Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez reached Vadodara where he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold bilateral talks and inaugurate the Final Assembly Line (FAL) plant of the C295 medium-lift tactical transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force.
The Vadodara facility is India’s first private military transport aircraft production plant, a partnership between Tata Advanced System Limited (TASL) and Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS).
Under the first ‘Make in India’ aerospace programme in the private sector, India is to acquire 56 C295 aircraft to replace the IAF’s legacy Avro fleet.
About Spain:
It is a country in southwestern Europe with territories in North Africa.
It is the largest country in southern Europe and the fourth-most populous European Union member state.
It spans across the majority of the Iberian Peninsula.
It is bordered:
to the north by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay
to the east and south by the Mediterranean Sea and Gibraltar
to the west by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.
Spain's capital and largest city is Madrid, and other major urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, and Zaragoza.
Its territory also includes:
Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean
Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea
autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in Africa.
About C295 Transport Aircraft:
It is a new-generation tactical airlifter in the light and medium segment.
It was designed and built by Airbus, a European multinational aerospace corporation.
It is a reliable and highly versatile tactical transport that is tailored for missions that range from carrying troops and cargo, maritime patrol, airborne warning, surveillance and reconnaissance to signals intelligence, armed close air support, medical evacuation, Air-to-Air refueling, VIP transport, and airborne firefighting.
The aircraft, with a flight endurance of up to 13 hours, can function under all weather conditions.
It is capable of carrying up to nine tonnes of payload, or as many as 71 troops, at a maximum cruise speed of 260 kts.
It is designed to provide outstanding low-level flight characteristics for tactical missions, flying at speeds as slow as 110 knots.
It has a rear ramp door for quick reaction and paradropping of troops and cargo.
It is powered by two turboprop engines.
It has short take-off and landing (STOL) characteristics and the ability to use unprepared airstrips.
Turboprop engine:
It is a variant of a jet engine that has been optimized to drive a propeller.
It uses the same principles as a turbojet to produce energy, that is, it incorporates a compressor, combustor and turbine within the gas generator of the engine.
Turboprop equipped aircraft are very efficient at lower flight speeds (less than mach 0.6), burning less fuel per seat-mile and requiring significantly less runway for takeoff and landing than a turbojet or turbofan powered aircraft of the same size.
Geography
Topic: Dams and reservoirs
2. Sathanur Dam
Why in the news?
A flood alert to 15 villages along the bank of the Thenpennai River has been issued by the Water Resources Department as 1,000 cusecs of water per second is being released from the Sathanur dam in Tiruvannamalai, after the level reached 114.50 feet as against the dam’s total capacity of 119 feet.
About Sathanur Dam:
It is one of the major dams in Tamil Nadu.
It is constructed across the Thenpennai River also called as Pennaiyar River in Thandarampet taluk among Chennakesava Hills.
It can be reached by road 30 km. from Tiruvannamalai City.
It was constructed in 1958.
There is also a large crocodile farm and a fish grotto.
It is the third largest in Tamil Nadu after Mettur and Bhavanisagar.
Pennaiyar River:
It originates in the Nandi Hills in the Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka and flows through Tamil Nadu before emptying into the Bay of Bengal.
It is also known as the South Pennar River, Dakshina Pinakini in Kannada and Thenpennai or Ponnaiyar or Pennaiyar in Tamil.
It is the second longest river in Tamil Nadu, with a length of 497 km., after the Kaveri.
It is the second largest interstate East flowing river basin among the 12 basins lying between Pennar and Cauvery basins.
It covers a large area in the State of Tamil Nadu besides the areas covered in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
Bangalore, Hosur, Tiruvannamalai, and Cuddalore are the important cities on the banks of this river.
Environment and Ecology
Topic: Biodiversity
3. Burmese pythons
Why in the news?
Burmese pythons, native to the rainforests of southeast Asia, were introduced to the wilderness areas of the US state of Florida through the pet trade as escapees and intentional releases from irresponsible owners. An invasive species, they have established themselves as top predators in their new home.
About Burmese python:
It is one of the largest species of snakes.
It is native to a large area of Southeast Asia.
Until 2009, it was considered a subspecies of the Indian python, but is now recognized as a distinct species.
It is a dark-colored non-venomous snake with many brown blotches bordered by black down the back.
In the wild, it typically grows to 5 m.
It is sexually dimorphic in size; females average only slightly longer, but are considerably heavier and bulkier than the males.
It occurs throughout Southern and Southeast Asia, including eastern India, southeastern Nepal, western Bhutan, southeastern Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, northern continental Malaysia, and southern China.
It also occurs in Hong Kong, and in Indonesia on Java, southern Sulawesi, Bali, and Sumbawa.
It is an excellent swimmer and needs a permanent source of water.
It lives in grasslands, marshes, swamps, rocky foothills, woodlands, river valleys, and jungles with open clearings.
It is a good climber and has a prehensile tail.
Like all snakes, it is carnivorous. Its diet consists primarily of birds and mammals, but also includes amphibians and reptiles.
It is a sit-and-wait predator, meaning it spends most of its time staying relatively still, waiting for prey to approach, then striking rapidly.
It grabs a prey animal with its sharp teeth, then wraps its body around the animal to kill it through constriction. It then swallows its prey whole.
Conservation status:
CITES: Appendix II.
IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
Topic: Biodiversity
4. Sloth Bears
Why in the news?
In an unusual sighting, a sloth bear was caught on camera trying to break into an “ancient” temple located within Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan.
About Sloth Bears:
They are one of the eight bear species found across the world.
They are myrmecophagous, meaning, they find bugs and termites to be their most sought after meal.
They live in a variety of dry and moist forests and in some tall grasslands, where boulders, scattered shrubs and trees provide shelter.
They mainly inhabit the region of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and presumably Bhutan.
They have long, shaggy dark brown or black fur and curved claws, which are the longest out of any of the bear species.
These bears are mostly nocturnal, foraging for food at night and resting in secluded locations
Sloth Bear Sanctuaries in India include the Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary in Karnataka and the Jessore Sloth Bear Sanctuary in Gujarat.
Conservation Status
IUCN: Vulnerable
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule 1
CITES: Appendix I
Ranthambore Tiger Reserve (RTR):
It lies on the junction of Aravali and Vindhya ranges just 14 km. from Sawai Madhopur district in eastern Rajasthan.
It is one of the largest tiger reserves in northern India and spreads over 1411 sq. km.
It was once a royal hunting ground for the Maharajas of Jaipur.
The scenery changes significantly from the gentle and steep slopes of the Vindhyas to the sharp and conical hills of the Aravali valley.
Chambal river in the south and Banas river in the north bound the tiger reserve.
The reserve is dotted with steep rocky hills, and the dominant architecture of Ranthambore Fort (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) adds to its landscape.
A major environmental feature is the 'Great Boundary Fault’ where the Vindhyas plateau meets the Aravali range.
There are several lakes in the reserve known as Padam Talab, Raj Bagh Talab, and MalikTalab.
It encompasses tropical dry deciduous and tropical thorn type of forests.
Flora:
Pure sands of Dhok tree (Anogeissus pendula) interspersed with grasslands at the plateaus; meadows in valleys and luxuriant foliage around the canals make the jungle.
Fauna:
The tiger is the main predator, along with Leopard.
It is also home to wild boar, sloth bear, striped hyena, rhesus macaque, southern plains grey langur, 250 avifaunal species, and many more.
Topic: Biodiversity
5. Coral Triangle
Why in the news?
Serious dangers brought by fossil fuel expansion to the Coral Triangle, one of the most biodiverse marine areas in the world, were highlighted by a report released at the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
About Coral Triangle:
It is often referred to as the ‘Amazon of the seas’.
It is a huge marine area spanning over 10 million sq. km. in the western Pacific Ocean.
It includes the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands.
Named for its staggering number of corals, seventy-five percent of the world’s coral species are found here along with nearly 600 different species of reef-building corals alone.
It nurtures six of the world’s seven marine turtle species, mangrove forests and more than 2000 species of reef fish.
Other species found here include Whales, Tuna, Dugong, Hump head wrasse, Dolphins, Porpoises.
It also supports large populations of commercially important tuna, fuelling a multi-billion-dollar global tuna industry.
Over 120 million people live here and rely on its coral reefs for food, income and protection from storms.
Threats:
Overfishing: Global demand for tuna drives the fishing industry to harvest at unsustainable levels and has led to an alarming decline of tuna stocks in the Coral Triangle. Similarly, Live reef fish which have long been traded around Southeast Asia as a luxury food item once has expanded rapidly.
Destructive Fishing methods: These include cyanide poisoning, dynamite fishing, and Blasting are still widely practiced.
Bycatch: Non-target fish species are caught in gillnets, on longlines and in trawls, and then discarded back into the sea. In the Coral Triangle, the impacts of such bycatch affect endangered marine turtles, sharks, and juvenile fish.
Climate Change: Warming, rising seas and ocean acidification led to widespread coral reef bleaching, sea level rise, seawater acidification, destruction of mangroves which endanger marine animals like reef fish and marine turtles, negatively impact local livelihoods such as fishing and tourism and remove a natural barrier protecting coastal towns and villages from rising seas and worsening storms.
Science and Technology
Topic: Industrial Processes
6.Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD)
Why in the news?
Apex public policy think tank NITI Aayog’s recent office memorandum has raised questions about the necessity of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) installations in India’s thermal power plants (TPP).
At a meeting, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research-National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) recommended that no additional equipment, such as FGD, is required for sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emission control.
About Flue Gas Desulphurisation (FGD):
It is a technology to eliminate sulfur dioxide (SO2) from exhaust emissions.
Sources of Sulfur Dioxide:
Fossil fuels such as coal and oil often contain high amounts of sulfur, and when these fuels are burned, around 95% or more of the sulfur is converted to sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is emitted as flue gas.
Sulfur dioxide is also a precursor of acid rain, which has significant adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters, and soils, in turn killing insect and aquatic life forms, causing paint to peel, corrosion of steel structures such as bridges, and weathering of stone buildings and statues.
The removal of sulfur dioxide is critical to establishing a safe and clean environment where toxic emissions are kept to a safe level.
Process:
Flue Gas Desulphurisation is done through the addition of absorbents, which can remove up to 95% of the sulphur dioxide from the flue gas.
Substances such as ammonia or sodium sulphite are used as absorbents; however, the use of lime or limestone slurry is also widespread.
The uncleaned flue gas is sprayed in a scrubber tower (absorber tower) with a mixture of water and limestone (scrubbing slurry), whereby most of the sulphur dioxide is bonded by chemical reaction.
Limestone:
It is a sedimentary rock primarily composed of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of mineral calcite or aragonite.
It is one of the most common and widely distributed rocks on Earth, with a wide range of uses in various industries and natural settings.
Topic: Information Technology
7. Cybersquatting
Why in the news?
A Delhi-based developer made headlines after he revealed that he owns the domain name jiohotstar.com. The developer, who foresaw a potential merger of Reliance JioCinema and Disney+ Hotstar, purchased the domain some time ago.
At a time when Reliance JioCinema was completing the regulatory approvals for the merger with the streamer, the developer posted a letter addressed to the executives of Reliance Industries asking them to fund his higher education in return for the domain.
About Cybersquatting:
It is an act of registering or using a domain name to profit from a trademark, corporate or personal name of an individual. Usually, it is seen as a form of extortion or even as an attempt to take over business from its rival.
Types of Cybersquatting
Typosquatting: In this process, domains are bought with typological errors in the names of well-known brands. Examples of such misspelled domains are yajoo.com, facebok.com etc. The intention behind this act is to divert the target audience whenever they misspell a domain name.
Identity theft: In cases pertaining to identity theft, the website of an already existing brand is copied with the intention of confusing the target consumer.
Name jacking: It involves impersonating a well-known name/ celebrity in cyberspace. Instances of name jacking would include creating fake websites/ social media accounts with a celebrity’s name.
Reverse cybersquatting: It means an event whereby a person/s falsely claims a trademark as their own and falsely accuses the domain owner of cybersquatting. In essence, this act is the opposite of cybersquatting.
In India, there are no specific laws that condemn, prohibit or penalize the act of cybersquatting.
However, domain names are considered as trademarks under the Trademark Act, 1999.
Any person who starts using an identical/similar domain name is held liable for trademark infringement as described under Section 29 of Trademark Act, 1999.
Phishing:
It refers to an attempt to steal sensitive information, typically in the form of usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information or other important data in order to utilize or sell the stolen information.
Topic: Cybersecurity
8. Digital Arrest
Why in the news?
Cyber-security agency Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) shared a list of ways in which online scams are being perpetrated by fraudsters in the country, including "digital arrest".
The public advisory talks about more than a dozen ways fraudsters use to dupe people and steal their money and private data. It came on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi too cautioned people against such frauds in his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ radio broadcast.
About Digital Arrest:
It is a new tactic employed by cybercriminals to defraud gullible victims and extort money from them.
The modus operandi in this cybercrime method is that fraudsters pose as law enforcement officials such as police, Enforcement Directorate, CBI, among others, and manipulate them into believing that they have committed some serious crime.
In certain cases, the victims are “digitally arrested”, and forced to stay visible over Skype or other video conferencing platforms to the criminals until their demands are met.
The cyber fraudsters deceive the victim into believing that he or she has been put under ‘digital arrest’ and will be prosecuted if they do not pay the scamsters a huge amount of money.
The cyber criminals often force the naive victims to self-arrest or self-quarantine themselves, by tricking them into believing that they have been put under ‘digital arrest’ and cannot leave their house unless they pay up.
Preventing measures:
Cyber Hygiene: It is done by regularly updating passwords, and software and also enabling two-factor authentications to reduce the chances of unauthorized access.
Phishing Attempts: These can be evaded by refraining from clicking on dubious links or downloading attachments from unknown sources and also authenticating the legitimacy of emails and messages before sharing any personal information.
Secured devices: By installing reputable antivirus and anti-malware solutions and keeping operating systems and applications up to date with the latest security protocols.
Virtual Private Networks (VPNs): VPNs can be employed to encrypt internet connections thus enhancing privacy and security. However one must be cautious of free VPN services and OTP only for trustworthy providers.
Secure communication channels: Secure communication techniques such as encryption can be done for the protection of sensitive information. Sharing of passwords and other information must be cautiously done especially in public forums.
Generating awareness: There is a need for preventive measures and increased public awareness.
CERT-In:
It is the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents as and when they occur.
It is a functional organization of the Ministry of Information & Electronics Technology, Government of India, with the objective of securing Indian cyberspace.
CERT-In has been operational since January 2004.
The constituency of CERT-In is the Indian cyber community and Indian cyberspace.
The Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008, designated CERT-In to serve as the national agency to perform the following functions in the area of cybersecurity:
Collection, analysis, and dissemination of information on cyber incidents.
Forecasts and alerts of cyber security incidents
Emergency measures for handling cyber security incidents
Coordination of cyber incident response activities.
Issue guidelines, advisories, vulnerability notes, and white papers relating to information security practices, procedures, prevention, response, and reporting of cyber incidents.
Such other functions relating to cyber security as may be prescribed.
To perform these functions, CERT-In is empowered to call for information and issue directions to service providers, intermediaries, data centres, body corporates, and any other person.
CERT-In provides services to organizations in the Government, Public, and Private sectors. In addition, CERT-In provides services to individuals and home users as well.
Disclosure of information will be followed in accordance with Indian Constitutional laws
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