About Nagarjuna Sagar Dam

• It is built between the Nalgonda district of Telangana and the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
• It is built across the River Krishna.
• It is the largest and highest masonry dam in the world.
• The dam is 150m tall and 1.6 km long.
• The dam has a storage capacity of nearly 11,472 million cubic meters and an irrigation capacity of 9.81 lack acres of land. 
• It derives its name from a nearby hillock and island called Nagarjunakonda, where an ancient Buddhist Guru had once lived. 
• It is also one of the earliest projects built in post-independence India for irrigation and hydroelectricity generation.
• The construction of the dam commenced in 1956 and was completed by 1967. 
• This dam supports the national grid with its electric power and provides irrigation water to five districts, including Khamman District, Nalgonda District, Guntur District, Prakasam District and Krishna District.
• As per the provisions of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Nagarjunasagar dam is controlled and supervised by Telangana.

Key Facts about Krishna River

• It is a river in south-central India.
• Origin: It rises in western Maharashtra state in the Western Ghats range near the town of Mahabaleshwar.
• In terms of water inflows and river basin, Krishna is the fourth biggest river after Ganga, Godavari, and Brahmaputra. 
• Total Length: 1300 km 
• Course: It passes through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and meets the Bay of Bengal at Hamasaladeevi in Andhra Pradesh, on the east coast.
• The Krishna River Basin extends over an area of about 258,948 sq. km, which is nearly 8 percent of the total geographical area of the country. 
• Tributaries:
  • The most important tributary is the Tungabhadra River. It has been formed by the Tunga River and the Bhadra River, which originate in the Western Ghats.
  • Other tributaries include the Koyna River, Bhima River, Kundali River, Malaprabha River, Ghataprabha, Yerla River, Warana River, Dindi River, Musi River, and Dudhganga River.

Q1) What is the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014?

The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 provides for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into the successor states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Among other things, it addresses the representation of the states in Parliament, separate Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Councils for both states, role of the Governor, revenue distribution, distribution of cash and credit balances, management and development of water resources, and creation of separate cadres for administrative, police and forest services.

Source: In midnight operation before Telangana polls, Andhra Pradesh takes over half of dam

About Project Kuiper

• It is Amazon’s project to build a network of 3,236 satellites in low Earth orbit, to provide high-speed internet access anywhere in the world.
• Its mission is to bring fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world.
• Project Kuiper has three main parts:
  • Ground infrastructure:
• It includes gateway antennas that securely send and receive customer data to and from satellites, along with telemetry, tracking, and control (TT&C) antennas that keep the satellites properly operating.
• Global networking connects those gateway antennas to the internet, public cloud, or private networks.
  • Satellites: They operate in low Earth orbit (LEO) and relay data traffic to and from gateway antennas and customers.
  • Customer terminals:
  • These are the technology that Project Kuiper customers use to receive broadband service.
  • The terminals combine antennas and processors into a single, compact system to deliver connectivity.

What is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO)?

• LEO is an orbit around the Earth with an altitude that lies towards the lower end of the range of possible orbits.
• This is around 1,200 miles (2,000 km) or less.
• The majority of satellites are to be found in LEO.
• Unlike satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) that must always orbit along Earth’s equator, LEO satellites do not always have to follow a particular path around Earth in the same way; their plane can be tilted.
• This means there are more available routes for satellites in LEO, which is one of the reasons why LEO is a very commonly used orbit.
• It is the orbit most commonly used for satellite imaging, as being near the surface allows it to take images of higher resolution.
• It is also the orbit used for the International Space Station (ISS), as it is easier for astronauts to travel to and from it at a shorter distance.
• However, individual LEO satellites are less useful for tasks such as telecommunication, because they move so fast across the sky and therefore require a lot of effort to track from ground stations.
• Instead, communications satellites in LEO often work as part of a large combination, or constellation, of multiple satellites to provide constant coverage.

Q1) What is a geostationary orbit (GEO)?

A geostationary satellite is an Earth-orbiting satellite placed at an altitude of approximately 22,300 miles or 35,800 kilometers directly above the equator. These satellites revolve in the same direction the Earth rotates -- west to east.hese satellites complete one orbit in about 24 hours, which is the same amount of time it takes for the Earth to rotate once on its axis. The satellite appears to be stationary from the perspective of someone on the ground, as it moves in sync with the Earth's rotation.

Source: Amazon to use Falcon 9 rockets of SpaceX for Project Kuiper

Why in the news?

• India has framed a comprehensive group standard for 15 types of millets specifying 8 quality parameters, which received resounding applause at the international meet.
• India put forward a proposal for the development of global standards for millets, particularly for Finger millet, Barnyard millet, Kodo millet, Proso millet and Little millet as group standards as in case of pulses. 

About Codex Alimentarius Commission

• It is an international food safety and quality standard-setting body.
• It was created by the World Health Organisation and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in May 1963.
• Objective: Protecting consumer’s health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade.
• Members: It consists of 189 member countries,
• Membership of the Commission is open to all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO which are interested in international food standards.
• The Commission meets in regular session once a year alternating between Geneva and Rome.
• Funding: The programme of work of the Commission is funded through the regular budgets of WHO and FAO with all work subject to approval of the two governing bodies of the parent organizations. 
• The Commission works in the six UN official languages.
• Currently it has standards for Sorghum and Pearl Millet.

What are Millets?

• These are a collective group of small-seeded annual grasses that are grown as grain crops, primarily on marginal land in dry areas of temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical regions.
• In India, millets can be clubbed into major, minor, and pseudo categories.
  • Major Millets: Sorghum (Jowar), Pearl Millet (Bajra), Finger Millet (Ragi/Mandua)
  • Minor Millets: Foxtail Millet (Kangani/Kakun), Proso Millet (Cheena), Kodo Millet, Barnyard Millet (Sawa/Sanwa/ Jhangora), Little Millet (Kutki)
  • Pseudo Millets: Buck-wheat (Kuttu) and Amaranth (Chaulai)
• Top five states producing Millets: Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Haryana.

Q1) What is the World Health Organisation?

It is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.

Source: Codex Alimentarius Commission Praises India’s Standards on Millets

Key findings

• The star, known as HD110067, is located approximately 100 light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices and is about 20% less massive than our Sun.
• The six planets were detected by observing minute dimming of the star's brightness as each planet transited, or passed in front of, the star from our perspective on Earth
• The orbital resonance of these planets i.e their orbits are synchronised in such a way that they have remained stable for about 4 billion years.

About Sub-Neptune planets

• These are the most commonly observed type of planet in our galaxy.
• They could be rocky worlds with thick atmospheres of hydrogen and helium gas, or perhaps composed of rock and ice with warm, water-rich atmospheres.
• These planets have radii between that of the Earth and Neptune.

Key points about Neptune

• It's the last of the planets in our solar system.
• It's more than 30 times as far from the sun as Earth is.
• Neptune is very similar to Uranus. It's made of a thick fog of water, ammonia, and methane over an Earth-sized solid center.
• Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen, helium, and methane.
• Structure and Surface
  • Neptune is encircled by six rings and is an ice giant.
  • It is made of a thick soup of water, ammonia, and methane flowing over a solid core about the size of Earth.
  • It has a thick, windy atmosphere.
• Time on Neptune
  • One day on Neptune goes by in 16 hours.
  • Neptune has such a long journey around the Sun it takes 165 Earth years to go around once.

Q1) What is Methane?

It is a colourless, odourless gas that occurs abundantly in nature and as a product of certain human activities. Methane is the simplest member of the paraffin series of hydrocarbons and is among the most potent of the greenhouse gases. Its chemical formula is CH4.

Source: Six alien planets dancing in sync found. They have been stable for 4 billion years

About Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL)

• It was set up in April, 2001 to provide guaranteed clearing and settlement functions for transactions in Money, G-Secs, Foreign Exchange, and Derivative markets.
• CCIL also provides non-guaranteed settlement for Rupee interest rate derivatives and cross-currency transactions through the CLS Bank.
• Promoters: State Bank of India, IDBI Bank Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), Bank of Baroda and HDFC Bank Ltd.
• The Company was incorporated with an authorized equity share capital of Rs. 50 Crores.
• CCIL’s adherence to the stringent principles governing its operations as a Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) has resulted in its recognition as a Qualified Central Counterparty (QCCP) by the Reserve Bank of India in 2014.
• It has also set up a Trade Repository to enable financial institutions to report their transactions in Over-the-Counter (OTC) derivatives.
• Through its fully owned subsidiary, Clearcorp Dealing Systems Limited (CDSL), CCIL has introduced various platforms for electronic execution of deals in various market segments.
• Further, CDSL has developed, implemented, and manages the NDS-OM, the RBI-owned anonymous electronic trading system for dealing in G-Secs and also for reporting OTC deals, as well as the NDS-CALL platform, which facilitates electronic dealing in the Call, Notice & Term Money market.
• CCIL is also the trade repository for all OTC transactions in the Forex, Interest Rate and Credit derivative transactions.

What is CLS?

• Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) is an initiative by a consortium of the world’s largest foreign exchange clearing banks to eliminate the settlement risk in foreign exchange transactions. 
• The CLS system is run by CLS Bank International, which is solely dedicated to settling foreign exchange trades.
• The CLS Bank was established in 2002 and is owned by the world’s largest banks. It is based in New York, with its main operations in London.
• Working:
  • Standard foreign exchange transactions involve a settlement risk. As the exchange of the two currencies involved is not simultaneous, the party that sells a currency before receiving the currency purchased from the counterparty is exposed to a certain risk.
  • CLS removes settlement risk by using a payment-versus-payment mechanism (“PVP”). This means that you get paid only if you pay.
  • On settlement day, each counterparty to the trade pays to CLS the currency it is selling.
  • CLS pays out the bought currency only if the sold currency is received.
  • In effect, CLS acts as a trusted third party in the settlement process.
  • It’s important to note that CLS is not a central counterparty; the trade remains between the two counterparties.

What Is an Over-the-Counter (OTC) Derivative?

• A derivative is a security with a price that is dependent on or derived from one or more underlying assets. 
• Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset.
• The most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates, and market indexes.
• Depending on where derivatives trade, they can be classified as over-the-counter or exchange-traded (listed).
• An OTC derivative is a financial contract that is arranged between two counterparties but with minimal intermediation or regulation.
• OTC derivatives do not have standardized terms, and they are not listed on an asset exchange.

Q1) What are Government Securities (G-Secs)?

Government Securities, popularly known as G-Sec Bonds, are debt instruments issued by the Central government to meet its fiscal needs.Such securities are short term (usually called treasury bills, with original maturities of less than one year) or long term (usually called Government bonds or dated securities with original maturity of one year or more). In India, the Central Government issues both, treasury bills and bonds or dated securities while the State Governments issue only bonds or dated securities, which are called the State Development Loans (SDLs). G-Secs carry practically no risk of default and, hence, are called risk-free gilt-edged instruments.

Source: RBI, BoE end deadlock over clearing corporation

About Stay Order

• A ‘stay’ or ‘stay order’ is defined as the act of temporarily stopping or postponing any judicial proceeding through the court or legal authorities in India in order to secure the rights of a citizen.
• It could lead to the suspension of a case, or even the suspension of any specific proceeding within an ongoing case.
• So, till a stay order is in action, the operation of the Court’s proceedings is made standstill, and the party who seeks it can cause the operation of the other party (against whom the order is given) to cease.
• In the case of any key development that may require it, a judge may decide to issue a stay order without even formally prompting the other party or even a request being made to them in this regard.
• There are two types of stay orders: ‘stay of proceedings’ and ‘stay of execution’.
• A stay of proceedings is issued by the court in case there are parallel proceedings that take place, which may affect either one. 
• A stay of execution refers to the complete halting of the enforcement of a verdict or judgement against someone, for example, when it is believed that a person is innocent and is given a pardon. 
• This means that stay orders can persist conditionally or even absolutely.
• The Supreme Court on March 28, 2018, passed several directions with regard to stay orders, applicable to both civil and criminal matters, which are as follows:
  • In all pending cases where a stay is granted and is operating, the stay will come to an end on expiry of 6 months from the March 28, 2018, unless, in exceptional cases, a speaking order extends the stay.
  • In cases where stay is granted in the future, i.e, after March 28, 2018, the stay order will expire 6 months from the date of such order, unless an order of extension is granted by a speaking order.
  • The speaking order granting an extension must show that the case was of such exceptional nature that continuing the stay was more important than having the trial finalized.
  • The trial court may fix a date not later than 6 months from the date of the stay order.
  • On the expiration of the period of 6 months, the trial court will resume the proceedings without waiting for any other intimation unless an express order extending the stay is produced.

Q1) What is a trial in court? 

A trial in court is a formal legal proceeding in which the facts of a case are examined, witnesses are heard, and a decision is reached by a judge or jury. Trials are a fundamental component of the judicial system and are used to resolve disputes and determine the guilt or innocence of individuals accused of committing a crime.

Source: Five judge supreme court bench to review ruling on ‘automatic vacation of stay’

About Cholelithiasis

• The condition of having gallstones is called cholelithiasis.
• It is a common hepatobiliary condition affecting mostly Western populations.
• It is a major risk factor for cholangiocarcinoma, which is a kind of bile duct cancer.
• Gallstones are hardened deposits of digestive fluid that form in the gallbladder.
• The gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ that lies beneath the liver and stores bile made by the liver.
• Bile is a digestive fluid made of cholesterol, bile salts, and bilirubin and gets released into the small intestine through the cystic duct and common bile duct, to aid in fat digestion.
• Causes: The exact cause of cholelithiasis is not entirely clear. Cholelithiasis most commonly results from a chemical imbalance within the contents of the gallbladder in which the bile contains too much cholesterol or bilirubin. 
• Symptom: The most common symptom of cholelithiasis is abdominal pain localized to the upper right or central abdomen. 
• Treatment: It may be treated with medications or procedures. 

Q1) What is gallbladder?

A gallbladder is a small, pear-shaped organ located under your liver that stores and releases bile. Bile is the fluid your liver produces that helps digest fats in the food you eat.

Source: Study finds complex link between lipids and cholelithiasis

About Iyothee Thass Pandithar

• He was born on 20 May 1845 in Madras presidency.
• He was a prominent anti-caste activist and a practitioner of Siddha medicine.
• Association with tribal people: In the 1870s, Iyothee Thass organized the Todas and other tribes of the Nilgiri Hills into a formidable force for the freedom movement.
• In 1876, Thass established the Advaidananda Sabha and launched a magazine called Dravida Pandian in collaboration with Rev. John Rathina.
• He established the “Dravida Mahajana Sabha '' in 1891 along with Rettamalai Srinivasan.
• He established the Sakya Buddhist Society in Madras with branches all over South India.
• The Sakya Buddhist Society was also known as the Indian Buddhist Association and was established in the year 1898.
• To manage and coordinate the functioning of the society, he began a weekly magazine, Tamizhan in 1907. 

Q1) What is Siddha medicine?

It is a traditional system of healing that originated in South India and is considered to be one of India’s oldest systems of medicine. The Siddha system is based on a combination of ancient medicinal practices and spiritual disciplines as well as alchemy and mysticism. It is thought to have developed during the Indus civilization, which flourished between 2500 and 1700 BCE. 

Source: Stalin to unveil statue of Iyothee Thass Pandithar on December 1

About Piezoelectricity

• The term “piezoelectric” originates from the Greek words “piezein,” meaning ‘to squeeze’, and “elektron”, for amber – a material known for its association with static electricity.
• Piezoelectricity is a remarkable phenomenon whereby some materials – including quartz, ceramics such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), and even certain biological substances like bone and the tendons – can generate an electric charge in response to mechanical stress.
• This property is the result of their unusual crystal structures.
• Usually, the charges on atoms in the molecules that make them up are symmetric on two sides of an axis.
• When some stress is applied, the molecule becomes distorted and the asymmetry of charges gives rise to a small electric current.
• Some materials also display an inverse piezoelectric effect, where the application of an electric current induces a mechanical deformation.
• Applications
  • Both direct and inverse piezoelectric materials are widely used in pressure sensors, accelerometers, and acoustic devices – where their ability to convert mechanical signals into electrical signals is crucial.
  • It is also used in quartz watches.
  • Piezoelectric transducers are common in ultrasonic applications, such as intrusion detectors and alarms. 
  • Piezoelectric devices are employed at AF (audio frequencies) as pickups, microphones, earphones, beepers, and buzzers. 
  • In wireless applications, piezoelectricity makes it possible to use crystals and ceramics as oscillators that generate predictable and stable signals at RF (radio frequencies).

Q1) What is Quartz?

It is a widely distributed mineral of many varieties that consists primarily of silica, or silicon dioxide. It is a crystal that develops positive and negative charges on alternate prism edges when it is subjected to pressure or tension. The charges are proportional to the change in pressure. 

Source: Piezoelectricity: Why quartz ticks