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1. The United States recently imposed sanctions on nearly 400 entities and individuals, including 19 Indian firms and two nationals, for allegedly supporting Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine. The sanctions aim to limit Russia’s access to critical technology and supplies, with measures like trade bans, asset freezes, and financial restrictions. Sanctions can be comprehensive (e.g., U.S. embargo on Cuba) or targeted at specific individuals or entities. While sanctions are imposed by individual countries or international bodies like the UN, enforcement is done by member states. Despite extensive sanctions, Russia's economy remains resilient due to trade with countries like India and China. India has also imposed sanctions in the past, including against South Africa’s apartheid regime, revoking Pakistan’s MFN status in 2019, and banning Chinese apps post-2021 border clashes.
2. The Union Home Minister recently launched the Civil Registration System (CRS) mobile application, developed by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (RGCCI). This app aims to streamline the digital registration of births and deaths, allowing citizens to register these events anytime, anywhere, in their state's official language. The Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023 mandates digital registration of all births and deaths in India from October 1, 2023, through a central portal. The CRS will serve as a key document for verifying birth dates for services like school admissions, government jobs, and marriage registration. A centralized database will help update the National Population Register (NPR), ration cards, property records, and electoral rolls. The NPR, collected in 2010 and updated in 2015, contains details of 119 crore residents and is linked to the National Register of Citizens under the Citizenship Act, 2019.
3. The resolution limit of optical instruments, governed by the diffraction limit, restricts their ability to distinguish between closely spaced objects. This limit previously confined light microscopes to observing large structures like cells but not smaller details such as proteins or viruses. However, super-resolution microscopy overcomes this constraint by using fluorophores—special molecules that glow when exposed to radiation. These molecules are attached to cells, allowing the microscope to detect their surroundings and achieve resolution beyond the diffraction limit. Super-resolution microscopy enables the visualization of structures at a much finer scale, even at the level of individual atoms. For their groundbreaking work in this field, Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell, and William E. Moerner were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014 for developing super-resolved fluorescence microscopy.
4. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) and the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) are collaborating to create a centralized platform for auctioning assets under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The auction will be conducted via the eBKray platform, which has been used for auctions under the SARFAESI Act since 2002 and is managed by PSB Alliance, a consortium of 12 public sector banks. This platform will act as a single listing point for assets in liquidation cases, requiring detailed information from liquidators. IBBI, established under the IBC 2016, regulates insolvency and bankruptcy processes in India, while IBA, founded in 1946, represents the banking sector. The IBC framework, enacted in 2016, streamlines the insolvency process for individuals, firms, and companies.
5. The first Global Tree Assessment (GTA) was recently released as part of the IUCN Red List update at the 2024 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16) in Cali, Colombia. The GTA evaluates the conservation status of over 47,000 tree species, revealing that 16,425 species are threatened with extinction. Key threats to trees include deforestation, logging, invasive species, pests, diseases, and climate change. Notable endangered species include magnolias, oaks, and maples. Over 5,000 species are exploited for timber, and more than 2,000 for food and medicine. Conservation efforts are ongoing in regions like Cuba, Madagascar, and Ghana. The IUCN Red List, a critical tool for assessing extinction risks, categorizes species from "Not Evaluated" to "Extinct," with Critically Endangered (CR) and Endangered (EN) species at high risk. It also tracks the recovery of species through the IUCN Green Status of Species.