15th, 16th April 2024

INDIAN CIVIL SERVICES

PRELIMS
TRAINING ACADEMY QUICK
FACTS
Mysore and Bangalore Branch

S.no Topics IMPORTANT POINTERS

1. Nigeria makes history with rollout of new 5-in-1 Men5CVmeningitis vaccine

2. Meningitis is a serious infection or inflammation of meninges, the three-membrane
thin lining that lie over the brain and spinal cord.
Meningitis 3. Cause- It can be caused by several species of bacteria, viruses, fungi and
1 Vaccine parasites.
4. The vaccine, called Men5CV, is recommended by the World Health Organization
(WHO) and offers protection against five strains (A,C,W,Y and X) of the
meningococcus bacteria in a single shot.

1. India commemorates the 40th anniversary of ‘Operation Meghdoot’.

2. Aim- To secure Siachen glacier and dominate Northern Ladakh by airlifting Indian
Army soldiers via Indian Air Force (IAF).
Operation 3. Siachen Glacier, known as the "land of roses" in the Balti language, is the world’s
2 Meghdoot highest and coldest battlefield.
4. The entire Siachen Glacier, with all major passes, has been under the
administration of India as part of the union territory of Ladakh, located in the
Kashmir region since 1984.

1. The Mahad Satyagraha is considered to be the 'foundational event' of the Dalit

movement. Launch year- March 20, 1927.
2. It is also called as Chavdar Tale Satyagraha.
Mahad
3 Satyagraha
3. Aim- It was launched against Hindus who were opposing the decision of the
Municipal Board to throw open the tank to all communities.
4. Ambedkar organised a conference of ten thousand untouchable delegates at
Mahad on March 20, 1927 to support the decision of Municipal Board.

1. The concept of easement has been defined under Section 4 of the Indian
Easements Act, 1882.
Easementary
4 Right
2. According to the provisions of Section 4, an easementary right is a right possessed
by the owner or occupier of the land on some other land, not his own, the
purpose of which is to provide the beneficial enjoyment of the land.

1. The "Hubble tension" refers to a discrepancy between the measurements of the

rate of expansion of the universe, known as the Hubble constant.
2. The Hubble constant, denoted as H0, describes the rate at which galaxies are
5 Hubble Tension moving away from each other due to the expansion of the universe.
3. If a researcher wants to estimate the Hubble constant, they have two main
avenues. These are the cosmic distance ladder and the cosmic microwave
background (CMB).

1. Recently, Israel said its air-defence system involving exo-atmospheric interceptors

Exo- destroyed ‘99% of missiles’ fired by the Islamic Republic of Iran.
2. These are also known as anti-ballistic missiles (ABMs), travel at a hypersonic speed.
6 Atmospheric 3. These are surface-to-air missiles designed to counter incoming ballistic missiles.
missiles 4. They are specifically designed to counter Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs).
The anti-ballistic missiles operate beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
 1. Jharkhand’s Pahariya tribe aims to achieve seed independence by depositing
native varieties in community-led banks.
2. The community name Paharia is “believed to have been derived from the word
7 Pahariya Tribe pahar meaning hills.
3. They live mainly in the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal. There are also
scattered groups of them in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha.

1. As input prices, which were benign for a few quarters, turn inflationary, the spectre
of shrinkflation looms large within the fast-moving consumer goods segment.
2. It occurs when goods shrink in size but consumers pay the same price. It occurs
8 Shrinkflation when manufacturers downsize products to offset higher production costs but
keep retail prices the same.
3. It is basically a form of hidden inflation.
4. The reasons for shrinkflation are rising production costs and market competition.

1. India is expected to have an “above normal” monsoon season with 106% of the
Long Period long period average, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
2. It is the rainfall recorded over a particular region for a given interval (like a month
9 Average (LPA) or season) averaged over a long period of time, like 30 years or 50 years.
of Rainfall 3. The current LPA of all India south-west monsoon rainfall based on the average
rainfall over the period 1971-2020 is 868 cm.

1. The Indian Army contingent departed recently for the 5th edition of India-
Uzbekistan annual joint military Exercise DUSTLIK.
10 Exercise Dustlik 2. The aim of Exercise DUSTLIK is to foster military cooperation and enhance
combined capabilities to execute joint operations in mountainous as well as semi
urban terrain.

1. Water levels at Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe have dropped dramatically because of

the latest El Nino drought.
2. It is the world’s largest man-made lake and reservoir by volume.
3. It lies approximately 1300 kilometers upstream from the Indian Ocean, along the
11 Lake Kariba border between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
4. It is 200 kilometers downstream of Victoria Falls.
5. The lake was filled following the completion of the Kariba Dam wall at its
northeastern end, flooding the Kariba Gorge on the Zambezi River.

1. The primary source of hydrocarbons in the rocky underground is called kerogen:

lumps of organic matter.
2. Kerogen is the portion of naturally occurring organic matter that is non-
extractable using organic solvents i.e. it is insoluble in solvents.
12 Kerogen 3. Kerogen represents about 90% of the organic carbon in sediments.
4. It occurs in source rock and may expel hydrocarbons upon thermal cracking.
5. Typical organic constituents of kerogen are algae and woody plant material.
6. Kerogens have a high molecular weight relative to bitumen, or soluble organic
matter. Bitumen forms from kerogen during petroleum generation.

1. The SBTi focuses on assisting companies in setting ambitious and scientifically

sound greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets.
Science Based
13 Targets Initiative
2. The SBTi is a collaborative effort spearheaded by four international organizations:
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), World
Resources Institute (WRI), and World-Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

1. Dr. Daniel Belsky from Columbia University introduced the concept of

“Geroscience” and develops a blood test, termed “gerozyme,” to measure aging
pace by studying DNA methylation.
2. Various research groups explore drugs like Metformin and Rapamycin to target
14 Geroscience aging and enhance immunity in the elderly.
3. DNA Methylation is a process in which methyl groups (CH3) are added to the DNA
molecule.
4. Aberrant DNA methylation patterns have been implicated in various diseases,
including cancer and neurological disorders.
 1. The tranquil flow of the Jiadhal river is now being disrupted by the harsh realities of
climate change.
2. It is a northern tributary of the Brahmaputra River.
3. It originates in sub-Himalayan mountains of Arunachal Pradesh at an altitude of
1247m.
15 Jiadhal River 4. After passing through a narrow gorge in Arunachal Pradesh, the river enters the
plains of Assam in Dhemaji district, where it flows in braided channels.
5. The river finally debouches into the Brahmaputra near Selamukh in Lakhimpur
district.
6. But after the construction of the embankment over the Kherkutiya Suti of the
Brahmaputra, the river confluences with the Subansiri River.

1. Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a sustainable

hydrogel that effectively removes microplastics from water.
2. The IISc team created a hydrogel with a complex structure called an inter-
penetrating polymer network (IPN), composed of three different polymers:
chitosan, polyvinyl alcohol, and polyaniline.
16 Hydrogel 3. This structure was combined with copper substitute polyoxometalate (Cu-POM)
nanoclusters, which act as catalysts under UV light to degrade microplastics.
4. They are a jelly-like material and can be found naturally or synthesized in a lab.
5. Generally non-toxic and non-immunogenic, meaning they don’t trigger an
immune response in the body, makes them ideal for biomedical applications such
as drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound healing.

1. The Baneshwar Village in the Cooch Behar region of West Bengal has a Shiva
Temple built during the reign of Koch Dynasty in the 17th Century.
2. The temple pond is home to the critically endangered black softshell turtels,
Black softshell
17 turtles
freshwater turtles, which the locals lovingly call ‘Mohan’.
3. Indigenous to the regions of India, specifically Assam and Tripura, as well as
Bangladesh, notably Chittagong and Sylhet.
4. Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: No legal protection.

1. Recently, the government has launched the ‘SARATHI’ App for Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya Antyodaya Yojana- National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
2. Developed by the Ministry of Rural Development in partnership with The/Nudge
18 ‘SARATHI’ App Institute.
3. Type of scheme: Centrally Sponsored scheme
4. Aim: Reducing poverty by organizing impoverished rural households into Self-Help
Groups.

1. India and the United States have conducted a bilateral tri-service humanitarian
assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise on Kakinada Beach, Andhra
Pradesh, as part of ‘Tiger Triumph-24’.
Tiger Triumph 2. It improved interoperability for conducting Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster
19 Joint defence Relief (HADR) operations and refined Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to
exercise enable rapid and smooth coordination.
3. INS Jalashwa of the Indian Navy and the USS Somerset of the US Navy along with
other vessels including the USS Halsey, the INS Airavat and the INS Kesari
participated.