Learn with NITISH KUMAR

An eclipse happens when one astronomical body blocks light from or to another. ● Solar Eclipse: • This happens when the Sun, the Moon and the Earth are aligned closely with the Moon in the middle. • A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets between Earth and the sun, and the moon casts a shadow over Earth. ● Lunar Eclipse: • This happens when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon are aligned closely with the Earth in the middle. During a lunar eclipse, the Earth’s shadow can be seen on the moon’s surface. • When the Earth moves between the sun and the moon, therefore blocking the sun’s rays from striking the moon, is called a lunar eclipse.

🌑 Solar Eclipse & Lunar Eclipse.

■ Places, Species, Other names in News (March 2022): □ Places: ● Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant - It's Europe's largest Nuclear Power Plant. It's located in Ukraine. ● Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant - It is in Ukraine. The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986. • 26 September - International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. • 29 August - International Day against Nuclear Tests. ● Harike Wildlife Sanctuary - Punjab. ● Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary - Tamil Nadu. ● Shitalakshaya river - Bangladesh. ● Kaziranga National Park - Assam. ● Dehing Patkai National Park - Assam. ● Sariska Tiger Reserve - Rajasthan. □ Species: ● Rough toothed dolphins (Steno bredanensis) - Rough toothed dolphins are found in tropical and warmer temperate waters all over the world. They can grow up to 8.5ft in length and have grey body with white lips and throat and a speckled belly. ● Olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). □ Other names: ● Russian Revolution- 1917. ● Exercise Vayu Shakti - It's a triennial exercise of Indian Air Force. The exercise had started in 1953. The last edition was conducted in 2019. ● Deepak Dhar - Deepak Dhar becomes the first Indian to win Boltzmann medal. Boltzmann medal is awarded by the Commission on Statistical Physics (C3) of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. It was initiated in 1975, K.G. Wilson was the first recipient.  ● HANSA-NG - It is an indigenously developed aircraft trainer, developed by the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL). ● Exercise Dharma Guardian - It's an annual bilateral Army exercise between India and Japan. ● Reasonable accommodation - Reasonable accommodation’ is a principle that promotes equality, enables the grant of positive rights and prevents discrimination based on disability, health condition or personal belief. Its use is primarily in the disability rights sector. • In India, the Rights of People with Disabilities Act, 2016, defines ‘reasonable accommodation’ as “necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments, without imposing a disproportionate or undue burden in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise of rights equally with others”. ● Dissolved oxygen (DO) - Dissolved oxygen (DO) is the amount of oxygen that is present in water. Water bodies receive oxygen from the atmosphere and from aquatic plants. Running water, such as that of a swift moving stream, dissolves more oxygen than the still water of a pond or lake. • All aquatic animals need DO to breathe. Low levels of oxygen (hypoxia) or no oxygen levels (anoxia) can occur when excess organic materials, such as large algal blooms, are decomposed by microorganisms. During this decomposition process, DO in the water is consumed. ● Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) - Chemical oxygen demand (COD) is the amount of dissolved oxygen that must be present in water to oxidize chemical organic materials. ● Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) - The biological oxygen demand (BOD) is also called Biochemical oxygen demand. Biochemical oxygen demand is the amount of oxygen consumed by bacteria and other microorganisms while they decompose organic matter under aerobic conditions.  ● Monoculture Farming/Plantation? - Monoculture farming is a form of agriculture that is based on growing only one type of a crop or plant or livestock species at one time on a specific field. • In contrast, a polyculture system assumes that a field is sown with two or more crops at a time. ● Cannabis - Cannabis is a plant product that is known by the local names marijuana, charas, hashish, ganja, and bhang. The user feels 'high' upon consuming (smoking) it. • The active principle in Cannabis is a psychoactive molecule called tetrahydrocannabinol, which is responsible for its psychoactive and intoxicating effects. ● LAMITIYE 2022 - It's the 9th edition of the Joint Military Exercise between the Indian Army and Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF).

■ The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022. • The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 that would allow the police and prison authorities to collect, store and analyse physical and biological samples, including retina and iris scans, was introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday. • The Bill seeks to repeal "The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920" whose scope was limited to taking recording finger impressions and foot-print impressions of limited category of convicted and non-convicted persons and photographs on the order of a Magistrate. • The Bill empowers the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to collect, store and preserve the record of measurements and for sharing, dissemination, destruction and disposal of records. NCRB will be the repository of physical and biological samples, signature and handwriting data. • The records can be stored for 75 years. It also enables NCRB to share the records with any other law enforcement agency. • The Bill also authorises for taking measurements of convicts and "other persons" for identification and investigation in criminal matters. It doesn't define the "other persons" implying its ambit beyond convicts, arrested persons, or detainees. • Police personnel up to the rank of Head Constable have been authorised to record the measurements. • The Bill also proposes to record the details of persons detained under any preventive detention law. Opposition says this can be misused against political adversaries. • If a person with no criminal background is released without trial or discharged or acquitted by the court, all records of measurements so taken shall be destroyed from the records. • The bill provides legal sanction for taking appropriate body measurements of persons who are required to give such measurements and will make the investigation of crime more efficient and expeditious and will also help in increasing the conviction rate. • The Bill seeks to to define ‘‘measurements’’ to include finger impressions, palm print and foot print impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis. • It empowers a Magistrate to direct any person to give measurements and also empowers the police or prison officer to take measurements of any person who resists or refuses to give measurements. • “Resistance to or refusal to allow the taking of measurements under this Act shall be deemed to be an offence under section 186 of the Indian Penal Code,” the bill states. • The Minister said Bill was required to make provisions for the use of modern techniques to capture and record appropriate body measurements. He pointed out that the existing law "The Identification of Prisoners Act" dated back to 1920 and allowed taking only finger print and foot print impressions of a limited category of convicted persons. □ Reasons for opposing the Bill: • Opposition members argued that the Bill was beyond the legislative competence of Parliament as it violated fundamental rights of citizens including the right to privacy. • RSP member Mr. Premachandran argued that Bill violates human rights provisions as laid out in the United Nations charter. • BSP member Ritesh Pandey pointed out that the Bill proposes to collect samples even from protestors engaged in political protests. • Congress member Manish Tewari argued that the Bill, which implied use of force in collection of biological information, could also lead to narco analysis and brain mapping, and claimed that it violates Article 20 (3) of the Constitution as well as the Supreme Court judgement in the K.S. Puttaswamy case. • The implied use of force in clause 6(1) to take measurements violates the rights of prisoners laid down in a catena of Supreme Court judgements beginning with A K Gopalan 1950, Kharag Singh 1964, Charles Sobhraj 1978, Sheela Barse 1983, Pramod Kumar Saxena 2008,” he said. It is also in violation of Right to be Forgotten enshrined in Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution in terms of the Puttaswamy judgment, he said.

📕 Polity terms: □ Dissolution: • Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, is not subject to dissolution. Only the Lok Sabha is subject to dissolution. Unlike a prorogation, a dissolution ends the very life of the existing House, and a new House is constituted after general elections are held. 1. A bill pending in the Lok Sabha lapses (whether originating in the Lok Sabha or transmitted to it by the Rajya Sabha). 2. A bill passed by the Lok Sabha but pending in the Rajya Sabha lapses. 3. A bill not passed by the two Houses due to disagreement and if the president has notified the holding of a joint sitting before the dissolution of Lok Sabha, does not lapse. 4. A bill pending in the Rajya Sabha but not passed by the Lok Sabha does not lapse. 5. A bill passed by both Houses but pending assent of the president does not lapse. 6. A bill passed by both Houses but returned by the president for reconsideration of Houses does not lapse. □ Quorum: • Quorum is the minimum number of members required to be present in the House before it can transact any business. • It is one tenth of the total number of members in each House including the presiding officer. • It means that there must be at least 55 members present in the Lok Sabha and 25 members present in the Rajya Sabha, if any business is to be conducted. • If there is no quorum during a meeting of the House, it is the duty of the presiding officer either to adjourn the House or to suspend the meeting until there is a quorum. □ Lame duck session: • In Parliament a lame duck session is conducted after election of new members but before they are installed. • This refers to a session in which the members participate for last time because of failure to re-election. • If a person loses an election, but continues to hold the office till new officer is installed can also be called as Lame Duck Session. • Those members of the existing Lok Sabha who could not get re-elected to the new Lok Sabha are called lame-ducks. □ Question Hour: • The first hour of every parliamentary sitting is slotted for this. During this time, the members ask questions and the ministers usually give answers. • The questions are of three kinds, namely, starred, unstarred and short notice. • A starred question (distinguished by an asterisk) requires an oral answer and hence supplementary questions can follow. • An unstarred question, on the other hand, requires a written answer and hence, supplementary questions cannot follow. • A short notice question is one that is asked by giving a notice of less than ten days. It is answered orally. □ Zero Hour: • Unlike the question hour, the zero hour is not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure. Thus it is an informal device available to the members of the Parliament to raise matters without any prior notice. • The zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the day (ie, regular business of the House) is taken up. • In other words, the time gap between the question hour and the agenda is known as zero hour. It is an Indian innovation in the field of parliamentary procedures and has been in existence since 1962.

■ Export Preparedness Index, 2021: • NITI Aayog releases second edition of Export Preparedness Index. Gujarat, for the second consecutive year, has topped the NITI Aayog's Export Preparedness Index - 2021 (EPI 2021). • Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the top 10 performers. • The index was prepared by the NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness. • Export Preparedness Index assess the readiness of the states in terms of their export potential and performance. • The index's primary goal is to instil competition among all states to bring about favourable policies, ease the regulatory framework, create necessary infrastructure and assist in identifying strategic recommendations for improving export competitiveness. • Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu were ranked second, third and fourth in the index, as coastal States with higher industrial activity and access to sea ports account for a majority of India’s exports. • Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are the top three performers in export preparedness among land locked States. • Delhi, Goa and Jammu & Kashmir have been rated the best performers in descending order in the ‘Union Territories and City States’ category, as per the index. • Union territories and states like Lakshadweep, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Ladakh and Meghalaya were placed at the bottom. • Around 70% of exports have been dominated by five states – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana • The ranking is based on four main pillars: Policy, Business ecosystem, Export ecosystem and Export performance, and 11 sub-pillars that includes Export promotion policy; Institutional framework; Business environment; Infrastructure; Transport connectivity; Access to finance; Export infrastructure; Trade support; R&D infrastructure; Export diversification and Growth orientation. • The index identifies three major challenges to India’s export promotion efforts. Those are: 1) Intra- and inter-regional differences in export infrastructure. 2) Weak trade support and growth orientation across States. 3) Lack of R&D infrastructure to promote complex and unique exports. • The index can be a valuable tool for the government and policymakers in encouraging healthy competition among states and UTs, hence enhancing India’s standing in the global export market.

■ Biodiversity hotspots: • Biodiversity is a contraction of the term “biological diversity” that refers to variety among and between living organisms. • The term "Biological diversity" was used first by Arthur Harris (1916). • The term, “Biodiversity” was first coined by Walter G. Rosen in 1985. • The term ‘Biodiversity hotspot’ was coined by Norman Myers (1988). • Biodiversity Hotspots are the areas that have extremely rich and diverse flora and fauna and are under threat of getting endangered. • There are 36 Biodiversity Hotspots in the world. • Officially, 4 out of the 36 Biodiversity Hotspots in the world are present in India. • The 4 Biodiversity hotspots in India are the Himalayas, the Western Ghats, the Indo-Burma region and the Sundaland (Andaman & Nicobar Islands). • The diversity and distribution of living organisms is depending on various abiotic and biotic factors such as, temperature, rainfall, altitude, soil, geography and the presence of other species. • However, the distribution of biodiversity on earth is uneven; it varies greatly across the world.  • Biodiversity is more in the tropics than in the temperate regions of the world. • The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) which came into being on 29th December 1993 defines biodiversity or biological diversity as the variability among living organisms from all sources, including, 'interalia', terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part, including diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.  • Biodiversity hotspots in India are administered by the Ministry of Environment, forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). • The Government of India brought Biological Diversity Act 2002 and under which the Biological Diversity Rules 2004 made aiming at conservation of biological resources and associated knowledge as well as facilitating access to them in a sustainable manner and through a just process. • The National Biodiversity Authority was established in 2003 with head office at Chennai by the Government of India to regulate, conserve and sustainable use of bio-resources of India through the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. • Knowing the importance of biodiversity and its need of conservation, to create awareness among the people, ‘International Day for Biological Diversity’ is observed every year on 22nd May. • The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 – 2020, the ‘United Nations Decade on Biodiversity’.