Why is it in the News?

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower, which has been active since April 15, will peak on May 4 and 5.

About Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower:

• The Eta Aquariids are a meteor shower associated with Halley's Comet.
• The shower is visible from about April 19 to about May 28 each year with peak activity on or around May 5.
• It is formed when Earth passes through the orbital plane of the famous Halley’s Comet, which takes about 76 years to orbit the Sun once.
• It seems to be originating from the Aquarius constellation, hence ‘Eta Aquariid’.
• The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is known for its rapid speed.
  • This makes for long, glowing tails which can last up to several minutes.
• About 30 to 40 Eta Aquarid meteors can be seen per hour during the peak of the meteor shower if observed from the Southern Hemisphere.
• The number decreases to about 10 meteors per hour if being viewed in the Northern Hemisphere.
• This is due to the location of the “radiant” — the position in the sky where the meteor shower seems to come from.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, Eta Aquarid meteors most often appear as ‘Earthgrazers’ long meteors that appear to skim the surface of the Earth.
• In the South, however, they can be seen higher up in the sky and hence are more visible.

What are Comets?

• Comets are frozen leftovers from the formation of our solar system, some 4.6 billion years ago.
• They are composed of dust, rock and ice and orbit around the Sun in highly elliptical orbits which can, in some cases, take hundreds of thousands of years to complete.
• Billions of them are theorised to be orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune, in the Kuiper Belt and even more distant Oort cloud.
• Comets come in different sizes, although most are roughly 10 km wide.
• However, as they come closer to the Sun, comets “heat up and spew gases and dust into a glowing head that can be larger than a planet.
• This material also forms a tail that stretches millions of miles.

How are Meteor Showers Related to Comets?

• Meteors are simply grains of dust or rock that burn up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
  • This burning also creates a brief tail.
• Since most meteors are tiny they completely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. However, once in a while, a large enough meteor passes through and hits the ground (at which time it is called a meteorite), often causing significant damage.
• A meteor shower can be observed when Earth passes through the clouds of dust left behind in a comet’s orbital plane.
• The sky lights up with small and large meteor tails as the debris left behind by the comet interacts with Earth’s atmosphere.

Why is it in the News?

India’s score on the World Press Freedom Index fell over the last year, from 36.62 to 31.28, according to World Press Freedom Index.

About World Press Freedom Index 2024:

• The World Press Freedom Index, an annual report published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), evaluates the ability of journalists to work and report freely and independently across 180 countries.
• The index ranks nations based on a press freedom questionnaire covering five categories:
  • Political context
  • Legal framework
  • Economic context
  • Ssociocultural context, and
  • Security
• It is important to note that the index focuses solely on press freedom and does not assess the quality of journalism or human rights violations in general.

Key Findings in the 2024 Index:

• Global decline: The report reveals an overall deterioration in press freedom worldwide, with an average drop of 7.6 points.
• Political repression: There has been a sharp increase in political repression against journalists and independent media outlets.
• Top-ranking countries:
  • Norway ranks first, followed by Denmark and Sweden.
  • European countries, particularly those within the European Union, continue to demonstrate strong press freedom.
• Regions with the worst performance: The Maghreb and Middle East regions face the most significant restrictions on press freedom imposed by government forces.
• Lowest-ranking countries:
  • Eritrea ranks last, followed by Syria and Afghanistan.

India's Ranking:

• Although India's rank slightly improved from 161 in 2023 to 159 in 2024, this change is primarily due to other countries dropping in their rankings.
• India experienced a decline in all indicators except security.
• Notably, India ranks behind Turkey, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, which hold positions 158, 152, and 150, respectively.

Why is it in the News?

“GPT-4 is the dumbest model any of you will ever have to use again,” said the OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman at a time when his company is going big on superintelligence or Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

What Is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)?

• Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is a team used to define the concept of development of AI to a level that can almost be capable of human intelligence and able to solve complex problems.
  • Artificial intelligence (AI) is a broad field that encompasses various domains and applications, such as computer vision, natural language processing, machine learning, robotics, and more.
• AGI is a fictional Super Intelligence system that can match human intelligence.
• In Normal terms, AGI is also called strong AI, full AI, or general intelligent action.
• AGI systems are expected to have human-like or superhuman cognitive abilities, such as reasoning, planning, learning, communication, creativity, and problem-solving.
• AGI systems would be able to perform any task that humans can do, and even tasks that humans cannot do.

What is the Difference Between AI & AGI?

• AI systems are trained to perform specific tasks that require some level of intelligence, such as recognizing faces, translating languages, playing games, or diagnosing diseases.
• However, these systems are not able to generalize their skills and knowledge to other domains or tasks that they were not trained for.
  • This is where artificial general intelligence (AGI) comes in.
• Artificial intelligence is an Umbrella containing the science of developing systems and processes that can replicate human intelligence.
• It's an umbrella containing multiple subdomains specifically built to develop such intelligence systems.
• Artificial General Intelligence is more like the system's ability to learn by itself, and behave like human intelligence. It's an evolved system with the help of heavily trained AI over time.

How can AGI Help Humanity?

• In theory, AGI has innumerable positive implications.
  • For instance, in healthcare, it can redefine diagnostics, treatment planning, and personalised medicine by integrating and analysing vast datasets, far beyond the capabilities of humans.
• In finance and business, AGI could automate various processes and enhance overall decision-making, offering real-time analytics and market predictions with accuracy.
• When it comes to education, AGI could transform adaptive learning systems that work towards the unique needs of students.
  • This could potentially democratise access to personalised education worldwide.

Why is it in the News?

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to issue a Blue Corner notice against absconding Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna.

What is Interpol’s Colour-coded Notices?

• A Blue or a Blue Corner notice is a part of Interpol’s elaborate system of colour-coded notices, which enable countries to “share alerts and requests for information [on wanted persons/crimes] worldwide”.
• This sharing of critical crime-related information is crucial for tackling internationally spread-out criminal activities.
• There are seven types of notices — Red Notice, Yellow Notice, Blue Notice, Black Notice, Green Notice, Orange Notice, and Purple Notice. Each has a different implication.
  • Red Notice: To seek the location and arrest of persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence.
  • Yellow Notice: To help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves.
  • Blue Notice: To collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.
  • Black Notice: To seek information on unidentified bodies.
  • Green Notice: To provide a warning about a person’s criminal activities, where the person is considered to be a possible threat to public safety.
  • Orange Notice: To warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing a serious and imminent threat to public safety.
  • Purple Notice: To seek or provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals.
• These notices are issued by Interpol’s General Secretariat at the request of a member country’s Interpol National Central Bureau and are made available for all member countries.

What is Interpol?

• Interpol, or the International Criminal Police Organization, is an intergovernmental organization that facilitates global police cooperation and crime control.
• Founded in 1923, Interpol enables member countries to share data and collaborate on investigating cross-border crimes, such as terrorism, drug trafficking, cybercrime, and human trafficking.
• Interpol is composed of a network of 194 member countries, each having a National Central Bureau (NCB) that serves as the point of contact for international investigations. Key functions of Interpol include:
  • Providing a secure communication system for member countries to exchange information on criminal activities.
  • Facilitating operational support and assistance for member countries in managing crime-related crises and emergencies.
  • Coordinating training and capacity-building initiatives to enhance the capabilities of law enforcement agencies.
  • Issuing colour-coded notices (e.g., Red Notice for wanted persons) to alert member countries about international criminals and activities.
  • Providing access to databases containing vital data on known criminals, fingerprints, DNA profiles, and stolen and lost travel documents.
• Interpol functions within the framework of international law and operates in accordance with the principle of neutrality, ensuring that it does not interfere in the political, military, religious, or racial affairs of member countries.
• Its main objective is to provide a platform for international police cooperation and create a safer world for all.

Why is it in the News?

Recently, the Delhi High Court called for action against the 'rampant use of Oxytocin' in dairy colonies.

What is Oxytocin?

• Oxytocin also known as the ‘love hormone’ is secreted by the pituitary glands of mammals during sex, childbirth, lactation, or social bonding.
• It is normally produced in the hypothalamus and released by the posterior pituitary.
• It can be chemically manufactured and sold by pharma companies for use during childbirth.
• It is administered either as an injection or a nasal solution. 

Side effects of oxytocin:

• A few side effects of oxytocin in humans would include:
  • Allergic reactions on the skin like rashes Itching, hives Swelling, lips, tongue, or throat
  • Changes in the heart rhythm causing fast or irregular heartbeat, dizziness, feeling faint or lightheaded
  • Pain in the chest
  • Breathlessness and trouble breathing
  • Nausea Vomiting
  • Severe headache
  • Blurred vision
  • Pounding in the neck or ears
  • Jaundice Seizure
• According to doctors, prolonged use of oxytocin injections also causes fertility disorders like poor oestrus signs, reduced lactation period, lower conception rate, and high embryonic mortalities.
• Oxytocin injection given to cattle to boost the delivery of milk production is one of the reasons for the early onset of puberty among girls, the development of breasts in males, and the lack of testosterone production due to hormonal imbalance. 

Affects fertility in both men and women:

• Milk adulterated with oxytocin is to be avoided by pregnant women as it can cause abortion and babies may be born with deformities.
• It also increases the risk of haemorrhage in mothers after birth and can also inhibit breastfeeding. 
  • However, boiling milk can help eliminate traces of oxytocin. 

What are Hormones?

• Hormones are special chemicals produced by glands in the endocrine system that act as messengers in the body, regulating various physiological processes like growth, metabolism, reproduction, and mood.
• They travel through the bloodstream to target organs and tissues, where they exert their effects by binding to specific receptors and influencing cellular activity.