Prelim Bits 14-04-2022 & 15-04-2022 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Dornier-228

The Dornier-228, a made-in-India aircraft, has taken to the skies on its maiden commercial flight to Arunachal Pradesh from Assam.

• Dornier-228 (Do-228) or Hindustan aircraft is a 17-seater non-pressurised aircraft that has a turboprop engine.
• It is capable of day and night operations, short take-off and landing, and can land and take off from semi-prepared runways.
• Dornier 228 was designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH.
• After securing product licence, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) started the manufacturing Do-228 in India.
• [Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is a Central Public Sector Unit under Ministry of Defence.]
• Move - Dornier-228 aircraft has been used by the armed forces till now.
• Alliance Air had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HAL to operate Dornier aircraft.
• [Alliance Air is a public sector airline company.]
• This MoU was signed under UdeDeshKaAam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme to boost connectivity in the northeast. As per the MoU, HAL handed over the first multi-purpose Dornier -228 aircraft to Alliance Air.
• With this flight, Alliance Air has become India’s first commercial airline to fly the Indian-made aircraft for civil operations.
• HAL built Dornier-228 to specifically meet the manifold requirements of utility and commuter transport, air-taxi operations, coast guard duties and maritime surveillance.
• Related Links - Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN) scheme, Krishi UDAN Scheme 2.0

Reference

1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1816079
2. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/dornier-do-228-arunachal-pradesh-first-commercial-flight-made-india-scindia-details/article6531385ece?homepage=true

New Years

Reference

1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1816633
2. https://www.news18.com/news/lifestyle/vishu-2022-when-is-the-kerala-new-year-on-vishu-or-onam-4981669.html
3. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/religion/festivals/rongali-bohag-bihu-history-significance-and-celebrations-of-assamese-new-year/articleshow/90835337.cms
4. https://www.india-tours.com/fairs-and-festivals/naba-barsha-west-bengal-india.html

Colour Blindness

The Supreme Court has directed the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) not to exclude candidates suffering from colour blindness from its courses on film making and editing.

• Colour blindness or colour deficiency is the inability to see colours in the normal way.
• Colour blind individuals often cannot distinguish between certain colours - usually greens and reds, and sometimes blues as well.
• Two types of cells in the retina detect light
  1. Rods - Distinguish between light and dark, and
  2. Cones - Detect colour.
• There are three types of cones that see colour - red, green, and blue - and our brains use the information from these cells to perceive colour.
• Causes - Colour blindness can be the result of the absence of one or more of these cone cells, or their failure to work properly.
• In a situation where all three cone cells are present but one of them is malfunctioning, mild colour blindness may occur.
• Most colour blind people are born with the condition (congenital colour blindness), but some can develop it later in life.
• Congenital colour vision deficiencies are usually passed on genetically.
• A problem with colour vision that arises later in life could be the result of disease, trauma, or ingested toxins.
• Medical conditions that may increase the risk of getting colour blindness include glaucoma, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, alcoholism, leukaemia, and sickle-cell anaemia.
• Severity - Colour blindness may be of different kinds and degrees.
  1. Mildly colour blind people often see all colours properly only when the light is good.
  2. There are others who cannot tell one colour apart from another no matter how good the light is.
  3. In the most severe kind of colour blindness, vision is black-and-white, that is, everything appears as a shade of grey.
• Color blindness generally affects both eyes, and the condition remains roughly the same for as long as the individual is alive.
• Treatment - Colour blindness cannot as yet be treated or reversed.
• However, it can be corrected to some extent by wearing special contact lenses or colour filter glasses.
• Diagnosis - In the case of a child, parents can notice the deficiency for the first time when the child is beginning to learn colours.
• The child may have difficulty in seeing colours or in recognising the brightness of colours in ways that would be considered ‘normal’.
• The child may also show an inability to distinguish between shades of the same or similar colours.
• At risk - Men suffer from a higher incidence of colour blindness than women.
• Around the world, every tenth male is estimated to have some form of colour deficiency.

In India, the Supreme Court in the FTII case quoted, “Estimated 8% of male population and less than 1% female population have red and green colour deficiency being the most common form of colour-blindness.”

Reference

1. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/everyday-explainers/what-is-colour-blindness-7867542/
2. https://www.colourblindawareness.org/colour-blindness/causes-of-colour-blindness/
3. https://www.colourblindawareness.org/colour-blindness/treatment/

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960

The Government has recognized that the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 must be amended to introduce more stringent penalties.

• The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 was authored by acclaimed dancer and animal lover, Rukmini Devi Arundale.
• This Act aims to prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals and for that purpose to amend the law relating to the prevention of cruelty to animals.
• As per the provisions of this law, the government of India formed the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI).
• The Act defines animals as any living creature other than humans.
• It also discusses different forms of cruelty, exceptions, and killing of a suffering animal in case any cruelty has been committed against it, so as to relieve it from further suffering.
• It also provides the guidelines relating to experimentation on animals for scientific purposes.
• It provides the guidelines relating to exhibition of the performing animals, and offences committed against the performing animals.
• This Act provides for the limitation period of 3 months beyond which no prosecution shall lie for any offences under this Act.

Data

• The prevention of cruelty to animals is a state subject.
• The data in this regard is not maintained in the Central Government.
• However, the AWBI is regularly getting information on the cruelty to animals for which the AWBI is writing to the State Governments and local authorities to take necessary action as per the prevailing laws.
• Related Links - Animal Welfare Board of India

Reference

1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1808309
2. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/11237/1/the_prevention_of_cruelty_to_animals_act%2C_1960.pdf
3. https://www.iitk.ac.in/animalwelfare/data/PCA_act_brief.pdf

Neptune Cruise Missile

Ukraine claimed to have severely damaged the Russian navy’s Black Sea Flagship ‘Moskva’ off the coast of Odessa using the Neptune Missile.

• The Neptune is a Ukrainian coastal anti-ship cruise missile system.
• It is capable of destruction of naval vessels in a range of 300 km.
• It was developed in haste by the Ukraine military as the Russian threat to the coastal areas of Ukraine was growing rapidly since the occupation of Crimea in 2014.
• It was inducted into the Ukrainian Navy in March 2021.
• The design of the Neptune missile is based on a Russian Kh-35 cruise missile which goes by the NATO name of AS-20 Kayak.
• The cruise missile was developed in haste by the military as the Russian threat to the coastal areas of Ukraine was growing rapidly since the occupation of Crimea in 2014.
• According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, the Neptune is a anti-ship cruise missile which

Moskva

• Moskva is a guided missile cruiser of the Russian Navy named after the city of Moscow. It has a displacement of 12,490 tons.
• Moskva was originally built in the Soviet era in Ukraine's Mykolaiv.
• It is the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy and carries a crew of around 500 personnel.
• In 1983, it was originally commissioned as the Slava (‘glory’). It is the lead ship of Slava-class guided missile cruisers or Project 1164 Atlant.
• It was re-commissioned in 2000 as the Moskva with refurbished weapon systems and electronics.

Reference

1. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-neptune-cruise-missile-damaged-russian-warship-7868669/
2. https://theprint.in/world/russian-navys-pride-moskva-gutted-by-fire-ukraine-claims-its-neptune-missile-hit-the-ship/916329/
3. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-flagship-black-sea-fleet-badly-damaged-by-blast-2022-04-14/
4. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61103927