Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• The Bay of Bengal (BoB) plays a fundamental role in controlling the weather systems that make up the South Asian summer monsoon system.
• In particular, the southern BoB has cooler sea surface temperature (SST) that influence ocean-atmosphere interaction and impact on the monsoon.
• Compared to the southeast, the southwestern BoB is cooler, more saline, receives much less rain, and is influenced by the Summer Monsoon Current (SMC).
• To examine the impact of these features on the monsoon, the BoB Boundary Layer Experiment (BoBBLE) was jointly undertaken by India and the UK during June July 2016.
• It seeks to examine the impact of ocean processes in the BoB on the monsoon system.

Explanation :

• Chithirai Festival or Chithirai Thiruvizha is an annual celebration celebrated in the city of Madurai during the Tamil month of Chithirai.
• It lasts for one month of which the first 15 days mark the celebrations of the coronation of Goddess Meenakshi and the Marriage of Lord Sundareswara and Goddess Meenakshi, and the next 15 days mark the celebrations of the Journey of Lord Alagar from Kallazhagar temple in Alagar Koyil to Madurai.

Meenakshi Temple

• Meenakshi Temple (also referred to as Meenakshi Amman or Meenakshi-Sundareshwara Temple), is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
• It is dedicated to Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, Sundareshwar, a form of Shiva.
• The temple is at the center of the ancient temple city of Madurai mentioned in the Tamil Sangam literature, with the goddess temple mentioned in 6th century CE texts.
• It temple was built by King Kulasekara Pandya (1190-1216 CE).

Explanation :

• The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.
• It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher, and is administered by Columbia University.
• It is awarded yearly in 21 categories. Each winner receives a cash award and a certificate.
• A gold medal is awarded to the winner in Public Service Category.

Explanation :

• Bru or Reang is a community indigenous to Northeast India, living mostly in Tripura, Mizoram and Assam.
• In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
• They are the second most populous tribe among the indigenous Tripuris after Tripuri (Debbarma).
• They speak the Reang dialect of Kokborok language which is of Tibeto-Burmese origin and is locally referred to as Kau Bru.
• These are primarily an agrarian tribe. In the past, they mostly practised the Huk or Jhum cultivation like most other Tripuri tribes.
• Dance is an integral part of Reang life. The Hojagiri folk dance of Reang sub tribe is rather well known all over the world. 'Buisu', not 'bihu' is the most popular festival of reang tribes.

Explanation :

• Bengaluru's Bannerghatta Biological Park has come out with a programme during the lockdown period for those who want to conserve wildlife and adopt animals at the zoo.
• The animal adoption programme is an opportunity to get involved in supporting feed and veterinary care expenses for zoo animals with provision for Income Tax rebate under 80G.
• The park has released a list of animals that can be adopted: King cobra, Indian rock python, Black buck, Sambar, Emu, Golden jackal, Indian leopard, Sloth bear, Hippopotamus, Bengal tiger, Giraffe, etc

Bannerghatta Biological Park

• It was carved out of the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) and brought under the Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) in 2004.
• The valley of Champakadhama hills is inside the park.

Explanation :

• Maharashtra and Gujarat celebrated their statehood day on 1^st May, 2020.
• On May 1^st, 1960, the bilingual state of Bombay was divided into two separate states by the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960: Maharashtra for Marathi speaking people and Gujarat for Gujarati speaking people.
• Gujarat was established as the 15th state of the Indian Union.

Maharashtra

• Capital: Mumbai
• Arabian Sea guards the western boundary of Maharashtra, while Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are on the northern side. Chhattisgarh covers the eastern boundary of the State. Karnataka and Telangana are on its southern side.
• Maharashtra has two major ports, Mumbai Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) both located in Mumbai harbour.
• Bhil, Gond-Madia, Katkari, Koli, Oraonare the major tribes of Maharashtra.

Gujarat

• Capital: Gandhinagar
• The state is bounded by the Arabian Sea in the west, Pakistan and Rajasthan in the north and north-east respectively, Madhya Pradesh in the south-east and Maharashtra in the south.
• Gujarat is the first state in the nation to start a separate department of 'climate change' to tackle the issue of global warming.
• Kandla Port is the major port in Gujarat along with 41 minor ports.
• Gamit, Bhils, Dhodias, Bawcha, Kunbi are the major tribes present in the state.

Explanation :

• Thrissur Pooram (Thrissur Puram) is an annual Hindu festival held in Kerala, India.
• It is held at the Vadakkunnathan Temple in Thrissur every year on the Pooram (day - the day when the moon rises with the Pooram star in the Malayalam Calendar month of Medam.
• It is the largest and most famous of all poorams.
• Thrissur Pooram was the brainchild of Raja Rama Varma, famously known as Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of Cochin (1790–1805).
• The festival sports an enthralling line-up of vibrantly decked up elephants and is marked by the kudamattom ceremony.
• Another high point is the ilanjithara melam, a highly bewitching performance of traditional instruments which lifts the thousands gathered to a state of euphoria and bliss.
• Around 250 odd artistes participate in this traditional orchestra led by chenda artistes and the spirit is mirrored by the thousands of spectators who wave their hands in accordance to the rhythm generated by the chenda, kurumkuzhal, kombu and elathalam (traditional instruments of Kerala).
• The finale is marked by a grand fireworks show.

Explanation :

• Measles, also known as morbilli, rubeola, red measles, and English measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus.
• Measles morbillivirus, formerly called measles virus (MeV), is a single-stranded, negative-sense, enveloped, non-segmented RNA virus of the genus Morbillivirus within the family Paramyxoviridae.
• Humans are the natural hosts of the virus; no animal reservoirs are known to exist.
• Measles is an airborne disease which spreads easily through the coughs and sneezes of infected people.
• It may also be spread through direct contact with mouth or nasal secretions.

Symptoms

• The first sign of measles is usually a high fever, which begins about 10 to 12 days after exposure to the virus, and lasts 4 to 7 days.
• A runny nose, a cough, red and watery eyes, and small white spots inside the cheeks can develop in the initial stage.
• Koplik's spots seen inside the mouth are diagnostic for measles, but are temporary and therefore rarely seen.
• These are small white spots that are commonly seen on the inside of the cheeks opposite the molars.

Explanation :

• The Survey of India is India's central engineering agency in charge of mapping and surveying.
• Set up in 1767 to help consolidate the territories of the British East India Company, it is one of the oldest Engineering Departments of the Government of India.
• Its members are from Survey of India Service cadre of Civil Services of India and Army Officers from the Indian Army Corps of Engineers. It is headed by the Surveyor General of India.
• The Survey of India, headquartered at Dehra Dun, has 18 Geo Spatial divisions ranging from the prediction of tides to aerial survey.
• It has 23 Geo-spatial Data Centers spread across India, each catering to the respective administrative area.

Responsibility

• It dedicates itself to the advancement of theory, practice, collection and applications of geospatial data, and promotes an active exchange of information, ideas, and technological innovations amongst the data producers and users who will get access to such data of highest possible resolution at an affordable cost in the near real-time environment.

Explanation :

• Central Administrative Tribunal was established under Article 323A of the Constitution (inserted by the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, 1976).
• It was established in 1985 under Section 29 of the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.

Composition

• It is a multi-member body consisting of Chairman and members.
• The Tribunal is headed by the Chairman and 65 Members, 33 from Judicial (including Chairman) and 33 from the Administrative stream.
• The Chairman is normally a retired Chief Justice of a High Court.

Working

• CAT is not bound by the procedure laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, but is guided by the principles of natural justice.
• A tribunal has the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

Jurisdiction

It exercises original jurisdiction over all service matters concerned with:

• Members of the all-India services
• Persons appointed to any civil service of the Union or civil post under the Union
• Civilians appointed to any defence services or posts related to defence
• Employees of PSUs or public sector organisations notified by the government

Functions

• It adjudicates disputes and complaints with respect to Recruitment and Conditions of Service of the persons appointed to the Public Services and Posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or any State or of any other Local Authorities within the territory of India or under the control of the Government of India.