
3rd FEBRUARY 2025 ENGLISH TNPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS PDF TNPSC SHOUTERS
Minerals and non-ferrous metals production on growth trajectory in FY 2024-25 (April-December)
- After reaching record production levels in FY 2023-24, the production of some key minerals in the country continued to witness strong growth in FY 2024-25 (April-December). Iron ore accounts for 69% of total mineral production in terms of value. Iron ore production in FY 2023-24 was 274 million metric tonnes.
- As per provisional data, iron ore production increased from 203 million metric tonnes in FY 2023-24 to 208 million metric tonnes in FY 2024-25 (April-December). This shows a healthy growth of 2.5%. Manganese ore production increased by 8.3% to 2.6 million metric tonnes in the financial year 2024-25 (April-December). This was 2.4 million metric tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.
- Chromite production increased by 9.5% to 2.3 million metric tonnes in the financial year 2024-25 (April-December). This was 2.1 million metric tonnes in the corresponding period of the previous year.
- Additionally, bauxite production also increased by 6.5% to 18.1 million metric tonnes in the financial year 2024-25 (April-December) from 17.0 million metric tonnes in the financial year 2023-24 (April-December).
- In the non-ferrous metals segment, primary aluminium production in the financial year 2024-25 (April-December) registered a growth of 1.6% over the same period of the previous year.
- This increased from 31.07 lakh tonnes in the financial year 2023-24 (April-December) to 31.56 lakh tonnes in the financial year 2024-25 (April-December). During the same comparative period, refined copper production increased by 7.3% from 3.69 lakh tonnes to 3.96 lakh tonnes.
- India ranks 2nd in aluminium production and 10th in refined copper production. It ranks 4th in the world in iron ore production. These growth trends are a journey towards continued strong economic activity in user sectors such as energy, infrastructure, construction, automotive and machinery.
- Cancer is one of the most dangerous health problems in the world. The number of people living with this deadly disease is increasing, according to a recent report released by the Indian Council of Medical Research.
- One in nine people in India is likely to develop cancer in their lifetime and 14,61,427 people are currently living with cancer, according to the National Cancer Registry. Cancer incidence has been increasing by 12.8% every year since 2022.
- Although the incidence of cancer in India is high, it is estimated to be low in India compared to global genetic studies. Due to the lack of genetic architecture for common cancers in India, there are no diagnostic tools or drugs that can detect specific strains of cancer in India.
- IIT Madras launched the Cancer Genome Project in 2020 to fill the genetic gap in various cancers in India. Under this project, 960 whole exome sequencing sequences from tissue samples of 480 breast cancer patients across the country have been completed.
- IIT Madras, in collaboration with Karkinos Healthcare, Mumbai, and the Chennai Cancer Research and Relief Foundation, has collected an anonymized summary of genetic variants from Indian breast cancer samples. The work assumes significance as World Cancer Day is being observed tomorrow (February 4, 2025).
- Announcing the completion of the Indian breast cancer genome sequence, IIT Madras Director Prof. V. Kamakoti today launched the ‘India Cancer Genomic Map’ at the institute’s campus. The institute has created a database, bcga.iitm.ac.in, for easy access by researchers and clinicians in India and abroad.
- The analysis was carried out under the National Centre for Precision Medicine for Cancer, a collaboration between IIT Madras and Karkinos Healthcare, to accelerate interdisciplinary research and development of low-cost cancer treatments.