QUICK REVISION BOOKLET – PRELIMS 2020

MOSAIC expedition– Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition – largest ever Arctic expedition led by Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.

‘Operation Twist’ is RBI’s simultaneous selling of short-term securities and buying of long term securities through open market operations (OMO).

Dtrack–  Malware attack on India’s largest Nuclear Power Plant-Kundankulam Nuclear Power Plant.

GEMINI– Gagan Enabled Mariner’s Instrument for Navigation and Information (GEMINI) device, a satellite-based advisory service for deep-sea fishermen.

IDRSS– India plans for its own space-to-space tracking and communication of its space assets this year by putting up a new satellite series called Indian Data Relay Satellite System (IDRSS).

Gravitational lensing – It is a phenomenon, which occurs when a huge amount of matter, such as a massive galaxy or cluster of galaxies, creates a gravitational field that distorts and magnifies the light from objects behind it, but in the same line of sight. NASA has announced that plan to use the phenomena of gravitational lensing.

IndArc– India’s first underwater moored observatory in the Arctic ocean.

Balmer Kapteyn basin– region mapped by Chandrayaan on moon surface which consists of light plains depoits of regolith.

‘Blue Flag’ beach– It is an ‘eco-tourism model’ of beaches. The Certification is accorded by the Denmark based Foundation for Environment Education.

Poly-Metallic Nodules (PMN) – Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are rock concretions formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core- contain mainly nickel,copper,cobalt and managanese.

Bio rock Technology– Bio rock is the name given to the substance formed by electro accumulation of minerals dissolved in seawater on steel structures that are lowered onto the sea- bed and are connected to a power source. The technology works by passing a small amount of electrical current through electrodes in the water.

Avian Botulism– It is caused by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum and  affects the nervous system of birds, leading to flaccid paralysis in their legs and wings and neck- reason for death of migratory birds in Sambhar Lake.

Sargossa Sea– Sargasso seaweed algae belt is increasingly growing.  It is named for a genus of free-floating seaweed called Sargassum. While all other seas in the world are defined at least in part by land boundaries, the Sargasso Sea is defined only by ocean currents.- check the location on map.

WAYU (Wind Augmentation PurifYing Unit)– It is an air pollution control device developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) which can purify air in an area of 500m2.

GI Tags -2020

• Kashmiri saffron
• Puttapaka Telia Rumal -Nalgonda, Telangana
• Sohrai Khovar Painting- Jharkhand
• Manipur Black Rice-Chak Hao
• Terracotta Work of Gorakhpur
• Kovilpatti kadalai mittai – Tamil Nadu
• Thanjavur Netti Works (Thanjavur Pith Work)
• Arumbavur Wood Carving- TN

SAMEER – app where air quality information is available to public along with provision for registering complaints against air polluting activities.

LiDAR–  Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)-It is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to the Earth.
Applications –Pollution monitoring, agriculture, hydrology,geology, archaeology etc.– important  for Prelims this year.

MANAV- Human Atlas Initiative launched by Dept of Biotechnology.For the first time, Indian scientists will be mapping every single tissue of the human body to have deeper understanding of the roles of tissues and cells linked to various diseases.

UMMID (Unique Methods of Management and treatment of Inherited Disorders) – It aims to create awareness about genetic disorders amongst clinicians and establish molecular diagnostics in hospitals so that the benefits of developments in medical genetics could reach patients-  supported by Department of Biotechnology.

Recent Satellites Launches-India

GSAT-30 -India’s telecommunication satellite GSAT-30 was successfully launched into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) on January 17, 2020 from Kourou launch base, French Guiana by Ariane-5 VA-251.

RISAT-2BR1/ PSLV-C48– a radar imaging earth observation satellite. The satellite will provide services in the field of Agriculture, Forestry and Disaster Management.

Cartosat-3 / PSLV-C47 –  a third-generation agile advanced satellite having high resolution imaging capability.

RISAT-2B/ PSLV-C46– a radar imaging earth observation satellite developed by ISRO.

EMISAT/ PSLV-C45– The satellite is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement.

Golden rice is the collective name of rice varieties that are genetically modified to counter vitamin A deficiency in developing countries.

Vyomamitra (vyoma-space, mitra-friend) is an artificial intelligence-based robotic system (halfhumanoid) to mimic crew activity inside the crew module of Gaganyaan.

Anthropocene Epoch– The term ‘Anthropocene’ was coined in 2000 by Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer to denote the present geological time interval in which human activity has profoundly altered many conditions and processes on Earth.

Coal Gasification – It is one of the clean coal technologies and involves the process of converting coal into synthesis gas (also called syngas).

Syngas– Syngas is a mixture of hydrogen (H2), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2).

Parthenogenesis – is a reproductive strategy that involves development of a female (rarely a male) gamete (sex cell) without fertilisation or development of an embryo from an unfertilised egg cell.

Soil Organic Carbon (SOC)– It is the carbon associated with soil organic matter (SOM). SOM comprises the remains of plants and animals in the soil at various stages of decomposition, along with the microbial biomass and several by-products of complex biotic metabolic processes.

Land Degradation Neutrality – has been defined by the Parties to the Convention as a state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems.

M-HARIYALI – Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs launched m-hariyali app to encourage public engagement in planting trees and Green drives.

Miyawaki-style afforestation technique– It involves raising indigenous and native trees in dense plantations mimicking forest settings,will be implemented in Kerala.

Forest-PLUS 2.0–  is five year programme that focuses on developing tools and techniques to bolster ecosystem management and harnessing ecosystem services in forest landscape management.

Quantum Supremacy-coined in 2012 by John Preskill- refers to a quantum computer solving a problem that cannot be expected of a classical computer in a normal lifetime.

Sycamore–54-qubit processor, named “Sycamore”, that is comprised of fast, high-fidelity quantum logic gates-for quantum computing.

Deemed Forests– Forests which are neither notified nor recorded- about 1 percent of country’s forests.

Important Bird Area (IBA)–   is an area identified identified by Birdlife International as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.

‘Operation Oliva’ – operation by Coast Guards to to ensure safe breeding of Olive Ridley turtles.

Operation Save Kurma –  species specific operation on Turtles by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.

Gahiramatha–  located in Odisha, is known as the world’s largest Olive Ridley rookery.

“Project Godawan“– project  started by Rajasthan govt for  conservationof the Great Indian Bustard at Desert National Park (DNP) in Jaisalmer.

Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-STrIPES)– It is a software-based monitoring system launched across Indian tiger reserves by the NTCA- asked in UPSC prelims earlier.

The Honolulu Strategy–  It is a framework for a comprehensive and global collaborative effort to reduce the ecological, human health, and economic impacts of marine debris worldwide.

Biomining– It is the process of using microorganisms (microbes) to extract metals of economic interest from rock ores or mine waste.

Bioremediation – It is the treatment of pollutants or waste (as in an oil spill, contaminated groundwater, or an industrial process) by the use of microorganisms (such as bacteria) that break down the undesirable substance- asked in Prelims exam earlier.

Northern European Enclosure Dam(NEED)– Dutch government’s proposal to build two mega dams to separate the North Sea from the Atlantic Sea,is being hailed as a future solution to defend  northern Europe from rising sea levels. Northern European Enclosure Dam (NEED) is a set of two proposed dams in the English Channel.

It would cut off the North and Baltic Seas from the Atlantic Ocean.

Microdot technology– In the microdot technology, the body  and parts of the vehicle or any other machine are sprayed with microscopic dots, which give a unique identification.It helps check vehicle and spare parts theft .

RFID– Radio Frequency Identification- It is an electronic tag that can exchange data with an RFID reader through radio waves.

FASTag– It employs Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for payments directly from the prepaid or savings account linked to it. It is affixed on the windscreen that can enable electronic payment when it crosses a booth without stopping.

Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary– located in Bhutan.China attempted to stop funding for the Sakteng sanctuary from the U.N. Development Programme’s Global Environment Facility (GEF) on the grounds that it was “disputed” territory.

India’s INDCs:

• improve the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 below 2005 levels
• increase the share of non-fossil fuels-based electricity to 40 per cent by 2030
• enhance its forest cover which will absorb 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2030

Malathion, parathion, diazinon, fenthion, dichlorvos, chlorpyrifos, ethion : : organophosphate chemicalsto tackle Locust Attack

Gravitational Lensing– NASA has announced that plan to use the phenomena of gravitational lensing in its research to know how new stars are born.- Use of  James Webb Space Telescope- It is a natural phenomenon, which occurs when a huge amount of matter, such as a massive galaxy or cluster of galaxies, creates a gravitational field that distorts and magnifies the light from objects behind it, but in the same line of sight.

Rollover Risk – The NBFCs raise capital in short-term market but the assets of NBFCs are of longer duration. Thus, there arises a need for refinancing the debt at short frequencies. The frequent repricing exposes NBFCs to the risk of facing higher financing costs. Such refinancing risks are referred as Rollover Risk.

Conservation Agriculture (CA) is defined as a sustainable agriculture production system that comprises of a set of farming practices adapted to the requirements of crops and local conditions of each region.

Hantaviruses are a family of viruses spread mainly by rodents and can cause varied disease syndromes in people worldwide.  Infection with any hantavirus can produce hantavirus disease in people.

OneHealth programme aims to encourage team science by having networks of institutions collectively bid for grants to set up integrated OneHealth surveillance systems across India at 25 sentinel surveillance sites in potential emerging infectious disease hotspots.

Zoonotic diseases– The diseases  which “spillover” from animals to humans are referred to as zoonotic diseases, and represent more than 60% of emerging infectious diseases worldwide.

Parapsilorhynchus alluriensis– Scientists have discovered a new species of edible freshwater fish from the Alluri forest of the Eastern Ghats in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. Species belonging to genus Parapsilorhynchus is endemic to India, particularly peninsular India. 

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is an anti-malarial drug ,used for treating rheumatoid arthritis and malaria, India is one of the largest producers of HCQ in the world and exports $50m worth of it every year.

Gahirmatha beach lies near Bhitarkanika mangroves- largest nesting site of the Oliver Ridley Turtles.

Sundarbans wetlands– largest tidaly halophytic mangrove forests in the       world, largest Ramsar site in India,UNESCO World Heritage Site,home to Royal Bengal Tigers.

Corals–  marine invertebrates and reef builders that inhibit tropical(also sub tropical) oceans of the world and secrete calcium carbonate to form hard skeletons,greatest biodiversity of all marine ecosystems.

Emissions Gap Report-UNEP launched 10th Emissions Gap Report 2019 .Important Findings-

• GHG emissions  risen at a rate of 1.5%  per year in the last decade
• Top 4 emitters (China, USA, EU and India) contribute 55% of the emissions
• India, Russia,Turkey are projected to ‘over  perform’ their targets
• NDC targets must rise 5 fold to cut the emissions rise to 1.5 degrees.

Gangetic Dolphin– National Aquatic Animal of India- Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers,freshwater species

Gharials– Endangered ,IUCN list,National Chambal Sanctuary- major habitat.

Olive Ridley Turtles– smalles,most abundant sea turtles,inhabit warms waters of Pacific ,Indian, Atlantic Oceans,unique mass nesting called Arribada,Vulnerable under IUCN list,Gahiramatha beach,Odisha– worlds largest nesting site.

Maze,Ryuk,Purga,Stop– names of ransomwares

Pusa Yashasvi – Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has released a new variety of wheat named Pusa Yashasvi.It is also known as HD-3226.

Deepfakes – Deepfakes refer to manipulated videos, or other digital representations produced by sophisticated artificial intelligence, that yield fabricated images and sounds that appear to be real.

Edge computing is defined as the deployment of data-handling activities or other network operations away from centralized and always-connected network segments (like Dropbox, Gmail, etc.) and toward individual sources of data capture, such as endpoints like laptops, tablets.

RAISE 2020– Responsible AI for Social Empowerment 2020 -It is a global meeting of minds to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) for social empowerment, inclusion and transformation in key areas like Healthcare, Agriculture, Education and Smart Mobility amongst other sectors.

E-2020 initiative – WHO is working with different  countries  and other partners on the E-2020 initiative to eliminate Malaria in these countries by 2020.

3S Project– Smart Safety Surveillance or 3S programme.It is a project to optimize post-marketing surveillance of priority  drugs and vaccines. It was recommended by the World  Health Organization (WHO), considering the limited safety data on vaccines introduced in India.

SQUIDs–  Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices are used to detect even the weakest magnetic field. They are
used in mine detection equipment to help in the removal of  land mines.

Optoelectronics is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that source, detect and control light.

Elastocaloric effect– It occurs when stress is applied or removed inducing an internal transformation in the structure of the material.It can be used for alternatives to fuel refrigerants.

Aarogya Setu is a contact tracing app to track user’s location, to establish whether they have come physically close to someone suffering from COVID-19, and to make an assessment of their risk of infection.

eSanjeevani- It is a web-based comprehensive telemedicine solution which extends the reach of specialized healthcare  services to masses in both rural areas and isolated  communities.

Drought Toolbox is currently being developed as part of the Drought Initiative through the close partnership among UNCCD, WMO, FAO, GWP, National Drought Mitigation Centre (NDMC) of the University of Nebraska, and UNEP-DHI . It is a is a sort of knowledge bank, which contains tools that  strengthen the ability of countries and communities to anticipate and prepare for drought

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995)

• asked in past Prelims exam
• BPfA was adopted in Fourth World Conference on Women (1995).
• 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, was one of the largest gatherings of the United Nations,and a critical turning point in the world’s focus on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

All India Survey on Higher Education-AISHE

• Released by MoHRD
• It covers all higher education institutions in the country, which are categorised into 3 broad categories:  university, college & standalone institutions

QUAD– An informal but increasingly being formalized strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India.The dialogue was initiated in 2007 by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan.To develop one mechanism,to promote the free and open Indo-Pacific.

Jalsathi programme– Odisha launched the ‘Jalsathi’ programme ensure the supply of clean drinking water to consumers  through piped water connections- implemented by women volunteers who serve as ‘Jalasathis’.

Mission Sagar has been launched as part of the government’s outreach initiative towards five Island nations in the Indian Ocean amidst the ongoing COVID-19.- Indian Naval Ship Kesari had departed for Maldives, Mauritius, Seychelles, Madagascar and Comoros.

BoBBLE is a joint India-UK project. It seeks to examine the impact of ocean processes in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) on the monsoon system.

Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) – India and Australia have signed a historic agreement, called ‘Mutual  Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA)’, to allow access to military bases for logistics support.

Safe Hands Challenge– It is a campaign launched by the World Health Organization in the wake of 2019-20  coronavirus pandemic.

GRID 2020–The Global Report on Internal Displacement  (GRID 2020) has been released by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). The centre is a part of the  Norwegian Refugee Council.Nearly five million people were displaced in India in 2019 — the highest in the world so far.

Special 301 Report-  It is prepared annually by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) that identifies trade barriers to United States companies and products due  to the intellectual property laws, such as copyright, patents and trademarks, in other countries.

Commodity Markets Outlook– released by World Bank

Open Skies treaty–  The treaty allows 34 countries to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over one another’s territories — including the US and Russia. It was signed in 1992 and went into effect in 2002.

Open Sky policy– The agreement will not only encourage connectivity and passenger travel between the two
countries, but will also result in reduction in airfares on these routes- UAE wants to have it with India.

Global Economic Prospects– World Bank Report

Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre (RMIFC):  The RMFIC functions under the aegis of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). It is based in Madagascar. It is designed to deepen maritime domain awareness by monitoring  maritime activities and promoting information sharing and exchange.

THAAD defence systems – stands  for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. It is a transportable, ground-based missile defense system. This anti-ballistic missile defense system  has been designed and manufactured by the US company Lockheed Martin.

GAFA tax- named after Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon—is a proposed digital tax to be levied on large technology and internet companies. France has decided to introduce the tax.

Vivad se Vishwas scheme is a direct tax scheme announced in Budget 2020, for settling tax disputes between individuals and the income tax department.

Business Correspondents– Business Correspondents are  retail agents engaged by banks for providing banking  services at locations other than a bank branch/ATM.

Input Tax Credit– It is the tax that a business pays on a purchase and that it can use to reduce its tax liability when
it makes a sale.

Satyabhama Portal– by Ministry of Mines- It allows online  submission of project proposals along with monitoring of the projects and utilization of funds / grants.

ASEEM Portal– Aatmanirbhar Skilled Employee Employer Mapping (ASEEM) portal – AI based platform laucnhed by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) to help skilled people find  sustainable livelihood opportunities.

CHAMPIONS – Creation and Harmonious Application of  Modern Processes for Increasing the Output and National Strength-  Technology Platform to empower MSMEs launched by PM.

CRR

• It is a certain minimum amount of deposit that the commercial banks have to hold as reserves with the central bank.
• The percentage of cash required to be kept in reserves, vis-a-vis a bank’s total deposits, is called the Cash Reserve Ratio.
• 2 primary purposes- 1. Ensures security of amount,2. IT can be used to control inflation.

Marginal cost of fund-based lending rate (MCLR)– MCLR  refers to the minimum interest rate below which financial  institutions can’t lend, except in certain cases.

Long Term Repo Operations– The LTRO is a tool under which the central bank  provides one-year to three-year money to banks at the prevailing repo rate, accepting government securities with  matching or higher tenure as the collateral. Its objective is to provide banks durable liquidity at reasonable cost.

LAF,MAF and LTRO– While the RBI’s current windows of  liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) and marginal standing facility (MSF) offer banks money for their immediate needs  ranging from 1-28 days, the LTRO supplies them with liquidity for their 1- to 3-year needs.

Helicopter money: It is an unconventional monetary policy tool, which involves printing large sums of money and distributing it to the public, to stimulate the economy during a recession (decline in general economic activity) or when interest rates fall to zero.The term was coined by American economist Milton Friedman.

Fully Accessible Route(FAR) – The Reserve Bank of India has allowed non-residents to invest in specified Government of India dated securities without any quantitative limit with effect  from April 1, 2020. To enable this, RBI has decided to  introduce a separate channel called ‘Fully Accessible Route’ (FAR).

Payments Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) – In an effort to give a push to digital payments across the country,  the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is setting up a Payment Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) of Rs 500 crore.

Kurzarbeit scheme – Kurzarbeit is German for “short-work”. The policy provides for a short-time work allowance, called  kurzarbeitgeld, which partially compensates for lost earnings during uncertain economic situations.

International Comparison Program (ICP) is the largest  worldwide data-collection initiative, under the guidance of UN Statistical Commission (UNSC).The goal is of producing Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) which are vital for  converting measures of economic activities to be comparable across economies.

DHRUV-Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme

• launched by MoHRD
• It is a 14-day learning programme in which talented children will be mentored and nurtured by renowned experts in 2 areas- Science and Performing Arts.

Paramarsh Scheme

• MoHRD  launched ‘Paramarsh’ – a University Grants Commission (UGC) scheme for Mentoring Institutions aspiring to achieve National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) Accreditation.

Milk tea alliance– It is a pro-democratic front formed by thousands of internet users from Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong in social networks against the authoritarianism of the Chinese Government and its supporters.

Five Eyes– It is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. These countries are parties to the multilateral UKUSA Agreement, a treaty for joint cooperation in signals intelligence.

South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), also called as ‘dent’ in Earth’s Magnetic Field is an unusually weak spot in the Earth’s Magnetic Field that allows charged particles from Sun to dip closer to the Earth’s  surface than normal.It is observed over  South America and the southern Atlantic Ocean.

The Adaptation Fund is a financial instrument under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol (KP) – established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing country Parties to the KP– financed with a share of proceeds from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)-administered by  The World Bank- Since 2001

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—The GCF is a legally independent institution –The World Bank serves as the interim trustee of the GCF-Secretariat—Songdo ,South Korea

Biocarbon Fund– The BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes supports developing countries’ efforts to reduce emission- managed by World Bank.

Clean Technology Fund– administered by World Bank

The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) is a World Bank programme and consists of a Readiness Fund and a Carbon Fund. The FCPF was created to assist developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, enhance and conserve forest carbon stocks, and sustainably manage forests (REDD+).

The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) was created in 2001 to address the specific needs of developing countries under the UNFCCC- managed by GEF.

PVTGs in News

• Continued……………..

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