{"id":14744,"date":"2021-04-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/10-04-2021\/facts-in-news-122\/"},"modified":"2021-04-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-10T00:00:00","slug":"facts-in-news-122","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/10-04-2021\/facts-in-news-122","title":{"rendered":"Facts in News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Facts in News<\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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NASA’s Mars Odyssey<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • The spacecraft was launched 20 years ago on 7th April 2001<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • Currently, it is the oldest spacecraft still working at the Red Planet<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • The orbiter takes its name from Arthur C. Clarke<\/strong>\u2019s classic sci-fi novel \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey<\/strong>\u201d.<\/li>\n
  • It was sent to map the composition of the Martian surface<\/strong>, providing a window to the past so scientists could piece together how the planet evolved.<\/li>\n
  • The most complete global maps of Mars were made using Odyssey’s infrared camera<\/strong>, called the Thermal Emission Imaging System<\/strong> (THEMIS).<\/li>\n
  • It has helped locate water ice, assess landing sites, study the planet\u2019s mysterious moons and served as a crucial communications link for other spacecraft, helping to pave the way not just for safer landings but also future astronauts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    <\/p>\n

    \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0(Image Courtesy: NASA<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • It is Government of India\u2019s flagship initiative to create and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship <\/strong>across the length and breadth of our country.<\/li>\n
  • Objectives<\/strong>\n
      \n
    • Develop new programmes and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy.<\/li>\n
    • Provide platforms and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders.<\/li>\n
    • Create an umbrella structure to oversee the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of the country.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Two core functions<\/strong>\n
        \n
      • Innovation Promotion: <\/strong>To provide a platform where innovative ideas are generated.<\/li>\n
      • Entrepreneurship Promotion: <\/strong>Through self-employment and talent utilization, innovators would be supported and mentored to become successful entrepreneurs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • Significance:<\/strong> Contributory role in the advancement of India<\/strong> from a position of 81 in the Global Innovation Index <\/strong>in 2015 to a position of 48 in 2020.<\/li>\n
      • It was set up by the NITI Aayog in 2016<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC)<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • It is a body under the International Monetary Fund (IMF).<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • It is an advisory body without decision-making powers<\/strong> but helps in providing strategic direction<\/strong> to the IMF.\n
      \n
    • The IMFC advises and reports<\/strong> to the IMF Board of Governors<\/strong> on the supervision<\/strong> and management <\/strong>of the international monetary and financial system,<\/strong> including on responses to unfolding events that may disrupt the system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • It also considers proposals by the Executive Board <\/strong>to amend the Articles of Agreement <\/strong>and advises on any other matters that may be referred to it by the Board of Governors.<\/li>\n
    • The IMFC meets twice a year,<\/strong> during the Spring and Annual Meetings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Civil Defence Volunteers<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • In Delhi<\/strong>, these are men and women<\/strong> who work under the command of the district magistrates. <\/strong>\n
      \n
    • The overall command lies<\/strong> with the divisional commissioner<\/strong>, to which the DMs report.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • These volunteers are governed by the Civil Defence Act, 1968<\/strong> which has undergone multiple amendments,<\/strong> with the latest being in 2010 when disaster management<\/strong> was added as one of their roles.<\/strong>\n
        \n
      • According to the Civil Defence Act, 1968, <\/strong>civil defence is defined as any measure \u201cnot amounting to actual combat<\/strong>, that protects persons, property <\/strong>and places <\/strong>in India from hostile attack\u201d. <\/strong><\/li>\n
      • The 2010 amendment expanded the definition by including disaster management <\/strong>as one of the responsibilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Roles and Responsibilities <\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        • The basic role of the volunteers<\/strong> is to assist the local administration<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        • \u00a0During the pandemic, the volunteers assumed the role of frontline workers<\/strong> by way of participating<\/strong> in screening hotspots<\/strong> and distributing food for the needy. <\/strong><\/li>\n
        • In recent months, DCD volunteers have also been deployed to ensure social distancing<\/strong> in markets and other crowded places <\/strong>and also at vaccination sites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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B.1.617<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • The double mutant variant has been scientifically named B.1.617<\/strong>, which contains E484Q and L452R mutations.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • As per reports, the variant is found to be common in India, So far, it has been detected among the positive cases in Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • The researchers are also trying to decipher the role of this double mutant<\/strong> variant in the surging cases, especially considering it has been found to be more infectious<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • Genomic sequences had previously found these two mutations in separate variants, but this is the first time the two have merged together.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Genomic analysis has revealed that both E484Q and L452R<\/strong> mutations can be a concern for increased infectivity.<\/li>\n
  • The B.1.617 has now been found in eight countries.\n
      \n
    • Approximately 70% of the cases are noted to be from India, while other countries that have this mutation include the United Kingdom (23%), Singapore (2%) and Australia (1%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

      \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Facts in News NASA’s Mars Odyssey The spacecraft was launched 20 years ago on 7th April 2001. Currently, it is the oldest spacecraft still working at the Red Planet. The orbiter takes its name from Arthur C. Clarke\u2019s classic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[30,26,25,42],"class_list":["post-14744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-gs-2","tag-gs-3","tag-gs1","tag-literature"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/4465143current-affairs (2).jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}