Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• Tonga is a Polynesian sovereign state and archipelago, is located in the Ring of Fire area of Pacific Ocean. It comprises 169 islands, of which 36 are inhabited.
• It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, Niue to the east, Kermadec (part of New Zealand) to the southwest, and New Caledonia and Vanuatu to the west.
• It is sub-divided into five administrative divisions: Eua, Haʻapai, Niuas, Tongatapu, and Vavaʻu.
• The largest island is the Tongatapu, on which the capital city of Nukuʻalofa is located.
• Geologically the Tongan islands are of two types: most have a limestone base formed from uplifted coral formations; others consist of limestone overlaying a volcanic base.

Explanation :

• Established in 1874, the Universal Postal Union (UPU), with its headquarters in the Swiss capital Berne, is the second oldest international organization
• With its 192 member countries, the UPU is the primary forum for cooperation between postal sector players. It helps to ensure a truly universal network of up-to-date products and services.
• It frames rules for international mail exchange and fixes rates for international postal services.
• All United Nations member states are allowed to become members of the UPU. A non-member state of the United Nations may also become a member if two-thirds of theUPU member countries approve its request.
• India joined the UPU in 1876.

The UPU consists of:

4 Bodies

• The Congress
• The Council of Administration
• The Postal Operations Council
• The International Bureau

2 Cooperatives

• Telematics Cooperative
• Express Mail Services (EMS) Cooperative

Explanation :

• Nipah virus is a member of the family Paramyxoviridae, genus Henipavirus. It is a type of RNA virus.
• Nipah virus is zoonotic virus can be transmitted to humans from animals (such as bats or pigs), or contaminated foods and can also be transmitted directly from human-to-human.
• Fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are the natural host of Nipah virus.
• The disease was first identified in 1998 during an outbreak in Malaysia while the virus was isolated in 1999. It is named after a village in Malaysia, Sungai Nipah.
• There is no treatment or vaccine available for either people or animals. The primary treatment for humans is supportive care.

Explanation :

• Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that causes brain cells to waste away (degenerate) and dies. It is named after Alois Alzheimer.
• The disease course is divided into four stages, with a progressive pattern of cognitive and functional impairment.
• Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia - a continuous decline in thinking, behavioral and social skills that disrupts a person's ability to function independently.
• The first symptoms of Alzheimer’s vary from person to person. The possibility of Alzheimer’s increases as the age of the population increases.
• Current Alzheimer's disease medications may temporarily improve symptoms or slow the rate of decline. These treatments can sometimes help people with Alzheimer's disease maximize function and maintain independence for a time.

Explanation :

• Navigation in Indian Constellation (NavIC) is an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
• IRNSS was renamed as the Navigation Indian Constellation (NAVIC) by Prime Minister in
• The space segment consists of the IRNSS constellation of eight satellites
• Three satellites are located in suitable orbital slots in the geostationary orbit and the remaining four are located in geosynchronous orbits with the required inclination and equatorial crossings in two different planes.

Applications

• It will provide two levels of service, the "standard positioning service"- for civilian use and a "restricted service" (an encrypted one) - for authorised users (including the military).
• It can help in terrestrial, aerial and marine navigation; disaster management; vehicle tracking and fleet management; integration with mobile phones; precise timing; mapping and geodetic data capture; terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers; visual and voice navigation for drivers.

Explanation :

• The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was established in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention).
• In 1947, ICAO became a specialized agency of the United Nations linked to Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
• Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, ICAO works with the Convention’s 193 Member States and industry groups to reach consensus on international civil aviation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) and policies in support of a safe, efficient, secure, economically sustainable and environmentally responsible civil aviation sector.
• ICAO coordinates assistance and capacity building for States in support of numerous aviation development objectives; produces global plans to coordinate multilateral strategic progress for safety and air navigation; monitors and reports on numerous air transport sector performance metrics; and audits States’ civil aviation oversight capabilities in the areas of safety and security.

Explanation :

• The MRSSA was passed by the then Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance (MUA)-II government as part of the comprehensive mechanisms to check influx and illegal immigration into the state after expressing its inability to implement the Inner Line Permit (ILP).

Aim

• To ensure the security of the tenants as well as the safety and security of the citizens of the state.

Provisions

• It provides for verification and regulation the tenants residing in rented houses in the state.
• It also establishes District Task Force and Facilitation Centres for effective enforcement of various laws for the safety and security of the citizens.

Inner Line Permit (ILP)

• It is an official travel document issued by the Government of India to grant inward travel of an Indian citizen into a protected area for a limited period.
• It is obligatory for Indians residing outside those states to obtain permission prior to entering the protected areas. It can be issued for travel purposes solely.
• Currently, the ILP is operational in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
• The document has been issued under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 and the conditions and restrictions vary from state to state.

Explanation :

• On the occasion of World Cities Day 2019 (31^st October), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included Mumbai and Hyderabad in its network of 'Creative Cities' among the 66 cities selected all over the world.
• While, Mumbai has been designated as Creative City of Films, Hyderabad as a Creative City of Gastronomy.
• Earlier, Indian cities like Chennai and Varanasi have been included in UNESCO Cities of Music while Jaipur has been included in the City of Crafts and Folk Arts.

UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN)

• Created in 2004, currently, it has 180 cities which aims towards a common objective of placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.
• The network covers seven creative fields: crafts and folk arts, media arts, film, design, gastronomy, literature and music.

Explanation :

• African swine fever (ASF) is a highly contagious haemorrhagic viral disease of domestic and wild pigs, which is responsible for serious economic and production losses.
• It is caused by a large DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family, which also infects ticks of the genus Ornithodoros.
• This transboundary animal disease can be spread by live or dead pigs, domestic or wild, and pork products; furthermore, transmission can also occur via contaminated feed and fomites (non-living objects) such as shoes, clothes, vehicles, knives, equipment etc., due to the high environmental resistance of ASF virus.
• ASFV is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa but outbreaks have also occurred in other parts of the world, including Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia (Russia and the Caucasus region), and China.
• ASF is a disease listed in the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Terrestrial Animal Health Code.

 OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code

• The OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code (the Terrestrial Code) provides standards for the improvement of animal health and welfare and veterinary public health worldwide, including through standards for safe international trade in terrestrial animals (mammals, reptiles, birds and bees) and their products.
• The health measures in the Terrestrial Code should be used by the Veterinary Authorities of importing and exporting countries to provide for early detection, reporting and control agents that are pathogenic to animals or humans, and to prevent their transfer via international trade in animals and animal products, while avoiding unjustified sanitary barriers to trade.
• The standards in the Terrestrial Code have been adopted by the World Assembly of the Delegates which constitutes the organisation’s highest decision-making body.

Explanation :

• The ISA was unveiled jointly by India and France at the U.N. Climate Change Conference-CoP-21 in Paris on November 30^th, 2015. It is headquartered at GwalPahari, Gurugram, India.
• The ISA Framework Agreement was opened for signature during the CoP-22 at Marrakesh on 15^th November, 2016.
• The idea was to form a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to collaborate on addressing the identified gaps in their energy requirements through a common approach.
• Towards this, the ISA has set a target of 1 TW of solar energy by 2030.
• Under the alliance, India has set a target to produce 100 GW of solar energy by 2022 and reduction in emission intensity by 33–35% by 2030.
• The ISA is open to 121 prospective member countries, most of them located between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn as this is the region worldwide with a surplus of bright sunlight for most of the year. Till date, 81 countries have taken membership of ISA.

Key Focus Areas

• Promote solar technologies, new business models and investment in the solar sector to enhance prosperity
• Formulate projects and programmes to promote solar applications
• Develop innovative financial mechanisms to reduce cost of capital
• build a common knowledge e-Portal
• Facilitate capacity building for promotion and absorption of solar technologies and R&D among member countries