UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 09-12-2020

3RF

• Lebanon Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework (3RF) is part of a comprehensive response to the massive explosion on the Beirut Port.
• It will bridge the immediate humanitarian response and the medium-term recovery and reconstruction efforts to put Lebanon on a path of sustainable development.
• 3RF is a collaborative process that is based on the participation of the government, civil society, private sector and development partners.

• It is structured around four strategic pillars: improving governance and accountability; jobs and opportunities; social protection, inclusion, and culture; and improving services and infrastructure.
• Each pillar identifies a set of strategic objectives and priority areas across both the recovery track and the reform and reconstruction track.
• A Financing Facility will be set up to pool and align grant financing for the 3RF, under the guidance of the 3RF governance arrangements.
• The fund will channel support directly to Lebanese people and businesses that have been impacted by the explosion.

Organic Lakshadweep

• After Sikkim, India’s smallest Union territory Lakshadweep with 32 sq.km. land area has set to become 100% organic.
• The UT’s proposal to declare it as organic was approved by the Centre after receiving certifications under the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) of India through Paramaparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana.
• [PKVY is the Centre’s Organic Farming Improvement Programme.]
• The UT had not spent or earmarked any amount for procurement or distribution of synthetic chemicals since 2005.
• All farmers and other stakeholders were instructed to use only organic fertilisers, including locally available organic inputs and organic waste.
• According to the requirement of organic certification, no genetically modified organism is allowed to be used in the entire territory.
• The Union agriculture ministry has asked for a village-wise certification under PGS-India programme, for making a formal announcement.

Operation Blackface

• Maharashtra Cyber becomes India’s first agency to acquire software ‘Crawler’ from the Interpol’s south Asian wing.
• This software, which has algorithms to look for keywords around child pornography, would track down child pornography uploaded online.
• This software will be used in Operation Blackface, the state’s call to action against Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) across the country.
• With the Tactical Response Against Cyber Child Exploitation (TRACE) team of Maharashtra Cyber being trained by Interpol, it better equips them to deal with CSAM instances.

World Heritage City

• Gwalior and Orchha of Madhya Pradesh have been included in the list of World Heritage City by UNESCO.
• Orchha, located in the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, was the 16th century capital of the erstwhile Bundela dynasty.
• It is famous for its temples and palaces for a unique confluence of Rajput and Mughal architectural influences
• Gwalior city has been the capital of Gurjar Pratihar, Tomar, Baghel Kachhwahs and Scindia Rajvansh.
• The ancient signs left by them will be found in the form of monuments, forts, palaces.
• After being included in the list of World Heritage, UNESCO will work with the tourism department of the state to preserve and refine these archaeological monuments of Orchha and Gwalior.

Tharu Tribe

• The Uttar Pradesh government is working to connect Tharu villages in districts bordering Nepal, with the home stay scheme of the UP Forest Department.
• The biggest chunk of UP’s tribal population is made up of Tharus.
• The intention is to put Tharu villages on the tourism map, and to create jobs and bring economic independence to the tribal population.
• Tharus belong to the Terai lowlands, amid the Shivaliks.
• They live in both India and Nepal.
• In India, they live mostly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.
• Most of them are forest dwellers, and some practice agriculture.
• The word tharu is believed to be derived from sthavir, meaning followers of Theravada Buddhism.
• They speak various dialects of Tharu, a language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup, and variants of Hindi, Urdu, and Awadhi.
• Tharu women have stronger property rights than is allowed to women in mainstream North Indian Hindu custom.

Havana Syndrome

• This is a neurological illness that has afflicted American diplomats and intelligence operatives in Cuba, China and other countries.
• The symptoms of the syndrome include nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties.
• A National Academies of Sciences (NAS) report has found “directed” microwave radiation to be the disease’s plausible cause.
• The study does not mention that the directed, pulsed radiofrequency energy was delivered intentionally and stopped short of naming a source.
• But it noted that significant research had been conducted on microwave weapons in Russia. Moscow has denied any role in the attacks.

Microwave weapons

• Microwave weapons are supposed to be a type of direct energy weapons.
• It aims highly focused energy in the form of sonic, laser, or microwaves, at a target.
• People exposed to high-intensity microwave pulses have reported a clicking or buzzing sound, as if to be coming from within your head.
• It can have both acute and long-term effects - without any physical damage.

Source: The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, India Times, World Bank, Down To Earth, AIR