NEWS

Central government has said Green bonds is set to have long tenure in future

ABOUT GREEN BONDS

 WHAT IS A BOND

• Fixed income instrument that represents a loan made by an investor to a borrower
• Bonds traditionally paid a fixed interest rate (coupon) to investors.

WHAT IS A GREEN BOND

• Debt instrument with which capital is being raised to fund ‘green’ projects
• Emerged as one of the key financing mechanisms driving the global economy’s transition to a greener future

WHAT ARE GREEN PROJECTS - Those relating to renewable energy, emission reductions and so on.

WHO ISSUES - Multilateral agencies such as the World Bank, corporations, government agencies and municipalities

GROWTH

• In 2007, green bonds were launched by few development banks such as the European Investment Bank and the World Bank
• In 2013, corporates too started participating, which led to its overall growth

WHO REGULATES IN INDIA - Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS

• Enhance an issuer’s reputation, as it helps in showcasing their commitment towards sustainable development.
• Ability to meet commitments, for signatories to climate agreements and other green commitments.
• Typically carry a lower interest rate than the loans offered by the commercial banks.
• These green bonds have been crucial in increasing financing to sunrise sectors like renewable energy, thus contributing to India’s sustainable growth.

NEWS

Black percher or black ground skimmer (Diplacodes lefebvrii), a species of dragon fly, was sighted for the first time in the Seshachalam Hill ranges recently. It belongs to the phylum arthropoda, class insecta and order odonata.

 DETAILS

• Sighted in forest locations of Karnataka and coastal Andhra Pradesh, but this appears to be its maiden appearance in the Seshachalam ranges
• Named after its attractive dark colouring.
• Attracted to water pans or slow-moving rivers
• Usually observed perched on reeds and sticks near the water on a bright sunny day.
• Excellent hunters, being able to catch their prey in mid-flight, with their impeccable eyesight and flying skills 
• Males: The males are almost black, but have a subtle dark blue undertone to them. The wings are transparent with a long, black wing spot.
• Females: The females are much lighter in colouring, making them easy to tell apart from males.

NEWS

Golden Jubilee celebrations of the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) was recently celebrated

ABOUT

WHAT - International organization which conducts agricultural research for rural development

WHERE IS ITS HEADQUARTERS LOCATED - Patancheru (Hyderabad, Telangana, India)

REGIONAL CENTERS - Bamako (Mali), Nairobi (Kenya) and research stations (Niamey (Niger), Kano (Nigeria), Lilongwe (Malawi), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Bulawayo (Zimbabwe)

WHEN WAS IT FOUNDED – 1972

OTHER INFO

• Signed by consortium of organisations convened by the Ford and the Rockefeller foundations.
• Charter was signed by the FAO and the UNDP.
• Since its inception, host country India has granted a special status to ICRISAT as a UN Organization operating in the Indian territory making it eligible for special immunities and tax privileges
• Managed by a full-time Director General functioning under the overall guidance of an international Governing Board.

FUNCTIONS

• Adopts Integrated genetic and natural resources management as its overarching research strategy.
• Aim is to combine tested methods of crop commodity research with well-established practices in research in natural resources management.
• The original goal was to use crop improvement research as the basis to improve food availability in drought-prone areas of the tropics.
• Conducts its research under four themes:
  • Agro-ecosystems development,
  • Harnessing plant biotechnology and bioinformatics,
  • Crop improvement and management, and Institutions,
  • Markets, policy and Impacts.

WHAT IS THE CONCEPT

• Define inputs and outputs, feed pieces of inputs to computer programs that function like neurons
• Make inferences or calculations, then forward those results to another layer of computer programs and so on, until a result is obtained.
• As part of this neural network, a difference between intended output and input is computed at each layer and this difference is used to tune the parameters to each program. This method is called backpropagation and is an essential component to the Neural Network.
• Instead of CPUs, Graphic Processing Units (GPU) which are good at performing massive parallel tasks can be used for setting up ANNs.

WHAT IS NEURON - Building block of the brain

EXAMPLES OF ANN - TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch and Theano. These can be used for both normal Machine Learning tasks like classification or clustering and for Deep Learning/ANN tasks.

NEWS

NASA has announced that the spacecraft will cease operations in 2031, after which it will fall out of orbit and plunge into the waters of the South Pacific Ocean.

DETAILS

What international Space Station (ISS)?

• In Low Earth Orbit, it is a space station or a habitable artificial satellite (approximately 250 miles above Earth).
• Former US President Ronald Reagan advocated in 1984 the construction of a permanently inhabited spacecraft in cooperation with a few other countries.
• The first piece of the ISS was launched into space on a Russian rocket in 1998.
  • NASA and its international partners finished the space station in 2011.
• The International Space Station is one of the most ambitious international collaborations inhuman history.
• Countries involved: The ISS program is a collaboration of five space agencies: NASA (the United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada).
• Intergovernmental treaties and agreements govern the ownership and use of the space station.
• The station is divided into two sections: the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the United States Orbital Segment (USOS), both of which are shared by many nations.

Landmarks

• For example, in 2018, NASA's Cold Atom Lab became the first facility in space to produce the fifth state of matter, known as a Bose-Einstein condensate.
• For the first time, a NASA astronaut was able to sequence DNA in space in 2016.
• Advanced water filtration and purification systems, as well as successful crop production initiatives on board the space station, have also provided useful lessons for people all over the world who lack access to these crucial resources.

NEWS

The 100-metre radius around Centrally protected monuments where construction is prohibited could be replaced with site-specific limits to be decided by an expert committee, as the Union Culture Ministry was working on amendments to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958

DETAILS

BACKGROUND

• AMASR Act, 1958 was amended in 2010 to declare the 100-metre radius of protected monuments as prohibited areas and the next 300-metre radius as regulated areas.
• According to Ministry officials as well as a recent Parliamentary Standing Committee report, there was no specific reason for the 100-metre and 300-metre limits.

ANCIENT MONUMENTS AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AND REMAINS ACT, 1958

• Provides for preservation of ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance.
• Provides for the regulation of archaeological excavations and for protection of sculptures, carvings and other like objects.
• Functions under the provisions of this act.
• Prohibits construction in ‘prohibited area’, an area of 100 meters around protected monument.
• Does not permit construction in such prohibited areas even if it is for public purposes, except under certain conditions.
• Central government can extend the prohibited area beyond 100 meters.
• The iconic monuments in India, Taj Mahal, Ajanta Caves, The Great Stupa at Sanchi and the Sun Temple of Konark, among others are designated as “ancient monuments of national importance” and protected under the AMASR Act.
• The Archaeological Survey of India is the custodian of these monuments.
• National Monument Authority will make a recommendation, for construction of public works to the central government, only if it is satisfied that there is no reasonable possibility of moving the construction outside the prohibited area.

NEWS

Prime Minister in Hyderabad Inaugurated Statue of Equality commemorating Sri Ramanuja Acharya, a 11th century saint of the Hindu Tradition.

 WHO WAS ACHARYA RAMANUJA

• Indian philosopher, Hindu theologian, social reformer
• Exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism.
• Born in 1017 CE in Tamil Nadu
• Referred to as Ilaya Perumal which means the radiant one.
• His guru - YādavaPrakāśa, a Advaita Vedānta scholar
• Ramanuja disagreed with his guru and the non-dualistic AdvaitaVedānta, and instead followed in the footsteps of Tamil Alvārs tradition, the scholars Nāthamuni and Yamunāchārya.
• Chief proponent of Vishishtadvaita sub school of Vedānta,and his disciples were likely authors of texts such as the Shatyayaniya Upanishad.
• Wrote influential texts, such as bhāsya on the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, all in Sanskrit.

STATUE OF EQUALITY

• Being installed to mark the 1,000th birth anniversary of Sri Ramanuja.
• Built of panchaloha, a combination of gold, silver, copper, brass and zinc, by the Aerospun Corporation in China and shipped to India.
• Second largest in the world in sitting position of the saint.
• Monument will be surrounded by 108 “Divya Desams” of Sri Vaishnavite tradition (model temples) like Tirumala, Srirangam, Kanchi, Ahobhilam, Badrinath, Muktinath, Ayodhya, Brindavan, Kumbakonam and others.
• Idols of deities and structures were constructed in the shape at the existing temples.

RAMANUJA & EQUALITY

• Was an advocate of social equality among all sections of people centuries ago.
• Encouraged temples to open their doors to everyone irrespective of caste or position in society at a time when people of many castes were forbidden from entering them.
• Took education to those who were deprived of it.
• Greatest contribution is the propagation of the concept of “vasudhaiva kutumbakam”, which translates as “all the universe is one family”.

 NEWS

Lata Mangeshkar, affectionately called as “Nightingale of India” passed away

ABOUT

• Born as Hema Mangeshkar
• 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022
• Indian playback singer and occasional music composer
• Widely considered as one of the greatest and most influential singers in India
• Her contribution to Indian music industry in a career spanning seven decades gained her honorific titles such as the Nightingale of India, Voice of the Millennium and Queen of Melody
• Recorded songs in over thirty-six Indian languages and a few foreign languages, though primarily in Hindi, Bengali, and Marathi
• Received several accolades and honors throughout her career.
• In 1987 the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was bestowed on her by the Government of India.
• In 2001, in recognition of her contributions to the nation, she was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour and is only the second female singer, after M. S. Subbulakshmi, to receive this honour
• France conferred on her its highest civilian award, Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, in 2007
• Was the recipient of three National Film Awards, 15 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, two Filmfare Special Awards, the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and many more.
• In 1974, she was one of the first Indian playback singers to ever perform at Royal Albert Hall, London.

NEWS

Birth anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan celebrated recently

ABOUT KHAN ABDUL GHAFFAR KHAN

•  WHO - Foremost 20th-century leader of the Pashtuns ( a Muslim ethnic group of Pakistan and Afghanistan
• Follower of Mahatma Gandhi and was called the “Frontier Gandhi”
• Met Gandhi and entered politics in 1919 during agitation over the Rowlatt Acts, which allowed the confinement of political dissidents without trial.
• In 1921 he was elected president of a district Khilafat committee in his native North-West Frontier Province.
• Founded the Red Shirt movement (Khudai Khitmatgar) among the Pashtuns, Soon after attending an Indian National Congress (Congress Party) gathering in 1929
• Awarded the Bharat Ratna Prize in 1987 ( First non-Indian to receive this honour )

KNOW THIS

• Another non-Indian to receive Bharat Ratna is Nelson Mandela (1990).
• Mother Teresa, in 1980, became the first and only naturalised citizen to be awarded the Bharat Ratna.

KHUDAI KHIDMATGAR MOVEMENT

• In the North-West Frontier Province, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a Pashtun independence warrior, led the Khudai Khidmatgar, a nonviolent movement against British domination of the Indian subcontinent.
• The movement became political over time, and the British became aware of its rising importance in the region.
• After Khan and other leaders were arrested in 1929, the movement formally joined the Indian National Congress after the All-India Muslim League refused to support them.
• Members of the Khudai Khidmatgar were well-organized, with the males wearing bright red shirts as uniforms and the women wearing black clothing.
• Many viewed the Khudai Khidtmatgar's opposition to Partition as a sign that the movement did not support the emergence of Pakistan as an independent nation.

• Padma Shri awardee and social worker Ibrahim Sutar passed away in Karnataka . Fondly referred to as the “Kabir of Kannada”, Sutar was known for his work towards spreading social and communal harmony.