Todays in history (December 18th,1865)
In 1865, on 18th December the United States Constitution adopted the 13th Amendment, and officially abolished the slavery.
Summary of Today’s News
The 2nd Kashi Tamil Sangamam December 2023
What is Kashi Tamil Sangamam?
About:
Kashi Tamil Sangamam celebrates many aspects of the historical and civilisational connection between India’s North and South.
The broader objective is to bring the two knowledge and cultural traditions (of the North and South) closer, create an understanding of our shared heritage and deepen the people-to-people bond between the regions.
It is being organized by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with other ministries like Culture, Textiles, Railways, Tourism, Food Processing, Information & Broadcasting etc. and the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
Bhashini, an artificial intelligence¬ based language platform launched by the government in 2022,
Urbicide
• Targeting of Gaza’s hospitals, bakeries, and schools by Israel is being considered as urbicide by several activists.
• Urbicide is a Latin word for ‘city killing’.
• It refers to an act of ritualised, premeditated violence on built infrastructures.
• In the 1980s, scholars used the term to describe the extensive destruction of Balkan towns during the Yugoslavic wars from 1992 to 1996.
• This concept goes beyond merely destroying cities physically.
• It also eradicates memories, identities, and cultures embedded in a city’s fabric.
Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)
Recently, a death has been reported in Karnataka due to KFD virus (KFDV).
It derives its name from Kyasanur Forest Range of Karnataka where it was first spotted.
What is KFD:
It is a zoonotic disease caused by KFDV.
KFDV is transmitted through the bite of ticks.
It is also known as Monkey Disease/Monkey Fever as Bonnet, and black-faced langur monkeys are highly susceptible.
They play a significant role in the spread of the virus in the human population.
Dark fibre
It is an unused optical fibre that has been laid but is not currently being used in fibre-optic communications.
Since fibre-optic cable transmits information in the form of light pulses, a “dark” cable refers to one through which light pulses are not being transmitted.
Companies lay extra optical fibres in order to avoid cost repetition when more bandwidth is needed.
It is also known as unlit fibre.