• World Radiography Day is observed each year on November 8 to commemorate the discovery of x-radiation by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895.
• On November 8, 1895, German physicist Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen made a groundbreaking discovery.
• This day is dedicated to honouring the field of radiography, acknowledging the crucial contributions of radiographers, and emphasizing the importance of medical imaging in contemporary healthcare.
• The theme chosen for World Radiography Day 2023 is “Celebrating Patient Safety.”

• Russia recently successfully test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads from one of its submarines.
• The new nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine cruiser Emperor Alexander the Third has successfully launched the Bulava sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile.
• The Emperor Alexander the Third is one of Russia’s new Borei-class nuclear submarines that carry 16 Bulava missiles each and are more manoeuvrable and quieter than previous models.
• The 12-metre-long (39 ft) Bulava missile was designed to be the backbone of Moscow’s nuclear triad and has a range of more than 8,000km (5,000 miles).
• The missile is designed to carry as many as six nuclear warheads.

• Bhutan King’s recalled Operation All Clear, during his recent visit to India.
• ‘Operation All Clear’ was launched by the Royal Bhutan Army on December 15, 2003, and dealt a crippling blow to the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland and the Kamatapur Liberation Organization (KLO), which had set up camps in Bhutanese territory.
• The 6000-member Royal Bhutan Army launched simultaneous attacks on the camps of all three outfits with logistical and medical assistance from the Indian Army, which also sealed the Indo-Bhutan border to prevent militants from escaping into India.
• Among the top leaders captured included ULFA idealogue and founding member Bhimkanta Buragohain, ULFA publicity secretary Mithinga Daimary, KLO crack squad chief Tom Adhikary, KLO second in command Milton Burman and NDFB publicity chief B. Erakdao.

• Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) in collaboration with Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Wadhwani AI) has developed Krishi 24/7.
• It is the first-ever AI-powered solution for automated agricultural news monitoring and analysis, with support from org.
• Krishi 24/7 will aid DA&FW to identify relevant news, generate timely alerts, and take prompt action to protect farmers’ interests and promote sustainable agricultural growth through improved decision-making.
• The tool scans news articles in multiple languages and translates them into English.

It extracts essential information from news articles, such as headline, crop name, event type, date, location, severity, summary, and source link, ensuring that the ministry receives timely updates on relevant events published on the web.

• Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) with Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Delhi-NCR has launched the LEAP AHEAD initiative in collaboration.
• This program aims to bolster tech startups by offering them access to funding, mentorship, and global connections.
• The LEAP AHEAD (Launchpad for Tech Entrepreneurs towards Accelerated Growth and Pioneering AHEAD) initiative is a pan-India programme designed to support startups that show early traction and are in the growth stage.
• It offers startups an array of benefits including-
  • an intensive three-month hybrid mentorship program,
  • the opportunity for one-on-one mentorship with investors and industry experts,
  • funding of up to ₹1 crore in a co-investment model, networking and global market exposure,
  • a one-year free associate membership with TiE Delhi-NCR,
  • incubation in STPI’s centers across India, and
  • additional benefits from third-party service providers.
• Startups eligible for this initiative include those involved in software product development, registered with DPIIT under the Startup India program, and have demonstrated revenue generation and external investment​.

ABOUT STPI

• In 1991, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) was set up as an autonomous society in the field of Science & Technology under the Mnistry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

• The fifth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP5) took place in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It made significant progress by adopting 23 decisions to keep protecting human health and the environment from the harmful effects of mercury.

MAJOR OUTCOMES

• It noted the importance of broadening the participation of Indigenous Peoples, as well as local communities and eliminate mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM).
• Parties decided to amend Annex A to the Convention with new phase-out dates for certain batteries, switches, relays and fluorescent lamps.
• It was decided to amend Annex B with a 2025 phase-out date for the production of polyurethane using mercury catalysts.
• Parties agreed on a 15 mg/kg total concentration of mercury as the threshold for wastes contaminated with mercury or mercury compounds.

ABOUT MINAMATA CONVENTION ON MERCURY

• The Minamata Convention on Mercury is the most recent global agreement on environment and health, adopted in 2013.
• It is named after the bay in Japan where, in the mid-20th century, mercury-tainted industrial wastewater poisoned thousands of people, leading to severe health damage that became known as the “Minamata disease”.
• Since it entered into force on 16 August 2017, 147 Parties have been working together to control the mercury supply and trade, reduce the use, emissions and releases of mercury, raise public awareness, and build the necessary institutional capacity.
  • India ratified it in 2018.
• Mercury may have toxic effects on nervous system, thyroid, kidneys, lungs, immune system, eyes, skin

• The Supreme Court this week pulled up an Advocate-on-Record (AoR) for filing a frivolous case and dismissed the public interest litigation.
• The Court censured the lawyer that an AoR cannot merely be a “signing authority.”

About AoR

• Only an AoR can file cases before the Supreme Court.
• An AoR might engage other lawyers including senior counsels to argue before the Court but the AoR is essentially the link between the litigant and the highest court of the country.

• Simply put, AORs are a pool of elite Delhi-based lawyers whose legal practice is mostly before the SC.
  • They can appear before other courts too.
• The idea behind this practice is that a lawyer with special qualifications, picked by the Supreme Court itself, is equipped to appear for a litigant because it is a court of the last opportunity for the litigant.
• The Supreme Court Rules, 2013 prescribe eligibility criteria for an AoR.
  • The advocate must train with a court approved AoR for at least one year to take up the exam.
  • He/she must also have at least four years of practice before starting the training itself.
  • An advocate needs to score at least 60% i.e. a minimum of 240 marks out of 400 with at least 50% in each subject in a three-hour exam.
  • The subjects include Practice and Procedure, Drafting, Professional Ethics and Leading Cases.
  • An AoR must have an office in Delhi within a 16-kilometre radius of the SC.
  • Additionally, he/she is required to give an undertaking to employ, within one month of being registered as an AoR, a registered clerk.

• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released its annual State of Climate Services report, which this year focuses on health.
  • The assessment has been published annually since 2019.
• The report, which underscores the impact of climate change on human health and well-being, incorporates contributions from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, and the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

MAJOR FINDINGS

• World is warming at an unprecedented rate, posing severe threats to human health.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has expressed very high confidence that health risks related to injury, disease, and mortality will surge due to more frequent and intense temperature extremes, cyclones, storms, floods, droughts, and wildfires.
• Alarmingly, over 50% of excess mortality attributed to climate change by 2050 is expected to occur in Africa.
• Just 11% of countries have the full arsenal of tools required to save lives as the impacts of climate change — including deadly weather events, infectious diseases, and respiratory illnesses like asthma — become more extreme.
• Just 23% of countries assessed by the report use climatological data to inform their surveillance of potential health risks, which means much of the world is at a disadvantage.
• Poor air quality is the fourth biggest killer by health risk factor. Despite this, only 2% of climate finance commitments made by international development funders in developing and emerging countries is explicitly aimed at tackling air pollution.
• Extreme heat causes the greatest mortality of all extreme weather, yet heat warning services are provided to health decision makers in only half of the affected countries.

ABOUT WMO

• It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873 under Vienna International Meteorological Congress.
• Established in 1950, WMO became the specialized agency of the UN for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.
• Headquarters– Geneva, Switzerland
• WMO has 193 Members, including 187 Member States and 6 Territories (India is a member).

• The work on the Rs 1,555 crore Innovative Urban Ropeway Transport Project to decongest the state capital is likely to begin next year.
• Its detailed project report (DPR) has been submitted to New Development Bank (NDB), which will fund the project.
• It will be the second largest urban ropeway network in the world after La Paz in Bolivia.
• The 65-km ropeway with 13 boarding and de-boarding stations and one turning station is aimed at decongesting Shimla.
• Each of the 13 stations will have a distance of 1 km to 1.5 km.
• It will help in decongesting Shimla for the next 40 years and provide an eco-friendly and affordable overhead safe mode of public transportation.

• Renowned playwright, poet, painter, physician and thinker Gieve Patel passed away recently. He was 83.
• Born in Mumbai, Gieve Patel was a graduate of Grant Government Medical College.
• He rose to prominence in the world of arts and literature through his notable contributions as a playwright, poet, and painter.
• Literary contributions
  • Poems – How Do You Withstand, Body, Mirrored Mirroring and On Killing a Tree.
  • Plays – Princes, Savaksa and Behram