1) International Criminal Court (ICC): Armenia’s Parliament voted to join the International Criminal Court
- Genesis: Established by Rome Statute of International Criminal Court in 1998.
- About: It is a permanent international court to investigate and prosecute individuals accused of serious international crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression.
- Members: 123 countries are party to Rome Statute. India is not a member.
2) Guaranteed Pension System (GPS): Andhra Pradesh’s GPS is a hybrid of the old pension schemes (OPS) and new pension schemes (NPS).
- OPS: Guarantees the quantum of pension, factors in inflation and pay commission hikes but is costly and unsustainable.
- NPS: Market condition decides the quantum of pension, but protects a state fiscal health.
- GPS:
- It is a contributory scheme that guarantees government employees a monthly pension of 50% of their last-drawn salary and includes dearness allowance relief.
- Any short- fall in the returns from NPS is funded by the government.
3) Gravity battery: A gravity battery is a type of electricity storage device that involves lifting (charging) and lowering (discharging) a heavy weight.
- When there is plenty of green energy, the batteries use the power to lift a heavy weight (or blocks) either high into the air or to the top of a deep shaft.
- When electricity demand picks up, the blocks are lowered one by one, releasing kinetic energy that is used to rotate a motor and generate electricity
4) Nanoparticles in Air: A study identified increasing Nanoparticles in Delhi’s air.
- A nanoparticle is a small particle that ranges between 1 to 100 nanometres (10−9 m) in size.
- In urban environments, nanoparticles mainly from combustion process in automobiles, and can contribute up to 90% to the total particle number concentration.
- Nanoparticles can penetrate deeper into respiratory system than other pollutant.
- It can be transported from respiratory system to other parts of human body, creating more chronic and acute illnesses.
Places in News:
1) Slovakia (Capital: Bratislava)
- Slovakia’s leftist election winner Robert Fico got a two-week window to negotiate a coalition government.
- Political Boundaries
- Landlocked country of central Europe.
- Bordered by Poland (north), Ukraine (east), Hungary (south), Austria (southwest) and Czech Republic (west).
- Geographical features
- Highest peak: Gerlach Peak.
- Major river: Váh River, Danube River.
- Major Lakes: Lake Orava, Velke Hincovo Pleso
