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Prelim Bits 09-04-2019

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April 10, 2019

ARIIA Awards

  • Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) is launched by Ministry of Human Resources and Development.
  • ARIIA systematically rank education institutions and universities primarily on innovation related indicators.
  • It considers all major indicators which are commonly used globally to rank most innovative education institutions/ universities in the world.
  • ARIIA ranking will certainly inspire Indian institutions to reorient their mind-set and build ecosystems to encourage high quality research, innovation and entrepreneurship.

NIRF

  • The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was established by Ministry of Human Resource Development.
  • This framework outlines a methodology to rank Higher education institutions across the country.
  • The parameters broadly cover “Teaching, Learning and Resources,” “Research and Professional Practices,” “Graduation Outcomes,” “Outreach and Inclusivity,” and “Perception”.

Battle of KanglaTongbi

  • During WWII Japanese forces had planned to capture Imphal and the surrounding areas. 
  • Japanese forces defeated Indian forces at Tiddim (Mynmar) and established themselves firmly on the main Kohima – Manipur highway, started advancing towards KanglaTongbi.
  • At KanglaTongbi, a small but determined detachment of British Indian forces put up stiff resistance against the advancing Japanese forces.
  • The KanglaTongbi War Memorial is located in Imphal, Manipur

Karakoram Pass

  • The Karakoram Pass is situated on the border of areas under the dominance of India (the territory of Jammu and Kashmir) and China (Xinxiang Autonomous Territory).
  • It is the tallest pass in the midst of Leh in Ladakh and Yarkand in the Tarim Valley.
  • The Karakoram Pass also plays a significant geological role in the disagreement between India and Pakistan about the dominance of Siachen Glacier Region right away towards the west of the Pass.
  • The area around the pass is infertile with no foliage and snowstorms are a regular feature round the year.

Pseudomonas putida CSV86

  • It is a unique strain of bacterium which can selectively remove the environment toxic, aromatic pollutants such as benzoate (sodium benzoate is used as a food preservative), benzyl alcohol and naphthalene, from soil.
  • The bacterial strain has preference for aromatic compounds and organic acid as a food source even when glucose is available.
  • The strain can degrade aromatics and organic acids simultaneously.
  • The bacterial strain is a very good candidate for bioremediation or waste-water treatment.

Bioremediation

  • Bioremediation is a process used to treat contaminated substance including water, soil and subsurface material, by altering environmental conditions to stimulate growth of microorganisms and degrade the target pollutants.
  • Bioremediation is less expensive and more sustainable than other remediation alternatives.

Bio-augmentation

  • Biological augmentation is the addition of bacterial cultures required to speed up the rate of degradation of a contaminant.
  • If the indigenous variety do not have the metabolic capability to perform the remediation process, exogenous varieties with such sophisticated pathways are introduced.
  • Bio augmentation is commonly used in municipal wastewater treatment to restart activated sludge bioreactors.

Even Horizon Telescope

  • The Event Horizon Telescope is an international collaboration aiming to capture the first image of a black hole by creating a virtual Earth-sized telescope.
  • Instead of constructing a giant telescope EHT links radio dishes across the globe to create an Earth-sized interferometer to measure the size of black holes.
  • The EHT project includes theoretical and simulation studies that are framing questions rooted at the black hole boundary.
  • The following are two massive backhoes photographed by EHT
  1. Sagittarius A* - It is at the center of Milky Way galaxy which has four million times the mass of sun.
  2. Monster black hole - It is in an elliptical galaxy known as M87, and it is 1500 times more massive than Sag A*.

 

Source: PIB, the Hindu

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