What is the iran nuclear deal?
• Iran agreed to rein in its nuclear programme in a 2015 deal struck with the P5 (US, UK, Russia, China, France) and Germany.
• Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) Tehran agreed to significantly cut its stores of centrifuges, enriched uranium and heavy-water, all key components for nuclear weapons.
• The JCPOA established the Joint Commission, with the negotiating parties all represented, to monitor implementation of the agreement.

Iran is bounded to the north by Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and the Caspian Sea, to the east by Pakistan and Afghanistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by Turkey and Iraq.

What is RT-LAMP?
• RT-LAMP stands for Reverse Transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification technology.
• Agappe Diagnostics has recently developed the technology indigenously, and their kit has been validated and approved by the ICMR for marketing.
• It is named LUME Screen nCoV.

How does it work?
• RT-LAMP technology is a one-step nucleic acid amplification method to multiply specific sequences of RNA of the coronavirus.
• The RNA is first made into cDNA (copy DNA) by the usual reverse transcription. Then, the DNA is amplified by the LAMP technique.

Current method
• The current method diagnosis is the real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test which detects the presence of viral nucleic acids in nasopharyngeal swab samples.
• But it has certain shortcomings-
– The test requires complex and costly equipment.
– It requires extensive training for potential users.

Benefits of LAMP over RT-PCR
• The LAMP technology is superior to the PCR technology–based COVID-19 kits where specificity is around 95% only.
• As the specificity and sensitivity of the test is about 95%, there is a possibility of false negative results.
• The turnaround time is about 10 hours, so that the result will be available only by the next day.
• In remote places, the turnaround time further increases depending on the distance the samples need to travel.
• In short, the RT-PCR does not have the capacity to keep pace with the increasing demand.
• The LAMP technology does not need laborious preparation as in the case of RT-PCR. LAMP is cost effective and does not need complex expensive equipment.

National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013
• Notified on: 10th September, 2013.
• Objective: To provide for food and nutritional security in the human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantities of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.
• Coverage: 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
• Eligibility:
– Priority Households to be covered under TPDS, according to guidelines by the State government.
– Households covered under existing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
• Provisions:
– 5 Kgs of foodgrains per person per month at Rs. 3/2/1 per Kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains.
– The existing AAY household will continue to receive 35 Kgs of foodgrains per household per month.
Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
– Meal and maternity benefit of not less than Rs. 6,000 to pregnant women and lactating mothers during pregnancy and six months after the child birth.
Hence, statement 3 is correct.
– Meals to children upto 14 years of age.
– Food security allowance to beneficiaries in case of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals.
– Setting up of grievance redressal mechanisms at the district and state level.

GATI
• The DST is incorporating a system of grading institutes depending on the enrolment of women and the advancement of the careers of women faculty and scientists.
• It will be called GATI (Gender Advancement through Transforming Institutions).
• The concept borrows from a programme started by the UK in 2005 called the Athena SWAN (Scientific Women’s Academic Network), which is now being adopted by many countries.
• The DST will soon launch a pilot, which the British Council has helped it develop.

What is Athena SWAN?
• The Athena SWAN Charter is an evaluation and accreditation programme in the UK enhancing gender equity in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM).
• Participating research organisations and academic institutions are required to analyse data on gender equity and develop action plans for improvement.
• Signatories commit to addressing various issues such as –
– Unequal gender representation;
– Tackling the gender pay gap;
– Removing the obstacles faced by women in career development and progression;
– Discriminatory treatment often experienced by trans people;
– Gender balance of committees and zero tolerance for bullying and sexual harassment.

What is the BEOSP test?
• BEOSP also known as brain fingerprinting is a neuro-psychological method of interrogation in which the accuser’s participation in the crime is investigated by studying their brain’s response.
• The BEOSP test is carried out via a process known as an electroencephalogram, conducted to study the electrical behaviour of the human brain.
• Under this test, the consent of the accused is first taken and they are then made to wear caps with dozens of electrodes attached to them.
• The accused are then shown visuals or played audio clips related to the crime to check if there is any triggering of neurons in their brains which then generate brainwaves.
• The test results are then studied to determine the participation of the accused in a crime.

Noctiluca Scintillans
• Scintillans is a bioluminescent specie that brightens the seawater during the night.
Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It grazes on other micro-organisms such as larvae, fish eggs, and diatoms. But the unicellular phytoplankton that lives inside it can photosynthesize, turning sunlight into energy.
• They help their host cell survive even when food was scarce.
• Thus, N. Scintillans acts as both a plant and an animal.
Hence, statement 2 is correct.

Threats posed
• According to marine experts, the phenomenon is an indicator of climate change.
• While smaller blooms may be harmless, slow-moving larger blooms may have an impact on deep-sea fishes.
• The toxic blooms of N. Scintillans were linked to massive fish and marine invertebrate kills.
• Though the species does not produce a toxin, it was found to accumulate toxic levels of ammonia, which is then excreted into the surrounding waters, possibly acting as the killing agent in blooms.
Hence, statement 3 is incorrect.
• They have displaced microscopic algae called diatoms, which form the basis of the marine food chain. This has deprived food for the planktivorous fish.

What is ‘federated learning’?
• Federated learning is an ML method used to train an algorithm across multiple decentralised devices or servers holding data samples.
Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It doesn’t exchange data with the devices, meaning there is no central dataset or server that stores the information.
Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
• Standard ML models require all data to be centralised in a single server. Implementation of federated learning eliminates the need for maintaining a storage hub.
Hence, statement 3 is incorrect.
• The term was first introduced in a 2016 Google study titled ‘Communication-efficient learning of deep networks from decentralized data.’
• Google emphasised mobile phones and tablets, stating that modern devices contain special features like speech recognition and image models that can store large amounts of data.
• Since then, Google has used the technique is various products, including Gboard, which provides text and phrase suggestions to the keyboard.

About GMRT
• The GMRT located near Pune is an array of thirty fully steerable parabolic radio telescopes of 45-metre diameter, observing at metre wavelengths.
Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
• It was conceived and built under the direction of Late Prof. Govind Swarup from 1984 to 1996.
• At the time it was built, it was the world’s largest interferometric array offering a baseline of up to 25 kilometres (16 mi).
• Astronomers from all over the world regularly use this telescope to observe many different astronomical objects such as HII regions (interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionized), galaxies, pulsars, supernovae, and Sun and solar winds.
Hence, statement 3 is correct.

GMRT is not an ISRO mission.
Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.

What are Peatlands?
• Peatlands are terrestrial wetland ecosystems in which waterlogged conditions prevent plant material from fully decomposing.
Hence, statement 1 is incorrect.
• Consequently, the production of organic matter exceeds its decomposition, which results in a net accumulation of peat.
• Over millennia this material builds up and becomes several metres thick.
• They occur in almost every country on Earth, currently covering 3% of the global land surface.
• Peatland landscapes are varied – from blanket bog landscapes with open, treeless vegetation in the Flow Country of Scotland – a tentative World Heritage site – to swamp forests in Southeast Asia.

Their importance
• Peatlands are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store. This area sequesters 0.37 gigatonnes of CO2 a year.
Hence, statement 2 is correct.
• In their natural, wet state peatlands provide vital ecosystem services.
• By regulating water flows, they help minimise the risk of flooding and drought and prevent seawater intrusion.
Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• In many parts of the world, peatlands supply food, fibre and other local products that sustain local economies.
• They also preserve important ecological and archaeological information such as pollen records and human artefacts.

What is the Roshni Act?
• The J&K State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act, 2001 is popularly known as the Roshni Act.
• It envisaged the transfer of ownership rights of state land to its occupants, subject to the payment of a cost, as determined by the government.
• It set 1990 as the cutoff for encroachment on state land.
• The government’s target was to earn Rs 25,000 crore by transferring 20 lakh kanals (one-eighth of an acre) of state land to existing occupants against payment at market rates.
• The government said the revenue generated would be spent on commissioning hydroelectric power projects, hence the name “Roshni”.

SDG Investor Map for India
• SDG Finance Facility platform at UNDP in partnership with Invest India, the investment promotion arm of the Government of India has developed this Map.
• The map will help public and private sector stake-holders direct capital towards IOAs, and White Spaces (Areas of Potential) that can contribute to the sustainable development needs of the country.
• The map has identified 18 IOAs and 8 White Spaces across 6 Priority Sectors including Education, Healthcare, Agriculture and Allied Services, Financial Services, Renewable Energy and Alternatives, and Sustainable Environment.

The 17 SDGs are:
1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable and Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reducing Inequality
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life On Land
16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships for the Goals.

Temperature anomaly in North
• Meteorological officials have attributed the trend to the cloud cover in the region which was absent until a few days ago.
• It is the result of a western disturbance, which has brought about a spell of precipitation in the northwest Himalaya.

Other factors for severe winters in North
• In north India, the huge temperature difference between summers and winters is due to its continentality (distance from seas and oceans).
• Air from oceans moderates the temperature as it moves onshore, but this effect is missing in continental interiors.
• As a result, north India has greater seasonal differences as compared to peninsular India.
• Temperature also reduces rapidly with altitude, and thus, the Himalayan region is colder still.

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI)
• It is a company of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, established to facilitate the implementation of the National Solar Mission (NSM).
Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It is the only Central Public Sector Undertaking dedicated to the solar energy sector.
Hence, statement 2 is incorrect.
• The company’s mandate has been broadened to cover the entire renewable energy domain and the company will be renamed to Renewable Energy Corporation of India (RECI).
• It is responsible for the implementation of a number of govt. schemes, major ones being the solar park scheme and grid-connected solar rooftop scheme etc.
• It has a power-trading licence and is active in this domain through the trading of solar power from projects set up under the schemes being implemented by it.

What is eVIN?
• E-VIN is an indigenously developed technology that digitizes vaccine stocks and monitors the temperature of the cold chain through a smartphone application.
Hence, statement 1 is incorrect and statement 2 is correct.
• It was first launched across 12 states in 2015 to support better vaccine logistics management at cold chain points.
• It supports the central government’s Universal Immunization Programme by providing real-time information on vaccine stocks and flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points across states and UTs.
Hence, statement 3 is correct.

MQ-9B Sea Guardian
• The Guardian, which is the maritime variant of the Predator MQ-9 UAV, has a maximum endurance of 40 hours and a maximum flying altitude of 40,000 feet.
Hence, statement 1 is correct.
• It has 360-degree maritime surveillance radar and optional multimode maritime surface search radar.
Hence, statement 3 is correct.
• The drone can perform over-the-horizon long-endurance, medium-altitude Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions.
• The recently released Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 has introduced an option for leasing military platforms.
• The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA) has simplified such high- technology cooperation.

Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA)
• BECA will help India get real-time access to American geospatial intelligence that will enhance the accuracy of automated systems and weapons like missiles and armed drones.
• Through the sharing of information on maps and satellite images, it will help India access topographical and aeronautical data, and advanced products that will aid in navigation and targeting.
• This could be a key to Air Force-to-Air Force cooperation between India and the US.
• BECA will provide Indian military systems with a high-quality GPS to navigate missiles with real-time intelligence to precisely target the adversary.
• Besides the sailing of ships, flying off aircraft, fighting of wars, and location of targets, geospatial intelligence is also critical to the response to natural disasters.

Article 32 of the Constitution (Right to Constitutional Remedies):
• It is a fundamental right, which states that individuals have the right to approach the Supreme Court (SC) seeking enforcement of other fundamental rights recognised by the Constitution.
• The SC has power to issue directions or orders or writs for the enforcement of any of the fundamental rights. The writs issued may include habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo-warranto.
• The right to move the SC shall not be suspended except as otherwise provided for by the Constitution. Thus, the Constitution provides that the President can suspend the right to move any court for the enforcement of the fundamental rights during a national emergency (Article 359).
• In case of the enforcement of Fundamental Rights, the jurisdiction of the SC is original but not exclusive. It is concurrent with the jurisdiction of the high court under Article 226.
• Original, because an aggrieved citizen can directly go to the SC, not necessarily by way of appeal.
• Concurrent means when the Fundamental Rights of a citizen are violated, the aggrieved party has the option of moving either the high court or the Supreme Court directly.
• Since the right guaranteed by Article 32 (ie, the right to move the SC where a fundamental right is infringed) is in itself a fundamental right, the availability of alternate remedy is no bar to relief under Article 32.
• However, the SC has ruled that where relief through the high court is available under Article 226, the aggrieved party should first move the high court.
• In the Chandra Kumar case (1997), the SC ruled that the writ jurisdiction of both the high court and the Supreme Court constitute a part of the basic structure of the Constitution.