UPSC Daily Current Affairs | Prelim Bits 04-07-2020
iasparliament
July 04, 2020
Hagia Sophia Mosque
Hagia Sophia is the former Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal cathedral, later an Ottoman imperial mosque.
It is now a museum located in Istanbul, Turkey.
Built in AD 537 (Byzantine architecture), during the reign of Justinian - I, the Eastern Roman emperor, it is famous for its large dome.
In 1453, when Constantinople (capital city of the Roman Empire) fell to Sultan Mehmet II’s Ottoman forces, the Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque.
In 1934, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, converted the mosque into a museum in an attempt to make the country more secular.
The 1,500-year-old structure has been listed as a UNESCO'S World Heritage site as of special cultural or physical significance.
Recently, the government of Turkey has decided to convert Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia Museum into a mosque.
Purchasing Managers’ Index
PMI is an index of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing and service sectors.
It consists of a diffusion index that summarizes whether market conditions, as viewed by purchasing managers, are expanding, staying the same, or contracting.
The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current and future business conditions to company decision makers, analysts, and investors.
It is different from the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which also gauges the level of activity in the economy.
PMI is more dynamic compared to a standard industrial production index.
The IHS Markit India Services Business Activity Index has released recently.
It has observed the contraction of services sector activity for the fourth consecutive month in June 2020.
Index of Industrial Production
Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index for India which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity and manufacturing.
It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation six weeks after the reference month ends.
Index of Industrial Production (IIP) represents the status of production in the industrial sector for a given period of time as compared to a reference period of time.
The current base year is 2011-2012.
The Eight Core Industries comprise nearly 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
IIP covers the broader industrial sector compared to PMI.
Plasma Bank
For the first time in India, Delhi Administration has inaugurated a plasma bank in the city and urged recovered Covid-19 patients to donate their plasma.
Delhi’s Plasma Bank is opened at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS).
The Plasma Bank is a first-of-its-kind initiative in the entire country and appealed to recovered patients to donate their plasma.
The recovered Covid-19 patients can donate their plasma after 14 days of their COVID-19 negative report.
A healthy person between the age group of 18-60 years and with no comorbidities can be a donor and the patient should have recovered at least three weeks before donating and tested negative for Covid-19 twice.
Time Stamped Card System
Recently, the Karnataka Forest Department has decided to put in place a traffic monitoring mechanism along the roads adjacent to Nagarahole National Park.
The forest department will introduce a time-stamped card system for vehicles passing through the roads, adjacent to Nagarahole National Park, which have high traffic density 24x7.
The time stamped card will have complete details on the speed limit to be maintained and the exit time at the next check post.
Such a system is already in place on the road cutting through Nagarahole Tiger Reserve.
It will help ensure that motorists don’t stop midway and litter the area or cause disturbance to wildlife.
It will also ensure better compliance of forest laws by motorists and will also minimize road kills.
Nagarhole National Park
It is also known as ‘Rajiv Gandhi National Park.
It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1955 and was upgraded into a national park in 1988. It was declared as the 37th Tiger reserve under Project Tiger in 1999.
The Park lies in the Western Ghats and is a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
The Nagarahole River flows through the park, which joins the Kabini River which also is a boundary between Nagarahole and Bandipur Ntional Park.
The vegetation consists mainly of moist deciduous forests with predominating trees of teak and rosewood.
Narcondam Hornbill
Narcondam Hornbill is endemic to the Narcondam Island in Andamans.
It is a fairly small hornbill species, with a black body and distinct short, white tail.
The Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) of these hornbill species in India is the Narcondam Island Wildlife Sanctuary.
The natural ecosystems of these species include tropical and subtropical moist lowland forests, open mixed forests and tropical and sub-tropical moist shrublands.
It is listed as 'Endangered' under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
The CITES status is ‘Evaluated’ for the Narcondam hornbill and is listed in Appendix II.
Kola Bears
According to recent study Koalas in the Australian could become extinct by 2050 unless the government immediately intervenes to protect them and their habitat.
Koala bear is a "marsupial" which is a mammal with a pouch for the development of offspring.
They are found in the eucalyptus forests of eastern Australia.
They have grey fur with a cream-coloured chest, and strong, clawed feet, perfect for living in the branches of trees.
It is listed as 'Vulnerable' as per the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.