Miscellaneous Flashcards
India International Science Festival (IISF)
IISF is a joint program of the Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences and VijnanaBharati (VIBHA) a swadeshi movement of Bharat.
• Purpose ➔ To celebrate science along with people in India and across the globe.
Nodal Agency for IISF-2021 ➔ National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, an autonomous institute under the MoES.
Hazaras
The Hazaras are an ethnic and religious minority group largely found in the rugged and mountainous central Afghan region of Hazarajat.
• They are believed to be descendants of the founder of the Mongol empire, Genghis Khan, and his army that overran the entire region during the 13th century.
• Their distinct Asiatic features and use of a Persian dialect called Hazaragi also sets them apart from the rest of the country.
Landraces
Landraces refer to naturally occurring variants of commonly cultivated crops.
• These are different from commercially grown crops, which are developed by selective breeding (hybrids) or through genetic engineering to express a certain trait over others.
Recently, Rahibai Popere, popularly known as Seed mother, from Maharashtra won this year’s Padma awards. It was in recognition of her work that has helped save hundreds of landraces
Niracara Svayamsasita Vedh Shala(NSVS)
IIT Kanpur has developed an Aquatic Autonomous Observatory named Niracara Svayamsasita Vedh Shala(NSVS) to monitor the “health” of the River Ganga.
This observatory has been developed with the help of the Department of Science and Technology, the Government of India, and the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF).
• It is a low-cost, water quality monitoring platform that would enable in situ monitoring, real-time data transmission and web-based visualisation of River Ganga.
The system can sense three parameters namely, pH (a scale to measure acidity/alkalinity), conductivity and dissolved oxygen capacity of water. This can be further utilised to estimate total dissolved solids, specific gravity and the presence of metallic ions in water.
o It can also autonomously collect data every 15 minutes and report it through a wireless network to the institute.
HARBINGER 2021 Hackathon
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is set to organise its first global hackathon called ‘HARBINGER 2021–Innovation for Transformation’ focusing on digital payments.
Har Ghar Dastak
Har Ghar Dastak is the Government of India’s mega COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
• It is a month-long door-to-door vaccination campaign.
Ayushmaan CAPF’ Scheme health cards
The scheme is a joint initiative of the Home Ministry, Health Ministry and National Health Authority (NHA).
• Eligibility ➔ The scheme covers serving personnel and their dependents from Assam Rifles, Border Security Force (BSF), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force(CISF), National Security Guard(NSG) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP).
• Benefits under the scheme ➔ CAPF personnel and their families will be able to avail cashless in-patient and out-patient healthcare facilities at all Hospitals empanelled under Ayushmaan Bharat PM-JAY or Central Government Health Scheme(CGHS)
climate change disclosure laws
New Zealand Parliament has passed the Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment Bill.
• Features ➔ The bill requires banks, insurers, firms and investment managers to report the impacts of climate change on their business.
