Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• The United Arab Emirates Mars Mission called “Hope” was announced in 2015 with the aim of creating mankind’s first integrated model of the Red planet’s atmosphere.
• The mission is officially named the Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) and the orbiter has been named Hope or ‘Al Amal’.
• It is scheduled to take off from its launch site, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan.
• Hope weighs over 1500 kg, and will carry scientific instruments mounted on one side of the spacecraft, including the Emirates eXploration Imager (EXI), which is a high-resolution camera, the Emirates Mars Ultraviolet Spectrometer (EMUS), a far-UV imaging spectrograph, the Emirates Mars InfraRed Spectrometer (EMIRS), and FTIR scanning spectrometer.
• The spacecraft will orbit Mars to study the Martian atmosphere and its interaction with outer space and solar winds.
• Hope will collect data on Martian climate dynamics, which should help scientists understand why Mars’ atmosphere is decaying into space.

Explanation :

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that measles and rubella have been eradicated from Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
• This makes them the first two countries in WHO South-East Asia Region to achieve measles and rubella elimination ahead of the 2023 target.
• Maldives reported last endemic case of measles in 2009 and of rubella in October 2015, while Sri Lanka reported last endemic case of measles in May 2016 and of rubella in March 2017.
• Member countries of WHO South-East Asia Region had set 2023 as target for elimination of measles and rubella, revising the goal of the flagship programme that since 2014 had focused on measles elimination and rubella control.
• Bhutan, North Korea and East Timor were also declared to be measles-free.

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.

Explanation :

• A new species of fish has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh.
• The fish species is named as Schizothorax sikusirumensis.
• The fish species belongs to genus Schizothorax.
• The name of this fish species has been derived from the name of the rivers where it was found- junction of River Siku and Sirum near Gakang area under Mebo circle of East Siang District.

Explanation :

• Mount Merapi, Gunung Merapi (literally Fire Mountain in Indonesian and Javanese), is an active stratovolcano located on the border between Central Java and Special Region of Yogyakarta provinces, Indonesia.
• It is the most active volcano in Indonesia.
• It is situated at a subduction zone, where the Indo-Australian Plate is subducting under the Sunda Plate.
• It has been designated as one of the Decade Volcanoes.

Decade Volcanoes

• These are 16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) as being worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to populated areas.
• They are named Decade Volcanoes because the project was initiated in the 1990s as part of the United Nations–sponsored International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

Explanation :

• Gee's golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), also known as simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey found in a small region of western Assam, India and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan.
• It is one of the most endangered primate species of India.
• Their habitat is restricted to the region surrounded by four geographical landmarks: the foothills of Bhutan (North), Manas river (East), Sankosh river (West), and Brahmaputra river (South).
• They are highly dependent on trees, living in the upper canopy of forests. They are also known as leaf monkeys.

Conservation Status

• IUCN List of Threatened Species: Endangered
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora(CITES): Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 : Schedule I

Ecological Role

• Like most primates who eat fruits, golden langurs likely play a role in seed dispersal, seed predation, and pollination, all of which are critical for forest repopulation.