Important Facts For Prelims (30th March 2019) | 30 Mar 2019

Non-Convertible Debentures

• Debentures are long-term financial instruments that are issued by companies to borrow money.
• Some debentures have a feature of convertibility into shares after a certain point of time at the discretion of the debenture holder.
• The debentures which cannot be converted into shares are called non-convertible debentures (or NCDs).
• There are two types of NCDs-secured and unsecured.
• A secured NCD is backed by the assets of the company. If the company fails to pay the obligation, the investor holding the debenture can claim that through liquidation of those assets. Contrary to this, there is no backing in unsecured NCDs if company defaults.

Venezuela Humanitarian Aid Operation

• The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) will channel humanitarian aid to the crisis-hit Venezuela, potentially helping ease chronic hunger and disease.
• The first supplies would include medical equipment, surgical kits and power generators, following two major blackouts.
• The country’s hyperinflationary crisis has made food and medicine unaffordable for most citizens, fueling widespread malnutrition, especially among children, and a rise in preventable diseases.

Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary

• Recently, a forest guard at the Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary in Nagaland, has been awarded Earth Day Network Star, for the protection of forests and wild animals in and around Fakim sanctuary.
• The award is given by a U.S.-based international environment organisation that engages with green groups in 195 countries.
• The Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary in located Kiphire district of Nagaland. It is spread over 642 hectares.
• It was established in the year 1983, and it lies along the international border with Myanmar.
• Many wildlife animals such as leopards, tigers, wild buffaloes, hoolock gibbons and mithun are found.
• Hornbill, the most popular bird in Nagaland (It can be noted that Blyth’s Tragopan is the State Bird of Nagaland) is also abundantly found in the Fakim Wildlife Sanctuary.

DRDO’s Bio-Digester

• The Bio-digester technology has been developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for resolving the problems of un-decomposed human waste.
• The bio-digester consists of a bio-toilet attached with bio-digester tanks that converts human faeces into biogas and reusable water.
• It uses anaerobic microbial inoculum (a material used for inoculation) to convert faeces into biogas and water that can be used for agriculture and gardening purposes.
• The tanks can be customised based on the requirements of the local conditions, and can operate in temperatures ranging from minus (-) 20 degrees to 50 degrees.
• The bio-digester tanks are maintenance-free for the lifetime, as the anaerobic microbial inoculum is fed only once. It feeds on the faecal matter and multiplies by itself.
• The technology is now being used in the Indian Railways and by the armed forces.