Current Affairs Question - November 2019

Explanation :

• Nagoba Jatara is a tribal festival of Gonds held in Keslapur village, Inderavelly Mandal Adilabad district, Telangana.
• It is the second-largest festival in Telangana after Sammakka Sarakka Jatra which is a biennial festival organized at Medaram.
• Before the start of the pujas, the Gonds continue to ‘purify’ the temple with Ganga Jal or water from the Godavari drawn at a spot called ‘Hastina Madugu’ where Nagoba is believed to have quenched his thirst after partaking the ‘naivedyam’.
• The Gusadi Dance performance by dancers from the Gond tribe is a major special attraction of the event.
• The event also includes a ceremony called ‘bheting’, which incorporates new brides into the clan.
• The ceremony of Betal puja, which involves display of martial art, constitutes the last of the rituals in the event.

Explanation :

• The Defence Acquisition Council is Defence Ministry’s highest decision making body for capital acquisition proposals forwarded by the Indian armed forces.
• It was set up in 2001 as part of the post-Kargil reforms in defence sector.
• It has the power to approve any deviations in an acquisition, and recommends all big capital defence purchases for approval of the Cabinet committee on security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister.
• It also clears all acquisitions, which includes both imported and those produced indigenously or under a foreign license.

Objective

• To ensure expeditious procurement of the approved requirements of the Armed Forces, in terms of capabilities sought, and time frame prescribed, by optimally utilizing the allocated budgetary resources.

Functions

• in-principle approval of 15 Year Long-Term Integrated Perspective Plan for Defence Forces
• accord of Acceptance of Necessity to acquisition proposals
• categorization of the acquisition proposals relating to ‘Buy’, ‘Buy & Make’ and ‘Make’
• issues relating to Single vendor clearance
• decision regarding ‘offset’ provisions in respect of acquisition proposals above Rs. 300 crores
• decisions regarding Transfer of Technology under ‘Buy & Make’ category of acquisition proposals
• Field Trial evaluation.

Explanation :

• Shadow Banking refers to the practice of banking like activities performed by non-banking finance companies, which are not subject to strict regulation. However, these institutions function as intermediaries between the investors and the borrowers, providing credit and generating liquidity in the system.
• It includes money market funds, private equity funds, hedge funds, securitisation, securities lenders, and structured investment vehicles.
• The term “shadow bank” was coined by economist Paul McCulley in a 2007 speech at the annual financial symposium hosted by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
• Unlike traditional banks, shadow banks do not take deposits. Instead, they rely on short-termfunding provided either by asset-backed commercial paper or by the repo market, in which borrowers offer collateral as security against a cash loan and then sell the security to a lender and agree to repurchase it at an agreed time in the future for an agreed price.

Explanation :

• Etalin Hydro Electric Power Company Limited (EHEPCL), a joint venture company of Jindal Power Limited (JPL) & Hydro Power Development Corporation of Arunachal Pradesh Limited, is supposed to be built in the biodiversity-rich Dibang river valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
• The project was first identified in 2003 and was granted Terms of Reference (ToRs) by the environment ministry in 2009.
• It envisages construction of two dams - a 101.5 metre high dam on the Dirriver near Yuron village and a 80-metre high dam on Tangon river.
• The Dri and Tangon rivers are tributaries of Dibang.

Reason for Opposition to Project

• The proposed project location falls at the junction of the Palaearctic, Indo-Chinese, and Indo-Malayan bio-geographic regions having luxuriant forests and plethora of flora and fauna.
• About six globally threatened mammal species are found in this region of which three are endangered and three are under the vulnerable category.
• In addition, the entire region falls under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) management categories III and IV, Endemic Bird Area, Global Biodiversity Hotspot, and Key Biodiversity Area indicating its importance at global scale.

River Dibang

• Dibang River, also known as Sikang in Adi and Talon in Idu, is a tributary river of the Brahmaputr (Known as Dihang in Arunachal Pradesh) that originates and flows through the Mishmi Hills & northeast India from the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
• The Sisar, Mathun, Tangon, Dri, Ithun and Emra are the major tributaries of the Dibang.

Explanation :

• Assam Roofed Turtle (Pangshurasylhetensis) is a species of Testudinata in the family Geoemydidae.
• The species occurs in the north-eastern & south-eastern parts of Bangladesh, in India (Assam)and possibly in Bhutan.
• It is found in terrestrial and freshwater habitats in areas with upland tropical moist forest, and fast-flowing streams and perhaps also small rivers.
• The species is protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, and has been classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2000.
• It is listed on CITES Appendix II under Pangshura species.

Explanation :

• The Sumatran rhinoceros, also known as the hairy rhinoceros or Asian two-horned rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), is a rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five species of rhinoceros.
• The Sumatra rhino is the smallest of the rhinoceros species and the only rhino with two horns in Asia.
• They are now critically endangered, as per the IUCN red list.
• The Sumatran rhino once roamed as far away as the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas in Bhutan and eastern India, through Myanmar, Thailand, possibly to Vietnam and China, and south through the Malay Peninsula.
• Today, the species only survives on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

Explanation :

• Budget 2018 amended the Central Road Fund Act, 2000, and renamed the Central Road Fund the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund.
• The objective of the amendment was to use proceeds of the road cess under CRIF to finance other infrastructure projects such as waterways, some portion of the railway infrastructure and even social infrastructure, including education institutions and medical colleges.
• The fund comprises of a cess imposed along with excise duty on petrol and diesel.
• As per the amendment, the share for each infrastructure areas and projects from the CRIF shall be finalised by a Committee, constituted by the Central government. The Committee will be headed by the Finance Minister.
• The amendment prescribes that road cess is first credited to the Consolidated Fund of India and later, after adjusting for the cost of tax collection, should go to the CRIF.
• Now, the administrative control of Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF) falls under the Ministry of Finance. Earlier it was under the domain of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Explanation :

• The Convention on Cybercrime, also known as the Budapest Convention, is the first global treaty seeking to address Internet and cybercrime by harmonising national laws, improving investigative techniques and increasing cooperation among nations.
• Its main objective, set out in the preamble, is to pursue a common criminal policy aimed at the protection of society against cybercrime, especially by adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international co-operation.
• The Convention and its Explanatory Report was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe at its 109th Session on 8 November 2001.
• It was opened for signature in Budapest, on 23 November 2001 and it entered into force on 1 July 2004.
• As of September 2019, 64 states have ratified the convention, while a further four states had signed the convention but not ratified it.

Explanation :

• The idea of Fundamental Duties is inspired from the Constitution of Russia.
• The fundamental duties were incorporated in Part IV-A of our constitution by 42^nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1976,on the recommendations of Swaran Singh Committee.
• All the eleven duties are listed in Article 51-A of the Constitution.
• The fundamental duties serve as a reminder to citizens that while enjoying their rights, they have also to be quite conscious of duties they owe to their country and society .

Explanation :

• Consultative Committees are constituted by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
• They consist of members of both the Houses of Parliament.
• The Minister/Minister of State in charge of the Ministry concerned acts as the chairman of the consultative committee of that ministry.
• Consultative committees are attached to various ministries/departments of the Central Government.
• The membership of these committees is voluntary and is left to the choice of the members and the leaders of their parties.
• The maximum membership of a committee is 30 and the minimum is 10.
• These committees provide a forum for informal discussions between the ministers and the members of Parliament on policies and programmes of the government and the manner of their implementation.

Explanation :

• The avian botulism is a neuro-muscular illness caused by Botulinum (natural toxin) that is produced by bacteria - Clostridium botulinum.
• Clostridium botulinum is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, anaerobic, spore-forming, motile bacterium with the ability to produce the neurotoxin botulinum.
• The bacteria cause 4 types of botulism namely infant botulism, wound botulism, foodborne botulism and inhalation botulism.
• Homemade, fermented and preserved foods are common sources of foodborne botulism.

Explanation :

• The Maha bodhi Temple Complex in Bodh Gaya is located in the central part of the state of Bihar, in the northeastern part of India. It is the part of the great Ganges plains.
• The complex is one of the four holy sites related to the life of the Lord Buddha.
• The complex is also known by the name BodhimandaVihara that means 'Position of Awakening'.
• The first temple was constructed by King Ashoka in the 3rd century B.C. while the present temple complex is estimated to be erected somewhere between the 6th or 5th century B.C.
• The present Maha bodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya comprises the 50 m high grand Temple, the Vajrasana, sacred Bodhi Tree and other six sacred sites of Buddha's enlightenment, surrounded by numerous ancient Votive stupas.
• It was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2002.

Explanation :

• The Union Cabinet, on 21st November, 2019, approved the establishment of the National Institute for Sowa-Rigpa (NISR) in Lehas an autonomous organization under the Ministry of AYUSH.
• The Sowa-Rigpa is a traditional Tibetan system of medicine which is practiced in the Himalayan belt of India and is popular in the states of Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and West Bengal’s Darjeeling along with the Union Territory of Ladakh.
• Yuthog Yonten Gonpo is believed to be the father of Sowa Rigpa. He had composed rGyud-bZhi (four tantra) the fundamental text book of this medicine. rGyud-bZhi is based on indigenous medicine of Tibet enriched with Ayurveda, Chinese and Greek Medicine.
• The setting up of the NISR would provide an impetus for the revival of Sowa-Rigpa in the Indian Sub-continent.
• The Institute will also provide opportunities for students of Sowa-Rigpa not only in India but also from other countries.

Explanation :

• Ain-i-Akbari (Administration of Akbar) is a 16th-century detailed document of the Mughal Empire under Emperor Akbar, written by his court historian, Abu'lFazl in the Persian language.
• It embodies Ains or rules and regulations framed and put into effect for proper administration by Akbar.
• Though a part of the Akbarnamah, Ain-i-Akbari is itself a voluminous work.
• It is divided into five books. The first book called manzil-abadi deals with the imperial household and its maintenance, and the second called sipah-abadi, with the servants of the emperor, military and civil services. The third deals with imperial administration, containing regulations for the judiciary and the executive. The fourth contains information on Hindu philosophy, science, social customs and literature. The fifth contains sayings of Akbar, along with an account of the ancestry and biography of the author.

Explanation :

• The ASEAN Defence Ministers’s Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) is a platform for ASEAN and its Dialogue Partners to strengthen security and defence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region.
• The ADMM-Plus countries include ten ASEAN Member State and eight Plus countries, namely Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, ROK, Russian Federation, and the United States.
• The Inaugural ADMM-Plus was convened in Hanoi, Vietnam, on 12th October 2010. The Defence Ministers then agreed on five areas of practical cooperation to pursue under this new mechanism, namely maritime security, counter-terrorism, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, peacekeeping operations and military medicine.

Objectives

• To benefit ASEAN member countries in building capacity to address shared security challenges, while cognisant of the differing capacities of various ASEAN countries
• To promote mutual trust and confidence between defence establishments through greater dialogue and transparency
• To enhance regional peace and stability through cooperation in defence and security, in view of the transnational security challenges the region faces
• To contribute to the realisation of an ASEAN Security Community which, as stipulated in the Bali Concord II, embodies ASEAN’s aspiration to achieve peace, stability, democracy and prosperity in the region where ASEAN member countries live at peace with one another and with the world at large
• To facilitate the implementation of the Vientiane Action Programme, which calls for ASEAN to build a peaceful,secure and prosperous ASEAN.

Explanation :

• The Kimberley Process (KP) is a multilateral trade regime established in 2003 with the goal of preventing the flow of conflict diamonds. The core of this regime is the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) under which States implement safeguards on shipments of rough diamonds and certify them as “conflict free".
• It is open to all countries that are willing and able to implement its requirements.
• KPCS imposes extensive requirements on its members to enable them to certify shipments of rough diamonds as ‘conflict-free' and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade.
• Under the terms of the KPCS, participating states must meet ‘minimum requirements' and must put in place national legislation and institutions; export, import and internal controls; and also commit to transparency and the exchange of statistical data.
• India is one of the founder members of Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and is the Chair of Kimberley Process for the year 2019 with Russian Federation as Vice Chair. India had earlier chaired KPCS in the year 2008.

Members

• The KP has 54 participants, representing 81 countries, with the European Union and its Member States counting as a single participant.

Explanation :

• Recently, Brahmaputra Pushkaram - a 12-day mega river festival was celebrated in the state of Assam starting from November 5 to November 16, 2019.
• It is a festival of rivers and it pertains to the 12 important rivers in India, namely Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Chambal, Kaveri, Beas, Tapti, Godavari, Chenab, Krishna and Saraswati.
• This festival occurs once every 12 years for each river. Earlier, Brahmaputra Pushkaram was held in 2007.
  It is the second biggest river festival celebrated in Assam after Namami Brahmaputra.
• It is believed that Pushkarudu, also known as Pushkar God, who is powerful enough to make any river holy, will travel with Jupiter during this time, as Jupiter travels from one zodiac sign to another.

Explanation :

• The ‘Council of States’ which is also known as Rajya Sabha, a nomenclature that was announced by the chair in the House on the 23rd August, 1954 has its own distinctive features. The origin of the second Chamber can be traced to the Montague-Chelmsford Report of 1918. The Government of India Act, 1919 provided for the creation of a ‘Council of State’ as a second chamber of the then legislature with a restricted franchise which actually came into existence in 1921.
• The Vice President of India is the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
• Article 80 of the Constitution lays down the maximum strength of Rajya Sabha as 250, out of which 12 members are nominated by the President and 238 are representatives of the States and of the two Union Territories.The present strength of Rajya Sabha, however, is 245, out of which 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry and 12 are nominated by the President. The members nominated by the President are persons having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service.
• The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for allocation of seats to the States and Union Territories in Rajya Sabha. The allocation of seats is made on the basis of the population of each State.

Explanation :

• On 16^th November, 2019, Ministry for Health and Family Welfare launched Social Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully (SAANS), a campaign aimed at reducing child mortality due to pneumonia, which contributes to around 15% deaths annually of children under the age of five.
• The government aims to achieve a target of reducing pneumonia deaths among children to less than three per 1,000 live births by 2025.

Objective

• To mobilise people to protect children from pneumonia, and train health personnel and other stakeholders to provide prioritised treatment to control the disease.

About SAANS

• Under the campaign, a child suffering from pneumonia can be treated with pre-referral dose of anti-biotic amoxicillin by ASHA workers, and health and wellness centres can use pulse oximeter (device to monitor oxygen saturation) to identify low oxygen levels in the blood of a child, and if required, treat him by use of oxygen cylinders.
• A mass awareness campaign will also be launched about the effective solutions for pneumonia prevention like breast feeding, and age appropriate complementary feeding.

Explanation :

• Geochemical Baseline Atlas of India has been developed by CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad for use by policy makers to assess environmental damage.
• This is the third map among the series of maps published by NGRI. Earlier, The Gravity map of India and Seismic map of India were released by the research institute.
• The geochemical data presented in these maps will be a part of the Global Map to be prepared by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGC).
• The atlas consisting 45 maps of metals, oxides and elements present in top and bottom soils across India will serve as a reference against which future generations of the country would be able to assess the chemical compositional changes on Earth’s surface.
• To develop the maps, the globe was divided into 5,000 cells of 160 km by 160 km each. Of it, India has 122 cells.
• The map trace elements from top soil i.e. top 25 cm depth and bottom soil at 100 cm depth from the year 2006 to 2011. Across India, over 545 samples were collected.

Significance

• It will help the country to assess the presence of toxic chemicals in soil and how it varies from place to place.
• It also helps in identifying how soil pollution is contributing to groundwater contamination.
• The map will also support in choosing the right soil that’s rich in certain micronutrient elements required for each plant growth.
• It will help to plan the land use in different parts of the country.
• It helps in finding out future contamination caused by industries or other bodies which cause pollution.

Explanation :

• The Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles, growing up to 70 cm and weighing 45 kg, on average.
• It gets its name from its olive green coloured carapace, which is heart-shaped. Males and females grow to the same size; however, females have a slightly more rounded carapace.
• It inhabits tropical and subtropical waters of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Though mainly pelagic, yet they have been found to inhabit coastal areas, including bays and estuaries.
• The species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Appendix 1 in CITES, and Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• It use three different strategies to nest: arribadas, solitary nests and mixed strategy. (An arribada is a mass-nesting event when thousands of turtles come ashore at the same time to lay eggs on the same beach.)

Ecological Significance

• Olive Ridley turtles feed on invertebrates and may play important roles in both open ocean and coastal ecosystems.

Explanation :

• The anti-defection law is contained in the 10^th Schedule of the Constitution. It was enacted by the Constitution (52nd Amendment) Act, 1985, during the Rajiv Gandhi government. It came into effect on 1^st March 1985.
• Purpose: The purpose is to curb political defection by the legislators.
• The Speaker or the Chairman of the concerned Houses (as applicable) makes decisions on defection matters. If the Chairman or the Speaker defects, the decisions shall be made by a member elected by the House.
• The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.

Ground of Defection

• One, if the member voluntarily gives up the membership of the party, he shall be disqualified. Voluntarily giving up the membership is not the same as resigning from a party. Even without resigning, a legislator can be disqualified if by his conduct the Speaker/Chairman of the concerned House draws a reasonable inference that the member has voluntarily given up the membership of his party.
• Second, if a legislator votes in the House against the direction of his party and his action is not condoned by his party, he can be disqualified. These are the two grounds on which a legislator can be disqualified from being a member of the House.

Exceptions

The law provides exceptions from being disqualified as a member of legislature on the following grounds:

• When political parties merge with each other entirely.
• When a political party splits into other parties, subject to not less than a third of the members splitting (as per the 93^rd Amendment to the Constitution).
• When two-thirds (or more) of members belonging to a party join another party without both their parties explicitly merging.

Amendment

• The law was amended in 2003 by which the one-third split provision which offered protection to defectors was deleted from the law.

Explanation :

• Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association(APRACA) is a regional association that promotes cooperation and facilitates mutual exchange of information and expertise in the field of rural finance.
• As of April 2019, a total of 86 institutions in 24 countries in the Asia-Pacific Region are affiliated with the APRACA as its members.

History

• The establishment of a Regional Association that promotes cooperation and facilitates mutual exchange of information and expertise in the field of rural finance was first proposed at the Regional Seminar on Agricultural Credit for Small Farmers, sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the Pacific in October 1974.
• Subsequently under the auspices of FAO, rural finance and agricultural credit institutions in the region formally launched APRACA during its first General Assembly Meeting in New Delhi, India, on October 14, 1977, held in conjunction with the third FAO Asian Conference on Agricultural Credit and Cooperatives.

Mission

• To promote the efficiency and effectiveness of rural finance and improve access to financial services through a network of knowledge sharing and learning, capacity-building, research and exchange of expertise.

Explanation :

• Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) was launched by the Government in april 2018, primarily aims at creation of an ecosystem to foster innovation and technology development in Defence and Aerospace by engaging industries including MSMEs, start-ups, individual innovators, R&D institutes & academia, and provide them grants/funding and other support to carry out R&D which has good potential for future adoption for Indian defence and aerospace needs.
• iDEX is funded and managed by a ‘Defence Innovation Organization (DIO)’ which has been formed as a ‘not for profit’ company as per Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013 for this purpose, by the two founder members i.e. Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) - HAL & BEL.
• iDEX functions as the executive arm of DIO, carrying out all the required activities while DIO will provide high level policy guidance to iDEX.

Key Functions

• Co-Innovation/co-creation
• Piloting of candidate technologies in important platforms
• Indigenization of various defence and aerospace related platforms being manufactured in the country.

Explanation :

• The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted by the Thirty-First Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on 3^rd November, 2001.
• The Treaty’s truly innovative solution to access and benefit sharing, the Multilateral System, puts 64 most important crops – crops that together account for 80 percent of the food derived from plants – into an easily accessible global pool of genetic resources that is freely available to potential users in the Treaty’s ratifying nations for some uses.
• There are 146 contracting parties to the Treaty (143 states and the European Union) as of July 2019.

Aim

• Recognizing the enormous contribution of farmers to the diversity of crops that feed the world;
• Establishing a global system to provide farmers, plant breeders and scientists with access to plant genetic materials;
• Ensuring that recipients share benefits they derive from the use of these genetic materials with the countries where they have been originated.

Explanation :

• Tropical forests are closed canopy forests growing within 10 degrees north or south of the equator.
• These are very wet places, receiving more than 200 cm rainfall per year, either seasonally or throughout the year.
• Temperatures are uniformly high - between 20°C and 35°C.
• The majority of tropical rainforests are found in four biogeographic realms: the Afrotropical(mainland Africa, Madagascar, and scattered islands), the Australian (Australia, New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands), the Indomalayan(India, Sri Lanka, mainland Asia, and Southeast Asia), and the Neotropical(South America, Central America, and the Caribbean islands).The heavy rains that occur in rainforests wash organic material from the soil, a process known as leaching, rendering the soil nutrient-less.
• A common feature of many tropical rainforests is the distinct buttress roots of trees. Instead of penetrating to deeper soil layers, buttress roots create a widespread root network at the surface for more efficient uptake of nutrients in a very nutrient poor and competitive environment.
• Rainforests are the most productive and most complex ecosystems on Earth.

Explanation :

• SurangaBawadi was built by Adil Shah-I of Adilshahi dynasty of Bijapur in the 16th century to supply water to Vijaypura in Karnataka.
• It is an integral part of the ancient Karez System of supplying water through subterranean tunnels.

Karez System

• Karez system was built by Bahmani kings in 15th Century by the Bahmani kings in Bidar, Gulbarg and Bijapur in Karnataka and also in Burhanpur in Madhya Pradesh.
• Also known as Qanat, it is a water-harnessing technology that originated in Iran/Persia.
• Karez technology basically taps into the ground tunnel to the settlement, ending in surface canal and/or pools in the village for various uses.

World Monuments Watch

• The World Monuments Watch is a global program launched in 1995 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of World Monuments Fund.
• It aims to identify imperiled cultural heritage sites and direct financial and technical support for their preservation.

Explanation :

• Dhrupad, considered the oldest style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music, is said to be a form of the Gandharva Veda (the Vedic science of music, which is a branch of Sama Veda).
• The Sama Veda was chanted with the help of melody and rhythm called Samgana. Gradually this developed into other vocal styles called ‘Chhanda’ and ‘Prabandha’ with introduction of verse and meter. The fusion of these two elements led to the emergence of Dhrupad.
• A Dhrupad has at least four stanzas, called Sthayi (or Asthayi), Antara, Sancari and Abhoga.
• Like all Indian classical music, dhrupad is modal and monophonic, with a single melodic line and no chord progression.
• It performed by a solo singer or a small number of singers in unison to the beat of the pakhavaj or mridang rather than the tabla.
• The language of Dhrupad changed from Sanskrit to BrijBhashasome time between the 12th and the 16th century.
• The earliest mention in Persian texts of Dhrupad is in Ain-i-Akbari of Abu Fazl (1593).

Notable Dhrupad Singers

• Swami ShriHaridas, Surdas, Govind Swami, AshtSakha, Tansen and BaijuBawara.

Explanation :

• Natural uranium is composed of various isotopes, or different types of uranium. It contains approximately 99.3% of the isotope uranium-238, and has only very small concentrations, about 7%, of the fissile isotope uranium-235. An isotope is considered fissile if it can be split by a slow moving neutron.
• Uranium-235 is the most significant fissile isotope of uranium for reactor fuel and nuclear weapons.
• Uranium needs to be in a gaseous form for enrichment due to the varying chemical and physical properties the different isotopes (U-235 and U-238) have.
• Commercially, the U235 isotope is enriched to 3 to 5% (from the natural state of 0.7%) and is then further processed to create nuclear fuel.
• At the conversion plant, uranium oxide is converted to the chemical form of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) to be usable in an enrichment facility.

Stages of Enrichment

• Uranium enriched to concentrations above 0.7% but less than 20% uranium-235 is defined as low enriched uranium (LEU). Most nuclear reactors use LEU that is about 3-5% uranium-235.
• Uranium enriched to more than 20% uranium-235 is defined as highly enriched uranium (HEU). All HEU is weapons-usable, but the lower the enrichment level the greater the amount of material required to achieve a critical mass - the amount of material required to build a bomb.
• States with nuclear weapons typically use so-called weapons-grade HEU, which is typically defined as 90% HEU or above, to minimize weapons’ size.

Explanation :

• NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries.
• The North Atlantic Treaty(also referred to as the Washington Treat) signed in 1949, is the treaty that forms the legal basis of, and is implemented by, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
• NATO membership is open to “any other European state in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area.”
• NATO's Headquarters are located in Evere, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons, Belgium.

Members

• Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

Explanation :

• Initially, BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand - Economic Cooperation) was formed at a meeting in June, 1997 in Bangkok.
• Myanmar was admitted in December, 1997 and the organization was renamed as BIMST-EC.
• The grouping expanded when Nepal and Bhutan were admitted in February, 2004. The grouping’s name was changed to BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) at 1st Summit Meeting held in Bangkok in July, 2004.
• BIMSTEC Permanent Secretariat is at Dhaka was opened in 2014 and India provides 33% (65% of region's population) of its expenditure

Significance

• Together, the organization comprises 5 billion people – 21% of the world population, and a combined GDP of over US$ 2.5 trillion.

Explanation :

• The DTAA is a tax treaty signed between two or more multiple countries so that taxpayers can avoid paying double taxes on their income earned from the source country as well as the residence country.
• A DTAA becomes applicable in cases where an individual is a resident of one nation, but earns income in another.
• DTAAs can be either be comprehensive, encapsulating all income sources, or limited to certain areas, which means taxing of income from shipping, inheritance, air transport, etc.

Significance

• It helps to make country attractive investment destination by providing relief on dual taxation.

Explanation :

• AIFs refer to any privately pooled investment fund, (whether from Indian or foreign sources), in the form of a trust or a company or a body corporate or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
• In India, AIFs are defined in Regulation 2(1) (b) of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012.
• Venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, managed futures,art and antiques, commodities and real estate are examples of AIFs.

Categories

• Category I: Mainly invests in start- ups, SME's or any other sector which government considers economically and socially viable.
• Category II: These include private equity funds or debt funds for which no specific incentives or concessions are given by the government or any other Regulator
• Category III: Alternative Investment Funds such as hedge funds or funds which trade with a view to make short term returns or such other funds which are open ended and for which no specific incentives or concessions are given by the government or any other regulator.

Explanation :

• On 5^th November, 2091, President gave his assent to the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime (GCTOC) Bill, a controversial anti-terror legislation passed by the BJP-ruled state in March 2015.
• The bill, earlier named as the Gujarat Control of Organised Crime (GUJCOC) Bill, was first proposed in 2003, on the lines of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA)
• It was rejected twice during the years in power of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).Former presidents A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and PratibhaPatil had rejected the bill, objecting to the clause of telephonic interception as evidence.
• It defines a terrorist act, as an act committed with the intention to disturb law and order or threaten the unity, integrity, and security of the state.
• One of the key features of the new Act is intercepted telephonic conversations, which would now be considered as legitimate
• It also provides for the creation of a special court as well as the appointment of special public prosecutors.
• Other provisions of the act include the admissibility of confession made before a police officer as evidence.

Impact

• It will help in curbing terrorism, will enhance Gujarat’s security cover at state and national level and will also strengthen the police force.
• It will help in tightening the safety and security of Gujarat’s coastline of 1,600 kilometer.

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

Explanation :

• NIRVIK scheme has been launched by the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) in order to ease the lending process and enhance loan availability for exporters.

Key Features

• Insurance cover guaranteed will cover up to 90% of the principal and interest.
• The increased cover will ensure that foreign and rupee export credit interest rates are below 4 percent and 8 percent respectively for the exporters.
• The insurance cover will include both pre and post-shipment credit.

Benefits

• Will enhance accessibility and affordability of credit for exporters
• Will make ECGC procedures exporter friendly
• Will help make Indian exports competitive