Important Facts for Prelims (22nd September 2018)

• 22 Sep 2018

UTRAQ to receive NavIC signals

• UTRAQ, a vehicle tracking system designed by Ramakrishna Electronic Components will receive signals from NavIC (Navigation Indian Constellation).
• UTRAQ will give Indian customers an alternative to American Global Positioning System (GPS) and help them access satellite signals from nation’s own navigation system.
• Most of the mobile devices have components that can receive signals from US government owned Global positioning system or Russian owned GLONASS. But, there was no company in the market making components that can receive signals from NavIC.

NavIC (Navigation Indian Constellation)

• NavIC is Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System(IRNSS) developed by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
• IRNSS consists of seven satellites, three satellites in geostationary orbit and four satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
• It covers India and a region extending up to 1500 km around it.
• IRNSS provides two types of services – Standard Positioning Service (SPS) and Restricted Service (RS). SPS is provided to all the users and has an accuracy of up to 10 meters, whereas, RS is an encrypted service and is only provided to authorized users – including the military.

Fatehpuri Mosque

• The Fatehpuri mosque was built in 1650 by Fatehpuri Begum, wife of the Mughal emperor Shahjahan. It was aligned to the Red Fort, more specifically, to the Diwan-e-Am via the Naqqar Khana (drum house) and Lahori Gate.
• The dome is made of red sandstone but it has been plastered so perfectly that it gives the impression of being made from marble when seen from afar.
• The mosque is built of red sandstone. Its unique feature is that it is the only medieval mosque with a single dome, flanked by two 80 ft tall minarets on both sides.
• The Indian sepoys who had risen up against the East India Company in 1857 had used this mosque as their base.

Kans Grass

• Kans grass locally called ‘kashful’ is a grass native to South Asia.
• It is a perennial grass, growing up to three meters in height, with spreading roots.
• In the Terai region, Kans grass quickly colonizes exposed silt plains created each year by the retreating monsoon floods, forming almost pure stands on the lowest portions of the floodplain.
• Kans grasslands are an important habitat for the Indian Rhinoceros.
• The Kans grass straws are used to make mats, screens, and thatch roofs.

Kamlesh Nilakanth Vyas Appointed Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission

• For the first time in India’s strategic atomic energy sector, the transfer of power at the highest level took place in a foreign country during the 62nd General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria.
• K.N. Vyas has been appointed the secretary of Department of Atomic Energy, and chairman of Atomic Energy Commission till May 2021.

Atomic Energy Commission

• The Indian Atomic Energy Commission was first set up in August 1948 in the Department of Scientific Research.
• The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was set up on August 3, 1954, under the direct charge of the Prime Minister. Subsequently, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was brought under the Department of Atomic Energy.
• The Secretary to the Government of India in the Department of Atomic Energy is ex-officio Chairman of the Commission.

International Atomic Energy Agency

• The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology.
• Widely known as the world’s “Atoms for Peace” organization.
• IAEA’s headquarters is in Vienna, Austria.
• It seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
• The IAEA is an independent international organization that reports annually to the UN General Assembly. When necessary, the IAEA will report to the UN Security Council in regards to instances of members’ non-compliance with safeguard and security obligations.

Paryatan Parv

• The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in collaboration with other Central Ministries, State Governments and Stakeholders is organizing a “Paryatan Parv” across the country from the 16th to 27th September 2018.
• The Parv is being organized with the objective of drawing focus on the benefits of tourism, showcasing the cultural diversity of the country and reinforcing the principle of “Tourism for All”.
• The Paryatan Parv will have three main components as like last year, viz. Dekho Apna Desh, Tourism for All and Tourism & Governance.
• The Paryatan Parv shall conclude with the World Tourism Day celebrations on 27th September 2018.
• There are several activities to be organized across the Country like Photography contest covering tourism attractions and experiences, promotion on Social Media, Tourism related Quiz, Essay, Debate and Painting Competitions for Students.

Green Agriculture Project

• The project titled “Transforming Indian Agriculture for Global Environmental Benefit and Conservation of Critical Agricultural and Forest Biodiversity in Different Landscape” was started in the year 2016.
• The Green Agriculture project synergizes biodiversity conservation, agriculture production, and development.
• It is being implemented in five landscapes adjoining Protected Areas/Biosphere Reserves: Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand.
• It envisages a transformation in Indian agriculture for global environmental benefits by addressing land degradation, climate change mitigation, sustainable forest management, and biodiversity conservation.
• These objectives will be addressed through two components:
  • Policy Transformation will address constraints in the enabling environment by putting in place the tools required to strengthen and enhance the capacity of the agricultural sector to deliver biodiversity, sustainable land, and forest management and climate change mitigation benefits.
  • Management Transformation will demonstrate on-the-ground conservation improvements designed to drive higher-level changes. Under it, the project will work in high conservation priority landscapes to demonstrate replicable “best practices”.
• It’s a seven-year project, being funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented by the Indian government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) and United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO).

Global Environment Facility

• The Global Environment Facility was established in 1992 during the Rio Earth Summit.
• GEF funds are available to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to meet the objectives of the international environmental conventions and agreements.
• It is based in Washington DC, United States.

Food and Agricultural Organisation

• The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
• It was formed in 1945 with Washington DC as its temporary headquarters. Later it was moved to Rome, Italy in 1951.