TNPSC Current Affairs February 06, 2021

Topic: General Administration, Latest Diary of Events

Three New Fighter Jets

According to the Ministry of Defence, three new fighter jets will be flying by 2026, of which two will be for the Air Force and one for the Navy. This includes a new LCA (the Mk-2 version) and AMCA (Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft) for the Air Force and the TEDBF (Twin-Engine Deck-Based Fighter) for the Navy.

Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) had cleared a deal worth Rs. 48,000 crore for the acquisition of 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (Mk-1A and Mk-1 versions) for the Indian Air Force.

Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk-2:

It is a 4.5 generation aircraft which will be used by the Indian Air Force. It is a replacement for the Mirage 2000 class of aircraft. It has got a bigger engine and can carry 6.5 tonnes of payload. The technology is already developed in Light Combat Aircraft (LCA).

The Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme began in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21 fighters. Following the Mk-1A is the Mk-2 which will provide a high degree of manoeuverability.

Production:

The roll-out is planned for 2022 and first flight by 2023 and production of the Mk-2 version by 2026.

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Topic: International Events

Denmark to create world’s first energy island in the North Sea

Denmark has approved a plan to build the world’s first energy island in the North Sea.

About the Project:

The artificial island, in its initial phase, will be the size of 18 football fields. It will be linked to hundreds of offshore wind turbines and will supply both power to households and green hydrogen for use in shipping, aviation, industry and heavy transport.

The island will produce and store enough green energy to cover the electricity needs of three million European households.

Significance:

The move came as the European Union unveiled plans to transform its electricity system to rely smostly on renewable energy within a decade and increase its offshore wind energy capacity 25-fold by 2050.

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Topic: General Administration

300 felled trees will cost ₹2.2 billion in products, including oxygen

The Supreme Court recently took judicial notice of its expert committee report, which said the felling of 300 heritage trees to construct five Railway over-bridges in West Bengal will cost India a staggering ₹2,23,50,00,000 (₹2.2 billion).

How was this figure arrived at?

The 10-digit figure was arrived at by the committee after:

Calculating the products these trees would produce over 100 years of their natural lifetime. This included oxygen, micro-nutrients, compost and bio-fertiliser, besides the trees being valuable members of the natural environment. based on this, an individual tree parts with, free of cost, “products” worth ₹74,500 a year.

Suggestions made by the Court:

Frame a new protocol by which road and highway projects ought to be cleared only after checking the feasibility of other modes of transport like waterways and Railways.

In case a road project is inevitable, the value of each tree should be “built into the cost of the project.

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Topic: Profile of States

First Thunderstorm Research Testbed of India

India’s first thunderstorm research testbed will be established in Balasore, Odisha.

Objective of testbed:

The Thunderstorm Research Testbed is being established with the objective to minimalize the human fatalities and loss of property because of the lightning strikes.

Key facts:

This announcement was made by the Director-General of India Meteorological Department, Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra. He also announced that a Monsoon Testbed will also be set up near Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. The monsoon testbed would also be first-of-its-kind. Both of these projects are in the planning stage.

Thunderstorm testbed:

The Thunderstorm testbed will be established in a collaboration among the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and India Meteorological Department (IMD). All of these organisations have established their units in Balasore.

The observatories will be set up to cater to the adjoining areas. The testbed would be conducting the studies on thunderstorms. The testbed will comprise of several observational networks, radar, auto-station, a full-fledged observatory, a wind profiler and a microwave radiometer.

What is the need of testbed?

Many lives are lost in Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, and Jharkhand because of lightning strikes during the months of April to June every year. On an average, more than 350 people are killed in Odisha because of lightning strikes. As per a report, in the span of nine years (till 2020), 3218 people have died due to lightning. Thus, there is a need to set up the testbed to predict the thunderstorm and save life.

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Topic: Places in News

World’s Largest Radio Telescope- Square Kilometre Arrays

The Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) Council recently held its meeting. During the meeting, the council has approved the setting up of the world’s largest radio telescope.

About SKAO:

The Square Kilometre Array Observatory is a new intergovernmental organisation. It is dedicated to the radio astronomy. It is headquartered in the United Kingdom.

Currently, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory comprises of the organisations from the ten countries namely, Canada, China, Australia, India, New Zealand, Italy, Sweden, South Africa, United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

About Radio telescopes:

The Radio Telescopes can be used to detect the invisible gas and it has the potential to reveal areas of space that might have covered by the cosmic dust. It is different than the conventional optical telescopes in this regard.

The Square Kilometre Array is the largest radio telescope across the world. The telescope will be set up in Africa and Australia. The setting up of the telescope will take a decade to complete the operation, maintenance and construction of the telescope will be overseen by SKAO.

Background:

Astronomers uses the radio telescopes ever since the discovery of the radio signals in the 1930s. They used it to detect the radio waves emitting from different objects in the universe. However, the field of radio astronomy got evolved after the World War II.

Significance of the telescope:

The telescope will help the astronomers to know details regarding how the universe began to grow, how & when stars were born. It would also help in knowing the life-cycle of a galaxy. It will make exploring whether there is any technologically-active civilizations anywhere else in the galaxy easier for the astronomers. 

It would also help in understanding from where the gravitational waves come. Further, the As NASA highlighted that this telescope will boost the scientific goals by measuring the neutral hydrogen in the cosmic time. It would also help in accurately timing the signals from pulsars from the Milky Way. Lastly, it would help to detect many galaxies.

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Topic: Profile of States

Srivilliputhur–Megamalai – 5th Tiger Reserve in TNs

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has approved the creation of the fifth tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu.

Key facts:

The tiger reserve will surround the Meghamalai and the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuaries within it. The approval was given in the backdrop of the demand by the environmental activists.

The activists were demanding for the creation of a tiger reserve linking the two sanctuaries in the adjoining areas of Periyar Tiger Reserve in Kerala. They also demand to connect the tiger reserve with the Tirunelveli Wildlife Sanctuary and the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve.

The environmentalists seek to make a contiguous corridor for the tigers to move. The tiger reserve will spread to 1.48 lakh hectares of land comprising of the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary, Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary and Tirunelveli Wildlife Sanctuary.

Significance:

The establishment of the tiger reserve will help in the protection of the wildlife and it will also rejuvenation the Vaigai river by protecting the origins of the river in the tiger reserve.

Srivilliputhur Wildlife Sanctuary:

It is also known as the Grizzled Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary (GSWS). The sanctuary was established in the year 1988 with the objective of protecting the Near threatened grizzled giant squirrel. It is bordered by the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the southwest. The sanctuary is also called as one of the best-preserved forests lying south of the Palghat Gap.

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Topic: International Events, Places in News

Rare Mineral Found in Antarctica

A rare maritime mineral, Jarosite, has been found in the Antarctica ice. It was discovered after drilling deep into Antarctic ice. This supports the theory of presence of jarosite on MARS in a similar manner.  The minerals are able to form in thick deposits on mars. Because the planet is a lot dustier than Antarctica.

Jarosite:

Jarosite is a mineral from mars. It is scarcely seen on earth. It is a sulphate of potassium and iron. The mineral can be formed by both water and acidic conditions. It was first discovered on Mars in 2004 by a rover named “opportunity”. Other Jarosite minerals include silver, sodium, lead and ammonium. The mineral was described in 1852 by August Breithaupt for the first time.