Current Affairs - 2019-20

Notes:
The top three states in India that generate the most hazardous waste are:

• Gujarat: 28.76%
• Maharashtra: 25.16%
• Andhra Pradesh: 8.93%

Other major generators of hazardous waste include:

• Chhattisgarh (4.74%)
• Rajasthan (4.38%)
• West Bengal (4.17%)
• Tamil Nadu (4.15%)

In 2022, Gujarat generated over 4.2 million metric tons of hazardous waste, which was more than one third of the total hazardous waste output in India. Gujarat also had the largest number of industries generating hazardous waste in 2021.

Notes:
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan on June 8-9, 2017. In this summit, India and Pakistan will become full members of the organization. The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and military organisation which was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is mainly aimed at military cooperation between the members and involves intelligence- sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia. Afghanistan, Belarus, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status.

Notes:
Shell companies are created for unstated / hidden objectives of financial manoeuvres and not for normal trade.

Notes:
AB = 10cm
BD = 5 cm
∠ADB = 90°
∴ AD =




Hence option [C] is the right answer.

Notes:
The Raneh Falls is a natural water fall located in Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh on Ken River. It is situated about 20 km away from world famous heritage site Khajuraho. The waterfall is also close to Panna Tiger Reserve and Ken crocodile sanctuary. It was awarded the Best Holiday Award for 2017.Tourists from all over the country and abroad come here every year to enjoy the natural beauty. The Ken River here runs through a narrow gorge of igneous rocks rich in Granite and Dolomite. The Pandav Falls in Panna National Park is also located nearby.

Notes:
Recently, the central government announced a National Mission on advanced ultra supercritical technologies for cleaner coal utilisation at a total cost of US $ 238 million. Under the mission, the government plans to set-up two Centres of Excellence on Clean Coal Technologies at US $5 million each. What is Advanced Ultra-Supercritical (AUSC) Technology? The pulverised coal power plants are divided into four categories based on operating temperature, pressure and efficiency of steam cycle. First is subcritical pulverised coal power plant that operates with critical temperature and critical pressure of water below 540 degree and 170-220 bars and has operating efficiency below 38%. Second is supercritical pulverised coal plant that operates with critical temperature and critical pressure above 615 degree and 250 bars and reaches efficiency upto 42%. Third is ultra-supercritical pulverised coal plant that operates with critical temperature and critical pressure of water above 620 degree and 330 bars and reaches efficiency in the range of 42% to 46 %. Fourth is advanced ultra-supercritical pulverised coal technology that operates with critical temperature and critical pressure of water in range of 700-760 degrees and 350 bars and targets operating efficiency greater than 50%.

Notes:
By convention, the Secretary General, Lok Sabha or the Secretary General, Rajya Sabha is appointed as the Returning Officer, by rotation. Two other senior officers of the Lok Sabha/ Rajya Sabha Secretariat and the Secretaries and one more senior officer of Legislative Assemblies of all States including NCT of Delhi and Union Territory of Puducherry, are also appointed as the Assistant Returning Officers. The Election Commission of India makes such appointments. For the Presidential Election, 2017 the Secretary General Lok Sabha was the Returning Officer.

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:
One of the stated objectives of Paris Agreement of 2015 was making finance flows consistent towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resistant development. To achieve the same, recently in May, 2017, 16 countries of International Solar Alliance jointly commissioned to define and structure the Common Risk Mitigation Mechanism for solar power generation projects. The instrument aims to:

• set up a secure environment for private investors to invest in solar projects
• lower the cost of finance for renewable energy and the overall price of electricity enlarge the total size of the renewable energy market by making investments in renewables
• diversify and pool risks on mutualised public resources and unlock significant investments

Notes:
India’s first and the only Minority Cyber Gram village is Chandauli village in Rajasthan. It was recently praised by the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg during his visit to India. The village has 1300 households with average two persons per family (2600 persons) including non minorities in the village were selected for Digital Literacy. The project has been completed under the digital literacy programme.