PIB and AIR News 2nd may, 2019

Questions:

1. Which type of lava is thrown out by "shield volcanoes"?
2. What are calderas?
3. What are the characterstics of "Composite volcanoes"?
4. What is the type of "Hawaiian volcanoes"?

Today's News:

1. Goldman Environmental Prize:

• The Goldman Environmental Prize honors grassroots environmental heroes from the world’s six inhabited continental regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands & Island Nations, North America, and South & Central America.
• The Prize recognizes individuals for sustained and significant efforts to protect and enhance the natural environment, often at great personal risk.
• The Goldman Prize views “grassroots” leaders as those involved in local efforts, where positive change is created through community or citizen participation in the issues that affect them. Through recognizing these individual leaders, the Prize seeks to inspire other ordinary people to take extraordinary actions to protect the natural world.
• This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Prize founded in 1989 by U.S. philanthropists Rhoda and Richard Goldman.
• Indians Received Awards in Past:
• Prafulla Samantara: He had led historic 12-year legal battle that affirmed indigenous Dongria Kondh’s land rights and protected Niyamgiri Hills from a massive, open-pit aluminum ore mine.
• Medha Patkar: She is known for Narmada Bachao Andolan
• C. Mehta: He had single-handedly won numerous landmark judgments from supreme court, like introducing lead-free gasoline to India and reducing industrial pollution fouling the Ganges and eroding the Taj Mahal. 
• Rasheeda Bi and Champ Devi Shukla: They are Bhopal activists who ignited international campaign to seek justice for disaster survivors, demanded cleanup and compensation for affected individuals 1984 Union Carbide gas leak. 
• Ramesh Agrawal: He had organized villagers to demand RTI about industrial development projects and succeeded in shutting down one of largest proposed coal mines in Chhatisgarh.

2. 4,000-year-old rice, dal, sacred chambers and coffins found by ASI in Sanauli.

• Three chariots, some coffins, shields, swords and helmets had been unearthed, pointing towards the existence of a “warrior class in the area around 2,000 BCE”. It is contemporary to the last phase of the mature Harappan culture. These findings are important to understand the culture pattern of the Upper Ganga-Yamuna doab.

3. Geological Survey of India installed Geological Display Boards at Mawmluh cave, Therriaghat in Meghalaya

• These geological display boards with geo-scientific information will help in creating awareness among visiting tourists, students and general public.
• They will help preserve site and also help future generation will be aware of such geological developments.
• Mawmluh cave:The high resolution stable isotopic studies of stalagmites from cave showed that there was a major climatic event about 4200 years ago. 
• The stalagmite in Mawmluh cave has been tagged as Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP). 
• It makes it first formally ratified marker of a geological time period in India. 
• The Meghalayan Age period began about 4200 years ago experienced an abrupt mega-drought and cooling around the world.
• Therriaghat: It marks Cretaceous (K)-Palaeogene (Pg) mass extinction event.

4. Indian archaeologists recently unearthed a rare life-sized stucco sculpture from a Buddhist site at Phanigiri in Suryapet, Telangana

• Till date it is the biggest stucco sculpture found in India.
• As per archaeologists, the life-size figurine represents a Bodhisattva in Jathaka Chakra. It was created nearly 1,700 years ago by craftsmen at Phanigiri at peak of Ikshavaku dynasty.
• About Stucco: It is a material made from aggregates, binder, and water. It is applied wet and hardens in to a very dense solid.
• Uses: It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture.
• Bodhisattva: In Buddhism is any person who has attained bodhichitta (or Enlightenment) and is on path to reach nirvana (moksha) but delays doing so for compassion of suffering beings. 
• The Ikshvaku dynasty: As per Puranic literature, it was founded by king Ikshvaku. It is also known as Suryavamsa (the Solar Dynasty).

5. BHEL and ARAI signs MoU for e-mobility projects

• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) signed MoU (Memorandum of understanding).
• Electro mobility (e-mobility): It refers to development of electric-powered or electronic driven vehicles, and moving away from traditional vehicle design which uses fossil fuels and oils. 
• It includes fully electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. 
• BHEL: It was established in 1964 an engineering and manufacturing company. It is owned and founded by Government of India with headquarters in New Delhi. It is India’s largest power generation equipment manufacturer.
• ARAI: Established in 1966 it is India’s leading automotive R&D organization set up by the Automotive Industry with the Government of India. It is an autonomous body affiliated to Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
• It is a prime Testing and Certification Agency notified by Government of India under Rule 126 of Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989

6. Barcelona wins La Liga title 2019 in Spain

About La Liga It is one of world’s most popular men’s top professional football division of Spanish football league. It was founded in 1929

7.Current State of Cybercrime Report 2019

• It is released by RSA Security (is an American computer and network security company of parent organization Dell Technologies), social media fraud has increased by 43% in 2018. It says the trend will continue in 2019 because of ease of using, absence of fees and multiple other benefits of these platforms.
• Steps taken by Government:
• National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) is an operational cyber security and e-surveillance agency in India which is intended to screen communication metadata and co-ordinate intelligence gathering activities of other agencies.
• National Cyber Security Coordinator (NCSC) under National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) coordinates with different agencies at the national level for cyber security matters. 
• Enacted Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, to provide legal recognition for electronic communication, electronic commerce and cyber-crimes etc.
• It formulated National Cyber Security policy (2013) framework to ensure a secure and resilient cyberspace for citizens, businesses and government.
• Setup Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issues alerts and advisories regarding latest cyber threats and countermeasures on regular basis.
• Launched Cyber Swachhta Kendra (which are Botnet Cleaning and Malware Analysis Centre) for detection of malicious programs and provide free tools for their removal

8. Safe City programme

• It was launched with objective of strengthening safety and security of women in public places. It is being implemented by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in consultation with Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoW&CD), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry of Information Technology (MeitY), respective Municipal & Police Commissioners of cities and civil society organizations.
• It was approved with total cost of Rs.194.44 crore under Nirbhaya Fund Scheme.
• It includes identifying crime hotspots and placing them under CCTV coverage, drone-based surveillance, deployment of automated number plate reading (ANPR) equipment through an integrated smart control room.

• Nirbhaya Fund : It was set up with an initial corpus of Rs. 1,000 crore after horrific gang rape of young woman in New Delhi in December 2012. Nirbhaya is the name she was referred to by media, and fund seeks to ensure safety of women across country.

9. 5th ABU Media Summit on Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness Held in Nepal

• It objective was to address issue of fully utilizing media’s potential of accelerating climate action and disaster preparedness and connect stakeholders to media professionals for collaboration and joint practical projects. 
• Theme was “Media Solutions for Sustainable Future: Saving Lives, Building Resilient Communities”. 
• Kathmandu Media Action Plan for Media Integration in Climate Action and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) was adopted at summit. It also included a comprehensive session on Sendai Framework for DRR. 
• The Kathmandu Media Action Plan: It will be included in Global Platform for DRR to be held in Geneva, 15 – 17 May 2019. It lists concrete steps for fully involving media in saving lives and livelihoods.
• Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU): It is a non-profit, non-governmental, non- political, professional association of broadcasting organisations, which assist development of broadcasting in region. It was established in 1964, and has Secretariat in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. With over 272 member in 76 countries on four continents, ABU is biggest broadcasting union in the world. ABU is also member of the World Broadcasters’ Union