Addapedia Odisha | Daily Current Affairs | 01 December 2023 | Download PDF

• Irish author Paul Lynch, 46, won the 2023 Booker Prize for Fiction for his novel “Prophet Song.”

Key points

• Lynch is the fifth Irish writer to win this prestigious literary award.
• Previous winners include Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, and Hilary Mantel.
• The award includes £50,000 (around $63,000) and significantly boosts Lynch’s profile.
• “Prophet Song” is set in a near-future Dublin, portraying a mother’s struggle to protect her family from totalitarianism.

Booker Prize Details:

• The Booker Prize is open to fiction by writers of any nationality, written in English and published in the U.K. or Ireland.
• The 2023 shortlist included two Americans, a Canadian, a Kenyan, and another Irish author.
• The Booker Prize, first awarded in 1969, has a legacy of recognizing outstanding fiction.
• Previous Irish winners include Iris Murdoch, John Banville, Roddy Doyle, and Anne Enright.

41 construction workers building a tunnel for a road widening project in Uttarakhand got trapped, and it has been two weeks since the incident.

Key Points:

• The Silkyara Bend Tunnel is part of the Char Dham Pariyojana in Uttarakhand, aiming to improve connectivity to pilgrimage sites. The trapped workers were extending National Highway 134 to reduce travel time.
• Concerns Raised: 
  • Even before the mishap, environmentalists, scientists, and locals criticized the Char Dham Pariyojana. 
  • The 900 km road widening project through the Himalayas raised concerns about landslides and disasters.
• Approval Controversy: Despite Supreme Court approval for “national security” reasons, the project avoided a comprehensive environment impact assessment (EIA), leading to criticism.

Way forward:

• The Silkyara tunnel disaster highlights the need for better scrutiny, expertise, and monitoring in infrastructure development in fragile terrains, emphasizing the importance of weighing risks against benefits in future projects.

Understanding the Supreme Court of India:

Jurisdictions:

• Original, appellate, and advisory are the three jurisdictions of the Supreme Court.
• Acts as a Constitutional Court and Court of Appeal.

Benches:

• Constitution Benches (five, seven, or nine judges) decide on constitutional issues according Article 145(3).
• Division Benches (two judges) and full Benches (three judges) handle various topics.

Pending Cases:

• Presently, 79,813 cases are pending before 34 judges, prompting discussions on structural changes.

Historical Background:

• Established on January 28, 1950, under Article 124 of the Constitution.
• Evolved from three Supreme Courts during colonial times to the current structure.

Current Challenges:

• Overburdened court with a backlog of cases.
• Calls for a Final Court of Appeal and a permanent Constitution Bench for greater consistency.

• Dollarisation can help stop hyperinflation by replacing the local currency with dollars.
• This change breaks the link between rising prices and the government printing more money.
• This prevents political interests from using excessive money for their benefit.

Positive Impact on Growth:

• Dollarisation encourages the economy to focus on exports and attract foreign investment.
• Access to dollars becomes limited to foreign trade and capital inflows.
• A stable dollar value encourages long-term planning for both local and foreign economic activities.

Potential Problems:

• Adopting the dollar means losing control over local monetary policy.
• Countries can’t use depreciation to boost exports, relying solely on export promotion.
• This loss of policy leverage can be seen as positive, pushing governments to boost productivity during economic downturns instead of changing exchange rates.

Do you know?

• Three fully dollarised economies are Ecuador, Panama and El Salvador have had successful economic outcomes following dollarisation.

Composition: 

• Optical fibres are slender strands made of glass, similar in diameter to a human hair.

Functionality: 

• These fibres transport various digital information forms, including text, images, videos, and phone calls, over long distances at nearly the speed of light.

Durability: 

• Despite their thin appearance, properly manufactured optical fibres, when encased in protective layers, are robust, lightweight, and flexible. 
• They can be buried, submerged, or coiled without damage.

Historical Significance: 

• Physicist Charles Kao’s vision, proposed almost 60 years ago, foresaw glass fibres replacing copper wires for telecommunication.
• Today, his foresight is a reality, recognized with a Nobel Prize in physics in 2009.

How do Optical Fibres Work?

Light Behavior: 

• Light, an electromagnetic wave, can be guided through optical fibres. 
• When light hits a glass surface, it partially passes through and partially reflects.

Total Internal Reflection: 

• The refractive index difference between glass and air enables total internal reflection. 
• This phenomenon allows light to traverse long distances within the glass without significant power loss.

Fibre Optic Communication System: 

• Comprising a transmitter (encodes information), an optical fibre (transports signals), and a receiver (reproduces information), this system achieves high data-transmission rates (terabits per second) with resistance to external interference.

Advantages: 

• Optical fibres, unlike traditional communication mediums, are unaffected by weather and external disturbances, making them highly reliable for data transmission.

• Eco-Retreat, a popular glamping event in Odisha, is back for its 5th edition, inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik virtually.
• This year’s event is bigger, taking place at three new locations—Konark, Sonapur, and Bhitarkanika, in addition to Putsil, Daringbadi, Hirakud, and Satkosia.

Aim:

• Odisha’s Eco Retreats aim to be zero-waste discharge tourism initiatives, strategically located in ecologically sensitive areas with minimal impact on the environment.
• Tourists can enjoy 5-star facilities, glamorous camps, guided tours, and adventure activities like water sports and paragliding during their winter stay.

• Dongria Kondhs, a tribal community in Odisha under the Niyamgiri hills, are gaining attention for their successful strawberry cultivation.
• Known for preserving their culture and relying on Niyamgiri’s resources, Dongria Kondhs have diversified into horticulture.

Key points

• Farmers from Kurli village pioneered strawberry cultivation with support from Dongria Kondh Development Agency (DKDA), Odisha PVTG Empowerment and Livelihoods Improvement Programme (OPELIP), and Chatikana Kondh Development Agency.
• Previously, they achieved success in cultivating various fruits and spices like banana, pineapple, turmeric, ginger, arrowroot, jackfruits, mango, flower broom, and orange.

Did you know?

• The Dongria Kondh tribe is one of the 13 PVTGs in Odisha, India.

• World AIDS Day is observed on December 1st every year. 
• It’s a day to raise awareness about the AIDS pandemic and to remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses.
• The theme for World AIDS Day 2023 is “Let Communities Lead”. 
• A red ribbon is the universal symbol of awareness and support for people living with HIV. 
• Wearing a red ribbon is a way to show support on World AIDS Day.  Red symbolizes: 

• Blood
• The pain caused by the disease
• Anger about global inaction to fight the epidemic
• A warning to take the disease seriously
• Love and passion

• Manisha Padhi, an officer in the Indian Air Force from Odisha, has achieved a historic milestone by becoming the country’s first woman Aide-De-Camp (ADC).

Key Points:

• Mizoram Governor Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati appointed Squadron Leader Manisha Padhi, who joined the Indian Air Force in 2015, as the first woman ADC from the Indian Armed Forces.
• The Governor acknowledged Padhi’s appointment not only as a milestone but also as a testament to women breaking gender norms and excelling in various fields.
• She hails from Berhampur and is an alumnus of C. V. Raman College of Engineering, Bhubaneswar, with her parents residing in Bhubaneswar.

• The state government has chosen Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) as a consultant for three airports.

Key points

• Rourkela, Jeypore, and Amarda Road airports will be upgraded with the help of RITES.
• Rourkela Airport faces challenges in regular flights due to issues like the lack of Instrument Landing System (ILS) on over 30% of days in a month, affecting flights’ ability to land. 
• The Airport Authority of India is working on improving visibility rules.

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