About:

• The Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s natural wonders and is the largest coral reef on Earth.
• Spanning 2,300km along the Queensland coast of Australia, the Great Barrier Reef’s 3,000 coral reef systems contain a huge diversity of marine plants and animals, such as sea turtles, reef fish, sharks, hard and soft corals and migrating whales.
• It was placed on the World Heritage List in 1981 in recognition of its superb natural beauty and biological diversity.
• It was recognised in 1975 by the creation of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
• The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Act (GBRMPA) that was brought in later provides the framework for managing the reef as a large ecosystem.

About:

• Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii, which is the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago.
• It’s not the tallest (that title goes to Mauna Kea) but it’s the largest and makes up about half of the island’s land mass.
• It sits immediately north of Kilauea volcano, which is currently erupting from its summit crater.
• Kilauea is well-known for a 2018 eruption that destroyed 700 homes and sent rivers of lava spreading across farms and into the ocean.
• Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago.
• In written history, dating to 1843, it’s erupted 33 times.

Some famous volcanoes

• Any volcano that has erupted within the Holocene period (in the last 11,650 years) is considered to be “active” by scientists.
• “Dormant” volcanoes are those active volcanoes which are not in the process of erupting currently, but have the potential to do so in the future.
• Mauna Loa was a dormant volcano for the last 38 years.
• “Extinct” volcanoes are ones which scientists predict will never face any further volcanic activity.
• Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the UK, is an extinct volcano.

Krakatoa, Indonesia

• One of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions ever occurred in Krakatoa in 1883.

Mount Vesuvius, Italy

• In 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted in one of the deadliest eruptions in European history, killing as many as 16,000 and destroying the town of Pompeii.

Mount Fuji, Japan

• It last erupted in 1707-1708 and had a devastating effect on the local population.

Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland

• Sometimes referred to as E15, it is one of the many volcanic features of Iceland.
• In 2010, a relatively small eruption managed to bring air traffic in Europe to a complete standstill. 

Kīlauea, Hawaii

• Adjacent to the Mauna Loa, this is one of the most active volcanoes on the planet.
• It has been erupting intermittently since recorded history, with its eruption lasting from 1983 to 2018 being the longest continuous eruption ever recorded. 

Mount St Helens, USA

• Located in Washington State, Mount St. Helens was a major eruption that occurred on May 18, 1980 and it remains the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history.

About:

• Wet leasing means renting the plane along with operating crew and engineers, while dry leasing refers to taking only the aircraft on rent.
• The technical term for wet leasing is ACMI which stands for aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance.
• These are the aspects of the operation that the wet lease airline takes care of, while the airline client will still be responsible for paying for direct operating costs such catering and fuel as well as fees such as airport fees, ground handling charges and navigation fees.
• Operations of an aircraft on wet lease is not encouraged by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as the crew is often not approved by Indian authorities.
• Also, wet leasing is generally a short-term arrangement, as it is more expensive than a dry lease.

About:

• The binturong (Arctictis binturong) is a medium-sized mammal, also known as a bearcat, of the Viverridae family, which includes civets, linsangs and genets.
• Its nine subspecies are the sole occupants of the genus Arctictis.
• They can weigh up to 50 pounds, but most often weigh in at between 25 and 35 pounds.

Range:

• Binturongs live in the rainforests of Southeast Asia.
• Its range extends from Nepal, India, and Bhutan southward to the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java and eastward to Borneo.

Prehensile Tail:

• The animals spend most of their time hanging out in the treetops.
• The animal uses its tail—which is almost as long as its body—like a fifth limb as it climbs through the forest.
• This tail is prehensile, which means it’s capable of gripping things.
• The binturong is one of only two carnivores that has a prehensile tail.
  • The other is the kinkajou.

Conservation:

• They are classified as a vulnerable species by IUCN.

About:

• The exercise aims to provide a unique platform for the exchange of domain knowledge, experience and best practices with the participating Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries.
• Various representatives of the ASEAN countries are participating in the exercise.
• The aim of the exercise includes assessing the efficacy of institutional Disaster Management structures and contingency measures.
• The exercise will promote a synergistic approach by involving various institutions like the Armed Forces, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Civil Administration.
• The exercise would aid in the evolution of institutional frameworks for effective communication, interoperability, cooperation and their application for the successful conduct of HADR.

Disaster Management in India:

• In India, NDMA is the apex statutory body for disaster management.
• It was formally constituted on 27th September 2006, in accordance with the Disaster Management Act, 2005 with Prime Minister as its Chairperson.
• Indian defence forces, under the aegis of Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), have been carrying out HADR operations within the country as well as outside the country.
• The defence forces can deliver during various HADR contingencies because of their expertise in damage assessment, evacuation, setting up of relief infrastructure, restoring communication and providing medical facilities, distributing ration supplies, clothing etc.

About:

• International Jaguar Day is observed annually on November 29.
• International Jaguar Day was created to raise awareness about the increasing threats facing the jaguar and the critical conservation efforts ensuring its survival.
• It celebrates the Americas’ largest wild cat as an umbrella species for biodiversity conservation and an icon for sustainable development and the centuries-old cultural heritage of Central and South America.
• This is the third largest Cat Predator of the World and an important species of Amazon Rainforest.
• International Jaguar Day also represent the collective voice of jaguar range countries, in collaboration with national and international partners, to draw attention to the need to conserve jaguar corridors and their habitats as part of broader efforts to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Jaguars (Panthera onca):

• Jaguars (Panthera onca) are often mistaken for leopards, but can be differentiated due to the spots within the rosettes on their coats.
• While many cats avoid water, jaguars are great swimmers, and have even been known to swim the Panama Canal.

Range and habitat:

• Jaguars once roamed broadly from central Argentina all the way up to the southwestern United States.
• Since the 1880s, they’ve lost more than half their territory.
• Their main stronghold today is the Amazon Basin, though they still exist in smaller numbers through Central America as well.
• They’re typically found in tropical rainforests but also live in savannas and grasslands.

Conservation:

• Jaguars are classified as Near-threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
• The species has national protections in almost every country it’s found, and trade in its parts is banned by CITES.

About:

• The scheme will help states that are facing power shortage and help generation plants to increase their capacities.
• PFC Consulting Limited has been designated as the nodal agency. It has invited bids for the supply of 4,500 MW electricity.
• The supply will commence from April 2023.
• The utilities that have shown interest for the scheme are Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd, Madhya Pradesh Power Management Company Ltd, New Delhi Municipal Corporation and Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Ltd.
• It is for the first time that bidding is being carried out under B(v) of SHAKTI scheme.

SHAKTI Scheme:

• SHAKTI, or Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India, was launched in 2018.
• It aims to provide coal to stressed power units which lack coal supply.

About:

• It is developed by Bharat Biotech International Limited.
• It was developed in partnership with Washington University, St Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vectored construct and evaluated in pre-clinical studies for efficacy.
• The approval is under Restricted Use in Emergency Situation for ages 18 and above in India, for heterologous booster doses.
• iNCOVACC is a recombinant replication deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilised SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
• It is the world's first intranasal vaccine to receive both primary series and heterologous booster approval.
• The vaccine candidate was evaluated in Phases I, II and III clinical trials with successful results and has been specifically formulated to allow intranasal delivery through nasal drops.
• It is stable at 2-8 degrees Celsius for easy storage and distribution.

About:

• Eight banks have been identified for phase-wise participation in this pilot.
• The first phase will begin with four banks including State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank in four cities across the country.
• Four more banks, including Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank will join this pilot subsequently.
• The pilot would initially cover four cities, including Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar and later extend to Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna and Shimla.
• The scope of the pilot may be expanded gradually to include more banks, users and locations as needed.
• The pilot would cover select locations in a closed user group - CUG comprising participating customers and merchants.
• The digital Rupee would be in the form of a digital token that represents legal tender.
• Users will be able to transact with digital Rupee through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks and stored on mobile phones.

Transactions:

• Transactions can be both Person to Person and Person Merchant.
• Payments to merchants can be made using QR codes displayed at merchant locations.
• The digital Rupee would offer features of physical cash like trust, safety and settlement finality.
• As in the case of cash, it will not earn any interest and can be converted to other forms of money, like deposits with banks.
• The pilot will test the robustness of the entire process of digital rupee creation, distribution and retail usage in real time.
• Different features and applications of the digital Rupee token and architecture will be tested in future pilots, based on the learnings from this pilot.

About:

• Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) is the technology for decarbonising carbon dioxide (CO2) from high polluting sectors such as steel, cement, oil, gas, petrochemicals, chemicals and fertilisers, has a critical role to play for the country to halve CO2 emissions by 2050
• The purpose of CCUS policy framework is to develop and implement a practicable framework to accelerate research and development on carbon capture, utilisation and storage in India.
• It is key to ensuring sustainable development and growth in India, particularly for the production of clean products and energy, leading to an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• CCUS also has an important role to play in enabling sunrise sectors such as coal gasification and the nascent hydrogen economy in India.
• CCUS projects will also lead to a significant employment generation. It estimates that about 750 mtpa of carbon capture by 2050 can create employment opportunities of about 8-10 million on full time equivalent (FTE) basis in a phased manner.
• On the policy framework, the NITI Aayog report suggested that in the near term, CCUS policy should be carbon credits or incentives based, to seed and promote the CCUS sector in India through tax and cash credits.
• As India is the third largest emitter of CO2 in the world after China and the US about 2.6 gigatonne per annum, carbon capture utilisation and storage is an essential imperative for India to reach its Decarbonisation Goals.

Emission Reduction:

• At COP 26 late year in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced panchamrit to mitigate climate change including achieving net zero by 2070.
• The government of India has also committed to reducing CO2 emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

About:

• The new technology tracks the ball using 12 dedicated tracking cameras positioned below the stadium's roof and analyses up to 29 data points for each player, 50 times per second, to determine their precise location on the field.
• All limbs and extremities that are important for determining offside are included in the 29 data points.
• The inclusion of an inertial measuring unit (IMU) sensor into the match ball would add another crucial component in making close offside calls at the World Cup.
• The kick point may be identified with extreme precision thanks to this sensor, which is located in the centre of the ball and feeds ball data to the video operation room 500 times per second.
• The innovative system automatically alerts the video match officials inside the video operation room whenever the ball is received by an attacker who was in an offside position when the ball was played by a teammate by merging the limb- and ball-tracking data and applying artificial intelligence.
• The video match officials then personally verify the automatically generated kick point and the automatically generated offside line, which is based on the computed positions of the players' limbs, before advising the on-field referee of the proposed decision.
• Thanks to this technique, offside decisions will be made more quickly and precisely which will takes a few seconds to complete.

About:

• The study reinforces uncontrolled BP as a significant contributor to mortality.
• It follows the Centre’s 2019-20 National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) that reported a hypertension prevalence of 24% in men and 21% in women, an increase from 19% and 17% over the 2015-16 survey.
• Patients with readings of systolic <140 mmHg and diastolic <90 mmHg are defined as those with hypertension under control.
• Hypertension control rate is defined as the proportion of patients with BP under control (systolic <140 mmHg and diastolic <90 mmHg).
• The Lancet Regional Health-Southeast Asia study is based on a diversified analysis of studies of BP control rates between 2001 and 2022 in India.
• Despite government efforts, awareness and better access to healthcare facilities, the number of patients able to control hypertension has only grown from 6% to 23% in the past 21 years.
• The Lancet researchers included 51 studies involving 3. 4 lakh patients.
• Of these, 21 studies (41%) reported poorer BP control rates among males than females, and six (12%) poorer rates among rural patients.
• The combined control rate in India in 2001-20 was 18%, with significant increase over the years, reaching 23% in 2016-20.
• The study indicated significantly better control rates in the south and west, and considerably poorer rates among males.

About:

• Football uses a running clock unlike basketball or hockey, which does not stop even when the game is interrupted for various reasons such as substitutions, goals scored or injuries to players.
• According to the International Football Association Board’s Laws of the Game, the referees add time on for substitution, assessment and/or removal of injured players, wasting time, disciplinary sanctions, medical stoppages permitted by competition rules, delays relating to video assistant referee (VAR) checks and reviews, any other cause, including any significant delay to a restart, such as goal celebrations.
• The stoppage time is calculated by taking into account all such interruptions in play during a half and the fourth official raises an electronic board displaying the time added on at the end of each half.
• However, the play can go on for longer than the added-on time if the on-field referee feels that there have been further interruptions during the injury time warranting its extension.
• The law says that the referee must not compensate for a timekeeping error during the first half by changing the length of the second half.
• However, traditionally, second-half stoppage time has been found to be longer than that of the first half.

History:

• A game between English clubs Aston Villa and Stoke City in 1891 is widely believed to be the trigger for the introduction of injury time in football.

Extra Time:

• While terms like injury time and additional time have been used interchangeably for stoppage time, extra time is different.
• It is the period of time added to a knockout game to determine a winner if the scores are tied even after the regular 90 minutes and the stoppage time.
• Typically, the extra time is 30 minutes (two halves of 15 minutes).

About:

• Shiveluch is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Kamchatka, having erupted at least 60 times in the past 10,000 years.
• It has two main parts:
  • Old Shiveluch, which tops 3,283 metres (10,771 ft), and
  • Young Shiveluch – a smaller, 2,800-metre peak protruding from its side.
    • Young Shiveluch lies within an ancient caldera – a large crater-like basin that likely formed when the older part underwent a catastrophic eruption at least 10,000 years ago.
  • The volcano has been continuously erupting since August 1999, but occasionally undergoes powerful explosive events, including in 2007.

Kamchatka:

• Kamchatka is home to 29 active volcanoes, part of a vast belt of Earth known as the “Ring of Fire” which circles the Pacific Ocean and is prone to eruptions and frequent earthquakes.
• Most of the peninsula’s volcanoes are surrounded by sparsely populated forest and tundra.
• Six volcanoes in Russia’s northeast are currently showing signs of increased activity, including Eurasia’s highest active volcano Klyuchevskaya Sopka.

About:

• Harike wetland, spread over 86 square kilometers in Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, and Kapurthala districts, serves as a home to rare species of migratory water birds during the winter season.
• Harike Wetland also known as "Hari-ke-Pattan", with the Harike Lake in the deeper part of it, is the largest wetland in northern India.
• The wetland and the lake were formed by constructing the headworks across the Sutlej river in 1953.
  The headworks is located downstream of the confluence of the Beas and Sutlej rivers just south of Harike village.
• It has been designated as one of the Ramsar sites in India.
• Apart from the Harike wetland, migratory water birds also arrive at Keshopur Miani wetland, Nangal wetland, Ropar wetland, Kanjli wetland and Beas river wetland in Punjab.

About:

• The facility, which was designed by Agnikul and executed in support with ISRO and IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Center) has two sections to it:
  • the Agnikul launchpad (ALP) and
  • the Agnikul mission control center (AMCC).
• All critical systems connecting these two sections, which are 4 km away from each other, are redundant to ensure 100% operationality during countdown.
• The launchpad is specifically built keeping in mind the necessity to support liquid stage controlled launches, while also addressing the need for ISRO’s range operations team to monitor key flight safety parameters during launches.
• Additionally, it has the ability to, as necessary, share data and other critical information with ISRO’s Mission Control Center.
• Agnikul’s first launch, which will be a controlled and guided mission, a vertical launch, using its patented engine will happen from this launchpad.
• The mission will be a technology demonstrator that will mirror Agnikul’s orbital launch but at a reduced scale.

Agnibaan:

• Agnibaan is Agnikul’s highly customizable, two-stage launch vehicle, capable of taking up to 100 kg payload to orbits around 700 km high (low Earth orbits) and enables plug-and-play configuration.

Agnilet:

• Agnilet is the world’s first single-piece 3-D printed engine fully designed and manufactured in India and was successfully test-fired in early 2021, making Agnikul the first company in the country to test its engines at ISRO.
• Agnibaan and Agnilet will be used in the Agnikul’s first launch.

Agnikul:

• It was founded in 2017 by Srinath Ravichandran, Moin SPM and Professor S.R. Chakravarthy from IIT Madras.
• Agnikul is an IIT Madras incubated startup.
• It became the first Indian company to sign an agreement with ISRO in December 2020.
• The agreement signed under the IN-SPACe initiative sanctioned Agnikul access to the Indian space agency’s expertise and facilities to build Agnibaan and its launchpads.

About:

• The proposal to include the gecko in Appendix II was made by India at the recently-concluded 19th Conference of Parties (COP19) to CITES in Panama City. The proposal was adopted by the members of the Working Group.

CITES Appendix II:

• The animals listed under Appendix II may not necessarily be threatened with extinction, but trade in such species should be controlled to ensure it does not threaten their existence.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN):

• In 2019, the Jeypore Ground Gecko was assessed for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species and was listed as ‘endangered’.

Distribution:

• This reptile is endemic to India.
• The wild reptile species is found in the Eastern Ghats and is known to be present in four locations including southern Odisha and northern Andhra Pradesh.
• Its occurrence is estimated in less than 5,000 square kilometres of fragmented geographical area.
• The species resides below rock boulders in high forested hills at an altitude of 1,100-1,400 metres.
• Habitat loss and degradation, forest fires, tourism, quarrying and mining activity among the reasons for the species’ decline.

About:

• It is an initiative under Khadi & Village Industries Commission (KVIC).
• It is running this project in 7 states of the country, namely in Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Assam and Orissa.
• Under this project fencing of bee boxes is installed in such areas from where elephants move towards the human settlements and farmers' agriculture.
• Fencing of Bee-boxes on the routes of movement of elephants blocks the path of wild elephants.
• In this way, through honey-bees, elephants can be prevented from attacking humans and destroying farmers' crops.

National Honey Mission:

• Project RE-HAB is a sub-mission of KVIC’s National Honey Mission.
• The Honey Mission is a programme to increase the bee population, honey production and beekeepers’ income by setting up apiaries.

About:

Shilp Guru Awards:

• The Shilp Guru Awards are given to legendary master craftspersons in recognition of excellent craftsmanship, product excellence and the role played by them as gurus in the continuance of crafts to other trainee artisans as a vital part of traditional heritage.
• The Awards were started in 2002, to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the resurgence of Handicrafts in India.
• The Award consists of a gold coin, 2.00 lakhs prize money, a Tamrapatra, a shawl and a certificate.

National Awards:

• The National Awards are being awarded since 1965 for outstanding craftsmanship in different craft categories.
• The main crafts for which the Awards have been given are Metal Engraving, Chikan Hand Embroidery, Khurja Blue Pottery, Mata Ni Pachedi Kalamkari, Bandhani, Tie & Dye ,Hand Block Bagh Print, Warli Art, Stone Dust Painting , Sozni Hand Embroidery, Terracotta, Tanjore Painting, Sholapith, Kantha Hand Embroidery, Palm leaf Engraving, Brass wire inlay on wood, Wood Tarkashi, Madhubani Painting, Gold Leaf Painting , straw craft etc.
• The Award consists of 1.00 lakh prize money, a Tamrapatra, a Shawl and a certificate.

About:

• The Summit is India’s annual flagship event on Geotechnology and is co-hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs and Carnegie India.
• The theme for this year’s Summit is ‘Geopolitics of Technology’.
• During the summit, the world’s leading minds in technology, government, security, space, startups, data, law, public health, climate change, academics, economy will gather and debate the vital questions related to technology and its future.
• They will discuss the advantages and challenges of technologies, sustainability, emerging geopolitics in the technology sector, and data for development and ideas for India's G20 Presidency.

About:

• Indian snow leopard experts received the Madrid-based BBVA Foundation’s Worldwide Biodiversity Conservation Award on behalf of a 12-nation intergovernmental alliance -The Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP).

What is The Global Snow Leopard Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP)?

• The GSLEP is a first-of-its-kind intergovernmental alliance for the conservation of the snow leopard and its unique ecosystem.
• It is led by the environment ministers of 12 countries in Asia that form the home range of the snow leopard. These are Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The total range spans two million square kilometres.
• The GSLEP Program’s secretariat is based in Bishkek, and is hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ecology and Technical Supervision of the Kyrgyz Republic.
• GSLEP was created in 2013 when officials, politicians and conservationists arrived at a common conservation strategy enshrined in the Bishkek Declaration (2013) to cooperate in the conservation of this species and its habitat.

About:

What is Fujiwhara Effect?

• The Fujiwhara Effect is any interaction between tropical storms formed around the same time in the same ocean region with their centres or eyes at a distance of less than 1,400 km, with intensity that could vary between a depression (wind speed under 63 km per hour) and a super typhoon (wind speed over 209 km per hour).
• The interaction could lead to changes in the track and intensity of either or both storms systems. In rare cases, the two systems could merge, especially when they are of similar size and intensity, to form a bigger storm.
• There are five different ways in which Fujiwhara Effect can take place.
  • The first is elastic interaction in which only the direction of motion of the storms changes and is the most common case. These are also the cases that are difficult to assess and need closer examination.
  • The second is partial straining out in which a part of the smaller storm is lost to the atmosphere.
  • The third is complete straining out in which the smaller storm is completely lost to the atmosphere. The straining out does not happen for storms of equal strengths.
  • The fourth type is partial merger in which the smaller storm merges into the bigger one.
  • Fifth is complete merger which takes places between two storms of similar strength.
• Fujiwhara effect was identified by Sakuhei Fujiwhara, a Japanese meteorologist whose first paper recognising the Fujiwhara cases was published in 1921.

About:

• IREDA is a Mini Ratna (Category – I) Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• It is engaged in promoting, developing and extending financial assistance for setting up projects relating to new and renewable sources of energy.
• IREDA has been notified as a “Public Financial Institution” under the Companies Act, 1956 and registered as Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) with Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• IREDA’s Motto is “Energy for Ever.”

The main objectives of IREDA are :

• To give financial support to specific projects and schemes for generating electricity and / or energy through new and renewable sources and conserving energy through energy efficiency.
• To maintain its position as a leading organisation to provide efficient and effective financing in renewable energy and energy efficiency / conservation projects.
• To increase IREDA`s share in the renewable energy sector by way of innovative financing.
• Improvement in the efficiency of services provided to customers through continual improvement of systems, processes and resources.
• To strive to be competitive institution through customer satisfaction.

About:

• The allegation is that the big-ticket project is being implemented without sufficiently factoring in ecological safeguards and adequately addressing the concerns of the coastal community.
• The Government of Kerala as part of its various programs for development of the state, has identified to develop Vizhinjam International deep water Multipurpose Seaport.
• It has formed a separate company, viz. Vizhinjam International Seaport Limited (VISL) as a special purpose Government company (fully owned by Government of Kerala) that would act as implementing agency for development of the greenfield port at Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala.

Advantages of Vizhinjam are:

• Availability of 20m contour within one nautical mile from the coast.
• Minimal littoral drift along the coast, hardly any maintenance dredging required.
• Links to national/regional road, rail network
• Flexibility in design and expansion being a Greenfield project
• Proximity to International shipping route

Significance of the project

• Around 95 per cent of India’s foreign trade is conducted through the sea route. In value terms, this works out to 70 per cent of the foreign trade.
• Nearly 30 percent of the freight movement takes place through the international shipping route South of the Indian peninsula, which passes 10 nautical miles off Vizhinjam.
• Currently, India does not have a deep-water container transhipment terminal and depends on Colombo, Singapore and Salalah ports.
• This results in significant loss of foreign currency and revenue, estimated to be about Rs2,500 crore a year. With the completion of the Vizhinjam port, this serious lacuna will be overcome.

About:

What are Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)?

• SMRs are advanced nuclear reactors that have a power capacity of up to 300 MW(e) per unit, which is about one-third of the generating capacity of traditional nuclear power reactors. SMRs, which can produce a large amount of low-carbon electricity, are:
  • Small – physically a fraction of the size of a conventional nuclear power reactor.
  • Modular – making it possible for systems and components to be factory-assembled and transported as a unit to a location for installation.
  • Reactors – harnessing nuclear fission to generate heat to produce energy.

Advantages of SMRs

• SMR, with up to 300 MW capacity by nature are flexible in design and require smaller footprint. Given their smaller footprint, SMRs can be sited on locations not suitable for larger nuclear power plants.
• Being mobile and agile technology, SMR can be factory-built unlike the conventional nuclear reactors that are built on–site. Thus, SMRs offers significant savings in cost and construction time.
• SMR is a promising technology in industrial de-carbonization especially where there is a requirement of reliable and continuous supply of power. It is said that SMR is simpler and safer as compared to large nuclear plants.

About:

• According to the SEBI (Substantial Acquisition of Shares and Takeovers) Rules, an open offer is an offer made by the acquirer to the shareholders of the target company inviting them to tender their shares in the target company at a particular price.
• The primary purpose of an open offer is to provide an exit option to the shareholders of the target company on account of the change in control or substantial acquisition of shares, occurring in the target company.

When is an open offer triggered?

• An open offer is triggered if an acquirer holds more than 25 per cent of the public shareholding in the company.
• Prior to 2011, when the new takeover norms kicked in, an open offer got triggered if an acquirer owned more than 15 per cent of the public shareholding in a company.

About:

• Ima Keithel, or Mothers’ Market, is an all-women market, said to be the largest such shopping complex in Asia.
• It is a unique all women’s market, having 3,000 “Imas” or mothers who run the stalls, it is split [into] two sections on either side of road.
• Vegetables, fruits, fish and household groceries are sold on one side and exquisite handlooms and household tools on the other. Not far away is a street where beautiful wicker works and basketry are sold.
• Male vendors and shopkeepers are barred here.
• In 2018, the state government announced that legal action would be taken under the Manipur Municipalities Act, 2004 if any male vendor was found selling goods at the market.

History:

• The Ima Market is centuries-old, and has its origins in Lallup Kaba, an ancient bonded labour system.
• Under the system, Meitei men had to compulsorily serve some time working in the military and on other civil projects, keeping them away from home.
• The women, thus, were left to manage on their own, and they developed a market system which is today the Ima Keithel.
• While the system is centuries-old, it had continued till the time of the British.
• Policies of the British government had interfered with the functioning of the Ima market too, but were met with stiff resistance from the women.

About:

• The Dhamma Dipa International Buddhist University (DDIBU) is expected to become the first Buddhist-run university in India to offer Buddhist education along with courses in other disciplines of modern education as well.
• This university will set a precedent in the history of Indian-Buddhism in promoting and reviving Buddhist culture in India, the birthplace of Buddhism.
• It will be the first Buddhist University in India to be headed by Buddhist monastics and run and monitored by Buddhists.
• The word, Dhammadipa, describes both a core principle and a guiding force, which seeks the light of Dharma, its international scope and measure.
• The University contributes to the highest level of knowledge and education.
• DD IBU hopes to better engage the contemporary world through the insight and depth of Buddhist words.
• At the same time, it is keen to prepare students and youth with knowledge and skills, so that they can live healthy, peaceful and contented lives, able to lead the way of life.
• Students from 31 countries will get a chance to study as well as carry out research on Buddhist literature, culture and tradition in the proposed varsity.

About:

• It is a form of hacking that lets attackers access a device through its discoverable Bluetooth connection.
• Once a device or phone is bluebugged, a hacker can listen to the calls, read and send messages and steal and modify contacts.
• It started out as a threat for laptops with Bluetooth capability.
• Later hackers used the technique to target mobile phones and other devices.

Process:

• Bluebugging attacks work by exploiting Bluetooth-enabled devices.
• The device’s Bluetooth must be in discoverable mode, which is the default setting on most devices.
• The hacker then tries to pair with the device via Bluetooth.
• Once a connection is established, hackers can use brute force attacks to bypass authentication.
• They can install malware in the compromised device to gain unauthorised access to it.
• Bluebugging can happen whenever a Bluetooth enabled device is within a 10-metre radius of the hacker.
• However, according to a blog by VPN service provider NordVPN, hackers can use booster antennas to widen the attack range.

Which devices are most susceptible to such attacks?

• Any Bluetooth-enabled device can be bluebugged.
• Wireless earbuds are susceptible to such hacks.
• Apps that enable users to connect to their TWS (True Wireless Stereo) devices or earbuds can record conversations.
• The apps of these TWS devices can record conversations.
• Once hacked, the attacker can make and listen to calls, read and send messages, and modify or steal your contacts.

About:

• The Indian Olympic Association is the governing body for the Olympic Movement and the Commonwealth Games in India.
• As an affiliated member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), the IOA administers various aspects of sports governance and athletes’ welfare in the country.
• In this regard, the IOA oversees the representation of athletes or teams participating in the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and other international multi-sport competitions of IOC, CGF, OCA and ANOC.
• The Indian Olympic Association is recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

History:

• The IOA was established in the year 1927 with Sir Dorabji Tata and Dr. A.G. Noehren as the Founding President and Secretary General respectively. It is registered as a Non-Profit Organisation under the Societies Registration Act of 1860.

Governance:

• The Indian Olympic Association is currently governed by a 32-member Executive Council, headed by President.
• The election for the Executive Council is held once in every 4 years.

About:

• Recently, a multi-centre survey carried out by the ICMR to spot the trend in antibiotic resistance across the country showed Acinetobacter baumannii, a gram-negative bacteria known to cause infection in the blood, urinary tract and lungs among others, was resistant to high-end antibiotics.
  • Antimicrobial Resistance: It occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread.
• The survey found 5% samples of Acinetobacter baumannii tested in 2021 were resistant to carbapenems, a high-end antibiotic.

What is Gram-negative bacteria?

• Gram-negative bacteria are classified by the color they turn after a chemical process called Gram staining is used on them.
  • Gram-negative bacteria stain red when this process is used.
  • Gram-positive bacteria stain blue.
• Gram-negative bacteria are enclosed in a protective capsule. This capsule helps prevent white blood cells (which fight infection) from ingesting the bacteria. Under the capsule, gram-negative bacteria have an outer membrane that protects them against certain antibiotics, such as penicillin.
• When disrupted, this membrane releases toxic substances called endotoxins. Endotoxins contribute to the severity of symptoms during infections with gram-negative bacteria.
• Gram-negative bacteria cause infections including pneumonia, bloodstream infections, wound or surgical site infections, and meningitis in healthcare settings.

About

What is CDSL?

• It is a government-registered share depository, alongside its other state-owned counterpart National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL).
• Share depositories hold shares in an electronic or dematerialised form and are an enabler for securities transactions, playing a somewhat similar role to what banks play in handling cash and fixed deposits.
• CDSL was founded in 1999. It is a Market Infrastructure Institution or MII that is deemed as a crucial part of the capital market structure, providing services to all market participants, including exchanges, clearing corporations, depository participants, issuers and investors.

About

• The ship, named 'Ikshak' which means 'Guide', is being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) and Larson and Toubro (L&T).
• The ship's name honours the role that Survey ships have played in ensuring the safety of mariners when at sea.
• The first of class ship 'Sandhayak' was launched on December 5, 2021 at GRSE, Kolkata. SVL ships will replace the existing Sandhayak Class survey ships with new generation hydrographic equipment to collect oceanographic data.

About the ship

• The Survey Vessel (Large) ships are 110 m long, and 16 m wide with a deep displacement of 3400 tons and a complement of 231 personnel.
• The ship's propulsion system consists of two main engines with twin shafts, each capable of a maximum speed of 18 knots and a cruise speed of 14 knots.

About:

• Aim of the exercise is to build positive military relations, imbibe each other’s best practices and promote the ability to operate together while undertaking multi-domain operations in Semi deserts terrain under a UN peace enforcement mandate.
• This is the first exercise in the series of AUSTRA HIND with participation of all arms and services contingent from both armies.
• AUSTRA HIND” will be a yearly event that will be conducted alternatively in India and Australia.
• The joint exercise, besides promoting understanding and interoperability between the two armies, will further help in strengthening ties between India and Australia.

About:

Virtual Justice Clock

• It is an initiative to exhibit vital statistics of the justice delivery system at the Court level giving the details of the cases instituted, cases disposed and pendency of cases on day/week/month basis at the Court level.
• The effort is to make the functioning of the courts accountable and transparent by sharing with the public the status of case disposals by the court.
• Public can access the Virtual Justice Clock of any court establishment on the District Court's website.

 JustIS Mobile App 2.0

• It is a tool available to judicial officers for effective court and case management by monitoring pendency and disposal of not only his court but also for individual judges working under them.
• This App is also made available to High Court and Supreme Court Judges who can now monitor pendency and disposal of all the States and Districts under their jurisdiction.

Digital Court

• It is an initiative to make the court records available to the judge in digitised form to enable the transition to Paperless Courts.

S3WaaS Websites

• It is a framework to generate, configure, deploy and manage websites for publishing specified information and services related to district judiciary.
• S3WaaS is a cloud service developed for government entities to generate Secure, Scalable & Sugamya (Accessible) websites. It is multilingual, citizen friendly and disability friendly.

About:

• Black corals can be found growing both in shallow waters and down to depths of over 26,000 feet (8,000 metres), and some individual corals can live for over 4,000 years.
• Many of these corals are branched and look like feathers, fans or bushes, while others are straight like a whip.
• Unlike their colourful, shallow-water cousins that rely on the sun and photosynthesis for energy, black corals are filter feeders and eat tiny zooplankton that are abundant in deep waters.
• Among the many interesting specimens were five new species – including one that was found growing on the shell of a nautilus more than 2,500 feet (760 metres) below the ocean’s surface.
• Similarly to shallow-water corals that build colourful reefs full of fish, black corals act as important habitats where fish and invertebrates feed and hide from predators in what is otherwise a mostly barren sea floor.
  • For example, a single black coral colony researchers collected in 2005 off the coast of California, United States, was home to 2,554 individual invertebrates.

About:

• Yaks belong to the genus Bos and are therefore related to cattle (Bos primigenius species).
• Domestic Yak (Bos Grunniens) descended from the wild yak (Bos mutus).
• Distribution:
  • Yak is found throughout the Himalayan region -- Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, North Bengal, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir -- while wild Yak is found in Tibet.
  • It is also found as far north as Mongolia and Russia.
• National Research Centre on Yak:
  • The Government of India established the ICAR-National Research Centre on Yak, in 1989 at Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh as a dedicated centre for research into yak husbandry.
• Yak Census 2019:
  • According to a census carried out in 2019, India has some 58,000 yaks – a drop of about 25% from the livestock census of 2012.
  • The drastic decline could be attributed to less remuneration from the bovid and discouraging the younger generations from continuing with nomadic yak rearing.
  • The sale of yak milk and meat is limited to local consumers.

About:

• The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation is supported by a partnership between UNESCO and Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation since 2021.
• UNESCO introduced the new category, ‘Special Recognition for Sustainable Development’, in 2020, together with an updated set of Awards Criteria to acknowledge the role and contribution of cultural heritage to sustainable development within the broader framework of the UN 2030 Agenda.
• Since 2000, the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation programme has been recognizing the efforts of private individuals and organizations in restoring, conserving, and transforming structures and buildings of heritage value in the region.
• The complete list of 2022 awarded projects comprises: 
• Award of Excellence
  • Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum, Mumbai, India 
• Award of Distinction 
  • Stepwells of Golconda, Hyderabad, India
  • Zarch Qanat, Yazd, Iran 
  • Neilson Hays Library, Bangkok, Thailand 
• Award of Merit
  • Topdara Stupa, Charikar, Afghanistan 
  • Nantian Buddhist Temple, Fujian, China 
  • Domakonda Fort, Telangana, India 
  • Byculla Station, Mumbai, India 
  • Sadoughi House, Yazd, Iran 
  • 25 Chivas in Kathmandu, Nepal 
• Special Recognition for Sustainable Development
  • West Guizhou Lilong Neighborhood, Shanghai, China 
• Award for New Design in Heritage Contexts
  • M30 Integrated Infrastructure for Power Supply and Waste Collection, Macao SAR, China
  • Xiaoxihu Block, Nanjing, China

About:

• It is an initiative under Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
• It is an initiative launched by President Droupadi Murmu which strives to provide aid to TB-afflicted patients on three levels of nutritional, additional diagnostic, and vocational support.
• Objective:
  • It aims to eradicate the existing societal stigma and discrimination against TB patients and provide them with much-needed nutritional and social support, and help them lead a normal life.
  • It also aims to encourage elected representatives, corporates, NGOs, and individuals to come forward as donors/sponsors to help the patients complete their journey toward recovery.
• Ni-kshay 2.0 portal: The Ni-kshay 2.0 portal provides a digital platform for extending community support to persons with TB and leveraging Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) opportunities.
• Timeframe: Support can be extended to persons with TB, for a minimum duration of one year and a maximum of three years, in any block or district across the country.

About:

• National Cadet Corps (NCC) is a Tri-Services Organization, comprising the Army, Navy and Air Force, engaged in grooming the youth into disciplined and patriotic citizens.
• Working:
  • It is a voluntary organizationwhich recruits cadets from high schools, colleges and universities all over India.
  • The Cadets are given basic military training in small arms and parades. They are given preference in military service over normal candidates during selections.
• Background:It came into existence in 1948 under the National Cadet Corps Act, 1948.
• Related Ministries:Defence Ministry deals with NCC at the National level. Education Ministry deals with NCC in all States.
• Directorate General NCC:It is the national level HQ located at New Delhi. It is headed by the Director General (DG), an Army Officer of the rank of Lieutenant General.