19-11-21 Daily-Kerala-KPSC Current Affairs

A group of scientists has discovered a new plant species in the Idamalakkudy colony in Idukki, which is Home to the Muthuvar tribal Population.

Highlights:

The plant was discovered by a team of scientists from the University of Kerala and the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical and Research Institute (TBGRI).

Cryptocaria Muthuvariana, a new species of the plant named after the Muthuvar tribal group, has been discovered.

The Muthuvar Traibal community is vital to the forest’s preservation.

For the first time in the state’s HISTORY, a plant species has been named after a local tribe.

The Cryptocarya Muthuvariana tree belongs to the Cryptocarya genus. The tree reaches a height of 10 to 15 metres. It has leaves that aren’t very wide.

Muthuvans were Madurai dynasty’s faithful subjects. When the dynasty was overthrown, the remaining royal members fled to Travancore, Kerala.

While travelling, they took idols of Madurai Meenakshi, the royal family’s goddess. In Tamil Nadu, the word’muthuvar’ is used to refer to the same community.

Muthuvans are one of the country’s oldest tribes. This group is self-sufficient and averse to interacting with outsiders.

Ragi, lemon grass, and cardamom are among the Plants they cultivate.

The Hingoli income division has given the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project 225 hectares of land in Maharashtra.

Highlights:

The land was given to the country in order to organise primary facilities.

In the United States, just two such labs exist: Hanford in Washington and Livingston in Louisiana. Gravitational waves are studied at these labs.

This initiative will provide scientists and engineers more for Learning more about gravitational waves.

In 2016, the LIGO-India mega scientific plan for analysing gravity waves received “in principle” permission from the Indian government.

LIGO is a huge observatory designed to detect and experiment with cosmic gravitational waves. Its primary goal is to exploit gravitational-wave data in astronomy research.

The LIGO India project was suggested with the goal of relocating one of the most sophisticated LIGO detectors from Hanford to India.

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Atomic Energy are piloting this initiative (DAE).

The Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) has provided updated data on Foreign Exchange reserves. The country’s foreign exchange reserves fell by $ 763 million to $ 640.112 billion in the week ending November 12, according to new figures.

Highlights:

In the week ending November 5, foreign exchange reserves fell by USD 1.145 billion to USD 640.874 billion. Reserves, on the other hand, hit a new high of USD 642.453 billion in the week ending September 3, 2021.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) weekly data shows that the reduction in forex reserves this reporting week was due to a drop in foreign currency assets (FCA), a major component of overall reserves. FCA fell $2.094 billion to $575.487 billion in the reporting week, according to the data.

Foreign currency assets comprise the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units held in foreign exchange reserves, such as the euro, pound, and yen, expressed in dollar terms. In the reporting week, gold reserves increased by $ 1.461 billion to $ 40.239 billion.

On November 19, 2021, World Toilet Day will be recognised as an official United Nations international day all over the world.

Highlights:

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the fourth edition of its Global Report on Tobacco Use Trends 2000-2025.

Highlights:

According to the research, the South-East Asia region had the fastest reduction in cigarette consumption. In 2020, the Average prevalence of smoking among males will be 25%, down from 50% in 2000.

Tobacco smoking among Women in the South-East Region has declined from 8.9% in 2000 to 1.6 percent in 2020.

In order to fulfil the Global NCD action goal plan by 2025, India and Nepal are anticipated to achieve a 30 percent relative decrease in tobacco usage.

According to the WHO research, if present tobacco control efforts continue, smoking rates in this region might drop to as low as 11% by 2025.