Current Affair 1:

Gross FDI falls for the first time, declined by 16% in 2022-23

 

If you see image below:

A major contributor to this decline is the equity through the government/automatic/acquisition route.

Understand more about FDI.

FDI primarily has three components- Equity capital, Re-invested capital, and other capital generally being intra-company loans or debts (See above image to understand classification).

The equity component could be via government route through SIA (Secretariat of Industrial Alliance) or FIFP (Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, which was earlier known as the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, FIPB)/ RBI’s Automatic Route/ Acquisition Route or through Equity Capital of unincorporated bodies.

FDI flows can be both inward and outward.  The cumulative sum of equity, reinvested earnings and other capital gives the Gross inflows of FDI.  The outflow of FDI could be either in the form of outbound FDI or disinvestment/repatriation.

The true level of FDI inflows is measured on a net basis. The net FDI inflows is the gross FDI inflows minus the disinvestment/repatriation. In simpler terms,

Net FDI inflows = Gross FDI – outbound FDI – Repatriation/disinvestment

 

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Current Affair 2:

Scientists Discover an extreme Massive Giant and Most Dense Exoplanet

 

News:

A new Jupiter size exoplanet with highest density of ~14 g/cm3 known till this date, and mass 13 times that of Jupiter has been discovered by team includes scientists led by Prof. Abhijit Chakraborty at the Exoplanet Research Group of the Physical Research Laboratory (PRL), Ahmedabad. (The newly discovered exoplanet is found around the star called TOI4603 or HD 245134.)

The discovery of this massive exoplanet was made using the indigenously made PRL Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search spectrograph (PARAS) at the 1.2 m telescope of PRL at its Gurushikhar Observatory in Mt. Abu by measuring the mass of the planet precisely.

What sets this discovery apart is that the planet falls into the transition mass range of massive giant planets and low-mass brown dwarfs with masses ranging from 11 to 16 times the mass of Jupiter. Only fewer than five exoplanets are currently known in this mass range so far.

Massive giant exoplanets are those having mass greater than four times that of Jupiter. The newly discovered exoplanet is one of the most massive and densest giant planets that orbits very close to its host star at a distance less than 1/10th the distance between our Sun and Earth.

 

 

This discovery marks the third exoplanet discovery by India, and by the PRL scientists using PARAS spectrograph and the PRL 1.2m telescope, following the discoveries in 2018 (K2-236b) and 2021 (TOI-1789b).

 

Current Affair 3:

Agni Prime, the next–generation ballistic nuclear missile

 

News:

The Agni P, initially named Agni-1P and weighing 50 per cent less than Agni 3, was successfully flight-tested by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha recently.

This was the first pre-induction night launch conducted by the users after three successful developmental trials of the missile, validating the accuracy and reliability of the system.

Features that stand out

1. Unlike the other nuclear missiles in India’s arsenal, Agni Prime comes with its own unique technology, giving it more accuracy while making it difficult to intercept.
2. It comes with new composites, propulsion systems, innovative guidance, and control mechanisms, besides the latest navigation systems.
3. Agni Prime can be manoeuvred at the point of entry into the earth’s atmosphere, a feature that is usually not available in a ballistic missile. This makes the Agni Prime more difficult to intercept.
4. Another aspect of this next–generation missile that makes it stand out from the rest is that it is a canisterised system, meaning the missile is capable of launch at short notice through improvements in its storage and handling features.
5. The missile can be launched from rail or road and can be transported to various parts of the country easily.
6. The two-stage, solid-fuelled weapon system comes with new propulsion systems, composite motor casings, and inertial navigation systems based on advanced ring-laser gyroscopes. Gyroscopes show the location of the missile and the trajectory it is taking.
7. The ring-laser gyroscopes are more accurate.

Current Affair 4:

Understanding the Kavach system

 

It is a Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL-4) certified technology with the probability of error being one in 10,000 years.

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