A new fossil record has shown that India is the birthplace of Asian bamboo.
The fossils were formed about 25 million years ago in the north-eastern part of the country.
Bamboo fossils are not very common in India as they are known only from the Siwalik sediments.
The new fossils were found in Makum coalfield in Assam, belonged to the late Oligocene period of about 25 million years ago.
Yunnan Province in China now has the highest diversity of bamboo, but the oldest fossil in that region is less than 20 million years old.
It clearly indicates that Asian bamboo was born in India and then migrated there.
This finding further strengthens the theory that bamboo came to Asia from India and not from Europe.
The collision of Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate was not completed until 23 million years, restricting migration of plants and animals.
Bamboo braved the climatic and geographical changes making it the fittest in the survival rate.
MOSAiC expedition
The MOSAiC mission stands for Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate is spearheaded by the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany.
It is the largest ever Arctic expedition in history.
It will be the first to conduct a study of this scale at the North Pole for an entire year.
Objectives - To parameterise the atmospheric, geophysical, oceanographic and all other possible variables in the Arctic, and use it to more accurately forecast the changes in our weather systems.
It will help the researchers better understand the impact of climate change and aid in improved weather projections.
Hundreds of researchers from 19 countries take part in this exceptional endeavour.
The 32-year-old polar researcher from Kerala will be the only Indian aboard the mission.
First mission – In 1893-1896, Norwegian explorer Fridtj first managed to seal his wooden expedition ship, Fram, into the North Pole.
Army Battle Casualties Welfare Fund
The fund was instituted in 2017 by the Ministry of Defence and implemented retrospectively from April 2016.
It was set up in addition to the various existing schemes for the welfare of next of kin of battle casualties and their children.
Recently, Defence Minister has given in-principle approval to enhance monetary assistance to next of kin of battle casualties from existing Rs 2 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.
The assistance under this fund is given in addition to liberalised family pension, financial assistance from Army group insurance, Army Welfare Fund and ex-gratia amount.
Bharat Ke Veer – It is a fund-raising initiative by the Ministry of Home affairs to aid the families of Paramilitary forces killed or injured in action.
Acceptance Development Fund
RBI has proposed to set up an 'Acceptance Development Fund' to develop debit and credit card acceptance infrastructure in the country.
The fund will be used to ensure the growth of card acceptance infrastructure such as swipe machines, particularly in Tier III and Tier IV cities.
Once infrastructure becomes widely available even in smaller towns, it will become easier to adopt digital payments.
The framework will be operationalised by December 2019.
Internal Ombudsman
The RBI has recently announced internal ombudsman scheme for large non-banking entities issuing pre-paid instruments (PPIs).
It is to have an internal grievance redressal mechanism to provide a swift and cost-effective complaint redressal mechanisms.
Internal Ombudsman is the authority placed at the highest level of an entity’s grievance redressal mechanism.
He/She will examine customer complaints which are a deficiency in service that is partly or wholly rejected by the entity.
