NASA and ISRO are collaborating on developing a satellite called NISAR, which will detect movements of the planet’s surface as small as 0.4 inches over areas about half the size of a tennis court.

The satellite will be launched in 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India, into a near-polar orbit and will scan the globe every 12 days over the course of its three-year mission of imaging the Earth’s land, ice sheets and sea ice to give an “unprecedented” view of the planet.

The name NISAR is short for NASA-ISRO-SAR. SAR here refers to the synthetic aperture radar that NASA will use to measure changes in the surface of the Earth. Essentially, SAR refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images. Because of the precision, the radar can penetrate clouds and darkness, which means that it can collect data day and night in any weather.

During the course of three years, the images will allow scientists to track changes in croplands, hazard sites and will help them to monitor crises such as volcanic eruptions. The images will be detailed enough to show local changes and broad enough to measure regional trends.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

Headquartered in Singapore, the APEC is recognized as one of the highest-level multilateral blocs and oldest forums in the Asia-Pacific region, and exerts a significant global influence.

India has requested membership in APEC, and received initial support from the United States, Japan, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

As an alternative dispute resolution tool, Lok Adalats are regularly organised to help parties reach a compromise. Motor-accident claims, disputes related to public-utility services, cases related to dishonour of cheques, and land, labour and matrimonial disputes (except divorce) are usually taken up by Lok Adalats.

he Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has declared Ocean Energy as renewable energy.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has clarified to all the stakeholders that energy produced using various forms of ocean energy such as tidal, wave, ocean thermal energy conversion among others shall be considered as renewable energy and shall be eligible for meeting the non-solar Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO).

As of date, there is not any installed Ocean Energy capacity in India.

According to MNRE, the total identified potential of tidal energy is about 12,455 MW, with potential locations identified at Khambat & Kutch regions, and large backwaters, where barrage technology could be used. The total theoretical potential of wave energy in India along the country’s coast is estimated to be about 40,000 MW – these are preliminary estimates. This energy is however less intensive than what is available in more northern and southern latitudes. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) has a theoretical potential of 180,000 MW in India subject to suitable technological evolution.

The central government has promulgated an ordinance allowing the use of pre-packs as an insolvency resolution mechanism for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with defaults up to Rs 1 crore, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code.

A pre-pack is the resolution of the debt of a distressed company through an agreement between secured creditors and investors instead of a public bidding process.

Under the pre-pack system, financial creditors will agree to terms with a potential investor and seek approval of the resolution plan from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

What are the benefits of pre-packs over the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP)?

One of the key criticisms of the CIRP has been the time taken for resolution. At the end of December 2020, over 86 per cent of the 1717 ongoing insolvency resolution proceedings had crossed the 270-day threshold. One of the key reasons behind delays in the CIRPs are prolonged litigations by erstwhile promoters and potential bidders.
The pre-pack in contrast is limited to a maximum of 120 days with only 90 days available to the stakeholders to bring the resolution plan to the NCLT.
Another key difference between pre-packs and CIRP is that the existing management retains control in the case of pre-packs while a resolution professional takes control of the debtor as a representative of financial creditors in the case of CIRP.
The pre-pack mechanism allows for a swiss challenge for any resolution plans which proved less than full recovery of dues for operational creditors. Under the swiss challenge mechanism, any third party would be permitted to submit a resolution plan for the distressed company and the original applicant would have to either match the improved resolution plan or forego the investment.

The G4 nations comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan are four countries which support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.

Unlike the G7, where the common denominator is the economy and long-term political motives, the G4’s primary aim is the permanent member seats on the Security Council.

Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram borders with Myanmar.

The stigma attached to menstruation and restrictions in the private and public sphere for the duration of menstruation have long been part of women’s lives in India. The notion of menstruating women being “impure”, a notion which targets the physiological feature of being women.

The first ground for rejecting such practices is thus differential treatment, which directly discriminates women on the ground of their sex and is impermissible under Article 14 of the Constitution. Viewed from another lens, it is also against the notion of substantive equality adopted by the Constitution. In fact, it supports a more formal notion of equality of ‘separate but equal treatment’.

Substantive equality is a fundamental aspect of human rights law that is concerned with equitable outcomes and equal opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized people and groups in society.

The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth’s only continent without a native human population. The treaty entered into force in 1961 and currently has 54 parties.

The main objective of the ATS is to ensure in the interests of all humankind that Antarctica shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord. Pursuant to Article 1, the treaty forbids any measures of a military nature, but not the presence of military personnel or equipment for the purposes of scientific research.

Any nuclear explosions in Antarctica and the disposal there of radioactive waste material shall be prohibited.

The Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) is an international and multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to advance the responsible and human-centric development and use of artificial intelligence. Specifically, GPAI brings together leading experts from science, industry, civil society, and governments to “bridge the gap between theory and practice” through applied AI projects and activities. The goal is to facilitate international collaboration, reduce duplication between governments, and act as a global reference point on discussions on responsible AI.

The OECD hosts a dedicated secretariat to support GPAI’s governing bodies and activities.

Exposure to POPs can lead to cancer, damage to central & peripheral nervous systems, diseases of immune system, reproductive disorders and interference with normal infant and child development.

Uniqueness of POPs:

1. POPs are lipophilic, which means that they accumulate in the fatty tissue of living animals and human beings.

2. In fatty tissue, the concentrations can become magnified by up to 70 000 times higher than the background levels.

3. As you move up the food chain, concentrations of POPs tend to increase so that animals at the top of the food chain such as fish, predatory birds, mammals, and humans tend to have the greatest concentrations of these chemicals.

NITI Aayog’s Agricultural Markets and Farmer Friendly Reforms Index — AMFFRI, an index that evaluates Indian states on the extent to which each of them undertook required agri-reforms; a low AMFFRI rank implies the state is undertaking desired reforms. It was found that states that undertook reforms, and were thus ranked low on AMFFRI, witnessed a relatively faster agri-GDP growth rate and states which did not undertake required reforms, and thus were ranked high on the AMFFRI, witnessed relatively lower agri-GDP growth rates.

Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, but commonly including varying amounts of other higher alkanes, and sometimes a small percentage of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide, or helium. It is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth over millions of years.

Natural gas is a non-renewable hydrocarbon used as a source of energy for heating, cooking, and electricity generation. It is also used as a fuel for vehicles and as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals.

Natural gas is found in deep underground rock formations or associated with other hydrocarbon reservoirs in coal beds and as methane clathrates.

One of the reasons for agrarian distress is the declining average size of farm holdings. The average farm size declined from 2.3 hectares (ha) in 1970-71 to 1.08 ha in 2015-16. The share of small and marginal farmers increased from 70 per cent in 1980-81 to 86 per cent in 2015-16.

In the last decade, the Centre has encouraged farmer producer organisations (FPOs) to help farmers. Since 2011, it has intensively promoted FPOs under the Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC), NABARD, state governments and NGOs.

The National Commission for Women was set up as statutory body in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 to:

review the Constitutional and Legal safeguards for women;
recommend remedial legislative measures;
facilitate redressal of grievances and advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.
It is an advisory body, not a court. It can attend to grievances but only recommend action, and not order punishments.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, had approved the Phase II of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) [SBM (G)] till 2024-25, which will focus on Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF Plus), which includes ODF sustainability and Solid and Liquid Waste Management (SLWM). The program will also work towards ensuring that no one is left behind and everyone uses a toilet.

SBM (G) Phase-II will also be implemented from 2020-21 to 2024-25.

The fund sharing pattern between Centre and States will be 90:10 for North-Eastern States and Himalayan States and UT of J&K; 60:40 for other States; and 100:0 for other Union Territories, for all the components.

The Tigris is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of south-eastern Turkey through Iraq and empties into the Persian Gulf.

The Mekong is a trans-boundary river in Southeast Asia. From the Tibetan Plateau the river runs through China’s Yunnan Province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

The National Dairy Development Board is an institution of national importance set up by an Act of Parliament of India.

The Board was created to finance, support and support producer-owned and controlled organisations. Its programmes and activities seek to strengthen farmer cooperatives and support national policies that are favourable to the growth of such institutions. Cooperative principles and cooperative strategies are fundamental to the board’s efforts.

The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) now organises farmer’s orientation programmes across the country, under which women farmers are trained in scientific best practices on animal health, fodder quality, clean milk production, and accounts management.

What are the probable reasons behind the decline number of birds in/around Chandigarh wetlands?

Increasing human footprints, disturbance, especially around the specific habitats for the migratory birds like regulatory ends of Sukhna Lake, along with increasing water level of water bodies are among major reasons for this trend.

Contractual fishing, cultivation of water chestnuts at certain water bodies, unregulated human activities are among other reasons behind the disturbance in the habitats of birds.

Increasing water level in Sukhna Lake is also a matter of concern. A majority of waterfowl especially migratory birds prefer shallow water bodies for easy availability of food.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.

International Seabed Authority (ISA) was established to organize, regulate and control all mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction (referred to as “the Area”), an area underlying most of the world’s oceans. It is an organization established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) is an intergovernmental organization created by the mandate of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. It was established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.