DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 13th February 2024

Syllabus

• Prelims and Mains – Science

Context: Russia on Monday rejected Ukraine’s claim that Russian troops fighting on the frontline were using Starlink terminals.

Background:-

• The Kremlin said on Monday that Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system was neither certified for use in, nor officially supplied to, Russia, and therefore could not be used.Ukraine, which has used Starlink for military communications throughout its conflict with Russia, said on Sunday that Russian troops were using Starlink in parts of Ukraine they control.

About Starlink:-  

• Starlink is a satellite constellation that comprises thousands of small satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO).
• SpaceX first began sending them into space in 2019.
• SpaceX is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company founded by Elon Musk.
• Currently, there are more than 3,000 of these satellites that send internet signals to designated ground receivers.
• Unlike traditional internet providers, Starlink doesn’t require any ground infrastructure.
• One just needs to have a small satellite dish or a receiver device to access high-speed internet, much like satellite TV.

Significance of Starlink:

• Global Connectivity: Starlink aims to offer high-speed internet to users worldwide, including those living in remote and rural areas with limited or no access to traditional broadband services.
• Low Latency: LEO satellites offer low latency, reducing the signal delay experienced with traditional geostationary satellites, making activities like online gaming and video conferencing smoother.
• Reliable and Redundant: The large number of satellites in the constellation allows for redundancy, minimizing service disruptions in case of satellite failures.
• Emergency Connectivity: Starlink has shown its potential in providing emergency internet access during natural disasters and crises, offering communication lifelines to affected communities.

Challenges

• Space Debris: With thousands of satellites in LEO, concerns have been raised about space debris , its impact on the space environment and other satellite operations.
• Astronomy Interference: Starlink satellites have been criticized for interfering with ground-based astronomical observations due to their brightness and impact on the night sky.
• Monopoly Concerns: As Starlink expands its dominance in the satellite internet market, concerns arise about potential monopolistic control over global internet.
• Regulatory and Legal Challenges: Operating a massive satellite constellation involves navigating complex international regulations, spectrum management, and coordination with other satellite operators.
• Russia Ukraine – Operations controlled by company: After the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in 2022, fibre network lines and cell towers were the first pieces of infrastructure to be destroyed, rendering Starlink as the lifeblood of Ukraine’s communication network.
• When Internet connectivity is deployed in a region, the nature of the technology is such that its operations aren’t controlled by the user, but by the company.
• For example, if a piece of territory had fallen into Russian hands and a few Starlink dishes or terminals had been lost – it had to call up Starlink each time.

SOURCE: Reuters

Syllabus

• Prelims- Science

Context: Scientists have unveiled new details of a colossal black hole 53 million lightyears away first photographed by the earth-wide Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) in 2017.

Background:

• The image of blackhole captured with the help of EHT was hailed at the time as a matter of “astonishment and wonder” for revealing “a part of the universe that was off limits”.In the image, a central dark region is encapsulated by a ring of light that looks brighter on one side.The massive galaxy, called Messier 87 or M87, is near the Virgo galaxy cluster 55 million light-years from Earth.The super-massive black hole has a mass that is 6.5 billion times that of our sun.

About EHT:

• The EHT is not a single telescope but a worldwide network of radio telescopes that work together to study a common object in space.
• EHT benefit from a technique called very-long baseline interferometry, where the data each telescope collects about the object is correlated with data from the others using extremely precise clocks.
• The project is named for the event horizon, the proposed boundary around a black hole that represents the point of no return where no light or radiation can escape.

About black hole

• A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.
• Because no light can get out, people can’t see black holes. They are invisible. Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes. The special tools can see how stars that are very close to black holes act differently than other stars.

Size of Black hole:

• Smallest Black holes – Scientists think the smallest black holes are as small as just one atom. These black holes are very tiny but have the mass of a large mountain.
• Stellar – Its mass can be up to 20 times more than the mass of the sun. There may be many, many stellar mass black holes in Earth’s galaxy. Earth’s galaxy is called the Milky Way.
• Supermassive – The largest black holes are called “” These black holes have masses that are more than 1 million suns together. Scientists have found proof that every large galaxy contains a supermassive black hole at its center. The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is called Sagittarius A.

Source: The Hindu

Previous Year Question:

1. Consider the following phenomena: (2018)
2. Light is affected by gravity.
3. The Universe is constantly expanding.
4. Matter warps its surrounding space-time.

Which of the above is/are the prediction/predictions of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, often discussed in media?

1. 1 and 2 only
2. 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

Ans: (d)

Syllabus

• Prelims : Economy

Context: Industrial output witnessed mild recovery in December.

Background:

• At 3.8 percent, the latest industrial growth figure as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is up from the November 2023 figure of 2.4 percent.

About Index of Industrial Production (IIP):

• Publication time: monthly. (IIP)
• Published by: National Statistical Office (NSO).
• Ministry: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• Base Year: 2011-2012.
• IIP is an indicator that measures the changes in the volume of production of industrial products during a given period.

It is a composite indicator that measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under:

• Broad sectors: Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity.
• The relative weights of these three sectors are 6% (manufacturing), 14.4% (mining) and 8% (electricity).
• Eight core industries: Electricity, crude oil, coal, cement, steel, refinery products, natural gas, and fertilizers.
• They comprise about 40 per cent of the weight of items included in the IIP.
• The eight core sector industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.
• Use-based sectors: Basic Goods, Capital Goods, and Intermediate Goods.

Source: Money Control

Previous Year Question:

1)In the ‘Index of Eight Core Industries’, which one of the following is given the highest weight? (2015)

1. Coal production
2. Electricity generation
3. Fertilizer production
4. Steel production

Syllabus

• Prelims – Geography

Context: Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked a ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait near Red Sea.

Background:

• The Houthis have been targeting ships in the Red Sea over Israel’s offensive in Gaza raising fears of supply bottlenecks. The Red Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and any disruption to the shipping routes can have significant global implications.

About RED SEA:

• Red Sea is an arm of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia.
• It is connected to the ocean in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden.
• To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez (leading to the Suez Canal).
• The Red Sea is connected to the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.
• The Red Sea is one of the most densely packed shipping channels in the world, carrying maritime traffic between Europe and Asia and east Africa.
• About 12% of global trade passes through the Red Sea, including 30% of global container traffic.
• The Red Sea also serves as a strategic zone for both regional and Great Powers projecting their military might or openly engaging in conflict.

The Red Sea is bordered by the following countries:

• Eastern shore: Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
• Western shore: Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti.

Source: BBC

Syllabus

• Prelims – Current events

Context: The Health Ministry has so far received Aadhaar details of 23 lakh anganwadi workers and helpers and over three lakh ASHA workers from various States after the central government’s announcement to provide the free health cover to them under Ayushman Bharat scheme.

Background:

• In India, currently, 55 crore individuals corresponding to 12 crore families are covered under the scheme. The decision to include this group of healthcare workers was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the presentation of the interim Union Budget 2024-25.

About AYUSHMAN BHARAT-PRADHAN MANTRI JAN AROGYA YOJANA (AB-PMJAY):

• Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) is a flagship scheme of the Government of India, launched as recommended by the National Health Policy 2017, to achieve the vision of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).
• This initiative has been designed to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its underlying commitment, which is to “leave no one behind.
• The scheme comprises two inter-related components: Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) & Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY).
• AB PM-JAY is the largest health assurance scheme in the world which aims at providing a health cover of ₹ 5,00,000 per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
• The benefits of ₹ 5,00,000 are on a family floater basis which means that it can be used by one or all members of the family.
• Under AB PM-JAY, there is no cap on family size or the age of members.
• In addition, pre-existing diseases are covered from the very first day.
• Any eligible person suffering from any medical condition before being covered by PM-JAY will now be able to get treatment for all those medical conditions as well under this scheme right from the day they are enrolled. However, certain specified conditions may have a waiting period of up to 2 years before they can be covered under the scheme.
• The households included is based on the deprivation and occupational criteria of the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 (SECC 2011) for rural and urban areas respectively.
• PM-JAY is fully funded by the Government and the cost of implementation is shared between the Central and State Governments.

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus

• Mains – GS 2

Context:The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023 has been released by Transparency International showing that most countries have made little to no progress in tackling public sector corruption.

Background:

• Public Sector corruption has been difficult to tackle especially in the global south with various anti corruption measures falling short of expectations.

About Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI):

• The CPI ranks 180 countries and territories around the globe by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, scoring on a scale of0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Key highlights of the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023:

• Over two-thirds of countries scorebelow 50 out of 100, which strongly indicates that they have serious corruption
• The global average score isstuck at only 43, while the vast majority of countries have made no progress or declined in the last decade.
• Denmarkwith a score of 90 tops the index for the sixth consecutive year, with Finland and New Zealand following closely with scores of 87 and 85, respectively.
• Somalia, Venezuela, Syria, South Sudan, and Yemen, with theirscores of 11, 13, 13, and 13 respectively, take the bottom spots in the
• India was ranked93 out of 180 countries on the CPI 2023. In 2022, India was ranked 85. The overall score for India in 2023 was 39, a slight decrease from 40 in 2022.
• According to theRule of Law Index, the world is experiencing a decline in the functioning of justice systems. Countries with the lowest scores in the Rule of Law index are also scoring very low on the CPI, highlighting a clear connection between access to justice and corruption.
• Both authoritarian and democratic leaders are undermining justice. This is increasingimpunity for corruption, and even encouraging it by eliminating consequences for criminals. Where corruption is the norm, vulnerable people have restricted access to justice while the rich and powerful capture whole justice systems, at the expense of the common good.

Transparency International:

• It is an international non- governmental organisation founded in 1993 based in Berlin, Germany to take action to combat global corruption with civil societal anti- corruption measures and to prevent criminal activities arising from corruption.
• Its publications include theGlobal Corruption Barometer and the Corruption Perception Index.

Source: Transparency International

Q1.) Consider the following countries:

1. Israel
2. Jordan
3. Sudan
4. Lebanon
5. Yemen
6. Ethiopia

How many of the above-mentioned countries share border with Red Sea?

1. Only two
2. Only three
3. Only four
4. Only five

Q2.) Consider the following statements in relation to Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY):

1. It was launched as per recommendations of National Health Policy 2017.
2. It aims at providing a health cover of ₹ 5,00,000 per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
3. There is no cap on family size or the age of members under this scheme
4. The households included is based on the deprivation and occupational criteria of the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

1. Only one
2. Only two
3. Only three
4. All four

Q.3) Which among the following industries are part of core industries as classified under Index of Industrial Production (IIP) :

1. Electricity
2. Coal
3. Cement
4. Steel
5. Fertilisers

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

1. 1, 2 and 5
2. 3 and 4
3. 1,2 and 3
4. All of the above

Comment the answers to the above questions in the comment section below!!

ANSWERS FOR ’  13th February  2024 – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs.st

Q.1) – d

Q.2) – d

Q.3) – b