Section 33(7) of RPA

• Section 33(7) of the Representation of People’s Act permits a candidate to contest any election (Parliamentary, State Assembly, Biennial Council, or bye-elections) from up to two constituencies.
• The provision was introduced in 1996 prior to which there was no bar on the number of constituencies from which a candidate could contest.

National Institutional Ranking Framework

• The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) outlines a methodology to rank institutions across the country.
• The parameters for ranking broadly cover “Teaching, Learning and Resources,” “Research and Professional Practices,” “Graduation Outcomes,” “Outreach and Inclusivity,” and “Perception”.
• The 2018 rankings include nine different categories-overall, universities, engineering, colleges, management, pharmacy, medical, architecture, and law. Out of which sections like medical, architecture and law have been introduced this year.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia and beyond.
• It is headquartered in Beijing.
• It commenced operations in January 2016 and has now grown to 84 approved members from around the world.
• By investing in sustainable infrastructure and other productive sectors today, it aims to connect people, services and markets that over time will impact the lives of billions and build a better future.

Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

• The OPCW is an independent, autonomous international organisation with a working relationship with the United Nations.
• The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), which entered into force in 1997.
• As of today OPCW has 192 Member States, who are working together to achieve a world free of chemical weapons.
• The organisation was awarded the 2013 Nobel Peace Prize “for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons”.

Icarus

• NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has discovered the farthest individual star ever seen — an enormous blue stellar body nicknamed Icarus located over halfway across the universe.
• The star, harboured in a very distant spiral galaxy, is so far away that its light has taken nine billion years to reach Earth. It appears to us as it did when the universe was about 30% of its current age.
• The star, located in a distant spiral galaxy, is at least 100 times further away than any other star previously observed, with the exception of things like the huge supernova explosions that mark the death of certain stars.

Van Dhan Vikas Kendra

• The Ministry of Tribal affairs has approved establishment of the first multipurpose “Van Dhan Vikas Kendra” on pilot basis for establishment in Bijapur District of Chhattisgarh State.
• The Kendra will provide for skill up-gradation and capacity building training and setting up of primary processing and value addition facility.
• This Kendra to start with will have processing facility for Tamarind brick making, Mahua flower storage facility and chironjee cleaning and packaging.
• TRIFED has assigned the work for establishment of this pilot Vikas Kendra to Chhattisgarh Minor forest produce (CGMFP) Federation.
• The Collector, Bijapur will be the coordinating force.
• Minor Forest Produce (MFP) is a major source of livelihood for tribal living in forest areas.
• The Tribals derive 20-40% of their annual income from MFP on which they spend major portion of their time.

Oxytocin

• The Union government banned imports of the hormone oxytocin to stop its misuse in the livestock industry.
• It is believed to stimulate the mammary gland and induce milk production in farm animals.
• The drug’s abuse in animals shortens their lives and makes them barren sooner.
• Oxytocin is a hormone secreted by the pituitary gland in human.
• It is also called as Love Hormone.
• It plays a role in reproduction, child birth and lactation, apart from social interaction in humans.
• It also has physical and psychological effects, including influencing social behavior and emotion.
• Oxytocin is used both for humans and animals, to accelerate normal labour.

SpaceShipTwo

• Virgin Galactic conducted a supersonic test flight over the Sierra Nevada Mountains of its SpaceShipTwo passenger rocket ship recently.
• SpaceShipTwo is a reusable spaceflight system.
• It consists of WhiteKnightTwo, a custom-built, carrier aircraft, and SpaceShipTwo, the world’s first passenger carrying spaceship to be built by a private company and operated in commercial service.
• VSS Unity is the first Virgin Galactic spaceship to enter service.
• It offers everyone the opportunity to become private astronauts and experience the wonder of space for themselves.
• The flight of VSS Unity plans to carry tourists on suborbital hops into the lower reaches of space to see the Earth far below and the stars beyond.

Competition Commission of India

• The Union Cabinet has given its approval for rightsizing the Competition Commission of India (CCI) from One Chairperson and Six Members (totalling seven) to One Chairperson and Three Members (totalling four).
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) was established under the Competition Act, 2002 for the administration, implementation and enforcement of the Act, and was duly constituted in March 2009. Chairman and members are appointed by the central government.

The following are the objectives of the Commission: 

• To prevent practices having adverse effect on competition.
• To promote and sustain competition in markets.
• To protect the interests of consumers.
• To ensure freedom of trade.

United Nations Disarmament Commission

• The United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC) is a deliberative body and a subsidiary organ of the UN General Assembly which is mandated to consider and make recommendations on various disarmament related issues and to follow up the relevant decisions and recommendations of the special sessions devoted to disarmament held so far.
• The Disarmament Commission was re-established at the first Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to Disarmament in 1978 to succeed an earlier Disarmament Commission, which ceased to convene after 1965.
• Since 1978, the Disarmament Commission has dealt with numerous disarmament related questions, both nuclear and conventional, and has submitted guidelines and principles on various subject items, including guidelines for appropriate types of confidence-building measures, guidelines and recommendations for regional approaches to disarmament within the context of global security, and guidelines and recommendations for objective information on military matters.