinga Environment Excellence Award for its Lanjigarh alumina refinery.
• Awards presented by IQEMS, Odisha State Pollution Control Board, and Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad.

Key points:

• Lanjigarh unit focuses on sustainability: targets include Net Zero Carbon by 2050, Net Water Positivity by 2030.
• Initiatives include effective waste management, biodiversity restoration, and energy-efficient technologies.
• Ranked top in S&P Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023.
• Initiatives like biomass boiler cofiring, lithium-ion forklifts, and promoting electric vehicles reduced GHG emissions by ~9.3% in FY24 despite 20% production increase.
• Reused over 15 billion liters of water in FY24, aiming for water-positive footprint.
• Identified and conserved biodiversity hotspots near operations; signed MoU for nature-based solutions for biodiversity conservation and climate resilience.

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