Erra Matti Dibbalu

Erra Matti Dibbalu is dissected and stabilized coastal red sediment mounds, located between Visakhapatnam and Bheemunipatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Formation:

• Formed around 12,000 years ago due to sea-land interaction.
• Comprises a mixture of sand (40-50%), silt and clay (another 50%) with oxidation imparting the unique red colour.

Significance:

• They are geologically important as they represent the geological history of the late Quaternary period and carry the imprints of the fall of sea level and its subsequent rise, the impact of climate, monsoon and geological processes on the sediments.
• They are anthropologically and archeologically important as they possibly contain mesolithic and neolithic cultural materials as well.

Recognition:

• It was recognised as a national geo-heritage site in 2014 and as a protected site by the Andhra Pradesh Government in 2016.
• The Geological Survey of India (GSI) declares geo-heritage sites/ national geological monuments for protection and maintenance
• Other Similar Place: The only other place in the country to have a similar stretch of red sand dunes is Tamil Nadu, which has the Teri dune complex.

There are 32 Geo-Heritage sites in India. They are lised below:

Missile Park 'Agneeprastha' to be set up at INS Kalinga

• Foundation Stone for a Missile Park "AGNEEPRASTHA" was laid at INS Kalinga .
• The Park also commemorates the award of the prestigious Unit Citation to INS Kalinga for the year 2018-19.
• ‘AGNEEPRASTHA’ aims to capture glimpses of Missile History of INS Kalinga since 1981 till date.
• The Missile Park has been set up with a replica of missiles and Ground Support Equipment (GSE) that showcase the evolution of missiles handled by the unit.
• The exhibits have been created from scrap / obsolete inventory which have been reconditioned in-house.
• The main attraction is P-70 'Ametist', an underwater launched anti-ship missile from the arsenal of the old 'Chakra' (Charlie-1 submarine) which was in service with IN during 1988-91.
• ‘AGNEEPRASTHA’ will also provide a one-stop arena for motivation and stimulation of inquisitive minds regarding the missiles and related technologies, from school children to Naval personnel and their families.
• It is also intended to encourage a feeling of ownership and pride in the role of the Unit, and highlight the necessity of contribution of all personnel irrespective of rank/trade towards the overarching objective of ordnance availability, reliability and delivery on target, each and every time.

INS KALINGA

• INS Kalinga is an Indian Navy establishment reporting to the Eastern Naval Command.
• It is responsible for preparing, storing and delivering advanced missiles to ships of the Eastern Fleet.
• INS Kalinga was commissioned on 21 November 1985.
• INS Kalinga is located on the Visakhapatnam - Bheemunipatnam beach road about 40 kilometers north east of the Visakhapatnam Naval Base.

What RBI discontinuing 7.75% saving bonds means to investors

Introduction

• After the cut in deposit rates by the banks and a cut in small savings rate by the government over the last couple of months, the Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday said the Government of India has discontinued 7.75 per cent savings (taxable) bonds, 2018 for subscription with effect from the close of banking business on Thursday.
• The move will deprive investors of another saving instrument that yielded relatively higher post tax returns for investors.

What are 7.75 per cent RBI bonds?

• The 7.75 bonds 2018 were issued with effect from January 10, 2018 and were available for subscription to resident citizens/HUF to invest in a taxable bond.
• While one bond was of Rs 1,000 each, the bonds had no maximum limit for investment.
• The bonds had a 7-year lock-in period from the date of issue, but, it permitted premature encasement to individuals who were 60 years and above.
• Interest on these bonds will be taxable under the Income-tax Act, 1961.

What has happened now?

• The government has withdrawn these bonds with effect from Friday and therefore it will not be available for investors to invest.
• This means it is only ceasing fresh issuance and not redeeming those already invested. Those whose cheque’s got submitted and cleared till yesterday will get 7.75 per cent.

Was it in high demand?

• Investment advisors say that while it was mostly used by HNIs to invest, the demand for RBI bonds went up significantly over the last couple of months as investors turned risk averse.
• Even as the post-tax returns were low as compared to PSU-debt, experts say investors rushed for it as they saw it as the safest investment instrument available.

How did it fare against other options?

• As the 7.75 per cent RBI bonds were taxable instruments, the interest income on it would be taxable at the marginal tax rate.
• For those having income of over Rs 5 crore and having interest income from these bonds, the return would be 4.44 per cent.
• For those falling in the tax bracket of 30 per cent, the return from these bonds would stand at 5.4 per cent, while for those falling in the lowest tax bracket of 10 per cent, the post-tax return would be 6.975 per cent.
• In April 2020, the government announced a cut in the small savings rate.
• While the rates for PPF were cut from 7.9 per cent earlier to 7.1 per cent, that on Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana was brought down to 7.6 per cent from 8.4% earlier.
• In comparison, SBI is currently offering 5.3 per cent for a term deposit of 3-5 years and 5.4 per cent on term despots of 5-10 years.
• The post-tax return for those falling in 30 per cent tax bracket would stand at 3.71 per cent and 3.78 per cent respectively. Experts say that PSU debt papers offer post tax return of around 7 per cent.

Why the cut in rates?

• The interest rates have been on a decline since the global growth rate projections have been brought down following the spread of coronavirus Pandemic.
• The Reserve Bank of India first announced a 75 basis point cut in repo rate on March 27, 2020 to 4.4 per cent and then again announced a cut in repo rate by 40 basis points to 4 per cent on May 22.
• A cut in repo rates not only reduces the rate at which commercial banks borrow from RBI but also leads to a cut in deposit and lending rates for banks.
• The RBIs move to cut in repo rate has been to push credit growth and demand in the economy in a bid to augur growth in the economy.

ANITA: Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna

Part of: GS-III- Space (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Recently, NASA’s Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) has detected the unusual upward movement of neutrinos in Antarctica.

Background

Instead of the high-energy neutrinos streaming in from space, they seem to have come from the Earth's interior, before hitting the detectors of ANITA. Usually, the high-energy particles move top to bottom (i.e. from space to the earth). However, ANITA has detected an anomaly i.e. particles have been detected travelling bottom to top.

Earlier, researchers had also located a deep-space source for high-energy neutrinos through the Ice Cube Neutrino Observatory at a U.S. scientific research station at the South Pole in Antarctica (PT). The India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) is located at the Bodi West Hills region in Theni District of Tamil Nadu.

Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna

About

Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) is a radio telescope instrument to detect ultra-high energy cosmic-ray neutrinos from a scientific balloon flying over the continent of Antarctica.

It involves an array of radio antennas attached to a helium balloon which flies over the Antarctic ice sheet at 37,000 meters. At such a height, the antennas can listen to the cosmos and detect high-energy particles, known as neutrinos, which constantly bombard the planet.

• It is the first NASA observatory for neutrinos of any kind.
• ANITA detects neutrinos pinging in from space and colliding with matter in the Antarctic ice sheet through the Askaryan effect
• The Askaryan effect is the phenomenon whereby a particle traveling faster than the phase velocity of light in a dense dielectric (such as salt, ice or the lunar regolith) produces a shower of secondary charged particles.
  • • When neutrinos smash into an atom, they produce a shower of detectable secondary particles.These detectable secondary particles allow us to probe where they came from in the universe.
    • However, neutrinos pose no threat to human beings and pass through most solid objects. Additionally, they rarely do interact with matter. It is named after Gurgen Askaryan, a Soviet-Armenian physicist who postulated it in 1962.

Conclusion

The ANITA experiment has definitely detected something unusual and unexpected about neutrinos but there are many competing theories about it. There are a number of potential candidate particles that could account for the results from ANITA.

Further, there are so many unknown properties about neutrinos that astrophysicists and scientists are still trying to unravel. It contemplates that there is new physics out there to be found which will help to study the origin of the universe and big bang theory in the future.

Fabrication of Controlled Nanostructures

Part of: GS-III- Nanotechnology (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Background

Recently, the researchers at the Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST) Mohali have found a route to fabricate precisely controlled nanostructures of desired geometry and location on 2D materials, through a rapid one-step low power laser writing process.

INST, Mohali is an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

About

INST developed a hybrid Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) platform of Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2, an inorganic compound) nanostructure decorated with gold NanoParticles (AuNPs).

• • SERS is a commonly used sensing technique in which inelastic light scattering by molecules is greatly enhanced when the molecules are adsorbed onto corrugated metal surfaces such as silver or gold nanoparticles (NPs).
  • It enhances the Raman scattering light from molecules, thus leading to effective analysis of the molecules.
• Direct laser writing (3D printing for microscopic world) was used to engineer the artificial edges on the surface of MoS₂ which created localized hotspots with precision and control.
  • A focused laser beam of meagre power of a conventional Raman spectrometer was used which enables the superior deposition of AuNPs along the artificial edges.
  • Nanostructuring was done on the 2D MoS₂ sheet.
• The hybrid SERS platform offers controlled formation of localized hotspots for ultrasensitive and reproducible detection of analytes (substances whose chemical constituents are being identified and measured).

Significance

• This research will open a new avenue for the development of commercialized SERS substrates (a silicon wafer coated with a metal like gold or silver) with a localized detection capability of analytes.
• SERS detection has been emerging as a powerful tool for the detection of a variety of analytes due to its very high sensitivity and fingerprinting recognition capabilities.
• This will also shed new light in the SERS sensing of biological and chemical molecules.
• The technology can be used in combination with an antibody for the spectroscopic detection of various biomarkers (an objective measure that captures what is happening in a cell or an organism at a given moment).

Raman Effect

• It is a phenomenon in spectroscopy discovered by the eminent physicist Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman on 28^th February 1928. In his honour, 28^th February is celebrated as National Science Day in India.
• In 1930, he got a Nobel Prize for this remarkable discovery and this was the first Nobel Prize for India in the field of Science.
• Raman effect is the inelastic scattering of a photon by molecules which are excited to higher vibrational or rotational energy levels. It is also called Raman scattering.
  • In simpler words, it is a change in the wavelength of light that occurs when a light beam is deflected by molecules.
  • When a beam of light traverses a dust-free, transparent sample of a chemical compound, a small fraction of the light emerges in directions other than that of the incident (incoming) beam.
  • Most of this scattered light is of unchanged wavelength. A small part, however, has wavelengths different from that of the incident light and its presence is a result of the Raman Effect.
• The Raman effect forms the basis for Raman spectroscopy which is used by chemists and physicists to gain information about materials. Spectroscopy is the study of the interaction between matter and electromagnetic radiation.

Banks Board Bureau

Part of: GS-III- Bank (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has selected SN Rajeswari as the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Delhi-based Oriental Insurance Company (OIC).

• The Ministry of Finance will now start the process of appointing Rajeswari as the CMD of OIC.
• This will be followed by the Finance Ministry's nod and a further approval from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet and the Prime Minister’s Office.

Background: The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has its genesis in the recommendations of ‘The Committee to Review Governance of Boards of Banks in India, May 2014 (Chairman - P. J. Nayak)

Formation: The government, in 2016, approved the constitution of the BBB as a body of eminent professionals and officials to make recommendations for appointment of whole-time directors as well as non-executive chairpersons of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and state-owned financial institutions.

• • It is an autonomous recommendatory body.
  • The Ministry of Finance takes the final decision on the appointments in consultation with the Prime Minister’s Office.

Functions:

• Apart from recommending personnel for the PSBs, the Bureau has also been assigned with the task of recommending personnel for appointment as directors in government-owned insurance companies.
• It engages with the board of directors of all the public sector banks to formulate appropriate strategies for their growth and development.
• It is tasked with improving corporate governance at public sector banks, building capacities, etc.

**The Banks Board Bureau is a public authority as defined in the Right to Information Act, 2005.

Older men worry less about Covid-19 than others: study

• Data on Covid-19 so far has indicated that men are more vulnerable than women, and the elderly are more vulnerable than the young.
• Now, a study has found that older men worry less about Covid-19 than women their age or younger men and women, and thus may be at greater risk of contracting it.
• This is a concern given that older men are already more at risk, according to the study by researchers at Georgia State University, and published in The Journals of Gerontology.
• In general, worry begins to ease with age, and is also lower among men than women.
• “Not only do older adults exhibit less negative emotions in their daily lives, they also exhibit less worry and fewer PTSD symptoms following natural disasters and terrorist attacks,” gerontology and psychology researcher Sarah Barber said in a statement.
• Knowing that older adults tend to worry less, Barber conducted a study to see how this affected responses to the global pandemic.
• Older men were less worried about Covid-19, and had adopted the fewest number of behaviour changes.
• They were relatively less likely to have worn a mask, to report having stopped touching their faces or to have purchased extra food.

Port Antsiranana, Madagascar

• As part of Mission Sagar, Indian Naval Ship Kesari entered Port Antsiranana, Madagascar on 27 May 2020. INS Kesari carried a consignment of COVID-related essential medicines for the people of Madagascar.
• ‘Mission Sagar’ builds on the excellent relations existing between the two countries to battle the COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant difficulties.
• The deployment also resonates with the vision of our Prime Minister of Security and Growth for All in the Region ‘SAGAR’ and highlights the importance accorded by India to relations with the countries of the IOR.

United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award

• Major Suman Gawain, an Indian Army officer who served as a women peacekeeper with the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in 2019 is being awarded the prestigious “United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award” on 29 May 2020.
• She will receive the award from the UN Secretary-General Mr Antonio Guterres during an online ceremony being organised at the UN Headquarters, New York on the occasion of International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers.
• Major Suman will be receiving this award along with a Brazilian Naval Officer Commander Carla Monteiro de Castro Araujo.
• Major Suman served as a Military observer in UNMISS from November 2018 to December 2019.
• While at the mission, she was the principal focal point of contact for gender issues for Military Observers in the mission.
• The officer encouraged participation in joint military patrols to maintain gender balance, irrespective of the hardships under extreme field conditions.

GENDER ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR AWARD

• The United Nations Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award recognises the dedication and effort of an individual peacekeeper in promoting the principles within the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325.
• 2016 marks the first year the award will be given out.
• The selection process for a recipient began in 2015 when the Office of Military Affairs, which sits within the Department for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) in the United Nations, requested Force Commanders and Heads of Mission from all DPKO peacekeeping missions to nominate a military peacekeeper whom they felt had best integrated a gender perspective into peacekeeping activities.

Jal Marg Vikas Project – Inland waterways

JMVP was announced by the union government to enable commercial navigation of at least 1500 tonne vessels on the Ganga River. The project envisages the development of a waterway between Allahabad and Haldia (NW-1) on the Ganga River. It includes the development of fairways, multi-modal terminals, strengthening of open river navigation techniques, conservancy works, and modern river information system. The project is funded by the World Bank. It is carried out by the Union Ministries of Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.

NW-1

• The National Waterway -1 or Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system runs from Allahabad to Haldia which is about 1,620 km (longest in India).
• It passes through West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and serves major cities and their industrial hinterlands.

• It is an important constituent of the Eastern Transport Corridor of India.
• This corridor along with NH-2 connects the National Capital Region (NCR) with the eastern and northeastern states.
• It will also be an important link to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and other east and south-east Asian countries through the Kolkata Port.

First investment for NIIF

Recently a Dubai-based marine firm DP World has partnered with NIIF to create an investment platform for ports, terminals, transportation and logistics businesses in India. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is set up to function as a major platform in India for attracting foreign investments to fund stalled infra projects.

The NIIF is being operationalized by establishing three Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) under the SEBI Regulations.

• The proposed corpus of NIIF is Rs. 40,000 Crores (around USD 6 Billion).
• GOI’s contribution to the AIFs under the NIIF scheme shall be 49% of the total commitment.
• NIIF has a mandate to solicit equity participation from strategic anchor partners, like overseas sovereign/quasi-sovereign/multilateral/bilateral investors.

Dam Safety

India hosted the International Dam Safety Conference at Thiruvananthapuram. Central Water Commission is organizing the event in association with the Kerala state government. Dam safety conferences are an annual events under the Dam Safety Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) project, the conferences will be conducted in DRIP states. The key recommendations emerging from the deliberations of the conference will be circulated to stakeholders as well as policy makers for implementation.

DHARMA App

• Dam Health and Rehabilitation Monitoring Application (DHARMA) will be launched during the international dam safety conference.
• The app will serve as a web tool to digitize all dam related data effectively.
• It will help to document authentic asset and health information pertaining to the large dams in the country, enabling appropriate actions to ensure need based rehabilitation.

DRIP

• Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) was implemented by Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR) with assistance from the World Bank.
• The Central Dam Safety Organisation of Central Water Commission is coordinating and supervising the Project implementation.

The main objectives of DRIP are

• To improve the safety and performance of selected (223 dams across 7 different states) existing dams in a sustainable manner.
• To strengthen the dam safety institutional setup in participating states as well as at the central level.

The Seven DRIP States includes Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand.

CWC

Central Water Commission is a technical organization functioning under the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. The Commission is entrusted with the general responsibilities of initiating, coordinating and furthering in consultation about the water resources to the concerned state governments.Central Water Commission CWC is headed by a Chairman, with the status of Ex-Officio Secretary to the Government of India.

The work of the Commission is divided among 3 wings namely,

• Designs and Research (D&R) Wing.
• River Management (RM) Wing.
• Water Planning and Projects (WP&P) Wing.

Funaria hygrometrica

Scientists have identified a type of moss that can efficiently absorb a large amount of lead, providing a green alternative for decontaminating polluted water and soil. Funaria hygrometrica is the moss which uses phytoremediation, it is known to grow well in sites contaminated with metals like copper, zinc, and lead.

Phytoremediation is a method that uses photosynthesising organisms to clean up soil or water contamination. The Moss cells can absorb lead up to 74 per cent of their dry weight.

Urban heat islands

Rapid urbanisation combined with changes in land use patterns leads to warming of urban spaces compared with surrounding non-urban areas this is called the urban heat island effect. Urban migration, concrete jungles, a decrease in dense vegetation and cultivable land area, and encroachments in water bodies will influence urban heat islands. For instance, Delhi is 4-12°C warmer due to the urban heat island effect.

‘Rozgar Setu’ scheme

• Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced the launch of the ‘Rozgar Setu’ scheme, saying it would help secure employment for skilled workers who have returned.
• The State is the first to devise such a work plan.
• After such workers requiring employment are identified, the government will contact factory and workshop owners and contractors overseeing infrastructure projects such as road and bridge construction.

Saksham

Saksham is a capacity-building program under the Ministry of Rural development. It is a training module which focuses on the use of Remote Sensing and GIS tools for project planning and monitoring components like watersheds, groundwater and geohydrology.

**It is not to be confused with project Saksham of the Railway Ministry.

Project Saksham

It is the nation’s largest time-bound “Upskilling” exercise for its employees to boost their efficiency. Under Project Saksham, all employees in each zone will be put through a week’s training in skills and knowledge relevant to their work area.

SECURE

The Ministry of rural development has adopted the Software for Estimate Calculation Using Rural Rates for Employment (SECURE). It aims to improve the quality of work by detailing of technical specifications, tasks and workflows. All estimates under MGNREGS will be generated with the use of SECURE (software) from the Programme’s Management Information System with effect from 1st April, 2018.

D10 club

• The British government has approached the US with the prospect of creating a 5G club of 10 democracies, including India, amid growing security concerns related to Chinese telecom giant Huawei.
• A so-called 'D10' club of democratic partners, including G7 countries – UK, US, Italy, Germany, France, Japan and Canada – plus Australia, South Korea and India will aim to create alternative suppliers of 5G equipment and other technologies to avoid relying on China.
• The move to speed up such a club comes as the UK launched an inquiry into Huawei’s involvement in the country’s mobile network upgrade in the wake of US sanctions against the company.

Bug Bounty Programme

It has a goal to partner with security researchers and the Indian developer community to test the security effectiveness of Aarogya Setu and also to enhance its security and build users’ trust. It is aimed at encouraging the Indian developer community to find security flaws in the app and get rewarded Rs 1 lakh.