PINK BALL CRICKET
The first Test Match between Australia and India at Adelaide, has put into focus the pink cricket ball used in day/night matches once again.
Why is Pink Ball is used for Day/Night Test?
- Test matches are played with a red ball. But in case of Day/Night Tests, because the natural light fades away and artificial lights come in effect a pink coloured ball is used.
- This is because a red ball takes on a brownish colour under yellow floodlights making it difficult to spot the ball against the colour of the pitch. The pink balls have better visibility and also deteriorate more slowly making it suitable for Test cricket.
Pink Ball Vs Red Ball:
- There is no difference in the core of the ball [inside quilt], which is made of cotswool and cork. There is also no difference in the manner in which we stitch the two balls. There is no difference in weight in either red, white or pink ball.
- The difference is that the red ball is stitched with a white thread while the pink ball is stitched with a black thread.
- Wax is used on the red ball which gives the red ball its cherry colour. But wax can’t be used on pink balls as it would turn the pink ball black. This is why, instead, a PU based coat [ball polish] is used on the pink ball which prevents abrasions on the ball and helps maintain its colour till 40 overs.
- The seam of the pink ball is more pronounced which is an equal mix of synthetic and linen. On the other hand, the seam on the red ball is entirely synthetic.
NRIs and POSTAL VOTING RIGHTS
On November 27, the Election Commission of India (ECI) wrote to the Law Ministry, proposing to extend the facility of postal ballots to (eligible) overseas, non-resident Indians (NRIs) for the Assembly elections in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal in 2021.
About:
- The ECI proposed amending the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, in order to allow this facility. The postal ballots will be sent to NRIs electronically and they will send these ballots after choosing their candidate via post.
- This partially electronic facility is now available for service voters (being a member of the armed Forces of the Union; or a member of a force to which provisions of the Army Act, 1950), and is being sought to be extended to overseas NRI voters
SENTINELESE
The Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) has said that any exploitation of the North Sentinel Island of the Andamans for commercial and strategic gain would spell the death knell for its occupants, the Sentinelese, a most secluded, particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) who reside in complete isolation on the island.
About:
- In a policy document, which comes almost two years after American national John Allen Chau was allegedly killed by the Sentinelese on the island, the AnSI says the “right of the people to the island is non-negotiable”.
- The Sentinelese, with a population of about 50 to 100 on the North Sentinel Island, are not only among the most isolated of nearly 70 PVTGs across the country, but also among the five in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which include the Great Andamanese, the Onge, the Jarawa, and the Shompens.
- This is the first detailed policy draft for the Sentinelese island, prepared at the request of the Andaman and Nicobar Administration.
PANDIT DEENDAYAL UPADHYAY TELECOM SKILL EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad presented Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Telecom Skill Excellence Awards including cash award of Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively, to both awardees.
About:
- Department of Telecommunications (DoT) launched Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Telecom Skill Excellence Awards scheme in 2017.
- Objective is to reward the successful telecom skilled people for their special contributions in the areas of Telecom Skilling, Telecom Services, Telecom Manufacturing, deploying Telecom Applications in different fields such as agriculture, commerce, health, education etc.
- The award was named after Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay ji to commemorate his birth centenary.
ADVANCED TOWED ARTILLERY GUN SYSTEM (ATAGS)
User trials of the indigenous Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) jointly with private industry are scheduled to be resumed later this month and the trials will be completed by mid-2021.
About:
- The ATAGS is a 155-mm, 52-calibre artillery gun jointly developed by the DRDO in partnership with Bharat Forge of the Kalyani Group and the Tata Power SED.
- In August 2018, the Defence Acquisition Council approved the purchase of 150 of these guns at an approximate ₹3,365 crore which would be split between the two companies.
MATRU SAHYOGINI SAMITI
The Madhya Pradesh government has issued an order for the appointment of committees led by mothers to ensure better monitoring of services delivered at anganwadi or day care centres across the State.
About:
- Called ‘Matru Sahyogini Samiti’ or Mothers’ Cooperation Committees, these will comprise 10 mothers at each anganwadi representing the concerns of different sets of beneficiaries under the Integrated Child Development Services, or National Nutrition Mission —
- children between six months to three years,
- children between three years and six years,
- adolescent girls and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
- children between six months to three years,
- The committees will include mothers of beneficiary children as well as be represented by pregnant women and lactating mothers who are enrolled under the scheme.
- The Committees will also include a woman panch, women active in the community and eager to volunteer their support to the scheme, teachers from the local school, and women heads of self-help groups (SHG).
- These mothers will keep a watch on weekly ration distribution to beneficiaries as well as suggest nutritious and tasteful recipes for meals served to children at the centres.
- The move is being taken as per the mandate of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA).
FORDOW FUEL ENRICHMENT PLANT (FFEP)
According to satellite images, Iran has begun construction on a site at its underground nuclear facility at Fordow amid tensions with the U.S. over its atomic programme.
About:
- Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) is an Iranian underground uranium enrichment facility located 20 miles northeast of the Iranian city of Qom, near Fordow village.
- It is the second Iranian uranium enrichment facility, the other one being that of Natanz.
- Iran has not publicly acknowledged any new construction at Fordow, whose discovery by the West in 2009 came in an earlier round of brinkmanship before world powers struck the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.
- While the purpose of the building remains unclear, any work at Fordow will likely trigger new concern in the waning days of the Trump administration before the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.
JUSTICE JAIN COMMITTEE
A three-member Committee chaired by former Supreme Court judge D.K. Jain is scheduled to begin work on unravelling the rogue officials responsible for the infamous ISRO “frame-up” case of 1994, which destroyed the life and reputation of Nambi Narayanan, one of the country’s prominent space scientists.
About:
- The Justice Jain committee is having its first sitting two years after the Supreme Court constituted it in September 2018 to find “ways and means to take appropriate steps against the erring officials”.
- At the time of his arrest on November 30, 1994, Mr. Narayanan was working on cryogenic engine technology at the premier Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- The police investigators had accused him of passing on documents and drawings of ISRO relating to Viking/Vikas engine technology, cryogenic engine technology and PSLV flight data/drawings to Pakistan.
- But the Supreme Court dismissed the case in 2018 as a criminal frame-up based on “some kind fancy or notion”. It said Mr. Narayanan’s career was “smothered.”
THE LANCET CITIZENS’ COMMISSION ON REIMAGINING INDIA’S HEALTH SYSTEM
The Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System, a cross-sector initiative to develop a citizens’ roadmap to achieving universal health coverage (UHC) in India over a period of ten years, was launched online.
About:
- It was a first-of-its-kind participatory, countrywide initiative, in collaboration with world’s leading health journal The Lancet and the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute, Harvard University.
- The mission of the Commission is to lay out the path to achieving UHC in India in the coming decade, working with all stakeholders.
- The Commission will be guided by four principles:
- first, UHC covers all health concerns;
- secondly, prevention and long-term care are key;
- Thirdly, the concern is financial protection for all health costs, and
- finally, aspiring for a health system that can be accessed by all who enjoy the same quality.
- TROPICAL MONTANE GRASSLANDS (TMG)Tropical montane grasslands (TMG) in the Shola Sky Islands of the Western Ghats have suffered big reductions due to invasions by exotic trees. But researchers have now identified areas suitable for grassland restoration and conservation to reverse the decline.
About:
- TMG are high elevation grasslands forming only 2% of all grasslands in the world.
- Among their functions is regulating the global carbon cycle and serving as a source of water to downstream communities.
- In India, TMG have even been classified as wastelands in forest management plans since they are unlikely to generate revenue, contrary to the timber (even if exotic) found in forests.
- In the Western Ghats, 23% of montane grasslands were reportedly converted into invasive exotic tree cover over a period of 44 years.
- TMG are high elevation grasslands forming only 2% of all grasslands in the world.
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