Facts in News

Facts in News

Shuvuuia Deserti

• Shuvuuia is a genus of bird-like theropod dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period. 
  • It is a member of the family Alvarezsauridae, small coelurosaurian dinosaurs.
• This dinosaur species were prevalent around 70 million years ago in present-day Mongolia and Northern China.
  • In the Mongolian language, Shuvuuia stands for “bird”.

Image Courtesy: scitechdaily

Key Characteristics

• It has boasted visual and auditory capabilities akin to a barn owl, indicating it could hunt in total darkness.
  • Shuvuuia had a very wide scleral ring, indicating an extra-large pupil size that made its eye a specialized light-capture device.
• Like many carnivorous dinosaurs, it did not have strong jaws and sharp teeth.
  • It had a bird-shaped body, a lightly built skull and many tiny teeth like grains of rice.
• Unlike birds, it had short but powerful arms ending in a single large claw.
  • It has short but powerful forelimbs specialized for digging.
  • With its long legs and digging forelimbs, it could run at a fast pace and catch its prey like nocturnal mammals, lizards and insects.

Bad Bank

Padmakumar M Nair named as CEO of proposed bad bank

About

• It is an Asset Reconstruction Company (ARC) or an Asset Management Company (AMC) which helps commercial banks to clean their account books and recover bad loans over a period of time.
  • Bad loans are loans or advances made by a financial institution, on which both principal or interest is unpaid for a specified period of time. 
  • Simply stated, NPAs are those loans that have ceased to generate income for the bank. 

Genesis

• For the first time, the Bad Bank was established by US-based Mellon Bank in 1988, after which the concept has been implemented in other countries such as Sweden, Finland, France, Belgium, Germany and Indonesia.
  • In the US, the bad bank was institutionalised by the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP).
• In India, the Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramaniam in Economic Survey 2016-17 recommended the establishment of Public Sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency to tackle the growing menace of NPAs, which is badly affecting the economy of the country.
• In Budget 2021-22, the finance minister has announced the setting up of a bad bank to take over the bad loans of commercial banks in India.

Rhea Bird (Rhea americana)

• It is a flightless bird and resembles an ostrich and emu.
• Rhea bird is native to South America.
• Types: Greater or American rhea and the Lesser or Darwin’s rhea. 
• IUCN status 
  • Greater Rhea as near-threatened
  • Darwin’s Rhea as least concern.
• They are grassland birds and both species prefer open land.
• These birds are omnivores and unlike most birds, rheas have only three toes.
• They can’t fly but use their wings for balance and changing direction.

Threats: Their eggs are collected for food and their meat is also in great demand. Their skins are used in the manufacturing of leather.

Image Courtesy: Britannica

Barren Island

• Barren Island is part of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and is located in the Andaman Sea, around 140 kilometres northeast of Port Blair.
• Barren Island is India’s and South Asia’s only active volcano.
  • The volcano erupted for the first time in 1787 and latest in 2017.
• It is a barren landscape and uninhabited by humans.
• It belongs to the North and Middle Andaman administrative district.
• This region is protected by the Indian Coast Guard to curb illegal entry and other activities.

 Image Courtesy: Maps of India

IREDA bags “Green Urja Award”

• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd. (IREDA) has been conferred with “Green Urja Award” for being the Leading Public Institution in Financing Institution for Renewable Energy.
  • IREDA plays a pivotal role in Green Energy Financing.
• The award has been given by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

About IREDA

• It is a Mini Ratna (Category – I) Government of India Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE).
• It was established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution in 1987.
• It is the only dedicated institution for financing Renewable Energy (RE) & Energy Efficiency (EE) projects in India.
• Motto: Energy for Ever.

Five Deep Project

• The world’s first manned expedition to the deepest point in each of the five oceans.
  • the Puerto Rico Trench in the Atlantic, 
  • South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Ocean, 
  • Java Trench in the Indian Ocean, 
  • Challenger Deep in the Pacific and 
  • Molloy Deep in the Arctic.
• It is the first submarine-based (world’s first two-person, titanium-built) mission.
• The mission was launched in December 2018.

Image courtesy-  Guardian

MPLAD Fund

• Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a centrally sponsored scheme initiated in 1993 by Narsimha Rao Government.
• It is fully funded by the Government of India.
• Objective: Under the scheme, the MPs can recommend development programmes involving the spending of Rs 5 crore every year in their respective constituencies.
• Administered by: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).

Key Points

• MPs and MLAs do not receive any money under these schemes. The government transfers it directly to the respective local authorities. 
  • These funds are non-lapsable in nature i.e. in case of non-release of the fund in a particular year it is carried forward to the next year.
• For the MPLAD Scheme, the guidelines focus on the creation of durable community assets like roads, school buildings etc.
• States have their version of this scheme with varying amounts per MLA. 
  • Delhi has the highest allocation under MLALAD; each MLA can recommend works for up to Rs 10 crore each year. 
  • In Punjab and Kerala, the amount is Rs 5 crore per MLA per year.