• Union Minister of State (I/C) for Port, Shipping and Waterways Shri Mansukh Mandaviya has recently chaired the 18th meeting of the Maritime State Development Council (MSDC).

Maritime State Development Council (MSDC)

• It is an apex advisory body for the development of the Maritime sector and aims to ensure integrated development of Major and non-Major Ports.
• The MSDC was constituted in May 1997 to assess in consultation with State Governments, the future development of existing and new Minor Ports by the respective Maritime States either directly or through captive users and private participation.
• It works under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways.
• As per mandate of the Instruction of Maritime State Development council under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, the Council would meet at least once in six months.

• Union Defence Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh visited the Karwar Naval Base in Karnataka recently.
• He reviewed the progress of ongoing infrastructure development under ‘Project Seabird’.

Project Sea bird

• It is the largest naval infrastructure project for India in Karwar, Karnataka.
• It involves creation of a naval base at Karwar on the west coast of India.
• Upon completion, the program will provide Indian Navy with its largest naval base on the west coast and also the largest naval base east of the Suez Canal.

• The forest department of Odisha has recently busted an organized trafficking racket and seized seven Bengal monitor lizards.

Bengal (or) Common Indian Monitor Lizard (Varanus bengalensis)

• It is a large lizard that is mainly terrestrial.
• The monitors are carnivorous and non-poisonous.
• The monitor lizard is protected under Schedule I of WPA, 1972.
• But they are regularly killed for its meat, blood and oil. 
• The species is listed under the ‘Least Concern’ category on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.
• Its population is dwindling due to rampant poaching.
• It plays an important role in maintaining the balance and health of the forest ecosystem, for which its survival is important.

• In the Natya Shastra, compiled by Bharat Muni dated 200 B.C.-200 A.D., musical instruments have been divided into four main categories on the basis of how sound is produced.

1. The Tata Vadya or Chordophones- Stringed instruments
2. The Sushira Vadya or Aerophones- Wind instruments
3. The Avanaddha Vadya or Membranophones- Percussion instruments
4. The Ghana Vadya or Idiophones- Solid instruments which do not require tuning.

• The Tata Vadya is a category of instruments in which sound is produced by the vibration of a string or chord.
• The tampura is a long-necked plucked string instrument, originating from India, found in various forms in Indian music.
• It supports and sustains the melody of another instrument or singer by providing a continuous harmonic bourdon or drone.

• Ranked choice voting system has recently made its debut in New York City’s mayoral primary.

Ranked Choice Voting System

• The system is based on a simple premise - Democracy works better if people aren’t forced to make an all-or-nothing choice with their vote.
• Rather than pick just one candidate, voters get to rank several in order of preference.
• Even if a voter’s top choice doesn’t have enough support to win, their rankings of other candidates still play a role in determining the victor.
• Working - If one candidate is the first choice of a majority of voters (more than 50%) that person wins the race outright, just like in a traditional election.
• If nobody hits that threshold, ranked choice analysis kicks in.
• Vote tabulation is done in rounds. In each round, the candidate in last place is eliminated.
• Votes cast ranking that candidate first are then redistributed to those voters’ second choices.
• That process repeats until there are only two candidates left. The one with the most votes wins.
• Benefit - Nobody “wastes” their vote in this system by picking an unpopular candidate as their first choice.
• If that person is eliminated, you still get a say in who wins the race based on your other rankings.
• Another benefit is that it’s tough for someone to get elected without broad support, unlike the traditional election.

Ebola Virus

• The virus family Filoviridae is responsible for EVD which includes three genera: Cuevavirus, Marburgvirus, and Ebolavirus.
• It is introduced into the human population through human to human transmission, humans close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals.
• Objects that have been contaminated with body fluids (like blood, feces, vomit) from a person sick with Ebola or the body of a person who died from Ebola can spread the disease.
• The Ervebo vaccine has been shown to be effective in protecting people from the species Zaire ebolavirus.

Antarctic Treaty

• It was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959 by the twelve countries.
• India became the signatory of Antarctic Treaty in 1983.
• The three international agreements under Antarctic Treaty System are:

1. Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (1972)
2. Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980)
3. Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (1991)

Data Lake

• NHAI has gone ‘Fully Digital’ with the launch of cloud based and Artificial Intelligence powered Big Data Analytics platform – Data Lake and Project Management Software.
• All project documentation, contractual decisions and approvals are now done through the portal only.
• Data Lake software forecasts the delays, likely disputes and gives advance alerts.
• It will enhance transparency, as all officers and stakeholders connected with the project can see what is going on a real time basis.

Class Action Suits

• It derives from representative litigation, to ensure justice to the ordinary individual against a powerful adversary.
• The Class Action Suits were formally incorporated into law in the United States in 1938 under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
• In India, the legal provisions for filing class action suits are under four laws:

1. Civil Procedure Code (It does not cover criminal proceeding)
2. Companies Act
3. Competition Act
4. Consumer Protection Act

Great Barrier Reef

• The reef is located in the Coral Sea (North-East Coast), off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
• This reef structure is composed of and built by billions of tiny organisms, known as coral polyps.
• These polyps have microscopic algae called zooxanthellae living within their tissues.
• The corals and algae have a mutualistic (symbiotic) relationship.
• Recently, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has recommended that the Australia’s Great Barrier Reef should be added to a list of “in danger” World Heritage Sites.