Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)

• Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood.
• Composed mostly of water ice with embedded dust particles, comets originally formed in the cold outer planetary system while most of the rocky asteroids formed in the warmer inner solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
• In terms of orbital elements, NEOs are asteroids and comets with perihelion distance (q) less than 1.3 astronomical unit (au).

Javadhu Hills

• The hills also called as Jawadhi, Jawadhu, Javadi Hills, are an extension of the Eastern Ghats spread across parts of Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts in the northern part of the state of Tamil Nadu in southeastern India.
• They are bisected into eastern and western sections by the Cheyyar and Agaram rivers, tributaries of the Palar River.
• They consist of bluish gray granites, with peaks averaging 3,600–3,800 feet (1,100–1,150 m).
• The hills are sparsely populated; the majority of the inhabitants are Malayali tribes people, though other castes are also present.
• The Malayali tribal people constitute 92.60% of the total population in this block and their mainstay is through the non-timber forest produce and a variety of trees grown on this patta land such as tamarind, jackfruit, coconut, lemon and plantain and gooseberry.
• Vainu Bappu Observatory, India’s astronomical observatory owned and operated by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, is located at Kavalur in the Javadi Hills.

Taper Tantrum

• Taper tantrum refers to the 2013 collective reactionary panic that triggered a spike in U.S. Treasury yields, after investors learned that the Federal Reserve was slowly putting the breaks on its quantitative easing (QE) program.
• This has triggered capital outflows and currency depreciation in many emerging market economies that received large capital inflows.
• This episode earned the nickname taper tantrum.

Least Developed Country Status

• UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) decides on the Least Developed Country (LDC) status of a country based on three criteria:

1. Per capita Income
2. Human Assets Index
3. Economic Vulnerability Index

• A country must achieve two of the three criteria at two consecutive triennial reviews to be considered for graduation.
• CDP has recommended graduation of Bangladesh from the category of LDC to the category of Developing Country.
• Bangladesh has met for the second time all the three eligibility criteria for graduating from the LDC category to the developing nations category.
• This proposal will be sent to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) for endorsement, late to the UN General Assembly (UNGA).
• Usually countries are given 3 years for transition but this year due to the pandemic, Bangladesh has been given 5 years i.e. up to 2026.

Additional Tier-1 (AT1) Bonds

• AT1 Bonds stand for additional tier-1 bonds, these are unsecured bonds which have perpetual tenure, and these bonds have no maturity date.
• AT1 bonds are subordinate to all other debt and only senior to common equity.
• Mutual funds (MFs) are among the largest investors in perpetual debt instruments, and hold over Rs 35,000 crore of the outstanding additional tier-I bond issuances of Rs 90,000 crore.
• In a recent circular, the Sebi has told the mutual funds to value these perpetual bonds as a 100-year instrument.
• This essentially means MFs have to make the assumption that these bonds would be redeemed in 100 years.
• The regulator also asked MFs to limit the ownership of the bonds at 10 per cent of the assets of a scheme.
• According to the SEBI, these instruments could be riskier than other debt instruments.

Bhaona

• It is a mythology-based theatrical performance that involves dialogues, songs, and dances, prevalent in the state of Assam.
• It was the creation of saint-reformer Sankardev, who started neo-Vaishnavite movement.
• It usually involves 40-50 performers wearing costumes and ornaments including those playing heavy drums and cymbals.
• The actors who perform it are known as Bhaoriya.

Other Art forms developed by Sankaradeva

• Initially, Sankaradeva wrote his prose in Sanskrit but later used Assamese and Brajavali.
• Brajavali is a literary language limited to theatrical usage, in which Sankardeva wrote his songs and plays to develop the following artforms
• Borgeet- a new form of spiritual music.
• Monastic dance that evolved as Sattriya - a classical dance form which acts as a medium for propagation of the Vaishnava faith.

Tsugaru Strait connects the Sea of Japan with North Pacific Ocean.

Saguna Rice Technique

• It is a unique new method of cultivation of rice and related rotation crops without ploughing, puddling and transplanting (rice) on permanent raised beds.
• This is a zero till, Conservation Agriculture (CA) type of cultivation.

Salient Features of Saguna Rice Technique

1. Ample oxygen supply to root zone
2. Optimum moisture condition
3. Reduces treacherous labor by 50%
4. Reduction in cost of production by 40%
5. Prevent fertility loss during puddling
6. Stops emission of greenhouse gases
7. Not dependent on erratic behavior of rain

Lakes in Suez Canal from North to South

1. Lake Manzala
2. Lake Timsah
3. Great Bitter Lake
4. Little Bitter Lake

Mahendragiri Biosphere Reserve 

• The Odisha government has proposed a second biosphere reserve in the southern part of the state at Mahendragiri, a hill ecosystem having rich biodiversity.
• The 5,569-square kilometre Similipal Biosphere Reserve is Odisha’s first such reserve and was notified May 20, 1996.
• The area of the proposed Mahendragiri Biosphere Reserve is around 470,955 hectares and is spread over Gajapati and Ganjam districts in the Eastern Ghats.
• The hill ecosystem acts as a transitional zone between the flora and fauna of southern India and the Himalayas, making the region an ecological estuary of genetic diversities.
• This is according to a feasibility report prepared by the Biosphere Reserve Committee for the proposed project.