Current Affairs Questions

Explanation :

• The Mullaperiyar Dam is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River,located on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala, SouthIndia.
• The dam is situated at the confluence of the Mullayar and Periyar rivers.
• It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 by John Pennycuick and also reached in an agreement to donate water eastwards to the Madras Presidency area (present-day Tamil Nadu).
• The Periyar National Park in Thekkady is located around the dam’s reservoir.
• Although the dam is located in Kerala, it is operated by Tamil Nadu following an 1886 lease indenture for 999 years (the Periyar Lake Lease Agreement) that was signed between the Maharaja of Travancore and the Secretary of State for India for the Periyar Irrigation works.
• The agreement was renewed in 1970.
• Tamil Nadu was given rights to the land and the water from the dam as well as the authority to develop hydro-power projects at the site, and Kerala would receive rent in return.

Explanation :

• Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) was established in 1948 with public contributions to assist displaced persons from Pakistan.
• The fund is recognized as a Trust under the Income Tax Act and the same is managed by Prime Minister or multiple delegates for national causes.
• PMNRF accepts voluntary contributions from Individuals, Organizations, Trusts, Companies and Institutions etc.
• The resources of the fund are utilized to render immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities like floods, cyclones and earthquakes, etc.
• In addition it assists partially to defray the expenses for medical treatment like heart surgery, kidney transplantation, cancer treatment of needy people and acid attack etc.

Explanation :

• GEMINI or GAGAN Enabled Mariner’s Instrument for Navigation and Information is based on GAGAN (GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) satellite system developed by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Airports Authority of India (AAI).
• The GAGAN satellite system consists of three geosynchronous satellites namely the GSAT-8, GSAT-10 and GSAT-15 and these three cover the entire Indian Ocean region constantly.
• However, the device only allows one-way communication — it can’t be used by fishermen to make calls, for instance.

Benefits

• Mobile phone frequencies cannot be accessed 10-12 km beyond the coast and with GEMINI this range can increase to 300 nautical miles, allowing better communication.
• Through the new system, all the key alerts and messages will be send directly to the fishermen venturing in deep sea, providing them the accurate information about any disaster, thus help in saving precious human resources.

Explanation :

• On 12^th September, the ongoing 14^thConference of Parties (COP14) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) witnessed the official release of the Drought Toolbox, which can be used by countries to assess drought risks in their regions much in advance, and prepare to deal with the water scarcity.
• It uses 30 parameters, including soil moisture, rainfall data and temperature data of the present and past.
• It has been developed by UNCCD in collaboration with Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Meteorological Organization(WMO) as well as from the University of Nebraska in the USA.

Significance

• It will help the countries in framing their respective national drought policies in due course based on monitoring, forecast, and early warning.

Source: Civil Services Chronicle Online

Explanation :

NDMA caters to both natural and man-made disasters which are listed below:

Man-made disasters:

• Biological disasters
• Chemical disasters
• Nuclear & radiological disasters

Natural Disasters:

• Floods
• Earthquake
• Cyclones
• Urban floods
• Tsunamis
• Heat waves

Therefore, all the statements are correct.