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1.

Earth Hour- Earth Hour was launched in 2007 by the World Wide
Fund for Nature to encourage awareness of environmental issues.The
idea is to turn off lights for an hour.
-Earth Hour is a worldwide movement for the planet organized by the
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The event is held worldwide
annually encouraging individuals, communities, households and
businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour, from 8:30
to 9:30 p.m. on the last Saturday in March, as a symbol for their
commitment to the planet. It was famously started as a lights-off event
in Sydney, Australia in 2007.
2. Deep below the ice, far from the playful penguins and other animals
that bring tourists to Antarctica, is a cold and barren world that by all
indications should be completely void of life. But recently, scientists
researching melting ice watched a 15-centimeter fish swim by. Not long
after that, they saw shrimp-like creatures.
In even more remote places on the continent, areas that haven't been
exposed to sunlight for millions of years, scientists found a surprise
right out of an alien movie- the DNA of a microscopic creature that
looks like a combination of a bear, manatee and centipede.
3. Annual World Water Development Report predicts global water
demand will increase by 55 pc by 2050, while reserves dwindle.
The world could suffer a 40 percent shortfall in water in 15 years
unless countries dramatically change their use of the resource, a U.N.
report warned. Currently, about 748 million people worldwide have
poor access to clean drinking water. World Water Day- 22nd March.
4. Grapevine thrips is the most destructive pest in India. It also
damages other crops such as jamun, guava, mango, cashew nut, rose,
etc. It is active during March-May and September-October. Adults and
nymphs feed by rasping on the ventral side of the leaves and flowers
stalk and suck the oozing sap.
There are two other species of thrips such as Scirtothrips dorsalis
and Thrips hawaiiensis which exclusively attack blossoms and
developing berries causing scarred fruits resulting poor quality and low
price in the market. The life cycle of this thrips is completed in 11 to 25
days.
They undergo hibernations as pupae deep into the soil surface
during winter. Young nymphs appear reddish and adults are yellowish
brown. They reproduce both in sexual and parthenogenetic ways.
5. The amount of water vapour present in a column of air determines
the Absolute Humidity of air. Meteorologists uses the concept of
Relative Humidity whereby the amount of water vapour present in air is
calculated with respect to the amount of water vapour the air can hold.
During rainy season or conditions of high humidity, the relative
humidity is on the higher side which means air cannot hold moisture
further.
Q- Why it feels hotter in humid conditions ?
Ans- In humid conditions where surrounding air cannot hold further
water vapour, sweat evaporates slowly, if at all. As a result the body
heats up. it is difficult for the sweat to evaporate and in high humidity
conditions we tend to sweat more. This explains why it feels so much

hotter in high humidity. When relative humidity reaches a high enough


level, the bodys natural cooling system simply cant work. Sweat
evaporates very slowly, if at all, and the body heats up. Hence, it feels
much hotter in humid conditions.
6. Hubble Space Telescope has found strong evidence of a massive
saltwater ocean under the icy crust of Jupiters largest moon
Ganymede that could potentially support life.
Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system and the only moon
with its own magnetic field. The magnetic field causes aurorae, which
are ribbons of glowing, hot electrified gas, in regions circling the north
and south poles of the moon.
Aurora- An atmospheric phenomenon created by charged particles
from the sun striking the upper atmosphere, creating coloured lights in
the sky. It is usually named australis or borealis based on whether it is
in the southern or northern hemispheres respectively.
7. Global warming or the greenhouse effect is caused primarily by
certain gases in our air which act like a semi transparent blanket
(hence the name greenhouse gases): they allow the sun's light and
heat to reach the Earth and heat it but they make it harder for the
Earth to release its own heat into space. The chief amongst these
gases in heat-trapping potential is carbon dioxide (CO2).
Compared with other greenhouse gases, CO2 is the most
abundant (leaving aside water vapour for now), and secondly, CO2
tends to hang around for a really long time. Most of the released CO2 is
removed within a year by plants by photosynthesis or by ocean
absorption, but a fraction stays for over a 1000 years. Much of the CO2
level increase is driven by the burning of fossil fuels - coal, petrol,
diesel, wood. So, to mitigate climate change, we should consume
less fossil fuels - burn less coal, improve the fuel average in our car,
take the bus, conserve forests etc.
8. A recent study by Indian and Austrian scientists has led to the
discovery of the cause of the Blood Rain phenomenon to be
dispersal of spores of micro algae. Since 1896, reports have been
coming in of sporadic instances of red coloured rain over parts of
Kerala and Sri Lanka. The latest one was in 2013 over Kerala.
A recent study confirmed that the red colour in the rain was
caused by the presence of spores of a European species of green
microalgae, Trentepohlia annulata that was reported previously only
from Austria,a Central European country.
The study confirmed that the blood rain is nothing but a
mechanism employed by this alga to disperse its spores (similar to
plant seeds) to a very large area at once, so that algae can quickly
colonize a large area. Spores of this alga from Europe get transported
to India via clouds that drift across the Arabian Sea. This microalga is
absolutely harmless, and the blood rainwater is perfectly potable,
even for vegetarians.
9. India on 28th March, 2015 demonstrated its ability to establish an
independent regional navigation satellite system, as ISROs PSLV C-27
successfully launched Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System
(IRNSS) 1-D satellite into the intended orbit. IRNSS 1-D is the fourth of
the series of seven satellites, which would form ISRO's IRNSS.

10. India became the first country to have entered the Mars Sphere of
Influence in its maiden attempt. The historic mission has completed six
months of orbiting the Red Planet and the mission has been extended
for another six months.
Of the five payloads onboard, the Mars Colour Camera (MCC) has
been the most active, taking several stunning images of the red
planets surface and its surroundings, including valleys, mountains,
craters, clouds and dust storms.
The four instruments are Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Lyman
Alpha Photometer (LAP), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition
Analyser (MENCA) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS).
- MSM measures the natural gas in the Martian atmosphere with PPB
(particles per billion) accuracy and map its sources. As methane is an
indicator of past life on Mars, the sensor is looking for its presence in
the Martian orbit.
- LAP is studying the atmospheric process of Mars and measure the
deuterium (isotope) and hydrogen ratio and neutral particles in its
upper atmosphere.
- MENCA and TIS are analysing the neutral composition and measure
the temperature during day and night to map the surface composition
and mineralogy of Mars.
**AUTISM- Pervasive neurological disorder that is observable in early
childhood and persists throughout the lifespan, characterised by
atypical communication, language development, eye contact, and
sensory experiences.
11. Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML)----AML is a type of cancer affecting bone marrow and blood cells and less
than 25 per cent survive for more than five years in adult AML cases.
Like in many other cancers, AML too is caused by genetic changes
at cellular level. These changes result in production of fusion proteins,
transcription factors and lead to growth of abnormal leukaemia cells.
Transcription factors which bind DNA and regulate gene expression
play a key role in triggering such abnormal cancerous cells.
Transcription Factor- A protein that binds to specific DNA sequences,
thereby controlling the flow (or transcription) of genetic information
from DNA to mRNA.
Myeloid- Of or pertaining to bone marrow.
Leukaemia- Any specific form or type of cancer of the blood-forming
tissues affecting the blood cells or blood-forming tissues.
12. Kaziranga National Park is a national park in the Golaghat and
Nagaon districts of the state of Assam, India. A World Heritage Site, the
park hosts two-thirds of the world's great one-horned rhinoceroses.
13. How knuckle cracking produces popping sound ?
- Formation of a cavity within the synovial fluid, a slippery substance
that lubricates the joints, has been found to be the cause.
- The current study found that joint surfaces suddenly separate due to
distraction force (or pulling force) and there is less amount of synovial
fluid to fill the suddenly expanded joint volume. As a result, a cavity or
bubble is formed. The creation of this bubble is what produced the

popping sound.
- An experiment confirmed that the sound was produced not by the
bursting of a bubble but by the formation of a bubble. According to the
scientists, the creation of a bubble is in line with tribonucleationa
process where opposing surfaces resist separation until a critical point
where they separate rapidly resulting in vapour cavities that do not
collapse instantaneously.
14. Why do most of the clouds move from south to north direction over
our subcontinent?
- Clouds usually move according to the wind pattern. Wind is caused
due to difference in temperatures and pressures which may be affected
by various factors. Movement of wind is a very complex phenomenon
affected by latitude, proximity of water bodies, sea shore and land
undulations. It is also affected by the rotation of the Earth.
- Where the land mass is surrounded by sea water, air near land
surface is warmer and moves up. To replace the air mass, wind blows
from sea to the land mass. This is also known as breeze. Then there is
global movement of wind.
- In our subcontinent, the southern regions are surrounded by sea
water which causes the wind to move from sea to the land mass i.e.
from south to north. The direction changes as the seasons change.
15. The Indian Mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta is an important food
fish commonly consumed in South and Southeast Asian countries.
- All three species of mackerels Rastrelliger kanagurta, Rastrelliger faugni and
Rastrelliger brachysoma.
16. The Chestnut-breasted Partridge (Arborophila mandellii), endemic
to the Eastern Himalayas is rarely captured by the shutterbugs.
There are nearly 45 different species of partridges, of
which the Chestnut-breasted Partridge is classified as
a
hill
partridge.
The
International
Union
for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that about
2,500 Chestnut-breasted Partridges live in Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan
and Lower Tibet along the Eastern Himalayas.
17. The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes
and causes an infection in humans known as chikungunya fever. The
disease causes fever and severe joint pain; the joint pain can last for a
few months and in some cases for up to several years. India is one of
the worst affected countries.
- The chikungunya virus has two surface proteins E1 and E2. While E1
is a fusion protein, E2 very likely plays a role in binding the virus with
receptors seen on human cells. The E2 has three domains A, B, and
C. Of the three, the domain C is not accessible to antibodies and of
little use in vaccine development.
18. Some typical animals found in Tundra regions:
Reindeer- An arctic and subarctic-dwelling deer of the species
Rangifer tarandus, with a number of subspecies.
Lemming- A small Arctic and Subarctic rodent from any of six genera
of similar rodents.

Ptarmigan- Any of three species of small grouse (a game bird) in the


genus Lagopus found in subarctic tundra areas of North America and
Eurasia.
Some other examples are- polar bear, snowy owl, arctic fox,
arctic hare.
Reptiles and amphibians are almost absent.
Some typical animals found in Taiga regions:
Hawks, fur bearing carnivores, little mink, elks, puma,
Siberian tiger, wolverine, wolves, cougar etc.
19. Mango malformation is a fungal disease. It was reported for the
first time from Darbhanga, Bihar.The disease is more in northwest than
in the northeast and South India.
Malformation is one of the most important problems of mango and a
serious threat. This disorder is widespread in flowers and vegetative
shoots (seedlings).
Broadly three distinct types of symptoms are there. Later, these were
grouped under two broad categories that is vegetative and floral
malformation.
Vegetative Malformation (VM) is more commonly found on young
seedlings. The seedlings produce small shootlets bearing small scaly
leaves with a bunch like appearance on the shoot apex. Seedling
remains stunted and die while those getting infected later resume
normal growth.
Floral malformation (FM) is the malformation of panicles. The severity
of malformation may vary on the same shoot from light to medium or
heavy malformation of panicles. Heavily malformed panicles are
compact and overcrowded due to larger flowers.
Management
Diseased plants should be destroyed. Use disease free planting
material
Scion sticks from infected trees should not be used.
As soon as the disease appears, the affected terminals along with the
basal 15-20 cm healthy portion should be removed or pruned and
burnt.

20. Some of the endangered bird species are the Polynesian grounddove, the Tahiti monarch and the Tuamotu sandpiper, named after an
island chain in French Polynesia.
21. Currently, about 2.8 per cent of the species on Earth are at risk of
extinction due to climate change that has already occurred.
One in six species on Earth could be threatened with extinction from
climate change unless steps are taken to reduce global warming
emissions, new research has warned.
22. India is home to 48 of the 250 known species of bumblebees, the
only pollinators of vegetation in high-altitude regions. They are one of
the most economically important insects.
- Mostly characterised by black, yellow and reddish body hair, and

often striped, bumblebees are generally found on altitudes of 2,00015,000 feet along the entire Himalayas, from Jammu & Kashmir to
Nagaland.
- Bumblebees are important to the ecosystem, as without them seed
setting and fruiting will not take place in many plants, as they are the
only pollinator at high altitudes in the Himalayas. They pollinate
vegetables, fruit trees, cash crops and even ornamental and medicinal
plants high in the Himalayas.
- Like the honeybees, bumblebees are social insects and live in
colonies the size of which depends on the species.The founder of
the colony is the queen that hibernates throughout winter. In spring,
she finds a site for new nest. Having mated the previous autumn, she
then lays her eggs which will result in the first batch of workers.
23. Pradeep Reddy and his team of researchers at Salk Institute of
Biological Studies in California have developed a technique that could
help women prevent their children from inheriting severe illnesses
including those of heart and brain.
The technique involves editing of DNA in the mitochondria, dubbed as
the powerhouse, as it generates chemical energy for the body.
Mitochondria contain genetic material which is inherited only from the
mother, unlike DNA in the cell's nucleus which is inherited from both
parents.
Hence, disorders attributed to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations
can only be inherited from the mother. In families where incidence of
maternal inheritance of disease is strong, the eggs can be edited
before in vitro fertilization by sperm.
Disorders of mitochondria can affect single organs and could cause
fatality at birth or leave individuals with severe illness for a lifetime.
Mutations in mtDNA are known to mainly affect organs that are heavily
energy dependent like brain and heart. They also cause hormonal
disorders like diabetes.
Mr. Reddys team showed specific enzymes called restriction
endonucleases and transcription activator-like effector nucleases
can be used to target mtDNA mutations and eliminate them.
24. Parthenium- A recently immigrated plant from the North-America
into India which is a kind of grass known for its ill-effects on human
health, mainly causing respiratory and skin diseases.
25. Why does milk boiling in a milk cooker not overflow?
AnsThe major constituent of milk is water i.e. 85-87 per cent and the rest
is distributed among fat, protein, sugar and salts. The boiling point of
milk (100.17 degree Celsius), therefore, is slightly higher than that of
water (i.e. 100degree Celsius). However before milk is brought to
boiling relatively less dense constituents like the fat and the proteins
partially segregate and mostly float up to form the layer of cream. This
is a covering layer and does not allow water vapour to pass through it
normally.
- When milk is boiled in an ordinary vessel, the temperature of the

liquid rises, even above the boiling point and a large quantity of water
vapour is generated below the cream cover. This makes the cream
layer bulge out.
- On the other hand when milk is heated in a milk cooker all these
above processes do not occur. The milk cooker is a double-walled
vessel with the annular gap containing water, which boils at a lower
temperature than the boiling point of milk. As the boiling of water
continues, the supplied heat is used in transformation of liquid water
into water vapour at 100 degree C and the temperature of the water
and the vessel remains constant at 100 degree Celsius.
The cream layer forms on the top of the mass of milk, like the earlier
case. However, the temperature being lower than the boiling point of
milk, it does not cause the vapour bubbles to form and bulge out of the
cream layer. Thus milk does not overflow.

26. Among the forage varieties/hybrids released by the Tamil Nadu


Agriculture University, Coimbatore varieties like Cumbu Napier hybrid
CO(CN)4, Guinea grass CO(GG)3, Multicut fodder sorghum CO (FS) 29
and Lucerne CO 1 are still popular among the farmers of Tamil Nadu
and neighbouring states. These varieties have heralded a new era in
fodder research and development at the National level. The varieties
are a boon for dairy farmers of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Maharashtra.
27. Sorghum, the foremost important forage crop in India followed by
Berseem and Lucerne is cultivated mainly in western UP, Haryana,
Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Delhi and fulfils over two-third of
the fodder demand during Kharif season.
- This variety, first of its kind in India, was released more than a decade
back from the department of forage crops. It was released during 1980
and yields 80-90 tonnes in a year from a hectare. A maximum of 12
harvests can be made annually at intervals of 30 days.
28. Some pests affecting paddy cultivation : rice stem borer, leaf
folder, ear head bug, gall midge, rice thrips all common in paddy
cultivation create havoc every season leading to nearly 30 per cent
yield loss. If farmers are advocates of organic farming then they use
bio pesticides to keep the menace under control.
29. Presently a new technology called Ecological engineering for pest
management has been introduced by National Institute of Plant Health
Management (NIPHM), Hyderabad to aid farmers maintain the
biodiversity and keep pests under control while at the same time
maintaining the paddy eco-system.
- By adopting this technique no chemical spray is required. Natural
enemies or natural predators like damsel fly, praying mantises and
spider population which prey on the pests are allowed to flourish in the
fields.
- Aim of this ecological engineering is to bring the region as pesticide
free zone and enhance the soil microbial activity in the paddy
ecosystem.

30. Leprosy is caused by Mycobacterium laprae and can be highly


debilitating. Timely diagnosis and treatment of leprosy before nerve
damage occurs is the most effective way of preventing disability.
31. The Adelie penguin is one of the most easily identifiable penguin
species with its blue-black back and white chest and belly. It is the
smallest penguin found in the Southern Ocean. During winter, the birds
migrate north only to return in summer months
- Adelies are a highly migratory species. After breeding, they do not
return to their colonies until the next spring. They feed on krill and fish.
Little is known about the non-breeding distribution of this species.
Records on the migration of Adelies, commonly sighted in the Antarctic
coast, into the Southern Ocean almost 5 degree North are significant.
- In the ice-free areas of Indian Ocean sector of the Southern Ocean
during the austral summer of 2004 researchers had then identified
Antarctic minke whales (Balaenoptera bonaerensis), fin whales (B.
physalus), sei whales (B. bo-realis) and blue whales (B.musculus).
32. A recent study shows that a significant population of Indian
subcontinent breathes air with much higher particulate matter, that is
lesser than 2.5 micrometre (PM2.5) in size, than the limit set by the
WHO.
- The PM2.5 is particularly dangerous and can cause adverse health
effects owing to its greater penetrability into the human respiratory
system and eventual accumulation in human organs and blood.
- Due to increased buoyancy and efficient ventilation in summer,
pollution plumes rise effortlessly to the free atmosphere. This leads to
a reduced level of surface level PM2.5 concentration in our breathing
zone. The problem gets aggravated during winter. Adverse conditions
during winter help trapping of pollution leading to elevated level of
surface PM concentration.
-Compared with peninsular India and coastal regions, the situation is
far worse in the Gangetic Basin, especially during winter months. The
Himalayas act as a barrier to dissipation of pollution plumes emanating
from the cities located in the Basin. As a result, cities in the Basin are
more prone to sustained bad air quality.
- Outdoor air pollution as a whole, esp. the particulate matter, has
been declared as class-1 cancer-causing agent (carcinogen) in 2013 by
the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), which is part
of the WHO. Besides, it causes other respiratory and heart diseases.
33. The Taj Mahal is losing its sheen due to unchecked vehicular
pollution, tourism and several other reasons. Major causes are :
(a). The scourge of pollution continues to adversely affect the white
marble of the Taj. The villain today is black and organic carbon
particles that are emitted from vehicles and other polluting units.
(b). The biggest threat to the Taj is the unregulated number of visitors,
which on some days is over 50,000. Constant treading wears down the
marble floors.
(c). A large number of trees have been felled in Agra in recent years to
build roads and other infrastructure. Agra lies in a semi-arid zone, and
experiences very hot summers when the temperature touches 49
degrees Celsius. Mineral impurities present in the marble get oxidised

and create brown stains.


(d). Rain also has a weathering effect on the marble and can cause
chipping and
cracking. The iron dowels used to fix the marble slabs on the building
get rusted
and the rust flows down with rain, getting deposited on the marble.
(e). Hot dusty winds have an abrasive effect on the marble. Sand
accumulated in the reclaimed river bed can erode the marble surface
during sand storms. Increasing green cover and water bodies is one
way of curbing dust pollution.
34. AIIMS devises new surgical technique to treat epilepsy:
- Doctors at AIIMS claimed to have developed a novel technique of
minimally invasive surgery to perform a complex procedure, which
involves a complete unilateral hemispheric disconnection of the brain.
This procedure is sometimes required for patients especially children
who have severe drug resistant epilepsy.
- Conventionally, hemispherectomy is a complex surgical procedure,
which involves a large cranial incision, followed a major surgery where
an entire affected hemisphere is either removed or disconnected from
the healthier opposite side.
-The children on whom these procedures are performed are very sick,
sometimes having several hundred seizures a day. This is because a
whole hemisphere is diseased and is generating severe epilepsy.
-If we look at the anatomy of the brain, it has two hemispheres
connected by the bridge of tissue. In most cases, where we perform
surgery for epilepsy, the focus is just a few centimetres large. In these
cases, one whole hemisphere is affected, diseased and performs no
other function apart from just throwing seizures.
- Most of the normal functions of that hemisphere shift to the opposite
side by a phenomenon called "brain plasticity". Thus the patient is
actually functioning on just one hemisphere.
35. The first among three underground rock caverns built by Indian
Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd. (ISPRL) to store crude oil with an
investment of Rs.1,178 crore is ready for commissioning.
ISPRL, a special purpose vehicle wholly-owned by Oil Industry
Development Board, is on verge of completing two other caverns at
Mangaluru and Padur (Udupi) at a cost of Rs.1,227 crore and Rs.1,693
crore respectively. The three caverns will have a total capacity to store
5.03 million tonne as a cushion in the event of external supply
disruptions as part of energy security.
The construction of four more crude caverns at Rajkot (Gujarat), Padur
(Karnataka), Bikaner (Rajasthan) and Chandikhol (Odisha) with a
capacity of 12.5 million tonne is also under consideration. The four
caverns will involve an investment of Rs.13,201 crore.
36. Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary (Odisha, Kendrapara distt), famous
for endangered salt water crocodile (Crocodile porosus). 23-foot salt
water crocodile found here listed as the largest in the world.
Bhitarkanika National Park was created in Sept. 1998 from the core of

the Bhitarkanika wildlife sanctuary which was created in 1975.


The sanctuary is the 2nd largest mangrove ecosystem in India, which
lies in the river delta of Brahmani, Baitarani and Dhamra rivers.
37. The European Rosetta spacecraft began to listen out for its robotic
lander (Philae Lander) amid hopes that the comet-riding probe may
soon have enough solar power to wake from hibernation. The Philae
lander has not been heard from since its batteries ran out three days
after its dramatic and bouncy landing on comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko in November 2014.
The lander touched down on the comet exactly where mission
controllers had planned, but when anchoring harpoons failed to fire,
Philae bounced off the surface twice and finally came to a rest against
a cliff face that cast a shadow over its solar panels.
Unable to recharge its batteries, Philae went into hibernation. But as
the comet speeds towards the sun, mission controllers hope that the
probe might receive enough sunlight to awaken and call its orbiting
mothership.
38. Polavaram Project:
Polavaram Project, also called as Indira Sagar Project, is a multipurpose irrigation project which has been accorded national project
status by the central government.
This dam across the Godavari River is under construction located in
West Godavari District and East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh
state and its reservoir spreads in parts of Chhattisgarh and Orissa
States also.
The project is multipurpose major terminal reservoir project on river
Godavari for development of Irrigation, Hydropower and drinking water
facilities to East Godavari, Vishakhapatnam, West Godavari and
Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh.
39. Aravalli Range, the oldest fold mountains in india, is one of the
natural habitats for Leopards in India. Gujarat and Rajasthan have
declared national parks in the Aravalli Range to protect the wildlife
According to wildlife observers, leopards are very shy and are the most
adaptable of the large cats and typify wildlife that lives outside forests.
Leopards have always lived outside forests, be it tea gardens, fringes
of forests, in croplands and they have been reported even from urban
areas.
A ban on mining by the Supreme Court a few years ago in the Aravalli
area led to an improved habitat which is the primary factor for leopard
survival. The importance of this area is also increased by the fact that
it is surrounded by Asolla Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary on Delhi side and a
continuous Aravalli chain in Rajasthan which extends up to Sariska
National Park.
40. There is more good news for wildlife enthusiasts in India. After a
tiger census earlier this year found a jump in the nos. of the big cat,
the population of Asiatic lions too has been found to have increased
considerably in the Gir wildlife sanctuary from 411 during the last
census in 2010 to 523 in 2015.

The Gir forest is the only place in the whole of Asia where the Asiatic
lion is now found.
41. Preparations for Chandrayaan-2, the second lunar exploration
mission of the country, is progressing well and is expected to be ready
for launch by 2017. The ambitious mission involving complex
technologies comprised releasing of an orbiter, a lander and a rover.
This will also be the first-ever soft landing (landing which does not
result in the destruction of the payload vehicle) by any Indian
spacecraft on an astronomical body." The lander, was planned to touch
down in the polar region of the moon, which would also be the first
such attempt by any nation.
The first-ever solar orbiter mission of the country Aditya - L 1, to study
the solar corona, would also be ready for launch by the end of 2017 or
early 2018. This would be the maiden attempt by the nation to reach
the Lagrangian point 1 (L1) between the Earth and Sun.
42. What is RSBY?
- RSBY was launched by Ministry of Labour and Employment in 2008,
has now been shifted to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare from
April 1 2015, to provide health insurance coverage for Below Poverty
Line (BPL) families.
- The objective of RSBY is to provide protection to BPL households from
financial liabilities arising out of health shocks that involve
hospitalization.
- Beneficiaries under RSBY are entitled to hospitalization coverage up
to Rs. 30,000/- for most of the diseases that require hospitalization.
Government has even fixed the package rates for the hospitals for a
large number of interventions. Pre-existing conditions are covered from
day one and there is no age limit.
- Coverage extends to five members of the family which includes the
head of household, spouse and up to three dependents. Beneficiaries
need to pay only Rs. 30/- as registration fee while Central and State
Government pays the premium to the insurer selected by the State
Government on the basis of a competitive bidding.
- Under RSBY, smart cards are issued to BPL families.
43. After samples of Maggi noodles manufactured in March 2014
were reportedly found to contain high lead content and Monosodium
Glutamate (MSG), the instant noodles brand is under scrutiny by
various state governments and Union Consumer Affairs Ministry.
- The test cnducted in a lab reportedly found Mono Sodium Glutamate
(MSG), a flavour enhancer that officials say is not listed in Maggi
packets and also having lead exceeding the prescribed limits of 2.5
ppm, which turned out to be 17.2 ppm in the test conducted.
44. HANDLOOM
- Kanchipuram weaves: Tamil Nadu; pashmina & shahtoosh- J&K; eri &
muga silks: Assam.
- A/c to the new definition(2012) and The Handloom (Reservation and
Articles for Production) Act,1985: "Handloom means any loom other
than powerloom & includes any hybrid loom on which at least one
process of weaving require manual intervention or human energy for
production.
- Presently 11 items are listed under this act including pure silk n

cotton saris, lungis, dress material, & towels.


45. There is a strong correlation between an El Nino the abnormal
rise of sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific off the coast
of South America and a weak monsoon.
-A similar oceanic warming feature, the IOD(Indian Ocean Dipole),
sometimes neutralises the effect of an El Nino. A temperature gradient
between the eastern and western Indian Ocean sea surfaces has
contrasting impact on the monsoon. A positive IOD, in which the
western Indian Ocean gets warmer, helps the southwest monsoon
gather more moisture and push northward towards the Indian
mainland.
- The IMD makes two long-range forecasts each year, in April
generally in the third week and June. The April forecast gives the
likelihood of the amount of rainfall for the country as a whole for the
four-month monsoon season from June to September. It updates this
forecast in June, and gives likely region-wise and month-wise
distribution of rainfall. The June forecast is normally in the second
week.
46. Researchers have discovered a new fish species and three types of
tadpoles in Western Ghats of India.
- Newly discovered fish species: Pethiastriata- it was found along the
streams of the Tunga in the Kudremukh National Park, Karnataka.
Pethiastriata is described as a small fish, with a length of around 4 cm.
The male is reddish in colour and the female, greyish. The species
thrive in shallow pools of gently flowing water and are found in small
groups of around four.
The fish differ from existing species on seven characteristics, including
dark outer edges of scales that give them a distinct striped pattern.
- Species of tadpoles: They belong to the species of Nyctibatrachus
(meaning night frog) N. kumbara (potter frog), N. kempholeyensis
(named after the Kempuhole stream) and N. jog (named after the
waterfall). These species of tadpoles were found for the first time in the
narrow streams of the Sharavati in Karnataka.
47. Sharavati is a river which originates and flows entirely within the
state of Karnataka in India. It is one of the few westward flowing rivers
of India, like Narmada ,Tapi & Mahi, and a major part of the river basin
lies in the Western Ghats.

48. Iodine 131 which is used in radiotherapy for thyroid. Iodine-131


(131I), also called radioiodine, is an important radioisotope of iodine. It
has a radioactive decay half life of about 8 days. Its uses are mostly
medical and pharmaceutical. It also plays a role as a major radioactive
hazard present in nuclear fission products. It is a major uranium fission
product, comprising nearly 3% of the total products of fission.
- It is used in nuclear medicine therapeutically and can also be seen
with diagnostic scanners if it has been used therapeutically. Major uses
of 131I include the treatment of thyrotoxicosis (hyperthyroidism) and
some types of thyroid cancer that absorb iodine.
- The 131I isotope is also used as a radioactive label for certain
radiopharmaceuticals that can be used for therapy for imaging and

treating pheochromocytoma and neuroblastoma.


- The only naturally occurring isotope of iodine is stable iodine-127.
49. FRBM Act provides a legal institutional framework for fiscal
consolidation. It is now mandatory for the Central government to take
measures to reduce fiscal deficit, to eliminate revenue deficit and to
generate revenue surplus in the subsequent years. The Act binds not
only the present government but also the future Government to adhere
to the path of fiscal consolidation. The Government can move away
from the path of fiscal consolidation only in case of natural calamity,
national security and other exceptional grounds which Central
Government may specify.
- Further, the Act prohibits borrowing by the government from the
Reserve Bank of India, thereby, making monetary policy independent
of fiscal policy. The Act bans the purchase of primary issues of the
Central Government securities by the RBI after 2006, preventing
monetization of government deficit. The Act also requires the
government to lay before the parliament three policy statements in
each financial year namely Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement; Fiscal
Policy Strategy Statement and Macroeconomic Framework Policy
Statement.
- To impart fiscal discipline at the state level, the Twelfth Finance
Commission gave incentives to states through conditional debt
restructuring and interest rate relief for introducing Fiscal
Responsibility Legislations (FRLs). All the states have implemented
their own FRLs.
50. Some water borne diseases: Diarrhoea, Typhoid, Hepatitis A & E.
51. Mangroves are an imp. protection against climate change as they
sequester up to 5 times more carbon than other forests, area for area.
They protect coastlines against flooding and tsunamis, and provide a
vital habitat for marine animals, especially crabs, shrimp and juvenile
fish.
** Pilibhit Tiger reserve- Uttar Pradesh.
52. Kwashiorkor is a severe form of malnutrition, caused by a
deficiency in dietary protein. The extreme lack of protein causes an
osmotic imbalance in the gastro-intestinal system causing swelling of
the gut diagnosed as an edema or retention of water.
- The top killers of children aged less than 5 years are: pre-term birth
complications, pneumonia, birth asphyxia and diarrhoea.
- Anoxia- A condition in which a tissue or environment is severely or
totally deprived of oxygen. Its synonyms: severe hypoxia, asphyxia,
hypoxemia.
- In India, life expectancy grew by eight years b/w 1990 and 2013.
While India has sharply reduced its infant mortality b/w 2000 & 2013, it
still contributes for the most infant deaths globally. Non-communicable
diseases are the top killers, followed by communicable diseases and
injuries.
53. INS Vikrant- is the first aircraft carrier built in India and the first
Vikrant-class aircraft carrier built by Cochin Shipyard for the Indian
Navy.
54. NASAs New Horizons spacecraft has for the first time snapped

Kerberos and Styx the smallest and faintest of Plutos five moons.
55. May 12, 2015 Nepal earthquake occurred in between the two major
fault systems in the Himalayas the Main Boundary Thrust and the
Main Central Thrust. The two fault systems are 100-120 km apart and
run as a linear belt all along the Himalayas from Kashmir to Arunachal
Pradesh. In the Himalayan region, 90 % of the earthquakes occur
between these two fault systems.
- Indian Seismic and GNSS Network (ISGN) seeks to enhance the
capability in monitoring seismic activity in India, besides providing high
quality data for researchers. It provides real-time data to 100
standalone seismic stations spanning across the country. GNSS- Global
Navigation Satellite System.
56. Establishment of Indian Seismic and GNSS Network (ISGN) is an
initiative of Earth System Sciences Organization (ESSO), Ministry of
Earth Sciences (MoES), Under this project, standalone seismic and
GPS/GNSS receiver stations (provided by MoES to different National
institutions through its various programmes) as well as Regional
seismic data Centres of our country are integrated through satellite
and terrestrial links with data centres established at Indian National
Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) Hyderabad, and India
Meteorological Department(IMD), New Delhi. Thus, a National central
pool is created for real time acquisition of seismic and GPS data, real
time processing, data sharing, storing & archival and earth quake/alert
information to general public.
INCOIS, as nodal agency, has established the network.
The major objective of the project is to get more accurate earthquake
parameters for National Tsunami Early Warning System(at INCOIS),
mapping of earthquake Hazard and facilitate sharing of data to
scientific researchers, among Regional/ National Seismic centers and
dissemination of the data to general public in India.
57. New species of camphor has been reported from Western Ghats in
kerala, which is found endemic to the region of Ghats. It has been
named as Cinnamomum agasthyamalayanum after the type locality,
Agasthyamala hills, from where it was reported.
- Extraction of Natural Camphor & Camphor Oil :
(i). Natural Camphor is extracted by distilling the leaves and bark of
Cinnamomum camphora, a native to China, Taiwan, southern parts of
Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, it is also synthetically produced.
(ii). Camphor oil is extracted by steam from the chipped wood, root
stumps and branches of the camphor tree. It is then rectified under
vacuum and filter pressed.
- Camphor's Medicinal applications especially in Ayurveda:
(i) has pain-relieving effect.
(ii) it is an ingredient in a few externally applied oils to relieve muscle
spasm.
(iii) also has mild mucolitic property and can reduce bronchospasm.
(iv) also used in mild dosage in internal medicines.
- Distribution of new species of camphor: b/w Attayar and Chemungi of
Agasthyamala in Thiruvananthapuram. Isolated populations were also
recorded from Rosemala in Kollam distt of Kerala; found distributed in
the windward evergreen forests of Agasthyamalai phyto-geographical

region of southern Western Ghats.


58. India is home to 428 species of mammals out of which more than
60% about 251 species are under protected or scheduled
categories of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
-428 species of mammals in India contribute to about 8% of the total
mammal species found in the World. About 50% of mammalian fauna
of India have shrunk in their distributional range due to various
anthropogenic pressures.
Four mammal species Asiatic Cheetah, Banteng, Sumatran
Rhinoceros and Javan Rhinoceros are extinct in India.
59. Red Data Book:
A Red Data Book contains lists of species whose continued existence is
threatened. Species are classified into different categories of perceived
risk. Each Red Data Book usually deals with a specific group of animals
or plants (e.g. reptiles, insects, mosses). They are now being published
in many different countries and provide useful information on the
threat status of the species.
-The red-listing assessment is a simple logical process to determine the
status of threat to a species based on available information. In India,
Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) publishes Red Data Book; first
published in 1983.
- P.J. Nayak Committe- on bank's governance.
- Some tribes of India:
60. Dimasa, Kachari (Bodo People), Jeme, Mishing- Assam
Hmar tribe- Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura.
Prominent Naga tribes- Sumi, Angami, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang,
Khiamniungan, Konyak, Liangmai, Lotha, Pochury, Rongmei, Zeme,
Mao.
Kuki & Bru- Mizoram; Riang tribe- Tripura; Bakarwala-J&K; Gaddi-H.P. &
J&K
61. Cauvery River:
- Cauvery is a sacred river of southern India, rising on Brahmagiri Hill in
the Western Ghats in Coorg district of Karnataka state.
- It flows in a south-easterly direction for 765 km through Karnataka
and Tamil Nadu states across the Deccan Plateau, and descending the
Eastern Ghats in a series of great falls.
- Before emptying into the Bay of Bengal south of Cuddalore, Tamil
Nadu, it breaks into a large number of distributaries forming a wide
delta.
It is also known as Daksina Ganga (But, River Godavari is widely
considered as Dakshin Ganga)
- It's tributaries including the Shimsha, the Hemavati, the Arkavati,
Honnuhole, Lakshmana Tirtha, Kabini, Bhavani River, the Lokapavani,
the Noyyal and the Amaravati River. The rivers basin covers four
states and Union Territories: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and
Puducherry.
- After the river leaves the Kodagu hills and flows onto the Deccan
plateau, it forms two islands, Srirangapatna and Shivanasamudra in
Karnataka. At Shivanasamudra the river drops 98 metres (320 ft),
forming the famous Shivanasamudra Falls known separately as Gagana
Chukki and Bhara Chukki. Asias first hydroelectric plant (built in 1902)

was on the left falls and supplied power to the city of Bangalore. Tamil
Sangam literature (300BCE to 500CE) mentions the kaveri and Sri
Ranganathaswamy Temple.
62. Snow Leopards Quick Facts:
They are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species.
They inhabit alpine and subalpine zones at elevations from 3,000 to
4,500 m (9,800 to 14,800 ft). In the northern range countries, they also
occur at lower elevations.
The snow leopard is the National Heritage Animal of Pakistan.
Their habitat extends through 12 countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan,
China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal,
Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. China contains as
much as 60% of all snow leopard habitat areas.
- In India, their geographical range encompasses a large part of the
western Himalayas including the states of Jammu and Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in
the eastern Himalayas.
- The snow leopard, like all big cats, is listed on Appendix I of the
Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species
(CITES), which makes trading of animal body parts (i.e., fur,
bones and meat) illegal in signatory countries . It is also protected
by several national laws in its range countries. India is also a
signatory to CITES.
63. World Environment Day
- It is the UNs principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness
and action for the environment. It is run by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP).
- It is celebrated every year on June 5th. It was established by the
United Nations General Assembly in 1972.
- Over the years it has grown to be a broad, global platform for public
outreach that is widely celebrated by stakeholders in over 100
countries.
The theme for 2015 is Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume
with Care.
Italy will serve as the host of the WED 2015.
- National Zoological Park- New Delhi
64. Two primry source of uranium....
a. Pitchblende ....50 to 80 % uranium cntnt
b. Uraninite...65 to 80 % uranium cntnt
- Peat s d 1st stage f coal formation..Lignite or brown coal...carbn cntnt
45 - 70%...Bituminous ..70 - 90%...Anthracite....90%....
Anthracte dsnt prduce smoke n ash...whreas bituminous n lignite
does....
- Anthracite is the most metamorphosed type of coal in which the
carbon content is between 92.1% and 98%.
- Main ore f thorium- Monazite(thrium cntnt 2.5%), Allanite:0.1-2%,
Zircon- 0.4%. Thorium dioxide occur as a rare mineral in thorianite wid
upto 12% ThO2.
65. The Colubroidea are a superfamily in the suborder Serpentes
(snakes). It contains over 85% of all the extant species of snakes.

Their largest component is the family Colubridae, but it also


includes at least six other families. It has been found to be
monophyletic.
The Colubridae
(largest
component
of
Colubroidea) are
a family of snakes. With 304 genera and 1,938 species, Colubridae is
the largest snake family, and includes about two-thirds of all living
snake species. Colubrid species are found on every continent
except Antarctica.
Q. What are rat Snakes ?
Ans- Rat snakes are members along with king snakes, milk snakes,
vine snakes and indigo snakes of the subfamily Colubrinae of the
family Colubridae.
- They are medium to large constrictors and are found throughout
much
of
the Northern
Hemisphere.
They
feed
primarily
on rodents and birds.
- Like nearly all colubrids, rat snakes pose no threat to humans
and is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act,1972.
- Rat snakes were long thought to be completely nonvenomous, but
recent studies have shown that some Old World species do possess
small amounts of venom (so small as to be negligible to humans).
- King Cobra is one of the most venomous snakes in the world.
Its venom is a powerful neurotoxin (affecting the central nervous
system) and is capable of delivering a fatal bite.
66. Morin Khuur- The morin khuur, also known as horsehead fiddle, is
a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument. It is one of the
most important musical instruments of the Mongol people, and is
considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation.
# headquarters of European Union- Brussels ( capital city of
Belgium).
# Some imp European rivers: the Danube, the Rhine, the Thames (in
London).
67. What is a Letter of Comfort ?
- Letter of Comfort (LoC) is a letter issued to a lending institution by a
stakeholder of the company acknowledging support of the attempt for
financing asked by that company. A letter of comfort does not imply
that the parent company guarantees repayment of the loan
being sought by the subsidiary company. It merely gives
reassurance to the lending institution that the parent company is
aware of the credit facility being sought by the subsidiary company,
and supports its decision.
Q. What is a Letter of Guarantee ?
- Letter of Guarantee (LoG) is a written promise to take
responsibility for another companys financial obligation if that
company cannot meet its obligation. The entity assuming this
responsibility is the guarantor.
Polygraph:- A device which measures and records several
physiological variables such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiration
and skin conductivity while a series of questions is being asked to a
subject, in an attempt to detect lies.

68. Straits of Malacca or the Malacca Strait is a narrow, 805 km (500


mi) stretch of water b/w the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular
Malaysia) and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. It is named after
the Malacca sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1400
and 1511.

69. NSG: Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a multinational body


concerned
with
reducing
nuclear
proliferation by
controlling
the export and retransfer
of
materials that may
be applicable
to nuclear weapon
development
and by improving
safeguards
and protection on
existing
materials.
- Currently it
has 48 member
nations.
70. Moringa: Any of several trees, of genus Moringa, that grow in
tropical and subtropical India and Africa. Its synonyms are ben,
drumstick tree, horseradish tree. Tamil Nadu is well known for Moringa
cultivation in different districts.
- Moringa is one crop which is still not commercially exploited fully.
The oil from its pods serves as a good lubricant for watches, clocks and
aircraft.
- Varieties of Moringa- Sugarcane Moringa, Madurai Valaiyapatti
Moringa.
- Moringa is a perennial bearer and can be maintained for more than
25 years either as a monocrop or as intercrop in coconut gardens. The
only problem is during monsoon or heavy winds the trees tend to break
since their stem is not strong to withstand the heavy wind flow.
71. Drinking soda helps us during indigestion. How?
Ans- Soda water or carbonated water is water in to which low levels of
pressurized carbon dioxide has been dissolved, creating carbonic acid.
The intake of soda water helps those with impaired digestion. Soda
water causes bloating, which stretches the stomach.
- Since soda water is a liquid, it easily passes down the oesophagus
and the lower oesophageal sphincter relaxes and opens to allow its
entrance into the stomach. The upper part of stomach relaxes to store
the swallowed soda water. The digestive glands in the stomach lining
produce hydrochloric acid, containing pepsin. Stomach mixes the
digestive juices with soda water. Upon reaching the small intestine,
soda water mixes with secretions produced by the pancreas and liver.
- When the stomach is empty, soda water passes rapidly in to the

duodenum where carbon dioxide is transformed into bicarbonate. The


carbon dioxide dissolved is rapidly released in gaseous form as the
fluid is warmed. The free carbon dioxide may be belched if the
expanding gas increases the pressure and stimulates the gastric
fundus, triggering the belching mechanism.
72. BICEP2 is a series of BICEP telescope situated at south pole to
measure the polarization of CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background).
- Telescopes of BICEP series are:
1.BICEP1 (started in 2006 and ended in 2008)
2. BICEP2 (2010-2012)
3. Keck Array (2011-2013 and again from 2013 to till date)
4. BICEP3 (2015 to till date).
73. Despite two million years of munching almost exclusively on
bamboo, the Giant Pandas gut has not adapted to eating the plant
putting the creatures in an evolutionary dilemma, scientists said.
- Unlike other herbivores that have successfully evolved anatomically
specialised digestive systems to efficiently deconstruct fibrous plant
matter, the giant panda still retains a gastrointestinal tract typical of
carnivores.
- Giant pandas spend up to 14 hours a day eating 12.5 kg (27.5
pounds) of bamboo, but can digest only about 17 % of what they
consume. This result is unexpected and quite interesting, because it
implies the giant pandas gut microbiota may not have well adapted to
its unique diet, and places pandas at an evolutionary dilemma.
- Pandas, whose natural habitat lies in mountainous southwestern
China, have a notoriously low reproductive rate and are under pressure
from factors such as habitat loss.
74. Spiders have four pairs of eyes for different aspects of their
surroundings. Their principal eyes see in red, green, and UV. A filter
also converts some green-sensitive cells to seeing red. They are
masters of colour vision.
75. A group of ocean scientists from the Centre for Marine Living
Resources (CMLRE), Kochi, of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, who
had been tracking the algal blooms in many water bodies, claimed to
have perfected the algorithm for identification of Noctiluca scintillans,
the algal bloom and a diatom, which gives dark green colour to the
oceanic waters.
- The bloom, also known as green tide, occurs during the winter
spring (mid Februaryend March) and spreads to the entire northern
half of the basin. Researchers had been regularly monitoring the bloom
since 2009. During their cruises, researchers had found the colour of
water was remarkably dark green in ocean depths exceeding 2,000
metre.
-Though not toxic, it is classified as harmful algal bloom as its spread
can lead to depletion of dissolved oxygen in the bloom region.
The decay of the high biomass can lead to the release of ammonia and
steep reduction in dissolved oxygen, which may force other marine
organisms to move to safe regions.

76. A Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage 2000 fighter landed on the Yamuna
expressway near Mathura for the first time on 21/5/15. The landing was
part of trials to use national highways for emergency landing.
77. Western Disturbance is the term used in India, Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Nepal to describe an extra tropical storm originating in
the Mediterranean, that brings sudden winter rain and snow to
the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent.
- This is a non-monsoonal precipitation pattern driven by the
Westerlies. The moisture in these storms usually originates over the
Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.
- Extratropical storms are a global, rather than a localized, phenomena
with moisture usually carried in the upper atmosphere (unlike
tropical storms where it is carried in the lower atmosphere).
- Western Disturbances are important to the development of the Rabi
crop in the northern subcontinent, which includes the locally important
staple wheat.
78. Turner Syndrome:
Turner syndrome (TS) also known as UllrichTurner syndrome, gonadal
dysgenesis, and 45,X, is a condition in which a female is partly or
completely missing an X chromosome.
- Typically they are without menstrual periods, do not develop breasts,
and are unable to have children. Heart defects, diabetes, and low
thyroid hormone occur more frequently.
79. Xpert MTB/RIF:
- It is a cartridge-based, automated diagnostic test that can identify
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB)DNA and resistance to rifampicin
(RIF)by nucleic acid amplification technique(NAAT).
- Rifampicin : a reddish-brown antibiotic used chiefly to treat
tuberculosis and leprosy.
- Xpert can substitute smear microscopy as an initial diagnostic test to
diagnose more number of TB cases and also for diagnosing rifampicin
resistance.
80. Thanks to software developed by IIT Hyderabad researchers, semiskilled persons can use an ultrasound imaging device to perform
preliminary diagnosis to classify a kidney as either normal or abnormal
in terms of stones, cysts, or bacterial infection. When fully functional,
the imaging system developed can provide a fillip to healthcare in rural
and remote areas where lack of trained sonologists has become a
norm.
# Sphygmomanometer: Blood pressure measuring instrument.
81. Posterior Parietal Cortex (PPC) :
- It is a region that processes the intention of moving the desired limb.
It plays an important role in producing planned movements.
- Motor Cortex: the part of the cerebral cortex in the brain in which
originate the nerve impulses that initiate voluntary muscular activity. It
actually processes the movement itself.
82. Tuberose:

- It is an important traditional flower of India (also found in Mexico). It


is used both as loose flower and cut flower. The major constraint in
tuberose cultivation is weed management and about 70-80 % of
cultivation cost accounts for weeding.
- Plastic mulching is recommended for weed management, if planted
under drip and fertigation system. Use of the plastic mulch reduces the
weed management cost to a tune of 80%.
- It prevents the evaporation of irrigation water which reduces the
irrigation water requirement by 30 per cent. If plastic mulching is not
used, about Rs. 6,000 per month will be spent for weeding, which is
now saved by the use of plastic mulching.
83. Global peace index(GPI) s n attmpt to measre d reltve postion f
nations nd region's peacefulnes...it s a prduct f d institute fr economics
nd peace nd devlopd n consultatn wd an intrntnl panel f peace experts
wd data nd collected by d economist intelligence unit.
# Jeep la & Dongkia Pass - in Sikkim
# Dihang pass - in Arunachal Pradesh that connects Arunchal and
Mandalay (in Myanmar).
# Shipki la Pass & Rohtang Pass- in Himachal Pradesh
84 Bjp led govt has declard the Blue mormon as the state buttrfly
of maharashtra.
- The blue mormon is a large swallow tail butterfly found primarily in
Sri Lanka and India restricted to Westrn Ghats of Maharashtra, South
India and Coastal Belts. It is reportedly the second largest butterfly in
India, next to Southern Birdwing.
85 - National Centre for Earth Sciences- Thiruvananthapuram.
# Palynology: The scientific study of spores, pollen and particulate
organic matter in rocks.
# Fruit fly: Any insect of the Drosophilidae family, whose larvae feed
on ripening fruit, especially the species Drosophila melanogaster that
is used in genetic research. It is also called as vinegar fly.
86. 1191- first battl of tarain b/w Prithviraj Chouhan & Mohammad
Ghori. Mohmad Ghori was defeatd.
1192- 2nd battle of tarain b/w Prithviraj Chauhan & Mohammad
Ghori. Prithviraj Chauhan was defeatd & muslim rule was estblshd in
north india.
# Khajuraho temple - MP, built by chandellas.
# Lingaraja templ, Sun temple - Konark, Orissa
# Jagannath temple - Puri
# Dilwara temple - Mount Abu
# Rajaraheswar templ, Brihadeshwara temple - Tanjore, Tamil
Nadu
# Somnath temple - Kathiwar, Gujarat.
87. Bonemarrow
- Bones are not solid rods, they are tubes. And within their hollow is the
marrow, the very seed bed of our daily life. It is from the marrow
that we obtain our lifeline, our blood.
- It is from the marrow that we get our RBC (erythroids), WBC

lymphocytes (adaptive immunity) and myelocytes (innate immunity,


blood clotting) and others so essential for everybodys life, after we are
born (postembryonic).
-And it is the marrow cells that also have the stemness, out of which
other cells as those for muscles, nerves and so on can be generated.
The marrow is not just a nourisher, it is also the source for the
generation of cells needed for other tissues and organs.
- While the marrow is the nutrient source of the bone, the bone in its
turn provides the environment essential for the marrow; each needs
the other, the niche and the factory that keeps on producing cells all
the time.
-Hematopoiesis: The process by which blood cells are produced;
Hematogenesis: Blood cell formation in the human body, esp. the
bone marrow.
88. Meliponiculture: The cultivation of stingless
commercial scale for honey production or pollination.

bees

on

89. The incidence of cancer has grown over the last decade in India
although the rate of mortality has fallen, new data shows. Breast
cancer is the fastest growing in terms of incidence for women and kills
the most, and prostate cancer is the fastest-growing in incidence for
men, while lung cancer killed the most men.
90. EEZ- An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a sea zone prescribed by
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a
state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of
marine resources, including energy production from water and wind.
91. Sun Halo- one type of optical phenomenon, forming a circle
with a radius of approximately 22 around the Sun, or occasionally
the Moon (also called a moon ring or winter halo). It forms as sunlight
is refracted in millions of randomly oriented hexagonal ice crystals
suspended in the atmosphere.
92. The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) powered
by an indigenous cryogenic engine puts the 1,982 kg GSAT-14
communication satellite into a perfect orbit after liftoff from
Sriharikota.
93. Folk dances of Uttarakhand : Chanchari, Jagar, Thadia
Folk dance of Rajasthan: Terahtali
94. The historical region of Amaravathi, commercial island city-state
on the Krishna riverfront, chosen to be the capital city of the new
Andhra Pradesh.
- It was the capital of the Satavahana kings between the 2nd and 3rd
century BCE they ruled most of the country from here and also
an important region for Buddhism along with Nagarjunakonda.
95 Brent Crude Oil- A form of crude oil which is softer in composition.
It has lower sulfur content and has lower density. That's why it is
softer. It is found mainly in the North sea, esp. in the vicinity of North
London.

96. Shanta Kumar Committee- On restructuring of FCI.


# Hogenakkal falls in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu.
# Yangtze river: China
97. Since the Modi govt took charge, India has eased visa norms
for 43 countries, and plans are afoot to expand the list soon. In
effect, tourists from these countries will be able to apply for visas
online, receive the go-ahead within 4 days and collect their visas on
arrival in India.
- Under the old system, citizens from only 12 countries had this
privilege. If official data are any indication. From 1991 to 2013, Indias
foreign exchange earnings from tourism grew 891% from $1,861
million to $18,445 million.
98. Fiscal Consolidation: It simply means reducing the fiscal deficit;
It does not aims towards reducing fiscal debt.
99. The DRDO was set up in 1958 as the fulcrum of Indias indigenous
defence production.
Q. Why there was a need for a Constitutional Amendment Bill
for the enactment of GST ??
Ans- GST, in simple, is a VAT on goods & services which is expected
to usher in uniformity in the indirect tax regime across the nation.
For this, centre has to intrude into the state's territory. So, to grant
constitutional powers to both the centre and the states to make laws
related to taxation on goods and services it was necessary to introduce
the 122nd constitutional amendment bill.
- There will be 2 forms of GST:
(a) CGST- to be administered by centre.
(b) SGST- to be administered by states.
- The rates related to both CGST & SGST will be fixed by the
GST Council, to be chaired by the Union Finance Minister and whose
members would be the State's Finance/Revenue Ministers.
- GST is expected to widen the tax base and it will be identical for both
the centre & the states.
100. EL NINO:
- El Nino develops as a coupled ocean-atmosphere system called ENSO
(El Nino and Southern Oscillation) as the nature of the Pacific
Ocean was generally favourable for a strong ocean-atmosphere
interaction.
- Normally ENSO has a life span of 12-18 months and the general belief
was that there was a higher propensity for drought in India during the
developing phase of El Nino.
- La Nina: a reverse of el nino condition leading to excess
monsoon occurs during a La Nina event, which was nothing but the
opposite of El Nino.
101. Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD):
- an El Nino-like phenomenon in the Indian Ocean called the
Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). It is of 2 types, +ve and -ve.
- It was noticed that during a +ve IOD, the eastern part of the

equatorial Indian Ocean becomes abnormally cool and the


western part remains unusually warm, while the reverse of this
pattern occurs during a -ve IOD.
- However, unlike El Nino, the IOD lasts only 6 to 9 months due to
smaller size of the Indian Ocean basin and since then attempts to link
Indian monsoon with IOD were not encouraging as there appeared to
be an association between the two (IOD & Indian Monsoon)
only during positive phase of IOD.
102. INCOIS:
- Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services is located at
Hyderabad and is under the Earth System Science Organization
(ESSO), New Delhi.
- It is a dedicated institution for operational oceanography and the only
institution of its kind in the Indian Ocean region, that has been
providing operational ocean information and advisory services over the
past 10 years. It has established leadership particularly in ocean
observations, ocean modeling, ocean information and advisory
services in the Indian Ocean region.
103. EQUINOO:
- Equatorial Indian Ocean Oscillation' is an oscillation of
atmospheric cloudiness between eastern and western parts of the
Indian Ocean.
- EQUINOO together with ENSO could explain the large variation in the
monsoon.
- It was generally seen that +ve EQUINOO with enhanced
cloudiness over western part as compared to eastern region
was favourable to Indian monsoon. I think it is just like a case of
+ve IOD.
- Classic example: In 1997 El Nino phenomenon was the strongest ever
recorded in the century. In fact 1997 was a classic example of a tug-ofwar b/w ENSO and EQUINOO when the latter won and a near-normal
monsoon occurred.
- The outlook on the development of ENSO was still being used to give
long-term forecasts of Indian monsoon as it has better predictability
than EQUINOO. The need of the hour is to vastly improve prediction
system of the Indian Ocean phenomena like IOD and EQUINOO for
achieving more accurate outcomes.
104. Fructose causes significant weight gain, physical inactivity, and
body fat deposition, a new study has concluded.
105. The drug 'telbivudine' prevents perinatal (time around birth)
transmission of Hepatitis B virus, says a study. HBV, which has infected
nearly two billion people worldwide, is a major cause of liver disease.
106. The Indian Ocean has been warming the most rapidly while the
adjoining Pacific Ocean has been getting cooled during the past
decade.
- The analysis shows that the abrupt increase of the Indian Ocean
Heat Content at 700 metres depth (OHC700) during 2003-2012 was
not due to surface heating, but rather due almost entirely to horizontal

advective heat convergence (caused by winds and resulting currents).


- Inter-ocean heat transport from the Pacific Ocean to the
Indian Ocean via the Indonesian passages was the main cause
of the increased Indian Ocean Heat Content; it greatly increased
during 2003-2012, overcompensating for the slightly increased
southward heat transport from the Indian Ocean to the Southern
Ocean.
- The study found that the La Nina-like conditions in the Pacific
Ocean, caused by a number of La Nina events in the last
decade have caused the cooling of the Pacific ocean by
transfer of heat to the Indian Ocean, warming the latter.
EASTERLIES:
- The La Nina conditions cause strong easterly winds to blow from the
western Pacific Ocean and these winds cause currents to flow
westward conveying the heat of the Pacific Ocean into the Indian
Ocean through what is known as the Indonesian Through-flow (ITF).
- The easterlies are formed due to a pressure gradient b/w the
Pacific and Indian Oceans caused by cold conditions in the east
and warm wet conditions in the west during a La Nina.
Walker Circulation:
- During a La Nina, the walker circulation an ocean-atmospheric
phenomenon of the Indian Ocean is strengthened.
- The walker circulation leads to abnormally high sea surface
temperatures in the western Indian Ocean which in turn leads to
copious rainfall in the western Indian Ocean at the cost of the Indian
subcontinent and results in a weak monsoon.
107. Seemai Karuvel commonly known as Mesquite tree, is a
waste-land tree found abundantly in areas where water and soil fertility
are limiting factors. It is similar to weeds and is a menace for normal
crops.
108. India is home to 428 species of mammals out of which more than
60%- about 251 species are under protected or Scheduled
categories of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
- The 428 species of mammals in India contribute to about 8% of the
total mammal species found in the World. About 50% of mammalian
fauna of India have shrunk in their distributional range due to various
anthropogenic pressures.
- Already four mammal species Cheetah, Banteng, Sumatran
Rhinoceros and Javan Rhinoceros are extinct in India.
- Out of the 251 Schedule mammals species listed under the India
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, about 180 fall under the lesserknown category, & very little information is available about their
habitat, behaviour, and population.
- Around 78 species of mammals are included in Schedule I of
Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, implying that highest
priority is placed on the conservation of these animals in the country.
- While the Schedule I mammals constitute "well known" species

like tiger, elephant and Indian rhinoceros, lesser known species


such as clouded leopard, snow leopard, gaur, desert cat, Niligiri tahr,
swamp deer, sloth bear & Tibetan, sand fox are also included in the
list.
- Mammals that fall in the Critically Endangered category of the
IUCN are: pygmy hog, Malabar civet, large rock rat and kondana rat.
As per the IUCN status 29 mammals (such as, Chinese Pangolin, fishing
cat, Gangetic dolphin, golden langur, hispid hare etc.) in the country
come under the endangered category.
109. LEAD:
- Lead is a chemical element in the carbon group with symbol Pb and
atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable and heavy posttransition metal.
- Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it
soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air. Lead has a
shiny chrome-silver luster when it is melted into a liquid.
- It is also the heaviest non-radioactive element after Bismuth
(Bi, atomic no- 83), though some radioactive elements are lighter.
- Lead is used in paints for durability and colour enhancement.
Excessive levels of lead cause health hazards such as stunted growth
in children and lung, brain, heart and kidney dysfunctions in adults.
- Hazards of lead:
(a). In head and above chest:- Headache, reduced sensation, difficulty
in sleeping, attention disorder, reduced IQ.
(b). Below chest:- abdominal pain, poor appetite, anaemia, stunted
growth, kidney damage.
- Lead could get into human body by touch & prolonged inhalation.
Once the heavy metal enters the body, flushing it out is
difficult.
110. Blue Moon: A blue moon is an additional full moon that
appears in a subdivision of a year, either the third of four full
moons in a season or, recently, a second full moon in a month
of the common calendar.
- The phrase has nothing to do with the actual color of the moon,
although a literal "blue moon" (the moon appearing with a tinge of
blue) may occur in certain atmospheric conditions; e.g., when there are
volcanic eruptions or when exceptionally large fires leave particles in
the atmosphere.
111. Chinook wind:
- a warm dry wind which blows down the east side of the Rocky
Mountains at the end of winter.
- Simply chinooks, are foehn winds in the interior West of North
America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various
mountain ranges, although the original usage is in reference to wet,
warm coastal winds in the Pacific Northwest. It brings with itself lots
of rain.
- Chinook is claimed by popular folk-etymology to mean "snow-eater",
but it is really the name of the people in the region where the usage
was first derived.
Sirocco:

- A hot southerly to southeasterly wind on the Mediterranean


that originates in the Sahara and adjacent North African
regions.
Mistral:
- A strong cold north-west wind in southern France and the
Mediterranean.
112. Seychelles:- The Seychelles is an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian
Ocean off East Africa, known for its beaches, coral reefs, diving,
nature reserves and rare wildlife such as giant Aldabra tortoises.
113. Smallpox and polio have been comprehensively eradicated
from india.
114. About Lead in Maggi :
- Food safety officials investigating the matter say the source of lead
contamination in the product is the soil.
- Other sources of lead include: Lead acid batteries, paints, e-waste,
smelting operations, coal-based thermal power plants, ceramics,
bangle industry.
- How lead probably would have incorporated in the ingredients of
maggi or other edibles ?
(a) heavy metal contaminated effluents & waste enter various water
bodies like
rivers.
(b) this river water is used to irrigate farm fields.
(c) food grown in farm fields absorb heavy metals.
(d) effluents enter food processed through them.
(e) this food is then consumed.
Metal concentration increases as it moves up the food chain.
115. Part of the proposed juvenile justice bill:
- The provision of trying a juvenile committing a serious or heinous
offence as an adult based on date of apprehension could violate the
Article 14 (right to equality) and Article 21 (requiring that laws and
procedures are fair and reasonable).
- The provision also counters the spirit of Article 20(1) by according a
higher penalty for the same offence, if the person is apprehended after
21 years of age.
- The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requires all
signatory countries to treat every child under the age of 18
years as equal.
- The provision of trying a juvenile as an adult contravenes the
Convention. India is a signatory to this Convention.
116. Polar Front:

- In meteorology, the polar front is the boundary b/w the polar cell
& the Ferrel cell in each hemisphere. At this boundary a sharp
gradient in temperature occurs between these two air masses, each at
very
different
temperatures. The
polar
front arises as a
result
of cold polar air
meeting
warm
tropical
air.

117. Some Dams of india:


- Rani Laxmi Bai dam: on Betwa river in M.P.
- Paithan (Jayakwadi) Hydro-electric Project: on Godavari in
Maharashtra
- Baglihar dam: on Chenab river in J&K.
- Salas Hydel Project: on Satluj in Jammu and Kashmir
- Tehri dam: on Bhagirathi River in Uttarkhand
- Nathpa Jhakri dam: on Satluj in Himacal Pradesh
- Chamera dam: on Ravi in Himachal Pradesh
- Tipaimukh Hydro-Electric Power Project: on the Barak river in Manipur,
on the
eastern edge of Bangladesh.
- Feni River is a river in the Indian state of Tripura and southeastern
Bangladesh. It is a trans-boundary river with an ongoing dispute about
water rights.
118. Zugspitze- Germany's highest mountain.
119. In a move to resolve increasing man-animal conflict, especially
those causing damage to crops, the Environment Ministry said that it
had sought reports from the States to declare certain animals
whose population is high as vermin for a limited period.
- Once declared vermin, that particular species can be hunted
without restriction. There is a procedure to declare animals like blue
bull and wild boar as vermin, for a particular period of time.
120. What is Shale and Shale gas ?
Shale:
- Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of
mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments (siltsized particles) of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The
ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by

breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering or bedding less


than one centimeter in thickness, called fissility.
Shale Gas:
- Shale gas is natural gas that is found trapped within shale
formations. Shale gas has become an increasingly important source
of natural gas in the U.S. since the start of this century, and interest
has spread to potential gas shales in the rest of the world.
- In 2000 shale gas provided only 1% of U.S. natural gas production; by
2010 it was over 20% and the U.S. government's Energy Information
Administration predicts that by 2035, 46% of the United States' natural
gas supply will come from shale gas.
- Some analysts expect that shale gas will greatly expand worldwide
energy supply. China is estimated to have the world's largest
shale gas reserves.
- India, is estimated to hold 500 to 2000 trillion cubic meter of
recoverable shale gas. A complication to shale gas exploration in
India is that the government-issued leases for conventional petroleum
exploration do not include unconventional sources such as shale gas.
121. Meaning of marketed surplus:
- The portion of agricultural produce which is sold in the market by the
farmers is called marketed surplus. Fortunately, as pointed out by the
famous economist C.H. Hanumantha Rao, a good proportion of the rice
and wheat produced during the green revolution period (available as
marketed surplus) was sold by the farmers in the market. As a result,
the price of food grains declined relative to other items of
consumption.
- C.H. Hanumantha Rao Committee:- A technical committee on
Drought Prone Area Programme and Desert Development Programme
April 1994.
122. Poverty Status of India:
- Recently released Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Report 2015
shows that India has halved its incidence of extreme poverty,
from 49.4% in 1994 to 24.7% in 2011 ahead of the deadline of 2015
set by the United Nations.
- Indias reduction in poverty is still less than that achieved by several
of Indias poorer neighbors. Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh have each
outstripped India in poverty reduction over comparable time periods.
- India still remains home to one quarter of the worlds
undernourished population, over a third of the worlds underweight
children, and nearly a third of the worlds food-insecure people.
- The report says that India has already achieved 11 out of 22
parameters in the reportspanning issues like education, poverty,
health, and education and is on track to achieve one more by the
end of 2015.
- On the environment front, India is one of the few countries that
has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions in relation to its GDP.
India emitted 0.65 kg of carbon dioxide per $1 of GDP in 1990, which
fell to 0.53 kg in 2010.
123. What is the difference between Neutron and Neutrino?
Neutrons have a higher mass than neutrinos.

Neutrons are closely similar to the protons in their mass.


Neutrinos are closely related to the electrons in their mass.
However, both these particles dont have a charge. Both of them are
neutral.
Neutrinos are elementary particles and neutrons are nonelementary particles.
124. Merinos, which are economically prized assets in parts of USA
and Australia, are species of sheep.
125. Scientists and taxonomists have discovered 349 new species of
flora and fauna in India in the past one year 173 species and genera
of plants and 176 species of animals.
- The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and the Zoological Survey
of India (ZSI), both headquartered at Kolkata, released a new list
on the World Environment Day on June 5.
- Of the new plants, some of the significant findings include nine new
taxa of wild Musa (bananas), four species of black plum (jamun), three
species of wild gingibers and 10 species of orchids.
- Western Ghats accounted for 22% of the new discoveries, while the
Eastern Himalayas and the north-eastern States each accounted for
15% of the species found. In Arunachal Pradesh alone, 25 species of
seed plants were discovered.
- At the ZSI, 176 new species were added to the list of animals of India.
These include 93 species of insects, 7 species of collembolans, 12
species each of arachnidan and crustacean and one species of
mollusca.
- Interestingly, 2 species of reptiles have also been located for the first
time in the country one in Tamil Nadu and another in Madhya
Pradesh.
- While most of the new species of amphibians were discovered from
the Western Ghats, majority of fish species were from north-east India.
- Scientists of both BSI and ZSI agree that the Western Ghats and
the northeast are biodiversity hotspots where most new species
were found.
- To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot , a region must meet two
strict criteria:
(i) it must contain at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as
endemics. (ii) it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation.
126. Urea, in India, is manufactured using naphtha & other means in 3
plants- Madras Fertilizers Ltd., Mangalore Chemical & Fertilizer Ltd.,
and Southern Petrochemicals Industries Corporation (SPIC).
127. Heat Wave:
- The Indian Meteorology Department (IMD) defines heat wave as one
where there is either an excess of 5 to 6 degree C over a normal
daily historical maximum temperature (over a 30-year period)
of less than 40 degree C or an excess of 4 to 5 degree C over a
normal historical maximum temperature of more than 40
degree C.
- Recently, it caused many casualties in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh

regions, inter alia. In 2010, many people in Ahmedabad succumbed to


death due to heat waves.
- IMD definitions may underestimate the impacts of extreme heat on
health because under the current systems the IMD threshold does not
formally account for public health effects of extreme heat.
128. National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) is at Hyderabad.
- Nutrition scientists of India, who work at institutions such as NIN at
Hyderabad, under the aegis of the Indian Council of Medical Research
(ICMR) of the Union Ministry of Health, have long been the unsung
heroes of Swasth Bharat. They are not flashy, do not grab headlines
nor make bombastic claims.
- It is thanks to their efforts that many a child born with inherited
disorders like PKU (Phenyl ketonuria which affects one in 16,000) has
been saved, by detecting and offering treatment within 3 weeks of
birth; or of kwashiorkor (by offering high protein diets), goitre (by
adding iodine in salt), diarrhoea (giving oral rehydration solution), night
blindness (giving mega doses of vitamin A), iron deficiency (offering
iron supplement with rice) and so forth.
- It is thanks to their efforts that vaccines for measles, hepatitis, polio,
and now rotavirus have been made and immunized millions and
millions of Indians.
- It is thanks to their efforts that we have reliable knowledge of the
nutritive value of traditional Indian food such as Idli, Samosa, Roti and
Dal, Rice and Sambar, various pulses, oils, greens and such.
129. Sajjangarh Biological part- Udaipur, Rajasthan
Ranthambore national park- Sawai Madho Pur, Rajasthan
Panna tiger reserve- in Panna and Chhatarpur districts of Madhya
Pradesh
Bandipur tiger reserve- at bandipur in Karnataka.
130. Rosetta:
- Rosetta is a robotic space probe built and launched by the European
Space Agency. Along with Philae, its lander module, Rosetta is
performing a detailed study of comet 67P/ChuryumovGerasimenko.
- The mission seeks to unlock the long-held secrets of comets
primordial clusters of ice and dust that scientists believe may reveal
how the Solar System was formed.
131. Mohair is usually a silk-like fabric or yarn made from the hair
of the Angora goat (Angora is old name of Ankara, the capital of
Turkey). Both durable and resilient, mohair is notable for its high
luster and sheen, which has helped give it the nickname the
"Diamond Fiber", and is often used in fiber blends to add these
qualities to a textile.
132. G7 countries committed to phase out fossil fuel consumption by
2100 in Germany recently.
Critics:- 1.5 degree Celsius is the desired global average surface
temp we should be aiming for and even 2 degree Celsius is
unsafe. For this 40-70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions are
required by 2050, which wont be achieved by pushing the goal to
2100.

- No headway has been made in determining Indias Intended


Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) for the 2015 Paris
agreement. Any decision on this front made by India would be keeping
in mind our development and growth requirements.
133. Neutrinos
- Neutrinos, first proposed by Swiss scientist Wolfgang Pauli in 1930,
are the 2nd most widely occurring particle in the universe, only
second to photons, the particle which makes up light.
- In fact, neutrinos are so abundant among us that every second, there
are more than 100 trillion of them passing right through each of us
we never even notice them.
At national level :
- India has been among the pioneers in neutrino research, the first of
such labs having been established in the 1960s, the India-based
Neutrino Observatory (INO) at Kolar in Karnataka.
- We led neutrino research when our physicists used a gold mine at
Kolar in Karnataka to set up what was then the worlds deepest
underground lab.
- This was called the Kolar Gold Field Lab. In 1965, it enabled
researchers to detect atmospheric neutrinos. In 1992, when the mine
became uneconomical, the laboratory was shut down.
At global level :
- Most of the advanced countries are already working vigorously in
neutrino science with dedicated labs. These include the US, Russia,
France, Italy, China,
Japan and South Korea.
- India is set to not only join this league, but also become a key player
in global efforts in neutrino science. The Magnetized Iron
Calorimeter (ICAL) being set up at INO will be among the
largest ever in the world, weighing over 50,000 tonnes.
- INO needs to be built deep into the earth 1,300 metres into
the earth. At this depth, it would be able to keep itself away from
all the trillions of neutrinos produced in the atmosphere and which
would otherwise choke an over-the-ground neutrino detector. Neutrinos
have been in the universe literally since forever, being almost 14 billion
years old as much as the universe itself.
- Neutrinos occur in three different types, or flavours ve, v
and v. These are separated in terms of different masses. From
experiments so far, we know that neutrinos have a tiny mass, but the
ordering of the neutrino mass states is not known and is one of
the key questions that remain unanswered till today. This is a
major challenge INO will set to resolve.
- Neutrinos are very important for our scientific progress and
technological growth for 3 reasons.
(1) they are abundant.
(2) they have very feeble mass and no charge and hence can
travel through planets, stars, rocks and human bodies without
any interaction. In fact, a beam of trillions of neutrinos can
travel thousands of kms through a rock before an interaction

with a single atom of the rock and the neutrino occurs.


(3) they hide within them a vast pool of knowledge and could open up
new vistas in the fields of astronomy & astrophysics, communication
and even in medical imaging, through the detector spin-offs.
Public misconceptions :
- Can neutrinos cause cancer?
Ans- Not at all ! Neutrinos are the least harmful of all elementary
particles, as they almost never react with solid bodies. The mean
free path for iron, or the average distance a neutrino will travel in say
an iron rod, before interacting with an atom, is about 1 light year
(9,460,730,472,580 km). Needless to say, with the human body being
less than 2 metres in height, any harmful effect of neutrino is near
impossible.
Neutrons & Neutrinos
- Moreover, unlike neutrons, neutrinos cannot be weaponised.
The neutron bomb, which many discuss, is dangerous but has nothing
to do with harmless neutrinos and is made based on a technology
around the neutrons, particles which are much heavier.
- To put this in perspective, the mass of a neutron is 1.67x10-27 kg
while the mass of a neutrino is of the order of 1x10-37 kg .
Hence, a neutrino is about 17 billion times lighter than a
neutron. The two are incomparable.
- There is further misconception that lab generated neutrinos, fancily
termed as factory made neutrinos, are more dangerous than
naturally abundant neutrinos. Scientifically, this is not true. Neutrinos
are fundamental particles; there is nothing such as a natural and an
artificial aspect to them.
Key role in science :
(i) neutrinos may have a role to play in nuclear non-proliferation
through the remote monitoring of nuclear reactors.
(ii) understanding neutrinos can help us detect mineral and oil
deposits deep in the earth. Neutrinos tend to change their flavour
depending on how far they have travelled and how much matter they
have passed through in the way.
(iii) neutrinos can pass right through the earth. They may open up a
faster way to send data than the current around the earth
model, using towers, cables or satellites. Such a communication
system using neutrinos will be free of transmission losses as
neutrinos rarely react with the atoms in their path.
(iv) neutrinos are the information bearers of the universe which
are almost never lost in their path. Indias effort in studying neutrinos
at INO may help us unravel the deepest mystery of the universe why
there is more matter than antimatter in the universe.
134. Geoneutrinos :
- First found in 2005, they are produced by the radioactive decay
of uranium, thorium and potassium in the Earths crust and
just below it. Rapid analysis of these Geoneutrinos by neutrino
monitoring stations a process called Neutrino Tomography could
provide us vital seismological data which can detect early disturbances
and vibrations produced by earthquakes.

135. In case of NJAC, so far, government submissions said, 20


Assemblies have ratified the 99th Constitution Amendment
(proposed) incorporating the NJAC in place of the collegium in Article
124 of the Constitution on judicial appointments.
- The NJAC, comprising the Chief Justice of India, two senior-most
judges, the Law Minister and two eminent persons, is an ideal
mix. Now a person [one of the eminent persons] from the Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes and minority communities and women are
at least in the selection process.
136. To boost production of pulses during the kharif season, the Centre
announced a bonus of Rs. 200 a quintal on the revised minimum
support price for tur, moong and urad dal (lentils) for the marketing
season of 2015-16.
- The MSP for paddy was increased by Rs. 50 a quintal for the kharif
marketing season of the financial year. The Cabinet Committee on
Economic Affairs, chaired by PM Narendra Modi, decided to
grant the bonus to encourage farmers to enhance the area
under pulses cultivation and invest in increasing the
productivity of the pulses.
137. How Indian monsoon occurs ?
Ans- The monsoon occurs because the land heats up much more than
the ocean and the warm air over the land rises and results in low
pressure. This causes the rain-bearing winds from the relatively cooler
ocean to blow on to the land and cause rainfall.
- i.e, it is the strong thermal contrast between land and ocean
that results in a strong monsoon.
- But this thermal contrast has been decreasing in the past decades,
i.e., the land has been cooling and the ocean warming and the
monsoon has shown a decreasing trend during the past century.
- Ideally, under a global warming scenario the land temp should
increase greatly in the hot summers and serve as a strong monsoon
driver. But, in the case of the Indian subcontinent, over the past
century, that has not been the case.
- There are 2 reasons for it:
(i) A strong warming in the Indian Ocean on a multi-decadal scale due
to global warming.
- Surface warming in the Indian Ocean, esp. in the western regions has
reached values of up to 1.2 degrees C during the past century, much
larger than the warming trends in other tropical oceans.
- The decrease in the land-sea thermal contrast surface temperature
trends (1901-2012) is also visible in the upper atmosphere, as the
warming trends in the ocean surface are transferred to the atmosphere
above through convective processes.
(ii) Suppressed warming over the Indian land mass, possibly due to
increased aerosol levels. Aerosols in the atmosphere reflect the suns
heat back into space and cause a cooling effect.
- The warming Indian Ocean also plays a role in weakening the
monsoon circulation. Increased warming in the ocean enhances the
large-scale upward motion of warm moist air over the equatorial
ocean.

- This enhanced upward motion over the ocean is compensated by


subsidence of dry air over the subcontinent, inhibiting convection and
rainfall over the Indian landmass.
- This means that a warming Indian Ocean has resulted in
surplus rains over the ocean at the cost of the monsoon rains
over land, simultaneously drying the Indian subcontinent.
138. At a time when decreasing soil fertility esp. due to indiscriminate
use of chemical fertilisers & prolonged cultivation of commercial crops
has become cause for concern among farmers, legume vegetables
(jaise ki chhimi ya hara matar) have turned out to be a boon
for addressing this issue.
- Scientists feel that growing the legume vegetables at least once in a
season will help in increasing soil fertility as they have the capacity
to fix atmospheric nitrogen through their root nodules. This
reduces the use of chemical fertilisers like urea and ammonium
nitrate.
- Growing legume crops for the natural fixation of atmospheric nitrogen
was an age-old practice of traditional farmers.
139. Early blight, caused by Alternaria solani, is a very common
disease of potato and is found in most potato growing areas. The
disease occurs over a wide range of climatic conditions and depends in
a large part on the frequency of foliage wetting from rainfall, fog, dew,
or irrigation, on the nutritional status of foliage and cultivar
susceptibility.
140. Bt Cotton :
- The cultivation of Bt Cotton, a genetically modified, insectresistant cotton variety, is a risky affair for Indian farmers practising
rain-fed agriculture. Most cotton cultivation in India is rain-fed. If
monsoon weakens in any year, it will adversely impact the cultivation
of Bt Cotton that year.
- The adoption of Bt Cotton hybrid went up significantly to 86% of the
total cultivated area of cotton in India. India is the second largest
country in the world cultivating Bt Cotton.
- Though cultivating the Bt Cotton variety may be economic in irrigated
areas, the costs of the seed and insecticide increase the risk of farmer
bankruptcy in low-yield rain-fed settings. Pink Bollworm: a Cotton pest.
141. Countervailing duties and Special additional duties are
levied on imported goods to provide a level-playing field to
indigenous goods.
- Countervailing duty: A duty levied on an imported article to
offset the unfair price advantage it holds due to a subsidy paid
to producers or exporters by the government of the exporting
country if such imports cause or threaten injury to a domestic
industry.
- Special additional duty: It is levied on the imported goods at
the rate of 4% to provide a level-playing field to indigenous
goods which have to bear sales tax. And it is computed on the
aggregate of assessable value, basic customs duty, surcharge and
additional customs duty.

- Protectionism:
- A system or policy of protecting the domestic producers of a
product from foreign competition by imposing tariffs, quotas,
duties or other barriers on importations.
- Eliminating all the exemptions for the countervailing duty (CVD)
will eliminate the negative protection facing Indian manufacturers,
and help the Make in India initiative, without violating Indias
international obligations.
142. The Peninsular plateau is flanked by stretch of narrow coastal
strips, running along the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of
Bengal on the east. The western coast, sandwiched between the
Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, is a narrow plain. It consists of
three sections:
(i) The northern part of the coast is called the Konkan (Mumbai
Goa),
(ii) The central stretch is called the Kannad Plain, and
(iii) The southern stretch is referred to as the Malabar coast.
143. Special Category States:
- The concept of a special category state was first introduced in 1969
when the 5th Finance Commission sought to provide certain
disadvantaged states with preferential treatment in the form
of central assistance and tax breaks.
- Initially three states Assam, Nagaland and Jammu & Kashmir were
granted special status but since then eight more have been included
(Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Sikkim, Tripura and Uttarakhand).
- All other states barring these are treated as General Category
States. The rationale for special status is that these states, because of
inherent features, have a low resource base and cannot mobilize
resources for development.
- Some of the features required for special status are:
(i) hilly and difficult terrain;
(ii) low population density or sizeable share of tribal population;
(iii) strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries;
(iv) economic and infrastructural backwardness; and
(v) non-viable nature of state finances.
144. Leucoderma:
- Leucoderma is a condition that causes skin to lose its
pigmentation or colour. As a result, people with vitiligo have white
patches on the skin. In an advanced stage, most of the body skin can
lose its pigmentation.
- Current treatments, such as steroid creams and light therapy, fall
short as they are not reliably effective in reversing the disease.
- An existing FDA-approved medication for rheumatoid arthritis called
'tofacitinib citrate' is used to successfully treat a patient suffering from
vitiligo. The drug causes no adverse side effects in the patient.
145. Unlike people with drug-susceptible TB, those with multi drugresistant TB (MDR-TB) are less likely to transmit disease to others living
in the same household (also known as household contacts).
- As a rule, people who are in close contact for extended periods of
time with a person who has TB disease either drug-susceptible TB or

MDR-TB are at heightened risk of getting infected and suffering from


TB disease. All the more when more number of people live in small
households with poor ventilation.
146. Dust particles' concentration in atmosphere:
- Dust particles are generally concentrated in the lower layers of the
atmosphere; yet, conventional air currents may transport them to
great heights. - The higher concentration of dust particles is
found in subtropical and temperate regions due to dry winds in
comparison to equatorial and polar regions.
Dust
and
salt

particles act as hygroscopic nuclei (tending to absorb moisture) around


which water vapor condenses to produce clouds.
147. Among visible light :
Red- longest wavelength, shortest frequency
Violet- shortest wavelength, longest frequency

148. P.J. Nayak Committe:


- RBI setup this Committee to review the governance of Board of
Banks in India.
- In Sarkaari banks, Government owns >50% shares. Therefore
Government has majority voting power. So, it can appoint board
directors and CMDs as per its own whims and fancies. Result: Scams
like syndicate bank, and overall inefficiency.
- Nayak says Government should transfer its shares to Bank
investment Company (BIC), with functional autonomy.
(Then
Government wont be able to appoint directors as per its own whims
and fancies) thus Sarkaari banks Governance will improve.
149. Some tribes of india:
Monpa, Daffla, Abor, Mishmi, Nishi- Arunachal Himalayas
150. Sargassao Sea:

- The Sargasso Sea is a region in the gyre in the middle of the


North Atlantic Ocean. It is the only sea on Earth which has no
coastline.
- It is bounded on the west by the Gulf Stream; on the north, by the
North Atlantic Current; on the east, by the Canary Current; and on the
south, by the North Atlantic Equatorial Current.
- This system of ocean currents forms the North Atlantic Gyre. All
the currents deposit the marine plants and refuse, they carry, into this
sea.
151. In India, the "Financial Stability Report"is issued by RBI.
152. A ranking of destinations for attractiveness to foreign investors
has placed India at the top among 110 countries. China has secured
the 65th position and the U.S. is at the 50th. In the 2014 index, India
was at the sixth position and Hong Kong was number one.
- The ranking is based on an for Baseline Profitability Index (BPI)
that assumes that 3 factors affect the ultimate success of a foreign
investment:
(a) how much the value of an asset grows;
(b) the preservation of that value while the asset is owned; and
(c) the ease of repatriation of proceeds from selling the asset.
- The index combines measures for each of these factors into a
summary statistic that conveys a countrys basic attractiveness for
investment. The big story in the BPI in 2015 is India coming out on
top, with growth forecasts up,
perceptions of corruption down, and investors better protected.
153. The Light Combat Helicopter (LCH):- developed by the Hindustan
Aeronautics Limited (HAL). They are capable of enduring hot weather
flight, ranging from 39-42 deg celsius. They can aldo endure cold
weather like (-)18 deg celsius.
- The LCH is a 5.8-tonne, twin-engine, armed helicopter designed
specifically to meet the requirements of the Army and the Air Force.
154. Why farmers prefer to grow cereals rather than pulses ?
Ans- becoz
(i) Pulses are among the least productive of all crops the yields
are on average 760 kg per hectare, compared to 2,400 kg per hectare
for cereals, and 1,100 kg per hectare for oilseeds.
(ii) Relatively more lucrative MSP for other food grains makes
pulses an unattractive crop for farmers.
155. 8 core industries in India are :
i. Coal
ii. Crude oil
iii. Natural gas
iv. Refinery products
(Mnemonic : FRENS CCC)
v. Fertilizers
vi. Steel
vii. Cement and
viii. Electricity
156. How the brain forms memories:

- Researchers have finally found a specific region in the brain medial


temporal lobe that plays a key role in rapidly forming memories
about everyday events.
- The medial temporal lobe is associated with episodic memory the
brains ability to recall situations like meeting a friend in, say, a mall.
People suffering from Alzheimers and other neurological disorders
have this type of memory affected.
157. National Plan of Action (NPOA) for Sharks:
- The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, has
drawn up an action plan Guidance on National Plan of Action (NPOA)
for Sharks in
India in line with the International Plan of Action for conservation
and management of sharks, developed by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation.
- the share of sharks in total fish landings has declined by more than
64% from 1985 to 2013.
- It is estimated that 160 species of sharks are known to occur in
Indias commercial fishing zone. Requiem sharks, Hammer-heads,
Threshers, Mackerel sharks, Bamboo sharks and Hound sharks are the
major contributors to the commercial fishery.
158. Rivers & their origins:
1) GANGA -Originates in Gaumukh , himalaya.
Haridwar dam, farakka dam, mahatma gandhi setu(longest road
bridge).
2) YAMUNA - originates at yamunotri. Tons, chambal, giri and
mandakini are its tributaries. Famous Naini bridge has been builts
across this river.
3) NARMADA - originates from Maikali hills of Amarkantak in M.P
- Dhuandhar and Kapiladhara waterfalls are in this river.
- Sarda sarovar dam has been built across this river.
- Narmada bridge is the longest road bridge in gujarat.
- Omkareshwar temple is on the banks of narmada river in M.P. Indias
largest water reservoir is in this region.
4) SHIPRA RIVER - rises in Vindhya range...falls in chambal...ujjain
situated on its right bank....
5) GODAVARI RIVER - rises in nasik.... Jayakwadi dam is one of the
largest earthen dams in India build across Godavari River in
Maharashtra.
6) KAVERI RIVER - It originates from the Brahmagiri Hill in
the Western Ghats flow towards the Bay of Bengal. The Mettur Dam is
a
large dam build
across
the
Kaveri
River. The
beautiful
Shivasamudram falls of Kaveri river is the second biggest water
falls in India.
159. Socio-Economic and Caste Census, 2011 (SECC):
- Supreme Court recognised transgenders as the third gender
in 2014. The SECC found that transgenders comprise 0.1% of Indias
rural population. Andaman & Nicobar islands, West Bengal, Gujarat,
Odisha and Mizoram have the highest proportions of transgenders.
- 36% of the 884 million people in rural India are illiterate. This
is higher than the 32% recorded by the Census of India 2011. A little
more than 48% of the Indian rural population is female,
according to the SECC, 2011.

SECC's definition of poverty/deprivation :


- The SECC measures deprivation along seven criteria
i. households with only one room with no solid walls and roof,
ii. those with no adult member aged 15-59,
iii. female-headed households with no adult male aged 15-59,
iv. those with differently abled members and no able-bodied member,
v. SC/ST households,
vi. those with no literate member above the age of 25, and
vii. landless households deriving a major portion of their income from
manual casual labour.
160. The Economic Survey has prescribed a '4-D model' for the
banking sector to face competition in the changed environment: Deregulate, Differentiate, Diversify & Disinter.
161. Suresh Tendulkar Committee- to look into the people living
under poverty line in India.
162. Operation Green Hunt was the name used by the Indian media
to describe the "all-out offensive" by government of India's
paramilitary forces and the state's forces against the
Naxalites. The operation is believed to have begun in November
2009 along five states in the "Red Corridor."
- The Red Corridor is a region in the east of India that experiences
considerable NaxaliteMaoist insurgency. The naxalites group
mainly consist of the armed cadres of Communist Party of India
(Maoist).
- These are also areas that suffer from the greatest illiteracy, poverty
and overpopulation in modern India, and span parts of Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal states.
163. India has recently reverted to calculating GDP at market
price along with changing the base year from 2004-05 to 201112.
164. The portion of agricultural produce which is sold in the market by
the farmers is called marketed surplus. Fortunately, as pointed out by
the famous economist C.H. Hanumantha Rao, a good proportion of the
rice and wheat produced during the green revolution period (available
as marketed surplus) was sold by the farmers in the market. As a
result, the price of food grains declined relative to other items of
consumption.
165. Rangrajan Committee Vs Tendulkar Committee's Report on
poverty line:
- The findings of the Rangarajan panel report on poverty estimates
states that 3 out of 10 people in India are poor. The report has
hiked the poverty limit to Rs 47 per day in cities, stating that
people spending below that would be considered poor.
- The Tendulkar committee report had fixed the poverty line at Rs 33
per day for urban areas.

- The Rangarajan report also states that those spending less than
Rs 32 per day in rural areas would be considered poor. The
Tendulkar committee had pegged the poverty line at Rs 27 a day for
rural India.

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