Current Affairs Question - 11 January 2020

Explanation :

• Miyawaki is a technique pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki that helps build dense, native forests.
• It involves planting dozens of native species in the same area, and becomes maintenance-free after the first three years.
• In this, multi-layered saplings are planted close to each other. This blocks sunlight from reaching the ground and prevents weeds from growing, thus keeping the soil moist. The close cropping further ensures that the plants receive sunlight only from the top thus enabling them only to grow upwards than sideways.
• The approach is supposed to ensure that plant growth is 10 times faster and the resulting plantation is 30 times denser than usual.

Explanation :

• Epiphany is a feast day, or a day of commemoration, which in Christianity marks the visit of the Magi (meaning the Three Wise Men or Three Kings) to the Infant Jesus (Christ from his nativity until age 12).
• According to Christian belief, the Magi — Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper), the kings of Arabia, Persia, and India, respectively — followed a miraculous guiding star to Bethlehem, where they paid homage to the Infant Jesus.
• The visit is believed to signify Jesus’ physical manifestation to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people).
• It is among the three oldest and major festival days in Christianity, the two others being Christmas and Easter. It is celebrated on January 6 by a number of Christian sects, including Roman Catholics, and on January 19 by some Eastern Orthodox churches.
• In Goa, the celebration is known by its Portuguese name ‘Festa dos Reis’, and in parts of Kerala by its Syriac name ‘Denha’.