UniFocus IAS ( UNIFOCUS UNIVERSAL )

CSIRO's ASKAP radio telescope, is situated at the  Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory  in the Murchison region of Western Australia, about 800 km north of Perth. ASKAP uses novel technology to achieve extremely high survey speed, making it one of the best instruments in the world for mapping the sky at radio wavelengths. ASKAP is a synthesis array consisting of 36 dish antennas, each 12m in diameter, spread out in two dimensions with baselines up to 6km. Each antenna is equipped with a phased array feed (PAF) that can be used to form 36 dual-polarisation primary beams, giving the telescope its wide field of view and rapid survey capability when coupled with high-speed digital processing systems and the supercomputing facilities at the  Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre  in Perth.  Setonix, a state-of-the-art HPE Cray EX supercomputer to be housed at Pawsey Centre, will be built on the same architecture used in world-leading exascale supercompute...

The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy ( A/RES/60/288 ) is a unique global instrument to enhance national, regional and international efforts to counter terrorism. Through its adoption by consensus in 2006, all UN Member States agreed the first time to a common strategic and operational approach to fighting terrorism. The UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy ( A/RES/60/288 ) is a unique global instrument to enhance national, regional and international efforts to counter terrorism. Through its adoption by consensus in 2006, all UN Member States agreed the first time to a common strategic and operational approach to fighting terrorism. The Strategy does not only send a clear message that terrorism is unacceptable in all its forms and manifestations but it also resolves to take practical steps, individually and collectively, to prevent and combat terrorism. Those practical steps include a wide array of measures ranging from strengthening state capacity to counter terrorist...

  1. The Reserve Bank is statutorily mandated to operate the credit system of the country to its advantage . In this endeavour, the Reserve Bank has encouraged innovation in the financial system, products and credit delivery methods while ensuring their orderly growth, preserving financing stability and ensuring protection of depositors’ and customers’ interest. Recently, innovative methods of designing and delivery of credit products and their servicing through Digital Lending   route have acquired prominence. However, certain concerns have also emerged which, if not mitigated, may erode the confidence of members of public in the digital lending ecosystem. The concerns primarily relate to unbridled engagement of third parties, mis-selling, breach of data privacy, unfair business conduct, charging of exorbitant interest rates, and unethical recovery practices. 2. Against this background, the Reserve Bank had constituted a Working Group on ‘digital lending including l...

  Eligibility norms for Small Finance Banks for Authorised Dealer Category-I The bank should have completed at least two years of operations as Authorised Dealer Category-II. The bank should have been included in the Second Schedule to RBI Act 1934. It should have a minimum net worth of ₹500 crore. Its CRAR should not be less than 15%. The net NPAs of the bank should not exceed 6%, during previous four quarters. It should have made profit in the preceding two years. It should not have defaulted in maintenance of CRR/ SLR during previous two years. It should have sound internal control systems. It should not have any major regulatory and supervisory concerns. Licensing as Authorised Dealer- Category II NBFCs offering such services shall have a ‘minimum investment grade rating’. NBFCs offering such services shall put in place a board approved policy on (a) managing the risks, including currency risk, if any, and (b) handling customer grievances arising out of such activities. A monit...

  According to the definition of wetland under Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, an area of marsh, fen, peat land or water; whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters, are considered as wetlands. As per the National Wetland Inventory & Assessment, 2011, Space Applications Centre- ISRO Ahmedabad identified approximately 2.0 lakhs water bodies/wetlands (>2.25 hectares) across the country covering an area of approximately 10 million ha which includes lakes/ponds, ox-bow lakes, high altitude & riverine wetlands, waterlogged areas, tanks, reservoirs, lagoons, creeks, sand beaches, corals, mangroves, mud flats, salt pans, aquaculture ponds, salt marshes, etc. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has notified Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Ru...