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Current Affairs for IAS Exams - 23 August 2021

::NATIONAL::

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has identified certain geological sites across the Northeast for promotion of geo-tourism as some States in the region prepare to ‘unlock’ from September.
Of the 12 sites in the Northeast, three are in Meghalaya, two each in Assam and Tripura, and one each in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim.

About the sites:

Majuli, Assam: River “island”, among world’s largest,Majuli in river Brahmaputra.
Sangetsar Tso, Arunachal: Famous as Madhuri Lakeformed due to damming of river during major earthquake in 1950.
Loktak Lake, Manipur: largest freshwater lake inNortheast which hosts phumdis’ or floating biomassand‘phumsangs’or huts of fishermen on them.KeibulLamjao National Park, only floating wildlife habitat on earth, is on southwestern part of lake and is last natural habitat of sangai or brow-antlered dancing deer.
Mawmluh Cave, Meghalaya: Stalagmite caves providing important records of Holocene paleo-climate and paleo-monsoon.
Mawblei or God’s Rock, Meghalaya: huge balancing sandstone rock slanting at angle of 45 degrees in south-southeast direction on hill slope overlooking Wahrashi River valley.

Merely because an arrest can be made as it is lawful does not mandate that it must be made, the Supreme Court has said, while hearing an anticipatory bail plea, the Supreme Court stressed on Personal Liberty being the vital constitutional mandate.
SC called the investigating officers to make distinction between,

1. The power to arrest, and

2. The justification for exercising it.

Arresting a person causes incalculable harm to the reputation and self-esteem of a person, so the arrest shall be made only when

1. The custodial investigation becomes necessary or it is a heinous crime,

2. Where there is possibility of influencing witness or accused may abscond.

Delhi, Mumbai, and Bengaluru have slipped in Knight Frank’s Prime Global Cities Index Q2 2021.
India’s national capital has slipped five spots, to the 37th position, in the ranking.Mumbai and Bengaluru also moved down to 40th and 43rd rank in the index ranking 2021.

Global Cities in India

Global Prime Residential Index has witnessed an annual increase of 8.2 per cent, the IANS report says.
Mumbai’s prime residential market registered a marginal decline of 1.1 per cent with an average price of Rs 63,697 per square feet, according to IANS report.
Bengaluru saw a decline of 2.7 per cent in terms of annual capital value change in the prime residential market to an average price of Rs 19,200 per square feet, the IANS report says.

Global Cities Index

Prime residential property is defined as the most desirable and most expensive property in a given location, generally defined as the top 5 per cent of each market by value.
The Prime Global Cities Index is a valuation-based index tracking the movement in prime residential prices in local currency across more than 45 cities worldwide using Knight Frank’s global research network.
Some of the world’s top Asian cities were Shanghai (21 per cent), Guangzhou (20 per cent) and Seoul (20 per cent).

The Kanal Istanbul, an under-construction shipping route running parallel to the strategically critical Bosphorus Strait, is fast gaining prominence as a major divisive issue in Turkey.
President Recep Tayyib Erdogan wants to dig up a new route through Istanbul connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.

About:

The planned canal will run parallel to the Bosphorus Strait, a natural waterway that separates Europe and Asia, which for centuries has served as a key outlet for Russian ships entering the Mediterranean Sea.
Since 1936, passage through the Strait has been governed by the Montreux Convention, a multilateral treaty that allows ships to go across almost free of cost during peacetime, and which tightly restricts the movement of naval vessels.
Turkish leaders say that the new canal, which will run on the European side of Bosphorus, will be safer and faster to navigate compared to the Bosphorus, making it a more attractive option for commercial ships, who will pay to pass through.
Analysts also believe that Erdogan would use the canal to circumvent Montreux Convention, by marketing the mega project to NATO allies as a legally kosher way of sending their warships into the Black Sea to counter Russia, their major geopolitical rival, all while attracting Chinese investment.

Union government has constituted a committee for doubling the production and quadrupling the exports of handlooms in a span of three years.

About:

It will be headed by Chairman of Fashion Design Council of India Sunil Sethi.
The committee will submit the final report within 45 days from the day of constitution.
It will suggest the strategy and policy framework for doubling the production and for improving the quality of handloom products with the aim of enhancing income of the weavers.
It will also suggest ways for partnering and collaboration of handloom weavers agencies with the designers, buying houses and institutions, organizations and exporters.

Delhi State government will inaugurate the capital’s first smog tower at Connaught Place.
The over 20-metre-tall structure, being set up to improve air quality in a radius of around 1 km, will “operate at full capacity” after the monsoon season, the minister told reporters.

Pilot study:

A two-year pilot study will be undertaken to ascertain the effectiveness of the smog tower after it becomes operational. A control room has been set up at the site to monitor operations.
The two towers will have 1,200 air filters each developed by experts at the University of Minnesota.

Amit Khatri won a silver in men’s 10,000m race walk event to clinch India’s second medal at the World U-20 Athletics Championship.
The 17-year-old Khatri, the national record holder and world U-20 season leader, clocked 42 minute 17.94 seconds to finish second behind Kenya’s HeristoneWanyoni (42:10.84) on the fourth and penultimate day of the championships.
The mixed 4x400m relay team had won a bronze on the first day of competitions on Wednesday.
Khatri was leading after the 9000m mark but the local athlete Wanyoni pulled ahead with less than two laps left in the race to win gold with a personal best time.