Today’s Current Affairs Update: “ProxyGyan IAS Express”
Date: 09 July 2024.
1. Gandaki River
2. Bharat Bill Payment System
3. Uranium Reserves
4. Brown palm Civet
Like, and follow @ProxyGyan for daily CA updates.
1. Gandaki River: River in news:
• News: A 15-year-old bridge over the Gandaki River collapsed in Bihar's Saran district.
• Alternative Names: Also known as the Narayani and Gandak, it is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left-bank tributary of the Ganges in India.
• Origin: Formed by the union of the Kali and Trisulirivers, which rise in the Great Himalaya Range in Nepal.
• Flow Path:
• From the junction of Kali and Trisuli rivers to the Indian border, it is called the Narayani.
• It flows southwest into India, then turns southeast along the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar state border, and across the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
• It enters the Ganges River opposite Patna, Bihar, after a winding course of 475 miles (765 km)
• Catchment Area:
• Bounded by the Himalayas to the north, the River Ganga to the south, the Burhi Gandak Basin to the east, and the Ghagra Basin to the west.
• Glaciers and Lakes: The upper catchment of the Gandaki has about 1,710 glaciers and over 300 lakes.
• Deep Gorge: Known for possessing a deep gorge in the Himalayan region, with the deepest point reaching approximately 3,000 meters (9,800 feet), making it one of the deepest river gorges in the world
• Tributaries: Daraudi, Seti, Madi, Marsyandi, and BudhiGandaki.
• Historical Mention: The Gandaki River is mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata.
2. Bharat Bill Payment Systems:
• News: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated that all credit card payments be routed through the Bharat Bill Pay System from July 1, 2024
• Concept and Management:
• It is a payment channel system conceptualized by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and driven by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
• NPCI is a subsidiary of the RBI.
• Aim:
• It serves as a one-stop payment platform for all bills, providing interoperable and accessible
"Anytime Anywhere" bill payment service to customers across India.
• The RBI aims to regulate and monitor P2P credit card transactions through third-party apps.
• Unlike regular transactions settled directly with banks, these payments use NEFT/IMPS or direct transfers, bypassing centralized platforms, which concerns the RBI.
• Features and Benefits:
• Transaction Certainty: BBPS ensures the certainty, reliability, and safety of transactions.
• Payment Modes: The system supports multiple payment modes and provides instant confirmation of receipt of payment.
• Integrated Platform: BBPS is an integrated platform connecting banks and non-banks involved in the bills aggregation business, including billers, payment service providers, and retail bill outlets.
o Convenience: It catalogs various utility providers on one platform, offering customers the convenience of paying multiple bills through a single window.
• Bill Collection Categories:
• Utilities: Includes electricity, telecom, mobile postpaid, DTH, gas, and water bills.
Other Payments: Will include school/university fees, municipal taxes/payments, mutual funds, insurance premiums, various government taxes, etc., as decided by the RBI over time.
3. Uranium Reserves:
• News: Russia and India are likely to agree on a long-term uranium supply pact for a nuclear power plant coming online in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
• Definition:
•. Uranium is a naturally occurring radioactive element with an atomic number of 92
o. It decays over time, releasing energy.
• Properties:
• Uranium is a relatively common metal, found in rocks and seawater.
• Uranium ranks 48th among the most abundant elements in natural crustal rock.
• Uranium is 18.7 times denser than water.
• The U-235 isotope of Uranium is important due to its fissile nature, allowing it to be split under certain conditions, releasing a lot of energy (nuclear fission).
• U-238 is the most common isotope, accounting for around 99% of natural uranium
• U-238 decays very slowly and is barely radioactive.
• Uranium Enrichment:
• Uranium enrichment is the process of increasing the isotopic proportion of U-235 from 0.72% to up to 94%.
• Global Production:
• Leading Producers: Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia.
• Important Mines:
• Australia: Olympic Dam and the Ranger mine in Southern Australia.
• Canada: High-grade deposits are found in the Athabasca Basin region.
Important sites include Cigar Lake and the McArthur River basin.
• Kazakhstan: The Chu-Sarysu basin in central Kazakhstan accounts for over half of the country's known uranium resources.
4. Brown Palm Civet : Species in News:
• News: A rare sighting of the Brown Palm Civet has been reported in Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Common Names: Also known as Jerdon's palm civets, they are endemic to the Western Ghats.
• Ecological Role:
• Brown Palm Civets play a vital role as seed dispersers in their habitat.
• Their presence is crucial in areas where other large seed dispersers are either non-existent or rare due to human-induced factors, promoting native rainforest growth in the Western Ghats.
• Behavior and Habitat:
o. Solitary and Nocturnal: Brown Palm Civets are solitary and nocturnal small carnivores.
• Habitat: They thrive in high-altitude tropical rainforests.
• Distribution: It is endemic to the Western Ghats.
• Found in Anamalai, Periyar, Parambikulam, Kalakkad Mundanthurai, and MeghamalaiTiger Reserves; Kodaikanal, Munnar forest divisions; and Srivilliputhur.
• Also found from Castle Rock in Goa.
• Elevation: Inhabit rainforest tracts at elevations of 500-1,300 meters.
Comments