With respect to Operation Olivia, consider the following statements:
The operation was initiated in the early 1980s and followed every year by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).
The operation helps to protect Olive Ridley turtles as they congregate along the Odisha coast for breeding and nesting from November to December.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
2)With respect to Tulu Language, consider the following statements:
Tulu is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
It is one among the 22 languages presently listed under the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2
3)World Giving Index, 2021 was recently published by?
a. Oxfam
b. Amnesty International
c. Charities Aid Foundation
d. Green Peace International
Prelims Specific News Articles
1) Recently, WHO tagged B.1.617.2 strain of coronavirus as ‘Delta’ variant, which now has further mutated. Mutated form of Delta variant is being termed as “Delta Plus” or “AY.1” variant.
2)Consignment of fibre & mineral rich “Jalgaon Banana” was exported to Dubai on June 16, 2021, marking a major boost to exports. Key Points Jalgaon Banana is Geographical Indications (GI) certified agricultural produce from Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. Twenty-two metric tonnes of Jalgaon banana were sourced from progressive farmers of Tandalwadi village.
3)Latest edition of UNESCO Science Report (USR) was published on June 11, 2021 which is entitled as “race against time for smarter development”. About USR USR is a flagship publication of UNESCO which is published once every five years. It is a report on science, technology and innovation (STI).
4)The Sustainable Development Solutions Network released its annual Sustainable Development Report, which includes the 2021 SDG Index and Dashboards. The yearly resources provide data to track and rank the performance of all UN Member States on the 17 SDGs. The 2021 report also includes the International Spillover Index, which was developed by the report’s authors.
The first ever SDG progress decline due to covid poverty and unemployment
SDSN works to mobilize expertise for problem solving for sustainable development. The report was written by Jeffrey Sachs, SDSN President, as well as Christian Kroll, Guillaume Lafortune, Grayson Fuller, and Finn Woelm.
The 2021 report shows the first-ever reversal in progress since the SDGs were adopted in 2015. This reversal is revealed by a decrease in the global average country score on the SDG Index. The authors explain the decline as driven “to a large extent by increased poverty rates and unemployment” related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
5) About NATO :-
It is an intergovernmental military alliance.
Established by Washington treaty.
Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949.
Headquarters — Brussels, Belgium.
Headquarters of Allied Command Operations — Mons, Belgium.
Significance: It constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.
30 members- The most recent member states to be added to NATO are Montenegro on 5 June 2017 and North Macedonia on 27 March 2020.
6) All about Bond and bong Yield :–
What are bonds?
A bond is an instrument to borrow money. It is like an IOU. A bond could be floated/issued by a country’s government or by a company to raise funds. Since government bonds (referred to as G-secs in India, Treasury in the US, and Gilts in the UK) come with the sovereign’s guarantee, they are considered one of the safest investments.
What are bonds yields?
Simply put, the yield of a bond is the effective rate of return that it earns.
Every bond has a face value and a coupon payment.
Suppose the face value of a 10-year G-sec is Rs 100, and its coupon payment is Rs 5. Buyers of this bond will give the government Rs 100 (the face value); in return, the government will pay them Rs 5 (the coupon payment) every year for the next 10 years, and will pay back their Rs 100 at the end of the tenure. In this case, the bond’s yield, or effective rate of interest, is 5%. The yield is the investor’s reward for parting with Rs 100 today, but for staying without it for 10 years.
Imagine a situation in which there is just one bond, and two buyers (or people willing to lend to the government). In such a scenario, the selling price of the bond may go from Rs 100 to Rs 105 or Rs 110 because of competitive bidding by the two buyers. Importantly, even if the bond is sold at Rs 110, the coupon payment of Rs 5 will not change. Thus, as the price of the bond increases from Rs 100 to Rs 110, the yield falls to 4.5%.
As the price of the bond goes up, the yield falls; and as the price of the bond goes down, the yield goes up.
When interest rates are low, bond prices increase—because investors are seeking a better return.
Yield inversion happens when the yield on a longer tenure bond becomes less than the yield for a shorter tenure bond. This, too, happened last week when the 10-year Treasury yield fell below the 2-year Treasury yield.
Editorials of the Day
Editorial 01 :- America’s mistakes in the ‘forever war’
Author Highlights that Waging a war on Afghanistan was a big mistake by the Americans and now leaving Afghanistan is a much bigger mistake.
What were the major mistakes of America:-
First, the U.S. went into Afghanistan without learning anything from the country’s history, or was blindsided by the unipolar hubris. Afghanistan was invaded by great powers in the 19th and 20th centuries as well.
Second was the 2001 when Taliban and AlQaeda was almost reduced to their lowest power but america insisted on their total annihilation which was too much of asking and same time they started attacking Iraq.
Third mistake was trusting Pakistan since Pakistan was playing double games with both USA and Taliban.
Now Leaving Afghanistan at this juncture on Taliban terms will make them further strong.
Not giving much value to the elected government and holding back door talks with Taliban like the Doha Talks were also the mistakes of America.
Distinguishing between the Good Taliban and Bad Taliban was one of the blunders by America.
