IATA assigned ‘DXN’ to Jewar Airport

GS Paper - 2 (Infrastructure)

The upcoming Noida International Airport (NIA) in Jewar was awarded its own unique international three-letter code, ‘DXN’, by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The D in DXN signifies Delhi, which is the national capital, and N stands for Noida, which shows our presence in the Western UP area. X, signifies connectivity within India and the world.

What are airport codes?

• Airport codes are unique identifiers assigned to each airport. While most people are familiar only with the codes assigned by IATA, a Montreal-based international aviation trade association, each airport actually has two unique codes — the other assigned by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an arm of the United Nations. Both are used to accurately identify airports, but in different contexts.
• The three-digit IATA codes are used for passenger facing operations — on tickets, boarding passes, signages, etc.
• The four-digit codes assigned by the ICAO, on the other hand, are used by industry professionals such as pilots, air traffic controllers, planners, etc.
• For instance, for the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, the IATA code is DEL whereas the ICAO code is VIDP.
• Airport coding first began in the 1930s, in the very early days of commercial aviation.
• At the time, airlines and pilots typically chose their own two letter codes to identify destinations.
• However, by the 1940s, as the number of airports grew exponentially, a system of three letter codes was devised (allowing for a far higher number of combinations) and eventually standardised in the 1960s by the IATA.

Fourth state to introduce e-cabinet system

GS Paper - 3 (ITC)

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha launched an e-cabinet system at Agartala to promote digital infrastructure development and digitisation of government services and information. Tripura has thus become the fourth state—and second in the Northeast—after Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, to have introduced an e-cabinet system.

More about the e-cabinet

• All future cabinet meetings in the state will be paperless, reducing the carbon footprint and environmental degradation in the process, with ministers and bureaucrats using tablets.
• All ministers attended the event at the new Secretariat complex, where the chief minister launched the app to be used for the e-cabinet.
• In the debut e-cabinet meeting, the government approved a proposal to procure a loan of Rs 160 crore from the Asian Development Bank, which has earlier provided soft loans with low interest rates to the government and partnered with it in several developmental projects.
• The new ADB fund will be used by the tourism and urban development department for boosting infrastructure and fostering the ecology of sustainable livelihood generation.
• The E-cabinet would follow a similar model introduced in Uttarakhand. The e-cabinet system was launched by executives of the National Informatics Centre as well as the state’s information and cultural affairs department.
• Digitisation would bolster e-governance and align the state’s development journey with the national Digital India initiative. The shift will increase transparency, efficiency and accountability.
• The e-cabinet app would have features to facilitate uploading of cabinet memos marked with date and time and those ministers, the chief secretary, secretaries and other officials would be able to review and approve them online. The application has the highest degree of privacy protection safeguards.
• The e-cabinet system is expected to eliminate delays caused by the physical movement of paper documents and to infuse dynamism in the government’s decision-making process.
• The government had earlier introduced e-file and office systems in keeping with the Digital India campaign.
• As part of the mission to ramp updigital infrastructure development across the state, the state government has been trying to introduce digitisation on all possible public service platforms.
• The government also rolled out honorary commendations to departments that have gone paperless as part of100 per cent e-office adoption.
• Out of 94 government departments that are being trained inpaperless operations, 41 got the commendations.

Life on Jupiter's moon

GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)

In a monumental discovery, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has revealed intriguing traces of life on Jupiter's moon, Europa. Captured by the telescope's infrared camera, images of Europa's unique frigid terrain unveiled an abundance of carbon dioxide, hinting at the possibility of life beneath its icy surface.

More about the revelation

• This groundbreaking revelation, published in the journal 'Science' on 21 September 2023, stemmed from the collaborative efforts of two independent teams of astronomers.
• Their meticulous study suggests the presence of carbon dioxide on Europa, a vital building block of life.
• Geronimo Villanueva, the lead author of the study, emphasized the significance of chemical diversity for life, highlighting Europa's potential as a hub for life beyond Earth.
• Europa, distinguished as one of the prime candidates for extraterrestrial life, boasts an ocean beneath its icy crust, containing twice the water found in Earth's oceans.
• The newfound presence of carbon dioxide raises tantalizing questions about the moon's habitability.
• However, NASA scientists caution that the mere presence of carbon dioxide is insufficient for life to thrive. Life requires an energy source, organic nutrients, and a continuous supply of organic molecules.
• The discovery prompts further investigation into Europa's potential as a breeding ground for life forms.
• Researchers directed their attention to Europa's Taro Regio region, a rugged area rich in ice, where a significant concentration of carbon dioxide was detected.
• This finding led scientists to hypothesize that substances from the moon's ocean depths may have surfaced, carrying vital clues about the moon's hidden biosphere.