•The Supreme Court urged Centre to give Kerala a one-time package to tide over its current financial crisis as a “special case” before March 31, 2024. •A Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant said the Centre could make up for it in the next financial year by introducing stricter conditions for financial aid to the …
•The Committee on Digital Competition Law, formed by the Corporate Affairs Ministry in February 2023, released its report, recommending legislation to regulate the market power of Big Tech firms like Google and Meta. •The Competition Act of 2002 “intervenes after the occurrence of an anti-competitive conduct”, the committee said. •The recommendations would better equip Competition …
•A Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed at Jaisalmer during an operational training sortie. •This is the first crash of the indigenous jet since its maiden flight on January 4, 2001. •“The pilot ejected safely. A Court of Inquiry has been constituted to find out the cause of the …
•Portugal’s parliamentary election results saw far-right Chega, founded in 2019, emerge as the third largest party, with 17% votes. •Chega (meaning Enough) ran a campaign promising to “clean up Portugal”, clamp down on immigration and implement measures such as chemical castration for some sex offenders. •The Socialist government, led by Goan-origin Prime Minister António Costa, …
•China, Iran and Russia began a joint naval drill known as “Marine Security Belt 2024” in the Gulf of Oman, a crucial waterway. •China sent the guided-missile destroyer Urumqi and the guided-missile frigate Linyi to the exercise. •Russia’s forces are being led by the Varyag, a Slava-class cruiser. •The three nations’ drill — their fourth …
•Indian troops stationed in the Maldives have begun withdrawing from the island nation, its defence authorities said, in line with President Mohamed Muizzu’s ‘India out’ promise to his supporters. •Ministry of External Affairs said a technical team from India had reached the Maldives to replace the troops that were stationed to operate the India-gifted aircraft …
•Onions and garlic both contain derivatives of sulphur-containing amino acids. •When an onion is sliced, one of these compounds, S-1-propenyl-cysteine sulphoxide, is decomposed by an enzyme to form a volatile compound called propanethial-S-oxide. •This is the irritant, or lacrimator (the name for any substance that causes tears to flow). •When the compound comes in contact …
•Recently, India loaded its long-delayed Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) vessel, coming to the cusp of stage II — powered by uranium and plutonium — of its three-stage nuclear programme. •By stage III, India hopes to use its vast reserves of thorium. •But the large-scale use of nuclear power is accompanied by a difficult problem: …
•Reprocessing technologies separate fissile from non-fissile material in spent fuel. •The material is chemically treated to separate fissile material left behind from the non-fissile material. •Importantly, reprocessing also yields weapons-usable (different from weapons-grade) plutonium. •The IAEA has specified eight kilograms of plutonium in which plutonium-239 accounts for more than 95% to be the threshold for …
•Elon Musk said he would make his Grok chatbot, a rival to ChatGPT, open source as his feud with OpenAI deepens. •The multi-billionaire unveiled Grok late in 2023 as he attempts to catch up with OpenAI which he helped create in 2015 along with its CEO Sam Altman, providing key financing in its early days.
