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Table of Content

Posted 05 Apr 2024

8 min read

National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO)
  • Centre plans to create a national digital database of organ donors for smooth transplants.
    • As per the NOTTO data, India witnessed 16,041 organ transplants in 2022, as against the wait list of nearly 500,000 organ failure recipients.

 

  • About NOTTO
    • National level organization set up under Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
    • Functions:
      • All India activities of coordination and networking for procurement and distribution of Organs and Tissues. 
      • Registry of Organs and Tissues Donation and Transplantation.
  • Tags :
  • NOTTO

NATO
  • NATO marked 75 years of conception.

 

  • About NATO
    • Founded in 1949 
    • Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
    • Currently has 32 countries from Europe and North America.
      • Sweden is the latest to join.
    • Founded on the principle of collective defense, meaning that if one NATO ally is attacked, then all NATO allies are attacked.
    • Largest peacetime military alliance in the world.
  • Tags :
  • NATO
  • collective defense

Mulching
  • In Phey village in Ladakh, farmers use mulching to grow organic watermelon.
    • It is significant because Ladakh is a cold desert and watermelon is a hot climate plant.

 

  • About Mulching
    • It is the process of covering the topsoil with plant material such as leaves, grass, twigs, crop residues, straw, etc.
    • Helps create a soil structure with smaller and larger pores through which rainwater can easily infiltrate into soil, reducing surface runoff.
    • Benefits: Prevents soil erosion, increases organic matter in the soil, etc.
  • Tags :
  • Mulching

Plankton crash
  • The red color of Promenade beach in Puducherry last year was connected to plankton crash, an expert panel told National Green Tribunal (NGT).
  • Noctiluca scintillans, a type of phytoplankton, turn a red color when in large numbers experienced a crash, leading to the release of colored pigment from their cells.
    • These pigments then stick to rocks and the sea floor, forming a biofilm-like layer and causing ‘red tides’.
  • Plankton crashes happen due to a lack of nutrients or lack of CO2 in the earlier part of the production cycle.
    • Plankton may also die later in the cycle due to sudden change in water quality.
  • Tags :
  • Plankton crash
  • Promenade beach

Hydroponics
  • Hydroponics has emerged as a linchpin in the expansion of India’s sustainable food sector.

 

  • About Hydroponics
    • It is a soil-less farming technique where plants are grown using a water-based nutrients.
    • Can include an aggregate substrate, or growing media, such as vermiculite, coconut coir, perlite, etc.
    • Significance: Can save water, land, and other resources, enhanced plant yields, etc.
    • Challenges: Lack of technical knowledge, higher initial set-up cost, need to constant human intervention, etc.
  • Tags :
  • Hydroponics

Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC)
  • NASA to create Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) for the moon and other celestial bodies.

 

  • Coordinated Lunar Time
    • It aims to provide a consistent time-keeping benchmark for lunar missions and space activities.
    • An Earth-based clock on the moon would lose an average of 58.7 microseconds per Earth-day due to time dilation.

 

  • Time Dilation refers to the fact that time passes at different rates for different observers, depending on their relative motion or positions in a gravitational field.
  • Tags :
  • LTC
  • Coordinated Lunar Time

OpenAI’s new Voice Engine
  • OpenAI has introduced a new AI model known as Voice Engine that can replicate any voice in any language.
  • It lets users upload brief audio samples and generate audio in the same voice and manner of speaking.
  • It is yet to be released for public use.

 

  • Application: Providing reading assistance, Translating content, helping patients recover their voice, etc.

 

  • Disadvantages: Misuse like cloning public figures’ voices, privacy-related issues, lack of regulations, etc.
  • Tags :
  • AI
  • OpenAI
  • Voice Engine

Kumittipathi rock painting
  • Miscreants have damaged rock art paintings at the cave at Kumittipathi, Tamil Nadu.

 

  • About Kumittipathi rock painting:
    • Believed to be 3000 years old, the artists have used an inorganic white pigment, along with natural gum, to paint the figures.
    • They depict an elephant, ther (a chariot, some say it is a peacock), and the lives of early dwellers. 
    • While most of the rock painting sites in Tamil Nadu are found on rock shelters, those at Kumittipathi are drawn inside a cave. 
  • Tags :
  • Kumittipathi
  • rock painting
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