Facts in News

Facts in News

‘PM-DAKSH’ Portal

• The Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment launched an online ‘PM-DAKSH’ portal and a mobile application to make skill development schemes accessible to the target groups of Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and sanitation workers.
• Salient features: 
  • It will make available all information related to skill development at one place for Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and sanitation workers.
  • It has the facility to register with the training institute and for the programme of one’s interest.

• Aims and Objectives:

• To make the skill development schemes accessible to the target groups.

Pradhan Mantri Dakshta Aur Kushalta Sampann Hitgrahi (PM-DAKSH) Yojana

• Implemented by: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment from the year 2020-21.  
• Under this Yojana, the eligible target group are being provided skill development training programmes on
  • Up-skilling/Reskilling
  • Short Term Training Programme
  • Long Term Training Programme 
  • Entrepreneurship Development Program (EDP).

• These training programs are being implemented through Government Training Institutes, Sector Skill Councils constituted by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and other credible institutions.

Need & Significance

• Most of the persons of the target group are having minimal economic assets, therefore, the provision of training and enhancing their competencies are essential for the economic empowerment/ upliftment of these marginalized target groups.

• Many of the persons of the target group belong to the category of rural artisans who have become marginalized owing to the coming of better technologies in the market.
• There is also a need to empower the women amongst the target group, who, due to their overall domestic compulsions, cannot be involved in wage employment. 

Absorption Spectroscopy

• Researchers from IIT Madras and IISER Kolkata developed a method to detect minute quantities of chemicals in solution.
  • Researchers used a variety of absorption spectroscopy that surpasses the systemic limits imposed by conventional absorption spectroscopy.

Absorption Spectroscopy

• It is a tool to detect the presence of elements in a medium. 
• Light is shone on the sample, and when it passes through the sample, it is examined using a spectroscope.
• Dark lines are seen in the observed spectrum of the light passed through the substance, which corresponds to the wavelengths of light absorbed by the intervening substance and is characteristic of the elements present in it.
• Methods use:  
  • In usual methods, about a cubic centimetre of the sample is needed to do this experiment. 
    • In this method, minute amounts of dissolved substances can be detected easily.

• The method used by the researchers here, tiny, nano-sized particles that can absorb the light being shone on them and re-emit red, blue and green light were employed. 

• Usually, in absorption spectroscopy, the principle is used in that light because of its wavelike nature which shows diffraction patterns.
  • If one wants to perform absorption spectroscopy using visible light, namely, blue, green and red, the wavelengths [of these colours] are about 400 nm, 500 nm and 600 nm, respectively. 
  • The diffraction limit is typically half of that, about 200 nm for the blue light.

Applications 

• There are many potential applications:
  • The emission can be used as a tiny flash lamp to look for absorption from individual molecules in close proximity to the particle.
  • This is the way in which small molecules almost ten-millionth of an mm in diameter can be detected while these pass the emission region of the glass particle.
  • It is aimed to measure individual molecules, see absorption spectroscopy of a single DNA or protein molecule.
  • With this technique, Researchers can illuminate the insides of cells and detect minuscule quantities of substances present there.

Related concept 

• A related concept called the Abbe criterion sets a natural limit on the size of the object being studied.
• According to this criterion, the size of the observed object has to be at least of the order of the wavelength of the light being shone on it. 

                                    Image Courtesy: TH

Panakala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple 

• It is dedicated to Lord Narasimha (half man-half lion). It is situated at Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh. 
• It is one of the eight chief holy mahakshethram (holy temples) in the country and invites devotees from all over. 
• There is a stone inscription by Sri Krishnadeva Raya of Vijayanagar and the footprints of Mahaprabhu Chaitanya are to be seen. 
•  A particular attraction is an annual festival held during the months of August and September.

National Heart Failure Biobank

• The first National Heart Failure Biobank (NHFB) in the country was inaugurated at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST).

About

• The Biobank is open to study genetic, metabolomics and proteomic markers of health outcomes in heart-failure patients.
  • Biobanks are an important resource of collections of high-quality biological human samples that can be used to understand molecular pathways and to improve the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of heart failure.

Pensilungpa Glacier

• Pensilungpa Glacier is retreating due to an increase in the temperature and a decrease in precipitation during winters.
• Location: Zanskar, Ladakh.
• The Zanskar Range is a mountain range in the union territory of Ladakh that separates Zanskar from Ladakh.
• Geologically, the Zanskar Range is part of the Tethys Himalaya.
• The Marbal Pass and many other passes which connect Ladakh with Kashmir are in this area.
• 13000 feet high Zojila Pass is in the extreme northwest of the Zanskar range.

Image Courtesy: MapsofIndia

miSHERLOCK

• Engineers at MIT and Harvard University have designed a small tabletop device that can detect SARS-CoV-2 from a saliva sample in about an hour.
• It is as accurate as PCR tests

What is the new device based on?

• It is based on SHERLOCK, a CRISPR-based tool.
• The device can also be used to detect specific viral mutations linked to some of the variants now circulating.

Steps involved

• First, a pre-processing step disables enzymes called salivary nucleases, which destroy nucleic acids such as RNA. 
• Once the sample goes into the device, the nucleases are inactivated by heat and two chemical reagents. 
• Then, viral RNA is extracted and concentrated bypassing the saliva through a membrane.

CRISPR Technology

• It is basically a gene-editing technology that can be used for the purpose of altering genetic expression or changing the genome of an organism.
• The technology can be used for targeting specific stretches of an entire genetic code or editing the DNA at particular locations.
• CRISPR technology is a simple yet powerful tool for editing genomes. It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function.
• Its many potential applications include correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops. However, its promise also raises ethical concerns.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)

• The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) inducts the first two women officers on combat service.

About ITBP

• It is a Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) constituted under Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force Act, 1992
• The ITBP started recruiting women combat officers in its cadre from 2016 through an all-India examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Before this, it had combat women only in the constabulary ranks.
• The ITBP guards the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along the India-China border.