National Crime Record Bureau:
- NCRB, headquartered in New Delhi, was set-up in 1986 under the Ministry of Home Affairs to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
- It was set up based on the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977-1981) and the MHA’s Task Force (1985).
- NCRB brings out the annual comprehensive statistics of crime across the country (‘Crime in India’ report).
- Being published since 1953, the report serves as a crucial tool in understanding the law and order situation across the country.
Peatlands:
- Peatlands are wetlands that contain ancient, decomposed and partially decomposed organic matter.
- Nearly half the world’s peatland-stored carbon lies between 60 and 70 degrees north, along the Arctic Circle.
Arctic Permafrost:
- It is ground that remains completely frozen at 0 degrees Celsius or below for at least two years and is defined solely based on temperature and duration.
- It is composed of rock, sediments, sand, dead plant and animal matter, soil, and varying degrees of ice and is believed to have formed during glacial periods dating several millennia.
- It is mainly found near the polar zones and regions with high mountains covering parts of Greenland, Alaska, Russia, Northern Canada, Siberia and Scandinavia.
- Permafrost is the most threatened by climate change, Arctic regions are warming twice as fast compared to the rest of the planet, its current rate of temperature change being the highest in 2,000 years.
Naturopathy:
- It means ‘natural cure’. By using a combination of healthy diet, simple self-help techniques, for example, breathing and relaxation exercises, beneficial herbs and general exercise, naturopathy seeks to promote the body’s own ability to heal itself.
- Naturopaths treat most long-term conditions. In this practice it is used to treat recurrent infections, long-term fatigue, anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome. It is also useful for allergic conditions, chronic muscle pain and chronic disease in general.
- Government of India has declared November 18 as Naturopathy Day in commemoration of the commitment made by Mahatma Gandhi to Nature Cure on that day in 1945.
BrahMos missile:
- It is a surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile featuring indigenous Booster and Airframe Section.
- It flies almost three times the speed of sound at Mach 2.8.
- The new BrahMos missile can strike targets over 400-km away with pin-point accuracy.
- The missile was jointly developed by India and Russia and was first tested in 2001
Mutation:
- Mutation is the property of a virus to undergo changes when it multiplies. As it replicates, it may not produce exact replicas of itself, resulting in the emergence of new strains, which may be more or at times less effective. Some strains die out, while the more effective ones, which spread efficiently, survive.
Index of Industrial Production:
- The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that shows the growth rates in different industry groups of the economy in a fixed period of time.
- It is compiled and published monthly by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
- IIP is a composite indicator that measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under:
-Broad sectors, namely, Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity.
-Use-based sectors, namely Basic Goods, Capital Goods, and Intermediate Goods. - The eight core sector industries represent about 40% of the weight of items that are included in the IIP.
– The eight core industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products (28.04 %)> Electricity (19.85 %)> Steel (17.92 %) > Coal (10.33 %)> Crude Oil (8.98 %)> Natural Gas (6.88 %)> Cement (5.37 %)> Fertilizers (2.63 %). - Base Year for IIP calculation is 2011-2012.