1) Siniyah Island: Archaeologists have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of the northern sheikhdoms of the UAE.
- The pearling town sits on Siniyah Island, whose name means ‘flashing lights’.
- Siniyah Island shields the Khor al-Beida marshlands and located north of Umm al-Quwain which is the least-populated emirate in the UAE.
- The pearling town predates the rise of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula and dates back to the late 6th century.
2) 2Africa Pearls: launched in 2020 it will connect 23 countries through 37000km subsea cable.
- It is one of world’s longest subsea cable systems that will ultimately interconnect countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe and provide connectivity to total of 3 billion people.
- 3 landing stations will be located in India: 2 in Mumbai and 1 in Chennai.
3) Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961: adopted in 1961 by the United Nations Conference on Diplomatic Intercourse and Immunities held in Vienna, Austria.
- It provides a complete framework for the establishment, maintenance and termination of diplomatic relations on a basis of consent between independent sovereign States.
- It came into force in April 1964 and there are 192 parties to the convention.
- It applies to diplomats and military and civilian personnel from the military departments, who are present in the country under the authority of the chief of the diplomatic mission.
- The first attempt in modern times to codify diplomatic immunity occurred in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna.
- An important aspect of the treaty is the provision of legal immunity for diplomats so that they don’t have to face prosecution according to the laws of the host country.
- The Vienna Convention holds that persons working as diplomats are “inviolable” and therefore cannot be detained or arrested. Host nations are also obliged to protect diplomats from attacks on their freedom and dignity.
- Article 22 of the Convention: It deals with obligations with regard to the premises of the Mission – the receiving/host State is mandated to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage.
4) Letter of Comfort (LoC): An LoC is a letter issued to a lending institution by a stakeholder of the company acknowledging the support of the attempt for financing asked by that company.
- They are usually issued by a third party or a stakeholder in the transaction.
- It is not legally binding and does not imply that the parent company guarantees repayment of the loan being sought by the subsidiary company.
- It can also be issued by banks, NBFCs, and auditors.
- It lays down the contract conditions and steps to complete the transaction successfully.
5) Gas geyser: Gas geysers consume oxygen to generate heat for warming water. In an ill-ventilated bathroom, they can consume the entire oxygen forcing a person to breathe in carbon monoxide — a known cause of epileptic seizures and brain damage.
- Gas geysers make use of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) for heating water. These geysers provide a constant flow of hot water and can provide rapid water heating. They are less powerful and quick to recover as compared to electric geysers.
