Rapid Fire Current Affairs | 10 Feb 2023

Moment Magnitude Scale

The recent earthquake that hit Turkey recorded a magnitude of 7.8 on the Moment Magnitude scale.

Magnitude is generally measured by Richter Scale (developed by Charles Francis Richter in 1935). It is a logarithmic scale where each step represents a 10x increase in magnitude (an earthquake measuring 7 has 10x the magnitude than an earthquake measuring 6).

However, as it is strictly valid only for certain frequency and distance ranges, a better way to measure magnitude - Moment Magnitude Scale (denoted as Mw) was developed.

The scale measures the total energy released in the earthquake and hence, provides a more accurate estimate of magnitude, especially as one goes higher up the scale. Moment Magnitude also uses more variables to calculate the energy released using seismic moment.

Other scales like the Modified Mercalli Scale (MMS) and the Rossi-Forel scale measure the intensity - the amount of shaking at a particular location. MMS ranks earthquake intensity on a scale of I (not felt) to XII (extreme).

Read More - Earthquake, Earthquake Infographics

Asphyxiation

Recently, 7 workers died due to asphyxiation during the removal of oil sludge in an edible oil tank in Andhra Pradesh. Asphyxiation is the failure or disturbance of the respiratory process brought about by the lack or insufficiency of oxygen in the brain. The unconsciousness that results sometimes leads to death. Besides lack of oxygen in the brain, Asphyxia can also be caused by injury to or obstruction of breathing passageways, as in strangulation or the aspiration of food (choking) or large quantities of fluid (near-drowning or drowning).

Section 69 (A) of IT Act

MeitY recently issued orders to block 138 online betting platforms and 94 money lending apps on an “urgent” and “emergency” basis under Section 69 (A) of the IT Act, 2000. Some of the sites and apps were allegedly linked to China and contained “material prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India”.

Over the past 3 years, there have been several complaints of extortion/harassment from people who borrowed small amounts through such money-lending apps, often at exorbitantly high interest rates.

Section 69 of the IT Act allows the govt. to issue content-blocking orders to online intermediaries such as Internet Service Providers, telecom service providers, web hosting services, search engines, online marketplaces, etc. provided such a content is deemed a threat to India’s national security, sovereignty, or public order.

Grammy Awards 2023

Grammy Award (originally named Gramophone Award) is a series of awards presented annually in the US by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (NARAS) or the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences (LARAS only for recordings in Spanish/Portuguese languages). This annual event to recognise musical achievements was started in 1959 to respect the performers for the year 1958. The honorees receive a golden statuette of a gramophone.

Indian composer (Bengaluru-based) - Ricky Kej won a Grammy for Best Immersive Audio Album for his most recent album Divine Tides with rock-legend Stewart Copeland, making him the only Indian to win three Grammy awards. Ricky has previously won 2 Grammy Awards under the Best New Age Album category - ‘Winds of Samsara’ (in 2015) and Divine Tides (in 2022).

Read More - Indian Song wins Golden Globe Award