Facts in News
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Shuvuuia Deserti
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- Shuvuuia is a genus of bird-like theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period.
- It is a member of the family Alvarezsauridae, small coelurosaurian dinosaurs.
- This dinosaur species were prevalent around 70 million years ago in present-day Mongolia and Northern China.
- In the Mongolian language, Shuvuuia stands for “bird”.
Image Courtesy: scitechdaily
Key Characteristics
- It has boasted visual and auditory capabilities akin to a barn owl, indicating it could hunt in total darkness.
- Shuvuuia had a very wide scleral ring, indicating an extra-large pupil size that made its eye a specialized light-capture device.
- Like many carnivorous dinosaurs, it did not have strong jaws and sharp teeth.
- It had a bird-shaped body, a lightly built skull and many tiny teeth like grains of rice.
- Unlike birds, it had short but powerful arms ending in a single large claw.
- It has short but powerful forelimbs specialized for digging.
- With its long legs and digging forelimbs, it could run at a fast pace and catch its prey like nocturnal mammals, lizards and insects.
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Bad Bank
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Padmakumar M Nair named as CEO of proposed bad bank
About
- It is an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC) or an Asset Management Company (AMC) which helps commercial banks to clean their account books and recover bad loans over a period of time.
- Bad loans are loans or advances made by a financial institution, on which both principal or interest is unpaid for a specified period of time.
- Simply stated, NPAs are those loans that have ceased to generate income for the bank.
Genesis
- For the first time, the Bad Bank was established by US-based Mellon Bank in 1988, after which the concept has been implemented in other countries such as Sweden, Finland, France, Belgium, Germany and Indonesia.
- In the US, the bad bank was institutionalised by the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP).
- In India, the Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramaniam in Economic Survey 2016-17 recommended the establishment of Public Sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency to tackle the growing menace of NPAs, which is badly affecting the economy of the country.
- In Budget 2021-22, the finance minister has announced the setting up of a bad bank to take over the bad loans of commercial banks in India.
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Rhea Bird (Rhea americana)
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- It is a flightless bird and resembles an ostrich and emu.
- Rhea bird is native to South America.
- Types: Greater or American rhea and the Lesser or Darwin’s rhea.
- IUCN status
- Greater Rhea as near-threatened
- Darwin’s Rhea as least concern.
- They are grassland birds and both species prefer open land.
- These birds are omnivores and unlike most birds, rheas have only three toes.
- They can’t fly but use their wings for balance and changing direction.
Threats: Their eggs are collected for food and their meat is also in great demand. Their skins are used in the manufacturing of leather.
Image Courtesy: Britannica
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Barren Island
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- Barren Island is part of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is located in the Andaman Sea, around 140 kilometres northeast of Port Blair.
- Barren Island is India’s and South Asia’s only active volcano.
- The volcano erupted for the first time in 1787 and latest in 2017.
- It is a barren landscape and uninhabited by humans.
- It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district.
- This region is protected by the Indian Coast Guard to curb illegal entry and other activities.
Image Courtesy: Maps of India
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IREDA bags “Green Urja Award”
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- Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has been conferred with “Green Urja Award” for being the Leading Public Institution in Financing Institution for Renewable Energy.
- IREDA plays a pivotal role in Green Energy Financing.
- The award has been given by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
About IREDA
- It is a Mini Ratna (Category – I) Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE).
- It was established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution in 1987.
- It is the only dedicated institution for financing Renewable Energy (RE) & Energy Efficiency (EE) projects in India.
- Motto: Energy for Ever.
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Five Deep Project
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- The world’s first manned expedition to the deepest point in each of the five oceans.
- the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic,
- South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Ocean,
- Java Trench in the Indian Ocean,
- Challenger Deep in the Pacific and
- Molloy Deep in the Arctic.
- It is the first submarine-based (world’s first two-person, titanium-built) mission.
- The mission was launched in December 2018.
Image courtesy- Guardian
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MPLAD Fund
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- Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a centrally sponsored scheme initiated in 1993 by Narsimha Rao Government.
- It is fully funded by the Government of India.
- Objective: Under the scheme, the MPs can recommend development programmes involving the spending of Rs 5 crore every year in their respective constituencies.
- Administered by: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).
Key Points
- MPs and MLAs do not receive any money under these schemes. The government transfers it directly to the respective local authorities.
- These funds are non-lapsable in nature i.e. in case of non-release of the fund in a particular year it is carried forward to the next year.
- For the MPLAD Scheme, the guidelines focus on the creation of durable community assets like roads, school buildings etc.
- States have their version of this scheme with varying amounts per MLA.
- Delhi has the highest allocation under MLALAD; each MLA can recommend works for up to Rs 10 crore each year.
- In Punjab and Kerala, the amount is Rs 5 crore per MLA per year.
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