ISRO awarded Leif Erikson Lunar Prize for exploring Moon with Chandrayana-3 (GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Why in news?
- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been awarded the prestigious Leif Erikson Lunar Prize by the Husavik Museum in recognition of the space agency's unwavering commitment and significant contributions to lunar exploration.
- The award celebrates ISRO's successful Chandrayaan-3 mission, which has played a pivotal role in enhancing our understanding of celestial mysteries.
Chandrayaan-3:
- Chandrayaan-3, India's latest lunar mission, marked a historic achievement as it successfully landed near the Moon's South Pole on August 23, 2023, making India the first country to accomplish this feat.
- The mission's success is attributed to several technological advancements, including software enhancements that improved navigation algorithms, guidance systems, and fault tolerance mechanisms. These upgrades were crucial in ensuring a seamless descent and landing on the lunar surface.
- The mission's lander, Vikram, equipped with the Chandra's Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE), provided valuable data on the lunar surface temperature, reaching a depth of 10 centimeters below the surface.
- Additionally, the Pragyan rover conducted in-situ experiments, further contributing to the wealth of knowledge about the Moon.
About Leif Erikson Lunar Prize:
- The Leif Erikson Award is an annual prize given by the Exploration Museum since 2015.
- It is named after Leif Erikson, a Norse explorer thought to be the first European to set foot on continental America, almost four centuries before the expedition of Christopher Columbus.
- It honors those who have made significant strides in the field of lunar exploration.
Govt plans face authentication for MGNREGS attendance
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Why in news?
- The Union government is planning to introduce face authentication to mark attendance of workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) from early 2024.
Details:
- The move comes almost a year after the Centre made digital capturing of attendance under MGNREGS universal, starting 1 January 2023.
- The Union Rural Development Ministry has asked all state governments and Union territories to test the new feature and prepare for its implementation.
- The face authentication or recognition feature has been included in the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS) app.
Facial recognition:
- Under the new feature, a worker’s face will be scanned and matched against their Aadhaar data with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for authentication.
- The worker’s face will subsequently be scanned for attendance whenever he/she reports to work.
- Facial recognition is currently being used by some state governments such as Telangana and Karnataka for disbursement of pension, and marking attendance of officials, issuing drivers’ licence etc.
- It is also a feature in DigiYatra, the biometric and contactless security clearance system rolled out at some airports.
Genuine beneficiaries:
- One of the biggest challenges in the implementation of the MGNREGS has been ensuring that the workers present at a job site are genuine beneficiaries.
- In 2022-23, 5.18 crore names of workers were deleted from MGNREGS, according to a response by the ministry to a Parliament question in July.
- The reasons for deletions included fake and duplicate job cards, apart from others such as beneficiaries shifting out.
Pilot project in Haryana:
- For the implementation of the new technology, states will have to train their field staff and MGNREGS mates, who are responsible for taking attendance, and also assist them in upgrading their mobile phones (mates use their own phones) in using this sophisticated technology.
- The pilot was tested in Haryana’s Fatehabad in October 2023, and the state government is using face authentication in the district’s Tohana block at present.
WHO terms Covid strain JN.1 variant of interest
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Why in news?
- The World Health Organisation has classified COVID-19 strain JN.1 as a separate "variant of interest" given its rapidly increasing spread but said that it poses a "low" global public health risk.
Details:
- The JN.1 variant was previously classified as a variant of interest (VOI) as part of the BA.2.86 sublineages, the parent lineage that is classified as a VOI.
- However, in recent weeks, JN.1 continues to be reported in multiple countries, and its prevalence has rapidly increased globally.
- India has also reported its first case of the JN.1 variant. It now represents the vast majority of BA.2.86 descendent lineages reported to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID.
‘Variant of Interest’:
- A VOI typically refers to specific genetic markers that have been associated with changes to receptor binding.
- This implies that variants of interest may be more difficult to treat, be at risk for more severe symptoms, or have a heightened rate of transmission.
- However, these specific strains may appear in isolated regional cases and have yet to spread outside to other countries. Although, the WHO agrees to continue to monitor their development.
‘Variant of Concern’:
- VOC‘s express similar attributes as ‘variants of interest’ but are more likely to be responsible for greater disease severity across the globe.
- At a higher risk for hospitalizations, these variants express more significant antibody responses and may produce a higher rate of infection or viral load.
- Furthermore, physicians may face increased difficulty in treatment as these strains show reduced effectiveness in pharmaceutical interventions or vaccines.
- Additionally, they are considered more highly transmissible making it easier to cross regional boundaries.
