Project Sashakt

• Project Sashakt is a five-pronged strategy to resolve bad loans.
• With the larger ones going to an asset management company (AMC) or an alternative investment fund (AIF).
• It was proposed by a panel led by PNB chairman Sunil Mehta.
• According to the committee, banks will have to set up an AMC under which there will be multiple sector-specific AIFs.
• These funds will invest in the stressed assets bought by existing ARCs, such as ARCIL.

Alternative Investment Fund(AIF)

• AIF means any fund established or incorporated in India via privately pooled investment.
• These funds do not happen via the traditional modes of investment such as stocks, bonds, cash, property etc. 
• Alternative investments include private equity, hedge funds, managed futures, real estate, commodities and derivatives contracts.
• It comes under Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

• The patch, also described as the Pacific trash vortex, is a gyre of marine debris particles in the central North Pacific Ocean discovered between 1985 and 1988.
• The patch is characterized by exceptionally high relative pelagic concentrations of plastic, chemical sludge, and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre.
• It consists primarily of an increase in suspended, often microscopic, particles in the upper water column.
• The patch has one of the highest levels known of plastic particulates suspended in the upper water column.

Snow Leopard

• Recently a snow leopard was spotted at a height of about 4,000 metres in Lippa-Asra wildlife sanctuary in Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh.
• It was only last year that the snow leopard improved from ‘endangered’ to ‘vulnerable’ in terms of conservation status.
• The recent findings have ascertained that snow leopards are inhabiting new areas.
• During the survey, two brown bears were snapped through another camera-trap placed inside the sanctuary at an altitude of about 3200m.
• Project Snow Leopard was launched in 2009 for strengthening wildlife conservation in the Himalayan high altitudes.
• It aims at promoting a knowledge-based and adaptive conservation framework that fully involves the local communities, who share the snow leopard’s range, in conservation efforts.
• Snow leopards are given the same protection as the tiger, listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 – the highest protection afforded to a species.

Animal Welfare Board of India

• The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), headquartered at Ballabhgarh in Haryana state, is a statutory advisory body advising the Government of India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• It was previously based at Chennai
• It was established in 1962 under Section 4 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act,1960.
• Well-known humanitarian Rukmini Devi Arundale was instrumental in setting up the board and was its first chair.

Bonnethead shark

• It is shark species which feeds on seagrass for 60 percent of its food requirements.
• Bonnethead sharks eat seagrass along with snails, crabs, bony fish, and shrimp.
• It is the only known case of plant-feeding in sharks.
• This species occurs off the American coast, in regions where the water is usually warmer than 70 °F (21 °C).
• It ranges from New England, where it is rare, to the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil, and from southern California to Ecuador.
• The bonnethead is an abundant species and is currently classified as a least concern species by the IUCN.
• It is heavily targeted by commercial and recreational fisheries.

BIMSTEC

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising of seven member states in South Asia and Southeast Asia lying in littoral and adjacent areas of Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
• This sub-regional organisation came into being on June 6, 1997, through the Bangkok Declaration. It is headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
• It comprises of seven member countries: five deriving from South Asia — including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka — and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.

Debts Recovery Tribunals

• Debt Recovery Tribunals were established to facilitate the debt recovery involving banks and other financial institutions with their customers.
• DRTs were set up after the passing of Recovery of Debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act (RDBBFI), 1993.
• The Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) enforces provisions of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions (RDDBFI) Act, 1993 and also Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interests (SARFAESI) Act, 2002.
• Appeals against orders passed by DRTs lie before Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunal (DRAT).
• Section 3 of the RDDBFI Act empowers the Central government to establish DRTs.
• A DRT is presided over by a presiding officer who is appointed by the central govt. and who shall be qualified to be a District Judge; with tenure of 5 years or the age of 62, whichever is earlier.
• No court in the country other than the SC and the HCs and that too, only under articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution have jurisdiction over this matter.

Birdlife International

• BirdLife International is a worldwide alliance of nongovernmental organizations.
• It promotes the conservation of birds and their habitats.
• Founded in 1922 as the International Council for Bird Preservation.
• Headquarters in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
• It is the official Red List authority for birds, for the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
• BirdLife International publishes a quarterly magazine, World Birdwatch

Bharat Ke Veer

• Bharat Ke Veer is a fund-raising initiative by the Ministry of Home Affairs, on behalf of members of the Indian Armed Forces.
• It aids families of paramilitary personnel killed in action.
• It allows donations of up to ₹ 15 lakhs to an individual’s account and donations to the “Bharat Ke Veer” corpus.

Leptospirosis

• It is a rare bacterial infection.
• Caused by corkscrew-shaped bacteria called Leptospira.
• If the infection causes the person to turn yellow, have kidney failure and bleeding, it is then known as Weil’s disease.
• If it also causes bleeding into the lungs then it is known as severe pulmonary hemorrhage syndrome.
• It is transmitted by both wild and domestic animals.
• The most common animals that spread the disease are rodents.

National Board of Accreditation

• Recently 4th World Summit on Accreditation (WOSA-2018) is being held at New Delhi. It is being organized by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).
• National Board of Accreditation (NBA) is an autonomous organisation under Ministry of Human Resource Development engaged in quality assurance of the programs offered by the professional and technical institutions in India through accreditation.
• NBA has been accorded Permanent Signatory Status of Washington Accord since June, 2014.
• It has adopted internationally implemented outcome based assessment and accreditation, to ensure that the graduates of the NBA accredited programs are globally competent and relevant.

• The theme of WOSA 2018 is “CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN OUTCOME BASED ACCREDITATION” and the sub-themes are:

  • Sub-Theme 1 – Achieving Excellence through Learning Outcomes.
  • Sub-Theme 2 – Role of Industry in Technical Education.
  • Sub-Theme 3 – Ranking and Rating of Higher Education Institutions – Do they have a Role in Quality Improvement?
  • Sub-Theme 4 – Linking Government Funding with Quality.
  • Sub-Theme 5 – Use of ICT in Accreditation in Large Jurisdictions.

HaiYang (HY-1C)

• Recently China has launched this marine remote sensing satellite
• It is a marine remote sensing satellite.
• HY-1C is expected to improve China’s ocean remote sensing capability.
• Operated by NSOAS (National Satellite Ocean Application Service).
• HY-1C can detect chlorophyll and suspended sediment concentrations and dissolved organic matter.
• It can affect ocean color, as well as temperatures on the sea surface.

Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana

• The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or Ayushman Bharat scheme will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay on September 25, 2018.
• It is the world’s largest government-funded programme.
• It will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families.
• Providing coverage up to Rs 5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
• The beneficiaries will be decided on the basis of the Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 (SECC) database.