Facebook Outage

• Facebook Inc.’s services suffered a massive outage recently for as long as six hours.
• It kept several users from accessing the company’s core platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger apps.
• An update to the BGP removed the online properties from being available to world’s computers.
• This means the social network’s Domain Name System (DNS) was not accessible to other networks, and the Internet.

What is Domain Name System (DNS)?

• DNS is like a phone book for the internet.
• It’s the tool that converts a web domain, like Facebook.com, into the actual internet protocol, or IP, address where the site resides.
• Think of Facebook.com as the person one might look up in the white pages, and the IP address as the physical address they’ll find.

What is Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)?

• The problem at Facebook Inc. appeared to have its origins in the Border Gateway Protocol or BGP.
• BGP refers to a gateway protocol that enables the internet to exchange routing information between autonomous systems (AS).
• Internet is a network of networks. As networks interact with each other, they need a way to communicate. This is accomplished through peering. BGP makes peering possible.
• If DNS is the internet’s phone book, BGP is its postal service.
• When a user enters data on the internet, BGP determines the best available paths that data could travel.
• Without it, networks would not be able to send and receive information with each other.

• The United Arab Emirates has recently announced plans to send a probe to land on an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter to collect data on the origins of the universe.
• The project targets a 2028 launch with a landing in 2033, a five-year journey in which the spacecraft will travel some 3.6 billion kilometers.

Asteroids

• Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.
• Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets.
• Most of this ancient space rubble can be found orbiting our Sun between Mars and Jupiter within the main asteroid belt.
• Asteroids range in size from Vesta – the largest at about 329 miles (530 kilometers) in diameter – to bodies that are less than 33 feet (10 meters) across.
• The total mass of all the asteroids combined is less than that of Earth's Moon.
• Most asteroids are irregularly shaped, though a few are nearly spherical, and they are often pitted or cratered.
• As they revolve around the Sun in elliptical orbits, the asteroids also rotate, sometimes quite erratically, tumbling as they go.
• More than 150 asteroids are known to have a small companion moon (some have two moons).
• There are also binary (double) asteroids, in which two rocky bodies of roughly equal size orbit each other, as well as triple asteroid systems.

Asteroid Classifications

• Main Asteroid Belt - The majority of known asteroids orbit within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, generally with not very elongated orbits.
• Trojans - These asteroids share an orbit with a larger planet, but do not collide with it because they gather around two special places in the orbit (called the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points).
• There, the gravitational pull from the Sun and the planet are balanced by a trojan's tendency to otherwise fly out of orbit.
• It is thought that they are as numerous as the asteroids in the asteroid belt.
• There are Mars and Neptune trojans, and NASA announced the discovery of an Earth trojan in 2011.
• Near-Earth Asteroids - These objects have orbits that pass close by that of Earth.
• Asteroids that actually cross Earth's orbital path are known as Earth-crossers.

State of the World’s Children Report 2021

• The UNICEF released its global flagship report titled, ‘The State of the World’s Children 2021’.
• This UNICEF report is the most comprehensive analysis of global trends affecting children.
• Purpose - The 2021 report details the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children, adolescents and caregivers.
• It examines how risk and protective factors in the home, school and community shape mental health outcomes.
• It urges global commitment, communication and action to promote good mental health for every child and young people.
• Findings - Globally, 1 in 5 young people of 15 to 24-years of age are feeling depressed or having little interest in doing things.
• In India, 1 in 7 young people (14% of 15 to 24-years of age) are reported often feeling depressed or having little interest in doing things.
• Children have not only been living an emotional tragedy, many are also at a higher risk of neglect and abuse.

Thenneri Inscriptions

• It is a Cholan-era inscription at Thenneri village in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu.
• These inscriptions are on the walls of the Kanthaleeswarar temple.
• It describes the qualifications required for members of the village administrative council.
• It lays down qualifications for candidates to village administrative committees called ‘Perumkuri Sabai’.
• It also sheds light on how farm produce was taxed.
• The Kanthaleeswarar temple and the Abathsaheswarar temple were constructed by Sembian Mahadevi, the grandmother of Chola King Rajaraja, in memory of her son Uthama Chola.

Uthiramerur Inscriptions

• It is also located in the Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu.
• It dwells upon ‘Kudavolai murai’ — a system to elect members to annual committee (‘variyam’), garden committee, tank committee and other committees for 30 wards.

National Road Safety Board

• Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has notified constitution of the National Road Safety Board, along with Rules thereof.
• It shall consist of the Chairman and not less than 3, but not exceeding seven Members, to be appointed by the Central Government.
• The Head Office of the Board shall be in the National Capital Region and the Board may establish offices at other places in India.
• The Board shall promote road safety, innovation and adoption of new technology, and regulate traffic and motor vehicles.
• For this purposes, inter alia, the Board shall formulate specific standards for road safety; guidelines for capacity building and development of skills, etc for consideration by the Central Government.
• The Board shall provide technical advice and assistance to the Central Government, State Governments and local authorities on road safety and traffic management.

It will promote:

• Good practices in road safety and traffic management; new vehicle technology in the field of vehicular engineering;
• Co-ordination with international organizations; and
• Consistency between international technical standards and domestic technical standards, conduct research to improve road safety, traffic management, crash investigation.