Location & Significance: Located at Hanle, Ladakh, it is the largest imaging Cherenkov telescope in Asia, situated at an altitude of ~4,300 m, making it the highest of its kind in the world.
Objective: The MACE Observatory will observe high-energy gamma rays to help in the study of the most energetic phenomena in the universe such as supernovae, black holes, and gamma-ray bursts.
Development: Domestically designed and developed by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, supported by the Electronics Corporation of India and other collaborators, as a demonstration of India’s ability to undertake advanced scientific research and technology.
Trade Weaponization
Definition & Tools: Foreign policy tool use of trade weaponization-the creation of obstacles to trade, imposition of sanctions, and embargoes.
Consequences: It will eventually cause protectionism, trade wars, and supply chain disruption posing a severe threat to the global economy.
Way forward against these consequences: Ways to battle against it are through institutional cooperation by forums like IPEF and strategic measures for resilience in the supply chain.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Laureates: Awarded to John Hopfield & Geoffrey Hinton for work in training artificial neural networks (ANNs) which is considered the foundation for advancement in machine learning.
Impact on AI: Their study refreshes AI systems implemented in varied applications, including image and natural language processing.
India Eliminates Trachoma
WHO Announcement: The World Health Organization announced that India is now free of trachoma, a major public health milestone.
Background & Interventions: Trachoma was one of the causes of blindness in India, leading to some successful interventions have been the NPCBVI and WHO’s SAFE strategy.
Digital Arrest Scam
New Form of Cyber Frauds: A type of fraud in which fraudsters are taking the garb of a police officer and putting victims under ‘digital arrest’ to collect money from them.
Preventive Measures: Awareness and education toward such scams will prevent the theft of personal and financial information.
Key Concepts and Policies
Cherenkov Radiation: It was discovered by Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov; it is the emission of light by charged particles passing through a nonconducting medium.
Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs): It is a subcategory of machine learning that has been recognized to model the workings of the human brain. ANNs have been able to assume a significant role in the development of AI technologies.
Trachoma: The infectious disease caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, once a major cause of blindness in India.
