What is Organic Solar Cells?

• An organic solar cell consisting of a combination of an organic polymer and PCBM (an organic semiconductor) developed on steel substrates can potentially convert a steel roof into an energy-producing device.

Features:

• The devices consist of a blend of organic polymer PTB7 as a donor and PCBM as an acceptor.
• The devices were fabricated on opaque steel substrates with aMoO₃/Au/MoO₃top electrode. These electrodes offer higher optical transmission as compared to only metallic electrodes.
• The devices with multilayer electrodes showed a clear improvement in the photovoltaic performance by 1.5 times, as compared with those obtained with single-layer top metal electrodes of gold.

What is the DST-RCUK APEX project?

• It is a jointly developed programme of the Department of Science and Technology (Under the ministry of Science and Technology) and the Research Councils United Kingdom (RCUK) focussing on reducing energy demand in the built environment.

About Patriot system:

• The Patriot is one of the most sought-after defence systems and has been deployed in 18 countries, including the U.S.
  • History:
    • Initially developed as a system to intercept high-flying aircraft by Raytheon Technologies, the Patriot was modified in the 1980s to focus on other threats such as ballistic missiles.
    • The programme’s roots can be traced back to the 1960s when the Pentagon was looking to replace the HAWK and Nike-Hercules air defence systems.
  • Currently, Patriot batteries can defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, jets and “other threats”, but it doesn’t offer protection against low-flying small drones.
  • A mobile Patriot system includes a control centre, a radar station to detect threats, missile launchers to take out those threats and other support vehicles.
  • It can launch different types of interceptor missiles: The older PAC-1 and PAC-2 interceptors used a blast-fragmentation warhead, while the newer PAC-3 missile has a more advanced hit-to-kill technology.
  • The Patriot system’s radar has a range of over 150 km and it can track over 50 potential targets at the same time.

About Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya:

• Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was born on December 25, 1861, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He is known for his contribution to India’s education system and his role in the Indian Independence movement.
• Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was given the title of ‘Mahamana’ or great soul by Mahatma Gandhi, who considered him as an elder brother.
• In 2014, Pandit Malviya was posthumously conferred with Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award.
• In 2016, the Indian Railways started the Varanasi-New Delhi Mahamana Express in the leader’s honour.

Major contributions:

• Banaras Hindu University: He played a key role in the Indian independence struggle against British rule and founded the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1916. At the BHU, he served as Vice-Chancellor from 1919 to 1938.
• Hindu Mahasabha: Malaviya was one of the early leaders of the Hindu Mahasabha, and helped found it in 1906.He was a social reformer and a successful legislator, serving as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council for 11 years (1909–20).
• Scout and Guide: He was also one of the founders of Scout and Guide in India.
• ‘Satyamev Jayate’: One of the most famous slogans, ‘Satyamev Jayate’ was said by Pandit Malviya in the session of 1918when he was the President of the Indian National Congress.
• President of INC: Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was the President of Indian National Congress for four sessions (1909, 1913, 1919 and 1932). Pandit Malviya played a big role in the Civil Disobedience and Non-cooperation movement which were led by Mahatma Gandhi.
• Role in media: He was the chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946 and he also founded many Hindi and English newspapers, namely: The Leader, Hindustan Dainik, Maryada etc.
• Malaviya espoused free and compulsory primary education, opposed the system of indentured labour in the British Empire, and supported the nationalisation of railways.

What is Bomb Cyclone?

• A bomb cyclone is a mid-latitude storm in which the central pressure drops fast at one millibar per hour for at least 24 hours. However, the millibar readings can change based on where the storm is forming.
• This quickly increases the pressure difference, or gradient, between the two air masses, making the winds stronger. This process of rapid intensification has a name: bombogenesis.
• As the winds blow, the rotation of the Earth creates a cyclonic effect. The direction is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere (when viewed from above).
• Formation:
  • A bomb cyclone is formed when the air of different air masses (cold, dry) comes together.
  • As the warm air rises, it creates a cloud system lowering air pressure and forming into a storm circulating counterclockwise around the low-pressure area.
• Characteristics:
  • The bomb cyclone will be characterised by cold winds, which are also expected to pick up, and wind chill temperatures could drop to dangerous lows far below zero — enough to cause frostbite within minutes.
  • The dangerous storm is expected to hit everyone east of the Rockies — around two-thirds of the country.

About National Archives of India (NAI):

• The National Archives of India is the custodian of the records of enduring value of the Government of India.
• Established on 11 March, 1891 at Calcutta (Kolkata) as the Imperial Record Department, it is the biggest archival repository in South Asia.
• It has a vast corpus of records viz., public records, private papers, oriental records, cartographic records and microfilms, which constitute an invaluable source of information for scholars-administrators and users of archives.
• The Director General of Archives, heading the Department has been given the mandate for the implementation of the Public Records Act, 1993and the rules made there under, the Public Records Rules, 1997 for the management, administration and preservation of public records in the Ministries, Departments, Public Sector undertakings etc. of the Central Government.
• Located at the heart of New Delhi, the Department functions as an Attached Office of the Ministry of Culture.
• The NAI keeps and conserves records of the government of India and its organisations. It does not receive classified documents.

About:

• The CPCB network monitors water quality at 4,484 locations in 28 States and seven Union Territories including rivers, lakes, creeks, drains and canals.
• The number of polluted river stretches categorised in ‘Priority 1 to 5.

• Priority 1: River stretches with a BOD exceeding 30 mg/L are considered the most polluted and thus need the most urgent remediation.
• Priority 2: Indicating a BOD of 20-30 mg/L.
• Priority 3: BOD between 10-20 mg/l
• Priority 4: BOD between 6-10 mg/l.
• Priority 5: Indicating 3-6 mg/L.

• While Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh had the maximum number of ‘Priority 1’ river stretches (6), Maharashtra had the maximum number of polluted river stretches i.e. 55, followed by Madhya Pradesh (19), Bihar (18), Kerala (18), Karnataka (17) and Uttar Pradesh (17).

What is Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)?

• BOD is defined as the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by bacteria in decomposing the organic wastes present in water. The higher value of BOD indicates low dissolved oxygen content of water.

What is Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB)?

• The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India is a statutory organisation under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• It was established in 1974 under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
• CPCB was entrusted with the powers and functions under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.

• “The Gram Nyayalayas were envisaged to make justice delivery more accessible and affordable for the people at the grassroots.
• However, even after more than 12 years of coming into force the Gram Nyayalayas are yet to take off in the country. Only 15 states have notified them and about half of those are yet to be operationalised. This is in spite of the fact that financial assistance is being given to States, by the Centre, to operationalize them,” the department-related standing committee on Law and Personnel said in a report tabled in Parliament earlier this month.
• “The apathy of States and challenges enumerated above by the Department has made this institution almost defunct,” the Committee said, recommending to the Department of Justice to ponder seriously over further continuation of this scheme and divert the funds to some other new scheme/s or any existing scheme, which was working well.
• However, the Department of Justice informed the panel that the Gram Nyayalaya Scheme has been extended for five more years up to March 31, 2026, without any change in the funding pattern, with budgetary outlay of Rs 50.00 crore, subject to the condition that the funds will henceforth be released only after they have been notified and made operational along with the appointment of Nyayadhikaris and reported on the Gram Nyayalayas Portal.
• “A review of the performance of Gram Nyayalayas will be done after one year to assess its efficacy as an institution in providing speedy and affordable justice to the rural marginalized and decide on its future,” the Department told the panel.

About the Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008

• The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 provided for ‘Gram Nyayalayas’ at the grassroots level for providing access to speedy and affordable justice to citizens at the doorstep.
• It also aimed to ensure that opportunities for securing justice were not denied to anyone by reason of social, economic or other disabilities.
• The setting up of Gram Nyayalaya is the primary responsibility of state governments in consultation with the respective high courts.
• However, setting up of the Gram Nyayalayas is not mandatory on their part as per the Gram Nyayalayas Act.

• Private operators are set to run four famous luxury trains of the country.
• The four trains are Palace on Wheels, Maharaja’s Express, Golden Chariot, Deccan Odyssey.
• Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw recently informed Parliament that all luxury tourist trains had been brought under the ambit of the Bharat Gaurav Trains Policy.
• Under this policy, service providers have full liberty to decide the themes, itineraries and tariff for the train managed by them.
• The cumulative earnings from these four elite trains stood at Rs 19.89 crore till November of this fiscal as against Rs 39 lakh and Rs 3.48 crore in the Covid-hit 2020-21 and 2021-22, respectively.
• In the current year (till November 30), the Maharaja’s Express, which primarily covers Rajasthan, has made the maximum number of trips followed by the Palace on Wheels. While Rs 14.34 crore was earned from seven trips made by Maharajas’ Express, revenue worth Rs 4.84 crore was generated from five trips made by the Palace on Wheels, yet another Rajasthan-centric luxury tourist train.
• Golden Chariot, which offers sightseeing in Karnataka and Goa, made just one trip so far this year producing revenue of Rs 70 lakh.
• Deccan Odyssey, which starts from Mumbai and has the Ajanta and the Ellora Caves among its offerings before returning to Mumbai, has not made any journey so far in this year.
• Deccan Odyssey remained completely idle in 2021-22 and 2020-21.

 About Bharat Gaurav Trains Policy:

Objective:

• To showcase India’s rich cultural heritage and magnificent historical places to the people of India and the world, through Bharat Gaurav Trains (Theme- based Tourist Circuit trains).

Brief Scope of Policy:

• Indian Railways aims to leverage the core strengths of the professionals of the tourism sector to run theme based trains to tap the vast tourist potential of India.
• Under this policy, registered Service Providers shall be offered rakes consisting of ICF coaches under “Right to Use” model by Indian Railways (IR) for operations of Bharat Gaurav Trains. Service Providers shall also have the option of procurement of new coaches directly from production units through the NRC (Non Railway Customer) plan.
• The Service Provider shall have the flexibility to decide the business model including themes, routes, itinerary, tariff and other attributes connected with this model.

• Chief General Manager (CGM) of the Koldam Hydroelectric Power project Kulwinder Singh has said that the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was committed to development of the areas affected by the dam.
• He said skill development programmes were being organised in collaboration with the National Small Industries Corporation, Mandi, to impart training to youth and women of the affected villages.
• They are being trained in activities such as embroidery, weaving, computer education and handicrafts so that they can earn their livelihood easily,” he added.
• He said free health check-up camps were also organised in the affected villages this year.
• The project had generated 24.51 billion units of power since it was commissioned.
• The dam had also bagged the Himachal Pradesh Environment Leadership Award 2021-22.

• The SJVN’s 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri Hydropower Station (NJHPS) has won the ‘Best Performing Hydro Sector Project’ award.
• The award was presented during the ‘PRAKASHmay’ 15th ENERTIA Awards 2022 – India and the South Asia’s Awards for Excellence in Sustainable Energy, Power and Renewables.
• Remarkable environment management measures have been undertaken at the NJHPS, which have been recognised at the national-level as well as by the World Bank,” said SJVN chairman Nand Lal Sharma.
• “During the current financial year, the NJHPS established a new record of highest-ever single day energy generation on August 29 when the power station generated 39.526 million units energy, surpassing the previous record,” he said.
• Sharma said the award was a recognition for the enterprise’s excellence and sectoral performance in promotion of sustainable development goals via clean, green and renewable energy.