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Odisha PSC 2017 Topper : Sourav Das

The Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) on Thursday announced the result of Odisha Civil Service Examination 2015. As many as 670 candidates have cleared the final round of the test conducted in two phases.

While at least 1,306 candidates had appeared at the personal interview, Sourav Das from Betnoti area in Mayurbhanj district has topped the examination conducted for recruitment into top administrative cadre service of the State.

After qualifying for the main examination conducted for different cadres of posts, including Odisha Administrative Service (OAS), Odisha Police Service (OPS), Odisha Cooperative Service (OCS) and Odisha Taxation and Account Service (OTAS), as many as 1,341 candidates were called for appearing for viva voce test.

UPSC 2016 Topper Nandini KR scored 55.3% Marks

Tough standards adopted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in conducting the civil services exam has meant that topper Nandini K R has managed to secure only 55.3%.

The marks of the successful candidates of the civil services examination 2016 have been disclosed by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The examination is conducted annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select candidates for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), among others.

Nandini, an officer of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise), has topped the examination, the result of which was declared on May 31.\

She got 1,120 marks (927 in main and 193 in interview) out of 2,025, taking her percentage to 55.3.

Second rank achiever Anmol Sher Singh Bedi got 1,105 marks (54.56%) and third rank holder Gopalakrishna Ronanki secured 1,101 marks (54.37%), the UPSC said.

Civil services topper of 2015, Tina Dabi, had got 1,063 marks (52.49%).

A total of 1,099 candidates (846 men and 253 women), including 500 in general category, 347 belonging to Other Backward Class, 163 from Scheduled Caste and 89 from Scheduled Tribe, have been recommended for appointment to various Central government services on the basis of the 2016 civil services exam results.

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Courtesy: Hindustan Times

Carbapenems : Environment for UPSC Exams

• The Carbapenems are antibiotics used for the treatment of infections known or suspected to be caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria.
• Resistance to antibiotics has been rising in India, mainly because of their indiscriminate use to treat even routine infections.
• Earlier this year, economist Lord Jim O’Neill had said that India’s mounting drug-resistant infections could claim a million lives by 2050.
• A study published by Indian researchers recently in the Journal of Evidence Based Medicine and Healthcare described colistin- and carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae in newborns diagnosed with sepsis at a tertiary hospital in Jamshedpur.
• A much-needed public awareness campaign to highlight the dangers of misuse and irrational use of antibiotics was recently launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Called ‘Medicines with the Red Line’.
• A report (August 2014) in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, said that in 2010, India consumed 13 billion units of antibiotics, the highest in the world. Between 2005 and 2009, consumption shot up by 40 per cent.

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Earth Day : Environment for UPSC Exams

• Each year, Earth Day, April 22, marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. The ecology flag was also used.

• Earth Day 2017’s Campaign is Environmental & Climate Literacy.

• Earth Day events are held in more than 193 countries and coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network. Worldwide, various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection.

• On Earth Day 2016, the landmark Paris Agreement was signed by the United States, China, and some 120 other countries

• Numerous communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on the environmental issues that the world faces.

• In 2017, the March for Science occurred on Earth day and will be followed by the People's Climate Mobilization (April 29, 2017).

• UNESCO has termed Indian poet-diplomat Abhay Kumar's idea of an official Earth Anthem as a creative and inspiring thought that would contribute to bringing the world together.

• Kumar's "Earth Anthem" has been translated into eight languages including all official languages of the United Nations.

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Global Warming and Co2 Release : Environment for UPSC Exams

• Soil holds majority of Earth’s carbon and warming of the planet is triggering its release into the atmosphere, a new study published in journal Nature points out
• Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases. Co2 is one of them.
• Co2 enters the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil), solid waste, trees and wood products, and also as a result of certain chemical reactions (e.g., manufacture of cement). Co2is removed from the atmosphere (or "sequestered") when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle.
• Researchers predict that over 55 trillion kilograms of carbon can be released by 2050 from soil in a business-as-usual scenario. This is about 17 per cent more than projected emissions because of anthropogenic activities.
• The paper says that temperature rise of 1°C will result in the release of 30 petagrams of carbon, which is almost twice the amount emitted due to human activities annually.
• Soil in northern latitude ecosystems, like tundra and boreal forests, have accumulated vast amounts of organic matter due to slow decomposition rates under cold conditions that limit soil microbial activity
• As the soil warms, microbial activity increases, and that stored organic matter is processed by the microbes and released as carbon dioxide or methane, both active greenhouse gases that can contribute to further warming.

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Yettinahole project : Environment for UPSC Exams

• It is a river flow diversion project of the west flowing Yettinahole, a vital tributary of the Netravathi, through eight diversion weirs and a canal network spanning 1,000 kilometres.
• The water will be pumped from the weirs to a network of five delivery chambers and then channeled eastward through giant pipes that cut across the Western Ghats. In addition, seven storage reservoirs will be constructed in several districts of Karnataka.
• . The project proposes to divert nearly 24 TMC (or 672 billion litres) of water from the head-waters of the Netravathi river towards the water-scarce districts of Kolar, Ramanagara, parts of Hassan, Tumkur, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural and Devanahalli Industrial Area, – besides augmenting water to T.G. Halli and Hesaraghatta reservoirs near Bengaluru city.
• It is also called as Netravati River Diversion Project.
• The Yettinahole project envisages the construction of eight dams and its impact on the flora and fauna may be to be negative.
• The construction may affect the elephant corridor in the region.

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Sambhar Lake : Environment for UPSC Exams

• The Sambhar Salt Lake, India's largest inland salt lake, a bowl shape lake is in Jaipur.
• It is not part of the Ganga river basin area and is geographically a separate land locked river basin.
• The lake is actually an extensive saline wetland, with water depths fluctuating from as few as 60 centimetres (24 in) during the dry season to about 3 meters (10 ft) after the monsoon season.
• The circumference of the lake is 96 km, surrounded on all sides by the Aravali hills.
• It is India's largest saline lake and is the source of most of Rajasthan's salt production.
• Sambhar has been designated as a Ramsar site (recognized wetland of international importance) because the wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia.
• The specialized algae and bacteria growing in the lake provide striking water colours and support the lake ecology that, in turn, sustains the migrating waterfowl.
• There is other wildlife in the nearby forests, where Nilgai move freely along with deer and foxes.

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Weekly Current Affairs Update for IAS Exam

VOL. - 176 (16th April 2017 TO 22nd April 2017)

File Type: PDF ONLY "NO HARD COPY"

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• National
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• India & the world
• Science and Technology
• Important Article form Various news Paper

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Winter Fog Experiment (WIFEX 2016-17) : Environment for UPSC Exams

• Fog is a visible mass consisting of cloud water droplets suspended in the air or near the Earth’s surface.
• The presence of heavy and extended period fog in the northern regions of India is one of the major weather hazards, impacting aviation, road transportation, economy and public life in the world’s most densely populated region.
• Maximum fog occurrence over the Northwest India is about 48 days (visibility < 1000m) per year, and occurs mostly during the December-February time period.
• Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), has taken up a multi-institutional initiative to conduct an intensive ground-based measurement campaign at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), Delhi, to understand different physical and chemical features of Fog and factors responsible for its genesis, intensity and duration.
• WIFEX was conducted in a pilot mode at IGIA during last winter, and will be continued during December 2016 till February 2017.
• The main scientific objective of this project is to study the characteristics and variability of fog events and associated dynamics, thermodynamics and fog microphysics, with the aim to achieve better understanding of fog life cycle and ultimately improve capability in fog prediction.
• Extensive sets of comprehensive ground-based instrumentation, including remote sensing platforms, are deployed at the IGIA.
• Major in-situ sensors are deployed to measure surface micro meteorological conditions, radiation balance, turbulence, thermo-dynamical structure of the surface layer, fog droplet and aerosol microphysics, aerosol optical properties, real time sky images, and aerosol and fog water chemistry to describe the complete environmental conditions in which fog develops
• It is proposed to introduce this model for operational forecasts of Fog for the winter season of 2017-18.
• In addition to Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, India Meteorology Department (IMD), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (NCMRWF), Airport Authority of India,  GMR, Indira Gandhi International Airport and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali are also participating in this observational campaign

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Hafnium Carbide : Environment for UPSC Exams

• Hafnium carbide (HfC) is a chemical compound of hafnium and carbon. With a melting point of about 3900 °C it is one of the most refractory binary compounds known.
• Tantalum carbide (TaC) and hafnium carbide (HfC) are refractory ceramics, meaning they are extraordinarily resistant to heat,
• It is the world’s most heat resistant material, which can withstand temperatures of nearly 4,000 degrees Celsius; the melting point is the highest ever recorded for a material.
• It will pave way for improved heat resistant shielding for hypersonic space vehicles and spacecraft would also become faster than ever.
• Currently, vehicles going over Mach 5 speeds do not carry people.

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National Green Tribunal(NGT) : Environment for UPSC Exams

• The National Green Tribunal has been established on 18.10.2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources.
• The responsibilities also includes enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
• It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues.
• The Tribunal is not bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, is guided by principles of natural justice.
• The Tribunal's dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.
• The Tribunal is mandated to make and endeavour for disposal of applications or appeals finally within 6 months of filing of the same.
• Initially, the NGT was proposed to be set up at five places of sittings and to follow circuit procedure for making itself more accessible.
• New Delhi is the Principal Place of Sitting of the Tribunal and Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata and Chennai are the other four place of sitting of the Tribunal.
• It has its origin in the Rio de Janeiro summit of United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in June 1992 where India vowed the participating states to provide judicial and administrative remedies for the victims of the pollutants and other environmental damage
• This court can rightly be called ‘special’ because India is the third country following Australia and New Zealand to have such a system.
• The NGT has the power to hear all civil cases relating to environmental issues including the following:
  • The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974;
  • The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977;
  • The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980;
  • The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981;
  • The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986;
  • The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991;
  • The Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

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Cyclone Vardhah : Environment for UPSC Exams

• The name Vardah, which means red rose, was given by Pakistan. It made landfall in Tamil Nadu and coastal Andhra Pradesh.
• It also struck Andaman and Nicobar islands.
• Tropical cyclones passing over the northern part of the Indian Ocean are named by eight countries in the region, namely India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman and Thailand.
• The process only began in 2004, four years after World Meteorological Organization agreed in principle to allow them to name cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.
• The alphabet system is used to designate the name of a cyclone, which means the name of the year’s first cyclone begins with A.
• Previously, till 1979, cyclones were only given female names. Male names were only introduced in the same year.
• World Meteorological Organization maintains the database of cyclone names. There are six lists of names used in rotation and they are recycled every six years.
• The names are picked from this pre-designated list and are usually familiar with the people living in the region.
• India has so far contributed the following names: Agni, Bijli, Akash, Jal, Lehar, Megh, Sagar and Vayu.

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Biofuels : Environment for UPSC Exams

• A biofuel is a fuel that is produced through contemporary biological processes, such as agriculture and anaerobic digestion, rather than the fuels by geological processes.
• As per National Biofuel Policy it is defined as “‘biofuels’ are liquid or gaseous fuels produced from biomass resources and used in place of, or in addition to, diesel, petrol or other fossil fuels for transport, stationary, portable and other applications”.
• Further, ‘biomass’ resources are the biodegradable fraction of products, wastes and residues from agriculture, forestry and related industries as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal wastes.
• Biofuels are derived from renewable bio-mass resources and, therefore, provide a strategic advantage to promote sustainable development and to supplement conventional energy sources in meeting the rapidly increasing requirements for transportation fuels associated with high economic growth, as well as in meeting the energy needs of India’s vast rural population.
• Biofuels can increasingly satisfy these energy needs in an environmentally benign and cost effective manner while reducing dependence on import of fossil fuels and thereby providing a higher degree of National Energy Security.
• ‘Bio-ethanol’: ethanol produced from biomass such as sugar containing materials, like sugar cane, sugar beet, sweet sorghum, etc.; starch containing materials such as corn, cassava, algae etc.; and, cellulosic materials such as bagasse, wood waste, agricultural and forestry residues etc.
• ‘Biodiesel’: a methyl or ethyl ester of fatty acids produced from vegetable oils, both edible and non-edible, or animal fat of diesel quality;
• There are international organizations such as IEA Bioenergy, established in 1978 by the OECD International Energy Agency (IEA), with the aim of improving cooperation and information exchange between countries that have national programs in bioenergy research, development and deployment.
• The UN International Biofuels Forum is formed by Brazil, China, India, Pakistan, South Africa, the United States and the European Commission.
• The world leaders in biofuel development and use are Brazil, the United States, France, Sweden and Germany.

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BREAKING NEWS: UPSC 2016 Final Result Out

Based on the results of the written part of Civil Services Examination, 2016 held by the Union Public Service Commission in December, 2016 and the interviews for Personality Test held in March-May, 2017, following is the list, in order of merit, of candidates who have been recommended for appointment to:

(i) Indian Administrative Service;
(ii) Indian Foreign Service;
(iii) Indian Police Service; and
(iv) Central Services, Group ‘A’ and Group ‘B’

2. A total number of 1099 candidates have been recommended for appointment as per following break-up:

3. In accordance with Rule 16 (4) & (5) of the Civil Services Examination Rules 2016, the Commission is maintaining a consolidated Reserve List of candidates as under:

4. Appointment to the various Services will be made according to the number of vacancies available with due consideration to the provisions contained in the Rules for the Examination. The number of vacancies reported by the Government to be filled are as under:

* includes 44 PH vacancies (22 PH-1, 07 PH-2 & 15 PH-3)

5. The candidature of 61 recommended candidates with following Roll Nos. is provisional :

6. UPSC has a “Facilitation Counter” near Examination Hall in its campus. Candidates can obtain any information / clarification regarding their examinations / recruitments on the working days between 10:00 hours to 17:00 hours in person or over telephone Nos. 23385271 / 23381125 / 23098543. Result will also be available on the U.P.S.C. website i.e. http//www.upsc.gov.in. Marks will be available on the website within 15 days from the date of declaration of Result.

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