About:

• The Fleet: This exercise was accomplished with the participation of 16 fixed wing transport aircraft comprising of C-17 Globemaster, the Ilyushin-76 Gajraj and the Medium lift Tactical aircraft, An-32.
  
  
• Time Taken: Less than 6 hours for the entire operation that included loading of goods, flying time and offloading.
  
  
• Significance:
  • Rapid airlift capability is key for quick response during times of war as well as natural disasters.
    
    
  • This assumes greater significance in short and intense wars. This is very true in India’s context, especially when related to air mobility to airfields in the Ladakh region.
    
    
  
  
  

Key Findings:

• In the last 10 years, the number of fatalities (of civilians, security personnel and terrorists) in Jammu & Kashmir was highest in 2018 and the number of incidents of Violence was among the highest.
  
  
• From 2006 to 2012, there was a steady decline in Violence. But since then the violence is on rise esp. since 2016 when Hizbul Mujahideen Militant Burhan Wani was killed. The protests that followed led to sustained unrest and widespread violence in the Valley.
  
  
• Kupwara, Pulwana and Baramulla districts have registered the highest number of fatalities due to violence in the last three years.
  
  

Pterosaurs:

• Pterosaurs were the flying reptiles that lived alongside dinosaurs. However, Pterosaurs were only distantly related to dinosaurs and birds.
  
  
• They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to 66 million years ago).
  
  
• Pterosaurs were the first vertebrates to master flight, followed much later by birds and bats. Scientists have long known that pterosaurs had a fur-like body covering and there has been a long-running scientific debate about how to classify it.
  
  

Recent Discovery:

• to a research published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, Short, hair-like feathers covered the bodies and wings of Pterosaurs but lacked the strong central shaft of avian flight feathers. They may have provided insulation and other benefits, as hair does for mammals.
  
  
• This discovery means that dinosaurs and their bird descendants were not the only creatures to boast feathers and that feathers likely appeared much longer ago than previously known. Thus, the new discovery pushes back origin of feathers.
  
  
• The researchers examined Jurassic Period fossils roughly 160 to 165 million years old of two small pterosaurs called anurognathids from China.
  
  

About:

• The new object has been given the provisional designation 2018 VG18.
  
  
• It is nicknamed “Farout” by the team for its extremely distant location.
  • It is at about 120 astronomical units (AU), where 1 AU is defined as the distance between the Earth and the Sun. This makes it the first Solar System object observed beyond 100 AU.
    
    
  • The second-most-distant observed solar system object is Eris, at about 96 AU. Pluto is currently at about 34 AU, making 2018 VG18 more than three-and-a-half times more distant than Pluto.
    
    
  
  
  
• Its brightness suggests that it is about 500 km in diameter, likely making it spherical in shape and a dwarf planet.
  
  
• The new object has been discovered by a team of scientists from U.S as part of the team’s continuing search for extremely distant solar system objects, including the suspected Planet X, which is sometimes also called Planet 9.
  
  

About:

• Captive elephants are those that have been captured from the wild and used by humans.
  
  
• Recently, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), which was given the task of DNA fingerprinting the captive elephants, handed over the DNA database, prototypes of Unique Identification Cards to the Kerala’s Forest Department.
  
  
• Significance: The move could help solve wildlife crime cases involving poaching and illegal trade.
  
  

About:

• Timeline:
  • Arbind Modi task force: The Government had constituted a Task Force in November 2017 to draft a New Direct Tax Law under the Convenorship of Arbind Modi, the then Member (Legislation), CBDT.
    
    
  • Akhilesh Ranjan task force: However, on superannuation of Arbind Modi, the Task Force was reconstituted in November 2018 under the Convenorship of Akhilesh Ranjan, the then Member (Legislation), CBDT.
    
    
  • The task force is required to submit its report to the Government by February 28, 2019.
    
    
  
  
  
• Terms of reference: Its mandate is to draft an appropriate direct tax legislation keeping in view:
  • the direct tax system prevalent in various countries;
    
    
  • the international best practices;
    
    
  • the economic needs for the country and;
    
    
  • any other matter connected thereto.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Background:
  • The move comes in the wake of sexual abuse of more than 30 girls in a shelter home in Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Subsequently, The Supreme Court asked the Centre to consider framing a national policy on protection of children.
    
    
  • This will be the first policy dedicated to the protection of children, an area that until now was only a part of the broader National Child Policy, 2013.
    
    
  
  
  
• Salient Provisions of the Policy:
  • The policy will apply to “all institutions, and organisations (including corporate and media houses), government or private sector”.
    
    
  • All organisations must have a code of conduct based on “zero tolerance of child abuse and exploitation”.
    
    
  • Organisations must lay down that employees don’t use language or behaviour that is “inappropriate, sexually provocative or culturally inappropriate”.
    
    
  • Institutions should also designate a staff member to ensure that procedures are in place to ensure the protection of children.
    
    
  • Any individual who suspects physical, sexual or emotional abuse must report it to the helpline number 1098, police or a child welfare committee.
    
    
  
  
  
• Areas not covered by draft policy: Unlike the National Child Policy, 2013, the draft policy doesn’t talk about –
  • children who may need additional protection measures: including those affected by migration, communal violence, begging or HIV/AIDS.
    
    
  • the role of the state for ensuring the protection of child rights or addressing local grievances.
    
    
  
  
  

e-Assembly:

• Paperless Assembly or e-Assembly is a concept involving of electronic means to facilitate the work of Assembly.
  
  
• It enables automation of entire law-making process, tracking of decisions and documents, sharing of information.
  
  

NeVA:

• Objective: To bring all the legislatures of the country together, in one platform thereby creating a massive data depository without having the complexity of multiple applications.
  
  
• Working:
  • NeVA is a device neutral application created to enable legislators to handle diverse House Business efficiently by putting entire information regarding member contact details, rules of procedure, list of business, bills, etc. in their hand-held devices/ tablets.
    
    
  • Citizens would also gain access to this information at their fingertips.
    
    
  • Through the cloud technology (Meghraj), data can be accessed anywhere at any time.
    
    
  
  
  
• Parent scheme: e-Vidhan is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) included in Digital India Programme.
  
  
• Funding: The funding of NeVA is on the pattern of Central Sponsored Scheme i.e. 60:40; and 90:10 for North East & hilly States and 100% for UTs.
  
  
• Agencies involved:
  • Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) is the ‘Nodal Ministry’ for its implementation in all the 31 States/ UTs with Legislatures.
    
    
  • The funding for e-Vidhan is provided by the MoPA and technical support by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Chaolung Sukaphaa (1228–1268) is also known as Siu-Ka-Pha. In reverence to Siu-Ka-Pha’s position in Assam's history the honorific Chaolung is generally associated with his name.
  
  
• He is the first Ahom king in medieval Assam.
  
  
• He founded the Ahom kingdom in Assam in 1228 which existed for nearly 600 years and in the process unified the various indigenous ethnic groups of the region.
  
  
• Since 1996 December 2 has been celebrated in Assam as the Sukaphaa Divawkh, or Axom Divawkh (Assam Day), to commemorate the arrival of the first king of the Ahom kingdom in Assam after his journey over the Patkai Hills.
  
  

About:

• The project is a combined effort of IAF, DRDO, Directorate General Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) and CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum.
  
  
• This fuel is made from Jatropha oil sourced from Chattisgarh Biodiesel Development Authority (CBDA) and then processed at CSIR-IIP, Dehradun.
  
  
• IAF intends to fly the An-32 transport aircraft using 10% biojet fuel on 26 January 2019, in the Republic Day flypast.
  
  
• Promoting biojet fuels has the dual benefit of reducing the carbon footprint as well as usage of fossil fuels.
  
  

About:

• Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in 2016 through which deposit free LPG connections are released with the cash assistance of Rs 1600/- per connection by Government of India and also, interest free loan to purchase stove and refill by Oil Marketing Companies.
  
  
• Provision of LPG, among other things, so far, more than 5.86 crore LPG connections have been released under PMUY against the target of 8 crore. 48% of the beneficiaries are SC/STs.
  
  
• World Health Organisation hailed PMUY as decisive intervention by the Government to facilitate switch to clean household energy use, thereby addressing the problems associated with Indoor Household Pollution.
  
  

About:

• The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2016, seeking to define transgenders and prohibit discrimination against them, was introduced in the Lok Sabha two years ago.
  
  
• The Bill had gone to the standing committee. Now Lok Sabha has passed it with 27 amendments. After this, it will go to Rajya Sabha.
  
  

Key highlights:

• Definition: A Transgender is any person whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth, as well as transmen, transwomen, those with intersex variations, the gender-queer, and those who designate themselves based on socio-cultural identities such as hijra, aravani, kinner and jogta.
  
  
• Certificate of identity: A transgender person must obtain a certificate of identity as proof of recognition of identity as a transgender person and to invoke rights under the Bill. Such a certificate would be granted by the District Magistrate.
  
  
• National Council for Transgender persons (NCT): It will be set up to advise the central government on policies, and legislation related to transgender persons. It will also monitor and evaluate such policies.
  
  
• Offences and penalties: Offences like compelling a transgender person to beg, denial of access to a public place, physical and sexual abuse, etc. would attract up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine.
  
  
• Welfare measures: The central or state governments shall take steps to –
  • facilitate and support livelihood for transgender persons.
    
    
  • provide healthcare facilities to transgender persons including: (i) separate HIV surveillance centers; (ii) sex reassignment surgery and hormonal therapy counselling.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• The Bhasha Sangam is an initiative under the ‘Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat’.
  
  
• Bhasha Sangam provides an opportunity to schools and educational institution (BIETS, DIETs, CTEs/IASEs, SCERTs, SIEs, School Boards, Directorates of School Education, etc.) to provide multilingual exposure to students in Indian Languages.
  
  
• The objective is to familiarize every child with ‘simple dialogues’ in all the 22 languages under Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India, taking up one language on each working day, to enhance linguistic tolerance and promote national integration.
  
  

Recent decision:

Union Cabinet has approved the following:

• Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) will be setup in every block with more than 50% ST population and at least 20,000 tribal persons.
  
  
• There will be an Autonomous Society under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs similar to Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti to run the EMRSs.
  
  
• Upgradation of already sanctioned EMRSs on need basis with unit cost subject to a maximum of Rs. 5 crore per school.
  
  
• Setting up sports facilities in 163 tribal dominated districts at a unit cost of Rs. 5 crore each to be constructed by the year 2022.
  
  
• To begin with, the Cabinet has approved a financial cost of Rs. 2242.03 crore during 2018-19 and 2019-20 for rolling out the revamped scheme.
  
  

Background:

• EMRS is an excellent approach for imparting quality education to ST children. Apart from school building including hostels and staff quarters, provision for a playground, students' computer lab, teacher resource room etc. are also included in the EMRSs.
  
  
• By focusing on specific intervention to cater to the educational needs of STs, the quality of the life of STs is expected to improve to the level of rest of the social groups by 2021 Census.
  
  

About PMSSY:

• Launched in:
  
  
• Objective: Correcting regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/reliable tertiary healthcare services and also augmenting facilities for quality medical education in the country.
  
  
• Components:
  • Setting up of new AIIMS like institutes in underserved regions of the country.
    
    
  • Upgradation of existing Govt Medical Colleges (GMCs)
    
    
  
  
  

The AIIMS in Tamil Nadu was announced in the Budget Speech of Finance Minister in 2015-16 and Ministry of Finance conveyed its in-principle approval for establishment of AIIMS in Telangana in April, 2018.

About:

• This is President Solih’s first visit abroad after assuming the office of President of Maldives on 17 November 2018. This follows up Prime Minister Modi’s recent visit to the Maldives to attend the swearing-in ceremony of President Solih as his special guest.
  
  
• PM Modi announced provision of financial assistance up to US$ 1.4 billion to Maldives in the form of budgetary support, currency swap and concessional lines of credit
  
  
• India will provide 1000 additional slots over next 5 years for training and capacity building in diverse fields including law-enforcement, financial management, IT, e-governance etc.
  
  
• The Prime Minister of India welcomed Maldives’ decision to re-join the Commonwealth. He also welcomed Maldives as the newest member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association.
  
  
• The two sides signed the following Agreements during the visit:
  • Agreement on the Facilitation of Visa Arrangements: It will ensure that people-to-people contacts are enhanced. The Maldives is one of the very few countries with which India has a visa free arrangement.
    
    
  • MoU on Cultural Cooperation
    
    
  • MoU for Improving the Ecosystem for Agribusiness;
    
    
  • Joint Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in the field of Information & Communications Technology and Electronics.
    
    
  
  
  

List of New CMs:

• In Rajasthan, senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot took oath as Chief Minister.
  
  
• In Madhya Pradesh, senior congress leader Kamalnath was sworn in as the 18th Chief Minister of the state.
  
  
• In Chhattisgarh, Congress legislature party leader Bhupesh Baghel was sworn-in as the new chief minister of state. He is the third chief minister of Chhattisgarh.
  
  

Key constitutional provisions for CMs:

• Article 163(1): There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is by or under the Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion.
  
  
• Article 164(1): The Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed on the advice of the Chief Minister.
  
  
• Article 164(2): The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly of the State.
  
  

About:

• This Ministry of Culture administers Central Sector Scheme (CSS) component namely “Financial Assistance for Tagore Cultural Complexes (TCC)” under “Scheme of Financial Assistance for creation of Cultural infrastructure”.
  
  
• Under the scheme, the Ministry provides Central Financial Assistance to Central/State Govt. agencies/bodies, Universities, Municipal Corporations, not- for-profit organizations etc. for construction of Tagore Cultural Complexes in various parts of the country.
  
  
• As per the existing guidelines of the scheme, under normal circumstances a project is required to be completed within a period of three years from the date of award of the project.
  
  

About:

• Cyclones are known as typhoons in the China Sea and Pacific Ocean; hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean; tornados in the Guinea lands of West Africa and southern USA; willy-willies in north-western Australia and tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean. 
  
  
• Cyclones are caused by atmospheric disturbances around a low-pressure area distinguished by swift and often destructive air circulation. Cyclones are usually accompanied by violent storms and bad weather.
  
  
• The air circulates inward in an anticlockwise direction in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere.
  
  

Types:

• Cyclones are classified as: (i) extra tropical cyclones; and (ii) tropical cyclones.
  
  
• to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), ‘Tropical Cyclone’ covers weather systems in which winds exceed ‘Gale Force’ (minimum of 34 knots or 63 kph).
  
  
• Extra tropical cyclones (also called temperate cyclones) occur in temperate zones and high latitude regions, though they are known to originate in the Polar Regions.
  
  

About:

• Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (PV Sindhu) is an Indian professional badminton player.
  
  
• At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she became the first Indian woman to win an Olympic silver medal.
  
  
• She is one of the two Indian badminton players to ever win an Olympic medal – other being Saina Nehwal.
  
  
• Awards:
  • Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2016)
    
    
  • Padma Shri (2015)
    
    
  • Arjuna Award (2013)
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• The 2018 Men's Hockey World Cup was the 14^th edition of the Hockey World Cup
  
  
• The quadrennial world championship was organized by the International Hockey Federation.
  
  
• Schedule: It was held from 28 November to 16 December 2018
  
  
• Venue: Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha (India).
  
  
• Champions: Belgium won the tournament for the first time after defeating the Netherlands in the final.
  
  
• Player of the tournament: Arthur Van Doren (Belgium).
  
  

About:

• Scientific Name: Ardeotis nigriceps.
  
  
• Characteristics:
  • Physical description: Black crown on the forehead contrasting with the pale neck and head. The body is brownish and the wings are marked with black, brown and grey.
    
    
  • Diet: They feed on grass seeds, insects like grasshoppers and beetles, and sometimes even small rodents and reptiles.
    
    
  
  
  
• Distribution:
  • India, effectively the only home of the bustards, now harbours less than 150 individuals in five States.
    
    
  • Today, its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan and Gujarat. Small population also occur in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
    
    
  • It is the State bird of Rajasthan.
    
    
  
  
  
• Habitat:
  • Bustards generally favour flat open landscapes with minimal visual obstruction and disturbance, therefore adapt well in grasslands.
    
    
  • They avoid grasses taller than themselves and dense scrub like thickets.
    
    
  
  
  
• Conservation status:
  • Listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection)Act, 1972,
    
    
  • Listed in Appendix I of CITES,
    
    
  • Listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List
    
    
  
  
  
• Threats: Threat to this species include:
  • Occasional poaching outside Protected Areas,
    
    
  • Habitat loss due to widespread agricultural expansion, infrastructural development such as irrigation, roads, electric poles, as well as mining and industrialization,
    
    
  • Bustards, with their poor frontal vision and heavy bodies, have also died due to collision with high tension electric wires.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• The Trans Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN) facilitates information exchange on the movement of commercial traffic on the high seas.
  
  
• The information is available primarily through the Automatic Identification System (AIS) fitted on merchant ships with more than 300 gross registered tonnage. The AIS information comprises name, MMSI number, position, course, speed, last port visited, destination and so on.
  
  
• The network comprises of 30 countries and is steered by Italy.
  
  
• The agreement was signed by Commodore K.M. Ramakrishnan on behalf of the Indian Navy at the Italian Naval Headquarters in Rome.
  
  

About:

• Objective: To give exposure to the youth and children of J&K about the cultural and socioeconomic development taking place in other parts of the country.
  
  
• Salient features of programme:
  • Youth and children hit by militancy and from weaker sections of the society have been identified for the purpose.
    
    
  • In this year’s edition, the group of 244 students from Classes 1 to 12, including 46 girls, representing all 22 districts of the state are on a 10-day visit to Delhi and Lucknow.
    
    
  
  
  
• Organized by: The Department of J&K Affairs, Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in association with J&K State Rehabilitation Council, Social Welfare Department.
  
  

About:

• On December 16, 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, along with 93 thousand troops, had surrendered unconditionally to the allied forces consisting of Indian Army and Mukti Bahini, led by Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Aurora in Dhaka after their defeat in the Liberation war.
  
  
• This historic victory led to creation of Bangladesh.
  
  

• This yeear's celebration marks the 47th anniversary of India's victory over its neighbour.
  
  

About:

• HQ: The IFC has been established at the Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram, which is the single point centre linking all the coastal radar chains to generate a seamless real-time picture of the nearly 7,500-km coastline.
  
  
• Mandate: Strengthening maritime security in the region and beyond, by acting as a maritime information hub for the region.
  
  
• Working:
  • Through this Centre, information on “white shipping”, or commercial shipping, will be exchanged with countries in the region to improve maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean.
    
    
  • It will also impart training in maritime information collection and sharing.
    
    
  • At present, data will be shared by virtual means – telephone calls, Faxes, emails and video conferencing. The centre will in future host liaison officers from foreign countries for quicker analysis of information and timely inputs.
    
    
  
  
  
• Partner countries: The Information Fusion Centre will serve countries that have White Shipping Information Exchange agreements with India (about 21 of them).
  
  
• Significance: The IFC-IOR will strengthen maritime security in the region and beyond by building a common coherent maritime situation picture.
  
  

About:

• The Women Transforming India Awards were instituted to recognise and celebrate stories of exemplary women from across India.
  
  
• Theme for 2018: This year’s theme is “Women and Entrepreneurship”.
  
  
• List of awardees: 15 winners have been chosen from sectors such as Renewable Energy, Education, Sanitation, Art and Culture, Social Innovation and Impact to name a few. These are –
  
  

About:

• Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) is the first of its kind unified access platform to help to realise the dreams of Women Entrepreneurs across India.
  
  
• It seeks to act as a medium for various stakeholders in the economy to come together and offer integrated services such as Incubation Support, Mentorship, Funding avenues, Compliance, Marketing Assistance etc for women entrepreneurs in India.
  
  
• Background:
  • In November, 2017, NITI Aayog in partnership with the Government of the U.S.A hosted the 8th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) in Hyderabad, India with the theme of ‘Women First, Prosperity for All’.
    
    
  • To take the idea forward, CEO, NITI Aayog announced setting up of WEP.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• The 133 km project has been completed at a cost of about Rs 558 crore. It is an important link between the –
  • mining areas of Bundelkhand,
    
    
  • pilgrimage centre Chitrakoot,
    
    
  • the state capital Lucknow and
    
    
  • the Purvanchal districts of the state.
    
    
  
  
  
• Apart from drastically reducing the travel time between Banda and Rae Bareli to 2.5 hours from 7-8 hours, this highway will also cut down traffic congestion in these cities, reduce pollution and cut down fuel consumption.
  
  

About:

• Zoramthanga (born 1944) is an Indian politician who is the current Chief Minister of Mizoram. He is the leader of Mizo National Front (MNF). He served as the Chief Minister of Mizoram from 1998 to 2008, for two consecutive terms.
  
  
• Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Zoramthanga and 11 other council of Ministets at Raj Bhavan in Aizawl.
  
  
• MNF had dislodged Congress from the state by winning 26 seats in the 40-member Assembly in the recently held elections.
  
  

About:

• Corps Of Military Police (CMP) is the military police of the Indian Army.
  
  
• Their key task is Policing the Cantonments and Army Establishments. It is also trained to handle prisoners of war, regulate traffic and handle basic telecommunication equipment such as telephone exchanges.
  
  
• They can be identified by their red berets and white belts. They also wear a black brassard with the letters MP imprinted in red.
  
  
• The First section of Indian Corps of Military Police was raised in 1939 during the World War 2.
  
  

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS):

• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive brain disorder characterised by rapid loss of motor neurons controlling skeletal muscles, leading to paralysis.
  
  
• ALS currently has “no known objective diagnostic test”.
  
  
• However, according to recent reports, graphene platform can be used not only to potentially diagnose ALS, but also to monitor its progression.
  
  

Graphene:

• Graphene is a form of carbon and a super-strong, ultra-light material discovered in 2004.
  
  
• Graphene consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice, each atom bound to its neighbours by chemical bonds. The elasticity of these bonds produces resonant vibrations known as
  
  
• It enables flexible electronic components, enhances solar cell capacity, and promises to revolutionise batteries.
  
  

Recent study:

On the eve of the American Geophysical Union's annual meeting, scientists with the Deep Carbon Observatory today reported several transformational discoveries, including how much and what kinds of life exist in the deep subsurface.

Among many key discoveries and insights are:

• The deep biosphere constitutes a world that can be viewed as a sort of "subterranean Galapagos" and includes members of all three domains of life:
  • Bacteria,
    
    
  • archaea (microbes with no membrane-bound nucleus), and
    
    
  • eukarya (microbes or multicellular organisms with cells that contain a nucleus as well as membrane-bound organelles)
    
    
  
  
  
• Two types of microbes—bacteria and archaea—dominate Deep Earth. About 70% of Earth's bacteria and archaea live in the subsurface
  
  
• Among these microbes, there are millions of distinct types, most yet to be discovered or characterized known as "Dark Matter".
  
  
• Deep microbes are often very different from their surface cousins.
  
  
• The genetic diversity of life below the surface is comparable to or exceeds that above the surface.
  
  
• A frontrunner for Earth's hottest organism in the natural world is ‘GEOGEMMA BAROSSII’, a single-celled organism thriving in hydrothermal vents on the seafloor. Its cells, tiny microscopic spheres, grow and replicate at 121 degrees Celsius.
  
  

About:

• The 815 kms long voyage was a momentous one with the opening up of Kolkata-Patna as a new Origin-Destination pair on Inland Waterways.
  
  
• Earlier, on November 12, 2018, Prime Minister had received the country’s first IWT containerised cargo that reached Varanasi from Kolkata.
  
  
• Plans are at an advanced stage to operationalise Patna-Varanasi sector of NW-1 for container cargo movement.
  
  

Benefits:

• The movement will give a fillip to the region’s growth and employment. According to the World Bank economic analysis, of the 1.5 lakh direct and indirect employment opportunities to be created due to interventions under Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP), 50,000 will be in Bihar alone.
  
  
• Container cargo transport comes with several inherent advantages. Even as it reduces the handling cost, allows easier modal shift, reduces pilferages and damage, it also enables cargo owners to reduce their carbon footprints.
  
  

About:

• Rani Mistri is a skilled woman mason in Jharkhand.
  
  
• Over the last year, Jharkhand government has trained around 55,000 women masons to build toilets and bathrooms. This was done through the State’s 1.5 lakh women’s self-help groups (SHGs).
  
  
• In last one year, these trained women masons in Jharkhand have built over 15 lakh toilets and became a crucial part of the State’s achievement of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status under the Swachh Bharat Mission in November 2018.
  
  
• The rani mistri training drive was meant to solve a problem slowing the State’s progress in the Swachh Bharat Mission that aims to give toilet access to every household and eliminate open defecation by October 2019.
  
  

Findings by Parliamentary Panel:

• Lack of basic amenities:
  • Nearly 82% of Border Outposts (BOPs) of the ITBP do not have access to clean drinking water. Drinking water is obtained from rivulets and springs which are polluted.
    
    
  • Only 24% of BOPs of the ITBP have a regular supply of electricity. The rest (76%) are dependent on generators.
    
    
  
  
  
• Border roads: Over 40% of BOPs of the ITBP are unconnected by road. Only 32 out of 73 roads along the China border are complete, even as ITBP has proposed to construct 96 more roads.
  
  
• Health issues: The ITBP personnel are at risk of several high altitude health hazards. In the past three years alone, over 500 were said to be suffering from High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPO), Acute Cerebral Edema and loss of memory. Moreover, there are a large number of vacancies in the medical team.
  
  
• Ill-equipped force: The Committee criticized the Government for not equipping the ITBP personnel with basic training gadgets and facilities, viz., modern equipment like eight-lane firing simulator and interactive touch display.
  
  

Recommendations made:

• The Committee strongly recommends that proper provisions be made to make clean and safe drinking water available to the ITBP personnel in all the BOPs.
  
  
• The modernization of the Force must be given utmost priority as this Force not only has to face any enemy from across the border but also vagaries of nature.
  
  

About:

• The station will connect the Statue of Unity project to the rest of India through broad gauge railway line.
  
  
• As par schedule 32 kilometers long new broad-gauge railway line between Chandod and Kevadia will be completed in one year and connect the Kevadia with the rest of country.
  
  
• Earlier, President Kovind visited the Statue of Unity - the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Kevadia Colony in Narmada district.
  
  

About:

• The Kanchenjunga Landscape is a trans-boundary region spread across Nepal, India and Bhutan.
  
  
• The landscape stretches along the southern side of Mount Kanchenjunga covers an area of 25,080 sq km spread across parts of
  • Eastern Nepal (21%),
    
    
  • Sikkim and West Bengal (56%) and
    
    
  • western & South-western Bhutan (23%).
    
    
  
  
  

Recent development:

• The developments comes up after forest officials and representatives of NGOs of the three countries visited parts of the landscape and later held a meeting at Siliguri in north Bengal earlier this month.
  
  
• Setting up of a joint task force was a key requirement to achieve the objectives of free movement of wildlife and checking smuggling of wildlife.
  
  
• According to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), 1,118 sq km of riverine grassland and tree cover were lost in the landscape between 2000 and 2010. 74 % of the area was converted into rangeland and 26% to agricultural land.