18th March, 2024 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
Indian Navy To Bring Apprehended Pirates To India After Long Arabian Sea Operation

Following a 40-hour-long operation in the Arabian Sea, the Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata is set to bring 35 apprehended pirates to India.
The Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata has taken 35 sea pirates into custody and is being brought to India along with the 17 crew members rescued after the major operation.
During the operation, the Indian Navy forced the pirates to surrender and rescued 17 crew members from the distressed merchant vessel MV Ruen. The merchant vessel is also being brought to India. The seaworthiness of MV Ruen was assessed.
The vessel is carrying approximately 37800tonnes of cargo estimated to be worth around one million dollars. On Saturday, INS Kolkata, mission-deployed in the Arabian Sea, thwarted the designs of the Somali pirates to hijack ships transiting through the region by intercepting the pirate ship.

EC Announces Para Archer & Arjuna Awardee Sheetal Devi As National PwD Icon

Election Commission has announced Para Archer and Arjuna Awardee, Sheetal Devi as its National PwD Icon. Her name was announced at an Exhibition Cricket Match between the Indian Deaf Cricket Association Team and the Delhi and District Cricket Association team held.
The match was organized by the Election Commission in association with the Board of Control for Cricket in India to foster voter education and inclusivity.
The event was graced by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
The Commission launched a dedicated Voter’s Guide for PwDs and Senior Citizen Electors. The comprehensive booklet outlines essential provisions available to PwDs and senior citizens, including infrastructural, informative, and procedural details at polling stations.

Also Read: March 18th Current Affairs: Top 10 GK Questions with Answers

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INTERNATIONAL
India, Maldives Hold 3rd Core Group Meeting In Male

Third meeting of the India-Maldives High-Level Core Group was held in Male , where the two sides reviewed the ongoing deputation of Indian technical personnel to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian services to people of Maldives.
During the meeting, both sides continued their discussions on wide-ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation.
The discussions focused on efforts to boost bilateral trade and investment and enhance people-to-people linkages between India and Maldives.
Notably, the first batch of Indian personnel in the Maldives has been replaced by technical personnel. It was agreed to hold the next meeting of the High-Level Core Group in New Delhi on a mutually convenient date.

Vladimir Putin Wins Russian Presidential Elections For Record Fifth Term

Russian President Vladimir Putin has clinched a historic fifth term, securing a landslide victory in the presidential polls. Mr. Putin hailed his preordained electoral victory as a sign of the country’s trust and hope in him.

He claimed another six-year term by getting 87 per cent of the vote with 80 per cent of the precincts counted. Election officials said, other candidates languished below 5 per cent.
Communist candidate Nikolai Kharitonov finished second and newcomer Vladislav Davankov third. This victory has solidified Mr. Putin’s position as Russia’s longest-serving leader, surpassing Josef Stalin.

European Union Announces USD 8 Billion Package Of Aid For Egypt

The European Union announced a 8-billion dollar aid package for cash-strapped Egypt as concerns mount that economic pressure and conflicts in neighboring countries could drive more migrants to European shores.
The deal, was signed yesterday in Cairo by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The ceremony was attended by leaders of Belgium, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Greece.
The aid package includes both grants and loans over the next three years for the Arab world’s most populous country. According to the EU’s mission in Cairo, most of the funds 5.4 billion dollars are macro-financial assistance.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose country played a major role in achieving the deal, lauded it as “historic.”
The deal comes amid growing concerns that Israel’s looming ground offensive on Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah could force hundreds of thousands of people to break into Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt says there are nine million migrants in the country, including about 4,80,000, who are registered refugees and asylum-seekers with the UN refugee agency.

Vaughan Gething Wins Welsh Labour Leadership Election

Vaughan Gething beat Jeremy Miles to narrowly win the Welsh Labour leadership election. His election makes him the new first minister of Wales and the first-ever Black leader of a European country.
Gething’s election as the next leader of Wales also marks a milestone as for the first time, none of the UK’s four main governments is led by a white man.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has Indian heritage and is Britain’s first Hindu leader. Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf – who, like Gething, heads a semi-autonomous government — comes from a Pakistani Muslim family. Northern Ireland’s regional administration is jointly led by two women, Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly.
Fifty-year old Gething is the son of a Welsh father and a Zambian mother. He will appoint a cabinet this week. Before 2002, the country had never had a non-white Cabinet minister.
Sunak likes to point out that his Cabinet is one of the most diverse in British history. It includes Home Secretary James Cleverly and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who are Black, and Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, whose parents immigrated from India.

Niger Suspends Military Agreement With US

Niger has suspended its military agreement with the United States “with immediate effect”. The decision, announced on Saturday, came after senior US officials – led by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee and US Africa Command head General Michael Langley – visited the West African country earlier this week to discuss democratic transition.
Niger is the centre of US operations in west and North Africa, notably at its Air Base 201, the most expensive construction project ever undertaken by the US government.
Washington officially designated the military takeover as a coup. But in December, the top US envoy for Africa, Phee, said the US was willing to restore aid and security ties if Niger met certain conditions.
The suspension follows an earlier move that has seen thousands of French soldiers exit the West African nation.

ECONOMY
SEBI Approves Launch Of Beta Version Of T+0 Settlement On Optional Basis

Capital markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved the launch of the beta version of the T+0 settlement on an optional basis from March 28. T+0 settlement means that the funds and securities for a transaction will be settled on the day the trade was entered into.
According to an official release issued by the SEBI, the Board approved the launch of a Beta version of optional T+0 settlement, for a limited set of 25 scrips, and with a limited set of brokers.
SEBI has said it shall continue to do further stakeholder consultation, including with the users of the Beta version. The SEBI has further said that the market regulator will review the progress at the end of three months and six months from the date of this implementation, and decide on further course of action. SEBI also approved various relaxations for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) aimed at improving ease of doing business.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
A new watchdog satellite will sniff out methane emissions from space

The global crackdown on methane emissions will get a boost from a watchdog satellite built to track and publicly reveal the biggest methane polluters in the oil and gas industry. The satellite launched March 4 on a SpaceX rocket and will begin transmitting data later this year.
The satellite, designed by scientists from the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Harvard University, will monitor areas that supply 80 percent of the world’s natural gas. Unlike other methane-tracking satellites, it will cover a vast territory while also gathering data detailed enough to spot the sources of emissions.
Methane, a potent greenhouse gas released from farms, landfills and leaky fossil fuel equipment, accounts for nearly a third of global warming. Cutting methane emissions is one of the fastest ways to slow climate change, according to climate scientists, because even though it traps 80 times as much heat in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, it dissipates after about 12 years.
Most of the world’s oil and gas companies agreed to slash their methane emissions by more than 80 percent by 2030 at last year’s COP28 climate conference, and policymakers are working to hold them to that promise. U.S. regulators proposed steep fines on methane emissions in January and struck a deal with regulators in Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia last year to monitor fossil fuel companies’ methane emissions.

ENVIRONMENT
The race to map the world’s seagrass — before it disappears

Seagrasses — which range from stubby sprout-like vegetation to elongated plants with flat, ribbon-like leaves — are one of the world’s most productive underwater ecosystems. The meadows are vital habitats for a variety of aquatic wildlife. Sometimes described as “the lungs of the sea,” the grasses produce large amounts of oxygen essential for fish in shallow coastal waters.
But, long overlooked, these critical ecosystems are vanishing. In fact, researchers don’t know exactly how many exist or have been lost. One recent study estimated that since 1880, about 19 percent of the world’s surveyed seagrass meadows have disappeared — an area larger than Rhode Island — partly as a result of development and fishing.
But locating grasses in the world’s vast oceans is a formidable task. While some researchers are using drones and satellite imaging, in countries such as Sierra Leone, where resources are scarce, the search is painstaking and tedious.
Seagrasses have been discovered in the waters off more than 150 countries on six continents. The meadows are estimated to cover more than 300,000 square kilometers, an area the size of Germany. Along with mangroves, kelp forests and coral reefs, these grasses play a vital role in maintaining healthy oceans.
Critters, such as sea horses, crabs and shrimp, along with juvenile fish — some of which are critical species for fishing — often lurk within the thick meadows, seeking refuge beneath the underwater canopy. Other creatures, including sponges, clams and sea anemones, can be found nestled between the blades of grass or in the murky sediment at the base of the plants. And much as mosses coat trees, many species of algae grow directly on the leaves.
Seagrass beds can in turn attract larger animals, including turtles and manatees, that stop by to munch on the leaves and stems.

Published date : 19 Mar 2024 01:30PM