Daily Current Affairs 3rd June and 4th June

Pakistan occupied Kashmir

Why in news?

Recently, the Pakistan government has admitted before Islamabad High Court that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is a foreign territory.

About POK

• Historically, Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), once part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, was illegally occupied by Pakistan in 1947. 
• It is bordered to the north and east by China (Xinjiang and Tibet), to the northwest by Afghanistan (Wakhan Corridor), to the west by Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab) and to the south by India (Himachal Pradesh and Punjab).
• During India's Independence in 1947, the British relinquished their claim over the princely state, offering the choice of joining India, Pakistan, or remaining independent.
• At that time, Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, opted for an independent dominion status. However, an uprising in 1947 emerged in Poonch due to punitive taxes imposed by Hari Singh on the region's peasantry.
• In October of the same year, thousands of Pashtun tribesmen from the North-West Frontier Province, backed by the Pakistani Army, infiltrated Jammu and Kashmir aiming to free it from the Maharaja's rule.
• Despite attempts by the Maharaja's army to contain the situation, they failed, leading to the insurgents gaining control over much of the Poonch district. They succeeded in capturing Muzaffarabad and Baramulla. Subsequently, the Maharaja sought Indian government assistance.
• The Indian government agreed but on one condition, the Maharaja has to sign an "Instrument of Accession.” The Maharaja signed it and handed over control of defense, external affairs, and communication to the Indian government.
• Indian troops were swiftly dispatched to Srinagar, and a war began between the Indian and Pakistani armies. This resulted in stabilised control over two regions. The area under the influence of Pakistan-backed rebellions was renamed now known as the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Current Status

• India has control of about half the area of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, which comprises Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, while Pakistan controls a third of the region, divided into two provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
• Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are administered by India as union territories.
• The LOC is the military command line between the parts of the former princely state of Jammu & Kashmir administered by India & Pakistan.

Unified Payment Interface

Why in news?

Recently, the RBI Annual Report highlights efforts to expand the global presence of both UPI and RuPay.

More about the news

• The Payments Vision Document 2025 by the RBI has identified the international expansion of UPI and RuPay cards as a key objective.
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NPCI International Payments (NIPL) plan to extend the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to 20 countries by FY29.
• The RBI report also discusses the potential for collaboration with countries in the European Union and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
• India, so far, has agreements for UPI payments with seven nations such as Sri Lanka, Mauritius, UAE, Singapore, Bhutan, France, and Nepal.

About UPI

• The Unified Payment Interface (UPI) is a real-time payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• It was launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NPCI in collaboration with various banks and payment service providers. 
• UPI aims to simplify digital payments and promote financial inclusion by enabling easy and convenient money transfers.
• It enables individuals to transfer money instantly between bank accounts using their smartphones. 
• UPI eliminates the need for traditional methods like cheques or net banking processes.
• Its services are available round the clock, allowing users to make transactions at any time, even outside of traditional banking hours.
• UPI provides a unified platform, meaning a single platform like Paytm that enables users to link and manage multiple bank accounts from different banks in one app.
• It eliminates the need to share bank account details for each transaction. Users can create a unique UPI ID, similar to an email address, to receive payments securely.

Women in Leadership in Corporate India

Why in news?

Recently, LinkedIn released a report on women in leadership in corporate India.

Key highlights

• The data in the report is based on LinkedIn members in India, where the firm has over 100 million people registered.
• According to a report, representation of women in corporate roles, which has for long been below 30% in India, has been especially stagnating, and even possibly declining in the post-pandemic years.
  • The reduction in the availability of hybrid or work-from-home roles may have contributed to this shift, suppressing the growth of female participation in the corporate labour market.
• It shows that despite progress, women still face obstacles in reaching leadership roles due to bias, societal norms, and structural barriers.
• Sectors like Technology, Information, and Media and Financial Services each have moderate female representation in leadership at 19%. The lowest representation is found in Construction, Oil, Gas, and Mining, and Utilities.
• The report cites suggestions such as a ‘skills-first’ approach to hiring (as opposed to making gendered assumptions on what a prospective employee can or cannot do), mentorship and networking opportunities, and shared parental leave.

Chinese Moon Mission

Why in news?

Recently, China has successfully landed its second spacecraft, the Chang'e-6 unmanned probe on the Moon's far side.

More about the news

• This landing marked the second time a mission has successfully reached the far side of the moon, after China first completed that historic feat in 2019 with its Chang'e-4 probe.
• The Chang'e-6 lander will aim to collect 2 kg (4.4 pounds) of lunar material over two days and bring it back to Earth. 
  • The samples will be transferred to a rocket booster atop the lander, which will launch back into space, tag up with another spacecraft in lunar orbit and return.
• Chang'e-6 marks the world's third lunar landing this year: Japan's SLIM lander touched down in January, followed the next month by a lander from U.S. startup Intuitive Machines.

About Far Side of the Moon

• The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that always faces away from Earth, opposite to the near side, because of synchronous rotation in the Moon's orbit.
• The far side is dotted with deep and dark craters, making communications and robotic landing operations more challenging.

James Webb Telescope

Why in news?

Recently, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has spotted the earliest-known galaxy.

More about the news

• The discovery was made by an international team of astronomers, who used JWST to observe galaxies as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) program.
• The JWST has spotted the earliest-known galaxy, one that is surprisingly bright and big considering it formed during the universe’s infancy — at only 2% its current age.
• This galaxy, called JADES-GS-z14-0, measures about 1,700-light years across.
• The galaxy has a mass equivalent to 500 million stars the size of our Sun and is rapidly forming new stars — about 20 every year.

About JSWT

• The James Webb Space Telescope (sometimes called JWST or Webb) is a large infrared telescope with an approximately 6.5-meter primary mirror.
• It is an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).
• The telescope was launched in December 2021 and is currently at a point in space known as the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, approximately 1.5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
• It studies every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System.
• Apart from studying the birth of stars, the telescope will also try to dive into complex questions like, what did the early Universe look like? When did the first stars and galaxies emerge?

Nipah Virus

Why in news?

Recently, the Institute of Advanced Virology (IAV) in Kerala has developed non-infectious Nipah virus-like particles (VLPs).

More about the news

• It is a breakthrough for India in vaccine production and development of monoclonal antibodies (MABs) against the Nipah virus.
• This will also help in testing the effectiveness of preventing the entry of Nipah in target cells. This is a major development as India used to import antibodies.
• It can be used for vaccine production, diagnosis and for studying the entry of Nipah virus.

About Virus Like Particles

• Virus-like particles are molecules that closely resemble viruses, but are non-infectious because they contain no viral genetic material.
• They can be naturally occurring or synthesized through the individual expression of viral structural proteins, which can then self-assemble into the virus-like structure.
• Virus-like particle, or VLP, is a type of vaccine that mimics how naturally occurring viruses appear to our bodies.
• VLPs are made up of a central component that acts as a scaffold and numerous antigen-specific components.
• When combined, these components self-assemble to form the familiar shape of a natural virus as they appear to our immune system.
• This may prompt a stronger, more durable and possibly broader immune response from the body.

About Nipah Virus

• Nipah virus is a zoonotic virus that causes Nipah virus infection in humans and other animals, a disease with a very high mortality rate.
• Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are the natural host of the virus.
• Nipah virus is an RNA or Ribonucleic acid virus of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus, and is closely related to Hendra virus.
• Nipah virus was first recognized in 1999 during an outbreak among pig farmers in, Malaysia.
• Human infections range from asymptomatic infection to acute respiratory infection (mild, severe), and fatal encephalitis.
• The incubation period (interval from infection to the onset of symptoms) is believed to range from 4 to 14 days.
• The case fatality rate is estimated at 40% to 75%.
• There is no treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals. The primary treatment for humans is supportive care.

Sarus Crane

Why in news?

Recently, a case study in the Hindu covers the important role played by agricultural biodiversity in maintaining a viable population of Sarus Crane.

About Sarus Crane

• Sarus Crane (Grus Antigone) is the tallest flying bird in the world.
• There are 15 crane species in the world out of which the Sarus crane is the only resident species found in India. 
• The major population of Sarus cranes are found in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan. 
• They are monogamous birds and mate for life.
• The optimal habitat of the bird includes a combination of small seasonal marshes, floodplains, high altitude wetlands, human-altered ponds, fallow and cultivated lands and paddy fields.
• Its survival is threatened by loss and degradation of wetlands, Ingestion of pesticides, hunting of adults and collection of eggs and chicks for trade, food, medicinal purposes and collision with power lines. 
• They are classified as “Vulnerable” in the IUCN Red List and Schedule IV of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.

Military Exercises in News 

Why in news?

Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy are taking part in two mega multinational war games namely Red Flag Air & RIMPAC, hosted by the U.S.

RIMPAC Exercise

• The Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially.
• It is hosted and administered by the United States Navy's Indo-Pacific Command.
• The first RIMPAC, held in 1971, involved forces from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). India first participated in RIMPAC in 2014.
• It is aimed at enhancing interoperability and building trust among Navies of friendly foreign countries.

Exercise Red Flag

• Exercise Red Flag is a two-week advanced aerial combat training exercise held several times a year by the United States Air Force (USAF).
• It aims to offer realistic air-combat training for military pilots and other flight crew members from the United States and allied countries.
• It is designed to replicate a realistic and challenging environment, bringing together aircrew and equipment from different nations and services.

Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Volcano

Why in news

Recently, a new study published in the Journal of Climate explores the climate impacts of this Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai Volcano eruption.

About

• Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai is a submarine volcano in the South Pacific located in Tonga's main island.
• It is part of the highly active Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone and its associated volcanic arc, which extends from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji.
• It is formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Indo-Australian Plate. It lies about 100 km (62 mi) above a very active seismic zone.
• The first recorded eruption at this site occurred in 1912.
• When Tonga's Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted in early 2022, it created a tsunami and the impacts of the eruption were felt as far away as California.