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Posted 20 Apr 2024

8 min read

National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)

About NIIF (2015)
- A Sovereign-linked Alternative Asset Manager, established by the Government of India (having a share of 49 %).
- It is a collaborative investment platform for international and Indian investors.
- It was established as an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF), registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
- Its governing council is the headed by Finance Minister.
- It operates in two distinct and attractive asset classes: Indian Infrastructure and Growth Equity.
- Key Funds under NIIF: Master Fund, Strategic Opportunities Fund (SOF) etc

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is developing DURGA-2 as per reports.

About DURGA-2
- It is a directed energy weapon (DEW).
- It’s to be integrated with land-, sea- and air-based platforms.

DEW use concentrated electromagnetic energy to combat enemy forces and assets.
- These weapons include high energy lasers and other high power electromagnetics—such as millimeter wave and high power microwave weapons.
- They are going to be the future of anti-missiles, anti-drones or anti-aircraft warfare.

Mange outbreak reported among Asiatic wild dogs in Mudumalai.
- Mange is a skin disease that affects mammals caused by microscopic mites that burrow into skin.

About Dhole (Cuon alpinus)
- Distribution: India, Cambodia, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand etc.
  - In India, it inhabits Eastern and Western Ghats, Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal, Ladakh etc.
- Characteristics
  - Carnivores that resemble a small wolf or domestic dog in size.
  - Hunt mainly in early morning or late evening.
- Threat: Habitat loss, disease threat etc.
- Conservation status:
  - IUCN: Endangered
  - Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule I and II
  - CITES: Appendix II

NASA's Juno captures closest views of erupting volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io.
- Moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar system.

About Juno mission
- Launched in 2011.
- Aim: To understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter.
  - It will investigate the existence of a possible solid planetary core, map Jupiter’s intense magnetic field, etc.
- In its extended mission, it continues its investigation of Jupiter till 2025, or until the spacecraft’s end of life.

World Health Organization (WHO) has prequalified the Euvichol-S vaccine for Cholera.
- It’s a simplified formulation of the oral cholera vaccine (OCV) Euvichol-Plus.
- Uses fewer ingredients, is cheaper, and can be made more quickly than old version.

About Cholera:
- It’s an acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with Vibrio cholerae bacteria.
- It’s transmitted through ingestion of contaminated food or water.
- Highest numbers of cases are reported in the Middle East and Africa.
- India reported 132 cases in 2023 (till July).

NASA has announced that Dragonfly mission to Saturn's massive moon Titan will launch in 2028.
- It is fourth mission of NASA’s New Frontiers Program. The other three are NewHorizons, Juno, and OSIRIS-Rex (also OSIRIS-APEX).

About Dragonfly Mission
- Goal: To explore the chemistry and habitability of multiple surface sites covering a large area. It will help in investigating Titan’s habitability.
- It will reach Titan in 2034.
Titan is the only satellite in our solar system known to be blanketed by a dense atmosphere and host liquid seas on its surface

Paleontologists have unearthed a giant predator snake in Gujarat’s Panandhro Lignite Mine in Kutch.
- The new species is named Vasuki indicus.

About Vasuki indicus:
- Likely lived 47 million years ago during the Middle Eocene Period.
- Length range: 36-49 feet.
- Lived in marshy swamp near the coast
- It’s a member of the Madtsoiidae snake family that appeared roughly 90 million years ago but went extinct about 12,000 years ago.
- It spread from India through southern Eurasia and into north Africa after the Indian subcontinent collided with Eurasia around 50 million years ago.

About Shompen Tribe
- One of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
- Reside in dense tropical rain forests of Great Nicobar island.
- Belong to the Mongoloid group.
- According to Census (2011), estimated population of Shompen is 229.
- They are hunters and gatherers. They used to hunt wild pig, python, monitor Lizard, crocodile, etc.
- Live a semi-nomadic life and have not been colonised at one place in a defined reserve forest.