• Markarian 421, a supermassive black hole, is firing powerful jets of high-energy particles directly towards our planet.
• The “blazar,” which is the name given to black hole systems that have jets pointed at Earth, is about 400 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major.
• Supermassive black holes that are active at the centres of galaxies (active galactic nuclei) are surrounded by “accretion disks” that feed them.
  • But not all the material in the accretion discs ends up being consumed by the black hole.
  • Some of it is channelled towards the black hole’s “poles” and blasted out at a speed near that of light.

• UNESCO recently released the Global Education Monitoring Report, 2023.
• The report has been titled “Technology in education: a tool on whose terms?”

MAJOR FINDINGS

POSITIVES

• Digital technology has dramatically increased access to teaching and learning resources like digital libraries, educational portalsg National Digital Library of India.
• Technology in Education such as radio and mobile phones, has opened up opportunities for hard-to-reach populations.
• Online learning became a lifeline for almost 1 billion students during the COVID-19 school closures.
• Technology has opened up opportunities for learners with disabilities by reducing barriers to learning.
• Digital literacy and critical thinking are now increasingly important, particularly with the growth of generative AI.

NEGATIVES

• It showed that higher screen time was associated with poorer well-being; less curiosity, self-control and emotional stability; higher anxiety; and depression diagnoses”.
• It highlighted that “mere proximity to a mobile device was found to distract students and to have a negative impact on learning in 14 countries.”
• Access to the internet and digital devices remains highly unequal, especially in low-income and marginalized communities.
• Another major concern around the indiscriminate use of digital technology in education was children’s privacy.
• The Report has endorsed banning smartphones in schools.

• The NCI has declined 238.3 points in May 2022 to 157.7 in May 2023.
• The decline indicates a strong supply of coal in the market, with sufficient availability to meet the growing demands.
• Similarly, NCI for non-coking coal declined 34.3% on year to 147.5 points in May.
  • Non-coking coal is mainly used in thermal plants for power generation due to its inherent lack of caking properties.

ABOUT NATIONAL COAL INDEX (NCI)

• It is released by the Ministry of Coal every month.
• The National Coal Index combines coal prices from all sales channels, including notified prices, auction prices and import prices.
• Established with the base year as fiscal year 2017-18, it serves as a reliable indicator of market dynamics, providing valuable insights into coal price fluctuations.

• As per the Home Ministry, cyber reporting system saved Rs 570 crore from fraudsters.
• The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off of funds by the fraudsters.
• It has been launched under Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
  • I4C is under the purview of Ministry of Home Affairs.
• It leverages new-age technologies for sharing online fraud related information and taking action in almost real time.
• CFCFRMS aims to integrate Law Enforcement Agencies and Banks and Financial Intermediaries.
• It is integrated with Helpline no. 155260, which is manned and operated by the concerned State Police.

• INDIAai and Meta India have recently signed a MoU to collaborate on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies.
• As part of the agreement, the two sides will establish a framework for cooperation in the field of emerging technologies.
• Meta’s open-source AI model will also be made available for Indian AI startups.
• The MoU is also envisaged to advance research and development (R&D) in the burgeoning space.

ABOUT INDIA AI

• INDIAai is the National AI Portal of India – a central hub for everything AI in India and beyond.
• INDIAai is an independent business unit (IBU) under the Digital India Corporation.
• INDIAai, a joint venture by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and NASSCOM, has been set up to prepare the nation for an AI future.
• It is knowledge portal, research organisation and an ecosystem building initiative.

• The Prime Minister inaugurated the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) complex at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi recently.
  • It has been named, ‘Bharat Mandapam’.
• ‘Anubhav Mandapam’ of Bhagwan Basaveshwara is the inspiration behind the name ‘Bharat Mandapam”.

ABOUT ANUBHAVA MANTAPA

• ‘Anubhava Mantapa’ literally means “experience center” and was an academy of mystics, saints and philosophers of the ‘Veerashaiva’ faith in the 12^th
• Anubhava Mantapa was one of the earliest Parliaments in history of mankind, where Sharanas (poets and socio-spiritual reformers) deliberated for reforms in various spheres.
• Prabhudeva, a great Yogi of extraordinary achievement, was the president and Lord Basava acted as the prime minister.
• The only difference between the present day parliament and AnubhavaMantapa is that the members were not elected by the people, but were nominated by the higher authorities of the Mantapa; the necessary qualification expected being spiritual attainment.

• James Ferguson ‘Jim’ Skea of the United Kingdom was elected as the new chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• Skea is Professor of Sustainable Energy at Imperial College in London.
• He will lead the IPCC through its seventh assessment cycle.

ABOUT IPCC

• It is an intergovernmental organization created by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in
• It aims to provide policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.
• It is the UN body for assessing the science related to climate change.
• HQ- Geneva, Switzerland.
• It has 195 members.
• The main activity of the IPCC is the preparation of reports assessing the state of knowledge of climate change. These include assessment reports, special reports and methodology reports.
  • However, IPCC does not itself engage in scientific research.
• It comprises 3 working groups–
  • Working Group I: looks at the physics of climate change;
  • Working Group II: examines climate change impacts and adaptation;
  • Working Group III: focuses on climate change mitigation;
  • The three separate reports prepared by three working groups are later compiled into a synthesis report.
• The IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.

• National Disaster Response Force Rescuers reached Malana village to assist the authorities to open the flood gates of the dam that were jammed and led to overflowing of water and further cracked walls of the dams.
• Panic gripped the ancient village of Malana when the water from the 86-MW dam, across the Malana tributary of the Parvati River spilt over due to the malfunctioning of all four gates.
  • Parvati River is a river in the Parvati Valley in Himachal Pradesh, that flows into the Beas River at

• CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) has recently issued alerts regarding the ‘Akira’ Internet Ransomware.
• The ransomware operates by targeting both Windows and Linux-based systems.
• A Ransomware is designed to steal crucial personal information and encrypt data, thereby coercing individuals into paying ransom money.

• The Greek islands of Rhodes and Corfu have been scorched by wildfires in recent days.
• Greece is often hit by wildfires during the summer but climate change has led to more extreme heatwaves across southern Europe.