8th Nov Daily current affairs for UPSC Civil Service Exam

Nirbhay Missile

• DRDO has successfully tested Nirbhay Cruise Missile recently from the Integrated Test Range at Chandipur, Odisha.
• Nirbhay cruise missile is the India’s first long range sub-sonic cruise missile.
• It has an operational range of 1000 km (long range).
• It is capable of carrying warheads of up to 300kg at a speed of 0.6 to 0.7 Mach (sub-sonic)
• It is a two-stage missile powered by Solid rocket motor booster.
• It is guided by a highly advanced indigenously developed inertial navigation system.
• Sub-sonic – Any speed lower than the speed of sound. Mach number greater than 1 is called as super-sonic.
• Cruise Missile – It is a guided missile that flies major portion of its flight within atmosphere at approx. constant speed.
• Ballistic Missile – It is a missile that follows a ballistic trajectory and guided only relatively during brief periods and spends most of their flight out of the atmosphere.

SHe-box Portal

• SHe-box (Sexual Harassment electronic box) is an online platform launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• The platform is to enable women employees to file complaints related to sexual harassment at the workplace.
• It enables both public and private sector employees to lodge their complaints.
• It ensures the effective implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013.
• Under the act, it is compulsory for any organisation with 10 or more employees to set up an internal complaints committee (ICC) for addressing complaints of sexual harassment.
• The complaints filed in the portal will be forwarded to ICC and also paves way for monitoring the progress of the complaint.

New Species in Andaman

• Edible wild banana species has been discovered in Andaman Island, the second such species on the island in two years.
• In 2014, Musa indandamanensis, wild banana species was discovered in a remote tropical rain forest on the Little Andaman Island.
• The latest discovery, Musa paramjitiana found in North Andaman Island.
• The plant grows to a height of nine metres and bears an edible, sweet-and-sour tasting fruit with numerous bulb-shaped seeds.
• Its conservation status has been declared as ‘Critically Endangered’.

New Species in Western Ghats

• A new species of ant was found in the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghats region.
• It belongs to Tyrannomyrmex, a rare tropical genus of ants that is distributed in the Indomalayan bio-region.
• Its Bio region extends from southern India and Sri Lanka to Southeast Asia.
• It is named as Tyrannomyrmexalii as a tribute to country’s “Ant Man” eminent myrmecologist Musthak Ali.

Kathak

• The birth anniversary of Sitara Devi, Kathak queen and often hailed as the ‘Empress of dance (NrityaSamragini)’ is observed today.
• Kathak is an ancient Indian classical dance and started as oral tradition by kathakars or storytellers based on episodes from epics, myths and legends.
• Later it evolved in to a simple form of expressional dance through rhythmic foot movements, hand gestures, facial expressions and eye work.
• Bhakti movement contributed to a whole new range of lyrics and musical form with Radha-Krishna theme and works of Mirabai, Surdas.
• Three specific forms of kathak are three gharanas (schools) namely, the Jaipur gharana, the Benarasgharana and the Lucknow gharana.
• The gharanas mostly differ in emphasis given to footwork versus acting.
• The nineteenth century saw the golden age of Kathak under the patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Oudh.
• Being the only classical dance of India having links with Muslim culture, it represents a unique synthesis of Hindu and Muslim genius in art.
• It is the only form of classical dance wedded to Hindustani music.

Kambala

• It is an annual buffalo race conducted in Coastal belt of Karnataka.
• It is a traditional bull sport similar to Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu.
• The 'track' used for Kambala is a slushy paddy field.
• It is conducted in both competitive and non-competitive manner.
• The Kambala season generally starts in November and lasts till March in the following year.
• Supreme Court in 2014 had banned Kambala based on a petition filed by various animal rights organisations.
• Following the massive protest against the ban, Karnataka government passed “The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Ordinance 2017” to legalize the bull sport.
• Recently, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have challenged the ordinance but SC refuses to stay ordinance.

Source: The Hindu, PIB