Current Affairs

Notes:
‘Heartbeat bill’ is a controversial legislation in the United States which makes abortions illegal as soon as the fetal heartbeat can be detected.
Under the proposed Texas Heartbeat Act, abortions would be prohibited once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy. It allows anyone to sue providers and others who violate the guidelines.

Notes:
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research in China have developed a technique to detect cyclone formation in the North Indian Ocean region, in advance.
The study was conducted under the Climate Change Program with support from the Centre’s Department of Science and Technology.

Notes:
The Indian Meteorological Department has undertaken installation of Agro-Automatic Weather Stations to provide exact weather forecast to the people, especially the farmers. The installation was done at District Agromet Units located in the Krishi Vigyan Kendras under the Indian Council of Agriculture Research network.

Notes:
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), under the Ministry of Communication has constituted six Task Forces on 6 G technology.
The task forces are headed by various academia from across the country Directors of IIT-Madras, IIT-Kanpur, IISc among others. India is deploying 5G technology this year and the group will analyse the process and challenges in 6G.

Notes:
The new COVID variant named IHU (B.1.640.2) has been discovered at the IHU Mediterranee Infection institute in France.
The new variant is said to have 46 mutations more than Omicron. The first case was reported from a person who had come from the African country of Cameroon. As per the Scientists, the new strain carries E484K mutation making it vaccine-resistant.

Notes:
Australia’s national science agency and the federal government have established the Plastics Innovation Hub Indonesia.
The partnership aims to address plastic pollution in the Indo-Pacific, with the funding of USD 950,745. The hub will bring researchers, investors and the private and public sectors, to work on solutions to plastic waste in Indonesian waterways.

Notes:
The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) under the chairmanship of Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupendra Yadav, recommended 8.10 per cent annual rate of interest to be credited on Employees’ Provident Fund Deposits for 2021-22.
This is the lowest interest rate since 1977-78 on deposits for 2021-22 fiscal from 8.5 per cent in the previous year.

Notes:
Eugene Parker was a physicist who theorized the existence of solar wind. He also became the first person to witness the launch of a spacecraft bearing his name. He passed away recently at the age of 94.
Though he was mocked for his findings on eruptions from the Sun, NASA’s Parker Probe has been launched which will pass through the sun’s outer atmosphere.

Notes:
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), New Delhi in partnership with the Department of Science & Technology (DST), GoI hosted the 28th edition of the DST – CII Technology Summit on 23rd and 24th of February 2022.