News In Short 02-1-2025

Red Sea 

Syllabus: GS 1/Places in news

In News

• Iran’s UN envoy rejected US and British accusations regarding Tehran’s role in escalating tensions in the Red Sea. 

 Red Sea

• The Red Sea is a semi-enclosed, inlet (or extension) of the Indian Ocean between the continents of Africa from Asia.

• It is connected to the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean to the south through the Gulf of Aden and the narrow strait of Bab el Mandeb.
• Bordering Countries: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti.
• The Red Sea contains some of the world’s hottest and saltiest seawater.
  • With its connection to the Mediterranean Sea via the Suez Canal, it is one of the most heavily travelled waterways in the world, carrying maritime traffic between Europe and Asia.

Do you know ? – The Houthi group, supported by Iran, has launched rocket and drone attacks on Israel and disrupted Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea since November 2023, in solidarity with Palestinians. – Response to Houthi Attacks: In retaliation, Israel and the US-British naval coalition have conducted strikes on Houthi targets to deter further attacks.

Source :TH

Binodini Mancha

Syllabus: Miscellaneous

Context

• West Bengal Chief Minister announced that Kolkata’s Star Theatre, a cultural institution of the city, would be renamed Binodini Mancha or Binodini theatre.

About Binodini

• Born in 1863 in a Kolkata suburb known for its red-light district, Binodini was among the first women in Bengal to join theatre professionally.
  • Despite societal challenges, she redefined the scope of female performance in Indian theatre. 
• When Star Theatre was being built, a promise was made to name it “B. Theatre” in her honor, but it was ultimately named Star Theatre.
  • The first show performed there was Dakshayajna, starring Binodini.
• Despite her success, she voluntarily withdrew from theatre in 1887, just four years after the theatre’s opening. 
• Her autobiography, Aamar Katha (1913), vividly narrates the challenges of caste, class, and patriarchy she faced.

Source: IE

Business Ready (B-READY) 2024 Report

Syllabus: GS3/ Economy

Context

• India is facing challenges in achieving good scores in the World Bank’s Business Ready report.

About

• The B-READY report, launched by the World Bank, benchmarks the business environment and investment climate across economies. 
• It evaluates regulatory frameworks, public services, and their effectiveness in facilitating business operations, replacing the previous Doing Business index.

Challenges in India

• Business Entry and Labour Regulations: Multiple steps in business entry and incomplete digital integration, leading to moderate scores.
  • Four labour codes introduced, but uneven state-level implementation results in slow progress and moderate to low scores.
• High logistics costs, customs delays, and inconsistent trade regulation enforcement hinder efficiency.
• Burdensome GST compliance, slow dispute resolution, and limited SME credit access add to challenges.

Strengths of India

• Strong performance expected in Quality of Regulations, Effectiveness of Public Services, and Operational Efficiency.
• Positive strides in digital and green technologies enhance India’s regulatory framework, though further improvement is needed.

Source: BS

Painless Needle-Free Shock Syringes  

Syllabus: GS3/ Science and Technology

Context

• Researchers at IIT Bombay develop a shockwave-based needle-free syringe that ensures painless and safe drug delivery with lesser damage to skin and lower risk of infection.  

About

• Unlike traditional syringes that use needles, this shock syringe does not rely on piercing the skin with a sharp tip. Instead, it utilizes high-energy pressure waves (shock waves) that travel faster than the speed of sound to penetrate the skin.
• These shock waves, when generated, compress the surrounding medium, such as air or liquid, through which they travel.
  • This effect is similar to the sonic boom created by an aircraft flying faster than the speed of sound, which generates shock waves that disturb the surrounding air.

Implications for Healthcare

• Needle-free insulin delivery significant relief to diabetic patients.
• Addresses vaccine hesitancy stemming from needle fear.

Key Facts on Administering Injections – Intramuscular: This injection is made to go deep into the muscle. The needle will be placed at a 90-degree angle (perpendicular) to the skin to allow for penetration into that tissue.  – Intravenous: The needles used for either injections or removal of blood should be placed where a vein is readily accessible. The needle should be inserted at an angle of 25 degrees to the skin. – Intradermal: This injection requires the needle to be placed just under the epidermis (outer layer of skin) and into the dermis (inner layer of skin).  – Subcutaneous: Needle to be placed underneath the two layers of skin (epidermis and dermis). The needle will be placed at an angle of 45 degrees to the skin surface.

Source: TH

Navy to commission 2 Frontline Warships and 1 Submarine

Syllabus: GS3/Defence

Context

• The Indian Navy is set to commission three frontline platforms into service at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. 

About

• Following are the new additions:
  • sixth and last Scorpene-class submarine Vagsheer, 
  • the fourth and last of the Project-15B stealth destroyers, Surat, 
  • and the lead ship of the Project-17A stealth frigates, Nilgiri.
• All three platforms had been manufactured at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), Mumbai.
• Nilgiri: It is the lead ship of Project-17A, is a major advancement over the Shivalik-class frigates, incorporating significant stealth features. 
• Project 15 B: 
  • These are the next-generation stealth guided-missile destroyers which are follow-on classes of the weapon intensive P15A (Kolkata Class) Destroyers.
  • The four ships of the Project are christened after major cities from all four corners of the country, viz. Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal and Surat.

Project-75

• Project 75 includes the indigenous construction of six diesel electric attack submarines of Scorpene class.
• The submarines are being constructed by the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai in collaboration with the Naval Group of France.
• Under the project INS Kalvari, INS Khanderi, INS Karanj and INS Vela were commissioned between 2017 and 2021.
• The fifth submarine, INS Vagir, was commissioned recently.  
• The sixth submarine Vagsheer is the last from the project.

Source: TH