CDS 2024

✅Related Information-
👉World Restoration Flagship initiative by the UNEP as part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).
👉7 initiatives under World Restoration Flagship
● Restoring Mediterranean Forests Initiative
● Living Indus Initiative
● Acción Andina Social Movement - S America
● Sri Lanka Mangrove Regeneration Initiative
● Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) Initiative
● Regreening Africa’s Agriculture
● Growing Forests in Africa's Drylands Initiative

✅International Court of Justice
(ICJ)
● principal judicial organ of the United Nations
● established in 1945 by the UN Charter
● HQ: The Hague, Netherlands
● composed of 15 judges elected to nine-year terms by the
UN General Assembly and the Security Council
● Jurisdiction: settles legal disputes between states
(contentious cases) that consent to its jurisdiction.
○ No jurisdiction over applications from individuals,
non-governmental organizations, corporations or
private entity.


✅International Criminal Court
(ICC)
● established by the Rome Statute, which was adopted in
1998, and entered into force in 2002.
● HQ: The Hague, Netherlands
● Jurisdiction: investigate and prosecute individuals (not
states) accused of: genocide, crimes against humanity,
war crimes, and aggression.
● India, US, China, Russia are not members of ICC

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SOUTH ASIA SUBREGIONAL ECONOMIC COOPERATION (SASEC)

✅established in 2001 to promote regional prosperity
● Members: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar,
Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
● Asian Development Bank (ADB) acts as the Secretariat for
👉SASEC and provides financial and technical assistance for
various projects.



✅COFFEE CLUB -
👉To oppose expansion of P5 under UNSC.

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✅OPERATIONAL - from the date when Election Schedule is announced till the date Results are announced.

✅Not Enforcable by law.

✅First operationalised in 1960 in Kerala Assembly Election.


❗️Read the provisions wrt Exit Polls & Opinion Polls.

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ARTIFICIAL SWEETNERS

✅Artificial Sweetners were in news recently due to the research highlighting their carcinogenic potential.

The above table from The NCERT becomes Important in this regard.

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🕸Volcanoes in India🕸️

a)Barren island, Andaman : Active Volcano on the edge of Indo-Burmese Tectonic Plate, last eruption in 2017

b)Narcondam(Etymology :- tamil origin meaning “ pit of Hell”)-Small Volcano on Andaman sea, made of Andesite

c)Baratang :- Also known as Ranchiwalas Island, Mud Volcano, Andaman. It is said to have been impacted due to 2004 tsunami.

d)Dhosi Hill, Haryana : extinct volcano, part of Aravali Mountain Hill

e)Tosham Hill, Haryana : Extinct volcano.

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🕸️When a superconductor is cooled below its critical temperature, it expels any existing magnetic fields from its interior, creating a magnetic shield around itself. This is known as the Meissner effect.

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#prelims2024 #Expect

🟡 Yellow Hydrogen: where electrolysis is achieved "solely" through solar power.

🟢Green Hydrogen: where electrolysis is achieved via a "combination" of renewable energy sources such as wind or solar etc.

🕸Learning: Green Hydrogen is a BROADER term, while Yellow is a sub-part of it.

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The BBNJ(Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction) treaty commonly referred to as the Treaty of the High Seas was agreed upon in March 2023 for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction.
Developed under the Framework of UNCLOS.

🕸India has not signed the treaty.

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✅Cryomesh- technique for Coral Preservation.

✅The mesh technology will help store coral larvae at -196°C (-320.8°F).

✅Corals are marine invertebrates or animals which do not possess a spine.
👉 In scientific classification, corals fall under the phylum Cnidaria and the class Anthozoa.

✅There are two types of corals:
👉Hard, shallow-water corals—the kind that builds reefs.
👉Soft corals and deepwater corals that live in dark cold waters.

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✅Internationally recognised eco-label system.
✅On the lines of Blue Flag certification, India has also launched its own eco-label BEAMS (Beach Environment & Aesthetics Management Services).

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Indian State of Forest Report, 2021

✅Change in Recorded forest Area/Green Wash (RFA/GW) as compared to previous assessment of 2019.
👉Forest Cover within the RFA/GW:
A slight increase of 31 sq km.
👉Forest Cover outside the RFA/GW: There is an increase of 1,509 sq km.

✅The top five states in terms of increase in forest cover:
Andhra Pradesh>Telangana>Odisha>Karnataka>Jharkhand

✅The total forest cover in the tribal districts is 37.53% of the geographical area of these districts.

✅Total forest cover in the North-Eastern region is 64.66% of its geographical area.

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Rudreswara (Ramappa) Temple.

1. Presiding deity = Ramalingeswara Swamy.

2. Stands on a 6 feet high star-shaped platform with walls, pillars & ceilings adorned with intricate carvings.

3. Foundation is built with the “sandbox technique”, the flooring is granite & the pillars are basalt.

3. The lower part = Red sandstone & white gopuram is built with light bricks that reportedly float on water.

4. An inscription dates the temple to 1135 Samvat-Saka on the eight-day of Magha i.e.12th Jan, 1214.

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Aeon > Era > Period > Epoch > Age.

✅Currently we are living in the Phanerozoic aeon, the Cenozoic era, the Quaternary period, the Holocene epoch and the Meghalayan age.

✅The Holocene epoch began some 11,700 years ago, at the end of the Last Glacial Period. With the Holocene, the Earth warmed, corresponding closely with the proliferation of human beings.

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AWARDS IN NEWS

✅BHARAT RATNA WINNERS- 2024
👉Chaudhary Charan Singh
👉PV NarsinhaRao
👉L.K.Advani
👉Karpoori Thakur
👉M.S. Swaminathan

✅The winners are entitled to diplomatic Passport.

✅7A in the Table of Precedence

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AWARDS IN NEWS

✅Jnanpith Award,2024 awarded to
👉Gulzar(Urdu)
👉Rambhadracharya(Sanskrit)

✅Highest Literary award in India
👉Cash Prize- 11 lakhs
👉A bronze replica of Goddess Saraswati
👉exclusive for Indian citizens
👉Not awarded posthumously

🕸NOT given by the Government but by a NGO- Bhartiya Jnanpith

OTHER AWARDS BY Bhartiya Jnanpith-
●Navlekhan Award
●Moortidevi Award

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HEATWAVES

✅IMD CRITETIA for declaring a Heatwave
👉Heat wave is considered if the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40°C or more for Plains and at least 30°C or more for Hilly regions.

👉Based on Departure from Normal:
●Heat Wave: Departure from normal is 4.5°C to 6.4°C.
●Severe Heat Wave: Departure from normal is >6.4°C.

👉Based on Actual Maximum Temperature:
●Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥ 45°C.
●Severe Heat Wave: When actual maximum temperature ≥47°C

✅Categorization of Heat Levels based on Heat Index -
👉Green: Experimental heat Index less than 35°C.
👉Yellow: Experimental heat Index in the range 36-45°C.
👉Orange: Experimental heat Index in the range 46-55°C.
👉Red: Experimental heat Index greater than 55°C.

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✅The Supreme Court endorsed the powers of the Directorate of Enforcement (ED), saying the Central agency could call “anybody for any information”.

✅Nodal Ministry: Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance

✅Objective to enforce-
👉Foreign Exchange Management Act,1999
👉Prevention of Money laundering Act ,2002
👉Fugitive Economic offenders Act,2018

✅Sections of PMLA
👉Sections 48 & 49 of the PMLA empower the ED officers to investigate cases of Money Laundering.
👉Section 50 (2) of the PMLA empowered the ED to summon “any person”
👉Section 50 (3) mandated that the individual summoned was “bound to attend in person or through authorised agents”

✅However, the Supreme Court clarified that ED officials were not equivalent to police officers and could not make arrests under the PMLA.

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CBI

✅It provides assistance to the Central Vigilance Commission and Lokpal.

✅It functions under the superintendence of the Deptt. of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public Grievances, Government of India.

✅The CBI is not a statutory body but derives its power to investigate from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.

✅The establishment of the CBI was recommended by the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption (1962–1964).

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