11th May, 2023 Current Affairs

Sakshi Education

NATIONAL
Harit Sagar Guidelines 2023 issued

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) has introduced the ‘Harit Sagar’ Green Port Guidelines 2023 to foster sustainable development in India’s port industry. Launched by Union Minister Shri SarbanandaSonowal, these guidelines aim to revolutionize port development, operation, and maintenance while contributing to fulfilling Prime Minister Modi’s Panchamrit commitments.
The ‘Harit Sagar’ Guidelines prioritize ecosystem dynamics in all aspects of port development. By aligning with the ‘Working with Nature’ concept, these guidelines minimize the impact on harbor ecosystem components. The goal is to foster sustainable growth while preserving and enhancing the ecological balance within port areas.
The primary objective of the ‘Harit Sagar’ Guidelines is to minimize waste and attain zero waste discharge from port operations. By following the principles of Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, and Recycle, ports are encouraged to adopt practices that effectively manage waste and promote resource conservation. These guidelines pave the way for a circular economy approach within port operations, minimizing environmental harm and maximizing resource efficiency.

India to become global leader in automobile sector in next 5 yrs, asserts, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that India's auto sector will be first in the world in the next five years, leaving behind China and America. India has already surpassed Japan.
The government is focusing on implementing welfare schemes at the block levels to make India better.
The industry to find technical solutions to problems like water scarcity and pollution in cities. He also urged for investment in the tourism sector so that jobs can be created.

ICMR successfully conducts trial run of blood bag delivery under i-Drone initiative

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under the Union Health Ministry today successfully conducted a trial run of blood bag delivery by drones under its i-Drone initiative in New Delhi.
The inaugural trial flight carried ten units of blood samples from Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), Greater Noida and Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), New Delhi.
The trial run has been undertaken for the first time in the country by the collaborative efforts of ICMR, LHMC, GIMS and Jaypee Institute of Information Technology (JIIT), Noida.
The boost of technology is an accelerator which is gradually pushing India towards achieving the status of being a developed nation as envisioned by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He emphasized that 'i-DRONE' was first used during covid19 pandemic by ICMR for distributing vaccines to unreachable areas.

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INTERNATIONAL
Pakistani court indicts Imran Khan in Tosha Khana corruption case

A Pakistani court indicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the Tosha Khana corruption case, who was arrested by paramilitary Rangers a day earlier from the Islamabad high court premises.
In August last year, the coalition government ed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) filed a case against Mr. Khan, claiming that he didn’t disclose information on gifts presented to Tosha Khana and the proceeds from the illegal sale of some of the gifts.
The court also granted 8-day physical remand of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan to the National Accountability Bureau in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
Violent protests against Mr. Khan's arrest have intensified in several cities in Pakistan including Quetta, Karachi, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, and Lahore. At least two persons were killed and five others were injured in clashes between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, PTI protesters, and the military in Quetta. Similar violence also resulted in roughly 15 injuries in Karachi, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, and Lahore, and Islamabad. Imran Khan's supporters attacked and burned the official residence of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in Islamabad as well as that of a top regional commander in Lahore. Protesters also smashed the main gate of the Pakistan Army’s headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

Many countries have issued travel advisories for their citizens and diplomatic staff, citing political unrest in Pakistan. The US Embassy has announced a travel alert for its citizens in Pakistan. The Canadian government asked its citizens and diplomatic staff to exercise a high degree of caution in Pakistan due to the unpredictable security situation.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
LIGO-India: Expanding Horizons in Gravitational Wave Research

On the occasion of National Technology Day(11th May), Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of multiple scientific projects worth more than Rs 5800 crore.
One of the most significant projects is the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, the Prime Minister said, "LIGO-India will include us in one of the few countries to have such observatories in the world. It will give our students and scientists new and advanced opportunities."
The LIGO-India, to be developed in Hingoli, Maharashtra, will be one of the handful Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave observatories in the world. It is an extremely sensitive interferometer of 4 km arm length, the interferometers act as 'antennae' to detect gravitational waves. The LIGO-India will work in synchronization with two observatories operating in the United States; one in Hanford, Washington, and the other in Livingston, Louisiana. When LIGO-India is completed, it will join a global network of gravitational-wave observatories that includes Virgo in Italy and KAGRA in Japan.
What are Gravitational Waves: A gravitational wave is an invisible (yet incredibly fast) ripple in space. Gravitational waves travel at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). These waves squeeze and stretch anything in their path as they pass by.
Einstein predicted that something special happens when two bodies- such as planets or stars-orbit each other. He believed that this kind of movement could cause ripples in space. These ripples would spread out like the ripples in a pond when a stone is tossed in. Scientists call these ripples of space gravitational waves.

What causes gravitational waves?

The most powerful gravitational waves are created when objects move at very high speeds. Some examples of events that could cause a gravitational wave are: when a star explodes asymmetrically (called a supernova), when two big stars orbit each other, when two black holes orbit each other and merge.
But these types of objects that create gravitational waves are far away. And sometimes, these events only cause small, weak gravitational waves. The waves are then very weak by the time they reach Earth. This makes gravitational waves hard to detect.

How do we know that gravitational waves exist?

In 2015, scientists detected gravitational waves for the very first time. They used a very sensitive instrument called LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory). These first gravitational waves happened when two black holes crashed into one another. The collision happened 1.3 billion years ago. But, the ripples didn’t make it to Earth until 2015!
The first detection of gravitational waves was a very important event in science. Before this, just about everything we knew about the universe came from studying waves of light. Now we have a new way to learn about the universe—by studying waves of gravity.

Gravitational waves will help us learn many new things about our universe. We may also learn more about gravity itself!

How are gravitational waves detected?

When a gravitational wave passes by Earth, it squeezes and stretches space. LIGO can detect this squeezing and stretching. Each LIGO observatory has two “arms” that are each more than 2 miles (4 kilometers) long. A passing gravitational wave causes the length of the arms to change slightly. The observatory uses lasers, mirrors, and extremely sensitive instruments to detect these tiny changes.
LIGO - India and its role in Unlayering the cosmic mystery: The Government will spend about $320 million to build LIGO-India, with first observations expected by the end of the decade. When LIGO-India will be completed, it will join a global network of gravitational-wave observatories that includes Virgo in Italy and KAGRA in Japan.

SPORTS
ISSF World Cup: India’s Rhythm Sangwan wins bronze medal in Women’s 10 metre air pistol event in Baku

India’s Rhythm Sangwan has won the bronze medal in the women’s 10-metre air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup 2023 for rifle and pistol shooters in Baku, Azerbaijan.
She scored 219.1 in the final to finish third behind Anna 2016 Rio Olympic champion Anna Korakaki of Greece and 2004 Athens Olympics gold medallist Olena Kostevych of Ukraine.
It was Sangwan’s first individual senior medal at the shooting World Cup.

Published date : 11 May 2023 05:43PM