1) Mount Vesuvius: Researchers used an AI program to read from an ancient scroll that was burned by eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
- It is one of the active volcanoes on Europe’s mainland.
- Location: Naples, Italy.
- It is a composite stratovolcano, made up of pyroclastic flows, lava flows, debris from lahars.
- Stratovolcanoes have steep sides and are more cone-shaped.
- The mountain has had eight major eruptions in the past 17,000 years, most recent in 1944.
- Its most famous eruption, in A.D. 79, destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum
2) Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF): Various bridge projects were recently approved in Arunachal under the Setu Bandhan Scheme under Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF).
- Setu Bandhan Scheme aims to build Road Over Bridges (ROBs)/Rail Under Bridges (RUBs)/Bridges over the state Roads.
- CIRF is fund earmarked for various infrastructure sectors such as Transport (Road and Bridges, Ports, etc), Energy, Water and Sanitation, etc., as per the provisions of CRIF Act, 2000.
- CRIF gets fund by way of cess, a duty of excise and duty of customs on motor spirit commonly known as petrol, high speed diesel oil etc.
3) Use of Bamboo to prevent landslide: The Kerala Forest Department is planning to plant bamboo and creeper bamboo along the highway in Munnar to prevent repeated landslides.
- In 2017, Government amended the Indian forest Act to categorise bamboo as a grass.
- Now there is no prohibition on growing or cutting bamboo trees even outside the forests.
- Bamboo grow four to five feet deep into the soil and ensure strong protection to the soil.
- Using bamboo to prevent landslides has been found successful in countries like Malaysia, the Philippines and Nepal.
4) Leniency plus: Competition Commission of India (CCI) recently issued draft of ‘leniency plus’ norms to curb Cartelization.
- Cartelization is when enterprises come together illegally to fix prices, indulge in bid rigging, or share customers, etc.
- Under ‘Leniency Plus’, a cartelist can disclose the existence of another cartel in an unrelated market in exchange for reduction in penalty for original leniency proceedings.
- The “Leniency Plus” regime was part of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2023.
- It is expected to further incentivise applicants to come forward with disclosures regarding multiple cartels to curb cartelisation
Places in News:
1) Marshall Islands (Capital: Majuro):
- United States signed a new 20-year agreement on economic assistance to the Marshall Islands.
- Political Boundaries
- Island country, located in Central Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and Australia.
- Nearest neighbours are Wake Island (north), Kiribati and Nauru (south), and the Federated States of Micronesia (west).
- Geographical Features
- Situated in two, almost-parallel island chains – the Ratak (Sunrise) group and the Ralik (Sunset) group.
- Largest atoll: Kwajalein.
- Home to world’s largest shark sanctuary
