Events of National and International Importance
SAARC nations sign energy pact, Next summit in Pakistan
1. With the issuing of Kathamandu Declaration, the 18th SAARC Summit
concludes at Kathamandu.
2. Chairperson of the Summit and Nepal Prime Minister Sushil Koirala
declared the Summit closed.
3.
The 19th SAARC Summit will
be held at Islamabad in 2016.
4. SAARC
Framework Agreement on Energy (Electricity) Cooperation was signed among the
SAARC member countries.
5. This pact will
enable SAARC member nations to trade electricity among themselves.
6.
The theme of the Summit was ‘Deeper Integration for Peace and Prosperity’,
Economic Development
OPEC meeting keeps world on the edge
1.
Oil ministers of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) meet in Vienna.
2.
To press for a one million barrels a day production cut to
support falling Brent crude oil prices.
3.
Speculation is rife that Brent crude prices may stabilise at
the current level or may plunge further to $75 a barrel due to lack of
consensus among members.
4.
The price of Brent crude oil peaked this year at $115.15 a
barrel on June 19. Since then, prices are down 31per cent to below $79 a
barrel.
5.
Most of the oil price declines occurred after Saudi Aramco
started a price war on October 1 for all its exports.
6.
The move suggests that the biggest member of the OPEC is
prepared to let prices fall rather than cede market share by paring output to
clear a supply surplus.
7.
The import bill will come down substantially and given that
oil accounts for around 32-35 per cent of total imports.
E-Visa list for 43 nations announced
1. In line with its promise of increasing the list
of countries to be included for Tourist Visa on Arrival enabled by Electronic
Travel Authorization (ETA),
43 countries were officially announced by the NDA-government here in New Delhi.
2. It facilitates the entry of foreign tourists
without a physical visa into the country within 96 hours of submission of
application.
3. Apart from eight countries - Pakistan, Sudan,
Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Somalia, all 180 countries,
which host India’s diplomatic mission, will be eventually included in the list
in phases.
4. About 90% of foreign tourist arrivals to India
are accounted for by 40 countries of the world.
5. Foreign tourists during the period of
January-October 2014 were 5.8 million, showing a growth of seven% compared to
5.4 million during the same period last year.
Bear cartel behind P-Notes bogey?
1. A bear cartel is suspected to have been creating
a bogey about regulatory clampdown against P-Notes with an aim to pull down the
stock markets to make illicit gains.
2. It is suspected that these operators could have
been behind widespread rumours last week that authorities were all set to ban
Participatory Notes (P-Notes).
3. These are used by overseas HNIs (high net worth
individuals), hedge funds and other foreign institutions to invest in Indian
markets through registered overseas entities.
WGC, IIM-A set up gold policy centre
1. In a unique initiative, the World Gold Council
(WGC) along with the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), has set
up ‘India Gold Policy Centre’ to conduct research on all aspects of the
domestic gold industry.
2. The objective of the centre is to develop
insights into how the significant stocks of gold India owns can be used to
advance growth, employment,
social inclusion and economic wealth of the nation, a joint statement from the
two organisations says.
3. The centre aims to conduct research that has a
practical application and that the industry and all stakeholders can use. “It
has been estimated that India holds around 22,000 tonnes of gold.
4. Valued at over $1 trillion,’’ World Gold Council
PR, MD, India, Somasundaram said in the statement.
Environment & Ecology
Wildlife
trade is thriving on Internet, finds study
1.
An international survey carried
out by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) has found that trade in
rare and critically endangered birds and animals and body parts is thriving on
the Internet.
2.
IFAW and the authorities
assisting it, found over 10,000 advertisements on 280 websites.
3.
The advertisements featured
33,000 animals and items that should be protected by international laws on sale
and were valued at a total of US $11 million.
4.
The study found that the
maximum number of online advertisements for animals and animal parts were in
China, followed by Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
5.
The team conducting the study
found wildlife, both dead and alive, for sale.
6.
The highest number of
advertisements for large, live animals was found in Russia and Ukraine.
7.
Websites in West Asia also
offered live animals.
Overall, ivory was the most commonly-touted product in the online advertisements, accounting for almost a third.
Overall, ivory was the most commonly-touted product in the online advertisements, accounting for almost a third.
8.
After ivory, reptiles were the
next most common category of advertisements (26 per cent) around the world,
offering turtles, tortoises and lizards to collectors.
Science & Tech
European Space Agency satellite uses
gravity map to track ocean currents
1. Using data
from various satellites, particularly European Space Agency’s GOCE, scientists
have created what they claim is the world’s most accurate space view of global
ocean currents and the speeds of their movement.
2. The
Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, or GOCE, measured
the minute changes in Earth's gravitational pull which varies at different
places due to the uneven distribution of mass inside the planet.
3. The GOCE
geoid was subtracted from the mean sea-surface height measured over a 20-year
period by satellites, including ESA’s veteran Envisat.
4. The data
is of great use in ocean monitoring and forecasting systems. “The new ocean
current speed map is of particular interest to UNESCO’s Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission.
5. This
supports the international cooperation and the understanding and management of
oceans and coastal areas.
Novel way to produce safer drinking
water
1. Making
drinking water a lot safer by killing an overwhelming number of bacteria and
most viruses is now possible.
2. In May
2013, the same team was able to achieve only 100 times reduction in bacterial
load and negligible reduction in viral load through sustained release of 50
parts per billion (ppb) of silver ions in drinking water.
3. In the
latest study, the team was able to achieve 1,00,000 times reduction in
bacterial load and 1,000 times reduction in viral load by synergistically
combining silver with carbonate ions.
4. The
drastic improvement in antimicrobial performance was achieved despite the team
using only 25 ppb of silver ions, half the amount used in the earlier work.
5. A
fundamental result that came out of our earlier study was that the
antibacterial activity of silver can be tuned by simple methods.
6. Everybody
was studying silver in isolation but the team looked at synergistically
combining silver with some other ions.
Editorial
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