Daily Current affairs 11 February 2022 for UPSC JKSSB SSC by home academy
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to launch its first mission of 2022 is slated on February 14, 2022.
• The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C52) is scheduled to launch on February 14, from first launch pad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
• It will orbit an earth observation satellite (EOS-04).
• PSLV-C52 have weight of 1710 kg. It will orbit around EOS-04 into a sun synchronous polar orbit of 529 km. This mission will carry two small satellites as co-passengers, namely,
1. Student satellite (INSPIREsat-1) – This satellite has been developed by Indian Institute of Space Science & Technology (IIST) in collaboration with Laboratory of Atmospheric & Space Physics at University of Colorado, Boulder.
2. Technology demonstrator satellite (INS-2TD)– This satellite has been developed by
ISRO. It is precursor to India-Bhutan Joint Satellite (INS-2B).
Scientists in the United Kingdom said they have achieved a new milestone in producing nuclear fusion energy, or imitating the way energy is produced in the sun.
• Energy by nuclear fusion is one of mankind’s long standing quests as it promises to
be low carbon, safer than how nuclear energy is now produced and, with an efficiency that can technically exceed a 100%.
• A team at the Joint European Torus (JET) facility near Oxford in central England
generated 59 mega joules of sustained energy during an experiment in December,
more than doubling a 1997 record, the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority said.
• A kilogram of fusion fuel contains about 10 million times as much energy as a
kilogram of coal, oil or gas. The energy was produced in a machine called a tokamak,
a doughnut-shaped apparatus. The JET site is the largest operational one of its kind
in the world.
• Deuterium and tritium, which are isotopes of hydrogen, are heated to temperatures
10 times hotter than the centre of the sun to create plasma. This is held in place
using superconductor electromagnets as it spins around, fuses and releases
tremendous energy as heat.
• The record and scientific data from these crucial experiments are a major boost for
the ITER, the larger and more advanced version of the JET.
• The ITER is a fusion research mega-project supported by seven members — China,
the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the U.S. — and based in
the south of France. It seeks to further demonstrate the scientific and technological
feasibility of fusion energy
The Government banned the import of drones with immediate effect, except for research
and development, defence and security purposes.
• The move aims to promote made-in-India drones, a statement from the Ministry of
Civil Aviation said.
• The Directorate General of Foreign Trade of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry notified the Indian Trade Classification (Harmonised System), 2022 effecting the prohibition of drones for import.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation said that while exceptions were provided for R&D,
defence and security, importing drones for these purposes will require “due
clearances”. However, import of drone components will not need any approvals.
• Last year, the Ministry notified liberalised drone rules with the aim to encourage
R&D and to make India a drone hub.
• The government also approved a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for
drones and their components with an allocation of ₹120 crore for three financial
years.
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY
The number of beneficiaries who enrolled for the maternity benefit programme, called
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), exceeded the government’s target of
51.7 lakh per year in each of the last three years, Minister for Women and Child
Development Smriti Irani told Parliament.
• The total number of beneficiaries enrolled during each of the last three financial
years under the PMMVY is more than the indicative target. The reply did not provide
the exact number of enrolments.
• The PMMVY scheme was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December
31, 2016.
• It provides a benefit of ₹5,000 in three instalments to a woman for her first living
child upon meeting certain conditions. This is meant as partial compensation for loss
of wage during her pregnancy so that she can get proper nutrition.
• The scheme is only for those women who are not employed by the Central or State
governments or a Public Sector Undertaking and don’t receive similar benefits under
any law.
• It is clubbed with the Janani Suraksha Yojana scheme which provides nearly ₹1,000
for institutional births so that altogether mothers get ₹6,000 in maternity benefit.
• The scheme has been criticised for under-funding and failing to cater to all targeted
beneficiaries. Activists also call the scheme illegal as it violates the National Food
Security Act, 2013 under which all mothers, and not just mothers of the first living
child, should get a maternity benefit of ₹6,000.
Suicides Due to Job Loss
Over 16,000 people committed suicide due to bankruptcy or indebtedness while 9,140
people ended their lives due to unemployment between 2018 and 2020, the Ministry of
Home Affairs informed the Rajya Sabha.
• As many as 9,140 people ended their lives due to unemployment, the highest number of such cases — 3,548 were reported in 2020, the year a lockdown was imposed in the country due to COVID-19 and large-scale job losses and economic
slowdown were reported in many sectors.
• Minister of State for Home said 5,213 people committed suicide due to bankruptcy
or indebtedness in 2020, 5,908 in 2019 and 4,970 in 2018.
• A total of 3,548 people committed suicide due to unemployment in 2020, 2,851 in
2019 and 2,741 in 2018.
Urban Naxals in news
Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha that the government does not use the phrase “urban naxals”, but when it comes to left-wing extremism (LWE), be it in urban areas or any other place, a vigil is kept and strict action is initiated.
• Rai was responding to a question by Bharatiya Janta Party’s (BJP) Rakesh Sinha who said that “Maoism thriving due to extra parliamentary forces and urban naxals who are sitting in universities and under the garb of journalism are breaking the country”. He said that some mainstream political parties were supporting them.
• Rai’s statement on LWE having foreign roots was countered by Communist Party of
India’s Binoy Viswam. “Unlike right-wing extremism, which has a foreign influence
and emanates from Italy and Germany, the LWE has socio-economic roots, it is there
due to social deprivation”.
• Rai stated that the geographical spread of the violence had also been reduced and
only 46 districts reported LWE-related violence in 2021 as compared to 96 districts in
2010.
• He said the the number of districts contributing approximately 90% of the LWE
violence had come down to 25 districts in 2021. The reply stated that the incidents
of LWE violence had reduced by 77% from an all-time high of 2,258 incidents in 2009
to 509 in 2021.
Coastal Vulnerability Assessment
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) has carried out coastal vulnerability assessment for entire Indian coast at States level to bring out an Atlas comprising 156 maps on 1:1,00,000 scales to prepare a Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI).
• From this CVI, it can be delineated that Gujarat’s 124 coastal km is going to get
affected or 5.36%, Maharashtra 11 km or 1.22% and then Karnataka & Goa 48 km orn9.54%, Kerala 15 km or 2.39%, Tamil Nadu 65 km or 6.38%, Andhra Pradesh 6 km orm0.55 %, Odisha 37 km or 7.51% West Bengal 49 km or 2.56%, Lakshadweep Islands 1 km or 0.81%, Andaman Islands 24 km or 0.96 km and Nicobar Islands 8 km or 0.97%.
• While the maps determine the coastal risks due to future sea-level rise based on the
physical and geological parameters for the Indian coast, the CVI uses the relative risk
that physical changes will occur as sea-level rises are quantified based on parameters
like: tidal range; wave height; coastal slope; coastal elevation; shoreline change rate;
geomorphology; and historical rate of relative sea-level change.
• Coastal vulnerability assessments can be useful information for coastal disaster
management and building resilient coastal communities.
• A coastal Multi-Hazard Vulnerability Mapping (MHVM) was also carried out using
parameters like sea level change rate, shoreline change rate, high-resolution coastal
elevation, extreme water level from tide gauges and their return periods.
• This MHVM mapping was carried for the entire mainland of India on a 1:25000 scale.
• These maps depict the coastal low-lying areas exposed to the coastal inundation.
Solar Storms/Flares
Elon Musk’s Starlink has lost dozens of satellites that were caught in a geomagnetic storm a day after they were launched on February 3. Up to 40 of the 49 satellites were impacted, Starlink said, causing them to fall from orbit before they could be commissioned.
• Solar storms are magnetic plasma ejected at great speed from the solar surface.
• They occur during the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots (‘dark’
regions on the Sun that are cooler than the surrounding photosphere), and can last
for a few minutes or hours.
• The solar storm that deorbited the satellites occurred on February 1 and 2, and its
powerful trails were observed on February 3.
• Not all solar flares reach Earth, but solar flares/storms, solar energetic particles
(SEPs), high-speed solar winds, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that come close
can impact space weather in near-Earth space and the upper atmosphere.
• Solar storms can hit operations of space-dependent services like global positioning
systems (GPS), radio, and satellite communications.
• Geomagnetic storms interfere with high-frequency radio communications and GPS
navigation systems. Aircraft flights, power grids, and space exploration programmes
are vulnerable.
• CMEs, with ejectiles loaded with matter travelling at millions of miles an hour, can
potentially create disturbances in the magnetosphere, the protective shield
surrounding the Earth.
Atal Tunnel has officially been certified by World Book of Records as the ‘World’s Longest Highway Tunnel above 10,000 Feet’.
• World Book of Records UK, is an organisation that catalogues and verifies extraordinary records across the world with authentic certification.
• It was built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
• The 9.02-km tunnel is the longest highway tunnel in the world above the height of 3,000 metres.
• It cuts through a mountain west of the Rohtang pass and shortens the distance between Solang Valley and Sissu by around 46 km and takes around 15 minutes to cover. Earlier, it would take nearly 4 hours to travel between the two points.
• Rohtang Pass (elevation 3,978 m) is located in the state of Himachal Pradesh.
• It is present on the Pir Panjal Range of Himalayas.