Insights Learning (I-Learning) TEST 15 : 19 – 26 November, 2017
- Plastic Organic Light Emitting Diode Screens (POLED): Advantages over conventional AMOLED screens and/or IPS LCD Screens
What?
These are technologies used in the screens of smartphones/tablets or PCs. Each type of screen has its own advantages and trade-offs relating to durability, power consumption, quality of display and flexibility.
- OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) is a flat light emitting technology, made by placing a series of organic thin films between two conductors.
- When electrical current is applied, a bright light is emitted. OLEDs are emissive display that do not require a backlight and so are thinner and more efficient than LCD displays (which do require a white backlight).
- OLEDs are organic because they are made from carbon and hydrogen.
- POLED is an OLED panel that uses plastic as a substrate.
- OLED display offer improved image quality – better contrast, higher brightness, fuller viewing angle, a wider color range and much faster refresh rates and lower power consumption over an LCD display.
Control scheme:
PMOLED is an OLED control scheme in which each row or line in the display is controlled sequentially and one-by-one. In other words, passive matrix provides current to an entire row of LED one at a time.
On the other hand, AMOLED or active-matrix OLED is a control scheme that uses thin-film transistor backplane to actively maintain a particular pixel state while other pixels are being addressed at the same time. This scheme allows each pixel to be controlled individually.
Brightness:
IPS LCD is essentially brighter than OLED because of the addition of backlighting. This means that a POLED can be difficult to view outdoors or under direct sunlight.
Also, one of the notable disadvantages of POLED is a shorter lifespan than IPS LCD or TN LCD panels.
Others:
Typical AMOLED panels such as the Super AMOLED panel from Samsung use glass substrate. Using plastic substrates gives POLED several advantages.
- One of the advantages of POLED over conventional AMOLED is thinness. The plastic substrate is considerably half as thin as glass substrates, thus allowing manufacturers to produce thinner display panels that can be fitted into thinner devices.
- Another advantage of POLED is flexibility. Take note that LG G Flex was the first smartphone to feature a curved display thanks to its POLED panel.
Durability:
- Plastic OLED is also more durable than typical AMOLED. The flexibility of plastic gives some additional shock absorbance over glass. This durability also means POLED is less susceptible to cracking and shattering from dropping.
- Plastic is essentially more flexible than glass. It is also worth mentioning that glass is rigid while plastic is easier to form into new shapes.
Source: Introduction of new flagship smartphones that use OLED panels
- Blue label certification – MSC
Marine Stewardship Council is an international non-profit organisation.
- It grants blue label certification to the fishery across the world and helps create more sustainable seafood market.
- MSC certified fisheries minimise their impacts on the whole marine environment to ensure healthy, thriving oceans for the future.
- Purchases of MSC labelled seafood create an incentive for more fisheries, retailers and restaurants to produce and sell certified sustainable seafood.
Funding:
- India has special reason this time to celebrate the World Fisheries Day on November 21, as it received international fund for the promotion of sustainable fishing practices.
- MSC has awarded a fund for promoting sustainable practices in India’s fisheries sector recently.
- Based on this funding, WWF-India and the CMFRI will create fishery management and action plans to ensure the sustainability of both baitfish and tuna fisheries in Lakshadweep, a region which depends on fishing for income and as a food source.
The award is part of the MSC’s Global Fisheries Sustainability Fund (GFSF) that was established in 2015 in recognition of the difficulty that these fisheries have in reaching the MSC Standard. More than 300 fisheries in 34 countries are certified to the MSC’s Standard.
- Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN)
It is being hosted by UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP).
PFAN analyses promising clean energy projects at an early stage and provides mentoring for development of a business plan, investment pitch, and growth strategy, significantly enhancing the prospect of financial closure.
- Around 360 clean energy projects have been inducted into the PFAN Project Development Pipeline.
- These projects employ technologies including biogas, biomass, waste to energy, clean transport, wind, solar, small hydro and energy efficiency solutions.
- In May 2017, PFAN was relaunched under a new hosting arrangement with UNIDO and REEEP. Under this new hosting its operations will be scaled up by a factor of two to five by 2020.
Source: https://www.unido.org/news/press/clean-energy-and-cli.html
- UN peacekeeping operations
UNSC Role
Chapter VI of the UN Charter deals with the “Pacific Settlement of Disputes”. UN peacekeeping operations have traditionally been associated with Chapter.
The UN Charter gives the Security Council primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. In fulfilling this responsibility, the Council can establish a UN peacekeeping operation.
However, the Security Council need not refer to a specific Chapter of the Charter when passing a resolution authorizing the deployment of a UN peacekeeping operation and has never invoked Chapter VI.
Cost:
All UN Member States share the costs of peacekeeping, but the Security Council is required to pay a larger share because of their special responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Role of UNGA
While not normally directly involved in political decisions on establishing or terminating UN Peacekeeping operations, the General Assembly approves and oversees the peacekeeping budget.
This includes how specific field operations are funded and equipped, based on detailed submissions provided to it by the UN Secretary-General.
Q Source: Frequently in news: https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mandates-and-legal-basis-peacekeeping
- Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC)
REC came into being in 1969. REC is a Navratna Company functioning under the purview of the Ministry of Power. The company is listed on both National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange.
The company provides loans to Central/ State Sector Power Utilities, State Electricity Boards, Rural Electric Cooperatives, NGOs and Private Power Developers. The company sanctions loan as a sole lender or co-lender or in consortium with or without the status of lead financer. This is for financing Renewable Energy projects.
It also provides consultancy, project monitoring and financial/ technical appraisal support for projects, also in the role of nodal agency for Government of India schemes or projects.
Source: Additional Research: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=171101
