S.No.

Term

About

1.        

Basic Structure Doctrine

The Basic Structure Doctrine is a judicial innovation that emerged to protect the core principles of the Constitution from arbitrary amendments.

The Constitution of India defines its 'basic structure' in terms of federalism, secularism, fundamental rights and democracy.

2.        

Conventional submarines

Conventional submarines are propelled by electric motors powered by batteries which are charged by diesel generators on board.

Coal bed methane (CBM) 

Coal bed methane (CBM) is an unconventional form of natural gas found in coal deposits or coal seams. It is a primary clean energy source of natural gas.

4.

Carbon offsets

• Carbon offsets are used by the government and polluting companies as an alternative to cutting carbon dioxide emissions.
• Instead of reducing their own pollution, they can choose to buy offsets that are meant to represent a reduction in emissions elsewhere.
• Each carbon credit represents one tonne of carbon dioxide that has either been stopped from going in the atmosphere, or sucked out of it.

5.        

Cryptocurrency

• Cryptocurrency is decentralized digital money that is based on blockchain technology and secured by cryptography.

6.        

Debt restructuring

Debt restructuring is a process used by companies, individuals, and countries to change the terms on loans to make them easier to pay back.

Demographic Dividend

Demographic dividend refers to the growth in an economy that is the result of a change in the age structure of a country's population

8.        

Greenwashing

Greenwashing is the act of making false or misleading statements about the environmental benefits of a product or practice.

9.        

Heat islands

Heat islands are urbanized areas that experience higher temperatures than outlying areas. Structures such as buildings, roads, and other infrastructure absorb and re-emit the sun’s heat more than natural landscapes such as forests and water bodies. 

10.    

IUCN Red List

The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological species.

11.    

Indo-Pacific countries

The Indo-Pacific comprises 40 countries and economies: Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, the Pacific Island Countries (14), Pakistan, People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Philippines, Republic of Korea (ROK), Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam.

12.    

Lobbying

Lobbying is a political activity where individuals or groups attempt to influence the decisions of government officials.

13.    

Nuclear-powered submarine

A nuclear-powered submarine is powered by a nuclear reactor.

But it is not a nuclear weapon. Nuclear-powered submarines can be divided into three broad categories:

the nuclear-powered fast-attack submarines or SSNs

the nuclear-powered ballistic submarines or SSBNs

the nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines or SSGNs

14.    

Total fertility rate

• Total fertility rate represents the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.

15.    

Re-usable landing vehicle

• The idea of a re-usable landing vehicle was mooted to regain super expensive rocket boosters that are used for launching spacecraft.
• ·         It could be later used to refuel and reuse in space flights.

16.    

Peninsula

• A Peninsula is any landmass which is surrounded by water on three sides and land on one side. India is called as Peninsula because it is surrounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west and the Bay of Bengal on the east.

17.    

Seamount

A seamount is an underwater mountain with steep sides rising from the seafloor. Most seamounts are remnants of extinct volcanoes, while others are actively erupting and growing. Typically, they are cone shaped, but often have other prominent features such as craters and linear ridges.

18.    

Secularism

• Secularism is a belief system that rejects religion, or the belief that religion should not be part of the affairs of the state or part of public education

19.    

Vulnerable (VU)

• Vulnerable (VU), a category containing those species that possess a very high risk of extinction as a result of rapid population declines of 30 to more than 50 percent over the previous 10 years (or three generations), a current population size of fewer than 1,000 individuals, or other factors