Prelim Snippets-11.01.2020

1. Goldilocks Zone

Why in News?
  • NASA has reported the discovery of an Earth-size planet, named TOI 700 d, orbiting its star in the “goldilocks zone”.
Goldilocks Zone:
  • A habitable zone, also called the “Goldilocks zone”, is the area around a star where it is not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of surrounding planets.
  • Details Earth is in the Sun’s Goldilocks zone. If Earth were where the dwarf planet Pluto is, all its water would freeze; on the other hand, if Earth were where Mercury is, all its water would boil off. When scientists search for the possibility of alien life, any rocky exoplanet in the habitable zone of its star is an exciting find.
  • The newest such planet was found by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission, which it launched in 2018.
  • Very few such Earth-size planets have been found so far, including some by NASA’s Kepler mission, and this one is the first such discovery by TESS.
  • The find was confirmed by the Spitzer Space Telescope, which sharpened the measurements that TESS had made, such as orbital period and size.
New Discovered Planet:
  • TOI 700 d measures 20% larger than Earth. It orbits its star once every 37 days and receives an amount of energy that is equivalent to 86% of the energy that the Sun provides to Earth. The star, TOI 700, is an “M dwarf” located just over 100 light-years away in the southern constellation Dorado, is roughly 40% of our Sun’s mass and size, and has about half its surface temperature.
  • TOI 700 d is the outermost planet, and the only one in the star’s habitable zone.

2. Operation Sankalp

Why in News?
  • Indian Navy has commenced Maritime Security Operations, code named Op SANKALP, in the Gulf region to ensure safe passage of Indian Flag Vessels transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.
Op Sankalp:
  • Indian Navy warships and aircraft were deployed to establish presence, provide a sense of reassurance to the Indian merchantmen, monitor the ongoing situation and respond to any emergent crises.
  • The operation is being progressed in close coordination with all stakeholders including Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Shipping, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and DG, Shipping.
  • The Navy continues to monitor the situation in the Gulf region and is maintaining presence in the region to ensure security of our sea borne trade and the safety of Indian Flag Merchant Vessels transiting through the region.

3. 3rdEdition of Khelo India

Why in News?
  • The Third Edition of the Khelo India Youth Games was recently launched by Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
About:
  • KIYG formerly called Khelo India School Games(KISG) literally means Play India Youth Games are held annually in month of January or February.
  • These are National level multidisciplinary grassroots games held for two categories-
    1. Under-17 years school students
    2. Under-21 college students
  • There are 16 disciplines as follows: Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Shooting, Swimming, Volleyball, Weightlifting, and Wrestling.
  • Every year best performing 1000 participants are given an annual scholarship of INR 5, 00, 000 for 8 years to prepare them for international sporting events.
  • Khelo India programme was introduced by Union Ministry of Sports to revive sports culture in India at grass-root level.
  • It seeks to build a strong framework for all sports played in country as well as establish India as a Great Sporting Nation.

4. Chinese Paddlefish

Why in News?
  • The Chinese paddlefish, one of the largest freshwater fish has been declared extinct in a study published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.
About:
  • The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) was an iconic species, measuring up to 7 m in length, dating back from 200 million years ago, and therefore swimming the rivers when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
  • Its ancestral home was the Yangtze River.
  • Recently, Chinese researchers declared it extinct based on the Red List criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN).
  • Between 1981 and 2003, there were just around 210 sightings of the fish.
  • The researchers estimate that it became functionally extinct by 1993, and extinct sometime between 2005-2010.
Other types of Extinct:
  • The Red List has several categories for extinction, or for how endangered a species is.
  • Extinct in the wild means a species survives only in a captive environment.
  • Locally Extinct means a species has ceased to exist in a particular area but may exist in other areas.
  • Functionally extinct means the species continues to exist but it has too few members to enable to reproduce meaningfully enough to ensure survival.
  • Globally extinct means a species has no surviving member anywhere. Such a conclusion is reached when there is no reasonable doubt left that its last member has Died.

5. Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)

Why in News?
  • Recently, the Union Minister for Home Affairs inaugurated the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
About I4C:
  • It aimsto deal with all types of cybercrimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.It is located in New Delhi.
  • It has launched Cybercrime Reporting Portal to enable citizens to report online content pertaining to Child Pornography (CP)/ Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) or sexually explicit content such as Rape/Gang Rape (CP/RGR).
  • The Central Government has taken steps to spread awareness on cybercrime, issue cyber related alerts/ advisories, capacity building/ training of law enforcement officers/ judges/ prosecutors, improving cyber forensics facilities etc. to prevent cybercrime and expedite investigations.
  • Police and Public order are State subject as per the Constitution of India. States are primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation of crimes through their law enforcement machinery.
  • The Law Enforcement Agencies take legal action as per provisions of the law against the reported cybercrimes.
  • It has seven components viz.,
  • National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit,
  • National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, National Cyber Crime Training Centre,
  • Cyber Crime Ecosystem Management Unit, National Cyber Crime Research and Innovation Centre,
  • National Cyber Crime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem and
  • Platform for Joint Cyber Crime Investigation Team.
  • At the initiative of Union Ministry for Home Affairs (MHA), 15 States and UTs have given their consent to set up Regional Cyber Crime Coordination Centres at respective States/UTs.

 6. State Energy Efficiency Index 2019

Why in News?
  • Recently, the Union Government has released the State Energy Efficiency Index 2019.
 About State Energy Efficiency Index 2019:
  • It is developed by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in association with Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE).
  • It tracks the progress of Energy Efficiency initiatives in 36 States and Union Territories based on 97 significant indicators.
  • It incorporates qualitative, quantitative and outcome that is based on indicators to assess energy efficiency initiatives, programs and outcomes in five distinct sectors such as buildings, industry, municipalities, transport, agriculture, and DISCOMs.
  • The New indicators for this year include adoption of Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) 2017, energy efficiency in MSME clusters, etc.
  • The top performing states are Haryana, Kerala and Karnataka which are in the ‘Achiever’ category. There isn’t any ‘front runner’ state.
  • The States/UTs are categorised as ‘Front Runner’, ‘Achiever’, ‘Contender’ and ‘Aspirant’ based on aggregated Total Primary Energy Supply (TPES) required to meet the state’s actual energy demand across sectors.
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