About Disinflation

• Disinflation is a decrease in inflation rates.
• In simple terms, a decline in the rate of increase in the general price level of goods and services in the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country over time is called disinflation.
• Unlike inflation and deflation, which refer to the direction of prices, disinflation refers to the rate of change in the rate of inflation.
• Disinflation is not considered problematic because prices do not actually drop, and disinflation does not usually signal the onset of a slowing economy.
• A healthy amount of disinflation is necessary since it represents economic contraction and prevents the economy from overheating.
• Disinflation is considered the opposite of reflation, which occurs when a government stimulates an economy by increasing the money supply.
• Causes of Disinflation:
  • Many reasons can cause disinflation in an economy.
  • If a central bank wants to enforce a tighter monetary policy and the government starts selling off some of its assets, the supply of money in the economy could be limited, causing a disinflationary effect.
  • Similarly, disinflation can also be caused by a contraction in the business cycle of recession. For instance, companies may choose not to raise prices to gain more significant market share, leading to disinflation.

Q1) What is gross domestic product (GDP)?

Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders in a specific time period. As a broad measure of overall domestic production, it functions as a comprehensive scorecard of a given country’s economic health.

Source: RBI alert on food prices with recurring food price shocks and renewed flash points on geo-politics

About Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)

• It is the regulatory body in the field of civil aviation primarily dealing with safety issues.
• It is an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• It is responsible for regulation of air transport services to/from/within India and for enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards.
• It also coordinates all regulatory functions with the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
• Headquarters: New Delhi 
• Functions and Responsibilities of the DGCA:
• One of the main functions of the DGCA is to ensure the safety of passengers and crew members on all flights operating in India.
• The organization conducts regular safety inspections of all airlines and aircraft to meet the required safety standards.
• It also investigates any incidents or accidents that occur within the Indian airspace and takes appropriate action to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
• In addition to safety, the DGCA also plays a crucial role in the growth and development of the Indian aviation industry. The organization works closely with airlines and airport operators to promote the industry’s growth and improve the overall travel experience for passengers.
• The DGCA also plays a crucial role in developing new airports and modernizing existing facilities to ensure that they can meet the growing demands of the aviation industry.
• The DGCA is also responsible for the regulation of air traffic in India. It works closely with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to ensure air traffic is managed safely and efficiently.
• The DGCA also plays a key role in developing new air traffic control systems and technologies to improve the overall efficiency of Indian airspace.
• The DGCA is also responsible for issuing licenses and certificates to pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, and other aviation personnel.

Q1) What is the Airports Authority of India (AAI)?

It is a statutory body under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India.It was constituted by an Act of Parliament and came into being on 1st April, 1995, by merging the erstwhile National Airports Authority and the International Airports Authority of India.The merger brought into existence a single Organization entrusted with the responsibility of creating, upgrading, maintaining, and managing civil aviation infrastructure both on the ground and air space in the country.AAI manages 137 airports, which include 24 International Airports (including 3 International Civil Enclaves), 10 Customs Airports (including 4 Customs Civil Enclaves), 80 Domestic Airports, and 23 Domestic Civil Enclaves at Defence airfields.

Source:'Didn't comply with provisions': Air India gets notice after 80-year-old flyer dies

About Chinook Helicopter

• Chinook/CH-47F is the U.S. Army’s primary heavy troop and supply transport aircraft. 
• It is an advanced multi-mission helicopter.
• It is manufactured by the American aerospace and defence firm Boeing for the US Army and international defence forces.
• It is used for the transportation of troops, artillery, supplies, and equipment to the battlefield.
• India has about 15 CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
• Features:
  • It is a twin-engine, tandem rotor heavy-lift helicopter. 
  • It contains a fully integrated digital cockpit management system.
  • It has advanced cargo-handling capabilities that complement the aircraft's mission performance and handling characteristics.
  • It has a monolithic airframe with vibration reduction.
  • Maximum Speed: 160 knots (296 kmph).
  • It has a triple hook system, which provides stability for large external loads or the capacity for multiple external loads.
  • It can carry up to 55 troops or approximately 10 tonnes of mixed cargo.

Q1) What is an Apache helicopter?

The AH-64 Apache is the world’s most advanced multi-role combat helicopter. The AH-64E is an advanced multi-mission helicopter with the latest technology insertions, maintaining its standing as the world’s best attack helicopter. It is the only available combat helicopter with a spectrum of capabilities for virtually any mission requirement, including greater thrust and lift, joint digital operability, improved survivability and cognitive decision aiding.

Source: Air Force's Chinook Helicopter Makes Emergency Landing In Punjab

About Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR)

• Location:
  • It is located in the Amaravati district of Maharashtra.
  • It is located on the southern offshoot of the Satpura Hill Range in Central India, called Gavilgarh Hill. 
• It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1967 and was declared a tiger reserve in 1974. 
• It was the first tiger reserve in Maharashtra.
• It was among the first nine tiger reserves notified in 1973-74 under Project Tiger.
• The name 'Melghat' means the confluence of various 'ghats' or valleys, as is typical from the landscape of this tiger Reserve.
• Vegetation: The forest is tropical dry deciduous in nature, dominated by teak.
• Rivers: The reserve is a catchment area for five major rivers: the Khandu, Khapra, Sipna, Gadga, and Dolar, all of which are tributaries of the river Tapti.
• The Tapti River and the Gawilgadh ridge of the Satpura Range form the boundaries of the reserve.
• Tribes: The Korkus are the largest tribal community in Melghat. Other communities include the Gawli community, the Gond tribe, and several other smaller tribal communities.
• Flora: Some of the common species are teak, Lagerstroemia Parviflora, Terminalia Tomentosa, Ougeinia Oojeinensis, Emblica Officinalis, Bamboo, etc.
• Fauna:
  • Apart from Tigers the other prominent animals are Sloth Bear, Indian Gaur, Sambar deer, Leopard, Nilgais, dhole, hyena, jungle cat, langur, etc. 
  • It is considered a stronghold of the critically endangered forest owlet.

Q1) What is a Tiger Reserve?

Tiger Reserve is a legally declared protected area dedicated to the conservation of striped big cats in its natural environment. A tiger reserve could be a national park or wildlife sanctuary. The Sariska Tiger Reserve, for example, is also a national park.

Source: Forest department’s sporting gesture aims at saving tigers and preventing forest fires

About Rip Currents

• These are a strong flow of water running from a beach back to the Open Ocean, sea, or lake.
• These are one of the most well-known coastal hazards on beaches around the world. 
• Formation
  • They are formed by a beach topography. 
  • They can occur in areas with hard-bottom (rocky) or soft-bottom (sand or silt) beach topography.
  • A beaches topography includes the area outside the water, such as dunes or marshes. 
  • Beach topography also includes the area within the water, like sandbars, piers, and reefs. Rip currents often form around these parts of a beachs topography.
  • They can form in a gap between sandbars, piers, or parts of a reef.
• Such underwater obstacles block waves from washing directly back to sea.
• The water from these waves, called feeder waves, runs along the shore until it finds an opening around the obstacle.
• Contrary to popular belief, a rip cannot pull a person down and hold him/her under the water.
• It simply carries floating objects, including people, out to just beyond the zone of the breaking waves.

Q1) What is Ocean current?

These are the continuous, predictable, directional movement of seawater driven by gravity, wind (Coriolis Effect), and water density. Ocean water moves in two directions: horizontally and vertically. Horizontal movements are referred to as currents, while vertical changes are called upwellings or downwellings.

Source: INCOIS, ISRO to study rip currents for safer beaches

About Central Asian Flyway

• It covers a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic and Indian Oceans and the associated island chains.
• A flyway is a geographical region within which a single or group of migratory species completes its annual cycle — breeding, moulting, staging and non-breeding.
• There are nine flyways in the world.
• Geographically the flyway region covers 30 countries of North, Central and South Asia and Trans-Caucasus.
• There is an overlap between the CAF and the area of the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA), which was concluded in 1995, at The Hague, the Netherlands.
• Sixteen out of the thirty countries encompassed by the CAF are located in the AEWA Agreement Area.
• CAF migration routes include the steppes and cold deserts of Central Eurasia, and much of the Himalayan chain, where unique, high-altitude migrations such as those of the Bar-headed Goose, Anser indicus, take place.
• India’s Initiative: The 14 species which will be listed in CMS appendices include
  • Eurasian Lynx, Peruvian Pelican, Pallas’s Cat, Guanaco, Laulao Catfish, Balkan Lynx, Lahille’s Bottlenose Dolphin, Harbour Porpoise, Magellanic Plover, Bearded Vulture, Blackchin Guitarfish, Bull Ray, Lusitanian Cownose Ray and Gilded Catfish.
  • The adopted initiative includes the establishment of a coordinating unit in India with financial support from the Indian Government.

Q1) What is the International Single Species Action Plan?

It is the key instrument developed under the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA).

Source: Central Asian Flyway recognised to protect over 600 migratory bird species

About Char Area

• The riverine areas (island) of the river Brahmaputra, locally known as “Char/ Chapori”
• The chars follow a peculiar pattern of migration.
• They are subjected to erosion on their upstream and deposition on the downstream, due to which they migrate downstream.
• This affects the geometry and location of the chars during floods almost every year.
• Issues with Char area
  • The physical, sociological and institutional constraints on development of Char Areas are many and complex.
  • Such as virtual absence of all weather communication with the main banks, reliable means of intra and inter char mobility, inadequate growth of transport and basic infrastructure like surface roads, health and drinking water, delivery systems for farm inputs, marketing, agro-services electricity and education.
  • The problems in the Char Areas are unique in nature, due to constant threat from flood and erosion during the rainy season.
  • The land mass is segregated and cut off from each other, making it very difficult for taking any major scheme for road communication, irrigation, Power supply or setting of educational institutions.

Q1) What is erosion?

It is the process where rocks are broken down by natural forces such as wind or water. There are two main types of erosion: chemical and physical. Chemical erosion occurs when a rock's chemical composition changes, such as when iron rusts or when limestone dissolves due to carbonation.

Source: Will reclaim ‘char’ areas from encroachers: Assam CM

About Ponmudi hills

• Ponmudi translates to ‘Golden Hill’ or ‘Golden Peak’ is located in the state of Kerala.
• It is part of the Western Ghats mountain range that runs parallel to the Arabian Sea and is at an altitude of 1100 metres above sea level. 
• The hills are a part of the Agasthyamalai landscape, at the southernmost tip of the Western Ghats.
• These hills are biodiversity-rich, and recently the third species of damselfly discovered from this region.

Key facts about the new species of damselfly

• It is named Cliffside Bambootail (Phylloneura rupestris).
• It belongs to a group called bambootails, so named because of their long abdomen that resembles bamboo stalks.
• It lays eggs in the moss beds in seasonal rills that flow over rock cliffs. 
• The discovery is significant, because for over 160 years, the genus Phylloneura was considered monotypic, with a single described species, the Myristica Bambootail
  • Myristica Bambootail’s population is associated with myristica swamps, and hence is known by its common name Myristica Bambootail.
  • It has remained the sole described species of the genus Phylloneura and is considered near-threatened as per the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
  • It is endemic to the Western Ghats and has been recorded only in the area between the Nilgiri Hills and Sharavathi Valley, north of the Palghat Gap.

Q1) What is Western Ghats?

It is a mountain range that covers an area of 160,000 sq Km in a stretch of 1,600 Km parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula. It traverses through the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Source: New species of damselfly discovered in Kerala’s Ponmudi hills