SnowEx
Why in news?
- For a better understanding of how much water is contained in each winter’s snowfall and how much will be available when it melts in the spring, NASA has launched a seasonal campaign — part of a five-year programme called SnowEx, initiated in 2016-17.
News summary
- SnowEx is a five year program initiated and funded by NASA.
- The goal is to address the most important gaps in our snow remote sensing knowledge, and thus lay the groundwork for a future snow satellite mission
- The geographical focus of SnowEx is proposed as North America, which contains the six broad snow climate categories identified in the literature: tundra (alpine or Arctic), taiga (Boreal forest), warm (temperate) forest, maritime, prairie, and ephemeral.
- Within its geographic range, SnowEx assesses where snow has fallen, how much there is and how its characteristics change as it melts.
Central Repository of Information on Large Credits
Why in news?
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed large cooperative banks to report all exposures of 5 crore rupees and more to the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC). The move is aimed at early detection of financial distress.
News summary
- The Reserve Bank has created a CRILC of commercial banks, all India financial institutions and certain non-banking financial companies with multiple objectives, which, among others, include strengthening offsite supervision and early recognition of financial distress.
- Earlier in its bi-monthly monetary policy review this month, the RBI had announced to bring UCBs with assets of Rs 500 crore and above under the CRILC reporting framework.
- Aggregate exposure will include all fund-based and non-fund based exposure (like partial credit enhancement) including investment exposure on the borrower. To start with, UCBs will be required to submit CRILC report on quarterly basis with effect from December 31, 2019.
India’s National Anthem
Why in news?
- On December 27, 1911, the National Anthem was first sung at the Calcutta session of the Congress.
News summary
- ‘Jana Gana Mana’ is the first stanza of the Bengali hymn ‘Bharoto Bhagyo Bidhata’, written by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.
- A slightly varied version of the song was adopted by Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army in 1941 as the national anthem, called ‘Shubh Sukh Chain’, which also became popular in India since.
- On August 15, 1947, Captain Thakuri of the INA, who had given music to the ‘Subh Sukh Chain’ version, was invited to play with members of his orchestra group.
- ‘Jana Gana Mana’ was adopted as the country’s National Anthem by the Constituent Assembly of India on January 24, 1950, the last day of its last session.
Winter is extra cold
Why in news?
- This December, north India is feeling the cold much more than earlier. In Delhi, all days from December 14 to 27 fall into ‘cold day’ classification.
News summary
- A cold-day condition is said to prevail when the maximum temperature during the day is at least 4.5°C below normal. If the maximum temperature is at least 6.5°C below normal, it is classified as a severe cold day.
- The cold wave usually arrives from the west, through the Western Disturbance wind system. This system is also responsible for causing rains in northern and northwestern parts, after having picked up moisture on its way from the Mediterranean Sea.
- The intensity of the cold also depends on the amount of snowfall that happens in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and nearby areas.
MDR charges
Why in news?
- Union Finance Minister has said that no Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) will be applicable on transactions through homegrown RuPay and UPI platforms beginning 1st of January next year.
News summary
- Department of Revenue (DoR) will soon notify RuPay and UPI as the prescribed mode of payment for digital transactions without any MDR.MDR charges
- Now all companies with a turnover of 50 crore rupees or more will be mandated to provide the facility of payment through RuPay Debit card and UPI QR code to their customers. All banks will also start a campaign to popularise RuPay Debit card and UPI.
- MDR is the cost paid by a merchant to a bank for accepting payment from their customers via digital means. The merchant discount rate is expressed in percentage of the transaction amount.
Concept of three capitals
Why in news?
- The Andhra Pradesh cabinet deferred taking a decision on relocating the state capital to three separate locations.
News summary
- Earlier, on December 17, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had hinted that Andhra Pradesh could have three decentralised capitals, on the lines of South Africa.
- The new capital being developed at Amaravati, Reddy hinted, could become the “Legislative Capital”, port city Visakhapatnam the “Executive Capital” and Kurnool the “Judicial Capital”.
South Africa Model:
- Three cities serve as capitals of the country– Pretoria (executive), Cape Town (legislative), and Bloemfontein (judicial).
- This arrangement was a result of the Second Boer War (1899-1902) in which Britain annexed the two Afrikaner speaking states -– the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (also called Transvaal Republic).
- Cape of Good Hope then remained in the British Empire, becoming self-governing in 1872, and uniting with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa in 1910.