1) Co-location Trading: The National Stock Exchange 2009 started to offer co-location services to members of the exchange.
- It allows a member to set up his server in a specifically earmarked data centre within the NSE’s exchange premises for a certain price.
- The relative proximity allows members wishing to gain access to the entirety of buy and sell orders sent because of the reduced time taken for order execution.
- Is it Illegal? : Stock exchanges across the world allow the practice to flourish as a paid service. The SEBI allowed exchanges to offer co-location in 2008.
2) Param Vir Chakra: It is India’s highest military decoration awarded for the highest degree of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy.
- The Param Vir Chakra was introduced on January 26, 1950, on the first Republic Day with retrospective effect from 15 August 1947.
- Literally, Param Vir Chakra means ‘Wheel (or Cross) of the Ultimate Brave’.
- It can be awarded posthumously.
- Till now, only 21 people had been given the Param Vir Chakra award of which 14 are posthumous.
- India’s Gallantry Awards in the order of precedence: Param Vir Chakra, Ashoka Chakra, Mahavir Chakra, Kirti Chakra, Vir Chakra, Shaurya Chakra.
3) Yellow Band Disease: named for the colour it turns corals before destroying them—was first spotted decades ago and has caused widespread damage to reefs in the
- There is no known cure for this disease and unlike coral, bleaching corals will not be restored once they get infected by this disease.
- Scientists believe overfishing, pollution and rising water temperatures because of climate change may be making the reefs more vulnerable to yellow-band disease.
4) INS Vagir: it is the fifth submarine of the first batch of six Kalvari-class submarines for the Indian Navy. It is a diesel-electric attack submarine based on the Scorpène class, designed by French naval defence and manufactured by Mazagon Dock Limited.
- The submarine inherits its name from INS Vagir (S41) which served in the Navy from 1973–2001, and was named after a species of sandfish.
- They need atmospheric oxygen to run the diesel generator which in turn charges the batteries.
5) Immune Imprinting: It is the human body replicating its immune system. During immune imprinting, rather than producing new and more powerful antibodies (cells that fight viruses), the immune system creates “cross-reactive” antibodies which are are not effective.
- Scientists say that immune imprinting is to become a hinder to the performance of Booster doses of COVID.
- When we take a vaccine for the first time, our body produces strong antibodies, let’s say X. Now say a variant GGG has entered. Now our immune system should create a new and stronger antibody to kill the variant. But due to immune imprinting, the human body uses the memory cells of X to form new antibodies rather than creating new antibodies. These antibodies formed from X, that is, from the memory are called cross-reactive antibodies.
