• The Ministry of Defence signed a groundbreaking contract with Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), a state-owned company based in Visakhapatnam, for the acquisition of five Fleet Support Ships (FSS).
• The overall cost of this venture is estimated to be approximately ₹19,000 crore.
• These vessels, weighing an impressive 44,000 tonnes each, are equipped to provide essential resources such as fuel, water, ammunition, and supplies to naval fleets on extended missions.
• The Fleet Support Ships (FSS) will serve a crucial role in maritime operations by facilitating the replenishment of ships at sea.
• They can be deployed for evacuation of people and Human Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)

• Ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) recently announced the India Smart Cities Award Contest (ISAC) under the Smart Cities Mission (SCM), that felicitated 66 winners in various categories.
• The ISAC 2022 award had a two-stage submission process consisting of ‘Qualifying Stage’, which involved overall assessment of the city’s performance, and the ‘Proposal Stage’ which required the smart cities to submit their nominations for six award categories.
• A total of 845 nominations were received for ISAC 2022 from 80 qualifying smart cities.
• Winners included-
  • Indore won the national smart city award,
  • Madhya Pradesh received the state award and Chandigarh received the UT award.
  • Coimbatore – built environment,
  • Ahmedabad for the culture and Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) category,
  • Jabalpur for economy,
  • Chandigarh for governance and mobility,
  • Indore for sanitation, water and urban environment,
  • Vadodara for social aspects,
  • Hubbali Dharwad for the innovative idea category and
  • Surat for Covid innovation category.

• The Chinese navy has said that it is using the world’s most powerful coil gun.

ABOUT COIL GUN

• It is a type of electromagnetically powered weapon capable of launching projectiles with very high speed and accuracy.
• These are also known as magnetic accelerators or Gauss guns.
• Working-
  • Coil guns feature a series of coils arranged along the barrel of the gun, each one constituting a stage.
  • Each coil is energised one after another to create a magnetic field that can levitate and propel a projectile forward.
  • The projectile typically stays suspended in the centre of the coil during launch.
• Repeated firings do not cause wear on components.
• Advantages – higher launch speeds, lower launch costs, and shorter preparation time, compared to traditional artillery.
• Applications in areas such as weapon systems, near-earth satellites and high-speed missile launches.

• The Tele-Law 2.0 initiative was launched recently under Tele-Law program of the Department of Justice, Ministry of Law & Justice.
• This version entails the fusion of Tele-Law Services with Nyaya Bandhu pro bono legal services.
  • This merger will help to further enhance citizen accessibility to legal aid.

About Tele –Law scheme

• Tele-Law means the use of communications and information technology for the delivery of legal information and advice.
  • This e-interaction between lawyers and people would be through the video-conferencing infrastructure available at the CSCs.

• Department of Justice had partnered with NALSA and CSC e-Governance Service India Limited for mainstreaming legal aid to the marginalised communities through Common Services Center (CSC).
• The program is operating under the DISHA Scheme.
• It was launched in 2017.
• Launched as a pilot programme with 1,800 CSCs in 11 states, the programme coverage has scaled up to 2.5 lakh CSCs covering 765 districts across 36 states/UTs in the country.
• The service is free for those who are eligible for free legal Aid as mentioned under Section 12 of Legal Services Authority Act, 1987. For all others a nominal fee of Rs 30 is charged.
• A dedicated web portal on Tele-Law is available in 22 regional languages.
• The number of beneficiaries of the Tele-Law Scheme have reached 50 Lakhs.
  • The overarching goal of the Tele-Law program is to reach one crore beneficiaries well before 2026.

• A 20-member group is set to perform Seethakali outside Kerala for the first time, in Hyderabad.

ABOUT SEETHAKALI

• A dance drama primarily performed by Dalit artists belonging to the Veda and Pulaya communities.
• It presents minuscule episodes of the Ramayana at every homestead.
• This art form was first performed some 150 years back.
• In the early times, Seethakali was performed as part of the harvest festival Onam.
• The props and instruments used during performances are all made of natural materials like bamboo and palm leaves.
• The costumes and the make-up are loud and eye-catching.
• The characters of Rama and Laxmana appear in green since the colour is used to represent gods and goddesses in Kathakali.
• Currently, in Kerala, there is only one registered Seethakali performing group – Perinad Seethakali Sangham.
  • The Perinad Seethakali Sangham was formed by N. Shajimon, a Kerala Folklore Akademi award winner who was in the forefront to revive the art form.

• Mumbai has reported the first case of Zika Virus.

ABOUT ZIKA VIRUS

• Zika virus is a mosquito-borne virus that was first identified in the Zika Forest of Uganda in 1947.
• It gained global attention in 2015 outbreak in the Americas, particularly in Brazil.
• This outbreak was associated with an increase in babies born with microcephaly.
  • It is a serious birth defect where babies are born with abnormally small heads and underdeveloped brains.
• Zika has also been linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, a rare autoimmune disorder that can lead to muscle weakness and paralysis.
• Transmission-
  • primarily transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes, particularly Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
  • Zika can also spread through sexual contact, blood transfusion, and from an infected mother to her baby during pregnancy or childbirth.
• Symptoms
  • Many people remain asymptomatic.
  • When symptoms do occur, they are often mild and include fever, rash, joint pain, muscle pain, headache, and red eyes (conjunctivitis).
  • Symptoms appear two to seven days after being bitten by an infected mosquito and can last for several days to a week.
• Treatment-
  • No vaccine is yet available for its prevention.
  • There is no specific antiviral treatment for Zika virus infection.
  • Supportive care, such as rest, hydration, and pain relief, is typically recommended for those with symptoms.
  • Pregnant women who may have been exposed to Zika are closely monitored to detect any birth defects in the baby.

• In the state, there are only two eye banks in the districts of Kangra and Shimla.
• Other than two out of 12 districts medical colleges of Himachal, there are no eye banks at district level.
• However, eye donation fortnight is organized every year in the districts under the National Blindness and Visual Impairment Control Program in Himachal.

• Women’s Equality Day is observed annually on August 26^th.
• It marks a global recognition of the ongoing struggle for equal rights and opportunities for women.
• History– On this day, the 19^th Ammendment to the US Constitution was officially certified in 1920.
  • The amendment provided women the right to vote.
• Women’s Equality Day was first celebrated on August 26, 1971.
• The theme for Women’s Equality Day 2023 is “Embrace Equity”.

• Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa from India finished second in International Chess Federation- FIDE World Cup and Magnus Carlsen finally managed to win the FIDE World Cup for the first time in his career.
• The chess tournament that took place in Baku, Azerbaijan.

ABOUT RAMESHBABU PRAGGNANANDHAA

• Praggnanandha, who turned 18 during the World Cup, was the youngest World Cup finalist ever.
• Pragg seeded at 31, is also the lowest seed to make the final of the World Cup.
• He became a Grand Master at the age of 12.

• A Lion Tailed Macaque has been sporadically spotted by conservationists in the forests of Nadugani, shared by the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu and Nilambur in Kerala.

ABOUT LION TAILED MACAQUE

• Scientific name – Macaca silenus
• It is also known as the wanderoo or bearded monkeys.
• It is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.
• They have a grey mane around their face and a lion-like, long, thin, and tufted tail.
• Males of this species communicate with their home ranges with sounds, one of its distinguishing characteristics.
• Lion-tailed macaques are omnivores and diet consists of local fruits, seeds, flowers, insects, snails, and small vertebrates.
• Protection status
  • IUCN red list Status- Endangered
  • CITES- Appendix-1
  • WPA 1972- Schedule 1