25-12-21 Daily-Kerala-KPSC Current Affairs

Kerala, NaduandTelanganaemerged among the best three performers in terms of overall performance according to theNITI AayogsHealth index, whileUttar Pradeshtopped the table on incremental performance despite being at the bottom.

For the fourth consecutive round, Kerala emerged as the best overall performer. Among smaller states, Mizoram emerged as the best performer in overall performance as well as incremental outcome. Among Union territories (UTs), Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir ranked at the bottom in terms of overall performance but emerged as leading performer in terms of incremental performance.

A vast majority of the states and UTs have recorded a shift in their overall performance rankings from Base Year to reference year. Among the 19 larger states, four improved their rankings while five deteriorated and 10 retained their base year ranks.
Three out of the eight smaller states improved their rankings, four deteriorated while one retained its base year rank. Four UTs improved their ranks while three deteriorated. Assam made the maximum improvement, moving from 15 to 12 while Andaman & Nicobar went down the maximum, from 4 to 7.

Sri Lanka and India are set to sign a long-awaited agreement to jointly develop the ‘Trincomalee oil tank farm.’

Highlights:

The Trincomalee oil tank farm deal is a much-desired project that has been contentious for a long time.

This project has been in the works for 16 months between India and Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister, Udaya Gammanpila, has directed the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to establish a subsidiary called Trinco Petroleum Terminal Ltd for this purpose.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has given his approval for the establishment of a special purpose vehicle.

During World War II, the British built the “Trincomalee Oil Tank Farms” to serve as a refueling station. It was constructed next to the Trincomalee port, which boasts a beautiful natural harbor.

The century-old oil tanks, on the other hand, will need to be refurbished to be fit for use again, which will cost millions of dollars.

On December 26, 2021, DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Brahmos Aerospace Cruise Missile Manufacturing Unit in Lucknow.

Highlights:

The defense minister stated that Russia was India’s strategic partner at the event.

He also backed India’s nuclear and other military deterrents in the face of external threats.According to him, the launch of the BrahMos Missile Project was proof of India and Russia’s defense manufacturing cooperation.

In 2016, India became a member of the MTCR. India and Russia intend to work together to develop a new generation of Brahmos missiles with a range of more than 800 kilometers.

It’s capable of hitting protected targets with pinpoint precision.

The BrahMos Missile is a ramjet supersonic cruise missile with a medium range. It can be launched from a ship, a submarine, or a plane. It’s one of the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles.

Narandran ‘Jody’ Kollapen, of Indian ancestry, has been appointed to the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Highlights:After a lengthy process of public interviews, Kollapen & Rammaka Steven Mathopo, 64, was appointed to the Constitutional Court as the newest members.

Both will begin their terms on January 1, 2022.

After extensive public interviews, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Rammaka Steven Mathopo and Kollapen to the Constitutional Court.

Kollapen began practicing law in 1982 and specialized in public interest cases.

Using , Chinese researchers have developed a machine that can charge people with crimes. This is the first developed country in the world.

Highlights:

The AI prosecutor is capable of filing charges with a 97 percent accuracy rate. It will file a charge based on the case’s verbal description.

Shanghai Pudong People’s Procuratorate, China’s largest and busiest district prosecution office, designed and tested it.

It’s possible that it’ll run on a desktop computer. The prosecutor would file a charge against each suspect based on 1,000 traits extracted from human-generated case description text.

More than 17,000 cases were used to “train” the machine between 2015 and 2020.