Rapid Fire Current Affairs | 26 Aug 2023

Meta’s New AI model can Translate & Transcribe Nearly 100 Languages

Meta has developed an AI model known as SeamlessM4T, capable of translating and transcribing in over 100 languages, both in text and speech. It's the pioneering all-in-one multilingual and multimodal AI tool for translation and transcription.

  • Meta’s goal is to elevate interconnectedness by granting users access to a broader array of multilingual content.
  • It also supports speech-to-speech translation in around 100 input languages and around 35 output languages, including English.
    • This unified approach of SeamlessM4T minimizes errors and delays, enhancing the efficiency and quality of translation processes.
  • Meta's text-to-text machine translation model, known as No Language Left Behind (NLLB), supports approximately 200 languages. Notably, NLLB has been integrated into Wikipedia as one of its translation providers.

Read more: The Future of Metaverse and AI

Rare Black Eagle Spotted at Chail Wildlife Sanctuary

A rare black eagle has been sighted for the first time in Chail wildlife sanctuary located in the Solan district, Himachal Pradesh. This specific type of black eagle has been observed in the Chamba region on prior occasions.

  • This eagle is part of the Accipitridae family and stands as the sole member of the Ictinaetus genus.
  • They are notable for their substantial size and unique characteristics, often seen in forested mountainous and hilly regions.
    • They are found in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, as well as in the forests of the Eastern and Western Ghats in peninsular India.
  • As per the IUCN, their conservation status is categorised as "Least Concern”.
  • The Chail Wildlife Sanctuary is home to a variety of animals, including rhesus macaques, leopards, Indian muntjacs, gorals, porcupines, wild boars, langurs, and Himalayan black bears. It has contributed to the preservation of several endangered species of reptiles and birds.

Dibang Multipurpose Project

NHPC Limited, India’s premier hydropower company, has signed an MoU with RITES, a Miniratna Schedule 'A' Central Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, for construction of railway siding at Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, for NHPC’s 2,880 MW Dibang MultiPurpose Project.

  • Leveraging its core strength, RITES will provide comprehensive and efficient solutions for developing rail infrastructure facilities for NHPC Dibang and other upcoming projects in Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Dibang Multipurpose Project is a flood control cum hydroelectric power project planned to be developed on the Dibang River, a tributary of Brahmaputra River, in Arunachal Pradesh.
  • It is being developed by India’s state-run National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).

Read More: Dibang Hydel Project

Hubble Space Telescope Captures Image of Irregular Galaxy

  • The Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of the irregular galaxy ESO 300-16 located at a distance of 28.7 million lightyears in the southern constellation of Eridanus.
    • Irregular galaxies do not have a clearly defined shape, and appear as diffuse clouds. A bubble of bright, blue gas is visible towards the galaxy core
    • ESO 300-16 was captured as part of an imaging campaign known as Every Known Nearby Galaxy, which aims to create a complete inventory of Hubble images of all galaxies within 10 megaparsecs of the Earth, or 32.6 million lightyears.
      • Even the distance that light travels in a year is not convenient for measuring astronomical distances, which is why astronomers use parsecs.
      • One parsec is equal to 3.26 lightyears, or 30.9 trillion kilometers. A megaparsec is one million parsecs.
  • The Every Known Nearby Galaxy campaign aims to capture the remaining 25% of the galaxies. Hubble has previously captured the lenticular galaxy NGC 6684 and the irregular dwarf galaxy NGC 1156 as part of the campaign.

Read More: Hubble Space Telescope