Why in news?

• On 21 February 2022, Israel successfully test fired its “C-Dome or Protective Dome” naval defence system based on Iron Dome which was tested against rockets, cruise missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV).
• The C-Dome was successfully tested for the first time from Saar-6 Corvette INS Magen, Israel’s Naval Warship.
• The C-Dome is installed in corvette ships to protect Israel’s coastline and offshore natural gas assets in the Mediterranean.
• The defence system has been upgraded to defend against the threat of Iranian proxies, which targeted natural gas assets of Israel.

About The “C-Dome or Protective Dome” Missiles: 

• The C-Dome is a multilayer missile defence system, alongside the Arrow and David’s Sling systems which is capable of intercepting everything from long-range missiles to short-range rockets.
• The C-Dome has the speed of mach 2.2 (2716.56 kmph).
• The command and control system was developed by the mPrest software company.
• The Multi-Function Surveillance, Track and Guidance Radar (MF-STAR) was developed by IAI’s Elta Systems.

Why in news?

• India has been elected for the Chairmanship of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), an Inter-governmental organisation of natural rubber (NR) and synthetic rubber (SR) producing and consuming countries.
• India succeeds Cote’d Ivoire as the chairman of IRSG.
• KN Raghavan, Executive Director of Indian Rubber Board and the Head of the Indian delegation to IRSG will officiate as the Chairman of IRSG for the next 2 years.

About International Rubber Study Group(IRSG):

• Members- Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, European Union, Indi, Nigeria, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka
• Formed in 1944, IRSG is headquartered in Singapore.

Roles of IRSG:

• IRSG is the only forum for NR and SR producers and consumers to discuss matters affecting the world rubber industry and act as an interface between government and the Industry.
• IRSG will collect and share the statistics on the production, consumption and trade in NR and SR across the globe.
• It is the only International commodity body which is approved by the Common Fund for Commodities for development financing in rubber sector.

Why in news?

• A 6th edition of 5-day bilateral air exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) namely ‘Eastern Bridge-VI’ commenced at Jodhpur Air Force Station in Rajasthan.
• Objective: This exercise is an opportunity to enhance operational capability and interoperability between the two Air Forces.
• Participants:
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) has deployed a fleet of Sukhoi-30MKIs, Jaguar and Mirage-2000 fighter jets for the sixth edition of the exercise ‘Eastern Bridge.
• The Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) has deployed its F-16 jets.
• Eastern Bridge promotes professional interaction, exchange of experiences and enhancement of operational knowledge, and strengthening of bilateral relations.
• Exercise Eastern Bridge V was held in October 2019 at the Air Force Base Masirah, Oman.

Why in news?

• The Central Government has approved the continuation of the Central Sector Umbrella Scheme of ‘Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM)’ over the 15th Finance Commission Cycle from 2021-22 to 2025-26, at a cost of Rs 13,020 crore.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is responsible for the implementation of BIM.
• This continuation will strengthen the border infrastructure for improving border management, policing and guarding the borders.
• The BIM scheme will help in the creation of infrastructure such as construction of border fence, border flood lights, technological solutions, border roads and Border Outposts (BOPS)/Company Operating Bases (COBs) to secure the Indian borders with Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
• India’s border with Pakistan is 3,323 km long, including about 775 km of the Line of Control (LoC). The length of the border is 4,096 km with Bangladesh, 3,488 km with China, 1,751 km with Nepal, 699 km with Bhutan, 1,643 km with Myanmar.
• In pursuance of Group of Ministers recommendations on Border Management, the Department of Border Management was created in the Ministry of Home Affairs in January, 2004.

Why in news?

• Chief Minister (CM) of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma launched India’s first Night Navigation mobile application (app) for ferry services on the Brahmaputra river in Guwahati, Assam.
• It was developed by the State Transport Department in association with K Raju, the principal scientist of Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
• Highlights:
• The first night journey of the IWT (Inland Water Transport) ferry between Guwahati and North Guwahati was started on 19 February 2022.
• The CM also launched ten Aadhar-based contactless services of the State Transport Department to make public service delivery time efficient and budget friendly.
• The CM also launched an e-ticketing system for Dhubri and Silchar ferry services.
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed between the Common Service Centres (CSCs) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and State Transport Department to provide online services at the panchayat level.

Why in news?

• The Padma Shri recipient Shakuntala Chowdhary passed away at the age of 102 years due to age related ailments.
• Shakuntala Choudhary was born on 25 June 1920 in Guwahati, Assam. She was also known as Shakunthala Baideo (elder sister), was an Indian social worker known for her commitment and devotion to the popularization of the Gandhian way of life.
• In 1947, she joined the Assam branch of the Kasturba Gandhi National Memorial Trust (KGNMT).
• This branch of the Trust in Guwahati, known as the Kasturba Ashram or the Sarania Ashram. It was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi in 1946.
• She was also closely associated with Vinoba Bhave who initiated the ‘Bhoodan Movement’ in India. She worked with him in translating his lectures from Hindi to Assamese, and was an active participant in Padayatra undertaken by Vinoba Bhave in Assam during the Bhoodan movement.
• Awards-
• Jamnalal Bajaj Award ( 2010) for the Development and Welfare of Women And Children.
• Padma Shri award (2022), for distinguished service in the field of social work.
• Vavoshestha Samman – National Awards For Senior Citizens 2021.

Why in news?

• Citing decline in COVID-19 cases, ECI has restored the number of star campaigners a party can field for campaigning in the ongoing polls in five states.
• Star campaigners are nominated by political parties to campaign in a given set of constituencies for a specified duration.
• List of star campaigners must be communicated to Chief Electoral Officer and ECI within a week from the election notification date under section 77(1) of Representation of People Act (RPA), 1951.
• A recognised political party can have 40 Star campaigners and an unrecognised (but registered) political party can have 20.
• There is no law that defines who can be a star campaigner. Expenditure incurred on campaigning by such notified star campaigners is exempt from being added to the election expenditure of a candidate.
• However, this only applies when a star campaigner limits oneself to a general campaign for the political party one represents.
• If a candidate or his/her election agent shares stage with a star campaigner at a rally, then the entire expenditure on that rally, other than the travel expenses of star campaigner, is added to candidate’s expenses.

Why in news?

• Recently, the PM inaugurated Asia’s biggest Bio-CNG plant – the Gobar-Dhan plant – in Indore.
• Government is working to build such plants in 75 major municipal bodies in the next 2 years.
• Municipal solid waste based Gobar-Dhan plant is in line with “garbage-free cities” under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Urban 2.0.
• Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBAR-DHAN) scheme focuses on managing and converting cattle dung and solid waste in farms to compost, biogas and bio-CNG.
• It was launched by Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation (Now Ministry of Jal Shakti) in 2018 as part of the SBM (Gramin).

Why in news?

• Astronomers at National Centre of Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), Pune used GMRT to map distribution of atomic hydrogen gas from the galaxy hosting a fast radio burst (FRB) for the first time.
• FRBs are extremely bright radio pulses from distant galaxies that last for only a few milliseconds.

 About Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT)

• GMRT is an instrument for studying astrophysical phenomena, ranging from nearby Solar system to the edge of observable Universe, at low radio frequencies (40 to 1450 MHz).
• It is operated by National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), which is part of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
• It is located near Pune.

Why in news?

• A recent study has found that moths are vital to pollination in the Himalayan ecosystem of northeast India.
• The study establishes 91 species of moths as potential pollinators of 21 plant families in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in the northeastern Himalayas.
• Study can help in understanding the role of these nocturnal (active at night) insect pollinators.
• Till now a majority of the pollination-related studies are based on diurnal pollinators (bees and butterflies).
• Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma.

 About Moth

• Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies.
• While the butterflies form a monophyletic group, the moths, comprising the rest of the Lepidoptera, do not.
• There are about 12,000 moth species in India.