{"id":14388,"date":"2021-03-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/16-03-2021\/facts-in-news-101\/"},"modified":"2021-03-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T00:00:00","slug":"facts-in-news-101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/16-03-2021\/facts-in-news-101","title":{"rendered":"Facts in News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Facts in News<\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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UN Human Rights Council<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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    \n
  • An inter-governmental body<\/strong> within the UN system.<\/li>\n
  • Membership:<\/strong> 47 States<\/strong> elected by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) based on Geography.\n
      \n
    • African States: 13 seats<\/li>\n
    • Asia-Pacific States: 13 seats<\/li>\n
    • Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 seats<\/li>\n
    • Western European and other States: 7 seats<\/li>\n
    • Eastern European States: 6 seats<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Membership Tenure: <\/strong>3 years; no immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.<\/li>\n
    • Responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights<\/strong> around the globe.<\/li>\n
    • It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year.<\/li>\n
    • Created by:<\/strong> UNGA in 2006.\n
        \n
      • Replaced the former UN Commission on Human Rights.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • Secretariat:<\/strong> Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).<\/li>\n
      • Headquarter:<\/strong> Geneva, Switzerland.<\/li>\n
      • Procedures and Mechanisms associated with UNHCR:<\/strong>\n
          \n
        • Universal Periodic Review:<\/strong> Serves to assess the human rights situations in all UN Member States.<\/li>\n
        • Advisory Committee:<\/strong> Serves as Council\u2019s \u201cthink tank\u201d<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        • Complaint Procedure:<\/strong> Allows individuals and organizations to bring human rights violations to the attention of the Council.<\/li>\n
        • UN Special Procedures:<\/strong> Made up of special rapporteurs, special representatives, independent experts and working groups that monitor, examine, advise and publicly report on thematic issues or human rights situations in specific countries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • It is in News due to\n
            \n
          • Indian Support to Srilanka on Tamil persecution Issue,<\/li>\n
          • Indian allegation on Pakistan\u2019s misuse of platform and<\/li>\n
          • Sanyukt Kisan Morcha\u2019s attempt to raise farm laws in the UN Human Rights Council.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Martian \u2018Blueberries\u2019<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • In 2004, \u2018Opportunity\u2019 rover found several small spheres on the planet, informally named Martian blueberries.<\/li>\n
  • Mineral spectrometry revealed iron oxide compounds called haematites<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • Findings:<\/strong>\n
      \n
    • A recent study on Jhuran Formations (145 and 201 million years old) of Gujarat showed similarity between Haematite concretions in Kutch (India) and Mars.<\/li>\n
    • They have similar morphology \u2013 spherical, often doublet and triplet \u2013 and similar mineralogy \u2013 a mixture of haematite and goethite.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Significance:<\/strong>\n
        \n
      • The presence of haematites suggests that there was water present on Mars.\n
          \n
        • Haematite concretion [hard solid mass] forms due to precipitation from aqueous fluids.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • They also indicate that the planet had an atmosphere with oxygen as haematites need oxygen to stabilise.<\/li>\n
        • But the level of Oxygen can\u2019t be determined.<\/li>\n
        • Water is believed to have disappeared from Mars rocks about three billion years ago.<\/li>\n
        • The Kutch area due to similarity with Martian formations could be a potential testing site for carrying out future Mars exploration studies on Earth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • Martian analogue: <\/strong>Kutch area is a potential Martian analogue (similarity with Martian) locality.\n
            \n
          • 2016 study:<\/strong> Occurrences of hydrous sulphate<\/strong> in the Matanomadh area of Kutch, resemble Martian surficial processes.\n
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            • The transformation from the wet and humid to dry and arid environment on Mars is mimicked by the history of Kutch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
            • The concretions in the Jhuran Formation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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Rakhigarhi<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • The ancient sites of Rakhi-Khas and Rakhi-Shahpur are collectively known as Rakhigarhi.<\/li>\n
  • They are located in Haryana<\/strong> on the right bank of the now dried up Palaeo-channel of Drishadvati<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • 7 mounds are located here and depict sequential development of Harappan culture in the now dried up Saraswati basin.<\/li>\n
  • It is by far one of the largest Harappan sites in India.<\/li>\n
  • It was declared as one of 5 iconic archaeological sites<\/strong> located across five states by the Union Budget of 2020.<\/li>\n
  • For development of the sites and its environs, repairing of boundary walls, pathways, public amenities, solar lights, benches are being provided.<\/li>\n
  • Excavation is also proposed at the site to showcase the archaeological remains in a holistic manner.<\/li>\n
  • The funds will be met out within ASI Budget allocations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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Border Roads Organisation (BRO)<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • It was conceptualised <\/strong>by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru<\/strong> in 1960<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • It functions under the Ministry of Defence<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  • Functions<\/strong>\n
      \n
    • Primarily meets the strategic\/defence requirement <\/strong>towards infrastructure development of remote border areas of North and North East states.<\/li>\n
    • Optimise potential and expertise<\/strong> through increased involvement in agency, transnational and national development projects.<\/li>\n
    • To attain leadership in development, adoption, assimilation and use of state of the art technology<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Role of the BRO<\/strong>\n
        \n
      • In Peace<\/strong>\n
          \n
        • Develop and maintain operational road infrastructure in border areas.<\/li>\n
        • Contribute to socio-economic development of border states.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • In War<\/strong>\n
            \n
          • Develop and maintain roads to keep line of control through in original sectors and re-deployed sectors.<\/li>\n
          • To execute additional tasks as laid down by government contributing to war efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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What is Stripe?<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • It is an\u00a0 Irish-American financial <\/strong>services company mainly offers payments processing software<\/strong> and APIs for firms<\/strong> conducting business online through websites<\/strong> and mobile applications.<\/li>\n
  • Its customers include firms such as Amazon, Uber, Doordash, booking.com, Salesforce, Zoom, Slack, Shopify, Peloton,<\/strong> and several others across verticals such as e-commerce and retail, B2B platforms, SaaS platforms, B2C marketplaces, and nonprofits. <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Rocket RH-560<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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    \n
  • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched the sounding rocket (RH-560) to study attitudinal variations in the neutral winds and plasma dynamics <\/strong>from the Sriharikota spaceport.<\/strong>\n
      \n
    • ISRO has developed a series of sounding rockets called the Rohini series<\/strong>, important among them being RH-200, RH-300 and RH-560<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Sounding rocket<\/strong>s are one or two-stage solid propellant rockets<\/strong> used for probing the upper atmospheric regions and for space research.\n
        \n
      • ISRO<\/strong> started launching indigenously made sounding rockets in 1965 <\/strong>and the experience gained was of immense valu<\/strong>e in the mastering of solid propellant technology.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • They also serve as easily affordable platforms to test or prove prototypes<\/strong> of new components or subsystems intended for use in launch vehicles and satellites<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan Project<\/h3>\n<\/td>\n

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  • It was launched by the President of India on 27th September 2017 on the occasion of World Tourism Day.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • It is a collaborative effort by the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry<\/strong> of Culture, Archaeological Survey of India<\/strong> and State\/ UTs Government.<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • The project aims to encourage companies<\/strong> from the public sector,<\/strong> private sector, trusts, NGOs, individuals <\/strong>and other stakeholders<\/strong> to become \u2018Monument Mitras<\/strong>\u2019 and take up the responsibility <\/strong>of developing and upgrading <\/strong>the basic and advanced tourist amenities<\/strong> at heritage\/ natural\/ <\/strong>tourist sites as per their interest and viability<\/strong> in terms of a sustainable investment model under CSR. <\/strong>\n
      \n
    • They would also look after the Operation & Maintenance of the same.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Facts in News UN Human Rights Council An inter-governmental body within the UN system. Membership: 47 States elected by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) based on Geography. African States: 13 seats Asia-Pacific States: 13 seats Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[30,26,25],"class_list":["post-14388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-gs-2","tag-gs-3","tag-gs1"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/3619483current-affairs (1).jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}