Facts in News

                              Facts in News

NASA’s Mars Odyssey

• The spacecraft was launched 20 years ago on 7th April 2001.
• Currently, it is the oldest spacecraft still working at the Red Planet.
• The orbiter takes its name from Arthur C. Clarke’s classic sci-fi novel “2001: A Space Odyssey”.
• It was sent to map the composition of the Martian surface, providing a window to the past so scientists could piece together how the planet evolved.
• The most complete global maps of Mars were made using Odyssey’s infrared camera, called the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS).
• It has helped locate water ice, assess landing sites, study the planet’s mysterious moons and served as a crucial communications link for other spacecraft, helping to pave the way not just for safer landings but also future astronauts.

                       (Image Courtesy: NASA)

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)

• It is Government of India’s flagship initiative to create and promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across the length and breadth of our country.
• Objectives
  • Develop new programmes and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of the economy.
  • Provide platforms and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders.
  • Create an umbrella structure to oversee the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem of the country.
• Two core functions
  • Innovation Promotion: To provide a platform where innovative ideas are generated.
  • Entrepreneurship Promotion: Through self-employment and talent utilization, innovators would be supported and mentored to become successful entrepreneurs.
• Significance: Contributory role in the advancement of India from a position of 81 in the Global Innovation Index in 2015 to a position of 48 in 2020.
• It was set up by the NITI Aayog in 2016.

International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC)

• It is a body under the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
• It is an advisory body without decision-making powers but helps in providing strategic direction to the IMF.
  • The IMFC advises and reports to the IMF Board of Governors on the supervision and management of the international monetary and financial system, including on responses to unfolding events that may disrupt the system.
• It also considers proposals by the Executive Board to amend the Articles of Agreement and advises on any other matters that may be referred to it by the Board of Governors.
• The IMFC meets twice a year, during the Spring and Annual Meetings.

Civil Defence Volunteers

• In Delhi, these are men and women who work under the command of the district magistrates.
  • The overall command lies with the divisional commissioner, to which the DMs report.
• These volunteers are governed by the Civil Defence Act, 1968 which has undergone multiple amendments, with the latest being in 2010 when disaster management was added as one of their roles.
  • According to the Civil Defence Act, 1968, civil defence is defined as any measure “not amounting to actual combat, that protects persons, property and places in India from hostile attack”.
  • The 2010 amendment expanded the definition by including disaster management as one of the responsibilities.

Roles and Responsibilities

• The basic role of the volunteers is to assist the local administration.
•  During the pandemic, the volunteers assumed the role of frontline workers by way of participating in screening hotspots and distributing food for the needy.
• In recent months, DCD volunteers have also been deployed to ensure social distancing in markets and other crowded places and also at vaccination sites.

B.1.617

• The double mutant variant has been scientifically named B.1.617, which contains E484Q and L452R mutations.
• As per reports, the variant is found to be common in India, So far, it has been detected among the positive cases in Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab.
• The researchers are also trying to decipher the role of this double mutant variant in the surging cases, especially considering it has been found to be more infectious.
• Genomic sequences had previously found these two mutations in separate variants, but this is the first time the two have merged together.
• Genomic analysis has revealed that both E484Q and L452R mutations can be a concern for increased infectivity.
• The B.1.617 has now been found in eight countries.
  • Approximately 70% of the cases are noted to be from India, while other countries that have this mutation include the United Kingdom (23%), Singapore (2%) and Australia (1%).