TNPSC Current Affairs January 04, 2020

www.tnpsc.academy – TNPSC Current Affairs January 04, 2020 (04/01/2020)

Download as PDF

Topic: Latest Diary of Events

January 4: World Braille Day

Every Year January 4 is celebrated as World Braille Day in order to mark the birth anniversary of Louis Braille. Louis is the inventor of Braille, a written language for blind people.

Key facts:

The World Braille Day is celebrated by the United Nations and also by other world organizations. In November 2018, the UN passed a resolution in order to celebrate the day.

The day was first celebrated on January 4, 2019. The World Braille Day spreads awareness about Braille script and other accessible forms of communication. Many establishments like banks, hospitals and restaurants fail to print their materials in Braille script.

_

Topic: International Events, Persons in News

Qassem Soleimani killing

Major General Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander, was recently killed in a US strike at Baghdad International Airport.

He was the long-serving head of Iran’s Quds (“Jerusalem”) Force and has been seen as a deadly adversary by America and its allies.

What has the US said?

The US Department of Defense has stated that the US military had taken the “decisive step to protect US personnel abroad by killing Soleimani, the head of Quds Force, which is the overseas operations wing of the IRGC and a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation.”

According to the State Department, the regime in Tehran “is responsible for the deaths of at least 603 American service members in Iraq since 2003”.

This, according to the US, “accounts for 17% of all deaths of US personnel in Iraq from 2003 to 2011, and is in addition to the many thousands of Iraqis killed by the IRGC’s proxies”.

In recent years, Quds Force plots have been uncovered in countries including Germany, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Kenya, Bahrain, and Turkey.

What is the Quds Force?

Quds is the Arabic word for Jerusalem, and is responsible for carrying out unconventional warfare and intelligence activities.

The force is responsible for training, financing and providing assistance to some extremist groups overseas. It also undertakes Iranian missions in other countries, including covert ones.

What does Soleimani’s death mean for US-Iran relations?

Soleimani’s death would result in a dramatic escalation in relations between the US and Iran.

The strike has left the Middle East on edge, with possible repercussions beyond the region.

The killing would make Iran more decisive in resisting the US, while anti-US forces would exact revenge across the Muslim world.

The killing could have a ripple effect in any number of countries across the Middle East where Iran and the US compete for influence.

_

Topic: New Inventions on Science and Health

What is Extraocular Vision?

The ability to see without eyes is known as extraocular vision. Previous researchers have defined it as the ability to resolve scenes without discrete eyes.

Why in News?

Researchers have shown that red brittle star, which are relatives of starfish, can see even though it does not have eyes. The red brittle star (Ophiocoma wendtii), which lives in the coral reefs of the Caribbean Sea, becomes only the second creature, after a sea urchin species, known to have this ability (barring freak cases in other species).

How it works?

In sea urchins and brittle stars, researchers suspect that extraocular vision is facilitated by the photoreceptor cells found on their bodies.

_

Topic: Profile of States, Latest Diary of Events

First-of-its kind turtle rehab centre comes up in Bihar

A first-of-its-kind rehabilitation centre for freshwater turtles will be inaugurated in Bihar’s Bhagalpur forest division in January 2020.

The rehab centre, spread over half a hectare, will be able to shelter 500 turtles at a time.

The need to build such a centre was felt after several turtles were found severely wounded and sick when rescued from smuggles by rescue teams.