• The UK has been witnessing a steady increase in the number of norovirus in recent weeks.

 ABOUT NOROVIRUS

• Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
• Norovirus spreads easily if a person comes in contact with someone who is has already been diagnosed with the virus.
• Norovirus causes stomach or intestine inflammation. This is known as acute gastroenteritis.
• Symptoms usually appear 12 to 48 hours after being exposed to the virus.
• While there is no specific treatment available to cure the virus, generic medications for diarrhoea and vomiting can help cure the disease.
• Most people recover from norovirus illness within one to three days.
• There is no vaccine available for norovirus.

• Leaders across the political lines paid tributes to the soldiers who fought in the 1971 war, on the occasion of 52nd Vijay Diwas on December 16^th.
• Vijay Diwas is commemorated on December 16 every year to honor the victory of the Indian armed forces over Pakistan in the 1971 war and to pay tribute to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the country.
• Following a 13-day battle, India secured a resounding triumph over Pakistan on December 16, 1971, leading to the creation of Bangladesh from the former East Pakistan.
• On this significant day, General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, the head of Pakistan’s armed forces, along with 93,000 soldiers, surrendered before the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini of Bangladesh, marking the most substantial military surrender post World War II.
• Bangladesh celebrates December 16 as ‘Bijoy Dibos’ or Victory Day.

• Professor Savita Ladage from Mumbai’s Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, received the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Nyholm Prize for Education in recognition of her contributions to chemistry education.

ABOUT THE PRIZE

• The Excellence in Education Prizes, including the Nyholm Prize, celebrate individuals working in primary, secondary, further education, and higher education, encompassing teachers, technicians, and more.
• The prize, awarded annually, aims to commemorate the life and work of Sir Ronald Nyholm, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry from 1968 to 1970.
• The Royal Society of Chemistry’s Prizes portfolio is one of the oldest and most prestigious in the world, recognising achievements by individuals, teams and organisations in advancing the chemical sciences.
• It recognises a major national or international research or innovation contribution to the field of chemical science education.
• It is awarded to inspirational, innovative and dedicated individuals or teams making a substantial and sustained impact within education.
• The prize alternates between being open to nominees both in the UK and Ireland and internationally, and open only to nominations from the UK and Ireland.
  • For 2023, the prize is open to nominees based anywhere in the world.
• The winner(s) receives £5000, a medal and a certificate.
• The winner(s) will complete a series of lectures or workshops in the UK.
• The winner(s) will be chosen by the Education Prize Committee.

• Recently, India’s Uma Sekhar was elected to the governing council of the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) within the first round at the elections held in Rome.

ABOUT INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE UNIFICATION OF PRIVATE LAW (UNIDROIT)

• UNIDROIT, the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, functions as an independent intergovernmental organization.
• Set up in 1926 as an auxiliary organ of the League of Nations, the Institute was, following the demise of the League, re-established in 1940 on the basis of a multilateral agreement, the UNIDROIT Statute.
• UNIDROIT’s 65 Member States are drawn from the five continents and represent a variety of different legal, economic and political systems as well as different cultural backgrounds.
  • India has been a member of this organization since 1950.
• Headquarters- Rome, Italy
• Its core mission involves studying the needs and methods for modernizing, harmonizing, and coordinating private and commercial law among States and groups of States.
• UNIDROIT actively formulates uniform law instruments, principles, and rules to achieve these objectives.
• UNIDROIT has an essentially three-tiered structure, made up of a Secretariat, a Governing Council and a General Assembly.
• The Governing Council consists of 25 positions which are held by distinguished legal experts.
• The official languages are English, French, German, Italian and Spanish; its working languages are English and French.
• Funding
  • The Institute is financed by annual contributions from its Member States which are fixed by the General Assembly.

• India recently conducted a pivotal flight trial of its indigenous high-speed flying wing UAV, termed the Autonomous Flying Wing Technology Demonstrator.
• The successful flight elevates the country into an elite league of nations that have mastered the controls for the flying wing configuration.
• This UAV is designed and developed by DRDO’s Aeronautical Development Establishment in Bengaluru.
• The maiden flight of this aircraft was demonstrated in July 2022, followed by six flight trials in various developmental configurations using two in-house manufactured prototypes.
• The aircraft prototype, with a complex arrowhead wing platform, is designed and manufactured with light-weight carbon prepreg composite material developed indigenously.
• The autonomous landing of this high-speed UAV, without the need for ground radars/infrastructure/pilot, showcased a unique capability demonstration, allowing take-off and landing from any runway with surveyed coordinates.
  • This was possible using onboard sensor data fusion with indigenous satellite-based augmentation using GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) receivers to improve the accuracy and integrity of GPS navigation.

• Krutrim Si Designs, the artificial intelligence (AI) venture led by Ola CEO revealed ‘Krutrim,’ described by the startup as ‘India’s own AI’ model.
• It is India’s first full-stack artificial intelligence solution, designed to reflect India’s cultural and linguistic diversity.
• Krutrim is a large language model (LLM) which will be available in two classifications
  • the base Krutrim model, and
  • Krutrim Pro, the more powerful one.
• With a name that means ‘artificial’ in Sanskrit, it is a large language model (LLM) which has been trained on more than 2 trillion ‘tokens’;
  • These tokens are sub-words used in conversations.
• Features
  • The model understands 20 Indian languages and can generate content in ten of these.
  • Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Odiya, Telugu are among the languages it can generate content in.
  • Krutrim is larger than even GPT-4 in Indic language support.
  • This LLM uses a custom tokeniser to interpret the languages and scripts.
  • Krutrim also responds to voice inputs, enhancing user interaction and accessibility.
  • The model can seamlessly switch between written and spoken communication.

• Tibetan spiritual leader the 14th Dalai Lama delivered his teachings to his devotees at Siliguri’s Sed-Gyued Monastery.
• The Dalai Lama delivered his lectures on Bodhicitta, the main cause of Buddha and the thoughts that help bring peace to the mind.
• The Tibetan spiritual leader delivered the teaching on Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo’s 37 Practices of Bodhisattva (‘Laklen Sodunma’) and the ceremony of the generation of Bodhichitta (‘Semkye’).
  • The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva (‘Laklen Sodunma’) is an ancient text written in the 14th Century BCE by Tokme Sangpo, a Buddhist monk who was born in Puljung, south-west of the Sakya Monastery in Tibet.

WHAT IS BODHICITTA?

• Bodhicitta, or “awakening mind” or “thought of enlightenment,” is the commitment to embark on a path of awakening and be a bodhisattva, one dedicated to the liberation of all beings.
• Compassion is the stepping-stone into bodhicitta (awakening mind), the central theme of Mahayana.
• This form of compassion seeks to alleviate suffering and pain as much as possible and takes expression in society as kindness, care, and justice.
• Bodhicitta permeates every aspect of Mahayana teaching and practice.

ABOUT BODDHISATVA

• It is derived from Sanskrit root bodhi, meaning “awakening” or “enlightenment”, and sattva, meaning “being”.
• The core meaning of the word is “a being who is on the way to becoming enlightened”.

ABOUT SED-GUIYED MONASTERY

• It stands amidst the serene hills of Siliguri, West Bnegal.
• It is the main seat of the Sed-Gyued Lineage or Whispered Lineage, which is a secret teaching transmitted only to the closest disciple through direct communication with their root teacher or meditational Deity.
• It is because of the unbroken secret teachings of Sed-Gyued Lineage and commentaries that the Tibetan Secret Mahayana Practice is intact today.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the Sovereign Gold Bond (SGB) Scheme Series III for the fiscal year 2023-2024.

ABOUT SOVEREIGN GOLD BONDS SCHEME

• Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) are government securities denominated in grams of gold, providing a viable alternative to owning physical gold.
• Investors are required to pay the issue price in cash and receive a cash redemption upon maturity.
• Issued by the Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government of India, these bonds offer investor protection by ensuring they receive the prevailing market price of gold upon redemption.
• This guarantees the value of the initially invested quantity of gold, making SGBs a more favorable option compared to holding physical gold.
• Eligibility
  • Individuals categorized as residents in India under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, such as individuals, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), trusts, universities, and charitable institutions, are eligible to invest in Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs).
• Payment
  • Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) offer a fixed interest rate of 2.50% per annum on the initial investment amount.
  • The interest is credited semi-annually to the investor’s bank account, and the final interest payment is made upon maturity, along with the principal amount invested.
• Limits
  • The minimum investment in SGBs is 1 gram, and these bonds are issued in denominations of one gram or multiples thereof.
  • For individual investors and Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) investors, the maximum subscription limit is 4 kg per fiscal year (April-March).
  • Trusts and similar entities, as notified by the government, have a higher maximum limit of 20 kg per fiscal year.
  • In the case of joint investments, the maximum limit applies to the first applicant.

• Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) launched a programme in Saint Lucia recently.
• India has been chosen as the Partner Administration and will provide Tax Experts for this programme.
• The focus of the programme will be on the effective use of automatic exchange of information under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) framework.
• This programme is the seventh TIWB programme which India has supported by providing Tax Experts.

ABOUT TIWB

• Launched in 2015
• TIWB is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
• Secretariat- Paris, France
• The objective of the TIWB Initiative is to enable sharing of tax audit knowledge and skills with tax administrations in developing countries through a targeted, real time “learning by doing” approach.
• TIWB is focused on promoting hands-on assistance by sending Experts to build audit and audit-related skills pertaining to specific international tax matters and the development of general audit skills within developing tax administrations.

ABOUT SAINT LUCIA

• It is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean.
• It is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique.
• It is of volcanic origin with highest point being Mount Gimie.
• Capital- Castries

• Arunachal Pradesh CM recently attended the annual Shar Amartala Torgya Festival at the Thegtse Sangye Choi Long monastery at Balemu, a small hamlet at the trijunction of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Bhutan in West Kameng district.
• The religious festival is being held under the patronage and blessings of Padmashree His Eminence The 14th Thegtse Rinpoche.