UPSC Prelims Facts - 20 June 2024 - Gokulam Seek IAS Academy

Table of Contents

Container Port Performance Index

Nine of Indian ports have found their position among top 100 global ports in CPPI in 2023.

A comparable assessment of performance based on vessel time in port.
Developed by – World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Significance – Helps to identify opportunities to improve a terminal or a port that will ultimately benefit all public and private stakeholders.
Top-ranked container port – Yangshan Port (China).

Recently, a tech millionaire was reported to have gone under gene therapy to edit his DNA.

A technique that modifies a person’s genes to treat or cure diseases such as cancer, genetic disorders, etc.
Seeks to modify or manipulate the expression of a gene or to alter the biological properties of living cells for therapeutic use.
Gene – Defined as the functional unit of inheritance.
- Made up of sequences of DNA and are arranged, one after another, at specific locations on chromosomes in the nucleus of cells.

Fire in Kuwait that killed 49 people raised questions about the kafala system.

Emerged in the 1950’s to regulate the relationship between employers and migrant workers in many countries in West Asia.
Objective – To provide temporary, rotating labour that could be rapidly brought into the country in an economic boom.
Migrant worker cannot enter the country, transfer employment nor leave the country for any reason without first obtaining explicit written permission from the sponsor.

For 18^th Lok sabha a pro-tem Speaker will be chosen to swear in the new Members of Parliament.

Office of the Speaker becomes vacant immediately before the 1^st meeting of the new Lok Sabha.
Duties of the Speaker, thus, are to be performed by a Member of the House appointed for this purpose by the President as Speaker pro tem.
President administers the oath to the Speaker pro tem.
Conventionally, the senior members are chosen for the post

International Labour Conference (ILC) took the first step towards international regulation of biological hazards at work.

Biohazards are of organic origin or conveyed by biological vectors, including pathogenic microorganisms (virus, bacteria, fungi, etc.), toxins and bioactive substances.
People working in healthcare, agriculture, and laboratory settings are at greatest risk.
Factors driving biohazards – Shifts in atmospheric and weather conditions, heat-related risks, and overuse of antimicrobials.
Measures taken – ILO Conventions 155 and 187, and India’s Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020