StarLink

• Russia denied on Monday that Starlink terminals were being used by Russian troops engaged in front-line combat in Ukraine.

Context:

• Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite internet system was declared unusable by the Kremlin on Monday since it was neither authorized for use in Russia nor formally provided by the country.Russia has been utilizing Starlink for military communications in areas of Ukraine that it controls, according to information released by Ukraine on Sunday.
  
  About Starlink:-
  
  
• Thousands of tiny satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) make up the Starlink constellation of satellites.
  In 2019, SpaceX started launching them into orbit.
  Elon Musk created SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services provider.
• These satellites, numbering in the over 3,000 range, transmit internet signals to specific terrestrial receivers.
  There is no need for any ground infrastructure with Starlink, in contrast to standard internet providers.
  Similar to satellite TV, all it takes to access high-speed internet is a tiny satellite dish or a reception device.
  
  Significance:
  
  
• Global Connectivity: Starlink wants to provide high-speed internet to everyone, even those who live in isolated places and rural locations where access to typical broadband services is either limited or nonexistent.
• Low Latency: By minimizing the signal delay caused by conventional geostationary satellites, low latency satellites enable better online gaming and video conferencing.
• Reliable and Redundant: In the event of a satellite failure, the high number of satellites in the constellation minimizes service disruptions through redundancy.
• Emergency Connectivity: During natural disasters and other emergencies, Starlink has demonstrated its ability to provide emergency internet connectivity, giving affected communities vital lines of contact.
  
  Challenges
  
  
• Space Debris: With thousands of satellites in low-Earth orbit, space debris and its effects on other satellite operations and the space environment have become a source of concern.
• Astronomical Interference: Because of their brightness and effect on the night sky, Starlink satellites have come under fire for allegedly interfering with ground-based astronomical studies.
• Concerns about potential monopolistic control over the global internet are raised by Starlink’s increasing dominance in the satellite internet business.

Event Horizon Telescope (EHT)

New information on a massive black hole 53 million light years away that was originally captured on camera by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) in 2017 has been released by scientists.

Background:

At the time, the blackhole image obtained with EHT was heralded as a source of “astonishment and wonder” since it revealed “a part of the universe that was off limits.”A ring of light that appears brighter on one side surrounds a centrally dark area in the image.The huge galaxy, known as M87 or Messier 87, is located 55 million light-years from Earth, close to the Virgo galaxy cluster.The mass of the super-massive black hole is 6.5 billion times greater than that of the sun.

• About EHT:
  
  
• The Extremely Large Telescope (EHT) is a global network of radio telescopes that collaborate to examine a shared object in space, rather than a single telescope.
• The very-long baseline interferometry approach, which EHT benefits from, involves correlating the data that one telescope obtains about the object with data from the others using incredibly accurate clocks.
• The event horizon, or the hypothetical barrier surrounding a black hole that symbolizes the point of no return from which no radiation or light can escape, is the inspiration behind the project’s name.

About black holes:

• Space telescopes equipped with specialized instruments can detect a black hole by observing how stars that are in close proximity to the black hole behave differently from other stars. A black hole is defined as an area in space where gravity is so strong that even light cannot escape. This strong gravity can result from matter being compressed into a tiny space, which can happen when a star is dying.

Index of industrial production (IIP)

• There was a little increase in industrial output in December.
  
  Context:
  
  The most recent Index of Industrial Production (IIP) result for industrial growth is 3.8 percent, which is higher than the November 2023 figure of 2.4 percent.
  
  Regarding the Industrial Production Index (IIP):
  
  
• Monthly publication schedule. (IIP)
• The National Statistical Office (NSO) is the publisher.
• Ministry: Statistics and Program Execution Ministry.
• Year of Base: 2011–2012.
• An indicator known as IIP tracks variations in the amount of industrial product production over a certain time frame.

It is a composite indicator that calculates the rate of growth for industry groupings categorized as follows:

• Manufacturing, mining, and electricity are broad sectors.
  These three industries have respective weights of 6% for manufacturing, 14.4% for mining, and 8% for power.
• Energy, crude oil, coal, cement, steel, refinery products, natural gas, and fertilizers are the eight main industries.
• They make up roughly 40% of the total weight of the IIP’s goods.
• The eight core sector industries are listed in decreasing weight order as follows: Products from Refineries: Energy; Steel; Coal; Crude Oil; Natural Gas; Cement; Fertilizers.
  Basic goods, capital goods, and intermediate goods are the use-based sectors.

RED SEA

Houthi rebels in Yemen ambushed a ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which is close to the Red Sea.

Context:

Concerns about supply shortages have been raised by the Houthis’ targeting of ships in the Red Sea due to Israel’s offensive in Gaza. One of the busiest shipping channels in the world is the Red Sea, therefore any disruption to the routes might have a big impact on the entire world.

Concerning RED SEA:

• Situated between Africa and Asia, the Red Sea is an arm of the Indian Ocean.
• Through the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, it is connected to the ocean on the south.
• The Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez (which leads to the Suez Canal) are located to its north.
• The Suez Canal connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
• With ships traveling between Europe, Asia, and east Africa, the Red Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
• The Red Sea is the passageway for about 12% of all trade, including 30% of all container traffic worldwide.

Corruption Perceptions Index

Transparency International has issued the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2023, which demonstrates that the majority of nations have made little to no progress in combating corruption in the public sector.

Background:

Fighting public sector corruption has proven challenging, particularly in the global south where many anti-corruption initiatives have fallen short of expectations.

About Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI):

The CPI assigns a score of 0 (extremely corrupt) to 100 (very clean) based on perceptions of public sector corruption, ranking 180 nations and territories worldwide.

The Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2023’s principal highlights include:

• More than two thirds of the nations receive a score of less than 50 out of 100, which amply suggests that they have significant corruption.
• The vast majority of nations have either declined or made no progress in the past ten years, while the worldwide average score remains stuck at just 43.
• For the sixth year running, Denmark leads the index with a score of 90. Finland and New Zealand are not far behind, with scores of 87 and 85, respectively.
• According to the CPI 2023, India was rated 93rd out of 180 nations. Somalia, Venezuela, Syria, South Sudan, and Yemen, with scores of 11, 13, 13, and 13, respectively, claim the worst ranks. India came in at number 85 in 2022. India’s total score for the year 2023 was 39, down from 40 in 2022.

Transparency International:

• It is an international non-governmental organization with its headquarters located in Berlin, Germany. It was established in 1993 with the goal of preventing criminal activity that results from corruption and fighting global corruption through civil society anti-corruption initiatives.
• The Corruption Perception Index and the Global Corruption Barometer are two of its publications.