Rapid Fire
Rapid Fire Current Affairs
- 22 Apr 2023
- 5 min read
Space Seeds for Food Security
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are accelerating research to develop climate-tolerant crops.
Two varieties of seeds — arabidopsis (a plant of the cabbage family) and sorghum (jowar, cholam, or jonna), sent to space in 2022 to make them climate-tolerant by exposing them to harsher surroundings returned to the Earth in March 2023.
Scientists will examine the possibilities of developing resilient crops that can help provide sufficient food amid a climate crisis. They will also examine the impacts of cosmic radiation (consists of high-energy charged particles, x-rays and gamma rays produced in space) on accelerating the natural genetic adaptation of much-needed crops.
Increased radiation creates genetic changes that would help them withstand greater temperatures, arid soils, diseases and rising sea levels.
The research is significant as (according to UN estimates), rising temperatures and weather disruptions have slashed global food production by almost 13% since 1961. Global warming is making it difficult for farmers to sustain yields. The rising costs for essential grains and political instability in various parts of the world ave been aggravating it.
Read More: Climate Change and Food Insecurity
Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council
Recently, the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC), Leh, unanimously passed a resolution seeking a ban on entry of media houses and individuals to Leh who tried to “malign the image” of the Dalai Lama.
Dalai Lama is a title given by the Tibetan people for the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest of the classical schools of Tibetan Buddhism. LAHDC is an autonomous district council that administers the Leh district of Ladakh. The council was created under the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council Act of 1995.
Read More: Dalai Lama, Ladakh’s Demand for Sixth Schedule
Global Unicorn Index
According to the Global Unicorn Index 2023 by Hurun, Swiggy, Dream11 and BYJU'S are India's top unicorns.
A unicorn is any privately owned firm with a market capitalization of more than USD 1 billion. It denotes new entities dedicated to offering creative solutions and new business models, among other things.
The report indicates that India continues to be the world's third-largest country with the highest number of unicorns, following the US and China. However, India ranks fifth in the Hurun Global 500 companies, which is a list of the most valuable non-state-controlled businesses globally.
As per the report, the number of Indian unicorns established outside of India is higher than those located within India. India has a total of 138 unicorns.
The report also revealed that India ranks third in terms of the number of gazelles, which are startups established in the 2000s and valued at over $500 million (not yet listed) which are likely to become unicorns within three years.
Read More: India’s Startup Ecosystem
Exercise INIOCHOS-23
The Indian Air Force (IAF) will be participating in Exercise INIOCHOS-23, a multi-national air exercise hosted by the Hellenic Air Force (Greece) from April 24 to May 4. The IAF is currently participating in exercise Cope India with the US, as well as a multilateral exercise Orion hosted by France.
The IAF will be participating in INIOCHOS-23 with four Su-30 MKI and two C-17 aircraft. The objective of the exercise is to enhance international cooperation, synergy and interoperability among the participating Air Forces.
Read More: Indian Air Force
