• According to the study, in hydroponic environments, eSoil is a low-power bioelectronic growth substrate that can electrically stimulate the root system and growth environment of plants.
• This novel substrate is environmentally friendly, derived from cellulose and a conductive polymer called PEDOT, offers a low energy, safe alternative to previous methods that required high voltage and non-biodegradable materials.
• eSoil uses low energy and minimises resource consumption.
  • Its active material is an organic mixed-ionic electronic conductor.

ABOUT HYDROPONICS

• Hydroponic cultivation means that plants grow without soil, needing only water, nutrients and something their roots can attach to – a substrate.
• It is a closed system that enables water recirculation so that each seedling gets exactly the nutrients it needs.
• Therefore, very little water is required and all nutrients remain in the system, which is not possible in traditional cultivation.
• Hydroponics also enables vertical cultivation in large towers to maximise space efficiency.
• Crops already being cultivated in this manner include lettuce, herbs and some vegetables.

• The death anniversary of revolutionary Bina Das was observed on December 26^th.

 ABOUT BINA DAS

• Bina Das was an Indian revolutionary and nationalist from West Bengal.
• She was born on August 24, 1911 to social worker and educationist parents– Beni Madhab Das and Sarala Devi, who were deeply involved in the Brahmo Samaj and the freedom struggle.
• Das was a member of Chhatri Sangha, a semi-revolutionary organisation for women in Kolkata.
• On 6 February 1932, she attempted to assassinate the Bengal Governor Stanley Jackson, in the Convocation Hall of the University of Calcutta.
  • The revolver was supplied by another freedom fighter Kamala Das Gupta.
• She fired five shots but failed and was sentenced to nine years of rigorous imprisonment.
• In 1942, she participated in the Quit India movement and was imprisoned again from 1942 to 1945.
• From 1946 to 1947, she was a member of the Bengal Provincial Legislative Assembly and, from 1947 to 1951, of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

• In an unexpected move, Angola has decided to part ways with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
• Angola, having joined OPEC in 2007, is not a heavyweight in terms of oil production compared to some of its counterparts, contributing approximately 1.1 million barrels per day out of the group’s total of 28 million daily contribution.

ABOUT OPEC

• The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental organization, created at the Baghdad Conference in 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
• Other Members- Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, and the United Arab Emirates.
• It aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil in the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.
• Headquarters- Vienna, Austria
• It possesses more than 80% of the world’s total crude oil (mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase) reserves.
• OPEC membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil and which shares the ideals of the organization.
• OPEC uses Brent Crude as a benchmark for quality.

ABOUT OPEC+

• OPEC+ countries include 13 OPEC member countries and Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan.

• Himachal Pradesh Police recently cracked down on an SUV owner for allegedly driving his vehicle across the Chandra River in Lahaul and Spiti district.

ABOUT CHANDRA RIVER

• The River Chandra is one of the two rivers which merge to form the Chenab in the Lahaul region of Himachal Pradesh
  • Other is Bhaga river which originates from Suryataal lake.
• It rises in the snows lying at the base of the main Himalayan range in the Lahaul and Spiti district.
• The beautiful Chandra Tal lake has formed at its source.
• It goes on to merge with the Bhaga River downstream of Keylong and form Chenab river.
• The entire area is a vast cold desert that receives little or no rain as it lies in the rain shadow of the Pir Panjal range lying towards South.
• The important human settlement along the river is Koksar.

• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare recently launched MedTech Mitra, an online portal that aims to assist medtech innovators in clinical evaluation, regulatory facilitation, and uptake of new products.
• The portal will be coordinated collaboratively by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), under the guidance of NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission.
• It will facilitate indigenous development of affordable, quality MedTech devices and diagnostics leading to reduction in import dependence (presently around 80%) in MedTech.

• The International Day of Epidemic Preparedness is observed every year on December 27^th.
• This special day encourages everyone, including individuals, institutions, and governments, to participate in educational and awareness activities that suit their country’s needs.
• It emphasizes how crucial it is to prevent, prepare for and work together against outbreaks like diseases.
• A resolution passed by the UN General Assembly on December 7, 2020, declared December 27 to be the International Day of Epidemic Preparedness.

• The PM recently participated in the Veer Baal Diwas function at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
• It is commemorated on 26^th December every year.
• The Veer Bal Diwas marks the martyrdom of Sri Guru Gobind Singh’s sons- Sahibzada Zorawar Singh Ji and Sahibzada Fateh Singh Ji.
• The two younger sons were bricked alive on the orders of Aurangzeb’s governor of Sirhind, Wazir Khan.
• The two elder sons, Sahibzada Ajit Singh and Sahibzada Jujhar Singh both sacrificed their lives in the historic battle of Chamkaur, where a small number of Sikhs took on the huge army of the Mughals and the hill kings.

• Around 1300 people made a Guinness World Record by playing tabla simultaneously in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh.
• The ‘Tabla Darbar’ festival program was organized at Karna Mahal of Gwalior Fort.
• A three-member team from the Guinness Book of World Records was present to monitor and record the performance.
• This concert was part of the ‘Tansen Samaroh’ music festival held annually in Gwalior.

OTHER FACTS

• The city of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh was added to UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network (UCCN) on November 1, 2023 for its “strong commitment to harnessing culture and creativity”.
• Kozikodhe from Kerala (as ‘City of Literature’)was also among recent additions.
• Other Indian cities in the UCCN include
  • Jaipur: Crafts and Folk Arts (2015),
  • Varanasi: Creative City of Music (2015),
  • Chennai: Creative City of Music (2017),
  • Mumbai: Film (2019),
  • Hyderabad: Gastronomy (2019), and
  • Srinagar: Crafts and Folk Art (2021).

• In an unprecedented extension of its celestial duties, the spacecraft that delivered asteroid samples from Bennu, OSIRIS-REx has embarked on a new mission, and NASA has renamed it.
• The mission will now be called OSIRIS-APEX (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security—Apophis Explorer) as it heads to study the near-Earth asteroid Apophis.

ABOUT OSIRIS-APEX

• Apophis
  • Asteroid 99942 Apophis is a near-Earth object (NEO) estimated to be about 1,100 feet (340 meters) across.
  • Apophis, a stony “S-type” asteroid composed of silicate materials and nickel-iron, differs significantly from the carbon-rich “C-type” Bennu.
  • Discovered- 2004
  • It originated in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
• The upcoming encounter with Earth on April 13, 2029, will bring Apophis within 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) of our planet.
• It aims to observe the physical changes induced by Earth’s gravitational pull during Apophis’ flyby.
  • These changes could include alterations in the asteroid’s orbit, rotation speed, and surface features such as quakes or landslides.

ABOUT OSIRIS-REX MISSION

• The OSIRIS-REx mission made headlines when it successfully returned a sample from asteroid Bennu to Earth on September 24.
• After a seven-year, 4 billion-mile odyssey, the spacecraft still had ample fuel and fully functional instruments.

• Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions has launched the Extended Version of Mission Karmayogi.

ABOUT MISSION KARMAYOGI

• Mission Karmayogi (National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building) aims at building a future-ready civil service with right attitude, skills (technology enabled) and knowledge aligned to the vision of New India.
• There will be more focus on ‘on-site learning’ in complementing “off-site learning”.
• Six key pillars
  • Policy Framework,
  • Institutional Framework,
  • Competency Framework,
  • Digital Learning Framework (iGOT-Karmayogi),
  • the electronic Human Resource Management System (e-HRMS) and
  • the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.
• New features launched on Mission Karmayogi platform
• My iGOT delivers targeted training courses on home page of individual officer that directly address the unique capacity building needs of the officer as identified  in the Capacity-Building Plan for their Ministries/Departments.
• Blended Programs on iGOT-Karmayogi platform will facilitate equitable access to training methodologies across all levels to meet dynamic training needs of the officials.
• Curated Programs on iGOT Karmayogi are designed to cater to diverse learning needs of the Ministries/Departments and Training Institutions.
• 12 domain specific capacity building e-learning courseshave been developed
• VIKAS (Variable & Immersive Karmayogi Advanced Support) is a new blended learning programme meant for capacity building of Middle management civil servants in Central Secretariat.