Rapid Fire Current Affairs | 27 Jun 2023

Mushroom Cultivation Transforms Assam’s Kokrajhar District

In Assam's Kokrajhar district, through the launch of the Mushroom Mission in 2021, aligning with the 'one district one Product' initiative and the introduction of mushrooms into the midday meal scheme has yielded remarkable results.

The inclusion of nutrient-rich mushrooms in children's meals has reduced the number of underweight, wasted, and anaemic children by 56%, 55%, and 76%, respectively. Maternal mortality rates in the district also decreased by 72.37%, and the infant mortality rate decreased by 30.56%.

Mushrooms are highly nutritious and offer several health benefits. They are low in calories and fat, making them an ideal choice for weight management. Mushrooms are a rich source of vitamins and minerals, including B vitamins, copper, selenium, and potassium. They also provide dietary fiber and antioxidants, which support digestive health and strengthen the immune system. Additionally, mushrooms are one of the few non-animal sources of vitamin D, which is essential for bone health.

DPCGC Takes Action Against Obscene Content on OTT Platform

Recently, the Digital Publisher Content Grievances Council (DPCGC), a self-regulatory body for online curated content providers (OCCPs) in India, has taken action against the Over-the-Top (OTT) platform ULLU for streaming explicit and obscene content. Headed by retired Supreme Court Judge Justice A K Sikri, the council issued an order demanding the removal of such content within 15 days, citing violations of the Information Technology Rules (2021) and complaints raised by a dissatisfied viewer.

DPCGC addresses consumer grievances and content-related issues. It operates under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and enforces the Code of Ethics and regulations set by the government. The DPCGC consists of an OCCP Council and a Grievance Redressal Board.

Fibonacci Spirals in Plants

A recent study has questioned the commonly held belief that plants exhibit ancient and consistent patterns known as Fibonacci spirals. These spirals can be observed in various parts of plants, including leaves and reproductive structures. However, researchers studying fossilised plants dating back 407 million years discovered that the spirals in this particular species did not conform to the Fibonacci sequence.

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones. The sequence starts with 0 and 1, and each subsequent number is obtained by adding the two numbers immediately before it. The sequence begins as follows: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, and so on.

The new finding suggests that early plants had a different pattern of spiral arrangement, with non-Fibonacci spirals being more prevalent. It indicates that the evolution of leaf arrangement and Fibonacci spirals had a distinct history in certain plant groups, such as clubmosses, which differs from other living plant groups like ferns and flowering plants.

This research opens up new avenues of exploration and may help unravel the mystery behind the prevalence of these patterns in nature.

Chandrayaan-3 to Retain Chandrayaan-2 Lander and Rover Names

ISRO has recently announced its decision to use the same names for the lander and rover of the upcoming Chandrayaan-3 mission, following the unfortunate outcome of the Chandrayaan-2 mission, in which the lander named Vikram experienced a crash during its attempted soft landing on the lunar surface

The lander of Chandrayaan-3 will be named 'Vikram' in honour of Vikram Sarabhai, a key figure in India's space program, while the rover will be called 'Pragyan'. The launch is scheduled for mid-July 2023, and the mission will carry out experiments and collect data through various payloads on the lander, rover, and propulsion module.