25-12-21 Daily-Odisha-OPSC Current Affairs

minister Pratap Jena on Tuesday said the process for preparation of a fresh reservation list minusquota for backward classesin the panchayat polls has already been started and the list will be submitted soon to the State Election Commission (SEC).

The minister said that the fresh reservation list is being prepared in accordance with the observations of the Orissa High Court following The Supreme Court‘s order.

While the State Government had already submitted the reservation list with 27% seats reserved for otherbackward classesto the SEC, the Orissa HC, citing recent orders of the SC, observed that there can be no reservation for backward class candidates.

The issue of no reservation to backward classes is also at the centre ofOdisha‘s politics as the BJD announced to give tickets to at least 40% OBC candidates.

Sri Lanka and India are set to sign a long-awaited agreement to jointly develop the ‘Trincomalee oil tank farm.’

Highlights:

The Trincomalee oil tank farm deal is a much-desired project that has been contentious for a long time.

This project has been in the works for 16 months between India and Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister, Udaya Gammanpila, has directed the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to establish a subsidiary called Trinco Petroleum Terminal Ltd for this purpose.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has given his approval for the establishment of a special purpose vehicle.

During World War II, the British built the “Trincomalee Oil Tank Farms” to serve as a refueling station. It was constructed next to the Trincomalee port, which boasts a beautiful natural harbor.

The century-old oil tanks, on the other hand, will need to be refurbished to be fit for use again, which will cost millions of dollars.

On December 26, 2021, DEFENCE Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the Brahmos Aerospace Cruise Missile Manufacturing Unit in Lucknow.

Highlights:

The defense minister stated that Russia was India’s strategic partner at the event.

He also backed India’s nuclear and other military deterrents in the face of external threats.According to him, the launch of the BrahMos Missile Project was proof of India and Russia’s defense manufacturing cooperation.

In 2016, India became a member of the MTCR. India and Russia intend to work together to develop a new generation of Brahmos missiles with a range of more than 800 kilometers.

It’s capable of hitting protected targets with pinpoint precision.

The BrahMos Missile is a ramjet supersonic cruise missile with a medium range. It can be launched from a ship, a submarine, or a plane. It’s one of the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles.

Narandran ‘Jody’ Kollapen, of Indian ancestry, has been appointed to the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Highlights:After a lengthy process of public interviews, Kollapen & Rammaka Steven Mathopo, 64, was appointed to the Constitutional Court as the newest members.

Both will begin their terms on January 1, 2022.

After extensive public interviews, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Rammaka Steven Mathopo and Kollapen to the Constitutional Court.

Kollapen began practicing law in 1982 and specialized in public interest cases.

Using , Chinese researchers have developed a machine that can charge people with crimes. This is the first developed country in the world.

Highlights:

The AI prosecutor is capable of filing charges with a 97 percent accuracy rate. It will file a charge based on the case’s verbal description.

Shanghai Pudong People’s Procuratorate, China’s largest and busiest district prosecution office, designed and tested it.

It’s possible that it’ll run on a desktop computer. The prosecutor would file a charge against each suspect based on 1,000 traits extracted from human-generated case description text.

More than 17,000 cases were used to “train” the machine between 2015 and 2020.