Star formation in jellyfish galaxies
Why in news?
- Observations of a jelly fish galaxy, JW100, by Astrosat using its Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) have thrown up interesting puzzles.
- These puzzles involve star formation in hostile environments containing X-ray-emitting hot plasma. JW100 is located far away in the galaxy cluster Abell 2626.
All about
- A jellyfish galaxy is a type of galaxy found in galaxy clusters.
- Jellyfish galaxies are called so because they are shaped like discs that have many tentacle-like arms streaming away from the disc.
- They are formed when a disc-shaped galaxy rams into a galaxy cluster, which is a dense region containing many hundreds or thousands of galaxies packed into a small region. This can happen when the galaxy is attracted by the gravitational attraction of the cluster.
- The European Southern Observatory has an international programme to observe 100 such gas-stripping jellyfish candidates using the MUSE Integral Field Spectrograph Chile. This programme is called GASP (Gas Stripping Phenomena in galaxies with MUSE).
India among top nations with most conducive environment for financial inclusion
Why in news?
- The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) released a report titled the 2019 Global Microscope on Financial Inclusion.
Methodology:
- The Global Microscope for Financial Inclusion, now in its 12th year, is a benchmarking index that assesses the enabling environment for financial access in 55 countries.
- The EIU’s analysis takes four basic parameters into account: (1) Whether non-banks can issue e-money, (2) the presence of financial service agents, (3) proportionate customer due diligence and (4) effective financial consumer protection.
Key findings:
- Of the 55 countries assessed, only 4 countries – Colombia, India, Jamaica and Uruguay – scored perfectly across all four parameters.
- India has the fifth most conducive environment among emerging countries for inclusive finance. Only Columbia, Peru, Uruguay and Mexico are ahead of India.
Botswana is humanity’s ancestral home
Why in news?
- Scientists claim to have traced the ancestral home region of all living humans to a vast wetland that sprawled over much of modern day Botswana.
Key Findings:
- The researchers suggest that a prehistoric wetland called Makgadikgadi-Okavango, south of the Great Zambezi River, became a thriving home to Homo sapiens 200,000 years ago, and sustained an isolated, founder population of modern humans for at least 70,000 years.
- The so-called L0 lineage remained in the region until a shift in the climate, driven by changes in the Earth’s tilt and orbit, brought rains to the north-east and south-west, producing lush green corridors that allowed the early humans to spread into new territories.
ICEDASH, ATITHI for improved customs clearance
Why in news?
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today unveiled two new IT Initiatives – ICEDASH and ATITHI for improved monitoring and pace of customs clearance of imported goods and facilitating arriving international passengers.
News in detail
- ICEDASH is an Ease of Doing Business monitoring dashboard of the Indian Customs helping the public see the daily Customs clearance times of import cargo at various ports and airports.
- The ATITHI app will facilitate hassle-free and faster clearance by Customs at the airports and enhance the experience of international tourists and other visitors at the airports.
- Both these initiatives will be key drivers for further improvement especially as they reduce interface and increase the transparency of Customs functioning.
- ATITHI will create a tech-savvy image of India Customs and would encourage tourism and business travel to India.