Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
The mines mentioned in this are in Jharkhand.

Notes:
The Bhitarkanika National Park (BNP) is located in Kendrapara district of Odisha and is spread over 672 square kilometers. It is in news recently because the national park has registered an impressive rise in mammal population due to adequate conservation measures and vigil by anti-poaching squad of the forest department. According to the latest head count report released by the forest department, the enumerators spotted 7,129 mammals of 14 species in Kendrapara district while the figure stood at 6,122 in 2016. According to wildlife staff, there are couple of factors are contributing to the rising graph. First, the rich and lush-green mangrove forest has turned out to be an ideal habitat for hyenas, boars and deer. Besides, lack of human interference in their habitation corridors has also emerged favourable. There is also imbalance in predator-prey base in Bhitarkanika. Unlike the Sundarbans, Bhitarkanika mangroves are devoid of tigers.

Notes:
Difference in per cent expensses on printing cost and advertisement charges = (35 – 18)% = 17%
Now, 1% = 3.6%
∴ 17% = 3.6°17=61.2°

Notes:
The Advanced Ultra Supercritical technology is an indigenous technology for coal-fired power plants, which requires less fuel, delivers greater efficiency and is a tad cleaner. The Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) is designing phases of the 800 MW advanced ultra supercritical (AUSC) boiler for coal power plant will be ready by 2019-2020.

Notes:
National Accountability Bureau is Pakistan’s corruption watchdog. Its an autonomous and constitutional body of that country responsible to build efforts against corruption and prepare critical national economic intelligence assessments against economic terrorism to Pakistan government. It has been frequently in news in context with corruption charges on Nawaj Sharif. It recently also ordered the freezing of properties and assets of finance minister Ishaq Dar, who is also facing a reference in the Accountability Court for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Notes:
On 20 July 2015, the United Nation Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2231 (2015) endorsing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The full implementation of Resolution 2231 (2015) provides for the termination of the provisions of previous Security Council resolutions on the Iranian nuclear issue and establishes specific restrictions that apply to all States without exception.

Notes:
Recently, Meghalaya became the first state in the country to operationalise a law that makes social audit of government programmes and schemes a part of government practice. The Meghalaya state government recently launched “The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act, 2017”. The key provisions of the social audit law are as follows:

• Make an easy edit in the course of action for implementation of government schemes as per requirement
• The law gives people a direct say in how money will be spent and fills an information gap for officers and locals

The law also has provision for appointment of social audit facilitator to conduct the audit directly with the people.

Notes:
Indian scientists have discovered a new species of frog that has a snout-shaped nose, just like a pig’s. It has been named Nasikabatrachus bhupathi after the Indian herpetologist S. Bhupathy, who died in a freak accident in 2014. The soiled-dwelling species has been discovered by scientists from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB). Bhupathy’s purple frog inhabits the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats, near the Srivilliputhur Grizzled Giant Squirrel Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu.

Notes:
The South Asia Sub regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) includes seven member countries-Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. Myanmar has been recently added to the list as the seventh member of the economic cooperation.

Notes:
VPM1002 is a new vaccine for tuberculosis