Worldwide Governance Indicators: It is released by the World Bank. It provides a ranking of 215 countries and territories. It is based on six dimensions of governance: Voice and Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality, Rule of Law, Control of Corruption. These indicators are designed to help researchers and analysts assess broad patterns in perceptions of governance across countries and over time. The World Bank compiles the Worldwide Governance Indicators using data from more than 30 think tanks, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, and private firms deemed credible. The WGI was developed in 1999 by two World Bank researchers, Daniel Kaufmann and Aart Kraay. The data are updated annually in September
Leonid meteor shower: It is brought about by the dust and debris abandoned by the comet Tempel-Tuttle. It is commonly peaking in mid-November. The shower is called after the Leo constellation, from which the meteors appear to radiate. This Tempel-Tuttle comet circles the sun at regular intervals of 33 years. When the comet passes near the sun, it warms up and delivers a tonne of material, shaping a dense cloud of dust and gas around it. This cloud follows the comet’s circle and fans out over the long run. Every year, the Earth crosses the orbit of Tempel-Tuttle in mid-November and, in some cases, experiences the comet’s dust cloud. When this occurs, the dust particles enter the earth’s atmosphere at high speed (around 70 km/s) and catch fire, creating bright streaks of light in the sky. These are what we see as the meteors, the Leonid meteor shower. The Leonids are noted for sometimes causing meteor storms, as described by a higher influx of meteors.
Exercise MITRA SHAKTI: It is a joint military exercise between India and Sri Lankan army. This year is the ninth edition of the exercise. The Indian contingent, of 120 personnel, is being represented mainly by troops from the MARATHA LIGHT INFANTRY Regiment. Personnel from the Indian Air Force and the Sri Lankan Air Force are also participating in the exercise, which makes the ninth ‘Mitra Shakti’ the first bilateral and bi-service exercise between the two countries. The aim of the exercise is to jointly rehearse the conduct of sub-conventional operations under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
Wasp-107b: It is a newly discovered exoplanet situated 200 light-years away in the Virgo constellation. The mass of WASP-107b is 30.5 Earths, and it takes only six days to orbit its home star, which is slightly cooler and less massive than our sun. It shares Jupiter’s size but possesses the mass of Neptune, making it less dense than other gas giants. The planet’s low density allowed astronomers to look 50 times deeper into the atmosphere of the planet compared to observations achieved for more dense planets, like Jupiter.
