Current Affair 1:

Road Accidents in India-2022”

 

The Annual Report on ‘Road Accidents in India-2022” has been published by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. This report is based on the data/information received from police departments of States/UTs on calendar year basis in standardized formats as provided by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) under the Asia Pacific Road Accident Data (APRAD) base project.

The number of road accidents in 2022 increased by 11.9 percent compared to previous year 2021.

Amongst the States, Tamil Nadu with 64,105 accidents (13.9 %) recorded the highest number of road accidents in 2022 followed by Madhya Pradesh (54,432 i.e., 11.8%).

Uttar Pradesh (22,595 i.e., 13.4 %) topped the States in respect of the number of fatalities due to road accidents followed by Tamil Nadu (17,884 i.e., 10.6%).

 

 

                                                                              

Current Affair 2:

Meri Maati Mera Desh and Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat) platform

 

News:

Meri Maati Mera Desh campaign is a tribute to the Veers and Veeranganas who have made the supreme sacrifice for the country. In the spirit of Jan Bhagidari, the campaign comprises many activities and ceremonies conducted across the country at Panchayat/Village, Block, Urban Local Body, State and National levels.

The activities included building of Shilaphalakam (Memorial) to express heartfelt gratitude to all the brave hearts who have made the supreme sacrifice; ‘Panch Pran’ pledge taking by the people at Shilaphalakam; planting of saplings of indigenous species and developing ‘Amrit Vatika’ (Vasudha Vandhan) and felicitation ceremonies for honouring the freedom fighters and the families of deceased freedom fighters (Veeron ka Vandan), among others.

MY Bharat

Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat) is being established as an autonomous body to serve as a one stop whole-of-government platform for youth of the country. In line with the Prime Minister’s vision to provide equitable opportunities to every youth of the country, MY Bharat will leverage technology to provide an enabling mechanism across the entire spectrum of the Government so that they can realise their aspirations and contribute in building of ‘Viksit Bharat’.

The aim of MY Bharat is to inspire youth to become community change agents and nation builders, and enable them to act as the ‘Yuva Setu’ between the Government and the citizens. In this sense, ‘MY Bharat’ will provide a major boost to ‘Youth Led development’ in the country.

 

Current Affair 3:

Global Conference on Cooperation in Enforcement Matters (GCCEM)

 

Union Finance Minister inaugurates the first Global Conference on Cooperation in Enforcement Matters (GCCEM) in New Delhi.

News:

It was inaugurated with a resolve to reinforce the cooperation among the Customs administrations, International organisations and Law Enforcement Agencies in fight against cross border crimes.

It was hosted by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) under Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) in consultation with World Customs Organisation (WCO).

GCCEM addressed a broad spectrum of emerging risks, including narcotics trafficking, tobacco smuggling, wildlife trade, money laundering, and innovative methods employed in disrupting supply chains and exploiting e-commerce platforms.

About World Customs Organisation (WCO):

India became member in 1971.

Current Affair 4:

Carbon nanoflorets

 

News:

Now, a new material designed at the Indian Institute of Bombay (IIT Bombay) has made a breakthrough in the amount of heat that can be absorbed and stored.

Called nanostructured hard-carbon florets or NCF in short, the material has shown an unprecedented solar-thermal conversion efficiency of over 87%. It absorbs more than 97% of the ultraviolet, visible and infrared components of sunlight and converts this efficiently into thermal energy. The heat thus produced can be effectively transferred to either air or water for practical applications.

The study demonstrated that NCFs heat the air from room temperature to 60 degrees Celsius and can thereby provide smoke-free space-heating solutions. This is particularly relevant for heating spaces located in cold climatic conditions that receive abundant sunshine such as Leh and Ladakh.

The structure of the nanoparticles of NCF resembles marigolds in appearance, composed of interconnected tiny cones of carbon. The structure is unique in that it allows for both strong phonon activation when photons strike it and low phonon thermal conductivity.

Other application:

Apart from its remarkable efficiency in converting sunlight into heat, another advantage of NCFs lies in their processability. Using a technique called chemical vapour deposition, carbon is deposited onto a substrate of amorphous dendritic fibrous nanosilica (DFNS) to form the NCF.

The materials are readily available and the technique is easily scalable, making large-scale manufacturing commercially inexpensive. Once manufactured, NCFs can be spray-painted onto almost any surface, similar to powder coating a surface, reducing the cost of application and maintenance as well.

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