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IMPORTANT FUNDS
Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP)
Date fund proposed: 2001, Date fund made operational: 2012.
The fund is administered by IFAD (International Fund For Agricultural Development).

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Objectives:

To channel climate and environmental finance to smallholder farmers,

Improving land management and climate resilient agricultural practices and technologies;;

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Increasing human capacity to manage short- and long-term climate risks and reduce losses
fromweather-related disasters;

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Making rural infrastructure climate-resilient.

International Fund for Agricultural Development gm

Formation: 15 December 1977, Rome, Italy
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It is an international financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations that
works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries.
9

Special Climate Change Fund

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The Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF) was created in 2001 to address the specific needs
hk

of developing countries under the UNFCCC.

It covers the incremental costs of interventions to address climate change relative to a
development baseline.
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Adaptation to climate change is the top priority of the SCCF, although it can also support
technology transfer and its associated capacity building activities.
The SCCF is intended to catalyse and leverage additional finance from bilateral and
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multilateral sources, and is administered by the Global Environment Facility.

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Adaptation Fund
Date fund proposed: 2001, Date fund made operational: 2009
It is a financial instrument under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol (KP).
IT has been established to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in
developing country Parties to the KP, in an effort to reduce the adverse effects of climate
change facing communities, countries and sectors.
The Fund is financed with a share of proceeds from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
project activities as well as through voluntary pledges of donor governments.
The World Bank is the Trustee of the Adaptation Fund on an interim basis.

Page 17
Amazon Fund
Date fund proposed: 1st August 2008, Date fund made operational: 1st March 2009.
The Amazon Fund was created to raise donations so that investments can be made in efforts to
prevent, monitor and combat deforestation, as well as to promote the conservation and
sustainable use of forests in the Amazon Biome.
Although the Amazon Fund was created by the government and is managed by a public bank,
it is a private fund & managed by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).

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Clean Technology Fund

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The Clean Technology Fund (CTF), promotes scaled-up financing for demonstration,
deployment and transfer of low-carbon technologies with significant potential for long-term

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greenhouse gas emissions savings.
CTF finances 12 country programmes and one regional programme.

gm
Date fund proposed: February 2008. Date fund made operational: 1 July 2008.
The design of the CTF includes a “sunset clause” which stipulates that necessary steps to
conclude CTF operations shall be taken once a new (UNFCCC) financial architecture takes
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effect.
Any remaining CTF funds may be transferred to another fund with a similar objective.
The World Bank is the Trustee and Administrating Unit of the CTF Trust Fund.
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The World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank,
theEuropean Development Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank are the
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implementingagencies for CTF investments.

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Congo Basin Forest Fund

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CBFF is a multi-donor fund set up in June 2008 to take early action to protect the forests in the
Congo Basin region.
It aims to support transformative and innovative projects to be complemented to existing
activities, which will develop the capacity of people and institutions of the Congo Basin to
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enable them to preserve and manage their forests.

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It provides a source of accessible funding, and encourages governments, civil society, NGOs
and the private sector to work together to share specific expertise.
Administrating Organisation African Development Bank (AfDB)

Forest Carbon Partnership Facility

FCPF is a World Bank programme and consists of a Readiness Fund and a Carbon Fund.
The FCPF was created to assist developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation
and forest degradation, enhance and conserve forest carbon stocks, and sustainably manage
forests (REDD+).
Date fund proposed: Initial discussions in 2006. Date fund made operational: 25 June 2008.
The FCPF became operational upon the operational date of the Readiness Fund.
Administrating Organisation- The World Bank.

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GlobalEnergy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund
GEEREF is a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) designed to maximise the private finance
leveraged through public funds funded by the European Commission and managed by the

European Investment Bank.

GEEREF is structured as a fund of funds, and invests in private equity sub-funds that

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specialize in financing small and medium-sized project developers and enterprises (SMEs) to
implementenergy efficiency and renewable energy projects in developing countries and
economies in transition.

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Date fund proposed: 2006, Date fund made operational: 2008

Green Climate Fund

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GCF was adopted as a financial mechanism of the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) at the end of 2011.
It aims to make an ambitious contribution to attaining the mitigation and adaptation goals of
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the international community.
And the main multilateral financing mechanism to support climate action in developing
countries.
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Date fund proposed: December 2009 & became fully operational in 2015.
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The GCF is a legally independent institution with a fully independent secretariat headed by an
Executive Secretary.
The World Bank serves as the interim trustee of the GCF, and the Fund functions under the
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guidance of and remains accountable to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties.

The Independent Secretariat, located in Songdo South Korea, began its work in December
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2013.

Least Developed Countries Fund

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Date fund proposed: 2001, Date fund made operational: 2002

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LDCF was established to meet the adaptation needs of least developed countries (LDCs).
LDCF has financed the preparation and implementation of National Adaptation Programs of
Action (NAPAs) to identify priority adaptation actions for a country based on existing
information.
The Least Developed Countries Fund is administered by the Global Environment Facility
(GEF) with World Bank as Trustee.
The LDCF aims to address the needs of the 48 LDCs which are particularly vulnerable to the
adverse impacts of climate change.

INDIAN POLITY

Page 19
RATIONALISATION OF CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEMES
The chairman of the Fifteenth Finance Commission, N K Singh, has voiced that there needs to be
further rationalization of the Centrally Sponsored Schemes
What is Centrally Sponsored Scheme

The Union government supports several developmental initiatives at the state level. These
schemes are aimed at supplementing the efforts made by state governments since the central

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government has more resources at its disposal.
Earlier, there were nearly 67 centrally sponsored schemes, but many of them were phased out
after the suggestions of the 14th Finance Commission were implemented.

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What is the difference between central sector scheme and centrally sponsored scheme?

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While the Union government fully funds the central sector schemes, centrally sponsored schemes
are jointly funded by the Centre and states.

Centrally Sponsored Schemes: Funding Pattern

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There are several models of funding of centrally sponsored schemes, but a large part of the
funding comes from the Centre.
In most of the cases, the Union government and the states fund these schemes at a 60:40
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ratio.
In some cases, the funding ratio could be 80:20. In the case of north-eastern states, 90 per
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cent of the funds come from the central government.

Union government spends nearly 12% of its annual budget on centrally sponsored schemes.
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National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) Project.

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e-Vidhan:

It is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) comes under the Digital India Programme.
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Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) is the ‘Nodal Ministry’ for its implementation in all
the 31 States/UTs with Legislatures.

The funding for e-Vidhan is provided by the MoPA and technical support by Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology (MietY).

The funding of NeVA is through Central Sponsored Scheme i.e. 60:40; and 90:10 for North East &
hilly States and 100% for UTs.

VVPATS
Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail

VVPAT is an independent verification printer machine and is attached to electronic voting

machines. It allows voters to verify if their vote has gone to the intended candidate.
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 When a voter presses a button in the EVM, a paper slip is printed through the VVPAT. The slip
contains the poll symbol and name of the candidate. It allows the voter to verify his/her choice.
After being visible to the voter from a glass case in the VVPAT for seven seconds, the ballot
slip will be cut and dropped into the drop box in the VVPAT machine and a beep will be heard.
VVPAT machines can be accessed by polling officers only.

C VIGIL App

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The cVIGIL App provides time-stamped, evidence-based proof of the Model Code of Conduct /
Expenditure Violation, having live photo/video with auto location data.
Any citizen can lodge a complaint through the Mobile App. Flying Squads will then investigate

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the matter and the Returning Officer takes the decision.
The status of cVIGIL can be shared with the cVIGIL complainant within a specified time limit

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Centralized Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring
System (CPGRAMS) gm
It is an online web-enabled systemdeveloped by National Informatics Centre (Ministry of
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Electronics & IT [MeitY]), in association with Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG) and
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).
The underlying idea was to receive, redress and monitor the grievances of the public.
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It was launched by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public

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Grievances(DARPG) under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.

The CPGRAMS provides the facility to lodge a grievance online from any geographical
location.
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It enables the citizen to track online the grievance being followed up with Departments
concerned and also enables DARPG to monitor the grievance.
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The procedure includes designating asenior officer as the Director of

Grievances/Grievance officer in every office to ensure that the system remains accessible,
simple, quick, fair and responsive, and fixing the time limit for disposal of work relating to
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public grievances and staff grievances.

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PRAGATI
It is a platform which enables the Prime Minister to discuss the issues with the concerned
Central and State officials with full information and latest visuals of the ground-level situation.
It was launched in 2015 and has been designed by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) team
with the help of National Informatics Center (NIC).
It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the
States).
The three objectives of PRAGATI are:

1. Grievance Redressal
2. Programme Implementation
3. Project Monitoring

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 The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles three latest technologies: Digital data management,
video-conferencing and geo-spatial technology.
It promotes cooperative federalism as it brings on one platform the Secretaries of
Government of India and the Chief Secretaries of the States.

PPRTMS-an online system

Why in News > On January 1, 2020, the Election Commission of India launched an online

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system that will allow political parties to track their applications.

About

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The system is called Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS).
The system will track applications registered by political parties.

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The status of the application shall be obtained through SMS or e-mail.
The system works on a real time basis

REMOVAL OF JUDGES
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Article 217 provides that the judge of high court may be removed from his office by the
President in the manner provided in Article 124 for the removal of a Judge of the Supreme
Court.
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Under Article 124(4) of the Constitution a Judge of SC can be removed only by the President
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on ground of ‘proved misbehaviour’ or ‘incapacity’ only after a motion to this effect is passed
by both the Houses of Parliament by special majority.
Constitution requires that misbehavior or incapacity shall be proved by an impartial Tribunal
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whose composition is decided under Judges Inquiry Act 1968.

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National People’s Party (NPP)

The National People’s Party (NPP) has been recognised as the eighth national party by the
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Election Commission of India, making it the first regional party of the north-east to be accorded
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the status.

Conditions for Recognition as a National Party

A party is recognised as a national party if any of the following conditions is fulfilled:

If it secures six per cent of valid votes polled in any four or more states at a general
election to the Lok Sabha or to the legislative assembly; and, in addition, it wins four
seats in the Lok Sabha from any state or states; or
If it wins two per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha at a general election; and these
candidates are elected from three states; or
If it is recognised as a state party in four states.

Page 22
Leader of the Opposition
There is no provision in the Constitution or in the Lok Sabha Rules of Procedure in regard to
the recognition of the LoP.
By convention, an Opposition party can claim to have a Leader of Opposition in any of the
houses provided the party has won 10% of the seats (55 in the Lok Sabha, which is a 543-
member house).
The statutory definition of the Leader of Opposition has been provided in the Salary and

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Allowances of Leader of Opposition Act of 1977.
The 1977 Act has not set the 10% condition as a prerequisite for Leader of Opposition. The
10% condition for LoP has been incorporated in Direction 121(1) in Parliament (Facilities) Act

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1998.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha is an important position as the LoP is involved in
appointments to key offices including that of the Lokpal, CBI director, chief vigilance

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commissioner, chief information commissioner and the chairperson of the NHRC.

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Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation
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Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation program, better known as SVEEP, is
the flagship program of the Election Commission of India for voter education, spreading voter
awareness and promoting voter literacy in India.
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Since 2009, we have been working towards preparing India’s electors and equipping them
with basic knowledge related to the electoral process.
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Cabinet Committees
hk

Cabinet Committees are extra-constitutionalin emergence. In other words, they are not
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mentioned in the Constitution. However, the Rules of Business provide for their
establishment.
These Rules emerge out of Article 77(3)of the Constitution, which empowers the President to
make rules for the more convenient transaction of the business of the Government, and for the
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allocation among Ministers.

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These committees are of two types—standing and ad hoc.The standing Cabinet Committees
are of a permanent nature while the ad hoc Cabinet Committees are of a temporary
The Prime Ministerconstitutes Standing Committees of the Cabinet and sets out the
specific functions assigned to them. He can add or reduce the number of committees.
The ad hoc committees are constituted from time to time to deal with special problems. They
are disbanded after their task is completed.
All Cabinet Committees except Cabinet Committee on Accommodation and Cabinet Committee
on Parliamentary Affairs are headed by Prime Minister.

Two new committees formed

1. Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth.

2. Cabinet Committee on Employment & Skill Development.

Page 23
Lokpal
Provision for appointments of Lokpal

According to rules, there is provision for a chairperson and a maximum of eight members in
the Lokpal panel. Of these, four need to be judicial members.
Not less than 50 per cent of the members of the Lokpal shall be from amongst the persons

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belonging to the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities
and women, the rules say.
Upon selection, the chairperson and members shall hold office for a term of five years or till

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they attain 70 years of age.
The salary and allowances of the chairman will be same as that of the Chief Justice of India.

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The members will be paid salary and allowances same as that of a judge of the Supreme Court.

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About Lokpal
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The ‘Lokpal’ is the central governing body that has jurisdiction over all members of
parliament and central government employees in case of corruption.
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A national anti-corruption ombudsman to look into complaints against public servants as

defined under the Lokpal Act, 2013.
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Powers of Lokpal
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The Lokpal can initiate a preliminary investigation after it receives a complaint under the
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Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

LOKPAL
If the complaint is found to be true, the Lokpal can ask the government to take disciplinary
action against the public servant and also file a case in a special court to be set up by the
Centre.

Jurisdiction
It will cover all categories of public servants including Group ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ & ‘D’ officers and
employees of Government.
With respect to Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ officers, CVC will send its report of Preliminary enquiry
to Lokpal for further decision.
Page 24
 With respect to Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ employees, CVC will proceed further in exercise of its
own powers under the CVC Act subject to reporting and review by Lokpal.
All entities receiving donations from foreign source in excess of Rs. 10 lakhs per year are
brought under the jurisdiction of Lokpal.
Lokpal will have power of superintendence and direction over any investigation agency
including CBI for cases referred to them by Lokpal.
It can attach or confiscate property of public servants acquired by corrupt means, even
while prosecution is pending.

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The Lokpal Act

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This Act provides for the establishment of a body of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayukta

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for States to inquire into allegations of corruption against certain public functionaries and for
matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
It was passed in 2013.
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Lokpal is an apex body to deal with cases of corruption at the national level. It has to
enquire into allegations of corruption against public functionaries of the central government in
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a time bound manner.
Jurisdiction: The Prime Minister, Ministers, Members of Parliament and officers and officials
of the Central Government.
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Composition:
The Lokpal consists of a Chairperson with a maximum of 8 members of which 50%
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shall be judicial members.

50% of the members of the Lokpal shall come from amongst the SCs, the STs, the
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OBCs, minorities and women.

Selection:
The selection of the Chairperson and the members of Lokpal shall be through
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a Selection Committee consisting of the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha,
the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the Chief Justice of India or a sitting
Supreme Court Judge nominated by the Chief Justice of India and an eminent jurist to be
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nominated by the President of India on the basis of recommendations of the first four
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members of the selection committee.

A Search Committee will assist the Selection Committee in the process of selection.
50% of the members of the Search Committee shall also be from amongst the SCs, the
STs, the OBCs, minorities and women.
The Prime Minister has been brought under the purview of the Lokpal with subject matter
exclusions and specific process for handling complaints against the Prime Minister.

Sedition law won’t be scrapped: Centre

Sedition is defined as “The use of words or actionintended to encourage people to oppose
agovernment”.
Sedition contains three actions, namely, an act,conduct or a speech.
Page 25
 All these actions are intended to incite people torebel against the state, government or the
nation.

About Section 124-A

Section 124-A of Indian Penal Code deals with sedition.

The word sedition is not mentioned anywhere in the IPC or the Indian Constitution.
This section defines sedition as - ‘Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or
by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or

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excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India’
shall be punished with life imprisonment, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment
which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.

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It further explains that the expression ‘disaffection’ includes disloyalty and all feelings of hate.
However, the law says, strong disapproval of Government measures, by lawful means without

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exciting hatred, contempt or disaffection does not amount to sedition.

Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) gm

The Association of World Election Bodies(A-WEB) is the largestassociation of Election
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Management Bodies (EMBs) worldwide.

It was established on October 14, 2013 in South Korea.
The permanent secretariat of A-WEB is located in Seoul, South Korea.
9

It was founded with the shared vision among its members ofachieving sustainable democracy
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around the world.

A-WEB also undertakes Election Visitor and Observation Programmesin various countries to
study various election management practicesand share knowledge with other Member of
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EMBs.
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SANJAY MITRA COMMITTEE

Mandate: The committee will look into thedistribution of assets and liabilities of Jammu and
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Kashmir between two successor Union territories, which will come into existence on 31st of
Octoberthis year.
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ONE NATION ONE LANGUAGE

Recently, on the occasion of Hindi Diwas, theUnion home minister had proposed to promote Hindi
asthe country’s common language.

Basis for promoting Hindi language

Article 351: It shall be the duty of the Union- to promote the spread of the Hindi language,
Article 120 and 210 regarding language to be used in Parliament and state legislature
respectively gives the option of transacting business in Hindi as well in English
Article 343 gives power to parliament to decide by law, the languages to be used for official
work.
Article 344 provides for constitution of a parliamentary committee every 10 years to
recommend to the President regarding progressive use of the Hindi language for the official
Page 26
 purposes of the Union and restrictions on the use of English.

INTERNET AS BASIC RIGHT

Recently, in Faheema Shirin v. State of Kerala, the Kerala High Court declared the right to Internet
accessas a fundamental right.

Right to Internet as human right

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The United Nations Human Rights Commission has passed a non-binding resolution that
effectively makes internet access a basic human right.

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This has been acknowledged in the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 9 target significant
increase in access to information and communications technology and strive to provide
universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020.

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Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on behalf of its members has agreed to observe

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the “Voluntary Code of Ethics” during all future elections including the ongoing General
Elections to the Haryana & Maharashtra legislative assemblies and various bye elections being
held simultaneously.
IAMAI and social media platforms Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Google, Sharechat and
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TikTok had presented and observed this “Voluntary Code of Ethics” during the General
Election to 17thLok Sabha 2019.
IAMAI has assured the Commission that the platforms will cooperate in ensuring the conduct
9

of free and fair elections.

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Internet & Mobile Association of India:

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The Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is not-for-profit industry body registered
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under the Societies Act, 1896.

Its mandate is to expand and enhance the online and mobile value added services sectors.
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REMOVAL OF ARTICLE 370 AND 35A

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The Centre decided to end the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) under Article
370.
President of India in “concurrence” with the “Jammu and Kashmir government” promulgated
Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 which states that provisions of
the Indian Constitution are applicable in the State. With this, Article 35A is scrapped
automatically.
370 had “temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir” which gave
special powers to the state allowing it to have its own Constitution.

Implications of the move

Complete applicability of Indian Constitution to J&K

No separate flag
Tenure of the J&K assembly to be five years, instead of the earlier six years.
Page 27
 The central quota laws in school-college admissions and state government jobs will apply.
People from other states may be able to acquire property and residency rights.
RTI would be made applicable.
Certain provisions of the J&K Constitution which denied property rights to native women who

marry a person from outside the State may stand invalidated.

NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZENS (NRC)

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The updated and final National Register of Citizens, whichvalidates bonafide Indian citizens of
Assam has recently been releasedwith over 19 lakh applicants having failed to make it to the list.

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What is NRC?

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The National Register of Citizens is a list of all the legal citizens of Assam, the only state with
such a document.
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It is governed by the Citizenship Act, 1955, and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and
Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 (amended in 2009) and a 2010 order of the
Ministry of Home Affairs, published in the Gazette of India.
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It will include persons whose names appear in any of the electoral rolls upto the midnight of
24th March, 1971 or National Register of Citizens, 1951 and their descendants
9

INDIA ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE (INDEA)

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FRAMEWORK
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Shillong Declaration on e-governance adopted at the 22nd National Conference on e-Governance

(NCeG) talked about India Enterprise Architecture (IndEA).
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About IndEA

IndEA, is a framework for developing a holistic architecture treating the Government as a

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single enterprise which are functionally inter-related.

With IndEA, there will be one personalised account for each individual and he or she can avail
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all government services from that account.

This shall eliminate the need to visit separate sites and have separate logins on them to access
government services.

Paradiplomacy:
Paradiplomacy is generally referred to in the academic literature as the involvement of the
constituent units (regions) of (multi)national states in international affairs.
In India, traditionally foreign affairs are in the exclusive domain of the Union government.

Curative Petition
About Curative Petition
Page 28
 A curative petition may be filed after a review plea against the final conviction is dismissed.

It is meant to ensure there is no miscarriage of justice and to prevent abuse of process.

A curative petition is usually decided by judges in chamber unless a specific request for
an open-court hearing is allowed.

Constitutional Background:

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The concept of the curative petition is supported by Article 137 of the Indian
Constitution.
It provides that in the matter of laws and rules made under Article 145, the Supreme

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Court has the power to review any judgement pronounced (or order made) by it.
Such a petition needs to be filed within 30 days from the date of judgement or order.

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Reciprocating territory
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Orders passed by certain designated courts from a ‘reciprocating territory’ can be
implemented in India, by filing a copy of the decree concerned in a District Court here.
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The courts so designated are called ‘superior Courts’.

Ministry of Law and Justice issued an Extraordinary Gazette Notification, declaring the
United Arab Emirates to be a “reciprocating territory” under Section 44A of the Civil
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Procedure Code, 1908. The notification also declared a list of courts in the UAE to be
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“superior Courts” under the same section.

Apart from UAE, the other countries declared to be “reciprocating territories” are: United
Kingdom, Singapore, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Trinidad & Tobago, New Zealand, the
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Cook Islands (including Niue) and the Trust Territories of Western Samoa, Hong
Kong, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Aden.
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126TH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL

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This bill was brought for two objectives:

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Extend reservation for Scheduled castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) to Lok Sabha
and
legislative bodies.
Remove provision of nominating Anglo Indians to Lok Sabha and legislative bodies.
Constitutional Provisions for reservation of seats.

Who is An Anglo-Indian?
According to Article 366(2), An Anglo-Indian means a person whose father or any of whose
other
male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent but who is domiciled within the
territory of India and is or was born within such territory of parents habitually resident therein
and not established there for temporary purposes only”.

Page 29
National Startup Advisory Council
The Union Government has notified the structure of the National Start up Advisory Council to
advise on measures needed to build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and start ups
in the country.
The Council will be chaired by Minister for Commerce & Industry.
It will consist of the non-official members, to be nominated by Central Government, from
various categories like founders of successful start ups, veterans and persons capable of

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representing interests of incubators and accelerators etc.

Scheme of “Development of PVTGs”

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Ministry of Tribal Affairs has implemented the scheme of “Development of PVTGs” which

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covers 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) for their comprehensive socio-
economic development.

on the basis of their requirement. gm

Under the scheme, State Governments submits Conservation-cum-Development (CCD) plans

100% grants-in-aid are made available to States as per the provisions of the scheme.
1@

The criteria followed for determination of PVTGs are as

under:
9
d1

A pre-agriculture level of technology;

A stagnant or declining population;
hk

Extremely low literacy; and

A subsistence level of economy.
am

Scheduled Tribe
The term ‘scheduled tribe’ is primarily an administrative and constitutional concept. Article 366 (25)
it

of the Constitution of India refers to Scheduled Tribes as those communities, who are scheduled in
sm

accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution.

The essential characteristics laid down by the Lokur Committee, for a community to be identified
as Scheduled Tribes are –

1.primitive traits;

2.distinctive culture;

3.shyness of contact with the community at large;

4.geographical isolation; and

5.backwardness – social and economic

Page 30
COMMITTEES AND ARTICLES RELATED TO PVTG AND ST
In accordance to the provisions conferred in the Clause (1) of Article 342 of the Constitution of
India, the notification of STs is state specific and their identification is done on the basis of the
following characteristics-

1. a) Primitive Traits

(b) Distinctive Culture

om
(c) Geographical Isolation

l.c
(d) Shyness with contact with the community at large,

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(e) Backwardness.

gm
However, Dhebar commission (1960-61) and other studies suggested that there exists inequality
amongst tribal communities in terms of their development

In 1975, based on the Dhebar Commission report, the governmentcreated Primitive Tribal
1@

Groups (PTGs) as a separate category and identified 52 such groups.

In 1993, 23 more groups were added making it 75 PTGs
In 2006, the Government of India renamed the PTGs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
9

(PVTGs).
d1

Good Governance Index

hk

Minister of State for Public Grievances and Pensions has launched Good Governance
Index on the occasion of Good Governance Day.
am

Good Governance Index is a uniform tool to assess the status of governance and impact of
various interventions taken up by State governments and Union Territories.
The index was launched by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
it

and the Centre for Good Governance.

sm

Shaala Darpan portal

Human Resource Development ministry has launched Shaala Darpan portal.

It is an E-Governance school automation and management system for Navodaya Vidyalaya

Samiti (NVS) in New Delhi.
It is an end to end e-Governance school automation and management system.
It is a database management portal, where information about all government schools and
education offices is kept online and updated as a continuous process.

Page 31
India Justice Report (IJR)

Tata Trusts has released India Justice Report 2019.

Chief Justice of India’s office under RTI Act

The Supreme Court has held that office of the Chief Justice of India is a public authority under the

om
transparency law, the Right to Information Act.

New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC)

l.c
Recently, the government has passed New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) Act
and Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act.

ai
The Act envisages NDIAC to replace International Centre for Alternative Dispute
Resolution
gm
(ICADR) as an Institution of National Importance.
It will facilitate conducting of international and domestic arbitration, mediation and
conciliation
1@

proceedings in a most professional, cost effective and timely manner.

It will be headed by a chairperson, who has been a judge of the Supreme Court or a High
Court or an eminent person having special knowledge and experience in the administration of
9

arbitration.
d1

Other objectives of the centre include:

hk

Maintaining panels of accredited arbitrators, conciliators and mediators through a

Chamber of Arbitration.
am

Establishing an Arbitration Academy for training arbitrators.

Promoting studies and reforms in the field of alternative dispute resolution and related
matters.
it

Co-operating with other societies, institutions and organisations, national or international for
promoting alternative dispute resolution.
sm

JAN SOOCHNA PORTAL

Recently, Jan Soochna Portal, the first of its kind, was launched by the Rajasthan State
Government.
The portal has been developed by the Department of Information Technology and
Communication (DoIT&C) in collaboration with civil society and other stakeholders.
It is the first of its kind system in the country and has information about 23 government
schemes and services from 13 departments on a single platform.

GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS

World bank released World Development Report titled “Trading for Development in the Age of
Page 32
Global Value Chains

PARICHAY
Law schools across India launched a collaborative legal aid clinic on for people
excludedfrom the updated National Register Citizens (NRC) in Assam.
The clinic, named Parichay (Identity) and with headquarters in Guwahati, isenvisaged
to function as a “clearing house of litigation and research assistancefor lawyers filing

om
appeals against exclusion from the NRC”.
Parichay will assist lawyers in drafting appeals, conduct research on pertinent questions
of the law, assist in training lawyers and paralegals, and generate documentationon

l.c
the functioning of Foreigners’ Tribunals.

Tricks to remember Schedules of Indian constitution

ai
Words Schedules Details gm
1@
My name Schedule1 Names of states and Union territories

Money Schedule2 Salary and allowances

9
d1

Swore Schedule3 Oath and affirmations

hk

Rajya sabha
Schedule4 Allocation of rajyasabha seats
seats
am

Schedule
Schedule5 Administration of schedule areas
areas
it
sm

Schedule
Administration on schedule areas of Assam,
tribes but the Schedule6
Tripura, Manipur, Meghalaya
ATMM

Division of subjects in three list, Union list, State

Broken Schedule7
list, Concurrent list

Language Schedule8 Language of union

Land Schedule9 Land

Page 33
 He left Schedule10 Disqualification of member of Parliament

Village Schedule11 Panchayati raj

City Schedule12 Municipal corporations

om
How to remember parts of the constitution

l.c
U Can Fix Deposit From United States Using Pre Mature Special Rate.

ai
U – Union

C – Citizenship
gm
1@
F – Fundamental rights

D – Directive Principles
9

F – Fundamental Duties
d1

U – Union
hk

S – States
am

U – Union Territories

P – Panchayat
it

M – Municipality
sm

S – Scheduled

R– Relation between Union and State

Polly Has Certified ManneQuins

P– Prohibition

H-Habeas Corpus

C– Certiorari

Man– Mandamus

Page 34
Qu– Quo Warranto

Tabular Comparison of Parliament and State Legislature

Union Parliament State Legislatures

Mostly unicameral – only 6 states are

Bicameral

om
bicameral

Article 79 to122 in Part V of the Articles 168 to 212 in Part VI of the

l.c
Constitution Constitution

ai
The Legislative Councils (LC) have only
advisory powers by and large.
If a bill is introduced in a House,
and it passes it, then the other
House can:
gm
They have lesser powers when it comes to
law-making.
If a bill is introduced in the LC, which is
1. Pass the bill as it is.
1@
passed by it, and it goes on to the
2. Reject the bill altogether.
Assembly:
3. Pass the bill with some
1. The Assembly rejects the bill.
modifications and return it to the
9

2. It passes the bill with some modifications

first House for reconsideration.
which are unacceptable to the LC.
d1

4. Nothing is done to the bill for 6

In both the above cases, the bill comes to
months, which means both Houses
an end.
are in disagreement.
However, if the bill originates in the
hk

In this case, a joint sitting of both

Assembly, and it is either rejected or
the Houses is convened and made,
passed with modifications not acceptable by
to break the constitutional
am

the LC, it does not come to an end.

deadlock.
There is no provision for a joint sitting
Note: In the case of Money Bills,
of the Council and the Assembly. In the
which are to be introduced only in
case of a disagreement, the decision of the
it

the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha has

Assembly is deemed final.
restricted powers.
sm

Note: Money bills can originate only in the

Legislative Assembly.

Members: Legislative Assembly: Between

Members: Lok Sabha: 552 (Max.)
Rajya Sabha: 250 (Max.)
40 and 500
Legislative Council: Not more than one-
third of the membership of the State
Legislative Assembly, and cannot be under
40.

Page 35
 Election to the Legislative Councils:
Members are elected by five different
constituencies through a process of the
single transferable vote system.
1. ⅓ of the members are elected by the
local authorities’ representatives (Gram
Panchayats, Municipalities, Block
Election to the Rajya Sabha:
Parishads, etc.)
Members are elected by the elected
2. ⅓ of the members by the MLAs.

om
members of the State Legislative
3. 1/12 of the members are elected by the
Assemblies by means of
teachers (of secondary schools, colleges
proportional representation by
and universities) in the state.

l.c
means of a single transferable vote.
4. 1/12 are elected by the graduates in the
state.
5. Remaining 1/6th are nominated by the

ai
Governor from persons having experience
or knowledge in the fields of science, art,
gm
literature, social service or cooperative
movement.
1@

Fifteenth Finance Commission

9

How revenue has been divided?

d1

FC has considered the 2011 population along with forest cover, tax effort, area of the
state, and “demographic performance”to arrive at the states’ share in the divisible pool of
hk

taxes.
In order to reward population control efforts by states, the Commission developed a criterion
am

for demographic effort — which is essentially the ratio of the state’s population in
1971 to its fertility rate in 2011 — with a weight of 12.5%.
The total area of states, area under forest cover, and “income distance” were also used by the
it

FC to arrive at the tax-sharing formula.

sm

Key recommendations:

The Commission has reduced the vertical devolution —the share of tax revenues that the
Centre shares with the states — from 42% to 41%.
The Commission has said that it intends to set up an expert group to initiate a non-
lapsable fund for defence expenditure.

Page 36
 om
l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk

Finance Commission
am

The Finance Commission is a constitutional body, that determines the method and formula
for distributing the tax proceeds between the Centre and states,and among the states as
it

per the constitutional arrangement and present requirements.

Under Article 280of the Constitution, the President of India is required to constitute a
sm

Finance Commission at an interval of five years or earlier.

The 15thFinance Commission was constituted by the President of India in November 2017,
under the chairmanship of NK Singh. This Commission is expected to submit its report by
November end 2019. Its recommendations will cover a period of five years from April 2020 to
March 2025.

The Start Up India Fund

According to data available with the SIDBI, the Startup India fund has allocated Rs 2,265
croreto Venture Capital (VC) funds at the end of March 2019, falling short of its capital
allocation target by around Rs 1,000-1,200 crore.
Also known as ‘Funds of Funds for Startups’, it had a disbursal target of Rs 3,300-3,500
croreto venture capital (VC) firms at the end of the financial year ending March 2019.
It was launched in the year 2016with the corpus of 10,000 crore, to be built over
Page 37
 14th and 15th Finance Commission cycles. SIDBI manages the fund.
The government launched this fund to help startups get funding in early stages. The fund does
not directly invest in startups, instead, it allocates money to VC funds, which
are required to invest at least twicethe amount of contributions received from the
government.
A venture capital (VC) fundis a sum of money that investors commit for investment in early-
stage companies.

Constitutional, Statutory and Quasi-Judicial Bodies

om
There are multiple types of government bodies in India, that we hear on a daily basis in the news.

l.c
They are very important for the UPSC exam since many of them play vital roles in Indian polity and
economy. In this article, you can read about constitutional, statutory, quasi-judicial, judicial and
regulatory bodies.

ai
Constitutional Bodies
gm
Constitutional bodies are important bodies in India that derive their powers and authorities from
1@
the Indian Constitution.

They are specifically mentioned in the Constitution, meaning they have dedicated articles.
Any change in the mechanism of these bodies would require a constitutional amendment.
9

Important bodies such as the Finance Commission, the UPSC, the Election Commission, the
d1

CAG, National Commissions for SCs and STc, etc. are constitutional bodies.

Statutory Bodies
hk

These are non-constitutional bodies as they do not find any mention in the Constitution.
am

They are also important bodies due to their function.

They are created by an Act of Parliament.
it

They are called ‘statutory’ since statutes are laws made by the Parliament or the legislature.
sm

Since these bodies derive their power from statutes or laws made by the Parliament, they are
known as statutory bodies.
For example, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is a statutory body. It was set
up in 1988 and was given statutory powers in 1992 through the passing of the SEBI Act, 1992.
Other examples: NHRC, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Central Vigilance
Commission (CVC), Central Information Commission, etc.

Regulatory Bodies
Regulatory bodies are public or government agencies responsible for exercising autonomous
authority over some area of human activity in a regulatory or supervisory capacity.

Some regulatory bodies are independent, which means they are independent from any branch
of the government.
Page 38
 They are set up to enforce safety and standards.
They have the charge of establishing norms of a particular area of human activity, and also
supervising the bodies employed in that activity.
They are established by legislative acts.
Examples of regulatory body are given in the table below:

Important Regulatory Bodies in India

om
Regulatory Body Sector

l.c
SEBI Securities and capital market

ai
Banking, monetary policy
RBI
and finance

NABARD
gm Financing rural development
1@

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority

Insurance
of India (IRDAI)
9
d1

Pension Fund Regulatory & Development

Pension
Authority (PFRDA)
hk

National Housing Bank (NHB) Housing finance

am

SIDBI Financing MSME

it

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Telecom and tariffs

sm

Film certification and

Central Board of Film Certification
censorship

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

Food safety
(FSSAI)

Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Standards and certification

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Cricket

Page 39
Executive Bodies
These bodies are non-constitutional and non-statutory.

They are not mentioned in the Constitution.

They are also not established by an act of Parliament.
They are formed by executive resolution or action, which means that they are formed by the
government’s action only.

om
They can be converted into a statutory body by enacting a law. For example, the UIDAI was
made into a statutory body after it was established by enacting a new law.
Examples of executive bodies: the now-defunct Planning Commission, the NITI Aayog, National

l.c
Law Commission, etc.

Quasi-judicial Bodies

ai
gm
A quasi-judicial body can be an individual or body with powers resembling a court of law.

They can adjudicate and decide penalties on the guilty.

They are different from judicial bodies in that their field is limited compared to a court.
1@

They can be formed on a matter pending in court, by a court order if the court considers it
necessary; the court reserves the right to appoint members of such a body.
They can be tribunals for a specific domain, or like an arbitrator.
9

Quasi-judicial bodies have adjudicating powers in such matters as:

d1

Breach of discipline
Trust in money matters or otherwise
hk

Conduct rules

Their authority is limited to specific areas like:

am

Financial markets
Land use and zoning
Public standards
it

Employment law
sm

Specific set of regulations of an agency

Decisions of a quasi-judicial body are often legally enforceable under the laws of a jurisdiction.
Examples of quasi-judicial bodies: National Human Rights Commission, National Consumer
Disputes Redressal Commission, Competition Commission of India, Income Tax Appellate
Tribunal, Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, Railway Claims Tribunal, Intellectual Property
Appellate Tribunal, Banking Ombudsman, etc.

Difference between Judicial and Quasi-judicial Bodies

Judicial decisions are bound by precedent in common law, whereas quasi-judicial decisions are
generally not.
Judicial decisions may create new laws, but quasi-judicial decisions are based on existing law.
Quasi-judicial needn’t adhere to strict judicial rules (of procedure and evidence).
Quasi-judicial bodies can hold formal hearings only if they are mandated to do so as per their
Page 40
 governing laws.

India Youth Development Index

The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has released the India Youth Development
Index (IYDI).
It has been developed by The Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development
(RGNIYD), Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.

om
The index tracks the trends in Youth Development across the States.
The first five dimensions same as that of Global YDI are retained.
The weights and indicators have been revised based on data availability at the state level and

l.c
the significance of indicators in describing Youth Development with the objective of capturing
the multidimensional properties that indicate progress in youth development at the state level.

ai
Global Youth Development Index
gm
The Global Youth Development Index is a composite index of 18 indicators that measure as
a whole, multi-dimensional progress on youth development in 183 nations.
It includes 49 countries from among 53 Commonwealth nations.
1@

It has 5 domains measuring levels of education, health & well-being,

politicalbparticipation, employment and opportunity, and civic participation for
young people.
9

The index deems any person between the age group of 15 to 29 as youth.
d1

Central Bureau of Investigation

hk

CBI functions under the superintendence of the Dept. of Personnel, Ministry of

Personnel, Pension & Public Grievances, Government of India - which operates under
am

the Prime Minister’s office.

However for investigations of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, its
superintendence vests with the Central Vigilance Commission.
it

coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries.

sm

CBI derives power to investigate from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
In 1978, the L P Singh committee recommended enactment of a “comprehensive central
legislation to remove the deficiency of not having a central investigative agency with a self-
sufficient statutory charter of duties and functions”.
The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2007) also suggested that “a new law should
be

PARIVESH Portal
Gujarat government and other states haveoperationalised‘PARIVESH’ (Pro-Active and
ResponsiveFacilitation by Interactive, Virtuous and EnvironmentalSingle-window
Hub) portal from January 15.
PARIVESH is a web-based, application
It automates the entire tracking of proposals which includes online submission of a new
Page 41
 proposal, editing/updating the details of proposals and displays status
Developed under ‘Digital India’ initiative by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate
Change (MoEFCC).

RashtriyaYuvaSashaktikaranKaryakram
The Cabinet has approved the continuation of

om
RashtriyaYuvaSashaktikaranKaryakramScheme for the Period 2017-18 to 2019-2020.
The umbrella scheme of RashtriyaYuvaSashaktikaranKaryakram has subsumed the following
eight subschemes:

l.c
Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS);
National Youth Corps (NYC);
National Programme for Youth & Adolescent Development (NPYAD);

ai
International Cooperation;
Youth Hostels (YH);
Assistance to Scouting & Guiding Organizations;
National Discipline Scheme (NDS); and
gm
1@

National Young Leaders Programme (NYLP).

Is a Central Sector Scheme of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and has been
9

continuing since the12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).

d1

The Scheme beneficiaries are the youth in the age group of 15-29 years, in line with the
definition of 'youth' in the National Youth Policy, 2014.
hk

WebWonderWomen
am

Twitter India and Ministry of Women and Child Development, in partnership with
human rightsorganization Breakthrough, has launched the campaign
#WebWonderWomento celebrate Indian women achievers.
it

Under the campaign, people can nominate their favourite Indian woman achiever with
sm

her Twitterhandle, anywhere in the world.

The women can be nominated under the following categories: health, media, literature, art,
sports,tech, travel, business, legal/policy, governmental,entertainment, fashion/beauty,
finance, food andenvironment.

Recommendations on State Funding for Elections

Indrajit Gupta Committee (1998)
The Indrajit Gupta Committee had suggested thatstate funding would ensure a level
playing field for poorer political parties and argued that such a move would be in public
interest.
It had also recommended that state funds should only be given to recognised
national and State parties.

Page 42
 ECI allows airtimeto recognised national and State parties for campaigning on state media.
It had recommended that funding should be given in the formof free facilities
provided to these parties and their candidates.

Law Commission Report (1999)

It had stated that a state funding of elections is ‘desirable’ provided that political parties
areprohibited from taking funds from other sources.

National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution (2000)

om
It did not supportstate funding of elections but mentioned that the appropriate framework
for the regulation of political parties would need to be implemented before state funding is
considered.

l.c
Faheema Shirin v. State of Kerala

ai
The Kerala High Court declared the right to Internet access as a fundamental right
gm
It was in the case of Sabu Mathew George v. Union of India and Ors. (2018) that the
Supreme Court declared that the Right to Access Internet is a basic fundamental right
Recent developments: UNHRC has passed a nonbinding resolution that effectively makes
1@

internet access a basic human right.

Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019

9
d1

It will replace the 1986 Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, enacted after
the Shah Bano Case
hk

It invalidates the practice of instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddat) as void and illegal
Makes instant triple talaq a criminal offence with imprisonment up to three years and
fine
am

NALSA vs Union of India case

it

Ruled that transgender people should be recognized as a third gender and enjoy
sm

allfundamental rights, while also being entitled to specific benefits in education and
employment

National legal service authority (nalsa) formation

National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) derives its powerthrough The Legal Services
Authority Act, 1987.
The Act promotes an inclusive legal system in order to ensure fair and meaningful justice to
the marginalized and disadvantaged sector by strengthening the system of LokAdalats and
other Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanisms.
The Act constitutes legal services authorities at National and respective State level to provide
free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of the society.

Composition
Page 43
National Legal Services Authority shall consist of

Chief Justice of India who shall be the Patron-in-Chief,

a Serving or Retired Judge of the Supreme Court to be nominated by the President, in
consultation with the Chief Justice of India, who shall be the Executive Chairman and
Such number of other members, possessing such experience and qualifications to be
nominated in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.
The Central Government shall, in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, appoint a person
to be the MemberSecretary of the Central Authority to exercise such powers and perform such

om
duties under the Executive Chairman of the Central Authority.

NyayaMitra

l.c
NyayaMitra initiative deals with the issue of heavy pendency of cases in courts across the

ai
country. In this initiative a retired judicial or executive officer (with legal experience)
designated as the ‘NyayaMitra.
gm
NyayaMitra’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.
1@

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
9

to provided NyayaMitra’s as per requirement

d1

Pro Bono Legal Services

hk

The ‘Pro bono legal services’ initiative is a web based platform, through which interested
lawyers can register themselves to volunteer pro bono services for the underprivileged
am

litigants, who are unable to afford it.

As most of the lawyers are already dealing with their cases and it is difficult for them to
work voluntarily for this service
it

‘StreeSwabhiman
sm

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 ‘StreeSwabhimanStreeSwabhiman’ aims to create a sustainable model
for providing adolescent girls and women an access to affordable sanitary products by
leveraging CSCs.
Under the ‘StreeSwabhiman’ project, sanitary napkin micro 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.

Page 44
RULE 56(J) OF CENTRAL CIVIL SERVICES (PENSION)
RULES, 1972
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has compulsorily retired 15 more senior tax officers
on corruption and other charges under Fundamental Rule 56(J) of the Central Civil Services
(Pension) Rules PPRTMS-an online system

About

om
The system is called Political Parties Registration Tracking Management System (PPRTMS).
The system will track applications registered by political parties.

l.c
The status of the application shall be obtained through SMS or e-mail.
The system works on a real time basis.

ai
For a political party to contest in election, it has to submit an application to the election
commission.

gm
The commission checks if the party satisfies the criteria governed by section 29A of
Representation of People Act, 1951.
1@

Disputes on which Article 131 can be used:

The Supreme Court shall to the exclusion of any other court have original jurisdiction in any dispute
9

on:
d1

between the Government of India and one or more States; or

between the Government of India and any State or States on one side and one or more other
hk

States on the other; or

between two or more States
am

Democracy Index 2019

it

The Economist Intelligence Unit has recently released the Democracy Index.
sm

It is prepared by Economist Intelligence Unit, the research and analysis division of The
Economist Group.
It provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide in 165 independent states and
two territories.
It is based on the electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political
participation, political culture and civil liberties.
The Democracy Index described 2019 as a “tumultuous year” for Asian democracies.
Norway topped the index, with a score of 9.87, while North Korea was at the bottom of the
global rankings, with a score of 1.08.
China’s score fell to 2.26, and it is now ranked 153rd, close to the bottom of the rankings.
India dropped 10 places in the Democracy Index’s global ranking to 51st

Reason behind slip

Page 45
The survey describing the erosion of civil liberties in the country as the primary cause of
democratic regression

NGO DARPAN -NITI Aayog

The NGO-Partnership System (NGO-PS) Portal called as NGO-DARPAN enables VOs/NGOs
to enrol centrally and thus facilitates creation of a repository of information about
VOs/NGOs, Sector/State wise.

om
The Portal facilitates VOs/NGOs to obtain a system generated Unique ID, as and when
signed. The Unique ID is mandatory to apply for grants under various schemes of
Ministries/Departments/Governments Bodies.

l.c
The NGO-Partnership System (NGO-PS) Portal (NGO-DARPAN) was earlier maintained by
erstwhile Planning Commission, which has been replaced by the National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI) Aayogw.e.f. 1st January, 2015. The Portal, therefore, is being

ai
maintained at present under the aegis of NITI Aayog.

E-SAMVAD gm
e-SAMVAD is a platform for the NGOS and Civil Societies to interact with the MWCD.
1@

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
9

the nation.
d1

About OoP
hk

‘Office of profit’ (OoP) is not clearly defined in the Constitution.

But deriving from the past judicial pronouncements, five tests have been laid down to
am

check if an office is an OoP or not. They are:

whether the government makes the appointment
whether the government has the right to remove or dismiss the holder
it

whether the government pays remuneration

sm

what the functions of the holder are

does the government exercise any controlover the performance of these functions

Article 142
Article 142(1) states that “The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such
decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter
pending before it.
This article has 2 provisions –
1. Article 142(1): The Supreme Court may pass an order for doing complete justice.
2. Article 142(2): It confers three different powers on the Supreme Court.

They are:

Page 46
 Securing the attendance of persons before it.
Discovery and production of documents and
Investigation and punishment of contempt of itself.

Who is a Private Member?

Any MP who is not a Minister is referred to as a private member. Admissibility of a private
member’s Bill:

om
The admissibility is decided by the Chairman for RajyaSabha and Speaker in the case of
LokSabha.
The procedure is roughly the same for both Houses:

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1. The Member must give at least a month’s notice before the Bill can be listed for introduction.
2. The House secretariat examines it for compliance with constitutional provisions and rules on

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legislation before listing

Breach of Privileges gm
Parliamentary Privileges are certain rights and immunities enjoyed by members of Parliament,
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individually and collectively, so that they can

“effectively discharge their functions”.

9

1. When any of these rights and immunities are disregarded, the offence is called a breach of
d1

privilege and is punishable under law of Parliament.

2. A notice is moved in the form of a motion by any member of either House against those being
hk

held guilty of breach of privilege.

SUPREME COURT CASES

am

AK Gopalan Case,1950
it

Corresponds to the charges of violation of fundamental Right to freedom under the

sm

PreventiveDetention Act the court was approached over the validity of the act.
SC held that the constitutional validity of a law cannot be verified by the Judiciary and the
Judiciaryhas only the capacity to verify whether the "procedure established by the law" has
beenfollowed. (Article 21 of the Constitution)

ChampakamDorairajan Case,1951

The case challenged the reservations given to backward classes in educational

institutions in TamilNadu.
SC overruled the caste-based reservation as unconstitutional citing right against
discrimination asgiven in Article 15. (Led to the enactment of First Amendment Act)

Shankari Prasad

Case, 1952
Page 47
 The first Constitution Amendment Act, providing for reservations, was challenged that it
violatedFundamental rights. The court held that Parliament has power to amend the
Constitution.

Berubari Case,

1960

While ceding a part of Indian Territory to an alien state the court in an advisory opinion held

om
thatsuch process cannot take place unless a Constitution amendment to that effect is made.
Court opined Preamble is not a part of the Constitution.

l.c
Keshav Singh

Case, 1964

ai
One journalist Keshav Singh was held for contempt of legislature for making scathing criticism
gm
andoften denigrating on a law passed. He was sentenced to jail.
SC held that the contempt power of Parliament to issue warrants against individuals
mustcomply with the due process requirements under Article 21.
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Sajjan Singh Case,

9

1965
d1

The case related to the validity of 17th Constitutional Amendment Act which provided for
landacquisition contrary right to property. SC upheld that Fundamental Rights can be
hk

amended within thepurview of Article 368.

Golaknath Case,
am

1967 SC while reversing the ruling made in Shankari Prasad and Sajjan Singh case held
thatconstitutional amendment cannot be extended to infringement of Fundamental Rights.
it

KesavanandaBharati Case, 1973

sm

For the first time the SC propounded the Basic Structure Doctrine and held that certain
basicfeatures of the Constitution cannot be amended while others can be done so without
having a sweepingchange in the Constitution.

Maneka GandhiCasa, 1978

The SC overruled the AK Gopalan case and mooted the "due process of law" doctrine
according towhich the procedure according to the law as well as the reasonableness and
validity of the law can bequestioned by the Judiciary.

Minerva Mills Case, 1980

SC held that Fundamental Rights and Directive Principle of State Policy are complementary

Page 48
 toeach other and if any law enacted to implement the Directive Principle not totally
contravening theFundamental Rights is valid.

HussainaraKhatoon vs. Stateof Bihar

First reported case of PIL.ShahBano Case,1985

SC held that Muslim women also have right to get maintenance from their husbands when
they aredivorced although such practice is not permitted under Muslim traditional laws.

om
UnnikrishnanCase, 1993

l.c
SC held that Right to Education also constitutes a Fundamental Rights as part of Right to
lifeunder Act 21.Indira SawhneyCase, 1993SC upheld the 27% reservation made for OBCs in
public employment but subjected to a cap of50% of reservations. SC also mooted the Creamy

ai
Layer concept to identify the well-off groups withinthe backward classes.

gm
SaralaMudgalCase, 1995
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SC ruled that a man married under Hindu religious law cannot convert himself to Islam for
thepurpose of marrying other women.
9

Bommai Case,1995
d1

SC held that federalism is a part of basic structure and State Governments cannot be
hk

arbitrarilydismissed by a Governor and any such test of confidence of the Executive must be
done on the floor ofthe Assembly.
am

TMA Pai Case,

2002 SC held that the right to administer minority educational institution is not absolute and
it

the, Statecan regulate the institutional affairs to educational standards.lnamdhar Case,2005SC

declared that the reservations for SCs/STs in private educational institutions null and void.
sm

Toovercome this judgment, the Government passed 93rd Constitutional Amendment in private
institutions.

IR Coelho Case,2006

SC ruled that the 9th Scheduled of the Constitution is subjected to judicial review.

Ashok Kumar Thakur Case, 2007

SC upheld the 93rd Constitutional Amendment Act providing for reservation for SC/STs
OBCs inCentral Universities as well as Private institutions but subject to a ceiling of 50% of
total seats forreservation.Transgenderas'Third Gender'

2014 (NALSA judgement)

Page 49
 SC created the Third Gender status. National Judicial Appointments Commission 2015SC
by majority upheld the collegium system and struck down NJAC as unconstitutional.

PuttaswamyJudgement/Case,2017

SC unanimously held that Indians have a constitutionally protected fundamental right to

privacy that is an intrinsic part of life and liberty under Article 21
Constitutional validity of Aadhar Act was upheld by the Supreme Court. However, it cannot be
made mandatory.

om
VISHAKHA Judgement

l.c
SC laid down guidelines for prevention of sexual harassment at workplace.

ARUNA SHANBAUG

ai
Passive Euthanasia was legally allowed and concept of living will was allowed. (Advanced
MedicalDirective). gm
Special officer for linguistic minorities (article 350b)
1@

APPOINTMENT
9

There shall be a Special Officer for linguistic minorities to be appointed by the President.
d1

Article 29 provides that any section of citizens residing in Indian territory shall have right to
conserve distinct language, script or culture of their own.
hk

DUTY
am

It shall be the duty of the Special Officer to investigate all matters relating to the safeguards
provided for linguistic minorities under this Constitution and report to the President upon
those matters at such intervals as the President may direct.
it

REPORT
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The President shall cause all such Reports to be laid before each House of Parliament, and
sent to the Governments of the States concerned.

ENEMYPROPERTIES
The Centre has allowed state governments to put to public use some enemy properties that were left
behind by people who migrated to Pakistan since the Partition and to China after the 1962 Sino-
Indian war.

WHAT IS ENEMY PROPERTY?

Enemy properties are those properties that were left behind by the people who took
citizenship of Pakistan and China. There are 9,280 such properties left behind by Pakistani
Page 50
 nationals and 126 by Chinese nationals.
The Enemy Property Act was enacted in 1968 and it regulates such properties and lists the
custodian's powers.
The act was amended in 2017 to ensure that the successors of those who migrated to Pakistan
and China will have no claim over the properties left behind in India.

LAW COMMISSION OF INDIA

om
Union Cabinet approves constitution of 22nd Law Commission of India for a period of 3 years.

Law Commission of India is neither a constitutional body nor a statutory body, it is an

executive bodyestablished by an order of the Government of India. Its major function is to

l.c
work for legal reforms.
The Commission is established for a fixed tenure and works as an advisory body to the

ai
Ministry of Law and Justice.
Law Commission has 7 members in total which include

1. Chairman,
gm
2. 1 Permanent Member,
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3. 1 Member Secretary,
4. 2 Part-time Members, and
5. 2 ex-officio members
9

The Reports of the Law Commission are considered by the Ministry of Law in consultation with
d1

the concerned administrative Ministries and are submitted to Parliament from time to time.
hk
am
it
sm

Page 51
 om
l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it
sm

Anticipatory Bail
Anticipatory Bail has been defined under Section 438 of Code of Criminal Procedure – When
any person has reason to believe that he may be arrested on an accusation of having
committed a non- bailable offence, he may apply to the High Court or the Court of Session
for a direction under this section; and that Court may, if it thinks fit, direct that in the event of
such arrest, he shall be released on bail.

North eastern council (nec)

NEC is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern Region
which consists of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
Page 52
 NEC was constituted in 1971 through The North Eastern Council Act, 1971 to act as an
advisory body in respect of socio-economic and balanced development of the entire North
Eastern Areas.
NEC has been instrumental in providing a planned and concentrated effort towards rapid
development of the region in all spheres of socio- economic life.

Compositions of nec

It shall consist of the following

om
the person or persons for the time being holding the office of the Governor of the States
the Chief Ministers of the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,

l.c
Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura
three members to be nominated by the President.

ai
The President may nominate a Union Minister to be a member of the Council.
The President shall nominate the Chairman of the Council

gm
The President may, if he deems it necessary nominate another member of the Council to act as
Vice-Chairman of the Council.

Various committees
1@

1. Kelkar Committee (2015) Assessing PPP in India and Tax Structure Reforms
9

2. InjetiSrinivas Committee Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

d1

3. Punchhi Commission Centre – State relations

4. Sarkaria Commission Relationship and power balance between the Centre and States
5. BimalJalan Committee Decide the appropriate level of reserves that the RBI should hold
hk

6. TSR Subramaniam- National Education Policy

7. Kasturirangan Committee National Education Policy
am

8. Umesh Sinha Committee Revisiting the section 126 of the Representation of the People Act
9. Justice BN Srikrishna committee Report on data protection
10. BibekDebroy Committee Railway restructuring
it

11. Xaxa Committee Tribal Communities of India

12. Dhebar Committee Status of PVTGs(Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups)
sm

13. Gadgil Committee Ecologically Sensitive Area of Western Ghats

14. AK Mathur Committee 7th Pay Commission
15. Anil kakodkar Committee High Level Safety Review for Indian Railways
16. Justice JS Verma Committee Amendments to the Criminal Law for quicker trial and
enhanced punishment for sexual assault of women
17. Bezbaruah Committee Look into concerns of people from North East living in other parts of
India
18. Justice RajinderSachar Examine socio-economic and educational status of Muslim
community

TYPES OF QUESTIONS
Questions are of four types - Starred, Unstarred, Short Notice Questions and Questions
addressed to private Members.
Page 53
 Starred Question is one to which a member desires an oral answer in the House and which is
distinguished by an asterisk mark. Supplementary questions can be asked thereon.
Un-starred Questions – which desires written answer to whom it is addressed.
A Short Notice Question relates to a matter of urgent public importance and can be asked with
shorter notice than the period of notice prescribed for an ordinaryquestion. Like a starred
question, it is answered orally followed by supplementary questions.
Question addressed to Private Member is asked when the subject matter pertains to any Bill,
Resolution or any matter relating to the Business of the House for which that Member is
responsible.

om
SAFE CITY PROJECT

l.c
Empowered Committee of Officers for Nirbhaya funds schemehas approved pilot Safe City
projects in eight selectedmetropolitan cities

ai
It is being implemented by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in consultation with Ministry of
gm
Women and Child Development (MoW&CD), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Ministry
of
Information Technology (MeitY), respective Municipal & Police Commissioners of cities and
1@

civil society organization

The project would be implemented as a Centrally SponsoredScheme with Centre and State
sharing the funding in 60:40
9

It was approved with total cost of Rs.194.44 croreunderNirbhaya Fund Scheme .

d1

INDIAN ECONOMY
hk

What is a lower or upper circuit?

am

Lower or upper circuit is an automatic mechanism to stop a freefall or massive surge in a security or
an index during trading hours.
it
sm

It is used to check the volatile swings in the market.

Tobin Tax / Robinhood Tax

Tobin tax is a tax on international flow of short term capital. Tobin tax aims to discourage
volatile short term capital flows or hot money which are very speculative
The burden of a Tobin tax is inversely proportional to the length of the transaction, i.e., the
shorter the holding period, the heavier the burden of tax. Variants of Tobin tax are imposed by
many countries to discourage short term capital flows or hot money.

GST INPUT TAX CREDIT

ITC is the tax that a business pays on a purchase and that it can use to reduce its tax liability
when it makes a sale. In other words, businesses can reduce their tax liability by claiming
Page 54
 credit to the extent of GST paid on purchases.
Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an integrated tax system where every purchase by a business
should be matched with a sale by another business. This makes flow of credit across an entire
supply chain a seamless process.

National Anti-profiteering Authority

The National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) was constituted under Section 171 of the

om
Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
The formation of NAA comes in the background of rate-reductionof a large number of items
by GST Council which has made tremendous price reduction effect but the consumers will be

l.c
benefited only if the traders are making the quick reduction of prices of respective items.

Functions of National Anti-profiteering Authority

ai
The anti-profiteering clauseunder the Goods And Services Tax (GST) Act mentions that any
gm
reduction in the rate of tax on any goods or services or the benefit of input tax credit must be
passed on to the consumer by way of commensurate reduction in the prices of the respective
goods or services.
1@

The Authority’s main function is to ensure that traders are not realizing an unfair profitby
charging high price from consumers in the name of GST and to examine and check such
profiteering activities and recommend punitive actions including the cancellation of
9

Registration.
d1

Goods & Services Tax Council

hk

Goods & Services Tax Council is a constitutional bodyfor making recommendations to the
Union and State Government on issues related to Goods and Service Tax.
am

TheGST Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister and other members are the
Union State Minister of Revenue or Finance and Ministers in-charge of Finance or Taxation of
all the States.
it

As per Article 279A (1) of the constitution, the GST Council was constituted by the
President.
sm

What is a blockchain?
In simple terms, blockchain is a digital ledger.
Ledger is a book containing accounts to which debits and credits are posted from books of
original entry.
A blockchain is a digitized, decentralized, public ledger. So simple, right?
The main chain (black) consists of the longest series of blocks from the genesis block (green)
to the current block. Orphan blocks (purple) exist outside of the main chain.
The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledgerof transactions that can be programmed to
record virtually everything of value.
Each list of record in a blockchain is called block.
So a blockchain is a continuously growing list of records called blocks, which are linked and
secured.
Page 55
Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER)
The nominal effective exchange rate (NEER) is an unadjusted weighted average rate at which one
country's currency exchanges for a basket of multiple foreign currencies. The nominal exchange rate
is the amount of domestic currency needed to purchase foreign currency.

Real Effective Exchange Rate – REER

om
The real effective exchange rate (REER) is the weighted average of a country's currency in relation
to an index or basket of other major currencies. The weights are determined by comparing the
relative trade balance of a country's currency against each country within the index.

l.c
Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programme

ai
Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programmeby the Indian Patent Office (IPO) under the
gm
Controller General of Patents, Designs & Trade Marks, India (CGPDTM) with patent offices of
various other interest countries or regions.
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) is a set of initiatives for providing accelerated patent
1@
prosecution procedures by sharing information between some patent offices.
PPH will initially commence between Japan Patent Office (JPO) and Indian Patent Office on
pilot basis for a period of three years only.
9

Sovereign Patent Fund

d1

The National Electronics Policy (NEP) 2019 aims to create a Sovereign Patent Fund (SPF).
hk

It is a State-led investment fund that will acquire Intellectual Property (IP) assets important to
national economic objectives.
am

It can develop a domestic innovation ecosystem, acquire critical IP and reduce the knowledge
gap.
It will help in generating new businesses based on the IP assets owned by Indian corporate.
it

It will support the MSME players largely by making cutting edge technologies available at a
low cost.
sm

In the global scenario, SPFs were first launched in South Korea, followed by France and Japan.

National Automotive Board

Was registered under the Registration of Societies Act in August 2013.

This organisation will provide a single platform for dealing with all matters relating to the
automotive sector especially on matters pertaining to testing, certification, homologation,
administering the automotive labs etc. being set up under NATRIP.

NAB shall be the operating agency for the implementation of FAME India Scheme including
disbursement of funds for the various components.

Page 56
E-IPOs
A company proposing to raise capital from the public through the on-line system ofthe stock
exchange has to enter into an agreement with the Stock exchange. This iscalled an Initial
Public Offer (IPO).
Companies can raise equity capital with the help of an IPO by issuing new shares to thepublic
or the existing shareholders can sell their shares to the public without raisingfresh capital.

om
Panda bonds
A Panda bondis a Chinese renminbi-denominated bond from a non-Chinese issuer, sold in

l.c
the People's Republic of China.
The first two Panda bonds were issued in October 2005 by the International Finance

ai
Corporation and the Asian Development Bank on the same day.
The Philippines issued its inaugural Panda bonds in 2018.

gm
It was the first ASEANmember to issue Panda bonds.
Pakistan has decided to issue Panda Bonds.

Blockchain bond
1@

World Bank launches world-first blockchain bond

9

“Bondi" bond - standing for Blockchain Operated New Debt Instrument as well as a reference to
d1

Australia’s most famous beach — is being viewed as an initial step in moving bond sales away from
manual processes towards faster and cheaper automation.
hk

Redeemable bond
am

A callable bond, also known as a redeemable bond, is a bond that the issuer may redeem
before it reaches the stated maturity date.
it

A callable bond allows the issuing company to pay off their debt early.
A business may choose to call their bond if market interest rates move in a favorable direction
sm

and will allow them to borrow at a more beneficial rate.

Gilt edged securities

Government securities are instruments issued by the government to borrow money from the
market. They are also known as gilts or gilt edged securities
“Government security” means a security created and issued by the Government for the
purpose of raising a public loan or for any other purpose as may be notified by the Government

National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT)

The National Company Law Tribunalis a quasi-judicial body in India that adjudicates issues
relating to Indian companies.
The tribunal was established under the Companies Act 2013.
Page 57
 It was constituted on 1 June 2016 by the government of India and is based on the
recommendation of the Justice Jaincommittee on law relating to insolvency and winding up
of companies.
All proceedings under the Companies Act, including proceedings relating
to arbitration, compromise, arrangements and reconstruction and winding up of companies
shall be disposed of by the National Company Law Tribunal.
The National Company Law Tribunal is the adjudicating authority for insolvencyresolution
process of companies and limited liability partnerships under the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code, 2016.

om
No criminal court shall have jurisdictionto entertain any suit or proceeding in respect of any
matter which the Tribunal or the Appellate Tribunal is empowered to determine by or under
this Act.

l.c
Decisions of the tribunal may be appealed to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal,
the decisions of which may further be appealed to the Supreme Court of Indiaon a point of law.

ai
National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT)
gm
It was constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013for hearing appeals
against the orders of National Company Law Tribunal.
1@

NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by
NCLT(s) under Section 61 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC).
NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by
9

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India under Section 202 and Section 211 of IBC.
d1

NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction
issued or decision made or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
hk

Masala Green Bond

am

Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) launchedIndia’s first Masala Green
Bond at London Stock Exchange (2018).
it

Social Impact Bonds

sm

A social impact bond, also known as pay-for-success financing, pay-for-success

bond, social benefit bondor simply a social bond, is one form of outcomes-based
contracting.
Asocial impact bond (SIB) is a contract with the public sector or governing
authority, whereby it pays for better social outcomes in certain areas and passes on the
part of the savings achieved to investors.
A social impact bond is not a bond, per se, since repayment and return on investment depend
upon the achievement of desired social outcomes;if the objectives are not achieved,
investors receive neither a return nor repayment of principal.

Page 58
Women’s Livelihood Bond
TheWorld Bank, UN Women (a United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and
empowerment of women), and Small Industries Development Bank of India
(SIDBI) have come together to launch a five-year tenor women’s livelihood bond (WLB).
The proceeds from these social impact bonds will be used to help rural women in the country’s
poorest States to set up or scale up their own enterprises.
SIDBI will act as the financial intermediaryand channel funds raised to women

om
entrepreneurs through participating financial intermediaries like banks, NBFCs or
microfinance institutions.

l.c
Development Impact Bonds (DIBs)

ai
They are a performance-based investment instrument intended to finance development
programmes in low resource countries, which are built off the model of social impact
bond (SIB) model.
gm
The first social impact bond was originated in UK in 2010, supported by the Rockefeller
Foundation, structured to reduce recidivism among inmates from Peterborough Prison.
1@
DIB is not a money market instrument.

What is the side pocketing rule?

9
d1

Simply put, side pocketing is a framework that allows mutual funds to segregate the bad
assets in a separate portfolio within their debt schemes.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) introduced the framework
hk

How does it work?

am

The capital markets regulator has laid down that such a portfolio can be created only if there
is a credit event at the issuer level in the form of downgrade of a debt or money market
instrument to 'below investment grade' or subsequent downgrades from such levels.
it

In other words, if a debt instrument is downgraded to default rating by credit rating agencies,
sm

then the fund house has the option to create a side pocket so that good assets can be ring-
fenced.

Bharat Bond ETF - India’s first debt ETF Bond ETFs

The government has cleared the launch of India’s first debt ETF, called Bharat Bond ETF, to
deepen the bond market and allow retail investors an opportunity to participate in it.
Bharat Bond ETFs will have defined maturity, meaning they will mature within a fixed term.
Like close-ended mutual funds, the units will be listed on stock exchanges.
The scheme will offer two options, one maturing in three years (by 2023) and the other in 10
years (by 2030). It will offer only growth option and no dividend option.
Edelweiss AMC, which will manage Bharat Bond ETF,
Bharat Bond ETF will provide money for CPSUs, CPSEs and other government organisations.
The ETF will hold a basket of bonds issued by CPSE/CPSU/CPFI or any govt organisations.
Page 59
Limited liability partnership
A limited liability partnership(LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners
(depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities.
It therefore can exhibit elements of partnershipsand corporations.
In a LLP, each partner is not responsible or liable for another partner's misconduct or
negligence.

om
CURRENCY CONVERTIBILITY
Currency convertibility is the ease with which the currency of a country can be converted into

l.c
another currency at the market exchange rate.
Currency convertibility can be on current account and capital account.

ai
If rupee is allowed to be converted into any foreign currency for the purpose of current/capital
account transactions, it is called as current/capital account convertibility.

gm
At present India has full current account convertibility and partial capital account
convertibility.

RESERVE TRANCHE IN THE IMF

1@

The reserve tranche is a segment of an International Monetary Fund member country’s quota
9

that is accessible without fees or economic reform conditions.

d1

Initially, member nations’ reserve tranches are 25% of their quota, but this position can
change according to any lending that the IMF does with its holdings of the member’s currency.
The reserve tranches that countries hold with the IMF are considered their facilities of first
hk

resort, meaning they will tap into them before seeking a formal credit tranche that charges
interest.
am

Preferential Trade Area

it

Preferential Trade Areas (PTAs) exist when countries within a geographical region agree to
reduce or eliminate tariffbarriers on selected goods imported from other members of
sm

the area. This is often the first small step towards the creation of a trading bloc. Agreements
may be made between two countries (bi-lateral), or several countries (multi-lateral).

Free Trade Area

Free Trade Areas (FTAs) are created when two or more countries in a region agree to reduce
or eliminate barriers to trade on all goods coming from other members. The North
Atlantic Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA) is an example of such a free trade area, and includes
the USA, Canada, and Mexico.

Customs Union
A customs union involves the removal of tariff barriers between members, together with

Page 60
 the acceptance of a common (unified) external tariffagainst non-members.
Countries that export to the customs union only need to make a single payment (duty), once
the goods have passed through the border. Once inside the union goods can move freely
without additional tariffs. Tariff revenue is then shared between members, with the country
that collects the duty retaining a small share.

Common Market

om
A common (or single) marketis the most significant step towards full economic integration. In
the case of Europe, the single market is officially referred to a the 'internal market'.
The key feature of a common market is the extension of free trade from just tangible

l.c
goods, to include all economic resources. This means that all barriers are eliminated to
allow the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labour.
In addition, as well as removing tariffs, non-tariff barriers are also reduced and

ai
eliminated.

Economic union gm
Economic union is a term applied to a trading bloc that has both a common market
1@

between members, and a common trade policy towards non-members, although

members are free to pursue independent macro-economic policies.
The European Union (EU) is the best known Economic union, and came into force on
9

November 1st 1993, following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty(formally called the Treaty
d1

on European Union.)
hk

Monetary Union
Monetary union is the first major step towards macro-economic integration, and enables
am

economies to converge even more closely.

Monetary union involves scrapping individual currencies, and adopting a single, shared
currency, such as the Euro for the Euro-17 countries, and the East Caribbean Dollarfor 11
it

islands in the East Caribbean.

sm

This means that there is a common exchange rate, a common monetary policy, including
interest rates and the regulation of the quantity of money, and a single central bank, such as
the European Central Bank or the East Caribbean Central Bank.

Fiscal Union
A fiscalunion is an agreement to harmonise tax rates, to establish common levels of public
sector spending and borrowing, and jointly agree national budget deficits or
surpluses. The majority of EU states agreed a fiscal compact in early 2012, which is a less
binding version of a full fiscal union.

Page 61
Debt service ratio
In economics and government finance, a country's debt service ratio is the ratio of its debt
service payments (principal + interest) to its export earnings. A country's international
finances are healthier when this ratio is low. For most countries the ratio is between 0 and
20%.

FIPB Abolished

om
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB)was a national agency of Government of
India, with the remit to consider and recommend foreign direct investment (FDI) which does

l.c
not come under the automatic route.
The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was housed in the Department of

ai
Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.
FIPB was abolished on 24 May 2017, as announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during
2017-2018 budget speech in Lok Sabha.
gm
Priority Watch List
1@

The Special 301 Report is prepared annually by the Office of the United States Trade
Representative (USTR) that identifies trade barriers to United States companies and products due to
9

the intellectual property laws, such as copyright, patents and trademarks, in other countries.
d1

CURRENCY WAR
hk

Currency war, also known as competitive devaluations, is a condition in international

affairswhere countries seek to gain a trade advantage over other countries by causing
am

the exchange rate of their currency to fall in relation to other currencies.

As the exchange rate of a country's currency falls, exports become more competitive in other
countries, and imports into the country become more and more expensive.
it

Both effects benefit the domestic industry, and thus employment, which receives a boost in
demand from both domestic and foreign markets.
sm

However, the price increases for import goods (as well as in the cost of foreign travel) are
unpopular as they harm citizens' purchasing power; and when all countries adopt a similar
strategy, it can lead to a general decline in international trade, harming all countries.

NBFCs
A Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) is a company registered under the Companies
Act, 1956 .
It is engaged in the business of loans and advances, acquisition of shares/stocks/bonds/
debentures/securities issued by Government or local authority or other marketable securities
of a like nature, leasing, hire-purchase, insurance business, chit business.
It does not include any institution whose principal business is that of agriculture activity,
industrial activity, purchase or sale of any goods (other than securities) or providing any
services and sale/purchase/construction of immovable property.
Page 62
 NBFI facilitate bank-related financial services, such as investment, risk pooling, contractual
savings, and market brokering
Examples of these include insurance firms, pawn shops, cashier's checkissuers, check
cashing locations, payday lending, currency exchanges, and microloan organizations.

Systemically important NBFCs

NBFCs whose asset size is of ₹500 cr or more are considered as systemically important NBFCs.

om
Example. Power Finance Corporation Limited (PFCL), Rural Electrification Corporation Limited
(RECL), IL&FS, etc.

FINANCIAL INCLUSION INDEX

l.c
It was launched by the Minister of Finance. The single composite index gives a snap shot of

ai
level of financial inclusion that would guide Macro Policy perspective.ILS

gm
It will measure access and usage of a basket of formal financial products and services that
includes savings, remittances, credit, insurance and pension products.
It would rate states on their performance on last-mile banking services availability.
The index will have three measurement dimensions, viz.
1@

Access to financial services;

Usage of financial services; and
The quality of the products and the service delivery.
9
d1

Financial Stability Report -RBI

hk

Since, the banking and the financial system is highly interconnected, the failure of one bank,
or some banks, is likely to affect the stability of other banks. This interdependence is
measured by the Banking Stability index.
am

It is calculated on the basis of: Efficiency of the bank, Profitability, Financial soundness,
Liquidity, Asset Quality.
it

Liquidity coverage ratio

sm

Liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) is a clause of Basel III norms (of the Basel based Bank for
InternationalSettlement) which aims at prudential regulation of the banking sector. Under it banks
are supposed to maintain enough short-term liquidity (their needs of the next 30 days) so that they
can survive acute financial stress if such situations arise in the economy.

Leverage Ratio
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) introduced the concept of a leverage
ratio in the 2010 Basel III package of reforms to indicate the level of debt incurred by
banks.
The leverage ratio is the proportion of debts that a bank has compared to its equity/capita
Higher leverage ratio can decrease the profitability of banks because it means banks can do
less profitable lending.
Page 63
 However, increasing the leverage ratio means that banks have more capital reserves and can
more easily survive a financial crisis.
Governments are keen to increase the leverage ratio because it makes it less likely
governments will have to bail them out.

CASA ratio
CASA ratiostands for current and savings account CASA ratio of a bank is the ratio of deposits

om
in current and saving accounts to total deposits. A higher CASA ratio indicates a lower cost of
funds, because banks do not usually give any interests on current account deposits and the
interest on saving accounts is usually very low 3-4%.

l.c
If a large part of a bank's deposits comes from these funds, it means that the bank is getting
those funds at a relative lower cost. It is generally understood that a higher CASA ratio leads
to higher net interest margin. In India, it is used as one of the metrics to assess the

ai
profitability of a bank.
Domestic CASA deposits recorded 10% growth and its share stood at 34.51% of total deposits
gm
as on December 2019 against 35.73%, mainly on account of term deposits outgrowing CASA.
The bank had a capital adequacy ratio of 15%.
1@

Usha Throat committee

To examine issues related to offshore rupee markets and recommend policy measures to
9

ensure the stability of the external value of the domestic currency.

d1

To examine the role international financial services centres can play in addressing the
concerns.
hk

To develop deep and liquid on-shore financial markets that act as a price setter of the Rupee
globally.
am

Other banking related committees

it

To examine the current monetary policy

Urjit Patel Committee
framework
sm

Vaghul Committee For Money Market In India

Rattan P Watal Committee To boost digital payment system in India

Raghuram Rajan Committee For Financial Sector Reforms

Raja Chelliah Committee For Tax Reforms

Rakesh Mohan Committee Small Savings

Page 64
 Naresh Chandra committee For 14 member task force on security issues

P J Nayak Committee Governance of Boards of Bank in India

ParthasarathiShome For Tax Administration Reform Commission

om
Narasimham Committee For Banking Sector Reforms

For comprehensive financial services for small

l.c
NachiketMor Committee
businesses and low-income households

ai
To review the fiscal responsibility and budget
N. K Singh Committee
management act

Kelkar Committee
gm
For Tax Structure Reforms
1@

Deepak Parekh committee For Financing Infrastructure sector

9

Deepak Mohanty Committee Data and information management in the RBI

d1

Damodaran Committee For improvement of customer services in banks

hk

C Rangarajan committee For poverty scale estimates in the country

am

Bimal Jalan panel To scrutinize applications for new bank licenses

it
sm

For Reforms Relating To Non-Banking Financial

A C Shah Committee
Companies (NFBC)

Development Finance Institutions

A development finance institution (DFI) also known as a development bank or development
finance company (DFC) is a financial institution that provides risk capital for economic
development projects on non commercial basis.
They are often established and owned by governments or charitable institutions to provide
funds for projects that would otherwise not be able to get funds from commercial lenders.
Some development banks include socially responsible investing and impact investing criteria
into their mandates.

Page 65
SARFAESI ACT 2002
The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of
Securities Interest Act, 2002(also known as the SARFAESI Act) is an Indian law.
It allows banks and other financial institution to auction residential or commercial properties
(of Defaulter) to recover loans. The first asset reconstruction company (ARC) of India, ARCIL,
was set up under this act.
Under this act secured creditors(banks or financial institutions) have many right for

om
enforcement of security interest under section 13 of SARFAESI Act, 2002.
If borrower of financial assistance makes any default in repayment of loan or any installment
and his account is classified as Non performing Assetby secured creditor,then secured creditor

l.c
may require before expiry of period of limitation by written notice.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016

ai
gm
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016(IBC) is the bankruptcy law of India which
seeks to consolidate the existing framework by creating a single law for insolvency and
bankruptcy.
1@
The bankruptcy code is a one stop solution for resolving insolvencies which previously was a
long process that did not offer an economically viable arrangement.
Insolvency Resolution: The Code outlines separate insolvency resolution processes for
9

individuals, companies and partnership firms. The process may be initiated by either the
debtor or the creditors.
d1

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Act, 2019 has increased the mandatory
upper Time limit of 330 days including time spent in legal process to complete resolution
hk

process
Insolvency regulator: The Code establishes the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India, to
oversee the insolvency proceedings in the country and regulate the entities registered under
am

it.
Insolvency professionals: The insolvency process will be managed by licensed professionals.
These professionals will also control the assets of the debtor during the insolvency process.
it

Bankruptcy and Insolvency Adjudicator: The Code proposes two separate tribunals to
sm

oversee the process of insolvency resolution, for individuals and companies:

The National Company Law Tribunalfor Companies and Limited Liability Partnership
firms; and
The Debt Recovery Tribunal for individuals and partnerships.

Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation

DICGC insures all bank deposits, such as saving, fixed, current, recurring depositfor up to the
limit of Rs. 500,000 of each deposits in a bank
The present DICGC will be subsumed into the Resolution Corporation (RC) which will work
across the financial system.

Page 66
Fugitive Economic Offenders Bill, 2018
Salient features of the Bill:

Application before the Special Court for a declaration that an individual is a fugitive economic
offender;
Attachment of the property of a fugitive economic offender;
Issue of a notice by the Special Court to the individual alleged to be a fugitive economic

om
offender;
Confiscation of the property of an individual declared as a fugitive economic offender resulting
from the proceeds of crime;

l.c
Confiscation of other property belonging to such offender in India and abroad, including
benami property;
Disentitlement of the fugitive economic offender from defending any civil claim; and

ai
An Administrator will be appointed to manage and dispose of the confiscated property under
the Act.
gm
If at any point of time in the course of the proceeding prior to the declaration, however, the alleged
Fugitive Economic Offender returns to India and submits to the appropriate jurisdictional Court,
1@

proceedings under the proposed Act would cease by law.

Recapitalisation Bonds (RCBs)

9
d1

Recapitalisation bonds are dedicated bonds to be issued at the behest of the government for
recapitalizing the trouble hit Public Sector Banks (PSBs).
hk

The term recapitalisation means giving equity money to cover debt of an entity. In the case of
PSBs, their NPAs (debts) will be replaced by equity capital from recapitalisation by the
government.
am

Money obtained from the sale of the bonds will be injected into the PSBs as government equity
funding.
it

Section 7 of RBI Act

sm

Section 7 (1) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, says that the Union government can
“from time to time give such directions to the (central) bank as it may, after consultation with
the governor of the bank, considered necessary in the public interest".
Further, Section 7 (2) gives the government powers to entrust the business of RBI to its
central board of directors.
To be sure, Section 7 of RBI Act too has never been invoked, though previous governments
have threatened its use.

High Power Money (Reserve Money or Base Money

High Power Money (Reserve Money or Base Money) – High power money is the base of money
supply expansion in the economy.
High Power Money = C + OD + CR.
Page 67
 C = Currency with the public
OD = Other Deposits of the general public with the RBI (insignificant)
CR = Cash Reserves of banks which consists of (i.) Cash with banks themselves and (ii)
Bankers deposits with RBI.

National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA)

The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has notified rules determining the jurisdiction, powers, function

om
and duties of the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA).

The Companies Act, 2013provided for the creation of a National Financial Reporting
Authority.

l.c
Investor Education & Protection Fund

ai
IEPF is a fund where unclaimed dividend, refunded application money, matured company
gm
deposits and debentures, as well as the interest on them, is used, provided it is not claimed
within seven years.
It is a fund set up under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to help promote investor
1@

awareness and protection of investor interests.

Investor Protection and Education Fund

9
d1

SEBI operates an Investor Protection and Education Fund (IPEF), which houses its own
contributions and donations from the Centre and States, to be spent on investor awareness.
hk

Investor Protection Funds

am

For starters, the NSE and BSE both operate Investor Protection Funds which are funded by
contributions from their members (₹15 per ₹1 crore of gross turnover) and a part of the listing fees
and security deposits collected by the exchanges.
it
sm

Depositor Education and Awareness Fund (DEAF)

The RBI has created a fund with a rather humorous acronym — Depositor Education and Awareness
Fund (DEAF) — into which banks must transfer money from accounts that have not been operated
for over 10 years.

PM-AASHA
The AASHA scheme has three components, and these will complement the existing schemes of the
Department of Food and Public Distribution for procurement of paddy, wheat and other cereals and
coarse grains where procurement is at MSP now.

Price Support Scheme (PSS). Here, physical procurement of pulses, oilseeds and copra will
be done by Central Nodal Agencies. Besides NAFED, Food Cooperation of India will also take
Page 68
 up procurement of crops under PSS. The expenditure and losses due to procurement will be
borne by the Centre.
Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS). Under this, the Centre proposes to cover all
oilseeds and pay the farmer directly into his bank account the difference between the MSP and
his actual selling/modal price. Farmers who sell their crops in recognised mandiswithin the
notified period can benefit from it.
Pilot of Private Procurement & Stockist Scheme (PPSS). In the case of oilseeds, States
will have the option to roll out PPSSs in select districts where a private player can procure
crops at MSP when market prices drop below MSP. The private player will then be

om
compensated through a service charge that will be up to a maximum of 15 per cent of the MSP
of the crop.

l.c
PM KisanMaanDhan Yojana

ai
Pradhan Mantri KisanMaan-Dhan Yojana (PM-KMY) is an old age pension scheme for all land holding
Small and Marginal Farmers (SMFs) in the country.
gm
It is a voluntary and contributory pension scheme for the entry age group of 18 to 40 years. The
Scheme is effective from the 9thAugust, 2019.
1@

It is voluntary and contributory for farmers in the entry age group of 18 to 40 years and a
monthly pension of Rs. 3000/- will be provided to them on attaining the age of 60 years.
9

The spouse is also eligible to get a separate pension of Rs.3000/- upon making separate
d1

contributions to the Fund.

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) shall be the Pension Fund Manager and
responsible for Pension pay out.
hk

In case of death of the farmer before retirement date, the spouse may continue in the scheme
by paying the remaining contributions till the remaining age of the deceased farmer.
am

If the farmer dies after the retirement date, the spouse will receive 50% of the pension as
Family Pension. After the death of both the farmer and the spouse, the accumulated corpus
shall be credited back to the Pension Fund.
it

The beneficiaries may opt voluntarily to exit the Scheme after a minimum period of 5 years of
regular contributions.
sm

The farmers, who are also beneficiaries of PM-Kisan Scheme, will have the option to allow
their contribution debited from the benefit of that Scheme directly.

Farmer Producer Company (FPC)

On the recommendations of an expert panel led by K. Alagh, Centre had amended the Indian
Companies Act, 1956, in 2002-03 to provide for “producer companies”.
A Farmer Producer Company is a hybrid between cooperative societies and private limited
companies.
It is an entity formed by primary producers, viz. farmers, milk producers, fishermen, weavers,
rural artisans,
An FPO can be a Producer Company, a Cooperative Society or any other legal form which
provides for sharing of profits/benefits among the members.

Page 69
NATIONAL INVESTMENT AND MANUFACTURING ZONES
The NIMZs are envisaged as integrated industrial townships with state of the art
infrastructure, land use onthe basis of zoning, clean and energy efficient technology,
necessary social infrastructure, skill developmentfacilities etc. to promote world-class
manufacturing activities.
At least 30% of the total land area proposed for the NIMZ will be utilized for location of
manufacturing units.

om
The land for these zones will preferably be waste infertile land not suitable for
cultivation, not in the vicinity of any ecologically fragile area and with reasonable access to
basic resources.

l.c
On receipt of final approval, the NIMZ will be declared by the State Government as an
industrial township under Article 243Q(1)(c) of the Constitution.
Central government provides external physical infrastructure linkages to the NIMZs

ai
including rail, road, ports, airports and telecom, in a time-bound manner and also provides
viability gap funding wherever required.
gm
The State Government will constitute a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to discharge the
functions specified in the policy.
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (former DIPP) is the nodal
1@

agency for NIMZ

What is Circular Economy?

9

The circular economy is a model ofproduction and consumption, whichinvolves sharing, leasing,
d1

reusing,repairing, refurbishing and recyclingexisting materials and products as long aspossible. In

this way, the life cycle ofproducts is extended.
hk

National Industrial Corridor Development and

Implementation Trust
am

The Government has approved the expansion of the mandate of Delhi Mumbai Industrial
it

Corridor Project Implementation Trust Fund (DMIC-PITF) and re-designated it as National

Industrial Corridor Development and Implementation Trust (NICDIT).
sm

NICDIT is an apex body under the administrative control of DPIITfor coordinated and unified
development of the following industrial corridors:

Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)

Chennai Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC)
Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor (AKIC)
Bengaluru Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC)
Vizag Chennai Industrial Corridor (VCIC).

NICDIT will support project development activities and appraisal, approval and sanction of projects
as per extant delegation. It will also coordinate and monitor all central efforts for the development of
Industrial Corridor projects.

Page 70
National Digital Communications Policy 2018
The key objectives of the policy are:

Broadband for all;

Creating four million additional jobs in the Digital Communications sector;
Enhancing the contribution of the Digital Communications sector to 8% of India's GDP from ~
6% in 2017;

om
Propelling India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development Index of ITU from 134 in 2017
Enhancing India's contribution to Global Value Chains; and
Ensuring Digital Sovereignty.

l.c
Electronics Development Fund

ai
Electronic Development Fund (EDF) is a “Fund of Funds”investing in “Daughter Funds” that

electronics and Information Technology (IT). gm

invest in the equity of companies developing new technologies in the area of electronics, nano-

Fund of Fund (FoF) is defined by the securities market regulator - SEBI- as a mutual fund
scheme that invests primarily in other schemes of the same mutual fund or other mutual
1@

funds.
An FoF scheme enables the participating investors to achieve greater diversification and
spreads risks across a greater universe.
9

The funds they invest in are commonly known as “daughter funds”.

d1

Pradhan Mantri ParidhanRojgarProtsahan Yojana

hk

The Pradhan Mantri RojgarProtsahan Yojana (PMRPY) is a scheme to incentivise employers

registered with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for job creation by
am

the Government paying the full contribution of employers to the Employee Pension Scheme
(EPS) and Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) in respect of new employees having a new
Universal Account Number (UAN).
it

This Scheme has a dual benefit, where, on the one hand, the employer is incentivised for
sm

increasing the employment base of workers in the establishment, and on the other hand, a
large number of workers will find jobs in such establishments.

A direct benefit is that these workers will have access to social security benefits of the
organized sector.

India Inclusive Innovation Fund

The cabinet has approved the setting up of the India Inclusive Innovation Fund, proposed by the
Ministry of MSME which will be guided by the following objectives:-

To focus on India’s Poor: IIIF would back enterprises developing innovative solutions
primarily for citizens who lie in the lower half of India’s economic pyramid, with limited
physical and institutional access to basic services.
Page 71
 Balancing Social and Financial Returns: The IIIF will invest in such ventures, where
modest financial returns are promised, even while creating significant social impact. Lack of
capital is one of the major reasons why grassroots innovations at the village level or by micro
and small enterprises have failed to take off. The IIIF seeks to address such lack of capital for
innovators seeking to cater to the lower half of India’s economic pyramid
Employment Focus: The IIIF will seek to create and support entrepreneurs and enterprises
that have a relatively high potential for job creation and can continue to scale and sustain
themselves.

om
Consumer Protection Act, 2019

l.c
Rights of consumers: Six consumer rights have been defined in the Bill, including the right
to: (i) be protected against marketing of goods and services which are hazardous to life and
property; (ii) be informed of the quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods

ai
or services; (iii) be assured of access to a variety of goods or services at competitive prices;
and (iv) seek redressal against unfair or restrictive trade practices.
gm
Central Consumer Protection Authority: The central government will set up a Central
Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of
1@

consumers. It will regulate matters related to violation of consumer rights, unfair trade
practices, and misleading advertisements. The CCPA will have an investigation wing, headed
by a Director-General, which may conduct inquiry or investigation into such violations.
9

Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission: Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions

d1

(CDRCs) will be set up at the district, state, and national levels. A consumer can file a
complaint with CDRCs in relation to: (i) unfair or restrictive trade practices; (ii) defective
hk

goods or services; (iii) overcharging or deceptive charging; and (iv) the offering of goods or
services for sale which may be hazardous to life and safety. Complaints against an unfair
contract can be filed with only the State and National Appeals from a District CDRC will be
am

heard by the State CDRC. Appeals from the State CDRC will be heard by the National CDRC.
Final appeal will lie before the Supreme Court.
it

National Mineral Policy (NMP) 2019

sm

The National Mineral Policy 2019 includes provisions which will give boost to mining sector such as

Introduction of Right of First Refusal for RP/PL holders,

encouraging the private sector to take up exploration,
auctioning in virgin areas for composite RP cum PL cum ML on revenue share basis,
encouragement of merger and acquisition of mining entities and
transfer of mining leases and creation of dedicated mineral corridors to boost private sector
mining areas.
The 2019 Policy proposes to grant status of industry to mining activity to boost financing of
mining for private sector and for acquisitions of mineral assets in other countries by private
sector
It also mentions that Long term import export policy for mineral will help private sector in
better planning and stability in business
The Policy also mentions rationalize reserved areas given to PSUs which have not been used
Page 72
 and to put these areas to auction, which will give more opportunity to private sector for
participation
The Policy also mentions to make efforts to harmonize taxes, levies & royalty with world
benchmarks to help private sector

Methanol Economy Fund

In order to promote the production and usage of clean fuel, National Institution for

om
Transforming India (NITI) Ayog is planning to set up a Methanol economy Fund.
The Methanol economy Fund would be of Rs. 4000 to Rs. 5000 crores. It shall be used for the
generation of safer, cheaper and pollution free Methanol fuel. This pollution free methanol will

l.c
be manufactured by converting the coal with high ash content and stranded gas.

e-kuber

ai
gm
E-kuber is the core banking solution of the RBI that gives high degree of access to commercial
banks and other institutions to their current account with the RBI.
e-kuber enables banks access with their current account at anytime, everywhere across the
coutnry.
1@

The e-kuber is used by the RBI to execute various transactions with banks.
Utility of e-kuber is that it is used to conduct exercises like auctioning of government
securities.
9
d1

SWIFT:
hk

It is a messaging network that financial institutions use to securely transmit information and
instructions through a standardized system of codes. Under SWIFT, each financial
organization has a unique code which is used to send and receive payments.
am

SWIFT does not facilitate funds transfer: rather, it sends payment orders, which must be
settled by correspondent accounts that the institutions have with each other.
The SWIFT is a secure financial message carrier — in other words, it transports messages
it

from one bank to its intended bank recipient.

sm

PM Ji-VAN
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, has approved the "Pradhan Mantri JI-VAN
(JaivIndhan- VatavaranAnukoolfasalawasheshNivaran) Yojana" for providing financial support
to Integrated Bioethanol Projects using lignocellulosic biomass and other renewable
feedstock.
Centre for High Technology (CHT), a technical body under the aegis of MoP&NG, will be the
implementation Agency for the scheme.
The Project developers interested in availing benefits of the scheme, shall be submitting their
proposal for review by Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of MoP&NG.

Projects recommended by SAC shall be approved by Steering Committee of MoP&NG under

the chairmanship of Secretary, MoP&NG.

Page 73
UNNATEE
Bureau of Energy Efficiency has developed a national strategy document for accelerating energy
efficiency in India titled UNNATEE (Unlocking National Energy Efficiency potential).

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE):

The Government of India has set up BEE in 2002 under the provision of the Energy
Conservation Act, 2001.

om
The mission of Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to assist in developing policies and strategies
with a thrust on self-regulation and market principles with the primary objective of reducing
energy intensity of the Indian economy within the overall framework of the Energy

l.c
Conservation Act, 2001.
This will be achieved with active participation of all stakeholders, resulting into accelerated

ai
and sustained adoption of energy efficiency in all sectors.

KUSUM (Solar for farmer) 2019 gm

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has launched the Pradhan Mantri
1@

KisanUrja Suraksha evemUtthanMahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) Scheme for farmers for

installation of solar pumps and grid connected solar and other renewable power plants in the
country.
9
d1

The scheme aims to add solar and other renewable capacity of 25,750 MW by 2022 with total
central financial support of Rs. 34,422 Crore including service charges to the implementing
agencies.
hk

National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020

am

NEMMP aims to achieve national fuel security by promoting hybrid and electric vehicles in the
country.
it

NEMM intends to allow hybrid and electric vehicles to become the first choice for the
sm

purchasers so that these vehicles can replace the conventional vehicles and thus reduce liquid
fuel consumption in the country from the automobile sector.
National Electric Mobility Missionis a composite scheme using different policy-levers such
as:
Promoting R&D in technologyincluding battery technology, power electronics, motors,
systems integration, battery management system, testing infrastructure, and ensuring
industry participation in the same.
Promoting charging infrastructure.
Under NEMMP 2020, Government has launched Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of
(Hybrid &) Electric Vehiclesin India (FAME India) scheme to promote manufacturing of
electric and hybrid vehicle technology.

Page 74
Insurable interest
Insurable interestexists when an insured person derives a financial or other kind of benefit
from the continuous existence, without repairment or damage, of the insured object (or in the
case of a person, their continued survival).
A person has an insurable interest in something when loss of or damage to that thing would
cause the person to suffer a financial or other kind of loss.
Normally, insurable interest is established by ownership, possession, or direct relationship.

om
For example, people have insurable interests in their own homes and vehicles, but not in their
neighbors' homes and vehicles, and almost certainly not those of strangers.

l.c
Life Insurance Corporation of India

ai
Life Insurance Corporation of India(abbreviated as LIC) is an Indian state-
owned insurance group and investment corporation owned by the Government of India.

gm
The Life Insurance Corporation of India was founded in 1956 when the Parliament of
Indiapassed the Life Insurance of India Act that nationalised the insurance industry in India.

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana

1@

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana is a government-backed Life insurance scheme in
9

India.
d1

Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana is available to people between 18 and 50 years of
age with bank accounts. It has an annual premium of ₹330 (US$4.60).
The GST is exempted on Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.
hk

This scheme will be linked also to the bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana
am

Most of these account had zero balance initially. The government aims to reduce the number
of such zero balance accounts by using this and related schemes.

Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)

it
sm

Employees' State Insurance (abbreviated as ESI) is a self-financing social security and health
insurance scheme for Indian workers. The fund is managed by the Employees' State Insurance
Corporation (ESIC) according to rules and regulations stipulated in the ESI Act 1948. ESIC is a
Statutory Body and Administrative Ministry is Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of
India.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) under

Commerce Ministry
The ECGC Limited(Formerly Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd) is a
company wholly owned by the Government of India based in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
It provides export credit insurancesupport to Indian exporters and is controlled by
the Ministry of Commerce. Government of India had initially set up Export Risks Insurance
Page 75
 Corporation (ERIC) in July 1957.
It was transformed into Export Credit and Guarantee Corporation Limited (ECGC) in 1964 and
to Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India in 1983.

Third party (TP) insurance

Third-party insurance is an insurance policy purchased for protection against the claims of
another. One of the most common types is third-party insurance is automobile insurance.

om
Third-party offers coverage against claims of damages and losses incurred by a driver who is
not the insured, the principal, and is therefore not covered under the insurance policy. The
driver who caused damages is the third party.

l.c
RE-INSURANCE

ai
Reinsurance is insurance that an insurance company purchases from another insurance company

gm
to insulate itself (at least in part) from the risk of a major claims event. With reinsurance, the
company passes on some part of its own insurance liabilities to the other insurance company. The
company that purchases the reinsurance policy is called a "ceding company" under most
arrangements. The company issuing the reinsurance policy is referred simply as the "reinsurer".
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Insurance penetration
9

Penetration rate indicates the level of development of insurance sector in a country. Penetration rate
d1

is measured as the ratio of premium underwritten in a particular year to the GDP.

hk

Insurance gap
am

Gap insurance is a type of auto insurance that car owners can purchase to protect themselves
against losses that can arise when the amount of compensation received from a total loss does not
fully cover the amount the insured owes on the vehicle's financing or lease agreement. This situation
it

arises when the balance owed on a car loan is greater than the book value of the vehicle.
sm

EMPLOYEE PROVIDENT FUND

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (abbreviated to EPFO), is an organization tasked
to assist the Central Board of Trustees, Employees' Provident Fund a statutory body formed by the
Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and is under the administrative
control of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India

Universal Account Number

UAN is Universal Account Number. The UAN is a 12-digit number allotted to employee who is
contributing to EPF will be generated for each of the PF member by EPFO.

Page 76
Pradhan Mantri RojgarProtsahan Yojana
The PMRPY Scheme aims to incentivise employers for employment generation by the
Government paying the full employers' EPS contribution of 12% , for the new employees, for
the first three years of their employment and is proposed to be made applicable for
unemployed persons that are semi-skilled and unskilled.
The Pradhan Mantri RojgarProtsahan Yojana (PMRPY) is a scheme to incentivise employers
registered with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for job creation by the

om
Government paying the full contribution of employers to the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS)
and Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) in respect of new employees having a new Universal
Account Number (UAN).

l.c
This Scheme has a dual benefit, where, on the one hand, the employer is incentivised for
increasing the employment base of workers in the establishment, and on the other hand, a
large number of workers will find jobs in such establishments.

ai
A direct benefit is that these workers will have access to social security benefits of the
organized sector.

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana

gm
1@

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) is a Pension Scheme announced by the Government
of India exclusively for the senior citizens aged 60 years and above which is available from 4th May,
9

2017 to 31st March, 2020.

d1

Benefits of the scheme

hk

Following are the major benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY):

an assured return of 8% p.a. payable monthly (equivalent to 8.30% p.a. effective) for 10 years.
am

The scheme is exempted from Service Tax/ GST.

The scheme also allows for premature exit for the treatment of any critical/ terminal illness of
self or spouse. On such premature exit, 98% of the Purchase Price shall be refunded.
it

Eligibility Conditions and Other Restrictions

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1. Minimum Entry Age: 60 years (completed)

2. Maximum Entry Age: No limit
3. Policy Term : 10 years

RashtriyaVayoshri Yojana
RashtriyaVayoshri Yojana is scheme for providing Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for
Senior citizens belonging to BPL category.
This is a Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Central Government. The expenditure for
implementation of the scheme is being met from the "Senior Citizens' Welfare Fuund".
The Scheme is being implemented by the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation
(ALIMCO), a PSU under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Page 77
Eligibility

Senior Citizens, belonging to BPL category and suffering from any of the age related
disability/infirmity viz. Low vision, Hearing impairment, Loss of teeth and Locomotor disability will
be provided with such assisted-living devices which can restore near normalcy in their bodily
functions, overcoming the disability/infirmity manifested.

Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

om
Atal Pension Yojana(or APY, previously known as Swavalamban Yojana) is a government-
backed pension scheme in India, primarily targeted at the unorganised sector.

l.c
The minimum eligible age for a person joining APY is 18 years and the maximum is 40
years.An enrolled person would start receiving pension on attaining the age of 60 years.
Therefore, a minimum period of contribution by the subscriber under APY would be 20 years

ai
or more.
The national AadhaarID number is the primary "know your customer" document for
gm
identification of beneficiaries, spouses, and nominees to avoid entitlement-related disputes in
the long-term. For proof of address, an individual may submit a copy of their ration card or
bank passbook.
1@

This scheme will be linked to the bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojanascheme and the contributions will be deducted automatically.[3] RecentlyCentre has
allowed small finance Banks to offer APY.
9
d1

Pradhan Mantri Karam Yogi Maandhan Scheme

hk

The Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan-dhan scheme is meant for old-age protection and social
security of unorganised workers.
These are mostly those engaged as rickshaw pullers, street vendors, mid-day meal workers,
am

head loaders, brick kiln workers, cobblers, rag pickers, domestic workers, washer men, home-
based workers, own account workers, agricultural workers, construction workers, beedi
workers, handloom workers, leather workers, audio- visual workers or in similar other
it

occupations.
sm

Eligibility criteria According to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), to

be eligible for the scheme these are conditions that have to be met: Should be an unorganised
worker Entry age between 18 and 40 years Monthly income Rs 15,000 or below

Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana

Sukanya Samriddhi Account (Girl Child Prosperity Account) is a Government of India backed
saving scheme targeted at the parents of girl children. The scheme encourages parents to
build a fund for the future education and marriage expenses for their female child
It is a part of the BetiBachao, BetiPadhao
The account can be opened at any India Postoffice or branch of authorised commercial banks.

Page 78
PaiSA Portal
A centralized electronic platform for processing interest subvention on bank loans to
beneficiaries under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-
NULM) named “PAiSA – Portal for Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access”, was
launched .
The web platform has been designed and developed by Allahabad Bank which is the Nodal
bank.

om
STATE ENERGY EFFICIENCY PREPAREDNESS INDEX

l.c
State Energy Efficiency Preparedness Index’ has been released by Bureau of Energy Efficiency
(BEE) and Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE).

ai
DETAILS
The nationwide Index is a joint effort of the NITI Aayog and BEE.The index assesses state
policies and programmes.
gm
National eHealth Authority (NeHA)
1@

Objectives
9

To formulate “National eHealth Policy and Strategy” for coordinated eHealth adoption in the
country
d1

To promote setting up of state health records repositories and health information exchanges
(HIEs) to facilitate interoperability
hk

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
am

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
it

policy/regulatory groups to ensure consistency and coherence

sm

PM BHARTIYA JANAUSHADI PARIYOJANA

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan AushadhiPariyojana Kendra(PMBJP) is a campaign
launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Government of India, to provide quality
medicines at affordable prices to the masses through special kendras known as Pradhan
Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan AushadhiPariyojana Kendra (PMBJPK) have been set up to
provide genericdrugs, which are available at lesser prices but are equivalent in quality and
efficacy as expensive branded drugs.
BPPI (Bureau of Pharma Public Sector Undertakings of India) has been established under the
Department of Pharmaceuticals, Govt. of India, with the support of all the CPSUs for co-
coordinating procurement, supply and marketing of generic drugs through Pradhan Mantri
Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Kendra
Page 79
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), previously Indira Gandhi
MatritvaSahyog Yojana (IGMSY), is a maternity benefit program run by the government
of India.
It was introduced in 2016 and is implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child
Development. It is a conditional cash transferscheme for pregnant and lactating women of 19
years of age or above for the first live birth

om
It provides a partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and
childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices.
In 2013, the scheme was brought under the National Food Security Act, 2013to implement the

l.c
provision of cash maternity benefit of ₹6,000 (US$84) stated in the Act.

Eligibility Conditions and Conditionalities

ai
Originally, all pregnant women of 19 years of age and above were eligible for conditional cash
gm
transfer benefits of ₹5,000(US$70) to paid in three installments, except those who receive paid
maternity leave.
After the implementation of National Food Security Act the amount has been revised to
1@

₹6,000(US$84) to be paid in two installments of ₹3,000 (US$42) each.

POSHAN Abhiyan
9
d1

POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) is a flagship programme of the Ministry of

Women and Child Development.
The Mission is aimed at improving the nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent
hk

Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner during the next three
years beginning 2017-18.
am

The Abhiyan aims to achieve convergence with various programmes i.e., Anganwadi Services,
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Scheme for Adolescent Girls, Janani Suraksha Yojana,
National Health Mission, Swachh-Bharat Mission, Public Distribution System, Mahatma
it

Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

sm

Pradhan Mantri SurakshitMatritvaAbhiyaan

Pradhan Mantri SurakshitMatritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) is a fixed day strategy, every month
across the country during which a range of quality maternal health services are envisaged to
be provided as part of Antenatal Care.

Under the campaign, a minimum package of antenatal care services is to be provided to the
beneficiaries on the 9th day of every month at the Pradhan Mantri SurakshitMatritva Clinics to
ensure that every pregnant woman receives at least one checkup in the 2nd/ 3rd trimester of
pregnancy.

If the 9th day of the month is a Sunday / a holiday, then the Clinic should be organized on the
next working day.

Page 80
Laqshya- Labor Room Quality Improvement Initiative
LaQshya program envisagesto improve quality of care in labour room and maternity OT.
Under the initiative, multi-pronged strategy has been adopted such as improving
Infrastructure upgradation, ensuring availability of essential equipment, providing adequate
Human Resources, capacity building of health care workers and improving quality processes in
labour room.
Implementation of ‘fast-track’ interventions (NQAS assessment, Trainings, Mentoring, Reviews

om
etc.)
Capacity-building of healthcare workers by skill-based training like Dakshta& improving
quality processes in the labour room.

l.c
To strengthen critical care in Obstetrics, dedicated Obstetric ICUs at Medical College Hospital
level and Obstetric HDUs at District Hospital are operationalized under LaQshya program.

ai
NITI’s “Healthy States, Progressive India” Report 2019

Most Favoured Nation gm

The MFN principle of the WTO states that each of the WTO member countries should “treat all
1@

the other membersequally as ‘most-favoured’ trading partners.”

It leads to equal treatment amongst countries and ensures a more stable, predictable, reliable
and competitive international trade.
9

MFN status is very desirable between trading partners because it allows each country the
d1

greatest access into theother’s domestic markets without the hindrances of tariffs or quotas.
That means it receives the lowest tariffs, thefewest trade barriers, and the highest import
hk

quotas (or none at all). It reduces the ill effects of trade protectionism.

India and MFN

am

In case of goods, India has extended MFN status to member countries of WTO.
As regards SAARC countries, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are
it

members of WTO and except the Pakistan, these countries have extended MFN status to India.
India has extended MFN status to all these SAARC countries expect Pakistan.
sm

India withdraw MFN status to Pakistan

The Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP)

Itis a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of a country’s financial sector.
FSAP assessments are the joint responsibility of the IMF and World Bank in developing
economies and emerging markets and of the IMF alone in advanced economies.

Washington Consensus
The Washington Consensus is a set of 10 economic policy prescriptions considered to constitute the
"standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington, D.C.-
based institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and United States
Department of the Treasury.

Page 81
Women’s Livelihood Bonds (WLBs)
World Bank, UN Women, and Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) have
collaborated to launch a new social impact bonds exclusively for women, called Women’s
Livelihood Bonds (WLBs), with an initial corpus of Rs 300 crore.
The proposed bond will enable individual women entrepreneurs in sectors like food
processing, agriculture, services and small units to borrow around Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakh at an
annual interest rate of around 13-14 per cent or less.

om
The bonds, which will have a tenure of five years, will be launched by SIDBI with the support
of World Bank and UN Women.
SIDBI will act as the financial intermediary and channel funds raised to women

l.c
entrepreneurs throughparticipating financial intermediaries like banks, NBFCs or
microfinance institutions.
The WLBs will be unsecured, unlistedbonds and offer fixed coupon rate of 3 per cent per

ai
annum to bond investors.

Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) gm

1@
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is a fraud investigating agency.
It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.
The SFIO is involved in major fraud probes and is the co-ordinating agency with the Income
9

Tax and CBI.

The Government approved setting up of this organization in 2003 on the basis of the
d1

recommendations made by the Naresh Chandra Committee which was set up by the
Government in 2002 on corporate governance.
hk

SHREYAS
am

Itis a programme basket comprising of three initiatives of the HRD, Ministry of Skill
Development andEntrepreneurship, and the Ministry of Labour .
it

It focussed towards students primarily from non-technical courses will introduce

employable skills into their learning, promote apprenticeship integral to education and also
sm

amalgamate employment facilitating efforts of the governmentinto the education system.

It will provide a platform wherein educational institutions and industry would log in and
provide their respectivedemand and supply of apprenticeship

ENSURE PORTAL
Portal ENSURE- National Livestock Mission-EDEG developed by NABARD and operated under
the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries today.
Under the Mission’s component called Entrepreneurship Development and Employment
Generation (EDEG), subsidy payment for activities related to poultry, small ruminants, pigs
etc. through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) goes directly to the beneficiary’s account. In order
to make it better, simpler and transparent, the NABARD has developed an online portal
“ENSURE” so that the information related to beneficiary and processing of application can be
made readily available.
Page 82
The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has launched a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
(Industry 4.0) in India.
The centre would aim to bring together the government and business leaders to pilot emerging
technology policies.
The centre would be based in Maharashtra. Drones, artificial intelligence and
blockchain have been selected as the first three project areas.

om
As part of the WEF’s global network, the new centre in India will work closely with project
teams in San Francisco (USA), Tokyo (Japan) and Beijing (China), where such Centres are
already present.

l.c
NITI Aayog will coordinate the partnership on behalf of the government and among the
multiple ministries.
The WEF has also entered into partnerships with the Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh

ai
governments for the new initiative and more states would be roped in going forward.

Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) gm

1@
ICOs are a type of crowdfunding or crowd investing tool conducted entirely on the block chain.
Unlike an IPO, which is governed by SEBI regulations, there is no regulator for this kind of
crowd sourcing in India.
9

In an ICO, a quantity of cryptocurrency is sold in the form of “tokens” (“coins”) to speculators

or investors, in exchange for legal tender or other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or
d1

Ethereum.
hk

IndAS
am

The government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may postpone the implementation of new
accounting standards for banks because of the legislative changes and additional capital
requirements the process would entail.
it

What is IndAS?
sm

IndAS (Indian Accounting Standards) is the new accounting standard for banks.
Banks and non-banking financialcompanies are due to switch to Indian Accounting Standards
(IndAS) from 1 April 2018.
They currently follow Indian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) standards.
Legislative changes required: The implementation of IndAS for public sector banks requires an
amendment to the Banking Regulation Act.
The transition to IndAS is expected to see a significant jump in bad-loan provisions.Under the
current rules, banks setaside money to cover loans that have turned bad.

New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos 2019

The five rhino range nations India, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Indonesia signed
adeclaration 'The New Delhi Declaration on Asian Rhinos 2019' for the conservation and
Page 83
 protection of the Greatone-horned, Java and Sumatran rhinoceros in the Second Asian Rhino
Range Countries meeting at Delhi.
It aims to identify connectivity and corridors across international boundaries and keepthem
functional, safe and secure for free movement of Asian rhinos and other wildlife.
Declaration provides for review of situation every four years to reassess the need of future
collective action. To further strengthen the conservation efforts in India, a national
conservation strategy on rhino conservation wasalso released in the meeting.

National Nutrition Survey

om
The survey has been conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and theUnited

l.c
Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) to measure malnutrition..
The survey recorded not only micronutrient deficiencies but also details of noncommunicable
diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol and kidney function in children and

ai
adolescents.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) gm

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is a large-scale, multi-round survey conducted in a
1@

representative sample of households throughout India. Three rounds of the survey have been
conducted since the first survey in 1992-93. The survey provides state and national information for
India on fertility, infant and child mortality, the practice of family planning, maternal and child
9

health, reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, utilization and quality of health and family planning
d1

services. Each successive round of the NFHS has had two specific goals: a) to provide essential data
on health and family welfare needed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and other
hk

agencies for policy and programme purposes, and b) to provide information on important emerging
health and family welfare issues. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government
of India, designated the International Institute for Population Sciences(IIPS) Mumbai, as the nodal
am

agency, responsible for providing coordination and technical guidance for the survey.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

it

(UNISDR)
sm

It is thesuccessor to the secretariat of the International Decade for Natural Disaster

Reduction.
It was established to ensure the implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster
Reduction.
It is part of the United Nations Secretariat and its functions span the social, economic,
environmental as well as humanitarian fields.
UNISDR supports the implementation, follow-up and review of the SendaiFramework for
Disaster Risk Reduction adopted by the Third UN World Conference on Disaster RiskReduction
on 18 March 2015 in Sendai, Japan.
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) aims to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risk,
strengthening the resilience of people, systems and approaches.
DRR sits at the heart of the world’s most pressing concerns: climate change, displacement,
urbanization, pandemics, protracted crises and financial systems collapse.
Page 84
NITI Aayog has released the first edition of the School Education Quality
Index (SEQI)

About SEQI:

SEQI has been developed by NITI Aayog to evaluate the performance of States and Union
Territories(UTs) in the school education sector.
It has been developed through a collaborative process including key stakeholders such as the
Ministry ofHuman Resource Development (MHRD), the World Bank and sector experts.

om
Aim:

l.c
SEQI aims to drive policy reforms that will improve the quality of school education.
The index seeks to institutionalise a focus on enhancing education outcomes by driving

ai
improvementsin learning levels, access, equity, infrastructure and governance processes.

India Economic Summit gm

The World Economic Forum’s 33rd edition of the India Economic Summit was held in New
1@

Delhi.
The summit held by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with the CII (Confederation of
Indian Industry).
9

The summit aims to accelerate the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It will also have special
d1

focus on collaboration with South Asia and ASEAN countries.

Pneumoconiosis Fund:
hk

The fund will be majorly financed by money from the District Mineral Foundation (DMF).
am

The fund will be operating Rajasthan’s Social Justice and Empowerment Department
The fund will be used to finance a comprehensive policy on Pneumoconiosis, recently released
by the Rajasthan government.
it

About Pneumoconiosis:
sm

Pneumoconiosis is the general term for a class of interstitial lung diseases (the tissue and
space around the alveoli) where inhalation of dust has caused interstitial fibrosis.
It is occupational health disease and mostly affects workers who work in the mining and
construction sectors.

Pradhan Mantri KhanijKshetra Kalyan Yojana

The Ministry of Mines has launched Pradhan Mantri KhanijKshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)
to provide for the welfare of areas and people affected by mining related operations, using the
funds generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs).

The Pradhan Mantri KhanijKshetra Kalyan Yojana rests on three main objectives:

Page 85
 To implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in mining affected areas
that complement the existing ongoing schemes/projects of State and Central Government.
To minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on the environment, health
and socio-economics of people in mining districts; and
To ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.
The PMKKKY has mandated 60% of the funds to be utilized in a for High Priority Areas, such
as Drinking water / Environment preservation and pollution control / Health care / Education /
Skill development / Welfare of women, children, aged and disabled people / Sanitation and
40% of the funds to be utilized for Infrastructure - Roads & physical infrastructure / Irrigation

om
/ Watershed development.
The projects implemented under PMKKKY will help create a congenial mining environment,
ameliorate the condition of the affected persons and create a win-win situation for the

l.c
stakeholders.

ai
District Mineral Foundation (DMF):
gm
It is a trust set up as a non-profit body, in those districts affected by the mining works. It
works for the interest and benefit of persons and areas affected by mining related operations.
It is funded through the contributions from miners.
1@

Its manner of operation comes under the jurisdiction of the relevant State Government.
Setting up of District Mineral Foundations (DMFs) in all districts in the country affected by
mining related operations was mandated through the Mines and Minerals (Development &
9

Regulation) Amendment Act, (MMDRA) 2015

d1

Clause 6 of Assam Accord

hk

Clause 6 of the Assam Accord envisaged that appropriate constitutional, legislative

andadministrative safeguards, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural,
am

social, linguisticidentity and heritage of the Assamese people.

However, it has been felt that Clause 6 of the Assam Accord has not been fully implemented
even almost 35 yearsafter the Accord was signed.
it

“Womaniya on GeM”
sm

It is an initiative to enable women entrepreneurs and women selfhelp groups (WSHGs) to sell
handicrafts and handloom, accessories, jute and coir products etc. directly to
variousGovernment ministries, departments and institutions.
Government e Marketplace (GeM) is the implementing agency.
It is a 100 % government owned company setup in 2016 under the aegis of Ministry of
Commerce and Industry for procurement of common use goods and services by Government
ministries, departments and CPSEs.
The initiative aligns with Government’s initiatives for MSMEs, especially to reserve 3 percent
in governmentprocurement from women entrepreneurs.

Page 86
National Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate
GSTAT shall be presided over by its President and shall consist of one Technical Member
(Centre) and one Technical Member (State).
The national bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal will expediteresolution of disputes under
GST laws.
Being a common forum, GST Appellate Tribunal (national bench) will ensure that there is
uniformity in redressalof disputes arising under GST, and therefore, in implementation of

om
GST across the country.
The appellate authority will help in resolving the confusion created by contradictory rulings
given by AppellateAuthority for Advance Rulings (AAAR) on the same or similar issues in

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different states.
Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) is the forum of second appeal in GST
laws and the first common forum of dispute resolution between Centre and States.

ai
The National Bench of the Appellate Tribunal shall be situated at New Delhi.

gm
The appeals against the orders in first appeals issued by the Appellate Authorities under the
Central and State GST Acts lie before the GST Appellate Tribunal, which is common under
the Central aswell as State GST Acts.
1@

EASE ( Enhanced Access and Service Excellence)

9

This index is prepared by theIndian Banking Association and the Boston Consulting Group.
The report measures the performance of each PSB on 140 objective metrics across 6
d1

themes
The report has noted the strengthening of the bad-loan recovery process which points to the
hk

success of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) in fast-tracking the resolution process in
Public SectorBanks.
am

National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP)

it

Government of India and World Bank Sign $250 Million Agreement for the National Rural
Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) to boost Rural Incomes across 13 States in India
sm

It will help women in rural households shift to a new generation of economic initiatives by
developing viable enterprise for farm and non-farm products.
A Key Focus of the Project will be to promote women-owned and women-led farm and non-
farm enterprises across value chains; enable them to build businesses that help them access
finance, markets and networks; and generate employment.

Nice Agreement
Cabinet approves proposal for accession of India to

The Nice Agreement on the International classification of goods and services for the
purposes of registration of marks
The Vienna Agreement for setting up an International classification of the figurative
elements of marks
Page 87
 The Locarno Agreement for establishing an International classification for industrial
designs.
Accession to the Nice, Vienna and Locarno Agreements will help the Intellectual Property
Office in India to harmonise the classification systems for examinational of trademark and
design applications, in line with the classification systems followed globally.
It would give an opportunity to include Indian designs, figurative elements and goods in the
international classification systems.
The accession is expected to instill confidence in foreign investors in relation to protection of
IPs in India.

om
The accession would also facilitate in exercising rights in decision making processes regarding
review and revision of the classifications under the agreement.

l.c
Pradhan Mantri MatsyaSampada Yojana

ai
It has been proposed to address infrastructuregaps in the fisheries sector.
Through a focused Scheme – the Pradhan Mantri MatsyaSampada Yojana (PMMSY) – the
gm
Department of Fisheries will establish a robust fisheries managementframework.
This will address critical gaps in strengthening the value chain, including infrastructure,
modernization, traceability, production, productivity, post-harvest management, and quality
1@

control.

Train-the-Trainer program
9
d1

Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has signed an agreement with

Global IT major IBM fornationwide Train-the-Trainer program in Artificial Intelligence.
hk

As part of the program, trainers will be trained on basic Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills
towards using the technology in their day-to-day trainingactivities.
am

Green channel concept

The Green Channel allows for automatic approval for certain Mergers and Acquisitions
it

(M&As) or combinations based on specified criteria and pre-filing consultation.

sm

The process is aimed at sustaining and promoting a speedy, transparent and accountable
review of combination cases to create a culture of compliance and support economic growth.

E-assessment scheme
The scheme aims at faceless e-assessment to impart greater efficiency, transparency
andaccountability in the assessment process.
There would be no physical interface between taxpayers and tax officers.
The scheme makes it mandatory for the taxman to make communication with taxpayers online.
The tax notices will be issued by a centralised e-assessment centre requiring taxpayers to
reply only through digital mode.
The cases selected for scrutiny shall be allocated to assessment units in a random manner and
notices shall be issued electronically by a Central Cell without disclosing the name,
designation or location of the assessingofficer.
Page 88
 The Scheme will have dedicated E-assessment centres such as the National E-assessment
Centre, Regional Eassessment Centre, assessment units, verification units, technical units and
reviewer units with each centre and unit having a clearly defined role and process to follow.

Telangana Government has announced a draft blockchain

policy
To offer regulatory and policy support forblockchain startups based in Hyderabad.

om
The policy was announced with an aim to make Hyderabad as one of the top 10 Blockchain
cities of the world.
It has also decided to create India’s first Blockchain district within Hyderabad.

l.c
United Nations Convention on International Settlement

ai
Agreements (UNISA)
gm
The United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements (UNISA) also
known as
Singapore Convention on Mediation.
1@

The Convention provides a uniform and efficient framework for the enforcement of
international settlement agreements resulting from mediation and for allowing parties
toinvoke such agreements, akin to the framework that the Convention on the Recognition and
9

Enforcement ofForeign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958) (the "New York Convention")
d1

provides for arbitral awards.

It establishes a harmonized legal framework for the right to invoke settlement
hk

agreements as well as for theirenforcement.

The Convention is an instrument for the facilitation of international trade and the promotion of
mediation as an alternative and effective method of resolving trade disputes.
am

Being a binding international instrument, it is expected to bring certainty and stability to the
international framework on mediation, thereby contributing to the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG), mainly the SDG 16.
it

India has signed the agreement.

sm

Signing of the Convention will boost the confidence of the investors and shall provide a
positive signal to foreign investors about India's commitment to adhere to international
practice onAlternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). It will improve ease of doing business.

Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency

NIA is functioning as the Central Counter Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency in India.
The National Investigation Agency is hosting the first counter-terrorism exercise for the
"Quad" countries
India, the US, Japan and Australia. The "CT-TTX" (counter-terrorism table-top exercise) is first
suchengagement among the Quad countries on regional and global issues of common interest
and also in thedomain of counter-terrorism and cooperation.

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India Urban Data Exchange
India Urban Data Exchange is a research project under smart cities mission.
The project aims to create an open source software platform for cities, industry and
researchers to share Smart City data witheach other.
The project would now be expanded eventually leading to a marketplace which means it would
bemonetised in the future similar to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for bank accounts
and digital payments.

om
The project is implemented by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) in
collaboration with Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

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International Women’s Trade Centre (iWTC).

ai
Kerala will be setting up India’s first International Women’s Trade Centre (iWTC).
This IWTC initiative is inaccordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).
gm
The first phase of iWTC which isbeing executed under the Gender Park’s “Vision 2020” is
scheduled to be completed by 2021.
1@
The trade centre will aim at accelerating women entrepreneurship and secure gender parity.
The facility will also provide women with a safe place away from home to start new businesses,
set up or expand and get their products marketed globally.
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The facility will have women’s startup and incubation centre, retail fashion and
technologyoutlets, health and wellness centres, business centres among others.
d1

Information Sharing Platform Gateway for South-East Asia

hk

Regulatory Network(SEARN)
am

Developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing has been launched.
It will promote regulatory and health collaboration among the countries of the South-
East Asia Region.
it

The South East Asia Research Network (SEARN), based at the London School of Hygiene &
sm

Tropical Medicine, is a platform to facilitate research collaboration.

SEARN includes all ASEAN countries.
It provides a forum to support the communication and dissemination of research findings,
highlight research areas and a network connecting people andcollaborators outside with an
interest in South East Asia.
Its vision is- Healthy populations with timely access to affordable medical products of assured
quality, safety and efficacy in all countries of the South-East Asia regionand beyond.

National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT)

Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has announced a Scheme namedNational
Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT).
Under the scheme, a National NEAT platform will be created that would provide one-stop
access to these technological solutions. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
Page 90
 would be the implementing agency for the NEAT programme.
The scheme aims to use Artificial Intelligence to make learning more personalised and
customised as per the requirements of the learner.
The ministry will also create a National Alliance withtechnology developing EdTech Companies
through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
MHRD would act as a facilitator to ensure that the Adaptive Learning Solutions are freely
available to a large number ofeconomically backward students.
EdTech companies would be responsible for developing solutions and manage the registration
of learners through the NEAT portal.

om
“SIDHEE” Portal

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Union Minister for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises has launched Knowledge
Management Portal“SIDHEE”.

ai
The portal was launched under the Bureau of Energy Efficiency Micro Small and Medium
Enterprises (BEE’s MSME) Programme.
gm
The portal will host useful information including fifty videos ofmultimedia tutorials for MSMEs
for early adoption of energy-efficient technologies.
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Libra
Facebook announced a digital currency called Libra that will roll out for use in2020 and allow
9

the platform’s billions of users across the globe to makefinancial transactions online.
d1

The Marshall Islands has also decided to launch “Sovereign” (SOV), a crypto currency
which can be used as a legal tender.
hk

In 2018, Venezuela launched Petro, becoming the first country to officially launch its own
crypto currency.
am

'goAML'
The UAE has become the first country in the Gulf to launch a new reporting platform
it

developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to curb organised crimes.
sm

The UAE’s Financial Intelligence Unit launched the new anti-money laundering platform
'goAML', which has been open for registration since Ma 2019.
All financial entities and Designated Non-Financial Businesses or Professions have to register
on this system.
The platform will help the FIU prevent money laundering, financing of terrorism and
other illicit financial activities.

Surjit Bhalla Committee on Trade and Policy

The Committee has recommended “Elephant Bonds”.
Elephant Bonds will be a 25-year sovereign bond in which people declaringundisclosed income
will be bound to invest 50% which will be utilised only forinfrastructure projects.

Page 91
National Rubber Policy 2019.
The Department of Commerce brought out the National Rubber Policy inMarch 2019.
The National Rubber Policy includes several provisions to support the NaturalRubber(NR)
production sector and the entire rubber industry value chain.
Thailand and Indonesia are two of the leading rubber producers.
Further, India’s stands in fourth place in the production of natural rubber andsecond
place in world consumption.

om
NationalStatistical Office (NSO).

l.c
Union government has announced that the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) will be
merged with the Central Statistics Office to form the NationalStatistical Office (NSO).

ai
The NSO will be headed by the secretary of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation (MOSPI).

gm
The move is taken as the Statistical agencies like the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the
National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) face numerous problems in collecting data from
State and Central government departments.
1@
National Statistical office would lay special emphasis on ensuring collection of unbiased data
so as to restore public trust in the figures released by the Government.
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Nandan Nilekani committee, appointed by the RBI, had submitted itssuggestions on

d1

promoting digital payments.

hk

Complaint ManagementSystem (CMS)

am

Launched by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Complaint ManagementSystem (CMS) is
a software application to facilitate RBI’s grievance redressalprocess
It will provide a single window on Reserve Bank's website for lodgingcomplaints against any
it

regulated entity such as commercial banks, urban cooperative banks, and non-banking
financial companies, among others.
sm

“Gift” loophole in Imports

Central Board of Indirect Tax and Customs (CBIC) has asked domestic industry players to
come up with a detailed and long-term solution to combat customs duty evasion by foreign
sellers who are currently exploiting a loophole in the law
Foreign sellers were evading customs duty by categorising their products as ‘gifts’
According to the Foreign Trade Act, gift items of value up to ₹5,000 received from foreign
countries to people residing in India are exempted from customs duty

Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small

Page 92
Enterprises (CGTMSE)scheme
CGTMSE is a fund which provides guarantee for loans given to MSEse. in case borrowers
fails to give back loans, bank will get their money from thisfund
Now loans given by NBFCs can also be covered under this fund

Sabka Vishwas-Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme, 2019

om
Scheme is a one-time measure for liquidation of past disputes of Central Excise and
Service Tax (that are subsumed in GST and are pending in litigation at various forums)
The scheme also offers an opportunity to the taxpayers to pay the outstanding tax and

l.c
be free of any other consequence under the law
The scheme comes with a validity of 4 months starting from September 1, 2019

ai
Scheme to settle the indirect tax disputes in the pre- GST era
Ministry of Finance

ENVIRONMENT
gm
1@

Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020)

9

Wildlife experts believed that their numbers can be increased to 3000 in the next 15 years, and this
d1

idea gives birth to Indian rhino vision 2020 (IRV 2020).

Indian rhino vision 2020 is being implemented by the Department of Environment and Forest Assam,
hk

in partnership with Bodo Autonomous Council. It is supported by WWF India, WWF areas (Asian
Rhino and Elephant action strategy) program, the international rhino foundation (IRF), US fish and
am

wildlife service, save the rhino s campaign of zoological institutions worldwide, and several NGOs
and local conservation groups.

IRV 2020 aims to increase the total rhino population in Assam to 3000 by 2020. The
it

population of rhinos are to be distributed in various rhino habit in at least 7 protected areas in order
sm

to provide a long-term sustainable population of one-horned Indian rhino species.

Page 93
 om
l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it

International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR)

sm

Is anintergovernmental organization established in 1997.

INBAR plays a unique role in finding and demonstrating innovative ways of using bamboo and
rattan to protect the environment and biodiversity, alleviate poverty, and facilitates fairer pro-
poor trade.
INBAR connects a global network of partners from the government, private, and nonfor-profit
sectors in over 50 countries to define and implement a global agenda for sustainable
development through bamboo and rattan

Drought toolbox
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)is currently testing a
drought toolbox which uses a total of 15 to 30 different parameters to assess drought risk and
vulnerability of a geographical region.
Page 94
 UN convention was given the task of developing such a tool by countries during the previous
Conference of Parties (CoP) meeting at the Ordos in China in 2017.
The UNCCD has been working with other UN organisations including World Meteorological
Organisation (WMO)and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and experts to design the
toolbox.
Drought toolbox is an online web platform, a one-stop shop for all drought-preparedness
measures with a link to the various relevant tools in other organisations.

Peace Forest Initiative:

om
It is an initiative of South Korea to use ecological restoration as a peace-building process. It aims at

l.c
addressing the issue of land degradation in conflict-torn border areas and would go a long way in
alleviating tensions and building trust between communities living there and between enemy
countries in particular.

ai
International coalition for action on Sand and Dust storms
(SDS):
gm
1@

The coalition will develop an SDS source base map with the goal of improving monitoring and
response to these storms. SDS affects approximately 77% of UNCCD country Parties or
approximately 151 countries.
9
d1

Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)

As per the UNCCD definition, LDN is a state whereby the amount and quality of land
hk

resources, necessary to support ecosystem functions and services and enhance food security,
remains stable or increases within specified temporal and spatial scales.
It is a unique approach that counterbalances the expected loss of productive land with the
am

recovery of degraded areas

LDN can prevent Soil erosion, desertification, water scarcity, migration insecurity and income
inequalities caused by land degradation.
it

Thus, it helps in combating the impacts of climate change.

sm

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.

What is the Great Green Wall?

The Great Green Wall is a symbol of hope in the face of one of the biggest challenges of our
time– desertification.
Launched in 2007, this game-changing initiative aims to restore Africa’s degraded landscapes
and in the process transform millions of lives in one of the world’s poorest regions, the Sahel.
Page 95
 Under-UNCCD.

India Energy Modelling Forum

India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF) has been envisaged as a pan-stakeholder platform for
debating ideas, scenario planning & discussing India's energy future.
The Forum aims to improve cooperation and coordination between modelling teams, the
Government of India, knowledge partners and think-tanks, build the capacity of Indian

om
institutions, and identify issues for joint modelling activities and future areas of research.
Recently NITI Aayog and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
organized the first workshop on the development of the India Energy Modelling Forum (IEMF).

l.c
World Sustainable Development Summit

ai
The World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) is The Energy and Resources Institute's
annual event.
gm
The theme of the 2020 edition of the Summit is 'Towards 2030 Goals: Making the Decade
Count'.
The Energy and Resources Institute established The Sustainable Development Leadership
1@

Awardto felicitate the efforts of global leaders in the field of sustainable development.

National Biotechnology Development Strategy

9
d1

It intends to launch a major mission, backed with significant investments, for the creation of new
biotech products, create a strong infrastructure for R&D and commercialization, and empower
hk

India’s human resources scientifically and technologically.

The envisaged mission is:

am

Provide impetus to utilising the knowledge and tools to the advantage of Humanity
Launch a major well directed mission backed with significant investment for generation of
it

newBiotech Products
sm

Empower scientifically and technologically India’s incomparable Human Resource

Create a strong Infrastructure for R&D and Commercialisation
Establish India as a world class Bio-manufacturing Hub

UN, Environment Assembly

The United Nations Environment Assembly is the world’s highest-level decision-making body
on the environment.
The Environment Assembly meets biennially to set priorities for global environmental policies
and develop international environmental law.
It addresses the critical environmental challenges facing the world today.
The United Nations Environment Assembly was created during the United Nations Conference
on Sustainable Development, also referred to as RIO+20, in 2012.
Recent UN Environment Assembly is being held at Nairobi, Kenya.

Page 96
International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
(IWDRI)
2nd International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) will be inaugurated
on 19thMarch 2019 in India.
The workshop is organised by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in
collaboration with United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) and
in partnership with the Global Commission on Adaptation, UNDP and the World Bank.

om
SANH - South Asian Nitrogen Hub

l.c
18 Indian institutions is part of South Asian Nitrogen Hub to study nitrogen pollution.
South Asian Nitrogen Hub (SANH) – group of 50 research institutions from

ai
United Kingdom and South Asia to assess and study the quantum and impact of “nitrogen
pollution” in South Asia.

‘GreenCo Rating System’

gm
1@

GreenCo Rating is the “first of its kind in the World” holistic framework that evaluates
companies on the environmental friendliness of their activities using life cycle approach.
Implementation of GreenCo rating provides leadership and guidance to companies on how
9

to make products, services and operations greener.

d1

Industry personnel are trained on the latest Green concepts and facilitated for implementing
better systems and implementing global best practices in green.
hk

GreenCo rating is applicable to both manufacturing facilities and service sector units.
The rating system evaluates green features of companies against the performance parameters
like:
am

Energy Efficiency
Water Conservation
it

Renewable Energy etc.,

sm

Bombay Natural History Society

The Bombay Natural History Society, founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest
non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research.
It supports many research efforts through grants and publishes the Journal of the Bombay
Natural History Society.
Many prominent naturalists, including the ornithologists Sálim Ali and S. Dillon Ripley,
have been associated with it.
The society is commonly known by its initials, BNHS. BNHS is the partner of BirdLife
International in India. It has been designated as a 'Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation' by the Department of Science and Technology.
Its headquarter is in Mumbai and has one regional centre at Wetland Research and
Training Centre, near Chilika Lake, Odisha.
On 15 September 1883 eight men interested in natural history met at Bombay in the then
Page 97
 Victoria and Albert Museum (now BhauDaji Lad Museum) constituted themselves as the
Bombay Natural History Society.

Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History

The Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History(SACON) is a national centre for
information, education and research in ornithology and natural history in India.
It is an autonomous organisation established in 1990 as a public- NGO partnership between

om
the MoEF&CC, and the Bombay Natural History Society(BNHS) under the Centre of
Excellence Scheme and registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act.
Its headquarters are at Anaikatti, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. SACON is associated with

l.c
the Ministry of Environment and Forests

The Coral Triangle

ai
gm
The Coral Triangle is a marine area located in the western Pacific Ocean.
It includes the waters of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Timor
Leste and Solomon Islands.
Named for its staggering number of corals (nearly 600 different species of reef-building
1@

corals alone), the region nurtures six of the world’s seven marine turtle species and more than
2000 species of reef fish.
The Coral Triangle also supports large populations of commercially important tuna, fueling a
9

multi-billion dollar global tuna industry. Over 120 million people live in the Coral Triangle and
d1

rely on its coral reefs for food, income and protection from storms.
hk

Internet of Birds
IT consultancy firm Accenture and the Bombay Natural History Society have developed
am

Internet of Birds platform that identifies bird species found in India using Artificial Intelligence
technology, including machine learning and computer vision, from digital photos that are
uploaded by the public.
it

Each time a picture is contributed to the system by public, it teaches itself, increasing
sm

accuracy in the recognition of bird species.

Headquarters - Mumbai (Bombay), India

AboutSumatranRhino
Itisthesmallestofthefiveextantrhinospeciesinthe
TheotherspeciesincludetheWhiteRhino,theBlackRhino,theGreaterOne-
HornedRhinocerosandtheJavan
Scientificname:Dicerorhinussumatrensis
Habitat:Indonesia(AfterextinctioninMalaysia)
IUCNStatus–Criticallyendangered

Page 98
About Biodiversity management committees(BMC):
The Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) are statutory bodies that are formed by the
local bodies under Biological Diversity Act 2002.

Composition:

The BMC consists of a Chairperson and six persons nominated by local bodies, including 1/3rd
women and 18% SC/ST.

om
Functions:

l.c
Prepare People’s Biodiversity Register in consultation with the local people.

ai
Biological Diversity Act,2002:
gm
The Biological Diversity Act,2002 is an Act of the Parliament for preservation of biological
diversity in India.
It provides for a mechanism for equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of
1@

traditional biological resources and knowledge.

The Act was enacted to meet the obligations under Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD) to
which India is a part in 2002.
9
d1

Rushikulya River
It originates from Rushikulya hills of the Eastern Ghats in Phulbani district (Odisha).
hk

It is 165 kms. long with 8900 sq.kms of catchment areas.

It covers the entire catchment area in the districts of Kandhamal and Ganjam district of
am

Odisha.

Ecological- Flow Norms

it
sm

The Central Government under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 has notified the
minimum environmental flows for the River Ganga that has to be maintained at various
locations on the river.
This is to ensure that the river has at least the minimum required environmental flow
of water even after the river flow gets diverted by projects and structures for
purposes like irrigation, hydropower, domestic and industrial use etc. This is an important
step taken towards maintaining the uninterrupted or AviralDhara of the river.
Environmental flows are the acceptable flow regimes that are required to maintain a river in
the desired environmental state or predetermined state.
The Central Water Commission is the designated authority and will be responsible for
supervision, monitoring, regulation Etc.

Page 99
Centre for Science and Environment
Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is a not-for-profit public interest research and
advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, India.
Established in 1980, CSE works as a think tank on environment-development issues in India,
poor planning, climate shifts devastating India's Sundarbans and advocates for policy changes
and better implementation of the already existing policies.
CSE uses knowledge-based activism to create awareness about problems and propose

om
sustainable solutions.
In 2018 awarded Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development.

l.c
Himalayan Welfare Organization, Pahalgam

ai
Himalayan Welfare Organization, Pahalgam (HWO) is a Non-Profit, Non-Governmental
Organization based in Pahalgam, founded by its President, MushtaqPahalgami in March, 2008.

gm
The Himalayan Welfare Organization (HWO) has been working for the cause of Environmental
Conservation and Protection, Education, Healthcare and Promotion of Sports Adventure
Tourism and Eco-Trekking in and around Pahalgam.
1@

Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment

(GLOBE)
9
d1

It is an international environmental science and education programme that brings students,

teachers and scientists together to study the global environment.
hk

GLOBE is sponsored by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) with
support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) and Department of State.
am

Internationally, GLOBE is implemented through government-to- government agreements with

each country partner responsible for in-country activities.
MoEFCC and US Government signed an agreement on the 25th day of August 2000 to
it

implement the Globe programme in India. Indian Environmental Society is an implementing

agency for Globe in India.
sm

What is ECOLEX?
ECOLEX is an information service on environmental law, operated jointly by FAO, IUCN and
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.
Page 100
Centre for Biodiversity Policy and Law (CEBPOL)

Government of India in collaboration with Norwegian Government has established this centre to
develop professional expertise in biodiversity policies and laws and develop capacity building.

Resource Efficiency Cell

MoEFCC and TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) have entered a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to set up a resource efficiency cell in the Ministry.

om
The main objectives of the Cell are to provide a platform to mainstream resource efficiency in
public policy.

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Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)

ai
The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) is the apex body constituted in the
Ministry of Environment and Forests under ‘Rules for Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and
gm
Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms/Genetically Engineered Organisms, under the
Environment Protection Act, 1986.
The GEAC is also responsible for approval of proposals relating to release of genetically
1@

engineered organisms and products into the environment including experimental field trials.
The committee or any persons authorized by it has powers to take punitive action under the
Environment Protection Act.
9
d1

Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild

animals(CMS).
hk

India to host 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the conservation of
am

migratory species of wild animals(CMS), also known as the Bonn Convention.

The 13th Conference of Parties (COP) of the Convention on the conservation of migratory
species of wild animals (CMS), an environmental treaty under the aegis of United Nations
it

Environment Programme, is going to be hosted by India during 15th to 22nd February, 2020 at
Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
sm

About CMS

The Agreement was signed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment
Programmeand is concerned with conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale.
The CMS is the only global, and United Nations-based, intergovernmental organization
established exclusively for the conservation and management of terrestrial, aquatic and avian
migratory species.

Raptors MoU

The Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Birds of Prey in

Africa and Eurasia(Raptors MoU) is an international, legally non-binding agreement to
protect migratory birds of prey.

Page 101
Kolleru lake
It is located between Krishna and Godavari deltas and serves as a natural flood-balancing
reservoir for these two rivers.
In Kolleru Lake, Atapaka and surrounding patches witness the migratory birds.
The Atapaka breeding ground witnesses nearly 10,000 migratory birds, mostly Pelicans,
Painted Stork and Whistling Teels in the winter.
This wetland is one of the 25 international wetlands under the Ramsar convention in

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November 2002.
The lake was notified as a wildlife sanctuary in November 1999 under India’s WildLife
(Protection) Act, 1972.

l.c
Grey Pelican and Painted Stork both are near threatened species under IUCN Red List of
Threatened Species.

ai
TIGER TRIUMPH’
gm
‘TIGER TRIUMPH’ is the Tri services Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)
Exercise heldbetween India and USA at Visakhapatnam.
1@
Personnel from both Navies would also participate in Training Visits, Subject Matter Expert
Exchanges, Sports Events and social interactions. On completion of the Harbour Phase, the
ships, with troops embarked, would sail for the Sea Phase and undertake Maritime,
9

Amphibious and HADR operations.

On reaching the HADR area at Kakinada, the landing of Relief Forces would be undertaken to
d1

the Exercise scenario.

hk

Green Building Certifying Agencies

am

There are various certifying agencies that help building developers to implement these principles
and get green certification. Some of them are:

LEED-India – Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is an international

it

recognized certification system for the green buildings. The LEED-India Green Building Rating
sm

System is an international benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high
performance green buildings (provided by IGBC).
IGBC Ratings – The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) is a division of the Confederation
of Indian Industry that works closely with the government and aims at sustainably built
environment.
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.

Page 102
What are Eco-sensitive zones.
Eco-Sensitive Zones or Ecologically Fragile Areas are areas within 10 kms around Protected
Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
ESZs are notified by MoEFCC, Government of India under Environment Protection Act 1986.
In case of places with sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches,
crucial for landscape linkage, even area beyond 10 km width can also be included in the eco-
sensitive zone.

om
The basic aim is to regulate certain activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries
so as to minimise the negative impacts of such activities on the fragile ecosystem
encompassing the protected areas.

l.c
The SDG India Index,

ai
It was developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics & Programme

gm
Implementation (MoSPI), Global Green Growth Institute and United Nationsin India.

Extinction Rebellion (abbreviated as XR)

1@

It is a global environmental movement with the stated aim of using nonviolent civil
disobedience to compel government action to avoid tipping points in the climate system,
9

biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse.

d1

Extinction Rebellion was established in the United Kingdom in May 2018.

Cultural model of Conservation

hk

This is based on a respect for rights of indigenous peoples & other bearers of “traditional
am

knowledge” & prevents social conflicts.

It involves forest dwellers in forest mgmt. & governance & acknowledges traditional rights of
tribal over minor forest produce & provisions for making conservation more effective & more
it

transparent.
Kinshasa Resolution of 1975 (under IUCN) provides international recognition to cultural model
sm

of conservation. It acknowledges importance of traditional ways of life & land ownership, &
call on governments to maintain & encourage customary ways of living.

Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design India

LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system, providing third-
party verification that a building or community was designed and built using strategies aimed
at improving performance across all the metrics that matter most: Energy savings, water
efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship
of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
The Indian Green Building Council has adapted LEED system and has launched LEED India
version for rating of new construction.

Page 103
Global 200 Ecoregions
The World Wide Fund for Nature has derived a system called the "Global 200
Ecoregions", the aim of which is to select priority Ecoregions for conservation within each of
14 terrestrial, 3 freshwater, and 4 marine habitat types.
They are chosen for their species richness, endemism, taxonomic uniqueness, unusual
ecological or evolutionary phenomena, and global rarity.
All biodiversity hotspots contain at least one Global 200 Ecoregion.

om
COP 25 as the ‘Blue COP

l.c
Chile has declared COP 25 as the ‘Blue COP,’ and is promoting the conference as an
opportunity to raise awareness on the importance of including an ocean component in climate

ai
action.
The Platform for Science-Based Ocean Solutions will bring together key methodologies and

gm
tools to help incorporate oceans into countries’ NDCs.

Adaptation Fund
1@

The Adaptation Fund is an international fund that finances projects and programs aimed at
helping developing countries to adapt to the harmful effects of climate change.
9

It is set up under the Kyoto Protocol of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
d1

Change (UNFCCC).
The Adaptation Fund is managed by the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB).
The secretariat of the Adaptation Fund Board provides research, advisory, administrative, and
hk

an array of other services to the Board, and consists of an international staff based in
Washington, DC.
am

The World Bank serves as the trustee of the Adaptation Fund.

Climate Vulnerability map

it

The map is being developed to prepare communities and people to meet the challenges arising
sm

out of climate.
The information specific to a state or even district is needed to meet the challenges of climate
change.

Who will be developing the map?

The map is being developed under a joint project of the Department of Science and
Technology(DST) under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology and Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation(SDC).
This research programme of DST is being implemented as part of the National Mission for
Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem(NMSHE) and National Mission on Strategic Knowledge
for Climate Change (NMSKCC).
The atlas is expected to be ready by the middle of 2020.

Page 104
India’s first trading programme to combat particulate air
pollution
Gujarat has recently launched India’s first trading programme to combat particulate
air pollution on World Environment Day 2019, which has air pollution as its theme.
The programme is a market-based system where the government sets a cap on
emissions and allowindustries to buy and sell permits to stay below the cap.
In a cap and trade market, the regulator will measure pollution over a period of time and

om
industries must own enough permits to cover their total emissions.

International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)

l.c
The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) is an intergovernmental

ai
organization promoting the sustainable management and conservation of tropical forests and the
expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber from sustainably
managed and legally harvested forests. gm
ITTO:
1@

Develops internationally agreed policy guidelines and norms to encourage sustainable forest
management (SFM) and sustainable tropical timber industries and trade.
9

Assists tropical member countries to adapt such guidelines and norms to local circumstances
d1

and to implement them in the field through projects and other activities.
Collects, analyses and disseminates data on the production and trade of tropical timber.
Promotes sustainable tropical timber supply chains.
hk

Helps develop capacity in tropical forestry.

The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of International
am

Importance
where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a
result of
it

technological developments, pollution or other human interference. It is the principal tool of the
sm

Convention
and is maintained as part of the Ramsar.

BioCarbon Fund
The BioCarbon Fund is a public-private sector initiative managed by the World Bank and
supports projects that generate multiple revenue streams.
It combines financial returns from the sale of emission reductions (i.e., carbon credits) which
increase local incomes and provide other indirect benefits from sustainable land management
practices.
Generating multiple revenue streams is crucial to rural communities that otherwise have
limitedsources of income.

Page 105
Wood snake
A species of wood snake that wasn’t seen for 140 years has resurfaced in a survey conducted
by scientists in the Meghamalai Wildlife Sanctuary.
“The snake is a ‘point endemic’ (found only in Meghamalai). Meghamalai is a mountain range
situated in the Western Ghats in Theni district, Tamil Nadu.

Gooty Tarantula

om
Researchers have recently sighted Gooty Tarantula for the first time beyond its known
habitat in the Eastern Ghats.

l.c
Its Common Name is Peacock Parachute Spider or Gooty Tarantula.
The spider belonging to the genus Poecilotheria. This species is endemic to India. It’s known

ai
habitat is in Eastern Ghats, in degraded forests near Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh.
Now researchers have sighted it for the first time beyond Eastern Ghats in the Pakkamalai

gm
Reserve Forests near Gingee in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu.
It is listed as Critically Endangered on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program for Low Income

1@

Countries
9

The Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program in Low Income Countries (SREP) is a targeted
d1

program of the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF), which is one of two funds within the Climate
Investment Funds (CIF) framework.
hk

The SREP was designed to demonstrate the economic, social and environmental viability of
low carbon development pathways in the energy sector in low-income countries.
It aims to help low-income countries use new economic opportunities to increase energy
am

access through renewable energy use.

Date of fund proposed: February 2008. Date fund made operational: 14 December 2009.
The World Bank is the Trustee and Administrating Unit of the SREP.
it

The World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank,
sm

the European Development Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank are the
implementing agencies for SREP investments.

UN-REDD Programme
UN Agencies – United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – have collaborated in the
establishment of the UN-REDD programme, a multi-donor trust fund that allows donors to pool
resources and provide funding with the aim of significantly reducing global emissions from
deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries.
Through its nine initial country programme activities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, the
UNREDD Programme supports the capacity of national governments to prepare and
implement national REDD strategies with the involvement of all stakeholders.
Date fund proposed: June 2008, Date fund made operational: September 2008
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 The UNDP has been appointed as the Administrative Agent for the UN-REDD
ProgrammeMultiDonorTrust Fund (MDTF).
The UN-REDD Programme’s aims are to generate the necessary flow of resources to
significantly reduce global emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing
countries.

India's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions

(INDCs) to be achieved

om
India's Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) to be achieved primarily, by
2030

l.c
To reduce the emissions intensity of the GDP by about a third.
A total of 40% of the installed capacity for electricity will be from non-fossil fuel sources.

ai
India also promised an additional carbon sink (a means to absorb carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere) of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent through additional forest
and tree cover by the year 2030.

The top four emitters

gm
1@

The top four emitters (China, USA, EU and India), India is the fourth largest emitter,
contributed to over 55% of the total emissions over the last decade, excluding emissions from
land-use changes such as deforestation.
9

The largest share of emissions come from the energy sector and its fossil fuel emissions.
d1

Industry produces the next largest footprint, followed by forestry, transport, agriculture and
buildings.
hk

Emissions gap report

am

Emissions gap report is a flagship report from UNEPand 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.
it

The report finds that greenhouse gas emissions have risen 1.5 per cent per year over the last
decade.
sm

Emissions in 2018, including from land-use changes such as deforestation, hit a new high of
55.3 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent.
Every year, the report features ways to bridge the gap.
This year, the report looked at the potential of the energy transition – particularly in the
power, transport and buildings sectors – and efficiency in the use of materials such as iron and
steel and cement.
India is among a small group of countries that are on their way to achieve their self-declared
climate targets under the Paris Agreement. However, the emissions largely depend on the
growth of the economy of the country.

Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA)

It is a group of environmental professionals dedicated to working towards a world without
waste through public education and practical application of Zero Waste principles.
Page 107
 By disseminating knowledge and providing support to its members ZWIA is promoting the
implementation of Zero Waste Principles in various aspects.

The “The Future of Earth, 2020” Report was recently

released.
The report is released by the South Asia Future Earth Regional Office, Divecha Centre for
Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science.

om
The report was prepared with the aim of reducing carbon footprint and halting global warming
below 2 degree Celsius by 2050.

l.c
Ecological Fiscal Transfers (EFT)

ai
IT distribute a share of intergovernmental fiscal transfers and revenue sharing schemes

gm
according to ecological indicators such as protected areas or watershed management areas.
These conservation areas thus become a source of income for the receiving governments. EFT
were invented as a compensation scheme for municipalities.
1@

Forest Carbon Partnership Facility

9

FCPF is a World Bank programme and consists of a Readiness Fund and a Carbon Fund.
d1

The FCPF was created to assist developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation
and forest degradation, enhance and conserve forest carbon stocks, and sustainably manage
forests (REDD+).
hk

The FCPF became operational upon the operational date of the Readiness Fund.
Administrating Organisation- The World Bank.
am

BUNKER Convention
it

The International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage(BUNKER) is
an International treaty listed and administered by the International Maritime Organization,
sm

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.
In the convention, 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 leakage.

EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL)

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under the Ministry of Power, Government of
India, is working towards mainstreaming energy efficiency and is implementing the world’s
largest energy efficiency portfolio in the country.
Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is a joint venture of four national Public-Sector
Undertakings – NTPC Limited, Power Finance Corporation Limited, Rural Electrification
Page 108
 Corporation Limited and POWERGRID Corporation of India Limited.

Programmes implemented by EESL

Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA)

Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP): World’s largest street light replacement
programme
Agriculture Demand Side management (AgDSM): World’s largest Agricultural Demand
Side Management programme'

om
SAATHI initiative of the Government will be jointly implemented by EESL and the office of
the Textile Commissioner on a pan-India basis.
EESL’s role: Atal Jyoti Yojana (AJAY)

l.c
Green financing

ai
Green financing is to increase level of financial flows (from banking, micro-credit, insurance and
gm
investment) from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to sustainable development priorities.
A key part of this is to better manage environmental and social risks, take up opportunities that
bring both a decent rate of return and environmental benefit and deliver greater accountability..
1@

Environmental taxes
9

These include pollution charges (emission/affluent & tax/pollution tax), marketable permits, deposit
d1

refund system, input taxes/product charges, differential tax rates, user administrative changes and
subsidies for pollution abatement, which may be based on both price and quality.
hk

Environmental accounting
am

The method of accounting which includes the ecological and environmental damages done by
the economic activities in monetary terms.
Integrated environment and economic (green) accounting attempts at accounting for both
it

socioeconomic performance and its environmental effects and integrates environmental

sm

concerns into mainstream economic planning and policies.

The green GDP of an economy is measured by the same method.

Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity

and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body, established by member States in 2012.
It is a global scientific body, similar in composition and functioning to the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
IPCC’s assessment reports form the scientific basis on which the international negotiations on
climate change have been happening.
IPBES is often described as the “IPCC for biodiversity”, as it is mandated to do a similar job for
natural ecosystems and biodiversity.
The objective is to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem
Page 109
 services.

SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting)

SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting) is a state-of-the-art Air Quality
and WeatherForecast System.
The SAFAR system is developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, along with
ESSO partner institutions namely India Meteorological Department (IMD) and National

om
Centre forMedium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF).
SAFAR will accelerate public awareness and preparedness of air pollution and weather
extremes. It will also lead to better understanding of linkages among emissions, weather,

l.c
pollution and climate.

Global warming potential (GWP)

ai
time horizon, relative to carbon dioxide.
The GWP depends on the following factors:
gm
It is a measure of how much heat a greenhouse gas traps in the atmosphere up to a specific

The absorption of infrared radiation by a given species

1@

The spectral location of its absorbing wavelengths

The atmospheric lifetime of the species
9

Micrylettaaishani
d1

It is Researchers have discovered a new species of ‘Paddy Frog’ from Northeast India,
hk

primarily in Assam.
It The newly discovered species has been named Aishani, which is derived from Sanskrit word
‘aishani’ or aisanimeaning Northeast.
am

It is a group of narrow-mouthed frogs that isprimarily and widely distributed in

Southeast Asia.
These frogs are more commonly known as "paddyfrogs”.
it

Micrylettaaishani is currently endemic to Northeast India but it could very well bepresent in
sm

neighbouring regions of Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Apart from Assam, it is also present in Tripura and Manipur

ASIATIC GOLDEN CAT

The coat of Asiatic golden cat comes in five other shades besides the golden colour
inArunachal Pradesh, scientists have discovered.
Its coat comes in six types: cinnamon, golden, gray, melanistic, ocelot and tightlyrosetted.

About
Scientific name: Catopumatemminckii.
IUCN : Near threatened
Found across eastern Nepal through northeastern India to Indonesia.
Scientists believe that the wide variationdisplayed in the cat’s coats provides them with
Page 110
several ecological benefits such as occupying different habitats at differentelevations — from wet
tropical lowland forests to alpine scrubs — and providingcamouflage while preying on pheasants and
rabbits.

Balsams or jewel-weeds
Eastern Himalayas, a treasure trove of Balsams, yields 20 new species.

About

om
Belonging to Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, these plantsare highly sensitive to climatic
conditions likeextreme drought and extended exposure tosunlight.

l.c
Consisting of both annual and perennial herbs, balsams are succulentplants with high
endemism. Because of their bright beautiful flowers, thesegroup of plants are of prized

ai
horticultural significance

Bonn Challenge gm
The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of degradedand deforested land
1@

into restoration by 2020 and 350 million by 2030.

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

9
d1

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (WDCD) isobserved on 17th June
every year. UNCCD was established in 1994 and the only legally binding
hk

Platform of Science-based Ocean Solutions (PSBOS)

am

The Platform aims to promote the necessity of addressing ocean and climate
issuessynergistically and to encourage the incorporation of the ocean in country climate
commitments and strategies.
it

The platform builds on the momentum of an IPCC Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in
sm

a ChangingClimate (SROCC) earlier this year.

Chile, in its role as the Presidency of the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP
25) to the UNFCCC, launched the Platform for Science-Based Ocean Solutions (PSBOS).

Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management &

TransboundaryMovement) Amendment Rules, 2019
Salient features of the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management & Transboundary
Movement) Amendment Rules, 2019:

Solid plastic waste has been prohibited from import into the country including in Special
Economic Zones (SEZ) and by Export Oriented Units (EOU).
Exporters of silk waste have now been given exemption from requiring permission from
the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Page 111
 Electrical and electronic assemblies and components manufactured in and exported from
India, if found defective can now be imported back into the country, within a year of export,
without obtaining permission from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Industries which do not require consent under Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act
1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1981, are now exempted from requiring
authorization also under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management & Transboundary
Movement) Rules, 2016, provided that hazardous and other wastes generated by such
industries are handed over to the authorized actual users, waste collectors or disposal
facilities.

om
HYDROTHERAPY CLINIC FOR ELEPHANTS

l.c
India has opened its first specialised hydrotherapy treatment for elephants suffering from
arthritis, joint pain and foot ailments, near the Wildlife SOS’

ai
Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC) in Mathura.

About ECCC. gm
It is established by Wildlife SOS in collaboration with Uttar Pradesh Forest Department.
1@

It currently houses several rescued elephants who were rescued from circuses and from cruel
owners who were in illegal possession of these elephants.
9

Arogyapacha: ‘MiraclePlant’
d1

It is a highly potent medicinal plant endemic to the Agastya hillsin the southern
WesternGhats.
hk

This plant is traditionally used by the Kani tribal community to combat fatigue.
The plants showanti-oxidant, aphrodisiac, anti-microbial, anti- inflammatory anti-tumour, anti-
am

ulcer, hepatoprotective and anti-diabetic properties.

IMPRESSEDTORTOISE
it
sm

This species of tortoise have never been previously sighted inIndia.

Scientific Name of Impressed TortoiseisManouriaImpressa.

Koundinya sanctuary
The Kaundinya Wild Life Sanctuary (KWLS) is a wildlife sanctuary and an elephant reserve
loacted in Andhra Pradesh.
It is the only sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh with a population of Asian elephants, which
migrated after 200 years from neighbouring regions.
The sanctuary is covered by southern tropical dry deciduous and thorn forests. Some of the
important flora consists of Albiziaamara, Acacia, Lagerstroemia, Ficus, bamboo, and a species
which is a regeneration of Santalum album.

Page 112
Asiatic golden Cat
Scientists have found that its coat comes in five other shadesand types: cinnamon, gray,
melanistic, ocelot and tightly rosetted
Golden is no longer the only colour the elusive Asiatic golden cat can be associated with. Its
coat comes in five other shades in Arunachal Pradesh, scientists have discovered
IUCN Status: Near Threatened
It is found across eastern Nepal through north-eastern India to Indonesia

om
Idu Mishmi tribe

l.c
Found in Arunachal Pradesh.
Protesting against the declaration of Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary (DWS) as Tiger Reserve.

ai
Traditionally follow an animist and shamanistic faith and believe that tigers are their elder
siblings. Tigers are never hunted by Idu Mishmi and even If a tiger is killed in self-defense, it
will receive the same burial as a human being)
gm
Kudremukh national park
1@

Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary lies in the Western Ghatsof Karnataka (Udupi &Shimoga
districts).
9

The Western Ghats are on India’s World Heritage sites list.

d1

It is named after the Someshwaratemple located within the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is mostly made up of evergreen forests, semi-evergreenand moist
hk

deciduous
It is situated very close to the Kudremukh National Park.
am

Sitanadi riverflows through the sanctuary.

Some Endangeredspecies are found viz; Lion Tailed Macaque, Tiger, Dhole (wild dog).
it

Lion-tailed Macaque
sm

It is endemic to the Western Ghats in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Although the species has a relatively wide range, its area of occupancy is small and
severely fragmented.
Primarily diurnal arboreal, it prefers the upper canopy of primary tropical
evergreen rainforest.
It can also be found in monsoon forests in hilly country and in disturbed forest.

Protected areas:
KudremukhNational Park (Karnataka)

Periyar National Park (Kerala)

Silent Valley National Park (Kerala)
Threats:
Habitat loss and degradation - deforestation, agriculture, logging leads to a scarcity
Page 113
 of the fruit on which the Macaque feed, which is particularly devastating.
Creation of exotic plantations such as tea, eucalyptus and coffee.
Hunting
Pet trade
Conservation and Protection:
IUCN Red list: Endangered.
It is listed in Appendix I of CITES.
It is protected under Schedule I, Part I, of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

om
Mrigal carp/white carp fish

l.c
IUCN Status Vulnerable
Is a species of ray-finned fish in the
Native to streams and rivers in India, the only surviving wild population is in the Cauvery

ai
River
It is widely aquafarmed and introduced populations exist outsideits native range + It reaches a
maximum length of 1 m (3.3 ft) gm
World Wildlife Day
1@

World Wildlife Day is celebrated every year on the 3rd of March since 2013.
The date chosen coincides with the day the Convention on International Trade in
9

Endangered Speciesof Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which was signed in 1973.
d1

The UNGA resolution also designated the CITES Secretariat as the facilitator for the
global observance of this special day for wildlife on the UN calendar.
hk

Theme: 'Sustaining all Life on Earth', highlights the unique place of wild fauna and flora as
essential components of the world’s biodiversity.
The year 2020, known as “biodiversity super year,” will host several major global events
am

that place biodiversity at the forefront.

Red Crowned Roofed Turtle

it
sm

Red Crowned Roofed Turtle is one of the 24 species endemic to India, is characterised
by the bright colours such as red, yellow, white and blue on the faces and necks of the males.
Common Names: Bengal roof turtle, Red-crowned roofed turtle.
Distribution:
It is a freshwater turtle species found in deep flowing rivers with terrestrial nesting
sites.
The Red-crowned roofed turtle is native to India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Historically, the species was widespread in the Ganga River, both in India and
Bangladesh. It also occurs in the Brahmaputra basin.
Currently in India, the National Chambal River Gharial Sanctuary is the only area
with substantial population of the species, but even this Protected Area and habitat are
under threat.
Conservation Status:
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) : Critically
Page 114
 Endangered
Wildlife Protection Act (IWPA) : Schedule I
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna
and Flora (CITES) : Appendix II

Sukhna Lake
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has declared Sukhna lake (Chandigarh) as a living

om
entity recently.

The court invoked its parens patriae jurisdiction

All the citizens of Union Territory, Chandigarh, as loco parentis

l.c
Sukhna Lake is a rain-fed lake, located within Chandigarh and its catchment area falls both
in Punjab and Haryana.

ai
The lake was constructed in 1958 and is spread over 3 sq km.
The court has completely banned new construction in the catchment areas falling in the states
gm
of Punjab, Haryana and Union Territory Chandigarh as well as in
the Sukhna Wetland and Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary.
Earlier, Uttarakhand High Court declared the rivers Yamuna and Ganga as legal or
1@

juridical persons, enjoying all the rights, duties and liabilities of a living person.

Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) report

9
d1

By National TigerConservation Authority (NTCA)

It ranks tiger reserves on numerous parameters
hk

Shows that the five tiger reserves in Karnataka have an overall score of 80.47, whichis a 10%
increase from the MEE evaluation in 2014, and reflects “better protectionstatus” of the
reserves (The biggest improvements are in Kali and Bhadra tigerreserves)
am

Amazon Rainforests
it

These are large tropical rainforest occupying the drainage basin of the Amazon River and its
sm

tributaries in northern South America and covering an area of 6,000,000 square km.
Tropical forests are closed-canopy forests growing within 28 degrees north or south
of the equator.
They are very wet places, receiving more than 200 cm rainfall per year, either
seasonally or throughout the year.
Temperatures are uniformly high - between 20°C and 35°C.
Such forests are found in Asia, Australia, Africa, South America, Central America,
Mexico and on many of the Pacific Islands.

CITES Cop18
18th meeting of cites took place in Geneva, Switzerland
The Indian star tortoise, smooth-coated otters and Asian small-clawed otters was upgraded
to CITES Appendix I giving it the highest level of international protection from commercial
Page 115
 trade
The Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) and 18 species of sharks and rays was included for the first
time under Appendix II
Giraffes have been accorded protection from unregulated trade i.e. it is placed in Appendix II
of CITES

India Cooling Action Plan

om
India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP) is launched by Ozone Cell of Union Minister for Environment,Forest
and Climate Change(MoEFCC)

ICAP aims to provide sustainable cooling while keeping in mind, at the same time, the need to

l.c
protect the ozone layer
It provides a 20-year perspective, with projections for cooling needs in 2037-38.

ai
Objectives
gm
Assessment of cooling requirements across sectors in the next 20 years and the associated
refrigerant demand and energy use,
1@
Map the technologies available to cater to the cooling requirement including passive
interventions, refrigerant-based technologies and alternative technologies such as not-in-kind
technologies,
9

Suggest interventions in each sector to provide for sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for
all,
d1

Focus on skilling of Refrigeration and air-conditioning(RAC) service technicians, and

Develop an R&D innovation ecosystem for indigenous development of alternative technologies.
hk

The plan is in sync with India’s commitment to the Montreal Protocol, 1987 (reduction of
ozone-depleting substances) as well as the Paris Agreement,2015 to meet the challenges of
climate change.
am

The Global Cooling Innovation Summit'

it

The Global Cooling Prize is an international competition to encourage the development of a

sm

residential cooling technology which impacts the environment five times lesser than the
standard Room Air Conditioning (RAC).
This summit was the first of its kind event that aimed to find a concrete solution to the
international climate threat, which is raised due to the rising use of room air conditioners
The event was jointly organised by the Department of Science and Technology along with
Rocky Mountain Institute, Alliance for an Energy-efficient Economy (AEEE), Conservation X
Labs, and CEPT University.

What is Global Cooling Prize?

Page 116
GLOBAL COOLING PRIZE
Union Minister for Science & Technology announced the finalists of the ‘Global Cooling Prize’ (GCP)
at an Award Ceremony being organized by the Department of Science and Technology (DST)
under the Mission Innovation (MI) programme. The Global Cooling Prize is rallying a
global coalition of leaders to solve the critical climate threat that comes from growing demand
for residential air conditioning.

om
Aim of GCP

GCP aims to spur the development of a residential cooling solution that has at least five times

l.c
(5x) less climate impact than today’s standard products.

ai
Who launched the GCP?

gm
Department of Science & Technology (DST) in partnership with BEE &MoEF&CC has
launched GCP jointly with Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), an independent non-profit research
institute and think tank founded in 1982 in the US, to spur development of residential cooling
solution that has drastically (up to five times) less climate impact than today’s standard products
1@

especially contextualized to Indian context.

Climate Vulnerability Map of India

9
d1

Developed under a joint project of the Department of Science and Technology (DST)
under the Union Ministry of Science and Technology and Swiss Agency for Development and
hk

Cooperation (SDC)
The atlas is expected to be ready by the middle of 2020.
am

Kaziranga National Park

it

Located in Assam
Hosts two-thirds of the world's great onehorned rhinoceroses(Vulnerable)
sm

Also a tiger reserve

UNESCO WHS
World Heritage Site
Recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International
Home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer
For the 1st time Waterfowl came here
Criss-crossed by four major rivers, including the Brahmaputra
Other rare birds sighted at the water bodies included the critically endangered red-headed
vulture, the endangered Pallas’s fish eagle and the greater adjutant stork, and the vulnerable
greater spotted eagle, great hornbill, lesser adjutant stork, woolly-necked stork, and swamp
francolin
Critically endangered Baer’s pochards

Page 117
Proahaetulla Antiqua
It Is a new species of vine snake discovered recently by researchers from the Western Ghats
that dates back 26 million years

IdiopsNilagiri
New trapdoor spider species discovered

om
Found in deciduous forest of Odisha in Kuldhia Wildlife sanctuary

What is Fly Ash?

l.c
Fly ash is a major source of PM 2.5 (fine, respirable pollution particles) in summer. It

ai
becomes air borne, and gets transported to a radius of 10 to 20 kms.
It can settle on water and other surfaces.
gm
Fly ash contains heavy metals from coal, a large amount of PM 2.5 and black carbon (BC).
Indian fly ash is primarily of the calcareous or class C variety, implying that it possesses not
only pozzolanic, but also hydraulic (self-cementing) properties.
1@

In contrast, European fly ash is of a silicious or class F variety, implying an absence of

hydraulic properties.
9

Science and technology

d1

IndiGen initiative
hk

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) recently announced the conclusion of
am

a six-month exercise (from April 2019) of conducting a “whole-genome sequence” of a 1,008

Indians.
The project is part of a programme called “IndiGen” and is also seen as a precursor to a much
it

larger exercise involving other government departments to map a larger swathe of the
population in the country.
sm

The IndiGen initiative was undertaken by CSIR (not department of Biotechnology) in April
2019, which was implemented by the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology
(IGIB), Delhi and CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad.
IndiGen programme aims to undertake whole genome sequencing of thousands of individuals
representing diverse ethnic groups from India.
The objective is to enable genetic epidemiology (Genetic epidemiology is the study of the role
of genetic factors in determining health and disease in families and in populations, and the
interplay of such genetic factors with environmental factors) and develop public health
technologies applications using population genome data.

MANAV, A human atlas project

MANAV Human Atlas Initiative aims to create a unified Human Atlas by mapping the

Page 118
 molecular details of every cell, tissue, and organ in the human body by curating all the
available information present in scientific literature and public database.
The MANAV Human Atlas Initiative is a megaproject initiated by the Department of Science
and Technology (DST), Govt. of India, in collaboration with a private biotechnology institute
named Persistent System.
MANAV is funded by DBT and co-funded by the technology company Persistent Systems.
It will be executed by two of India’s major research Institutes, Indian Institute of Science
Education and Research (IISER), Pune, and the National Center for Cell Sciences (NCCS),
Pune, with technical support from Persistent Systems.

om
DRDO Successfully Conducts Flight Test of ABHYAS

l.c
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted successful flight test of
ABHYAS - High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from Interim Test Range, Chandipur

ai
in Odisha today. The flight test was tracked by various RADARS & Electro Optic Systems and
proved its performance in fully autonomous way point navigation mode.
gm
The configuration of ABHYAS is designed on an in-line small gas turbine engine and uses
indigenously developed MEMS based navigation system for its navigation and guidance. The
performance of the system was as per simulations carried out and demonstrated the capability
1@

of ABHYAS to meet the mission requirement for a cost effective HEAT.

NEON
9
d1

NEON was one of the most-discussed new concepts at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
held in Las Vegas in 2020.
hk

NEONs, being called the world’s first artificial humans, have been created by Samsung’s
Star Labs headed by PranavMistry, an India - born scientist.
am

NEONs are computationally created virtual humans — the word derives from NEO (new) +
humaN.
A virtual human is a Computer Generated (CG) human simulation with artificial intelligence.
it

Raman Effect
sm

Raman effect is the inelastic scattering of a photon by molecules which are excited to
higher vibrational or rotational energy levels. It is also called Raman scattering.
The Raman effect forms the basis for Raman spectroscopy which is used by chemists and
physicists to gain information about materials.

Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre

Indian Sign Language Research and training Center ( ISLRTC) is an autonomous
organization under the administrative and financial control of Department of Empowerment
of Persons with Disabilities(Divyangjan) Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment,
Government of India.
ISLRTC was established on 26th of September, 2015 in accordance with the provisions of
Page 119
 Societies Registration Act,1860.

Fiber Optics & Optical Fibers

A technology that uses glass (or plastic) threads (fibers) to transmit data.
A fiber optic cable consists of a bundle of glass threads, each of which is capable of
transmitting messagesmodulated onto light waves

Fiber optics has several advantages over traditional metal communications lines

om
Much greater bandwidth than metal cables. This means that they can carry more data.
Immunity to Electromagnetic Interference

l.c
Thinner and lighter than metal wires.
Data can be transmitted digitally (the natural form for computer data) rather than

ai
analogically.
Data Security & No sparks hazard

LASER
gm
1@

A device that generates an intense beam of coherent monochromatic light (or other
electromagnetic radiation) by stimulated emission of photons from excited atoms or molecules.
Coherent, in this context, means that it is all one wavelength, unlike ordinary light which
9

showers on us in many wavelengths.

d1

Theacronym laser stands for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

Lasers work as a result of resonant effects. The output of a laser is a coherent electromagnetic
hk

field.
In a coherent beam of electromagnetic energy, all the waves have the same frequency and
phase
am

Optical properties of Laser are exploited in

it

Holography
sm

Reading barcodes
Recording and playing compact discs

Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0

The Government will launch the second phase of nationwide immunisation drive, i.e.
Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0, to mark the 25 years of Pulse polio programme.
Intensified Mission Indradhanush 2.0 aims to achieve at least 90% pan-India
immunisation coverage by 2022.
Mission Indradhanush, that was launched in December 2014, has increased India’s
immunisation coverage significantly to 87% from 67% in 2014.

Immunization Programme in India

Immunization Programme in India was introduced in 1978 as ‘Expanded Programme of

Page 120
 Immunization (EPI) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
In 1985, the Programme was modified as ‘Universal Immunization Programme (UIP)’. The
stated objectives of the Programme include:

Mission Indradhanush
The aim is to fully immunize more than 89 lakh children who are either unvaccinated or
partially vaccinated under UIP.

om
It targets children under 2 years of age and pregnant women for immunization.
It provides vaccination against 12 Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD) i.e. diphtheria,
Whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, meningitis and pneumonia,

l.c
Hemophilus influenza type B infections, Japanese encephalitis (JE), rotavirus vaccine,
pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and measles-rubella (MR).

ai
Intensified Mission Indradhanush
gm
The Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) was launched by the Government of India in
2017 to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who
have been left uncovered under the routine immunisationprogramme.
1@

Under IMI, greater focus has been given on urban areas which was one of the gaps of Mission
Indradhanush.
The target under IMI was to increase the full immunization coverage to 90% by December
9

2018. However, only 16 districts in the country have achieved 90% coverage so far.
d1

Pulse Polio Immunization Programme

hk

With the global initiative of eradication of polio in 1988 following the World Health Assembly
resolution in 1988, Pulse Polio Immunization programme was launched in India in the financial
am

year 1994-95.
It was started with an objective of achieving hundred percent coverage under Oral Polio
Vaccine.
it

Children in the age group of 0-5 years are administered polio drops during national and
sm

sub-national immunization rounds (in high risk areas) every year.

WHO on 24th February 2012 removed India from the list of countries with active
endemic wild poliovirus transmission and in 2014, India was declared Polio free.
As a risk mitigation measure, the country has also introduced Inactivated Polio Vaccine across
the country in all states.

Nanopharmaceuticals
Nanopharmaceuticals is defined as a pharmaceutical preparation containing nanomaterials
intended for internal use or external application on a human for the purpose of therapeutics,
diagnostics and health benefits.
The nanomaterial is defined as material having a particle size in the range of 1 to 100 nm in at
least one dimension.

Page 121
Interferons
Interferons are proteins that are produced by the body’s cells as a defensive response to
viruses. They are important modulators of the immune response.
Interferon was named for its ability to interfere with viral proliferation.

The fire-and-forget missile is developed by DRDO under the integrated guided missile
development programme (IGMDP)— Agni, Akash, Trishul,Prithvi, NAG

om
"White Shipping"

l.c
1. White shipping information refers to exchange of relevant advance information on the
identity and movement of commercial non-military merchant vessels.
2. India signed white shipping agreement with ISRAEL,FRANCE, UK AUSTRALIA.

ai
MarCOCubesat gm
CubeSats are a class of spacecraft based on a standardized small size and modular use of off-
1@
the-shelf technologies.
MarCOCubeSats were launched along with InSights Mission to serve as communication relays
during its Mars landing.
9

NASA's PUNCH Mission

d1

PUNCH, which stands for “Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere”, will study
hk

the transition of particles from the Sun’s outer corona to the solar wind that fills interplanetary
space.
am

PUNCH will consist of a constellation of four suitcase- sizedmicrosats that will orbit the Earth
and study how the corona, which is the atmosphere of the Sun, connects with the
interplanetary medium.
it

The mission will also image and track the solar wind and coronal mass ejections.
sm

Project Manav
A human atlas initiative named Manav has been launched by the Department of Biotechnology
(DBT) and Persistent Systems, a biotechnology company.
The aim is to create a unified database of the molecular network of all the tissues in the human
body and to derive a holistic picture of working of the human body.
The project will be executed by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)
and the National Center for Cell Sciences (NCCS)

Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1):
Aflatoxins are toxins produced by certain fungi which are generally found in agricultural crops
like maize, peanuts, cotton seed and others. They are carcinogenic in nature, which means
they can cause cancer.
Page 122
 Consumption of food containing aflatoxin concentrations of one milligram/kilogram or higher
has been suspected to cause aflatoxicosis, the prognosis of which consists of acute liver
failure, jaundice, lethargy and nausea, eventually leading to death.
According to FSSAI standards, the permissible limit of aflatoxins in milk is 0.5 μg/kg.

What is a fissile material?

A fissile material is one that can sustain a chain reaction upon bombardment by neutrons.

om
Thorium is by itself fertile, meaning that it can transmute into a fissile radioisotope
[U-233]but cannot itself keep a chain reaction going.
In a thorium reactor, a fissile material like uranium or plutonium is blanketed by thorium.

l.c
The fissile material, also called a driver in this case, drives the chain reaction to produce
energy while simultaneously transmuting the fertile material into fissile material.
India has very modest deposits of uranium and some of the world’s largest sources of thorium.

ai
It was keeping this in mind that in 1954, HomiBhabha envisioned India’s nuclear power
programme in three stages to suit the country’s resource profile.
gm
In the first stage, heavy water reactors fuelled by natural uranium would produce plutonium
[U-238 will be transmuted to Plutonium 239 in PHWR];
the second stage would initially be fuelled by a mix of the plutonium from the first stage and
1@

natural uranium. This uranium would transmute into more plutonium and once sufficient
stocks have been built up, thorium would be introduced into the fuel cycle to convert it
into uranium 233 for the third stage [thorium will be transmuted to U-233 with the
9

help plutonium 239].

d1

In the final stage, a mix of thorium and uraniumfuels the reactors. The thorium transmutes
to U-233 which powers the reactor. Fresh thorium can replace the depleted thorium [can be
hk

totally done away with uranium which is very scares in India] in the reactor core, making
it essentially a thorium-fuelled reactor [thorium keeps transmuting into U-233. It is
U-233 that generates the energy].
am

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL)

it

The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited(NPCIL) is an Indian public sector

sm

undertaking based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is wholly owned by the Government of

India and is responsible for the generation of nuclear power for electricity.
NPCIL is administered by the Department of Atomic Energy(DAE). NPCIL was created in
September 1987 under the Companies Act 1956, "with the objective of undertaking the design,
construction, operation and maintenance of the atomic power stations for generation of
electricity in pursuance of the schemes and programmes of the Government of India under the
provision of the Atomic Energy Act 1962."
All nuclear power plants operated by the company are certified for ISO-14001 (Environment
Management System).

VigyanSamagam,
VigyanSamagam, the travelling exhibition a first-of-its-kind in the world showcasing all the
Mega Science projects on a single platform.
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 This is jointly organised by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Department of Science and
Technology (DST) and National Council of Science Museum, Ministry of Culture are jointly
organising a multi-venue mega-science exhibition, VigyanSamagam at Mumbai, Bengaluru,
Kolkata, and New Delhi.

Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating(also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method

om
for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of
radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicagoby Willar Libby, who

l.c
received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in 1960.
It is based on the fact that radiocarbon (14C) is constantly being created in the atmosphere by
the interaction of cosmic rayswith atmospheric nitrogen.

ai
National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing
Innovations
gm
(NIDHI)
1@

It has evolved as an umbrella scheme for a seamless innovation ecosystembooster. Major links of the
innovation to market value chain would be supportedand strengthened at various nodes (each node
9

signifying a cluster of 3neighbouring districts) across the country to attain the mission of nation
d1

buildingthrough innovation, entrepreneurship and incubation.

hk

Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT)

IMPacting Research INnovation and Technology (IMPRINT), the first-of-its-kind Pan-IIT
am

and IISc joint initiative, is a Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)

initiative to address major engineering challenges that the country must address and
champion to enable, empower and embolden the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.
it

Department of Science and Technology is partnering with MHRD in implementing this

sm

program.

VAJRA Faculty Scheme

VAJRA Faculty Scheme has been conceptualized to bring an international dimension to the
R&D ecosystem of India by leveraging overseas scientists’ expertise to the Indian research
framework.

The Objectives of the Scheme are:

To tap the expertise of International Faculty / scientists/technologists including Non-resident

Indians (NRI) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) / Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) in highly
competitive areas of research and development by offering them adjunct / visiting faculty
positions in Indian Institutions / Universities for specific period of time.
Page 124
 Engaging NRI / PIO / OCIs in National R&D Programs and thereby deepen their engagement
for value addition to various S&T programs, projects and missions of the Government.
To catalize possible institutional collaborations through faculty exchang

Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research

Programme
Innovation of Science Pursuit for Inspire Research (INSPIRE) is one such innovative scheme

om
proposed by the Department of Science & Technology for attraction of talent to science.
INSPIRE Scheme has included three programs and five components. They are
Scheme for Early Attraction of Talents for Science (SEATS),

l.c
bScholarship for Higher Education (SHE) and
Assured Opportunity for Research Careers (AORC).

ai
NewSpaceIndiaLimited (NSIL)
gm
NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), a public sector undertaking (PSU) that will commercially
exploit the research and development work of the space agency, co-produce PSLV and launch
1@

satellites through SSLVs, the government said on Thursday.

The functions of NSIL will involve small satellite technology transfer to industry,
manufacturing of Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) — a product which is being
9

developed by the ISRO — in collaboration with the private sector and production of Polar
d1

Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

hk

The International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) is an international organization that seeks

am

to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose,
including nuclear weapons.
The IAEA was established as an autonomous organisation on 29 July 1957. Though
it

established independently of the United Nations through its own international treaty, the IAEA
Statute, the IAEA reports to both the United Nations General Assemblyand Security Council.
sm

The IAEA has its headquartersin Vienna, Austria.

The IAEA has two "Regional Safeguards Offices" which are located in Toronto, Canada, and in
Tokyo, Japan.
The IAEA also has two liaison offices which are located in New York City, United States, and
in Geneva, Switzerland. In addition, the IAEA has laboratories and research centers located in
Seibersdorf, Austria, in Monacoand in Trieste, Italy.

Dhruva reactor
The Dhruva reactoris India's largest nuclear research reactor. Located in the
Mumbai (Bombay) suburb of Trombay at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), it is
India's primary generator of weapons-grade plutonium-bearing spent fuel for its nuclear
weapons

Page 125
 Rosatom, stylized as ROSATOM and also known as the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy
Corporation, the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, or the Rosatom State
Corporation, is a Russian state corporation headquartered in Moscow that specializes in
nuclear energy.

Cyclone-30 India’s biggest cyclotron facility becomes

operational

om
India’s biggest cyclotron facility named Cyclone-30 became operational at Kolkata-based
Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), which comes under Department of Atomic
Energy (DAE).

l.c
Cyclotron is used to produce radioisotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic use for cancer
care. Radiations from these isotopes are used to destroy cancer cells.

ai
It will be first and only cyclotron facility in country to produce Germanium-68 radioisotopes,
which is used in diagnosis of breast cancer.
gm
It will also produce Palladium 103 isotopes, which is used for the treatment of prostate cancer.
In its future stages, it will also produce Iodine 123 isotopes, which can help detect thyroid
cancer.
1@
Cyclone-30 started working for first time when 30 MeV beam reached Faraday Cup (a metal
cup designed to catch charged particles in vacuum).
The beam from this facility was used to produce fluorine-18 isotope for preparation of
9

radiopharmaceutical fluoro-de-oxy-glucose (FDG), which is used for diagnose various types of

d1

cancer.

Synchrotron
hk

1. A synchrotronis a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron,
am

in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path.

Operational nuclear power plants in India

it
sm

Total
Power
Operator State Type Units capacity
station
(MW)

220 x
Kaiga NPCIL Karnataka PHWR 880
4

220 x
Kakrapar NPCIL Gujarat PHWR 440
2

Tamil 1000
Kudankulam NPCIL VVER-1000 2,000
Nadu x2

Page 126
 Total
Power
Operator State Type Units capacity
station
(MW)

Madras Tamil 220 x

NPCIL PHWR 440
(Kalpakkam) Nadu 2

om
Uttar 220 x
Narora NPCIL PHWR 440
Pradesh 2

l.c
200 x
1
Rajasthan NPCIL Rajasthan PHWR 1,080

ai
220 x
4

Gorakhpur NPCIL Haryana

gm
IPHWR-700
700 x
1,400 2025
2
1@

Rajasthan Unit 700 x

NPCIL Rajasthan IPHWR-700 1,400 2022
and 8 2
9
d1

Kudankulam 1000 x
NPCIL Tamil Nadu VVER-1000 2,000 2025-2026
Unit 3 and 4 2
hk

Planned nuclear power plants in India

am

Total
Power station Operator State Type Units capacity
(MW)
it

Jaitapur NPCIL Maharashtra EPR 1650 x 6 9,900

sm

Kovvada NPCIL Andhra Pradesh AP1000 1100 x 6 6,600

Kavali NPCIL Andhra Pradesh VVER 1000 x 6 6000

Gorakhpur NPCIL Haryana IPHWR-700 700 x 2 1,400

Bhimpur NPCIL Madhya Pradesh IPHWR-700 700 x 4 2,800

MahiBanswara NPCIL Rajasthan IPHWR-700 700 x 4 2,800

Kaiga NPCIL Karnataka IPHWR-700 700 x 2 1,400

Page 127
 Chutka NPCIL Madhya Pradesh IPHWR-700 700 x 2 1,400

Kudankulam
NPCIL Tamil Nadu VVER-1000 1000 x 2 2,000
Unit 5 and 6

Madras BHAVINI Tamil Nadu FBR 600 x 2 1,200

Tarapu AHWR 300 x 1 300

om
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB)

l.c
The Atomic Energy Regulatory Board(AERB) was constituted on 15 November 1983 by the

ai
President of India by exercising the powers conferred by Section 27 of the Atomic Energy
Act, 1962 (33 of 1962) to carry out certain regulatory and safety functions under the Act.

gm
The regulatory authority of AERB is derived from the rules and notifications promulgated
under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 and the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986.
The headquarters is in Mumbai.
1@
Currently, the Board consists of a full-time Chairman, an ex officioMember, three part-
time Members and a Secretary.

Types of Nuclear Reactors

9
d1

Boiling water reactor (BWR): in boiling water reactors, the reactor core heats water
passing through it and converts it into steam which is used for driving a steam turbine for
hk

generating electricity.
The exhausted steam coming out of the turbine is condensed into water in the
am

condenser. This condensed water is again pumped to the reactor core and the cycle
repeats.
Pressurized water reactor (PWR): in pressurized water reactors, pressurized water is used
it

in primary coolant loop for carrying heat to the steam generator.

The reactor core heats this pressurized water which does not boil due to high pressure
sm

and high boiling point.

This water gets heated and reaches a higher temperature and then it is used for
exchanging heat with a secondary low pressure water system which gets converted into
steam which is used for driving a steam turbine for generating electricity.
Heavy water reactors: These reactors uses heavy water i.e. Deuterium oxide (D2O) as its
coolant and moderator.
Heavy water reactors use un-enriched Uranium (U-235) as fuel. Normal water when
used as a moderator can absorb some neutrons and can post hurdle in sustaining the
chain reaction.
On other hands, heavy water already has one extra neutron so it does not absorb
neutrons as readily as light water.
Thus, heavy water reactors can work without having expensive uranium enrichment
facilities. However, the cost of heavy water is higher than light water.
Gas cooled reactor: in gas cooled reactor, gas is used as a coolant which drives the gas
Page 128
 turbine for generating electricity.
These reactors have the advantage of higher thermal efficiency of around 50% and can
operate at very high temperatures.
Light water, heavy water, boiling water, and pressurized water reactor have lower
thermal efficiency and these cannot work at very high temperatures.
Fast reactors: fast reactors use fast moving neutrons for sustaining a fission reaction. These
reactors don't use any neutron moderator for slowing down the fast moving neutrons.
However, these reactors used highly enriched uranium as fuel which is costlier than low
enriched Uranium.

om
Production of electricity from fast reactors is costly but, the waste produced by these
reactors is of lower radiotoxicity and has reduced lifetime.
Fast Breeder reactors: breeder reactors are those which are capable of generating more fuel

l.c
than it consumes.
These have higher neutron economy for breeding fissile fuel from materials like U-238

ai
and Th-232.
Breeder reactors use fast moving neutrons for producing energy.
gm
Thorium reactors: Th-232 is not a fissile material, but when it absorbs a neutron, it converts
itself to U-233 which is a fissile material.
Thorium-232 can be used multiple times for producing electricity and can create endless
1@

cycles of fuel availability.

Th-232 is more abundant in nature and produces less radioactive waste than uranium
based reactors.
9
d1

G 9-40b:
G 9-40b: G 9-40b is amongst the top 20 closest transiting planets known.
hk

Habitable-zone Planet Finder : HPF is an astronomical spectrograph, installed on the

10m Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory (US).
am

The HPF searches for exoplanets by using the Doppler effect.

A spectrograph - splits light into its component wavelengths.
habitable-zone also known as ‘Goldilocks zone’- the region around the star where a
it

planet could sustain liquid water on its surface.

HPF is currently surveying the nearest low-mass stars, also called M-dwarfs, which are
sm

the most common stars in the galaxy - with the goal of discovering exoplanets in our
neighborhood.

Doppler Effect:
An increase (or decrease) in the frequency of sound, light, or other waves as the source and
observer move towards (or away from) each other.
The effect causes the sudden change in pitch noticeable in a passing siren, as well as the red
shift seen by astronomers.

Exoplanet
An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System.
Page 129
 Exoplanets are very hard to see , hidden by the bright glare of the stars they orbit.
Detect and study exoplanets such as looking at the effects these planets have on the stars they
orbit.

M-dwarfs
M dwarf or M-type star, also called Red Dwarf Star are the most numerous type of star in
the universe and the smallest type of hydrogen-burning star.

om
These have masses from about 0.08 to 0.6 times that of the Sun.
In the Milky Way Galaxy, about 70% of the stars are red dwarfs.

Gold: Facts

l.c
According to the World Gold Council, India has gold reserves of more than 600 tonnes,

ai
the 10th largest in the world.

Fund (IMF)
purity is measured in ‘carats’.
gm
U.S has the highest , followed by Germany and the International Monetary
1@
24 carat is pure gold with no other metals.

ASKDISHA Chatbot:
9

The Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC)has powered
d1

voice-enabled ASKDISHA Chatbot to converse with customers in the Hindi language.

hk

Honey Mission
am

It is an initiative launched by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

Objectives of Honey Mission:

it

Create an end-to-end implementation framework for beekeeping skill development, which

sm

provides employment rural & urban unemployed youth.

Enforce nationally acceptable standards of Good Beekeeping Practices (GPB).
Develop a network of quality master trainers.
Offer a passage for overseas market for hive products.
Enable pathways from novice beekeepers to viable commercial beekeeping by handholding to
credit linkages.
Promote convergence and co-ordination between all the stakeholders of beekeeping in India.

World Skills India Training Centers

Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE), announced the launch of
14 authorize World Skills India Training Centers (AWSITC) across 9 cities in India, for the
Media and Entertainment sector.
The new institutes are being set up for advanced skill training of candidates in the media and
Page 130
 entertainment sector, not just to compete in the WorldSkills and IndiaSkills competitions but
also to further develop the skilling eco-system for training candidates for the international
market.
The training programs will be designed as per the NSFQ level, which will be industry linked.
Cities include Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Mumbai, Pune, Shillong and
Trivandrum.

Innovating for Clean Air (IfCA) initiative’

om
It is India-UK joint initiative that would provide a unique air quality measurement
system by integrating satellite and sensor data and support India’s transition to Electric

l.c
Vehicles (EVs).
The programme will identify relevant challenges around EV-charging infrastructure, grid
management and integrating renewable energy to ensure a sufficient, reliable and clean

ai
source of power.
It has been launched in Bengaluru.
gm
It will identify innovations having potential to improve air quality and contribute to a more
detailed localised map of the air quality of Bengaluru through the unique combination of
satellite and sensor data, including both on-the-ground and mobile data.
1@

Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA)

9

Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA) is the primary raw material for making alcoholic beverages.
d1

It is a colourless food-grade alcohol that does not have any impurities.

It has a neutral smell and taste, and typically contains over 95% alcohol by volume.
hk

It is derived from different Sources, sugarcane molasses and grains and is used in the
production of alcoholic beverages. ENA also serves as an essential ingredient in the
manufacture of cosmetics and personal care products such as perfumes, toiletries, hair spray,
am

etc.
It also finds industrial use and is utilised in the production of some lacquers, paints and ink for
the printing industry, as well as in pharmaceutical products such as antiseptics, drugs, syrups,
it

medicated sprays.
sm

DNA Technology (Uses and Application) Regulation Bill,

2019
The Bill regulates the use of DNA technology for establishing the identity of persons in respect
of matters listed in a Schedule. These include criminal matters (such as offences under the
Indian Penal Code, 1860), and civil matters such as parentage disputes, emigration or
immigration, and transplantation of human organs.

The Bill establishes a National DNA Data Bank and Regional DNA Data Banks. Every Data
Bank will maintain the following indices: (i) crime scene index, (ii) suspects’ or undertrials’
index, (iii) offenders’ index, (iv) missing persons’ index, and (v) unknown deceased persons’
index.

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 The Bill establishes a DNA Regulatory Board. Every DNA laboratory that analyses a DNA
sample to establish the identity of an individual, has to be accredited by the Board.

Written consent by individuals is required to collect DNA samples from them. Consent
is not required for offences with punishment of more than seven years of imprisonment or
death.

The Bill provides for the removal of DNA profiles of suspects on filing of a police report or
court order, and of under trials on the basis of a court order. Profiles in the crime scene and

om
missing persons’ index will be removed on a written request.

Agent Smith

l.c
It is an Android malware. The malware doesn’t steal data from a user. Instead, it hacks apps and

ai
forces them to display more ads or takes credit for the ads they already display so that the
malware’s operator can profit off the fraudulent views.

Blue Biotechnology:
gm
1@

This branch of biotechnology helps to control the marine organisms and water borne
organisms.
It is a process which has to do with marine or underwater environment.
9

The use of this biotechnology is very rare. Blue biotechnology is used to protect the marine
d1

organisms from harmful diseases underwater.

Bioinformatics:
hk

Bioinformatics is the combination of computer and biotechnology.

am

It helps in finding the analysis of data related to Biotechnology. It is used for various purposes
like drugs, for the development of medicines.
It is also used to improve the fertility of crops and plants and also for pest, drought and it is
it

resistance to diseases.
It plays an important and vital role in areas like Functional genomics, structural genomics and
sm

proteomics these areas contribute a lot and become a key contributor to Biotechnology and
pharma sector.

Green Biotechnology:

Green Biotechnology is the term used for the agricultural sector.

With the help of the process called the Micro propagation (a practice of producing larger
number of plants through the existing stock of plants) which helps in selecting the right
quality of plants and crops.
Also with the help of Transgenic plants (plants whose DNA is modified); this design of
transgenic plants helps to grow in a specified environment with the help of certain chemicals.

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Red Biotechnology:
Red biotechnology is referred to as Medical Biotechnology. It is used for the production of
drugs and antibiotic medicines. It also helps to create or design organisms.
Through the process of genetic manipulation it helps to cure genetic issues in organisms.
It also helps in analyzing diseases in organisms. It also helps in developing new ways of
diagnosis by performing tests.
With the help of stem cell therapy, it helps the organs to grow and it also cures the damaged

om
issues in organisms.

White Biotechnology:

l.c
White Biotechnology is also called and known by the name Industry Biotechnology.

ai
This kind of biotechnology is used and applied in industries and its processes.
The various uses of this Biotechnology includes; biopolymers (Plastics) Substitutes, new

gm
invention of vehicle parts and fuels for the vehicles, invention of fibers for the clothing
industry, it is also involved in developing new chemicals and the production process.

Internet Sathi programme

1@

The Internet Sathi programme is an initiative by Google India and Tata Trusts.
9

The programme aims to facilitate digital literacy among women in rural India. Internet Sathi
d1

has contributed towards bridging the digital gender divide in rural India.

Hydrothermal Carbonization Technology (HCT)

hk

Through the use of Hydrothermal Carbonization Technology (HCT)most of the mixed MSW can
am

be converted into biofuel, soil amendment and absorbents.

it

Hydro Thermal Carbonization (HTC) which can effectively manage mixed Municipal Solid Waste
(MSW) with high moisture content. The process uses water for the reaction thus the moisture in
sm

the MSW gets used during the recycling process without requiring any removal of moisture from
segregated wet
waste.

Genetically Modified (GM) crop

cotton is the only Genetically Modified (GM) crop approved in 2002 by the Genetic
Engineering Appraisal Committee of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for
commercial cultivation in the Country and, therefore, cultivation of other unapproved GM
crops are banned in India.
There is a well-established regulatory framework for approval of GM Crops as per “Rules for
the Manufacture/Use/Import/Export and Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms,
Genetically
Engineered Organisms or Cells, 1989” under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 in
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 the Country.
The data generated by the applicants is reviewed at every step in the development process of
GM crops by various Statutory Committees under the Rules, 1989 such as Institutional
Biosafety Committee, the Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation and Genetic
Engineering Appraisal Committee.

National Strategic Plan (NSP) for malaria elimination

om
Indian government has released a National Strategic Plan (NSP) for malaria elimination for
years 2017-2022, targeting eradication by 2030.
Under the plan, malaria transmission in the country’s districts have been divided into four

l.c
categories: no cases in 3 years, less than 1 case per 1,000 people, more than 1 but less than 2
cases per 1,000 people, and more than 2 cases per 1,000 people.
The plan will be under the National Health Mission as part of the National Vector Borne

ai
Disease Control Programme.

Innovate in India (i3)( National Biopharma Mission)gm

i3 is a flagship program of the Government of India in collaboration with World Bank.
1@

It is committed to make India a hub for design and development of novel, affordable and
effective biopharmaceutical products and solutions by engaging with entrepreneurs.
Objective is to increase India’s global biopharmaceutical market share from current 2.8% to
9

5% and generate additional business opportunity of $16 billion.

d1

Nodal Ministry and institutions : Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council

(BIRAC) Ministry of Science
hk

Atomic structure of McrBC

am

A team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) have
determined theatomic structure of McrBC, which prevents viral infections in bacteria.
McrBC is a complex bacterial protein which helps prevent viral infections in a
it

bacterial cell and functions as a molecular scissors.

sm

The pathbreaking structure of the McrBC was published last month in two prestigious, peer-
reviewed scientific journals — Nature Communications and Nucleic Acids Research — and is
said to be a major steptowards understanding the workings of the molecular scissors.
This is the first report of the high-resolution structure from India determined using electron
cryomicroscopy, commonly known as cryo-EM.

Smominru is a Malware
Whose incidence was first reported in 2017 that infected computers in a big way.
After intruding into a computer, Smominrucreates a new user, called admin$, vesting itself
with admin
privileges on the system and starts to download a whole bunch of malicious payloads.
The malware also downloads a set of modules used for spying and credential theft.
On top of that, once Smominru gains a foothold, it tries to propagate further within the
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 network to infect as many systems as possible.

Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory for the Study of

Arctic Climate
(MOSAiC)
It is an international research expedition to study the physical, chemical, and biological

om
processes that coupled the Arctic atmosphere, sea ice, ocean, and ecosystem.
The project has been designed by an international consortium of leading polar research
institutions, under the umbrella of the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC).

l.c
International Arctic Science Committee

ai
The International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) is a non-governmental, international
scientific
gm
IASC promotes and supports leading-edge interdisciplinary research to foster a greater
scientific understanding of the Arctic region and its role in the Earth system.
The Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively known as the Antarctic Treaty
1@

System (ATS), regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica.

The treaty entered into force in 1961 and currently has 54 parties.
The treaty sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific
9

investigation, and bans military activity on the continent

d1

Tricloson and Osteoporosis

hk

Triclosan (TCS)
am

Triclosan is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agentthat is frequently used in pharmaceuticals

and personal care products.
When one uses a product containing triclosan, one can absorb a small amount through one’s
it

skin or mouth.
sm

Triclosan added to toothpaste has been shown to help prevent gingivitis.

Gingivitisis a common and mild form of gum disease that causes irritation, redness
and swelling (inflammation) of gingiva, the part of gum around the base of teeth.

About MANAV: Human Atlas Initiative

It is an initiative to build a scalable, robust platform for annotation and curation of scientific
literature
Participating institutes include National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS) and Indian Institute of
Science, Education and Research (IISER), Pune. Besides, Persistent Systems Limited has co-
funded the project (alongwith DBT) and is developing the platform.
The project can be signed up by students who are in their final year of graduation and above.
Even participants having a science background but not necessarily involved in active scientific
Page 135
 research can be part of this network.
Initially, DBT will accommodate colleges that operate the DBT Star College scheme to register
for this Human Atlas programme.

DRDO Successfully Conducts Flight Test of ABHYAS

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted successful flight test of
ABHYAS - High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) from Interim Test Range, Chandipur

om
in Odisha today. The flight test was tracked by various RADARS & Electro Optic Systems and
proved its performance in fully autonomous way point navigation mode.
The configuration of ABHYAS is designed on an in-line small gas turbine engine and uses

l.c
indigenously developed MEMS based navigation system for its navigation and guidance. The
performance of the system was as per simulations carried out and demonstrated the capability
of ABHYAS to meet the mission requirement for a cost effective HEAT.

ai
Chang’e-4
gm
Named after a Chinese moon goddess and comprising a lander and a rover has created history
when it made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon unlike previous moon
1@

missions that have landed on the Earth-facing side.

This is the first time any craft has landed on the unexplored and rugged far side of the moon.
The successful landing formally inaugurated the world’s first expedition to the far side that
9

never faces the Earth.

d1

Chang’e-4 is a mission by China National Space Administration (CNSA) the space agency of
China.
hk

Central Equipment Identity Register

am

It will be a central repository or database of all mobile phones connected to networks across
India.
Every mobile network provider in India has an Equipment Identity Register (EIR), or a
it

database of the phones connected to its network.

sm

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications has initiated

a CEIR for mobile service providers.

Jumping Genes
The scientists have recently discovered a technique using “jumping genes” for genetic editing.
It could offer a seamless, safer alternative to CRISPR-Cas9 process.
The technique could allow edited genes to be more precisely inserted into genomes, possibly
addressing concerns with current CRISPR systems that can lead to off-target editing and
random deletions or even cancer.

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World's First Malaria Vaccine
The world's first malaria vaccine “RTS,S/AS01” has been rolled out in Malawi, Africa for
children of age under two.
RTS,S/AS01, trade name Mosquirix, is an injectable vaccine targeting P. falciparum, the most
prevalent malaria strain in Africa.

Young Scientist Programme (Yuvika)

om
The ISRO has launched a special programme for School Children called “Young Scientist
Programme” or “YUvaVIgyaniKAryakram.

l.c
The Program is primarily aimed at imparting basicknowledge on Space Technology, Space
Science and Space Applications to the younger ones with theintent of arousing their interest in

ai
the emerging areas of Space activities.

World Health Organisation gm

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is
1@
concerned with international public health.
It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and the WHO’s constitution came into force on
April 7, 1948—a date now celebrated every year as World Health Day.
9

The World Health Assembly is the supreme decision making body in WHO. The assembly
d1

meets annually and is attended by delegations from 194 member states.

Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research

hk

Collaboration (SPARC)
am

SPARC is an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur is the national coordinating institute to implement
the SPARC programme.
it

SPARC aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by
sm

facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian institutions and the best
institutions in the world.

Solar concepts
Solar Cycle

A cycle in which the amount of magnetic flux that rises up to the Sun's surface varies with time is
called the solar cycle.

Solar Tsunami

Solar tsunami is the waves of the magnetic field and hot, ionized gas moving across the Sun at about
400 km per second

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Solar Dynamo

Solar Dynamo is a naturally occurring generator which produces electric and magnetic fields in the
sun.

Sun Spot

Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surfaceof the Sun. They appear dark because they are
cooler than other parts of the Sun’s surface.

om
Kuiper belt

l.c
The Kuiper belt occasionally called the Edgeworth–Kuiper belt, is a circumstellar disc in the
outer Solar System, extending from the orbit of Neptune (at 30 AU) to approximately 50 AU

ai
from the Sun.
It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is far larger—20 times as wide and 20 to 200 times as
massive.
gm
IndSpaceEx
1@

The tri-Service integrated defence staff under the defence ministry is conducting the two-day
“IndSpaceEx”, with all military and scientific stakeholders.
9

Aim: to assess the requisite space and counter-space capabilities that are needed by India to
d1

ensure we can protect our national security interests in this final frontier of warfare.

BACTERIA V/S VIRUS

hk

Bacteria
am

Bacteria are one-celled organisms that can be found naturally throughout our bodies and in
our environment. Most are harmless and do not cause infection. Bacteria in our bodies help us
it

to digest food, protect us against other bacteria or microbes, and provide nutrients for our
body. Seen under a microscope they look like rods, balls, or spirals, and they can multiply
sm

quickly under the right conditions. Less than one percent of bacteria actually make us sick.
Infections caused by bacteria include strep throat, tuberculosis, and urinary tract infections
(UTI).

Antibiotics are available to treat most bacterial infections; however, it is often best to let your
body’s own immune system fight them if it is able to.

Viruses

Viruses on the other hand, cannot live without a host, or another living creature to help them
multiply. Viruses are smaller than bacteria and they attach themselves to another living cell
and use that cells' genetic material to reproduce themselves. Most viruses cause disease.
Examples of diseases caused by viruses include the common cold, herpes, shingles, measles,
chickenpox and AIDS.

Page 138
 Antibiotics will not treat a viral infection. Viral infections require either vaccinations to
prevent them in the first place or antiviral drugs inhibit their development.

What is Fortification?
Fortification is the practice of deliberately increasing the content of an essential
micronutrient, i.e. vitamins and minerals (including trace elements) in a food, so as to improve
the nutritional quality of the food supply and provide a public health benefit with minimal risk

om
to health.
Rice fortification is the practice of increasing the content of essential micronutrients in rice
and to improve the nutritional quality of the rice.

l.c
GOLDEN RICE.

Microdots

ai
gm
Microdots are a globally proven technology to ensure originality in spare parts of machines
and components, including in the automobile sector.

The microdot technology involves spraying thousands of microscopic dots onto vehicles or
1@

other assets to form a unique identification.

Each microdot carries this identification which is registered to the owner, but is not visible to
9

the naked eye.

d1

South Africa has made it a legal requirement to have microdots fitted to all new vehicles sold
since September 2012.
hk

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a draft notification to make
microdots mandatory in vehicles.
am

What is Project Soli?

it

Google announced Project Soli in 2015. Since then, Google’s ATAP (Advanced Technology and
Projects) division has been developing the technology, which can be used in wearables, phones,
sm

computers, cars and IoT devices.

Indian Science Congress (ISC)

The Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) owes its origin to the foresight and initiative
of twoBritish Chemists, namely, Professor J.L. Simonsen and Professor P.S. MacMahon.
The first meeting of the Congress was held from January 15-17, 1914 at the premises of the
Asiatic Society, Calcutta
The 106th edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) was inaugurated at Lovely Professional
University (LPU) in Phagwara, Jalandhar Punjab.
The theme for ISC-2019 was 'Future India - Science and Technology'.

Page 139
What is Moderator?
Moderator is required in a Nuclear reactor to slow down the neutrons produced during the fission
reaction so that the chain reaction can be sustained. Heavy Water is an excellent moderator due to
its high moderating ratio and low absorption cross section for neutrons.

Control rods are used in nuclear reactors to control the fission rate of uranium or plutonium. Their
compositions includes chemical elements such as boron, cadmium, silver, or indium, that are

om
capable of absorbing many neutrons without themselves fissioning.

Himansh

l.c
National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa established a high altitude
research station in Himalaya called Himansh (literally meaning, a slice of ice), situated above

ai
13,500 ft (>4000 m) at a remote region in Spiti Himachal Pradesh.

National Initiative for Development and Harnessing gm

Innovations (NIDHI)
1@

NIDHI (National Initiative for Development and Harnessing Innovations) is an umbrella

program initiated by the Science & Technology department (DST) of the Indian government
9

for cultivating knowledge-based innovations and ideas driven by technology into fruitful start-
d1

ups.

Science and Engineering Research Board

hk

It was set up as a statutory body in 2009 under the Department of Science and Technology to
am

promote and fund research in different scientific disciplines.

SUPRA
it

The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) has proposed a new scheme, Scientific
sm

and Useful Profound Research Advancement (SUPRA) with the objective of funding exploration
of new scientific and engineering breakthroughs with global impact.

RaIDer-X: Explosive Detection Device

RaIDer-X has been co-developed by HEMRL, Pune and the Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore

Vaccine Hesitancy
As per WHO, Vaccine Hesitancy isdefined as “reluctance or refusal tovaccinate despite the
availability ofvaccines” and is influenced by factorssuch as complacency, convenience

and confidence.
Page 140
VISIONS-2 MISSION
It is a Misison of NASA.
The VISIONS-2 mission (Visualizing Ion Outflow via Neutral Atom Sensing-2) is looking
atatmospheric escape, the process whereby Earth is slowly leaking its atmosphere into space.

PRETOMANID

om
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Pretomanid Tablets.
Pretomanid cured 89% of 107 patients with extensively drug-resistant TB after 6 months, when
used in combination with antibiotics bedaquiline and linezolid. The three-drug regimen of

l.c
bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid is collectively known as the BPaL regimen.

GESTATIONAL DIABETES

ai
gm
A recent paper published in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India has stated that
it isimperative to test all pregnant women for gestational diabetes.
Meaning: Gestational diabetes only happens during pregnancy. It means the mother has high
1@
bloodsugar levels, but those levels were normal before she was pregnant.
Causes: During pregnancy, the placenta makes hormones that can lead to a buildup of glucose
inblood.
9

Usually, pancreas can make enough insulin to handle that. If not, blood sugar levels will
d1

riseand can cause gestational diabetes.

Impact on mothers health: After the baby is born, gestational diabetes usually goes away. If
onehad gestational diabetes, then there is risk for type 2 diabetes.
hk

How can GD affect a baby? Babies born to women with GD may have problems with
breathingand jaundice. These babies may have low blood sugar at birth. There also is an
am

increased riskof stillbirth with GD.

FOOT AND MOUTH DISEASE (FMD) AND BRUCELLOSIS

it

Union Cabinet has cleared a new initiative to control Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and
sm

Brucellosis diseases amongst the livestock in the country in the next five years.
The Central Government has decided to now bear the entire cost of the programme.
In case of FMD, the scheme envisages vaccination coverage to 30 crore bovines (cows-bulls
andvaccination in bovine calves.
The Brucellosis control programme shall extend to cover 100% vaccination coverage of 3.6
crore female calves.

DASTAK CAMPAIGN
Uttar Pradesh launched the DASTAK campaign to eradicate deadly Acute Encephalitis
Syndrome(AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) disease.
The campaign ran from 1st to 31st July, 2019. Under this state-wide campaign, teams will go
door to door in every village of the 75 districts of the state to create awareness about the
communicable diseases as well as Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese
Page 141
 Encephalitis (JE).

Positive co-activator4(PC4)
New protein responsible for enhanced autophagy
Founded by JNCASR research team
first time any study has shown that genome organisation is directly responsible for autophagy
regulation in cells.

om
Cord Blood Banking

l.c
Cord blood is the blood from the baby that is left in the umbilical cord and placenta after birth.
Cord blood banking involves taking the umbilical cord blood, which is a rich source of stem
cells, and preserving it for future use.

ai
It contains special cells called hematopoietic stem cells that can be used to treat some types of
diseases.
gm
Hematopoietic stem cells can mature into different types of blood cells in the body.
Globally, cord blood banking is recommended as a source of hematopoietic stem cell
(derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood) transplantation
1@

for haematological cancers and disorders where its use is recommended.

For all other conditions, the use of cord blood as a source of stem cells is not yet established.
9

Stem Cells
d1

Stem cells are special human cells that have the ability to develop into many different cell
hk

types, from muscle cells to brain cells.

Stem cells are divided into two main forms- Embryonic stem cells and Adult Stem Cells.
Embryonic stem cells come from unused embryos resulting from an in vitro
am

fertilization procedure and that are donated to science.

These embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning that they can turn into more than
one type of cell.
it

Adult Stem Cells: There are two types of adult stem cells.
sm

One type comes from fully developed tissues, like the brain, skin, and bone marrow.
There are only small numbers of stem cells in these tissues, and they are more
likely to generate only certain types of cells.
For example, a stem cell derived from the liver will only generate more liver cells.

The second type is induced pluripotent stem

These are adult stem cells that have been manipulated in a laboratory to take
on the pluripotent characteristics of embryonic stem cells.

Virus
It is a small infectious agent that can replicate inside cells of other organisms only.
They are found wherever there is life and can’t be destroyed (as they don’t have their own
metabolism and require a host cell to make new products).
Page 142
 Most viral infection results in death of the host cell. Vaccination and antiviral drugs help
in preventing viral diseases.

(KIRAN) Scheme
The Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN)
Scheme is one of the several pioneering initiatives started by the Department of Science and
Technology (DST) for promoting women in science.

om
It is primarily aimed to bring gender parity in the Science & Technology sector by
inducting more women talent in the research & development domain through various
programmes.

l.c
It also provides fellowship support to women ranging in the age group 27 to 57
years for continuing higher education in Science and Technology after a break in career.

ai
Kyasanur Forest disease Virus (KFDV)
gm
It is caused by Kyasanur Forest disease Virus (KFDV), a member of the virus
family Flaviviridae.
1@

It was first identified in 1957 in a sick monkey from the Kyasanur Forest in Karnataka.
Since then, between 400-500 human cases per yearhave been reported.
KFD is endemic to the Indian state of Karnataka. It is also referred to as monkey feverby
9

locals.
d1

Rodents, shrews, and monkeys are common hosts for KFDV after being bitten by infected Hard
ticks (HaemaphysalisSpinigera). KFDV can cause epizootics (outbreak of disease in animals)
hk

with high fatality in primates.

Transmission:To humans, it may occur after a tick bite or contact with an infected animal (a
sick or recently dead monkey).
am

Canine Distemper Virus (CDV)

it

Canine distemper is a contagious and serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the
sm

respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems of both domesticated and wild animals,
though it is more common in pet dogs and cats.
The virus is a member of the genus Morbillivirus of the family Paramyxoviridae (the same
family of the viruses that causes measles, mumps, and bronchiolitis in humans)
The virus can also be found in wildlife such as foxes, wolves, coyotes, raccoons, skunks,
mink and ferrets and has been reported in lions, tigers, leopards, and other wild cats as well as
seals.
At least eight jackals have died at the Assam zoo due to a virus associated with canines.
The virus does not affect humans however they may be carriers.

Beresheet
It is Israel’s First Lunar Lander
So far, only three other nations have carried out controlled “soft” landings on the moon – the
Page 143
 United States, the former Soviet Union and China

Rotavirus
Is a genus of double-stranded RNA virus in the family Reoviridae
Most common causative agent of moderate-to-severe diarrhoea (MSD) among infants below 11
months age group and death among children less than five years of age
Virus spreads from person to person due to bacterial and parasiting agents

om
It causes gastroenteritis

Formalin

l.c
Formalin is 30-45% aqueous solution of Formaldehyde with water
Presevant and disinfectant

ai
Acancer-inducing chemical used illegally to preserve fish

gm
Causes irritation in the eyes, throat, skin and stomach
Continued exposure causes harm to the kidneys, liver and can even cause cancers
All life forms – bacteria, plants, fish, animals and humans – naturally produce formaldehyde as
part of cell metabolism
1@

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) has banned formaldehyde in
fresh fish, while the International Agency for Research on Cancer labelled the chemical a
carcinogen in 2004
9
d1

Advanced short-range air-to-air missile (ASRAAM)

hk

ASRAAM is widely used as a within visual range (WVR) air-dominance missile with a
range of over 25 km.
It will be the first wing-launched missile in the IAF inventory.
am

All missiles are now fired from under the wing.

The IAF is looking to adopt the ASRAAM on its Su- 30MKIs and the indigenous light
combat aircraft
it
sm

Astra Rafael Communication System (ARC)

Positioned itself to become India’s first private sector firm to manufacture cutting-edge
software defined radios in multiple variants
A state-of-the-art 20,000 sq ft facility of an Indo-Israel joint venture to design, develop and
manufacture tactical communication systems for the armed forces
Facility in Hyderabad

Gravitational lensing
Recently, NASA announced plan to investigate how new stars are born. For this, they will take
the help of a natural phenomenon called “gravitational lensing”
This programme is called TEMPLATES (Targeting Extremely Magnified Panchromatic
Lensed Arcs and Their Extended Star Formation)
Page 144
 It is a phenomenon, which occurs when a huge amount of matter, such as a massive galaxy
or cluster of galaxies, creates a gravitational field that distorts and magnifies the light from
objects behind it, but in the same line of sight
Objects act as natural, cosmic telescopes
As a result, the galaxies appear much, much brighter than they actually are, because they’ve
been highly magnified up to 50 times
Applications of Gravitational Lensingare :Study the galaxies, Observe invisible things in
the Universe, Understand the star formation, understand the past etc.

om
Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

l.c
NASA’s MMS investigates how the Sun’s and Earth’s magnetic fields connect and disconnect,
explosively transferring energy from one to the other in a process that is important at the Sun,
other planets, and everywhere in the universe, known as magnetic reconnection

ai
MMS reveals, for the first time, the small-scale three-dimensional structure and dynamics of
the elusively thin and fast-moving electron diffusion region

Sericin
gm
1@

It is a silk protein which is known to possess anti-oxidant and other medicinal properties
They vary with source of silkworms and their availability depends on the length of sericin
peptidesobtained during extraction
9

Uses: It could be used for protection from oxidative damage, edema, erythema, sunburn,
d1

premature aging, wrinkling, and skin cancer

hk

NDMA, or N-Nitrosodimethylamine
Human carcinogen
am

Generally found in Zantac and its generic forms

Doctors in India too have cautioned the general public 19 about this popular drug and asked
for an urgent advisory by the Indian drug regulator
it

In India, Ranitidine (some versions of Zantac is also known by the generic name ranitidine) is
sm

used for treating gastrointestinal disorders and discomfort.

NDMA is present in Ranitidine

Paraquat
Paraquat is a toxic chemical that is widely used as an herbicide (plant killer), primarily for
weed and grass control
There is no antidote to this herbicide, the consumers of which complain of kidney, liver and
lung problems

Ploonet
1. Ploonet is the name given to a new class of objects that were once upon a time orbiting a
planet.
Page 145
 2. In other words ‘rogue moons’ of a planet is called Ploonet.

Shukrayaan
ISRO’s planned orbiter to Venus. (2023)
Main goals are to study

1. atmosphere and its chemistry

2. Surface and sub-surface features

om
3. Interaction of the planet with solar radiation

Project netra (network for space object tracking and

l.c
analysis)

ai
ISRO’s early warning system to safeguard space assets

processing units and a control centre. gm

It includes a network of observational facilities like connected radars, telescopes, data

The system can spot, track and catalogue objects as small as 10 cm, up to a range of 3,400 km
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and equal to a space orbit of around 2,000 km.

Asteroid belt
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Asteroids are remnants of planetary formation that circle the Sun in a zone lying
betweenMars and Jupiter. The circular chain of asteroids is called the asteroid belt.
The remnants of planetary formation failed to coalesce because of the
hk

gravitationalinterference of Jupiter.
The asteroid belt lies between 2.3 and 3.3 AU from the Sun.
am

About OTT platform

it

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
sm

television.
These are also known as Online Curated Content Providers (OCCP).
These are subscription-based video on demand platforms and allows consumers to access
a wide range of content from around the world

The Chandrasekhar Limit

The Chandrasekhar Limit of 4 solar masses, isthe theoretical maximum mass a whitedwarf
star can have and still remain a whitedwarf (though this limit does vary slightlydepending on
the metallicity).
Above thismass, electron degeneracy pressure is notenough to prevent gravity from collapsing
thestar further into a neutron star or black hole.

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Neutron Star –
A neutron star is the collapsed core of a giant star which before collapsehad a total mass of
between 10 and 29 solar masses
They result from the supernova explosion of a massive star, combinedwith gravitational
collapse, that compresses the core past whitedwarf star density to that of atomic nuclei.
A pulsar (from pulse and -ar as in quasar) is a highly magnetizedrotating neutron star that
emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out ofits magnetic poles

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Black Hole:

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Black holes of stellar mass are expected to form when very massive starscollapse at the end
of their life cycle.

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After a black hole has formed, it cancontinue to grow by absorbing mass from its surroundings

COMETS gm
A comet is an icy small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, heatsup due to
1@
the effects of solar radiation and the solar wind upon the nucleus andbegins to outgas,
displaying a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail.
Comets have highly elliptical orbits, unlike the planets which have near-circularorbits.
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They are made of frozen gases (water, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide) whichhold
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together small pieces of rocky and metallic minerals.

Kuiper belt
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The Kuiper belt is a great ring of debris similar to the asteroid belt but consisting mainly of
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objects composed primarily of ice.

It extends between 30 and 50 AU from the Sun.
At least three dwarf planets are located in the Kuiper belt: Pluto, Haumea and Makemake.
it

The Kuiper belt shouldn’t be confused with the hypothesized Oort cloud, which is a thousand
times more distant.
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The largest object in the Kuiper belt is the dwarf planet Pluto. Its status as part of the belt is
what caused the planet to bereclassified as a “dwarf planet” in 2006.

ART & CULTURE

Sangita Kalanidhi Award
It is considered the highest award in the field of Carnatic music.

The award is conferred by the Madras Music Academy.

Carnatic music

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 Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with southern India including the
states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, but also practised in
Sri Lanka.
It is one of two main genres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu
traditions, the other genre being Hindustani music.

Padmanur'sYakshagana

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Yakshagana

It is a rare and unique traditional theatre of Karnataka state in India and has a recorded
history of more than 5 centuries.

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It is a rich artistic blend of music, dance, speech, and costumes, this art combines the features
of opera as well as drama, the characteristics of moral education and mass entertainment

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Yakshagana is strongly influenced by the Bhakti movement.

Lai Haraoba begins in Tripura gm

Lai Haraoba, a ritualistic festival observed by Manipuri meitei communities since ancient
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times, Tripura.
Lai Haraoba is celebrated through oral literature, music, dance and rituals.
It is one of the main festivals still performed in Manipur which has its roots in the pre-
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Vaishnavite period.
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Lai Haraoba is the earliest form of dance which forms the basis of all stylised dances in
Manipur.
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Literally meaning - the merrymaking of the gods, it is performed as a ceremonial offering of

song and dance.
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DhanuJatra
The famous 11-day long ‘DhanuJatra’, considered as the largest open-air theatre of the world
it

begins at Bargarh in western Odisha.

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The Jatra is based on the mythological story of Lord Krishna and his demon uncle King Kansa.
It is about the episode of Krishna and Balaram's visit to Mathura to witness the Dhanu
ceremonyorganized by their (maternal) uncle King Kansa.
It is also mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records.
This is an annual festival came into being in 1947-48 to celebrate Indian’s Independence and
tosymbolize the victory of good over evil
The department of Culture of the Government of India has accorded National Festival status to
DhanuJatra in November 2014.

Patola Saree
Recently under initiative of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), a first Silk
Processing Plant was inaugurated at Surendranagar in Gujarat.
Patola is a double ikat woven sari, usually made from silk, made in Patan, Gujarat, India.
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 It takes six months to one year to make one sari due to the long process of dying each strand
separately before weaving them together.
It has received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2013.
Patola sarees are highly valued in Indonesia and became part of the local weaving tradition
there.

Pink City Jaipur

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India gets its 38th world UNESCO World heritage site As Pink City Jaipur.
The Kachwaha Rajput ruler of Amber, Sawai Jai Singh II, founded the fortified city in 1727.
The city was established on the plains and built according to a grid plan interpreted in the

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light of Vedic architecture.
The city’s urban planning shows an intermingling of ideas from ancient Hindu, modern Mughal
and western cultures.

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Zo Kutpui Festival
gm
The Mizoram government is organising Zo Kutpui (festival) in at least 10 states across India
and countries such as US, Myanmar and Bangladesh.
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The Zo Kutpui festival aims to unify and strengthen the brotherhood among various Mizo
tribesliving in different parts of the world.
The first edition of the festival will start in Tripura and then move to other states which have
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significant Mizo population.

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The festival will witness various cultural programmes by different Mizo tribes.
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Madhavpur Mela
The eight states of the Northern Eastern Region will participate in a big way during the
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Madhavpur Mela of Gujarat due to be held in 2020.

The Madhavpur Mela of Gujarat shares it’s connecting to the Mishmi Tribe of Arunachal
Pradesh.
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The Mishmi Tribe traces its ancestry to the legendary King Bhishmak and through him to
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hisdaughter Rukmini and Lord Krishna.

KANIYAN POONGUNDRANAR
KaniyanPoongundranar was an influential Tamil philosopher from the Sangam age.
His name Kaniyan implies that he was an astronomer as it is a Tamil word referring
mathematics.
The famous poems Purananuru and Natrinai are believed to be composed by
KaniyanPungundranar
Poongundranar rejected division of mankind into various categories and emphasised
theuniversality of all humans.
KaniyanPoongundranar'sYathumoore, a 2000-year-old poem has been declared as the theme
songof the 10th World Tamil Conference scheduled in Chicago.

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NILA GUMBAD
The NilaGumbad is considered to be one of the earliest Mughal era structures.
This was built on an island in the Yamuna, and later, just abutting to it, when Humayun’s Tomb
was built in the year 1569-70.
The Samarkand-style architecture of NilaGumbad - with blue tile work on the northern fade
and the shape of the dome - suggests that it came up before Mughal architecture got
influenced by the local styles.

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Excavation work around NilaGumbad has shown that it originally stood on a raised island in
riverYamuna, the course of which has since shifted further eastwards.

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Bharat Parv 2020

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To encourage Indians to visit different tourist places of India and to inculcate the spirit of
‘Dekho Apna Desh’.

Mahatma’.
It is organised by the Ministry of Tourism.
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Theme for the Year 2020: ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ and ‘Celebrating 150 Years of
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About Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat

Aim: To promote engagement amongst the people of different states/UTs so as to enhance

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mutual understanding and bonding between people of diverse cultures, thereby securing
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stronger unity and integrity of India.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has been designated Nodal Ministry for
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coordination of the programme.

Bhakta Ramadasu
am

KancharlaGopanna (c. 1620 – 1680), popularly known as Bhakta Ramadasu, was a 17th-
century Indian devotee of Lord Rama and a composer of Carnatic music.
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He lived in the village of Nelakondapalli, near the town of Bhadrachalam.

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His contemporaries include the stalwarts of Telugu literature such as

TallapakaAnnamayya,Tyagaraja, Kshetrayya, and Shyama Sastri.
In 17th century he constructed Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple in Bhadrachalam.
His devotional lyrics to Rama are famous in South Indian classical music as
RamadaasuKeertanalu.
He also wrote DasarathiShatakamu, a collection of nearly 108 poems dedicated to the son of
Dasaratha (Lord Rama).

HORNBILL FESTIVAL
It is held at Naga Heritage Village, Kisama which is about 12 km from Kohima in Nagaland.
It is annually held from 1 - 10 December.
Itis organized by the State Tourism and Art & Culture Departments of the Government
ofNagaland.
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 Objective: To encourage inter-tribal interaction and to promote cultural heritage of Nagaland.

Sattriya Dance
Dance historian Dr. Sunil Kothari has recently been bestowed with the Madhabdev Award by
the Government f Assam for popularising Sattriya dance.
Sattriya originated in Sattra, monastery, as a part of neo-Vaishnavite movement started by
SrimantaSankardev in Assam, in the 15th Century.

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He propagated the “eksharannaama dharma” (chanting the name of one God devotedly).
Sattriya was given the status of a classical dance in the year 2000 by the Sangeet
NatakAkademi.

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Sattriya dances differ from other dance forms in its basic stance. For male it is known as
Purush Pak while for female, Prakriti Pak. The dance is based on mythological themes.
They have special mnemonic bols, typical Assamese music known as Borgeet, musical

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instruments like large cymbals, drums, colourful costumes, besides complicated choreographic
patterns using various talas for each stanza sung by the vocalist.
gm
Corpus of Sattriya dances consists of ankiyabhaona and also Ojapali dances in which the main
singer sings and enacts abhinaya, telling stories and a group of dancers dance as back up
dancers playing small cymbals.
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Saptamatrika Inscription
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The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has discovered the earliest Sanskrit inscription
d1

issued by Satavahana King Vijaya in 207 A.D. in South India.

It is an earliest epigraphic evidence for the Saptamatrika cult.
hk

So far the Nagarjunakonda inscription of Ikshavaku king EhavalaChantamula issued in the 4th
century A.D. was considered the earliest Sanskrit inscription in South India.
Saptamatrikasare a group of seven female deities worshipped in Hinduism as personifying
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theenergy of their respective consorts.

Another inscription in Prakrit language and of Brahmi characters belonging to the 1st
centuryA.D. was also found.
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Earlier references to Saptamatrika worship have been found in the early Kadamba copper
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plates and the early Chalukyas and Eastern Chalukya copper plates dated around 600 A.D.
All the available records proved that the found inscription (also known as Chebrolu inscription)
is in Sanskrit and in Brahmi characters.

Khond Tribe
Khond are people of the hills and jungles of Odisha state.
They speak Kuiand its southern dialect, Kuwi, of the Dravidian language family.

NATIONAL MONUMENTS AUTHORITY

The Minister of State for Culture & Tourism launched an integrated NOC online Application
Processing System for National Monuments Authority (NMA) for 517 local bodies of six states
in New Delhi.
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 In order to automate the process of grant of NO Objection Certificate (NOC) for construction
relatedwork in the prohibited and regulated area, NMA had launched a web enabled Software
(S/w) application named NOC online Application Processing System (NOAPS).
The Portal has integration with the Smart ‘Smarac’ Mobile App of Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO)

GouraGouri Festival

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Goura - Gauri festival is celebrated in Chhattisgarh.
Goura stands for Lord Shiva and Gauri, for Goddess Parvati.
The festival celebrates the pastoral life of the people of Chhattisgarh.

l.c
The gathering sees the rituals of ‘gedi’, ‘rautnacha’ and ‘panthi nritya’ in the traditional attire.’
Gedi is a dance of the Gond people, who are spread widely throughout Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh, and is one of India’s prominent tribal groups. Gedi is a pair of bamboo stilts with

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footrests.
The dancers strike the stilts on the ground to produce simple rhythmic beats.
gm
Raut Nacha is a traditional dance of the Yadav community which is performed on Diwali. In
this dance, the Rauts, wearing a special costume, sing and dance in a group with sticks in their
hands in the pathways of the village.
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Panthi Nritya is performed by Satnami community of Chhattisgarh. Songs related to dance

depicts the importance of human life with strong spiritual messages with prime focus on
omnipotent devotion.
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Surti, Hareli, Pola and Teeja are some other festivals of the state.
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Bhaona
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Bhaona is a traditional form of entertainment with religious messages, prevalent is Assam.

It is a creation of MahapurushaSrimantaSankardeva written in the early sixteenth century. He
am

created the form to convey religious messages to villagers through entertainment.

The bhaona are written in the Assamese and Brajavali languages.
The plays of bhaona are popularly known as AnkiyaNats and their staging is known as bhaona.
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Bhaona is generally staged at xatras and namghar in Assam.

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UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN)

UNESCO has announced that Mumbai and Hyderabad have been included in its network of
UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN)

About UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN):

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
It was launched in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities which recognized creativity
as a major factor in their urban development.
Currently, 180 cities are part of this network which aims towards a common objective of
placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the
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 local level and cooperating actively at the international level.
The network covers seven creative fields namely

(a)crafts and folk arts, (b)media arts (c)film (d)design (e)gastronomy (f)literature and (g)music.

By joining the Network, cities commit to sharing their best practices and developing
partnerships involving the public and private sectors as well as civil society.

SurangaBawadi

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SurangaBawadi, situated in Bijapur Karnataka, has entered the World Monuments Watch List
under “Ancient Water System of the Deccan Plateau” of the World Monument Fund.

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SurangaBawadi is an integral part of the ancient Karez System of supplying water through
subterranean tunnels.

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It was built by Adil Shah-I of Adilshahi dynasty of Bijapurin the 16th century to supply
water toVijaypura in Karnataka.

Brahmaputra Pushkaram Festival

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The Assam government is celebrating Brahmaputra Pushkaram- a 12-day mega river festival
from November 5 to November 16 this year. Earlier, the Brahmaputra Pushkaram festival was
held in 2007.
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In 2018, the Pushkaram festival was celebrated on the banks of the Tamiraparani in
d1

Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu.

It will be the second biggest river festival ever to be celebrated in the state of Assam
after NamamiBrahmaputra.
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Pushkaram festival is a festival of rivers that pertains to the 12 important rivers in India. It
occurs once in 12 years for each river.
am

MINI KHAJURAHO
it

The Archaeological Survey of India is restoring the Markandeshwar group of temples in the
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Gadchirolidistrict of Maharashtra.
This group of temples were built between the 9th and 12th centuries and may have had up
to 24different temples.
It gets its name from the main temple dedicated to Lord Shiva called Markandeshwar
orMarkandadeo temple, which lies in Markanda village on the banks of the Wainganga river.
They are famously known as the ‘mini Khajuraho’ or ‘Khajuraho of Vidarbha’. They belong to
saiva,vaishnava and sakti faith.
The temples belong to the Nagara group of temples of North India.

National Institute for Sowa Rigpa

The Union Cabinet has approved setting up of National Institute of Sowa-Rigpa (NISR) at Leh,
Union Territory of Ladakh.
It will be an autonomous national institute under the Ministry of AYUSH with the mandate
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 to undertake interdisciplinary education and research programmes in Sowa-Rigpa in
collaboration with national and international institutes.
NISR will act as an apex institute for Sowa-Rigpa system.
It will develop synergy among the existing Sowa Rigpa institutions namely, Central
University ofTibetan Studies, Varanasi and Central Institute of Buddhist Studies, Leh.
The existing Sowa-Rigpa institutions work under the Ministry of Culture.

Sangai festival

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Sangai festival is an annual cultural festival organised by Manipur Tourism Department
every year from November 21 to 30.

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The festival showcases tourism potential of Manipur in field of arts & culture, handloom,
handicrafts, indigenous sports, cuisine, music and adventure sports of the state among others.
The tourism festival also promotes Manipur as a world class tourist destination.

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Since 2010, the Tourism Festival has been renamed as the Sangai Festival as Sangai deer is
the state animal of Manipur.

MAMALLAPURAM
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The second India- China informal summit took place at Mamallapuram owing to its historical
link to the China.
It was one of the major port cities by the 7th century within the Pallava kingdom. The town
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was namedafter Pallava king Narasimhavarman I (AD 630-668), who was also known as
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Mamalla.
hk

Architectural heritage of Mamallapuram:

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Shore Temple: It is a structural temple built between 700–728 AD with granite Blocks. It was
built by Narasimhavarman II in Dravidian Style of Architecture.
It has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Pancharathas(Five Rathas or Chariots): These are monolithic rock cut structures named after
the five Pandava brothers and Draupadi but they neither have anything to do with chariots nor
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probably with the Pandavas and these associations are purely of a local character.

Arjuna’s Penance: It is a 27m x 9m world largest bas-relief. It has over 100 sculptures of
Gods, Birds and Beasts and Saints. It is Popularly called as Arjunan Penance (Tapas).
It is believed to illustrate an instance from Mahabharata when Arjuna, one of the
Pandavas,performed rigorous penance with a prayer to Lord Shiva's to obtain the Powerful
and Divine Bow to destroy the Gauravas.
It is also known as the “Descent of the Ganges”. It is said in legends that King
“Bhagiratha”standing on one leg posture Praying to the Lord to bring the River Ganges Down
to earth to please the souls of his ancestors.
Varaha Cave: It is also called as Adhivaraha Cava Temple. It is a rock-cut cave temple of the
late 7th
The prominent sculpture in the cave is that of Lord Vishnu in the incarnated form of a Varaha
Swamy (Boar) rescuing Bhudevi (Mother Earth) from Seas. Many mythical charecters have
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 been sculptured on the temple walls and pillars.

Galo Community
The Galo community is one of the 26 major communities of Arunachal Pradesh
They have unique system of naming which helps them to maintain Genealogy
(Tracing the names of ancestors).
They have a system of prefixing the second syllable of a father’s name to that of a

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son, who passes on the suffix in his name to his son

Bathukamma

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Telangana government recently celebrated the eagerly awaited ‘Festival of Flowers’

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(Bathukamma) for which the State is known.

gm
The festival was traditionally celebrated by women across the state.
Every year this festival is celebrated as per Telugu version of Hindu calendar inthe
Bhadrapada Amavasya, also known as Mahalaya Amavasya, usually inSeptember–October
of Gregorian calendar.
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In Telugu, ‘Bathukamma’ means ‘Mother Goddess come Alive’.

It is the state festival of Telangana.
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Baul festival
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A three day long Baul festival has concluded in Dhaka with performances by Bauls from
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India and Bangladesh

The Bauls are mystic minstrels living in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal,
India.
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Baul music represents a particular type of folk song, carrying influences of Hindu
bhakti movements as well as the shuphi, a form of Sufi song.
Bauls belong to an unorthodox devotional tradition influenced by Hinduism,
it

Buddhism, Bengali, Vasinavism and Sufi Islam yet distinctly different from them.
sm

In 2005, the Baul tradition of Bangladesh was included in the list of Representative List of
the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

UNESCO Asia-Pacific awards for cultural

heritageconservation
India has won four UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation was established
in 2000.
It recognizes the efforts of private individuals and organizations that havesuccessfully
conserved structures and buildings of heritage value in the region.
It aims to encourage other property owners to undertake conservationprojects within
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 their communities either independently or by seeking PPP (publicprivate partnerships).

Award winners from India:

Award of Distinction was won by Vikram Sarabhai Library, Indian Institute ofManagement
(IIM), Ahmedabad
Award of Merit was won by both KenesethEliyahoo Synagogue, Mumbai and OurLady of Glory
Church, Mumbai.
Honourable Mention was won by the Flora Fountain, Mumbai.

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KHON RAMLILA

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The Culture Department of Uttar Pradesh government is going to organise the country’sfirst

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training and performance programme of world famous KHON Ramlila incollaboration with
Thailand government.
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KHON Ramlila is a masked form of Ramlila art of Thailand.
Features: it’s a form of masked dance depicting the scenes of Ramlila. It has nodialogues
and background voices narrate the whole story of Ramayana.
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It is included in the list of UNESCO’s Intangible cultural heritage.

SIRUMUGAI
9
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Sirumugai in Coimbatore famous for silk saree production shot to instant fame following
the informal summit between China and India held at Mamallapuram.
hk

Sirumugai is a town in Coimbatore district in TamilNadu.

am

Sirumugai is well known for Silk SareesBazaars

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Shirui Lily Festival inaugurated in Manipur.

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Shirui Lily, or Lilium mackliniae, is the State Flower of Manipur found only in the
upper ranges of Shirui Hills in Ukhrul district of Manipur.

Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti

Union Ministry of State for Culture & Tourism has launched the E-Portal of Centre forCultural
Resources and Training (CCRT) ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti’.
The ‘Digital Bharat Digital Sanskriti’ is an E-portal that will enable dissemination ofcultural
education through digital interactive medium into classrooms all over the country.
The portal will provide a platform for specifically dropout children so that they can join
the mainstream and pursue their dreams by making a career out of be itmusic,
painting, or any other art forms.
For this initiative, CCRT has tied up with Routes 2 Roots, an NGO for
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 connectingseamlessly all the CCRT Regional Centres

Swadesh Darshan is a scheme

The Swadesh Darshan is a scheme for the integrated development of theme-based
tourist circuits in the country.

It was launched by the Ministry of Tourism in 2014-15.

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Under this scheme, 15 thematic circuits have been identified for development.
They are Buddhist Circuit, North-East India Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Himalayan Circuit,
Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Rural Circuit,
Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, Sufi Circuit, Tirthankar Circuit and Heritage Circuit.

l.c
It is 100% centrally funded scheme for project components undertaken for public
It also has provision for leveraging voluntary funding under Corporate Social

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Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of Central Public Sector Undertakings and corporatesector.

gm
Dindigul lock and the Kandangi saree from Tamil Nadu were
given the GItag
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Dindigul Lock
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The Dindigul locks are known for their superior quality and durability.
d1

The locks are made of iron and brass and are entirely handmade.
It is unique as each lock is designed with different lever pattern.
The Dindigul city is also called as Lock City.
hk

Despite unique features, the lock industry for the last few years has been gradually dyingdue
to stiff competition from lock industries in Aligarh and Rajapalayam.
am

Kandangi Saree
it

Kandangi sarees are hand-woven cotton sarees manufactured in Karaikudi taluk

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in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu.

They are made up of high-quality cotton from Coimbatore.
Kandangi cotton sarees are made by weavers of DevangaChettiars for women of
Chettiar community also referred to as Nakarathars or NattukottaiChettiars.
The main characteristic of these sarees are its bright colours that hold strong.
They are also characterised by large contrast borders covering as far as two-thirds of the
saree

Ladakhi Shondol dance

Ladakhi Shondol dance has created history yet again by breaking into the Guinnessbook of
world records as the largest Ladakhi dance.
There are 408 women artists in traditional dresses performed gracefully theShondol
dance on the occasion of the Annual Naropa Festival, the ongoingBuddhist carnival near the
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 11th-century world-famous Hemis Monastery in Ladakh.
Shondol is a famous dance, which used to be performed by artists for King ofLadakh on a
special occasion.

Virasat-e-Khalsa Museum
The Asia Book of Records has listed the Virasat-e-Khalsa museum in Punjab’sAnandpur Sahib as the
most visited museum in the Asian sub-continent (on asingle day

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Panchamirtham’ of Palani temple gets GI tag

l.c
The famous Palani panchamirtham, given as ‘prasadam’ at the Murugantemple at Palani has
been granted the Geographical Indication (GI) tag.
This is the first time a temple ‘prasadam’ from Tamil Nadu has been given the

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GI tag.

Geographical Indications in India gm

1@
A Geographical Indication is used on products that have a specificgeographical origin and
possess qualities or a reputation that aredue to that origin.
Such a name conveys an assurance of quality and distinctiveness whichis essentially
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attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.

This tag is valid for a period of 10 years following which it can be renewed.
d1

Recently the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry has launchedthe logo and tagline for
the Geographical Indications (GI) of India.
hk

The first product to get a GI tag in India was the Darjeeling tea in 2004.
The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration andProtection) Act, 1999 (GI Act) is a sui
generis Act for protection of GI inIndia.
am

India, as a member of the WTO enacted the Act to comply with theAgreement on Trade-
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
Geographical Indications protection is granted through the TRIPS
it
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The government has allotted Geographical Indication (GI) tags to four newproducts from the states
of Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Kerala. These productsare:

Tawlhlohpuan’ of Mizoram
Mizo Puanchei of Mizoram
Tirur Betel vine’ from Kerala
Palani Panchamirtham

IndigenousLanguages.
2019 is the United Nations' International Year of IndigenousLanguages.
Papua New Guinea has the highest number of 'living' indigenouslanguages in the world (840),
while India stands fourth with 453

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AshadhBij
AshadhBij or Kutchi New Year is a distinguished culture where arrival ofrain is celebrated.
Kutchi community in Kutch region (desert area) of Gujarat observesKutchi New Year as per an
indigenous calendar.
Ganesha, Lakshmi and other regional deities are worshipped on thisoccasion.

38th UNESCO World Heritage Site

om
In a remarkable achievement, India gets its 38th UNESCO World Heritage Site asPink City
Jaipur.

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India’s nomination of the Jaipur City,Rajasthan got inscribed on the WorldHeritage List of
UNESCO during the 43rdSession of the World HeritageCommittee held at Baku, Azerbaijan.

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The nomination of Jaipur City hassuccessfully been done by complying withthe various
UNESCO guidelines of 2017.

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With Successful inscription of Jaipur City, India has 38 world heritagesites, that include 30
Cultural properties, 7 Natural properties and 1 mixedsite

Palkhi procession
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Every year, around 10 lakh pilgrims or Warkaris across Maharashtra join thePalkhi procession
9

from Alandi and Dehu to Pandharpur.

d1

Palakhis carrying the paduka (foot prints) of various saints - most notablyDnyaneshwar and
Tukaram from the Varkari (Warkari) sect (whichvenerates Vithoba), are taken from their
respective shrines to Pandharpur.
hk

The Vithoba is a Hindu god.

While the Dnyaneshwar procession leaves from Alandi, Tukaram’sprocession begins at Dehu.
am

Upon reaching Pandharpur on Ashadhi Ekadashi, these devotees take a holydip in the sacred
Chandrabhaga River before proceeding to visit theVitthal temple.
The journey takes 21 days
it

KHARCHI PUJA
sm

It is an important festival celebrated in Tripura.

The word Kharchiis derived from the word ‘Khya’ which means ‘Earth’. It isbasically done to
worship mother Earth.
It is performed after ‘Ama pechi’ or ‘Ambubachi’ period.
According to Tripuri, ‘Ama Pechi’ is menstruation of mother goddess or motherEarth.
Among Tripuri the menstruation of a woman is considered as unholy.
During this period all the auspicious functions performed by women areprohibited.
After the menstruation period ‘Ama pechi’, mother Earth is considered tobecome unholy.
So even the soil is not ploughed nor digging of any where on this day, to give ittime to
cleanse.
The Puja is performed to wash out the sins and to clean the postmenstrual phase of
mother earth’s menstruation.

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Kartarpur Corridor
Recently it had been agreed between two countries for a visa-free Kartarpurcorridor to
operate daily with a limit of 5,000 pilgrims per day.
It is a road link for Sikh pilgrims to visit the famous Kartarpur SahibGurdwara in Pakistan.
It would link two important holy sites related to the founder of Sikhismlocated in Pakistan and
in India.
This would also be open to pilgrims of Indian origin who are citizens of other

om
A four-lane Highway will connect DeraBaba Nanak from Gurdaspur-Amritsar
Highway to International border.

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Kakinada Hope Island

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The project named “Development of Kakinada Hope Island, Konaseema(Andhra Pradesh) as
World Class Coastal & Eco Tourism Circuit” which wassanctioned under the Swadesh Darshan
Scheme has been completed.

About Hope island

gm
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It is tadpole shaped island formed 200 years ago by sand formation inthe East Godavari
district.
It is situated 10 km from Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary and SriKukkuteswara Swamy Temple.
9
d1

OttamThullal
hk

OttamThullal is a dance-drama performing art form of Kerala, created byKunchan

Nambiar, as an alternative to theChakyarkoothu.
am

Kunchan Nambiar used it as a medium to protestagainst the prevalent socio-political

structure and prejudices of the society in histime. It went on to become the most popular
folkart presented in Kerala temples.
it
sm

The distinguishing factor of Ottanthullal is theperformer himself singing and playing the
story, which is a tedious task. Another person will recite the same verses.

The accompanying instruments for Ottanthullal are Mridangam andIdakka.

Go Tribal Campaign
The government will launch the Go Tribal Campaign in New Delhi to promotethe use of tribal
handicrafts and natural products.
Tribal Affairs Ministry said TRIFED has organizedthis event to institutionalize collaborations
andpartnerships with different organizationsto promote tribal products.
During the event, Tribes India and Amazon GlobalMarketing will launch TRIBES India
productsglobally through the Amazon platform.
With this collaboration, tribal products will be available in the US and willhelp establish an
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 export market with tribal products

Chaukhandi Stupa

Recently, Chaukhandi Stupa has been declared of national importance by theArcheological

Survey of India (ASI).
It is an ancient Buddhist site in Sarnath(Uttar Pradesh), with a lofty brickstructure crowned
with an octagonal tower.
Originally stupa is said to be built by Emperor Ashoka.

om
The octagonal tower on top is a Mughal monument built in 1588 tocommemorate Humanyu’s
visit to this place

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Kalasa-BanduriNala Project

ai
It is undertaken by the Government of Karnataka to improve drinking water supply to
the three districts of Belagavi, Dharwad, and Gadag.
gm
It involves building across Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi river to
divert water to the Malaprabha river (a tributary of Krishna river).
Malaprabha river supplies the drinking water to Dharwad, Belgaum, and Gadag districts.
1@

Kalasa-Banduri project was planned in 1989; Goa raised an objection to it.

The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal was set up in 2010. Goa, Karnataka and
Maharashtra are parties to the tribunal.
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d1

Namda Traditional Art

Namda is a local term used for traditional felted wool floor coverings, made out of a coarse
hk

variety of wool.
Namda comes from the root word Namata (Sanskrit for woollen stuff).
am

Namda making is practised as a craft in several cultures, especially in the countries

throughout Asia, viz. Iran, Afghanistan and India.
Srinagar in Kashmir and Tonk in Rajasthan are the two major namda making
it

centres in India.
sm

Banjara Community

The word ‘banjara’ is derived from Vanaj meaning to trade, and Jara meaning to travel.
Banjara (sometimes called Gypsies) is a nomadic tribe of India and were the vital supply
chain for villages.
They were commercial nomads, that is, hundreds of years ago they distributed salt and
other essential items to interior villages, but they did have a connection with the land.
With roots in Rajasthan, Banjaras now live in several states and are known by different
names like Lambada or Lambadi in Andhra Pradesh, Lambani in Karnataka; Gwar or
Gwaraiya in Rajasthan etc.

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Warli Adivasi Revolt
In 1945, it began in Zari village, Talasari taluka (Maharashtra).
Affected from the exploitation from the landlords and money-lenders, nearly 5,000 indentured
tribals gathered and refused to work on landlords’ fields until they received 12 annas a day in
wages.
Their resistance sowed the first seeds of rights-based movements among the region’s
indigenous communities.

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Women played an important role in the revolt and helped the men in all possible aspects.

Keeladi/Keezhadi findings

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Date back to 6th century BCE

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Keeladi-An Urban Settlement of Sangam Age on the Banks of River Vaigai
The results from the fourth excavations suggested that the “second urbanisation [the first

gm
being Indus] of the Vaigai plains happened in Tamil Nadu around 6th century BCE as it
happened in the Gangetic plains
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Theyyam
It is a popular ritual form of worship of North Malabar in Kerala
9

The dance or invocation is generally performed in front of the village shrine

d1

There is no stage or curtain or other such arrangements for the performance

The devotees would be standing or some of them would be sitting on a sacred tree in front of
the shrine
hk

The performers of Theyyam belong to the lower caste community, and have an important
position in Theyyam
am

Bhaona
it

Traditional form of entertainment in Assam

Played a major role in the neo-Vaishnavite movement that Sankardeva started in Assam
sm

Generally have religious themes

Borgeet, a new form of spiritual music, and Bhaona, a mythology-based theatrical
performance, and monastic dances that evolved into the classical Sattriya
Sankaradeva also created the Brajavali, a literary language limited to theatrical usage

PettaThullal Ritual
It denotes the beginning of the last leg of the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage season in
Kerala
The presence of hazardous metals, including lead, arsenic and cadmium in the colours
used during the ritual, causes skin troubles as well as pollution
The usage of an organic vermilion has been suggested to minimize the environmental impact

Page 162
Hingot Festival
Annual festival in Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Held a day after diwali

Hori habba
Bull catching sport

om
karnataka

Nihangs

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Sikh religious warriors

ai
Fateh divas is celebrated a day after deepavali to mark the arrival of 6th sikh guru
hargobind in amritsar after his release from the gwaliorfort

INTERNAL SECURITY
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Information Fusion Centre (IFC)

9

The IFC has been established at the Indian Navy’sInformation Management and Analysis
d1

Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram, Haryana.

IFC is the single point centerlinking all the coastal radar chains to generate a seamless
real-time picture of the nearly 7,500-km coastline.
hk

All countries that have signed white shipping information exchange agreements with India can
now position liaison officers at the IFC.
am

The IFC-IOR is a separate platform and all members of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium
are expected to be part of it.The IONS, launched in 2008, seeks to increase maritime
cooperation in IOR.
it

Trans-Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN)

sm

Recently, India has also signed the Trans Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN) agreement.
The multilateral agreement comprises of 30 countries and is steered by Italy.
This will facilitate informationexchange on the movement of commercial traffic on the
high seas.
Under the T-RMN, information is available mainly through the Automatic Identification
System (AIS),fitted on the merchant ships as mandated by the International Maritime
Organisation.
The AIS is used to identify passenger and commercial ships in international waters. AIS
comprises the name, number, position, course, speed, last port visited, destination etc.
Such multilateral agreements help Indian Navy monitor whole Indian Ocean. As due to the
large traffic, the Indian Ocean cannot be entirely monitored by any one nation.

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Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC)
The Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) is located in Gurugram.
It is the main center of the Indian Navy for coastal surveillance and monitoring.
IMAC is the nodal center of the National Command Control Communications and
Intelligence Network (NC3I Network).
IMAC is a joint initiative of Indian Navy, Coast Guard and Bharat Electronics Ltd. and
functions under the National Security Adviser (NSA).

om
National Command Control Communication and Intelligence
Network (NC3IN)

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The Indian Navy has established the NC3IN linking 51 stations, including 20 of the Navy and

ai
31 of the Coast Guard, with a nodal Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC).
The NC3I links 20 naval and 31 Coast Guard monitoring stations to generate a seamless real-
gm
time picture of the nearly 7,500-km long coastline.

Mission Reach Out

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The Army has launched “Mission Reach Out” in Jammu to ensure basic necessities and
essential services ar available in the region post the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370
9

and reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir.

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It is launched in light of recent re-organisation fo Jammu and Kashmir.

Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF)

hk

One of the key goals of the GCTF is to support and catalyze implementation of the United
am

Nations GlobalCounter-Terrorism Strategy, and the UN’s Counter terrorism work more
broadly, including the UN SecretaryGeneral’s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism that
was presented to the UN General Assembly in January 2016.
it

In pursuance of this goal, the GCTF works closely with UN bodies and with other relevant
sm

international and regional organizations, to reinforce, complement, and support multilateral

CT and CounteringViolent Extremism (CVE) efforts.
The GCTF has 30 members. Non-member states and organizations are regularly invited to
partner with and participate in GCTF workshops and activities, and to provide input into GCTF
framework documents and tools.

Important terms in cyber security

Adware: The least dangerous and most lucrative Malware. Adware displays ads on your
computer.
Spyware: Spyware is software that spies on you, tracking your internet activities in order to
send advertising (Adware) back to your system.
Virus: A virus is a contagious program or code that attaches itself to another piece of
software, and then reproduces itself when that software is run. Most often this is spread by
Page 164
 sharing software or files between computers.
Spam: Spamming is a method of flooding the Internet with copies of the same message. Most
spams are commercial advertisements which are sent as an unwanted email to users. Spams
are also known as Electronic junk emails or junk newsgroup postings. These spam emails are
very annoying as it keeps coming every day and keeps your mailbox full.
Worm: A program that replicates itself and destroys data and files on the computer. Worms
work to “eat” the system operating files and data files until the drive is empty.
Trojan: A Trojan horse or Trojan is a type of malware that is often disguised as legitimate
software.

om
Trojans are written with the purpose of discovering your financial information, taking
over your computer’s system resources, and in larger systems creating a “denial-of-
service attack” which is making a machine or network resource unavailable to those

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attempting to reach it.
Example: Google, AOL, Yahoo or your business network becoming unavailable.

ai
Backdoors: Backdoors are much the same as Trojans or worms, except that they open a
“backdoor” on a computer, providing a network connection for hackers or other Malware to
enter or for viruses or SPAM to be sent. gm
Rootkit: This one is likened to the burglar hiding in the attic, waiting to take from you while
you are not home.
1@

It is the hardest of all Malware to detect and therefore to remove; many experts
recommend completely wiping your hard drive and reinstalling everything from scratch.
It is designed to permit the other information gathering Malware in to get the identity
9

information from your computer without you realising anything is going on.
d1

Keyloggers: Records everything you type on your PC in order to glean your log-in names,
passwords, and other sensitive information, and send it on to the source of the keylogging
program.
hk

Many times keyloggers are used by corporations and parents to acquire computer usage
information.
am

Roguesecurity software: This one deceives or misleads users. It pretends to be a good

program to remove Malware infections, but all the while it is the Malware.
Often it will turn off the real Anti-Virus software.
it

Ransomware: If you see this screen that warns you that you have been locked out of your
computer until you pay for your cybercrimes. Your system is severely infected with a form of
sm

Malware called Ransomware.

Even if you pay to unlock the system, the system is unlocked, but you are not free of it
locking you out again.
Browser Hijacker: When your homepage changes to one that looks like those in the images
inserted next, you may have been infected with one form or another of a Browser Hijacker.
This dangerous Malware will redirect your normal search activity and give you the
results the developers want you to see.
Its intention is to make money off your web surfing. Using this homepage and not
removing the Malware lets the source developers capture your surfing interests

Trishul
Trishul is a short-range surface-to-air missile developed in India. It was developed by the
DefenceResearch and Development Organisation as a part of the Integrated Guided
Page 165
 Missile DevelopmentProgram.

NAG
NAG is an anti-tank guided missile that can destroy enemy tanks miles away. One of the
world’s finest in its class, the all-weather missile with day and night capabilities comes in four
variants that can be launched from land and air.
NAG has a minimum range of 500 metres and a maximum of 20 km, depending on the

om
launch type.
The fire-and-forget missile is developed by DRDO under the integrated guided missile
developmentprogramme (IGMDP), which also includes four other missiles — Agni, Akash,

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Trishul and Prithvi.

Pinaka

ai
gm
Pinaka is a multiple rocket launcher produced in India and developed by the Defence Research
and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO) for the Indian Army.
The system has a maximum range of 40 km for Mark-I and 75 km for Mark-II, and can fire a
salvo of 12 HE rockets in 44 seconds.
1@

The system is mounted on a Tatra truck for mobility. Pinaka saw service during the Kargil War.

“Four Foundational Agreements” between the US and its

9
d1

Partners
General Security Of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA)
hk

GSOMIA allows militaries to share the intelligence gathered by them.

am

Signed by India in 2002.

Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA)

it

LEMOA allows both countries to have access to each other’s designated military
sm

facilities for refueling and replenishment.

Signed by India in 2016.

Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA)

COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) is the India specific

version of CISMOA.
Valid for 10 years, COMCASA aims to provide a legal framework for the transfer of highly
sensitive communication security equipment from the US to India that will streamline
and facilitate interoperability between their armed forces.

Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA)

satellite data with each other.India has not signed BECA yet.

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Military Exercises

Joint Military Exercises of India with Other Countries

Name of Exercise Country

om
Garuda Shakti Indonesia

Ekuverin Maldives

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Hand-in-Hand China

ai
Kurukshetra
gm
Singapore

Mitra Shakti Sri Lanka

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Nomadic Elephant Mongolia

9
d1

National Crime Record Bureau

hk

NCRB was set-up in 1986 under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to function as a
repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking
crime to the perpetrators.
am

It is headquartered in New Delhi.

It was set up based on the recommendations of the National Police Commission
(1977-1981) and the MHA’s Taskforce (1985).
it

It was constituted by merging the Directorate of Coordination and Police Computer (DCPC),
sm

Inter-State Criminals Data Branch of CBI, Central Finger Print Bureau of CBI and Statistical
Branch of BPR&D.
NCRB brings out the annual comprehensive statistics of crime across the country through
ss‘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.
It developed CCTNS in 2009 which interconnects approximately 15000 police stations and
6000 higher offices across the country.
CCTNS digitises data related to FIR registration, investigation and charge sheets in all
police stations leading to the development of a national database of crimes and
criminals.

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NO MONEY FOR TERROR' MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Government in Melbourne.65 nations were represented at the conference. At the
conference, it was announced that Indiawould host the next 'No Money For Terror'
Conference in 2020.
This was the second conference of its kind, dedicated to the fight against terror financing. The
firstsuch meeting held in Paris in 2018.
The Conference is organised by Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) of over 100 countries,

om
jointlycalled The Egmont Group.

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SPECIAL PROTECTION GROUP (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2019

ai
Parliament passed the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, 2019 to amend the
SpecialProtections Group Act, 1988.
Background: Special Protections Group Act, 1988 gm
Based on the recommendations of the Birbal Nath committee report, SPG came into existence
in1985. From 1985 to 1988, SPG was governed by an Executive Order and only in 1988 the
1@

SPG Actcame into existence.

Under the Act, SPG) provides security to the Prime Minister and his immediate family
members. Italso provides security to former Prime Ministers and their immediate family
9

members for a period of one year from the date on which they cease to hold the office.
d1

The threat must: (i) emanate from a military or terrorist organisation, and (ii) be of a
grave and continuing nature.
If the SPG security is withdrawn from a former Prime Minister, it will also be withdrawn from
hk

hisimmediate family members, unless the level of threat faced by the immediate family
member warrantssuch security.
am

SPIKE
it

The Indian Army successfully test-fired two newly-acquired Israeli Spike LR anti-tank guided
missile (ATGM).
sm

With this, India became the 33rd country to have the Spike missile as part of its
inventory.
Spike is a fourth generation missile which can engage any target with precision at
ranges up to 4 kilo metres.
In addition to fire and forget capability, the missile has an inbuilt seeker, which gives the
firer the flexibility to use any of two modes: Day (CCD) and Night (IIR). The dual seeker
adds to the missile's reliability.

BULLETPROOF JACKETS
India has begun exporting bulletproof jackets as per its own standards to over 100 countries
including European nations.
India is the fourth country after the US, UK and Germany to have its own national
standard on bulletproof jacket which provides 360-degree protection. It is framed by the
Page 168
 Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).

Bhabha Kavach
Bullet-proof jacket, was recently launched at the International Police Expo 2019 in New Delhi.

RAFALE

om
Indian Air Force (IAF) at Production Unit of Dassault Aviation at Mérignac in France. He was
handed over the first Indian aircraft, RB-001, by Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier.
The Dassault Rafale is a French twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter aircraft

l.c
designed and built by Dassault Aviation. Equipped with a wide range of weapons, the Rafale is
intended to perform in-depth strike, anti-ship strike and nuclear deterrence missions.
Introduced in 2001, the Rafale is being produced by the French Air Force and has been

ai
selected forpurchase by the Air Force of India, Egypt and Qatar.

gm
Indianscenario:-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for36 Rafale multi-role fighter jets in fly-
away condition following the surprise announcement by PM Modi in April 2015.
The first batch of the jets will arrive in India only in May 2020. By February 2021, India will
receive 18 Rafale jets and by April 2022, India will get all the 36 Rafale.
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GOLDEN ARROWS
9

The Indian Air Force (IAF) resurrected the Air Force Station Ambala-based 17 Squadron
d1

'Golden Arrows', which will operate the first squadron of Rafale fighter jets in the near future.
The squadron was earlier disbanded in 2016.
hk

The squadron was formed at Ambala in 1951 under the command of Flight Lieutenant D L
Springettand was then equipped with Harvard-II B aircraft.
The Squadron converted to the Mig-21 M in 1975 and participated actively in Operation
am

Safed Sagarduring the Kargil conflict in 1999.

LARGEST DRY DOCK OF INDIAN NAVY

it
sm

Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh commissioned the largest dry dock of Indian Navy - The
AircraftCarrier Dock at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai.
It is capable of docking aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and IAC-I, the indigenous aircraft
carrierwhich is under construction at Cochin shipyard.
A dry dock is a berthing place to carry out refuelling and maintenance of a ship.

S-400 Triumf
S-400 Triumfis one of the world’s most advanced air defence systems that can simultaneously
track numerous incoming objects — all kinds of aircraft, missiles and UAVs — in a radius of a
few hundred kilometres and launch appropriate missiles to neutralise them.

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Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act
(CAATSA)
The Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) is a United States
federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
It includes sanctions against countries that engage in significant transactions with Russia's
defense and intelligence sectors.
India could face US sanctions for purchasing high-value military defense items, in particular,

om
state-of-the-art S-400 Triumf missile defense system, from Russia under the act. India is set to
receive its first delivery of the system in 2020.

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Bi-luminescent security ink

ai
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-National Physical Laboratory has developed
a bi-luminescent security ink which glows in red and green colours when illuminated by two
different excitation sources. gm
The ink was given to Bank Note Press (BNP), Dewas, a unit of Security Printing Minting
1@

Corporation of India Ltd. (SPMCIL), New Delhi.

The formulation can be used to check the authenticity of passports, Government
documents, tamper evident labels, identity cards, etc.
9
d1

Next Generation Maritime Mobile Coastal Batteries

(NGMMCB-Long Range)
hk

It has been developed and manufactured in India by Indo-Russia Joint Venture

Company-BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. It will be fitted with supersonic
am

BrahMos surface-to-surface cruise missiles and will be deployed along the coast

Cold start doctrine

it
sm

India's 'Cold War doctrine,' or 'Proactive Strategy' as the Indian Army calls it, is aimed at
making swift and hard inroads into enemy territory,specifically Pakistan
To prevent the outbreak of a nuclear war, such strikes will be 'limited' and 'calibrated'. Enemy
territory can be struck within 72-96 hours of the directive.
The idea for the 'Cold Start' doctrine was fuelled by Operation Parakram,launched after the
terror attack on Parliament in December 2001

INS Nilgiri
Navy’s first new stealth frigate, INS ‘Nilgiri’
It is the first ship of Project17A
Project 17A frigates is a design derivative of the Shivalik class stealth frigates with much more
advanced stealth features and indigenous weapons and sensors

Page 170
Narcotics Control Bureau:
Constituted in 1986 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985.
It is the apex coordinating agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is based on Article 47 of
the Indian Constitution - prohibition of the consumption, except for medicinal purposes, of
intoxicating drugs injurious to health.
Drug abuse control is the responsibility of the central government.

om
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985

l.c
It provides for the penalty - illegal traffic in narcotic drugs.
The Act -provision for constituting a Central Authority for the purpose of exercising the powers

ai
and functions of the Central Government under the Act.

Conventions to limit use of narcotics gm

The following conventions various forms of control to limit the use of narcotic drugs and
1@
psychotropic substances

The UN Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs 1961

9

The Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971

The Convention on Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988
d1

India is a signatory to all these three.

hk

INDIAN CYBER CRIME COORDINATION CENTRE (I4C)

am

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) was recently inaugurated by the
government.
It will be set up under the newly created Cyber and Information Security (CIS) division of the
it

Ministry of Home Affair

sm

NTRO
The National Technical Research Organisation is a technical intelligence Agency under the
National Security Advisor in the Prime Minister's Office, India.
It was set up in 2004.
It also includes National Institute of Cryptology Research and Development (NICRD), which is
first of its kind in Asia.

Nuclear Command Authority (NCA)

The Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) of India is the authority responsible for command,
control and operational decisions regarding India's nuclear weapons programme.

The Executive Council gives its opinion to the Political Council, which authorises a nuclear
Page 171
 attack when deemed necessary.

While the Executive Council is chaired by the National Security Advisor (NSA), the Political
Council is chaired by the Prime Minister.

Strategic Forces Command

The directives of the NCA are to be operationalised by the Strategic Forces Command under
the control of a Commander-in-Chief of the rank of Air Marshal (or its equivalent) in charge of

om
the management and administration of the tactical and strategic nuclear forces.

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ai
National and International organisation and gm
reports
1@

International organisations
9
d1

World bank
The World Bank (French: Banque mondiale) is an international financial institution that provides
hk

loans and grants to the governments of poorer countries for the purpose of pursuing capital
projects. The World Bank's most recent stated goal is the reduction of poverty. As of November
am

2018, the largest recipients of World Bank loans were India ($859 million in 2018) and China ($370
million in 2018), through loans from IBRD.
it

The World Bank Group is an extended family of five international organizations, and the parent
organization of the World Bank, the collective name given to the first two listed organizations, the
sm

IBRD and the IDA:

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development(IBRD)

International Development Association(IDA)
International Finance Corporation(IFC)
Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency(MIGA)
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes(ICSID)

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development

(IBRD)
Works with all institutions of the World Bank Group and the public and private sectors in
developing countries to reduce poverty and build shared prosperity.
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International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Lends money to private sector companies of its member countries thereby promoting
economic development .
It is also known as Private Arm of World Bank.

International Development Association (IDA)

om
Provide loans for infrastructure development and long term lending for development of
economic services. It was set up in 1960.
It is also known as Soft Window of the World Bank. India has been the biggest beneficiary of

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the IDA support.

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

ai
(ICSID)
gm
Settles investment disputes between investing foreign companies and the host countries where
investments have been done.
1@

It was set up in 1966 under the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Dispute between
States and Nationals of other States.
India is not a member of ICSID. Instead, it is a member of Bilateral Investment Promotion and
9

Protection Agreement (BIPA) in order to protect and promote on reciprocal basis investment of
d1

the investors.

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)

hk

Encourages foreign investment in developing economies by offering insurance to foreign

am

private investors against loss caused by noncommercial risks.

IMF
it
sm

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), is an international organization headquartered

in Washington, D.C., consisting of 189 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation,
secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable
economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world while periodically depending on World
Bank for its resources.

OECD
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD;

It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market

economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems,
identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.

Page 173
Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI)
and are regarded as developed countries. As of 2017, the OECD member countries collectively
comprised 62.2% of global nominal GDP (US$49.6 trillion) and 42.8% of global GDP (Int$54.2
trillion) at purchasing power parity. The OECD is an official United Nations observer

BRICS
BRICS is the acronym coined for an association of five major emerging national

om
economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as
"BRIC" (or "the BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa in 2010.

The BRICS members are known for their significant influence on regional affairs; all are members

l.c
of G20.

ai
New Development Bank
gm
The New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development
Bankis a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states.
The bank's primary focus of lending will be infrastructure projects with authorized lending of
1@

up to $34 billion annually.

South Africa will be the African Headquarters of the Bank named the "New Development Bank
Africa Regional Centre.
9

The bank will have starting capital of $50 billion, with capital increased to $100 billion over
d1

time.
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will initially contribute $10 billion each to bring
hk

the total to $50 billion.

BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA)

am

The BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement(CRA) is a framework for providing

protection against global liquidity pressures. This includes currency issues where members'
it

national currencies are being adversely affected by global financial pressures.

sm

It is found that emerging economies that experienced rapid economic liberalization went
through increased economic volatility, bringing uncertain macroeconomic environment.
The CRA is generally seen as a competitor to the International Monetary Fund(IMF) and along
with the New Development Bank is viewed as an example of increasing South-South
cooperation.

BRICS payment system

At the 2015 BRICS summitin Russia, ministers from BRICS nations, initiated consultations for
a payment system that would be an alternative to the SWIFT

Page 174
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB) is a multilateral development bank that
aims to support the building of infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific
The United Nationshas addressed the launch of AIIB as having potential for "scaling up
financing for sustainable development"and to improve the global economic governance.
The starting capital of the bank was $100 billion, equivalent to 2⁄3of the capital of the Asian
Development Bank and about half that of the World Bank

om
EU

l.c
The European Union(EU) is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are
located primarily in Europe.

ai
The EU has developed an internal single marketthrough a standardised system of laws that
apply in all member states in those matters, and only those matters, where members have
agreed to act as one.
gm
EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the
internal market, enact legislation in justice and home affairs and maintain common policies on
1@
trade, agriculture,fisheriesand regional development.
For travel within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished .
A monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002 and is composed
9

of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency, but lacks common Fiscal union.
The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020.
d1

The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European
The latest major amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came
hk

into force in 2009.

The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world.
EU has a common foreign and security policy, thus developing a coordinated external relations
am

and defence.

European Commission
it

It is an institution, responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the EU

sm

treaties and managing the day-to-day business of the EU.

HQ - Brussels.

European Council
The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collective body that defines the European
Union's overall political direction and priorities.
Established as an informal summit in 1975, the European Council was formalized as an
institution in 2009 upon the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon.

Council of Europe

It aims to uphold human rights, democracy, and rule of law in Europe and promote
European culture.

Page 175
 HQ - Strasbourg, France.
It has 47 member states and is distinct from the EU.
No country has ever joined the EU without first belonging to the Council of Europe.
Unlike the EU, the Council of Europe cannot make binding laws, but it does have the power to
enforce select international agreements reached by European states on various topics.

Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC)

om
The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an initiative by six countries – India and five
ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam for
cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications.

l.c
It was launched in 2000 at Vientiane, Lao PDR. Both the Ganga and the Mekong are
civilizational rivers, and the MGC initiative aims to facilitate closer contacts among the people
inhabiting these two major river basins.

ai
The MGC is also indicative of the cultural and commercial linkages among the member
countries of the MGC down the centuries.

G7
gm
1@

It is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US.EU is
also represented within the G7.
These countries are the seven major advanced economies as reported by the IMF.
9

Formerly called G8 with Russia in it, but due to Crimean crisis Russia was ejected from the
d1

group.
The organization was founded to facilitate shared macroeconomic initiatives by its members in
hk

response to thecollapse of the exchange rate 1971.

For the first time in the last 44 years, Gender Equality Advisory Council was set up.
The aim of the council is to convince private sector companies to set up such council and
am

eradicate theproblem of gender inequality from the root.

Although India is not a member of the G7 group, PM attended the G7 Summit as a special
guest as he has beenpersonally invited by French President.
it

Gender Equality Advisory Council

sm

The Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC) was created by Prime Minister Trudeau during
Canada's G7 presidency in 2018. French President Emmanuel Macron renewed it in 2019 by
renewing its members and its mandate.
The 2019 Council is composed of 35 members, including three Nobel Peace Prize laureates,
representatives of international and French NGOs, international organizations and private
companies, government representatives*, journalists and artists.

United Nations Environment Programme

UNEP/UN Environment is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global
environmental agenda.
HQ - Nairobi, Kenya.
It honoured PM Narendra Modi with „Champions of the Earth‟ award in the leadership
Page 176
 category forhis pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and for his
unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022‟.
Reports - Global Environment Outlook, Emission Gap Report, Actions on Air Quality& Rise
ofEnvironmental Crime Report (along with INTERPOL).

UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund

It is a special program of the United Nations.

It is devoted to aiding national efforts to improve the health, nutrition, education, and general

om
welfare of children.
It becomes first UN organisation to hold and make transactions in cryptocurrencies ether and
bitcoin.

l.c
It will use cryptocurrencies to fund open source technology benefiting children and young
people around the world.

ai
Under the structure of the fund, contributions will be held in their cryptocurrency of
contribution, and granted out in the same cryptocurrency.

gm
The first contributions to the Fund will benefit UNICEF Innovation Fund and GIGA initiative
to connect schools across the world to the internet.
1@

G20
The G20 (or Group of Twenty) is an international forum for the governments and central
9

bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union (EU).

d1

Founded in 1999 with the aim to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of
international financial stability, the G20 has expanded its agenda since 2008 and heads of
government or heads of state, as well as finance ministers and foreign ministers, have
hk

periodically conferred at summits ever since.

It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.
am

Global Digital Content Market

it

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) organizes Global Digital Content Market
(GDCM).
sm

It is a conference to showcase the latest opportunities and challenges in the creative industries
and, changesbrought about by digital technologies.
This year, the special focus of the conference is Asia-Pacific region.
India has been chosen as a host nation for the conference by WIPO.
DPIIT hosts Global Digital Content Market

United Nations Global Compact

It is a voluntary initiative to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to
support UNgoals.
Global Compact Network India (GCNI), is the Indian arm of the organisation and it held the
second GenderEquality Summit

Page 177
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations(FAO)[Note 1] is a specialized
agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve
nutrition and food security.
It helps governments and development agencies coordinate their activities to improve and
develop agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and land and water resources. It also conducts
research, provides technical assistance to projects, operates educational and training

om
programs, and collects data on agricultural output, production, and development.

Codex Alimentarius

l.c
FAO and the World Health Organization created the Codex Alimentarius Commissionin 1961 to

ai
develop food standards, guidelines and texts such as codes of practice under the Joint FAO/
WHO Food Standards Programme.

gm
The main aims of the programme are protecting consumer health, ensuring fair trade and
promoting co-ordination of all food standards work undertaken by intergovernmental and non-
governmental organization.
1@

ICAN
9

ICAN was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts on nuclear prohibition.
d1

India denounced from voting in favour of a resolution brought in by ICAN, in this regard.
This gains significance in the larger context of India's place in nuclear non-proliferation.
hk

What is ICAN?

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was launched in 2007.

am

It is a global civil society coalition which constitutes 468 partner organizations from around
10o countries.
The campaign helped bring about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
it

It works primarily to promote adherence to and full implementation of this treaty.

sm

It called upon nuclear-armed states to initiate negotiations to gradual elimination of the

world’s 15,000 nuclear weapons.
Its uniqueness is that it pays attention to the humanitarian threat posed by nuclear weapons.

ITER
ITER(originally the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor[1]) is an
international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject, which will be the world's
largest magnetic confinement plasma physics
It is an experimental tokamaknuclear fusion reactor that is being built next to
the Cadarache facility in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, in Provence, southern France.

Page 178
UNCLOS
UN Convention on the Law of Sea is the international agreement that resulted from the
3rdUnited NationsConference on the Law of the Sea.
It provides a regulatory framework for the use of the world’s seas and oceans, to ensure the
conservation andequitable usage of resources and the marine environment and to ensure the
protection and preservation of theliving resources of the sea..
The convention has created 3 new institutions on the international scene,

om
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea,
2. International Seabed Authority,
3. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.

l.c
UN has no direct operational role in the implementation of the Convention.
The most significant issues covered by convention were setting limits, navigation, archipelagic
status andtransit regimes, exclusive economic zones (EEZs), continental shelf jurisdiction,

ai
deep seabed mining, theexploitation regime, protection of the marine environment, scientific
research, and settlement of disputes.
gm
The convention gives a clear definition on Internal Waters, Territorial Waters, Archipelagic
Waters,Contiguous Zone, Exclusive Economic Zone, and Continental Shelf.
Mineral resource exploitation in deep seabed areas beyond national jurisdiction is regulated
1@

throughan International Seabed Authority and the Common heritage of mankind principle.
According to UNCLOS, Landlocked states are given a right of access to and from the sea,
without taxation oftraffic through transit states.
9

Coastal States have sovereign rights in EEZ with respect to natural resources and certain
d1

economic activities,and exercise jurisdiction over marine science research and environmental
protection.
hk

ITLOS
am

International Tribunal for the Law of the Seais an independent judicial body established by the
UNCLOS toadjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the
UNCLOS Convention.
it

Base - Hamburg, Germany.

sm

The Tribunal is composed of 21 independent members, elected from among persons enjoying
the highestreputation for fairness and integrity and of recognized competence in the field of
the law of the sea.
The Tribunal is open to States Parties to the Convention
It is also open to entities other than States Parties, i.e., States or intergovernmental
organisations which arenot parties to the Convention and to state enterprises and private
entities.
Neeru Chadha has become the first Indian woman to be elected as a judge at the International
Tribunalfor the Law of the Seas (ITLOS).

WTO groups

Groups Description / issues Countries

Page 179
 African, Caribbean and Pacific countries with preferences
in the EU WTO members
ACP
Issues: Agricultural preferences (62)
Nature: Geographical

African members of the WTO

WTO members
African group Issues: General
(43)
Nature: Regional

om
Asian developing WTO members. Announced in document
Asian
WT/GC/COM/6 of 27 March 2012 WTO members

l.c
developing
Issues: General (31)
members
Nature: Regional

ai
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum
WTO members
APEC Issues: General
Nature: Regional gm (21)
1@

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

WTO members
ASEAN Issues: General
(10)
Nature: Regional
9
d1

WTO members
Common Market of the Southern Cone, a customs union
(4): Argentina,
(Mercosul in Portuguese)
Mercosur Brazil,
hk

Issues: General
Paraguay,
Nature: Customs union
Uruguay
am

African Group + ACP + least-developed countries WTO members

G-90
Issues: General (72)
it

Least developed countries: the world’s poorest countries.

sm

Least-developed
The WTO uses the UN list (pdf) available here: WTO members
countries
www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/cdp/ldc_info.shtml (36)
(LDCs)
Issues: General

Small, Group of developing countries seeking flexibilities and

vulnerable enhanced special and differential treatment for small, WTO members
economies vulnerable economies in the negotiations. (26)
(SVEs) Issues: General

Page 180
 The Group of Article XII is composed of Members that
joined the WTO after 1995. The Group seeks to close the
gap between the commitments of the original Members,
and the greater level of commitments undertaken by
Article XII WTO members
members of the group as part of their WTO accessions,
Members (22)
thus achieving a level playing field, and a fairer
multilateral trading system. Excludes least-developed
countries and EU Members who joined post-1995.
Issues: General

om
WTO members
Seeking to secure the same treatment as least-developed
(3): Armenia,

l.c
Low-income countries. (Georgia formally withdrew, but in the
Kyrgyz
economies in agriculture draft the full list is: Albania, Armenia, Georgia,
Republic,
transition Kyrgyz Rep, Moldova)
Moldova,

ai
Issues: Agriculture
Republic of

Cairns group agricultural trade liberalization.

gm
Coalition of agricultural exporting nations lobbying for
WTO members
(19)
1@
Issues: Agriculture

Coalition of developing countries seeking greater market

Tropical WTO members
9

access for tropical products

products (8)
Issues: Agriculture
d1

Coalition of countries lobbying for agriculture to be treated

hk

as diverse and special because of non-trade concerns (not WTO members

G-10
to be confused with the Group of Ten Central Bankers) (9):
Issues: Agriculture
am

Coalition of developing countries pressing for ambitious

it

reforms of agriculture in developed countries with some

flexibility for developing countries (not to be confused with
G-20
sm

the G-20 group of finance ministers and central bank

governors, and its recent summit meetings)
Issues: Agriculture

WTO members
West African coalition seeking cuts in cotton subsidies and (5): Benin,
Cotton-4 tariffs Burkina Faso,
Issues: Agriculture (Cotton) Chad, Mali,
Côte d’Ivoire

Page 181
 WTO members
(10): Argentina,
Brazil, Egypt,
India,
Indonesia,
Coalition of developing countries seeking flexibilities to
Namibia,
NAMA-11 limit market opening in industrial goods trade
Philippines,
Issues: NAMA
South Africa,
Tunisia,

om
Venezuela,
Bolivarian
Republic of

l.c
Group of countries with less than 35% of non-agricultural
products covered by legally bound tariff ceilings. They

ai
have agreed to increase their binding coverage
Paragraph 6 WTO members
substantially, but want to exempt some products. (In
countries
gm
paragraph 6 of the first version of the NAMA text, later
paragraph 8.)
(12):

Issues: NAMA
1@

Seeking to maximize tariff reductions and achieve real

Friends of
market access in NAMA. (Some nuanced differences in WTO members
9

Ambition
positions.) (34)
(NAMA)
d1

Issues: NAMA

Friends of A-D Coalition seeking more disciplines on the use of anti-

hk

WTO members
Negotiations dumping measures
(15):
(FANs) Issues: Rules (anti-dumping)
am

Informal coalition seeking to significantly reduce fisheries

Friends of Fish subsidies. From time to time other WTO members also WTO members
it

(FoFs) identify themselves as “Friends of Fish” (11):

Issues: Rules (fisheries subsidies)
sm

Sponsors of TN/C/W/52, a proposal for “modalities” in

negotiations on geographical indications (the multilateral
register for wines and spirits, and extending the higher
level of protection beyond wines and spirits) and
“disclosure” (patent applicants to disclose the origin of
“W52” sponsors genetic resources and traditional knowledge used in the
inventions). The list includes as groups: the EU, ACP and
African Group. * Dominican Rep. is in the ACP and South
Africa is in the African Group, but they are sponsors of
TN/IP/W/10/Rev.2 on geographical indications
Issues: Intellectual property (TRIPS)

Page 182
 Joint proposal Sponsors of TN/IP/W/10/Rev.4 proposing a database that is
(in intellectual entirely voluntary
property) Issues: TRIPS GI register

Developing Country Members of the Pacific Islands Forum

(PIF) WTO members
Pacific Group
Issues: General (6):
Nature: Geographical

om
G-4

l.c
Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan + support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the
United Nations Security Council

ai
G-5
India, China, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa
gm
1@
Created in 1974 originally referred to an informal forum which comprised the worlds five most
advanced economies that came together in response to the 1973 global financial crisis

G-6
9
d1

US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Japan

Unofficial forum which brings together the heads of the world’s six richest economics
hk

G-7
am

Intergovernmental organisation that was formed in 1975

Initially it was formed as an effort by the US and its allies to discuss economic issues,
it

which included battling a global oil crisis

G7 or 'Group of Seven' are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and
sm

the United States which discuss issues such as global economic governance, international
security, and energy policy
G7 was known as the ‘G8’ for several years after the original seven were joined by Russia in
1997 Russia was expelled as a member in 2014 following the latter’s annexation of the Crimea
region of Ukraine
G7 nations meet at annual Summits that are presided over by leaders of member countries
on a rotational basis
G7 does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters
India is not a member of the G7 group
India was invited as a special guest for attending the 45th G-7 Summit in France

Page 183
G-77
Group of 77 at the United Nations is a coalition of 134 developing nationsdesigned to promote
its members collective econ

‘ANGAN’- International Conference on Energy Efficiency in

Building Sector

om
The recently held international conference, ANGAN (Augmenting Nature by Green
Affordable New-habitat), focussed on Energy Efficiency in Building Sector
Organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, Government of India

l.c
in collaboration with GIZ under the Indo German Technical Cooperation
Its aim is to provide a platform to deliberate on interdependence between

ai
organizations, systemic sustainability and feedback loops for better resource
efficiency

1995 Basel Ban Amendment

gm
1@

The 1995 Basel Ban Amendment, a global waste dumping prohibition, has become an
international law after Croatia (97th country to ratify) ratified it in 2019
Adopted by the parties to the Basel Convention in 1995
9

The amendment prohibits all export of hazardous wastes, including electronic wastes and
d1

obsolete ships from 29 wealthiest countries of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) to non-OECD countries
hk

International Sea Bed Authority

am

It is an intergovernmental body established by the Law of the Sea Convention to organize,

regulate and controlall mineral-related activities in the international seabed area beyond the
limits of national jurisdiction.
it

It helps in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 14 “Conserve and sustainably use the
sm

oceans, seas andmarine resources”.

Base - Kingston, Jamaica.
UNCLOS defines the international seabed area as “the seabed and ocean floor and the subsoil
thereof, beyondthe limits of national jurisdiction”.
It has obtained its observer status in the United Nations.

India & ISA

India was re-elected as a member of the Council of ISA (2017-2020).

India‟s exclusive rights to explore polymetallic nodules from seabed in Central Indian Ocean
Basin have beenextended by 5 years.
India is implementing a programme on exploration of Polymetallic nodules through the
Ministry of EarthSciences.

Page 184
Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)
The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) Partnership Initiative was
conceptualized the Chapter 10 of Agenda 21 in Food and Agricultural Organization of
United Nations, FAO in 2002 during World Summit on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg, South Africa.
This UN Partnership Initiative aims to identify, support and safeguard Globally Important
Agricultural Heritage Systems and their livelihoods, agricultural and associated biodiversity,

om
landscapes, knowledge systems and cultures around the world.
The GIAHS Partnership recognizes the crucial importance of the well-being of family farming
communities in an integrated approach while directing activities towards sustainable

l.c
agriculture and rural development.

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

ai
gm
Established in 1964, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)
promotes development-friendly integration of developing countries into the world economy.
UNCTAD is a permanent intergovernmental body established in 1964.
1@
Headquarters - Geneva, Switzerland.
Some of the reports published by it are:
Trade and Development Report
9

World Investment Report

The Least Developed Countries Report
d1

Information and Economy Report

Technology and Innovation Report
hk

Commodities and Development Report

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

am

Set up in 1977
it

It is 13th specialised agency of the United Nations.

India is a founder memberof IFAD and a key contributor among the member countries.
sm

IFAD works towards removing poverty and hunger in rural areas all over the world, especially
in developing countries.
Its goal is to empower poor rural men and women in developing countries to achieve higher
incomes and improved food security.
IFAD is managed by the two main governing bodies i.e. the Governing Council and the
Executive Board. The Governing Council is the highest decision-making body of IFAD.

The Food Sustainability Index

Created by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition,
It is a tool designed to highlight international policies and best practices relating to global
paradoxes and to the main SDGs for food, climate change, sustainable cities, responsible
production and consumption, health, gender equality, education and infrastructure.

Page 185
REPORTS PUBLISHED BY UNEP
Global Environmental Outlook
Emissions Gap Report
Adaptation Gap Report
Inclusive Wealth Report
Frontiers Report

om
Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an inter-governmental body established in 1989

l.c
on the initiative of the G7.
It is a “policy-making body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about

ai
national legislative and regulatory reforms in various areas.
The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.

The objectives of the FATF are to gm

Set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational
1@

measures
For combating money laundering
Terrorist financing
9

Other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

d1

International Energy Agency (IEA)

hk

Located in Paris
Autonomous intergovernmental organization
am

Established in 1974in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis

The IEA was initially dedicated to responding to physical disruptions in the supply of oil, as
well as serving as an information source on statistics about the international oil market and
it

other energy sectors.

sm

The IEA acts as a policy adviserto its member states, but also works with non-member
countries, especially China, India, and Russia
India has become an associate member of IEA.
Presently it has 30 member countries including India

The International Energy Agency has published its flagship publication World Energy Outlook.

World Economic Forum (WEF)

WEF was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva,
The objective of WEF is to improve the state of the world by engaging
business,political,academic and other leaders of society to shape global,regional and industry
agendas.

Page 186
Some of the most significant reports published by the WEF are

Global Competitiveness Report

Global Gender Gap Report
Global Risks Report
Global Travel and Tourism Report

World Poverty Clock

om
The World Poverty Clock [1]is a tool to monitor progress against poverty globally,[2] and
regionally.[3] It provides real-time poverty data across countries.Created by the Vienna-based
NGO, World Data Lab, it was launched in Berlin at the re:publica conference in 2017, and is funded

l.c
by Germany's Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

ai
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific
Partnership (CPTPP) gm
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership
1@

(CPTPP) is a free trade agreement between Canada and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific
region: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru,
Singapore and Vietnam.
9

Once fully implemented, the 11 countries will form a trading bloc representing 495 million
d1

consumers and 13.5% of global GDP, providing Canada with preferential access to key
markets in Asia and Latin America.
On December 30, 2018 the CPTPP entered into force among the first six countries to ratify the
hk

agreement Canada, Australia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, and Singapore.

On January 14, 2019, the CPTPP entered into force for Vietnam.
am

Financial Stability Board

it

The Financial Stability Board(FSB) is an international body that monitors and makes
recommendations about the global financial system.
sm

It was established after the G20 London summitin April 2009 as a successor to the Financial
Stability Forum (FSF).

Indian Ocean Rim Association

It was established in 1997and is a regional forum that seeks to build and expand
understanding and mutually beneficial cooperation through a consensus-based, evolutionary
and non-intrusive approach.
IORA has 22 member states,including Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia,
Iran, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Seychelles,
Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE, and Yemen.
Its Secretariat is based in Cyber City, Ebène, Mauritius.
It manages, coordinates, services and monitors the implementation of policy decisions, work
programmes and projects adopted by the member states.
Page 187
 The association gains importance by the fact that the Indian Ocean carries half of the world’s
container ships, one-third of the world’s bulk cargo traffic and two-thirds of the world’s oil
shipments.
It is a lifeline of international trade and transport and the Indian ocean region is woven
together by trade routes and commands control of major sea-lanes.

International Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure

om
The CDRI was proposed to be launched at the UN Climate Action Summitin New York.
Being organized by the UN Secretary-General, the summit will bring together the largest
number of Heads of States to generate commitments for combating the effects of climate

l.c
change and resulting disasters and will provide the high-level visibility required for the CDRI.

The charterfor the coalition will be finalized after taking inputs from potential member

ai
countries by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in consultation with
the Ministry of External Affairs.
gm
Focus on disaster resilient infrastructure would simultaneously address the loss reduction
targets under the Sendai Framework, address a number of Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs)and also contribute to climate change adaptation.
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NEST-New and Emerging Strategic Technologies

9

Ministry of External Affairs has decided to set up a new division called NEST-New and Emerging
d1

Strategic Technologies.

The NEST will act as a nodal point to exchange views with foreign governments on new and
hk

emerging strategic technologies.

The division will help in collaboration with foreign partners in the field of 5G and artificial
am

intelligence.

It will also help assess foreign policy and international legal implications of new and
emergingtechnologies and technology-based resources, and recommend appropriate
it

foreign policy choice.

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The division will also be holding responsibility for matters that involves negotiations with
multilateralfora like the United Nations, G20.
This will help to safeguard India’s interests as such forums govern the rules of access to
such

International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of

Plants
The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) is an
intergovernmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. UPOV was established in 1961
by the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (the “UPOV
Convention”).
The mission of UPOV is to provide and promote an effective system of plant variety protection,
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 with the aim of encouraging the development of new varieties of plants, for the benefit of
society.
India is not a member to UPOV.

Union Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

India has emerged as the leading country of origin for immigrants across the world, with 17.5
million international migrants in 2019 coming from India, up from 15.9 million in 2015,

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according to a datasetreleased by the Union Nations Department of Economic and Social
Affairs in New York.
The International Migrant Stock 2019, released by the UN DESA's Population Division,

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said the number of international migrants in the world had reached an estimated 272 million
2019-51 million more than in 2010.
The percentage of international migrants of the total global population has increased to 3.5%

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from2.8% in 2000.
While India remained as the top source of international migrants, the number of migrants
gm
living in India saw a slight decline from 5.24 million in 2015 to an estimated 5.15 million in
2019-both 0.4% of the total population of the country.
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MOSAiC mission stands for Multidisciplinary drifting

Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate.
9
d1

The objective of the mission is to study the impact of climate change on the Arctic and how it
could affect the rest of the world.
Under the mission, scientists plan to sail the RV Polar stern ship into the Arctic Ocean, anchor
hk

it to a large piece of sea ice and allow the water to freeze around them effectively trapping
themselves in the vast sheet of ice that forms over the North Pole each winter.
am

As temperatures drop, they’ll build temporary winter research camps on the ice allowing them.

World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

it

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency
sm

responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
Headquarters Madrid, Spain
The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer monitors short-term tourism trends on a regular
basis to provide global tourism stakeholders with up-to-date analysis on international tourism.
The World Tourism rankings are compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization
as part of their World Tourism Barometer publication, which is released three times annually.

Global Electric Vehicle Outlook

It is published annually by International Energy Agency.

It provides a comprehensive look at the state of Electric Vehicles, charging infrastructure and
policies around the globe.

IEA Bio-energy Technology Collaboration Program (TCP)

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 Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India joined IEA (International
Energy Agency) Bio-energy TCP as its 25th member recently.
It aims to improve cooperation and information exchange between countries that have
national programs in bio energy research, development and deployment.
It works under the framework of International Energy Agency (IEA)
The primary goal of joining is to facilitate the market introduction of advanced bio-fuels with
an aim to bring down emissions and reduce crude imports.
India is an Associate member of IEA

om
World Economic Situation and Prospects Report

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The report is a joint product of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
(UN/DESA), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the five
United Nations regional commissions (Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Economic

ai
Commission for Europe (ECE), Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC),
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and Economic and Social
Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). gm
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
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Based in Stockholm is an independent international institute established in 1966.

It is dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
9

It releases the National Reports on Arms Exports to highlight the oversight of government
d1

implementation of arms export control policies.

According to a recent SIPRI report, India was the world’s second-largest arms importer from
hk

2014-18, in the year 2009- 2013 India was the largest arms importer.

International Labour Organization

am

The International Labour Organization(ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is

to advance social justice and promote decent work by setting international labour standards.
it

It was the first specialised agency of the UN.

sm

In 1969, the ILO received the Nobel Peace Prizefor improving fraternity and peace among
nations, pursuing decent work and justice for workers, and providing technical assistance to
other developing nations.

Future of Work
The ILO launched the Future of Work Initiative in order to gain understanding on the
transformations that occur in the world of work and thus be able to develop ways of responding to
these challenges.

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), an inter-governmental forum for 21 member
economies in the Pacific Rim, promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Following the
Page 190
success of ASEAN's series of post-ministerial conferences launched in the mid-1980s, APEC started
in 1989, in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of
regional trade blocs in other parts of the world.

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

The World Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO; French: Organisation mondiale de la
propriété intellectuelle (OMPI)) is one of the 15 specialized agencies of the United

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Nations (UN). WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the
protection of intellectual property throughout the world".
The predecessor to WIPO was the United International Bureaux for the Protection of

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Intellectual Property(Bureaux InternationauxRéunis pour la Protection de la
PropriétéIntellectuelle, with the French acronym for "BIRPI"), which had been established in
1893 to administer the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works and

ai
the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property.

Berne Convention gm
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known
1@

as the Berne Convention, is an international agreementgoverning copyright, which was first

accepted in Berne, Switzerland, in 1886.
The Berne Convention formally mandated several aspects of modern copyright law; it
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introduced the concept that a copyright exists the moment a work is "fixed", rather than
d1

requiring registration. It also enforces a requirement that countries recognize copyrights held
by the citizens of all other parties to the convention.
hk

Marrakesh VIP Treaty

am

The Marrakesh VIP Treaty(formally the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to

Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities,
colloquially MVT) is a treaty on copyright adopted in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 28 June 2013.
it

The treaty allows for copyright exceptions to facilitate the creation of accessible versions of
sm

books and other copyrighted works for visually impaired persons. It sets a norm for countries
ratifying the treaty to have a domestic copyright exception covering these activities and
allowing for the import and export of such materials.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations

The Association of Southeast Asian Nationsis a regional intergovernmental
organization comprising ten countries in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental
cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational,
and sociocultural integration among its members and other countries in Asia..

· Internal market

By the end of 2015, ASEAN plans to establish a single market based upon the four freedoms. It will
Page 191
ensure free flow of goods, services, skilled labour, and capital.

· Monetary union

The concept of an Asian Currency Unit (ACU) started in the middle of the 1990s, prior to the 1997
Asian financial crisis. It is a proposed basket of Asian currencies, similar to the European Currency
Unit, which was the precursor of the Euro.

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

om
The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) is a proposed free trade
agreement in the Asia-Pacific region between the ten member states of the Association of

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Southeast Asian Nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and their five FTA partners

ai
(Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, and South Korea).
India, ASEAN's sixth FTA partner, opted out of the agreement in 2019.
gm
RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summitin
Cambodia.
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East Asia Summit

The East Asia Summit (EAS) is a forum held annually by leaders of, initially, 16 countriesin the
9

East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian regions. Membership expanded to 18 countries
d1

including the United States and Russia at the Sixth EAS in 2011.
EAS meetings are held after annual ASEAN leaders’ meetings. The first summit was held in
hk

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 December 2005.

EAS is an initiative of ASEAN and is based on the premise of the centrality of ASEAN.
EAS has evolved as a forum for strategic dialogue and cooperation on political, security and
am

economic issues of common regional concern and plays an important role in the regional
architecture.
There are six priority areas of regional cooperation within the framework of the EAS. These
it

are Environment and Energy, Education, Finance, Global Health Issues and Pandemic
Diseases, Natural Disaster Management, and ASEAN Connectivity.
sm

East Asian Community

East Asian Community(EAC) is a proposed trade bloc for the East Asian and Southeast
Asian countries that may arise out of either ASEAN Plus Three or the East Asia Summit (EAS).

Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia

The Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia (CEPEA)is a Japanese led
proposal for trade co-operation, free trade agreement, among the 16 present member
countries of the East Asia Summit.
All those movements and efforts were taken over by the following Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership.
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Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific
Partnership
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP),
also known as TPP11 or TPP-11, is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei,
Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The CPTPP incorporates most of the Trans-Pacific Partnership(TPP) provisions by reference,
but suspended 22 provisions the United States favoured that other countries opposed, and

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lowered the threshold for enactment so the participation of the U.S. is not required.

South Asian Free Trade Area

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The South Asian Free Trade Area(SAFTA) is an agreement reached on January 6, 2004, at

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the 12th SAARC summit in Islamabad, Pakistan.
It created a free trade areaof 1.6 billion people in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
gm
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to reduce customs duties of all traded goods to zero
by the year 2016.
The SAFTA agreement came into force on January 1, 2006 and is operational following the
1@

ratification of the agreement by the seven governments.

SAFTA required the developing countriesin South Asia (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) to bring
their duties down to 20 percent in the first phase of the two-year period ending in 2007.
9
d1

Indian-Ocean Rim Association

hk

The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), formerly known as the Indian Ocean Rim Initiative and
Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC), is an international
organisation consisting of 22 coastal states bordering the Indian Ocean.
am

Bank for International Settlements

it

The Bank for International Settlements(BIS) is an international financial

sm

institution[2] owned by central banks which "fosters international monetary and financial
cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks"
It also provides banking services, but only to central banks and other international
organizations. It is based in Basel, Switzerland,
As an organization of central banks, the BIS seeks to make monetary policymore predictable
and transparent.
BIS has played a central role in establishing the Basel Capital Accordsof 1988, Basel
II framework in 2004 and more recently Basel III
Raghuram Rajan was elected as the vice-chairman, the board of directors of the Bank for
International Settlements (BIS), at its meeting in Basel held on Monday for a period of three
years from November 10, 2015,” the RBI said in a release on its website; Nov 11 2015 . At that
time he was Governor of Central Bank of India, RBI.

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WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANISATION
It was established in 1952 as the Customs Co-operation Council (CCC).
It is an independent intergovernmental body whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness
and efficiency of Customs administrations.
India is a member of this organisation.

EUROPEAN BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND

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DEVELOPMENT (EBRD)
Headquartered in London, the EBRD is owned by 66 countries plus European Union and

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European Investment Bank.
EBRD is an international financial institution founded in 1991 as a multilateral development

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investment bank to foster growth and innovation and promote countries' transition to market
economies.
gm
It provides project financing for banks, industries and businesses, both new ventures and
investments in existing companies.
Recently, the Union Cabinet approved India’s membership to EBRD. It will help in furthering
1@

India’s economic interests, enhance cooperation, sectoral knowledge, access to international

markets and employment opportunities.
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TRANSPORTS INTERNATIONAUX ROUTIERS (TIR)

d1

CONVENTION
hk

The Convention on International Transport of Goods Under Cover of TIR Convention is a

multilateral treaty that was concluded at Geneva on 14 November 1975 to simplify and
am

harmonise the administrative formalities of international road transport.

The 1975 convention replaced the TIR Convention of 1959, which itself replaced the 1949 TIR
Agreement between a number of European countries.
it

WTO'S DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY (DSB)

sm

The World Trade Organisation’s dispute settlement body has set up a panel to examine the US
complaint against certain export-subsidy measures by India as both the sides failed to resolve
the issue at consultation level.
The General Council convenes as the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to deal with disputes
between WTO members. Such disputes may arise with respect to any agreement contained in
the Final Act of the Uruguay Round that is subject to the Understanding on Rules and
Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU).

South-South and Triangular Cooperation

Recently held in New Delhi South- South cooperation is a broad framework of collaboration
among countries of the South in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and
technical domains
Page 194
 Triangular cooperation is collaboration in which traditional donor countries and multilateral
organizations facilitate South-South initiatives through the provision of funding, training,
management and technological systems as well as other forms of support
Objective is to increase and improve communications among developing countries,
leading to a greater awareness of common problems and wider access to available knowledge
and experience as well as the creation of new knowledge in tackling development problems

Commodity dependent developing countries (CDDCs)

om
CDDCs are a group of 88 developing countries where the commodity sector accounted for at
least 60 per cent of their total merchandise exports, on average and in value terms, over the

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period 2013– 2017
Most CDDCs depend on one or more commodities within the following major commodity
groups: agriculture; forestry; minerals, ores and metals; and fossil fuel-based energy

ai
Although India is not a CDDS, in 2018-2019, share of commodities accounted for about 46
percent of India’s total export

National organizations
gm
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National Dairy Development Board

9

The National Dairy Development Boardis an institution of national importance set up by an

d1

Act of Parliament of India.

The Board was created to finance, support and support producer-owned and controlled
organisations. Its programmes and activities seek to strengthen farmer cooperatives and
hk

support national policies that are favourable to the growth of such institutions. Cooperative
principles and cooperative strategies are fundamental to the board's efforts.
am

Indian Council of Agricultural Research

it

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research(ICAR) is an autonomous body responsible for

co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India.
sm

It reports to the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, Ministry of Agriculture.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of

India
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" which aims 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 the
umbrella scheme of PM-AASHA.
Page 195
 In 2008, it established, National Spot Exchange, a Commodities exchangeas a joint venture of
Financial Technologies (India) Ltd. (FTIL).

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is a

government regulatory agency that controls the prices of

om
pharmaceutical drugs in India.
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) was constituted vide Government of India

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Resolution dated 29th August, 1997 as an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals
(DoP), Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers as an independent Regulator for pricing of drugs and to

ai
ensure availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.

Drug Price Control Orders gm

The NPPA regularly publishes lists of medicines and their maximum ceiling prices. The latest DPCO
1@
was released in 2013 which has a list of 384 drugs.

On 4 December 2017, it was announced that a Multi-disciplinary committee of experts for

9

consultation on matters pertaining to implementation of Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) including
technicalities involved in pricing and new launches will be setup and it will have the member
d1

secretary of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing authority (NPPA) as its convener.

hk

Functions
am

To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order in accordance
with the powers delegated to it.
To deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority.
it

To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages, if any, and to take remedial steps.
To collect/ maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual
sm

companies, profitability of companies etc, for bulk drugs and formulations.

To undertake and/ or sponsor relevant studies in respect of pricing of drugs/ pharmaceuticals.
To recruit/ appoint the officers and other staff members of the Authority, as per rules and
procedures laid down by the Government.
To render advice to the Central Government on changes/ revisions in the drug policy.[8]
To render assistance to the Central Government in the parliamentary matters relating to the
drug pricing.

Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation

Petroleum And Explosives Safety Organisation(PESO) is a department formed
by Government of India under Department for the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
under Ministry of Commerce and Industry, to administer Explosives Act 1884,Explosive
Substance Act, Petroleum Act 1934, Inflammable substance Act 1952 and Environment
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 Protection Act 1986 to control import, export, transport, storage and usage of explosive
materials,flammable materials, pressure vessels, cryogenic vessels, design and installation of
all necessary and relevant infrastructure etc.
PESO is a regulatory authority with autonomous status. The Department is headed by Chief
Controller of Explosives and is headquartered at Nagpurin the State of Maharashtra in India.

Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export

Development Authority

om
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) is an
apex body under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, responsible for the

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export promotion of agricultural products.

ai
Federation of Indian Export Organisations

gm
Federation of Indian Export Organisations(FIEO) is the apex trade promotion organisation
in India set up by the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India, and private trade and
industry in 1965.
1@

The organisation is responsible for representing and assisting Indian entrepreneurs and
exporters in foreign markets.
9

India Trade Promotion Organisation

d1

India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), headquartered at Pragati Maidan, is the

nodal agency of the Government of Indiaunder aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry
hk

(India) for promoting country's external trade.

ITPO is a Mini-Ratna Category-1 Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) with 100 percent
am

shareholding of Government of India.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India

it
sm

The ECGC Limited (Formerly Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd) is a company
wholly owned by the Government of India based in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

It provides export credit insurance support to Indian exporters and is controlled by the Ministry of
Commerce. Government of India had initially set up Export Risks Insurance Corporation (ERIC) in
July 1957.

It was transformed into Export Credit and Guarantee Corporation Limited (ECGC) in 1964 and to
Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India in 1983.

Functions

Provides a range of credit risk insurance covers to exporters against loss in export of goods
and services as well.
Offers guarantees to banks and financial institutions to enable exporters to obtain better
Page 197
 facilities from them.
Provides Overseas Investment Insurance to Indian companies investing in joint ventures
abroad in the form of equity or loan and advances...

Food corporation of India

The Food Corporation of India is an organization created and run by the Government of India and
also run by state Governments. It is a statutory body under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food

om
and Public Distribution, Governement of India.

Its mandate is to implement the following objectives of the National Food Policy :

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Effective price support operations for safeguarding the interests of the poor farmers
Distribution of foodgrains throughout the country for Public Distribution System (PDS)

ai
Maintaining a satisfactory level of operational and buffer stocks of foodgrains to ensure
National Food Security
gm
Regulate market price to provide foodgrains to consumers at a reliable price

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

1@

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) of India is a quasi-

judicial commission in India which was set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Its
9

head office is in New Delhi. The commission is headed by a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme
d1

Court of India.

Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology

hk

The Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (formerly Indian Institute of Crop
am

Processing Technology) (IIFPT)is a pioneer Educational and R&D Institution under the Ministry of
Food Processing Industries (MoFPI). IIFPT has a 15-acre campus
it

Indian Council of Medical Research

sm

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for the formulation,
coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research
bodies in the world. The ICMR is funded by the Government of India through the Department of
Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Housing and Urban Development Corporation

The Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) is a government-owned
corporation in India. One of the public sector undertakings (PSU), it is wholly owned by the Union
Government and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty
Alleviation.

Page 198
Employees' Provident Fund Organisation
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation(abbreviated to EPFO), is an organization
tasked to assist the Central Board of Trustees, Employees' Provident Fund a statutory body
formed by the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and is under
the administrative control of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.
EPFO assists the Central Board in administering a compulsory contributory Provident Fund
Scheme, a Pension Scheme and an Insurance Scheme for the workforce engaged in the

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organized sector in India.
It is also the nodal agency for implementing Bilateral Social Security Agreements with other
countries on a reciprocal basis.

l.c
The schemes cover Indian workers as well as International workers (for countries with which
bilateral agreements have been signed.

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Universal Account Number (UAN)
gm
UAN is Universal Account Number. The UAN is a 12-digit number allotted to employee who
is contributing to EPF will be generated for each of the PF member by EPFO. For example,
1@
111222333444.
The UAN will act as an umbrella for the multiple Member Ids allotted to an individual by
different establishments and also remains same through the lifetime of an employee. It does
9

not change with the change in jobs.

The idea is to link multiple Member Identification Numbers (Member Id) allotted to a single
d1

member under single Universal Account Number.

This will help the member to view details of all the Member Identification Numbers (Member
hk

Id) linked to it.

National Highways Authority of India

am

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is an autonomous agency of the Government
of India, set up in 1988 and is responsible for management of a network of over 50,000 km
it

of National Highways out of 1,15,000 km in India. It is a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road
sm

Transport and Highways. NHAI has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian
Space Research Organisation for satellite mapping of highways.

National-Green-Highway-Mission
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Government of India has promulgated
Green Highways (Plantations, Transplantations, Beautification, and Maintenance) Policy – 2015 on
29 September 2015 to develop green corridors along National Highways for sustainable
environment and inclusive growth. The policy envisions"development of eco-friendly National
Highways with the participation of the communities, farmers, NGOs, private sector, institutions,
government agencies and the Forest Departments for economic growth and development in a
sustainable manner."

Page 199
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC)
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a not-for-profit public limited company
incorporated under section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956.
NSDC was set up by Ministry of Financeas Public Private Partnership (PPP) model.
The Government of India through Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE)
holds 49% of the share capital of NSDC, while the private sector has the balance 51% of the
share capital.

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NSDC aims to promote skill development by catalyzing creation of large, quality and for-profit
vocational institutions.
Further, the organisation provides funding to build scalable and profitable vocational training

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initiatives.
Its mandate is also to enable support system which focuses on quality assurance, information
systems and train the trainer academies either directly or through partnerships.

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National skill development agency
gm
National Skill Development Agency(NSDA) is an autonomous body under Ministry of Skill
1@
Development and Entrepreneurship that anchors the National Skill Qualifications Framework and
allied quality assurance mechanisms for synergizing skill initiatives in the country.

The NSDA will discharge the following functions:

9
d1

Take all possible steps to meet skilling targets as envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan and
beyond.
hk

Coordinate and harmonize the approach to skill development among various Central
Ministries/Departments, State Governments, the NSDC and the private sector.
Anchor and operationalize the NSQF to ensure that quality and standards meet sector specific
am

requirements.
Be the nodal agency for State Skill Development Missions;
Raise extra-budgetary resources for skill development from various sources such as
it

international agencies, including multi-lateral agencies, and the private sector.

Evaluate existing skill development schemes with a view to assessing their efficacy and
sm

suggest corrective action to make them more effective.

Create and maintain a national data base related to skill development including development
of a dynamic Labour Market Information System (LMIS).
Take affirmative action for advocacy.
Ensure that the skilling needs of the disadvantaged and the marginalized groups like SCs, STs,
OBCs, minorities, women and differently abled persons are taken care of.
Discharge any other function as may be assigned to it by the Government of India.

National Ganga Council

The National Ganga Council is chaired by Prime Minister.
The National Ganga Council is formed under the Environment (Protection) Act (EPA),1986.
It has been given overall responsibility for the superintendence of pollution prevention and
Page 200
 rejuvenation of River Ganga Basin, including Ganga and its tributaries.
National Mission for Clean Ganga(NMCG) acts as an implementation arm of the National
Ganga Council.
NMCG was established in the year 2011 as a registered society.
It has a two-tier management structure and comprises of Governing Council and Executive
Committee.

The aims and objectives of NMCG are:

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To ensure effective control of pollution and rejuvenation of the river Ganga by adopting a river
basin approach to promote inter-sectoral coordination for comprehensive planning and
management.

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To maintain minimum ecological flows in the river Ganga with the aim of ensuring water
quality and environmentally sustainable development.

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Some other important bodies

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

gm
1@

The SIDBI was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of Industrial Development Bank of India
(IDBI) under a special Act of the Parliament 1988 and started its operations on April 2, 1990. It took
over the responsibility of administering Small Industries Development Fund and National Equity
9

Fund which were earlier administered by IDBI. It is the Principal Financial Institution for the
d1

Promotion, Financing and Development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME)
sector and for Co-ordination of the functions of the institutions engaged in similar activities.
hk
am

DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF TRADE REMEDIES (DGTR)

DGTR has been established inside the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
it

The recommendations of DGTR for imposition of Anti-dumping, countervailing and Safeguard

sm

duties would be considered by Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.

It is an Apex National Authority for administering all trade remedial measures including anti-
dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard measures.

FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE UNIT INDIA

It is the Central National Agency responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing and disseminating
information relating to suspect financial transactions.

NATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL PRICING AUTHORITY

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(NPPA)
The prices of bulk drugs and the formulations are included in the Government of India as per
the Drugs (Prices Control) Order under the Essential Commodities Act.
It is a non-statutory executive body formed by resolution of Ministry of Chemicals and
Fertilisers.
Functions under Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.

om
CENTRAL DRUG STANDARD’S CONTROL ORGANISATION
(CDSCO)

l.c
The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is the Central Drug Authority for
discharging functions assigned to the Central Government under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

ai
It functions under Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family.

Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council gm

It is a non-constitutional and non-statutory, non-permanent and independent body.
1@

The prime and sole aim to analyse all critical issues, economic or otherwise, referred to it
by the prime minister and advising him thereon.
It advises the Prime Minister on economic issues like inflation, microfinance, export-import
9

changes, GDP changes and industrial output.

d1

Bibek Debroy is the current chairman of the current EAC.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

hk

It has invoked powers under Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 and brought 42 non-
am

scheduled anti-cancer drugs under price control. This will cap trade margin at 30%, which
would reduce their retail prices by up to 85%.
The trade margin is the difference between the price at which the manufacturers sell to trade
it

and the price that patients pay(maximum retail price).

sm

NPPA is an independent body set up in 1997 under Department of Pharmaceuticals,

Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.
Its mandate is to fix/revise controlled bulk drugs prices and formulations, enforce prices and
availability of medicines under the Drug (Price Control) order, 2013.

Functions of NPPA are:

To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order
Deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority
To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages and
To collect/ maintain data on production, exports and imports, profitability of companies etc, for
bulk drugs and formulation.

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NWDA
NWDA is the agency of the Union Ministry of Water Resources.
It was set up in July, 1982 as autonomous society under the Societies Registration Act,
1860.
It was established to carry out the water balance and other studies on a scientific and realistic
basis for optimum utilisation of Water Resources of the Peninsular rivers system.
Besides it was tasked to prepare feasibility reports and give concrete shape to Peninsular

om
Rivers Development Component of National Perspective.
In 1990, it was also entrusted with the task of Himalayan Rivers Development Component
of National Perspectives.

l.c
National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank (NWGRB) =

ai
Located in HYDERABAD
By MoS&T
gm
For collection and preservation of tissues, sperm, eggs and embryos, genetic material
(DNA/RNA) of living beings
1@
Established at Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) and can
store 17,000 vials worth of Samples
9

Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered

d1

Species(LaCONES)
hk

It is a dedicated laboratory of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology

(CCMB), Hyderabad
It is the only institute in the country working towards conservation of endangered wildlife
am

using modern bio-technologies to save endangered wildlife species of India.

Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI)

it
sm

Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI) was established in 1961 under the
Directorate General of Health Services with the vision to have “A strong Health
Management Information System (HMIS) in the entire country”

NCDC
National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)

NCDC (previously known as National Institute of Communicable Diseases) is an institute under

the Indian Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
It was established in July 1963 for research in epidemiology and control of communicable
diseases The institute was established to function as a national centre of excellence for control
of communicable diseases.
The function of the institute also included various areas of training and research using multi-
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 disciplinary integrated approach.
The institute was, in addition, expected to provide expertise to the States and Union
Territories (UTs) on rapid health assessment and laboratory based diagnostic services.
Surveillance of communicable diseases and outbreak investigation also formed an
indispensable part of its activities.

Bharat Electronics Limited

om
(BEL) is an Indianstate-owned aerospace and defence company with about nine factories, and
several regional offices in India.
It is owned by the Indian Governmentand primarily manufactures advanced electronic

l.c
products for the Indian Armed Forces.
BEL is one of nine PSUs under the Ministry of Defence of India. It has been
granted Navratnastatus by the Government of India.

ai
National Institute of Immunology (NII)
gm
National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi continued expansion ofscientific
programmes in a multi-investigators driven mode to addresschallenging questions in biology
1@

for improvement of healthcare.

It also promotesstate-of-art teaching and training facilities in advanced biological
sciences usingan inter-disciplinary approach so as to inculcate the highest level of aptitude
9

andability in the country’s skilled manpower pool.

d1

National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS)

hk

National Centre for Cell Sciences (NCCS), Pune has taken new initiatives innurturing young
scientific talent and research scholars into its PhD programmedealing with cutting-edge
am

research areas in structural biology, stem cell biology,deciphering the role of RNA in
biological control processes and the cellular andmolecular basis of memory.
it

Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD)

sm

Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad is well equipped with
world class state-of-the-art instrumentation and computing infrastructure to facilitate working
in frontier areas of research in life sciences.
Itprovides services for agricultural and processed food products for testing purityof samples of
agricultural commodity using DNA markers that can distinguishdifferent Basmati varieties and
also traits identification and validation.
Themajor areas of research in the institute centredaround cell signalling,transcription,
structural biology, computational biology and bioinformatics,immunology, genetics and
molecular pathogenesis.
Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneshwar is giving focus on infectiousdisease
biology, gene function and regulation and translational research.
It hasstate-of-the-art infrastructural facilities for cutting-edge multidisciplinaryresearch in
frontier areas of life sciences.
Page 204
National Brain Research Centre (NBRC),
Manesar is pursuinginterdisciplinary research and teaching on epilepsy and brain mapping.
Thefocus of the Institute is on generation of skilled manpower in brain research thatwould
help India to achieve international leadership in this frontier area ofscience.
National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), Delhi is focusingresearch on
understanding of the structure, expression and function of genes.

om
Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB),
Thiruvananthapuram

l.c
Working on research programme on chronic disease biology, tropical disease biology and
disease biotechnology.

ai
Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Imphalisinvolved in
conservation and sustainable utilization of bio-resources for thesocio-economic development of
the north eastern region. gm
The Institute has takeninitiatives in collaborations with other
institutions/organizations/universitiesnationally and internationally relevant to the bio-
1@

resources for sharing andsustainable exploitation.

Centre of Innovative and Applied Bio-processing (CIAB),

9
d1

Mohali is giving focus on secondary agriculture and catalyzing research, innovations

and knowledge translation for production of secondary agricultural bio-products.
hk

The Institute is currently involved in processing of agri-farm and food industry spare biomass
through chemical, biological and biotechnological approaches.
am

National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG),

Kalyani
it

Is engaged in accelerating genomics for health and disease and discovering genomic evidence
sm

that underpins disease and health-related traits.

It is pursuing projects on discovery of biological and environmental correlations of pre-term
birth and study natural histories of diseases and health related traits.

Indian Council of Medical Research

ICMR is the apex body in India for formulation, coordination and promotion of
biomedical research.
Its mandate is to conduct, coordinate and implement medical research for the benefit of the
Society; translating medical innovations into products/processes and introducing them into the
public health system.
it is funded by the Government of India through the Department of Health Research,
Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

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Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), Faridabad
Is providing world classeducation, training and conducts innovative research at the interface of
multipledisciplines to create high quality human resource in disciplinary andinterdisciplinary areas
of biotechnology in a globally competitive researchmilieu.

National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB),

Hyderabad

om
Has takeninitiatives on infectious diseases; brucellosis, theileriosis, babesiosis, Newcastle disease
virus (NDV), leptospirosis, toxoplasmosis, mastitis, pestedespetitsruminants virus (PPR) and foot and

l.c
mouth disease (FMD) and development of new tools for diagnosing and preventing the diseases.

ai
Institute of Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine
(InStem), gm
Bengaluru has successfully attracted outstanding investigators, who have initiated theme driven
1@
programmes. A key focus is given to support young investigators through a fellowship programme in
stem cell research andapplications.
9

GLOBAL REFUGEE FORUM (GRF)

d1

The first Global Refugee Forum (GRF) was held in Geneva, Switzerland. It was jointly
hosted bythe United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the
hk

government of Switzerland.
The GRF will be held every four years at the Ministerial level.
am

It aims toThe first GRF has been organised around six areas of focus: burden- and
responsibility-sharing,education, jobs and livelihoods, energy and infrastructure,
solutions, and protection capacity
it

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC)

sm

International Criminal Court (ICC) Judges have opened an investigation into crimes
committedagainst Myanmar's Rohingya Muslim minority.
While Myanmar is not a member of the ICC, ICCsaid that it has jurisdiction over crimes
partially committed in Bangladesh, which is a memberstate of the court.
Mandate: it is an intergovernmental international tribunal for Criminal prosecution of
individualsfor four main crimes namely (1) Genocide, (2) War crimes, (3) Crimes
against humanity and (4) Crimeof aggression.
Established in: 2002 by Rome statue;
HQ: official seat is in The Hague, Netherlands, but itsproceedings may take place
anywhere.
Jurisdiction: It can exercise its jurisdiction only when national courts are unwilling or
unable toinvestigate or prosecute such crimes. The Court can generally exercise
jurisdiction only in threecases, viz.
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 if the accused is a national of a state party,
if the alleged crime took place on the territory of a state party or
if a situation is referred to the Court by the United Nations Security Council.
Judges: 18; Elected for 9-year term; Members: 122 countries. Israel, United States,
Russia, chinaand India are not its member.
While it is not a United Nations organization, the Court has a cooperation agreement
with theCouncil can refer the situation to the ICC granting it jurisdiction.

International Court of Justice (ICJ)

om
ICJ was established in 1945 by the United Nations charter and started working in April 1946.

l.c
It is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, situated at the Peace Palace in The
Hague (Netherlands).
Unlike the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New

ai
York (USA).
It settles legal disputes between States and gives advisory opinions in accordance with
gm
international law, on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and
specialized agencies.
1@

Vienna Convention
Consular Access
9
d1

India had demanded consular access to Jadhav under the rules of the Vienna Convention on
Consular Relations of 1963.
hk

The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations is an international treaty that

defines consular relations between independent states.
A consul, (who is not a diplomat) is a representative of a foreign state in a host country,
am

who works for the interests of his countrymen.

Article 36 of the Vienna Convention states that foreign nationals who are arrested or
detained in the host country must be given notice without delay of their right to have their
it

embassy or consulate notified of that arrest.

sm

Alliance for an Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE).

The objective behind releasing this Index is to help states in contributing towards national
goals on energy security and climate action by:
1. Helping drive energy efficiency policies and program implementation at the state and
local level.
2. Tracking progress in managing the states’ and India’s energy footprint.
3. Institutionalising data capture and monitoring of energy efficiency activities by states.

BUDAPEST CONVENTION
India maintained its status as a non-member of the Europe-led Budapest Convention,
even asit voted in favour of a Russian-led UN resolution to set up a separate
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 convention.
The Convention on Cybercrime of the Council of Europe (CETS No.185) is also known as
the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime or the Budapest Convention.
It was opened for signature in Budapest in 2001 and it entered into force in 2004.
The following offences are defined by the Convention: illegal access, illegal interception,
misuse of devices, computer-related fraud, offences related to child pornography, and offences
related to copyright and neighbouring rights.
Participants: It was drawn up by the Council of Europe with the active participation of the
Council ofEurope's observer states Canada, Japan, Philippines, South Africa and the United

om
States. As of
September 2019, 64 states have ratified the convention.
Non-participants: Brazil and India have declined to adopt the Convention on the grounds that

l.c
they
did not participate in its drafting. Russia opposes the Convention, stating that adoption would

ai
violateRussian sovereignty.

Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) gm

The Government of India established the Bureau of Police Research and Development
1@

(BPR&D), under the Ministry of Home Affairs in the 1970s.

It replaced the Police Research and Advisory Council (1966), with the primary objective
of modernization of police force.
9

In 1995 Government of India decided to entrust issues relating to Correctional

d1

Administration Work to the BPR&D.

Thereby BPR&D has to ensure the implementation of prison reforms as well.
hk

The Government of India further decided to create a National Police Mission under the
administrative control of BPR&D to transform the police forces in the country.
th
Recently, BPR&D observed its 50 foundation day.
am

Child Welfare Committees (CWC)

it

The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) is constituted under the Juvenile Justice (Care and
sm

Protection of Children) Act, 2015. It is the sole authority to deal with matters concerning
children in need of care and protection.
The Committee is constituted for each district or group of districts.

TRAFFIC – The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network

TRAFFIC is a leading non-governmental organisation working globally on trade in wild
animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable
development.
It is a joint program of WWF and IUCN – the International Union for Conservation of Nature
created in 1976.
TRAFFIC focuses on leveraging resources, expertise and awareness of the latest globally
urgent species trade issues such as tiger parts, elephant ivory and rhino horn.

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UN Human Rights Council
It is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for
strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for
addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.
It was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15th March 2006 and replaced the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.

om
National Institute of Virology

l.c
The National Institute of Virology is one of the major Institutes of the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR).

ai
It was established at Pune, Maharashtra State in 1952 as Virus Research Centre (VRC) under
the auspices of the ICMR and the Rockefeller Foundation (RF), USA.

Indian Ocean Commission

gm
1@

The Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) is an intergovernmental body created in 1984 to

protect the interests of the Western Indian Ocean islands.
It consists of Madagascar, Comoros, La Réunion (French overseas territory), Mauritius
9

and Seychelles.
d1

The Commission has five observers — India, China, European Union (EU), Malta and
International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF).
OIF is a 54 french speaking nations collective.
hk

SAGAR Policy:
am

It will help to extend India's SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region) policy in
the region.
it

SAGAR is an articulation of India’s vision for the Indian Ocean which aims for enhancement of
capacities to safeguard land and maritime territories & interests; deepening economic and
sm

security cooperation in the littoral; action to deal with natural disasters and maritime threats
like piracy, terrorism.

WORLD AIR QUALITY REPORT 2019

The 2019 World Air Quality Report was released by the pollution tracker IQAir and Greenpeace.

Global Social Mobility Report 2020

World Economic Forum launched The Global Social Mobility Report 2020 to provide a
much-needed assessment of the current state of the paths to social mobility around the world.
Traditionally, social mobility is measured across generations, thus only capturing the effect of
measures taken decades ago.
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 The Global Social Mobility Index focuses on those policies, practices, and institutions that
collectively determine the extent to which everyone in society has a fair chance to fulfill their
potential, regardless of their socio-economic background, the origin of their parents, or the
place where they were born.
India ranks 76th out of 82 economies. The areas of improvement for India include social
protection (76th) and fair wage distribution (79th).

Digital Economy Report 2019.

om
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has released the
Digital Economy Report 2019.

l.c
The report outlines enormous potential gains from the increasingly interconnected global
economy but calls for concerted global efforts to spread the wealth potential to the many
people who currently reap little benefit from it.

ai
The report said that the United States and China create the vast majority of wealth in the
digital economy as the two countries account for 75% of all patents related to block chain
gm
technologies and as much as 90% per cent of the market capitalisation value of the world’s 70
largest digital platform companies.
1@

HENLEY PASSPORT INDEX

The Henley Passport Index ranks passports based on their power and mobility.
9

It is prepared by Henley and Partners, a London-based global citizenship and residence

d1

advisoryfirm.
The index gathers data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) that
hk

managesinter-airline cooperation globally.

Passport rankings point towards the strength of diplomatic relations between countries.
Rankings for 2019,Japan and Singapore are ranked 1 and have a score of 189.
am

Passport holder had visa-free access to 60 countries; this year, she has access to 58.
Afghanistan holds the weakest passport, with a score and ranking of 25 and 109,
respectively. Syriaand Pakistan follow with rankings of 107 and 106 and scores of 29 and 30,
it

respectively.
sm

Impotant reports and organisations

International Organization Name of Reports

UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade

World Investment Report
and Development)

UNEP (United Nations Environment

Actions on Air Quality
Programme)

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UNEP (United Nations Environment
Global Environment Outlook
Programme)

Transparency International Global Corruption Report (GCR)

UNEP and INTERPOL The Rise of Environmental Crime

om
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Global education monitoring
Scientific and Cultural Organization) Report

l.c
UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) State of world population

ai
UN-Habitat World Cities Report

UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and

gm
World Wildlife Crime Report
Crime)
1@

UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and

World Drug Report
9

Crime)
d1

UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Global Report on Trafficking in

hk

Crime) Persons

UNISDR (United Nations Office for Disaster

am

Global Assessment Report

Risk Reduction)
it

UNIDO(United Nations Industrial

Industrial Development Report
Development Organization)
sm

UNICEF (United Nations Children’s The State of the World’s

Emergency Fund) Children reports

UNICEF (United Nations Children’s

Report on Regular Resources
Emergency Fund)

UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner

The Global Report
for Refugees)

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UNICRI (United Nations Interregional Crime Reports on Counterfeiting and
and Justice Research Institute) Organized Crime

Global Competitiveness Report

WEF (World Economic Forum)
(GCR)

Travel and Tourism

WEF (World Economic Forum)

om
Competitiveness Report

Global Information Technology

l.c
WEF (World Economic Forum)
Report

ai
International Energy Agency World Energy Outlook (WEO)

International Energy Agency

gm
Southeast Asia Energy Outlook
1@

OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum OPEC Monthly Oil Market

Exporting Countries) Report
9
d1

OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum

World Oil Outlook
Exporting Countries)
hk

Sustainable Development Solutions Network

World Happiness Report
(SDSN)
am

IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Technical Cooperation Report

it

IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Nuclear Technology Review

sm

IMF (International Monetary Fund) Global Financial Stability Report

IMF (International Monetary Fund) World Economic Outlook

Asian Development Bank – ADB Asian Development Outlook

BIS (Bank for International Settlements) Global Financial System Report

Global Money Laundering

FATF (Financial Action Task Force)
Report

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 The Energy Report & Living
WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
Planet Report

WIPO (World Intellectual Property World Intellectual Property

Organization) Report (WIPR)

Forest Survey of India State of Forest Report

om
Fortune Change the World List Data

l.c
IBRD (World Bank Ease of Doing Business

ai
IBRD (World Bank) World Development Report

ICAO (International Civil Aviation

gm
Safety Reports
Organization)
1@

IFPRI (International Food Policy Research

Global Hunger Index report
9

Institute)
d1

ILO (International Labour Organization) World Social Protection Report

hk

World Employment and Social

ILO (International Labour Organization)
Outlook
am

ILO (International Labour Organization) World of Work Report

it
sm

ILO (International Labour Organization) Global Wage Report

Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global Innovation Index

PLACES IN NEWS
Rohtang pass tunnel:
Rohtang pass tunnel, strategic tunnel, named after former PM Vajpayee.
The tunnel is the world’s longest tunnel (8.8 km) at an altitude of 3,000 metres.
The tunnel reduces the distance between Leh and Manali by 46 kilometers.

Page 213
 This helps in saving crores of rupees on fuel usage.
It is built under PirPinjal range.
It is a single tube tunnel and is 10.5-metre-wide with fire proof emergency provisions.
The geological and weather challenges were overcome by the Border Road Organization. It
includes the Seri Nalah fault zone.

om
l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it
sm

Rohtang Pass:
Rohtang Pass The pass connects Kulu valley and Lahaul and Spiti valleys of Himachal
Pradesh.
Three rivers in the region of the pass are chenab, Beas and Chandra rivers.
The Beas river emerges from underground and flows southwards, Chandra river flows in the
eastern Himalayas and Chenab river flows westward.

Page 214
Bougainville:
Why in News?

Bougainville It is the largest island of the Solomon Islands Archipelago.

On December 11, 2019, the South Pacific Archipelago of Bougainville voted to become
independent of Papua New Guinea.
Around 98% voters voted to get independent from Papua New Guinea

om
The island has the world’s largest copper deposits.
The most widely spoken language in the country is Halia.
The country is yet to prove its recognition in the United Nations.

l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it
sm

Musi River:
Musi River is a tributary of the Krishna River
Hyderabadstands on the banks of Musi river,
Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar are dams built on it which used to act as source of water
for Hyderabad.

Page 215
 om
l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it
sm

South China Sea:

Iran’stop commander General Qasem Soleimani has been killed in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad.
Iran is bordered to the northwest by Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, to the north
by the Caspian Sea, to the northeast by Turkmenistan, to the east by Afghanistan and
Pakistan, to the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, and to the west by
Turkey and Iraq. Its central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the
Page 216
 Strait of Hormuz, give it geostrategic importance.

om
l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it

Somalia
sm

Al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group that was ousted from Mogadishu in 2011
by international forces, has claimed the responsibility of the massive truck bomb attack in
Mogadishu that killed at least 79 people and injured 149 points.

Page 217
 om
l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it

It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Guardafui
Channel and Somali Sea to the east, and Kenya to the southwest.
sm

The country claims a border with Djibouti through the disputed territory of Somaliland.
Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland.

Krishnapatnam Port
Adani Ports and Logistics and Special Economic Zone Ltd. (APSEZ) will be acquiring 75%
stake in Krishnapatnam Port Co. Ltd. (KPCL).

About Krishnapatnam Port

Krishnapatnam Port, popularly known as KPCL, is a privately built and owned all
weather, deep water port on the east coast of India, located in the Nellore District of
Andhra Pradesh.
It is located about 190 km north of the Chennai Port and 18 km east of the city of
Page 218
 Nellore.
The port has its history back to Vijayanagar Emperor, when Sri Krishnadevaraya used to
operate it. So, the name was given to it as Krishnapatnam Port.
KPCL is the second-largest private sector port that handled 54 MT of cargo during FY19.
Mundra Port, on the west coast, which also belongs to the Adani Group, has been handling
over 100 MT of cargo for the past few years consecutively.

om
l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it
sm

White Island Volcano:

Whakaari/White Island is an active andesite stratovolcano, situated 48 km from the east coast
of the North Island of New Zealand, in the Bay of Plenty.
It is New Zealand's most-active cone volcano, and has been built up by continuous volcanic
Page 219
 activity over the past 150,000 years.
New Zealand is located in one of the world's most tectonically-volatile regions (Pacific Ring of
fire).

Samjiyon
1. North Korea unveils newly-reconstructed “utopia” town in Samjiyon

About Samjiyon

om
1. The large-scale demolition and reconstruction of the North Korean mountain town of
2. Samjiyon has been completed.

l.c
3. It was called an “example of a mountainous modern town” and “an epitome of modern
civilization.”

ai
Drake Passage
gm
A team of rowers attempting to become the first to row the Drake Passage between Cape Horn
at the tip of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula have been successful.
1@

About Drake Passage

9

The Drake Passage or Mar de Hoces—Sea of Hoces—is the body of water between South
d1

America's Cape Horn, Chile and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica.
It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern
part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean.
hk

The 800-kilometre (500 mi) wide passage between Cape Horn and Livingston Island is the
shortest crossing from Antarctica to any other landmass.
am

The boundary between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is sometimes taken to be a line drawn
from Cape Horn to Snow Island (130 kilometres (81 mi) north of mainland

Kardak islets
it
sm

Turkey, Greece in row over Kardak islets in the Aegean

About Kardak islets

Imia or Kardak is a pair of small uninhabited islets in the Aegean Sea, situated between the
Greek island chain of the Dodecanese and the southwestern mainland coast of

Turkey.

Imia/Kardak was the object of a military crisis and subsequent dispute over sovereignty
between Greece and Turkey in 1996. The Imia/Kardak dispute is part of the larger Aegean
dispute, which also comprises disputes over the continental shelf, the territorial waters,
the air space, the Flight Information Regions (FIR) and the demilitarization of the

Page 220
 sm
it
am
hk
d1
91@
gm
ai
l.c
om

Page 221
Taku Glacier
The World's Thickest Mountain Glacier Is Finally Melting, and Climate Change Is 100%
to Blame.

About Taku Glacier

Massive and meaty, the Taku Glacier in Alaska's Juneau Icefield was a poster child for

om
the frozen places holding their own against climate change.
In a new pair of satellite photos shared by NASA's Earth Observatory, the slow decline of
Taku Glacier has finally become apparent.

l.c
Kalapani Territory

ai
The new political map of India, recently released by the government to account for the
bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir, has triggered fresh protests over an old issue in
Kathmandu. gm
About Kalapani Territory
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it
sm

Kalapani is a territory disputed between India and Nepal, but under Indian administration as
part of Pithoragarh district in the Uttarakhand state.
It is marked by the Kalapani River, one of the headwaters of the Kali River in the

Page 222
 Himalayas at an altitude of 3600 meters. The valley of the Kalapani forms the Indian route
to Kailash–Manasarovar, an ancient pilgrimage site.
It is said that the Great Sage Vyasa meditated at this place, giving the region its name -
Vyas Valley.
A pool by the temple of the Goddess Kali is considered to by some to be the source of the Kali
River.

Sambhar Lake

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Thousands of migratory birds of about ten species were found dead around Sambhar Lake, the
country’s largest inland saltwater lake near Jaipur.

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About Sambhar Lake

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The Sambhar Lake, located near Phulera in Jaipur, attracts a sea of winged visitors
from Siberia, North Asia, and other places during winters, and large crowds of
tourists and ornithologists from the world over. gm
The lake receives water from five rivers Medtha, Samaod, Mantha, Rupangarh, Khari and
Khandela. Lake has 5700 square km catchment area.
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Sambhar has been designated as a Ramsar site (recognized wetland of international

importance) because the wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of pink
flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia and siberia.
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Gottiprolu
A 2000-year-old brick structure and a Vishnu sculpture was unearthed at Gottiprolu
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near Naidupeta in Nellore (now renamed as Sri Potti Sri Ramulu) district, Andhra Pradesh.
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About Gottiprolu:

The site of Gottiprolu lies on the right bank of a distributary of river Swarnamukhi.
it

These settlements could have been an important trade centre as indicated by the presence
of pottery that were mostly used to transport liquid commodities.
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The proximity of the site to the seacoast suggests that the site could have served as a strategic
settlement involved in maritime trade.
The site also had a series of broken terracotta pipes fitted into one another, revealing about
the civic amenities maintained by the occupants.
Other major retrieved antiquities unearthed are copper and lead coins, iron spear head, stone
celts, terracotta beads, ear studs in semi-precious stones and hopscotches.

Malawi
Malawi mangoes, which are similar to Alphonso mangoes in terms of taste, are imported to
Mumbai.

About Malawi

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 Malawi officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that
was formerly known as Nyasaland.
It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique
on the east, south and west.
Its capital is Lilongwe, which is also Malawi's largest city.
The part of Africa now known as Malawi was settled by migrating Bantu groups around the
10th century. Centuries later in 1891 the area was colonised by the British.

New Map of Jammu and Kashmir

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About new map:

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The Union home ministry released the maps of the newly created Union Territories (UTs) of
Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

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The maps were prepared by the Survey General of India.
The areas in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) like Muzaffarabad and Mirpur were
gm
included in the map of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
Gilgit, Gilgit Wazrat and Chillas were depicted in the map of the UT of Ladakh.
In addition, the Ladakh UT includes Leh and Kargil districts.
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The erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir comprising 14 districts is reorganized into 28
districts.
The new districts are Kupwara, Bandipur, Ganderbal, Srinagar, Budgam, Pulwama, Shopian,
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Kulgam, Rajouri, Ramban, Doda, Kishtivar, Samba and Kargil.

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Out of these, Kargil district was carved out from the area of Leh and Ladakh district.
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Bolivia
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Why in news?
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Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has resigned due to protests over an alleged rigging in
election.
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About Bolivia:
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Bolivia is a landlocked country located in western-central South America.

The capital is Sucre, while the seat of government and financial center is located in La Paz.
Its geography varies from the peaks of the Andes in the West, to the Eastern Lowlands,
situated within the Amazon Basin.
It is bordered to the north and east by Brazil, to the southeast by Paraguay, to the south by
Argentina, to the southwest by Chile, and to the northwest by Peru.
It is a developing country, with a medium ranking in the Human Development Index, a poverty
level of 38.6%
Bolivia is very rich in minerals, including tin, silver, and lithium.

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Khuzestan
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About Khuzestan:

It is a province in southern Iran.

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Iran has discovered a new oil field with over 50 billion barrels of crude oil in this province.
About Iran’s petroleum deposits:
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Iran currently has the world’s fourth-largest proven deposits of crude oil.
It also has world’s second-largest deposits of natural gas.
The new oil field could become Iran's second largest field.

Central African Republic

New York Times newspaper has recently highlighted Russia’s increasing involvement in civil
war in Central African Republic.

About CAR:

The Central African Republic is a landlocked countryin Central Africa.

It is bordered by Chad to the north, Sudan to the northeast, South Sudan to the east,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south, the Republic of the Congo to the southwest
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 and Cameroon to the
Capital of CAR is Bangui.
Most of the CAR consists of savannas, but also includes an equatorial forest zone in the

Bhashan char
It is an island to which Bangladesh government plans to relocate nearly one lakh
Rohingyan refugees.

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Approximately 103,200 Rohingyas out of more than a million currently sheltered in the refugee
camps of Cox's BazarinBangladeshwill be moved to Bhashan
Bhasan Charis located 30km away from the mainlandand is accessible only by Boats.

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Eritrea–Ethiopia
The Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 has been awarded to Abiy Ahmed Ali, the Prime Minister of
Ethiopia for his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea.
About Eritrean Ethiopian war:
In 1993, Eritrea broke from its federation with Ethiopia, becoming an independent
country that was located strategically at the mouth of the Red Sea on the Horn of
Africa.

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Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia , is a landlocked country in the
northeastern part of Africa, known as the Horn of Africa .
It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, the de facto state of
Somali land and Somalia to the east, Kenya to the south, South Sudan to the west and Sudan
to the northwest.

Barisha
ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi has been eliminated at Barisha,a Syrian village.

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About Barisha

Barisha is located less than five kilometersfrom Turkey and close to Bab al-Hawa, one
of the main border crossings between the two countries.
The area is mountainous and sparsely populated, about 25 kilometers(15.5 miles) north of
Idlib city, the capital of the province.
It liesbarely five kilometerseast of QalbLozeh, which is one of a scattering of ancient
villages listed as world heritage by UNESCO and hosts a Byzantine church that is
thought to have inspired the design of Notre Dame in Paris.

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Mount Paektu

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North Korea’s Kim Jong Un rode on ahorse to thesacredpeakknownMountPaektuin north Korea.

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About Mount Paektu

gm
Paektu Mountain, also known as Baekdu Mountain, and in China as
ChangbaiMountainis an active stratovolcano on the Chinese–North Korean border.
At 2,744 m (9,003 ft), it is the highest mountain of the Changbai and Baekdudaegan ranges.
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Koreans assign a mythical quality to the volcano and its caldera lake, considering it to be their
country's spiritual home.
It is the highest mountain in North Korea, the Korean Peninsula, and Northeast China.
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Tulagi Island
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Why in news?
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China signs deal to 'lease' Pacific island named as Tulagi in SolomonIslands.

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About Tulagi

It is a small island in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of NgellaSule.
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The island was originally chosen by the British as a comparatively isolated and healthier
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alternative to the disease-ridden larger islands of the Solomon Islands archipelago.

The island of Tulagi served as a South Pacific headquarters for Britain then Japan, and
during World War II,its natural deepwaterharbor made it a military gem.
The region is rich in natural resources, and China’s investments have provoked worries in the
United States and Australia .

INS Baaz
INS Baaz is located at Campbell Bay on the Great Nicobar island, the southernmost and
largest island of the Nicobar Islands , in t he Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Page 229
Paracel Island
Recently, at the Indian Ocean Conference (IOC) in Maldives' Male, US Ambassador to South
Korea attacked China for illegally building artificial islands and militarising them in the South
China Sea to which China responded by saying that it has indisputable sovereignty over the
Nansha Islands (Spratly Islands) and the adjacent waters of the sea.
South China Sea is an arm of western Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia.
It is south of China, east & south of Vietnam, west of the Philippines and north of the island of

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Borneo.
Bordering states & territories (clockwise from north): the People’s Republic of China, the
Republic of China (Taiwan), the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Singapore and

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Vietnam.
It is connected by Taiwan Strait with the East China Sea and by Luzon Strait with the
Philippine Sea.

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It contains numerous shoals, reefs, atolls and islands. The Paracel Islands, the Spratly Islands
and the Scarborough Shoal are the most important.
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Strait of Hormuz
Recently, Iran has threatened to scale back its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal and to
close the Strait of Hormuz.

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The waterway separates Iran and Oman, linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman
and the Arabian Sea.
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The Strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in
either direction.
Most crude exported from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, Kuwait and Iraq – all members of the
it

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – is shipped through this

waterway.
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It is also the route used for nearly all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by the
world’s biggest LNG exporter, Qatar.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia have sought to find other routes to bypass the Strait, including
building more oil pipelines.

Lake Urima
It is a saltwater lake.
It is situated in the mountains of northwest Irane the west of the southern portion of the
Caspian Sea and is fed by 13 rivers.
It is designated as a site of international importance under the UN Convention on Wetlands.
The lake has been shrinking since 1995, due to a combination of prolonged drought, elevated
summer temperatures that speed up evaporation, over-farming and dams.

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It became one of the worst ecological disasters of recent decades as the lake's surface which
was 2,366 km2 in 2011 shrank to just 700 km2 in 2013.
This has threatened the habitat of shrimp, flamingos, deers and wild sheep and caused
salt storms that pollute nearby cities and farms.
It has started stabilising in recent times after the implementation of a joint program between
Iran and the UNDP.

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Arctic Council:
TheArctic Councilis the leading intergovernmentalforumpromotingcooperation,
coordinationandinteractionamongtheArcticStates,Arcticindigenous
communitiesandotherArcticinhabitantsoncommonArcticissues,inparticularonissuesofsusta
inable development and environmental protectionin the Arctic.
The Arctic Council works as a consensus-based body to deal with issues such as the change in
biodiversity, melting sea ice, plastic pollution and black carbon.

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History of Arctic Council

The formation of Arctic Councilcan be traced in the establishment of the Arctic

Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) in 1991 as a framework
for intergovernmental cooperation on environmental protection initiatives among the
Arctic States including Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia,
and the United States.
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 Members of the Arctic Council: Ottawa Declaration declares Canada, the Kingdom of
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden and the United States of
America as a member of the Arctic Council.
Denmarks represents Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Israel-Palestine

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West Bank:The West Bank is sandwiched between Israel and Jordan. One of its major cities is
Ramallah, the de facto administrative capital of Palestine. Israel took control of it in the 1967
war and has over the years established settlements there.
Gaza:The Gaza Strip located between Israel and Egypt. Israel occupied the strip after 1967,
but relinquished control of Gaza City and day-to-day administration in most of the territory
during the Oslo peace process. In 2005, Israel unilaterally removed Jewish settlements from
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 the territory, though it continues to control international access to it.
Golan Heights:The Golan Heights is a strategic plateau that Israel captured from Syria in the
1967 war. Israel effectively annexed the territory in 1981. Recently, the USA has officially
recognized Jerusalem and Golan Heights a part of Israel.
Palestinian Authority-Created by the 1993 Olso Accords, it is the official governing body of
the Palestinian people, led by President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah faction. Hobbled by
corruption and by political infighting, the PA has failed to become the stable negotiating
partner its creators had hoped.
Fatah-Founded by the late Yasir Arafat in the 1950s, Fatah is the largest Palestinian political

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faction. Unlike Hamas, Fatah is a secular movement, has nominally recognized Israel, and has
actively participated in the peace process.
Hamas- Hamas is regarded as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. In 2006,

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Hamas won the Palestinian Authority's legislative elections. It ejected Fatah from Gaza in
2007, splitting the Palestinian movement geographically, as well.

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Drake Passage
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In a first, six rowers from four countries crossed the Drake Passage, in just under two weeks
setting up a new Guinness World Records (GWR).
Last year, an all-woman Indian Navy team on Indian Naval Sailing Vessel (INSV) Tarini had
Page 238
 also successfully crossed Passage.

Drake Passage

The Passage is located between Cape Horn at the tip of South America and the Antarctic
Peninsula.
It is named after Sir Francis Drake, who was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe.
It has an average depth of about 11,000 feet, with deeper regions going up to over 15,600 feet
near the northern and southern boundaries.

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Lake Malawi (Lake Nyasa)

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Lake Malawi (Lake Nyasa), is an African Great Lakeand the southernmost lake in the
East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
The third largest and second deepest lake in Africa, it is also the ninth largest in the
world. It is reportedly the habitat of more species of fish than any other body of freshwater,
including more than 1000 species of cichlids, and was officially declared a reserve by the
Government of Mozambique in 2011.
The lake lies in a valley formed by the opening of the East African Rift, where the
African tectonic plate is being split into two pieces.
This is called a divergent plate tectonics boundary. The boundaries of the Lake is Disputed
between Malawi and Tanzania.

Page 239
Palau becomes first country to ban sunscreen to save coral
reef

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Tajikstan
A high level global conference on “International Decade for Action: Water for
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Sustainable Development” was recently organised in Tajikstan.

Tajikstan lies in the heart of Central Asia.
It is bordered by Kyrgyzstan on the north, China on the east, Afghanistan on the south, and
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Uzbekistan on the west and northwest.

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Tajikistan was a constituent (union) republic of the Soviet Union from 1929 until its
independence in 1991. The capital is Dushanbe.
The Trans-Alay range, part of the Tien Shan system, reaches into the north and peaks of
the Pamir mountain system occupy the southeast.
The largest valley is the western portion of the Fergana Valley in the north.
Lake Karakul, is the largest lake lying at an elevation of about 13,000 feet.

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SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION (SCO) SUMMIT,

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BISHKEK
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PM Modi attended the SCO summit in the Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Key highlights of the summit:

PM Narendra Modi asked the member states to try coordinated action against international
terrorismunder the SCO-Regional Anti Terrorist Structure (RATS).- was signed.
A separate MoU was signed for establishment of Astana International Financial Centre.

About Shanghai Co-Operation Organisation (SCO)

The SCO is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation. It is a Eurasian

political, economic, and security alliance and has been the primary security pillar of the
region.
Members: India became a full member of the SCO in 2017.
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 The organisation has two permanent bodies: (1) the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and
(2) the
Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent.
Membership: Eight member states (India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia,
Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) and Four observer states (Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and
Mongolia).

FENI BRIDGE

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High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh inspected the ongoing construction of the Feni
Bridge alsoknown as MaitreeSetu in Chattogram.

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The bridge is being built over the Feni River and will connect Tripura with Chittagong
port of
Agencies Involved: The bridge is being constructed by the National Highways

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Infrastructure
Development Corporation Ltd of Ministry of Road and Transport highways, Government of
India. gm
G7, BIARRITZ SUMMIT
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Trump and Emmanuel Macron agreed that Russia should be invited to the next G7 Summit in
2020 (In 2014, the G7 declared that a meaningful discussion was currently not possible with
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Russia
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in the context of the G8. Since then, meetings have continued within the G7 process).
The Group of Seven (G7) is an international intergovernmental economic organization
hk

consisting ofseven advanced economies in the world: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
the UnitedKingdom, and the United States.
Biarritz is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in southwestern France.
am

It is located 35kilometres from the border with Spain.

REAM NAVAL BASE

it
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China and Cambodia have reportedly signed a secret pactallowing China exclusive use of a
Ream naval base for 30years, a facility operated by the Royal Cambodian Navy onthe coast
of the Gulf of Thailand in the province ofSihanoukville, Cambodia.
A base in Djibouti opened in 2017.

OPERATION KAYLA MUELLER / BARISHA RAID

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi committed suicide during the Barisha raid conducted by the
DeltaForce, in SyriaAbu Bakr al-Baghdadi was the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) militant
terrorist organisation. In 2014,the ISIS announced the establishment of a worldwide caliphate.
Al-Baghdadi was named its caliph,to be known as "Caliph Ibrahim".
The Barisha raid was a United States military operation in Barisha, Idlib Governorate, in
Syriatargeting ISIS leadership on October 26-27, 2019.
The special forces raid was officially code-named Operation Kayla Mueller after the
Page 242
 Americanhumanitarian worker who was held captive, tortured, and sexually abused by
Baghdadi before herdeath in 2015.

KURDS
Kurdish fighters in northern Syria have served as a crucial U.S. ally in the fight against the
Islamic State.
But U.S. troops stepped aside as Turkey launched an offensive against the U.S.- backed

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Kurdish forces.
The Kurds are members of a large, predominantly Muslim ethnic group.
They live in the highlands of southern and eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, the

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northeastern Syria, northwestern Iran, and parts of south Armenia, and are a minority in each
of these countries.

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SAHEL
gm
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that al Qaeda and Islamic State have
strengthened their foothold across the Sahel region this year as the G5 Sahel task force has
been perennially underfunded.
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G5 Sahel task force is a five-nation anti-terror force in the Sahel region of West Africa.
Members: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger.
Headquarters: Nouakchott, Mauritania.
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The Sahel Belt is a semi-arid tropical savanna ecoregion in Africa, which forms the
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transitional zone between the Sahara Desert to the north and the more humid savanna belt to
the south.
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PACIFIC SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES (PSIDS)

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PM Narendra Modi met leaders of the Pacific Small Islands Developing States (PSIDS) on
thesidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York. he announced the allocation of
12million US Dollar grant towards the implementation of high impact developmental projects
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inPacific Island countries.

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Whatarethey: Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are maritime countries that tend to
share similar sustainable development challenges.
Location: These countries are across the globe in the Caribbean, the Pacific, Atlantic and
IndianOceans, and the Mediterranean and South China Sea.

DOXXING
A court in Hong Kong has issued a temporary order, in effect until November 8, banning
thesomeone, especially with the intention of punishing or taking revenge.
Doxxing first emerged as hacker slang for obtaining and posting private documents about an
individual, usually a rival or enemy.
In Hong Kong, protesters have been releasing information about police officers and their
families, thereby opening them up to targeted violence or harassment and abuse, either
physically or online.
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COMMONWEALTH YOUTH PARLIAMENT
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla addressed youngsters from India and the Commonwealth
duringthe inaugural session of the 10th Commonwealth Youth Parliament in Delhi Assembly.
The Commonwealth Youth Parliament is an annual gathering hosted by the Commonwealth
Parliamentary Association (CPA). It brings together young people aged 18 29 from across the
Commonwealth of Nations to discuss issues of governance.
The Youth Parliament rotates annually through the nine regions of the CPA.

om
It is for the first time that an Indian Legislature is hosting the Commonwealth Youth
Parliament

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Tsangpo /YarlungZangbo river

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Longest river of Tibet Autonomous Region, China
It is flows into Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang, which meets two other rivers in Assam
downstream to become the Brahmaputra
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Originating at Angsi Glacier(western Tibet, southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake
Manasarovar). When leaving the Tibetan Plateau, the River forms the world's largest and
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deepest canyon, YarlungTsangpo Grand Canyon
Flows through three districts of Arunachal Pradesh — Upper Siang, Siang and East Siang —
before meeting two other rivers to form the Brahmaputra in Assam downstream
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Yellow river - 2nd largest river of China

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Chabahar port
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Situated in Iran
The advantage of chabahar port for India is that it has received awaiver from USA
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Chabahar port, where India’s construction of the Shahid Beheshtiterminal since 2016 is
a key component of its trade and connectivity routes to Afghanistan and Central Asia,
circumventing Pakistan
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Pangong Tso lake

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The Indian and Chinese armies clashed recently along the Pangong lake in Ladakh.
Pangon lake or Pangong Tso, a 135-km long lake, located in the Himalayas at the height of
approximately 4,350 m, stretches out from India to China.
One-third of water body, its 45 km stretch, is in Indian control while the rest of the 90 km is
under Chinese control.
It is formed from Tethys geosyncline.
It is a salt water lake.
Strategic significance: By itself, the lake does not have major tactical significance.
But it lies in the path of the Chushul approach, one of the main approaches that China can
use for an offensive into Indian-held territory.

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Katchatheevu Island
It is an uninhabited off-shore island in the Palk Strait originally owned by a king
of Ramnad (present-day Ramanathapuram, Tamil Nadu).
The island is used by fishermen to dry their nets.
During the British rule, it was administered jointly by India and Sri Lanka.
In the early 20th century, Sri Lanka claimed territorial ownership over the islet, so in 1974
India ceded the island to Sri Lanka, through a joint agreement.

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Two years later through another accord, India further gave up its fishing rights in
the region.

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Excavations at Bharati Huda

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It is in Odisha
Site about 3600 years ago
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Excavation confirmed that a separate ethnic group that was using non-black-and-red ware
might have existed during the early chalcolithic cultural horizon and a new class of ethnic
group might have come into contact with the rural settlers at Bharati Huda during mature
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phase of chalcolithic culture

Radiocarbon ages were calibrated using oxcal software
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Kajin Sara lake

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Kajin Sara is said to have formed from Himayalan meltwater

Likely to earn the distinction of the world’s highest lake, taking the title from Tilicho
lake(also in Nepal)
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Located at a height of 5200 metres

Countries sharing border with different Sea :

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Caspian Sea : TARIK ( TURKMENISTAN , AZERBAIJAN, RUSSIA, IRAN ,KAZAKHSTAN) .

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Black Sea : GURR BuT ( GEORGIA, UKRAINE,RUSSIA , ROMANIA , BULGARIA , TURKEY)

RED SEA : DESSEY .( DJIBOUTI ,ERITTREA , SAUDI ARABIA,SUDAN, EGYPT, YEMEN )
ARAL SEA : UK ( UZBEKISTAN AND KAZAKHSTAN)
SEA OF AZOV : UR ( UKRAIN AND RUSSIA)
BALTIC SEA : RuDe Germany SELL Poland and Finland. (RUSSIA , DENMARK , GERMANY ,
SWEDEN, ESTONIA , LATVIA , LITHUANIA , POLAND AND FINLAND )

MISCELLANEOUS
UdyamSakhi portal for Women Entrepreneurs
UDYAM SAKHI, a Ministry of Micro,Small& Medium Enterprises initiative, is a network
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 for nurturing social entrepreneurship creating business models revolving around low-cost
products and services to resolve social inequities.

Mission

UdyamSakhi seeks to encourage women entrepreneurs and to aid, counsel, assist and protect
their interests. It also preserve free competitive enterprise and to maintain and strengthen the
overall economy of our nation.
The UdyamSakhi helps Indian women to start, build and grow businesses.

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Services offered

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UDYAM SAKHI provides assistances primarily through its Programmatic Functions:
Entrepreneurship Learning Tools e.g. Preparing Business Plan.
Incubation facility

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Training programmes for fund raising etc.

UNSC resolutions 47 gm
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Imran Khan in his statement referred to UNSC Resolution 47.

In 1947, following an invasion by Pakistani soldiers, the Maharaja of Kashmir signed the
Instrument of Accession with India.
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After the first war in Kashmir (1947-1948), India approached the UNSC to bring the conflict in
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Kashmir to the notice of its members.

This resolution focuses on the Government of India’s complaint concerning the dispute over
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the State of J&K.

Who were the UNSC members who oversaw the issue?

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5 permanent members - China, France, UK, US & Russia.

6 non-permanent members - Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Syria and the
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Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.

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India - Was ready to hold a plebiscite, to know of the people’s desire and accept the results of
the vote.
Pakistan - Denied its involvement in the conflict and counter-accused India.
UNSC - Under Resolution 39 (1948), it set up the UN Commission with a view to facilitate
the restoration of peace and order and to the holding of a plebiscite, by the two Governments
in Kashmir.

Why India rejected the UNSC Resolution 47?

India’s disagreement was that the resolution ignored the military invasion by Pakistan and
placing both nations on an equal diplomatic ground was a dismissal of Pakistan’s aggression.

Page 246
Chiller Star Labelling Program
Ministry of Power, Government of India launched Chiller StarLabelling Program, an
ambitious program to encourage the deployment of Energy Efficient chiller systems in the
country.
The Chiller Star Labelling Program has been formulated by Bureauof Energy Efficiency
(BEE).
The program envisages providing star rating in terms of its energy performance. Initially, the

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program is launched on voluntary basis and will be valid upto 31st December 2020.
This initiative will promote advancement technology for centralHVAC(Heating, ventilation,
and air conditioning) systems and will also facilitate energy efficient solutions for the large

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commercial and industrial applications.

Cape Town Global Action Plan

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The Cape Town Global Action Plan for Sustainable Development Data was informally
gm
launched at the first UN World Data Forum on 15 January 2017 in Cape Town South Africa,
and adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission at its 48th Session in March 2017.
Dubai declaration: Launched at the UN World Data forum, it details measures to boost
1@

funds for data and statistical analysis for 95 monitoring progress towards the 2030 Sustainable
Development Goals.
9

National milk sample safety quality survey

d1

National milk sample safety quality survey has been released by the Food Safety and
hk

Standard Authority of India (FSSAI).

This is the first-of-its-kind comprehensive survey FSSAI has conducted through a third-party
agency.
am

It covered both organised (retailers and processors) as well as non-organised (local dairy
farms, milk vendors and milk mandis) sectors.
SUVIN, the finest quality of Extra Long Staple Cotton produced in Tamil Nadu havingthe
it

highest fibre length.

sm

Natural coloured cotton that is grown in Dharwad in the state of Karnataka indifferent colours
like dark brown, medium brown, green and cream colours will alsobe on display.

Khelo India:
Aim is to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root and establish India as a
great sporting nation.
It is implemented by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Provided annual financial assistance of INR 5 lakh per annum for 8 years.
The Prime Minister will launch the first-ever Khelo India University Games in Cuttack
(Odisha) on February 22, 2020.

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Brasilia Declaration on Road Safety
The declaration was signed in 2015at the second Global High-Level Conference on Road
Safety held in Brazil. The first conference was held in Russia (2009).
Through the Brasilia Declarationcountries plan to achieve the Sustainable Development
Goal6 i.e.to half the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by
2030.
The United Nations has also declared 2011-2020 as the decade of action for Road Safety.

om
Recently, the Minister of Road Transport & Highways represented India at the 3rdGlobal
Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Stockholm (Sweden).

It is organised by the World Health Organization (WHO)in association with the World

l.c
Bank and minister-led delegations from more than 80 countries.
Theme :‘Achieving Global Goals 2030’.

ai
The Brazzaville Declaration
gm
The Brazzaville Declaration aims to implement coordination and cooperation between different
government sectors to protect the benefits provided by peatland ecosystems.
1@

The agreement is the beginning of a deep collaboration between Indonesia – covered by

vast expanses of peatlands – and the Congo Basin.
9

Brazzaville, 23 March 2018 –In an unprecedented move to protect the Cuvette Centrale
d1

region in the Congo Basin, the world’s largest tropical peatlands, from unregulated land use
and prevent its drainage and degradation, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the
hk

Republic of Congo and Indonesia jointly signed the Brazzaville declaration that promotes
better management and conservation of this globally important carbon store
am

Tokenization service
The Reserve of India (RBI) has allowed all card payment networks to offer tokenization
it

service. No charges should be recovered from the customer for availing this service.
sm

Tokenization involves a process in which a unique token masks sensitive card details.
The token is then used to perform card transactions in contact-less mode at Point Of Sale
(POS) terminals, Quick Response (QR) code payments, etc.

Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT)

Main intergovernmental agency and central institution.
The Secretariat is located in London, the United Kingdom.
It was established in 1965.
The CSAT has a total of eight members, including its president.
regional representations from among persons of high moral character.
A CSAT member has a tenure of four years.

Page 248
Commonwealth of Nations
It is an international intergovernmental organization of countries that were mostly former
territories of the British Empire and dependencies.
It was established by the London Declaration in 1949.
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth.
Many countries from Africa, Asia, Americas, Europe and the Pacific have joined the
commonwealth.

om
The current membership includes 53 Countries. The membership is based on free and equal
voluntary co -operation.
The last country to join the Commonwealth was Rwanda in 2009.

l.c
About CPA:

ai
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) was founded in 1911 as the Empire
Parliamentary Association (EPA).
Its headquarter is located in London. gm
It is an association to serve the Parliamentarians of the Commonwealth Countries by providing
1@
machinery for regular consultation and exchange of ideas and information among members of
Commonwealth Parliaments.
Currently, CPA has approximately 180 branches and is divided into nine regions – Africa; Asia;
9

Australia; British Islands and Mediterranean; Canada; Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic;
India; Pacific and South-East Asia.
d1

The Commonwealth Youth Parliament is an annual gathering hosted by the Commonwealth

Parliamentary Association (CPA).
hk

It brings together young people aged 18–29 from across the Commonwealth of Nations to
discuss issues of democracy and governance.
The Commonwealth Youth Parliament rotates annuallythrough the nine regions of the
am

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

Misery Index’.
it
sm

The first misery index was created by Arthur Okun in 1960’s and was equal to the sum of
inflation and unemployment rate figures to provide a snapshot of the US economy.
The higher the index, the more is the misery felt by average citizens.
It has broadened in recent times to include other economic indicators, such as bank lending
rates.
In recent times, variations of the original misery index have become popular as a means to
gauge the overall health of the global economy.
A variation of the original misery index is the Bloomberg misery index, developed by the
online publication.

'Operation Vanilla' to assist the population of Madagascar

Page 249
affected by Cyclone Diane.
Indian Navy also diverted a large amphibious ship viz. INS Airavat carrying clothing,
medicines, and other relief material to provide assistance and support in the relief operations.

Cyclone Diane

It is a tropical cyclone.

om
Origin: North-west off the coast of Mauritius in the South-western Indian Ocean.
Madagascar has been hit by it and there has been heavy flooding and landslips causing loss of
lives and displacement, affecting more than 92,000 people. India has been the first country
to respond to floods in Madagascar.

l.c
Significance

ai
India assistance to Madagascar is in consonance with Prime Minister's vision of 'Security and
Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR).
gm
India is working with France to develop strategic and economic partnership
involving Madagascar, Reunion Islands-Comoros so as to balance the growing influence of
1@

China in that part of the Indian Ocean Region.

Yellow rust disease

9
d1

Yellow rust disease has been detected in the wheat crop which has raised concerns among farmers
about a drop in the crop's yield.
hk

Yellow rust or stripe rust is a fungal disease which attacks the leaves of wheat crop by
forming yellow stripes and affects their photosynthesis that causes shrivelling of grain
am

size.
It is a disease of cool weather in the northern hills and north-western plains zone.
The recent rains in the region coupled with a slight increase in the
it

temperature and humid conditions are favourable for yellow rust.

sm

M.M. SALUNKHE PANEL (ON-DEMAND EXAMINATIONS)

The University Grants Commission (UGC) panel on evaluation reforms chaired by M.M.
Salunkhesubmitted its report.
Its key recommendations are: On-demand examination: establish a national board to
conduct on-demand examinations at the undergraduate degree level. Starting with distance
programmes for popular degree courses, ondemand examinations should be open to all,
without any age or eligibility restrictions.
Relative grading system: All autonomous or high-ranked institutions should start following a
relative grading system, instead of the current absolute grading system, thus allowing for
comparative performances among peers and reducing the stress of failures.
Students should have the freedom to opt for courses beyond their core specialisations.

Page 250
INITIATIVES TO BOOST RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Union HRD Minister launched several initiatives of and AICTE to boost research and
innovation in the country.
Establish a network of 2.0 from July 2019 June 2020 in Higher Educational Institutes to
promote innovation and start-up.
Launch of Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2020 to
rank all major educational institutions and universities on indicators related to promotion of

om
ies.
Launch of Smart India Hackathon 2020 (SIH2020) to provide students a platform to solve
some ofthe pressing problems we face in our daily lives.

l.c
Announcement of new ATAL ACADEMIES: It is proposed to set up 10 (ten) more AICTE
TrainingAnd Learning (ATAL) Academies/Centres (apart from existing 4).
Launch of Protsahan Mudra Scheme: Protsahan Mudra is real time rewards Engine to give

ai
rewards to Students and teachers for the action that qualifies for the reward.

gm
Theme of Vishwakarma Award 2019The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is
the national-level council for technicaleducation, under Department of Higher Education,
MoHRD.
It was established in 1945 first as an advisory body and later on in 1987 given statutory status
1@

by an Act of Parliament.

YUWAAH
9
d1

A multi-stakeholder alliance whichaims to facilitate youth to gain relevant skills for productive
lives.
hk

The target age group of YuWaah includes adolescent girls and boys.
YuWaah intends to create platforms to guide youth to market opportunities (career
guidance,mentorship, internships, apprenticeships) and facilitate integration of career
am

guidance in schooleducation.

SHAALA DARPAN
it
sm

HRD Minister launched Shaala Darpan portal, an end to end E-Governance school automation
and
management system for Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti.
It has been developed for information sharing and knowledge dissemination for the 22000
employees and over 2 lakh students across schools and offices of
Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti. It will bring transparency in Navodaya Vidyalayas.
The system has following components that can interact with each other. These are:
School Information and Management System for complete school automation
Bilingual Content Management Portal for information dissemination
Employee ERP to manage the day to day activities of all employees
Budget & Finance management system
Inventory & Store management system
Library management system

Page 251
FIRST-EVER WORLD FOOD SAFETY DAY
World Food Safety Day:

Background: The first-ever World Food Safety Day was adopted by the United Nations
GeneralAssembly in December 2018.
Date of observance: June 7.
Theme: Food Safety, everyone's business.

om
Objective of the day: To mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden
offoodborne diseases globally.
Union Minister of Health launched various initiatives on the occasion: Eat Right Awards:

l.c
FIVE EYES

ai
S. has threatened to cut off intelligence sharing between the so-called Five Eyes unless

operations. gm
itsmembers ban 5G equipment from Huawei, fearing it could be a vehicle for Chinese spy

The Five Eyes name refers to the security classification of intelligence.

It is an anglophone intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the
1@

United
Kingdom and the United States.
History: It began in 1946 ad was expanded in later years.
9
d1

INTERMEDIATE-RANGE NUCLEAR FORCES (INF) TREATY

hk

The US has formally withdrawn from Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with
Russia.
Signatories: INF Treaty was a crucial Cold War-era treaty between the United States and
am

the SovietUnion (and later its successor state Russia).

Objective: The treaty banned the development, testing and possession of short and medium
rangeground-launched nuclear missiles with a range of 500-5,000 km.
it

Background: The INF was signed by then US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader
sm

MikhailGorbachev in 1987.
It was central to ending the arms race.

NUCLEAR FREE ZONES

Antarctica by Antarctic treaty
Space by Outer Space Treaty
Seabed by Seabed arms control treaty
Tlatelolco treaty for Latin America and Caribbean
Bangkok Treaty for South East Asia
Pelindaba Treaty for Africa

Page 252
Atomic energy commission
It is the governing body of Department of Atomic Energy
Important function include

1. Promote nuclear research

2. Prospecting and extraction of atomic minerals in India
3. Extends financial assistance to autonomous national institutes doing research

om
Comprehensive test ban treaty (ctbt)

l.c
Adopted in 1996 by UNGA, it prohibits all forms of nuclear tests in space, water &
underground.
India has not signed the treaty as it does not talk aboutnuclear disarmament.

ai
So far it has been signed by 184 states, of which 168 have ratified the treaty.
However the treaty has not come into force yet as many countries that possess nuclear
technology have not yet signed or ratified the gm
Those that have signed but not ratified: China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, USA.
Those that have not signed: India, Pakistan and North Korea
1@

LOTUS-HR
9

India and Netherlands launched the second phase of the LOTUS-HR (Local Treatment
d1

of UrbanSewage streams for Healthy Reuseplant).

The project is jointly supported by Department of Biotechnology (India) and Netherlands
hk

Organizationfor Scientific Research.

The project was initiated in July 2017 and aims to demonstrate a novel holistic (waste)
watermanagement approach that will produce clean water which can be reused for various
am

purposes.

LETWIN AMENDMENT
it
sm

Deal until the withdrawal bill implementing Brexit has been passed.
Essentially, this meant that PM Boris Johnson was legally obliged to request the EU
under the BennAct to extend the date the votes on Brexit will be cast.
The Benn Act, formally called the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2 Act) 2019, is an act of
theUK Parliament, which legally mandates seeking an extension for the negotiating period
undercertain circumstances.

Weddell Gyre
One of the two gyres that exist within the Southern Ocean
The gyre is formed by interactions between the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the
AntarcticContinental Shelf .
The gyre is located in the Weddell Sea, and rotates clockwise.

Page 253
UN security council 1267 Resolution
Adopted unanimously in 1999.
On the situation in Afghanistan, the Council designated Osama bin Laden and associatesas
terrorists and established a sanctions regime to cover individuals and entitiesassociated with
Al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and/or the Taliban whereverlocated.
It is a consolidated list of people and entities it has determined as beingassociated with Al
Qaeda or the Taliban, and laws which must be passed within eachmember nation to implement

om
the sanctions Masood Azhar has been linked to Osamabin Laden and, hence, can be sanctioned
under 1267 sanctions committee
India is not a member of UNSC and, therefore, technically not privy to UNSC deliberations

l.c
Indonesia is the current chair of 1267 Sanctions Committee andwill continue till the end
of 2019.

ai
Mangdechhu power project
gm
India’s Bhutan hydel power project of capacity 750 MW.
Mangdechhu project is bagged by the Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) and it will be
1@
implemented on a bilateral basis.
(Sunkosh reservoir project located in Bhutan)

Seven Summits challenge

9
d1

Daunting mountaineering feat that involves scaling thehighest mountains of each of the seven
continents
hk

1. Elbrus (Russia/Georgia),
2. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania, Africa),
am

3. Aconcagua (Argentina, South America),

4. Kosciuszko(Australia),
5. Denali(North America) and
it

6. Vinson Massif(Antarctica)
sm

Mission Purvodaya
It was launched in 2020 for the accelerated development of eastern India through the
establishment of an integrated steel hub in Kolkata, West Bengal.
The focus will be on eastern states of India (Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal)
and northern part of Andhra Pradesh which collectively hold ~80% of the country’s iron
ore, ~100% of coking coal and significant portion of chromite, bauxite and
dolomite reserves.
The Integrated Steel Hub would focus on 3 key elements:
Capacity addition through easing the setup of Greenfield steel plants.
Development of steel clusters near integrated steel plants as well as demand centres.
Transformation of logistics and utilities infrastructure which would change the socio-
economic landscape in the East.
Page 254
 The objective of this hub would be to enable swift capacity addition and improve overall
competitiveness of steel producers both in terms of cost and quality.

Foreigners’ Tribunals
It is a quasi-judicial bodies meant to determine whether a person is oris not a foreigner under
Foreigner’s Act, 1946
first setup in 1964 and are unique toAssam.

om
In rest of the country, a foreigner apprehended by the police for staying illegallyis prosecuted
in a local court and later deported/put in detention centres.
Each FT isheaded by a member who can be a retired judicial officer, bureaucrat or lawyer

l.c
withminimum seven years of legal practice
Earlier, powers to constitute tribunals werevested only with Centre. Recently amended
Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 2019 hasempowered district magistrates in all States & Union

ai
Territories to set up tribunals.

Yogyakarta Principles gm
It recognise freedom of sexual orientation and gender identity as part of Human Rights.
1@

They were outlined in 2006 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia by a distinguished group of

International Human Right experts.
Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India Case 2018 ,SC strucked down the colonial-era law
9

criminalising homosexuality and the lives of LGBTQ persons(section 377 of IPC)

d1

India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX)

hk

India Urban Data Exchange (IUDX), an open source software platform aimed at enabling cities
to harness full potential of the enormous data being generated in our smart cities + launched
am

by Indian Institute of Science (IISc), banglore

Initiative of Ministry of housing and urban affairs(MoHUPA) Instead of moving data into a
central repository, this approach chooses to interconnect the disparate and distributed entities
it

through a common data exchange

sm

After digitalisation, all data will be feeded into ICCC

Monitoring of IUDX: Open Smart Cities of India (OSCI) will be setup as a non-profit, start
up company withcentral and state government officials, Smart City officials, researchers, and
industryplayers to set up and scale IUDX + (The India Urban Data Exchange set up by
theMoHUA for its Smart Cities would be expanded, eventually leading to a “marketplace” open
data platform for the 100 cities would be expanded to cover 500 cities by 2022 andall urban
centres in the country by 2024)

Major Evacuation Operations of IndiaOperation Name

&YearCountry from where Evacuation was done
Operation SankatMochan (2016)South Sudan
Operation Rahat (2015)Yemen
Operation Safe Homecoming (2011)Libya
Page 255
 Operation Sukoon (2006)LebanonDuring Gulf War (1990)Kuwait

Day Zero Situation

Day Zero is a situation when taps in a region start running dry. It is a situation when there
will be no water in the taps and the use of water will become restricted for vital services only.
Considering the present situation of water crisis in several cities of India, they are being
termed as soon to be India’s Cape Towns.

om
The city of South Africa ‘Cape Town’, in 2018, launched a countdown to the day when tap
water would be cut-off to millions of residents as a result of a three year drought.
Brazil’s Sao Paulo faced its own Day Zero in 2015. The city turned off its water supply for

l.c
12 hours a day forcing many businesses and industries to shut down.
In 2008, Barcelona in Spain had to import tankers full of fresh water from France.

ai
Ekam Fest
gm
The week long exhibition-cum-fair “EKAM Fest” is being organised by the National Handicapped
Finance Development Corporation (NHFDC) in New Delhi from 2nd March, 2020.
1@

EKAM Fest is an effort for promoting entrepreneurship and knowledge among

the Divyangjan community. EKAM stands for Entrepreneurship, Knowledge, Awareness and
Marketing.
9

Further, it will help in generating awareness among society about Persons with Disabilities
d1

(PwDs) entrepreneurs’ potential.

In the first Ekam Fest, Divyang Entrepreneur and Artisans from all over the country have
hk

been invited. The fest will see vibrant products ranging from handicraft, handloom,
Embroidery work and dry fruits.
am

TIDEWATER GLACIERS
According to recent study, Underwater melting of tidewater glaciers is occurring 100 times
it

faster than previously thought.

sm

About Tidewater Glaciers

They are valley glaciers that flow all the way down to the ocean.
Tidewater glaciers meet the ocean at the calving front where ice undergoes melting by the
ocean (submarine melting) and icebergs calve off into the sea.
Increased rate of underwater melting is due to factors like burning of fossil fuels, oil and
gas drilling, Ice breaking ships etc.
The increased rate of melting might lead to consequences like extreme flooding,
biodiversity loss, disappearing of Coral Reefs, scarcity of fresh water etc.

What is the difference between sea ice and glaciers?

Sea ice forms and melts strictly in the ocean whereas glaciers are formed on land.
Page 256
 Icebergs are chunks of glacial ice that break off glaciers and fall into the ocean.
When glaciers melt, because that water is stored on land, the runoff significantly
increases the amount of water in the ocean, contributing to global sea level rise.
Sea ice, on the other hand, is often compared to ice cubes in a glass of water: when it melts,
it does not directly change the level of water in the glass.

Pamba River/Pampa river

om
Is the third longest river in the South Indian state of Kerala after Periyar and Bharathappuzha
the longest river in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore
Sabarimala temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa is located on the banks of the river Pamba +

l.c
few terracotta artefacts are found which hints towards new civilization

Foodbank India

ai
gm
The India Food Banking Network (IFBN) is evolving an ecosystem for food security
interventions to support thousands of feeding programmes in India by bringing the
government, private sector and NGOs together to fight hunger and malnutrition in India.
Vision: To have a hunger and malnutrition free India which falls in line with
1@

the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2- Zero Hunger by 2030).

It aims to achieve the vision by establishing a strong and efficient network of FoodBanks
throughout the country so that every district has access to at least one FoodBank by
9

2030.
d1

It is a multi-stakeholder partnership
hk

World Food Programme (WFP)

am

The WFP is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations.

It is the world’s largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food
security.
it

It works to help people who cannot produce or obtain enough food for themselves and their
sm

families.
It was established in 1961 after the 1960 Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
Conference.
Its headquarter is in Rome (Italy) and has more than 80 country offices around the world.
It is a member of the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) and part of its Executive
Committee.

Food and Agriculture Organization

A specialized agency of the United Nationsthat leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving
both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as
equals to negotiate arguments and debate policy.

Page 257
Per Incuriam
It literally translates as "through lack of care".
A judgment can be declared per incuriam if it does not follow a statutory provision or a binding
precedent that may have been relevant.
Such judgments can be declared to be without any legal force and are not treated as a valid
precedent.

om
NAMASTE Portal
National AYUSH Morbidity and Standardized Terminologies Electronic

l.c
Portal (NAMASTE Portal) was launched on 17th October, 2017 (2nd Ayurveda day).
The National Ayurveda Day is celebrated every year on the occasion of Dhanwantari

ai
Jayanti (Dhanteras).
The portal provides standardized terminologies & morbidity codes for Ayurveda, Siddha and
Unani systems of medicines.
gm
Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India (BPNI)
1@

It is a national network of organisations and individuals dedicated to promote mother and child
health through protection, promotion, and support of breastfeeding
9

The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative

d1

Hospitals and maternity units set a powerful example for new mothers. The Baby-Friendly
hk

Hospital Initiative ( BFHI ), launched in 1991, is an effort by UNICEF and the World Health
Organization to ensure that all maternities,whether free standing or in a hospital, become
am

centers of breastfeeding support.

A maternity facility can be designated 'baby-friendly' when it does not accept free or low-cost
breastmilk substitutes, feeding bottles or teats, and has implemented 10 specific steps to
it

support successful breastfeeding.

sm

“Software Defined” Radio (SDR)

The SDR has been designed and developed by the Defence Research and Development
Organisation, Bharat Electronics Limited and the Navy’s Weapons Electronics Systems
Engineering Establishment (WESEE).
It will facilitate high-speed data and secure voice communication with anti-jamming capability.

Repurpose Used cooking Oil (RUCO) initiative

Launched by FSSAI
In order to help companies convert used cooking oils into biofuels(also supported by
National biofuels policy,2018)
Under this around 64 companies at 101 locations have been identified to enable collection of
Page 258
 used cooking oil.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous body established under
the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The FSSAI has been established
under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute related to food
safety and regulation in India. FSSAI is responsible for protecting and promoting public

om
health through the regulation and supervision of food safety.

The FSSAI functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare. The main aim of FSSAI is to

l.c
1. Lay down science-based standards for articles of food

ai
2. To regulate manufacture, storage, distribution, import and sale of food
3. To facilitate safety of food

Project Dhoop
gm
1@

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched a nationwide
campaign “Project Dhoop”.
Project Dhoop is an innovative and effective concept to ensure that school students get
9

adequate Vitamin D through sunlight, while also opting to choose food products like milk and
d1

edible oils that are fortified with Vitamins A and D.

Project Dhoop urges schools to shift their morning assembly to noon time, mainly between 11
am and 1 pm to ensure maximum absorption of Vitamin D in students through natural sunlight.
hk

Food Safety Mitra Scheme

am

The Food Safety Mitra schemeaims to support small and medium-scale food
businesses so as to comply with the food safety laws and will facilitate them with the
it

licensing and registration process, hygiene ratings and training programme.

sm

The FSMs would undergo training and certification that will be conducted by the Food Safety
and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), in order to get paid by food businesses for their
services.
The scheme would also create new employment opportunities for youth (particularly with
food and nutrition background).

State Food Safety Index (SFSI):

FSSAI has developed the first SFSI to measure the performance of States on five parameters
of food safety: (1) Human Resources and Institutional Arrangements, (2) Compliance, (3) Food
Testing- Infrastructure and Surveillance, (4) Training & Capacity Building and (5) Consumer
Empowerment.
Raman 1.0: It is a hand-held battery-operated device which performs rapid detection (in less
than 1 minute) of economically driven adulteration in edible oils, fats and ghee.
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 Food Safety Magic Box: It is an innovative solution to take food safety to schools. This do-it-
yourselffood testing kit comprises a manual and equipment to check for food adulterants,

Lokiarchea
An ancient microbe
Known earlier only from its DNA, has been isolated and studied by researchers in Japan
They find that this organism could mark the point in the evolutionary tree of life where

om
single-celled organisms like bacteria made way for more complex eukaryotes – organisms
with structures like nuclei

Mettur Dam

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Tamilnadu largest Dam

ai
Based on Cauvery river

gm
Udanti wildlife sanctuary and Indravati national park
1@
Located in Chattishgarh

South Atlantic anomaly (SAA)

9
d1

SAA is a region above the south Atlantic Ocean where there are a large number of charged
particle that can damage sensitive instruments all space telescope are shut down when they
pass through the SAA
hk

‘Open General Export Licence’

am

To give India further access to the global market in defence sector

It will enable Indian companies to export certain equipment to identified nations
it

The nations that India believes have the maximum potential of purchasing military
equipment include Vietnam, Thailand, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, UAE and Malaysia
sm

Prerna Strategy
To push up the age of marriage of girls and delay in first child and spacing in second child
the birth of children in the interest of health of young mothers and infants

Santushti Strategy
It invites private sector gynecologists and vasectomy surgeons to conduct sterilization
operations in Public Private Partnership mode

Page 260
Meghdoot App
Ministry of Earth Sciences and Ministry of Agriculture have launched a mobile
application MEGHDOOT
Provide location, crop and livestock-specific weather-based agro advisories to farmers in local
languages
It has 31 been developed by experts from the India Meteorological Department and
Indian Institute of Tropical meteorology and the Indian Council of Agricultural

om
Research.

INAPH Project

l.c
National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has developed

ai
Information Network for Animal Productivity & Health (INAPH)
It is an IT application that facilitates the capturing of real time reliable data on Breeding,

gm
Nutrition and Health Services of all indigenous, nondescript, crossbred as well as exotic
milch animals delivered at farmer’s doorstep
The objective is to enable proper identification of animals and traceability of their
1@
products
Each animal will be provided a thermoplastic polyurethane ear tag bearing its 12-digit UID
(Pashu Aadhaar)
9

English Channel
d1

The English Channel is a part of the Atlantic Ocean

hk

It separates the island of Britain (part of the UK) from northern France and joins the
North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean
am

It’s approximately 350 miles long, and at its narrowest in the Strait of Dover

Sagar Island
it

Located in West Bengal

sm

Part of Sunderban delta(located in western part)

Located at mouth of Bay of Bengal
Part of hoogly river estuarine system
Cyclones in the Sundarbans will increase because sea surface temperature is rising at 0.5°C
per decade in the region and the global average is 0.05°C per decade.
Since the western part of the Sundarbans has no mangrove protection, it remains most
vulnerable
Cyclone bulbul made landfall near these Islands making them vulnerable
A report by the National Centre for Coastal Research in 2018 pointed out that West
Bengal lost maximum land due to coastal erosion in the country

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Dustlik 2019
First India-Uzbekistan Joint Exercise
The bilateral exercise will be conducted at ChirchiqTraining Area near Tashkent and will be
focused on counterterrorism, in which “the two countries share a common concern

K-Fon project

om
By Kerala government
Aimed at providing free high speed Internet connection to over 20 lakh BPL families in
the State

l.c
Cytochrome b6f

ai
One of the key component of photosynthesis
gm
Aprotein complex that significantly influences plant growth by means of photosynthesis
With this understanding and further research, larger plants that yield more food can be
developed
1@

Legal routes to surveillance

9

Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, which deals with interception of calls

d1

The Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, which deals with interception of data
Under both laws, only the government, under certain circumstances, is permitted to conduct
surveillance, and not private actors
hk

Moreover, hacking is expressly prohibited under the IT Act. Section 43 and Section 66 of the
IT Act cover the civil and criminal offences of data theft and hacking respectively
am

Southern Ocean role in global climate

it

Scientists have made a new discovery challenging the previous understanding of the link
between the Southern Ocean and the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.
sm

The study shows that contrary to existing assumptions, biological processes far out at sea are
the most important factors determining how the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide
The team studied data collected as part of the ANDREX project which measured various
properties of the waters in the gyre between 2008 and 2010
The data considered in this study showed unambiguously that, in the Weddell Gyre, the
dominant process enabling the uptake of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and its removal
to the deep ocean included the role of phytoplanktons

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes

Responsible for transmitting dengue, chikungunya and Zika viruses
The genetic strategy employed to control Aedes aegypti population known as RIDL (the
Release of Insects carrying Dominant Lethal genes) and is supposed to only reduce the
Page 262
 population of the naturally occurring Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and not affect or alter their
genetics.

National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)

NCDC (previously known as National Institute of Communicable Diseases) is an institute under
the Indian Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
It was established in July 1963 for research in epidemiology and control of communicable

om
diseases
The institute was established to function as a national centre of excellence for control of
communicable diseases. The function of the institute also included various areas of training

l.c
and research using multi-disciplinary integrated approach.
The institute was, in addition, expected to provide expertise to the States and Union
Territories (UTs) on rapid health assessment and laboratory based diagnostic services.

ai
Surveillance of communicable diseases and outbreak investigation also formed an
indispensable part of its activities.
gm
Doctors from NCDC had been previously summoned to investigate potential outbreaks of
diseases including suspected cases of Pneumonic plague in Punjab in 2002, SARS outbreaks in
2004, meningitis outbreak in Delhi in 2005, and avian influenza in 2006
1@

Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP)

9

It was launched with World Bank assistance in November 2004 to detect and respond to
d1

disease outbreaks quickly.

The Programme continued during 12th Plan (2012-17) under NHM with outlay of Rs. 640
hk

Crore from domestic budget only.

Objectives:
am

To strengthen the disease surveillance in the country by establishing a decentralized State

based surveillance system for epidemic prone diseases to detect the early warning signals.
it

Identification of cases and cluster of cases that are of public health importance
Prevention of further transmission of disease
sm

Limiting mortality and morbidity

Online “Origin Management System”

For exporters
To enable them to obtain Certificates of Origin – CoO (under Rules of Origin) to be launched
by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)

Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)

It is also known as Atlantic Conveyor Belt
It is part of the Earth’s largest water circulation system known as Thermohaline
Circulation
Page 263
 In this ocean currents move warm, salty water from the tropics to regions further north, such
as western Europe and sends colder water south
It transports a substantial amount of heat from the Tropics and Southern Hemisphere toward
the North Atlantic, where the heat is transferred to the atmosphere
It also aids in absorbing and storing atmospheric carbon
It has been observed that since the past 15 years, this circulation has been weakening mainly
due to global warming
Changes in this circulation have a profound impact on the global climate system which include
changes in African and Indian monsoon rainfall, atmospheric circulation of relevance to

om
hurricanes, and climate over North America and Western Europe
Researchers have found that rising temperatures in Indian Ocean can help strengthen
AMOC and delay it.

l.c
Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)

ai
It is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon which affects weather activities across the globe. It
gm
brings major fluctuation in tropical weather on weekly to monthly timescales.
The MJO can be defined as an eastward moving 'pulse' of clouds, rainfall, winds and pressure
near the equator that typically recurs every 30 to 60 days.
1@

It’s a traversing phenomenonand is most prominent over the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Indian Ocean Dipole

9
d1

The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), also known as the Indian Niño, is an irregular oscillation of sea
surface temperatures in which the western Indian Ocean becomes alternately warmer (positive
hk

phase) and then colder (negative phase) than the eastern part of the ocean.

2020 IOD positive cycle

am

IOD is related to multiple cyclones that have ravaged East Africa in 2019 killing thousands aided by
warmer than normal waters offshore (starting with Cyclone Idai and continuing on to the 2019–20
it

South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season), Australian drought & bushfires (convective IOD cycle
sm

brings dry air down on Australia), 2020 Jakarta floods (convective IOD cycle prevents moist air near
tropics from going south to Australia, concentrating it), and more recently East Africa's mega locust
swarms (via number of supportive weather factors).

Samudryaan project
The project proposes to send a submersible vehicle with three persons to a depth of
about 6000 metres to carry out deep underwater studies
The indigenously developed vehicle is capable of crawling on the sea bed at a depth of six
kilometre for 72 hours (Submarines go only about 200 metres)
It will be a part of the 'Deep Ocean Mission'
Expected to be undertaken by 2021-22
National Institute of Ocean Technology (autonomous society under Ministry of Earth
Sciences) is developing
Page 264
HD-3226 or PusaYashasvi
Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has released
New variety of wheat
Its yield is comparable to or higher than other wheat varieties
It also has higher content of protein and gluten (which contributes to strength and elasticity
of the dough), apart from more zinc
The variety has also high levels of resistance against all major rust fungi — yellow/stripe,

om
brown/leaf and black/stem + Recent Crop/Horticulture Varieties From IARI Pusa Basmati 1718
(Rice), PusaSambha 1850 (Rice), Pusa Aditi (Grape), Pusa Sona (Onion)

l.c
Time Bank

ai
Madhya Pradesh government’s Happiness Department plans to set up a Time Bank
It would lend currency to an hour, which could be exchanged to learn a new skill without
the need for any paper money
First Time Bank was set up in Japan in 1973.
gm
Today, there are more than 500 such communities across 32 countries.
1@

Automated Facial Recognition System (AFRS)

9

Central government wants to create a “repository of photographs of criminals in the

d1

country,” and wants to put a system in place to track “missing children and unidentified
dead bodies”
Nationa Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has invited bids to create such system
hk

Principles of Non Refoulment

am

Adopted by UN
Principle of customary international law prohibiting the expulsion, deportation, return or
it

extradition of an alien to his state of origin or another state where there is a risk that his life or
freedom would be threatened for discriminatory reasons
sm

DiEM25
Democracy in Europe Movement 25
Arose after the debt crisis in Greece had resulted in a wide-ranging “structural
adjustment programme” imposed upon greece by the European Commission, the
European Central Bank

Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources

Modelling and Science (OSMART)
By Ministry of earth sciences
Ocean Services, Technology, Observations, Resources Modelling and Science
Page 265
 To get more disaster warning systems along India’s coasts
New systems will keep an eye out for tsunamis and storm surges
Key missions under O-SMART include strengthening of Ocean Observations and Modelling,
strengthening of Ocean Services for fishermen, setting up marine observatories for monitoring
marine pollution, setting up Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Plant (OTEC) in
Kavaratti, acquiring two coastal research vessels, continuation of ocean survey and
exploration of minerals and living resources, technology development for Deep Ocean
Mining and manned submersibles and the setting up six desalination plants in Lakshadweep.

om
Red Mud

l.c
Bauxite residue
Red mud is a solid waste generated during the aluminium production by the Bayer process
from bauxite

ai
Red mud contains impurities such as caustic soda and others minerals
It contains six major constituents – Silicon, Aluminum, Iron, Calcium, Titanium and Sodium,
apart from an array of minor elements gm
Due to its unique physical and chemical properties, red mud can be used in several
aspects. Such as treatment of acidic soils, making crude and fine ceramics, for making bricks,
1@

as a component in making cement, as an additive in ferrous metallurgy etc.

My Ciphet
9
d1

Mobile application
To help farmers to get precise information regarding the Indian Council of Agriculture
hk

Research (ICAR) developed post-harvest technologies, products and machineries.

ICAR to Set up Farmers’ Innovation Fund

am

ICAR will bring a system to scientifically validate, scale-up and propagate the innovations of
progressive farmers.
it

As part of this system, an innovation centrewill be established in New Delhi where the
sm

innovations will be scientifically validated and farmers will be allowed to pursue research
work.

Indian Council of Agricultural Research

It is an autonomous organisation under the Department of Agricultural Research and
Education (DARE), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
It was established on 16 July 1929and was formerly known as Imperial Council of
Agricultural Research.
It is headquartered at New Delhi.
It is the apex body for coordinating, guiding and managing research and education in
agriculture including horticulture, fisheries and animal sciences in the entire country.

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JATAN
Software for Digitization of Archaeological Museum
Human Centres Design and Computing Group has developed JATAN

Darshak
Centre for Development of Smart Computing (C-DAC) Pune has also

om
developed“Darshak”, a mobile-based application aimed at improving the museum visit
experience among the differently-abled.
It allows real-time museum visitors gather all details about objects or artifacts simply by

l.c
scanning a QR code placed near the object.

Human Rights Law Network (HRLN)

ai
NGO
Located in New Delhi
gm
A collective of Indian lawyers and social activists who provide legal support to the
1@

vulnerable and disadvantaged sections of society

FnCas9
9
d1

New Cas9 protein, which binds and cuts the DNA, and is able to correct sickle cell anaemia
mutation in patient-derived stem cells
The protein (FnCas9) is derived from a bacterium — Francisellanovicida
hk

Interconnect usage charge (IUC)

am

Related to telecom sector

IUC is paid by one operator to another, when its customers make outgoing mobile calls to
it

the other operator’s customers. These calls are known as mobile off-net calls
IUC charges are fixed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
sm

Proposed East Antarctic Marine Park

Protect 1 million sq.km. of ocean, but has repeatedly been struck down at meetings of the
Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
A push by Australia and France to create a massive ocean sanctuary in east Antarctica
which has been blocked by China and Russia
Major ocean Antarctic sanctuaries — including the world’s largest spanning 1.55 million
sq.km. in the Ross Sea

Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership led by national
Page 267
 governments with five partners – the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary
International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Its goal is to eradicate
polio worldwide

India, Saudi to form strategic council

India and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement for creating a bilateral strategic

om
partnership council
The council will include multiple 15 sections involving the External Affairs Ministry and
NITI Aayog and counterpart organisations from Saudi Arabia.

l.c
DocumentationIdentificationNumber(DIN)

ai
TheCentralBoardofIndirectTaxes(CBIC)hasintroducedDocumentationIdentificationNumber(DI
N)systeminindirecttax
Governmenthasalready executed gm
theDINsysteminthedirecttaxadministration,Whichprovidesfortransparentandrecordedcommuni
cationbetweentheincometaxdepartmentand
1@

Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company

9

Electronically Plus (SPICe+) web form.

d1

Recently, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has launched the Simplified Proforma for
Incorporating Company Electronically Plus (SPICe+) web form.
hk

The SPICe+ form will replace the existing SPICe form.

am

SPICe was launched in 2016 and is a single form for multiple services for incorporation
of a company.
it

MPOWER measures.
sm

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.

SUVIDHA’-100% Oxo-biodegradable Sanitary Napkin,

Union Minister for Chemicals & Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs the launch of ‘Suvidha’,
the 100% Oxo-biodegradable Sanitary Napkin, under the
PradhanMantriBhartiyaJanaushadhiPariyojana (PMBJP).
The affordable sanitary napkin will be available for Rs. 2.50 perpadat over 3200
JanaushadhiKendrasacross India and would ensure ‘Swachhta, Swasthya and Suvidha’for
Page 268
 the underprivileged Women of India.
SUVIDHA napkins would be physically available at all JanaushadhiKendras in the country
Oxo-biodegradable’ is a special additive is added in the SUVIDHA napkin which makes it
biodegradable when it reacts with oxygen after it is used and discarded.

National Programme on use of Space Technology for

Agriculture (NPSTA)

om
The Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare is proposing a new integrated
programme, called National Programme on use of Space Technology for Agriculture
(NPSTA), envisaging integrated use of Space and Geospatial Tools for Mapping, Monitoring

l.c
and Management of Agriculture.
The programme will have four sub-programmes catering to various themes viz. Crop

ai
Assessment & Monitoring; Agricultural Resources Management; Disaster Monitoring and
Mitigation and Satellite Communication and Navigation Applications. All the current running
gm
programmes, such as FASAL (for crop forecasting), NADAMS (for drought assessment),
CHAMAN (for horticultural assessment and development), KISAN (for crop insurance) and
Crop Intensification planning, will be subsumed under this proposed programmes
1@

INDIA YEAR BOOK 2020

9
d1

PROVe- EARTH SCIENCE

Indigenously developed 500m depth rated shallow water/polar remotely operated vehile (PROVe)
hk

was successfully deployed, in the Andaman coral islands. The vehicle was successfully maneuvered
in the undulating reef terrain to record high quality under water visuals of coral reef biodiversity
am

with spectral irradiance

Himansh
it
sm

National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa established a high altitude
research station in Himalaya called Himansh (literally meaning, a slice of ice), situated above 13,500
ft (>4000 m) at a remote region in Spiti Himachal Pradesh.

MCA21 Mission Mode Project (MCA21)

MCA21 Mission Mode Project (MCA21) is the e-governance initiative from the Ministry of Corporate
Affairs, Government of India. It is one of the 27 Mision Mode Projects of the National e-Governance
Plan. The portal is the key platform for companies to submit the required documents and filings.

-Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Companies (SPICe)

Government of India’s Ease of Doing Business (EODB) initiatives, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs
has notified a new Web Form christened ‘SPICe+’ (pronounced ‘SPICePlus’) replacing the existing
SPICe form
Page 269
-e-MOA (Electronic-Memorandum of Association) and

-e-AoA (Electronic-Articles of Association).

SUMMARY OF ECONOMIC SURVEY

Economic Survey of India 2020 - trend and analysis

om
The document is prepared by the Economic Division of the Department of Economic
Affairs (DEA)under the guidance of the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA), currently Dr

l.c
Krishnamurthy Subramanian.
It needs to be noted that the government is not constitutionally bound to present the
Economic Survey or to follow the recommendationsthat are made in it.

ai
The broad theme for the survey is "Ethical Wealth Creation".
The document outlines strategies for making India a $5 trillion dollar economy by 2024-25.
gm
This includes strengthening the invisible handof the Indian economy through trust in pro-
business government intervention and trust in the markets while at the same time moving
away from "pro-crony" policy and focusing on ethical wealth creation.
1@

Some of the key points raised by the survey were the need for grassroots entrepreneurship,
pro-business and pro-market differentiation, policies that do not undermine the markets, job
and growth creation, improving the ease of doing businessin India, creation of early warning
9

health system for the NBFC sector, privatization and Thalinomics.

d1

Trust as a public good

hk

India’s dominance as global economic power for three-

fourths of economic history manifests by design.
am

Historically, Indian economy relied on the invisible hand of the market with the support of the
it

hand of trust:
o Invisible hand of the market reflected in openness in economic transactions.
sm

o Hand of trust appealed to ethical and philosophical dimensions.

Exponential rise in India’s GDP and GDP per capita post-liberalisation coincides with wealth
generation.

Survey illustrates enormous benefits accruing from enabling the invisible hand of the market.
Exponential rise in India’s GDP and GDP per capita post-liberalisation coincides with wealth
generation.
Survey shows that the liberalized sectors grew significantly faster than the closed ones.

Page 270
 The Survey introduces “trust as a public good that gets enhanced with greater use”. If
there is high trust,
economic activity can flourish despitethe increased potential for opportunism.
To enhance this public good, survey suggests that
• Reducing information asymmetry through standardising enforcement systems and public
databasesthus empowering transparency.
• Enhancing quality of supervision through significant enhancement in the quantity and quality
ofmanpower in our regulators (CCI, RBI, SEBI, IBBI) together with significant investments
intechnology and analytics needs to be made.

om
Survey posits that India’s aspiration to become a $5 trillion economy depends critically on:

l.c
o Strengthening the invisible hand of the market.
o Supporting it with the hand of trust.
Strengthening the invisible hand by promoting pro-business policies to:

ai
Provide equal opportunities for new entrants.
Enable fair competition and ease doing business.
gm
Eliminate policies unnecessarily undermining markets through government intervention.
Enable trade for job creation.
Efficiently scale up the banking sector.
1@

Introducing the idea of trust as a public good, which gets enhanced with greater use.
Survey suggests that policies must empower transparency and effective enforcement using
data and technology.
9
d1

Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation at the Grassroots

India ranks third in number of new firms created, as per the World Bank.
hk

New firm creation in India increased dramatically since 2014:

2 % cumulative annual growth rate of new firms in the formal sector during 2014-18,
am

compared to 3.8 % during 2006-2014.

About 1.24 lakh new firms created in 2018, an increase of about 80 % from about 70,000
in 2014.
it

Entrepreneurship at district level has a significant impact on wealth creation at the grassroots.
sm

Birth of new firms in India is heterogeneous and dispersed across districts and sectors.
Literacy and education in a district foster local entrepreneurship significantly:

Impact is most pronounced when literacy is above 70 per cent.

New firm formation is the lowest in eastern India with lowest literacy rate (59.6 % as per 2011
Census).

Physical infrastructure quality in the district influences new firm creation significantly.
Ease of Doing Business and flexible labour regulation enable new firm creation, especially in
the manufacturing sector.
Survey suggests enhancing ease of doing business and implementing flexible labour laws can
create maximum jobs in districts and thereby in the states.

Page 271
Entrepreneurship and GDP

The survey suggests thatentrepreneurial activity has asignificant positive impact on Gross
Domestic District Product (GDDP).
With 10 per cent increase in registration of new firms per district-year, GDDP increases by
1.8per cent.
o Impact of new firm entryon GDDP is greatest in the Manufacturing and Services sectors.
o Thus, entrepreneurialactivity in the formalsector at the grassrootlevel is not driven by
necessity or lack of alternate employment options. Rather these activities are productive and

om
growth-focused.
India has the 3rd largest entrepreneurship ecosystem in the worldahead of the countries
such as Brazil and South Korea.

l.c
New firm creation has gone up dramatically in India since 2014. As aresult, 1,24,000 new
firms were created in 2018 up from 70,000 in2014. This growth is particularly pronounced for

ai
the services sector reflecting India’s new economic structure.
Entrepreneurial intensity (i.e. number of new firms registered peryear per 1000 workers) in
gm
formal economy, is low in India comparedto other developed economies as large number of
India’s enterprisesoperate in the informal economy.
There exists a spatial heterogeneity in distribution of Entrepreneurial Activity in India i.e.
1@

varied level ofentrepreneurial activity across the districts.

The survey finds that all four regions except certain eastern states in India demonstrate
stronggrowth in entrepreneurial activity over time.
9

However, irrespective of the level of entrepreneurial activity, all regions demonstrate a

d1

strongrelationship between entrepreneurship and GDDP signifying the pervasive benefits

ofentrepreneurship.
hk

Pro-business versus Pro-markets

Survey says that India’s aspiration of becoming a $5 trillion economy depends critically on:
am

Promoting ‘pro-business’ policy that unleashes the power of competitive markets to generate
wealth.
Weaning away from ‘pro-crony’ policy that may favour specific private interests, especially
it

powerful incumbents.
sm

Viewed from the lens of the Stock market, creative destruction increased significantly post-
liberalisation:
Before liberalisation, a Sensex firm expected to stay in it for 60 years, which decreased to only
12 years after liberalisation.
Every five years, one-third of Sensex firms are churned out, reflecting the continuous influx of
new firms, products and technologies into the economy.
Despite impressive progress in enabling competitive markets, pro-crony policies destroyed
value in the economy:
An equity index of connected firms significantly outperformed market by 7 % a year from 2007
to 2010, reflecting abnormal profits extracted at common citizens’ expense.
In contrast, the index underperforms market by 7.5 % from 2011, reflecting inefficiency and
value destruction inherent in such firms.
Pro-crony policies such as discretionary allocation of natural resources till 2011 led to rent-
seeking by beneficiaries while competitive allocation of the same post 2014 ended such rent
Page 272
 extraction.
Similarly crony lending that led to wilful default, wherein promoters collectively siphoned off
wealth from banks, led to losses that dwarf subsidies for rural development.
Creative destruction is a “process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the
economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new
one.”

Pro-Crony and Wealth Destruction

om
Pro-crony policies erode wealth in the economy as cronyism fosters inefficiencies by inhibiting
the process of creative destruction.

l.c
Crony policies and processes collectively extract a larger share of existing wealth instead of
expanding available wealth. Thus, creating a cycle of wealth destruction.

ai
While pro-business policies increase competition, correct market failures and enforce business
accountability, pro-crony policies hurt markets.
gm
Pro-business policies make it easy to do business in a jurisdiction furthering the goal of
maximum social welfare.
Pro-crony policies may end up giving preferential treatment to some firms at the expense of
1@

others. In the long-run, it decreases market efficiency and consequently social welfare.

Discretionary Allocation of Natural Resources vis-à-vis

9

allocation via auctions.

d1

Currently, the coal mines allocation is governed by Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015.
hk

The act ensures that any future allocation of coal blocks would solely be through competitive
auctions.
Currently, the coal mines allocation is governed by Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act,
am

2015. The act ensures that any future allocation of coal blocks would solely be through
competitive auctions.
it

Undermining Markets: When Government Intervention Hurts More Than It

sm

Helps

Government intervention, though well intended, often ends up undermining the ability of the
markets to support wealth creation and leads to outcomes opposite to those intended.

Four examples of anachronistic government interventions:

1. Essential Commodities Act (ECA), 1955:

Frequent and unpredictable imposition of blanket stock limits on commodities under ECA
distorts:
The incentives for the creation of storage infrastructure by the private sector.
Movement up the agricultural value chain.
Development of national market for agricultural commodities.
Imposition of stock limits on dalin 2006-Q3, sugar in 2009-Q1 and onions in September, 2019
Page 273
 spiked up the volatility of the retail and wholesale prices of onions.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs must examine whether the ECA is relevant in today’s India.
With raids having abysmally low conviction rate and no impact on prices, the ECA only seems
to enable rent-seeking and harassment.
Survey suggests there is clear evidence for jettisoning this anachronistic legislation.

2. Drug Price Control under ECA:

The regulation of prices of drugs, through the DPCO 2013, led to increase in the price of the

om
regulated pharmaceutical drug vis-à-vis that of an unregulated but similar drug.
The increase in prices is greater for more expensive formulations than for cheaper ones and
for those sold in hospitals rather than retail shops.

l.c
These findings reinforce that the outcome is opposite to what DPCO aims to do - making drugs
affordable.
Government, being a huge buyer of drugs, can intervene more effectively to provide affordable

ai
drugs by combining all its purchases and exercising its bargaining power.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare must evolve non-distortionary mechanisms that utilise
gm
Government’s bargaining power in a transparent manner.

3. Government intervention in Grain markets:

1@

Policies in the food-grain markets led to:

Emergence of Government as the largest procurer and hoarder of rice and wheat.
Crowding out of private trade.
9

Burgeoning food subsidy burden

d1

Inefficiencies in the markets, affecting the long run growth of agricultural sector.
The food-grains policy needs to be dynamic and allow switching from physical handling and
hk

distribution of food-grains to cash transfers/food coupons/smart cards.

4. Debt waivers:
am

Analysis of debt waivers given by States/Centre:

Full waiver beneficiaries consume less, save less, invest less and are less productive after the
waiver, compared to the partial beneficiaries.
it

Debt waivers disrupt the credit culture.

sm

They reduce formal credit flow to the very same farmers, thereby defeating the purpose.

5. Survey suggests that:

Government must systematically examine areas of needless intervention and undermining of

markets; but it does not argue that there should be no Government intervention.
Instead it suggests that the interventions that were apt in a different economic setting may
have lost their relevance in a transformed economy.
Eliminating such instances will enable competitive markets spurring investments and
economic growth.

Creating Jobs and Growth by Specializing in Network Products

Survey says India has unprecedented opportunity to chart a China-like, labour-intensive,

export trajectory.
Page 274
 By integrating “Assemble in India for the world” into Make in India, India can:
Raise its export market share to about 3.5 % by 2025 and 6 % by 2030.
Create 4 crore well-paid jobs by 2025 and 8 crore by 2030.
Exports of network products can provide one-quarter of the increase in value added required
for making India a $5 trillion economy by 2025.
Survey suggests a strategy similar to one used by China to grab this opportunity:
Specialization at large scale in labour-intensive sectors, especially network products.
Laser-like focus on enabling assembling operations at mammoth scale in network products.
Export primarily to markets in rich countries.

om
Trade policy must be an enabler.
Survey analyses the impact of India’s trade agreements on overall trade balance:
India’s exports increased by 13.4 % for manufactured products and 10.9 % for total

l.c
merchandise
Imports increased by 12.7 % for manufactured products and 8.6 per cent for total

ai
merchandise.
India gained 0.7 % increase in trade surplus per year for manufactured products and 2.3 % per
year for total merchandise. gm
Targeting Ease of Doing Business in India
1@

A jump of 79 positions to 63 in 2019from 142 in 2014 in World Bank’s Doing Business

rankings.
9

India still trails in parameters such as Ease of Starting Business, Registering Property, Paying
Taxes and Enforcing Contracts.
d1

Survey has numerous case studies:

For merchandise exports, the logistics process flow for imports is more efficient than that for
hk

exports.
Electronics exports and imports through Bengaluru airport illustrate how Indian logistical
processes can be world class.
am

The turnaround time of ships in India has almost halved to 2.48 days in 2018-19 from 4.67
days in 2010-11.
it

Suggestions for further Ease of Doing Business:

sm

Close coordination between the Logistics division of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,
the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Ministry of Shipping and the different port
authorities.
Individual sectors such as tourism or manufacturing require a more targeted approach that
maps out the regulatory and process bottlenecks for each segment.

Authorised Economic Operator (AEO)

• It is a programme under the aegis of the World Customs Organization (WCO) SAFE Framework ofStandards to secure
and facilitate Global Trade.
• It is a voluntary programme and aims to enhance international supply chain security and facilitate movement of
goods.
• Under this programme, an entity engaged in international trade is approved by Customs as compliant with supply chain
security standards and granted AEO status. That entity is then considered a ‘secure’ trader and a reliable trading partner.
• It enables Indian Customs to enhance and streamline cargo security through close cooperation with the principle
stakeholders of the international supply chain viz. importers, exporters, logistics providers, custodians or terminal
operators, custom brokers and warehouse operators, who benefit from preferential treatment from customs authorities.

Page 275
Golden jubilee of bank nationalisation: Taking stock

Survey observes 2019 as the golden jubilee year of bank nationalization

Accomplishments of lakhs of Public Sector Banks (PSBs) employees cherished and an objective
assessment of PSBs suggested by the Survey.
Since 1969, India’s Banking sector has not developed proportionately to the growth in the size
of the economy.

om
India has only one bank in the global top 100 – same as countries that are a fraction of its size:
Finland (about 1/11th), Denmark (1/8th), etc.
A large economy needs an efficient banking sector to support its growth.

l.c
The onus of supporting the economy falls on the PSBs accounting for 70 % of the market share
in Indian banking:

ai
PSBs are inefficient compared to their peer groups on every performance parameter.
In 2019, investment for every rupee in PSBs, on average, led to the loss of 23 paise, while in
NPBs it led to the gain of 9.6 paise.
gm
Credit growth in PSBs has been much lower than NPBs for the last several years.
Solutions to make PSBs more efficient:
1@

Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) for PSBs’ employees

Representation on boards proportionate to the blocks held by employees to incentivize
employees and align their interests with that of all shareholders of banks.
9

Creation of a GSTN type entity that will aggregate data from all PSBs and use technologies
d1

like big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning in credit decisions for ensuring better
screening and monitoring of borrowers, especially the large ones.
hk

Bank nationalisation
After the 1980 nationalization, PSBs had a 91% share in the national banking market
am

which has reduced to 70% in recent times. Reduced stake has been absorbed by New
Private Banks (NPBs) which came up in early 1990s after liberalization.
• The Government exercises significant control over all aspects of PSB operations. As a
result
it

there is an implicit promise of bailout of bank liabilities. Also, the PSB officers are subject
sm

to
scrutiny by CVC and CAG making them wary of taking risks.
Benefits of Nationalization
• The allocations of banking resources to rural areas, agriculture, and priority sectors
increased.
For example in the period from 1969-1980
• Number of rural Bank branches increased ten-fold.
• Credit to rural areas increased twenty-fold.
• Credit to agriculture expanded forty-fold, reaching 13% of GDP from a starting point
of 2% of GDP.

Financial Fragility in the NBFC Sector

Survey investigates the key drivers of Rollover Risk of the shadow banking system in India in
light of the current liquidity crunch in the sector.
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 Key drivers of Rollover Risk:

Asset Liability Management (ALM) Risk.

Interconnectedness Risk.
Financial and Operating Resilience of an NBFC.
Over-dependence on short-term wholesale funding.

Survey computes a diagnostic (Health Score) by quantifying the Rollover risk for a sample of
HFCs and Retail-NBFCs (which are representative of their respective sectors).

om
The analysis of the Health Score has the following findings:

The HFC sector exhibited a declining trend post 2014 and overall health of the sector
worsened considerably by the end of FY2019.

l.c
The Score of the Retail-NBFC sector was consistently below par for the period 2014 -19.
Larger Retail-NBFCs had higher Health Scores but among medium and small Retail- NBFCs,

ai
the medium size ones had a lower score for the entire period of 2014-19.

problems. gm
Survey suggests that the Health Score provides an early warning signal of impending liquidity

Equity markets react favourably to increase in Health Score of individual HFCs and Retail-
1@
NBFCs.
The Survey prescribes this analysis to efficiently allocate liquidity enhancements across firms
(with different Health Scores) in the NBFC sector, thereby arresting financial fragility in a
capital-efficient manner.
9
d1

Rollover Risk
hk

The NBFCs raise capital in short-term market but the assets of NBFCs are of longer duration.
Thus, there arises a need for refinancing the debt at short frequencies. The frequent repricing
exposes NBFCs to the risk of facing higher financing costs. Such refinancing risks are referred
am

as Rollover Risk.
The rollover risk is a combination of risks associated with asset-liability management,
Interconnectedness with Liquid Debt Mutual Fund (LDMF) Sector and Financial and Operating
it

Resilience.
sm

Operating Expense Ratio

This is measured by the operating expenses in a financial year divided by the average of the
loans outstanding in the current financial year end and previous financial year end.

Privatization and Wealth Creation

Survey examines the realized efficiency gains from privatization in the Indian context and
bolsters the case for aggressive disinvestment of CPSEs.
Strategic disinvestment of Government’s shareholding of 53.29 per cent in HPCL led to an
increase of around Rs. 33,000 crore in national wealth.
Survey presents an analysis of the before-after performance of 11 CPSEs which
underwent strategic disinvestment from 1999-2000 to 2003-04:
Page 277
 Financial indicators such as net worth, net profit, return on assets (ROA), return on equity
(ROE) etc of the privatized CPSEs, on an average, have improved significantly.
Privatized CPSEs have been able to generate more wealth from the same resources.
Survey suggests aggressive disinvestment of CPSEsto:
Bring in higher profitability.
Promote efficiency.
Increase competitiveness.
Promote professionalism.

om
Is India’s GDP Growth Overstated? No!

GDP growth is a critical variable for decision-making by investors and policymakers.

l.c
Therefore, the recent debate about accuracy of India’s GDP estimation following the revised
estimation methodology in 2011 is extremely significant.

ai
As countries differ in several observed and unobserved ways, cross-country comparisons have
to be undertaken by separating the effect of other confounding factors and isolating effect of

gm
methodology revision alone on GDP growth estimates.
Models that incorrectly over-estimate GDP growth by 2.7 % for India post-2011 also
misestimate GDP growth over the same period for 51 out of 95 countries in the sample.
1@
Several advanced economies such as UK, Germany and Singapore have their GDPs
misestimated with incompletely specified econometric model.
Correctly specified models that account for all unobserved differences and differential trends
9

in GDP growth across countries fail to find any misestimating of growth in India or other
countries.
d1

Concerns of a misestimated Indian GDP are unsubstantiated by the data and are thus
unfounded.
hk

Thalinomics: The Economics of a Plate of Food in India

am

An attempt to quantify what a common person pays for a Thali across India.
A shift in the dynamics of Thali prices since 2015-16.
Absolute prices of a vegetarian Thali have decreased significantly since 2015-16 across India
it

and the four regions; though the price has increased during 2019-20.
Post 2015-16:
sm

Average household gained close to Rs. 11, 000 on average per year from the moderation in
prices in the case of vegetarian Thali.
Average household that consumes two non-vegetarian Thalis gained close to Rs. 12, 000 on
average per year during the same period.
From 2006-07 to 2019-20:
Affordability of vegetarian Thalis improved 29 %.
Affordability of non-vegetarian Thalis improved by 18 %.

India’s Economic Performance in 2019-20

India’s GDP growth moderated to 4.8 % in H1 of 2019-20, amidst a weak environment for
global manufacturing, trade and demand.
Real consumption growth has recovered in Q2 of 2019-20, cushioned by a significant growth in
government final consumption.
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 Growth for ‘Agriculture and allied activities’ and ‘Public administration, defense, and other
services’ in H1 of 2019-20 was higher than in H2 of 2018-19.
India’s external sector gained further stability in H1 of 2019-20:
Current Account Deficit (CAD) narrowed to 1.5 % of GDP in H1 of 2019-20 from 2.1 % in
2018-19.
Impressive Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Rebounding of portfolio flows.
Accretion of foreign exchange reserves.
Sharper contraction of imports as compared to that of exports in H1 of 2019-20, with easing of

om
crude prices.
Headline inflation expected to decline by year end:
Increased from 3.3 % in H1 of 2019-20 to 7.35 % in December 2019-20 due to temporary

l.c
increase in food inflation.
Rise in CPI-core and WPI in December 2019-20 suggests building of demand pressure.

ai
Deceleration in GDP growth can be understood within the framework of a slowing cycle of
growth:
gm
Financial sector acted as a drag on the real sector (investment-growth-consumption).
Reforms undertaken during 2019-20 to boost investment, consumption and exports:
Speeding up the insolvency resolution process under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
1@

Easing of credit, particularly for the stressed real estate and NBFC sectors.
Announcing the National Infrastructure Pipeline 2019-2025.
Survey expects an uptick in the GDP growth in H2 of 2019-20:
9

5 % GDP growth for 2019-20 based on CSO’s first Advance Estimates.

d1

Expeditious delivery on reforms for enabling the economy to strongly rebound in 2020-21.

Fiscal Developments
hk

Revenue Receipts registered a higher growth during the first eight months of 2019-20,
compared to the same period last year, led by considerable growth in Non-Tax revenue.
am

Gross GST monthly collections have crossed the mark of Rs. 1 lakh crore for a total of five
times during 2019-20 (up to December 2019).
Structural reforms undertaken in taxation during the current financial year:
it

Change in corporate tax rate.

sm

Measures to ease the implementation of GST.

Fiscal deficit of states within the targets set out by the FRBM Act.
Survey notes that the General Government (Centre plus States) has been on the path of fiscal
consolidation.

External Sector

Balance of Payments (BoP):

India’s BoP position improved from US$ 412.9 bn of forex reserves in end March, 2019 to US$
433.7 bn in end September, 2019.
Current account deficit (CAD) narrowed from 2.1% in 2018-19 to 1.5% of GDP in H1 of
2019-20.
Foreign reserves stood at US$ 461.2 bn as on 10thJanuary, 2020.
Global trade:
In sync with an estimated 2.9% growth in global output in 2019, global trade is estimated to
Page 279
 grow at 1.0% after having peaked in 2017 at 5.7%.
However, it is projected to recover to 2.9% in 2020 with recovery in global economic activity.
India’s merchandise trade balance improved from 2009-14 to 2014-19, although most of the
improvement in the latter period was due to more than 50% decline in crude prices in
2016-17.
India’s top five trading partners continue to be USA, China, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Hong
Kong.

Exports:

om
Top export items: Petroleum products, precious stones, drug formulations & biologicals, gold
and other precious metals.

l.c
Largest export destinations in 2019-20 (April-November): United States of America (USA),
followed by United Arab Emirates (UAE), China and Hong Kong.

ai
The merchandise exports to GDP ratio declined, entailing a negative impact on BoP position.
Slowdown of world output had an impact on reducing the export to GDP ratio, particularly
from 2018-19 to H1 of 2019-20.
gm
Growth in Non-POL exports dropped significantly from 2009-14 to 2014-19.
1@
Imports:

Top import items: Crude petroleum, gold, petroleum products, coal, coke &briquittes.
India’s imports continue to be largest from China, followed by USA, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
9

Merchandise imports to GDP ratio declined for India, entailing a net positive impact on BoP.
d1

Large Crude oil imports in the import basket correlates India’s total imports with crude prices.
As crude price raises so does the share of crude in total imports, increasing imports to GDP
hk

ratio.
Significant Gold imports also correlate India’s total imports with gold prices. However, share
of gold imports in total imports remained the same during 2018-19 and the first half of
am

2019-20, despite an increase in prices, possibly due to increase in import duty that reduced
the import of gold.
Non-POL-non-gold imports are positively correlated with GDP growth.
it

Non-POL-non-oil imports fell as a proportion to GDP from 2009-14 to 2014-19 when GDP
sm

growth accelerated.
This may be because of consumption driven growth while investment rate declined, lowering
non-POL-non-gold imports.
Continuous decline in investment rate decelerated GDP growth, weakened consumption,
dampened the investment outlook, which further reduced GDP growth and along with it non-
POL-non-gold imports as a proportion of GDP from 2018-19 to H1 of 2019-20.
Under trade facilitation, India improved its ranking from 143 in 2016 to 68 in 2019 under the
indicator, “Trading across Borders”, monitored by World Bank in its Ease of Doing Business
Report.

Logistics industry of India:

Currently estimated to be around US$ 160 billion.

Expected to touch US$ 215 billion by 2020.
According to World Bank's Logistics Performance Index, India ranks 44th in 2018 globally, up
Page 280
 from 54th rank in 2014.
Net FDI inflows continued to be buoyant in 2019-20 attracting US$ 24.4 bn in the first eight
months, higher than the corresponding period of 2018-19.
Net FPI in the first eight months of 2019-20 stood at US$ 12.6 bn.
Net remittances from Indians employed overseas continued to increase, receiving US$ 38.4
billion in H1 of 2019-20 which is more than 50% of the previous year level.

External debt:

om
Remains low at 20.1% of GDP as at end September, 2019.
After significant decline since 2014-15, India’s external liabilities (debt and equity) to GDP
increased at the end of June, 2019 primarily by increase in FDI, portfolio flows and external

l.c
commercial borrowings (ECBs).

Monetary Management and Financial Intermediation

ai
Monetary policy:

Remained accommodative in 2019-20.

gm
Repo rate was cut by 110 basis points in four consecutive MPC meetings in the financial year
1@

due to slower growth and lower inflation.

However, it was kept unchanged in the fifth meeting held in December 2019.
In 2019-20, liquidity conditions were tight for initial two months; but subsequently it remained
9

comfortable.
d1

The Gross Non Performing Advances ratio:

Remained unchanged for Scheduled Commercial banks at 9.3% between March and
hk

September 2019
Increased slightly for the Non-Banking Financial Corporations (NBFCs) from 6.1% in March
2019 to 6.3% in September 2019.
am

Credit growth:
it

The financial flows to the economy remained constrained as credit growth declined for both
banks and NBFCs.
sm

Bank Credit growth (YoY) moderated from 12.9% in April 2019 to 7.1% as on December 20,
2019.
Capital to Risk-weighted Asset Ratio of SCBs increased from 14.3% to 15.1% between March
2019 and September 2019.

Prices and Inflation

Inflation Trends:

Inflation witnessing moderation since 2014

Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation increased from 3.7 per cent in 2018-19 (April to
December, 2018) to 4.1 per cent in 2019-20 (April to December, 2019).
WPIinflation fell from 4.7 per cent in 2018-19 (April to December, 2018) to 1.5 per cent during
2019-20 (April to December, 2019).
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 Drivers of CPI - Combined (C) inflation:
During 2018-19, the major driver was the miscellaneous group
During 2019-20 (April-December), food and beverages was the main contributor.
Among food and beverages, inflation in vegetables and pulses was particularly high due to low
base effect and production side disruptions like untimely rain.

Cob-web Phenomenon for Pulses:

Farmers base their sowing decisions on prices witnessed in the previous marketing period.

om
Measures to safeguard farmers like procurement under Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF),
Minimum Support Price (MSP) need to be made more effective.

l.c
Divergence Between Retail and Wholesale price:

Observed for essential agricultural commodities in four metropolitan cities of the country from

ai
2014 to 2019.

gm
Divergence particularly high for vegetables like onion and tomato. This may be due to the
presence of intermediaries and high transaction costs.

Volatility of Prices:
1@

Volatility of prices for most of the essential food commodities with the exception of some of the
pulses has actually come down in the period 2014-19 as compared to the period 2009-14.
9

Lower volatility might indicate the presence of better marketing channels, storage facilities
d1

and effective MSP system.

Regional variations:
hk

CPI-C inflation has been highly variable across States ranging between (-)0.04 per cent to 8.1
am

per cent across States/UTs in financial year (FY) 2019-20 (April-December).

In most states, CPI-C inflation in rural areas is lower than the CPI-C inflation in urban areas
Rural inflation has been more variable across states than urban inflation.
it

Inflation dynamics:
sm

Convergence of headline inflation towards core inflation as per the CPI-C data from 2012
onwards.

Sustainable Development and Climate Change

India moving forward on the path of SDG implementation through well-designed initiatives

SDG India Index:

Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh are front runners.

Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh come under the category of Aspirants.

India hosted COP-14 to UNCCD which adopted the Delhi Declaration: Investing in Land and
Unlocking Opportunities.
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COP-25 of UNFCCC at Mandrid:

India reiterated its commitment to implement Paris Agreement.

COP-25 decisions include efforts for climate change mitigation, adaptation and means of
implementation from developed country parties to developing country parties.

Forest and tree cover:

Increasing and has reached 80.73 million hectare.

om
56 % of the geographical area of the country.

Burning of agricultural residues, leading to rise in pollutant levels and deterioration of air quality, is

l.c
still a major concern though the total number of burning events recorded reduced due to various
efforts taken.

ai
International Solar Alliance (ISA)

gm
‘Enabler’ by institutionalizing 30 Fellowships from the Member countries.
‘Facilitator’ by getting the lines of credit worth US$ 2 Billion from EXIM Bank of India and 1.5
Billion from AfD, France.
1@

‘Incubator’ by nurturing initiatives like the Solar Risk Mitigation Initiative.

‘Accelerator’ by developing tools to aggregate demand for 1000 MW solar and 2.7 lakh solar
water pumps.
9
d1

Agriculture and Food Management

Largest Proportion of Indian population depends directly or indirectly on agriculture for

hk

employment opportunities as compared to any other sector.

The share of agriculture and allied sectors in the total Gross Value Added (GVA) of the country
has been continuously declining on account of relatively higher growth performance of non-
am

agricultural sectors, a natural outcome of development process.

GVA at Basic Prices for 2019-20 from ‘Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing’ sector is estimated to
grow by 2.8 %.
it

Agricultural productivity is also constrained by lower level of mechanization in agriculture

sm

which is about 40 % in India, much lower than China (59.5 %) and Brazil (75 %).
Skewed pattern of regional distribution of agricultural credit in India:
Low credit in Hilly, Eastern and North Eastern states (less than 1 % of total agricultural credit
disbursement).
Livestock income has become an important secondary source of income for millions of rural
families:
An important role in achieving the goal of doubling farmers’ income.
Livestock sector has been growing at a CAGR of 7.9 % during last five years.
During the last 6 years ending 2017-18, Food Processing Industries sector has been growing:
Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) of around 5.06 %
Constitutes as much as 8.83 % and 10.66 % of GVA in Manufacturing and Agriculture sector
respectively in 2017-18 at 2011-12 prices.
While interests of the vulnerable sections of the population need to be safeguarded, Survey
emphasizes on sustainability of food security operations by:
Page 283
 Addressing the burgeoning food subsidy bill.
Revisiting the rates and coverage under NFSA.

Industry and Infrastructure

The industrial sector as per Index of Industrial Production (IIP) registered a growth of 0.6 per
cent in 2019-20 (April-November) as compared to 5.0 % during 2018-19 (April-November).
Fertilizer sector achieved a growth of 4.0 % during 2019-20 (April-November) as compared to
(-) 1.3 per cent during 2018-19 (April-November).

om
Steel sector achieved a growth of 5.2 % during 2019-20 (April-November) as compared to 3.6
% during 2018-19 (April-November).
Total telephone connections in India touched 119.43 crore as on September 30, 2019.

l.c
The installed capacity of power generation has increased to 3, 64,960 MW as on October 31,
2019 from 3, 56,100 MW as on March 31, 2019.

ai
Report of the Task Force on National Infrastructure Pipeline released on 31.12.2019 has
projected total infrastructure investment of Rs. 102 lakh crore during the period FY 2020 to
2025 in India.

Services Sector
gm
1@

Increasing significance of services sector in the Indian economy:

About 55 % of the total size of the economy and GVA growth.

9

Two-thirds of total FDI inflows into India.

d1

About 38 per cent of total exports.

More than 50 % of GVA in 15 out of the 33 states and UTs.
hk

Gross Value Added growth of the services sector moderated in 2019-20 as suggested by various
high-frequency indicators and sectoral data such as air passenger traffic, port and shipping freight
am

traffic, bank credit etc.

On the bright side, FDI into services sector has witnessed a recovery in early 2019-20.
it

Social Infrastructure, Employment and Human Development

sm

The expenditure on social services (health, education and others) by the Centre and States as
a proportion of GDP increased from 6.2 % in 2014-15 to 7.7 % in 2019-20 (BE).
India’s ranking in Human Development Index improved to 129 in 2018 from 130 in 2017:
With 1.34 % average annual HDI growth, India is among the fastest improving countries
Gross Enrolment Ratio at secondary, higher secondary and higher education level needs to be
improved.
The share of regular wage/salaried employees has increased by 5 percentage points from 18 %
in 2011-12 to 23 % in 2017-18.
A significant jump of around 2.62 crore new jobs with 1.21 crore in rural areas and 1.39 crore
in urban areas in this category.
Total formal employment in the economy increased from 8 % in 2011-12 to 9.98 % in 2017-18.
Gender disparity in India’s labour market widened due to decline in female labour force
participation especially in rural areas:
Page 284
Around 60 % of productive age (15-59) group engaged in full time domestic duties.
Access to health services inter-alia through Ayushman Bharat and Mission Indradhanush
across the country has improved.
Mission Indradhanush has vaccinated 3.39 crore children and 87.18 lakh pregnant women of
680 districts across the country.
About 76.7 % of the households in the rural and about 96 % in the urban areas had houses of
pucca structure.
A 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029) launched to focus on sustaining the sanitation
behavior change and increasing access to solid and liquid waste management.

om
l.c
ai
gm
9 1@
d1
hk
am
it
sm

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