Prelims in Focus, an IAS Abhiyan Initiative to quickly navigate through the important facts, current affairs, static portion to enrich aspirant’s knowledge base along with conceptual clarity. Our Prelims in Focus initiative will surely be an added advantage for UPSC Prelims Examinations. This initiative will help the aspirants to focus to the main points of a topic quickly at the same time. In this initiative, we will cover 10-15 important facts on a daily basis. Click here to Join our Telegram Channel to read these articles. We will continue our Monthly Pre-Bits Flash Liner along with this initiative.
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Prelims in Focus-Part-30
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Biological Disasters
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🔹Health being the state subject, the primary responsibility of dealing with biological disasters rests with the state government.🔹The National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) is the nodal agency for investigating outbreaks.
🔹Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is the nodal ministry for Biological Warfare (use of biological agents as an act of war). MHA is also responsible for assessing threat perceptions, setting up of deterrent mechanisms and providing intelligence inputs.
- Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR)
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➖Mid-ocean ridge, a divergent or constructive plate boundary located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean,➖Part of the longest mountain range in the world.
➖In the North Atlantic, it separates the North American from the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate, north and south of the Azores Triple Junction respectively.
➖In the South Atlantic, it separates the African and South American plates.
➖Near the equator, the it is divided into the North Atlantic Ridge and the South Atlantic Ridge by the Romanche Trench, a narrow submarine trench, one of the deepest locations of the Atlantic Ocean.
- The Bavin award is instituted by the Animal Welfare Institute for wildlife law enforcement officers, law enforcement agencies, agency administrators, criminal investigators, forensic scientists, attorneys, informants, and others who have gone beyond the call of duty and demonstrated a commitment and dedication to combating wildlife crime.
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Note- Vivek Menon, head of the Wildlife Trust of India was awarded the prestigious Clark R Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Award for the year 2019 - The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) is the Nodal Ministry for the management of chemical disasters.
- National Productivity Council (NPC)
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➖National level organization to promote productivity culture in India.
➖Under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Established in 1958,
➖An autonomous, multipartite, non-profit organization and has been registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860. - “Atlantification”
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➖Streams of warmer water from the Atlantic Ocean flow into the Arctic at the Barents Sea.
➖Warmer, saltier Atlantic water is usually fairly deep under the more buoyant Arctic water at the surface. Lately, however, the Atlantic water has been creeping up.
➖Heat in the Atlantic water is helping to keep ice from forming and melting existing sea ice from below. - Sanghakkali
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➖Traditionally performed by the Namboodiris as a ritual
➖Rare art forms of Kerala
➖Performed in Namboodiri homes during the ‘shodasa kriyas’(16 rites) as well as in Shiva temples.
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Note: Kambadi Kali, Velakali, Poorakkali, Duffmuttu, Sanghakkali, Padayani, Margam Kali etc. come under martial art forms - EOS-01
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➖India’s latest earth observation satellite
➖Intended for applications in agriculture, forestry and disaster management support.
➖Will be the 51st mission of ISRO’s workhorse, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle.
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Note: Currently, 13 operational satellites are in Sun-synchronous orbit and 4 in Geostationary orbit. - Pelagornithids
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➖Fossil of a giant bird that lived about 50 million years ago
➖Filled a niche much like that of today’s albatrosses
➖‘Bony-toothed’ birds because of the bony projections, or struts, on their jaws that resemble sharp-pointed teeth - ASER Wave 1 Survey
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➖Small shift in enrollment from private to government schools
➖Proportion of boys enrolled in government schools rose from 62.8% in 2018 to 66.4% in 2020.
➖Among enrolled children, more than 60% live in families with at least one smartphone i.e. from 36.5% to 61.8%
➖50.6%, teachers who taught between Grades III to V were the best trained.
➖Most teachers were in possession of phone numbers of at least 50% of their students.
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Note: ASER tools and procedures are designed by ASER Centre, the research and assessment arm of Pratham.
