Current Affairs Quiz 28 February 2024

INTERPOL is an international organization with administrative capabilities to help countries work together to fight international crime.It does not have executive powers. Therefore its officials do not arrest suspects or act without the approval of national authorities.

Types of Interpol Notice
• Red Notice: To seek the location and arrest of persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence.
• Yellow Notice: To help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves.
• Blue Notice: To collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a criminal investigation.
• Black Notice: To seek information on unidentified bodies.
• Green Notice: To provide warning about a person’s criminal activities, where the person is considered to be a possible threat to public safety.
• Orange Notice: To warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing a serious and imminent threat to public safety.
• Purple Notice: To seek or provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals.
• INTERPOL–United Nations Security Council Special Notice: Issued for entities and individuals who are the targets of UN Security Council Sanctions Committees.

Positronium, comprising a bound electron ( e- ) and positron ( e+ ), is a fundamental atomic system.
– Due to its very short life, it annihilates with a half life of 142 nano-seconds.
– Its mass is twice the electron mass and enjoys the unique distinction of being a pure leptonic atom.
– This hydrogen-like system, with halved frequencies for excitation, makes it a great contender for attempting laser cooling and thereby performing tests of fundamental theories in physics.

Guinea worm disease
• Guinea worm disease, also called dracunculiasis, a neglected tropical disease (NTD),
• It is caused by the parasite Dracunculus medinensis.
• A person typically becomes infected by drinking water containing water fleas infected with guinea worm larvae.
• After infection, around a year later, the adult female migrates to an exit site – usually a lower limb – and induces an intensely painful blister on the skin.
• The open sore left by its exit is also susceptible to secondary infections.
Signs and symptoms
• As the worm migrates to its exit site, people have allergic reactions, including hives, fever, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
• More than 90% of Guinea worm infections manifest in the legs and feet. The individual has an excruciating experience when the adult female worm emerges through the skin.
Impact
• Dracunculiasis, itself is not lethal, it debilitates those whom it infects and prevents them from performing daily tasks and earning their livelihoods.
Prevention
• There is no vaccine to prevent the disease, nor is there any medication to treat patients.

Dracunculiasis is rarely fatal, but infected people become non-functional for weeks and months.

BrahMos missiles
• It is a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya.
o The missile derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers.
• The BrahMos joint venture was formed in 1998 and the first successful launch of the missile took place in 2001.
Features
• Stages: BrahMos is a two-stage missile with a solid propellant booster engine.
o First stage brings the missile to supersonic speed and then gets separated.
o The second stage takes the missile closer to three times the speed of sound in cruise phase.
• Range: The range of the missile was originally capped at 290 kms as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
o Following India’s entry into the club in June 2016, DRDO officials had stated that the range would be extended to 450 km and to 600 km at a later stage.

About Northern Ireland
• It is a part of the United Kingdom and It is bordered by the Republic of Ireland in the south and west.
• In the east, it is separated from Scotland by the North Channel.
• In the north, it is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.
• Highest Point: Slieve Donard which is located within the Mourne Mountains
o Sperrin Mountains
• The Antrim Plateau, situated in the northeast, constitutes another important geographical region in Northern Ireland.
• The Lagan River, which flows through the valley, serves as an essential water source for the region, supporting agriculture, industry, and residential needs.
• Northern Ireland boasts numerous lakes, known locally as loughs. Among these, Lough Neagh is the largest,
o Lough Erne.