You are on page 1of 7

2 Markers for UPSC (Main)

01: MOUNT TONGARIRO Erupted recently, It is a compound volcano in the Taupo Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand The Pacific Ring of Fire (or just The Ring of Fire) is an area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean About 90% of the world's earthquakes and 81% of the world's largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire. 02: SAFFRON BUNDIT Exercise Saffron Bandit is a major "command level" combat training exercise, usually held either bi-annually or tri-annually,[1] by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in Pakistan.[2] The initial targets, mainstream goals and purpose of the exercise are focused specifically on the threat from India, particularly that emanating from the Indian Air Force. Against the backdrop of a spike in tensions with India, the Pakistani military conducted a combat exercise involving fighter jets and ground troops. 03: CAPE TOWN CONVENTION Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways wants to buy a stake in Jet Airways. To facilitate this transaction, Government was planning to issue directions that an aircraft not registered by the Indian aviation regulatory authority, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), can leave the country even if the company that has imported the aircraft has unpaid dues according to the Cape town convention because India is a signatory to this treaty. 04: CAPE TOWN CONVENTION It was intended to standardize transactions involving movable property. The treaty creates international standards for registration of ownership (including dedicated registration agencies), security interests, leases and conditional sales contracts, and various legal remedies for default in financing agreements, including repossession and the effect of particular states' bankruptcy laws. The Aircraft protocol saysInternational investors in, or lessors of, mobile equipment such as aircraft have had to rely on differing national laws to protect their investments. When there is a default by the debtor, recovery of the property sometimes requires protracted legal proceedings across more than one jurisdiction. Consequently, financiers seek a premium on their lending as a hedge against the risks involved. It significantly improves financial security for investors from cross-border transactions in high-value mobile equipment, such as aircraft, rail rolling stock and space equipment.
1

2 Markers for UPSC (Main)


The Convention enables creditors (financiers) to register international security interests and provides standard remedies in the event of default by the debtor. The Aircraft Protocol supplements and modifies the Convention to meet the particular requirements of aircraft financing. The Aircraft Protocol offers creditors additional remedies, including the ability to require removal of an aircraft from the national civil aircraft register and export it.

05: TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE DIGITAL LIBRARY Traditional knowledge or Indigenous knowledge generally refers to the long-standing traditions and practices of certain regional, indigenous, or local communities. Traditional knowledge also encompasses the wisdom, knowledge, and teachings of these communities. In many cases, traditional knowledge has been orally passed for generations from person to person. Traditional Knowledge Digital Library is an Indian digital knowledge repository of the traditional knowledge, especially about medicinal plants and formulations used in Indian systems of medicine. The objective of the library is to protect the ancient and traditional knowledge of the country from exploitation through bio-piracy and unethical patents, by documenting it electronically and classifying it as per international patent classification systems. TKDL provides information on traditional knowledge existing in the country, in languages and format understandable by patent examiners at International Patent Offices (IPOs), so as to prevent the grant of wrong patents. TKDL thus, acts as a bridge between the traditional knowledge information existing in local languages and the patent examiners at IPOs. 06: MARS ONE PROJECT Mars One plans to establish the first human settlement on Mars. According to their schedule, the first crew of four astronauts would arrive on Mars in 2023, after a seven month journey from Earth. It is led by Dutch researcher BAS LANSDORP to establish a permanent human colony on Mars. The plan is to send a communications satellite to the planet by 2016 and after several stages, finally land humans on Mars for permanent settlement. 07: NUCLEAR DESALINATION DEMONSTRATION PLANT NDDP combines Desalination technology with nuclear reactor. In this process nuclear energy is used to heat the water so that potable and distilled water can be produced. It is the combination of Madras Atomic Power Plant along with Desalination facility.
2

2 Markers for UPSC (Main)


This desalination facility deploys multi-stage flash (MSF) evaporation and reverses osmosis (RO) membrane separation technologies. The desalination plant meets the entire pure water requirement of Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS). 08: MIRV A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is a ballistic missile payload containing several warheads each capable of hitting one of a group of targets. A re-entry vehicle carried by a delivery system that can place one or more reentry vehicles over each of several separate targets. MIRV provides force multiplier capability to the missile A Multiple Reentry vehicle payload for a ballistic missile deploys multiple warheads in a pattern against a single target. (As opposed to Multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle, which deploys multiple warheads against multiple targets.) The advantage of an MRV over a single warhead is that the damage produced in the center of the pattern is far greater than the damage possible from any single warhead in the MRV cluster, this makes for an efficient area attack weapon. 09: MESSANGER SPACECRAFT MESSANGER stands for Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) It is a robotic NASA spacecraft orbiting the planet Mercury, the first spacecraft ever to do so. MESSENGER's instruments have yielded significant data, including a characterization of Mercury's magnetic field and the discovery of water ice at the planet's north pole. Scientists have seen clearly for the first time a chapter in the story of how the inner planets, including Earth, acquired their water and some of the chemical building blocks for life. 10: Ka BAND TECHNOLOGY This symbol refers to "K-above" in other words, the band directly above the K-band. The 30/20 GHz band is used in communications satellites, uplink in either the 27.5 GHz and 31 GHz bands and high-resolution, close-range targeting radars aboard military airplanes Some frequencies in this radio band are used for vehicle speed detection by law enforcement. Kepler Mission [to find out earth like planets] uses this frequency range to downlink the scientific data collected by the space telescope. Experts say the K{-a} band will allow higher and faster data transmission on the Internet by at least two or three times what ISRO satellites now offer; and that it will suit VSAT operators who support this traffic A K{-a} band transponder can accommodate far more users more efficiently than ISROs older Ku band satellites.

2 Markers for UPSC (Main)


11: HOT WATER DRILLING Scientists have drilled the Lake WHILLANS by using a technique called HOT WATER DRILL ING. A new drill that uses super-hot water to cut through rock could help make geothermal energy a viable alternative to fossil fuels Technicians drill deep into the Earth, where rock temperatures can reach more than 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and pump water into the hole. The water fractures the underground rock, allowing it to circulate, heat up and return to the surface. That hot water is then used to drive turbines and produce electricity. Drill uses the rapid application of heat instead of mechanical abrasion to break rock apart. Because certain types of hard rock, such as quartz, do not expand uniformly when they get hot, the heat causes them stress that breaks them apart. Geothermal energy is seen as clean and plentiful, but tapping it efficiently has been a concern . Hot water drilling in ice is a standard method in glaciological research. 12: H-189 It is an Indian Coast Guard Ship It is the 3rd of 12 Air Cushion Vehicles (ACV) designed and built by Griffon Hoverworks Limited [United Kingdom] It will be based at OKHA under the Administrative and Operational Control of the Commander Coast Guard Region (North-West) The ACV is capable of undertaking multi-farious tasks such as surveillance, interdiction, search and rescue and rendering assistance to small boats/craft in distress at sea. 13: GRAVELIGHT GRAVELIGHT is light bulbs which is powered by GRAVITY. The 'GravityLight' uses a sack of sand to gradually pull a piece of rope through a dynamo mechanism which generates electricity to power an Light Emitting Diode (LED) light. This light is for free distribution to communities in India and Africa who do not have reliable access to electricity. GravityLight will act as a sustainable solution for 1.5 billion people who rely on biomass fuels like kerosene for lighting, which can be hazardous to health. 14: GAGAN It is GPS aided geo augmented navigation or GPS and geo-augmented navigation system (GAGAN) It would be a regional satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) by the Indian government. The AAIs efforts towards implementation of operational SBAS can be viewed as the first step towards introduction of modern communication, navigation, surveillance/Air Traffic Management system over Indian airspace. GAGAN payload was launched into Geostationary orbit by GSAT-10.

2 Markers for UPSC (Main)


The goal is to provide navigation system for all phases of flight over the Indian airspace and in the adjoining area. It is applicable to safety-to-life operations, and meets the performance requirements of international civil aviation regulatory bodies Applications. 15: FIPEL FIPEL stands for Field-Induced Polymer ElectroLuminescent technology It is the technology used to produce PLASTIC BULBS Plastic bulb is a nano-engineered polymer matrix to convert the charge into light It is made from three layers of light-emitting polymers, each containing a small volume of nanomaterials that glow when electric current is passed through them. Plastic bulb produces a better quality of light than compact fluorescent bulbs Plastic bulbs are twice as efficient as fluorescent bulbs. But The new plastic lighting uses the same amount of electricity as LED bulbs and half as much as fluorescent bulbs. Worldwide switch to low-energy bulbs could save the output of around 600 power plants Plastic bulbs contain no mercury, they contain no caustic chemicals and they don't break as they are not made of glass. 16 : CAPAM It stands for commonwealth association for public administration and management. CAPAM was established in 1994 as a not-for-profit membership association. Today, it is a network of more than 1,100 public sector professionals who benefit from CAPAM learning programs and professional networking opportunities. Conference held in Delhi focussed on Role of Public Sector Administration in Economic Growth and Job Creation. 17: BOPHA It is the name of the SUPER - TYPHOON which was formed in Pacific ocean and attacked Southern Philippines. Please read some basics of cyclones (Geography). Philippines is the most hit country. Now developing countries asking for compensation package for the damage caused by climate change. 18: BHUVAN It is a software application which allows users to explore a 3D representation of the surface of the Earth. The browser is specifically tailored to view India, offering the highest resolution in this region Bhuvan is a Geoportal of ISRO Showcasing Indian Earth Observation Capabilities through online rendering of Multi-sensor, Multi-resolution and Multi-temporal IRS imagery overlaying value added thematic information on Earth Browser. 19: HYDRO-FRACKING Hydraulic fracturing is the propagation of fractures in rock layer caused by the presence of a pressurized fluid.
5

2 Markers for UPSC (Main)


Hydraulic fractures may form naturally, as in the case of veins or dikes, or may be manmade in order to release petroleum, natural gas, coal seam gas, or other substances for extraction. 20: RESAZURIN REDUCTION TEST In what is considered a breakthrough in fertility treatment, scientists at Mumbais National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health (NIRRH) have patented a sperm quality test that is simple enough to be developed into a home kit. The Resazurin Reduction Test (RRT) is more effective in assessing male fertility than the standard semen analysis. 21: 25 years of MOTOR ACCIDENTS CLAIMS TRIBUNAL The first point of reference for a victim of a motor vehicle accident to lodge a claim is the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT); it deals with claims relating to loss of life, property and injury cases. 1. People, who have been injured in accidents on the road, can themselves file for compensation or route the claims though their advocates. 2. But accident victims, who are below 18 years of age, cannot file for compensation themselves; they have to go through their advocates. 3. Legal heirs of people who have died in accidents can also claim compensation; alternatively, they can route their claims through their advocates. 22: NATIONAL SCHOOL SANITATION AWARDS It is given by The Ministry of Human Resource Development in collaboration with Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It aims to inculcate good sanitation habits among the school children in order to acquaint, inspire and celebrate excellence in school sanitation at the National level. The Awards encourage schools to lay emphasis on, among others, personal hygiene, proper sanitation facilities, clean toilet habits, separate toilets for girl students, waste segregation and composting. 23: PROBIOTICS Probiotic organisms are live microorganisms proposed to be beneficial to the host organism. Probiotics are friendly bacteria which can be consumed regularly in order to prevent disease. Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria are the most common types of microbes used as probiotics. To maintain the good health, the colon needs a ratio of 85% health promoting bacteria to 15% or less harmful bacteria. When this balance is disrupted, numerous health problems can arise including constipation, mal-absorption, poor digestive function, allergies etc. 24: STERILE INSECT TECHNOLOGY

2 Markers for UPSC (Main)


It is a NUCLEAR BIRTH CONTROL technique developed by International Atomic Energy Agency [ IAEA] In Africa and Eastern Europe, Tsetse flies [fruit flies] cause harmful damage to citrus fruits and also they act as transmitter of Sleeping sickness disease particularly among Africans Male Tsetse flies are bombarded with radioactive cobalt-60 They become sterile compete with fertile male flies to copulate female tsetse flies; sterile males are more in number, so female flies cannot produce larvae damage to citrus fruits. It reduces the need to use more pesticides to control tsetse flies so this technique is an eco friendly procedure.

You might also like