UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 21-01-2021

IRFC Initial Public Offer

An initial public offering (IPO) refers to the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance.
Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) is the first IPO of 2021 and the first public issue by a railway non-banking financial company.
Through the IPO, the Centre (promoter of the IRFC) will offload 13.6% stake in the company.
This will bring the promoter shareholding to 86.4% post-issue.
As a dedicated finance arm of Indian Railways, IRFC remains a low-risk model with no non-performing asset with a return on equity of 11-12%

Indian Railway Finance Corporation

Set up in 1986, IRFC is a Public Sector Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways.
It is registered as Systemically Important Non-Deposit taking Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC- ND-SI) and Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFC- IFC) with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
It is the dedicated market borrowing arm of the Indian Railways that mobilizes funds from domestic as well as overseas Capital Markets.

Joint Venture Protective Carbine

It is a Gas Operated Semi Bull-pup automatic weapon, which will replace the 9 mm carbine currently in use by the armed forces.
It is jointly developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) and Ordnance Factory Board (OFB).
It has more than 700 rpm rate of fire and the effective range of the carbine is more than 100 m.
It weighs about 3.0 kg with key features like high reliability, low recoil, retractable Butt, ergonomic design, single hand firing capability, and multiple Picatinny rails etc.
These features make it a very potent weapon for Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism operations by security agencies.

Asmi

Asmi (means pride, self respect and hard work) is India’s first indigenously developed 9-mm machine pistol.
[Machine pistols are primarily self-loading versions of pistols which are either fully automatic or can also fire bursts of bullets.]
Asmi is jointly developed by ARDE and Indian Army’s Infantry School.
It has an upper receiver made from aircraft-grade aluminum and lower receiver from carbon fibre.
The 3D printing technology has been used in designing and prototyping of the pistol, including trigger components made by metal 3D printing.
The weapon has huge potential in armed forces as a personal weapon for heavy weapon detachments, commanders, counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations etc.

Bankapur Wolf Sanctuary

Karnataka State Wildlife Board approved the formation of the first-ever ‘Wolf Sanctuary’ in the drylands of Bankapur of Koppal district.
The region around Bankapur is interspersed with rocky hillocks and thorny vegetation.
Besides Indian Grey wolves, the area can also help in the conservation of striped hyena, golden jackal, Indian fox and other fauna.

Indian Grey Wolf

It is a subspecies of grey wolf that inhabits semi-arid and arid areas.
It inhabits the dry grassland regions of Deccan Plateau in pockets and prey on blackbucks and other herbivores.
It lacks the luxuriant winter coat as it lives in warmer conditions.
It has a wide distribution range that extends from Southwest Asia to the Indian Subcontinent.
International Union for Conservation of Nature Status - Least Concern
Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 - Schedule I Part I.

World’s Oldest Cave Painting

The world’s oldest known cave painting was discovered in the limestone cave of Leang Tedongnge of Indonesia.
The painting made using red ochre pigment depicts a wild boar endemic to the Sulawesi island of Indonesia.
The painting of the Sulawesi warty pig seems to be the world’s oldest surviving representational image of an animal.
It was dated using a method called U-series isotope analysis.
This analysis uses calcium carbonate deposits, also called ‘cave popcorn’, that form naturally on the cave wall surface to determine its age.
It is dated that the minimum age of the painting to be around 45,500 years, which means the painting was made before this.

Ratle Hydro Power Project

The Union Cabinet has approved the investment to the Ratle Hydro Electric Project.
The investment will be made by a new Joint Venture Company (JVC).
This JVC will be incorporated between National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and Jammu & Kashmir State Power Development Corporation Ltd. with equity contribution of 51% and 49% respectively.
Ratle Hydro Electric Project is located on river Chenab in Kishtwar district of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Power generated from the Project will help in providing balancing of Grid and will improve the power supply position.

WWF Report

WWF said that more than 43 million hectares of forest have been lost in a little over a decade in just a handful of deforestation hotspots.
It found that just 29 sites across South America, Africa and South East Asia were responsible for more than half of the global forest loss.
Swathes of forest continue to be flattened each year (mainly due to industrial-scale agriculture) as biodiversity-rich areas are cleared to create space for livestock and crops.
Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado, Bolivian Amazon, Paraguay, Argentina, Madagascar, along with Sumatra and Borneo in Indonesia and Malaysia were among the worst affected.
As wild species find their living space shrinking further each year, the risk of a repeat of zoonotic diseases jumping to humans is ever higher.
The report urged citizens to do their bit by avoiding products linked to deforestation such as some meat, soy and palm oil products.
It also urged governments to work to secure the rights of indigenous peoples and conserve biodiversity-rich areas.

Source: PIB, Deccan Herald, The Hindu, Phys, The Indian Express