India army contingent represented by GARHWAL RIFLES have participated in the EX KHAAN QUEST 2023 which was recently conducted in MONGOLIA.

• Ex Khaan Quest 2023 is Multinational Peacekeeping Joint Exercise.
• Military contingents and observers from 20 countries have participated in this exercise.
• It is a 14 day exercise aimed at enhancing interoperability of the participating nations, for sharing experience and to train uniformed personnel for the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO).
• The exercise includes Command Post Exercise (CPX), Field Training Exercises (FTX), combat discussions, lectures and demonstration.
• The exercise is co-sponsored by Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF) and United States Army Pacific Command (USARPAC).

Recent study have found that phonons can be used to build quantum computers

• Phonon is a unit of vibrational energy that arises from oscillating atoms within a crystal.
• Each phonon is the collective vibration of around one quadrillion atoms.
• A phonon is a definite discrete unit or quantum of vibrational mechanical energy just as a photon is a quantum of electromagnetic or light energy.
• Phonons and electrons are the two main types of elementary particles or excitations in solids.
• It determine such things as the speed of sound within a material and how much heat it takes to change its temperature.
• It is essential in the phenomenon of superconductivity.
• Acoustic beam-splitter is a tiny device which can be used to emit and detect individual phonons.

Recently National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) celebrated its 20th Foundation Day, reaffirming its unwavering dedication towards building India’s internet infrastructure.

• NIXI is a not for profit Organization under section 8 of the Companies Act 2013.
• NIXI was started in the year 2003 for peering of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) among themselves for the purpose of routing the domestic traffic within the country.
• Its Primary purpose is to facilitate exchange of domestic Internet traffic between the peering ISP, Content players and any other organizations with their own AS number.
• It helps in providing better quality of service (reduced latency) and reduced bandwidth charges for ISPs by saving on International Bandwidth.
• “.IN” is India’s Country Code Top Level domain (ccTLD) and India’s .IN ccTLD is operated and managed by INRegistry.
• The union government delegated the operations of INRegistry to NIXI in 2004.
• Indian Registry for Internet Names and Numbers (IRINN) is a division functioning under NIXI.
• IRINN provides allocation and registration services of Internet Protocol addresses (IPv4 & IPv6) and Autonomous System numbers to its Affiliates.
• IRINN is a not-for-profit, Affiliates based entity, with the primary goal of allocation of Internet resources to its Affiliates.

The union government have reaffirmed that president’s rule is the last resort to continuing Manipur violence

• Article 355 imposes a duty on the Centre to ensure that the government of every state is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
• The President’s Rule can be proclaimed under Article 356 on two grounds one mentioned in Article 356 itself and another in Article 365.
• Article 356 empowers the President to issue a proclamation, if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
• Article 365 says that whenever a state fails to comply with or to give effect to any direction from the Centre, it will be lawful for the president to hold that a situation has arisen to impose president’s rule.
• It can be extended for a maximum period of three years with the approval of the Parliament, every six months.
• President’s Rule has been imposed in an arbitrary manner for political or personal reasons.
• A law made by the Parliament or president or any other specified authority continues to be operative even after the President’s Rule.
• A proclamation imposing President’s Rule must be approved by both the Houses of Parliament within two months from the date of its issue.
• Every resolution approving the proclamation of President’s Rule or its continuation can be passed by either House of Parliament only by a simple majority.
• President’s Rule can be proclaimed
  • When the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution due to reasons which may not have any connection with war, external aggression or armed rebellion.

Recently The Federal Reserve of the United States decided to pause the raising interest rate which is considered as hawkish pause

• The term "pause" is used to describe the temporary nature of the decision to stop raising interest rates.
• A hawkish pause is a situation in which a central bank decides to temporarily stop raising interest rates, but makes it clear that they are still committed to fighting inflation and may resume raising rates in the future.
• A dovish pause is a situation in which a central bank decides to stop raising rates because they are worried about slowing economic growth.
• The hawkish pause and dovish pause are used to denote the behaviour of the hawks and dove respectively.
• The Federal Reserve and the RBI have both implemented hawkish pauses in recent months.
• Both central banks of USA and India have signalled that they are willing to continue raising rates in the future, but they have also taken a pause to assess the impact of their previous rate hikes.