News in Shorts: 12 August 2024

Tungabhadra Dam

About Tungabhadra Dam:

• Location: The Tungabhadra Dam also known as Pampa Sagar is constructed across the Tungabhadra River, a tributary of the Krishna River. 
  • The dam is in Munirabad, Koppal district of Karnataka.
• Significance: It is a multipurpose dam serving irrigation, electricity generation, flood control, etc
• Capacity: The Tungabhadra dam, which was inaugurated in 1953, has a maximum storage capacity of 133TMCFT (thousand million cubic feet). 

About Tungabhadra River:

• It is a significant tributary of the Krishna River.
• The name comes from the confluence of two rivers, Tunga and Bhadra
• The Tunga and Bhadra Rivers originated on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. 
• The two rivers merge at Koodli which flows down in Karnataka’s Shimoga district, giving birth to the Tungabhadra River.
• Major tributaries: Bhadra, the Haridra, the Vedavati, the Tunga, the Varda and the Kumdavathi.
• Significance: The river basin is home to several crops, including rice, cotton, sugarcane, and oilseeds. 
  • The waters also have several fish species in it benefitting the fishing industry. 
  • In addition to this, the Tungabhadra River basin is rich in mineral resources such as iron ore, manganese, and bauxite.

Lake Turkana

About Lake Turkana:

• Location: Lake Turkana, located in northwestern Kenya and south-western Ethiopia, 
• It is Africa’s fourth largest lake and the world’s largest permanent desert lake. 
• It is designated as the UNESCO World Heritage site and is renowned for its unique biodiversity and cultural significance.
• It is lying in a hot, arid, and remote region, and provides resources for communities on the lakeshore and surrounding areas.
• Turkana Region: The estimated population of the Turkana region is approximately 1 million people, whose livelihoods are based on pastoralism, fishing, and, to a lesser extent, crop farming.
• Catchment: The catchment of Lake Turkana covers an arid region and is fed by Turkwel and Kerio Rivers from the South–West, and the Omo River from the North.
  • Omo River: The lake lies in a closed basin and its limnology, ecology, and fisheries are driven by seasonal cycles of flooding from the Omo River, which provides more than 90% of the lake’s inflow
• Hindrances: Semi-saline waters, driven by high evaporation rates and fluctuating lake levels of up to 8 meters per decade, have historically hindered sustainable development initiatives.

India’s First Round-the-clock Grain ATM 

About Grain ATM:

• AIM: To enhance nutritional security in the state by providing 24×7 access to rice and wheat.
• The ATM is designed to address issues in the distribution of food grains through the Public Distribution System (PDS).
  • Waiting Time: It can dispense grain up to 50 kilograms in five minutes 24 hours a day, reducing waiting time by 70 percent
  • Less Space: The modular design allows easy assembly based on available space. 
  • Energy Efficient: Annapurti is energy efficient, and can be connected to solar panels for automatic refilling.
• Odisha has become the first state in India to provide access to the public distribution system beneficiaries 24 hours a day
• Significance: This collaboration between the Odisha government and the World Food Programme marks a significant step towards achieving nutritional security and improving the efficiency of food grain distribution in the state
• Process to withdraw grains from the ATM: Beneficiaries need to input their Aadhar or Ration card number and undergo biometric authentication.
  • Once authenticated, the machine dispenses the entitled grain within five minutes.

Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN Yojana

About Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN (Jaiv Indhan- Vatavaran Anukool fasal awashesh Nivaran) Yojana:

• It was notified in March 2019. 
• Aims: To provide financial support to integrated bio-ethanol projects for setting up Second Generation (2G) ethanol projects by using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable feedstocks.
  • To provide remunerative income to farmers for their agriculture residue, address environmental pollution, create local employment opportunities, and contribute to India’s energy security and self-reliance. 
  • It also helps in achieving India’s ambitious target for net-zero GHG emissions by 2070.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas

Modified scheme: 

• Timeline: It extends timeline for implementation of scheme by Five year i.e. till 2028-29 
• Inclusions: It includes advanced biofuels produced from lignocellulosic feedstocks (agricultural and forestry residues, industrial waste, synthesis (syn) gas, algae etc.) in its scope.  
• “Bolt on” plants & “Brownfield projects” would also now be eligible to leverage their experience and improve their viability.
• Preferences: To promote multiple technologies and multiple feedstocks, preference would now be given to project proposals with new technologies and innovations in the sector.

Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme:

• Launched in January, 2003. 
• The programme sought to promote the use of alternative and environment friendly fuels and to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.
• Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies are on course to achieve the 20% blending target by the end of ESY 2025-26

Index Fund

About Index Fund:

• An index fund is a type of passively-managed mutual fund that tracks and tries to replicate the performance of a market index such as the NIFTY 50, NIFTY Next 50, Sensex, etc. 
• To replicate the performance of its chosen index, Index Funds hold the shares that comprise the chosen index in the exact same proportion as the index being replicated.
• Index funds: They are pooled investments that passively aim to replicate the returns of market indexes.
  • Active Investing: One will invest their money in a scheme and then a fund manager will take tactical calls including which stocks to buy or sell and at what price to build a portfolio of securities. This will involve multiple buy and sell transactions, so it is called active investing.
  • Passive Investing: Fund Manager will build a portfolio of stocks and maintain individual stock allocations in the same proportion as the index being replicated. Instead of picking and choosing which stocks to invest in, the fund manager will only replicate the portfolio of the chosen index.
• Data analysed by Motilal Oswal shows assets under management of Passive Funds has grown 38x over the last eight years, from Rs 20,000 crore in 2015 to Rs 7.6 lakh crore today.

About Exchange traded funds (ETFs):

• ETFs combine features of mutual funds and stocks, allowing investors to gain exposure to a basket of assets while providing the flexibility to be traded on stock exchanges like individual stocks.
• Traded Like Stocks: ETFs are bought and sold on stock exchanges throughout the trading day at market prices that fluctuate based on supply and demand.
• Real-Time Pricing: The price of an ETF changes throughout the day as the underlying assets’ values fluctuate.

Digital Watermarking of AI

About Decoding AI watermarking

• OpenAI’s new tool will be able to detect AI-generated content using  ‘anti-cheating’ technology. 
• Significance: This could help to avoid the misuse of AI for various purposes. 
• About: AI watermarking can be defined as the process of embedding a ‘recognisable, unique signal into the output of an artificial intelligence model.
  • This could include text or an image, or any form of AI generated content. 
  • This signal which is known as a watermark, can then be detected by algorithms designed to scan it.

Perseid Meteor Shower 

About the Perseid Meteor Shower: 

• Comet of Origin: 109P/Swift-Tuttle
• Radiant: Constellation Perseus
• Active: July 14 to Sept. 1, 2023 (Peak Aug. 13)
• Peak Activity Meteor Count: Up to 100 meteors per hour
• Meteor Velocity: 37 miles (59 km) per second
• About: The Perseid meteor shower, which peaks in mid-August, is considered the best meteor shower of the year. 
• With swift and bright meteors, Perseids frequently leave long “wakes” of light and colour behind them as they streak through Earth’s atmosphere. 
• They occur with warm summer night time weather allowing sky watchers to comfortably view them.
• Perseids are also known for their fireballs. 
  • Fireballs: They are larger explosions of light and color that can persist longer than an average meteor streak. 
  • This is due to the fact that fireballs originate from larger particles of cometary material. 

World Elephant Day 2024

World Elephant Day 2024: 

• Theme: The official theme for the World Elephant Day 2024 Day is “Personifying prehistoric beauty, theological relevance, and environmental importance.” 
  • It highlights the urgent need to conserve natural habitats to secure the future of the elephants. 
• History: Patricia Sims of Canada and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand – a project of HM Queen Sirikit of Thailand – joined forces to establish World Elephant Day on August 12, 2012. Since then, Patricia has been in charge of World Elephant Day.
• Significance of Elephants
  • Elephants consume huge amounts of grass daily dispersing seeds wherever they go as they are significant grazers and browsers. 
  • Indian elephants may spend up to 19 hours a day feeding and they can produce about 220 pounds of dung per day while wandering over an area that can cover up to 125 square miles. This helps to disperse germinating seeds.
  • Elephants cut trees and leave openings in them so that sunlight may reach newly planted seedlings. It promotes the growth and the natural regeneration of forests.
  • IUCN Status: The IUCN recognize two species: 
    • Loxodonta africana (African savanna elephant) listed as Endangered 
    • Loxodonta cyclotis (African forest elephant) listed as Critically Endangered 
• Facts about Elephant
• • Led by a matriarch, elephants are organised into complex social structures of females and calves, while male elephants tend to live in isolation or in small bachelor groups. 
  • Gestation period: A single calf is born to a female once every four to five years and after a gestation period of 22 months—the longest of any mammal. 

Parvat Prahaar

About ‘Parvat Prahaar’:

• Location: The ‘Parvat Prahaar’ military exercise is a significant strategic initiative conducted by the Indian Army in the high-altitude regions of Ladakh. 
• Objective: This exercise is focused on enhancing the Army’s preparedness and operational capabilities in mountainous terrains near the India-China border.
  • Mountain Strike Corps of the Northern Command, which is responsible for operations in this sensitive region along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), is involved in the exercise
• Background of ‘Parvat Prahaar’ Military Exercise: Since the Galwan clash in 2020, India and China have been engaged in a prolonged military standoff. 
  • Despite numerous rounds of talks, significant progress has been limited. 
  • In response to these tensions, India has enhanced its military presence in the region
• WMCC Meeting: India and China have recently concluded a Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) meeting and soon expect the next round of corps commander-level talks to resolve the standoff along the LAC.
• Key Objectives of the ‘Parvat Prahaar’ Military Exercise”
• • High-Altitude Warfare: Training troops to effectively operate in high-altitude conditions.
  • Operational Readiness: Evaluating and enhancing the effectiveness of various military units and equipment in challenging terrains.
  • Simulating Combat Scenarios: Creating real-world combat situations to test and improve the capabilities of soldiers.