National Centre for Marine Biodiversity (NCMB) is coming up at Jamnagar for safeguarding the biodiversity of the coastal areas. This is country’s first research institute established in public private partnership (PPP) mode in the country.
With a growing emphasis on coastal and marine area management, it has now become inevitable to institutionalize a process for greater and in-depth research in the marine environment, to ensure that measured steps are taken in the direction for better and efficient management of the fast depleting marine resource. With this objective, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, in collaboration with the Gujarat Ecology Commission, launched the NCMB in Jamnagar. Jamnagar, a port town, was selected for the centre because of its proximity to India's only National Marine Park — spread over some 200 sq.km. in the Gulf of Kutch.
The Centre envisions a long-term conservation and better management of coastal and marine biodiversity in India. Its overall mission is to support integrated management of coastal and marine biodiversity and ensure sustainable development and hazard risk management. The Centre aims at developing a repository of information on marine life to facilitate marine biodiversity conservation and management in India. The Centre will also be instrumental in promoting world class research activity in respect of the coastal and marine eco-systems, and would impart training and education to the youth for maintaining the ecological balance in the fragile coastal areas, awareness with respect to marine biodiversity conservation and ecological literacy.
By inculcating aspects of research and development into conservation process, this facility is likely to mitigate the severe rise in number of endangered biodiversity. It has been noted that over the years, marine biodiversity has been readily ignored in India’s conservation programs. So far, around 25 species of fish and amphibians have been listed as critically endangered species in India, and without proper conservational and research programs, much of marine biodiversity may face the brunt extinction. All the marine species listed as critically endangered do not have protected habitats and hence there is a need to expand the network of marine national parks to begin addressing this important issue.
The centre is a part of an Integrated Coastal Zone Management Project launched recently by the Ministry with World Bank assistance through the Society for Integrated Coastal Management, to be managed in the State by the Gujarat Ecology Commission. It will be the first marine national park of India located under the Reliance turf of Jamnagar.The RIL has committed an initial contribution of Rs. 10 Crore to the centre. A total of Rs 20 crore has been earmarked for the next two to three years .More financial resources would be required.
Showing posts with label CURRENT AFFAIRS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CURRENT AFFAIRS. Show all posts
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Achievements of Indian Polar Program
National Center for Antarctica and Ocean Research (NCAOR) launched and led India’s first ever National scientific Expedition to South Pole. They participated in the international celebration of centenary of man’s reaching South Pole in 1911 and unfurled the Indian Flag on Geographical South Pole on 20th November, 2010. The 8 member team of expert in the field of specific scientific activity carried out many experiments and collected many specimens.
Scientific highlights
The team conducted scientific experiments enroute. A number of new species of bacteria have been identified from cold habitats. In Antarctica 30 out of 240 new species discovered so far have been from India. 12 new species of bacteria have been reported from the Polar regions during 2008-2011.
Two genes namely t-RNA modification GTPase and aspratate aminotransferase have been identified as genes required for survival of bacteria at low temperature. A number of cold active and heat labile enzymes (protease, RNAase, Time GTPase etc) with application in biotechnology have been purified to homogeneity.
Using meta-genome analysis, bacterial diversity has been found to be extremely diverse and a few of them have been implicated in hydrocarbon remediation.
Biological samples which include soil samples from Antarctica have indicated Leads for some pharmaceutical uses. These are being developed in association with Piramal Life Sciences, to take it further.
Scientific Publications
· A Special Issue in the Indian Journal of Marine Sciences entitled “Antarctic and Southern ocean physical processes, published in March 2008, vol. 37(1), p.1-110, ISSN:0379-5136
· A Special Issue in the Indian Journal of Marine Sciences entitled “International Polar Year – Studies on Antarctic and Southern Ocean” published in
December 2008, vol. 37(4), p.1-110, ISSN: 0379-5136
· A Special Issue in the Indian Journal of Geosciences entitled “Antarctica Special”, brought out in the Journal from Geological Survey of India.
Vol.63, No.2, 2009, ISSN 0019-5936
· Three Technical Reports comprising of Scientific Report of the Indian Antarctic Programme has been published
a. Technical Publication No.19 – Scientific Report of the
XXI Indian Expedition to Antarctica
b. Technical Publication No.20 – Scientific Report of the
XXII Indian Expedition to Antarctica
c. Technical Publication No.21 – Scientific Report of the
XXIII Indian Expedition to Antarctica
· A Monograph on Lichens from Antarctic published by NCAOR in 2010 April.
· Bi-Annual Polar News is being publishes , bilingually, since last three years.
Capacity Building
· A total of 106 scientific members have participated in the last three years from 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 respectively representing different organizations and institutions.
· Under Student Participation Scheme in the Indian Antarctic Program to develop human resource in the field of polar regions, 05 students have participated in the last three expeditions and two have joined NCAOR as Junior Research Fellows for furtherance of the scientific research.
· Universities have been encouraged to participate and the participants include members from Barkatullah University- Bhopal, Dr.R.M.L.Avadh University, Faizabad, Allahabad University [KBCAOS], Visva Bharati Santiniketan
Antarctica linked to Goa by IT Connectivity
· NCAOR is now linked with Maitri – Antarctica 24 X 7 by a Satellite connectivity. This was made operational by installing 3.2 meters C-band antenna enclosed in a RAYDOME at Maitri and a corresponding facility at NCAOR Campus.
International recognition
Ø India is represented in the international bodies linked to Polar activity by NCAOR.
Ø India elected as Vice Chair of Council of Managers of Antarctic Program (COMNAP) 2008-10
Ø India elected as Vice Chair of Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) 2008-10, 2010-12.
Ø India is currently the Chair of the Asian Forum for Polar Sciences (AFoPS) for the term 2010-12
Ø India was a member of Selection Committee of Martha Muse Award of US $100, 00 for outstanding contributions in Antarctic science and policy matters.
Ø Two SCAR fellowships, in the years 2009-10 and 2010-11 were bagged by NCAOR researchers namely: Nuncio Murukesh and
Dr. Sunil Kumar Shukla
NCAOR scientist continues to represent India in UNCLOS, a UN body to oversee the claims of nations pertaining to legal continental shelf.
Labels:
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Friday, July 8, 2011
CURRENT AFFAIRS MCQs
1.International Day for Disaster Reduction is observed on:
(a) 9th August
(b) 13th October
(c) 24th November
(d) 11th December
Answer-b
2. Who authored the book ‘The Science of Bharat Natyam’?
(a) Saroja Vaidyanathan
(b) Yamini Krishnamurthi
( c) J. Sushila
(d) None of these
Answer a
3. Tianhe 1A, the world’s fastest supercomputer is made by
(a) United States
(b) Japan
(c) China
(d) None of these
Answer :c
4. Which is India’s first ever Pollution Control Warship?
(a) Samudra Prahari
(b) Nischaya
(c) Varuna
(d) None of these
Answer:a
5. Who became India’s youngest grandmaster?
(a) Parimarjan Negi
(b) Dronavali Harika
(c) Praveen Thipse
(d) S P Sethuraman
Answer:d
6. K C Kulich International Award is associated with:
(a) Medicine
(b) Economics
(c) Journalism
(d) Sports
Answer:c
7. ‘Open’ is the autobiography of which sports personality?
(a) Adam Gilchrest
(b) Glenn Merges
(c) Andre Agassiz
(d) None of these
Ans-c
8. World Cup Football in 2022 is to be held at:
(a) Qatar
(b) UK
(c) Spain
(d) France
Answer:a
9. Who is the first head of UN WOMEN?
(a) Laura Chinchilla
(b) Julia Gillard
(c) Mitchell blachettt
(d) None of these
Answer:c
10.Which of the following committee is related to Corporatisation of Stock Exchanges?
(a) Bimal Jalan Committee
(b) V Achuthan Committee
(c) P M Nair Committee
(d) None of these
Ans-a
11. Which is India’s newest stock exchange for currency derivatives
(a) BSE
(b) NSE
(c) United Stock Exchange (USE)
(d) None of these
Answer :c
12. Jeevan Reddy Committee is related to
(a)Illegal mining
(b) Armed Forces Special Power Act
(c) Environmental Impact Assessment
(d) None of these
Ans-b
13. Which of the following scheme is related with social security for unorganised sector?
(a) Swabhiman
(b) Sabla
(c) Swavalamban
(d) None of these
Ans-c
14. Polavaram Project is located in which state?
(a) Andhra Pradesh
(b) Maharashtra
(c) Madhya Pradesh
(d) Karnataka
Answer:a
15. David Perlman Award is given in which field?
(a) Sports
(b) Music
(c) Photography
(d) Journalism
Ans-d
16.Which of the following committee has redefined the definition of Slums?
(a) Pranab Sen Committee
(b) Arjun Sen gupta committee
(c) C Ibrahim Committee
(d) None of these
Ans-a
17. Arrow-III is an anti missile system of
(a) France
(b) Pakistan
(c) Israel
(d) UK
Ans-c
18. India’s first jail BPO is going to came up at:
(a) Bangalore
(b) Pune
(c) Chennai
(d) Hyderabad
Answer:a
19.World’s first aviation university coming up at:
(a) Bangalore
(b) Nice
(c) Glasgow
(d) Venice
Answer: a
20. Khoj lab has been launched by which group?
(a) Future Group
(b) dell
(c) IBM
(d) Times group
Answer:a
21. Which of the following became the first smoke free state in India?
(a) Sikkim
(b) Himachal Pradesh
(c) Uttarakhand
(d) None of these
Ans-a
22. Which of the following became the Ist Asian Country to sign Free Trade Agreement with European Union?
(a) South Korea
(b) China
(c) India
(d) None of these
Ans-a
23. The Emissary’ is the book authored by:
(a) Tarun Tejpal
(b) Vinod Mehta
(c) Aniruddh Bahl
(d) None of these
Ans-c
24. Who is the new PM of Netherlands?
(a) Mark Ruttea
(b) Bill Carey
(c) Thakshin Sinawatra
(d) None of these
Ans-a
25. Who is the new PM of Kosovo?
(a) Hashim Taci
(b) N K Name Krumoh
(c) Jose Borosso
(d) None of these
Ans-a
26. Who is the chairman of National Democratic Front of Bodoland?
(a) Paresh Barna
(b) Aravind Rajakhowa
(c) Ranjan Daimary
(d) None of these
Ans-c
27. With which of the following countries India has not signed civil nuclear agreement?
(a) Namibia
(b) Sweden
(c) Mongolia
(d) Argentina
Ans-b
28. Who is the PM of Sweden?
(a) Fredrick Rainfeldt
(b) Silvio Berlusconi
(c) Garry Wanders
(d) None of these
Ans-a
29. APEC Summit in November 2010 was held at :
(a) Yokohama
(b) Sydney
(c) Singapore
(d) Busan
Answer a;
30. Which public sector bank was the banking partner in Commonwealth Games 2010?
(a) Central Bank of India
(b) State Bank of India
(c) Bank of Baroda
(d) None of these
Answer-a;
31. Who is the new vice chief of army staff?
(a) V.K. Singh
(b) A.S. Lamba
(c) C. Shekhawat
(d) None of these
Answer :b
32. Who has became the vice president of ICC?
(a) Ehsaan Mani
(b) John Mulford
(c) Alan Isaac
(d) Molcom Speed
Answer: c
33. Who is the Director General of National Investigation Agency ?
(a) R.V. Raju
(b) Ved Marwah
(c) K.F. Rustomji
(d) Sharad Chandra Sinha
Answer:d
34. Who is the Director of National Security Guard?
(a) R.K. Medhekar
(b) J.K Dutt
(c) B.K. Banerjee
(d) None of these
Answer:a
35. Who of the following Indian got the Australia Day achievement medal 2010?
(a) V.P. Unnikrishnan
(b) Sandeep Pandey
(c) Vandana Shiva
(d) None of these
Answer: a
36. Which of the following country became the 187th member of IMF?
(a) Marshall Islands
(b) Tuvalu
(c) Fiji
(d) None of these
Answer: b
37. India’s second National Institute of Design will come up at which of the following
(a) Amethi
(b) Jorahat
(c) Aizowl
(d) Itanagar
Ans- b
38. Benghazi is a port of :
(a) Libya
(b) Yemen
(c) Egypt
(d) None of these
Answer:a
39. Jakhol Sankri Hydro Electric Project has been commissioned at
(a) Uttarakhand
(b) Himachal Pradesh
(c) J&K
(d) Arunachal Pradesh
Answer: a
Answer: a
40. ‘Home Boy’ is a novel written by
(a) H M Naqvi
(b) H S Narula
(c) Anand Sarkar
(d) Stephen Lipsett
Ans- a
41. Pravasi Bhartiya Divas in 2011 was held at:
(a) Jaipur
(b) New Delhi
(c) Ujjain
(d) Varanasi
Answer :b
42. 98th Indian Science Congress in January 2011 was held at:
(a) Chennai
(b) Kharagpur
(c) Kanpur
(d) Delhi
Ans - a
43. Who of the following is the present Lokayukta of Karnataka:
(a) N Vittal
(b) Santosh Hegde
(c) Yashwant Sonawane
(d) None of these
Answer:b
44. Georgia’s capital is to be shifted from Tbilisi to:
(a) Akhan
(b) Yeren
(c) Kutaisi
(d) Chisinau
Ans-c
45. Which country topped the Terrorism Risk Index in 2010:
(a) Somalia
(b) Samoa
(c) Jamaica
(d) Iraq
Ans-a
46. Which district is going to be named after Indira Gandhi?
(a) Medak
(b) Rai Bareli
(c) Chikmaglur
(d) Bellary
Ans-a
47. Who received the Elis Island Medal of Honour in 2010?
(a) Dalai Lama
(b) Zinedine Zidene
(c) Rao Anumlu
(d) B K Varghese
Answer:c
48. Enam Securities is to be purchased by:
(a) Union Bank of India
(b) BNP Paribas
(c) ANZ Grindlays
(d) Axis Bank
Answer: d
49. Which famous personality bagged the Man of Peace Award in 2010?
(a) Roberto Baggio
(b) Diegs Maradona
(c) Pope John Paul II
(d) None of these
Answer:a
50. Who is the new National Security Advisor of United States?
(c) W Singham
(b) Thomas Donilon
(a) Colin Powell
(b) Larry Page
Ans-b
51. Who is the new president of UN General Assembly?
(a) Joseph Deiss (b) Hans Rasmus Sen
(c) Leon Panetta (d) None of these
Ans-a
52. Luka and Fire of Life is the latest book by:
(a) Arun Som
(b) Salman Rushdie
(c) Vikram Seth
(d) None of these
Ans-b
53. What is the name of India’s latest and Seventh Super Computer?
(a) Annapurna
(b) Param
(c) Pinak
(d) None of these
Ans-a
54. Tembli became the first village in India to get UID. In which state it is located?
(a) Andhra Pradesh
(b) Chattisgarh
(c) Maharashtra
(d) None of these
Ans-c
55.Who has been declared the ‘Business Leader of the year’ in Economic Times Corporate Excellence Awards 2010?
(a) Aditya Puri
(b) N Nrayanmurthy
(c) Azim Premji
(d) Mukesh Ambani
Ans-a
56. What is the mascot of 2011 cricket world cup?
(a) Hoho
(b) Cobe
(c) Stumpy
(d) None of these
Ans-c
57. SAF (South Asian Federation) games in 2012 will be held at
(a) Kathmandu
(b) Delhi
(c) Bangalore
(d) None of these
Ans-b
58. Agni III was launched from which of the following places:
(a) Wheeler Island
(b) Sriharikota
(c) Bikaner
(d) None of these
Answer a;
59. Who of the following is the Chairperson of National Green Tribunal?
(a) Lokeshwar Singh Parata
(b) Anil Pandey
(c) K Vijay Kumar
(d) None of these
Answer-a;
60. Which Indian Company is slated to buy the English football club Blackburn?
(a) U B groups
(b) RPG
(c) Videocon
(d) Vicky
Answer : d
61. Who is the Union Minister of Corporate Affairs?
(a) Murali Deora
(b) Jaipal Reddy
(c) C P Joshi
(d) M S Gill
Answer: a
62. Who is the new President Elect of BCCI?
(a) Chirayu Amin
(b) Jyotiraditya Schindia
(c) Shashank manohar
(d) Jagmohan Dalmia
Answer:c
63. Karrar is the unmaned bomber aircraft of which country?
(a) Iran
(b) Syria
(c) Israel
(d) None of these
Answer:a
64. Who is the CMD of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited?
(a) S K Jain
(b) Harsh Marital
(c) Oskar Singh
(d) None of these
Answer: a
65. Who is the Director of Intelligence Bureau?
(a) Rajeev Mathur
(b) Nehchal Sandhu
(c) Saikat Dutta
(d) None of these
Answer: b
66. Ramagundanar thermal power project is in which state?
a) Andhra Pradesh
(b) Tamil Nadu
(c) Kerala
(d) Karnataka
Ans- a
67. Project Big Green has been initiated by which company?
(a) Microsoft
(b) Apple
(c) Infosys
(d) IBM
Answer:d
68. Vansadhara River dispute is between which states?
(a) Orissa and Andhra Pradesh
(b) Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
(c) Kerala and Tamil Nadu
(d) None of these
Answer: a
69. Who is the Chairperson of National Housing Board?
(a) B N Kapoor
(b) Mata Prasad
(c) R B Verma
(d) None of these
Ans- c
70. Who is India’s permanent representative to United Nations?
(a) Hardeep Singh Puri
(b) M.K. Agnihotri
(c) Vijay Pasricha
(d) None of these
Answer :a
71. Who is the principal scientific advisor to Government of India?
(a) R. Chidambaram
(b) V.K. Saraswat
(c) T.K. Thomas
(d) None of these
Ans - a
72. Who is the Chairman of Central Water Commission?
(a) Balraj Madhok
(b) A.K. Bajaj
(c) Shivran Puri
(d) None of these
Ans - b
73. Who is the Deputy National Security Advisor?
(a) Shiv Shankar Menon
(b) M.K. Narayanan
(c) Shekhar Dutt
(d) None of these
Answer:c
74. Aligarh Muslim University is going to set its new campus at:
(a) Saharanpur
(b) Meerut
(c) Murshidabad
(d) Azamgarh
Ans-c
75. Who is the new Chairperson of National Commission for Backward classes?
(a) M.N. Rao
(b) T.K. Maken
(c) Ram Singh Senbar
(d) None of these
Ans-a
76. Who is the Chairperson of 19th Law Commission?
(a) P.V. Reddy
(b) A.K. Lakshmanan
(c) K.R. Kurup
(d) None of these
Ans-a
77. Who is the Chairman of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights?
(a) Buta Singh
(b) M.K. Kurup
(c) Shanta Sinha
(d) Dheeraj Rohatgi
Answer:c
78. Mini Pravasi Bhartiya Diwas in October 2010 was held at:
(a) Cape Town
(b) Durban
(c) Johannesburg
(d) None of these
Answer: b
79. G-8 summit in June 2010 was held at:
(a) Ontario
(b) Vancouver
(c) Huntsville
(d) Quebec
Answer:-c
80. Who is the CEO of Twitter?
(a) Dick Costello
(b) Jorma Olila
(c) Allan Bolt
(d) None of these
Ans-a
81. Which country topped the Global Peace Index Report in 2010?
(a) New Zealand
(b) Iceland
(c) Denmark
(d) Sweden
Ans-a
82. Who of the following is the recipient of Turner Prize 2010?
(a) Alex Rodriques
(b) Sergie Bryan
(c) Susan Philipsz
(d) None of these
Ans-c
83. Who of the following is the recipient of Cervantes Prize 2010?
(a) John Stocker
(b) Ana Maria
(c) C Andrew Stephen
(d) None of these
Ans-b
84. M. B. Shah Commission is related to:
(a) Illegal mining
(b) Agricultural Statistics
(c) Microfinance Institutions
(d) None of these
Ans-a
85. Who is the secretary General of Rajya Sabha?
(a) T.K. Vishwanathan
(b) Vivek Agnihotri
(c) V.K. Gupta
(d) None of these
Ans-b
Labels:
CURRENT AFFAIRS
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)