GOBAR-DHAN scheme

• The scheme aims to positively impact village cleanliness and generate wealth and energy from cattle and organic waste.
• The scheme also aims at creating new rural livelihood opportunities and enhancing income for farmers and other rural people.
• The scheme envisages the implementation of 700 bio-gas units in different states of the country in 2018-19.

Nag Missile System

• It is a third generation “fire-and-forget” anti-tank missile developed in India.
• It is one of five missile systems developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Program (IGMDP).

NAMICA Version of the missile

• It is a ‘lock-on before launch’ system, where the target is identified and designated before the missile is launched.
• As the targeting system is based on visual identification, the range is limited.

HELINA Version

• The HELINA version on the other hand will use a ‘lock-on after launch’ system extending its range to 7 km.
• In this scenario, the missile is launched in the general direction of the target.
• As it approaches the target, images of the area ahead are sent back to the operator who will be able to identify enemy tanks.

Lake Victoria

• About 75 % of freshwater species endemic to East Africa’s Lake Victoria basin face the threat of extinction.
• It includes freshwater species like fish, mollusks, dragonflies, crabs and aquatic plants native to Africa’s largest lake.
• These freshwater species are important sources of food, medicine for the millions of people living in the area surrounding the lake.
• The lake stretches into Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
• Its catchment also touches Burundi and Rwanda and is known for its high-level of unique biodiversity.
• Also called Victoria Nyanza, largest lake in Africa and chief reservoir of the Nile, lying mainly in Tanzania and Uganda but bordering on Kenya.
  • Among the freshwater lakes of the world, it is exceeded in size only by Lake Superior in North America.
  • Its waters fill a shallow depression in the centre of the great plateau that stretches between the Western and Eastern Rift Valleys.

International Center for Tropical Agriculture

• The CIAT mission is to reduce hunger and poverty, and improve human nutrition in the tropics through research aimed at increasing the eco-efficiency of agriculture.
• CIAT has global responsibility for the improvement of two staple foods, cassava and common bean, together with tropical forages for livestock. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we conduct research on rice as well. Representing diverse food groups and a key component of the world’s agricultural biodiversity, those crops are vital for global food and nutrition security.
• In its work on agrobiodiversity, the Center employs advanced biotechnology to accelerate crop improvement. Progress in our crop research also depends on unique collections of genetic resources– 65,000 crop samples in all – which we hold in trust for humanity.
• Alongside its research on agrobiodiversity, CIAT works in two other areas – soils and decision and policy analysis – which cut across all tropical crops and production environments.

World Anti-Doping Agency

• WADA is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate and monitor the fight against drugs in sports.
• The agency’s key activities include scientific research, education, development of anti-doping capacities, and monitoring of the World Anti-Doping Code, whose provisions are enforced by the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport.
• It is situated in Canada.

Akademik Lomonosov

• It is the world’s first “floating” nuclear power plant (FNPP).
• It has headed out on its first sea voyage from the St.Peterburg, Baltic shipyard.
• At Murmansk, Russia, its reactors will be loaded with nuclear fuel.
• Russian state-run atomic energy corporation Rosatom is responsible for FNPP.
• The Lomonosov is expected to be put into service in early 2019

New Shepard system

• The New Shepard system is a fully reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) space vehicle. The system consists of a pressurized capsule atop a booster.
• The name New Shepard makes reference to the first American astronaut in space, Alan Shepard, one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts.
• New Shepard 2.0 space capsule is designed to fly commercial payloads and up to 6 passengers on suborbital space flights for science and tourism. The capsule features giant windows to give future passengers a stunning view of their launch into space.

GRACE- FO mission

• The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on (GRACE-FO) mission is a partnership between NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
• GRACE-FO is a successor to the original GRACE mission, which began orbiting Earth on March 17, 2002. The GRACE missions measure variations in gravity over Earth’s surface, producing a new map of the gravity field every 30 days.
• GRACE-FO will carry on the extremely successful work of its predecessor while testing a new technology designed to dramatically improve the already remarkable precision of its measurement system.
• GRACE-FO will continue the work of tracking Earth’s water movement to monitor changes in underground water storage, the amount of water in large lakes and rivers, soil moisture, ice sheets and glaciers, and sea level caused by the addition of water to the ocean. These discoveries provide a unique view of Earth’s climate and have far-reaching benefits to society and the world’s population.

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated every year on January 9 to mark the contribution of overseas Indian community in the development of India.
• January 9 was chosen as the day to celebrate this occasion since it was on this day in 1915 that Mahatma Gandhi, the greatest Pravasi, returned to India from South Africa, led India’s freedom struggle and changed the lives of Indians forever.
• These conventions provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and Indian communities in India for mutually beneficial activities.
• These conventions are also very useful in networking among the overseas Indian community residing in various parts of the world and enable them to share their experiences in various fields.

DNA Profiling

• DNA profiling is the process where a specific DNA pattern, called a profile, is obtained from a person or sample of bodily tissue.
• Even though we are all unique, most of our DNA is actually identical to other people’s DNA.
• However, specific regions vary highly between people. These regions are called polymorphic.
• Differences in these variable regions between people are known as polymorphisms.
• Each of us inherits a unique combination of polymorphisms from our parents.
• DNA polymorphisms can be analysed to give a DNA profile.

Vijay Prahar

• About 20,000 troops of strike formation of the Army’s South Western Command (SWC) are carrying out ‘Vijay Prahar’ exercise with cutting-edge equipment and state-of-the-art force multipliers in the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges close to Suratgarh in Rajasthan.
• The exercise is aimed to orchestrate wide spectrum of threats which are planned to be tackled through high tempo joint air and land operation involving hundreds of aircrafts, thousands of tanks and artillery pieces supported by real time intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and just in time logistic support.

Intergovernmental Ocenaographic commission

• The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC/UNESCO) was established by a resolution adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO.
• It assists governments to address their individual and collective ocean and coastal management needs, through the sharing of knowledge, information and technology.
• Beginning with the International Indian Ocean Expedition in 1960, it has coordinated and promoted program and activities in ocean observations, ocean science, and reduction of marine hazards.
• IOC also coordinates and fosters the establishment of regional intergovernmental coordinating tsunami warning and mitigation systems in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, in the North East Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean seas.
• Its headquarters is in Paris, France.
• General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO), Tara Expeditions, Océanopolis Brest are some of its partners.
• There are 149 members of which India is also a member.