Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• The word Bihu is taken from the Sanskrit word Bishu meaning “to ask blessings and prosperity from the Gods" during harvesting season.
• Bihu festivals occur according to the farming schedule.
• It is the “National Festival of Assam”.

Types

Basically, Bihu is a set of three important Assamese festivals in the Indian state of Assam-

• Rongali or Bohag Bihu ( April): It marks a new year at the beginning of seeding time.
• Bhogali or Magh Bihu ( January): It marks the end of the harvesting period.
• Kongali or Kati Bihu (October): It marks the completion of sowing and transplanting of paddies.

Celebration

• The Bohaag Bihu lasts for several days during which the youngsters in a village can be dancing in groups dressed joyfully, or they can be seen dancing around the girls in a circle. Such gatherings are called Mukoli Bihus.

Bihu Dance

• The Bihu dance is a folk dance from the Assam state performed on the Bihu festival. Dance is performed by young men and women. People wear traditional attires like Dhoti, Gamocha and Chadar, Mekhala.
• Bihu Dance has become the identity of the northeastern state. The ethnic groups Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Moran, Borahis, etc consider Bihu an integral part of their culture.

Instruments used in Bihu Dnace

• Dhol (Drum)
• Taal
• Pepa (An instrument made of buffalo horn)
• Toka
• Baanhi (Flute)
• Xutuli
• Gogona

Explanation :

• The Dhauladhar range (The White Range) is part of a lesser Himalayan chain of mountains.
• It rises from the Indian plains to the north of Kangra and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh and ends near Badrinath,Uttarakhand.
• These ranges are the extension of Pir Panjal into Himachal Pradesh. They are cut across by the river Ravi.
• The highest peak in the range is the Hanuman Tibba, approached from Beas Kund/Manali, about 5982m high.
• Although mostly composed of granite, the flanks of the range exhibit frequent formations of slate limestone and sandstone
• The hill stations of Shimla and Pir Panjal are located in these ranges.
• There are glacial lakes in the Dhauladhars. Prominent among them is the Lam Dal which is the biggest with a circumference of about 2.5 km.
• One of the major passes across this range is the Indrahar Pass, which forms the border between Kangra and Chamba districts.

Explanation :

• Also called the basic reproduction number, it indicates the average number of people who will contract the virus from a person who has already been infected, in a population that does not have immunity for the said disease.
• R0 is the division of the number of new infections by the number of existing infections, or the average number of new infections over an infectious period (R0= new infections/existing infections).
• To illustrate with an example, if the number of people diagnosed with a disease increases from four to eight in two days, it is likely to increase to 16 two days later, or in four days from the start. This makes the R0 two.

R0 Values

Three possibilities exist for the potential spread or decline of a disease, depending on its R0 value:

• If R0 is less than 1, each existing infection causes less than one new infection. In this case, the disease will decline and eventually die out.
• If R0 equals 1, each existing infection causes one new infection. The disease will stay alive and stable, but there won’t be an outbreak or an epidemic.
• If R0 is more than 1, each existing infection causes more than one new infection. The disease will spread between people, and there may be an outbreak or epidemic.
• The higher the R0, the more contagious the infection.

Explanation :

• On 9^th April, 2020, the Odisha government promulgated an ordinance to deal with COVID 19 spread by amending Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
• According Ordinance, anybody who disobeys any regulation or order under the principal Act is liable to face imprisonment up to two years or pay a fine of up to Rs 10,000 or be slapped with both.
• It replaces section 3 of the main Act, which states that violating the law invites imprisonment for a maximum period of six months and a Rs-1,000 fine, adding that a clause has been inserted in another section of the principal Act.
• Procurement of goods, services and equipment for prevention and control of an epidemic disease has been brought under the purview of the amended provision, which was not a part of the original 1897 Act.

Explanation :

• Kaundinya Wildlife Sanctuary is a wildlife sanctuary and an elephant reserve situated in Andhra Pradesh.
• It is the only sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh with a population of Asian elephants, which migrated after 200 years from neighbouring regions.
• Located near the city of Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, the sanctuary has dry deciduous forests with thorny scrubs interspersed with trees.
• The sanctuary is situated in region where the Kolar Plateau ends and slopes down into the plains of Tamil Nadu creating many valleys and ghats.
• Important flora consists of Albizia amara, Acacia, Lagerstroemia, Ficus, bamboo, and a species which is a regeneration of Santalum album.
• Apart from Indian elephant, other animals found in the sanctuary are: sloth bear, panther, cheetal, chowsingha, sambar, porcupine, wild boar, jungle cat, jackal, jungle fowl, starred tortoise and slender loris.
• Kalyana Revu Waterfalls (also called Kalyan Drive Falls) and Kaigal Waterfalls are situated within the sanctuary.

Explanation :

• Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's external cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their peoples.
• It was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India’s first Education Minister.

Objectives

• To actively participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes pertaining to India’s external cultural relations
• To foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries
• To promote cultural exchanges with other countries and people, and to develop relations with nations.

ICCR Awards

• Distinguished Indologist Award
• World Sanskrit Award
• Distinguished Alumni Award
• Gisela Bonn Award

Explanation :

• The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is an intergovernmental organisation and the implementing body for the Chemical Weapons Convention, which entered into force on 29 April 1997.
• Headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, OPCW, with its 193 Member States, oversees the global endeavour to permanently and verifiably eliminate chemical weapons.
• The Convention aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by States Parties.
• States Parties, in turn, must take the steps necessary to enforce that prohibition in respect of persons (natural or legal) within their jurisdiction.
• A unique feature of the Convention is its incorporation of the ‘challenge inspection’, whereby any State Party in doubt about another State Party’s compliance can request a surprise inspection.
• Under the Convention’s ‘challenge inspection’ procedure, States Parties have committed themselves to the principle of ‘anytime, anywhere’ inspections with no right of refusal.
• The organisation was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons.

Explanation :

• The National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) is a “Statutory Organization” constituted under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 was subsequently amended during 1991 and last during 2002.
• As per the amendment of the Act in 2002, a provision was incorporated for the constitution of NBWL, replacing the Indian Board for Wildlife.
• It came into existence with the Gazette Notification dated 22^nd September 2003.
• The board is “advisory” in nature and advises the Central Government on framing policies and measures for conservation of wildlife in the country.
• It has 47 members with the Prime Minister in the Chair. The Minister in charge of the Ministry of Environment & Forests in the Central Government is the Vice-Chairperson.

Functions

• It is the apex body to review all wildlife-related matters and approve projects in and around national parks and sanctuaries i.e. Protected Areas.
• No alternation of boundaries in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries can be done without approval of the NBWL.

Explanation :

• The Innovation Cell of the Ministry of Human Resources Development and All India Council for Technical Education in collaboration with Forge and InnovatioCuris launched a mega online challenge - Samadhan - to test the ability of students to innovate.
• Under this, the students and faculty will be motivated for doing new experiments and new discoveries and provide them with a strong base leading to a spirit of experimentation and discovery.
• Here, the students will search and develop such measures that can be made available to the government agencies, health services, hospitals and other services for quick solutions to the Coronavirus epidemic and other such calamities.

Explanation :

• Article 142 provides for the enforcement of decrees and orders of Supreme Court.
• Article 142(1): It states that Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it and the orders shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India.
• Article 142(2): It states that Supreme Court shall have the power to make any order for the purpose of (a) securing the attendance of any person, (b) the discovery or production of any documents or (c) the investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself.

Article 142 Used Earlier

• In November, 2019, it was also used during the Ayodhya judgment, making the first such case where it was invoked for a civil dispute over an immovable property that involved private parties.
• To cancel allocation of coal blocks granted from 1993 onwards without any specific finding.
• For restoring the white marble of the Taj Mahal
• To probe the 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal
• To provide relief to the thousands of people affected by the Bhopal gas tragedy.