Current Affair 1:

SOUTH INDIA’S 1ST INDUSTRIAL CORRIDOR PROJECT

 

 

Why in news?

 

Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of South India’s 1st Industrial Corridor Project to be implemented at Tumakuru which is spread over 8500

Acre of land under the Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor.

 

What is National INDUSTRIAL CORRIDOR PROJECT  (NICP)?

 

NICP aims to promote world class manufacturing facilities and develop futuristic industrial cities in India. Broad objective is to provide plug and play infrastructural facilities for setting up large scale manufacturing units. Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor was the first corridor taken up for development in 2011.Subsequently, Amritsar- Kolkata, CBIC, Vizag-Chennai, East Coast etc. were added.

 

Recently ,Krishnapatnam (Andhra _ Pradesh), Tumakuru, and Ponneri (Tamil Nadu) has been identified as priority nodes under NICP’s Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC).

 

Important features of NICP

Land parcels are developed for immediate allotment to manufacturing units.

Statutory clearances including environment clearance are being taken beforehand.

National Industrial Corridor Development & Implementation Trust (NICDIT) for unified development.

 

 

 

Current Affair 2:

EARTH QUAKES

 

Why in news?

 

Three earthquakes measuring — 7.8, 7.6,and 6.0 — magnitude on the Richter scale have devastated Turkey and Syria, while impacting regions as far away as Cyprus, Lebanon,

Israel,and Egypt.

What is  an Earth Quake?

 

An earthquake in simple words is the shaking of the earth. It is a natural event. It is caused due to release of energy, which generates waves that travel in all directions.The vibrations called seismic waves are generated from earthquakes that travel through the Earth and are recorded on instruments called seismographs.

 

Why did it occurred in Turkey?

 

Region where earthquake has struck lies along a seismic fault line called Anatolia tectonic block that runs through northern, central, and eastern Turkey.Seismicity in this region is a result of interactions between African, Eurasian, and Arabian plates. Arabian plate is known to be pushing northward, which results in a slight westward movement for Anatolian plate, where turkey is located.

One of the largest strike-slip earthquakes to occur in recent times, it struck along East Anatolian Fault Zone.

Strike-slip faults are vertical (or nearly vertical) fractures where blocks have mostly moved horizontally.In these faults, two plates move parallel but in opposite direction from one another.

Turkey bridges continents of Europe (via. Eastern Thrace) and Asia (via.Anatolian Plateau); divided by Dardanelles, Sea of Marmara, and Bosporus Strait.

Current Affair 3:

VOICE DEEPFAKES

 

 

Why in news?

 

Recently several users of ElevenLabs (“speech synthesis” and “voice cloning” service provider) made voice deepfakes of celebrities like Emma Watson, Joe Rogan, and Ben Shapiro.

 

What are Voice deepfakes?

 

A voice deepfake is one that closely mimics a real person’s voice. People use Al and robust computing power to generate such voice clones.The voice can accurately replicate tonality, accents, cadence, and other unique characteristics of the target person.

 

Threats related to these deepfakes:

 

It can be used to defraud users, carry out cybercrime, or defame celebrities.Deepfake audios can make racist, abusive, and violent comments.It can damage the reputation and credibility.

Ways to detect: Multi Factor authentication and anti-fraud solutions, Programmes like Deeptrace etc.

 

Current Affair 4:

Ethanol blending

 

 

Why in news?

Recently PM ROLLS OUT E20 FUEL AT INDIA ENERGY WEEK (IEW) 2023.

 

 

What is Ethonal blending ?

 

An ethanol blend is a blended motor fuel containing ethyl alcohol that is at least 99% pure, derived from agricultural products, an blended exclusively with gasoline. Apart from sugarcane-based raw materials, ethanol production from surplus rice with Food Corporation of India and Maize is also allowed.

 

E20 fuel, a blend of 20% ethanol and 80% petrol, was launched 2 year ahead of target and will be rolled out across country in a phased manner.IEW, under Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, aims to showcase India's rising prowess as an energy transition powerhouse.

 

Government has been implementing Ethanol Blended Petrol Programme where in OMCs sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 10%. Target of achieving average 10% blending was achieved in June, 2022 and target of 20% ethanol blending was advanced to 2025 (from 2030).

 

IMPORTANCE

Less polluting fuel and offers equivalent efficiency at lower cost than petrol.Achieving energy security, lowering crude oil import bill and transitioning to a low carbon economy. Enable local enterprises and farmers to participate in energy economy.

 

Current Affair 5:

Wetlands

Why in news?

Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change launched the ‘Save Wetlands Campaign’.

 

What is the Campaign about?

 

Over the next one year, the campaign will include sensitizing people to the value of wetlands, increasing the coverage of wetland Mitras and building citizen partnerships for wetlands conservation.

 

What are wetlands?

 

lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic eco-systems where the water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is covered by shallow water. India has been a party to the Convention since 1982 and has so far declared 75 wetlands as Ramsar sites covering 23 states and Union Territories.

 

What are Ramsar sites?

A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,

which is also known as the ‘Convention on Wetlands’ — an intergovernmental environmental treaty established by UNESCO in 1971, and named after the city of Ramsar in Iran, where the convention was signed that year.

 

 

 

 

Ramsar sites of northern india

 

 

Ramsar sites of central india

 

 

 

Ramsar sites of southern most part of india

 

 

 

 

 

 

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