Current Affair 1:

Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD)

 

News:

India has been elected president of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) General Conference (GC) for the third successive term.

About:

The Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) was established in August 1977 under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

It is a unique regional inter-governmental organisation servicing countries of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) in the field of electronic media development.

It is hosted by the Government of Malaysia and the secretariat is located in Kuala Lumpur.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) are the founding organisations of the Institute and they are non-voting members of the General Conference.

Full membership of the AIBD is confined to sovereign states and they are invited to designate the broadcasting authority of the country to be the beneficiary. The AIBD currently has 26 Full Members (countries).

India is a member:

The Institute seeks to “fulfill this mandate by mobilizing the intellectual and technological resources available within the national broadcasting organizations of its member countries as well as regional and international bodies through a well-established infrastructure and networking mechanism which includes government agencies, non-governmental organizations” etc,

Current Affair 2:

‘Exclusome’

 

News:

Researchers recently identified a previously unknown compartment in mammalian cells. They have named it the exclusome. It is made up of DNA rings known as plasmids. The researchers have published details of their discovery in the journal Molecular Biology of the Cell.

All animals, plants and fungi are eukaryotic, meaning their cells house their DNA within a special compartment called the nucleus. But some of the cell's DNA exists outside this structure, in the fluid-filled body of the cell called the cytoplasm. In addition, foreign genetic material from viruses and bacteria can get injected into the cytoplasm.

Scientists don't fully understand how these free-floating bits of genetic material are kept away from the nucleus, or why they quickly degrade if the blueprints in that material aren't used to make proteins.

But in a recent study, researchers identified a unique structure that could help explain how cells might keep this DNA away from the nucleus.

The never-before-seen structure, which the researchers dubbed an "exclusome," encloses this DNA.

This is peculiar because eukaryotic cells (cells with nuclei) usually keep most of their DNA in the cell nucleus, where it is organized into chromosomes.

Instead, in the exclusome, it is organized into plasmids -small, circular DNA strands that can replicate independently of chromosomes and are usually found in bacteria and other microscopic organisms

Current Affair 3:

A seamount in Andaman Sea

 

Two Indian scientists from the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and their team have made a significant discovery by identifying an active submarine volcano known as Crater Seamount in the Andaman Sea.

Seamounts are underwater volcanoes found in every ocean. They can form in different ways, but most are remnants of extinct volcanoes. Seamounts are generally found at mid-tectonic plate regions, called hotspots, and near the boundaries of tectonic plates.

 

This undersea volcano has been at the center of a seismic zone since its initial observation in 2007, and it poses the risk of eruption, potentially leading to earthquakes and even tsunamis in the Java-Sumatra region. The exact timing of such an eruption remains uncertain.

This discovery is of significant importance as it highlights the potential geological hazards posed by such undersea volcanoes, and it underscores the need for ongoing research and monitoring in the region.

How Seamounts are formed?

Current Affair 4:

Staghorn Coral

 

A genome-wide survey of highly endangered staghorn coral in the Caribbean has identified 10 genomic regions associated with resilience against white band disease.

White band disease is a bacterial disease that affects corals and is distinguishable by the white band of exposed coral skeleton that it forms. The disease completely destroys the coral tissue.

 

 

Staghorn coral is an important Caribbean coral, found largely in the Caribbean, as well as in the Bahamas and parts of Florida.

What's the main reason for the reduced staghorn coral population?

Although staghorn coral is one of the fastest-growing coral species, able to grow up to 8 inches per year, it is classified as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Unfortunately, 97 percent of the staghorn coral population disappeared due to white band disease, per NOAA Fisheries. Disease may impact staghorn coral by killing the adult coral, reducing reproductive success rates, and hindering colony growth.

Current Affair 5:

Recent GI Tags

 

Yak churpi

In a significant milestone for the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, the unique and culturally significant yak milk product, ‘Yak Churpi,’ has been granted the coveted Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

Basohli Pashmina

Recently, Basohli Pashmina, a more than 100-year-old traditional craft from Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, has got the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.

It is obtained from a breed of mountain goats (Capra hircus) found on the Changthang Plateau in Tibet and parts of Ladakh.

A traditional producer of pashmina wool in the Ladakh region are a people known as the Changpa (nomadic people inhabit the Changthang plateau of Tibet).

 

<< Previous Next >>