UPSC Prelims Bits Today (19-09-2022)

”UPSC Prelims Bits Today” is every day published in the morning between 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon and contains selective current affairs articles. ”UPSC Prelims Bits Today” covers various topics from UPSC Prelims Syllabus and is very helpful and time managing for UPSC Aspirants. The framing of this daily current affairs compilation article is easy to read and understandable also.

In the ”UPSC Prelims Bits Today” article, we focus on UPSC Preliminary exam-oriented current affairs covering various sections from leading National Newspapers, PIB, and other various official sources.

UN General Assembly Session

Why in news?

• The high-level segment of the 77th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will begin in the third week of September in New York.
• In some ways, this will be the first “normal” UNGA after 2019.

What is the theme this year?

The theme of the 77th UNGA is ‘A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges’.

About UNGA

• The UN General Assembly (UNGA) is the main policy-making organ of the UN.
• Comprising all Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations. Each of the 193 Member States of the United Nations has an equal vote.
• The UNGA also makes key decisions for the UN, including:

• • appointing the Secretary-General on the recommendation of the Security Council
  • electing the non-permanent members of the Security Council
  • approving the UN budget
• The Assembly meets in regular sessions from September to December each year, and thereafter as required.
• It discusses specific issues through dedicated agenda items or sub-items, which lead to the adoption of resolutions.

L-69 Group

Why in news?

During the high-level week(77th) of UNGA, a significant side event will be a high-level ministerial meeting to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the L.69 Group.

What is L-69?

• The L-69 Group consists of developing countries from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Caribbean and Small Island Developing States, focused on reforms of the UN Security Council.
• L-69 is committed to comprehensive reform of the UN Security Council (UNSC).
• They form a major bloc that is united by the common cause of achieving the lasting and comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council The group currently has 42 countries as its members. (en)
• L-69 gets its name from the draft resolution number L.69 tabled by this group in 2007, which eventually led to establishing the informal Intergovernmental Negotiation (IGN) process in the UN in 2008, the deliberations of which are supposed to lead the member-States towards Security Council reform.

Atomic Clocks

What are Atomic Clocks?

• By space navigation standards, quartz crystal clocks aren’t very stable. After only an hour, even the best-performing quartz oscillators can be off by a nanosecond (one billionth of a second).
• After six weeks, they may be off by a full millisecond (one thousandth of a second), or a distance error of 185 miles (300 kilometers). That would have a huge impact on measuring the position of a fast-moving spacecraft.
• Atomic clocks combine a quartz crystal oscillator with an ensemble of atoms to achieve greater stability. NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock will be off by less than a nanosecond after four days and less than a microsecond (one millionth of a second) after 10 years. This is equivalent to being off by only one second every 10 million years.

What are Atoms?

• Atoms are composed of a nucleus (consisting of protons and neutrons) surrounded by electrons. Each element on the periodic table represents an atom with a certain number of protons in its nucleus. The number of electrons swarming around the nucleus can vary, but they must occupy discreet energy levels, or orbits.

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