Rapid Fire Current Affairs | 28 Jan 2023

Tensions Rebuild at Gaza

Recently, the Gaza militants fired rockets and Israel carried out airstrikes as tensions soared following an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank killing 9 Palestinians, mostly militants. It was the deadliest single raid in the territory in over two decades.

Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several smaller skirmishes since the militant group seized power in Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. However, tensions have soared since Israel stepped up raids in the West Bank in 2022, following a series of Palestinian attacks; nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem last year, making 2022 the deadliest in those territories since 2004.

Read More - Israel-Palestine Conflict

Maiden Exercise Veer Guardian

The inaugural edition of the bilateral air exercise 'Veer Guardian 2023' between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) concluded recently in Japan. This is Indo-Japan’s maiden bilateral air exercise.

The IAF contingent participated in the exercise with the Su-30 MKI aircraft complemented by one IL-78 Flight Refuelling Aircraft and two C-17 Globemaster strategic airlift transport aircrafts.

The other exercises that India conducts with Japan include – Dharma Guardian (Military), JIMEX (naval), SHINYUU Maitri (air force) and Malabar (along with Australia and the US).

It was also the first time when an IAF woman fighter pilot was a part of the Indian contingent for aerial wargames in a foreign land.

Read More - India-Japan Relations, Exercise Dharma Guardian

Similipal National Park Becomes Hunting Ground

Similipal National Park (SNP) in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district has turned out to be the hunting ground for animal poachers over the last few years. Since 2019, it has witnessed 11 elephant deaths - hunted mainly for ivory (elephants are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972).

Similipal derives its name from ‘Simul’ (silk cotton) tree. It is part of the Similipal-Kuldiha-Hadgarh Elephant Reserve popularly known as Mayurbhanj Elephant Reserve.

It was formally designated a tiger reserve in 1956 and brought under Project Tiger in the year 1973 and declared a biosphere reserve by the Government of India in June 1994. It is also a part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserve since 2009.

Read More - Similipal Biosphere Reserve

Short Selling

“Buy low, sell high” is the traditional investment strategy in which one buys a stock/security at a particular price and then sells it when the price is higher, thereby making a profit. This is referred to as a “long position” and is based on the view that the price of the stock or security will appreciate with time.

Short selling, or shorting, on the other hand, is a trading strategy based on the expectation that the price of the security will fall. While fundamentally it is based on the “buy low, sell high” approach, the sequence of transactions is reversed in short selling — to sell high first and buy low later. Also, in short selling, the trader usually does not own the securities he sells, but merely borrows them.