Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• Coal Bed Methane (CBM), also known as Coal Seam Gas, is an unconventional form of natural gas found in coal deposits or coal seams.
• It is formed during the process of coalification, the transformation of plant material into coal.

Composition

• The composition of CBM in a sample of coal varies widely across several locations in the country.
• Generally, it consists predominantly of methane gas (CH4) although it can contain trace amounts of ethane (C2H6), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O).

Extraction

• CBM can be recovered from underground coal before, during, or after mining operations.
• It can also be extracted from “unminable” coal seams that are relatively deep, thin or of poor or inconsistent quality.
• Vertical and horizontal wells are used to develop CBM resources.
• Extraction requires drilling wells into the coal seams and removing water contained in the seam to reduce hydrostatic pressure and release absorbed (and free) gas out of the coal.

Applications

• Power Generation: CBM has become increasingly used as a source of energy .It can be used in place of natural gas in gas turbines for power generation.
• Manufacturing: CBM can also be used as a feedstock for manufacturing fertilizers and plastics.

Explanation :

• On the basis of the recommendations of the 12th Plan Working Group on Sustainable Groundwater Management of the erstwhile Planning Commission (now NITI Aayog), the ambitious National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme (NAQUIM) was launched in 2012, with CGWB as the executing body.

Aim

• To cover more than 25 million square kilometres that have been delineated hydrogeologically mappable.

Key Points

• One of the major objectives of NAQUIM is to promote participatory groundwater management. This can be achieved by empowering communities with a seamless flow of information and understanding of local aquifers.

Structurally there are four stages of activities in NAQUIM-

• Collection, compilation and analysis of existing data. Based on the data requirement protocol, data gaps are identified;
• The required data is then generated in data gap areas/domains through an array of scientific investigations;
• Integration of data, developing lithologic models and configuring aquifers. The hydraulic properties, resource behaviour, water level regime and chemical quality is established in space-time domain;
• Various supply and demand side interventions are worked out and recommended to sustainably use groundwater. Here, local issues are also addressed.

Explanation :

• Introduced in April, 2017, Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana is a scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for Senior citizens belonging to BPL category.

Key Points

• This is a Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Central Government. The expenditure for implementation of the scheme will be met from the "Senior Citizens' Welfare Fund".
• The Scheme will be implemented through the sole implementing agency - Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), a PSU under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• Under the scheme, the physical aids will be provided only to the senior citizens of the nation.
• This implies those who are aged above 60 years will get free assisted living aids and physical devices which are required for their sustainability.
• Also the govt. has selected the list of cities where the scheme will be implemented.
• The main criteria for the senior citizens to get full benefits of the scheme is that they must belong to BPL family and should hold valid BPL card issued by the concerned authority.

Explanation :

• The United Nations Charter established six main organs of the United Nations, including the Security Council in 1945.
• It gives primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security to the Security Council, which may meet whenever peace is threatened.
• The council has 15 members: five permanent and 10 non-permanent members elected for two-year terms.
• The five permanent members are- United States, the Russian Federation, France, China and the United Kingdom.

Non-Council Member States

• A State which is a Member of the United Nations but not of the Security Council may participate, without a vote, in its discussions when the Council considers that country's interests are affected.
• Both Members and non-members of the United Nations, if they are parties to a dispute being considered by the Council, may be invited to take part, without a vote, in the Council's discussions; the Council sets the conditions for participation by a non-member State.

Explanation :

• Appropriation Bill is a money bill that allows the government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India to meet its expenses during the course of a financial year.
• As per article 114 of the Constitution, the government can withdraw money from the Consolidated Fund only after receiving approval from Parliament.
• To put it simply, the Finance Bill contains provisions on financing the expenditure of the government, and Appropriation Bill specifies the quantum and purpose for withdrawing money.

Procedure

• The government introduces the Appropriation Bill in the lower house of Parliament after discussions on Budget proposals and Voting on Demand for Grants.
• The Appropriation Bill is first passed by the Lok Sabha and then sent to the Rajya Sabha.
• The Rajya Sabha has the power to recommend any amendments in this Bill.
• However, it is the prerogative of the Lok Sabha to either accept or reject the recommendations made by the upper house of Parliament.

Explanation :

• The Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) Scheme was introduced by amending the Citizenship Act, 1955 in August 2005.
• The Scheme was launched during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention 2006 at Hyderabad.
• On 09 January 2015, the Government of India discontinued the PIO card and merged it with OCI card.
• The Government of India, on application, may register any person as an Overseas Citizen of India, if the person:
  • was a citizen of India on 26 January 1950 or at any time thereafter; or
  • belonged to a territory that became part of India after 15 August 1947; or
  • was eligible to become a citizen of India on 26 January 1950; or
  • is a child or a grandchild or a great-grandchild of such a citizen; or
  • is a minor child of such persons mentioned above; or
  • is a minor child and whose both parents are citizens of India or one of the parents is a citizen of India; or
  • is a spouse of foreign origin of a citizen of India or spouse of foreign origin of an Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder registered under section 7A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 and whose marriage has been registered and subsisted for a continuous period of not less than two years immediately preceding the presentation of the application
• No person, who or either of whose parents or grandparents or great grandparents is or had been a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh, is eligible for registration as an Overseas Citizen of India.

Restrictions

• Do not have right to vote.
• Do not have right to any public service/government jobs
• Cannot hold offices of – Prime Minister, President, Vice -President, Judge of Supreme Court and High Court, member of Parliament or Member of state legislative assembly or council.
• Cannot own agricultural property.

Explanation :

• Boko Haram is an ISIS-aligned jihadist group based in northeastern Nigeria.
• It is also active in Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.
• It was founded in 2002 in Maiduguri, Nigeria, by a Salafist cleric named Mohammed Yusuf and seeks to establish a caliphate, or Islamic state, in Nigeria.
• The group's name has always been Jamā'atu Ahli is-Sunnah lid-Da'wati wal-Jihad, meaning "Group of the People of Sunnah for Dawa and Jihad".
• It is also known as Wilayat Garb Ifrqiya, meaning "West African Province", since March 2015 after becoming part of the Islamic State.

Explanation :

• The Sundarbans National Park is a national park, tiger reserve, and biosphere reserve in West Bengal, India.
• It is part of the Sundarbans on the Ganges Delta, and adjacent to the Sundarban Reserve Forest in Bangladesh.
• The present Sundarban National Park was declared as the core area of Sundarban Tiger Reserve in 1973 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1977.
• On 4 May 1984 it was declared a national park.
• It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1987, and it has been designated as a Ramsar site since 2019.
• It is considered as a World Network of Biosphere Reserve (Man and Biosphere Reserve) from 1989.
• Sundarban has achieved its name from the Sundari tree.
• The endangered species that lives within the Sundarbans are royal Bengal tiger, saltwater crocodile, olive ridley turtle, hawksbill turtle and mangrove horseshoe crab.
• It is also home to a large number of “rare and globally threatened species, such as the critically endangered northern river terrapin (Batagur baska), the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), and the vulnerable fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus).
• Two of the world’s four horseshoe crab species and eight of India’s 12 species of kingfisher are also found here.

Explanation :

• The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), formerly known as the Millennium Dam and sometimes referred to as Hidase Dam is an under construction gravity dam on the Blue Nile River in Guba Woreda, Benishangul Gumuz Region of Ethiopia.
• The dam will be the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa when completed, as well as the seventh largest in the world.
• The dam is the centerpiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter, with a projected capacity of more than 6,000 megawatts.

Blue Nile

• The Blue Nile is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia.
• With the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile. The Blue Nile supplies about 80% of the water in the Nile during the rainy season.

Explanation :

• Oliver Gingold, who worked at Dow Jones, coined the phrase ‘Blue Chip’ in 1923.
• Blue chip stocks are shares of very large and well-recognised companies with a long history of sound financial performance.
• These stocks are known to have capabilities to endure tough market conditions and give high returns in good market conditions.
• These stocks generally cost high, as they have good reputation and are often market leaders in their respective industries.
• Investors turn to blue-chip stocks because they have dependable financials and often pay dividends.