Important Points @ Glance: Part 5
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Australia has decided to provide a three-year multiple-entry visitor
visa for Indians
by July 2016 on a trial basis. This is aimed at boosting Australia’s future
tourism growth. This will allow entry into Australia multiple times on the same
visa and each stay will be valid up to three months. Apart from India, this
will be implemented in three countries — Thailand, Vietnam and Chile. The
announcement of the trial was made as part of the Australian government’s
2016-17 budget. It will be applicable to eligible applicants on tourist and business
visitor visa streams.
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The
Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese
Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are
one of the three famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China. Mogao
cave-temples of Dunhuang are a World Heritage Site; Mogao caves reveal pivotal
India-China Buddhist link
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Scientists
have discovered a “bizarre” fossil of the animal. Its head was poorly
preserved, but it seemed to have a flamingo-like beak. The fossil resembled a
crocodile-sized ’hammerhead’ creature, that lived 242 million years ago in what
today is southern China. It is also thought to be the earliest known example of
a plant-eating marine reptile. The reptile’s name, Atopodentatus unicus, hints
at its muddled past — it is Latin for “unique strangely toothed.”
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Gujarat
Government has issued a government resolution (GR) giving minority status to the Jain community. This move is
aimed at benefitting the poor among the Jain community. Jain institutions will
now get special status like the one given to Christian and Muslim institutions.
Religious education on Jainism can now be taught in Jain institutes which will
also be free from government interference. The move comes nearly two years
after the then UPA government granted minority status to Jains in June 2014 at the
national level.
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The
Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademark has granted American
pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences the patent for the blockbuster Hepatitis C drug Sofosbuvir (brand name Sovaldi) in
India. An application for the same patent was first rejected in January 2015 as
lacking inventiveness and novelty. The Indian Patent Office is administered by
the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks
(CGPDTM) and the CGPDTM reports to the Department of Industrial Policy and
Promotion (DIPP) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It administers
the Indian law of Patents, Designs and Trademarks.
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Scientists
have unveiled the gene in carrots that gives rise to carotenoids, a critical
source of Vitamin A and the pigment that turns some fruits and vegetables
bright orange or red. The gene is named as DCAR_032551. With this, carrot now
joins a select club of about a dozen veggies — including the potato, cucumber,
tomato and pepper — whose complete genomes have been sequenced. Carrots are
loaded with beta-carotene, a natural chemical that the body can transform into
Vitamin A. The deeper the orange colour, the more beta-carotene. Vitamin A is
essential for normal growth and development, the proper functioning of the
immune system, and vision. Carotenoids are also antioxidants, which are thought
to protect against heart disease and some forms of cancer by neutralising
so-called “free radicals“, single oxygen atoms that can damage cells.
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India
is ranked at ninth position in crony-capitalism with
crony sector wealth accounting for 3.4% of the gross domestic product (GDP),
according to a new study by The Economist. In 2014 ranking also, India stood at
the ninth place. Germany is cleanest, where just a sliver of the country’s
billionaires derives their wealth from crony sectors. The index ranked Russia
as the worst crony-capitalist country, followed by Malaysia, Philippines,
Singapore, Ukraine, Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey above India. Taiwan and China
are ranked 10th and 11th after India.
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Fearing
Chinese support in the unrest at Tawang, the
government has decided not to go ahead with the planned hydroelectric projects
in the district without consulting the local people and the monks, who have
been protesting against the dams. Tawang is a town on India-China border in
Arunachal Pradesh. It is the smallest of the 16 administrative districts of
Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India and with a population of 49,977 it is
the eighth least populous district in the country. The area is historically
part of Tibet and is claimed by both the People’s Republic of China and the
Republic of China (Taiwan). It is inhabited by the Monpa
people. Visitors to Tawang district require a special Inner Line Permit
from the government. The district has two main rivers, the Tawang Chhu and the
Naymjang Chhu, that together have 10 main tributaries. These two rivers meet
each other before exiting the district in a southwesterly direction. There are
two major religious festivals of the Monpas viz “LOSAR” and “TORGYA“. Both
festivals are celebrated once annually. The LOSAR s celebrated to the
commencement of New year. Every third year of Torgya, the festival of Dungyur
is celebrated.
Important Points @ Glance: Part 2
Important Points @ Glance: Part 3
Important Points @ Glance: Part 4
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