Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

Explanation :

• The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), also known as the gavial or the fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians.
• They have a distinct boss at the end of the snout, which resembles an earthenware pot known as a ghara, hence the name "gharial".
• Gharials live in clear freshwater river systems, congregating at river bends where the water is deeper. They’re not well-suited for land so they generally only leave the water to bask in the sun or to nest.
• Once found from Pakistan to Myanmar, the reptile's range has shrunk to two countries: India, along the Chambal, Girwa, and Son Rivers; and Nepal, along the Narayani River.
• Loss of habitat because of sand mining and conversion to agriculture, depletion of fish resources and detrimental fishing methods continue to threaten the population.

Conservation

• In 1975, the Indian Crocodile Conservation Project was set up under the auspices of the Government of India, initially in Odisha's Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary. It was implemented with financial aid of the United Nations Development Fund and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
• The gharial is listed on CITES Appendix I.
• In India, it is included in Schedule 1 under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
• In Nepal, it is fully protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1973.
• It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2007.

Explanation :

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
• The SCO Charter was signed during the St.Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002, and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
• The SCO's main goals are as follows: strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.
• The organisation has two permanent bodies — the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent.

Members

• Eight Member States- the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
• Four Observer States - the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Mongolia.
• Six Dialogue Partners - the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Turkey, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Explanation :

• River Nila is also known as Bharathapuzha and Ponnani.
• It is the second longest river in Kerala with a length of 209 kilometers.

Origin

• The river originates in the Annamalai hills located in the Western Ghats region in Tamil Nadu.

Course

• It flows in the west direction along with the many of its tributaries including the Tirur River through Palakkad Gap, Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram districts of Kerala.
• The Kannadippuzha and Kalpathippuza, the tributaries of Bharathapuzha meet at Parli and flows in the west direction as Bharathapuzha River.
• The Bharathapuzha River then surrenders itself into the Arabian Sea at Ponnani.

Main Tributaries

• Gayathripuzha River, Kannadipuzha River, Kalpathipuzha River and Thuthapuzha River are the main tributaries of the Bharathapuzha.

Explanation :

• The Court of Justice, informally known as the European Court of Justice (ECJ), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law, and is considered the most powerful and influential international court that is realistically possible
• The court was established in 1952 in Luxembourgh, by the Treaty of Paris (1951) as part of the European Coal and Steel Community.
• Following the entrance into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the ECJ's official name was changed from the "Court of Justice of the European Communities" to the "Court of Justice"
• The Court of Justice consists of 27 Judges who are assisted by 11 Advocates-General. The Judges and Advocates-General are appointed by common accord of the governments of the member states and hold office for a renewable term of six years.
• The President of the Court of Justice is elected from and by the judges for a renewable term of three years.
• It is the highest court of the European Union in matters of Union law, but not national law. It is not possible to appeal against the decisions of national courts in the ECJ, but rather national courts refer questions of EU law to the ECJ.
• The court also acts as arbiter between the EU's institutions and can annul the latter's legal rights if it acts outside its powers.

Explanation :

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on 9 May 1866 in Kotluk village of Guhagar taluka in Ratnagiri district, in present-day Maharashtra (then part of the Bombay Presidency) in a Brahmin family.
• He became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1889, as a protege of social reformer Mahadev Govind Ranade.
• In 1893, Gokhale became the Secretary of the Bombay Provincial Conference and in 1895, he served as the Joint Secretary of the INC along with Tilak.
• He was voted to the Legislative Council of Bombay in 1899, and also to the Governor-General’s Imperial Council in 1901.
• In 1905, Gokhale established the Servants of India Society for expanding education to Indians. He wanted Indians to receive an education that would instill in them a civic and patriotic sense of duty.
• He played a major role in the Morley-Minto reforms.
• In 1908, Gokhale founded the ‘Ranade Institute of Economics’. He discouraged the untouchability and caste-system, pleaded for the liberation of women and supported the cause of female education.
• Gokhale visited Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa in 1912 on the latter’s request. He famously mentored to the father of the nation, who returned to India at Gokhale’s request.
• He launched the English weekly newspaper named The Hitavad (The people's paper) in 1911.

Explanation :

• Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Nilgiri Mountains of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
• The Toda are most closely related to the Kota both ethnically and linguistically.
• The Toda language is a member of the Dravidian family. Linguists have classified Toda (along with its neighbour Kota) as a member of the southern subgroup of the historical family proto-South-Dravidian.
• Their sole occupation is cattle-herding and dairy-work. Holy dairies are built to store the buffalo milk.
• They live in small hamlets called munds. The Toda huts, called dogles, are of an oval, pent-shaped construction.
• Toda Embroidery: In the Toda language it is called pohor. Registrar of Geographical Indication gave GI status for this unique embroidery, a practice which has been passed on to generations.

Explanation :

• Parliamentary committees draw their authority from Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members) and Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).

Origin

• In India, the first Public Accounts Committee was constituted in April 1950.
• The practice of regularly referring bills to committees began in 1989 after government departments started forming their own standing committees.
• Prior to that, select committees or joint committees of the houses were only set up to scrutinise in detail some very important bills, but this was few and far between.

Significance

• Committee reports are usually exhaustive and provide authentic information on matters related to governance.
• Bills that are referred to committees are returned to the House with significant value addition.
• However, Parliament is not bound by the recommendations of committees.

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).