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List of countries by length of coastline
1) Canada's coastline is world's longest, measuring 202,080 km (includes the mainland coast and the coasts of offshore islands)
2) Indonesia (99,083 km)
3) Norway (58,133 km)
4) Greenland* (44,087 km)
5) Russia (37,653 km)
6) Philippines (36,289 km)
7) Japan (29,751 km)
8) Australia (25,760 km)
9) United States (19,924 km)
10) Antarctica* (17,968 km)
11) New Zealand (15, 134 km)
12) China (14,500 km)
13) Greece (13,676 km)
14) United Kingdom (12,429 km)
15) Mexico (9330 km)
16) Italy (7782 km)
17) India (7516km)
Highest mountains of the seven continents.
1⃣ North America - Mt. Denali
2⃣ South America - Mt. Aconcagua
3⃣ Africa - Mt. Kilimanjaro
4⃣ Europe - Mt. Elbrus
5⃣ Asia - Mt. Everest
6⃣ Australia - Mt. Kosciusko
7⃣ Antarctica - Vinson Massif
Climbing to the summit of all of these mountains is regarded as a mountaineering challenge, first achieved on 30 April 1985 by Richard Bass.
Completing the Seven Summits + reaching the north and south poles is known as the Explorers Grand Slam.
42nd Amendment Act of 1976 added four new Directive Principles to the original list. Those DPSPs are:
1⃣ Article 39 - To secure opportunities for healthy development of children.
2⃣ Article 39A - To promote equal justice and to provide free legal aid to the poor.
3⃣ Article 43A - To take steps to secure the participation of workers in the management of industries
4⃣ Article 48A - To protect and improve the environment and to safeguard forests and wild life.
Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layers. it will help reduce the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases (GHGs), and thus to avoid global warming by up to 0.4°C this century
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#Shell_companies are corporate entities which do not have any active business or significant assets in their possession. These companies remain legally registered (but merely on paper), without actually producing goods and services. They are mainly set up for the purposes of tax evasion and money laundering.
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PURANAS means ‘old’, composed by Vyasa.
There are 18 Mahapuranas (great Puranas), and many more Upapuranas (secondary Puranas).
18 Mahapuranas includes the Vishnu, Narada, Bhagavata, Garuda, Padma, Varaha, Matsya, Kurma, Linga, Shiva, Skanda, Agni, Brahmanda, Brahmavaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavishya, Vamana, and Brahma.
The origins of the Puranas may have overlapped to some extent with the Vedas, but their composition stretched forward into the 4th– 5th centuries CE, and in some cases, even later.
Puranas are supposed to have 5 characteristics (pancha-lakshanas), i.e
1. Creation of the world (sarga);
2. Re-creation (pratisarga);
3. The periods of the various Manus ;
4.The genealogies of gods & rishis &
5. Royal dynasties, including the Suryavamshi and Chandravamshi kings, whose origin is traced to the sun and the moon.
Tripitaka: consists of three books :-
1. #Sutta Pitaka contains the Buddha’s discourses on various doctrinal issues in dialogue form.
2. #Vinaya Pitaka has rules monks and nuns of the sangha (monastic order).
3. #Abhidhamma Pitaka is later work, and contains a thorough study and systemization of the teachings of the Sutta Pitaka.
◼️Three Pitakas are divided into books known as the #Nikayas.
For instance, the Sutta Pitaka consists of five Nikayas— the Digha, Majjhima, Samyutta, Anguttara, and Khuddaka Nikayas.
🌀Open Market Operations(OMO)
▪️ It is the sale and purchase of government securities and treasury bills by RBI or the central bank of the country.
▪️ Aim: To adjust the rupee liquidity conditions in the market on a durable basis.
▪️ The central bank carries out the OMO through commercial banks and does not directly deal with the public.
▪️When the RBI feels that there is excess liquidity in the market, it resorts to sale of securities thereby sucking out the rupee liquidity.
▪️ Similarly, when the liquidity conditions are tight, RBI may buy securities from the market thereby releasing liquidity into the market.
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🌀Digital Payments Index(DPI)
● Released by: Reserve Bank of India(RBI)
● Purpose: To capture the extent of digitisation of payments across the country.
● Parameters: The index comprises five broad parameters with varying weights to measure the penetration of digital payments:
▫️Payment enablers (25%),
▫️Payment infrastructure—demand-side factors (10%), Payment infrastructure—supply-side factors (15%),
▫️Payment performance (45%)
▫️Consumer centricity (5%).
● When will it be published? The index shall be published on RBI’s website on a semi-annual basis from March 2021 onwards with a lag of 4 months.
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Balance of Payments (BoP)
▪️BoP of a country summarizes all transactions that a country’s individuals,
companies and government bodies complete with individuals, companies and government bodies
outside the country. These transactions consist of import and exports of goods, services and capital as
well as transfer payments such as foreign aid and remittances.
▪️The BOP is composed of three subaccounts :
▫️The current account consists of revenue obtained through merchandise trade, services, income
receipts, and one-way transfers.
▫️The capital account includes transfers of financial assets such as debt payments and transfers of
titles to assets.
▫️The financial account records trade in stocks, bonds, commodities, and real estate.
▪️Factors that give rise to adverse BoP :
1) Economic Factors
▫️Higher levels of imports than exports resulting in a deficit in the BOP account.
▫️Inflation in the domestic economy => foreign goods become relatively cheaper as
compared to domestic goods, which increases imports.
▫️Cyclical fluctuations, like recession or depression.
▫️Fall in demand for country’s goods in the foreign markets leads to fall in exports, thereby adversely
affecting the BoP.
▫️Import of Services from other countries.
2) Political Factors
▫️Political instability may lead to large capital outflows and reduce the inflow of foreign funds.
3) Social Factors
▫️An unfavourable change for the domestic goods leads to a deficit in the BoP.
▫️High population growth in poor countries adversely affects their BOP because it increases the needs
of the countries for imports and decreases their capacity to export.
▪️Remedial measures to correct imbalance in BoP are :
▫️The foreign earning should be increased by export led growth. Exports should be encouraged by
taking measures that make them competitive, including subsidies, duty drawbacks, logistics
improvements, etc.
▫️Control on unnecessary imports like gold in times when CAD comes under severe pressure.
▫️Inflation discourages exports and encourages imports. Therefore, inflation should be kept in check.
▫️Taking steps to check currency manipulation and arrest the volatility in currency exchange rate,
which will encourage foreign investment and thus, capital flows into the country.
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#UP लेखपाल के 8085 पदों पर विज्ञापन #UPSSSC /channel/UPSCMainsZone
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#SargassoSea is a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by 4 ocean currents forming an ocean gyre.
1) Gulf Stream on the west
2) North Atlantic Drift on the north
3) Canary Current on the east
4) North Atlantic Equatorial Current on the south
Unlike all other seas, it has no land boundaries. It is the only sea in the world which has no coast. It is distinguished from other parts of the Atlantic Ocean by its characteristic brown seaweed called Sargassum and often calm blue water.
Sargasso Sea is famous for its floating seaweed that covers large swathes of ocean. But it also boasts an astounding wealth of biodiversity that has earned it the nickname "The Floating Rainforest of the Sea."
The four ocean currents together forming a clockwise-circulating system of ocean currents termed the North Atlantic Gyre. Bermuda is near the western fringes of the sea.
The four ocean currents deposit the marine plants and refuse which they are carrying into this sea, yet the ocean water in the Sargasso Sea is distinctive for its deep blue color and exceptional clarity, with underwater visibility of up to 61m
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#Food_Preservatives are substances added to food to prevent or slow down spoilage and maintain natural colours and flavours.
Two reasons for food spoilage
• Microbial contamination
• Fats reacting with oxygen (oxidation)
Preservative criteria
• Non-toxic
• Functional
• Flavourless
• Economical
Sorbic acid - It is a food preservative which protects many food varieties from yeast and mold spoilage. It is an organic compound, with naturally strong antimicrobial capabilities.
Sodium benzoate - It is a food preservative commonly used in fruit pies, jams, beverages, salads, foods with acidic pH.
It is used in processed foods to prevent the growth of bacteria or fungus that could spoil the food.
Citric Acid - Its acidic pH makes it useful as a food preservative and preserves the color of the food since it significantly slows the oxidation.
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is not a food preservative.
It is a food additive, which is used as a flavour enhancer commonly added to Chinese food, canned vegetables, soups and processed meats.
Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or CITES, aims at regulating the international trade of specimens of endangered animals and plants. India has ratified this Convention in 1976
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Bonn Convention: The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals, also known as the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) or the Bonn Convention, is an international agreement that aims to conserve migratory species within their migratory ranges. India is a signatory to this Convention.
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Private Member's Bills : A Member of Parliament (MP) who is not a Minister in the Union Cabinet is called a Private Member. Bills introduced by such members are called Private Member's Bills. Private Member Bill (PMB) is same as that of a Government Bill. These bills can deal with any issue and can also be a Constitutional Amendment Bill. It can be introduced in either the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha
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VEDAS literally mean, ‘to know’ & ‘source of knowledge’. There are four Vedas—Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva.
Vedas have the status of #Shruti (means heard).
#Smriti (remembered) texts includes the Vedanga, Puranas, epics, Dharmashastra, & Nitishastra.
Each Veda has 4 parts, the last three of which sometimes blend into each other— the Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka & Upanishad
#SAMHITA
Rig Veda Samhita is a collection of 1,028 hymns arranged in 10 books.
Sama Veda consists of 1,810 verses, mostly borrowed from the Rig Veda, arranged according to the needs of musical notation.
Yajur Veda deals with the details of the performance of rituals.
Atharva Veda is the latest Veda and contains hymns, but also spells and charms which reflect aspects of popular beliefs and practices.
BRAHMANAS are prose explanations of the Samhita portions & give details and explanations of sacrificial rituals and their outcome.
#ARANAYAKAS interpret sacrificial rituals in a symbolic & philosophical way.
UPNISHADS: There are 108 Upanishads, among which 13 are considered the principal ones.
🔴 What is a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) ?
👉CBDC is a legal tender issued by a central bank in a digital form.
👉 It is similar to a fiat currency issued in paper and is interchangeable with any other fiat currency
🔴 What is the need for CBDC?
👉 the goal is to provide users with convenience and security of digital as well as the regulated, reserve-backed circulation of the traditional banking system.
🔴 What does this change for citizens?
👉 There are several models proposed by technology experts and evangelists on how the Digital Rupee could be transacted but a formal announcement by the Reserve Bank of India will likely detail how the Digital Rupee will be transacted by citizens.
♦️One chief difference will be that a Digital Rupee transaction will be instantaneous as opposed to the current digital payment experience.
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🌀Bad Bank
◾️News: RBI Governor has agreed to look at a proposal for creating a Bad Bank.
◾️Key points:
1. Function as a bank but has bad assets to start with.
2. It is an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC) or an Asset Management Company (AMC).
3. It is not involved in lending and taking deposits.
4. It helps commercial banks clean up their balance sheets and resolve bad loans.
5. US-based Mellon Bank created the first bad bank in 1988.
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🔆New Food Processing Policy
✅ Why in News: The Food Processing Sector has emerged as an important segment of the Indian economy and it constitutes as much as 9.9 percent and 11.4 percent share of GVA in Manufacturing and Agriculture sector respectively in 2019-20 at 2011-12 prices.
▪️Key challenges facing the sector are:
✅ Supply chain infrastructure gaps
✅ Institutional gaps
✅ Relatively low level of processing
✅ Technological gaps
✅ Lack of seamless Linkage between Agri-Production and Processing
✅Credit availability gaps
The draft National Food Processing Policy lays down strategy for unhindered growth of the sector by addressing these challenges through
✅ Promotion of clusters
✅ Convergence of services provided by different Ministries / Departments
✅ Focused interventions for improving competitiveness
✅ Promotion of India’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
✅ Strengthening unorganized food processing units
✅ Increased access to institutional credit at affordable cost
▪️Some of the key objectives of the draft policy are:
✅Attaining a higher growth trajectory through significant increase in investment for strengthening supply chain infrastructure and expansion of processing capacity particularly in perishables;
✅Improving Competitiveness through technology upgradation, Research & Development, Branding and strengthening India’s USP in food sector;
✅Attaining long term sustainability in growth of the sector through efficient use of water, energy, adoption eco-friendly technology in processing, storage, packaging and use of waste from FPI industry.
#sciencetechnology
#mains #prelims
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Sex Determination
✅Henking (1891) could trace a specific nuclear structure all through spermatogenesis in a few insects, and it was also observed by him that 50 per cent of the sperm received this structure after spermatogenesis, whereas the other 50 per cent sperm did not receive it.
✅Henking gave a name to this structure as the X body but he could not explain its significance.
✅Further investigations by other scientists led to the conclusion that the ‘X body’ of Henking was in fact a chromosome and that is why it was given the name X-chromosome.
✅It was also observed that in a large number of insects the mechanism of sex determination is of the XO type, i.e., all eggs bear an additional X-chromosome besides the other chromosomes (autosomes). On the other hand, some of the sperms bear the X-chromosome whereas some do not.
✅Eggs fertilized by sperm having an X-chromosome become females and, those fertilized by sperms that do not have an X-chromosome become males.
✅Due to the involvement of the X-chromosome in the determination of sex, it was designated to be the sex chromosome, and the rest of the chromosomes were named as autosomes.
✅Grasshopper is an example of XO type of sex determination in which the males have only one X-chromosome besides the autosomes, whereas females have a pair of X-chromosomes.
✅These observations led to the investigation of a number of species to understand the mechanism of sex determination.
✅In a number of other insects and mammals including man, XY type of sex determination is seen where both male and female have same number of chromosomes /channel/UPSCMainsZone
