1. Welcome Back, Pluto
When pluto was discovered in 1930 it was considered as 9th
planet. But later after long debate finally it was kept in the list of Dwarf
Planet in 2006 by International Astronomical
Unit.
The Criteria by which any planet is considered as planet is –
1. it must be
round.
2. it must orbit the sun.
3. it must have
“cleared the neighbourhood” of its orbit.
Important Facts about Pluto
Pluto has five known moons, the largest
of which is Charon. Charon is about half the size of Pluto itself, making it
the largest satellite relative to the planet it orbits in our solar system.
Pluto orbits the Sun about 3.6 billion
miles (5.8 billion km) away on average.
A year on Pluto is 248 Earth years. A
day on Pluto lasts 153 hours, or about 6 Earth days.
Pluto has a thin atmosphere of
nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide. The atmosphere has a blue tint and
distinct layers of haze.
2. World
Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
7th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban
Tourism is being held in Seoul, capital of South Korea.
Theme: ‘A 2030 Vision for Urban
Tourism’.
The World Tourism
Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion
of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
UNWTO’s membership includes
158 countries.
It is the leading
international organization in the field of tourism, UNWTO promotes tourism as a
driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental
sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing
knowledge and tourism policies worldwide.
3. The International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) has announced that it will establish its South
Asia Area Office and Technology Innovation Centre at New Delhi.
ITU headquarters are in
Geneva, Switzerland.
There are 193 Member States of the ITU,
including all UN member states except the Republic of Palau, plus the Vatican
City.
4.The Government
has launched an online ‘e-Sahaj’ portal for grant of Security Clearance. The
portal will facilitate an applicant to submit application online and also to
view the status of his application from time to time
5. Pradhan
Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna (PMFBY)
Launched in - April,
2016
It took place over earlier
insurance schemes viz. National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS),
Weather-based Crop Insurance scheme and Modified National Agricultural
Insurance Scheme (MNAIS).
Benefits
It
envisages a uniform premium of only 2% to be paid by farmers for Kharif crops,
and 1.5% for Rabi crops. The premium for annual commercial and horticultural
crops will be 5%.
The scheme is mandatory for farmers who have taken
institutional loans from banks. It’s optional for farmers who have not taken
institutional credit.
Objectives:
§ Providing financial support to farmers
suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events.
§ Stabilizing the income of farmers to
ensure their continuance in farming.
§ Encouraging farmers to adopt innovative
and modern agricultural practices.
§ Ensuring flow of credit to the
agriculture sector which contributes to food security, crop diversification and
enhancing growth and competitiveness of agriculture sector besides protecting
farmers from production risks.
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