UNESCO:
- UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.
- UNESCO’s programmes contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals defined in Agenda 2030, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015.
- UNESCO-IOC (Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission) is leading a global effort to establish ocean-based tsunami warning systems as part of an overall multi-hazard disaster reduction strategy.
- Recently, UNESCO-IOC approved the recognition of two communities of Odisha viz., Venkatraipur and Noliasahi as Tsunami Ready Communities.
- It has 193 Members and 11 Associate Members. India joined UNESCO in 1946.
- In 2019, the USA and Israel formally quit UNESCO.
- It is headquartered in Paris, France.
Delhi Special Police Establishment Act:
- The Central Bureau of Investigation traces its origin to the Special Police Establishment (SPE) which was set up in 1941 by the Government of India.
- The functions of the SPE then were to investigate cases of bribery and corruption in transactions with the War & Supply Deptt. Of India during World War II.
- Even after the end of the War, the need for a Central Government agency to investigate cases of bribery and corruption by Central Government employees was felt.
- The Delhi Special Police Establishment Act was therefore brought into force in 1946. The CBI’s power to investigate cases is derived from this Act.
Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy:
- Under this Policy, exploration blocks shall be awarded on a continuous basis through e-bidding in a transparent manner.
Features:
- Revenue sharing model instead of Profit sharing for hydrocarbon exploration.
- Under revenue sharing model, the government share accrues immediately on production, unlike in cost-recovery where the contractors first claimed its costs before splitting leftover profits, if any.
- Unified license for all types of hydrocarbons.
- Freedom to carve out acreages of choice under OALP bid rounds.
- Full marketing and pricing freedom of gas.
National Data Repository:
- NDR is a government-sponsored E&P data bank with state-of-the-art facilities and infrastructure for preservation, upkeep and dissemination of data to enable its systematic use for future exploration and development.
- Following are the data that is being stored in NDR: Seismic Data, Well & Log Data, Spatial Data, other data like Drilling, Reservoir, Production, Geological, Gravity & Magnetic etc.
- Having an NDR for India has helped in enhancing prospects of petroleum exploration and facilitating the Bidding Rounds by improving the availability of quality data.