Category: Current Affairs

Elon Musk says Neuralink has implanted first brain chip in human

Neuralink, the neurotechnology company co-founded by Elon Musk in 2016, has finally put its first brain chip in human to test its implants in people, after receiving an approval from regulators in 2023. Musk took to X (formerly Twitter) to confirm that initial results show promising neuron spike detection.

The entrepreneur further added, the first product is Telepathy, aptly called so as it enables control of the user’s phone or computer, and through them almost any device, just by thinking. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer. That is the goal,” wrote Musk.

The startup aims to create a direct connection between the human brain and computers. It uses a device called the Link, which is implanted in the brain through surgery. The Link can record and stimulate neural activity, and send information to a Neuralink app, which can translate it into actions and intentions. The technology could help people with paralysis, neurological disorders, or enhance human capabilities.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>The Link is a coin-sized device that is placed inside the skull, with thin wires or threads that connect to the brain tissue. It can communicate wirelessly with a smartphone or computer, and can be charged without wires.

>The company has demonstrated the Link device in pigs and monkeys, showing that they can control a computer or a video game with their minds.

>It also faces many challenges and risks, some of which include, the safety and ethics of brain surgery and implantation, the reliability and durability of the device and the threads, the compatibility and security of the wireless communication and the app, the potential side effects or complications of brain stimulation or manipulation, the social and psychological impact of having a brain-computer interface, to mention a few.

Sir Elton John joins the rare EGOT Club

Sir Elton John, the legendary singer-songwriter, has achieved the rare feat of winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony award (collectively known as the EGOT), becoming the 19th person overall and the first British musician to attain this status. These awards honour exceptional achievements in television, recording, film, and Broadway theatre, respectively, and achieving the EGOT has been referred to as the “grand slam” of American showbiz.

He completed his EGOT collection by winning the Emmy for outstanding variety special (live) for his show Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium. He had previously won five Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award, two Oscars for best original song, and a Tony for best original score. Elton John is widely regarded as one of the most influential and successful artists of all time, with more than 300 million records sold worldwide.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>In 1962, Richard Rodgers became the first person to win all four awards.

>In 1977, Helen Hayes became the second person and first woman to win all four awards.

>In 1977, Rita Moreno became the third person and first Hispanic American to win all four awards.

>In 1991, John Gielgud became the fourth person to win all four awards, the oldest (at age 87), the first LGBTQIA+ person, and the first non-American.

>In 1994, Audrey Hepburn became the fifth person to win all four awards, and the first to do so posthumously.

Here’s a complete list of all 19 EGOT winners:

Elton John, Whoopi Goldberg, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Viola Davis, Jennifer Hudson, Alan Menken, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Richard Rodgers, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Robert Lopez, Scott Rudin, Tim Rice, Rita Moreno, Jonathan Tunick, Marvin Hamlisch, John Legend, Helen Hayes.

Bengaluru’s beloved Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR) turns 100

Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, or MTR, is a legendary restaurant chain that has come to represent authentic vegetarian South Indian cuisine. Founded in 1924 by Parampalli Yagnanarayana Maiya and his brothers as a small eatery near Lalbagh Fort Road, it has become a gastronomical icon, continuing to be a favourite among Bengalureans and food lovers across the world even after a good hundred years.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>During WWII, when rice was scarce, Rava Idli was cooked in the kitchens of MTR, using semolina instead of rice. It became a staple in South Indian cuisine.

>MTR also introduced the drive-in service in the city (arguably among the earliest such service in the world), allowing customers to enjoy its food from their jatkas (horse-driven carts) and cars.

>In 1951, Yagnanaryana Maiya, the youngest brother, travelled to Europe and studied how restaurants functioned abroad. He incorporated the hygiene standards, the service and presentation, and so on – into the new restaurant – at the current location on Lal Bagh Road, which came into existence in 1960.

>In 1975, during Emergency when the Food Control Act mandated low prices for food items, MTR, facing a crippling loss, decided to close its restaurant while diversifying to selling masala and instant mixes from a building next door. The restaurant reopened in 1981. In 2007, the packaged foods business was acquired by a Norwegian conglomerate, Orkla Brands, for an estimated Rs. 384 crore.

Uranus and Neptune reveal their true colours

In a recent study, a team at Oxford University found that the true colours of Uranus and Neptune are very similar and not starkly different as was believed earlier. Scientists used data from the Hubble Space Telescope and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope to reveal that the ice planets are the same shade of greenish blue.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>Uranus was discovered by William Herschel in 1781, when he noticed a star-like object that moved with respect to the background stars. It was the first planet to be discovered since ancient times and was only possible with the invention of telescope.

>Neptune was discovered by Johann Gottfried Galle in 1846, following the calculations of Urbain Le Verrier and John Couch Adams, who predicted its location based on the perturbations in the orbit of Uranus. Neptune was the first planet to be discovered by mathematical prediction rather than observation.

>The well-known depictions of the difference in shades of blue as seen in Uranus and Neptune stem from the images sent by Voyager 2 in the previous century. The blue colour is caused by the absorption of red light by methane in its upper atmosphere.

Government of West Bengal declares Poila Boisakh as State Day and Banglar Mati Banglar Jal as State Song

The West Bengal government has declared ‘Poila Boisakh‘, the first day of the Bengali New Year, as the State Day and ‘Banglar Mati Banglar Jal‘ penned by Rabindranath Tagore as the State Song. This notification after September last year, when West Bengal Assembly passed a resolution declaring the same.

The State Day will be named ‘Bangla Divas‘. The State Song, 1 minute and 59 seconds long, shall compulsorily be played in all state government functions at the start of the function and the National Anthem shall be played compulsorily at the conclusion of it.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>Poila Boisakh, also known as Bengali New Year, marks the traditional New Year’s Day for the Bengali community. It is celebrated in mid-April. Many shopkeepers practice the inauguration of a new ‘haal-khata‘, an accounts copy, and distribute sweets.

>In 1905, when Lord Curzon decided to partition undivided Bengal, Tagore’s Banglar Mati, Banglar Jal  became a hymn for Bengali unity and harmony. Amar Sonar Bangla, which later became the national anthem of Bangladesh, too was written at this time.

ISRO’s new year begins with XPoSat, India’s first ever mission to study black holes

On 1st January 2024, ISRO announced the successful launch of XPoSat (X-ray Polarimeter Satellite), India’s first dedicated polarimetry mission to study various dynamics of bright astronomical X-ray sources in extreme conditions. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 60th mission, lifted off at 9.10 a.m. from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>The XPoSat carries two payloads, namely POLIX (Polarimeter Instrument in X-rays) and XSPECT (X-ray Spectroscopy and Timing). While POLIX has been developed by Raman Research Institute (RRI), XSPECT is a product of Space Astronomy Group of U R Rao Satellite Centre (URSC), both located in Bengaluru.

>India became the second nation (after the USA) to send an observatory to study celestial sources, such as black holes, neutron stars, among others. In 2021,  NASA launched its Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE).

PM Modi inaugurated the world’s largest office building, in Surat

A 15-story complex that covers over 35 acres of land and has more than 7.1 million square feet of floor space– yes, this is the Surat Diamond Bourse building, that has become the world’s largest office building, surpassing the mighty Pentagon in the US.

The Surat Diamond Bourse is expected to boost the local economy and save thousands of people from commuting to Mumbai, where most of the diamond trading used to take place so far. It is also seen as a symbol of India’s rising prominence in the global diamond market and a testament to the country’s engineering and architectural prowess.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>The Surat Diamond Bourse is designed to house the world’s largest community of diamond traders, cutters, and polishers, who account for about 90% of the global diamond processing industry.

>The building features over 4,700 office spaces, 131 elevators, and various amenities such as dining, retail, wellness, and conference facilities. It aims to be a convenient hub for over 65,000 diamond experts.

>The construction of the Surat Diamond Bourse concluded on 1 August 2023. A week later, it was officially acknowledged by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest office building.

>Prime Minister Narendra Modi also inaugurated a new integrated terminal building at Surat Airport, which has been recently designated international status. This will increase connectivity to the diamond hub from the world over.

MS Dhoni’s jersey number retired by BCCI

The custom of retiring jerseys in sports is a symbolic gesture that honors and pays tribute to exceptional athletes who have made significant contributions to a team or sport. When a team decides to retire a player’s jersey, it means that no other player on that team will be allowed to wear that specific jersey number in the future.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) retired the iconic No. 7  jersey of MS Dhoni. This is only the second instance of a similar commemoration. In 2017, four years after he hung up his boots, Sachin Tendulkar’s signature No. 10 jersey was retired by BCCI, following a social media backlash when Shardul Thakur wore it on his ODI debut in 2017.

KnowALLedge Plus:

>Although there is no official rule to retire jerseys in cricket, a special instance happened when Cricket Australia retired the jersey number of Phil Hughes, a promising Australian batsman, who tragically died after being hit by a bouncer during a domestic match in 2014. No Australian player has worn the No. 64 jersey since then.

> Among cricket-playing nations, New Zealand has retired the most number of jerseys. These include No. 7 for Stephen Fleming, No. 11 for Daniel Vettori, No. 42 for Brendan McCullum, No. 5 for Chris Harris, No. 9 for Nathan Astle and No. 6 for Chris Cairns. Among India’s neighbours, Nepal Cricket Association has retired No. 77 jersey, worn by its former captain Paras Khadka.

>Michael Jordan, widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, had his No. 23 jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls in 1994. Later, when he returned to the Bulls after a brief retirement, he wore the No. 45 jersey. After his second retirement, the Bulls retired both the No. 23 and No. 45 jerseys.

>Known as “The Great One,” Wayne Gretzky’s No. 99 jersey was retired by the Edmonton Oilers in 1999. Gretzky, considered the greatest ice hockey player in history, led the Oilers to multiple Stanley Cup victories and set numerous records during his illustrious career.

>The Los Angeles Lakers retired Magic Johnson’s No. 32 jersey in 1992 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s No. 33 jersey in 1989. Both players were instrumental in the Lakers’ success during the 1980s, winning multiple NBA championships.

>In 2017, the New York Yankees retired Derek Jeter’s No. 2 jersey to honor the iconic shortstop. Jeter, known for his leadership and clutch performances, played his entire 20-season career with the Yankees and won five World Series championships.

>The Boston Celtics retired the jerseys of Larry Bird (No. 33), Kevin McHale (No. 32), and Robert Parish (No. 00) in recognition of their contributions to the team’s success during the 1980s, a period that included multiple NBA championships.

>Brazilian soccer legend Pele had his No. 10 jersey retired by the New York Cosmos in 1977. As recently as December 2023, following Santos’ relegation, the club president announced no player of the team will wear the number 10 jersey made globally famous by Pelé until the club plays in the country’s first division again.

>No one at the Serie A club Napoli wears No. 10 since it was a number eternally connected to their greatest player ever — Diego Maradona, while Johan Cruyff’s iconic number 14 jersey was retired by Ajax Amsterdam in 2007.

Narges Mohammadi is the 5th person to win the Nobel Peace Prize while being imprisoned

2023 marks the 5th time the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to someone under imprisonment. On December 10, the date on which Nobel Prizes are handed in person, the teenage twins of the jailed Iranian activist accepted the coveted award on her behalf.

As of December 2023, Mohammadi is still in prison, currently serving a 10-year jail term in Tehran. An empty chair was symbolically placed between her children on the podium, to mark her absence. Her speech was smuggled out from prison and read out by the twins, who also collected the cheque for 11 million Swedish crowns (about Rs. 8.3 crores) – at a ceremony in Oslo’s City Hall.

KnowALLedge Plus:

Here’s a lookback at the past four similar instances:

>Carl von Ossietzky (1935): A German journalist and pacifist who exposed the secret rearmament of Nazi Germany. He was arrested and sent to a concentration camp, where he died in 1938. His recognition so infuriated Hitler that he stopped any German Nobel Laureate from attending the ceremony.

>Aung San Suu Kyi (1991): A Myanmar opposition leader and democracy activist who spent 15 years under house arrest for challenging the military dictatorship. She was released in 2010 and became the country’s de facto leader in 2015, but was ousted and detained again in 2021 following a coup.

>Liu Xiaobo (2010): A Chinese writer and human rights advocate who co-authored a manifesto calling for political reforms and greater freedoms in China. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison for inciting subversion and died of liver cancer in 2017.

>Ales Bialiatski (2022): A Belarusian pro-democracy campaigner and founder of the Viasna Human Rights Center, which provides legal and financial assistance to political prisoners and their families. He was arrested in 2011 and sentenced to four and a half years in prison for tax evasion. He was released in 2014 and continued his work until he was arrested again in 2021.

Pantone chooses ‘Peach Fuzz’ as its Colour of the Year 2024

Every year, Pantone, the global authority on colour, announces a colour that sets the trend for the following year. This colour is called the Pantone Colour of the Year, and it influences design, fashion, marketing, and culture in various ways.  For 2024, it has chosen PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz, a velvety gentle tone whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and soul. This warm and welcoming shade of peachy orange captures our desire to nurture ourselves and others.

The Pantone Colour of the Year is chosen by a group of experts from the Pantone Color Institute, a division of Pantone that provides colour consulting and forecasting services. These experts include colour specialists, trend analysts, psychologists, and designers, who gather information from various sources and domains, such as art, fashion, entertainment, media, travel, sports, and social movements.

The experts meet twice a year, usually in a European capital, to discuss and debate the colour candidates for the next year. They consider the emotional, psychological, and cultural meanings and associations of each colour, as well as the technical and practical aspects, such as the availability and compatibility of the colour in different materials and formats.

KnowALLedge Plus:

Here are the previous five Pantone Colours of the Year:

>2023: Viva Magenta (Pantone 18-1750). A vibrant and powerful red shade that is rooted in nature, bold, and fearless. It symbolizes courage, confidence, and vitality, and inspires joy and optimism.

>2022: Ultimate Gray (Pantone 17-5104) and Illuminating (Pantone 13-0647). A combination of a solid and dependable gray and a bright and cheerful yellow. It represents resilience, strength, and hope, and expresses a positive outlook and a desire for recovery.

>2021: Classic Blue (Pantone 19-4052). A timeless and elegant blue hue that evokes the sky at dusk. It signifies calmness, stability, and trust, and offers a sense of peace and tranquility.

>2020: Living Coral (Pantone 16-1546). A lively and warm coral shade that reflects the beauty and fragility of coral reefs. It conveys a sense of energy, sociability, and optimism, and encourages connection and empathy.

>2019: Ultra Violet (Pantone 18-3838). A deep and rich purple tone that suggests the mysteries of the cosmos and the unknown. It embodies creativity, originality, and visionary thinking, and challenges the status quo and the conventional.

Search in all quizzes > Live