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Prelim Bits 11-08-2017

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August 11, 2017

International Organisation for Migration (IOM)

  • IOM is an inter-governmental organization, established in 1951.
  • It works in the field of migration with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
  • The organisation has 166 member countries (including India) and 8 observer states.
  • It aims to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, including refugees and internally displaced people.
  • IOM works to ensure the humane management of migration by providing services and advice to governments and migrants, and promote international cooperation on migration issues.

Quick Facts

Refugee - Someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence and  has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

Internally displaced people (IDP) - Person who has been forced to flee his or her home for the same reason as a refugee, but remains in his or her own country and has not crossed an international border.

Unlike refugees, IDPs are not protected by international law or eligible to receive any type of aid.

Stateless Person - A stateless person is someone who is not a citizen of any country.

Asylum Seeker - When people flee their own country and seek sanctuary in another country, they apply for asylum – the right to be recognized as a refugee and receive legal protection and material assistance.

An asylum seeker must demonstrate that his or her fear of persecution in his or her home country is well-founded.

Cholera

  • Recently, Yemen has seen the largest outbreak of Cholera disease ever recorded in any country in a single year.
  • Cholera is an acute diarrhoeal infection caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.
  • Diarrhoea can be so severe that it leads within hours to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. It can be successfully treated with oral rehydration solution.
  • Cholera transmission is closely linked to inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facilities.
  • During the 19th century, cholera spread across the world from its original reservoir in the Ganges delta in India.

Open Skies Treaty

  • The Treaty on Open Skies establishes a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the territories of its signatories.
  • The Treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, a direct role in gathering information through aerial imaging on military forces and activities of concern to them.
  • The treaty is one of the most wide-ranging international arms control efforts to date to promote openness and transparency in military forces and activities.
  • Currently, it has 34 member states. Russia and U.S. are signatories to the treaty.

Members of Open Skies Treaty

Shahpur Kandi Project

  • Recently, the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) government has finally agreed to allow Punjab to restart Shahpur Kandi dam project.
  • The construction was taken up in 1999 but later halted in 2014 due to dispute between Punjab and J&K.
  • It is a gravity dam that is proposed to be constructed across Ravi River in Gurdaspur district in Punjab.
  • It is located downstream to the Ranjit Sagar dam, also known as Thein dam.
  • It will help in providing irrigation facility besides generating hydroelectric power.
  • Shahpur kandi dam will help India utilise its share of waters under Indus Water Treaty.

NSSO Survey

  • For the first time, Government is trying to get data on booming e-commerce market through NSSO survey and data available through the GST.
  • The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is responsible for the conduct of large scale sample surveys in diverse fields on all India basis.
  • It conducts survey on the following subjects: Socio-economic subjects, Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), Household Consumer expenditure, Crop estimation survey, Land holding and Agriculture Production, Employment and Unemployment, Health and Medical Services, Education and Literacy, Migration, Estimation of Physically disabled persons, Utilisation of PDS, Survey on Rural and Urban areas (includes housing data).

Central Statistics Office

  • The Central Statistics Office coordinates the statistical activities in the country and evolves statistical standards.
  • It is a department under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
  • CSO compiles Data on National Income, Index of Industrial Production, Economic Census, Human development Statistics, Price Statistics such as Consumer Price Index (CPI), Energy Statistics and Infrastructure Statistics.
  • The department is responsible for statistical monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

CubeSat

  • Scientists have developed a new type of miniature satellite called CubeSat that is made up of multiples of 10×10×10 cm cubic units.
  • CubeSats require Micropropulsion devices which use ultra-purified water as propulsive agent.
  • It uses Film-Evaporation MEMS Tunable Array (FEMTA) thrusters which uses capillaries small enough to harness the microscopic properties of water.
  • The thrusters deliver precise low-thrust for scientific, commercial and military space applications.
  • It can be manoeuvred in space with tiny bursts of water vapour to perform a variety of tasks, from high-resolution imaging and internet services to disaster response, environmental monitoring and military surveillance.

 

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