Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 March 2022


Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 21 March 2022

::NATIONAL::

Boma capturing technique

  • An uncommon experiment with Africa’s Boma technique undertaken at Keoladeo National Park in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district for capturing and translocating spotted deer is set to improve the prey base in Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve, situated 450 km away. 
  • The move will lead to herbivores populating the forests ahead of the proposed shifting of two tigers to Mukundara.

About:

  • The Boma capturing technique, which is popular in Africa, involves luring of animals into an enclosure by chasing them through a funnel-like fencing.
  • The funnel tapers into an animal selection-cum-loading chute, supported with grass mats and green net to make it opaque for animals, which are herded into a large vehicle for their transport to another location.
  • This old technique was earlier utilised to capture wild elephants for training and service. 
  • Following its adoption in Madhya Pradesh in recent years, Boma has been put to practice for the first time in Rajasthan for sending the ungulates to the prey-deficient Mukundara reserve as the kills for tigers and leopards.

Background:

  • The National Tiger Conservation Authority’s (NTCA) technical committee has approved a proposal to shift two tigers from Ranthambhore National Park to Mukundara, which lost two tigers and two cubs in 2020 and is now left with an eight-year-old tigress. 

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Cyclone Asani

  • Cyclone Asani, which is expected to form over the north Andaman Sea on Monday evening, is the year’s first cyclone and the first to form in in the month of March in nearly two decades. 
  • The cyclone has been named ‘Asani’ by Sri Lanka. In Sinhala, ‘Asani’ translates to ‘wrath.’ 

How are cyclones named?

  • In all, there are six regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) authorised to issued advisories for and name tropical cyclones. 
  • The India Meteorological Department (IMD), is among the six RSMCs, and provides advisories to a dozen countries, besides India. 
  • This is done to avoid confusion in case there are multiple weather systems in sea or ocean at the same time.

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::INTERNATIONAL::

India hopes for permanent presence in Arctic region

  • India aspires to have a permanent presence, more research stations and establish satellite ground stations in the Arctic region, suggests a perusal of its ‘Arctic Policy’ document that was officially unveiled last week.

Arctic Council:

  • It comprises eight nations — Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Russia, Sweden and the United States — make up the Arctic Council.
  • It has the status of ‘Observer’ member — 12 other countries have such a status — in the Arctic Council and participates in several meetings that are mostly themed around research.Beyond science, India also expects business opportunities.

Significance:

  • India has had a research base in the region since 2008 and also has two observatories.
  • India presently has a single station, Himadri, in Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago.
  • Arctic weather influences the Indian monsoon and hence has been of interest to Indian researchers for decades. Climate change and the melting of ice caps imply changes to the Arctic weather.
  • India is in the process of procuring an ice-breaker research vessel that can navigate the region.

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Japan still hopes India will re-join RCEP

  • Japan has still not given up hope that India might reconsider joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) that it quit in 2019, a senior Japanese official said.

About:

  • The RCEP “Rules of Origin” clause could also make it more difficult for products that have an Indian component to be sold easily among the 15-member grouping countries in the future.
  • The 15-nation RCEP, which is the world’s largest trade deal and includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand and 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and represents about 30% of global GDP and population.
  • It came into force on January 1, 2022. 
  • India was a founding member at the negotiations that began in 2012, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his government was walking out of the agreement in 2019, after being unable to resolve issues, mainly over concerns on dumping from China and allowing Indian services free access in the region. 
  • Since then, Japan and Australia, two countries that continue to convene the trilateral trade dialogue they started during RCEP negotiations with India, have said that they would welcome India back to the agreement if it decides to re-join, which was accepted by the RCEP grouping as well.

:ECONOMY::

Tax free film 

  • With The Kashmir Files emerging as a crowd-puller and receiving political support, several states, including Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, have declared the movie tax-free.

What qualifies a film to be declared tax-free?

  • There are no fixed criteria for a film to claim or enjoy tax exemption. 
  • As a general rule, when a film deals with a socially-relevant and inspiring subject, state governments may at times exempt it from tax with the intention of making it accessible to a wider audience.
  • In the GST regime, two slabs were introduced — 12 per cent GST on tickets costing less than Rs 100, and 18 per cent on more expensive tickets.
  • The revenue is shared between the central and state governments. So, when a state declares a film tax free now, only the SGST component is waived, while the CGST continues to be levied. Depending on the ticket price, the exemption could be 6 per cent or 9 per cent.

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::SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY::

Formaldehyde

  • Damien Hirst, the United Kingdom’s richest living artist according to the 2020 Sunday Times’ Rich List, has produced some of the most controversial artworks of recent years, which includes the much-debated series of formaldehyde sculptures with dead animals. 

About:

  • Formaldehyde (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula CH2O (H−CHO).
  • The pure compound is a pungent-smelling colorless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde, hence it is stored as an aqueous solution (formalin).
  • It is the simplest of the aldehydes (R−CHO). The common name of this substance comes from its similarity and relation to formic acid.
  • Formaldehyde is an important precursor to many other materials and chemical compounds. It is mainly used in the production of industrial resins, e.g., for particle board and coatings.

Background:

  • The sculptures have been a part of his practice since the 1990s and now an exhibition titled Natural History at Gagosian Gallery in London brings together more than 20 iconic works from the series, spanning over three decades, from 1991.

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