About National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC)

• It is a quasi-judicial commission in India which was set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
• Mandate: To provide inexpensive, speedy, and summary redressal of consumer disputes.
• Its head office is in New Delhi.
• The Commission is headed by a sitting or a retired Judge of the SC or a sitting or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court.
• NCDRC shall have jurisdiction to entertain a complaint valued more than two crore and also have appellate and revisional jurisdiction from the orders of State Commissions or the District fora as the case may be.
• The provisions of this act cover ‘goods’ as well as ‘services’.
  • The goods are those which are manufactured or produced and sold to consumers through wholesalers and retailers.
  • The services are in the nature of transport, telephone, electricity, housing, banking, insurance, medical treatment, etc.
• Eligibility to File a Claim: Any person who
  • Has bought goods for consideration and finds any defect in the quality, quantity, potency, purity, or standard of the goods, or
  • Has hired or availed any service for consideration and finds any fault, imperfection, shortcoming, or inadequacy in the quality, nature, and manner of performance in relation to the service.
  • However, if a person has bought the goods for resale or for a commercial purpose, he is not a consumer.
  • No complaint can be filed for alleged deficiency in any service that is rendered free of charge or under a contract of personal service.
• Who Can File a Complaint: A complaint may be filed by the following:
  • A consumer
  • Any voluntary consumer association registered under the Companies Act 1956
  • The Central Government or any State Government
  • One or more consumers where there are numerous consumers.

Appeal: Any person aggrieved by an order of NCDRC, may prefer an appeal against such an order to SC within a period of 30 days.

Q1: What are Quasi-judicial bodies?

Quasi-judicial entities are non-judicial organizations with the authority to interpret the law. They are organizations, such as an arbitration panel or tribunal board, which could be public administrative agencies but also a contract or private law entity, and which have been given powers and procedures similar to those of a court of law or judge, and which must objectively determine the facts and draw a conclusion from them to serve as the foundation for any subsequent decisions.

Source: Supreme Court Seeks Explanation From 2 NCDRC Members For Issuing Non-Bailable Warrants Ignoring SC's Interim Protection

About Ashwagandha

• Ashwagandha, also called Indian ginseng or Indian winter cherry, is an evergreen shrub native toIndia, northern Africa, and the Middle East.
• Scientifically known as Withania somnifera, the shrub got its name Ashwagandha because its roots are said to smell like a wet horse ('ashwa' for horse and 'gandha' for smell).
• It belongs to the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family—the same family as tomatoes and potatoes.
• Benefits:
  • It has been in use as a medicinal plant for thousands of years, especially in traditional Ayurvedic medicine.
  • It is often called an adaptogen, meaning it helps the body adapt to stressors and restore balance.
  • Its other benefits are reducing inflammation, increasing energy, alleviating anxiety, ease pain, and improving sleep.
  • Different parts of the ashwagandha plant, such as the root, leaves, and berries, may have different concentrations of bioactive compounds.
  • Notable among these arewithanolides, naturally occurring steroid compounds which have been associated with beneficial antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on the body.

Q1: What are antioxidants?

Antioxidants are man-made or natural substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell damage. Antioxidants are found in many foods, including fruits and vegetables. They are also available as dietary supplements.

Source: Ashwagandha is great, but not for everybody

About Iron Age

• The Iron Age was a period in human history that started between 1200 B.C. and 600 B.C., depending on the region, and followed the Stone Age and Bronze Age.
• The Iron Age existed in Africa, Europe, and Asia during prehistoric times in the Old World. The Iron Age didnot occur in America because this was the New World and had not yet been discovered.
• People discovered iron at this time. It quickly became the preferred choice of metal, replacing the use of bronze in metalworking. The use of iron brought important changes to people’s lives.
• Ironwork first began in Turkey before spreading to other European countries.
• People used iron to make strong tools, which made farming easier. 

Farmers used an ‘ard’ (an iron plow) during the Iron Age to turn over their fields. These were much more efficient than wooden or bronze plows.

• They also made iron swordsand other weapons.
  • Huge armies of soldiers soon carried iron weapons.
  • These weapons made an army much harder to defeat.
  • Armies traveled to other lands and took over places they liked.
  • Kings and other rulers gained great power.
• Other changes in technology also happened during the Iron Age.
  • People built large forts and bridges.
  • Pottery and weaving improved.
  • Humans dug deep mines in the ground to find salt and other valuable minerals.
• End of Iron Age:
  • The Iron Age is a part of prehistory, or the time before humans used writing.
  • Therefore, the Iron Age ended once writing became widespread.
  • Still, iron continues to be a popular choice for crafting iron tools, weapons, doors, windows, building supports, machinery, and more.

Q1: What are megaliths?

A megalith is a large stone used to build a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic means structures made of such large stones, put together without the use of mortar or cement.

Source: Three new archaeological sites discovered

About Tachyons

• Tachyons are hypothetical subatomic particles that move faster than the speed of light.
• The term "tachyon" was coined by physicist Gerald Feinberg in 1967.
• They are distinguished from "bradyons," particles that travel at less than the speed of light.
• While bradyons are familiar and include protons, electrons, and neutrons, tachyons have never been observed.
• According to special relativity, particles with mass cannot reach or exceed the speed of light in a vacuum because their energy would become infinite.
• However, tachyons are thought to have imaginary mass, meaning their mass squared is a negative value. This implies that they could potentially travel faster than light without violating the laws of physics as we currently understand them.
• Tachyons would slow down if they gained energy, and accelerate if they lost energy. 
• There have been a few experiments to find tachyons using a detector called a cerenkov detector.
  • This detector is able to measure the speed of a particle traveling through a medium.
  • Nothing can travel faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. However, in other mediums, particles can potentially move faster than light.
  • If a particle travels through a medium at a speed that is greater than light for that medium, cerenkov radiation occurs.
  • This is analogous to the sonic boom produced when an airplane travels faster than the speed of sound in air or the shock wave at the bow of a ship.

Q1: What are protons?

The proton is a subatomic particle with a positive electrical charge. They are found in every atomic nucleus of every element. In almost every element, protons are accompanied by neutrons. The only exception is the nucleus of the simplest element, hydrogen. Hydrogen contains only a single proton and no neutrons.

Source: The universe may be dominated by particles that break causality and move faster than light, new paper suggests