E-Crackers

• CSIR-CEERI, being an electronics laboratory, is developing safe and pollution free technology of electronic crackers (E-crackers) to meet latent social aspiration of enjoying fireworks.
• It includes various products like E-Ladi, E-Anar, system for E-cracker show etc. At present CSIR-CEERI is ready with the laboratory level prototype of E-Ladi.
• E-Ladi is based on high-voltage electrostatic discharge to generate light/sound effect.
• It is triggered by providing heat to the thermal switch which will give the excitement of firing the conventional cracker.
• The E-Ladi is also programmable to give various light/sound effect.

• High voltage generator is capable of producing very high voltage using the concept of tesla coil.
• These pods are connected in parallel to achieve desired light/sound pattern.
• The controller block consists of a pulse generator and a solid state device based circuit to control the switching of these pods.
• The second version of this prototype will include compact form factor and thermal actuation arrangement.
• CSIR-NEERI has also planned to use area source control through development of new systems called PURE-WAYU as also photochip material for local dust control.

Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM)

1. The Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) is the highest platform for Asia-Europe dialogue
2. Established in 1996, ASEM functions as an informal inter-governmental dialogue platform
3. Through five rounds of expansion, it has registered a two-fold increase in membership, from 26 in 1996 to 53 in 2018
4. ASEM’s potential lies in the fact that it encompasses 60% of the world population, more than half of global trade, and around two-thirds of global gross domestic product
5. It consists of four United Nations Security Council members, all BRICS members except South Africa, and 12 of the G20 member states
6. It also includes two regional organizations, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Secretariat and the European Commission

Invest India

• Invest India is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India and acts as the first point of reference for investors in India.
• Invest India is set up as a non profit venture under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Government of India.
• Operationalized in early 2010, Invest India is set up as a joint venture company between the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry (35% equity), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) (51% equity), and State Governments of India (0.5% each).
• The core mandate of Invest India is investment promotion and facilitation.
• It provides sector-specific and state-specific information to a foreign investor, assists in expediting regulatory approvals, and offers hand-holding services. Its mandate also includes assisting Indian investors to make informed choices about investment opportunities overseas.

Sittwe Port

• India and Myanmar have signed an important MoU for the appointment of a private Port Operator for the Operation and Maintenance of Sittwe Port, Paletwa Inland Water Terminal and associated facilities included in the Kaladan Multi Model Transit Transport Project in implementation of India’s Act East Policy.
• Sittwe is the capital of Rakhine State (which has been in the news for the plight of Rohingya Muslims) in south-western Myanmar. It is located at the mouth of the Kaladan river, which flows into Mizoram in north-eastern India.

Intermediate- Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty

• The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty required the United States and the Soviet Union to eliminate and permanently forswear all of their nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers.
• The treaty marked the first time the superpowers had agreed to reduce their nuclear arsenals, eliminate an entire category of nuclear weapons, and utilize extensive on-site inspections for verification.
• As a result of the INF Treaty, the United States and the Soviet Union destroyed a total of 2,692 short-, medium-, and intermediate-range missiles by the treaty’s implementation deadline of June 1, 1991.
• Despite its name, the INF Treaty covers all types of ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles — whether their payload is conventional or nuclear.
• Moscow and Washington are prohibited from deploying these missiles anywhere in the world, not just in Europe.
• However, the treaty applies only to ground-launched systems. Both sides are free to deploy air- and sea-launched missiles within the 500-to-5,500-kilometer range.

Tea Board of India

• The Tea Board is set up under the Tea Act 1953.
• It has succeeded the Central Tea Board and the Indian Tea Licencing Committee which functioned respectively under the Central Tea Board Act, 1949 and the Indian Tea Control Act, 1938 which were repealed.
• The Tea Board is functioning as a statutory body of the Central Government under the Ministry of Commerce.
• The Board is constituted of 31 members (including Chairman) drawn from Members of Parliament, tea producers, tea traders, tea brokers, consumers, and representatives of Governments from the principal tea producing states, and trade unions.
• The Board is reconstituted every three years.

Arya Samaj

• Arya Samaj was formed in the year 1875 by Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
• It emphasized on the liberation of the Hindu society.
• It believes in infallibility of Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati gave the slogan “Go back to the Vedas” to revive the true Vedic religion.
• It advocated widow remarriage, female education and equal status for women in the society.
• It strongly opposed idol worship, ritualism, practice of animal-sacrifice, the concept of polytheism, the idea of heaven and hell and fatalism.

Migingo Island

• For over a decade, Migingo has been a source of tension between Uganda and Kenya, who have been unable to decide to whom it really belongs.
• Compared to half the size of a football pitch, Migingo is a small rock Island, located in Lake Victoria which is the largest lake in Africa and the largest Tropical Lake in the whole world.

Third Pole

• The Hindu Kush-Himalayan region spans an area of more than 4.3 million square kilometres in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan.
• The region stores more snow and ice than anywhere else in the world outside the polar regions, giving its name: ’The Third Pole‘.
• The Third Pole contains the world’s highest mountains, including all 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, is the source of 10 major rivers, and forms a formidable global ecological buffer.
• The Third Pole region has enormous socioeconomic and cultural diversity; it is home to many different ethnic communities speaking more than 600 languages and many more dialects.
• It is endowed with rich natural resources and contains all or part of four global biodiversity hotspots.
• The mountain resources provide a wide range of ecosystem services and the basis for the livelihoods to the 210 million people living in the region, as well as indirectly to the 1.3 billion people — one fifth of the worlds’ population — living in the downstream river basins.
• More than 3 billion people benefit from the food and energy produced in these river basins that have their origin in the mountains.