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Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 15th Dec 2020
Today's Must Read Articles :National Energy Conservation Day
HEADLINES:
National Energy Conservation Day
WHY IN NEWS:
Hot from PIB !
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 1 : Awards : Energy
ISSUE:
NATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION DAY
- The National Energy Conservation Day is being celebrated every year on December 14 since 1991.
- The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), under Ministry of Power spearheads the celebrations every year.
OBJECTIVE
ACTIVITIES TAKEN UP
- BEE recognizes and encourages endeavours of industries in reducing energy consumption by felicitating them with National Energy Conservation Awards.
- BEE also awards prizes to the national winners of the annual National Painting Competition on Energy Conservation.
NATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION AWARDS
- The annual energy conservation awards recognize innovation and achievements in energy conservation.
- The award is given to the industries, buildings, zonal railways, state designated agencies.
- The awards are also recognition of their demonstrated commitment to energy conservation and efficiency.
- The scheme has motivated industry and other establishment to adopt energy efficiency measures.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The Ministry of Power has launched the National Awareness Campaign in order to promote energy conservation in the country.
- Painting competition for students at the School, State and at National level has been included as one of the activities of the campaign.
SOURCES: PIB | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 15th Dec 2020
Exoplanet HD106906 b
HEADLINES:
In weird planet 336 light-years away, clues about our own Planet Nine
WHY IN NEWS:
Like the presumed Planet Nine in our Solar System, newly described exoplanet orbits its star from a great distance, at an extreme tilt, and influences the behaviour of various objects in its system.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Space
ISSUE:
EXOPLANET HD106906 b
- HD106906 b and its behaviour have been described in a study published in The Astronomical Journal on December 10.
- Although it has not been found yet, it has been predicted by a series of studies over the last few years, and has been described by astronomers as “hiding in plain sight”.
- If it exists, Planet Nine is 10 times as massive as Earth.
WHY IS PLANET NINE BELIEVED TO EXIST?
- Astronomers believe all this is happening under the influence of Planet Nine.
- In the outer reaches of the Solar System, beyond Neptune, there is a region called the Kuiper belt, populated by icy debris.
- The object orbits our Sun — but at an extreme tilt (54°) when compared to the orbits of Earth and the other seven planets.
- Simulations showed that the influence of Planet Nine (if it exists) would explain this tilt. Without Planet Nine, the tilt would be unexplained.
NEW EXOPLANET VS PLANET NINE?
- Both planets (assuming Planet Nine is real) reside far out in their respective stellar systems. Both orbit their respective stars at an extreme tilt.
- HD106906 b is unusually far away from its pair of host stars — over 730 times the distance that earth is from the sun.
- That makes its orbit extremely long — 15,000 years. Its binary star is relatively young at 15 million years, compared to our Sun which is 4.6 billion years old.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The planet formed close to the binary star, then kicked out because of gravitational interactions with the star.
- This stirred up the objects in the debris disc, and disturbed its symmetry with the comet ring.
- But when the planet was kicked out, it should normally have been sent out of the system altogether, and become a rouge planet. But it still orbits the star, from far away.
SOURCES: IE | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 15th Dec 2020
India Water Impact 2020
HEADLINES:
India water impact 2020
WHY IN NEWS:
Hot from PIB !
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Water Management
ISSUE:
INDIA WATER IMPACT 2020
- India Water Impact 2020 is a five-day long summit.
- The event is co-organised by National Mission for Clean Ganga and Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- During the event, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research signed MOU with cGanga (think-tank of NMCG) for development of sludge management framework in India.
SOURCES: PIB | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 15th Dec 2020
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