Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

Golden Triangle

• It is represented by the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers.
• It is Southeast Asia’s main opium-producing region and one of the oldest narcotics supply routes to Europe and North America.

Golden Crescent

• This space overlaps three nations, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan, whose mountainous peripheries define the crescent.
• It is a principal global site for opium production and distribution in South Asia.

Explanation :

• Seabed 2030 is a collaborative project between the Nippon Foundation of Japan and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO).
• It aims to bring together all available bathymetric data to produce the definitive map of the world ocean floor by 2030 and make it available to all.
• The project was launched at the United Nations (UN) Ocean Conference in June 2017 and is aligned with the UN's Sustainable Development Goal-14 to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.

Need

• Despite many years of effort, less than 20 percent of the world ocean’s seafloor has been mapped.
• A co-ordinated international effort is needed to bring together all existing data sets and to identify areas for future surveys - to help us 'map the gaps'.
• Further, knowing the depth and shape of the seafloor (bathymetry) is fundamental for understanding ocean circulation, tides, tsunami forecasting, fishing resources, sediment transport, environmental change, underwater geo-hazards, cable and pipeline routing, mineral extraction, oil and gas exploration and development, infrastructure construction and maintenance and much more.

General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO)

• GEBCO is an international group of mapping experts developing a range of bathymetric data sets and data products.
• It operates under the joint auspices of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC).

Explanation :

• Under Article 340 of the Indian Constitution, the President may by order appoint a Commission consisting of such persons as he thinks fit to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India and to make recommendations to remove such difficulties and to improve their conditions.
• The One Hundred and Second Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Second Amendment) Act, 2018, granted constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
• The Amendment Act inserted new Articles 338 B and 342

Explanation :

Ashadhi Bij

• The festival is associated with the beginning of rains in the Kutch region of Gujarat.
• It falls on the second day of Shukla paksha of Ashada month of Hindu calendar.
• During Ashadhi Bij, the moisture in the atmosphere is checked to predict which crop would do best in the coming monsoon.

Sajibu Cheiraoba

• It is celebrated by Meiteis (an ethnic group in Manipur) which is observed on the first day of Manipur lunar month Shajibu, which falls in the month of April every year.

Losoong

• Also known as Namsoong, it is the Sikkimese New Year.
• It is mostly celebrated in the month of December every year with traditional gaiety and colour both by the Lepchas and Bhutias.

Explanation :

Total Solar Eclipse

• It occurs when the Moon completely blocks the solar disk.
• In a total solar eclipse, the narrowest part of the path (where the Sun is completely blocked and the Moon casts its darkest shadow (called the umbra)) is called the “zone of totality”.
• A phenomenon called “Bailey’s Beads” often appears as sunlight shines out through valleys on the lunar surface.

Annular Solar Eclipse

• An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun's, blocking most of the Sun's light and causing the Sun to look like an annulus (ring).

Partial Solar Eclipse

• It occurs when Earth moves through the lunar penumbra (the lighter part of the Moon’s shadow) as the Moon moves between Earth and the Sun.
• The Moon does not block the entire solar disk, as seen from Earth.
• Depending on location during a partial eclipse, one might see anything from a small sliver of the Sun being blotted out to a nearly total eclipse.