• In the Cricket World Cup 2023 match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan batsmen ngelo Mathews became the first player to be timed out in an international cricket match.
• Specifically, section 40.1.1 of the playing conditions by ICC states: “After the fall of a wicket or the retirement of a batter, the incoming batter must, unless Time has been called, be ready to receive the ball, or for the other batter to be ready to receive the next ball within 2 minutes of the dismissal or retirement. If this requirement is not met, the incoming batter will be out, Timed out.”

• Sweden’s Saab has reportedly become the first foreign company that has bagged 100% FDI in India’s defence projects.
• It will set up a new facility in the country (likely in Haryana) that will manufacture shoulder-fired rockets.
• This will be the first time Saab will manufacture Carl-Gustaf M4 outside Sweden.
• The shoulder-fired rockets are used by Indian armed forces extensively, and countries like the US, and European nations also use them to take down fortified enemy positions, armour, and personnel.
• Currently, India allows only 74% FDI in the defence sector under the automatic route.
• Beyond that, clearance can be obtained on a case-by-case basis.
• However, the clearance rules were relaxed in 2015, still, no foreign firm was able to get permission for 100% FDI in defence.
• The Government has liberalised and allowed FDI under automatic route up to 74% and up to 100% through Government route wherever it is likely to result in access to modern technology.

• A new method developed by the researchers at the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) can help in detection of biodiversity in a more efficient manner.
• They followed a molecular approach to extract and read the genetic information encoded in free-floating environmental DNA (eDNA).
  • LaCONES is a CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) laboratory headquartered in Hyderabad.
  • eDNA is DNA shed by all organisms into their surroundings through natural processes during their lifetime or after death.
• The new non-invasive method can assess the total biodiversity of any ecosystem by sequencing the DNA fragments found in the environmental samples such as water, soil or air.
• This method can detect all kinds of organisms, including viruses, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes such as fungi, plants, insects, birds, fish and other animals from just a few litres of water sample without any direct capture or counting of species.
• The new method is cheaper, faster, and highly scalable to large freshwater and marine ecosystems which can help in monitoring and conserving the rich biodiversity of our country.

• A two-step PCR-based assay of a small region of the Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) bacteria can help detect H. pylori infection and also identify clarithromycin-resistant bacteria and those that are drug-sensitive in six-seven hours has been developed by a team of researchers from the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (ICMR-NICED), Kolkata.
• Presently, as it takes three-four weeks to culture the bacteria and carry out drug-sensitivity tests, drug-resistant studies of H. pylori are rarely carried out.

ABOUT THE INFECTION

• In India, pylori infections affect 60-70% of the population.
• Most of the infections caused by the bacterium H. pylori are asymptomatic, but 10–15% of them develop peptic ulcer disorders or stomach cancer.
• Thus pylori infection is one of the robust known risk factors for gastric cancer.
• pylori infection is often acquired during childhood and remains in the stomach throughout life if not treated with antibiotics effectively.
• So, if someone suffers from gastroduodenal diseases along with the detection of H. pylori infection, eradication of the bacteria provides the most effective treatment.

• Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) has been extended by Centre government by 5 years till 2028.

ABOUT PMGKAY

• Introduced in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, the PMGKAY was launched with the aim of providing 5 kg of free foodgrains to eligible ration card holders under the National Food Security Act, 2013.
• The scheme was slated to be in place up until December 2023, but has been extended again now for another five years.
• The PMGKAY covers two types of ration card holders under the NFSA—those falling under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH), both of which were integrated with the PMGKAY in January 2023.
• While AAY and PHH beneficiaries were entitled to 35 kg of free foodgrains (regardless of the number of family members) and 5 kg of free foodgrain for each family member respectively, the PMGKAY, when it was launched, offered free rations in addition to the aforementioned allotments.
• Identification of beneficiaries
  • PHH are to be identified by State Governments/Union Territory Administrations as per criteria evolved by them.
  • AAY families are to be identified by States/UTs as per the criteria prescribed by the Central Government.
• As of January 2023, there were over 81.35 crore beneficiaries of the PMGKAY scheme, equivalent to over two-thirds of India’s population.

• The Election Commission of India has designed in-house software for complete Candidate and election management through ‘ENCORE’ which stands for Enabling Communications on Real-time Environment.
• This provides a seamless facility for Returning Officers to process candidate nomination, affidavit, Voter turnout, counting, results and data management.
• The ENCORE counting application is an end-to-end application for returning officers to digitize the votes polled, tabulate the round-wise data and then take out various statutory reports of counting.
• Another application called ENCORE Scrutiny Application allows Returning Officers to do scrutiny of the nominations filed by the candidates on-line.
• An application called candidate Affidavit portal is for displaying information about a candidate’s finances, assets and their liabilities.
• Through the ENCORE Nodal App, various departments like fire, education, police, environment, CPWD give ‘no objection’ certificate before any permission request from political party or candidates, received for holding rallies, road shows and meetings.

• Bhutan King recently visited famed Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati.

ABOUT KAMAKHYA TEMPLE

• It is situated on the Nilachal Hill in western part of Guwahati city in Assam.
• It is one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Peethas in India.
• It is one of the most revered centres of Tantric practices.
• According to the legends, it was built by the demon king Narakasura but records are available only from 1565 when Koch king Naranarayana rebuilt the temple.
• Being the centre for Tantra worship this temple attracts thousands of tantra devotees in an annual festival known as the Ambubachi Mela.
  • Ambubachi Mela is held every year to commemorate the yearly menstruation of Goddess Kamakhya.
• Architecture
  • It had been modelled out of a combination of two different styles, namely, the traditional nagara or North Indian and saracenic or Mughal.
  • Thus, being an unusual combination which came into its existence on this famous sakti shrine of India, it has been named as the Nilachala Style of Architecture.

• NASA’s Lucy mission while flying past a small main-belt asteroid called Dinkinesh, found an even smaller “moon” orbiting it.
• The two form a binary asteroid pair.

ABOUT THE MISSION

• Lucy was launched in 2021.
• Lucy is the first space mission to explore a diverse population of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.
  • These are remnants of our early solar system and are trapped on stable orbits associated with – but not close to – the giant planet Jupiter.
  • Trojan asteroids orbit in two “swarms” that lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit around the Sun.
  • These are thought to be comparable in number to the objects in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
• Over its 12-year mission, Lucy will explore a record-breaking number of asteroids: it will by two (plus a newly discovered satellite) in the belt of asteroids that circle the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, and then eight Trojans, which includes five asteroid targets and the satellites of three of those.
• Lucy also will fly by Earth three times to get a push from its gravity, making it the first spacecraft to return to the vicinity of Earth from the outer solar system.

FACT

• The Lucy mission is named after the fossilized skeleton of an early hominin (pre-human ancestor) that was found in Ethiopia in 1974 and named “Lucy”.

• Ecological Threat Report 2023 was recently released by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
• The report covered 221 countries and independent territories, which were divided into 3,594 sub-national areas, accounting for 99.99 percent of the world’s population.
• Of these countries and territories, 66 face at least one severe ecological threat.
• The report focuses on four categories of threat: Food insecurity, natural disasters, demographic pressure and water risk.

 MAJOR FINDINGS

• The number of people residing in countries facing severe ecological threats will go up to 2.8 billion by 2050 from 1.8 billion at present.
• Many countries and sub-national areas are most vulnerable to conflict, civil unrest and displacement as a result of environmental degradation and climate-related events.
• Of the 30 hotspot countries that face severe ecological threats and have low levels of societal resilience, 19 are in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • The most at risk countries are Ethiopia, Niger, Somalia and South Sudan, of which Ethiopia and Niger have recently emerged as hotspots.
• Europe and North America are the only two regions where no country currently faced a severe ecological threat.
• The report included many policy recommendations aimed at supporting local communities to improve water capture, agricultural yields and resilience.

ABOUT INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMICS AND PEACE

• The Institute for Economics and Peace is an independent think tank.
• It is involved in developing global and national indices, calculating the economic cost of violence, analysing country level risk and fragility, and understanding Positive Peace.
• The Institute is headquartered in Sydney with offices in 6 countries.

Founded by IT entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Killelea  in 2007, IEP has had a profound impact on traditional thinking on matters of security, defence, terrorism and development over the last 13 years.

• The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) will take up the work for restoration of 84 Pauris (stairs) in Una town.
• The 84 Pauris were about 250 years old monument and was linked to the history of Una town.
• The monument also has significance in Sikh history as it is linked with the descendants of Guru Nanak Dev
• Chaurasi (84) Pauris built here is a monument of mutual brotherhood.
• These also signify the 84 ‘yonis’, which a human has to pass to attain nirwana as per Hindu mythology.
• The ‘pauris’ were built with stones brought from various places of religious significance.
• It was built by sages of all religions of the time as every stone laid was brought in with prayers and reverence.