Competitive Exam Training

International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking • It is observed on 26 June to strengthen global action and cooperation to achieve the goal of an international society free of drug abuse. • Observance of this day aims to raise awareness to fight against the substance abuse as well as the unlawful trade of drugs. Details: • International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking was first observed by the UN General Assembly in 1987. • According to World Drug Report 2017, released by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) about a quarter of a billion people (or 5.3% global adult population) used drugs at least once in 2015. • Of these, around 29.5 million people - or 0.6 per cent of the global adult population were suffered from drug use disorders, including dependence

5 steps that could end the plastic pollution crisis – and save our ocean 1. Production: Cutting or limiting production is the first step. 2. 2. Usage: Currently, 40% of plastic is single-use and has a lifespan of one year. It is recommended a wholesale change in design so the majority can be reused or recycled. 3. Waste collection: Low collection rates and poor sorting is the problem and one that varies greatly from country to country. Industry and policy together could make a difference 4. Treatment: Not enough plastic is recycled, with most treated by landfilling, incineration or dumping. • In 2016, less than 20% of plastic waste was recycled because the process is unprofitable and expensive compared to other treatments. • Incineration capacity in Asia is predicted to grow by more than 7% a year until 2023. • Recycling operating costs are prohibitively high due to high collection and separation costs, and a limited supply of recyclable plastic. Collecting and sort...

Lakes dry up, groundwater depletes: Drought scare in half of India • According to India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) latest data, more than half of India is reeling from drought-like conditions. • Millions are struggling for drinking water as lakes dried up and groundwater levels depleted amid a sluggish monsoon that has impacted the sowing of key summer crops over the past two weeks. • The monsoon was 39% deficient till June 22 despite marginal improvement over the last week. • Most districts in east, central and peninsular India are facing “extremely dry” conditions, as per the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) that shows the observed rainfall amount compared with the rainfall climatology at a certain place over a long-term reference period. (The index is released by IMD Pune’s Climate Application and User Interface team). • The index reflects long-term trends and water storage conditions in different parts of the country. Scanty pre-monsoon rains and delayed monsoon onset tog...

COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS) BY RBI   What is it?   Launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) , the  Complaint Management System (CMS) is a software application to facilitate RBI’s grievance redressal process .  Aim : to improve customer experience in timely redressal of grievances.    How it works? Customers  can lodge complaints against any regulated entity with public interface  such as commercial banks, urban cooperative banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).  The complaint would be directed to the appropriate office of the Ombudsman/Regional Office of the RBI.    Benefits : The application  improves transparency  by keeping the complainants informed through auto-generated acknowledgements and enabling them to  track the status  of their complaints and file appeals online against the decisions of the Ombudsmen, where applicable. Complainants can also  voluntarily sha...

ஜப்பானில் ரத்து செய்யப்பட்ட 25 ரயில்கள்... ஒற்றை நத்தை செய்த `சம்பவம்' ஜப்பானில் ஓடும் ரயில்கள் நேரம் தவறாமைக்கு உலக உளவில் பெயர் பெற்றவை என்பது அனைவருக்கும் தெரிந்த விஷயம். உழைப்பை நேசிக்கும் ஜப்பானியர்களைத் தினமும் ஒரு நொடி கூடத் தாமதிக்காமல் அவர்கள் போய்ச் சேர வேண்டிய இடத்தில் கொண்டு போய்ச் சேர்க்கும் வேலையை அவை செய்துகொண்டிருக்கின்றன. ஜப்பானில் ஓடுவதில் பெரும்பாலானவை புல்லட் ரயில்கள்தான். நிலநடுக்கம் போன்ற தீவிரமான இயற்கை சீற்றங்கள் தவிர்த்து மற்ற நேரங்களில் இவை சரியாக இயங்கிக்கொண்டிக்கும். ஆனால், கடந்த மாதம் 30-ம் தேதி தெற்கு ஜப்பானில் 25-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட ரயில்கள் ரத்து செய்யப்பட்டன. இதனால் சுமார் 12,000 பயணிகள் பாதிப்புக்குள்ளாயினர். அந்த நிலைமைக்கு ஒரு  நத்தைதான்  காரணமாக இருந்திருக்கிறது என்ற தகவல் தற்போது வெளியாகியிருக்கிறது. அன்றைய தினம்  இரண்டு தடங்களில் மின்சாரம் தடைப்பட்டதால் JR Kyushu நிறுவனம் ரயில் சேவையை ரத்துசெய்ய வேண்டிய நிலைக்குத் தள்ளப்பட்டது. அனைத்து ரயில்களும் திட்டமிட்ட நேரத்தின்படி இயங்குபவை என்பதால், 25 ரயில்களுக்கு மேல் ரத்துசெய்யப...

SAUDI ARABIA BECOMES 1ST ARAB COUNTRY TO GET FATF MEMBERSHIP Context : Saudi Arabia has become the  first Arab country to be granted full membership of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)  following the group’s annual general meeting in the US. The kingdom’s accession came as the global money laundering watchdog celebrated the  30th anniversary of its first meeting held in Paris in 1989 . Saudi Arabia had received an invitation from the FATF at the beginning of 2015 to join as an “ observer member “.   About FATF: What is it?  The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 on the initiative of the  G7 .  It is  a “policy-making body”  which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in various areas. The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris. Objectives : The objectives of the FATF are to ...

How reindeer evolved to survive freezing Arctic winters Santa’s warm workshop is nothing like the cold, often-dark Arctic where reindeer really live. Above the Arctic Circle, temperatures can drop as low as –67°C and darkness can last nearly the entire day. Now, a new study reveals how reindeer have evolved to cope with these tough conditions. To look for the genes that let Santa’s helpers survive scarce food and months without daylight, researchers took advantage of a massive effort to sequence the genomes of reindeer and 43 other ruminants, including cows, sheep, and camels. They compared the reindeer’s genes for various traits to the same genes in several other mammals. One improvement: Compared with other mammals, the reindeer are much more efficient in their use of vitamin D. That isn’t a complete surprise, scientists say, because reindeer need lots of vitamin D—created during sun exposure—to build their bony antlers, which even females shed and regrow every ye...