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target30upsc U:PSC
Forwarded from Kanishak:Strategy and Notes for UPSC
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Inflation in India
WPI
The Wholesale Price Index(WPI) is the p r i c e of a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e b a s k e t of
wholesalegoods. The Wholesale Price Index focuses on the price of goods traded between
corporations, rather than the goods bought by consumers, which is measured by the
Consumer
purpose ofPrice Index
the WPI is.to
The
monitor price movements that reflect supply and demand in
industry,
manufacturing and construction .
This helps in analyzing both macroeconomicand microeconomic conditions.
Published by the Office of Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry .
The base year of All-India has been revised from 2004-05 to2011-12 in 2017.
WPI
Of these, the first three are compiled by the Labour Bureau in the Ministry of Labour and
Employment. Fourth is compiled by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) in the Ministry
of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Page 4
Cost push inflation
Increase in the price of factors of production
Cost push inflation is inflation caused by an increase in prices of inputs like labour,
raw price of the factors of production leads to a decreased supply of
material, etc. The increased
these goods.
While the demand remains constant, the prices of commodities increase causing a rise in
the overall price level. This is in essence cost push inflation.
Creeping inflation
Creeping inflation is defined as the circumstance where the inflation of a nation increases
but continually, over time. The relatively small effect of creeping inflation, when gradually,
viewed long-term,
actually adds up to a pretty significant increase in the cost of living.
Galloping inflation
This is a‘very high infation ’ running in the range ofdouble-digit or triple (i.e., 20 per
cent, 100 per cent or 200 per cent in a year) digit
Hyperinflation
This form of inflation is large
‘ and accelerating’ which might have the annual rates in million
or even trillion.17 In such inflation not only therange of increase is very , but the increase
place in a very short span of large
, prices shoot up overnight. takes
time
What Is Core Inflation?
Inflation measure which excludes transitory or temporary price volatility as in the case of some
commodities such asfood items, energy products . It reflects the inflation trend in an economy.
etc
Core inflation is the change in the costs of goods and services but does not those from
include
food and energy sectors. the This measure of inflation excludes these items because their prices
are
Page 5
much more volatile. It is most often calculated using the consumer price index (CPI), which is a
measure of prices for goods and services.
Headline inflation
A measure of the total inflation within an economy, including commodities such
as food and energy prices (e.g., oil and gas), which tend to be much more volatile and prone
to inflationary spikes.
Stagflation
In economics, stagflation, or recession-inflation, is a situation in which the rate is high,
the growth rate , and unemployment remains steadily . It presents a dilemma
slowsactions intended
for economic policy, since high to lower inflation may exacerbate
unemployment
Moore Law:
As per Moore’s law, the transistor numbers to be accommodated in same size chip double
every two years, and due to this most electronic systems get outdated in about three
years
International Intellectual Property Index:
The International Intellectual Property Index ranks 50 based 45
indicators on across economies unique
eight separate categories that are critical to an innovation-led economy
supported by robust patent , trademark, copyright , and trade secrets protection .
The Global Intellectual Property of the USCC works around the world to
Centre
examine the Intellectual Property (IP) rights and their role in creating jobs, saving lives,
advancing global economic growth, etc.
It provides both an IP report card for the world and a blueprint for policymakers in various
countries.
The Index covers 50 economies, representing 90 percent of global .
GDP
Page 6
Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB)
The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) was constituted on September 15, 2003 by the
Indian Government to hear and resolve the appeals against the decisions of the registrar under the
Indian Trademarks Act, and the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and
1999
Protection) Act, .
Since April 2, 2007, IPAB has been authorized to hear and adjudicate upon the appeals from most
of the decisions, orders or directions made by the Patent Controller under the
Patents Therefore
Act.
all pending appeals of Indian High Courts under the Patents Act were transferred to IPAB.
Patents
Patent is one of the most important IPR under which protection is granted for an exclusive right to
exploit an invention . The invention must be a product or a process that provides a novelty and must
have commercial application. The owner of a patent is usually granted 20 years of patent .
protection
Article 28 of confers on the owner of a product patent an exclusive right to prevent third
TRIPS
parties without his consent, from the acts of making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing
that product.
Process Patent
The TRIPs regulation provides for registration of both the product patent as well as a process
patent
Page 7
under the new patent
regime.
Copyrights
Copyrights include the right of the author of computer programs and cinematographic apart
from the general work of art and works 12 provides for protection of copyrights for at
. Article
least fifty literature
years .
Trade marks
It any sign or any combination of signs capable of distinguishing the goods or services
means from . The term of protection is for seven years and is renewable .
those of other
undertakings indefinitely
The owner of a registered trademark has the right to assign his trademark with or without the
transfer of his business .
Geographical Indications
‘Geographical Indications’ mean any indication that explains the goods having origin in country’s
territory or a region in the territory or say locality in territory, given a qualitative reputation or other
goods features is in attributed to its geographical root. This means that the geographical
essencethat a good of a particular origin has a stated quality or reputation or some
indication has to indicate
other characteristics, which in essence attributed to its geographical root.
Industrial Designs
Design broadly implies to the characteristics of shape, pattern, configuration, or composition of
lines or colours which is tested to any commodity by any industrial process or means, which is
judged by eyes.
Trade Secret
Trade secrets with commercial value must be protected against breach of confidence, breach of
contract, inducements and other acts contrary to “honest commercial practices”. Furthermore,
reasonable steps must be taken to keep the information secret. Governments must protect against
unfair commercial use test data submitted to obtain marketing approval for new pharmaceutical or
agricultural chemicals.
Domestic Support
1. Domestic support implies various kinds of direct or indirect supports provided by the
government to agriculture in their home country. This involves subsidies on input in the
form of energy, irrigation, fertilizer, seeds or pesticides etc.
2. It may indirect support in the form of research and development work for agriculture
involve in
general.
3. These domestic supports aresubject to certain restrictions and commitments for reduction
elimination of these . or
4. These subsidies are exposed to limit called as aggregate measures of .
support
GATS deal with agreement on trade in services i.e., services relating to banking, insurance,
information technology, telecom, health, education etc.
There are 12 sectors and 161 sub-sectors of services covered under GATS.
Provide four different modes of across the borders from one country to another
services
amongst member under Article 1 of GATS
countries
Mode-1 Cross Border supply Agreement.
of services : popularly known as e-commerce or
business process outsourcing (BPO)
Mode-2 Consumption : These types of services generally include
abroadeducation etc.
tourism, health,
Mode-3 Commercial presence: The examples under this category are Citi
bank operating in India through its various branch offices
Mode-4 Movement of natural persons : free movement of natural persons
on fulfillment of educational and other technical qualifications.
Think!
Page 9
WTO Agreements & Its Impact on Indian Economy?
AMBER BOX
1. All types of domestically given support allotments recognized for production &
commerce distortion incorporating some exceptions comes under this category of
box.
2. It is included in Article six of the Agreement on agriculture as all domestically given
aids excluding those which are explained in the blue & green boxes.
BLUE BOX
1. These are furnished to farmers usually in developed to restrict as the
domestic market is not nations production
and is furnished as a type of allowance to the unemployed .
large
2. In a technical manner this is the “amber box with conditions” — conditions designed to
reduce distortion.
GREEN BOX
The green box is explained in Annex two of the Agreement on agriculture. For
qualification, green box subsidies mustn’t do trade distortion, or at the most be the reason
behind even a minimum distortion.
They have to receive funds from government (not by hiking prices) and not indulge in
price- support.
These are the type of programmes which are not focused on products particularly, and
may have inclusion of direct revenue aids for farmers, not linked to production at current
prices or levels.
They also have inclusion of environment safeguarding and development programmes
targeted at particular regions.
Subsidies under “Green box” are permitted without restrictions, and are furnished. they
agree to criteria which is policy-specific set out in Annex two.
Page 10
Here are the highlights:
The Policy aims to push IPRs as a marketable financial asset, promote innovation and
entrepreneurship, while protecting public interest.
The plan will be reviewed every five years.
The policy is entirely compliant with the WTO’s agreement on TRIPS.
Special thrust on awareness generation and effective enforcement of IPRs, besides
encouragement of IP commercialisation through various incentives.
It suggests making the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) the
nodal agencyfor all IPR issues.
Copyrights related issues will also come under DIPP’s ambit from that of the Human
Resource Development (HRD) Ministry
The Policy also seeks to facilitate domestic IPR filings, for the entire value chain from IPR
generation to commercialisation.
It aims to promote research and development through tax benefits.
Proposal to create an effective loan guarantee scheme to encourage start-ups.
On compulsory licensing (CL), India has issued only CL for a cancer drug.
As per the WTO norms, a CL can be invoked by a government allowing a company to
produce a patented product without the consent of the patent owner in public interest.
Under the Indian Patents Act, a CL can be issued for a drug if the medicine is deemed
unaffordable, among other conditions, and the government grants permission to qualified
generic drug makers to manufacture it.
Page 11
The demand for protecting exclusive data that have high commercial value is a major
demand from the developed world which doesn’t usually come under TRIPs.
Monetised deficit–
Borrowings made from RBIthrough printing fresh currency .
The printed money iscalled high power money .
FRBM act disallow RBI todo this under normal
Deficits:
A deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenues,
Imports exceed exports, or liabilities exceed assets.
Revenue deficit (RD): It is the differencebetween the revenue receipts (RR) and the
revenueexpenditure (RE).RD- RR-RE.
Effective Revenue deficit (ERD):It is defined as thedifference between the revenue deficit
Page 12
and creationof capital assets.
Fiscal deficit (FD):It is the difference between whatgovernment earns and its total
expenditure (excludingnon-debt creating capital expenditure)
PD=FD-interest payment
'Maharaja' bond:
The International Finance Corporation , a World Bank-backed development
(IFC) , has sold the first tranche of its 'Maharaja' bond, a rupee-denominatedonshore
institution
debt instrument.
‘Regulatory Sandbox’:
RBI recently proposed to relax the rules for Regulatory sandbox model, to enable
in the financial technology space . innovations
It is an infrastructure that helps financial (FinTech) players live test
technology
products or solutions before getting the necessary regulatory their launch
for a mass
approvals
which saves startup time and cost.
Also Know
Forex swap?
Green bonds"
Green bonds are debt instruments like normal bonds. It is specifically earmarked to be
used for climate and environmental .
projects
These bonds are typically asset-linked and backed by the issuer's balance sheet , and are also
referred to as climate .
Intended to encourage sustainability and to support climate-related or other types of
special environmental projects.
Green bonds come with tax incentives such as tax exemption and tax , making
credits
them a more attractive investment compared to a comparable taxable bond.
To qualify for green bond status, they are often verified by a third party such as the Climate
Page 14
Bond Standard Board, which certifies Bond.
Green bonds can be released by financial institutions like World Bank, IMF,
commercial banks, corporates and even governments .
Also Know
'Maharaja' bond?
Transfer Payments:
Governments typically redistribute a share of tax revenues back to specified groups of
individuals in the form of various social programs (such as welfare benefits,
unemployment insurance, public pensions, or child benefits).
These transfer paymentssupplement the market income of the households which receive
them.
Peace clause
The term ‘peace clause’ has been a cause of disquiet ever since india
dug in its on
the issuedomestic
of food heels (WTO)
in the recent world trade organisation
security
negotiations , leading to a deadlock.
Page 15
What is it?
The ‘peace clause’ said that no country would be legally barred from food security
programmes even if the subsidy breached the limits specified in the WTO agreement on
agriculture.
India’s worry is that if the clause expires before a permanent solution is in place, food
security programmes and policies to protect farmers, such as Minimum Support Prices, would
come under siege.
The limited window offered by the Western powers for the peace clause was seen by India as
insufficient assurance.
The clause also requires full disclosure of MSPs and annual procurement for food security
programmes, which the Government fears would leave India open to questioning by other
countries on domestic matters.
Why is it important?
The right to food is a basic human right. Therefore, Western misgivings about a
country like India − where a third of the 3 billion-population lives beneath the poverty
line − providing food subsidies seems hypocritical.
The developed nations see India as a huge market for foodgrains and other products, but
their produce is rendered uncompetitive when the government is willing to subsidise
farmers, purchase their produce for a minimum support price and then sell it at a loss
through the public distribution system and other channels.
Organisedin 1989, the CD is used by banks andissued to the depositors for a specifiedperiod ranging
less than one year —theyare negotiable and tradable in the . Since 1993 the RBI
moneymarket
allowed thefinancial institutions to operate in —IFCI,
it , IRBI ( IIBI
since 1997) andthe Exim
Bank —they can issue CDs forthe maturity periods above one year andupto three years .
Organised in1990 it is used by the corporate houses inIndia (which should be a listed companywith
a working capital of not less than Rs.5 crore). The CP issuing companies need to obtain a specified
credit rating froman agency approved by the RBI (such asCRISIL, ICRA, etc).
Organised in1990, a CB is issued by the All IndiaFinancial Institutions (AIFIs), NonBanking Finance
Companies (NBFCs),Scheduled Commercial Banks,Merchant Banks, Co-operative Banksand the
Mutual Funds. It replaced theold Bill Market available since 1952 inthe country.
This isbasically an inter-bank money marketwhere funds are borrowed and lent,generally, for
one day—that is why thisis also known as
over-night borrowingmarket (also called money at ).
Fundcan be borrowed/raised for a maximumperiod upto 14 call ).
(called short notice
days
Money Market Mutual Fund (MF)
Popular as Mutual Funds (MFs) this money market instrument wasintroduced/organised in 1992 to
provideshort-term investment opportunity toindividuals. The initial guidelines forthe MF have been
liberalised manytimes. Since March 2000, MFs havebeen brought under the preview of
SEBI,besides the RBI. At present, a whole lotof financial institutions and firms areallowed to set up
MFs, viz., commercialbanks, public and private financialinstitutions and private sector companies.
In the era ofeconomic reforms there developed twonew instruments of money market—repo and
reverse repo. Considered themost dynamic instruments of the Indianmoney market they have
emerged themost favoured route to raise short-termfunds in India. ‘Repo’ is basically anacronym of
the rate of repurchase.
Page 17
NPA
Non-performing assets
A non-performing loan (NPL) is a loan that is in default or close to being in default. Many loans
become non-performing after being in default for 90 days, but this can depend on
the contract terms.
Classifications Of NPAs
Banks classify NPA’s into the following 3 categories based on how long they remain non-
performing. The three categories are – 1. Substandard Assets, 2.Doubtful Assets and 3.Loss
Assets. Standard Assets are those assets whose payment is received by due date.
Gross NPA consists of Substandard Assets, Doubtful Assets and Loss Assets.
1. Substandard Assets– If a loan account remains NPA for a period less than or equal to
12 months.
2. Doubtful Assets– An asset is doubtful if it has remained in the sub-standard category for
12 months.
3. Loss Asset– A loan account is declared as loss asset when the bank’s internal or
external auditors declare it so or RBI inspection declares it as one.
Formula:
Net non-performing = Gross NPAs – Provisions.
assets
Gross NPA
Page 18
It is the ratio of total gross NPA to total advances (loans) of the bank.
Net NPA to Advances (loans) Ratio is the ratio of Net NPA to advances. It is used as ameasure of
overall quality of the bank’s loan
book.
Provision Coverage = Total provisions / Gross .
Ratio NPAs
Restructured loans:
Restructured asset or loan are those assets which got an extended repayment period,
reduced interest rate, converting a part of the loan into equity, providing additional financing,
or some combination of thesemeasures.
Fiscal drag:
Fiscal drag: It is a situation where inflation pushesincome into higher tax bracket. The
result is increasein income taxes but no increase in real purchasing power.
BONDI
The World launched bond-i (blockchain operated new debt instrument).
The world’s first bond to be created , allocated , transferred and managed through its life
cycle using distributed ledger .
technology
What is FASTag, and how does it work?
National Payments Corporation of India has developed the National Electronic Toll
(NPCI)
Collection (NETC) to fulfil the electronic tolling requirements in India.
programme
The programme has FASTag as its backbone as the RFID-powered technology is designed
to enable toll payments while the vehicle is in motion, directly debiting the linked prepaid or
Page 19
savings account.
A FASTag RFID tag is required to be affixed on the windscreen of the vehicle to initiate
payments once the driver passes through a NETC-supported toll plaza.
"FASTag offers the convenience of cashless payment along with benefits like - savings on
fuel and time as the customer does not has to stop at the toll plaza," NPCI notes on its
website.
GDP deflator:
Nominal GDP is the value, which is calculated using the current prices in the economy.
Real GDP is the value calculated using a constant set of prices.
By affixing a base year for these constant prices, value of the GDP can be calculated to
ascertain the scale of change in the production levels.
The change in prices is calculated by an index of prices called the GDP deflator, which is
nothing but the ratio of the nominal GDP to the real GDP.
e., GDP Deflator = Nominal GDP/ Real GDP
Also Know!
Page 20
NAFED
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd
(NAFED)
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) is an apex
organization of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India, under Ministry of
Agriculture , Government of India.
NAFED is the nodal agency to implement price stabilization measures under Operation
Greens " " whichaims to double the farmers' income by .
2022
NAFED along with FCI with proactive role of state governments also physically procures
oilseeds, pulses and copra under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) which in turn is under
umbrella scheme of PM-AASHA. In 2008, it established, National Spot Exchange , a
Commodities exchange as a joint venture ofFinancial Technologies (India) Ltd. .
(FTIL)
Crops are procured by NAFED -
Hare Krishna
2020-05-27 04:45:41
Pulses
--------------------------------------------
Oilseeds Copra = The dried meat of the coconut
Cotton , Copra from which oil is extracted
NABARD
Functionsof NABARD:
NABARD gives high priority to projects formed under the Integrated Rural
Development Programme (IRDP) .
It provides finance to support poverty alleviationprograms run by IRDP.
It also makes the service area plan to provide backward and forward linkages and
infrastructural support.
It seeks to establish linkages between Self-help Group (SHG) that are organized by
voluntary agencies for poor and needy in rural areas and other official credit agencies.
It finances projects under the ‘National Watershed Development Programme‘and
the ‘National Mission of Wasteland Development‘.
It also supervises the cooperative and Regional Rural Banks to periodically
banks
ensure the development of the rural financing and farmers’ welfare.
To promote and support activities aimed towards addressing climate change impacts,
adaptation and mitigation measures, awareness generation, knowledge sharing and facilitate
sustainable development.
The main objective of the Fund is to provide loans to State Governments and State-owned
corporations to enable them to complete ongoing rural infrastructure projects
Page 22
Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund
The Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund wasannounced in 2018 Budget for developing and
upgrading agricultural marketing infrastructure in the 22,000 Gramin Agricultural
Markets (GrAMs) and 585 Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC).
At present, fund .
The scheme being demand-driven,progress will depend on demand from states.
To suck out the surplus liquidity and alleviate the banking system’s problem of .
plenty
This concept, first recommended by the Urjit Patel committee report in 2014, may soon become
part of the central bank’s toolkit to manage liquidity.
Page 23
Exchange Traded Fund:
An ETF is a type of fund that tracks the underlying assets and divides ownership of those
assets into shares.
The underlying assets can be shares of stock, bonds, oil futures, gold bars, foreign currency,
etc.
Shareholders do not directly own or have any direct claim to the underlying investments in the
fund, rather they indirectly own these assets.
ETF shareholders are entitled to a proportion of the profits, such as earned interest or
dividends paid, and they may get a residual value in case the fund is liquidated.
Also Know!
Page
25
TAR TU PSC
Tho Lood You l'lood
TAR@ET U
PSC
The Lead You Need
MODU LE
SALIENT FEATURES
• Understanding of Basic Terminologies &
Concepts.
Comprehensive Coverage of economy
Current Affairs from The
Hindu,PIB,Yoina,
Kurukshetra etc.
Latest Economic Survey & Budget 2020-21.
Government Schemes & Initiatives.
Various Reports,Indexes,National &
InternationaI Bodies.
1. under the Companies Act, 2013, independent directors are required to register
themselves with the databank , as per rules notified by theaffairs ministry .
corporate
2. The Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) , under the ministry , would be maintaining the
databank portal.
3. Independent directors are also required to pass a basic online proficiency self-assessment
test which would be available from March 2020.
4. Under the Companies Act, 2013, there are provisions that a company can choose an
independent director from a data bank of persons who are eligible and willing to act
as independent directors.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HDI is a statistical tool used to measure a country's overall achievement in its social and
economic dimensions.
Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq created HDI in 1990 which was further used to measure
the country's development by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Calculation of the index combines four major indicators
Page 27
life expectancy for health
Expected years of schooling,
Mean of years of schooling for education and
Gross National Income per capita for standard of living.
India's Performance
India's HDI value increased by 50% (from 0.431 to 0.647), which places it above the average
for other South Asian countries (0.642)
In India, between 1990 and 2018, life expectancy at birth increased by 11.6 years, mean years
of schooling increased by 3.5 years and expected years of schooling increased by 4.7 years.
Per capita incomes rose by over 250%.
What is an IFSC?
An IFSC enables bringing back the financial services and that are currently
transactions
carried out in offshore financial centers by Indian corporate entities and overseas branches
subsidiaries of financial institutions (FIs)/ to India by offering business and
regulatory financial centers in the world
environment that is comparable to other leading international
like London and
Singapore.
It would provide Indian corporates easier access to global financial
markets
The International Financial Services Centres Authority.
Page 28
Salient Features of International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill,
2019
1. To include a trust.
2. To enable the setting up of a unit in a Special Economic Zone by a trust.
3. To provide flexibility to the Central Government to include in this definition of a person, any
entity that the Central Government may notify from time to time.
What are
SEZs?
Page 29
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are geographically delineated ‘enclaves’ in which
and practices related to business and regulations
trade differ from the rest of the country and therefore all
the units therein enjoy special privileges
.
The basic idea of SEZs emerges from the fact that, while it might be very difficult to
dramatically improve infrastructure and business environment of the overall economy
‘overnight’, SEZs can be built in a much shorter time, and they can work as efficient enclaves
to solve these problems.
The SEZ Act, 2005 , provides the legal framework for establishment of SEZs and also for
units operating in such zones.
Utkarsh 2022:
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has finalised a three- year , named Utkarsh 2022 to
improve regulation and supervision, among other roadmap
functions of the central
bank.
Utkarsh 2022 is a medium term strategy in line with the global central banks’ plan to
strengthen the regulatory and supervisory mechanism.
This specifically includes central bank’s proactive role to avoid any other IL&FS debt default
issue in future.
Earlier, an internal committee of RBI was under former Deputy Governor Viral
formed
Acharya , to identify issues that needed to be addressed over the next three years .
NISHTHA:
Union HRD Minister launches NISHTHA to build capacities of 42 Lakh government
across the . teachers
country is the world’s largest teachers’ training programme of its kind in the world.
NISHTHA
It has been launched to improve Learning Outcomes at the Elementary level.
The initiative is first of its kind wherein standardized training modules are developed at
national level for all States and UTs. However, States and UTs can contextualize the training
modules and use their own material and resource persons.
Reinforcing and cleaning the data of the Integrated Online Junction through feedback
from Stakeholders.
Ensuring full interoperability among the websites, portals and applications which
are already hosted in the junction.
Creating high-quality e-contents, including quizzes and puzzles to enhance learning
and also for teachers in aiding classroom transactions.
Vidyanjali
Vidyanjali is aschool volunteer and an initiative of Ministry of Human Resource
programme
Development the of Indiaboost
to community and private sector participation in government
schools,
Definition of 'Labour Force Participation Rate'
Definition: Labour force participation rate is defined as the section of working population in
the age group of 16-64 in the economy currently employed or seeking employment.
People who are still undergoing studies, housewives and persons above the age of 64 are not
reckoned in the labour force .
Operation Twist
The Reserve Bank of India has announced that it will carry outUS-style 'Operation Twist' to
down interest rates . bring
‘Operation Twist’ is when the central bank uses the proceeds from sale of short-term
to buy long-term government debt , leading to easing of interest rates on the long
papers
papers . term
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a simultaneous sale and purchase of government
bonds under the Open Market Operations mechanism, on lines of the “Operation Twist”
"EChO Network":
Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser
Interdisciplinary approach towards problems
Indian Government has launched a network to encourage cross-disciplinary - Called
EChO Network. leadership
The purpose of this Network is to bring all those together to share knowledge and
efforts under the umbrella of . synergize
EChO Network would develop a national network to catalyse a new generation of Indians
who can synthesize interdisciplinary concepts and tackle real-world problems in medicine,
agriculture, ecology, and technology.
The program will then train postdoctoral leaders in research and outreach on these topics.
The initiative has drawn in partners from Government, industry and academia.
mKisan portal
mKisan portal is a platform which provides web-based mobile advisory to farmers with the
technological backstopping from Research Institutes and Agricultural Universities supporting
farmers.
Information on weather, market, various farm operations, outbreak of pest and disease
incidence and their control measures are given to farmers through Short Message Service
(SMS)
Fiscal policy:
Fiscal policy is the means by which a government adjusts its spending levels and tax rates to
monitor and influence a nation's economy.
The government of a country, through the various instruments of fiscal policy affects the
level of aggregate demand and other variables .
The contractionary fiscal policy or a negative fiscal shock, results in decreasing the aggregate
demand while an expansionary fiscal policy or a positive fiscal shock results in increasing the
aggregate demand.
In the short run, a fiscal shock affects the output, price level and the interest rates.
For example, a negative fiscal shock led to a decrease in interest rates, output and the price
level in the short run.
In the medium run, a fiscal shock affects only the price level and interest rate, keeping the
output unaffected at the natural rate of employment.
In case of a negative fiscal shock, the decrease in government spending, led to only a
decrease in the price level and the interest rate, keeping the output unaffected in the medium
run.
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Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF)
USOF ensures that there is universal non-discriminatory access to quality ICT services at
economically efficient prices to people in rural and remote areas.
Currently, it is charged at the rate of 5%, while the TSPs demand it to be reduced to
3%. It was created under the Department of Telecommunications in 2002.
It is a non-lapsable fund, i.e., the unspent amount under a targeted financial year does not
lapse and is accrued for next years’ spending.
All credits to this fund require parliamentary approval and it has a statutory support under
Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Act, 2003.
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NACH
BBPS
NEFT
National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) is a payment system that facilitates one-to-one funds
transfer. Using NEFT, people can electronically transfer money from any bank branch to a person
holding an account with any other bank branch, which is participating in the payment system. Fund
transfers through the NEFT system do not occur in real-time basis and the fund transfer settles in
23 half-hourly batches.
RTGS
Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) is another payment system in which the money is credited in
the beneficiary’s account in real time and on gross basis. The RTGS system is primarily meant for
large value transactions that require and receive immediate clearing.
IMPS
Immediate Mobile Payment Services(IMPS) is a real time instant inter-bank funds transfer
system managed by National payment corporation of India. IMPS is available 24/7 throughout the
year including bank holidays unlike NEFT and RTGS.
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Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)
It is statutory body established under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act of
1956.
KVIC works under Union Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises with aim to plan,
promote, facilitate, organise and assist in the establishment and development of khadi and
village industries in the rural areas in coordination with other agencies engaged in rural
development.
PMEGP
SFURTI
RISC
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member countries.
The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
Liquidity trap
Liquidity trap is a situation when despite decrease in policy rates to revive the economy; it has not
had an impact in reviving demand in the economy.
Money Policy
Cheap money policy implies that theCentral Bank eases the rates at whichcredit is available.
This is often donein order to spur growth in theeconomy.
Dear money policy implies that theCentral Bank is raising the interestrates. This is in order to
mop upexcess money in the market and,thus, to tackle inflation
CAPEX MODEL:
In this model, the entire investment comes from the power consumer, consumer generally
hire a solar EPC company who provide turnkey installation of entire solar power system and
hand over assets to consumers.
EPC also do annual operation and maintained (O&M) of plant on mutually agreed cost per
annum.
OPEX MODEL:
In the OPEX model, an investor or project developer (sometimes called Renewable Energy
Service Company –RESCO) invests the CAPEX and consumer pays for the energy
consumed/supplied by the solar power project delicately developed for a particular consumer.
Both consumer and developer sign a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for an agreed
tenure & tariff.
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will be providing a platform for customers to interact with a selected number of sellers.
When an individual is purchasing a product from myntra, he will be actually buying it from a
registered seller in myntra.
The product is not directly sold by myntra .Here, myntra is just a website platform where a
consumer meets a seller.
Inventory, stock management, logistics etc are not supposed to be actively done by the
ecommerce firm.
Angel Tax
Angel tax is a 30.9 % tax levied on investments made by external investors in startups or
companies.
The entire investment is not taxed – only the amount that is considered above “fair value”
valuations of the startup, classified as ‘income from other sources’ in the Income Tax Act of
India.
The problem arises because startups are often valued subjectively on the basis of
discounted cash flows, without taking into account intangibles like goodwill.
This can cause differing interpretations of “fair value” and leave startups vulnerable to unduly
high taxes because the taxman feels the investment is too high over their valuation.
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Union Budget 2019-20: Government eases angel tax norms.
Now, the start-ups who file requisite declarations will not be subject to any kind of scrutiny in
respect of valuations of share premiums.
Additionally, the issue of establishing identity of the investor and source of his funds will be
resolved by putting in place a mechanism of e-verification.
With this, funds raised by start-ups will not require any kind of scrutiny from the Income Tax
Department.
Alternative Investments Funds come under the SEBI (Alternative Investment Fund) Regulations
2012. Under this regulatory regime, the funds which come under AIF are as follows:
Category II AIFs: These are AIFs which do not fall in Category I and III and which do not
undertake
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leverage or borrowing other than to meet day-to-day operational requirements and as permitted in
the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012.
Categories III AIFs: AIFs which employ diverse or complex trading strategies and may employ
leverage including through investment in listed or unlisted derivatives.
Participatory Note
Also known as Overseas Derivative Instruments, Equity Linked Notes, Capped Return Notes,
and Participating Return Notes .
P-Notes or Participatory Notes are Overseas Derivative Instruments that have Indian stocks
as their underlying assets.
They allow foreign investors to buy stocks listed on Indian exchanges without being
registered. The instrument gained popularity as FIIs, to avoid the formalities of registering and
to remain anonymous, started betting on stocks through this route.
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Provisioning Coverage Ratio (PCR)
Provisioning Coverage Ratio (PCR) refers to the prescribed percentage of funds to be set aside by
the banks for covering the prospective losses due to bad loans.
Gross non-performing assets are the sum of all the loans that have been defaulted by the
individuals who have acquired loans from the financial institution.
Net non-performing assets are the amount that is Realized after provision amount has been
deducted from the gross non-performing assets.
Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is the ratio of a bank's capital in relation to its risk weighted
assets and current liabilities.
It is decided by central banks and bank regulators to prevent commercial banks from taking
excess leverage and becoming insolvent in the process.
Capital Adequacy Ratio = (Tier I + Tier II ) /Risk weighted assets.
POSHAN Abhiyaan:
(National Nutrition Mission) is a flagship programme of the Ministry of Women and Child
Development (MWCD).
The Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anemia (among young children,
women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum
respectively.
The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6
years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.
Components will form the pillars of the Mission : ICDS-CAS(Common Application Software),
Convergence, Behavioural change, IEC Advocacy, Training and Capacity building,
Innovations, Incentives ,Grievance Redressal.
Objectives :
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It which ensures convergence with various programmes like, Anganwadi Services, Pradhan
Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY), National Health
Mission (NHM),Swachh-Bharat Mission (PDS), Department Food & Public Distribution etc.
Funds
Scheme will be funded by Government Budgetary Support (50%) and 50% by IBRD or other
Multilateral development banks.
Government budgetary support would be 60:40 between Centre and States/UTs, 90:10 for
NER and Himalayan States and 100% for UTs without legislature.
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School Education Quality Index (SEQI)
School Education Quality Index (SEQI) was developed by NITI Aayog to evaluate the
performance of States and Union Territories (UTs) in the school education sector.
The index aims to bring an ‘outcomes’ focus to education policy by providing States and UTs
with a platform to identify their strengths and weaknesses and undertake requisite course
corrections or policy interventions.
It includes the indicators from elementary, primary and secondary level school education.
To monitor improvement in children’s learning levels and to assess the health of the government
Objectives
To formulate “National e-Health Policy and Strategy” for coordinated eHealth adoption in
the country
To oversee orderly evolution of e-Health initiatives (state and nationwide) and to guide
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adoption of e-Health at various levels and in different geographical and health system
areas To promote setting up of state health records repositories and health information
exchanges (HIEs) to facilitate interoperability
To formulate and manage all health informatics standards for India
To lay down data management, privacy and security policies, guidelines and health records
of patients in accordance with statutory provisions
To enforce the laws and regulations relating to the privacy, confidentiality, and security of the
patient's health information and records
To coordinate efforts across departments and ministries, and liaise with other related
policy/regulatory groups to ensure consistency and coherence
To help enable ecosystem that involves stakeholders to improve care delivery and health
outcomes
To map continuous evolution of the e-Health landscape and take on new functions as needed
It is in line with the implementation of the Centre’s flagship scheme Ayushman Bharat and
other public healthcare programmes in the country.
It envisages a centralized health record for all citizens of the country in order to streamline
the health information and facilitate effective management of the same.
In centres of excellence across the country, gifted children will be mentored and nurtured by
renowned experts in different areas, so that they can reach their full potential.
It is expected that many of the students selected will reach the highest levels in their chosen
fields and bring laurels to their community, State and Nation.
Appointments in RBI:
As per the RBI Act, the central bank should have one governor and four deputy governors
-Two from within the ranks and one commercial banker and another an economist to head the
monetary policy department.
Any vacancy in the list will be filled by the government after getting recommendations from
the Financial Sector Regulatory Appointment Search Committee (FSRASC).
FSRASC is headed by Cabinet Secretary and includes additional Principal Secretary to the
Prime Minister who is a permanent government nominee and 3 other experts.
As per the process, the panel will invite applications from eligible candidates and based on
interactions with them will select the candidate.
The appointment would be made by the central government on the recommendation of the
FSRASC.
It is noted that the FSRASC is free to identify and recommend any other person also, on the
basis of merit, who has not applied for the post.
The same process is being followed in the selection of Chairman of SEBI and IRDAI.
Currently, Deputy governor post in RBI is being vacant after the resignation of Viral
Acharya. The tenure of the office is three years and the person is eligible for reappointment.
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Census:
Population Census- Every 10 Years - 2021 Census will be 16th
Livestock Census- Every 5 Years
Agriculture Census - Every 5
Years Forest Survey - Every 2
Years Tiger Census - Every 4
Years Elephant Census - Every 5
Years Rhino Census - Every 3
Years
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Capital-output ratio:
Capital-output ratio: It is the amount of capital required to produce one unit of output.
The high capital-output ratio implies the low efficiency of the economy due to the high
capitalinvolved in the production
SDR
The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its
member countries’ official reserves. So far SDR 204.2 billion (equivalent to about US$291
billion) have been allocated to members, including SDR 182.6 billion allocated in 2009 in
the wake of the global financial crisis.
The value of the SDR is based on a basket of five currencies—the U.S. dollar, the euro, the
Chinese renminbi, the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling
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In addition, the RBI has determined limits for normal and special WMA for each state as
multiples of the prescribed minimum balance required to be maintained with the RBI by that
state. These limits have been revised periodically.
These are temporary advances (overdrafts) extended by RBI to the govt. Section 17(5) of RBI
Act allows RBI to make WMA both to the Central and State Govt. Objective – to bridge the
interval between expenditure and receipts. They are not a sources of finance but are meant to
provide support, for purely temporary difficulties that arise on account of mismatch/shortfall in
revenue or other receipts for meeting the govt. liabilities.
On 26 March 1997, Govt. of India and RBI signed an agreement putting the ad hoc T-bills
system to end w.e.f 1 April 1997.
Fiscal drag
Fiscal drag is a concept where inflation and earnings growth may push more tax payers into
higher tax brackets. Therefore, fiscal drag has the effect of raising government tax revenue
without explicitly raising tax rates.
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Tax inversion
This is a situation of tax structure.
This takes place when a firm bases its headquarters in a low tax country while keeps its
material operations in the high tax countries (generally their country of origin). This way, firms
cut their tax payment liabilities.
This is legal and is a method of tax avoidance.
Multinational corporations (MNCs) keep doing this.
Tax Incidence
The key to imposing the tax is who bears its burden. If the person on whom the tax is
imposed have the flexibility to transfer it on to the other person, then we say tax incidence
has shifted. The shifting of tax form one person to the other is known as tax incidence.
All indirect tax comes under this category. For all direct tax, the incidence of tax and burden
lies with the same person.
Tax Evasion
It refers to reducing the tax liabilities using illegal measures. Tax evasion is a clear case of forgery
of accounts as it uses measures which are unforbidden in law.
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Tax buoyancy
Tax buoyancy is an indicator to measure efficiency and responsiveness of revenue mobilization in
response to growth in the Gross domestic product or National income. A tax is said to be buoyant
if the tax revenues increase more than proportionately in response to a rise in national income or
output.
CESS vs Surcharge
Cess Surcharge
A cess is imposed over and above the A surcharge is a charge levied on any tax. It is
tax for a specific predetermined an additional charge on tax.
purpose.
For example a cess on financing The main surcharge levied on income and
primary education as education cess or corporation taxes beyond a certain threshold.
a cess for the cleaning and sanitation
as Swach Bharat Cess.
A sur charge of 10% in addition to the income
A cess is levied as an addition to the tax of 30% for high net worth individuals
proposed taxes. Like a 3% education cess earning more than 50 Lakhs.
on Income tax.
The revenue from the sur charge is kept under
The revenue from cess is not kept under Consolidated Fund of India.
Consolidated Fund of India.
Cess is not to be shared with States. Sur Charge is also not to be shared with states.
Tax Haven
A tax haven is defined as a country or place with very low "effective" rates of taxation for foreign
investors.
Grandfather Clause
A grandfather clause (or grandfather policy or grandfathering) is a provision in which an old
rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases.
Those exempt from the new rule are said to have grandfather rights or acquired rights, or to
have been grandfathered in.
ICEDASH
It is an Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) monitoring dashboardof the Indian Customs that
will help public see the daily customs clearance times of import cargo at various ports and
airports.
It will help the businesses in comparing clearance times across ports and thus plan their
logistics accordingly.
It has been developed in collaboration with theNational Informatics Centre (NIC).
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ATITHI
It is an easy to use mobile appfor international travelers to file the Customs
declaration in advance.
Passengers can use this app to file declaration of dutiable items and currency with the
Indian Customs even before boarding the flight to India.
It would encourage tourism and business travelto India.
Unemployment trap
It is a situation when unemployment benefits discourage the unemployed to go to work.
People find the opportunity cost of going to work too high when one can simply enjoy the
benefits by doing nothing.
While the purpose of social security and welfare systems is to provide relief to the
unemployed, they end up providing them with an incentive not to return to work.
An unemployment trap arises when opportunity cost of going to work is higher than the
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income received, discouraging people from returning to work and being productive.
Employment elasticity
It is a measure of the percentage change in employment associated with a 1 percentage
point change in economic growth.
The employment elasticity indicates the ability of an economy to generate employment
opportunities for its population as per cent of its growth (development) process.
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GOLDEN HANDSHAKE: A payment (usually generous) made by a company to its employees for
quitting the job prior to their service tenure.
GOLDEN HANDCUFF: A royalty/bonus payment by a company to its staff (usually top ranking) to
keep them with the company or to save them from poaching by other companies.
GOLDEN HELLO: A large sum paid by a company to attract new staff to its fold.
GOLDEN RULE: A fiscal policy stance which suggests that over the economic cycle,
Government should borrow only to ‘invest’ and not to finance the ‘current expenditure’. The
attempts towards ‘balanced budgeting’, ‘zero-based budgeting’ developed under influence of
this rule.
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A yield curve is a graphical representation of yields for bonds (with an equal credit rating)
over different time horizons.
Typically, the term is used for government bonds — which come with the same sovereign
guarantee. So the yield curve for US treasuries shows how yields change when the tenure
(or the time for which one lends to the government) changes.
Yield inversion happens when the yield on a longer tenure bond becomes less than the
yield for a shorter tenure bond.
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A yield inversion typically portends a recession. An inverted yield curve shows that investors
expect the future growth to fall sharply; in other words, the demand for money would be much
lower than what it is today and hence the yields are also lower.
ARTIS
ARTIS (Application for Remedies in Trade for Indian industry and other Stakeholders)
DGTR has launched an online portal - ARTIS.
Objective is to Enhance transparency, efficiency and provide expedited relief to the
domestic producers for different trade remedies like
Anti-dumping duty
Safeguard duty and
Countervailing duty.
DGTR has also started using all available options for providing relief against unfair trade
practices like.
DGTR has also started first ever Safeguard Quantitative Restrictions investigation on imports
of Iso-propyl Alcohol initiated under the FTDR Act, 2002.
Also Anti-circumvention provision was introduced in Customs Tariff Act, 1975 for Counter-
vailing Duty (CVD) investigations.
Deposit insurance
Deposit insurance is providing insurance protection to the depositor’s money by receiving a
premium.
The government has set up Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)
under RBI to protect depositors if a bank fails.
Every insured bank pays premium amounting to 0.001% of its deposits to DICGC every year.
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taking into account different risks.
The economic capital framework reflects the capital that an institution requires or needs to
hold as a counter against unforeseen risks or events or losses in the future.
Create a fully automated procedure for ITC in GST to avoid double taxation
Privileged Textile and other export sectors that are applicable for an incentive of up to 2% of
MIES shall be replaced with RoDTEP scheme
MoF has allocated a budget of Rs.1,700 crore to provide higher insurance cover
through Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC), to increase the lending
opportunities from banks.
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Social Stock Exchange (SSE)
It is an electronic fundraising platform that allows investors to buy shares in a social
enterprise that has been vetted by the exchange.
Social enterprises, volunteer groups and welfare organisations will be listed on this platform
so that they can raise capital.
Social enterprise is a revenue-generating business whose primary objective is to achieve a
social objective, for example, providing healthcare or clean energy.
It will act as crowd-sourcing platforms for fundraising by non-profit entities aimed at impact
investment and transparency.
Social stock exchange (SSE) under the regulatory ambit of the Securities Exchange Board of
India (SEBI) to support social enterprises and non-profits in raising funds.
JUICE JACKING:
SBI has publicly issued a warning of ‘Juice Jacking’ through its twitter handle.
It is an attack carried out by hackers through a USB charging cable.
How it works?
1. When a user plugs in the charging cable in his mobile’s charging port, and connects it to any
of the rigged charging stations installed at public spaces such as airports, train stations,
hotels, cafes etc – it gives a back-door entry to hackers into the compromised device.
2. The charging port which is also used for data transfer over the USB, is pointed as the
main cause of concern over here.
Under the scheme, the beneficiaries visiting public health facilities are entitled to several free
services.
These include at least four ante natal check-ups , at least one checkup under Pradhan
Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan, Iron Folic Acid supplementation, Tetanus diptheria
injection and other components of comprehensive ANC package and six home-based
newborn care visits.
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Under the scheme there will be zero expense access to identification and management of
complications during and after the pregnancy.
The government will also provide free transport from home to health institutions.
Assures free medicines for pregnant women
According to government, India’s maternal mortality rate has declined from 254 per 1,00,000 live
births in 2004-06 to 130 in 2014-16. Between 2001 and 2016, the infant mortality rate came
down from 66 per 1,000 live births to 34.
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Northeast gas pipeline grid project:
The proposed gas pipeline grid will connect Guwahati to the major Northeast cities and
major load centers. It is 1, 656 km long.
Implemented under ambitious Urja Ganga Gas Pipeline Project. Besides connecting all the
state capitals in the region, the pipeline will also connect with the National Gas Grid through
Barauni-Guwahati Gas Pipeline, which is being laid by GAIL.
The pipeline will enable the supply of piped cooking gas to households and CNG to
automobiles, besides fuel to industry.
MCLR
The marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR) is the minimum interest rate that a
bank can lend at.
MCLR is a tenor-linked internal benchmark, which means the rate is determined internally
by the bank depending on the period left for the repayment of a loan.
MCLR is closely linked to the actual deposit rates and is calculated based on four
components:
3) Operating costs
4) Tenor premium.
The Reserve Bank of India introduced the MCLR methodology for fixing interest rates from
1 April 2016.
It replaced the base rate structure, which had been in place since July 2010.
Under the MCLR regime, banks are free to offer all categories of loans on fixed or floating
interest rates.
The actual lending rates for loans of different categories and tenors are determined by
adding the components of spread to MCLR. Therefore, the bank cannot lend at a rate lower
than MCLR of a particular maturity, for all loans linked to that benchmark.
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday deferred the implementation of the last tranche
of Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB) by a year, a move that would leave about
estimated Rs 37,000 crore capital in the hands of banks.
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Accordingly, minimum capital conservation ratios of 2.5 per cent would be applicable from on
March 31, 2020. Currently, the CCB of banks stands at 1.875 per cent of the core capital.
What is the significance of this move ?
This would help banks increase lending by over Rs 3.5 lakh crore by leveraging ten times of
the capital. "It has been decided to defer the implementation of the last tranche of 0.625 per
cent of CCB from March 31, 2019 to March 31, 2020.
What is Capital conservation buffer (CCB)
CCB is a relatively new concept, introduced under the international Basel III norms.
The concept says that during good times, banks must build up a capital buffer that can be
drawn from when there is stress.
In simple terms, this is savings for the future as this capital can be drawn when a bank is
incurring losses.
Since it is a buffer, or extra capital, banks’ minimum capital is not violated.
It was introduced after the 2008 global financial crisis to improve the ability of banks to
withstand adverse economic conditions.
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Farmer Connect Portal
A Farmer Connect Portal has been set up by APEDA on its website for providing a
platform for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and Farmer Producer Companies
(FPCs) to interact with exporters.
Ecomark
Ecomark is a certification mark issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards to products
conforming to a set of standards aimed at the least impact on the ecosystem.The marking
scheme was started in 1991.
One of the purposes of the mark is increasing awareness among the consumers towards
reducing environment impact.
The mark is issued to various product categories and the development of standards for
more products is in progress.
AGMARK
AGMARK is a certification mark employed on agricultural products in India, assuring that they
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conform to a set of standards approved by the Directorate of Marketing and Inspection an
attached Office of the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare
under Ministry of Agricultural & Farmers Welfare an agency of the Government of India.
The AGMARK Head Office at Faridabad (Haryana) is legally enforced in India by the
Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act of 1937 (and amended in 1986).
The present AGMARK standards cover quality guidelines for 222 different commodities
spanning a variety of pulses, cereals, essential oils, vegetable oils, fruits and vegetables
and semi-processed products like vermicelli.
REITs
What Are REITs?
Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) allow individuals to invest in large-scale, income-
producing real estate.
A REIT is a company that owns and typically operates income-producing real estate or
related assets. These may include office buildings, shopping malls, apartments, hotels,
resorts, self- storage facilities, warehouses, and mortgages or loans.
Unlike other real estate companies, a REIT does not develop real estate properties to resell
them. Instead, a REIT buys and developspropertiesprimarilytooperate themaspartofitsown
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investmentportfolio.
3. NRLM provides Vulnerability Reduction Fund (VRF) to SHG Federations at Village level
to address vulnerabilities like food security, health security etc., and to meet the needs of
the vulnerable persons in the village.
Gini coefficient
Gini coefficient (Gini index) is a measure of statistical dispersion intended to represent the
income or wealth distribution of a nation's residents, and is the most commonly used
measurement of inequality.
The Gini coefficient measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution (for
example, levels of income).
A Gini coefficient of Zero expresses perfect equality, where all values are the same (for
example, where everyone has the same income).
A Gini coefficient of One (or 100%) expresses maximal inequality among values (e.g., for a
large number of people, where only one person has all the income or consumption, and all
others have none, the Gini coefficient will be very nearly one).
Lorenz curve
In economics, the Lorenz curve is a graphical representation of the distribution of income
or of wealth.
It was developed by Max O. Lorenz in 1905 for representing inequality of the wealth
distribution.
The concept is useful in describing inequality among the size of individuals in economy.
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Kuznets curve
In economics, a Kuznets curve graphs the hypothesis that as an economy develops, market
forces first increase and then decrease economic inequality.
The hypothesis was first advanced by economist Simon Kuznets in the 1950s and '60s.
Phillips curve
The Phillips curve is a single-equation empirical model, named after William Phillips,
describing a historical inverse relationship between rates of unemployment and
corresponding rates of rises in wages that result within an economy.
Stated simply, decreased unemployment, (i.e., increased levels of employment) in an
economy will correlate with higher rates of wage rises.
Phillips did not himself state there was any relationship between employment and inflation,
although this notion was subsequently made popular by Milton Friedman from 1967.
Palma ratio
The Palma ratio is a measure of inequality.
It is the ratio of the richest 10% of the population's share of gross national income (GNI)
divided by the poorest 40%'s share.
It measures inequality similar to Gini coefficient.
Tax buoyancy
Tax buoyancy is an indicator to measure efficiency and responsiveness of revenue
mobilization in response to growth in the Gross domestic product or National income.
A tax is said to be buoyant if the tax revenues increase more than proportionately in
response to a rise in national income or output.
Laffer Curve
The Laffer Curve is a theory developed by supply-side economist Arthur Laffer to show the
relationship between tax rates and the amount of tax revenue collected by governments.
The curve is used to illustrate Laffer's main premise that the more an activity — such as
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production — is taxed, the less of it is generated.
e-Tribes India:
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India, (TRIFED), under the Ministry
of Tribal Affairs, has developed its own e-commerce (electronic commerce) website i.e.,
com for sale of all its products and to tap m-commerce (mobile commerce).
PENCIL
Platform for Effective Enforcement of No Child Labour, a robust enforcement mechanism in
the form of an online portal.
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Prabhari officers:
For each of the Districts, a senior official in the rank of Additional secretary and Joint
secretary has been nominated as Prabhari officer
UNNATI Project
Ministry of Shipping
The aims and objectives of Project UNNATI of the Ministry of Shipping are as follows:
1. Benchmark operational and financial performance of the 12 major ports with selected
Indian private ports and best-in-class international ports for identifying improvement areas.
2. Undertake capability maturity assessment for key processes and functional capabilities
(e.g., IT, HR, Environment, and Health) and identify gaps and areas for further
strengthening.
3. Detailed deep-dive diagnosis and root cause analysis for the identified opportunity areas
in each of the 12 major ports to understand underlying reasons for performance
bottlenecks.
4. Develop practical and actionable solutions on the basis of root cause findings, and develop a
comprehensive improvement roadmap for each of the 12 major ports.
Under Project UNNATI 116 initiatives have been identified for various major ports. Out of the
116 initiatives, 86 have been implemented so far.
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AGRI-UDAAN
ICAR-NAARM and IIM-A‘s incubator centres announced “AGRI UDAAN”- Food and
Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0.
The aim of AGRI-UDAAN is to bring start-up revolution in agriculture which has been mostly
concentrated in Services sector.
e-RaKam
Government recently launched an e-auction portal e-RaKam for selling agricultural produce.
e-Shakti
NABARD has launched e-Shakti initiative for digitisation of Self Help Groups.
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SAATHI
The Ministry of Power along with the Ministry of Textiles have launched its new initiative
named Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to help small
Industries (SAATHI).
Under the initiative, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a public sector entity under
the administrative control of Ministry of Power, would procure energy efficient power looms,
motors and repair kits in bulk and provide them to the small and medium power loom units
at no upfront cost.
The SAATHI initiative of the Government will be jointly implemented by EESL and the office
of the Textile Commissioner on a pan-India basis. To kick start the implementation, cluster
wise demonstration projects and workshops will be organized in key clusters such as Erode,
Surat. The Power loom sector in India is predominantly an unorganized sector and has a
large number of micro and small units which produce 57% of total cloth in country.
DRIP
Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) was implemented by Ministry of Water
Resources (MoWR) with assistance from the World Bank.
The Central Dam Safety Organisation of Central Water Commission is coordinating and
supervising the Project implementation.
The main objectives of DRIP are - To improve the safety and performance of selected (223
dams across 7 different states) existing dams in a sustainable manner.
To strengthen the dam safety institutional setup in participating states as well as at central
level.
The Seven DRIP States includes Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,
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Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand.
CWC
Central Water Commission is a technical organization functioning under the Ministry of Water
Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.
The Commission is entrusted with the general responsibilities of initiating, coordinating and
furthering in consultation about the water resources to the concerned state governments.
Central Water Commission CWC is headed by a Chairman, with the status of Ex-Officio
Secretary to the Government of India.
Startup Sambandh
It is a recent initiative by Ministry of commerce and industry in collaboration of Sweden.
It is an online platform and it aims to create suitable environment for startups in the country
by allowing foreign investors.
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M1:
=Currency with the public + Deposit money of the public (Demand deposits with the banking
system + ‘Other’ deposits with the RBI).
M2:
=M1 + Savings deposits with Post office savings banks.
M4:
=M3 + All deposits with post office savings banks (excluding National Savings Certificates).
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ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY..
Great Indian Horn Bill
It is also known as Great piped Hornbill.
It is found mostly in India and also in southwestern China, Bangladesh, western
Thailand, mainland Southeast Asia.
It lives primarily in evergreen and moist deciduous
It is on Appendix II of(CITES).
It is listed as vulnerable as per IUCN
It is state bird of kerala.
TERI INITIATIVE
ANGAN
Augmenting Nature by Green Affordable New-habitat (ANGAN ) commenced in New Delhi.
The conference focuses primarily on achieving Energy Efficiency in the building sector.
It is being organized by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power in
collaboration with GIZ under the Indo German Technical Cooperation initiative.
Experts and policymakers from around 16 countries are participating in this event.
GRIHA
GREEN OLYMPIAD
LIGHT A BILLION LIVES INITIATIVE
WORLD SUSTAINALBLE DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT.
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The establishment and operational expenditure on the Eco Task Force (ETF) Battalions
raised by Ministry of Defence is reimbursed by Ministry of Environment and Forests while the
inputs like sapling, fencing, etc.
and also the professional and managerial guidance is provided by the State Forest
Departments.
Carbon tax:
A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon content of fuels (transport and energy sector)
and, like carbon emissions trading, is a form of carbon pricing.
A carbon tax is a form of pollution tax.
Carbon taxes offer a potentially cost-effective means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions
A carbon tax is also an indirecttax—a tax on a transaction—as opposed to a direct tax, which
taxes income.
carbon tax is called a price instrument, since it sets a price for carbon dioxide emissions.
In economic theory, pollution is considered a negative externality, a negative effect on
a third party not directly involved in a transaction, and is a type of market failure.
A tax on a negative externality is called a Pigovian tax, and should equal the marginal
damage costs.
Hence carbon tax is a pigovian tax.
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“Biodiversity Heritage Sites” (BHS) are well defined areas that are unique, ecologically
fragile ecosystems – terrestrial, coastal and inland waters and, marine having rich
biodiversity comprising of any one or more of the following components:
Richness of wild as well as domesticated species or intra-specific
categories High endemism
Presence of rare and threatened species
Keystone species
Species of evolutionary significance
Wild ancestors of domestic/cultivated species or their varieties
Past pre-eminence of biological components represented by fossil beds and
Having significant cultural, ethical or aesthetic values and are important for the maintenance
of cultural diversity, with or without a long history of human association with them.
What is Vermin?
Vermin means wild mammals and birds which are harmful to crops, farm animals or which
carry disease.
In India, wild animals can be declared as vermin if they have become
Dangerous to human life or property (including standing crops on any land).
Become disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery.
Using these provisions, any animal listed in Schedule I to IV of WPA can be declared
vermin by listing it in Schedule V for a specific period.
Currently, some animals like the common crow, fruit bats, mice and rats have been listed as
vermin in Schedule V of WPA.
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Hope Spots
Hope Spots are special places that are critical to the health of the ocean — Earth’s blue
heart.
Hope Spots are about recognizing, empowering and supporting individuals and
communities around the world in their efforts to protect the ocean.
About 12 percent of the land around the world is now under some form of protection (as
national parks etc.), less than six percent of the ocean is protected in any way.
Hope Spots allow us to plan for the future and look beyond current marine protected
areas (MPAs), which are like national parks on land where exploitative uses like fishing and
deep sea mining are restricted.
Hope Spots are often areas that need new protection, but they can also be existing MPAs
where more action is needed.
They can be large, they can be small, but they all provide hope due to:
A special abundance or diversity of species, unusual or representative species, habitats or
ecosystems
Particular populations of rare, threatened or endemic species
A site with potential to reverse damage from negative human impacts
The presence of natural processes such as major migration corridors or spawning grounds
Significant historical, cultural or spiritual values.
Particular economic importance to the community.
Mission Blue is uniting a global coalition to inspire an upwelling of public awareness, access
and support for a worldwide network of marine protected areas – Hope Spots
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Soil moisture map
Soil Moisture Map forecast has been prepared by IITGandhinagar and IMD, for the first time.
It provides a Country-wide soil moisture forecast at seven and 30-day lead Times.
UPOV:
The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) is an
intergovernmental organization.
The convention was adopted in Paris in 1961 and it was revised in 1972, 1978 and
1991. It is headquartered in Geneva (Switzerland).
It aims to provide and promote an effective system of plant variety protection, with the aim of
encouraging the development of new varieties of plants, for the benefit of society.
By this convention, member countries had to introduce restrictions on the free use and
exchange of seeds by farmers unless the “breeders” were remunerated.
In 2002, India joined this organisation. It led to the introduction of some form of Intellectual
Property Rights over plant varieties.
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UNCCD:
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), established in 1994, has
197 parties.It is the sole ‘legally binding’ international agreement.
It is the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of the Rio Conference's
‘Agenda 21’.
It links the environment and development to sustainable land management.
It addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the
drylands.
The new ‘UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework’ is the most comprehensive global
commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).
The CDRI aims to serve as a platform where knowledge is generated and exchanged on
different aspects of disaster and climate resilience of infrastructure.
The work of CDRI is to focus on relevant thematic areas including the four major themes of
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1. a) Risk Assessment for key infrastructure sectors at multiple scales.
2. b) Standards, regulation and mechanisms for enforcement.
3. c) Role of finance in promoting disaster resilience.
4. d) Predictable mechanisms for supporting disaster recovery in key infrastructure
The charter of CDRI has been shared with 38 countries including G 20 and non-G 20
nations. So far nine countries viz.
Afghanistan, Australia, Bhutan, Fiji, Italy, Mauritius, Mongolia, Sri Lanka and United Kingdom
have conveyed their willingness to join the CDRI in writing.
Also Know!
“Emissions Gap”
1. Also called as the “Commitment Gap”
2. It is the difference between the low level of emissions that the world needs to drop
to, compared
with the projected level of emissions based on countries’ current commitments to De-
carbonization.
The world will fail to meet the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement unless
global greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6 per cent each year.
The top four emitters (China, USA, EU and India) contributed to over 55% of the total
emissions over the last decade, excluding emissions from land-use change such as
deforestation.
The rankings would change if land-use change emissions were included, with Brazil likely to
be the largest emitter.
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Selection of Biosphere Reserves
Primary Criteria: Site must contain effectively protected and minimally disturbed core area
of value of nature conservation.
It should also include additional land and water suitable for research and demonstration of
sustainable methods of research and management.
Its core area should be typical of biogeographical unit and large enough to sustain viable
populations representing all trophic levels in the ecosystem.
Secondary Criteria: Areas having rare and endangered species, Areas having diversity of
soil and micro-climatic conditions and indigenous varieties of biota, Areas potential for
preservation of traditional tribal or rural modes of living for harmonious use of environment.
HT Cotton
Herbicide-Tolerant (HT) Cotton also known as BG-III cotton is innovation in Bt Cotton as it
takes care of weeds problem at much lower cost as compared to physical labour required for
weeding.
It contains Round-up Ready and Round-up Flex (RRF) gene.
The RRF herbicide-tolerant trait was developed and commercialised by US-based
multinational seed giant Monsanto.
Harmful effects
The herbicide-resistant gene in HT cotton can spread through pollen into biodiversity
system leading to transformation of weeds into super weeds on large-scale.
It will threaten growth and yields of all crops in future and also increase cultivation
costs and lead to health hazards.
The cultivation of BG-III or HT cotton has not been approved by Genetic Engineering
Approval Committee (GEAC) of the Ministry of Environment.
Unusual and unprecedented spells of hot weather are expected to occur far more frequently
and cover much larger areas.
Under 4°C warming, the west coast and southern India are projected to shift to new, high-
temperature climatic regimes with significant impacts on agriculture.
A 2°C rise in the world’s average temperatures will make India’s summer monsoon
highly unpredictable.
At 4°C warming, an extremely wet monsoon that currently has a chance of occurring only
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once in 100 years is projected to occur every 10 years by the end of the century.
An abrupt change in the monsoon could precipitate a major crisis, triggering more
frequent droughts as well as greater flooding in large parts of India.
India’s northwest coast to the south eastern coastal region could see higher than average
rainfall.
Dry years are expected to be drier and wet years wetter.
Droughts:
Groundwater:
Although it is difficult to predict future ground water levels, falling water tables can be
expected to reduce further on account of increasing demand for water from a growing
population, more affluent life styles, as well as from the services sector and industry.
Glacier Melt:
At 2.5°C warming, melting glaciers and the loss of snow cover over the Himalayas are
expected to threaten the stability and reliability of northern India’s primarily glacier-fed rivers,
particularly the Indus and the Brahmaputra.
The Ganges will be less dependent on melt water due to high annual rainfall downstream
during the monsoon season.
The Indus and Brahmaputra are expected to see increased flows in spring when the snows
melt, with flows reducing subsequently in late spring and summer.
Alterations in the flows of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra rivers could significantly
impact irrigation, affecting the amount of food that can be produced in their basins as well as
the livelihoods of millions of people (209 million in the Indus basin, 478 million in the Ganges
basin, and 62 million in the Brahmaputra basin in the year 2005).
With India close to the equator, the sub-continent would see much higher rises in sea levels
than higher latitudes.
Sea-level rise and storm surges would lead to saltwater intrusion in the coastal areas,
impacting agriculture, degrading groundwater quality, contaminating drinking water, and
possibly causing a rise in diarrhea cases and cholera outbreaks, as the cholera bacterium
survives longer in saline water.
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Energy Security:
The increasing variability and long-term decreases in river flows can pose a major challenge
to hydropower plants and increase the risk of physical damage from landslides, flash floods,
glacial lake outbursts, and other climate-related natural disasters.
Decreases in the availability of water and increases in temperature will pose major risk
factors to thermal power generation.
Water Security:
Biopiracy:
Biopiracy is the practice of commercially exploiting naturally occurring biochemical or
genetic material, especially by obtaining patents that restrict its future use, while failing to
pay fair compensation to the community from which it originates.
Myristica swamps:
Myristica swamps are known with this name because; they are dominated by members of
Myristicaceae.
A primitive family of flowering plants, Myristicaceae has 18 genera and 300 species.
One of the well known species is the nutmeg, Myristica fragrans, a native of Mollucas Island,
and cultivated widely in the gardens of the Western Ghats.
The Myristica swamps are tropical fresh water swamp forests with an abundance of Myristica
trees, the most primitive of the flowering plants on earth.
The evergreen, water-tolerant trees have dense stilt roots helping them stay erect in the thick,
black, wet alluvial soil. The swamps are typically found in valleys, making them prone to
inundation during monsoon rains. The trees form a fairly dense forest with a closed canopy.
Studies have shown that the swamps, which would have occupied large swathes of the
thickly- wooded Western Ghats in the past, are now restricted to less than 200 hectares in
the country. Myristica swamps, a vanishing ecosystem, is now largely confined to 53 patches
in the Kulathupuzha and Anchal forest ranges and the Shendurney wildlife sanctuary in
Kerala.
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Dirty Dozen:
These are the 12 initial POP compounds that were listed under the Stockholm convention.
1. Aldrin,
2. Chlordane,
3. DDT,
4. Dieldrin,
5. Endrin,
6. Heptachlor,
7. Hexachlorobenzene (HCB),
8. Mirex,
9. Toxaphene,
10. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB),
11. Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD),
12. Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF)
KELP FORESTS
Underwater Arctic Forests (Kelps) are expanding according to a research by Canadian
Marine Ecology, Universite Laval published in Global Change Biology.
Warming waters and retreating of sea ice will benefit marine plants.
Researchers predict a northern shift of kelp forests as ice retreats.
About:
Kelp forests are underwater forests that thrive well in cold, nutrient rich waters.
Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds attached to the seafloor and eventually grow to the
water’s surface and rely on sunlight to generate food and energy.
These forests are always coastal and require shallow, relatively clear water.
These forests harbor a greater variety and higher diversity of plants and animals than almost
any other ocean community.
Distribution
Kelp forests have been observed throughout the Arctic by Inuit, researchers and polar
explorers. The Canadian Arctic alone represents 10 per cent of the world’s coastlines.
Function
Kelps function underwater in the same way trees do on land. They create habitat and
modify the physical environment by shading light and softening waves.
home to hundreds or thousands of species of invertebrates, fishes, and other algae.
These forests comprise one of the ocean’s most diverse ecosystems.
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Threat:
Thawing permafrost and crumbling Arctic coasts are dumping sediments into coastal
waters at alarming rates, which blocks light and could limit plant growth.
The run-off from melting glaciers will also lowers salinity and increase turbidity, which
impacts young kelp.
Destructive fishing practices, coastal pollution, and accidental damage caused by boat
entanglement are known to negatively affect kelp forests.
Sea urchins can destroy entire kelp forests at a rate of 30 feet (9 m) per month by moving in
herds. Sea otters play a key role in stabilizing sea urchin populations so that kelp forests
may thrive.
Ecotone – zone of transition between two ecosystems. E.g. grasslands, mangroves etc.-
Home Range – A home range is an area in which an animal lives and moves on a daily or periodic
basis (a little bigger than habitat – home → office → home)
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• National Parks & Biosphere Reserves.
• Important Species in news.
• More than 10 sources covered.
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Biomagnification
Biomagnification refers to the is the INCREASE in concentration of the POPs such as DDT,
that occurs in a food chain as a consequence of persistence, high lipid solubility and low
water solubility.
The substances become more and more concentrated in tissues or internal organs as they
move up the chain
The conviction rate in rape cases is as low as 32.2 per cent at the national level,
according to the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
India, a megadiverse country with only 2.4% of the world's land area, accounts for 7-8% of all
recorded species, including over 45,000 species of plants and 91,000 species of animals.
The country’s diverse physical features and climatic conditions have resulted in a variety of
ecosystems such as forests, wetlands, grasslands, desert, coastal and marine ecosystems
which harbour and sustain high biodiversity and contribute to human well-being.
Four of 34 globally identified biodiversity hotspots: The Himalayas, the Western Ghats,
the North-East, and the Nicobar Islands, can be found in India.
India became a State Member of IUCN in 1969, through the Ministry of Environment,
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Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
ELEPHANT CENSUS
Every 5 years
Stop TB partnership:
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CleanSeas
campaign has recently been launched by UN Environment To eliminate major sources of
marine litter such as micro plastics in cosmetics
The United Nations Environment Assembly was created during the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development, also referred to as RIO+20, in 2012.
Red Sanders
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has reclassified Red
Sanders as near threatened from endangered shifting it to a better conserved
category
Found in Tropical Dry Deciduous Forests and Deccan Thorn Scrub Forests
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Endemic to South Eastern portion of Indian peninsula.
Majorly found in the Palakonda and Seshachalam hill ranges of Andhra Pradesh.
The Sustainable Blue Economy Conference is the first global conference on the sustainable
blue economy
Kenya and its co-hosts Canada and Japan are inviting the world to Nairobi for the first global
conference on the sustainable blue economy.
The Sustainable Blue Economy Conference builds on the momentum of the UN’s 2030
Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2015 Climate Change Conference in Paris and the
UN Ocean Conference 2017 “Call to Action”
1. Harnesses the potential of our oceans, seas, lakes and rivers to improve the lives of
all, particularly people in developing states, women, youth and Indigenous peoples
2. Leverages the latest innovations, scientific advances and best practices to build
prosperity while conserving our waters for future generations
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2. What is the LDN Fund?
The Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDN Fund) is an impact investment fund blending
resources from the public, private and philanthropic sectors in support of achieving LDN
through sustainable land management and land restoration projects undertaken by the
private sector worldwide.
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NATIONAL CLEAN ENERGY FUND
The National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) is a fund created in 2010-11 using the carbon tax
- clean energy cess - for funding research and innovative projects in clean energy
technologies of public sector or private sector entities, upto the extent of 40% of the total
project cost.
Assistance is available as a loan or as a viability gap funding, as deemed fit by the Inter-
Ministerial group, which decides on the merits of such projects.
The Fund is designed as a non lapsable fund under Public Accounts and with its secretariat in
Plan Finance II Division, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance An Inter Ministerial
Group (IMG) chaired by Finance Secretary approves the projects/schemes eligible for
financing under the NCEF.
These projects include innovative schemes like Green Energy Corridor for boosting up the
transmission sector, Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM)'s installation of solar
photovoltaic (SPV) lights and small capacity lights, installation of SPV water pumping
systems, SPV Power Plants, Grid Connected Rooftop SPV Power Plants, pilot project to
assess wind power potential etc.
Objective to promote environmental awareness among all sections of the society and to
mobilize people’s participation for conservation of environment.
Establishment of ECOCLUBS through the National Green Corps programme in school/
college The ‘Green Good Deeds’ initiative is about simple, practical steps that
students/teachers/citizens can perform in their day-to-day life towards protection of
environment.
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Environment, Education, Awareness and Training scheme
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
Objective to promote environmental awareness among all sections of the society and to
mobilize people’s participation for conservation of environment.
Establishment of ECOCLUBS through the National Green Corps programme in school/
college The ‘Green Good Deeds’ initiative is about simple, practical steps that
students/teachers/citizens can perform in their day-to-day life towards protection of
environment.
About cGanga:
In 2016, The Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) was established
at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
The centre acts as a comprehensive think-tank to the National Mission for Clean Ganga
(NMCG), Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of India, in achieving its goals and objectives
towards the Ganga River Basin.
It comprises:
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1. The Profile of the City, which provides background information on the city; and
2. The 23 indicators that measure native biodiversity, ecosystem services provided by
biodiversity, and governance and management of biodiversity based on guidelines
and methodology provided in the Users Manual on the Singapore Index on Cities
BirdLife International
BirdLife International is the world’s largest nature conservation partnership.
BirdLife International strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working
with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.
BirdLife International is the official Red List authority for birds, for the International Union
for Conservation of Nature.
It identifies the sites known/referred to as ‘Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas’.
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CCPI- climate change performance index. By GREEN WATCH
Measures the emission, renewable energy share and climate policies of 57 countries.
India ranks among top 10 for the first time.
Salient Features
Protection of poor and vulnerable sections of society through inclusive and sustainable
development strategy, sensitive to climate change.
Achievements of national growth through qualitative changes enhancing ecological
sustainability.
Deployment of appropriate technologies for both adaptation and mitigation of GreenHouse
Gases emissions extensively and at an accelerated pace.
TRAFFIC:
TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, is a leading non-governmental organisation
working globally on trade in wild animals and plants.
It is a strategic alliance of IUCN and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Its mission is to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation
of nature.
It plays a vital role in tackling illegal wildlife trade through conducting research and analysis,
advocacy and awareness work and by supporting remedial action against illegal wildlife
trade.
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‘Emissions Gap Report’:
Recently, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released ‘Emissions Gap
Report’, according to which India is the fourth-largest emitter of Green House Gases (GHGs).
According to the report, unless global greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6 per cent each
year, the world will fail to meet the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement.
The top four emitters (China, USA, EU and India) contribute to over 55 per cent of the total
emissions over the last decade, excluding emissions from land-use change such as
deforestation, the report states.
If land-use change emissions were included, the rankings would change, with Brazil likely to
be the largest emitter.
Sectors that are the largest emitters Energy >Industry> Forestry> Transport> Agriculture>
The report, however, adds that India is among a small group of countries that are on track
to achieve their self-declared climate targets under the Paris Agreement.
Biodiversity:
Biodiversity or biological diversity refers to the variety of life on earth.
The term was first coined by Walter G. Rosen in the year 1986.
The term biodiversity encompasses three categories: ‘genetic diversity’, ‘species diversity’
and ‘ecosystem diversity’.
Genetic diversity describes the variation of genes within a species.
Species diversity describes the variety of species with in a region &
Ecosystem diversity refers to the number and distribution of ecosystem.
Biodiversity Hotspots
The term ‘biodiversity hotspots’ was first coined and used by Norman Myers, a British
Ecologist, in the year 1988.
According to Myers to qualify as a hotspot an area must contain 0.5 per cent of or 1500 of
the world’s 300000 plant species and should have lost 70 per cent or more of its primary
vegetation.
The main purpose of describing hotspots is to emphasize spatial variation in the value of
biodiversity.
Currently, 36 biodiversity hotspots have been identified, most of which occur in tropical
forests.
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1) Eastern Himalaya.
3) Indo-Burma.
4) Sunda land
There are four Hotspots regions in India namely Himalaya, Indo-Burma, Sunda- lands and
Western Ghats and Sri Lanka.
Out of them, Himalaya and Western Ghats are mostly located within India’s territory.
In the Indo-Burma Biodiversity hotspot, India shares only a small part in north East India.
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Functions of GEAC
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the Mediterranean sea.
The process involves the capture of carbon dioxide from industrial and energy-related
sources, transport to an offshore sub-seabed geological formation, and long-term isolation
from the atmosphere in that formation
The risks include those associated with leakage into the marine environment of carbon
dioxide and other substances in, or mobilized by, the carbon dioxide stream.
B] Ocean Fertilization
Ocean fertilization (for example, adding nutrients such as iron to the ocean) has been
proposed as a climate mitigation measure. In order for ocean fertilization to mitigate
climate change.
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Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF)
Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has unveiled draft
Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for coastal zone management.
It was prepared by Society for Integrated Coastal Management, an MoEFCC-affiliated body
as part of a World Bank-funded project.
Nagoya protocol:
Nagoya protocol on access and benefit sharing ,The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic
Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization
(ABS) to the Convention on Biological Diversity is a supplementary agreement to the
Convention on Biological Diversity.
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It provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three
objectives of the CBD:
The fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
The Nagoya Protocol on ABS was adopted on October 2010 in Nagoya, Japan and entered
into force on October 2014. thereby contributing to the conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity.
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In Ecosan Toilets, human excreta, urine and wash water are separated through specially
designed toilet seats unlike the conventional water closets where all these are collected
together.
As compared to the assessment of 2017, there is an increase of 5,188 sq. km in the total
forest and tree cover of the country.
“Out of this, the increase in the forest cover has been observed as 3,976 sq km and that in tree
cover is 1,212 sq. km.
Range increase in forest cover has been observed in open forest followed by very dense
forest and moderately dense forest and the top three states showing increase in forest cover
are Karnataka (1,025 sq. km) followed by Andhra Pradesh (990 sq km) and Kerala (823 sq
km).”
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Some Major Findings
Area-wise Madhya Pradesh has the largest forest cover in the country followed by Arunachal
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Maharashtra.
In terms of forest cover as percentage of total geographical area, the top five States are
Mizoram (85.41%), Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%), Meghalaya (76.33%), Manipur (75.46%)
and
Nagaland (75.31%).
The Mangrove ecosystems are unique & rich in biodiversity and they provide numerous
ecological services.
Mangrove cover has been separately reported in the ISFR 2019 and the total mangrove
cover in the country is 4,975 sq km.
An increase of 54 sq Km in mangrove cover has been observed as compared to the previous
assessment of 2017.
Top three states showing mangrove cover increase are Gujarat (37 sq km) followed by
Maharashtra (16 sq km) and Odisha (8 sq km).
Colombo Declaration
It has been developed with the technical support of the International Nitrogen Management
System (INMS), a joint activity of the UNEP and the International Nitrogen Initiative supported
by the Global Environment Facility.
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Ammonia (NH3),
Benzene (C6H6),
Benzo(a)Pyrene (BaP),
Arsenic(As),
Nickel (Ni).
Peatlands.
Peats are a heterogeneous mixture of plant material (vascular plants, mosses and humus)
that had accumulated in a water-saturated area and are only partially decomposed due to
absence of oxygen. The natural areas covered by peat are called peatlands.
Various types of peat are – swamp forests, fens, bogs or mires. They form where climate,
bedrock and relief create an area with permanent water saturation i.e. either in shallow water
over layers of lake sediments or directly on mineral soil.
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Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA)
Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) is planning to set up a dedicated
Green Window with an aim to serve the unserved segments of renewable energy.
The Green Window will support underserved clean energy markets It will also support the
scaling up of new clean energy technologies
It will be used to leverage additional sources of capital from both private domestic banks
and international sources.
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The 14th Asiatic Lion Census was conducted in 2015.the population of lions was 523
(27% up compared to the previous census in 2010). The population of lions was 411 in 2010
and 359 in 2005
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Lion census is conducted on 5 year intervals.
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As temperatures increase due to climate change, the ocean water becomes more stratified.
The increase in temperature has even a greater effect, thermocline becomes even a more
powerful boundary causing potential reduction in upwelling .
This reduction in upwelling and down welling makes it more difficult for nutrient (such as
nitrate and phosphate) rich water to reach the surface and for oxygen to reach the lower
depths of the ocean.
These kinds of reductions can result in biomass loss and changes in species compositions as
certain species abundance goes down.
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Keeling Curve:
The Keeling Curve is a graph of the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere
based on continuous measurements taken at the Mauna Loa Observatory on the island of
Hawaii from 1958 to the present day.
The curve is named for the scientist Charles David Keeling, who started the monitoring
program and supervised it until his death in 2005.
Keeling's measurements showed the first significant evidence of rapidly increasing carbon
dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere. The Keeling curve is one of the most important
scientific works of the 20th century.
Many scientists credit the Keeling curve with first bringing the world's attention to the current
increase of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Green accounting:
Green accounting is a type of accounting that attempts to factor environmental costs into
the financial results of operations.
It has been argued that gross domestic product ignores the environment and therefore
policymakers need a revised model that incorporates green accounting.
The major purpose of green accounting is to help businesses understand and manage the
potential quid pro quo between traditional economics goals and environmental goals.
It also increases the important information available for analyzing policy issues, especially
when those vital pieces of information are often overlooked.
Saksham 2020:
'Saksham', an annual one-month long fuel conservation mega campaign of Petroleum
Conservation Research Association (PCRA) under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum and
Natural Gas.
Saksham where in general public is involved in various activities.
By mid 2020s India will be the world’s largest growth market accounting for 25% of global
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energy demand growth.
Today 83% of India’s crude oil requirement is met through import.
Mandate:
To regulate access to biological resources and or associated knowledge for research, bio-
survey and bio-utilization, commercial utilization.
To Obtain Intellectual Property Rights, transfer of results of research and transfer of
accessed biological resources.
It’s Headquarter is in Chennai.
It also advises State Governments in identifying the areas of biodiversity importance -
biodiversity hotspots as heritage sites.
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The Green Climate Fund (GCF):
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a global fund created to support the efforts of developing
countries to respond the challenge of climate change.
It seeks to promote a paradigm shift to low-emission and climate resilient development.
It was set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010, as part of the Convention’s financial
mechanism.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Small Industries
Development Bank of India (SIDBI) act as National Implementing Entity of India for Green
Climate Fund.
What is eco-anxiety?
1. The feeling of being overwhelmed by the challenges of climate change and the fear about
the state of the environment.
2. It is the helplessness that makes us see ourselves as just one insignificant entity on the
planet, unable to reverse the crisis.
3. It is also the sense that no matter how hard we work, nothing will ever be enough.
4. You know the deteriorating climate is affecting your health or your child‘s but you do not know
how you can stop it.
5. In 2017, the American Psychological Association referred to the condition as eco-anxiety.
Dracaena cambodiana
Dracaena cambodiana is the only true dragon tree species.
It is an important medicinal plant as well as an ornamental tree.
It is a major source of dragon’s blood, a precious traditional medicine in China.
Several antifungal and antibacterial compounds, antioxidants, flavonoids.
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4. FRONTIERS REPORT
The UN Environment Programme has launched its latest Frontiers report 2018/19, which
explores five of the most significant emerging issues on the environment.
Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the carbon associated with soil organic matter
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SOM comprises the remains of plants and animals in the soil at various stages of
decomposition, along with the microbial biomass and several by-products of complex biotic
metabolic processes.
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Coevolution, the process of reciprocal evolutionary change that occurs between pairs of
species or among groups of species as they interact with one another.
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Standing crop
Each trophic level has a certain mass of living material at a particular time called as the
standing crop. The standing crop is measured as the mass of living organisms (biomass) or
the number in a unit are
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Healthy ecosystems are the base for a wide range of economic, environmental and aesthetic
goods and services. The products of ecosystem processes are named as ecosystem
services
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Red Mud
In a step towards productive utilization of bauxite residue, commonly known as the 'Red
Mud', an interactive workshop called 'Waste To Wealth' was organized by Ministry of Mines in
New Delhi
Red mud is a side-product of the Bayer process, the principal means of refining bauxite en
route to alumina.
WAYU
WAYU is developed by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – National
Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI) as a part of Technology
Development Project being funded by Department of Science and Technology.
The device works on two principles mainly Wind generation for dilution of air pollutants and
Active Pollutants removal. The device has filters for Particulate Matter removal and activated
carbon (charcoal) and UV lamps for poisonous gases removal such as VOCs and Carbon
Monoxide
PERMACULTURE
It is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which
have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious
integration of
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landscape and people —providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-
material needs in a sustainable way.
The term was coined by Bill Mollison in 1978
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Allelopathy: is defined as direct or indirect harmful effect of one plant over the other crop
species through the exudation of toxic substances from the roots or the decomposition of
crop residues.
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Kelps are large brown algae seaweeds. Kelp grows in "underwater forests" (kelp forests) in
shallow oceans. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on
Earth.
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Clouded Leopard National Park of Tripura is India’s first dedicated wildlife park to
Clouded Leopards, located inside the the Sipahijola Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Clouded Leopard park covers an area of about 5.08 square kilometres and home to four
species of primate monkey including Phayre’slangur.
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private sector, with the aim of working together to save wild tigers from extinction.
In 2013, the scope was broadened to include Snow Leopards.
Club of Rome
Founded in 1968 the Club of Rome consists of current and former heads of state, UN
bureaucrats, high-level politicians and government officials, diplomats, scientists,
economists, and business leaders from around the globe.
It stimulated considerable public attention in 1972 with the first report to the Club of Rome,
The Limits to Growth.
The organization has been based in Winterthur, Switzerland.
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Agenda 21
It is the outcome of the Earth Summit at Rio de Janeiro in the year 1992.
It is the voluntary action plan of the United Nations (UN) related to sustainable development.
6. Biodiversity coldspot
Biodiversity coldspot is a region that does not have as high species richness as found in
biological hotspots.
It is important to conserve them, as they may be the only location where a rare species is
found.
The first Indian grey wolf to be seen in Bangladesh in eight decades has been beaten to
death by farmers after preying on their livestock.
Scientific Name: Indian Grey Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) is a subspecies of grey wolf.
Distribution: It has a wide distribution range that extends from the Indian subcontinent to
Israel.
IUCN - LEAST CONCERN
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Carbon markets
Carbon markets allow the buying and selling of emission reductions in the form of carbon
credits, and enable countries struggling to meet their climate targets to buy these credits from
countries that are in a position to reduce their emissions beyond their own targets.
ARTILE 6 PARIS AGREEMENT deal with carbon market
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“mHariyali,”
MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
The app is aimed to encourage Public engagement in planting trees and other such Green
drives.
People can now upload information/photos of any plantation done by them, which is linked to app
and will be displayed on the website www.epgc.gov.in.
Cheetahs
Suprem Court has now allowed to initiate the re-introduction of foreign Cheetahs (African
Cheetahs) from Namibia into the Indian habitat i.e (Palpur Kuno sanctuary in Madhya
Pradesh) on an experimental basis.
In 1952, the Asiatic Cheetah was officially declared extinct from India.
African Cheetah- IUCN status Vulnerable
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'The Evil Quartet' term relates to : The four major causes of species extinctions.
Types of Biodiversity
1. Alpha-diversity (Within-Community diversity) refers to the diverse organisms sharing the
samecommunity/habitat.
2. Beta-diversity (Between-community diversity) refers to the rate of replacement of
species along a gradient of habitats orcommunities.
3. Gamma diversity (Overall) refers to the diversity of habitats over the total landscape or
geographicalarea.
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Sustainable Development Solutions Network
The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) has been operating since 2012
under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General.
SDSN mobilizes global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical solutions
for sustainable development, including the implementation of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) engages scientists, engineers,
business and civil society leaders, and development practitioners for evidence based
problem solving.
It promotes solutions initiatives that demonstrate the potential of technical and business
innovation to support sustainable development.
SDSN has a small secretariat with offices in New York, New Delhi, and Paris.
Earth Day
This day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970 and has ever since been an annual event.
The person credited for organising the event 48 years ago is US Senator Gaylord Nelson.
The idea is to encourage people to cut down on their plastic consumption by paying a closer
attention to the number of plastic items each person consumes annually and make a
conscious effort to reduce the amount.
Biosafety Clearing-House
BCH is a mechanism set up by the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to facilitate the
exchange of information on Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) and assist the Parties to
better comply with their obligations under the Protocol.
Global access to a variety of scientific, technical, environmental, legal and capacity building
information is provided in the six official languages of the UN.
LEED INDIA
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Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) formed the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) in
year 2001.
IGBC is the non profit research institution having its offices in CII-Sohrabji Godrej Green
Business Centre, which is itself a LEED certified Green building.
Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has licensed the LEED Green Building Standard from the
USGBC.
GRIHA
Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) is India’s own rating system jointly
developed by TERI and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.
SAFAR - India
System of Air Quality and Weather ForecastingAnd Research.
By Ministry of Earth Science, Govt. of India & Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune
SAFAR system is developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, along with
ESSO partner institutions namely India Meteorological Department (IMD) and National
Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).
The implementation of SAFAR is made possible with an active collaboration with local
municipal corporations and various local educational institutions and governmental
agencies in that Metro city.
The ultimate objective of the project is to increase awareness among general public regarding
the air quality in their city well in advance so that appropriate mitigation measures and
systematic action can be taken up for betterment of air quality and related health issues.
It engineer’s awareness drive by educating public, prompting self-mitigation and also to help
develop mitigation strategies for policy makers.
Hope Spots
Hope Spots are special places that are critical to the health of the ocean — Earth’s blue
heart.
Hope Spots are about recognizing, empowering and supporting individuals and communities
around the world in their efforts to protect the ocean.
Sylvia Earle introduced the concept in her 2009 TED talk and since then the idea has
inspired millions across the planet.
While about 12 percent of the land around the world is now under some form of protection
(as national parks etc.), less than six percent of the ocean is protected in any way.
Hope Spots allow us to plan for the future and look beyond current marine protected areas
(MPAs), which are like national parks on land where exploitative uses like fishing and deep
sea mining are restricted.
Hope Spots are often areas that need new protection, but they can also be existing MPAs
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where more action is needed.
They can be large, they can be small, but they all provide hope due to:
A special abundance or diversity of species, unusual or representative species, habitats or
ecosystems, particular populations of rare, threatened or endemic species.
Mission Blue
It is uniting a global coalition to inspire an upwelling of public awareness, access and support for a
worldwide network of marine protected areas – Hope Spots.
Blue Flag:
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that
a beach, marina or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its high environmental and
quality standards.
The Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) is a non-governmental, non-profit
organisation promoting sustainable development through environmental education.
FEE is active through five programmes; Blue Flag, Eco-Schools, Young Reporters for the
Environment (YRE), Learning about Forests (LEAF) and Green Key.
Union Environment Ministry has launched a pilot project for beach clean-up and
development and is also striving for the 'Blue Flag' certification for such identified beaches.
Under the project, each state or UT has been asked to nominate a beach which will be funded
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through the ongoing In tegrated Coastal Management Programme.
As of now, no beach in India is Blue Flag certified.
Clean Sea-2017
The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) conducted the Regional Level Marine Oil Pollution Response
Exercise named ‘Clean Sea-2017’ at sea off Port Blair, Andaman.
Phytoremediation:
Phytoremediation is the direct use of living green plants for removal, degradation, or
containment of contaminants in soils, sludges, sediments, surface water and groundwater.
Phytoremediation is: A low cost, solar energy driven cleanup technique.
Most useful at sites with shallow, low levels of contamination.
Useful for treating a wide variety of environmental contaminants.
Effective with, or in some cases, in place of mechanical cleanup methods.
It can be used both in-situ (by using these plants at the site of contamination) and ex-situ
(by transferring contamination to these plants e.g. contaminated groundwater can be
pumped to irrigate these plants which in turn will trap the contamination).
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It is national mammal of Pakistan.
It is a key indicator species of river’s health. Its presence is considered as river is
healthy. Indus dolphin like Ganges River dolphin is functionally blind and relies on
echolocation to navigate, communicate and hunt prey in muddy river water.
Only 1,816 Indus dolphins are reported to exist presently in lower parts of Indus River.
They are patchily distributed in five small, sub-populations that are separated by irrigation
barrages across course of Indus river and its tributaries.
Their numbers have declined dramatically after construction of irrigation system.
It listed by the IUCN as endangered on its Red List of Threatened Species.
Indus Dolphin was also found in Sutlej decades back, but river pollution has caused its
extinction in river.
Clouded leopard
Nepal, China, Indai, south East Asia
Status- vulnerable
National park ( exclusive) - Sipahijola national park- Tripura
State animal of meghalya.
Clouded leopard (Kheleo) was the mascot for 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup, hosted by India
from 6 to 28 October 2017.
Automated moorings
India is all set to have its own automated ocean pollution observation system, called
automated moorings, this year that will help keep a tab on ocean pollution levels apart from
offering insights on how the marine system is changing.
It will do away with the present practice of collecting water samples from sea and studying
their pollution levels thereafter.
The system is being developed by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services
(INCOIS).
ECOLEX
ECOLEX is an information service on environmental law, operated jointly by FAO, IUCN and
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UNEP.
Its purpose is to build capacity worldwide by providing the most comprehensive possible
global source of information on environmental law.
This unique resource, which combines the environmental law information holdings of FAO,
IUCN and UNEP, seeks to put this information at the disposal of users world-wide, in an
easily accessible service, employing modern technology.
The ECOLEX database includes information on treaties, international soft-law and other
non- binding policy and technical guidance documents, national legislation, judicial
decisions, and law and policy literature. Users have direct access to the abstracts and
indexing information about each document.
Environmental determinism
Environmental determinism (also known as climatic determinism or geographical
determinism) is the study of how the physical environment predisposes societies and
states towards particular development trajectories.
Under2 Coalition
It is a coalition of a subnational governments that aims to achieve greenhouse gases
emissions mitigation. It started as a memorandum of understanding, which was signed by
twelve founding jurisdictions on May 19, 2015 in Sacramento, California.
Although it was originally called the Under2 MOU, it became known as the Under2 Coalition
in 2017. As of September 2017, the list of signatories has grown to 177 jurisdictions which
combined encompasses 1.2 billion people and 39% of the world economy.
The Under2 Coalition, a Memorandum of Understanding by subnational governments to
reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions towards net-zero by 2050, is generating a
unique precedent for bold climate leadership, with its member states and regions surpassing
200 in number.
GloMEEP
GloMEEP is a GEF-UNDP-IMO project aimed at supporting the uptake and implementation of
energy efficiency measures for shipping, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions from
shipping.
The GloMEEP Project is being executed by a dedicated Project Coordination Unit (PCU)
established within the Marine Environment Division of IMO. IMO is a specialized agency
responsible for safe, secure and efficient shipping and the prevention of pollution from ships.
GloMEEP supports ten Lead Pilot Countries of the project to implement these measures,
through:
The Lead Pilot Countries (LPCs) of the GloMEEP project are: Argentina, China, Georgia,
India, Jamaica, Malaysia, Morocco, Panama, Philippines and South Africa.
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The Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF)
It is a joint initiative by the Governments of India and the UK under India’s flagship
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund.
It will provide financing to the fast-growing Indian renewable energy sector. With a
commitment of £120 million from each side, the GGEF is expected to raise up to £500 million
from institutional investors.
GGEF will help accelerate achieving India’s target of 175GW of renewable energy capacity
by 2022 and also invest in other related sectors such as clean transportation, water and
waste management.
Basel Convention:
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous
Wastes and their Disposal was created to protect people and the environment from the
negative effects of the inappropriate management of hazardous wastes worldwide.
It is the most comprehensive global treaty dealing with hazardous waste materials throughout
their lifecycles, from production and transport to final use and disposal.
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acid) was also listed with some exemptions in Annex A of Stockholm Convention.
In Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, two new chemicals named Phorate and
HBCD (hexabromocyclododecane) were added in list for mandatory Prior Informed Consent
(PIC) procedure in international trade.
Rotterdam Convention:
Was adopted on 10th September 1998 by a Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Rotterdam,
Netherlandsand entered into force on 24th February 2004.
It covers pesticides and industrial chemicals that have been banned or severely restricted
for health or environmental reasons by Parties and which have been notified by Parties for
inclusion in the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) procedure.
The Convention creates legally binding obligations for the implementation of the Prior
Informed Consent (PIC) procedure.
Origin
It is response to Article 11 of the Basel convention which encourages parties to enter into
bilateral, multilateral and regional agreements on Hazardous Waste to help achieve the objectives
of the convention. The impetus for the Bamako convention arose also from:
The failure of the Basel Convention to prohibit trade of hazardous waste to less developed
countries (LDCs);
The realization that many developed nations were exporting toxic wastes to Africa (Koko
case in Nigeria, Probo Koala case in Ivory Coast).
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Specificity
The Bamako convention uses a format and language similar to that of the Basel convention,
except that: (a) it is much stronger in prohibiting all imports of hazardous waste, and (b) it does
not make exceptions on certain hazardous wastes (like those for radioactive materials) made by
the Basel convention.
It was negotiated by 12 nations of the African Union (former Organization of African Unity) at
Bamako, Mali in January, 1991.
I t came into force in 1998.
To date, it has 29 Signatories and 25 Parties
To prohibit the import of all hazardous and radioactive wastes into the African continent for
any reason;
To minimize and control transboundary movements of hazardous wastes within the African
continent.
To prohibit all ocean and inland water dumping or incineration of hazardous wastes.
To ensure that disposal of wastes is conducted in an “environmentally sound manner".
To promote cleaner production over the pursuit of a permissible emissions approach based on
assimilative capacity assumptions
To establish the precautionary principle.
Article 33 Withdrawal
At any time after three years from the date on which this Convention has entered into force for
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a Party, that Party may withdraw from the Convention .
Article 34 Depositary
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall be the Depositary of this Convention.
Article 35
Authentic texts The original of this Convention, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the
Depositary.
The world will fail to meet the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement unless global
greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6 per cent each year.
The top four emitters (China, USA, EU and India) -55% of the total emissions over the
last decade, excluding emissions from land-use change such as deforestation.
Brazil likely to be the largest emitter if land-use change included.
Sectors that are the largest emitters-
Energy>Industry>Forestry>Transport>Agriculture>Building.
It is a flagship report from UNEP and it assesses the gap between anticipated emissions in
2030 and levels consistent with the 1.5°C and 2°C targets of the Paris Agreement.
This year, the report looked at the potential of the energy transition – particularly in
the power, transport and buildings sectors
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natural replenishment rates.
Ecological Damage
While 85% to 90% of global sand demand is met from quarries, and sand and gravel pits,
10% to 15% extracted from rivers and seashores is a severe concern due the environmental
and social impacts.
About GEO
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1. The Colombo Declaration has been developed with the technical support of the
International Nitrogen Management System (INMS), a joint activity of the UNEP and
the International Nitrogen Initiative supported by the Global Environmental Facility.
2. Aim: halve nitrogen waste by 2030.
3. A campaign : “Nitrogen for Life” is to be launched
1. Nitrogen compounds running off farmland have led to water pollution problems .
2. Over 80% of the nitrogen in soil is not utilised by humans.
3. Nitrogen becomes a pollutant when it escapes into the environment and reacts with
other organic compounds.
4. According to the World Health Organization, nitrate-contaminated drinking water can
cause reduced blood function, cancer and endemic goiters.
5. It may also affect natural soil decomposition.
What is Biopiracy?
Biopiracy is the practice of commercially exploiting naturally occurring genetic material or
biochemical.
Some of the traditional knowledge that is relevant to global survival includes the following
components.
1. Medicinal Plants.
2. Farming or Agriculture.
3. Varieties of Food crops.
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Examples of Biopiracy
2. Higher concentration of these elements in the food chain creates a lot of serious problems
and may even cause life-threatening diseases like cancer.
3. The process of movement of toxic elements is of two type: Bio-accumulation and
Bio- magnification.
Bio-accumulation
It is the process of increase in the concentration of toxic elements within the body of particular
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organism.
Example- The air pollution which is caused due to various factors including the vehicular
emission, progresses to an accumulation of toxic elements like PM2.5 and PM10 inside an
organism and can have dangerous impacts on humans as well as other organisms.
Bio-magnification
Biomagnification is also known as bio amplification, in this the concentration of the
toxicants increases at the successive trophic levels. It is due to the reason that toxic
elements cannot be absorbed and simultaneously they get transferred to the successive
higher trophic levels resulting in more concentration of toxicants at the higher trophic level.
Biomagnification can be seen in the case of Mercury or DDT.
A pollutant having properties like long life, mobile, soluble in fat, biologicallyactive will
lead to the process of biomagnification.
Under the operation, team of WCCB officials with Scientist from Wildlife Institute of India
conducted awareness programmes along Indo-Nepal border
Operation LESKNOW II
The Operation was intended to drag attention of the enforcement agencies within the
country towards the illegal wildlife trade in lesser known species such as Deer, Wild Boar,
Jackal, Mongoose, Monitor Lizard, Sea cucumber and Pangolin etc.
The Operation brought about encouraging response from the state enforcement agencies
The
Operation "THUNDERSTORM"
th
Take on the illegal wildlife crime network, based on the recommendations of e 28
Interpol wildlife crime working group meeting held in Singapore during October, 2017.
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INTERPOL coordinated enforcement operation code named “Operation
THUNDERSTORM” was launched in which WCCB coordinated the country wide multi-
species wildlife” operation during the period.
Based on intelligence inputs from WCCB and other enforcement agencies, the State/Central
enforcement agencies conducted operations against illegal wildlife crime/criminals as a result
of which 52 wildlife cases were registered in the 13 States of India and 98 wildlife criminals
were apprehended involving seizures of parts/artifacts of big cats, pangolin, rhinoceros,
elephant, blackbuck, turtle/tortoise, live birds, snakes, live animals and plants listed under the
Schedules of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Operation "BIRBIL"
The Enforcement agencies were requested to collect intelligence pertaining to the illegal
trade in all Birds and cat species and conduct enforcement operations apart from
gathering information on modus operandi in poaching, concealment techniques, transporting
and smuggling etc.
The Bureau found overwhelming response from the State Enforcement agencies in which
cases were registered in 7 States.
In a secret joint operation carried by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau Eastern Region and
Northern Range, Panibharal, Kaziranga National Park at BiswanathCharialiarea
offenders were apprehended And bag, contain a skin & bones and teeth of Royal Bengal
Tiger separately.
Operation "WILDNET"
To encounter the menace of the illegal trade through e-commerce platform, WCCB
organized and coordinated an enforcement operation named “Operation WILDNET” to drag
the attention of the enforcement agencies within the country to focus their attention on the
ever increasing illegal wildlife trade over internet using Social Media Platforms such
as Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Wechat etc. apart from various online classified sites and
trade portals, websites and Blog Spots.
The operation started from 1st of May 2017 and continued till 30th June, 2017. online e-
commerce platforms were detected by WCCB by surfing the internet and the information was
passed to field agencies for conducting operations. Based on the information the perpetrators
were booked under relevant provisions of the wildlife protection act by various State
agencies.
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Operation "THUNDERBIRD"
Considering the commercial exploitation of the turtles and tortoises as well as the extent of
involvement of illegal wildlife traders in the illegal trade of live specimens WCCB envisaged a
species specific operation code named “OPERATION SAVE KURMA” to focus specifically on
the major states involved in the poaching, transportation and illegal trade of live turtles and
tortoises.
Efforts of the WCCB during Operation Save Kurma were recognized by CITES
Secretariat by awarding a Secretary-General's Certificate of Commendation during the
69th meeting of the Standing Committee of CITES at Geneva Switzerland on
30-11-2017.
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fauna as per the provisions of Wild Life Protection Act, CITES and EXIM Policy governing
such an item.
Salient Features
Approach
NAPCC addresses the country’s critical and urgent needs by directionally shifting the
development path and enhancing the current and planned programmes and
technologies.
It identifies measures that promote our developmental goals and co-benefits by
addressing climate change also.
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The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission
Achievements
The World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF) feels that the National Action Plan is
fairly comprehensive and has cross-sectoral links through the eight National Level
Missions. The focal point is India's impetus on following on a low carbon energy path
without impending economic growth and quality of life of people.
NAPCC brings a balanced perspective on mitigation and adaptation through some
new dimensions like creation of National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate
Change as this would ensure exchange of knowledge and informed research in India.
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Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (with Amendment Acts of 2003
and 2006):
The act provides for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants and matters connected
with them, with a view to ensure the ecological and environmental security of India.
Extends to the whole of India.
It provides for prohibition on use of animal traps except under certain circumstances
It provides for protection of hunting rights of the Scheduled Tribes in Andaman and
Nicobar Islands
Has provisions for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES)
It has six schedules which give varying degrees of protection
Species listed in Schedule I and part II of Schedule II get absolute
protection — offences under these are prescribed the highest penalties
Species listed in Schedule III and Schedule IV are also protected, but the penalties are
much lower
Schedule V includes the animals which may be hunted
The plants in Schedule VI are prohibited from cultivation and planting
The act constitutes a National Board for Wildlife that
provides guidelines for framing policies and advising Central and State Government
Making recommendations for setting up and managing national parks, sanctuaries and
other protected areas; and
Suggesting measures for improvement of wildlife conservation.
It also sets up National Tiger Conservation Authority.
The acts sets up various provisions related to trade and penalties for hunting theanimals
in wild.
Five kinds of protected areas can be notified in the Act. These are:
Sanctuaries: The State or Central Government may by notification declare its intention
to constitute any area as a sanctuary for protecting wildlife and the environment. The
government determines the nature and extent of rights of persons in or over the land
within the sanctuary.
National Parks:
The State or Central Government may declare an area, whether inside a
sanctuary or not, as a national park for the purpose of protecting and developing
wildlife and its environment.
The State Government cannot alter the boundaries of a national park except on
the recommendation of the National Board for Wildlife.
No grazing is allowed inside a national park.
All provisions applicable to a sanctuary are also applicable to a national park.
Conservation Reserves: The State Government after consultations with local
communities can declare any area owned by the Government, particularly areas
adjacent to national parks or sanctuaries, as conservation reserves. The government
constitutes a Conservation Reserve Management Committee to manage and conserve
the
conservation reserve.
Community Reserves: The State Government can, in consultation with the
community or an individual who have volunteered to conserve wildlife, declare any
private or
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community land as community reserve. A Community Reserve Management Committee
shall be constituted by State Government for conserving and managing the reserve.
Tiger Reserve: These areas were reserved for protection tiger in the country. The
State Government on the recommendation of the Tiger Conservation Authority may
notify an area as a tiger reserve, for which it has to prepare a Tiger Conservation Plan.
National Park:
1. National parks are formed by Central or State Legislation.
Sanctuary:
1. Sanctuaries are formed by the order of State or Central Government.
2. Status of sanctuary is lower.
3. Private ownership may be allowed.
4. These activities are allowed with permission. Eg. Chilika-Nalaban Sanctuary for
migrating birds.
Tiger Reserves
Project Tiger was launched by the Government of India in the year 1973 to save the
endangered species of tiger in the country.
Starting from nine (9) reserves in 1973-2016 the number is grown up to fifty (50). A total area
of 71027.10 km2 is covered by these project tiger areas.
Biosphere Reserves
Biosphere reserves are sites established by countries and recognized under UNESCO’s
Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote sustainable development based
on local community efforts and sound science.
The programme of Biosphere Reserve was initiated by UNESCO in 1971.
Conserve in situ all forms of life, along with its support system, in its totality.
The first biosphere reserve of the world was established in 1979.
1. A site that must contain an effectively protected and minimally disturbed core area of
value of nature conservation.
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2. The core area should be typical of a bio-geographical unit and large enough to
sustain viable populations representing all trophic levels in the ecosystem.
3. The management authority to ensure the involvement/cooperation of local communities
to bring variety of knowledge and experiences to link biodiversity conservation and
socio- economic development while managing and containing the conflicts.
4. Areas potential for preservation of traditional tribal or rural modes of living for harmonious
use of environment.
A core zone being National Park or Sanctuary/protected/regulated mostly under the Wildlife
(Protection) Act, 1972.
Green Good Deeds, the societal movement launched by the Union Minister for Environment,
Forest & Climate Change.
The ongoing BRICS Ministerial on Environment at Durban, SouthAfrica.
However, he wondered how these declarations can be put to practice at the ground level,
involving every section of the society.
“Green Good Deeds” is an idea to take it to the people and get them involved,”
Permaculture:
Permaculture is a contraction of the word PERMAnent agriculture or PERMAnent
CULTURE.” No civilization or culture can survive without a sustainable agriculture base
and land use ethics ” says Bill Mollison. (He is considered to be the ‘father of
permaculture)
Based on this philosophy the ethical basis,the code of conduct for people is evolved and founded
on.
1) Care of the earth
3) Invest surpluses
What is Permaculture ‘though the problems of the world are increasingly more complex, the
solutions remain embarrassingly simple….’ – bill mollison, co-founder of the world-wide
permaculture.
Permaculture – Key Concepts Food Forests and Guilds Food Forest mimics the architecture and
benecial relationships between plants and animals found in a natural forest or other natural
ecosystem.
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Seed Bankers for Conserving Native Crops
India’s Seed Bank
India has established its own seed storage facility at Chang La in Ladakh, Jammu and
Kashmir.
It has been built jointly by the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) and
the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in 2010 under the aegis
of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the world’s largest seed storage facility situated at
Norway.
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Stubble Burning
Air pollution in Delhi NCR has now become a familiar story, repeated with minor variations every
year, mainly aggravated by stubble burning in Punjab and Harayana.
Stubble (parali) burning is the act of setting fire to crop residue to remove them from the field to
sow the next crop.
If parali is left in the field, pests like termites may attack the upcoming crop.
The precarious economic condition of farmers doesn’t allow them to use expensive
mechanised methods to remove stubble.
Pollution: Open stubble burning emits - methane (CH4), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Volatile
organic compound (VOC) and carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.
Soil Fertility: Burning husk on ground destroys the nutrients in the soil, making it less fertile.
Heat Penetration: Heat generated by stubble burning penetrates into the soil, leading to the
loss of moisture and useful microbes.
From parali (stubble), high-grade organic fertilizers can be prepared by mixing with cow
dung and few natural enzymes.
Using straw for electricity generation is another productive way of generating wealth from
residue.
How it works?
1. Biomass torrefaction involves heating the biomass to temperatures between 250 and
300 degrees Celsius in a low-oxygen atmosphere.
The air quality in Delhi, the capital of India, according to a WHO survey of 1600 world cities,
is the worst of any major city in the world.
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The system has been developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, under
MoES.
The AQEW system uses data of stubble burning incidents from the past 15 years to
predict the date and place of the next burning.
This is then correlated with wind speed to predict air pollution level for next 72
hours. It can also forecast the level of pollutants like particulate matter (PM) 2.5,
PM10, and dust, coming from sources other than stubble burning.
Presently the system monitors and forecasts two types of pollutants – PM2.5 and CO (Carbon
Monoxide).
Cryosphere
Cryosphere and its affect on global climate
The frozen water is present in different forms (snow, sea ice, lake and river ice, glaciers, ice
sheets, icebergs and frozen ground) altogether within the climate system is called as the
'Cryosphere'.
Albedo is the measurement of reflectivity of an object. In other words, it is the measure of the
diffuse reflection of solar radiation out of the total solar radiation received by an astronomical body.
The state of the cryosphere strongly depends on and interacts with atmospheric conditions,
on local to hemispheric spatial scales, and on hourly to glacial-interglacial scales.
It has a non-linear response to changes in temperature, due to threshold effects associated
with melt. The affects of Cryosphere on global climate are discussed below:
1. The Albedo of snow/ice sheet is highand plays important role in solar radiation
because reflect much of the insolation, which helps incooling of the earth.
2. It influences the surface energy, greenhouse gases and water fluxes.
3. It plays important role in cooling the air .
4. The polar region acts as carbon sinkand trapped tonnes of carbon inside its soil.
5. When seawater is condense into sea ice at Polar region then the surrounding water
gets saltier. Saltier water has higher density; it sinks and initiates thermohaline
circulation patterns across the oceans of the world.
6. If the frozen form of water melts, then the volume of water in the oceans will be
affected.So any changes in the water cycle, affects global energy / heat budget, and
thereby global climate.
Keeling Curve
"Bishkek Declaration
SCO Summit- 2019
The 19th annual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit was held on 13-14 June 2019
in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.
The heads of the Member States reviewed the implementation of the results of the Qingdao
Summit and the priority goals for SCO development in the context of current global political
and economic processes.
The Bishkek Declaration was adopted by the Member states.
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Eco City
The plotted residential development under GMADA, Ecocity is the upcoming Ultra modern
Township at Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.
Quite synonymous to its name, it is surrounded by lush green areas. The scheme launched in
the year 2011 for the allotment of 836 residential plots evoked overwhelming response as
approximately 1, 60,000 applications were received.
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched
“Wood is Good” Campaign under Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-Plus).
It was launched on sidelines of two-day conference on “Sustainable landscapes and forest
ecosystems:
Forests are integral part of Indian culture and tradition. Government is committed to increase
forest cover from 24% to 33% of geographical area and creating an additional carbon sink of
2.5 to 3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent in forests, as reflected in Internationally Nationally
Determined Contributions (INDCs)
The ‘Wood is Good’ campaign on the occasion under the Forest-Plus programme.
The purpose of the campaign is to promote wood as a climate-friendly resource and
substitute to materials like steel and plastic as it is a renewable resource, having zero carbon
footprint, unlike other materials that leave carbon footprint in their production.
Forest+
The Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-Plus)is a joint programme by the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ministry of Environment, Forest
and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to strengthen capacity for REDD (Reducing Emissions
from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) implementation in India.
The programme will bring together experts from both India and the United States to develop
tools, technologies and methods of forest management in order to meet the technical
challenges of managing forests for the health of the ecosystem, carbon stocks, biodiversity
and livelihood.
The REDD Programme is collaborative programme of Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP).
It was created in 2008 in response to UNFCCC decisions on Bali Action Plan and REDD
at COP-13. Its goal is to reduce forest emissions and enhance carbon stocks in forests
while contributing to national sustainable development.
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“The Kigali Agreement to the Montreal Protocol reached this morning is a historic occasion,
which will have a lasting impact on our planet.
Agreement will lead to a reduction of 0.5 degree in global temp by the end of the century and
enable us to achieve the goals set in Paris.
The flexibility and cooperation shown by India as well as other countries has created this fair,
equitable and ambitious HFC agreement.
This will also provide a mechanism for countries like India to access and develop
technologies that leave a low carbon footprint.
Gravitational Lensing
USA's space agency NASA is planning to launch James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) in
2021, which will use a natural phenomenon called “gravitational lensing” to carry out
astronomical observations.
JWST will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first
luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of
supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System, etc.
For achieving this objective NASA has launched a program called Targeting Extremely
Magnified Panchromatic Lensed Arcs and Their Extended Star Formation, or
TEMPLATES.
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Gravitational Lensing
The phenomenon of gravitational lensing occurs when a huge amount of matter,
such as a massive galaxy, cluster of galaxies or a black hole, creates a gravitational
field that distorts and magnifies the light from objects behind it.
Gravitational lensing is based on Einstein's theory of general relativity (Mass bend light).
Normal lenses such as the ones in a magnifying glass work by bending light rays that pass
through them in a process known as refraction, in order to focus the light somewhere else.
Similarly, the gravitational field of a massive object causes light rays passing close to that
object to be bent and refocused somewhere else.
The more massive the object, the stronger its gravitational field and hence the greater the
bending of light rays - just like using denser materials to make optical lenses results in a
greater amount of refraction.
In effect, gravitational lenses act like natural cosmic telescopes.
The effect allows researchers to study the details of early galaxies too far away to be seen
otherwise with even the most powerful space telescopes.
However, gravitational lensing is very rare as it requires a distant star, black hole and the
observer on earth to be well-aligned.
Also, it can help astronomers to know about black holes, dark matter, etc.
The Blue Flag is one of the world’s most recognised voluntary eco-labels awarded to
beaches, marinas, and sustainable boating tourism operators.
In order to qualify for the Blue Flag, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety,
and accessibility criteria must be met and maintained.
There are nearly 33 criteria that must be met to qualify for a Blue Flag certification,
such as the water meets certain quality standards, having waste disposal facilities, being
disabled- friendly, have first aid equipment etc.
The Blue Flag Programme for beaches and marinas is run by the international, non-
governmental, non-profit organisation FEE (the Foundation for Environmental
Education).
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3. The campaign will be organized in the beaches after consultation with the state governments.
4. Environment Education Division and Society of Integrated Coastal Management
(SICOM) under the Environment Ministry will be responsible for its implementation.
5. At end of the drive, the best three beaches will be suitably awarded along with a
certificate of appreciation for all the participating eco-clubs.
6. The implementation of the drive will be monitored by the MoEF&CC officials.
Primary objective
To protect the long-term ecological integrity of natural areas that are undisturbed by
significant human activity, free of modern infrastructure and where natural forces and
processes predominate, so that current and future generations have the opportunity to
experience such areas.
By disseminating knowledge and providing support to its members ZWIA is promoting the
implementation of Zero Waste Principles in various aspects.
Indian rapid urbanization is creating an unprecedented demand for buildings, which already
account for nearly 35 percent of India’s total electricity consumption.
Thus, the country's building sector is expected to increase five-fold from 2015 to 2050.
The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) has come out with Net Zero Energy Buildings rating
system in collaboration with the World Green Building Council and the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID).
IGBC also launched ‘Green Building Rating System for Hill Habitats’ intended for hill
cities, differentiating the sustainability needs of urban development in hills as compared to
cities in the plains.
The theme for Green Building Congress 2018 is ‘Green Built Environment for People & the
Planet’.
IGBC plans to promote the concept of ‘Net Zero’ in India. Under this initiative, the focus
is reducing the annual energy consumption by 40-50% with respect to national baseline
and cut down energy cost by about 30 per cent.
The rating system launched during the IGBC's 16th Green building Congress 2018 seeks to
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complement the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency and the National Solar
Mission.
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BEE-ECBC – The Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) was established by the Indian
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) to set energy efficiency standards for design and
construction of buildings.
TERI GRIHA – The Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA) is a national
rating system for green buildings that is adopted while designing and evaluating new
buildings.
These include the Saiga antelope, the gyrfalcon, the Persian leopard, the spoon-billed
sandpiper, the Sakhalin sturgeon and the kaluga, also a type of sturgeon.
WWF:
Objectives:
1. Living Planet Report— published every two years by WWF since 1998; it is based on a
Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculation
2. Earth hour
3. Debt-for-nature swaps–financial transactions in which a portion of a developing
nation’s foreign debt is forgiven in exchange for local investments in environmental
conservation measures.
4. Marine Stewardship Council(MSC) — independent non-profit organization which sets a
standard for sustainable fishing
5. Healthy GrownPotato — eco-brand that provides high-quality, sustainably grown, packaged,
and shipped potatoes to consumers by leveraging integrated pest management(IPM) farming
practices on large scale farms
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TX2 logo
TX2 is a 12 year goal: 2010 – 2022, from the last Year of the Tiger to the next.
In 2010, at the Tiger Summit in St Petersburg, Nepal and the 12 other tiger range countries
committed to the most ambitious and visionary species conservation goal ever set: TX2 – to
double wild tiger numbers by 2022, the next year of the tiger.
Why in News
th
Recently, the State of India’s Bird 2020 was released at the 13 Conference of Parties of the
Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals which is taking place in
Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The first-of-its-kind analysis was carried out by ten research and conservation
organisations across India.
It used a massive database of over 10 million observations -on the online platform (e-
Bird) and ‘citizen science data’ to assess the distribution and trends of common Indian
birds.
Categorisation of Birds:
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The study categorised 101 species as “high concern”, 319 as “moderate
concern” and 442 into “low concern”.
Out of the species categorised as a high concern, 26% are classified globally by IUCN
as “least concern”.
Indian Peacocks:
The numbers of India’s national bird, the Indian
Peacock, has increased dramatically over the past few decades.
The increase in numbers of the species has been attributed to a combination of the
bird expanding its range (earlier it was absent in Kerala), conservation efforts and
associated penalties for poaching under Schedule I of the Wildlife Act.
It is listed as ‘Least Concern’ on the IUCN Red List.
Indian vultures:
It has experienced catastrophic population declines starting in the early
1990s. The declines are almost entirely attributable to inadvertent poisoning
by the livestock anti-inflammatory drug diclofenac.
Surveys conducted have shown that White-rumped Vulture has suffered the most
severe declines, followed by Indian Vulture and Egyptian Vulture.
House Sparrow:
The House Sparrow has been found to be stable across the country as a whole,
although declining in the major cities.
It has been declared as the “State Bird of Delhi” .
The reasons for the decline include decreasing insect populations and paucity of
suitable nesting sites.
Moreover, the popular theory that radiation from mobile phone towers is a factor is not
supported by the findings of this report.
Bustards in India:
All the four species of bustards in India (the Great Indian Bustard, Macqueen’s
Bustard, Lesser Florican and Bengal Florican) have suffered continuous population
declines.
Waterbirds:
It showed overall long-term declines.
“Brown Carbon” Green house Gases (a gas which absorbs radiation and traps heat in the
earth’s atmosphere, e.g. CO2)
“Black Carbon” The particles leftover from incomplete combustion of fossil fuels (soot and
dust), which has a greater effect on radiation transmission. This in turn can directly and
indirectly reduce the albedo effect of global snow and ice.
“Green Carbon” Carbon incorporated into plant biomass and the soils below.
“Blue Carbon“- carbon captured by the world’s ocean critters, and over half of all carbon in
living organisms resides here, under the glassy and deceiving barren big blue. Important
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coastal vegetation habitats such as mangroves and seagrasses which acquire the carbon
stored in marine sediments are being lost at a rate 5-10 times higher than the rainforests
(Nellemann et. al. , 2009).
Soil Organic Carbon : Preventing Land Degradation and Desertification - Current Affair
Article for UPSC, IAS, Civil Services and State PCS Examinations
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..Indian Polity..
What is a Whip?
A whip in parliamentary parlance is a written order that party members be present for an
important vote, or that they vote only in a particular way.
The term is derived from the old British practice of “whipping in” lawmakers to follow the
party line.
In India all parties can issue a whip to their members.
Parties appoint a senior member from among their House contingents to issue whips —
this member is called a Chief Whip, and he/she is assisted by additional Whips.
A whip is the instruction issued by political parties to vote according to the party line in a
legislature. Violation of the party whip could lead to expulsion under the AntiDefectionAct.
Sometimes political parties decide on a particular course of action, but may not issue a
whip to enforce it.
A one-line whip is non-binding, and merely serves to inform the members of the vote.
A two-line whip seeks attendance in the legislature during the vote.
A three-line whip is a clear-cut directive, to be present in the legislature during the vote
and cast vote according to the party line. Violation of the whip could lead to the member's
expulsion from the House.
In India, under the anti-defection law, a three-line whip can be violated only by more than
one-third of a party's strength in the legislature.
However, there are some cases such as Indian Presidential elections where whips
cannot direct a Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Legislative Assembly
(MLA) on whom to vote.
Defiance of whip:
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"Suvas":
The registry of the Supreme Court launched SUVAS (Supreme Court Vidhik Anuvaad
Software).
Software trained by Artificial Intelligence, especially designed for Judicial Domain and can
translate English Judicial documents, including Orders and Judgments, into nine vernacular
languages.
Artificial intelligence powered law focused translation engine will aid timely and quality
translation and thereby can help improve the efficiency of the judicial delivery
system.reduce pendency, expedite judicial adjudication and create more time for judges to
resolve complex cases.
Also Know
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Delimitation Commission
The Delimitation Commission in India is statutory body whose orders have the force of law
and cannot be called in question before any court.
The Commission consists of the Chief Election Commissioner of India and two judges of
Supreme Court or any of the High Courts in India.
These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India in this
behalf. The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State
Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them.
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"Public Account of India":
Public Account of India accounts for flows for those transactions where the government
merely acts as a banker.
These funds do not belong to the government and have to be paid back at some time to their
rightful owners.
Expenditures from this account are not required to be approved by the Parliament.
This fund is constituted under Article 266 (2) of the Constitution.
Examples of these are provident funds, small savings.
1. Offences under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act of 1971 is disqualified
to contest in theElections to the Parliament and state legislature for 6 years.
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1. Registration of political parties is governed by the provisions of Section 29A of
the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
2. These guidelines are in exercise by ECI of the powers conferred by Article 324 of
the Constitution of India and Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act,
1951.
Project 39A
It is inspired by Article 39-A of the Indian Constitution, a provision that furthers the
intertwined values of equal justice and equal opportunity by removing economic and social
barriers.
Using empirical research to re-examine practices and policies in the criminal justice system,
Project 39A aims to trigger new conversations on legal aid, torture, DNA forensics, mental
health in prisons, and the death penalty.
Nyaya Mitra
Nyaya Mitra initiative deals with the issue of heavy pendency of cases in courts across the
country.
In this initiative a retired judicial or executive officer (with legal experience) designated as
the ‘Nyaya Mitra.
Nyaya Mitra’s responsibilities would include among others assistance to litigants who are
suffering due to delay in investigations or trial, by actively identifying such cases through the
National Judicial Data Grid.
This initiative is significant benefits because at present, more than 2.4 crore cases are
pending in the district and lower judiciary, of which nearly 10% are more than 10 years old.
Though the initiative is good it is difficult to solve such number of cases and also it is not easy
to provided Nyaya Mitra’s as per requirement.
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As most of the lawyers are already dealing with their cases and it is difficult for them to work
voluntarily for this service.
eSanad (MEA)
'Parinam Manjusha(MOHRD External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj, Electronics and
Information Technology Minister Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad and Human Resource
Development Minister Shri Prakash Javadekar jointly inaugurated the integration of eSanad
with Parinam Manjusha today.
eSanad is aimed at online verification of the documents with an objective to extend
contactless, cashless and paperless document attestation/ apostille service to applicants in
India as well as abroad.
The integration OF e-Sanad with Parinam Manjusha will help the applicants avoid long travels
and precious resources of time and money for getting their documents attested by the
concerned authorities in States. It also allows filing the application online.
eSanad has been designed and developed by NIC and will be implemented in phases.
E-SAMVAD
e-SAMVAD is a platform for the NGOS and Civil Societies to interact with the MWCD.
On this portal, the NGOs can provide suggestions, feedbacks and also put up grievances
among other things.
It is believed to help in formulating effective policies for the welfare of women and
children in the nation.
Ministry of Women and child development.
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MPLAD Scheme
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal to continue the
MPLAD Scheme beyond the 12th Plan period (2012-17) up to March 31, 2020, an official
statement said today.
Members of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme provides that each MP
has the choice to suggest to the Head of the District works to the tune of ₹5 crore per year,
to be taken up in his/her constituency.
Initially, this scheme was administered by Ministry of Rural Development. Later, Ministry of
Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) has been looking into its working.
Elected Members of RajyaSabha and nominated members of both Houses may select works
for implementation in one or more district(s) as they may choose.
It also allows MPs to spend up to ₹10 lakh in any other constituency in India.
Besides these two wings, there is National Statistical Commission created through a Resolution
of Government of India (MOSPI) and one autonomous Institute, viz., Indian Statistical Institute
declared as an institute of National importance by an Act of Parliament.
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About Curative Petition
A curative petition may be filed after a reviewplea against the final conviction is dismissed.
It is meant to ensure there is no miscarriageof justice and to prevent abuse of process.
A curative petition is usually decided byjudges in chamber unless a specific request
The original jurisdiction means the power tohear a case for the first time, as opposed to
implemented in India, by filing a copy of the decree concerned in a District Court here.
The Ministry of Law and Justice issued an ExtraordinaryGazette Notification, declaring the
United Arab Emirates to be a “reciprocating territory” under Section 44A of the Civil
Procedure Code,1908.
It is prepared by Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of The
Economist
It provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide in 165 independent states
and two It is based on the electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of
government, political participation,
political culture and civil liberties.
Breach of Privileges
Parliamentary Privileges are certain rights andimmunities enjoyed by members of Parliament,
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individually and collectively, so that they can “effectively discharge their functions”.
The index was launched by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public
Grievances and the Centre for Good Governance.
The States are assessed on performance in 10 sectors namely
(1)agriculture and allied sectors (2)commerce and industries (3)human resource development
(4)public health (5)public infrastructure and utilities (6)economic governance (7)social welfare and
development,(8)judicial and public security (9)environment and (10)citizen-centric governance.
Who is An Anglo-Indian?
According to Article 366(2), An Anglo-Indian means a person whose fatheror any of whose other
male progenitors in the male line is or was ofEuropean descent but who is domiciled within the
territory of India and isor was born within such territory of parents habitually resident therein
andnot established there for temporary purposes only.
1. Extend reservation for Scheduled castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) to Lok Sabha and
legislative bodies.
2. Remove provision of nominating Anglo Indians to Lok Sabha and legislative bodies.
Article 142
Article 142(1) states that “The Supreme Court in the exercise of itsjurisdiction may pass such
decree or make such order as is necessary fordoing complete justice in any cause or matter
pending before it.
1. Article 142(1): The Supreme Court may pass an order for doingcomplete justice.
2. Article 142(2): It confers three different powers on the Supreme Court.
They are:
CYP
The Commonwealth Youth Parliament is an annual gathering hosted by the
CommonwealthParliamentary Association (CPA).
It brings together young people aged 18–29 from across the Commonwealth of Nations to
discuss
The Commonwealth Youth Parliament rotates annually through the nine regions of the
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..International Organizations, Bodies,
Treaties and Reports..
IOM UN Migration:
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is an intergovernmental organization that
provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants,
including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers.
In September 2016, IOM became a related organization of the United Nations.
It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European
Migration (ICEM) to help resettle people displaced by World War II.
As of March 2019, the International Organization for Migration has 173 member states and
eight observer
India is a member of it.
UNDP
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched the India chapter of its
new initiative, Accelerator Lab in New Delhi.
The objective behind launching lab is to address some of the most pressing issues facing
India,
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including air pollution, through innovation.
To achieve its objectives, the UNDP has also partnered with NITI Aayog ‘s Atal Innovation
Mission (AIM).
Page 163
The GDI measures gender gaps in human development achievements by accounting for
disparities between women and men in three basic dimensions of human development—health,
knowledge and living standards using the same component indicators as in the HDI. The GDI
is the ratio of the HDIs calculated separately for females and males using the same
methodology as in the HDI.
It is a direct measure of gender gap showing the female HDI as a percentage of the male
The Gender Gap Report was first published in 2006 by the World Economic Forum. The 2016
report covers 144 major and emerging economies.
The report’s Gender Gap Index ranks countries according to calculated gender gap between
women and men in four key areas: health, education, economy and politics to gauge the
state of gender equality in a country.
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Global Competitiveness Report
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has released the 2019 edition of the Global
Competitiveness Report which features the Global Competitiveness Index 4.0 (GCI 4.0).
India has moved down 10 places to the rank of 68th compared to the 58th rank of 2018
primarily because of faster improvements of several countries previously ranked lower.
Reproductive health,
Empowerment and
The labour market.
UNCLOS
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), an
international agreement in force since 1994 regarding international activity in the world’s
oceans, Article 55 of the document defines the legal regime of the Exclusive Economic Zone.
The article defines an area of ocean marked as an Exclusive Economic Zone (or EEZ) as –
“The exclusive economic zone is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial sea, subject
to
the specific legal regime established in this Part, under which the rights and jurisdiction of the
coastal State and the rights and freedoms of other States are governed by the relevant
provisions of this Convention” (UNCLOS, 2001)
LOTUS-HR:
The project Local Treatment of Urban Sewage streams for Healthy Reuse (LOTUS-HR) is
an Indo-Netherlands joint program.
It is supported by Department of Biotechnology.
It was initiated in 2017 and the 2nd phase was launched recently.
The project aims to demonstrate a novel holistic (waste) water management approach that
will produce clean water for reuse purposes.
The pilot scale plant upon commissioning will treat 10,000 L sewage water per day.
Special attention is paid to pathogen removal and removing conventional and emerging
pollutants.
The project was launched in India-Netherlands water laboratory at the Barapullahdrainin
Delhi.
Wetlab – A design challenge competition for Indian and Dutch young professionals to provide
innovative ideas to solve India‘s urban water challenges.
It is jointly supported by Department of Biotechnology and Netherlands Enterprise Agency.
G4 nations
The G4 nations comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan are four countries which
support each other’s bids for permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council.
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Group of Twenty (G20
The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for its members’ international
economiccooperation and decision-making. Its membership comprises 19 countries plus the
European Union.
India is a member of this group. The G20 started in 1999 as a meeting of Finance Ministers
and Central Bank Governors in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis.
G20
1. The Group of 20 (G-20), is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 19
of the world's largest economies, including those of many developing nations, along with the
European Union.
2. It is formed in 1999, following the Asian and Russian financial crises, G-20 has a mandate
to promote global economic growth, international trade, and regulation of financial markets.
3. G-20 is a forum is not a legislative body and its agreements and decisions have no
legal impact, but they do influence countries' policies and global cooperation.
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India & UNSC
India has already held a non-permanent seat on the UNSC for 7 terms.
India has been in the UNSC for 14 years.
This represents roughly a fifth of the time the United Nations (UN) has existed.
India recently won the unanimous support of all countries in the 55-member Asia-Pacific
Group at the UN
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At present there are 170 Member States in UNIDO.
It has a Regional Office in New Delhi
It acts as a focal point to promote UNIDO‘s mandate.
REPORTS : Industrial Development Report
The report also explores the interconnectedness of risks, and considers how the strategies for the
mitigation of global risks might be structured.
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Global Social Mobility Index: WEF
The WEF’s Global Social Mobility Index assesses the 82 economies on “10 pillars” spread
across the following five key dimensions of social mobility:
1. # Health;
2. # Education (access, quality and equity, lifelong learning);
3. # Technology;
4. # Work (opportunities, wages, conditions);
5. # Protection and Institutions (social protection and inclusive institutions).
Page 171
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UNCTAD
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964
to promote development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world
economy.
UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body headquartered at Geneva in Switzerland.
Arctic Council
It was established in 1996 by Ottawa Declaration
Headquarter: Tromso, in Norway.
Members (8): Russia, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark (representing
Greenland and Faroe Islands), Canada and United States.
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IRENA
The International Renewable Energy Agency is an intergovernmental organisation mandated
to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use
of renewable energy.
Headquarters: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
REN21 is a think tank and global multi-stakeholder network which is focused on renewable
energy policy. REN21's goal is to facilitate policy development, knowledge exchange, and
joint action towards a rapid global transition to renewable energy.
Headquarters: Paris, FranceGLOBAL STATUS REPORT BY REN 21
Oslo Accords
Oslo Accords are a series of agreements between Israel and the Palestinians signed in the
1990s.
Oslo I (1993) is formally known as the Declaration of Principles (DOP), Middle East
peace process. It planned for an interim Palestinian government in Gaza and Jericho in
the West Bank.
Oslo II is officially called the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the agreement
was finalised but it has tacitly been rolled over for more than two decades.
The question of Jerusalem was left undecided under the Oslo Accords.
BUNKER Convention
The International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (BUNKER)
is an International treaty listed and administered by the International Maritime Organization,
signed in London on 23 March 2001 and in force generally on 21 November2008.
The purpose is to adopt uniform international rules and procedures for determining questions
of liability and providing adequate compensation.
Bunker Oil is fuel used to power the ship.
The convention covers leakage of that oil, and requires signatories to the convention tohave
their ships appropriately insured against such leakages.
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Water Scarce Cities Initiative
World Bank launched the Water Scarce Cities Initiative (WSC), to bolster awareness of
integrated and innovative approaches to managing water resources and service delivery in
water scarce cities as the basis for water security and climate resilience.
The GDI measures gender gaps in human development achievements by accounting for
disparities between women and men in three basic dimensions of human development—health,
knowledge and living standards using the same component indicators as in the HDI.
The GDI is the ratio of the HDIs calculated separately for females and males using the
same methodology as in the HDI.
It is a direct measure of gender gap showing the female HDI as a percentage of the male HDI.
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Female HDI/MALE HDI
The Gender Gap Report was first published in 2006 by the World Economic Forum.
The 2016 report covers 144 major and emerging economies.
The report’s Gender Gap Index ranks countries according to calculated gender gap between
women and men in four key areas: health, education, economy and politics to gauge the
state of gender equality in a country.
Under2 Coalition
It is a coalition of subnational governments that aims to achieve greenhouse gases emissions
mitigation.
It started as a memorandum of understanding, which was signed by twelve founding
jurisdictions on May 19, 2015 in Sacramento, California.
Although it was originally called the Under2 MOU, it became known as the Under2 Coalition
in 2017.
As of September 2017, the list of signatories has grown to 177 jurisdictions which combined
encompasses 1.2 billion people and 39% of the world economy.
The Under2 Coalition, a Memorandum of Understanding by subnational governments to
reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions towards net-zero by 2050, is generating a
unique precedent for bold climate leadership, with its member states and regions surpassing
200 in number.
SAREX – 18
It is a joint search and rescue exercise between India and Japan to help increase mutual
understanding in Anti-Piracy operations.
During the exercise, helicopters of the Japan and Indian Coast Guard will perform cross
landing operations to improve compatibility between the two forces.
This year, it will be held in Chennai.
Japanese coast guard ship “Tsugaru”, a patrol vessel with helicopters will participate in this
exercise.
Vajra Prahar
Indo-US joint military exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’ to be held in Seattle. The exercise will mainly
focus on special operations in urban areas.
VINBAX-
The India-Vietnam Bilateral Army Exercise.
Hand – in – Hand
India China Joint Training Exercise Hand – in – Hand
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Blue Flag
It is a biennialmultilateral exercise held by the Israeli Air Force which aims to
strengthen military cooperation amongst participating nations.
The UN General Assembly (UNGA) also adopted resolution on road safety, sponsored by
Russia.
It calls for host of measures to prevent road accidents and to minimising resulting
damage. It has urged adoption of policies and measures to implement vehicle safety
regulations to ensure that all new motor vehicles meet applicable minimum regulations for
protection of occupants and other road users, with seat belts, airbags and active safety
systems fitted as standard equipment.
MPOWER
The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) and its guidelines
provide the foundation for countries to implement and manage tobacco control.
To help make this a reality, WHO introduced the MPOWER measures.
These measures are intended to assist in the country-level implementation of effective
interventions to reduce the demand for tobacco, contained in the WHO FCTC.
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International North – South Transport Corridor (INSTC)
It is a multimodal transportation established in 2000 by India, Russia and Iran.
Later INSTC was expanded to include 10 new members namely Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Oman and
Syria.
A dry-run of the INSTC was successfully conducted by the Federation of Freight Forwarders
of India (FFFAI) in 2014 on the routes;
1) Nhava Sheva (Mumbai) – Bandar Abbas (Iran)-Tehran-Bandar Anzali(Iran)-
Astrakhan(Russia);
2) Nhava Sheva (Mumba)-Bandar Abbas (Iran)-Baku (Azerbaijan).
The objective of dry run study was to identify the bottleneck/missing links in the INSTC route.
Delhi Declaration
ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit held to mark 25th Anniversary of ASEAN-India
In the plenary session of the India- ASEAN commemorative summit, Delhi Declaration was
issued to support the implementation of the Langkawi Declaration on the Global Movement
of Moderates to promote peace, security, upholding rule of law, sustainable and inclusive
development, equitable growth and social harmony.
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Permenant Court of arbitration
It is an international organisation.
HQ : The Hague, The Netherlands.
Established in 1899
It is not a court and does not have permanent judges.
It is not part of the UN system although it has observer status in UN General Assembly .
The PCA is a permanent bureaucracy that assists temporary tribunals to resolve disputes
among states (and similar entities), intergovernmental organizations, or even private parties
arising out of international agreements.
The cases span a range of legal issues involving territorial and maritime boundaries,
sovereignty, human rights, international investment, and international and regional trade.
The decision of the arbitrators is binding in all cases on the parties.
In its interim ruling, the UN’s Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that
Sergeant Salvatore Girone (Italian Marine) be allowed to return home until the dispute
is resolved through arbitration
Ashgabat Agreement
Ashgabat Agreement, an international transport and transit corridor facilitating
transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
The Ashgabat Agreement has Oman, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan as founding
members.
Kazakhstan has also joined this arrangement subsequently.
India and Pakistan also joined the Agreement Turkmenistan, as depository State of
Ashgabat Agreement, Minority Affairs Ministry.
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The Alliance, which will be composed of experts and representatives of UN and government
agencies, donors, national and international non-governmental organizations, and the private
sector, will work towards improving literacy for sustainable development through concrete
action and tangible outcomes.
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GAVI- the Vaccine Alliance.
Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization is a public-private global health partnership
committed to increasing access to immunization in poor countries.
It is a global Vaccine Alliance with the goal of creating equal access to new and underused
vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries.
Gavi brings together developing countries and donor governments, the World Health
Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry in both industrialized and
developing countries, research and technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation and other private philanthropists Gavi was launched in 2000
It is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
..Internal security..
National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID):
NATGRID is an attached office under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
It is a robust intelligence gathering mechanism related to banking, immigration,
individual taxpayers, air and train travels.
It is setup to track any terror suspect and prevent terrorist attacks with real-time data.
It will have data related to all immigration entry and exit, air flyers, credit card purchases,
banking and financial transactions, individual taxpayers, telecom, and train travelers
among others to generate intelligence inputs.
10 agencies which will be able to access NATGRID data on a real-time basis are:
▪ (IB)▪ (R&AW) ▪(CBI) ▪ (ED) ▪ (DRI) ▪ (FIU) ▪ (CBDT) ▪ (CBEC) ▪ (DGCEI) ▪
(NCB) Initially, no state agencies will be given direct access to NATGRID data but
in case any relevant information is required, they can approach NATGRID through
any of 10 user agencies. There is no provision for publicly sharing the data.
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'StrandHogg'
StrandHogg is a bug that allows real-time malware applications to pose as genuine
applications and access user data of all kind.
It poses threat to all versions android system including Android 10.
It can then potentially listen to their conversations, access photo album, read/send messages,
make calls, record conversations and get login credentials to various account.
Recently, Union Home Ministry has sent an alert to all states warning about this bug.
The information was shared by the Threat Analytical Unit, Indian Cyber Crime Coordination
Centre.
Established in 1997 through a merger between the United Nations Drug Control Programme
and the Centre for International Crime Prevention, UNODC is a global leader in the fight
against illicit drugs and international crime.
UNODC relies on voluntary contributions, mainly from Governments, for 90% of its budget.
UNODC is mandated to assist MemberStates in their struggle against illicit drugs,crime and
terrorism.
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committee (2016).
NCRB, headquartered in New Delhi, was set-up in 1986under the Ministry of Home
Affairs to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the
investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
It was set up based on the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977-1981)
and the MHA’s Task Force (1985).
NCRB brings out the annual comprehensive statistics of crime across the country (‘Crime
in India’ report).
Being published since 1953,the report serves as a crucial tool in understanding the law and
order situation across the country.
Key Findings
There has been a 30% risein incidents of offences against the state as compared to
2016.
This category includes offences such as sedition, waging war against the
countryand damage to public property among others.
The maximumnumber of such offences were reported from Haryana followed by
UP. The act of damage to public property was the leading reason.
Maximum offences were committed bythe Left Wing Extremist (LWE) operatives,
followed by North East insurgents and Terrorists (Jihadi and other elements).
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Crime Against Women:
The number of crimes committed against womenincreased by 6% over the year 2016.
Majority cases were registered under ‘Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives’ followed by
‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’.
The maximum caseswere registered in Uttar Pradesh (UP) followed by Maharashtra
and West Bengal.
Cyber Crimes:
Bengaluru topped the listamong metropolitan cities across the country in terms of
number of cyber crimes registered.
Bengaluru was followed by Mumabi and Jaipur.
Riots:
Out of the total 58,880 incidents of rioting reported, communal and sectarian riots
accounted for 723 and 183 incidents respectively.
There were 805 riots due to caste conflictand 1909 riots due to political reasons.
Maximumincidents were reported from Bihar, followed by Uttar Pradesh and
Maharashtra.
Crime Against SC/STs:
The incidents registered under theScheduled Caste Prevention of Atrocities Act saw
an increase from 5,082 incidents reported in 2016 to 5,775 in 2017.
Incidents of crime related to Scheduled Tribes dippedfrom 844 in 2016 to 720 in
2017.
Honeypot:
A honeypot is a system intended to mimic likely targets of cyber attackers for security
researchers to monitor cybercriminal behaviour.
Recently, honeypots were set-up in 10 of the most popular Amazon Web Services (AWS) data
centres in the world.
Cybercriminals attempted attacks on a Mumbai Cloud server honeypot more than 678,000
times in a month.
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Perth and Padang Consensuses each.
Zero Day
Zero Day is associated with cyber attack or threat (USA and Israel's cyber-attack on Iranian
centrifuges).
Day Zero is associated with Capetown's water crisis.
Netra
An indigenous Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEW&C) christened 'Netra'
was handed over to the IAF on Tuesday at the ongoing 'Aero India 2017' here, ushering India
into an elite club of nations that have developed such technology on their own.
Cyber Gram
The Ministry of Minority Affairs has launched a pilot project for minority Cyber Gram for
digital literacy in a minority dominated village ‘Cyber Gram’ has been launched as an initiative
under Multi-sectoral Development Programme(MsDP) to provide hands on training in
computers to the students of minority communities and enable them to acquire basic
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills;
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Become digitally literate; Actively participate in knowledge-based activities; access financial,
social and government services and use internet for communications.
The initiative covers students of Class VI to Class X belonging to notified minority
communities residing in minority concentration areas.
RIMES
Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES)
The RIMES is an intergovernmental body registered under United Nations.
It is owned and managed by 45 collaborating countries in Asia Pacific and Africa Region.
India is chairman of the body.
It was established in 2009 and was registered with UN in July 2009.
It operates from its regional early warning centre located at campus of Asian Institute of
Technology in Pathumthani, Thailand.
It has evolved from efforts of countries in Africa and Asia in aftermath of 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami.
Mandate: It seeks to establish regional early warning system within multi-hazard framework
for generation and communication of early warning information and capacity building for
preparedness and response to trans-boundary hazards.
It provides information related to Tsunami and extreme weather conditions.
It also acts as a test bed for emerging technologies and help to enhance performance.
ROSHNI
ROSHNI is a special initiative under, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya
Yojana (Formerly Ajeevika Skills), launched in June 2013 for training and placement of rural
poor youth from 27 Left wing extremism affected districts in 09 States.
Operation Milap
Delhi Police have also launched a special drive `Operation Milap’ to reunite missing children
with their parents through the Anti Human Trafficking Units (AHTU).
Operation Smile
Uttar Pradesh launched an operation named ‘Operation Smile’ in the month of September,
2014 to identify, track, locate, rescue and rehabilitate children who went missing and found
to be subjected to abuse and exploitation.
MUSKAN
RPF has been conferred with the ‘Service of Excellence Award’ by the Ministry of Home
Affairs for the efforts in rescue of missing children under operation “MUSKAN’’ drive.
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Khoya Paya portal
The Khoya Paya portal is a citizen based website to exchange information on missing and
found children. It has been developed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and
the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) ‘Vatsalya – Maatri Amrit
Kosh’, a National Human Milk Bank and Lactation Counselling Centre at the Lady Hardinge
Medical College (LHMC).
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MP's Orchha makes it to tentative list of UNESCO World
Heritage Sites”:
The architectural heritage of Orchha town in Madhya Pradesh which depict peculiar style of
the Bundela Dynasty have been included in UNESCO's tentative list of world heritage sites
following a proposal sent by The ASI to the UN body.
Orchha is situated on the banks of the Betwa river
"Markandeshwar temple":
Archaeological Survey of India has been initiated ,The restoration work of Markandeshwar
temple in Maharashtra.
It also Known as the “Khajuraho of Vidarbha”.
The temple of Markandadeo is situated on the bank of River Wainganga in district
Gadchiroli of Maharashtra.
Markandeshwar temple belongs to the Nagara group of temples of North India.
The temples belong to saiva, vaishnava and sakta faith.
"Maharashtra’s Phupgaon":
The recent excavation carried out by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Maharashtra’s
Phupgaon, Amravati district of Maharashtra.
Revealed evidence of an Iron Age settlement in the Vidarbha region.
The site is situated in the vast meander of the river Purna, a major tributary of Tapi, which
used to be a perennial river.
Chronologically, the site could be placed between 7th C BCE and 4th C BCE.
During the course of excavation, 4 complete circular structures were exposed. All were
found encircled with post holes.
Iron, Copper objects have also been collected from all the trenches.
AADI MAHOTSAV
It is a joint initiative of Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India & Tribal
Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India
(TRIFED).
The theme of the festival is : “A celebration of the spirit of Tribal Craft, Culture and
Commerce”.
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Kambala:
Kambala is a traditional bull buffalo race which generally takes place in coastal Karnataka
from November to March.
The PETA has alleged that Kambala too involves acts of cruelty on animals which are not
physiologically suited for racing.
TRIFED essentially is to play the role of a ‘Service provider’ &‘Market Developer.
Vakataka Dynasty
It originated in the central Deccan in the mid-3rd century CE and its empire is believed to
have extended from Malwa and Gujarat in the north to the Tungabhadra in the south and from
the Arabian Sea in the west to the Bay of Bengal in the east.
The Vakataka rulers followed the Shaiva sect of Hinduism.
Animal rearing was one of the main occupations of the people.
One of the key alliances was with Prabhavatigupta of the Gupta dynasty (Vaishnavites),
which was then ruling north India.
Prabhavatigupta was the chief queen of the Vakataka king Rudrasena II and took over as
queen after the sudden death of her husband.
Some of the temples identified as Keval Narasihma, Rudra Narasimha and the one
dedicated to Varaha could be traced to Ramtek, and showcase strong affinity to the
incarnations of Lord Vishnu.
PUPPETRY
There are basic four kinds of puppets used in India as follows:
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Shadow Puppets – This includes the Togalu Gombeyatta of Karnataka, Tholu Bommalata of
Andhra Pradesh, Ravanachhaya of Odisha
Rod Puppets– This includes Putul Nautch of West Bengal and Yampuri of Bihar
Glove Puppets – Important form is Pavakoothu of Kerala.
4. Gatka (Punjab)
6. Thang Ta (Manipur)
Weapon Based ,“Thang” means sword. “Ta” means spear.Anything from sword or spear can be
used.
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7. Lathi (Punjab & Bengal)
Weapon Based ,Created by Marathas , Uses sword mainly & needs rapid movements
Weapon Based ,Created by Rajputs ,“Pari” means shield & “Khanda” means sword (according to
Chhau rulers) . It gave birth to Chhau dance
Unarmed Type ,Has strict rules prohibiting kicking, stepping out of the circle and bending of
the knees.Aim is to lift the opponent off his feet while strictly adhering to the rules Catching hold of
the belt worn by the wrestlers around the waist; it has to remain tight all through the game.
Unarmed Type ,“Kuttu Varisai” means empty hand combatused to improve footwork and athleticism
through gymnastics, stretching, yoga and breathing exercises
Weapon Based ,Uses sword & shield , Victory depends more on skill than on muscle power
Weapon Based ,Originated from the times of MahabharataGenerally based on archery skills ,
“Thoda” is the round piece of wood fixed to the head of the arrow
Jnanpith Award
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It is an Indian literary award presented annually by the Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for
their "outstanding contribution towards literature".
Instituted in 1961, the award is bestowed only on Indian writers writing in Indian languages
included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India and English,[a] with no
posthumous conferral.
Sahitya Akademi
It is India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of
literature in the languages of India.
Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian
government. Its office is located in Rabindra Bhavan near Mandi House in Delh
Page 193
..Social Issue..
National Commission of Safai Karamcharis
The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) was constituted on 12th August
1994 as a statutory body by an Act of Parliament viz. ‘National Commission for Safai
Karamcharis Act, 1993’.
The act “The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis Act, 1993” lapsed in February
2004. The Commission is acting as a non-statutory body of the Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment whose tenure is extended from time to time through Government Resolutions
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ASER
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2019 (rural) was recently released by NGO
Pratham.
Only 16% of children in Class 1 in 26 surveyed rural districts can read text at the prescribed
level, while almost 40% cannot even recognise letters.
Only 41% of these children could recognise two digit numbers.
UN Women
1. UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment
of women.
2. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress
on meeting their needs worldwide.
3. UN Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender
equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies, programmes
and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly
benefit women and girls worldwide.
4. It works globally to make the vision of the Sustainable Development Goals a reality for
women and girls and stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life.
DeenDayal SPARSH
(i.e. Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby):
To award annual scholarships to children of Standard VI to IX having good academic record and also
pursuing Philately as a hobby through a competitive selection process in all postal circles.
Population Commission
A Population Commission was established by the UN Economic and Social Council in its
resolution 3 (III) of 3 October 1946.
In its resolution 49/128 of 19 December 1994, the General Assembly decided that the
Commission should be renamed the Commission on Population and Development.
In the same resolution, the Assembly decided that it, the Council and the Commission should
constitute a three-tiered intergovernmental mechanism that would play the primary role in the
follow-up to the implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference
on Population and Development, and that the Commission, as a functional commission
assisting the Council, would monitor, review and assess the implementation of the
Programme of Action at the national, regional and international levels and advise the Council
thereon.
SwachhVidyalaya initiative:
To provide separate toilets for girls and boys in all Government schools under the Swachh
Bharat Abhiyan.
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Stree Swabhiman
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has announced an initiative by
common services centres (CSCs) on women’s health and hygiene. The initiative is
named ‘Stree Swabhiman
Stree Swabhiman’ aims to create a sustainable model for providing adolescent girls and
women an access to affordable sanitary products by leveraging CSCs.
Under the ‘Stree Swabhiman’ project, sanitary napkinmicro manufacturing units are
being set up at CSCs across India, particularly those operated by women entrepreneurs.
The initiative is driven by awareness and personalised outreach by women entrepreneurs
who produce and market sanitary napkins themselves.
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India today.
Unlike most other large-scale learning assessments, ASER is a household-based rather than
school-based survey.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial international survey
which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-
year-old students-OECD.
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Uchchtar Aavishkar Abhiyaan
The scheme was launched to promote industry-specific need-based research so as to keep
up the competitiveness of the Indian industry in the global market.
All the IITs have been encouraged to work with the industry to identify areas where
innovation is required and come up with solutions that could be brought up to the
commercialization level.
SWAYAM PRABHA
It is an initiative to provide 32 high quality educational channels through DTH (Direct to
Home) across the length and breadth of the country on 24X7 basis. This would enable
to deliver e-education in a most cost effective manner.
The Department of Space has allotted two Transponders of GSAT-15 for the same. The
subscribers of free DTH service of Doordarshan (Free dish) would be able to view these
Educational channels using the same set Top Box and TV. No additional investment would be
required.
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Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana
Scheme for providing Physical Aids and assisted living devices for SENIOR CITIZEN to BPL
category.
Implemented through ALIMCO
The Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) is a Public Sector
Undertaking (PSU) of the Government of India. Established on November 30, 1972, ALIMCO
manufactures artificial limbs and rehabilitation aids. The company is headquartered in
Kanpur.
IMPRESS Scheme
The objective of Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS) is to identify and
fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on the governance and
society.
It will provide an opportunity for social science researchers in any institution in the country
which includes all universities (central and state) and also a few private institutions meeting
the requirement.
The scheme will focus on broad thematic areas such as state and democracy, urban
transformation; media, culture and society; employment, skills and rural transformation;
governance; innovation and public policy; macro-trade and economic policy and social media
and technology.
Under IMPRESS, 1,500 research projects will be awarded for two years to support social
science research in the higher educational institutions.
The Indian Council of Social Science and Research (ICSSR) will be the project implementing
agency.
The scheme will be implemented till March, 2021.
SPARC Scheme
This scheme will improve research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by
facilitating academic and research collaborations/
The Indian institutions will include those from top-100 or category-wise top-100 in NIRF (
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including such Private Institutions which are recognized under 12(B) of UGC Act)].
The foreign institutions will be from top-500 overall and top-200 subject-wise institutions listed
in QS World University Ranking) from 28 selected nations.
As per the criteria mentioned above, 254 top Indian Institutes and 478 top ranked global
Institutes have been already identified.
STARS
STARS is abbreviated as Scheme for Translational and Advanced Research in Science.
Under the scheme 500 science projectswill be funded whose selection will be made based
on competition. Indian Institute of Science (IISC) will be the coordinator of the scheme.
Menstrual hygiene scheme - HEALTH MINISTRY under Rasthriya Kishor Swashtya Karyakram
Sanitary pads provided to schools n girl hostels under Rashtriya madhyamik shiksha abhiyan --
MoHRD.
Note:
The Navodaya Vidyalayas are co-educational residential schools established by the Navodaya
Vidyalaya
Samiti which is an autonomous organization under MHRD to provide quality modern
education.
Page 200
was set up on 24th January 1997 as a Company “Not for Profit” under Section 25 of the
Companies Act, 1956. NSKFDC is in operation since October, 1997, as an Apex Corporation
for the all round socio-economic upliftment of the Safai Karamcharis, Scavengers and their
dependants throughout India,through various loan and non-loan based schemes.
Apart from operating various loan and non-loan based schemes for the upliftment of the
target group, NSKFDC is playing a vital role in elimination of manual scavenging - the worst
surviving symbol of untouchability.
NSKFDC has been designated as the Nodal Agency for implementation of the Central Sector
Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS) under the aegis
of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
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..Miscellaneous Facts..
DeochaPachami
recently seen in news:
Page 202
World‘s first Thermal Battery Plant has been inaugurated
in Amravati
Following cities are included in UNESCO‘s Creative Cities Network fromIndia
1.Chennai-music
2.Jaipur-craft
3.Varanasi-music
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Guru Ghasidas National Park is located in Korea district of Chhattisgarh. The last known
Indian cheetah was sighted in Korea District in 1951.
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Paektu Mountain
Paektu Mountain, also known as Baekdu Mountain, and in China as Changbai Mountain, is
an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border.
At 2,744 m, it is the highest mountain of the Changbai and Baekdudaegan ranges.
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The Indian Government can imprison or deport illegal migrants under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and
the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920
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Khelo India Programme
The Khelo India programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-
root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a
great sporting nation
“toothpaste lava”
Sometimes high-viscosity magma comes out from the pipe like toothpaste being squeezed
out of a tube.
The volcanologists sometimes use the term “toothpaste lava” to denote this eruption.
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India’s first ‘Garbage Café’
India’s first ‘Garbage Café’ will soon be opened in Ambikapur city in north Chhattisgarh. It is
initiative ofAmbikapur municipal corporation. It aims to make Ambikar city plastic-free.
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India is the largest user of ground water in the world, extracting ground water to the tune of
253 bcm per year, which is about 25% of the global ground water extraction.
Out of the total of 6584 assessment units, 1034 have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’
253 as ‘Critical’, 681 as ‘Semi-Critical’ and 4520 as ‘Safe’ The remaining 96 assessment
units have been classified as ‘Saline’ due to non-availability of fresh ground water due to
salinity problem.
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Sarvatra Kawach’
Indigenously developed the bullet-proof jacket.The Jacket can withstand a sniper bullet even from
10 metres..It was developed in the College of Military Engineering in Pune.
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Objective:
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The island includes the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve (GNBR) comprising of the
Galathea National Park and the Campbell Bay National Park.
The island harbours a wide spectrum of ecosystems from tropical wet evergreen forests,
mountain ranges and coastal plains.
The island is also home to giant robber crabs, crab-eating macaques, the rare megapode
as well as leatherback turtles.
Drake Passage
It is the body of water between South America’s Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands
of Antarctica.
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"Tulu - Dravidian language":
Tulu is a Dravidian language whose speakers are concentrated in the region of Tulu Nadu,
which comprises the districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in Karnataka and the northern
part of Kasaragod district of Kerala.
Kasaragod district is called ‘Sapta bhasha Samgama Bhumi (the confluence of seven
languages)’, and Tulu is among the seven.
"Mandara Ramayana" is most notable modern literature of Tulu language
The oldest available inscriptions in Tulu are from the period between 14th to 15th century
AD. "Yuelu Proclamation" made by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) at Changsha, China, in 2018 plays a central role in guiding the
efforts of countries and regions around the world to 'protect linguistic resources and diversity'.
The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2019 as the International Year of
Indigenous Languages (IYIL).
Article 29 of the Indian Constitution deals with the "Protection of interests of minorities".
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Zero Day is associated with cyber attack or threat(USA and Israel's cyber attack on Iranian
centrifuges)AndDay Zero is associated with Capetown's water crisis
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Principle of ‘Commons’
It deals with mindset that set of resources such as air, land, water and biodiversity do not belong
to one community or individual, but to humanity.
Himroo
Himroo is a fabric made of cotton and silk using a special loom. The district of Aurangabad is
famous because of these beautiful fabrics.
The original form is made of silver and gold. The textile is associated with the times of
Muhammad Bin Tughlaq in the 14th C.
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Suranga Bawadi
It has entered the World Monuments Watch List under the Ancient Water System of the
Deccan Plateau of the World Monument Funds.
It is situated in Bijapur, Karnataka. It is an integral part of the ancient Karez System by which
water was supplied through subterranean tunnels.
Suranga Bawadi: Suranga Bawadi was built in the 16th century by Adil Shah-I of the
Adilshahi dynasty of Bijapur.
The system was aimed to supply water to Vijaypura in Karnataka.
Karez System: Karez System is a method to harness water in which groundwater is
brought to the surface by a tunnel. No mechanical pump or lift is used in the system.
"Seke Language":
Nepalese language Seke is reported to be “near-extinct” which has only 700 speakers
around the world.
According to the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), Seke is one of the over 100
indigenous languages of Nepal and is mainly spoken in the five villages of Chuksang, Chaile,
Gyakar, Tangbe and Tetang in the Upper Mustang district.
C-SASE:
Centre for Snow and Avalanche Study Establishment (SASE), is a laboratory of the
Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO).
It is located near Manali, Himachal Pradesh its primary function is research in the field of
snow and avalanches to provide avalanche control measures and forecasting support to
Armed forces.
Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission to carry on humanitarian relief and social
work.
The Mission had many branches in different parts of the country and carried on social service
by opening schools, hospitals and dispensaries etc.
The motto of the Ramakrishna Mission is personal salvation
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Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos have announced The Climate Pledge. The pledge is
a commitment to meet Paris Agreement's goal 10 years early by achieving net-zero carbon
across businesses by 2040
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APNA UREA - SonaUgle:
GOI (The Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers) launched the "APNA UREA -
SonaUgle" brand of Hindustan Urvarak&Rasayan Limited (HURL) .
HURL is Joint Venture Company promoted by the three Maharatna Companies i.e. Coal
India Limited (CIL), NTPC Limited (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL).
Objective of making the country self-reliant in Urea, the Government approved in 2016 the
revival of three sick Urea plants located at Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni.
“India importing 70-80 LMT fertilizer every year".
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Features
• Comprehensive Coverage of both Current & Static syllabus.
• International Organizations, Conventions & Treaties covered.
• Forest Survey Report & Govt. Schemes.
• National Parks & Biosphere Reserves.
• Important Species in news.
• More than 10 sources covered.
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What is Measles?
Measles is a serious and highly contagious disease.
It can cause debilitating or fatal complications, including encephalitis, severe diarrhoea and
dehydration, pneumonia, ear infections and permanent vision loss.
The disease is preventable through two doses of a safe and effective vaccine.
Megha Tropiques
Megha Tropiques is the joint collaboration between India and France to study the Water
Cycle in the tropical atmosphere in the context of climate change.
A collaborative effort between Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and French
Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES),
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Fausta, -a female black rhino, who was believed to be the world’s oldest rhino has died at
the age of 57 in a Tanzanian conservation area. Fausta died.
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Oxygen Parlour-
In a unique initiative to battle rising air pollution in cities, Indian Railways has opened an
‘Oxygen Parlour’ at Nashik railway station in Maharashra
Chillai -kalan-
The traditional 40-day period of harshest winter in Kashmir known in the local parlance
as ‘Chillai-Kalan’
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Hudson Valley-USA
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Global Alliance for Climate-Smart Agriculture by FAO.
It aims to improve nutrition, food security and resilience. The alliance has three aspirational
outcome
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Gossypol:
It is a natural phenol derived from the cotton plant (genus Gossypium).
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The Ministry of Earth Science has launched Seismic Hazard Microzonation project in major
cities of India. The project aims to reduce hazards of seismic activities by putting in
adequate measures
Japan is the best example where microzonation techniques are well implemented.
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India is hosting the Conference of Parties (COP) 14 of the United Nations Convention Combat
geologic process (UNCCD)
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The Amazon Rainforest is spread across 9 South American countriesBrazil, Peru, Colombia,
Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana,Suriname and French Guiana are all a part of the
rainforest
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Kirigami
Recently in news, It is Ancient Japanese paper cutting techniques.
Page 214
Mawsynram in Meghalaya holds the Guinness World Record for being the Wettest Place on
Earth.
Sualkuchi in Assam is one of the World's largest weaving villages where the entire
population is engaged in weaving Silk Fabrics.
Muga, the Golden Silk of Assam, is not produced anywhere else in the World.
It is the cleanest region in India.
Mawlynnong in Meghalaya is the cleanest village in entire Asia.
70% of the country's Orchids are found in Northeast.
Mizoram and Tripura are among the states with the highest Literacy rate in India.
There is no Dowry culture in entire Northeast.
Delhi Proposals
Earlier, in December 1927, a large number of Muslim leaders had met at Delhi at the Muslim
League session and evolved four proposals for Muslim demands to be incorporated in the
draft constitution. These proposals, which were accepted by the Madras session of the
Congress (December 1927), came to be known as the ‘Delhi Proposals’.
These were –
1. Joint electorates in place of separate electorates with reserved seats for Muslims
2. One-third representation to Muslims in Central Legislative Assembly representation
to Muslims in Punjab and Bengal in proportion to their population
3. Formation of three new Muslim majority provinces— Sindh, Baluchistan and North-
West Frontier Province.
Delhi Manifesto
On November 2, 1929, a conference of prominent national leaders issued a “Delhi
Manifesto” which demanded that the purpose of the Round Table Conferences (RTC),
promised by Lord Irwin,
Viceroy Irwin rejected these demands on December 23, 1929, which led to the demand of
Purna swaraj in Lahore session of INC
Delhi Pact
The Gandhi Irwin Pact was a political agreement signed by Mahatma Gandhi and the then
Viceroy of India, Lord Irwin on 5 March 1931 before the second Round Table Conference in
London.
Before this, the viceroy Lord Irwin announced in October 1929, a vague offer of 'dominion
status' for India in an unspecified future and a Round Table Conference to discuss a
future constitution.
The second round table conference which was held in 1931.
Page 215
Dilli Chalo slogan was given by Indian freedom fighter name Subhas Chandra Bose.
Gas- Cracker
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has commissioned the world’s largest Refinery Off-Gas
Cracker (ROGC) complex of 1.5 mtpa capacity along with downstream plants and utilities.
The ROGC complex is a core component of RIL’s J3 project at its integrated refinery-
petrochemicals complex at Jamnagar.
Page 216
Meisenheimer complex
A chemical compound (Meisenheimer complex) synthesised through a simple, single-step
process of mixing two chemicals at room temperature has been found to be highly effective
in removing fluoride and metal ions such as lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, and iron from
drinking water.
Don't Confuse
1) Udaym Sakhi Portal by Ministry of MSME
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Local Winds
Some of the local winds, their region of occurrence and characteristics are given blow:
Blizzard: It is intensely cold fast blowing wind accompanied by snow. Blows in North
America. Bora (Adriatic Sea): it descends from mountains during the winter season. It blows
with a speed of 120-150km/h. its duration may be from three to five days.
Brickfielder: it blows from the desert of Australia during the summer season( December
to February)
Buran: it blows in central Asia and Siberia. It is a strong cold north easterly wind which
Page 218
reduces the temperature up to -30 o C.
Chili: it is a hot dry wind which blows from the Sahara Desert towards the Mediterranean
Sea through Tunisia.
Gibli: it blows from the Sahara Desert towards Mediterranean Sea through Libya. It is an
extreamely hot local wind.it blows during the summer season. It may last for 3-5 days. This
wind has extreme effects. Due to heat the government declares the holiday. Because of this
the shade temperature reaches up to 60 o C. Sometimes the tyres of the car melt and stick
to the road. Even the dry grass catches fire. People shelter themselves in the basements.
Haboob: it is a similar hot wind blowing towards the Mediterranean through Sudan.
Karaburn: it blows from March to May and leads to hazy weather. It is also responsible for
deposition of loess in Huwang Ho valley.
Khamsin: hot wind blows in Egypt for about 50 days.
Loo: it blows in summer season in India in northern plains. It is a hot dry wind and raises the
temperature. Loo follows a three day cycle. It starts blowing at 9am in the morning till 5 in
evening. On its third day, it is accompanied by a storm in the evening called Aandhi and
causes little shower taking the temperature down.
Mistral: it blows in Rhone valley of France. It a cold wind blowing during winters. It has
adverse effects on orchards.
Pampero: cold and dry wind blowing during winter season in Pampas (Argentina).
Samoon: Hot wind blowing during summers in Iran.
Simoon: Hot wind blowing during summers in Saudi Arabia.
Sirroco: hot and humid wind blowing from Sahara (Morocco) to Sicily during April to July.
Vishwajeet
Ministry of Human Resources Development.
Vishwajeet will aim to pick the IITs with greatest potential to climb up the global pecking
order and then ensure close focus on them, backed with funding, so that they excel on all
parameters.
Incheon declaration
The Incheon declaration - 'Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable quality
education and lifelong learning for all ' was adopted at the World Education Forum in
Incheon, South Korea in 2015.
Science Cities
Science Cities have been set up by Ministry of Culture through National Council of
Science Museums (NCSM), an Autonomous Organisation under the Ministry of Culture.
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‘Hunar Haat’
Hunar Haat are being organised by the Minority Affairs Ministry to provide an opportunity, as
well as domestic and international exposure to the master artisans from across the country.
Padho Pardesh,
Padhao Pradesh is a scheme for providing interest subsidy on educational loans taken from
Banks by minority students for higher studies abroad.
Hamari Dharohar
The initiative of Hamari Dharohar is aimed at preservation of rich heritage and culture of
minorities, by supporting curation of iconic exhibitions, calligraphy, preservation of old
documents, research and development, restructured Multi-sectoral Development
Programme or Jan Vikaas Karyakram, for area development programme.
Nai Roshni
Nai Roshni is a scheme for Leadership Development of Minority Women by providing
knowledge, tools and techniques for interacting with Government systems, banks and
intermediaries at all levels, concessional loans by National Minorities Development &
Finance Corporation.
River : Origin
1. Satluj : Rakas Lake
2. Indus : Bokhar Chu glacier
3. Jhelum : Spring at Verinag
4. Chenab : Chandra and Bhaga stream
5. Ravi : Rohtang pass in the Kullu hills of Himachal Pradesh
6. Beas : Beas Kund in Rohtang Pass
7. Ghaghara : Mapchachugo
8. glacier Son : Amarkantak
9. plateau
10. Kaveri : Brahmagiri hills
11. Krishna : Mahabaleshwar in Sahayadri
12. Narmada : Amarkantak plateau
Godavari : Rises near Nasik District of Maharashtra
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TARANG
Transmission App for Real Time Monitoring & Growth Mobile App & Web
Portal has been developed by RECTPCL, under the guidance of Ministry of Power.
Introduction of the electronic platform shall enhance ease, accountability & transparency
and would boost confidence of investors in power transmission sector. Better price
discovery shall ultimately benefit the power consumers in India.
It tracks upcoming transmission projects and monitor the progress of Inter-State & Intra-State
transmission systems in the country.
e-Trans
e-Trans’ web platform for e-bidding and e-reverse auction for Tariff Based Competitive
Bidding (TBCB) in transmission projects.
DEEP
Discovery of Efficient Electricity Price e-Bidding’ portal for medium term (1-5 years) purchase
of power, on the occasion.
MERIT
Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and Transparency-The app
displays extensive array of information regarding the merit order such as daily state-wise
marginal variable costs of all generators, daily source-wise power purchases of respective
states/UTs with source-wise fixed and variable costs, energy volumes and purchase prices.
URJA
Urban Jyoti Abhiyan Mobile App-
URJA App offers information on Consumer complaints redressal, Release of new service
connection, Average number of interruptions faced by consumer, Average duration of
interruptions faced by consumer, Number of consumers making e-payments, Energy lost /
power theft i.e. AT&C loss, IT Enablement (Go-live of towns), SCADA Implementation, Urban
System Strengthening, Feeder Data on National Power Portal, IPDS NIT progress, IPDS
Award progress.
GARV
Grameen Vidyutikaran Mobile App
The purpose of the mobile application is to ensure transparency in implementation of rural
electrification programme.
The mobile application provides real-time updated data of ongoing electrification process to
all users/stakeholders and provides information about Government schemes and
electrification data.
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The app can also be used for sharing inspirational stories of differently-abled, who achieved
success despite all odds.
SAuBHaGYa
‘Saubhagya’ Web-Portal – a Platform for transparently monitoring Universal Household
Electrification
Vidyut PRAVAH
Electricity, Price Availability and Highlights’” at a function here today. The mobile application
provides highlights of the power availability in the country on real time basis.
The Web / Mobile App provides a wealth of information pertaining to the current demand
met, shortages if any, surplus power available and the prices in the Power Exchange. The
real time data and comparison with previous day/year data is also available.
Data from multiple sources, including the States and Power Exchanges, has been made
available through a single portal for convenience of all.
Tarang Sanchar
The Telecom Department launched a portal – Tarang Sanchar Portal that will allow people to
track radiation emitted from mobile towers within a locality.
The portal will empower consumers to know about the towers working in a particular area and
whether they are compliant to the Electromagnetic field (EMF) emission norms.
Shilpostav- 2017
Shilpostav- 2017 is the annual fair of artisans from across the country, belonging to the
weaker sections of the society. Initiative of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.
NCRB Publications
NCRB(MoHA) publishes 4 annual publications on
1. Crime,
2. Prison Statistics,
3. Accidental Deaths & Suicides
4. Finger Prints.
Page 222
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• Forest Survey Report & Govt. Schemes.
• National Parks & Biosphere Reserves.
• Important Species in news.
• More than 10 sources covered.
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Sankalp Se Sidhi
Program was organized across the country to commemorate the Quit India Movement.
To commemorate 75 years of the Quit India Movement the government led the nation to a
pledge to create a New India that is strong, prosperous and all-encompassing; an India that
will make our freedom fighters proud.
DHARMA App
Dam Health and Rehabilitation Monitoring Application (DHARMA) launched at the
conference. The app will serve as a web tool to digitize all dam related data effectively.
It will help to document authentic asset and health information pertaining to the large
dams in the country, enabling appropriate actions to ensure need based rehabilitation.
E-Prajna
5000 Students in 25 KVs in 25 states will get pre-loaded tablets.
Teachers of these KVs will use tablets in classroom transaction.
It will promote flip-learning, reduce school bag load, learning at own pace, and effective
assessment.
Classical languages
The following benefits are available for languages which are declared as classical languages: -
1. Two major annual international awards for scholars of eminence in the concerned language.
2. A 'Centre of Excellence for Studies in Classical Languages' can be set up.
3. The University Grants Commission can be requested to create, to start with at least in
Central Universities, a certain number of professional chairs for classical languages, for
scholars of eminence in the concerned language.
Page 224
About some islands
Sriharikota Island, which hosts Satish Dhawan Space Station.
The hope island is a relatively newly formed island due to sediments carried by Godavari
river and also acts as natural protection for Kakinada Port against strong storm surges
from
the Bay of Bengal. It also hosts Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, relatively less known but
important breeding site for endangered Olive Ridley Turtles. (Important because of Fishing
and Port activities disturbing the turtle breeding)
The Wellington Island is also India's largest artificial island and home to India's Southern
Naval Command and Port Kochi.
The New Mooreisland is no more disputed after PCA's verdict in July 2014 and was
assigned to India, though the majority of the rest of disputed territory went into Bnagladeshi
control.
Words in news
Buried Sunshine -Coal
Black Gold - Petroleum.
Golden fibre-Jute
Green Gold -Bamboo
Manchester of India-Ahmedabad
Manchester of Japan -Osaka
Silicon Valley- California
Silicon plateau – Bangalore
1. Hydrothermal
2. Geopressurised brines
3. Hot dry rocks
4. Magma
There are seven geothermal provinces in India : the Himalayas, Sohana, West coast, Cambay,
Son-Narmada-Tapi (SONATA), Godavari, and Mahanadi.
Geothermal plants at Manikaram-HP, Puga Valley-Ladhak
Don't Confuse
1. Ganga Gram by Mini of Drinking Water and Sanitation
2. Smart Gram by President Office
3. Cyber Gram by Minority Affairs.
4. Nyaya Gram by Allhabad High Court
Page 225
Countries sharing border with different Sea :
1. Caspian Sea : Tarik ( Turkmenistan , Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran ,Kazakhstan) .
2. Black Sea : Gurr But ( Georgia, Ukraine,Russia , Romania , Bulgaria , Turkey)
3. Red Sea : Dessey ( Djibouti ,Erittrea , Saudi Arabia,Sudan, Egypt, Yemen )
4. Aral Sea : Uk ( Uzbekistan And Kazakhstan)
5. Sea Of Azov : Ur ( Ukrain And Russia)
6. Baltic Sea : Rude Germany Sell Poland And Finland. (Russia , Denmark , Germany , Sweden,
Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , Poland And Finland )
7. Aral Sea: Kazakhstan ,Uzbekistan.
Parinam Manjusha
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has come up with digital academic
repository called 'Parinam Manjusha', which will allow students to find their mark sheets, pass
and migration certificates online. It has been developed by the board in collaboration with
NEGD (DigiLocker)
"Champions of Change"
It is a initiative organised by NITI Aayog
Champions of Change - Transforming India through G2B Partnership Prime Minister
described the "Champions of Change" initiative as one effort to bring together diverse
strengths for the benefit of the nation and society.
This is the second series of such meetings Modi is having with the business fraternity after he
met around 200 start-up entrepreneurs last Thursday, where the Prime Minister prodded
them to devise systems and solutions that help in improving governance.
Reports
Global financial system report-BIS
Page 226
GLOBAL Financial stability Report- IMF
Financial stability Report- RBI
Microbeads
Microbeads are tiny plastic substances measuring less than five millimetres that act as
exfoliators (agents which remove dead cells) on skin and teeth when used in soap,
toothpaste and other products. Many brands manufacturing beauty products use microbeads.
The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has classified microbeads as “unsafe” for use in
cosmetic products.
Page 227
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SALIENT FEATURES
• Understanding of Basic Terminologies &
Concepts.
Comprehensive Coverage of economy
Current Affairs from The
Hindu,PIB,Yoina,
Kurukshetra etc.
Latest Economic Survey & Budget 2020-21.
Government Schemes & Initiatives.
Various Reports,Indexes,National &
InternationaI Bodies.
Buddhist Councils
There were four Buddhist Councils.
These Buddhist Councils are considered as the four milestones in the history of
Buddhism. In order to address the issues during that period in Buddhism. They are as
follows.
First Buddhist Council ( 486 BC) at Rajgriha (the modern city of Rajgir)
King: Kanishka (Kushan Dynasty) ,was a patron of Buddhism and was instrumental in
spreading the religion in north-western borders of India.
Final division of Buddhism into Mahayana & Hinayana sects.
Note: The Theravada Buddhist council in 1871 and Theravada Buddhist council in 1954 are
known as Fifth and Sixth Buddhist Councils respectively
Abhidhamma pitaka, dealing with Buddhist philosophy written in Pali.
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Countries collectively called as Horn of Africa:
SEED :
1. S- Somalia
2. E- Ethiopia
3. E- Eritrea
4. D- Djibouti
The Yalu River, also called the Amrok River or Amnok River, is a river on the border between
North Korea and China
The Tumen River, also known as the Tuman or Duman River (Korean pronunciation:
[tumanɡaŋ]),[a] is a 521-kilometre (324 mi) long river that serves as part of the boundary
between China, North Korea and Russia, rising on the slopes of Mount Paektu and flowing
into the Sea of Japan.
Alternative to GeneXpert
Bedaquiline
1. Bedaquiline,sold under the brand name Sirturo, is a medication used to treat active
tuberculosis
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2. It is specifically used to treat multidrug-resistant tuberculosis(MDR-TB) when
other treatment cannot be used
3. It should be used along with at least three other medicationsfor tuberculosis
Pegasus (spyware)
Pegasusis a spyware that can be installed on devices running some versions of iOS, Apple's
mobile operating system, as well on devices running Android. It has been developed by
the Israeli cyberarms firm, NSO Group.
Upon clicking on a malicious link, Pegasus secretly enables a jailbreakon the device and
can read text messages, track calls, collect passwords, trace the phone location, as well as
gather information from apps including (but not limited
to) iMessage, Gmail, Viber, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Skype.
It has been revealed that Pegasus can also target Android
TERAHERTZ imaging:
which exists between the microwave and infrared wavelengths.
has recently attracted attention for its ability to “see through” everyday objects.
Among other things, it has been used to detect defects in space shuttle panels and uncover
the material composition and substructure of paintings and murals.
Think
Casestudy
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1. While the technology is a proven concept in the West specially the US and Canada.
2. ONGC’s project would be the first large scale CO2-injected project in Asia.
3. ONGC is planning to introduce CO2 injection technology in its Gandhar oil field in Gujarat.
Extra 20 million barrels of crude oil under enhanced oil recovery (EOR) programme,
improve India’s energy security.
Think!
Shale Gas?
Types of Asteroid:
NASA has classified asteroids based on their composition
1. C-type (chondrite): such asteroids are made up of clay and silicate rocks
2. S-types (stony): these are composed of silicate materials and nickel-iron
3. M-types (metallic): such asteroids have a metallic composition.
Some asteroids go in front of and behind Jupiter. They are called Trojans.
Asteroids that come close to Earth are called Near Earth Objects, NEOs for
short. NASA keeps close watch on these asteroids.
‘Diazotrophs':
‘Diazotrophs’ are bacteria and archaea (single celled organisms) that fix atmospheric
nitrogen gas into a more usable form such as ‘ammonia’.
A diazotroph is a microorganism that is able to grow without external sources of fixed
nitrogen.
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1. a) Cyanobacteria ,Eg.- Anabaena cylindrica and Nostoc commune.
2. b) Anaerobes - Example - Clostridium.
B)Symbiotic diazotrophs:
“Agent Smith"
Agent Smith is embedded in apps available on Google Play-store, mostly connected to
gaming, image editing or adult entertainment.
Once a user downloads the app, the malware gets active, looking for other apps that it can
take over.
Its ability to impersonate apps, as well as the fact that its icon is not visible on the user’s
screen, makes it next to impossible to detect.
IMMUVAC, VPM1002:
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) launched India’s first large-scale trial for two new
tuberculosis (TB) vaccines named IMMUVAC and VPM1002.
Immuvac: It is also known as mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP), manufactured by
Cadila Pharmaceuticals (Indian),
VPM1002: It is manufactured by Serum Institute of India.
"BRUIE":
Buoyant Rover for Under-Ice Exploration (BRUIE) is a robot developed by NASA for
underwater exploration in extra-terrestrial, icy waters.
It will search for life in ocean worlds beyond Earth.
It could be used to explore Jupiter’s moon Europa or Saturn’s moon Enceladus.
It will be rolling into Antarctica soon to perform driving upside down under sea ice, since they
are the closest Earth analog to the seas of an icy moon which makes them an ideal testing
ground for it.
It uses buoyancy to remain anchored against the ice and is impervious to most currents.
NASA is already constructing the Europa Clipper orbiter, scheduled for launch in 2025 to
study Jupiter's moon Europa, laying the groundwork for a future mission that could search
for life beneath the ice.
Also Know!
Ocean cryobot ?
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WHO’s ‘REPLACE’ programme
was recently launched to Eliminate trans fat in foods.
"Milk Adulteration":
National Milk Safety and Quality Survey 2018 was conducted by a third party across all
States and UTs and recently released by FSSAI.
According to the survey, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala accounted for the highest
number of cases of adulteration.
The adulterants like aflatoxin-M1, antibiotics and pesticides such as urea, hydrogen peroxide,
detergent were found in the milk.
The adulteration was mainly on account of low fat or low SNF (Solid Non-Fat) or both.
Aflatoxin-M1 is more dominant in processed milk than raw milk, which is life threatening,
usually through damage to liver.
It comes in the milk through feed and fodder that are currently not regulated in the country
Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Kerala were top three States where Aflatoxin residue was found the
most.
India is the world‘s largest producer of milk with the total estimated milk production in the
country was 176.35 million tonnes during 2017-18.
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"Kleptocracy"
It refers to the society whose leaders make themselves rich and powerful by stealing from the
rest of the people.
It is also known as ―rule by thieve.
It is closely associated with military juntas, oligarchies, dictatorships and nepotism or
autocratic regimes.
Russia is often pointed out as an example of a modern kleptocracy.
Africa has many of the world‘s kleptocratic leaders, who have driven their economies into
ruin. 'Narco-kleptocracy‘, also known as 'Narco-economies‘, are nations where drug money
has compromised the integrity of the government.
It is through bribing of senior government officials to allow the illegal drug trade to be
conducted within the country. E.g Guinea, Panama, Tajikistan and Venezuela.
Digital Kleptocracy is a means by which rich tech companies mine poor people‘s data.
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ANTRIX for foreign market , NSIL FOR DOMESTIC.
DATA
A total of 239 satellites were commercially launched by Antrix Corporation Limited during the
last three years.
The total revenue from operations during the last three years is Rs 6289.05 Crores.
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GEMINI Device
The Union Minister of Earth Sciences has recently launched the Gagan Enabled Mariner’s
Instrument for Navigation and Information (GEMINI) device.
Ocean States Forecastprovides the accurate state of the ocean that includes the
forecasts related to winds, waves, ocean currents, water temperature, etc.
PFZ provide information about the probable locations of fish aggregation in the seas
to the fishermen, while
GEMINI is a portable receiverthat is linked to ISRO-satellites. With this device, the
fishermen outside the signal range of their phone companies (i.e. 10-12 km) can also access
warnings and alerts, as the device can send signals up to 300 nautical miles.
NavIC
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)and its commercial arm Antrix
Corporation Ltd. are set to commercialize India’s regional navigation satellite system -
Navigation in Indian Constellation (NavIC).
Navigation in Indian Constellation (NavIC) is an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite
System (IRNSS),developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).
IRNSS consists of eight satellites, three satellites in geostationary orbit and five satellites
in geosynchronous orbit.
The main objective is to provide reliable position, navigation and timing servicesover
India and its neighbourhood.
It works just like the established and popular U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) but
within a 1,500-km radius over the sub-continent.
rd
It has been certified by the 3 Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a global body for
coordinating mobile telephony standards.
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What is MANAV : Human Atlas Initiative?
It is a project funded by DBT, which aims at creating a database network of all tissues in the
human body from the available scientific literature
So far, researchers and students have had little or no expertise in reading scientific
literature and develop or build further information on the same.
This platform will impart key skills to the student community to read classified scientific
literature, in this case, on individual tissue-basis, and perform annotation and curation.
Since all the information generated will pass through multiple levels of reviews, it will be an
Atlas or a reliable collection on human body tissues.
The aim of the project remains to understand and capture the human physiology in two stages
– in a normal stage and while in a disease stage.
Such a database on individual tissues, once ready, can come handy in tracing the causes of
a disease, understanding specific pathways and ultimately decode the body’s disease stage
linked to tissues and cells.
The teams will also study any potent elements or molecules that have never been used in the
form of drugs, to target the specific cells or tissues.
Nano-pharmaceuticals:
Guidelines For Evaluation Of Nano-pharmaceuticals In India were launched by Ministry for
Science & Technology.
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Guidelines are jointly developed by Department of Biotechnology (DBI), Ministry of Science
and Technology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Central Drugs Standard
Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
A nano-pharmaceutical is defined as "a pharmaceutical preparation containing
nanomaterials intended for internal use or external application on human for the purpose of
therapeutics, diagnostics and health benefits."
Significance:
These camps will be initially held in 12 countries identified through our missions with financial
support of the central government.
The larger aim is to provide for the physical, economic and social rehabilitation of
the differently-abled.
Endosulfan
Endosulfan is a most toxic pesticides having hazardous effects on human genetic and
endocrine systems.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2011 added it in list of banned
substances and phasing it out as an agrichemical. It is banned in over 80 nations due to its
‘high toxicity.
It is sprayed as pesticide on crops like cotton, fruits, tea, paddy, cashew, tobacco etc. for
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control of pests in agriculture such as whiteflies, aphids, beetles, worms etc.
Hazardous effects: In case of humans it causes delayed reproductive development, autism,
bioaccumulation, endocrine disruption (stunting of hormones), long-range contamination,
neurotoxicity, long-range contamination and sensory Loss.
It blocks the inhibitory receptors of the Central Nervous System, disrupts the ionic channels
and destroys the integrity of the nerve cells. The spraying of endsosulfan also destroys
biodiversity of the area.
GRAPES-3 experiment:
GRAPES-3 experiment (or Gamma Ray Astronomy PeV EnergieS phase-3) is an India-Japanese
collaboration. It is a special telescope-array established in Ootyto detect muons from cosmic
ray.
It can be used to study solar storms and space weather at distances up to two times the
earth's radius.
First time in the world, researchers at the GRAPES-3 muon telescope facility in Ooty have
measured the electrical potential, size and height of a thundercloud
Learning about the properties of thunderclouds can be useful in navigation of aircraft and
preventing short circuits.
"Microarray technology":
Microarray technology can be used to study the expression of genes by spotting DNA on
chips and using dyes to label them.
Image processing is an important step in Microarray data analysis to study the hybridization
of DNA. It is a high throughput technique as it involves studying multiple genes
simultaneously.
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It is one of the premier research centers in India, which works on cell-culture, cell-repository,
immunology, chromatin-remodelling.
It is a facility located on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean and it houses the world's largest
collection of seeds. The seeds can be of use in the event of a global catastrophe or when some
species is lost due to natural disasters. It is therefore also referred to as the doomsday vault.
The seed vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the
Norwegian government, the Crop Trust and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen)
At Chang La in the Himalayas, at a height of 17,300 feet, there is a storage facility with over 5,000
seed accessions. One accession consists of a set of seeds of one species collected from different
locations or different populations.
1) National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (which comes under the Indian Council
of Agricultural Research)
Param Shivay
It is a supercomputer of 833 teraflop capacity. It was built at the cost of Rs 32.5 crore under
the National Super Computing Mission at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Banaras
Hindu University (BHU).
It will include 1 peta byte secondary storage and appropriate open source system. This
supercomputer centre will help deal with social issues faced by common people.
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India's first supercomputer called PARAM 8000 was launched in 1991.
Parthenogenesis:
Parthenogenesis is a reproductive strategy that involves development of a female (rarely a
male) gamete (sex cell) without fertilisation or development of an embryo from an unfertilised
egg cell.
It is an adaptive strategy when sexual reproduction is not possible due to environmental
conditions.
It occurs commonly among lower plants, pests of agriculture and horticulture, invertebrate
animals
(particularly rotifers, aphids, ants, wasps and bees) and rarely among higher vertebrates.
Offspring from parthenogenesis tends to be clones of the parent because there has been no
exchange and rearrangement of genetic information with another individual.
Recently, female anaconda has given a birth through the phenomenon of Parthenogenesis.
Nekton Mission:
Nekton Mission is aimed at enhancing the humanities knowledge and understanding of the
world’s oceansto speed up the protection and governance of our last great wilderness, the
deep ocean.
Nekton’s missions are undertaken with host nations and combine scientific research,
capacitydevelopment, ocean governance and public engagement.
Nekton Mission in the Indian Ocean named First Descent is a series of expeditions to explore
and conservethe world’s most unknown and least protected ocean, the Indian Ocean.
The data from the Nekton Mission will be used to help Seychelles expand its policy of
protecting 30% of itsnational waters by 2020.
Nekton is an independent, not-for-profit research institute working in collaboration with the
University of Oxford.
"GEMINI device":
The Union Minister of Earth Sciences has recently launched the Gagan Enabled Mariner’s
Instrument for Navigation and Information (GEMINI) device.
The device is developed for effective dissemination of emergency information and
communication .
Communication gap severely felt during the Ockhi cyclone in 2017.
“Ocean State Forecasts include the forecasts on winds, waves, ocean currents, water
temperature, etc. at every 6 hrs on daily basis for next 5 days.
To overcome this difficulty, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)
in collaboration with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) utilized the GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo
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Augmented Navigation) satellite while developing the GEMINI device.
GEMINI is a portable receiver that is linked to ISRO-satellites, receives and transfers the data
received from GAGAN satellite/s to a mobile through Bluetooth communication.
A mobile application developed by INCOIS decodes and displays the information in nine
regional languages.
Extraocular vision"
The ability to see without eyes is known as extraocular vision.
For the first time, researchers have shown that a species of brittle stars can see even though
it does not have eyes.
The red brittle star (Ophiocoma wendtii) has become only the second creature, after a sea
urchin species, known to have the extraocular vision (barring rare cases in other species).
In sea urchins and brittle stars, researchers suspect that extraocular vision is facilitated by
the photoreceptor cells found on their bodies.
These light-sensing cells give the brittle star visual stimuli, allowing it to recognise coarse
structures such as rocks.
The researchers think that there may be a link between their extraocular vision and colour
changing abilities of red brittle star.
"Coronavirus"
Chinese researchers has identified a new virus, it was responsible for a new pneumonia-like
illness.
Coronaviruses are a specific family of viruses, with some of them causing less-severe damage,
such as the common cold, and others causing respiratory and intestinal diseases.
A coronavirus has many “regularly arranged” protrusions on its surface, because of which the
entire virus particle looks like an emperor’s crown, hence the name “coronavirus”.
Apart from human beings, coronaviruses can affect mammals including pigs, cattle, cats, dogs,
martens, camels, hedgehogs and some birds.
So far, there are four known disease-causing coronaviruses, among which the best known
are the SARS corona virus and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus,
both of which can cause severe respiratory diseases.
In the newly identified coronavirus, a direct link with the disease has not been established yet.
GSAT-30
India’s latest communication satellite GSAT-30 was successfully launched from the
Spaceport in French Guiana
The launch vehicle Ariane 5 VA-251 lifted off from Kourou Launch Base, French Guiana
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With a lift-off mass of 3357 kg, GSAT-30 will provide continuity to operational services
The satellite will provide communication services to Indian mainland and islands
through Ku-band and wide coverage covering Gulf countries, a large number of Asian
countries and Australia through C-band.
GSAT-30 will provide DTH Television Services, connectivity to VSATs for ATM, Stock-
exchange,etc.
ISRO’s Master Control Facility (MCF) at Hassan in Karnataka took over the command
and control of GSAT-30
satellite in Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator).
Exome sequencing,
It is also known as whole-exome sequencing (WES), is a genomic technique for sequencing all of
the protein-coding region of genes in a genome (known as the exome).
The portion of the genes responsible for making proteins — called the exome — occupies about 1%
of the actual gene.
Circadian Rhythm
A circadian rhythm is a roughly 24 hour cycle in the physiological processes of living beings,
which are important in determining the sleeping and feeding patterns of all animals, including
human beings.
There are clear patterns of brain wave activity, hormone production, cell regeneration and
other biological activities linked to this daily cycle.
Mercury is nearly tidally locked to the Sun – also known as a gravitational lock.
Over time this has slowed the rotation of the planet to almost match its orbit around the
Sun.@ It is one of five planets that are visible to the naked eye.
After the Earth, Mercury is the second densest planet.
Mercury has no moons or rings
Mercury is only the second hottest planet.
The orbit of Mercury was important in proving Albert Einstein‘s theory of General Relativity.
Mercury has a very thin atmosphere.
Only two spacecraft have ever visited Mercury: they are Mariner 10 and Messenger.
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Centre of Excellence in Blockchain Technology has been set
up by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
Set up in 1976, National Informatics Centre (NIC) is a premier technology advisor and ICT
solution provider to Government at all levels through its ICT Network, NICNET.
It plays a crucial role in the development of critical e-Governance solutions and a host of
other services required by the Government.
TrueNat MTB
The TrueNat test a new molecular test that can diagnose Tuberculosis in one hour.
The test uses polymerase chain reaction to detect bacteria. The that conducts the test is
battery operated.
Xenobot:
Scientists in the US have created the world’s first “living machines” — tiny robots built from
the stem cells of the African clawed frog that can move around on their own.
“xenobots” — after the species of aquatic frog found across sub-Saharan Africa from Nigeria
and Sudan to South Africa, Xenopus laevis.
Scientists have repurposed living cells scraped from frog embryos and assembled them into
entirely new life-forms.
The xenobots can move toward a target, perhaps pick up a payload and heal themselves after
being cut.
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Stock, well before any catastrophic failure.
This is paradigm shift in maintenance practices from “Time Based Maintenance” to
“Condition Based Predictive Maintenance”
OMRS consisting of Acoustic Bearing Detector (ABD) or Rail Bearing Acoustic Monitor
(RailBAM) and Wheel Impact Load Detector (WILD)/Wheel Condition Monitor (WCM).
1. Acoustic Bearing Detector (ABD)/ Bearing Acoustic Monitor (RailBAM) gives an early
warning on possible defects in the bearing box, before reaching the stage of hot box.
2. Wheel Impact Load Detector (WILD)/Wheel Condition Monitor (WCM) system measures
the wheel impacts on tracks to identify the flat surface on wheels in Rolling Stock.
3. PhotoTAG system is used for vehicle identification.
TrueNat:
The WHO has endorsed TrueNat, an Indian indigenous molecular diagnostic tool for
tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis.
The TrueNat TB test is a new molecular test that can diagnosis TB in one hour as well as
testing for resistance to the drug rifampicin.
The data for TrueNat MTB-Rif shows similar accuracy to WHO-approved commercial line
probe assays.
It is developed by the Goa-based Molbio Diagnostics.
1. Among other measures, the policy intends to kickstart a registry of rare diseases, which will
be maintained by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
2. According to the policy, rare diseases include genetic diseases, rare cancers,
infectious tropical diseases, and degenerative diseases.
3. Under the policy, there are three categories of rare diseases — requiring one-time
curative treatment, diseases that require long-term treatment but where the cost is low,
and those
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needing long-term treatments with high cost. Some of the diseases in the first category
include osteopetrosis and immune deficiency disorders, among others.
4. As per the policy, the assistance of Rs 15 lakh will be provided to patients suffering from rare
diseases that require a one-time curative treatment under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi
scheme. The treatment will be limited to the beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya
Yojana.
Allen's rule
Allen's rule, an ecogeographical rule, states that significant differences exist in the size of
limbs andother external organs of animals, even within the same species, depending on the
geographical region inwhich they live.
Animals living in colder regions of the world, for instance, have shorter limbs than those living
in warmer regions as an adaptation to control the dissipation of heat. A smaller body surface
area helps animals in colder regions stay warm by slowing down the loss of body heat.
It aims to:
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A.SAT Missile
About the Missile
India successfully conducted (A-SAT) missile test from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam Island launch
complex (Odisha).
developed by the DRDO under Mission
Shakti. It defend India’s space assets.
India became the fourth country -after USA, Russia, and
China. The A-SAT technology has a ‘hit to kill’ feature .
Prithvi I was one of the first missiles developed under Government of India's IGMDP.
Launched in February 1988, Prithvi I is a single-stage, liquid-fuelled missile.
A surface-to-surface missile, it has a range of 150 km and a mounting capability of 1000
kg. It was inducted into the Indian Army in 1994.
2. Agni I
A nuclear-capable ballistic missile, Agni I is the first of the five-missile Agni series launched in
1983 by the Defence Research and Development
Organisation. It has a range of 700 km.
3. Akash
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4. Nag
Nag is a third-generation hit-to-kill anti-tank missile that was first tested in 1990.
The two-stage solid propellant weapon uses the lock-on before launch system where the target
is identified and designated before the weapon is launched.
5. Trishul
Trishul is a short-range surface-to-air missile equipped with electronic measures against all
known aircraft jammers.
It has a range of 9 km and is used as anti-sea skimmer from ships against low-flying attacks.
6. Agni II
An intermediate-range ballistic missile, the Agni-II was first test fired on April 11, 1999.
The surface-to-surface missile has a range of 2000 to 2500 km and can carry conventional or
nuclear warheads.
7. Prithvi III
8. Brahmos
BrahMos is a supersonic cruise missile that is first test-fired on June 12, 2001.
It was developed as a joint venture between India and Russia and is the world's fastest anti-
ship cruise missile in operation.
India’s ballistic missiledefence got a fillip with the development of PAD, which has been
given the moniker Pradyumna.
The system was tested with a maximum interception altitude of 80 km, and has been
designed to neutralise missiles within a range of 300-2000 km up to a speed of Mach 5.0.
The technology employed in the PAD was the precursor to the indigenously developed
Advanced Air Defence (AAD) interceptor missile which was tested in 2007, as well as
the Barak-2 which was developed in collaboration with Israel.
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10. K-15 Sagarika
The successful test of the Sagarika marks an inflection point in India’s military history.
It forms the crucial third leg of India’s nuclear deterrent vis-à-vis its submarine-
launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capability.
The K-15 Sagarika, which has a range of 750 km, was successfully tested in February 2008,
and was subsequently integrated with India’s nuclear-powered Arihant class submarine.
11. Dhanush
Dhanush is a liquid propelled sea-based missile that was envisaged as a short-range version
of the Prithvi II ballistic missile.
It has a range of 350 km and is capable of carrying nuclear warheads. It was successfully test-
fired from a naval warship in March 2011, and carries forward the legacy of the K-15 Sagarika.
Agni III is an intermediate-range ballistic missile developed as the successor to the Agni II.
It is an improvement over its previous iteration, and has a range of 3,500-5,000 km, making it
capable of engaging targets deep inside neighbouring countries.
It was inducted in to the armed forces in June 2011, enhancing its strike capability.
13. Agni IV
Carrying forward the success of its predecessor, the Agni III was developed to strike
targets within a similar range but with a significantly shorter flight time of 20 minutes.
The Agni IV, which has a two-phase propulsion system is designed to carry a 1,000 kg payload.
14. Shaurya
It was initially conceived as a surface-to-surface ballistic missile (SSM) variant of the K-15
Sagarika, that can be stored in underground silos for extended periods and launched using
gas canisters as a trigger.
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3. Communication is hack. proof
IndIGO
The Indian Initiative in Gravitational-wave Observations, is an initiative to set up
advanced experimental facilities, for a multi-institutional Indian national project in
gravitational-wave astronomy.
The IndIGO Consortium includes Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Indian Institutes of
Science Education and Research (IISER) and Delhi University, among others.
Since 2009, the IndIGO Consortium has been involved in constructing the Indian road-map
for Gravitational Wave Astronomy and a strategy towards Indian participation in realising the
crucial gravitational-wave observatory in the Asia-Pacific region.
A new LIGO gravitational wave detector to be built in India by 2025. This will be the world's
third LIGO detector.
A new gravitational wave detector to measure ripples in the fabric of space and time is set to
be built in India by 2025, in collaboration with universities from across the globe.
Third stage
Angara -Russiq
Delta IV -USA Boing
Falcon 9- Space X
H-IIA- Japan
Long March 3B -China
Titan IIIC -US Air Force
Long March 7- China
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Jupiter's Great Red Spot
NASA's Juno spacecraft during its first pass over Jupiter's Great Red Spot in July 2017
indicate that this iconic feature penetrates well below the clouds
Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a giant oval of crimson-colored clouds in Jupiter's southern
hemisphere that race counterclockwise around the oval's perimeter with wind speeds greater
than any storm on Earth.
Measuring 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) in width as of April 3, 2017, the Great Red Spot is
1.3 times as wide as Earth.
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In the early years of the project, drought assessment was largely dependent on only one
satellite derived index i.e., NDVI and IMD rainfall data at district and sub-division.
KISAN
KISAN Project [C(K)rop Insurance using Space technology And geoiNformatics] of
Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & FW, Ministry of Agriculture and FW.
The project envisages use of Space Technology and geoinformatics (GIS, GPS and
Smartphone) technology along with high resolution data from UAV/Drone based imaging for
improvement in yield estimation and better planning of Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs),
needed for crop insurance programme.
CHAMAN
CHAMAN is a pioneer project in which remote sensing technique is being used for strategic
development of horticulture sector as also to increase the farmers’ income.
It gives methodology for preparing reliable estimates of horticulture crops.
Union Agriculture Minister said that this methodology will help the farmers to generate better
income.
Under this project sound methodology for estimation of Horticulture crops is being developed
and implemented on pilot basis using Sample Survey methodology and Remote Sensing
technology.
GSAT-7 Rukmini
Weighing nearly 2,650 kg, Rukmini was the first military communication satellite
developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for the Indian Defence forces,
with the Indian Navy being the primary user.
Rukmini is also the last of ISRO’s seven fourth-generation satellites.
Surya Jyoti
Ministry of Science & Technology
Photo-Voltaic (PV) Integrated Micro Solar Dome (MSD).
In order to capture day light and concentrate the same inside a dark room, particularly in
urban slum or rural areas which lack electricity supply, a low cost and energy efficient Micro
Solar Dome has been tested and developed.
The Micro Solar Dome (MSD) is a day and night lighting single device unique in its features,
that has a transparent semi-spherical upper dome made of acrylic material which captures
the sunlight and the light passes through a sun-tube having a thin layer of highly reflective
coating
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on the inner wall of the passage. It also contains a lower dome made of acrylic.
There is a shutter in the bottom of the lower dome which can be closed, if light is not
required in the daytime. It is leak proof and works throughout the day and 4 hours
continuously after sunset.
The entire development activities were taken up by an R&D Organisation under the aegis of
the Department of Science & Technology.
Muntra
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed India's first
unmanned tank, which has three variants – surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance
in areas with nuclear and bio threats.
It is called Muntra (Mission UNmanned TRAcked) and has been rolled out of the Chennai lab.
OTT platform
Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms deliver audio, video, and other media content via the internet,
eschewing the need for traditional platforms like cable, broadcast and satellite television.
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