NASA’s ‘The Parker Solar Probe’ reached closest to the Sun

1 NASA’s ‘The Parker Solar Probe’ reached closest to the Sun

Recently,  NASA  ‘s  Parker Solar Probe  has   set  a historic record by flying closer to the Sun  than  any other man-made instrument,  attaining a speed of 430,000 miles per hour and   enduring  temperatures up to 982°C . This car-sized robotic spacecraft, launched in 2018, is  named after American solar astrophysicist  Eugene Newman Parker  . This   is  NASA’s first mission named after a living researcher  and is the first mission to explore within 3.8 million miles of the Sun’s corona. This probe has used an advanced carbon-composite heat shield to endure extreme temperatures. The Parker Solar Probe aims to study the Sun’s energy flow, the heating of the corona, while passing at a distance of 6.5 million kilometers near the Sun. It will also investigate the source of solar winds, which are high-speed waves of charged particles that affect space weather. The Aditya-L1 mission is India’s solar observatory at the Lagrange point L1, capable of making continuous observations of the chromospheric and coronal dynamics of the Sun.

2 Rajasthan government canceled the decision of creating 9 new districts and three divisions during the previous government

The Rajasthan government has canceled nine of the 17 new districts  created by the previous government   . Apart from this,  the divisional status given to Pali, Banswara and Sikar  will also be abolished.  Eight new districts will remain as before . This decision was taken in the cabinet meeting. Rajasthan Parliamentary Affairs Minister  Jogaram Patel said that these districts and divisions were created before the elections without taking into account the practical aspect. He said that a review committee has said that the decision to create these districts is not practical. The Congress government had decided to create 17 new districts and three new divisions in the state at the end of its tenure. The Revenue Department had issued a notification in this regard on August 5, 2023.

3 Haryana government increased the ex-gratia amount given to the families of Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces personnel from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore

The Haryana government  has  increased the ex-gratia amount  given to the families of  Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces personnel who sacrifice their lives in the line of duty from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore  . The state government  approved increasing the monthly pension  of  mother tongue satyagrahis  of  Hindi Movement 1957 from Rs 15 thousand to Rs 20 thousand  . Aadhaar authentication services were also approved for candidates appearing in Group A and B examinations conducted by Haryana Public Service Commission.

4 Election Commission released Lok Sabha election data

The Election Commission  released   data related to  the Lok Sabha elections 2024  on  26 December . According to this, 64.4 crore voters voted in the Lok Sabha elections , in which  the participation of women voters was more than male voters  . In 2024,  800 women contested the Lok Sabha elections , while in 2019 this number was 726.  Maharashtra had the highest number of 111 women candidates  in the fray, followed by 80 in Uttar Pradesh and 77 in Tamil Nadu. Out of a total of 543 Lok Sabha seats, there was not a single woman candidate on 152 seats.  The number of voters has increased by 7.43% in 2024 as compared to 2019.  This time more than 97.97 crore citizens were registered as voters as compared to 91.19 crore in the year 2019. Out of these registered voters, 64.64 crore voted in 2024, while this number was 61.4 crore in 2019. Out of the total 64.64 crore votes cast, about 64.21 crore votes were cast on EVMs, of which 32.93 crore were male voters and 31.27 crore were female voters. About 43 lakh voters voted by postal ballot. Dhubri parliamentary constituency in Assam recorded the highest voter turnout of 92.3%, while Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir recorded the lowest voter turnout of 38.7%. Any Indian citizen who registers in the voter list is defined as a voter. Voters who cast their vote are called voters.

5 Indian Army contingent left for Nepal to participate in joint military exercise Surya Kiran

The Indian Army contingent   has left to participate in  the 18th battalion level  joint  military exercise Surya Kiran . The contingent consists of 334 soldiers. The exercise will be held in  Saljhandi  ,  Nepal  from 31 December to 13 January 2025. The exercise will focus on enhancing cooperation in anti-terrorist military operations in forest areas and mountains and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations under the United Nations Charter.

6 The 21st edition of the Third Eye Asian Film Festival will be held from 10 to 16 January 2025 in Mumbai and Thane

The 21st edition  of  the Third Eye Asian Film Festival will be held in Mumbai and Thane   from 10 to 16 January 2025.  The festival will screen 61 films at MovieMax cinemas in Andheri, Sion and Thane. The festival will open with the Chinese film The Black Dog, which won the Best Film award in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival. This year, the festival will honour renowned screenwriter and lyricist Javed Akhtar with the Asian Film Culture Award. Journalist Rafiq Baghdadi will be honoured with the Satyajit Ray Memorial Award.

7 Russian President Vladimir Putin apologized to Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev for the incident of shooting down a passenger plane in Russian airspace

Russian  President  Vladimir Putin  has  apologized to Azerbaijan  President  Ilham Aliyev for  the incident of shooting down  a passenger plane in  Russian airspace  .  38   people have died in this incident. However, Mr. Putin has not held Russia directly responsible for this incident. After a telephone conversation between Mr. Putin and Mr. Aliyev, Russia has said that Mr. Putin has described this incident as tragic and said that it happened when Russia’s air defense system was retaliating to Ukraine’s drone attacks. Earlier, some media reports said that Russia’s air defense system targeted this plane when it was trying to land in Chechnya. Due to this, the plane had to go towards the Caspian Sea and it  crashed in Kazakhstan . 38 out of 67 passengers   on board the plane  died.

8 EU countries implement uniform C-type charger for smartphones, tablets and cameras

A uniform C-type charger system for  smart phones, tablets and cameras  has come into force in  the European Union  countries . With this, it has become mandatory for manufacturers to make devices with USB C-type ports available in all 27 countries of the Union. Headphones, speakers, keyboards and other electronic devices will also have C-type ports. The European Union says that this will reduce costs and waste and it will not be necessary to buy a new charger for a new device. This law was approved in the European Union in the year 2022.

9 Shares of 5 companies were listed on BSE-NSE

Shares of 5 companies were listed  on  the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE)  and  National Stock Exchange (NSE)  on  27 December  . These   include Transrail Lighting Limited ,  DAM Capital Advisors Limited ,  Mamta Machinery Limited ,  Sanatan Textiles Limited  and  Concord Enviro Systems Limited .

10 100 years of Belgaum Congress session