Prelim Bits 01-04-2018

Lalit Kala Akademi

• Recently, the President has appointed Ministry of Culture’s Joint Secretary as Protem Chairman of the Lalit Kala Academy.
• The Akademi was inaugurated in New Delhi on 1954, by the then Minister for Education, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad.
• Lalit Kala Akademi is the Government’s apex cultural body in the field of visual arts in India.
• It is an autonomous body, which is fully funded by the Ministry of Culture.
• It has substantial independence in making decisions related to national and international exhibitions, events and providing financial assistance to artists and art organisations through scholarships and grants.
• Its head quarter is at New Delhi.

Electrical Bacteria

• A few bacteria have evolved the unique ability to be able to transfer electrons from the interior of the cell across their outer membrane to a receiving surface in the outside world.
• The Shewanella oneidensis is a kind of electric bacteria.
• A recent study notes that the bacteria use ‘nano wires’ to conduct electricity.
• The energy harnessed from living, organic sources holds tremendous potential for new sustainable technology.
• For example, a microbial fuel cell could generate electricity by capturing electrons from the bacteria on electrodes instead of the rocks that these organisms evolved to breathe.

Hampi

• Recently, Brahma Rathotsava (a twin car festival) was celebrated at Hampi.
• Hampi is a temple town in northern Karnataka that was once the capital of the historical Vijayanagara Dynasty.
• The magnificence of the ruins of temples and other structures of Vijayanagar in hampi is dating back to 1500 AD.
• It is located on the bank of the Tungabhadra River.

• Hampi houses the famous Virupaksha Temple, Vithala Temple and Nandi Statue.
• Group of Monuments at Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• They are Dravidian temples and palaces that won the admiration of travelers between the 14th and 16th centuries.

Gondi

• Gondi is the language of the Gond people, spoken in the six States of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.
• It was developed separately in each place and in each place, the dialect has been influenced by the dominant State language.
• Gondi is mostly oral language but it is all set to get its first dictionary
• Microsoft has now stepped in and volunteered to develop an oral version of the dictionary as a mobile app.

International Transgender Day of Visibility

• International Transgender Day of Visibility is an annual event observed on March 31.
• It is a day to celebrate the courage it takes to live openly and authentically, while also recognizing the leadership of transgender.
• It was started in 2009 by Michigan-based transgender activist Rachel Crandall as a way to celebrate the transgender community in all its diversity.

Surya Joyti

• Surya Joyti is a low cost and energy efficient Photo Voltaic (PV) intergrated Micro Solar Dome (MSD).
• It started as a pilot project to stream diffused sunlight into poorly-lit rooms through the roof in thatched, tiled or tin-roofed houses in the Sundarbans in West Bengal and in Tripura.
• The Department of Science & Technology along with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has taken it up for larger distribution in bigger areas.
• The Science and Technology Ministry estimates that ‘Surya Jyoti’ can help some 10 million households.

• These are off-grid, and can supply urban and rural areas without reliable access to electricity.
• The domes provide light equivalent to a 60W bulb.
• It has been included as a product for off grid solar lighting applications by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

Source: PIB, The Hindu