Current Affairs

News: - 

• Prime minister is set to inaugurate the world's largest corporate Office hub, Surat Diamond Bourse.

Surat Diamond Bourse:

• It is located in Khajod village, near Surat.
• It is the world's largest corporate office hub, taking over the erstwhile top position of
• It will also be a global center for trading both rough and polished diamonds as well as jewelry.
• Diamond buyers from all corners of the world will get a global platform to trade at the Surat Diamond Bourse.

Features:

• It is built on 35.54 acres of land at a cost of Rs 3,400 crore.

• It is the world's largest interconnected building, as it houses over 4,500 interconnected offices.

• The mega structure features 15 floors in addition to nine ground towers with office space ranging from 300 sq. ft. to 1 lakh sq. ft. 

• There is a central spine connecting the nine rectangular towers.

Coal

About:

• It is a type of fossil fuel found in the form of sedimentary rocks and is often known as 'Black Gold'.

• It is a conventional source of energy and is widely available. It is used as a domestic fuel, in industries such as iron and steel, steam engines and to generate electricity. Electricity from coal is called thermal power.

• The leading coal producers of the world include China, US, Australia, Indonesia, India.

Distribution of Coal in India:

Gondwana Coal Fields (250 million years old):

• Gondwana coal makes up to 98% of the total reserves and 99% of the production of coal in India.
• Gondwana coal forms India's metallurgical grade as well as superior quality coal.
• It is found in Damodar (Jharkhand-West Bengal), Mahanadi (Chhattisgarh- Odisha), Godavari (Maharashtra), and Narmada valleys.

Tertiary Coal Fields (15-60 million years old):

• Carbon content is very low but is rich in moisture and Sulphur.
• Tertiary coalfields are mainly confined to extra-peninsular regions
• Important areas include Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala.

International Energy Agency

About:

• It is an autonomous Intergovernmental Organization established in 1974 in Paris, France.
• It mainly focuses on its energy policies which include economic development, energy security and environmental protection. These policies are also known as the 3 E's of IEA.
• IEA Clean Coal Centre is dedicated to providing independent information and analysis on how coal can become a cleaner source of energy, compatible with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Need:

• Established in the wake of the oil crisis of 1973-1974, to help its members respond to major disruptions in oil supply.

Mandate:

• Over time, the mandate of the IEA has expanded to include tracking and analyzing key global energy trends, promoting sound energy policy and encouraging multinational energy technology cooperation.
• Ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its member countries and beyond.

Kashi Tamil Sangamam

About:

• Kashi Tamil Sangamam celebrates many aspects of the historical and civilizational connection between India's North and South.
• The broader objective is to bring the two knowledge and cultural traditions (of the North and South) closer, create an understanding of our shared heritage and deepen the people-to-people bond between the regions.
• It is being organized by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with other ministries like Culture, Textiles, Railways, Tourism, Food Processing, Information & Broadcasting etc. and the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
• The endeavor is in sync with National Education Policy (NEP), 2020's emphasis on integrating the wealth of Indian Knowledge Systems with modern systems of knowledge.
• IIT Madras and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) are the two implementing agencies for the programme.

Rising up to Cyber Security Challenges

• The past few incidents have highlighted the vulnerabilities of our fast-expanding digital networks. The first one targeted the servers of India's All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), compromising around 40 million health records and causing a two-week-long system outage.
• Another attack involved a ransom ware group, Black hat, breaching the parent company of Solar Industries Limited, a Ministry of Defense ammunition and explosives manufacturer, and stealing over 2 Terabytes of data. 
• These incidents highlight the urgent need for increased cyber security measures to prevent such attacks from happening in the future.

Challenges related to Cyber Security

Recent Cyber Attacks:

• Ransom ware attacks are becoming more frequent and costly, with over 75% of Indian organizations having faced such attacks and each breach costing an average of ₹35 crore of damage.

Vulnerability of Critical Infrastructure:

• The lines between the physical and digital realms are blurring rapidly, making Critical infrastructure extremely vulnerable to attacks from hostile state and non-state actors.
• Cyber capabilities can be used to undermine critical infrastructure, industry, and security, as seen in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine where electronic systems in warheads, radars, and communication devices have reportedly been rendered ineffective using hacking and GPS jamming.