National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 27th November 2018

RBI eases ECB hedging norms for companies

Topic: Indian Economy

IN NEWS: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has eased hedging norms for companies that raise funds through external commercial borrowings (ECB), a move that will lower the cost of hedging.

External Commercial Borrowing:

• External commercial borrowing (ECBs) are loans in India made by non-resident lenders in foreign currency to Indian borrowers. They are used widely in India to facilitate access to foreign money by Indian corporations and PSUs (public sector undertakings).

What is Hedge in Economy:

• A hedge is an investment position intended to offset potential losses or gains that may be incurred by a companion investment. In simple language, a hedge is a risk management technique used to reduce any substantial losses or gains suffered by an individual or an organization.

Source:The Hindu

Tawang Monastery

Topic: Art and Culture

IN NEWS: Tawang monastery in news related to Incredible India campaign.

More on the Topic:

• Known in Tibetan as Gaden Namgyal Lhatse, the Tawang Monastery was indeed built according to the wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso.
• But it was founded in 1680-81 by a monk named Merag Lodre Gyatso of the Gelug sect after the 4th Dalai Lama gave him a painting of goddess Palden Lhamo to be kept in the monastery.
• An eight-metre high gilded statue of Lord Buddha dominates the sanctum of the monastery.
• It is located at Arunachal Pradesh.

Incredible India

• Incredible India (styled as Incredıble!ndıa) is the name of an international tourism campaign maintained by the Government of India since 2002, to promote tourism in India to an audience of global appeal.

Source:The Hindu

Gene edited babies

Topic: Science and Technology

In news: Chinese health and medical ethics authorities started an investigation into claims by a scientist who released videos on YouTube, saying he had altered the genes of twins born , creating the first gene edited babies.

What is Gene Editing:

• Genome editing (also called gene editing) is a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to change an organism’s DNA. These technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome. Several approaches to genome editing have been developed.
• A recent one is known as CRISPR-Cas9, which is short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9. The CRISPR-Cas9 system has generated a lot of excitement in the scientific community because it is faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more efficient than other existing genome editing methods.
• CRISPR-Cas9 was adapted from a naturally occurring genome editing system in bacteria.

Ethical Concerns:

• Ethical concerns arise when genome editing, using technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9, is used to alter human genomes.
• Most of the changes introduced with genome editing are limited to somatic cells, which are cells other than egg and sperm cells. These changes affect only certain tissues and are not passed from one generation to the next.
• However, changes made to genes in egg or sperm cells (germline cells) or in the genes of an embryo could be passed to future generations.
• Germline cell and embryo genome editing bring up a number of ethical challenges, including whether it would be permissible to use this technology to enhance normal human traits (such as height or intelligence).
• Based on concerns about ethics and safety, germline cell and embryo genome editing are currently illegal in many countries.

Source: The Hindu

UNESCO accepts joint bid by Koreas for wrestling

Topic: International Affairs

In news: North and South Korea marked a new step in their reconciliation efforts on Monday as UNESCO accepted a joint bid for Korean wrestling to be recognised as one of the world’s most treasured cultural practices. The two Koreas had originally filed separate applications for their traditional form of wrestling to be recognised on the UN agency’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

More on the Topic

• UNESCO established its Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage with the aim of ensuring better protection of important intangible cultural heritages worldwide and the awareness of their significance.
• This list is published by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage and its members are elected by State parties meeting in UN General Assembly.

India UNESCO Intangible Cultural List:

S.No.	ICH Element	Year of Inscription
1.	Tradition of Vedic chanting	2008
2.	Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana	2008
3.	Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre	2008
4.	Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas, India	2009
5.	Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala	2010
6.	Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan	2010
7.	Chhau dance	2010
8.	Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir, India	2012
9.	Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur	2013
10.	Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab, India	2014
11.	Yoga	2016
12.	Nawrouz, Novruz, Nowrouz, Nowrouz, Nawrouz, Nauryz, Nooruz, Nowruz, Navruz, Nevruz, Nowruz, Navruz	2016
13.	Kumbh Mela	2017

Source:PIB

Goat Plague

Topic: Science and Technology

In news: TA smart vaccine has recently been developed for Goat Plague disease by the researchers from UK and India.

 More on the Topic:

• The vaccine has the potential to help eradicate goat plague, which causes losses of billions of dollars a year.
• Goat plague is a highly contagious viral disease that afflicts goats and sheep in many parts of the country.
• It is caused by a morbillivirus in the family of paramyxoviruses, that is related to rinderpest, measles and canine distemper.
• It kills small ruminants in large numbers unless they are vaccinated.
• Apart from India, goat plague is prevalent in many African countries, West Asia, China and Mongolia.
• It is listed in the OIE (World organization for Animal Health) Terrestrial Animal Health Code, and countries are obligated to report the disease to the OIE.

Source:The Hindu

Scientists mull stratospheric barrier to curb global warming

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In news: Scientists have found that spraying sun-dimming chemicals high above the earth to slow global warming could be remarkably inexpensive costing about $2.25 billion a year over a 15-year period. This geo-engineering technique known as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) could limit rising temperatures that are causing climate change.

What is Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI):

• Under SAI delivery of precursor sulphide gases such as sulfuric acid, hydrogen sulphide (H2S) or sulphur dioxide (SO2) are sprayed by artillery, aircraft and balloons.
• It would involve the use of huge hoses, cannons or specially designed aircraft to spray large quantities of sulphate particles into the upper layer of the atmosphere to act as a reflective barrier against sunlight.
• This proposed method could counter most climatic changes, take effect rapidly, have very low direct implementation costs, and be reversible in its direct climatic effects.
• Possible Shortcomings include:Tropospheric Ozone depletion,Whitening of the sky,Tropopause warming and the humidification of the stratosphere.

Source: The Hindu

New species of shark identified in Indian Ocean

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In news: A new species of a deep sea shark- the Pygmy false catshark, has been found in the northern Indian Ocean, the first such discovery in India since 2011 when the Mangalore houndshark was identified.

More on the Topic:

• It is dark brown without any prominent patterns.
• The new species was found off the southwestern coast of India and north of Sri Lanka.
• Its scientific name is Planonasus indicus – from ‘planus’ meaning flat and ‘nasus’ meaning nose.

Source: The Hindu.