Plastic with antibacterial properties: silicon nanoparticles

In news; The success of the silicon nanoparticles embedded in the soil has now been achieved in the spread of plastic, which can also be used to create new antimicrobial films, filaments and other plastic materials.   Important fact: Over 99% of antibacterial activities have been observed against normal bacterial pathogens such as Escherchia coli...

Mauritius to host World Hindi Conference

   In news: 11th World Hindi Conference will be held in Mauritius from 18-20 August, 2018. It will be organized by the Ministry of External Affairs in collaboration with the Mauritian Government.   Important facts: The decision to organize the 11th World Hindi Conference in Mauritius was held in September 2015 in the 10th...

18th SCO summit in Qingdao,CHINA

  In news: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain met in 18th SCO summit in Qingdao. After engaging with China in Wuhan and Qingdao, India appeared to be rebalancing its ties with Pakistan in order to build bridges with Eurasia, within the framework of the eight-nation SCO. India is exploring the possibility of connectivity to...

All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)

Context: The trade union movement was led by All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) founded in 1920. Lala Lajpat Rai was its first president and Dewan Chaman Lal its general secretary. Tilak was also one of the moving spirits. Lala Lajpat Rai was the first President. Lajpat Rai was the first to link capitalism with...

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN): won Nobel Peace Award -2017

  In the news (TH): “ICAN offered to pay for next week’s historic summit between the U.S. and North Korea, including Kim Jong-un’s bill. One of many reported logistical and protocol headaches surrounding the meet concerns the issue of payment for Mr. Kim’s stay at the five-star Fullerton Hotel.” ICAN was awarded the Peace Prize (in...

‘Green Skilling’ Programme and ‘GREEN’ GDP

In the news (TH):  Starting this year (2018), the government will begin a five-year exercise to compute district-level data of the country’s environmental wealth. The numbers will eventually be used to calculate every State’s ‘green’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The metric will help with a range of policy decisions, such as compensation to be paid during...

‘Nasikabatrachus bhupathi’: Frog species discoverd

context: The discovery is significant as it constitutes additional evidence in favour of the theory of continental drift. The Purple frog is an inhabitant of Seychelles, and the discovery of Bhupathy’s purple frog in India suggests that the Indian subcontinent was part of the ancient landmass of Gondwana before splitting from Seychelles 65 million years...

Indian Nitrogen Assessment

Context: Though agriculture remains the largest contributor to nitrogen emissions, the non-agricultural emissions of nitrogen oxides and nitrous oxide are growing rapidly, with sewage and fossil-fuel burning — for power, transport and industry — leading the trend. Agricultural soils contributed to over 70% of N2O emissions from India in 2010, followed by waste water (12%) and residential...

Project ‘Towards International Nitrogen Management System’

Context: It is being implemented by UN Environment (UNEP). Towards INMS’ will develop the evidence base to showcase the need for effective practices for global nitrogen management and highlight options to maximise the multiple benefits of better nitrogen use. The project presents a key opportunity to pull together a global and critical mass of science...

Reactive Nitrogen

Context: Most living organisms can only make use of reactive nitrogen, which includes inorganic forms of nitrogen like ammonia, ammonium, nitrogen oxide, nitric acid, nitrous oxide, and nitrate, and organic compounds like urea, amines, proteins, and nucleic acids. It includes any nitrogen compound that is radiatively, chemically or biological active.   Reactive nitrogen is implicated in...