Kashmir Super 50
- Project Kashmir Super 50 is a joint initiative by Indian Army, Center for Social Responsibility and Leadership (CSRL) and PETRONET LNG Limited (PLL).
- It was launched on 2013 to transform the educational status of children from economically weaker sections in the Kashmir region.
- As part of the 11-month program, selected students are provided with complete free residential coaching for IIT-JEE, JKCET and other premier Engineering Institutes.
- The project has equally helped the families of these youths in their growth and prosperity.
- It is a major initiative towards bringing normalcy in the valley.
- On similar lines of Kashmir Super 50 for engineering aspirants, Indian Army is planning to provide selected students with complete free residential coaching for National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
Swachh Iconic Places (SIP)
- The third phase of SIP was launched at Mana village which is situated close to the Badrinath temple in Uttarakhand.
- Sabarimala in Kerala and the Raghavendra Swamy temple in Kurnool of Andhra Pradesh are among the 10 iconic sites added to the phase III Swachh Iconic Places (SIP) mission
- The Swachh Iconic Places is an initiative under the Swachh Bharat Mission.
- SIP is a collaborative project with three other central Ministries- Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Tourism.
- It also involves local administrations in the concerned States and Public Sector and Private Companies as sponsoring partners.
- It is a special clean-up initiative focused on select iconic heritage, spiritual and cultural places in the country.
Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D)
- Union Home Minister recently exhorted the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) to work towards imparting training in soft skills to all the policemen in the country.
- Ministry of Home Affairs de-merged NCRB from BPRD recently.
- The Government of India formally established the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D), under the Ministry of Home Affairs giving a new orientation to then existing Police Research and Advisory Council (1966).
- BPR&D was to directly participate in police functions and suggest reforms.
- Its primary objective was to modernize police force and
- To take direct and active interest in the issues
- To promote a speedy and systematic study of the police problems,
- To apply science and technology in the methods and techniques used by police.
Norman AI
- Norman is an artificial intelligence (AI) system created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
- It is also known as the first psychopathic artificial intelligence.
- The goal is to explain in layman's terms how algorithms are made, and to make people aware of AI's potential dangers.
- Norman represents a case study on the dangers of Artificial Intelligence gone wrong when biased data is used in machine learning algorithms,
- The AI was named after the psychopathic killer Norman Bates in the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film “Psycho.”
Chernobyl disaster
- Radioactivity levels post Chernobyl disaster still continues to contaminate milk in Ukraine.
- It is a consequence of the catastrophic Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant explosion that took place over 30 years ago.
- The highest levels found were about 500 Becquerel per liter - five times over the limit for adults and more than 12 times that for children.
- The Chernobyl accident in 1986 was the result of a flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel.
- Without large-scale intervention, the radiation will remain above the adult level until at least 2040 and above the child threshold even longer.
Ink from Pollutants
- A team of Indian engineers has figured out how to capture some of the generator exhaust and turn it into ink, keeping the emissions from entering the atmosphere.
- They have created the first-ever device to capture emissions specifically from diesel generators.
- The Chakr Innovation’s device captures emissions from diesel generators and turns it into ink.
- It is a welcome invention for a country that has 14 of the world’s 15 most polluted cities, the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
- The company has collected over 500 kg of soot, which has been used to create more than 20,000 litres of ink.
Source: PIB, The Hindu
