Current Affairs Question - May 2020

Explanation :

• Uttar Pradesh government has completed skill mapping of migrant workers who have returned from other states during lockdown and this mapping will help them getting work near to their places.
• The list includes construction workers, painters, carpenters, drivers, electricians and persons associated with electronics, security guards, furniture and fitting workers and auto-repair mechanics.
• The government has constituted Migrant Commission which will ensure employment as well as social security for the migrant workers.
• It has also decided to offer insurance to secure the lives of migrant labourers and called for a scheme to ensure job security for them in the state.

Explanation :

• The Mizoram government has granted industry status to sports, a move aimed at generating employment.
• Through the new status, the government hopes to commercialise sporting endeavours and woo investors.
• Sports and its infrastructure will be eligible for availing of subsidy, loan and assistance from private and government sources.

Explanation :

• The Katkari is a Scheduled Tribe mostly belonging to the state of Maharashtra, located primarily in Raigad and in parts of Palghar, Ratnagiri and Thane districts as well and in some places of Gujarat.
• They are bilingual, speaking the Katkari language, a dialect of the Marathi-Konkani language.
• The name Katkari is derived from a forest-based activity – the making and barter or sale of Katechu (kath) from the khair tree (Acacia Katechu).
• In Maharashtra, the Katkari has been designated a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), along with two other groups included in this sub-category: the Madia Gond and the Kolam.
• The British administration had classified them under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.

Explanation :

• As the labour shortage is imminent owing to exodus of migrant labourers amid the ongoing lockdown, farmers in Punjab seem all set to go for direct seeding of rice (DSR).
• DSR refers to the process of establishing a rice crop from seeds sown in the field rather than by transplanting seedlings from nursery.
• In transplanting, farmers prepare nurseries where paddy seeds are first sown and raised into young plants.
• These seedlings are then uprooted and replanted 25-35 days later in the main field with standing water.
• In DSR, as flooding of fields is not done during sowing, chemical herbicides are used to kill weeds.

Advantages

• Water savings
• Less numbers of labourers required,
• Saves labour cost and
• Reduce methane emissions

Disadvantages

• Seeds are exposed to birds, rats, and snails.
• High weeds infestation
• Non-availability of herbicides.
• High requirement of seeds when compared to transplanting.

Explanation :

• Port of Call means an intermediate stop for a ship on its scheduled journey for cargo operation or taking on supplies or fuel.
• It can be defined as the port of a country where cargo or a passenger (cruise) ship halts to discharge or load the cargo or to embark or disembark passengers.
• For the cruise ship, port of call is the premier stop from where they take on passengers for their cruise holidays.
• For cargo ships, a port of call is a port attended within a voyage to load or unload the cargo, or for bunkering or repairs carried out on the ship etc.
• Port of Call can include both inland harbours and marine seaports that cater to vessels transiting internationally.
• When a vessel makes the initial customs entry into a country, the first port which it will attend will be considered as the “First Port of Call”.
• Presently India has six ports of call. They are Kolkata, Haldia, Karimganj, Pandu, Shilghat and Dhubri.

Explanation :

• Konark Sun temple was built by King Narasimhadeva I of the Ganga Dynasty (1238-1264AD) in the 13th century.
• It is located in Eastern Odisha near the sacred city of Puri.
• The temple is designed in the shape of a colossal chariot. It is dedicated to the Sun God.
• There are two rows of 12 wheels on each side of the Konark sun temple.
• The seven horses are said to symbolize the seven days of the week.
• The temple was used as a navigational point by European sailors. They referred to it as the ‘Black Pagoda’ due to its dark colour.
• Also called the Surya Devalaya, it is a classic illustration of the Odisha style of Architecture or Kalinga Architecture.
• Declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1984, it remains a major pilgrimage site for Hindus, who gather here every year for the Chandrabhaga Mela around the month of February every year.

Explanation :

• The Charan Paduka Campaign has been launched in Madhya Pradesh for the migrant workers passing through the state.
• Under the campaign the migrant workers are being provided with shoes and slippers to reduce their pain.
• The campaign is being conducted by the Police of Madhya Pradesh.

Explanation :

• The Chhattisgarh government will launch a scheme to ensure “minimum income availability” to farmers of the state through direct bank transfer on the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi 21^st May, 2020.
• Under the Rajiv Gandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana, based on registered area and area under cultivation during Kharif crop season 2019, Rs 10,000 per acre will be deposited in the bank accounts of farmers as agriculture assistance grant for sowing crops such as paddy, maize and sugarcane.
• According to the government, at least 19 lakh farmers will benefit from the scheme, for which the state government had allocated Rs 5,756 crore in the budget 2020-21.
• The money will be given to the farmers in four instalments.
• The scheme intends to provide stimulus to the rural economy of the state which is going through a slum due to the lockdown.

Explanation :

• Mount Harriet National Park is a national park located in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands union territory of India.
• The park, established in 1969, covers about 4.62 km².
• Mount Harriet (383 metres ), which is part of the park, is the third-highest peak in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago next to Saddle Peak (732 metres (2,402 ft)) in North Andaman and Mount Thullier (568 metres (1,864 ft)) in Great Nicobar.
• The park is named in commemoration of Harriet C. Tytler, the second wife of Robert Christopher Tytler, a British army officer, an administrator, naturalist and photographer, who were appointed Superintendent of the Convict Settlement at Port Blair in the Andamans from April 1862 to February 1864.
• The park's well-known faunal species are Andaman wild pigs (an endangered species), saltwater crocodiles, turtles and robber crabs. The park is also a butterfly hotspot.
• The park has evergreen primary forests, and at Chiriyatapu the forest type is mixed deciduous, a combination of primary and secondary forests.
• The three types of forests are categorized as tropical evergreen, hilltop tropical evergreen and littoral.
• The tribal community living in the tropical forest of the park is the Negrito people, who are hunter-gatherers.

Explanation :

• Founded in 1865, the International Telecommunication Union (originally the International Telegraph Union), is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is responsible for issues that concern information and communication technologies.
• Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it is the oldest global international organization.

Sectors

The ITU consists of three sectors:

• Radiocommunication (ITU-R) — ensures optimal, fair and rational use of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum.
• Telecommunication Standardization (ITU-T) — formulates recommendations for standardizing telecommunication operations worldwide.
• Telecommunication Development (ITU-D) — assists countries in developing and maintaining internal communication operations.

Membership

• There are 193 Member States of the ITU, including all UN member states except the Republic of Palau, plus the Vatican City.
• Membership of ITU is open to only UN members, which may join the Union as Member States, as well as to private organizations like carriers, equipment manufacturers, funding bodies, research and development organizations and international and regional telecommunication organizations, which may join ITU as non-voting Sector Members.

Function

• The ITU sets and publishes regulations and standards relevant to electronic communication and broadcasting technologies of all kinds including radio, television, satellite, telephone and the Internet.

India and ITU

• India has been an active member of the ITU since 1869 and has been a regular member of the ITU Council since 1952.
• In November 2018, India was elected as a Member of the ITU Council for another 4-year term (2019-2022).

Explanation :

Explanation :

• The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), also known as the gavial or the fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians.
• They have a distinct boss at the end of the snout, which resembles an earthenware pot known as a ghara, hence the name "gharial".
• Gharials live in clear freshwater river systems, congregating at river bends where the water is deeper. They’re not well-suited for land so they generally only leave the water to bask in the sun or to nest.
• Once found from Pakistan to Myanmar, the reptile's range has shrunk to two countries: India, along the Chambal, Girwa, and Son Rivers; and Nepal, along the Narayani River.
• Loss of habitat because of sand mining and conversion to agriculture, depletion of fish resources and detrimental fishing methods continue to threaten the population.

Conservation

• In 1975, the Indian Crocodile Conservation Project was set up under the auspices of the Government of India, initially in Odisha's Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary. It was implemented with financial aid of the United Nations Development Fund and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
• The gharial is listed on CITES Appendix I.
• In India, it is included in Schedule 1 under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
• In Nepal, it is fully protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1973.
• It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2007.

Explanation :

• The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism.
• The SCO Charter was signed during the St.Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002, and entered into force on 19 September 2003.
• The SCO's main goals are as follows: strengthening mutual trust and neighbourliness among the member states; promoting their effective cooperation in politics, trade, the economy, research, technology and culture, as well as in education, energy, transport, tourism, environmental protection, and other areas; making joint efforts to maintain and ensure peace, security and stability in the region; and moving towards the establishment of a democratic, fair and rational new international political and economic order.
• The organisation has two permanent bodies — the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent.

Members

• Eight Member States- the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, and the Republic of Uzbekistan.
• Four Observer States - the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Mongolia.
• Six Dialogue Partners - the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Armenia, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, the Republic of Turkey, and the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

Explanation :

• River Nila is also known as Bharathapuzha and Ponnani.
• It is the second longest river in Kerala with a length of 209 kilometers.

Origin

• The river originates in the Annamalai hills located in the Western Ghats region in Tamil Nadu.

Course

• It flows in the west direction along with the many of its tributaries including the Tirur River through Palakkad Gap, Palakkad, Thrissur and Malappuram districts of Kerala.
• The Kannadippuzha and Kalpathippuza, the tributaries of Bharathapuzha meet at Parli and flows in the west direction as Bharathapuzha River.
• The Bharathapuzha River then surrenders itself into the Arabian Sea at Ponnani.

Main Tributaries

• Gayathripuzha River, Kannadipuzha River, Kalpathipuzha River and Thuthapuzha River are the main tributaries of the Bharathapuzha.

Explanation :

• The Court of Justice, informally known as the European Court of Justice (ECJ), is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law, and is considered the most powerful and influential international court that is realistically possible
• The court was established in 1952 in Luxembourgh, by the Treaty of Paris (1951) as part of the European Coal and Steel Community.
• Following the entrance into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the ECJ's official name was changed from the "Court of Justice of the European Communities" to the "Court of Justice"
• The Court of Justice consists of 27 Judges who are assisted by 11 Advocates-General. The Judges and Advocates-General are appointed by common accord of the governments of the member states and hold office for a renewable term of six years.
• The President of the Court of Justice is elected from and by the judges for a renewable term of three years.
• It is the highest court of the European Union in matters of Union law, but not national law. It is not possible to appeal against the decisions of national courts in the ECJ, but rather national courts refer questions of EU law to the ECJ.
• The court also acts as arbiter between the EU's institutions and can annul the latter's legal rights if it acts outside its powers.

Explanation :

• Gopal Krishna Gokhale was born on 9 May 1866 in Kotluk village of Guhagar taluka in Ratnagiri district, in present-day Maharashtra (then part of the Bombay Presidency) in a Brahmin family.
• He became a member of the Indian National Congress in 1889, as a protege of social reformer Mahadev Govind Ranade.
• In 1893, Gokhale became the Secretary of the Bombay Provincial Conference and in 1895, he served as the Joint Secretary of the INC along with Tilak.
• He was voted to the Legislative Council of Bombay in 1899, and also to the Governor-General’s Imperial Council in 1901.
• In 1905, Gokhale established the Servants of India Society for expanding education to Indians. He wanted Indians to receive an education that would instill in them a civic and patriotic sense of duty.
• He played a major role in the Morley-Minto reforms.
• In 1908, Gokhale founded the ‘Ranade Institute of Economics’. He discouraged the untouchability and caste-system, pleaded for the liberation of women and supported the cause of female education.
• Gokhale visited Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa in 1912 on the latter’s request. He famously mentored to the father of the nation, who returned to India at Gokhale’s request.
• He launched the English weekly newspaper named The Hitavad (The people's paper) in 1911.

Explanation :

• Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Nilgiri Mountains of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
• The Toda are most closely related to the Kota both ethnically and linguistically.
• The Toda language is a member of the Dravidian family. Linguists have classified Toda (along with its neighbour Kota) as a member of the southern subgroup of the historical family proto-South-Dravidian.
• Their sole occupation is cattle-herding and dairy-work. Holy dairies are built to store the buffalo milk.
• They live in small hamlets called munds. The Toda huts, called dogles, are of an oval, pent-shaped construction.
• Toda Embroidery: In the Toda language it is called pohor. Registrar of Geographical Indication gave GI status for this unique embroidery, a practice which has been passed on to generations.

Explanation :

• Parliamentary committees draw their authority from Article 105 (on privileges of Parliament members) and Article 118 (on Parliament’s authority to make rules for regulating its procedure and conduct of business).

Origin

• In India, the first Public Accounts Committee was constituted in April 1950.
• The practice of regularly referring bills to committees began in 1989 after government departments started forming their own standing committees.
• Prior to that, select committees or joint committees of the houses were only set up to scrutinise in detail some very important bills, but this was few and far between.

Significance

• Committee reports are usually exhaustive and provide authentic information on matters related to governance.
• Bills that are referred to committees are returned to the House with significant value addition.
• However, Parliament is not bound by the recommendations of committees.

Explanation :

• The Bay of Bengal (BoB) plays a fundamental role in controlling the weather systems that make up the South Asian summer monsoon system.
• In particular, the southern BoB has cooler sea surface temperature (SST) that influence ocean-atmosphere interaction and impact on the monsoon.
• Compared to the southeast, the southwestern BoB is cooler, more saline, receives much less rain, and is influenced by the Summer Monsoon Current (SMC).
• To examine the impact of these features on the monsoon, the BoB Boundary Layer Experiment (BoBBLE) was jointly undertaken by India and the UK during June July 2016.
• It seeks to examine the impact of ocean processes in the BoB on the monsoon system.

Explanation :

• Chithirai Festival or Chithirai Thiruvizha is an annual celebration celebrated in the city of Madurai during the Tamil month of Chithirai.
• It lasts for one month of which the first 15 days mark the celebrations of the coronation of Goddess Meenakshi and the Marriage of Lord Sundareswara and Goddess Meenakshi, and the next 15 days mark the celebrations of the Journey of Lord Alagar from Kallazhagar temple in Alagar Koyil to Madurai.

Meenakshi Temple

• Meenakshi Temple (also referred to as Meenakshi Amman or Meenakshi-Sundareshwara Temple), is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
• It is dedicated to Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, Sundareshwar, a form of Shiva.
• The temple is at the center of the ancient temple city of Madurai mentioned in the Tamil Sangam literature, with the goddess temple mentioned in 6th century CE texts.
• It temple was built by King Kulasekara Pandya (1190-1216 CE).

Explanation :

• Iran decided to change its currency from existing ‘Rial’ to ‘Toman’.
• The Iranian lawmakers voted on May 4, 2020 to approve an amendment to Iran’s Monetary and Banking Act of Iran to make the change.
• The amendment bill will cut four zeros from Iran’s currency. Toman, the new currency is equal to 10,000 rials.
• The new currency has been introduced amid the sharp fall in the value of Iranian currency as a result of crippling sanctions imposed by the United States.

Iran

• Capital: Tehran
• Also called Persia, and officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is a country in Western Asia.
• It is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and Azerbaijan,to the north by the Caspian Sea, to the northeast by Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq.

Its central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, give it geostrategic importance.

Explanation :

• Russia will launch its first Arktika-M satellite for monitoring the Arctic climate and environment at the end of the year.

Significance

• The Arktika-M is a remote-sensing and emergency communications satellite.
• It will help collect meteorological data from the polar regions of the Earth.
• The data will help improve weather forecasts and enable scientists to better study climate change.

Explanation :

• The Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine and online journalism, literature, and musical composition in the United States.
• It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher, and is administered by Columbia University.
• It is awarded yearly in 21 categories. Each winner receives a cash award and a certificate.
• A gold medal is awarded to the winner in Public Service Category.

Explanation :

• Bru or Reang is a community indigenous to Northeast India, living mostly in Tripura, Mizoram and Assam.
• In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group.
• They are the second most populous tribe among the indigenous Tripuris after Tripuri (Debbarma).
• They speak the Reang dialect of Kokborok language which is of Tibeto-Burmese origin and is locally referred to as Kau Bru.
• These are primarily an agrarian tribe. In the past, they mostly practised the Huk or Jhum cultivation like most other Tripuri tribes.
• Dance is an integral part of Reang life. The Hojagiri folk dance of Reang sub tribe is rather well known all over the world. 'Buisu', not 'bihu' is the most popular festival of reang tribes.

Explanation :

• Bengaluru's Bannerghatta Biological Park has come out with a programme during the lockdown period for those who want to conserve wildlife and adopt animals at the zoo.
• The animal adoption programme is an opportunity to get involved in supporting feed and veterinary care expenses for zoo animals with provision for Income Tax rebate under 80G.
• The park has released a list of animals that can be adopted: King cobra, Indian rock python, Black buck, Sambar, Emu, Golden jackal, Indian leopard, Sloth bear, Hippopotamus, Bengal tiger, Giraffe, etc

Bannerghatta Biological Park

• It was carved out of the Bannerghatta National Park (BNP) and brought under the Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) in 2004.
• The valley of Champakadhama hills is inside the park.

Explanation :

• Maharashtra and Gujarat celebrated their statehood day on 1^st May, 2020.
• On May 1^st, 1960, the bilingual state of Bombay was divided into two separate states by the Bombay Reorganisation Act, 1960: Maharashtra for Marathi speaking people and Gujarat for Gujarati speaking people.
• Gujarat was established as the 15th state of the Indian Union.

Maharashtra

• Capital: Mumbai
• Arabian Sea guards the western boundary of Maharashtra, while Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are on the northern side. Chhattisgarh covers the eastern boundary of the State. Karnataka and Telangana are on its southern side.
• Maharashtra has two major ports, Mumbai Port and Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) both located in Mumbai harbour.
• Bhil, Gond-Madia, Katkari, Koli, Oraonare the major tribes of Maharashtra.

Gujarat

• Capital: Gandhinagar
• The state is bounded by the Arabian Sea in the west, Pakistan and Rajasthan in the north and north-east respectively, Madhya Pradesh in the south-east and Maharashtra in the south.
• Gujarat is the first state in the nation to start a separate department of 'climate change' to tackle the issue of global warming.
• Kandla Port is the major port in Gujarat along with 41 minor ports.
• Gamit, Bhils, Dhodias, Bawcha, Kunbi are the major tribes present in the state.