Daily Current Affairs Quiz: December 22 2022

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ANSWER: C

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• The Government has said, the country’s maiden human space flight mission, Gaganyaan, is targeted to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2024.
• This was stated by Union Minister, Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
• The Minister said, in view of the paramount importance of crew safety, two uncrewed flights are scheduled, before the final human space flight- ‘H1 mission’, to demonstrate the performance of the crew escape system and parachute-based deceleration system for different flight conditions.
• He said, uncrewed ‘G1 mission’ will be targeted in the last quarter of next year, followed by the ‘G2’ in the second quarter of 2024.
• Jitendra Singh said the astronaut designates for the Gaganyaan are identified and undergoing mission-specific training at Bengaluru.

What is Gaganyaan Mission?

• About:
  • Gaganyaan is a mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
  • Under the Gaganyaan schedule:
    • Three flights will be sent into orbit.
    • There will be two unmanned flights and one human spaceflight.
  • The Gaganyaan system module, called the Orbital Modulewill have three Indian astronauts, including a woman.
  • It will circle Earth at a low-earth-orbitat an altitude of 300-400 km from earth for 5-7 days.
• Payloads:
  • The payload will consist of:
    • Crew module: Spacecraft carrying human beings.
    • Service module:Powered by two liquid propellant engines.
    • It will be equipped with emergency escape and emergency mission abort.
  • Launch:

• • GSLV Mk III, also called the LVM-3 (Launch Vehicle Mark-3,) the three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle, will be used to launch Gaganyaan as it has the necessary payload capability.

• Training in Russia:

• • In June 2019, the Human Space Flight Centre of the ISRO and the Russian government-owned Glavkosmos signed a contract for the training, which includes Russian support in the selection of candidates, their medical examination, and space training.
    • The candidates will study in detail the systems of the Soyuz manned spaceship, as well as be trained in short-term weightlessness mode aboard the Il-76MDK aircraft.
    • The Soyuz is a Russian spacecraft. The Soyuz carries people and supplies to and from the space station.
    • The Il-76MDK is a military transport plane specially designed for parabolic flights of trainee astronauts and space tourists.

ANSWER: C

• Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX), the flagship initiative of Department of Defence Production, has reached a milestone with the signing of its 150th contract in New Delhi on December 21, 2022.
• The contract relates to an Indian Navy project of the Defence India Start-up Challenge (DISC 7) SPRINT edition.
• The challenge was titled ‘Expendable Mobile Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Training Target (EMATT) capable of simulating the sound and movement of a submarine’ and the winner was Altair Infrasec Pvt Ltd, Pune.
• The Challenge envisaged development of a training target capable of being deployed from P8I aircraft, MH60R helicopters, ships doing speed up to 10 knots and other Remotely Piloted Aircraft without undertaking any modification on the platform from which the EMATT is required to be launched.

About iDEX framework:

• The iDEX framework was launched by the Prime Minister in 2018 with the objective to provide a platform of co-creation and co-development in the defence sector, engage start-ups and develop defence and aerospace set up in the country.
• The iDEX is being implemented by Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO), established under Department of Defence Production.

ANSWER: C

• Samudrayaan Mission is aimed to develop a self-propelled manned submersible to carry three human beings to a water depth of 6,000 meters in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools for deep ocean exploration.
• The experts will be sent in a manned submersible vehicle called ‘MATSYA 6000’.
• This vehicle is being designed and developed by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• It has an endurance of 12 hours under normal operation and 96 hours in case of emergency for human safety.
• Manned submersible provides a feel of direct physical presence for researchers and has better intervention capability.
• With the launch of ‘Samudrayaan’ in October 2021, India joined the elite club of nations such as the US, Russia, Japan, France, and China to have niche technology and vehicles to carry out subsea activities.

Why is it relevant for India?

• India has a unique maritime position, a 7517 km long coastline, which is home to nine coastal states and 1,382 islands.
• The mission aims to boost the Central government’s vision of ‘New India’ that highlights the Blue Economy as one of the ten core dimensions of growth.
• For India, with its three sides surrounded by the oceans and around 30% of the nation’s population living in coastal areas and coastal regions play a major economic factor. It supports fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, livelihoods, and blue trade.

ANSWER: C

• The soft release of Asian Giant Tortoise is an attempt to boost conservation and repopulating the species. The soft release is a process of gradually releasing captive-raised species into the wild.
• Distribution:They are found in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia and other places.
• Diet: Bamboo shoots, tubers and other juicy vegetation and some invertebrates and frogs.
• Threats:Hunting for consumption, habitat loss, anthropogenic activities like construction and slash and burn.
• Conservation Status
  • IUCN: Critically Endangered
  • CITES: Appendix II
  • Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972: Schedule IV

Intanki National Park:

• It is also known as the Ntangki National Park, which was established by British administrators in the year 1923.
• Flora: it has thick rain forests which creates natural habitat for many animals.
• Fauna: Wild buffaloes, Hoolok gibbo, Tigers, Sloth bear, Wild dogs and flying squirrels.

ANSWER: C

• India has voted in favour of a UNSC resolution on the mental health of UN peacekeepers.
• Members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously passed a resolution on mental health and psychosocial support for personnel of UN peace operations.
• Mexico initiated the draft resolution on mental health and psychosocial support. The draft resolution will be the first stand-alone Security Council resolution on mental health.
• The draft text is open for co-sponsorship by the wider UN membership.
• The draft resolution recognises the need to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and psychosocial support for UN peace operations personnel.

What are UN Peacekeeping Forces?

• About:
  • When the UN Security Council approved the deployment of UN military observers to the Middle East in 1948, the UN Peacekeeping Forces were established.
  • UN peacekeeping forces aid nations in negotiating the perilous transition from war to peace.
  • To carry out several missions approved by the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the UN General Assembly, it deploys soldiers and police from all over the world and combines them with civilian peacekeepers.
  • International Day of UN Peacekeepers is celebrated on date 29^th May every year.
    • 2022 Theme: Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships.
  • India and UNPKF:
    • India is among the nations that send the most troops to the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces.
      • Example: India is the second-highest military and fifth-highest police contributing country to the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO).
    • Over 2,60,000 Indians have served in 49 U.N. Peacekeeping missions since 1948.
    • In 2007, India became the first country to deploy an all-women contingent to a UN Peacekeeping mission.
    • In the last six decades,179 Indian soldiers have died in UN Peacekeeping operations.
    • Among “blue helmets” it has the greatest death toll of any nation.
      • Blue Helmets are the military personnel of the UN that work alongside the UN Police and civilian colleagues to promote “stability, security, and peace processes”.

ANSWER: C

• Rising Covid cases in China may once again trigger a shortage of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in India, which imports over 65 per cent of APIs from the neighbouring nation.
• Though there is no visible impact on API prices or supplies in the Asia’s pharmaceutical hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) as well as the Paonta Sahib-Kala Amb belt, there is a sense of fear in the industry.
• Reason: The earlier Covid waves had severely crippled the manufacturing operations amid curtailed imports from China.
• “The manufacturers have already started procuring whatever supplies are available in the market. Traders are again trying to exploit the situation. Some commonly used products have become dearer by 15-20 per cent,” says a unit owner from Baddi.
• The manufacturers opine the impact of curbs in China would be visible in the next about a fortnight. There is, however, a tendency of hoarding, which leads to artificial shortage, they say.
• To cut dependence on China, the Centre has approved a bulk drug park in the Una district of Himachal Pradesh, but it will take at least three years for API producers to start manufacturing here.
• BK Sikri, chairman, Federation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs, said, “There is no reason to panic as Indian API producers, who invested under the production-linked incentive scheme, are now manufacturing 35 of the 53 APIs for which India has 90 per cent import dependence.” He ruled out any immediate shortage of APIs and other key ingredients and said they were closely monitoring the situation.
• The state has about 650 pharmaceutical units, including 15 approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and 180 by the WHO.

ANSWER: C

• As many as 60 youth will be trained under the 14 days Aapda Mitr Abhiyan at Kaza in Lahaul and Spiti.
• The training will be held under the joint auspices of the sub-centre of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Mountaineering Institute at Jispa and the District Disaster Management authorities.
• The district administration is organising the programme to prepare local youths to lead rescue operations effectively during disaster-like situations to save human lives and property.
• It is for the first time that the institute’s sub-centre is imparting this type of training to the local youth at
• The trained youth will be called disaster friend (Aapda Mitr).
• These volunteers will render services to the Disaster Management Authority during any emergency and play an important role in saving human lives and property.”
• Training is being imparted to the youth will make them capable to lead rescue operations during disasters like floods, earthquakes, landslides and cyclones.

ANSWER: C

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ANSWER: C