Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
India imports the most tea from Nepal. In 2021-22, India imported 11.12 million kg of tea from Nepal, which was the largest quantity. The next largest quantity came from Kenya at 7.08 million kg.

In 2021, India imported $54.7M in tea, mainly from:

• Nepal ($20.2M)
• Kenya ($11.7M)
• Iran ($4.14M)
• Vietnam ($3.96M)
• United Arab Emirates ($3.76M)

India is the world’s second largest exporter of tea. In 2019, India exported $842 million of tea.

Notes:
National Highway Authority of India was awarded with Best Design Pavilion Award in the recently concluded 105th Indian Science Congress held in Imphal.

Notes:
Let AB = 2x units
=> BD=DC = x units
∴ AB : BD = 2 : 1
Hence option [A] is the right answer.

Notes:
Supercritical and ultra-supercritical technologies are associated with coal-fired power plants. These technologies are designed to improve the efficiency and reduce the emissions of coal-fired power plants.
Supercritical boilers operate at temperatures around 538–565°C and pressures above 3,200 psi. Ultra-supercritical boilers operate at temperatures around 615–630°C and pressures around 300 bar.
The term “advanced ultra-supercritical” (AUSC) is sometimes used to describe generators where the water is above 700°C (1,292°F). The coal industry uses the term “High-Efficiency, Low-Emissions” (HELE) to describe supercritical and ultra-supercritical coal generation.

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:
Recently, the AYUSH Ministry has inaugurated India’s first advanced Homoeopathy Virology lab in Kolkata. The cost of laboratory is Rs. 8 crore. Currently, it is the only one in India for conducting basic and fundamental research in homeopathy for viral diseases such as influenza, Japanese encephalitis, dengue, chikungunya and swine flu.

Notes:
BND stands for Bharatiya Nirdeshak Dravya, is an indigenous Indian standard Gold bar weighing 20gms and with the dimensions of famous “Parle-G” Biscuit. It has been jointly developed by the scientists of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) and CSIR-National Physical Laboratory (NPL). With this, Indian jewellers will no longer need to import gold bars to check the purity of ornaments.This will add to the Make in India campaign and will save foreign exchange of nearly 1000 crore per annum as well as minimise dependency on foreign countries. The bars are being minted in denominations of 10g, 50g, 100g, 500g & 1000g by the India Government Mint (IGM), a unit of Security Printing and Minting Corp of India Ltd. The standard gold bars would be nearly 25% cheaper than their imported versions.

Notes:
Specific Relief is a 1963 law that legalese for performing a contract when monetary compensation for failing to complete contractual obligations is not enough. It was in news when government decided to amend the act on the recommendation of a committee. As per new recommendations, even if contractual obligations cannot be met, the court could ask the parties to fulfil terms of the contract. Monetary compensation will be an alternative when contracts cannot be fulfilled.

Notes:
“Operation Green” has been launched to boost production and processing of tomato, onion and potato. This is to promote farmer producers organisations, agri-logistics, processing facilities and professional management.