MOST PROBABLE TOPICS – PART 17

1.ITER

• It is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject, which will be the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment.
• It is an experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor that is being built next to the Cadarache facility in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, in Provence, southern France.
• ITER was proposed in 1987 and designed as the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.
• The ITER thermonuclear fusion reactor has been designed to produce a fusion plasma equivalent to 500 megawatts (MW) of thermal output power for around twenty minutes while 50 megawatts of thermal power are injected into the tokamak, resulting in a ten-fold gain of plasma heating power.Thereby the machine aims to demonstrate the principle of producing more thermal power from the fusion process than is used to heat the plasma, something that has not yet been achieved in any fusion reactor.
• The project is funded and run by seven member entities—the European Union, India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, and the United States.
• The EU, as host party for the ITER complex, is contributing about 45 percent of the cost, with the other six parties contributing approximately 9 percent each.
• The goal of ITER is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful use.
• It is the latest and largest of more than 100 fusion reactors built since the 1950s
• ITER’s planned successor, DEMO, is expected to be the first fusion reactor to produce electricity in an experimental environment. DEMO’s anticipated success is expected to lead to full-scale electricity-producing fusion power stations and future commercial reactors.

ITER AND India

• For the first time in India, nuclear scientists, researchers and physicists from over 40 countries came together under one roof to explore new avenues in energy generation through nuclear fusion technology- in Gandhinagar.

• Former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission R Chidambaram inaugurated the 27th edition of week-long biennial Fusion Energy Conference (FEC) on Monday at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar.

• The nodal agency for the project in India is Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar, which is jointly organising the event with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The top officials of ITER confirmed that the project has reached 58 per cent of completion and is likely to start generating power by 2035.

• As an ITER member, India is responsible for about 9 per cent of in-kind contribution to the ITER project. This contribution is in the engineering and development of key components, including cryostat, cooling water systems, vessel in-wall shielding blocks, radio frequency heating sources, and diagnostic neutral beam system among others.

2. Quantum Dots

• Quantum dots (QDs) are man-made nanoscale crystals that that can transport electrons. When UV light hits these semiconducting nanoparticles, they can emit light of various colors. These artificial semiconductor nanoparticles that have found applications in composites, solar cells and fluorescent biological labels.

Applications

• Use in bioanalytics and biolabeling has found the widest range of applications for colloidal QDs.
• Quantum dots have found applications in composites, solar cells (Grätzel cells) and fluorescent biological labels.
• Quantum dots in medicine- QDs are either used as active sensor elements in high-resolution cellular imaging.
• Quantum dots in photovoltaics
• Quantum dot TVs and display

5. Green Wall of India

• The Centre is mulling an ambitious plan to create a 1,400km long and 5km wide green belt from Gujarat to the Delhi-Haryana border.
• The plan is inspired by Africa’s ‘Great Green Wall’ project, running from Senegal (West) to Djibouti (East), which came into effect in 2007.
• The overarching objective of India’s Green Wall will be to address the rising rates of land degradation and the eastward expansion of the Thar desert.
• The green belt being planned from Porbandar to Panipat will help in restoring degraded land through afforestation along the Aravali hill range.

6. Li-ion batteries

• A lithium-ion battery or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery.
• Li-ion batteries use an intercalated (Intercalation is the reversible inclusion or insertion of a molecule into materials with layered structures) lithium compound as one electrode material, compared to the metallic lithium used in a non-rechargeable lithium battery.
  • The battery consists of electrolyte, which allows for ionic movement, and the two electrodes are the constituent components of a lithium-ion battery cell.
  • Lithium ions move from the negative electrode to the positive electrode during discharge and back when charging.
• They are one of the most popular types of rechargeable batteries used for military, battery electric vehicle and aerospace applications.

Electric Vehicle Battery/Traction Battery

• Rechargeable (secondary) batteries, and are typically lithium-ion batteries. 
• designed for a high ampere-hour (or kilowatt-hour) capacity.
• The most common battery type in modern electric vehicles are lithium-ion and lithium polymer, because of their high energy density compared to their weight.

7. Sodium Sulphur Battery

While conventional sodium sulphur batteries require very high temperature (300 degree C) for operation, researchers at the Indian Institute of technology (IIT) Madras have designed a new sodium sulphur battery that can be operated at room temperature- hence achieved higher charge storage capacity (technically called the specific capacity) and nearly zero self-discharge when the battery is not being used.

About sodium sulphur battery :

• The sodium sulphur battery is a high-temperature battery.
• It operates at 300°C and utilises a solid electrolyte, making it unique among the common secondary cells.
• One electrode is molten sodium and the other molten sulphur, and it is the reaction between these two that is the basis for the cell reaction.

8. Adaptation Fund

The Adaptation Fund is a financial instrument under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol (KP) and has been established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing country Parties to the KP, in an effort to reduce the adverse effects of climate change facing communities, countries and sectors. The Fund is financed with a share of proceeds from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project activities as well as through voluntary pledges of donor governments.

Administrating Organisation—       The World Bank

Green Climate Fund (GCF)

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) was adopted as a financial mechanism of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the end of 2011. It aims to make an ambitious contribution to attaining the mitigation and adaptation goals of the international community.

Administrating Organisation—The GCF is a legally independent institution with a fully independent secretariat headed by an Executive Secretary. The World Bank serves as the interim trustee of the GCF.

Secretariat—Songdo ,South Korea

The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) was created in 2001 to address the specific needs of developing countries under the UNFCCC. It covers the incremental costs of interventions to address climate change relative to a development baseline.

Adaptation to climate change is the top priority of the SCCF, although it can also support technology transfer and its associated capacity building activities. The SCCF is intended to catalyse and leverage additional finance from bilateral and multilateral sources, and is administered by the Global Environment Facility.

Administrating Organisation—   Global Environment Facility (GEF)

9. Solar dynamo

Given the high temperatures in the Sun, matter exists there in the form of plasma, where the electrons are stripped away from the nuclei. The Sun is made of hot ionised plasma whose motions generate magnetic fields in the solar interior by harnessing the energy of the plasma flows. This mechanism is known as the solar dynamo mechanism (or magnetohydrodynamic dynamo mechanism). “Simply stated, it is a process by which kinetic energy of plasma motions is converted to magnetic energy, which generates the magnetised sunspots, giving rise to the solar cycle,” explains Prof. Nandi.

• The Hindu

10. Arctic ice melt can disrupt ocean currents and alter climate in Western Europe

• Researchers have unravelled how an ocean water current, which plays a key role in keeping Western Europe warm, could be altered by an influx of unprecedented amounts of cold, fresh water from melting ice in the Arctic.

• According to the scientists, including those from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US, a seawater current called the Beaufort Gyre keeps the polar environment in balance by storing fresh water near the surface of the Arctic ocean.

• Wind blows the gyre in a clockwise direction around the western Arctic Ocean, north of Canada, where it naturally collects fresh water from the melting of glaciers, and river runoff, the study, published in the journal Nature Communications, noted.

• The release of fresh water from the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic can change the density of surface waters, the study warned.

• Water from the Arctic loses heat and moisture to the atmosphere, and sinks to the bottom of the ocean, where it drives water from the north Atlantic Ocean down to the tropics in a conveyor-belt-like current called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, the scientists explained.

• This current helps regulate the planet’s climate by carrying heat from the tropically-warmed water to northern latitudes like Europe and North America, and if it is slowed down, it could negatively impact all life forms, especially marine creatures, the study noted.

• The Hindu

11. Penumbral lunar eclipse

• A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are imperfectly aligned.
• The Earth blocks some of the Sun’s light from reaching the Moon’s surface and covers all or part of the Moon with the outer part of its shadow, known as the penumbra.

12. Polio

2 out of 3 wild poliovirus strains have been eradicated, says WHO.

Type 3– latest one to be eradicated

Type 2– eradicated in 2015

There are three individual and immunologically distinct wild poliovirus strains: wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1), wild poliovirus type 2 (WPV2) and wild poliovirus type 3 (WPV3). Symptomatically, all three strains are identical, in that they cause irreversible paralysis or even death. But there are genetic and virological differences, which make these three strains three separate viruses that must each be eradicated individually.

Now,the goal is eradication of wild poliovirus type 1. This virus remains in circulation in just two countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

(Source- The Hindu)

13. UN Report on Pneumonia

• A UN report said just five countries were responsible for more than half of child pneumonia deaths
• India had the second-highest number of deaths of children under the age of five in 2018 due to pneumonia, a curable and preventable disease that claimed the life of one child every 39 seconds globally, according to a new report by the UN.
• The report said just five countries were responsible for more than half of child pneumonia deaths: Nigeria (162,000), India (127,000), Pakistan (58,000), the Democratic Republic of Congo (40,000) and Ethiopia (32,000).
• Pneumonia is caused by bacteria, viruses or fungi, and leaves children fighting for breath as their lungs fill with pus and fluid.
• The Hindu
• Ministry for Health and Family Welfare launched ‘SAANS’- Social  Awareness and Action to Neutralise Pneumonia Successfully- To reduce child mortality due to pneumonia- a child suffering from pneumonia can be treated with pre-referral dose of anti-biotic amoxicillin by ASHA workers.

14. Climate Ambition Alliance

• Around 73 countries have joined the Climate Ambition Alliance (CAA) at the COP25. The alliance is led by Chile and was launched at the Climate Action Summit, New York in 2019.
• The CAA will focus on Nationally Determined Contributions in order to achieve Net Zero by 2050.
• India is not a member.

15. Operation Peace Spring

• Turkey has launched a military operation called Operation Peace Spring against the Syrian Kurdish militia (YPG) in Northeast Syria just days after U.S. troops pulled back from the area.

KURDS

• The Kurds are one of the indigenous peoples of the Mesopotamian plains and the highlands i.e.current south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Syria, northern Iraq, north-western Iran and south-western Armenia.
• They form a distinctive community, united through race, culture and language, even though they have no standard dialect.
  • They also adhere to a number of different religions and creeds, although the majority are Sunni Muslims.
• Largest ‘stateless’ ethnicity in the world.

16. Countervailing duty,Dumping and Anti dumping

• Countervailing duty refers to a special duty or tax imposed by an importing country on an imported product for the purpose of offsetting any subsidies provided in the exporting country, directly or indirectly, for the making, production, or export of the product.
• Dumping occurs when a product is exported to other countries at a price that is less than what its price would be if it (or a comparable or similar product) were to be sold domestically in the exporting country.
• Anti dumping measures- This is a governmental action that seeks to stop and remedy the dumping of imported goods into the WTO Member’s territory.

17. Special and differential treatment (S&D) (asked in previous prelims)

• This refers to the principle that would provide developing countries with special privileges vis-à-vis  compliance with WTO obligations in view of their different or lower state of economic development. This usually takes the form of exemptions from some WTO rules or else in the form of special trade rights (such as longer transition periods or lesser degrees of trade liberalization needed).

18. Ramsar Sites and Montreaux Record

• WETLANDS

19. Biogenic Gas

• Certain types of bacteria, known as methanogens, can produce methane, the chief component of natural gas, in the process of breaking down organic matter in an oxygen-free environment.

• This type of gas is call “biogenic” to differentiate it from the “thermogenic” or fossil gas produced from organic material buried in the Earth’s crust at high temperatures and pressures. The properties of biogenic methane are identical to those of thermogenic methane.

• Livestock manure, food waste, and sewage are all potential sources of biogenic gas, or biogas, which is usually considered a form of renewable energy.

20. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle

• Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is the third generation launch vehicle of India.
• It is a four-staged launch vehicle with first and third stage using solid rocket motors and second and fourth stages using liquid rocket engines.
  • It is the first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages.
• Initially, PSLV had a carrying capacity of 850 kg but has been enhanced to 1.9 tonnes.
• The PSLV has helped take payloads into almost all the orbits in space including Geo-Stationary Transfer Orbit (GTO), the Moon, Mars and would soon be launching a mission to the Sun.
  • Between 1994 and 2019, the PSLV launched 50 Indian satellites and 222 foreign satellites for over 70 international customers from 20 countries.
• It has a history of successful launches of payloads that include Chandrayaan-1, Mars Orbiter Mission(MOM) and the space recovery mission, etc.

RISAT 2BR1

• India’s advanced radar imaging earth observation satellite RISAT-2BR1.
• It is the second satellite in the RISAT-2B series and along with the CARTOSAT-3, it is the part of ‘spy’ satellites.

It was PSLVs Golden Jubilee success,RISAT was 5oth successful launch by PSLV.

21. IndiGen Project

• The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) recently announced the conclusion of a six-month exercise (from April 2019) of conducting a “whole-genome sequence” of a 1,008 Indians.
• The project is part of a programme called “IndiGen” and is also seen as a precursor to a much larger exercise involving other government departments to map a larger swathe of the population in the country.
• Project proponents say this will widen public understanding in India about genomes and the information that genes hide about one’s susceptibility to disease.
• CSIR’s ‘IndiGen’ project lead to precision medicine and develop its commercial gene testing services.

22. Cyanobacteria

• Cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae, are microscopic organisms found naturally in all types of water.
• These single-celled organisms live in fresh, brackish (combined salt and freshwater), and marine water.
• These organisms use sunlight to make their own food.
• In warm, nutrient-rich (high in phosphorus and nitrogen) environments, cyanobacteria can multiply quickly.
• Use in making ALGAL BIOFUELS.

23. Invasive alien plants in Nilgiri Biosphere Region

• Invasive alien species are plants, animals, pathogens and other organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem, and which may cause economic or environmental harm or adversely affect human health
• The spread of invasive plants, especially Senna Spectabilis, is posing a major threat to the Nilgiri forest region, owing to its quick growth and coppicing character
• The thick foliage arrests the growth of other indigenous species of trees and grass, and causes food shortage for the wildlife population, especially herbivores, during summer. 
• Moreover, wildlife would not feed on the leaves of the tree as it was not palatable for them
• The plant started to invade in adjacent tiger reserves, including Bandipur and Nagarhole in Karnataka and the Mudumalai tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu
  
   

24. Dirac metals: New class of quantum materials for clean energy technology

• Normal metals like gold and silver are good conductors of electricity. A key aspect that decides the quality of conduction is the way energy depends on the momentum of electrons. Dirac metals differ from normal metals in that the energy depends linearly on the momentum. This difference is responsible for their unique properties. Semi-Dirac metals behave like Dirac metals in one direction and like normal metals in the perpendicular directions (since their microscopic structure is different along the two directions).

  Within any material, charge carriers, such as electrons, acquire an effective mass which is different from their bare mass depending on the nature of the material. The effective mass and the number of states available for the electron to occupy when it is excited by an electric field, for example, determine the conductivity and other such properties. This is also true of a semi-Dirac metal. In particular, the effective mass becomes zero for conduction along a special direction.

• New class of quantum materials for clean energy technology

25. Project NETRA-Network for space object Tracking and Analysis

• ISRO has initiated ‘Project NETRA’ – an early warning system in space to detect debris and other hazards to Indian satellites.
• Under the project, the ISRO plans to put up many observational facilities: connected radars, telescopes; data processing units and a control centre.
• They can, among others, spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.

26. Why has India banned e-cigarettes?

• Electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) or non-combustible tobacco products are known by many names — vapes, e-hookahs, electronic cigarettes and e-pipes. E-cigarettes may be manufactured to look like traditional cigarettes and are marketed as tobacco-free nicotine delivery devices. instead of burning tobacco leaves like in traditional cigarettes, an e-cigarette, which is a battery-operated device, produces aerosol by heating a solution containing nicotine among other things. The device contains nicotine and flavours in the form of liquid which is primarily composed of solvents such as glycerol and/or propylene glycol. The aerosol containing a suspension of fine particles and gases simulates cigarette smoke. Following a puff, the aerosol is delivered to the user’s mouth and lungs and the rest is exhaled.
• Nicotine solvents can release in varying amounts potential carcinogens such as acetaldehyde, formaldehyde and acetone. The liquid-vapourising solutions also contain “toxic chemicals and metals that can cause several adverse health effects including cancers and diseases of the heart, lungs and brain.
• Flavours such as diacetyl used in e-cigarettes are linked to serious lung disease.
• E-cigarettes also contain volatile organic compounds, heavy metals, such as nickel, tin and lead.

27.  Ajanta and Ellora caves

Ajanta Caves

• Location: Ajanta is a series of rock-cut caves in the Sahyadri ranges (Western Ghats) on Waghora river near Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
• Number of Caves: There are a total of 29 caves (all buddhist) of which 25 were used as Viharas or residential caves while 4 were used as Chaitya or prayer halls.
• Time of Development
  • The caves were developed in the period between 200 B.C. to 650 A.D.
  • The Ajanta caves were inscribed by the Buddhist monks, under the patronage of the Vakataka kings – Harishena being a prominent one.
  • Reference of the Ajanta caves can be found in the travel accounts of Chinese Buddhist travellers Fa Hien (during the reign of Chandragupta II; 380- 415 CE) and Hieun Tsang (during the reign of emperor Harshavardhana; 606 – 647 CE). .
• Painting
  • The figures in these caves were done using fresco painting.
  • The outlines of the paintings were done in red colour. One of the striking features is the absence of blue colour in the paintings.
  • The paintings are generally themed around Buddhism – the life of Buddha and Jataka stories.
• UNESCO Site: The caves were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.

Ellora Caves

• Location: It is located nearly 100 Kms away from Ajanta caves in the Sahyadri range of Maharashtra.
• Number of Caves: It is a group of 34 caves – 17 Brahmanical, 12 Buddhist and 5 Jain.
• Time of Development
  • These set of caves were developed during the period between the 5^th and 11^th centuries A.D. (newer as compared to Ajanta Caves) by various guilds from Vidarbha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
  • That is why the caves reflect a natural diversity in terms of theme and architectural styles.
• UNESCO Site: The Ellora complex was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.
• The most remarkable of the cave temples is Kailasa (Kailasanatha; cave 16), named for the mountain in the Kailasa Range of the Himalayas where the Hindu god Shiva resides.

28. OneHealth

• OneHealth is an approach to designing and implementing programmes, policies, legislation and research in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes.
• The areas of work in which a One Health approach is particularly relevant include food safety, the control of zoonotic diseases (diseases that can spread between animals and humans, such as flu, rabies and Rift Valley Fever), and combating antibiotic resistance (when bacteria change after being exposed to antibiotics and become more difficult to treat).

29. Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

• ASI, under the Ministry of Culture, is the premier organization for the archaeological research and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation.
• It administers more than 3650 ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance.
• Its activities include carrying out surveys of antiquarian remains, exploration and excavation of archaeological sites, conservation and maintenance of protected monuments etc.
• It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham- the first Director-General of ASI. Alexander Cunningham is also known as the “Father of Indian Archaeology”.

30. Olive Ridley Turtles

Mass hatching of Olive Ridley turtles has begun at Odisha’s Rushikulya rookery (near Ganjam district).

• The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the Olive-ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.

Key Points

• Features:
  • The Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world.
  • These turtles are carnivores and get their name from their olive colored carapace.
• Habitat: They are found in warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.
• Migration: They migrate thousands of kilometers between feeding and mating grounds in the course of a year.
• Arribada (Mass Nesting): They are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.
  • They lay their eggs over a period of five to seven days in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they dig with their hind flippers.
• Threats:
  • They are extensively poached for their meat, shell and leather, and their eggs.
  • However, the most severe threat they face is the accidental killing through entanglement in trawl nets and gill nets due to uncontrolled fishing during their mating season around nesting beaches.
• Protection Status:
  • IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
  • CITES: Appendix I
  • Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
• Step Taken for Conservation: To reduce accidental killing in India, the Odisha government has made it mandatory for trawls to use Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs), a net specially designed with an exit cover which allows the turtles to escape while retaining the catch.

31. Turtles

• Turtles are the reptiles of the order Testudines, characterized by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs and acting as a shield.
• It can reside inside freshwater or saltwater.
• Tortoise are distinguished from other turtles by being land-dwelling, while many (though not all) other turtle species are at partly aquatic.
• Turtles are cold-blooded species.
• They have very slow metabolism and can survive without food and water for a long time.
• According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) most of the species of turtles and tortoises are vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered.

Turtle Conservation in India

• There are five species in Indian waters i.e. Olive Ridley, Green turtle, Loggerhead, Hawksbill, Leatherback.
  • The Olive Ridley, Leatherback and Loggerhead are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  • The Hawksbill turtle is listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ and Green Turtle is listed as ‘Endangereed’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
    • They are protected in Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, under Schedule I.
• Turtles have been protected in India under the Biodiversity Conservation and Ganga Rejuvenation programme.

32. Malabar Civet

• The Malabar civet is possibly one of the Western Ghats’ rarest and most threatened mammals- endemic to the region.
  
• It is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
• This small, dog like carnivore has been pushed to the brink of extinction by hunting and habitat loss.
• The Malabar civet is in the Viverra genus.

Small Indian Civet

• The Small Indian civet is a species of civet native to South and Southeast Asia. 
• Small Indian civets occur in most of India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, Viet Nam, south and central China, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Peninsular Malaysia, and Nepal.
• Small Indian civets are nocturnal and mostly terrestrial animals.
• Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List 

33. Indus River Dolphins

• Indus river dolphins are found in Pakistan and River Beas, a tributary of Indus River in Punjab, India.
• The dolphin is the state aquatic animal of Punjab and WWF-India is working towards its conservation.
• River Beas is the only habitat of Indus River Dolphin in India.
• Like other freshwater dolphins, the Indus river dolphin is an important indicator of the health of a river.
• Endangered – IUCN Red List

34. Cyclone Nisarga

• A fast-moving depression in the Arabian Sea is predicted to be intensified into a severe cyclone named ‘Nisarga’.

• The name ‘Nisarga’ has been suggested by Bangladesh.

Cyclones in Arabian Sea:

• While cyclones have always been more frequent in Bay of Bengal, they have been less frequent off of India’s western coast — a trend that has been gradually changing, according to scientists.
• Further, cyclones formed in the Bay of Bengal are stronger than those on the Arabian Sea side. The relatively cold waters of the Arabian Sea discourage the kind of very strong cyclones that are formed on the Bay of Bengal side.
• The year 2019 was slightly unusual as the Arabian Sea saw the most frequent and intense cyclonic activity in more than 100 years. Five cyclones originated in the area in 2019 — Vayu, Hikka, Kyarr, Maha and Pavan – when normally only one or two are formed.
• The Arabian Sea saw more cyclonic storms than the Bay of Bengal during 2019. The Bay of Bengal reported less than normal number of cyclones. The three cyclones formed were — Cyclones Pabuk, Fani, Bulbul.

35. Viruses

• Viruses

36. Indian Ocean Dipole

• IOD is the difference between the temperature of eastern (Bay of Bengal) and the western Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea).
• This temperature difference results into pressure difference which results in flowing of winds between eastern and western parts of Indian Ocean.
• IOD develops in the equatorial region of Indian Ocean from April to May peaking in October.
• A ‘positive IOD’ — or simply ‘IOD’ — is associated with cooler than normal sea-surface temperatures in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean and warmer than normal sea-surface temperatures in the western tropical Indian Ocean.
• The opposite phenomenon is called a ‘negative IOD’, and is characterised by warmer than normal SSTs in the eastern equatorial Indian Ocean and cooler than normal SSTs in the western tropical Indian Ocean.

Explanation in detail- https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/agri-business/how-blessings-from-a-delayed-weather-event-turns-a-curse-half-a-world-away/article29697315.ece

37. Kashmir Saffron Gets The GI Tag

• Kashmir saffron, which is cultivated and harvested in the Karewa (highlands) of Jammu and Kashmir, has been given the Geographical Indication (GI) tag by the Geographical Indications Registry. The spice is grown in some regions of Kashmir, including Pulwama, Budgam, Kishtwar and Srinagar. 
• It is the only saffron in the world grown at an altitude of 1,600 m to 1,800 m AMSL (above mean sea level), which adds to its uniqueness and differentiates it from other saffron varieties available the world over.

The saffron available in Kashmir is of 3 types 

• ‘Lachha Saffron’, with stigmas just separated from the flowers and dried without further processing;
• ‘Mongra Saffron’, in which stigmas are detached from the flower, dried in the sun and processed traditionally; and
• ‘Guchhi Saffron’, which is the same as Lachha, except that the latter’s dried stigmas are packed loosely in air-tight containers while the former has stigmas joined together in a bundle tied with a cloth thread.

Saffron cultivation is believed to have been introduced in Kashmir by Central Asian immigrants around 1st Century BCE. In ancient Sanskrit literature, saffron is referred to as ‘bahukam’.

38.  GI Tag to Manipur Black Rice

• Black rice of Manipur, also called the Chak-Hao received GI tag.
• Chak-Hao, a scented glutinous rice which has been in cultivation in Manipur over centuries, is characterised by its special aroma. It is normally eaten during community feasts and is served as Chak-Hao kheer.
• Chak-Hao has also been used by traditional medical practitioners as part of traditional medicine.
• According to the GI application filed, this rice takes the longest cooking time of 40-45 minutes due to the presence of a fibrous bran layer and higher crude fibre content.
• The rice has higher weight and is black in colour mainly due to the anthocyanin agent.

39. SPICe+ Web Form

• Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has launched the Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically Plus (SPICe+) web form.

• SPICe+ has two parts:

  • Part A for name reservation for new companies and
  • Part B offering a bunch of services including incorporation, Director Identification Number (DIN) allotment, mandatory issue of Permanent Account N​umber (PAN), besides allotment of Goods and Service Tax Identification Number – GSTIN (if applied for).
  • The new web form will help save many procedures, time and cost for starting a business in India.

  India has improved its ranking to the 63rd spot on the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) survey, 2019 out of 190 countries. However, the report had cited India was lagging behind in certain parameters such as starting a business.

  • The latest step is an effort towards achieving the government’s target of reaching the 50th spot.

40. Brackish Water Turtle (Batagur baska)

• A brackish water species, the Northern River Terrapin (Batagur baska) is one of the largest turtles to be found in Southeast Asia.
• It is one of the world’s most endangered turtles classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List.
• Earlier, B baska used to be found in the river mouths of Odisha and the Sunderbans.
• As of now it is considered extinct in much of its former range.
• Fewer than 50 adults remain, in four captive locations around the world.
• One of the reasons that populations crashed is unsustainable harvesting across the subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
• The turtles used to be exploited for their meat, and were once commonly sold in the fish markets of Kolkata.

Important Regions for Map Based Questions and for other Conflict based questions as well.

41. Mediterranean Sea,adjoining seas,straits,and islands

42. Chagos Islands

• International Court of Justice (ICJ) has asked the United Kingdom to return the Chagos Archipelago back to Mauritius.                

• ICJ has said that continued British occupation of the Chagos archipelago is illegal.

43. Reunion Islands

• Réunion is a French overseas department and overseas region in the western Indian Ocean.
• For the first time, India and France conducted joint patrols from the Reunion Island.
• Defence Exercises between India and France:
  • Varuna – Naval exercise
  • Garuda – Air exercise
  • Shakti – Army exercise

44. Vanilla Islands

• Vanilla Islands is a grouping of six island nations in south-west Indian Ocean who joined hands in 2010 to integrate their efforts to boost tourism.
• Mayotte, Comoros, Mauritius, Seychelles, Reunion and Madagascar are its members.
• The term ‘Vanilla’ is used because these countries are known for their export of the flavouring substance Vanilla.

46. South China Disputed Islands

• The Paracel Islands
• Spratly Islands
• Scarborough Shoal 
• Pratas Islands
• Macclesfield Bank

47. Lake Chad

• It is a historically large, shallow, endorheic lake in Africa, which has varied in size over the centuries. 
• Lake Chad is economically important, providing water to more than 30 million people living in the four countries surrounding it  Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria.

48. Senkaku Islands

• They are known in China as the Diaoyu Islands.
• The islands are the focus of a territorial dispute between Japan and China and between Japan and Taiwan.

49. Indo-Nepal Border Region

50. Kashmir -Leh- Ladakh region-the mountain ranges.

All islands in the Indian Ocean,Malacca strait,Middle East,Countries around Israel,Horn of Africa,Persian Gulf should be done nicely for map based questions.

Topics and terms related to Corona ,International Reports and Government Schemes should be done properly.