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Page 1: for October...PRE-Cure (Relevant Current Affairs for UPSC Civil Services Examination) Compilation for October 2019 Visit our website or our YouTube channel for entire GS Course FREE

PRE-Cure (Relevant Current Affairs for UPSC Civil

Services Examination)

Compilation for

October 2019

Visit our website www.sleepyclasses.com or

our YouTube channel for entire GS Course FREE of cost

Also Available: Prelims Crash Course || Prelims Test Series

Page 2: for October...PRE-Cure (Relevant Current Affairs for UPSC Civil Services Examination) Compilation for October 2019 Visit our website or our YouTube channel for entire GS Course FREE

www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses www.SleepyClasses.com

Page 3: for October...PRE-Cure (Relevant Current Affairs for UPSC Civil Services Examination) Compilation for October 2019 Visit our website or our YouTube channel for entire GS Course FREE

1. Geography 1 .............................................................

1.1. Pacesetter Fund Programme 1 .......................................1.2. #Fridaysforfuture 1 ...........................................................

1.3. West Bank 1 ........................................................................1.4. Pusa Yashasvi 2 ..................................................................1.5. Naming Of Cyclones 2 ......................................................

1.6. National Population Register (NPR) 3 .........................1.7. Quad Countries 3 ..............................................................

1.8. Project Netra 3 ...................................................................1.9. Gandhi Solar Park At Un Headquarters 4 ...................1.10.Nuclear Suppliers Group 4 ..............................................

1.11.India Water Week 2019 4 ..............................................1.12.Galo Community 4 ............................................................

1.13.Asteroid Named After Pandit Jasraj 5 .........................1.14.International Astronomical Union 5 ............................1.15.Ancient Buried River 5 .....................................................

1.16.Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) 6 ...................................................................

1.17.District Mineral Foundations 6 ......................................1.18.Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana

(PMKKKY) 6 ........................................................................

1.19.Deep Carbon Observatory Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) 7 .................................................................................

1.20.Vande Bharat Express Train 7 ........................................1.21.PRAKASH portal 7 ............................................................1.22.RCEP 7 ..................................................................................

1.23.The South Asia Free Trade Pact 8 ..................................1.24.Nasa ICON Mission 8 .......................................................

1.25.Coalition For Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) 9

1.26.Mobile App “mHariyali” 9 ...............................................

1.27.‘Green Wall’ Of India 9 .....................................................1.28.Saturn Is The Planet With The Highest Number Of

Moons 9 ................................................................................1.29.Unrepresented Tribes Of Meghalaya 10 ........................1.30.Chandrayaan-2 10 ..............................................................

1.31.Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory For the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAIC) Expedition 10 ...................

1.32.Van Dhan Internship Programme 10 ..............................1.33.Mount Kilimanjaro 11 ........................................................1.34.Food Safety Mitra (FSM) Scheme 11 ..............................

1.35.20th Livestock Census 12 .................................................1.36.Tulagi Island 12 ....................................................................

1.37.Randomised Controlled Trial 13 ......................................1.38.Maritime States Development Council 13 ....................1.39.Hagibis Typhoon 13 .............................................................

2. History 14 ....................................................................

2.1. UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage 14 ............................................................................

2.2. Kumbh Mela (2017) 14 ......................................................2.3. Nawrouz/Navroz/Nowruz (2016) 16 .............................2.4. Yoga (2016) 17 .....................................................................

2.5. Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab 18 ....

2.6. Sankirtana, Ritual Singing, Drumming and Dancing of Manipur 19 ............................................................................

2.7. Buddhist chanting of Ladakh 19 ......................................

3. Polity 21 .......................................................................

3.1. Sardar Patel National Unity Award 21 ...........................3.2. Voluntary Code of Ethics 21 ..............................................

3.3. 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029) 22 ..3.4. Aadi Mahotsav 22 ................................................................3.5. First School Education Quality Index (SEQI) 22 ..........

3.6. Praytna Parv by Ministry of Tourism 23 ........................3.7. The Gandhian Challenge 23 ..............................................

3.8. Developing Asia and Urbanisation 24 ............................3.9. Divisions of Supreme Court 24 .........................................3.10.One Nation One FASTag 25 ..............................................

3.11.Justice A.K. Patnaik Committee 25 ................................3.12.Global Hunger Index 26 .....................................................

3.13.‘Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme-DHRUV’ 26 ............................................................................

4. International Relations-19 27 ..............................

4.1. FATF Grey List 27 .................................................................

4.2. Blacklisting & Grey Listing 27 ...........................................4.3. Implications of being Blacklisted on Pakistan 28 ........

4.4. India-China 2nd Informal Summit 28 ............................4.5. UN Financial Crisis 28 ........................................................4.6. India Bangladesh Old Rail Links 29 .................................

5. Economy 30 .................................................................

5.1. India & IMF 30 ......................................................................5.2. Indian Green Building Council 30 ....................................

5.3. National Water Policy 30 ...................................................5.4. Bharat 22 ETF 31 .................................................................5.5. Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India

(SUUTI) 32 ..............................................................................5.6. Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) 32 ..........

5.7. Doubling Farmers’ Income 32 ...........................................5.8. Case of NPK 33 .....................................................................5.9. Personal Insolvency to be introduced in India 33 ........

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Table of Contents

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5.10.Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) 34 ....................................5.11.Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) 34 ...........................

5.12.Swiss Account Details 35 ...................................................5.13.India’s first private container terminal 35 ....................5.14.Global Competitiveness Index 35 ....................................

5.15.India halved its poverty rate since 1990s: World Bank 36

5.16.Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo’s Work 37 ......................5.17.Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab 38 ....................5.18.Side Pocketing 38 .................................................................

5.19.E-invoicing GST 38 ..............................................................5.20.Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Production 39 ......................

5.21.The Cape Town Agreement 39 .........................................5.22.Merchandise Export Incentive Scheme (MEIS) 39 ......

6. Environment 41 .........................................................

6.1. Enzyme Technology For Cheaper Bio-Fuel Developed

By Indian Scientists Gets Us Patent 41 ..........................6.2. Poison Fire Coral: Deadly Asian Fungus Detected In

Australia 42 ...........................................................................6.3. Rs 50,000 Fine For Idol Immersion In River Ganga

And Its Tributaries: Centre 42 ...........................................

6.4. National Resource Efficiency Policy 42 ..........................6.5. India’s First E-Waste Clinic To Be Set Up In Bhopal

44 6.6. India To Work With China, Pakistan To Gauge Impact

Of Climate Change 44 ........................................................

6.7. Green Wall 45 ........................................................................6.8. Massive Iceberg Breaks Off Antarctica—But It's

Normal 45 ..............................................................................6.9. India Is Home To Asia’s Oldest Bamboo 45 ...................6.10.Centre Clarifies On Definition Of Land As Forest 46 .

6.11.Foreign Plastic Invades Great Nicobar Island 47 ........6.12.C40 World Mayors’ Summit 48 .......................................

7. Science 50 ....................................................................

7.1. GEMINI 50 .............................................................................7.2. Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme

(PMILP) - DHRUV 50 ...........................................................

7.3. International Astronomical Union 51 .............................7.4. Nobel Prize in Chemistry 52..............................................

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1. Geography To watch the following topics on YouTube click on the links given below:

• Video 1

• Video 2

• Video 3

1.1. Pacesetter Fund Programme • The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy recently awarded grants to the awardees of the second

round of PACEsetter fund programme.

• The PACEsetter fund was constituted by India and the USA in 2015 as a joint fund.

• The mission of the PACEsetter Fund is to accelerate the commercialization of innovative off-grid clean energy access solutions by providing early-stage grant funding that would allow businesses to

develop and test innovative products, business models and systems.

• The Fund's main purpose is to improve the viability of off-grid renewable energy businesses that sell small scale (less than 1 megawatt) clean energy systems to individuals and communities without

access to grid-connected power or with limited/intermittent access.

1.2. #Fridaysforfuture

• It is a movement that began in Sweden in August 2018 to protest against the lack

of action on the climate crisis.

• It is a movement that began in August 2018, after 15 years old Greta Thunberg

sat in front of the Swedish parliament every schoolday for three weeks, to protest

against the lack of action on the climate crisis.

• #Climatestrike is a global event to demand an end to the age of fossil fuels &

climate justice for everyone.

1.3. West Bank • The West Bank is a landlocked territory near the Mediterranean

coast of Western Asia, bordered by Jordan to the east and by the Green Line separating it and Israel on the south, west and north.

• The territory was occupied by Israel during the six-day war in

1967.

• Under the Oslo Accords, which were signed by Israel and the

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in September 1993, the two sides agreed that West Bank and Gaza Strip would be treated

as a single territorial unit.

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1.4. Pusa Yashasvi • The Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has released a new variety of wheat named Pusa

Yashasvi.

• It is also known as HD-3226.

• It has higher genetic yield potential (at 79.6 quintals) as compared to other varieties of wheat.

• Pusa Yashasvi has a higher content of zinc, protein, and gluten (which contributes to the strength and

elasticity of the dough).

• The best feature of this variety of wheat is that it is highly resistant against all major rust fungi viz.

yellow/stripe, brown/leaf, and black/stem.

• It is compliant to the conservation agriculture.

• Conservation Agriculture (CA) is defined as a sustainable agriculture production system that

comprises of a set of farming practices adapted to the requirements of crops and local conditions of each region.

1.5. Naming Of Cyclones • For cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, the naming system was agreed by eight member

countries of a group called WMO/ESCAP and took effect in 2004.

• There are five tropical cyclone regional bodies, i.e. ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee, WMO/ESCAP

Panel on Tropical Cyclones, RA-I Tropical Cyclone Committee, RA-IV Hurricane Committee, and RA-V Tropical Cyclone Committee.

• In general, tropical cyclones are named according to the rules at a regional level.

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• The WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones at its twenty-seventh Session held in 2000 in Muscat, Oman agreed in principal to assign names to the tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian

Sea.

• After long deliberations among the member countries, the naming of the tropical cyclones over north

Indian Ocean commenced from September 2004.

• Eight countries — India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in the panel and came up with a list of 64 names.

• If public wants to suggest the name of a cyclone to be included in the list, the proposed name must meet some fundamental criteria, the RSMC website says.

• These countries submitted eight names each, which are arranged in an 8×8 table.

•The first cyclone after the list was adopted was given the name in the first row of

the first column — Onil, proposed by Bangladesh.

•Subsequent cyclones are being named sequentially, column-wise, with each

cyclone given the name immediately below that of the previous cyclone.

1.6. National Population Register (NPR)

• The National Population Register (NPR) is a comprehensive identity database to be maintained by the

Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India (RGI).

• The objective of creating this identity database is to help in better utilization and implementation of

the benefits and services under the government schemes, improve planning and security in the country.

1.7. Quad Countries • The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD, also known as the Quad) is currently an informal but

increasingly being formalised strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and

India aimed at free and secure Indo-Pacific to counter China’s aggressive String of Pearls strategy in

the region with specific focus areas of freedom of navigation, maritime security cooperation, joint military exercises, security and integrity of friendly nations, counterterrorism, humanitarian

assistance and disaster relief, development finance, and cyber security

1.8. Project Netra • Project NETRA (Network for space object Tracking and Analysis)

• ISRO has initiated ‘Project NETRA’ – an early warning system in space to detect debris and other

hazards to Indian satellites.

• The project will give India its own capability in space situational awareness (SSA) like the other space

powers — which is used to ‘predict’ threats from debris to Indian satellites.

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• The space agency says our SSA will first be for low-earth orbits or LEO which have remote-sensing spacecraft.

1.9. Gandhi Solar Park At Un Headquarters

• In a first of its kind symbolic effort by India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi

inaugurated a 50 kilowatt ‘Gandhi Solar Park’ at the Headquarters of United

Nations (UN).

1.10. Nuclear Suppliers Group • NSG is a group of nuclear supplier countries that frames and implements agreed rules for exporting

nuclear equipment, with a view to controlling the spread of nuclear weapons.

• NSG was established in 1974 in the background of the Pokhran I peaceful nuclear explosion

conducted by India in 1974.

• Task:

✓It aim to ensure that nuclear trade for peaceful purposes does not contribute to the proliferation of

nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, while not hindering international trade and cooperation in the nuclear field.

✓It facilitate the development of peaceful nuclear trade by providing the means whereby obligations to facilitate peaceful nuclear cooperation can be implemented in a manner consistent with

international nuclear non-proliferation norms.

✓Membership: 48 supplier states

1.11. India Water Week 2019

• India Water Week is a forum where international and national experts, who are associated with water

issues are invited to join in and share their views, opinions and solutions regarding the water crisis.

• The water week is organised by the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga

Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.

• The theme of the India Water Week-2019 is ‘Water Cooperation – Coping with 21st Century Challenges”.

1.12.Galo Community • Members of the Galo community in Arunachal Pradesh can recall the name of their ancestor from 20

generations, and this is made possible by their system of naming.

• The Galos belong to the Tani group inhabiting Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, besides Tibet.

• They trace their common origin to a primeval ancestor, Abotani.

• They have a system of prefixing the second syllable of a father’s name to that of a son, who passes on

the suffix in his name to his son.

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• Hence they can trace the names of ancestors from the first syllable or prefix of our names

• Mopin is the main festival in Galos which is celebrated for the prosperity of the villages

1.13.Asteroid Named After Pandit Jasraj • The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has named an asteroid, discovered in 2006, after Indian

classical singer Pandit Jasraj.

• Pandit Jasraj is the first Indian musician to receive this honour.

• The asteroid, or more formally known as a minor planet - 2006 VP32, is located in the asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter.

• It was discovered on 11th November 2006 by the Catalina Sky Survey.

Catalina Sky Survey

• The Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) is a NASA funded project to discover and track near-Earth objects

(NEOs). It is based in Arizona in the United States.

Near Earth Objects

• Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids or comets with sizes ranging from metres to tens of kilometres that orbit the Sun and whose orbits come close to that of Earth’s.

1.14.International Astronomical Union • The International Astronomical Union (IAU) was founded in 1919, headquartered in Paris, France.

• Its mission is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects, including research,

communication, education and development, through international cooperation.

• It is the global authority for naming planetary features in the solar system.

1.15.Ancient Buried River

• The Union Water Ministry has excavated an old, dried-up river in Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad) that

linked the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. The newly discovered river was a buried paleochannel that joins the Yamuna River at Durgapur village, about 26 km south of the current Ganga-Yamuna confluence at

Prayagraj.

Paleochannel

• A palaeochannel, is a remnant of an inactive river or stream channel that has been filled or buried by younger sediment D28 ICEBERG: A more than 1,500 sq.km. D28 iceberg recently broke off

Antarctica. It is about 210 metres thick and contains 315 billion tonnes of ice.

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1.16.Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act

(CAATSA) • This punitive act was signed by President Donald Trump in August 2017. It mandates US

administration to impose sanctions on any country carrying out significant defence and energy trade

with sanctioned entities in North Korea, Iran and Russia.

1.17.District Mineral Foundations • District Mineral Foundations are statutory bodies set up as non-profit organizations in districts which

are affected by the mining works. Each District Mineral Foundation is established by the State

Governments by notification as a trust or non-profit body in the mining operation affected districts.

• They derive their legal status from Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment

Act, 2015 and is established as a non-profit trust.

• The Ministry of Mines is the nodal agency for monitoring the implementation of the DMF. The

objective of the District Mineral Foundation is to work for the interest of the persons and areas

affected by mining-related operations.

1.18. Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY)

• The Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) will be implemented by the District

Mineral Foundations (DMFs) of the respective districts using the funds accruing to the DMF. It is aimed at the welfare of areas and people affected by mining-related operations, using the funds

generated by District Mineral Foundations (DMFs).

• Objective of PMKKKY scheme: 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. At least 60% of PMKKKY funds will be

utilized for high priority areas like:

✓drinking water supply;

✓environment preservation and pollution control measures;

✓health care

✓education;

✓welfare of women and children;

✓welfare of aged and disabled people;

✓skill development; and

✓Sanitation.

• The rest of the funds will be utilized undertaking works like for

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✓physical infrastructure;

✓irrigation;

✓energy and watershed development; and

✓Any other measures for enhancing environmental quality in mining district.

1.19.Deep Carbon Observatory Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO) • A 10-year programme at the US National Academy of Sciences founded in 2009, has released a series

of papers estimating the total carbon on Earth. This also includes an analysis of the total carbon dioxide released by volcanoes. Humanity’s annual carbon emissions through the burning of fossil fuels

and forests, etc, are 40 to 100 times greater than all volcanic emissions.

• Deep Carbon Observatory The Deep Carbon Observatory (Dco) is a global research program

designed to transform understanding of carbon's role in Earth. DCO is a community of scientists,

including biologists, physicists, geoscientists and chemists, whose work crosses several traditional disciplinary lines to develop the new, integrative field of deep carbon science.

1.20. Vande Bharat Express Train • Vande Bharat Express on Delhi-Katra route was flagged off recently:

• The semi-high speed Train 18, was rechristened as Vande Bharat Express, is countries second such

train. The first Vande Bharat Express on Delhi- Varanasi route began operations in February this year.

The indigenously developed Vande Bharat train can run up to a maximum speed of 160 kmph, making it India’s fastest train.

1.21.PRAKASH portal • The Central Government recently launched a web portal ‘PRAKASH’ (Power Rail Koyla Availability

through Supply Harmony). The Portal is designed to help in mapping and monitoring entire coal

supply chain for power plants.

• The Portal aims at bringing better coordination for coal supplies among all stake holders i.e. Ministry of Power, Ministry of Coal, Coal India, Railways and power utilities. This is an important step in

ensuring adequate availability and optimum utilization of coal at the power plants

1.22. RCEP • The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA)

between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei,

Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its six FTA partners (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand).

• The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (Brunei,

Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its

six FTA partners (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand).

• RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia. www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses

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1.23.The South Asia Free Trade Pact • The South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) is an agreement among the seven South Asia

countries that form the South Asian Association forRegional Cooperation (SAARC): Bangladesh,

Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

• It came into effect on 1st January 2006, with the aim of reducing tariffs for intra regional trade among

the seven SAARC members.

1.24.Nasa ICON Mission • The Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) is a satellite designed to investigate changes in the

Earth's ionosphere, the dynamic region high in our atmosphere where terrestrial weather from below

meets space weather from above.

• ICON studies the interaction between Earth's weather systems and space weather driven by the Sun,

and how this interaction drives turbulence in the upper atmosphere.

• It is hoped that a better understanding of this dynamic will mitigate its effects on communications, GPS signals, and technology in general.

• It is part of NASA's Explorers program and is operated by UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory

Ionosphere

• Ionosphere is called so because it is ionized by solar radiation.

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• Ionosphere stretches from 50 to 1,000 km and typically overlaps both the exosphere and the thermosphere.

• It has practical importance because it influences, for example, radio propagation on the Earth. It is also responsible for auroras.

1.25.Coalition For Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) • The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is an international coalition of countries,

United Nations (UN) agencies, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and academic institutions, that aims to promote disaster-resiliant infrastructure.

• Its objective is to promote research and knowledge sharing in the fields of infrastructure risk management, standards, financing, and recovery mechanisms.

• It was launched by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit

in September 2019.

• CDRI's initial focus is on developing disaster-resilience in ecological, social, and economic

infrastructure.

• It aims to achieve substantial changes in member countries' policy frameworks and future

infrastructure investments, along with a major decrease in the economic losses suffered due to

disasters.

1.26.Mobile App “mHariyali”

• Launched by the Ministry of housing and Urban Affairs to encourage public engagement in planting

trees and Green drives.

• The application provides automatic geo–tagging of plants.

• It will hence enable the nodal officers to periodically monitor the plantation.

1.27.‘Green Wall’ Of India • The Centre is mulling an ambitious plan to create a 1,400km long and 5km wide green belt from

Gujarat to the Delhi-Haryana border.

• The plan is inspired by Africa’s ‘Great Green Wall’ project, running from Senegal (West) to Djibouti (East), which came into effect, in 2007.

• The overarching objective of India’s Green Wall will be to address the rising rates of land degradation

and the eastward expansion of the Thar Desert.

1.28.Saturn Is The Planet With The Highest Number Of Moons

• On 8th October 2019, 20 new moons of Saturn were discovered.

• With this Saturn has a total of 82 moons today.

• Till date Jupiter had the highest number of moons. It has 79 moons.

• The discovery was made at the Subaru telescope set up atop Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano. www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses

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• This was announced by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.

1.29.Unrepresented Tribes Of Meghalaya

• Recently, the Government of Meghalaya has decided to exclude ‘unrepresented tribes’ from the

provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

• The five minor tribes namely, Bodo-Kachari, Hajong, Koch, Mann, and Rabha are clubbed together as

‘unrepresented tribes’ for nomination in Meghalaya’s autonomous tribal councils.

• These minor tribes are indigenous to Meghalaya and have been living in the state much before its creation in 1972.

1.30.Chandrayaan-2 • Recently on board with Chandrayaan-2 mission, an instrument called CLASS, designed to detect

signatures of elements in the Moon’s soil, and had detected charged particles during the mission.

About CLASS

• CLASS stands for Chandrayaan 2 Large Area Soft X-ray Spectrometer. For the CLASS instrument

seeking to detect element signatures, the lunar soil can be best observed when a solar flare provides a rich source of X-rays to illuminate the surface. Secondary X-ray emission resulting from this can be

detected by CLASS to directly detect the presence of key elements like Na, Ca, Al, Si, Ti and Fe.

1.31.Multidisciplinary Drifting Observatory For the Study of

Arctic Climate (MOSAIC) Expedition • The MOSAiC mission stands for Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic

Climate.

• It is a one-year-long expedition into the Central Arctic, planned to take place from 2019 to 2020.

• MOSAiC will contribute to a quantum leap in our understanding of the coupled Arctic climate system

and its representation in global climate models.

• The focus of MOSAiC lies on direct in-situ observations of the climate processes that couple the

atmosphere, ocean, sea ice, bio-geochemistry and ecosystem

1.32.Van Dhan Internship Programme • Ministry of Tribal Affairs

Van Dhan Yojana

• Van Dhan Yojana was launched in 2018.

• A Van Dhan Vikas Kendrais set up under the program.

• The Van Dhan Vikas Kendra will cater to ten Self Help Groups of thirty tribal gathererseach.

• The selection of the tribal beneficiaries and formation of the SHGshas been undertaken byTRIFED.

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• The Van Dhan Vikas Kendra’s will boost the economic development of tribals involved in the collection of Minor Forest Produce (MFP) and provide a sustainable MFP-based livelihood in MFP-

rich districts.

Internship Programme

• 18 interns (to be called Minister’s interns) from some of the reputed institutes of rural management,

social work and Social Services of the country are participating in the “Van Dhan Internship

Programme”.

• These interns have been selected to enhance the output of Van Dhan programme to make the tribal

population self-reliant.

• They will support the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED)

activities on livelihood promotion, marketing and credit linkages, etc.

• They will develop tools and techniques on institutional development including a mechanism for determination of a just price or producer price of Minor Forest Products

1.33.Mount Kilimanjaro • Mount Kilimanjaro with its three volcanic cones, Kibo, Mawenzi, and

Shira, is a dormant volcano in Tanzania.

• It is the highest mountain in Africa.

1.34. Food Safety Mitra (FSM) Scheme • Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the ‘Food Safety

Mitra (FSM)’ scheme, along with the ‘Eat Right Jacket’, and ‘Eat Right Jhola’ to strengthen food safety

administration and scale up the ‘Eat Right India’ movement.

FSM Scheme

• The scheme will support small and medium scale food businesses to comply with the food safety laws

and facilitate licensing and registration, hygiene ratings and training.

• Apart from strengthening food safety, this scheme would also create new employment opportunities for youth, particularly with food and nutrition background.

• The FSMs would undergo training and certification by FSSAI to do their work and get paid by food businesses for their services.

Eat Right Jacket

• The ‘Eat Right Jacket’ will be used by the field staff. This jacket has a smart design to hold tech devices

like tablets/smart phone, a QR code and RFID tag for identification and tracking

Eat Right Jhola

• The ‘Eat Right Jhola’, a reusable cloth bag shall replace plastic bags for grocery shopping in various

retail chains.

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1.35. 20th Livestock Census • Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying releases 20th Livestock Census.

• According to the census, total Livestock population is 535.78 million and has increased by 4.6% as

compared to the previous census.

• The previous census was conducted in 2014.

• The total Bovine population that includes Buffalo, cattle, Mithun and Yak is around 302.79 million and

has increased by 1% in 2019.

• Total number of cattle is 192.49 million and has increased by 0.8%.

• The Exotic and Indigenous female cattle population has increased by 10% in 2019.

• The population of Non-Descript cattle has declined.

• The cross bred cattle population has increased by 26.9%

1.36. Tulagi Island • It is a part of Solomon Islands.

• Under a deal signed recently, with a provincial government in the South Pacific nation, a Beijing-based

company with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party has secured exclusive development rights for the entire island of over 1,000 people and its surroundings.

Disputed Islands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Disputed_islands

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1.37.Randomised Controlled Trial •The 2019 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to three economists for their pioneering

research into the use of experimental approaches to fight global poverty.

•The trio, based in the United States, includes Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, who currently work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Michael Kremer of Harvard University.

What is a randomised controlled trial?

• A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial;[ RCT) is a type of scientific (often medical)

experiment that aims to reduce certain sources of bias when testing the effectiveness of new treatments; this is accomplished by randomly allocating subjects to two or more groups, treating

them differently, and then comparing them with respect to a measured response.

1.38.Maritime States Development Council • MSDC is an apex advisory body for the development of the Maritime sector and aims to ensure

integrated development of Major and non- Major Ports.

• The MSDC was constituted in May, 1997 to assess in consultation with State Governments, the future development of existing and new Minor Ports by the respective Maritime States either directly

or through captive users and private participation.

1.39.Hagibis Typhoon • Japan’s worst storm in decades.

Read about Tropical Cyclones Naming Convention in Indian Ocean

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2. History To watch the following topics on YouTube click here

2.1. UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural

Heritage

• A total of 13 Intangible cultural heritage (ICH) elements from India have been inscribed till date on

the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

• For inclusion of an element in the UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, the

state parties are required to submit nomination dossier on the relevant element for evaluation and

examination of the UNESCO Committee.

• The Ministry of Culture has appointed the Sangeet Natak Akademi, an autonomous organisation

under the Ministry of Culture, as nodal office for matters relating to the intangible cultural heritage including for preparation of the nomination dossiers for the Representative List of UNESCO.

2.2. Kumbh Mela (2017) • The festival of the sacred Pitcher

• The  (Prayagraj Maha) Kumbh Mela,  Haridwar (Maha) Kumbh Mela, the  Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Simhastha (Kumbh), and Ujjain Simhastha (Kumbh)

• It has been inscribed on the UNESCO's Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

What?

• The largest peaceful congregation of pilgrims on earth, during which participants bathe or take a dip

in a sacred river.

Why?

• Devotees believe that by bathing in the Ganges one is freed from sins liberating her/him from the

cycle of birth and death.

• Bathing in these rivers is thought to cleanse a person of all their sins

Who?

• The congregation includes ascetics, saints, sadhus, aspirants-kalpavasis and visitors. Its primary

bearers, however, belong to akhadas and ashrams, religious organizations, or are individuals living on alms.

Where?

• The festival is held at Allahabad, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik every four years by rotation

• At the  Ganges  (Ganga) at Haridwar; the confluence of the Ganges and the  Yamuna  and the

invisible Sarasvati at Allahabad; the Godavari at Nashik; and the Shipra at Ujjain

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• At Haridwar and Allahabad, a  Maha  ("Great") Kumbh Mela is held every 12 years, with an Ardha ("Half") Kumbh Mela six years later.

Significance?

• Kumbh Mela plays a central spiritual role in the country. The event encapsulates the science of astronomy, astrology, spirituality, ritualistic traditions, and social and cultural customs and practices,

making it extremely rich in knowledge.

• At Nashik and Ujjain, the Mela may be held while a planet is in Leo (Simha in Hindu astrology); in this case, it is also known as Simhastha. At Haridwar and Allahabad, a Maha ("Great") Kumbh Mela is held

every 12 years, with an Ardha ("Half") Kumbh Mela six years later.

• As it is held in four different cities in India, it involves different social and cultural activities, making

this a culturally diverse festival.

• Knowledge and skills related to the tradition are transmitted through ancient religious manuscripts, oral traditions, historical travelogues and texts produced by eminent historians.

• However, the teacher-student relationship of the sadhus in the ashrams and akhadas remains the most important method of imparting and safeguarding knowledge and skills relating to Kumbh Mela.

Mythology

• Kumbha Mela derives its name from both the original festival being held according to the astrological

sign "Kumbha" (Aquarius), and from the associated  Hindu  legend  in which the gods and demons fought over a pot, or “kumbh,” of nectar that would give them immortality

• According to medieval Hinduism, Lord Vishnu spilled drops of Amrit (the drink of immortality) at four places, while transporting it in a  kumbha  (pot). These four places are identified as the present-day

sites of the Kumbh Mela. 

• This legend, however, is not found in the earliest mentions of the original legend of  samudra manthan as described in various ancient Hindu texts collectively known as the Puranas

• In one of the most popular versions added to the original legend later, the carrier of the kumbha is the divine physician Dhanavantari, who stops at four places where the Kumbh Mela is celebrated.

• In other later addition to the legend, the carrier is Garuda, Indra or Mohini, who spills the amrita at

four places

Current news

• For the 2019 Allahabad Kumbh Mela, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced

that the Ardh Kumbh Mela (organised every 6 years) will simply be known as "Kumbh Mela", and the Kumbh Mela (organizsed every 12 years) will be known as "Maha Kumbh Mela" ("Great Kumbh

Mela”)

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2.3. Nawrouz/Navroz/Nowruz (2016) • Navruz is the day of the  vernal equinox, and marks the beginning of spring in the  Northern

Hemisphere.

• March 21 marks the start of the year in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

• It marks the first day of the first month (Farvardin) of the Iranian calendar.

• It is referred to as Nauryz, Navruz, Nawrouz, Nevruz, Nooruz, Novruz, Nowrouz or Nowruz meaning ‘new day’ when a variety of rituals, ceremonies and other cultural events take place for a period of

about two weeks.

• An important tradition practised during this time is the gathering around ‘the Table’, decorated with

objects that symbolize purity, brightness, livelihood and wealth, to enjoy a special meal with loved

ones.

• New clothes are worn and visits made to relatives, particularly the elderly and neighbours.

• Gifts are exchanged, especially for children, featuring objects made by artisans.

• There are also street performances of music and dance, public rituals involving water and fire,

traditional sports and the making of handicrafts.

• These practices support cultural diversity and tolerance and contribute to building community solidarity and peace.

• They are transmitted from older to younger generations through observation and participation.

History

• Despite its  Iranian and Zoroastrian origins, Nowruz has been celebrated by diverse communities. It

has been celebrated for over 3,000 years in Western Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea

Basin, and the Balkans

• It is a  secular holiday for most celebrants that is enjoyed by people of several different faiths, but

remains a holy day for Zoroastrians, Bahais, and some Muslim communities

• During the Mamluk dynasty rule, Balban introduced the celebration of the festival to impress his

nobles. 

• During the Mughal Empire, the festival was celebrated for 19 days with pomp and gaiety in the realm.

• However, it further goes back to the Parsi Zoroastrian community in Western India, who migrated to

the Indian subcontinent from Persia during the Muslim conquest of Persia of 636–651 CE.

Contemporary India

• Kazi Nazrul Islam, during the Bengal renaissance, portrayed the festival with vivid sketch and poems,

highlighting its various aspects.

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2.4. Yoga (2016) • Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions.

• There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism

• The term "yoga" in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga, yoga as exercise, consisting largely of the postures called asanas.

• It is based on unifying the mind with the body and soul to allow for greater mental, spiritual and

physical wellbeing

• Yoga is it is mentioned in the Rigveda, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries

BCE, in ancient India's ascetic and śramaṇa movements

• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali date from the first half of the 1st millennium CE

• Traditionally, yoga was transmitted using the Guru-Shishya model (master-pupil) with yoga gurus as

the main custodians of associated knowledge and skills.

• The spiritual sense of the word yoga first arises in Epic Sanskrit, in the second half of the 1st

millennium BCE, and is associated with the philosophical system presented in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, with the chief aim of "uniting" the human spirit with the Divine.

• The ultimate goal of Yoga is moksha  (liberation), although the exact form this takes depends on the

philosophical or theological system with which it is conjugated.

• Patanjali's writing defined an Ashtanga or "Eight-Limbed" Yoga in Yoga Sutras. They are:

✓Yama (The five "abstentions"): Ahimsa (Non-violence, non-harming other living beings), Satya (truthfulness, non-falsehood), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (celibacy, fidelity to one's

partner), and Aparigraha (non-avarice, non-possessiveness)

✓Niyama (The five "observances"): Śauca (purity, clearness of mind, speech and body), Santosha (contentment, acceptance of others and of one's circumstances), Tapas (persistent meditation,

perseverance, austerity), Svādhyāya (study of self, self-reflection, study of Vedas), and Ishvara-Pranidhana (contemplation of God/Supreme Being/True Self)

✓Asana: Literally means "seat", and in Patanjali's Sutras refers to the seated position used for

meditation.

✓Pranayama ("Breath exercises"): Prāna, breath, "āyāma", to "stretch, extend, restrain, stop".

✓Pratyahara ("Abstraction"): Withdrawal of the sense organs from external objects.

✓Dharana ("Concentration"): Fixing the attention on a single object.

✓Dhyana ("Meditation"): Intense contemplation of the nature of the object of meditation.

✓Samadhi ("Liberation"): merging consciousness with the object of meditation.

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Yoga and Vedanta

• Yoga and Vedanta are the two largest surviving schools of Hindu traditions.

• They share many thematic principles, concepts and belief in self/soul, but diverge in degree, style and

some of their methods.

• Yoga disputes the monism of Advaita Vedanta. Yoga school believes that in the state of moksha, each

individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as an independent identity;

Advaita Vedanta, in contrast, believes that in the state of  moksha, each individual discovers the blissful, liberating sense of himself or herself as part of Oneness with everything, everyone and the

Universal Self.

• They both hold that the free conscience is aloof yet transcendent, liberated and self-aware.

• Further, Advaita Vedanta school enjoins the use of Patanjali's yoga practices and the reading of

Upanishads for those seeking the supreme good, ultimate freedom and jivanmukti.

2.5. Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among

the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab

• The craft of the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru constitutes the traditional technique of manufacturing

brass and copper utensils in Punjab.

• The metals used – copper, brass and kansa (an alloy of copper, zinc and tin) – are believed to be

beneficial for health.

• The metals used are recommended by the ancient Indian school of medicine, Ayurveda. 

• The very name of the community–‘Thatheras’ is identical with the name of the element.

• The process begins with procuring cooled cakes of metal that are flattened into thin plates and then hammered into curved shapes, creating the required small bowls, rimmed plates, to larger pots for

water and milk, huge cooking vessels and other artefacts.

• Heating the plates while hammering and curving them into different shapes requires careful temperature control, which is achieved by using tiny wood-fired stoves (aided by hand-held bellows)

buried in the earth.

• Utensils are manually finished by polishing with traditional materials such as sand and tamarind juice.

• Designs are made by skilfully hammering a series of tiny dents into the heated metal.

• Utensils may be manufactured for ritual or utilitarian purposes, both for individual and community use on special occasions such as weddings or at temples.

• The process of manufacturing is transmitted orally from father to son.

• Metalwork is not simply a form of livelihood for Thatheras, but it defines their family and kinship

structure, work ethic and status within the social hierarchy of the town.

• It was inscribed in UNESCO’s list in 2014.

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2.6. Sankirtana, Ritual Singing, Drumming and Dancing of

Manipur • Sankirtana encompasses an array of arts performed to mark religious occasions and various stages in

the life of the Vaishnava people of the Manipur plains.

• Sankirtana practices centre on the temple, where performers narrate the lives and deeds of Krishna through song and dance.

• In a typical performance, two drummers and about ten singer-dancers perform in a hall (Mandapa) of

a temple or domestic courtyard encircled by seated devotees.

• The dignity and flow of aesthetic and religious energy is unparalleled, moving audience members to

tears and frequently to prostrate themselves before the performers.

• Sankirtana has two main social functions: it brings people together on festive occasions throughout

the year, acting as a cohesive force within Manipur’s Vaishnava community; and it establishes and

reinforces relationships between the individual and the community through life-cycle ceremonies.

• It is practiced primarily by the Vaishnava community in Manipur and by the Vaishnava Manipuri

population settled in the neighbouring States of Tripura and Assam.

• The Sankirtana of Manipur is a vibrant practice promoting an organic relationship with people: the

whole society is involved in its safeguarding, with the specific knowledge and skills traditionally

transmitted from mentor to disciple.

• Sankirtana works in harmony with the natural world, whose presence is acknowledged through its

many rituals.

Sankirtana

• In the setting of the home, Sankirtana is offered as prayer at all life-cycle ceremonies, such as the ear-

piercing ritual (for both males and females in childhood), the donning of the sacred thread (for

adolescent males), marriage, and the rites of passage at death.

• Thus pervading the life of the Manipuri Vaishnava, Sankirtana is regarded as the visible manifestation

of God

• The male dancers play the Pung and Kartal while dancing. The masculine aspect of dance - the

Choloms is a part of the Sankirtana tradition. The Pung and Kartal choloms are performed at all social

and religious festivals.

2.7. Buddhist chanting of Ladakh

• Recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir

• In the monasteries and villages of the Ladakh region, Buddhist lamas (priests) chant sacred texts representing the spirit, philosophy and teachings of the Buddha.

• Two forms of Buddhism are practised in Ladakh – Mahayana and Vajrayana – and there are four major

sects, namely Nyngma, Kagyud, Shakya and Geluk. Each sect has several forms of chanting, practised during life-cycle rituals and on important days in the Buddhist and agrarian calendars.

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• Chanting is undertaken for the spiritual and moral well-being of the people, for purification and peace of mind, to appease the wrath of evil spirits or to invoke the blessing of various Buddhas,

Bodhisattvas, deities and rinpoches.

• The chanting is performed in groups, either sitting indoors or accompanied by dance in monastery

courtyards or private houses.

• The monks wear special costumes and make hand gestures (mudras) representing the divine Buddha, and instruments such as bells, drums, cymbals and trumpets lend musicality and rhythm to the

chanting. For example, during the Rigmachutuk, the dancers wear silk robes, special shoes and copper masks.

• Acolytes are trained under the rigorous supervision of senior monks, reciting texts frequently until

they are memorized.

• Chants are practised everyday in the monastic assembly hall as a prayer to the deities for world peace, and for the personal growth of the practitioners.

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3. Polity To watch the following topics on YouTube click on the links given below:

• Video 1

• Video 2

• Video 3

• Video 4

3.1. Sardar Patel National Unity Award • Government of India has instituted the highest civilian award in the field of contribution to the unity

and integrity of India, in the name of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Award seeks to recognize notable and inspiring contributions to promote the cause of national unity and integrity and to reinforce the

value of a strong and united India. The award will be announced on the occasion of the National Unity Day, i.e. the birth anniversary of Sardar Patel on 31st October.

• The Award shall be conferred by the President by a Sanad under his hand and seal and presented by

him in a presentation ceremony along with the Padma award presentation ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhawan.

• An Award Committee would be constituted by the Prime Minister, which would include the Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Secretary to the President, Home Secretary as

Members and three-four eminent persons selected by the Prime Minister.

• The Award would consist of a medal and a citation. No monetary grant or cash award would be attached to this Award. Not more than three Awards would be given in a year. It would not be

conferred posthumously except in very rare and highly deserving cases.The Nominations would be invited every year. The applications would need to be filed online on the website specifically designed

by Ministry of Home Affairs. All citizens, without distinction of religion, race caste, gender, place of

birth, age or occupation, and any institution/organization would be eligible for the Award.

• Any Indian national or institution or organization based in India would be able to nominate an

individual for consideration for this Award. Individuals may also nominate themselves. State Governments, UT Administrations and Ministries of Government of India may also send nominations.

3.2. Voluntary Code of Ethics • Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on behalf of its members has agreed to observe 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 TikTok had presented and observed this “Voluntary Code of Ethics” during the General Election to 17th Lok

Sabha 2019. IAMAI has assured the Commission that the platforms will cooperate in ensuring the

conduct of free and fair elections.

• The highlighted features of “Voluntary Code of Ethics” are as follows:

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✓Social Media platforms will voluntarily undertake information, education and communication campaigns to build awareness including electoral laws and other related instructions.

✓Social Media platforms have created a high priority dedicated grievance redressal channel for taking expeditions action on the cases reported by the ECI.

✓Social Media Platforms and ECI have developed a notification mechanism by this ECI can notify the

relevant platforms of potential violations of Section 126 of the R.P. Act, 1951 and other electoral laws.

✓Platforms will ensure that all political advertisements on their platforms are pre-certified from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committees as per the directions of Supreme Court.

✓Participating platforms are committed to facilitate transparency in paid political advertisements,

including utilising their pre-existing labels/disclosure technology for such advertisements.

3.3. 10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029)

• The Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI launched the

10 Year Rural Sanitation Strategy (2019-2029), which focus on sustaining the sanitation behavior change that has been achieved under the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen (SBM-G), ensuring that no

one is left behind, and increasing access to solid and liquid waste management.

3.4. Aadi Mahotsav • The Aadi Mahotsav is an effort to take tribal commerce to the next level of digital and electronic

transactions. Aadi Mahotsav (Tribal Festival) is organized by Tribal Cooperative Marketing

Development Federation of India (TRIFED), Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

3.5. First School Education Quality Index (SEQI) • School Education Quality Index (SEQI) was developed by NITI Aayog to evaluate the performance of

States and Union Territories (UTs) in the school education sector.

• The index aims to bring an ‘outcomes’ focus to education policy by providing States and UTs with a platform to identify their strengths and weaknesses and undertake requisite course corrections or

policy interventions.

• Developed through a collaborative process, including key stakeholders such as Ministry of Human

Resource and Development (MHRD), the World Bank and sector experts, the index consists of 30

critical indicators that assess the delivery of quality education. These indicators are categorized as below:

✓Category 1: Outcomes

✤Domain 1: Learning outcomes

✤Domain 2: Access outcomes

✤Domain 3: Infrastructure and facilities for outcomes

✤Domain 4: Equity outcomes

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✓Category 2: Governance processes aiding outcomes

✤To ensure the system is geared towards learning, SEQI assigns almost half its weight to learning

outcomes. To facilitate a like-for-like comparison, States and UTs have been grouped as Large States, Small States and UTs. States and UTs are ranked on their overall performance in the

reference year 2016-17, as well as on their annual incremental performance (difference in the

overall performance) between the reference year and base year (2015-16).

✤States’ and UTs’ performance on Learning Outcomes is driven by their results on the National

Achievement Survey (NAS) 2017. Their performance on Access Outcomes is primarily driven by enrolment ratios at the secondary level and transition rates from upper-primary to secondary

level. In terms of

✤Infrastructure & Facilities for Outcomes, States’ and UTs’ performance is strongly linked to the presence of Computer Aided-Learning (CAL) at the elementary level and vocational education at

the secondary and senior-secondary level.

3.6. Praytna Parv by Ministry of Tourism • Paryatan Parv 2019 is dedicated to 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Paryatan Parv is

being organized with the objective of drawing focus on the benefits of tourism, showcasing the

cultural diversity of the country and reinforcing the principle of “Tourism for All”.

• The three components of Paryatan Parv, are:

✓Dekho Apna Desh: To encourage Indians to visit their own country. In the run up to the parv, several activities have beenorganised across the Country like Photography contest covering

tourism attractions and experiences, promotion on Social Media; Tourism related Quiz, Essay,

Debate and Painting Competitions for Students. General public engagement for the event will be promoted through the MyGov platform.

✓Tourism for All: Tourism Events at sites across all States in the country are being organised. The activities at these sites will include illumination in and around the Sites, Cultural Programmes of

Dance, Music, Theatre, Story Telling, SensitisationProgrammes for Stakeholders around the Sites,

Tourism Exhibitions, Showcasing Culture, Cuisine and Handicrafts / Handlooms, Guided Heritage Walks, etc.

✓Tourism & Governance: Interactive Sessions & Workshops with Stakeholders on varied themes have beenorganised across the Country as a part of the Paryatan parv activities.

3.7. The Gandhian Challenge • On the 150th birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, AIM, NITI Aayog’s Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) and

UNICEF India, including Generation Unlimited, have launched ‘The Gandhian Challenge’. This innovation challenge provides a platform for every child across India to ideate innovative solutions

for a sustainable India of their dreams, using Gandhi’s principles.

The problem statement for the Gandhian Challenge is:

• “Share your innovative solutions/ideas to create a futuristic and sustainable world of your dreams,

following Gandhi's principles.”

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• Ideas and solutions to the Gandhian Challenge may be expressed through broad categories: Art & Innovation (Letters, poems, painting, videos and photos, among others) and Science, Technology &

Innovation (Robotics, IoT, sensors and 3D printers, among others).

• In ATLs, students of class 6th to 12th acquire a problem-solving attitude, develop innovative solutions

leveraging technologies like 3D printers, robotics, miniaturised electronics, IOT and programming and

DIY kits, with support from teachers and mentors.

• Review of SC/ST Judgment:

✓On 2nd October, the Supreme Court recalled its directions in a March 20, 2018 verdict that had effectively diluted provisions of arrest under the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes (Prevention

of Atrocities) Act, 1989. This was following a plea by the Centre seeking a review of that judgment.

✓Generally, a review is heard in the judge’s chamber, but may be heard in open court in important cases — as in the Sabarimala and Rafale cases, in which no order has been pronounced yet. In the

SC/ST case, a Bench of Justice Adarsh Goel and Justice U U Lalit had admitted a review of the March 20, 2018 judgment in Subhash Kashinath Mahajan vs State of Maharashtra.

3.8. Developing Asia and Urbanisation • The economic outlook update released by the Asian Development Bank last week highlighted that the

number of urban inhabitants in ‘Developing Asia’ has increased “almost five-fold since 1970”. The report, tracking World Urbanisation Prospects data, also states that the two-thirds of the nearly 1.5

billion additional city dwellers in the region belonged from India and China.

• ‘Developing Asia’ refers to a group of 45 countries that are members of the ADB. As such, between

1970 to 2017, the urban population in this bunch of countries grew from 375 million to 1.84 billion.

The region led the global increase in the urban population in this period and accounted for 53 per cent of it. Developing Asia urbanised faster than the rest of the world not only in terms of absolute growth,

but also in terms of growth rate.

3.9. Divisions of Supreme Court • Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu has suggested that the Supreme Court institute four regional

Benches to tackle the enormous backlog of cases, and to ensure their speedy disposal. Naidu also

endorsed the recommendation of the Law Commission of India that the top court should be split into two divisions.

• In the early decades of the Republic, the Supreme Court of India, too, functioned largely as a constitutional court, with some 70-80 judgments being delivered every year by Constitution Benches

of five or more judges who ruled, as per Article 145(3) of the Constitution, on matters “involving a

substantial question of law as to the interpretation of [the] Constitution”.

• Due to their heavy workload, judges mostly sit in two- or three-judge Benches to dispose of all kinds

of cases; these include several non-Constitutional and relatively petty matters such as bans (or lifting of bans) on films, or allegations that a Commissioner of Police is misusing his powers.

• It has been pointed out that Article 39A says that “the state shall secure that the operation of the

legal system promotes justice, on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall… ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of economic or other disabilities”.

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• Article 130 says that “the Supreme Court shall sit in Delhi or in such other place or places, as the Chief Justice of India may, with the approval of the President, from time to time, appoint.” Supreme Court

Rules give the Chief Justice of India the power to constitute Benches — he can, for instance, have a

• Constitution Bench of seven judges in New Delhi, and set up smaller Benches in, say, four or six places

across the country.

3.10.One Nation One FASTag • Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the “One Nation One FASTag”

scheme. The scheme will be implemented from December 1, 2019, and can be availed upon activation

by new cars having Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags on national and state highways throughout the country.

• FASTags are stickers that are affixed to the windscreen of vehicles and use RFID technology to enable

digital, contactless payment of tolls without having to stop at toll gates. The tags are linked to bank accounts and other payment methods. As a car crosses a toll plaza, the amount is automatically

deducted, and a notification is sent to the registered mobile phone number. Sensors are placed on toll barriers, and the barriers open for vehicles having valid FASTags.

• A FASTag is valid for five years and needs to be recharged only as per requirement. At present, 60 lakh

vehicles in India have FASTags. According to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), these devices will make passing through tolls considerably smoother since drivers will no longer have to

carry cash or stop to make a transaction.

• The existing FASTags under various jurisdictions of states and agencies would be enabled under this

scheme, thus integrating the collection of toll digitally so that seamless services can be provided to

consumers all over India. The move is significant given that the Centre has decided that from December 1, all national highway toll plazas will accept tolls only through FASTags.

3.11. Justice A.K. Patnaik Committee • A committee appointed by the Chhattisgarh government to “review cases against Scheduled Tribes

and other residents of the Naxal region in the state” is set to begin its work this month. It will look at

cases involving more than 23,000 tribals.

• The committee of Justice A K Patnaik, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, will hold its first meeting in Raipur on October 30 and 31 as it starts looking at cases of over 16,475 tribals accused by police in

a range of cases and another 6,743 being held as undertrials, mostly in Bijapur, Sukma and Bastar districts.

• The terms of reference of the committee state that where it does not find material to continue

matters against the accused, it would have the remit to recommend withdrawal of prosecution, dropping of cases in which police are yet to file a report before the court, or recommend appropriate

plea bargaining, as laid out in the Code of Criminal Procedure.

• The buck on the recommendations of this committee will stop with the state government which will

finally decide on the matters.

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3.12.Global Hunger Index • India slipped to 102 positions in the 2019 Global Hunger Index featuring 117 countries, behind Nepal,

Pakistan and Bangladesh. Over one in every five children in India is “wasted” (low weight for height),

the highest for any country in the report.

• The report, prepared jointly by Irish aid agency Concern Worldwide and German organisation Welt

Hunger Hilfe has said India suffers from a level of hunger that is “serious”, at the very end of the

category with a 30.1 GHI score.

• The GHI score is calculated on four indicators — undernourishment; child wasting, the share of

children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition); child stunting, children under the age of five who have low height for their age,

reflecting chronic undernutrition; and child mortality, the mortality rate of children under the age of

five.

3.13.‘Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme-DHRUV’

• Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched a unique

initiative,the Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme-DHRUV, which will act as a turning point in the lives of extra ordinarily talented students,from the premises of the Indian Space Research

Organisation (ISRO) Headquarters at Bengaluru.

• The new ProgrammeDHRUV ’will act as a platform to explore the talent of outshining and meritorious students, and help them achieve excellence in their specific areas of interest may it be

science, performing arts, creative writing, etc. In this way, these talented students will not only realize their full potential but also contribute to the society in a big way.

• The Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme has been started to identify and encourage

talented children to enrich their skills and knowledge. In centres of excellence across the country, gifted children will be mentored and nurtured by renowned experts in different areas, so that they

can reach their full potential. It is expected that many of the students selected will reach the highest levels in their chosen fields and bring laurels to their community, State and Nation.

• To begin with, it will cover two areas i.e. Science and Performing Arts. There are 60 students in all, 30

from each area.The 60 students come from across the country. The students have been broadly chosen from classes 9 to 12, from all schools including government and private.

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4. International Relations-19 To watch the following topics on YouTube click here

4.1. FATF Grey List

• Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering was founded in 1989 on aG7 initiative to tackle

money laundering

• Initially it was tasked with monitoring legislative, financial and law-enforcement activities at both

national and international levels

• Post 9/11, its role became more prominent and it expanded its operations and included terror financing under its purview

• In 2003, FATF came out with a new set of guidelines where it asked state to confiscate proceeds of illegal transactions and form a financial intelligence unit to receive and probe suspicious transaction

reports Working FATF Secretariat is housed at Organisation of Economic Co-operation and

Development headquarters in Paris There are 9 FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs) established for the purpose of disseminating international standards throughout the world

1. Eurasian Group (EAG)

2. Asia/Pacific Group on combating money laundering (APG)

3. Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF)

4. Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism of the Council of Europe (MONEYVAL)

5. Eastern and South African Anti Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG)

6. Financial Action Task Force on Latin America (GAFILAT)

7. Inter Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA)

8. Middle East & North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF)

9. The Task Force on Money Laundering in Central Africa (GABAC)

4.2. Blacklisting & Grey Listing • FATF grey lists a country which it considers as a safe haven for terror funding and money laundering.

It is a warning to the country to tackle the issues.

• If the country is not actively tackling money laundering for terror funding, it is then blacklisted

• So far only two countries have been blacklisted; they are Iran and North Korea

• Countries currently under Grey list are Bahamas, Botswana, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Pakistan,

Panama, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trianidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen.

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4.3. Implications of being Blacklisted on Pakistan • In a globalised world, Pak’s economy is not insulated and is dependent on international investors. It

might adversely affect its imports, exports, remittances and limit its access to international lending

• Blacklisting may lead to institutions like the IMF, ADB being cautious while dealing with the national government

• It may force risk rating agencies like Moody’s S&P and Fitch to downgrade ratings

• Blacklisting may also jeopardise Pakistan’s multi-billion dollar part in China’s Belt & Road Initiative

4.4. India-China 2nd Informal Summit

• The 2nd Informal Summit was held in Mamallapuram President Xi Jinping was received by PM Modi

at Arjuna’s Penance. This was followed by Krishna’s Butter Ball, Five Rathas and finally Shore Temple

Highlights

• Exchange in views in a friendly atmosphere on overarching, long-term and strategic issues of global and regional importance

• Shared respective approaches towards national development

• Both leaders shared the view that international situation is witnessing significant readjustment and

both India and China share the common objective of working for a peaceful, secure and prosperous

world in which all countries can pursue their development within a rules-based international order

4.5. UN Financial Crisis

• UN has a record $4.8 bn funding gap for its 2009 aid programmes

• The UN has lurched from one financial crisis to another in the last decade. The basic problem is that the world’s politicians have consistently failed to stump up the resources that the UN needs to fulfil

the tasks that they demand of it or to set up a system of effective managerial oversight and planning

in the organisation

• Last December the UN’s world food programme announced that the spike in food prices meant that it

was struggling to meet its commitments to feed 49 million people in 12 of the world’s most hunger stricken countries

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• The UN funds its operations through a mixture of assessed and voluntary contributions by member states. The regular budget now only accounts for around 10% of total expenditure, with agencies

relying on voluntary contributions for the rest

✓Major Contributors: USA (22%) > China (12%) > Japan (3%)

• India paid $230 mn on January 30, 2019

4.6. India Bangladesh Old Rail Links • Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina announced the reopening of rail links between India and Bangladesh

that were closed after 1965 war Till 1965, the trains from Bangladesh to Darjeeling via Siliguri were

operated There are four rail links between India and Bangladesh

• The first rail link between India and Bangladesh was opened in 2008

• The first train was Maitri Express that connected Dhaka and Kolkata

• Bandhan Express launched in 2017, connects Kolkata and Kulna

• India and Bangladesh jointly laid the foundation for up gradation of missing tracks on Haldibari-

Chilahati track that connects Bengal and Assam via Bangladesh

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5. Economy To watch the following topics on YouTube click on the links given below:

• Video 1

• Video 2

• Video 3

• Video 4

5.1. India & IMF • Finance Minister is the ex-officio Governor on the Board of Governors of the IMF.

• RBI Governor is the Alternate Governor at the IMF.

• India is represented at the IMF by an Executive Director, who also represents three other countries as

well, viz. Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

After Quota Reforms

• India’s share increased to 2.75 % (from 2.44%), making it the 8th largest quota holding country in the

IMF.

5.2. Indian Green Building Council • The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was

formed in the year 2001.

• The council offers a wide array of services which include developing new green building rating programmes, certification services and green building training programmes.

• The council also organises Green Building Congress, its annual flagship event on green buildings.

• The council also closely works with several State Governments, Central Government, World Green Building Council, bilateral multi-lateral agencies in promoting green building concepts in the country.

Green Building Movement in India

• “A green building is one which uses less water, optimises energy efficiency, conserves natural resources, generates less waste and provides healthier spaces for occupants, as compared to a

conventional building.“

• With a modest beginning of 20,000 sq.ft. green built-up area in the country in the year 2003, today (as on 21 September 2019) more than 5,424 Green Buildings projects coming up with a footprint of over

7 Billion sq.ft are registered with the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

5.3. National Water Policy

• Plan to come out with an updated version of the National Water Policy.

• There will be changes in:

✓Water governance structure

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✤Hydrological boundaries, rather than administrative or political boundaries, should be part of the water governance structure in the country

✓Regulatory framework

✤Setting up a National Bureau of Water Use Efficiency

✤Rejuvenation and Revitalisation of traditional water bodies and resources through the age-old

conservation methods.

✓Idea of water trade

✤Water-surplus States such as Chhattisgarh can gain by sharing the resource with the deficient ones.

5.4. Bharat 22 ETF • Further Fund Offer 2 (FFO 2) of Bharat 22 Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) opened.

• It is an Open-Ended ETF.

• It will invest in a basket of government-owned and private sector entities.

✓Stock weighting mechanism – Free Float Market Capitalization Weighting Method

✓Weight caps – Stock level cap: 15%; Sector level cap: 20% applied at annual rebalancing

✓ Additions/ deletions to the index – As per GoI notification on their website

✓Both Anchor & Non-Anchor investors can participate.

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)

• An ETF is an open-ended mutual fund scheme with an objective to track and reflect the performance

of its underlying index.

• It achieves this through a passive investment strategy of investing in the same stocks and in the same

proportion as they constitute the underlying index.

Bharat 22 ETF

• The government of India, in the Budget speech of 2017, announced its plan to achieve a divestment target of Rs 72,500 crore in the FY 2017-18.

• Bharat 22 ETF has been set up as one of its vehicle to achieve the target. It is an open-ended Exchange Traded Fund which will invest in similar composition and weightages as they appear in Bharat 22

Index

• The index is collectively comprised of 22 stocks of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE), Public Sector Banks and private companies which are Strategic Holding of Specified Undertaking of Unit

Trust of India (SUUTI).

• The said 22 stocks are spread across six sectors:

• Basic Materials, Energy, Finance, FMCG, Industrials and Utilities.

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5.5. Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) • The Parliament bifurcated UTI in 2002,

• Creating SUUTI and UTI Asset Management Co. Pvt. Ltd

• The former holding the assured-return investment plans of UTI and the latter overseeing market-linked plans

• The bifurcation took place after UTI’s US-64 investment plan ran into trouble

• SUUTI has minority stakes in 51 listed and unlisted companies with most of its value locked in Axis Bank Ltd (11.53% stake), ITC (9.17%), and L&T (4.2%).

5.6. Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) • Launched on January 5, 2015 with the objective to replace all conventional street lights with smart

and energy efficient LED street lights by March 2019.

• Target - To replace 1.34 crore conventional street lights with energy efficient LED lights by March

2019.

• New target - March 2020.

Benefits

• Annual energy savings : 6.71 billion kWh

• Avoiding 1.2 GW of peak demand

• Resulting in reduction of Green House Gas emission by 4.63 million tonne CO2 every year

✓The programme is voluntary in nature.

✓It runs without any budgetary allocation from the centre.

✓The cost of using efficient lighting is repaid by municipalities from savings in energy and maintenance expenditure over a period of time.

5.7. Doubling Farmers’ Income • It has three important pillars:

✓Increasing the total output from agriculture by realising higher productivity

✓To ensure cost-effectiveness through efficient use of resources

✓To ensure remunerative prices to farmers

• Various initiatives taken forward in this regards are:

✓Realising higher output through productivity

✓Soil health card

✓Micro-irrigation

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✓Neem coated urea

✓eNAM

✓Setting up of 22,000 GrAMs (Gramin Agricultural Markets)

✓PM Fasal Bima Yojana 

✓PM Kisan

✓PM- Maan Dhan, a pension scheme

5.8. Case of NPK

• Ideal NPK (Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium) consumption ratio: 4:2:1

• Actual ratio (2017-18): 6.10:2.46:1

• Ratio (2015-16): 7.23:2.9:1

• Suggests that there is still much work to be done in changing usage patterns and improving soil

health.

Soil Health Card scheme

• Introduced in 2014-15.

• Farmers have their soil tested and get recommendations on the appropriate doses of fertilisers.

• Indiscriminate use of nitrogenous fertilizers pollutes the groundwater:

• Nitrogen from fertilizers gets converted to nitrate by the bacteria in the soil, leaches into the

groundwater and washes out of the soil surface, entering streams and rivers.

5.9. Personal Insolvency to be introduced in India It is proposed that:

• Debt recovery tribunals (DRTs) in the country would be the institutional set up that would look at personal insolvency.

• A non-adjudicatory process would be adopted for those with very small exposures under the

proposed personal insolvency regime.

• Cross border insolvency regime - based on the UNCITRAL model - would be enacted 

What is Personal Insolvency

• A personal insolvency agreement is a legal agreement you can reach with your creditors if you can no longer afford to repay the debt.

• This option is only available to people who have been struggling with debt for some time.

• In a personal insolvency agreement, you arrange to pay an agreed amount over a period of time (usually 3 to 5 years). Usually you can settle your debts for less than what is owed, and the balance

will be formally written off.

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• A personal insolvency agreement will not cover secured debts such as a mortgage or car loan.

• A creditor can apply to the court to make you bankrupt if the personal insolvency agreement fails.

5.10. Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) A report highlights that:

• In India HAM based road projects awarded by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have

managed to steer away from financial closure issues but land acquisition-related problems continue

to hinder the commencement of project construction.

• HAM has been introduced by the Government to revive PPP (Public Private Partnership) in highway

construction.

• Three different models of Highway Construction involving PPP:

✓PPP Annuity

✓PPP Toll

✓EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction)

✓HAM = A mix of BOT Annuity + EPC models

✓The government contributes 40% of the project cost in the first five years through annual payments

(annuity)

✓The remaining payment will be made on the basis of the assets created and the performance of the developer.

• Hybrid annuity means the first 40% payment is made as fixed amount in five equal installments.

• Remaining 60% is paid as variable annuity amount after the completion of the project depending

upon the value of assets created.

• In HAM, developer finds money for the remaining 60% in the form of equity or loans.

• There is no toll right for the developer.

• Under HAM, Revenue collection would be the responsibility of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

5.11.Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) • It highlights expansion or contraction.

• Above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.

• Recently, The Composite PMI Output Index (that maps both the manufacturing and services sector)

fell from 52.6 in August to 49.8 in September.

• It reflects softer production growth and an outright reduction in services activity.

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5.12.Swiss Account Details • India is among 75 countries with which Switzerland’s Federal Tax Administration (FTA) has exchanged

information on financial accounts within the framework of global standards on AEOI (Automatic

Exchange of Information).

• India has got the first set of Swiss bank account details of its nationals under a new automatic

information exchange pact.

• The AEOI only relates to accounts that are officially in the name of Indians and they might include those used for business and other genuine purposes.

• The Global Forum of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development reviews the AEOI implementation.

• It consists of OECD countries and other jurisdictions that agreed to implement tax related

transparency and information exchange

5.13. India’s first private container terminal

• Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal Pvt Ltd or NSICT is in news.

• It is India’s first private container terminal at a Central government-run port.

• NSICT is run by the Dubai government-owned DP World Ltd at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT),

India’s biggest container gateway.

• Earlier container terminal privatisation contracts: Followed the royalty model.

• Now, the Central government-owned ports followed: Revenue-share model (Wherein the bidder

willing to share the most from its annual gross revenue with the government-owned port trust wins the contract)

5.14.Global Competitiveness Index • India moved down 10 places to rank 68th.

• Singapore replaced the US as the world’s most competitive economy.

• India was ranked 58th in the last year’s annual Global Competitiveness Index.

• It is compiled by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF).

• India is among the worst-performing BRICS nations along with Brazil (ranked even lower than India at

71 this year).

• India is also ranked high — at 15th place — in terms of corporate governance, while it is ranked second globally for shareholder governance

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5.15.India halved its poverty rate since 1990s: World Bank • Since 1990, India has made efforts to:

✓Eliminate extreme poverty

✓Which has helped address climate change

• Annual growth exceeding seven per cent over the last 15 years halved its poverty rate since the

1990s.

Highlighting

Growth can cause development.

What more needs to be done

• Land will need to be used more productively in urban areas

• Spatial transformation of cities achieving agglomeration economies

• In rural areas by increased agricultural productivity

• India’s water management will need to provide for shifting water allocation to higher-value uses

• Policies to increase the value of water use within sectors.

• Connecting people to the electricity grid

• Generation of electricity will need to be less carbon intensive

• Arresting declining female labour force participation

• India’s public sector institutions will need to be modernised to deliver services

• Regulations that match the aspirations of a middle income country

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• Improving accountability and effectiveness

• Improving the ability of the state to interface with the private sector

• Strengthening the compact among tiers of government to improve service delivery

5.16. Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo’s Work • Banerjee and his co-workers try to measure the effectiveness of actions (such as government

programmes) in improving people's lives.

• The Nobel Prize committee noted that these economists "introduced a new approach to obtaining reliable answers about the best ways to fight global poverty." 

• They use randomized controlled trials, similar to clinical trials in medical research.

• For example, although polio vaccination is freely available in India, many mothers were not bringing

their children for the vaccination drives.

• They tried an experiment in Rajasthan, where they gifted a bag of pulses to mothers who vaccinated their children.

• Soon, the immunisation rate went up in the region.

• In another experiment, they found that school students learned better when teaching assistants were

appointed to help them.

What is a randomised controlled trial

• It is an experiment that is designed to isolate the influence that a certain intervention or variable has on an outcome or event.

• A social science researcher who wants to find the effect that employing more teachers in schools has on children’s learning outcomes, for instance, can conduct a randomised controlled trial to find the

answer.

• They used the technique to study the impact that free meals and books had on learning in Kenyan schools.

• Later, they conducted similar experiments in India and further popularised RCTs through their book Poor Economics, published in 2011.

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5.17.Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab • J-PAL is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by

scientific evidence.

• J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty, and builds partnerships with governments, NGOs, donors, and others to generate new

research, share knowledge, and scale up effective programs.

• It was founded in 2003.

5.18. Side Pocketing

• It means separating bad assets from the good ones.

• SEBI has asked mutual fund players to side pocket.

• A few mutual funds have indulged in off-market lending to promoters based on securities and other

such instruments as underlying assets.

• Promoters were not able to pay back these MFs within the stipulated deadline and the fund houses had extended their tenure.

• SEBI has made it clear that it does not recognise or approve of private lending deals by MFs.

• With these side pocketing and ‘default’ norms, SEBI could be in a clash with RBI, which regulates

banks and loan defaults.

• MFs players are now mulling over ideas of joining Inter creditor agreement (ICA), stipulated as per RBI norms, which the banks follow in dealing with default and resolution cases.

5.19.E-invoicing GST • GST Council, on September 29, 2019, has approved the introduction of ‘E-invoicing’ or ‘electronic

invoicing’ for business to business (B2B) transactions from January 1, 2020.

• It can help arrest tax evasion as it enables pre-populating of GST returns with the e-invoice details.

• It reduces the compliance requirements to a great extent for it propels pre-populating of various returns such as GSTR 1 and e-way bills.

• In addition, it standardises the invoice format ensuring interoperability of the data, eliminates fake invoices, provides complete trail of B2B transactions and enables system level matching of ITC and

output tax.

• As the system evolves, intercommunication of the transactions between the buyers’ and sellers’ software, e-way bill system and the banking systems is also mooted. This captures the complete

transaction trail and can arrest tax evasion significantly.

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5.20. Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Production • Coalbed Methane (CBM), an unconventional source of natural gas.

• India has the fifth largest proven coal reserves in the world and thus holds significant prospects for

exploration and exploitation of CBM.

• The Gondwana sediments of eastern India host the bulk of India’s coal reserves and all the current

CBM producing blocks.

Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Production

• Coalbed Methane (CBM) is natural gas contained in coal.

• It consists primarily of methane, the gas we use for home heating, gas fired electrical generation and

industrial fuel.

• CBM commonly is referred to as an “unconventional” form of natural gas because it is primarily

stored through adsorption to the coal itself rather than in the pore space of the rock, like most

“conventional” gas.

• The gas is released in response to a drop in pressure in the coal.

India jumps to 63rd position in World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings

• India has climbed 14 places to be ranked 63 among 190 countries in the World Bank’s 'Ease of Doing Business 2020' report.

• The country’s performance improved in six of the ten parameters.

• SPICe company find a mention in the report.

• Simplified Proforma for Incorporating Company Electronically (SPICe).

5.21.The Cape Town Agreement

•It was adopted by the IMO in 2012 to help combat illegal, unregulated and

unreported (IUU) fishing.

• India, ranked third in fisheries, is yet to ratify a global regulatory regime adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for safety of fishing vessels.

• The Cape Town Agreement includes mandatory international requirements for stability and associated seaworthiness, machinery and electrical installations, life-saving appliances,

communications equipment and fire protection, as well as fishing vessel construction.

• It is aimed at facilitating better control of fishing vessel safety by flag, port and coastal states.

5.22.Merchandise Export Incentive Scheme (MEIS)

• The Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) scheme, which is scheduled to replace

the MEIS from January 1 2010 but is yet to get Cabinet approval.

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• The rates under RoDTEP scheme are yet to be fixed by the drawback committee; it may be lower than the MEIS rates.

• MEIS, under which export incentives, ranging from 2 per cent to 5 per cent of export value, are extended to a large number of sectors depending on the product and the country being exported to,

may be in violation of World Trade Organisation rules.

• This is because India’s per capita Gross National Income has over-shot the threshold limit of $1000 per annum a number of years back and the time allowed under WTO to roll back export sops is

coming to an end.

• Benefits available under MEIS are in the form of transferable duty credit scrips which can be used for

paying a large number of duties including customs duties on imports.

• Government will eventually replace the MEIS scheme with RoDTEP, which adheres to WTO rules.

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6. Environment • Video 1

• Video 2

• Video 3

• Video 4

6.1. Enzyme Technology For Cheaper Bio-Fuel Developed By

Indian Scientists Gets Us Patent • A process to produce a cocktail of enzymes that enhances the production of biofuels from agricultural

waste developed by scientists in a New Delhi lab  has received a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office.

• The scientists are from the  International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi.

• The discovery is likely to provide a better alternative for making commercial cellulase enzyme that

can produce ethanol for second generation (G2) biofuel.

• A cocktail of enzymes that can break down the agricultural biomass into simple fermentable sugar

with great efficiency.

• The simple sugars released by the action of these enzymes can further be fermented to ethanol to

produce 2G biofuel or any other biochemicals.

• The work is significant because it can produce higher quantities of 2G ethanol from agricultural waste materials including rice and wheat straws, whose burning deteriorates the air quality in the national

capital and other parts of Northern India.

• Estimates show that India produces around 500 million tonnes of agricultural waste annually.

• Scientists disrupted a control mechanism found in the fungus penicillium funiculosum (PF) that

regulates its metabolic activity.

• Disrupting this mechanism called carbon catabolite repression helped the scientists to increase the

production of enzymes that are involved in converting cellulose into sugars and, thus increased the production of biofuels.

• The newly-engineered fungus could be a strong alternative in the industrial enzyme repertoire used

for biofuel production.

• More importantly, it can use any type agricultural waste as feedstock.

• Currently, there is very limited availability of commercial cellulase enzyme preparation in the market for 2G ethanol and this is often stated as the major reason for the higher cost of 2G ethanol. 

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6.2. Poison Fire Coral: Deadly Asian Fungus Detected In

Australia • One of the world's most deadly fungi has been identified growing in Australia for the first time,

scientists say.

• The poison fire coral, which has a red appearance, was previously thought to be native to Japan and Korea.

• Its presence in the tropical state of Queensland - after sightings elsewhere in Asia - "considerably"

extends the reach of the species, researchers said.

• If eaten, the fungus can cause organ failure and brain damage.

• It can be confused it with an edible fungus used in traditional medicine.

• Even touching the fungus can cause inflammation and dermatitis.

6.3. Rs 50,000 Fine For Idol Immersion In River Ganga And Its

Tributaries: Centre • The Central government has issued a 15-point directive, including cordoning off ghats and imposing a

fine of Rs 50,000, to prevent the immersion of idols in the Ganga or its tributaries during festivals, including Dussehra, Diwali, Chhath and Saraswati Puja.

• It has been issued to 11-Ganga basin states -Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh.

• According to NMCG officials, the large-scale immersion of idols and puja material in the Ganga and its

tributaries during festive occasions led to an alarming rise in pollutants in the river.

• The 11 states have also been asked to submit an action taken report within seven days from the end

of each festival.

• These directives were issued by NMCG under Section-5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

6.4. National Resource Efficiency Policy • Concerns over resource depletion have soared in India because of rising factory output, urbanization

and population putting pressure on existing resources.

• Against this backdrop, the Union environment ministry has drafted a National Resource Efficiency

Policy, aiming to double the recycling rate of key materials to 50% in the next five years and enable upcycling of waste.

• The agenda is to develop a circular economy.

• This can be achieved by two measures—

✓firstly by recycling the materials, and secondly, by increasing the efficiency of use of these

resources.

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✓The draft policy envisions setting up a National Resource Efficiency Authority which will help develop resource efficiency strategies for different sectors and adopt them into a three-year action

plan.

✓To begin with, seven key sectors have been identified —automobile, plastic packaging, building and

construction sector, electrical and electronic equipment sector, solar photo-voltaic sector, and steel

and aluminium sector.

✓After the National Green Tribunal imposed a ban on more than ten years old diesel vehicles in the

National Capital Region, more vehicles life came to an end.

Under the framed policy, the government plans to set up:

• Collection centres  to collect such vehicles and carry out the deregistration process, and Shredding

centres which would segregate materials for recycling.

• The plan is to ensure 75% recycling rate for vehicles made before 1990, 85% recycling rate for vehicles made between 1990 and 2000, and 90% recycling rate for vehicles made after 2000.

• Another concern is related to the plastic waste that contributes to 8% of the total solid waste that is addressed by this policy.

• The draft policy aims to achieve a 100% recycling and reuse rate polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

plastic by 2025.

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6.5. India’s First E-Waste Clinic To Be Set Up In Bhopal • The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have

joined hands to set up the country’s first e-waste clinic in Bhopal, which would enable segregation,

processing and disposal of waste from both household and commercial units.It will be a three-month pilot project and if successful, would be replicated elsewhere in the country.Electronic waste will be

collected door-to-door or could be deposited directly at the clinic in exchange for a fee. The CPCB will

provide technical support at the unit

• Door-to-door collection will happen in two ways. Either separate carts for the collection of e-waste

will be designed, or separate bins will be attached to existing ones meant for solid and wet waste.

• The clinic is being conceived in compliance with the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.

• In the absence of a safe disposal mechanism, electronic waste at present is being disposed of along

with other waste.

6.6. India To Work With China, Pakistan To Gauge Impact Of

Climate Change

• To better gauge the impact of  climate change  on the Hindu Kush Mountains, which includes the

Himalayas, and spruce up data-gathering, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) will collaborate with meteorological agencies in China and Pakistan, among others, to provide climate

forecast services to countries in the region.

• The Hindu-Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region is considered the Third Pole [after the North and South Poles], and has significant implications for climate.

• However, data-gathering here is sparse.

• A system needs to be developed whereby countries can share data and improve forecasts and

predictions.

• Alongside forecasting weather over long periods, the regional centres would provide data services, training and capacity-building, research and development.

• The HKH region spans Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

• It traverses about 5 million square kilometres and hosts a large and culturally diverse population.

• The Third Pole, which contains vast cryospheric zones, is also the world’s largest store of snow and ice outside the polar region.

• A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last month highlighted the threat to the HKH region from global warming. 

• Floods would become more frequent and severe in the mountainous and downstream areas of the

Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra river basins, because of an increase in extreme precipitation events.

• The severity of floods was expected to more than double towards the end of the century, it said

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6.7. Green Wall • The government is devising a plan to come up

with a 'green wall' expected to be 1,400-km long

and 5-km wide between Gujarat and Delhi-Haryana border.

• The green belt, a replica of Africa's ambitious

8,000 km 'Great Green Wall' initiative that was designed to run  across more than 20 African

countries, will be an attempt to combat land degradation. 

• The project is still in its early stages and will

likely stretch from Porbandar in Gujarat to Panipat in Haryana.

• The idea behind the green belt is to stop degradation along the Aravali hills ranges by afforestation.

• It will also act as a barrier for dust coming from the deserts in western India and Pakistan.

• It would also help India deal with the Thar desert desertification in Rajasthan.

6.8. Massive Iceberg Breaks Off Antarctica—But It's Normal • The iceberg, dubbed D28, broke away from the Amery ice shelf between September 24 and 25,

according to observations from European and American satellites.

• Iceberg production is part of the normal cycle of ice shelves, which are an extension of the ice cap.

• Ice shelves have to lose mass because they gain mass. They want to stay the same size.

• The gain in mass comes from snow falling on the continent and glaciers that move slowly toward the

shore.

• The east of Antarctica—where D28 broke off—is different from the west of the continent and Greenland, which are rapidly warming due to climate change.

6.9. India Is Home To Asia’s Oldest Bamboo • With over 49,000 plant species reported as of 2018, India holds about 11.5% of all flora in the world.

• Now, a new fossil record has shown that India is the birthplace of Asian bamboo, and they were

formed about 25 million years ago in the north-eastern part of the country.

• An international team of researchers found two fossil compressions or impressions of bamboo culms (stems) and after further study noted them to be new species.

• They were named Bambusiculmus  tirapensis and B. makumensis  - as they were found in the Tirap mine of Makum Coalfield in Assam.

• These belonged to the late Oligocene period of about 25 million years ago.

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• They also found two impressions of bamboo leaves belonging to new species  Bambusium deomarense, and B. arunachalense, named after the Doimara region of Arunachal Pradesh where it

was discovered.

• These leaves were found in the late Miocene to Pliocene sediments, indicating that they were

between 11 and three million years old.

• Yunnan Province in China now has the highest diversity of bamboo, but the oldest fossil in that region is less than 20 million years old, clearly indicating that Asian bamboo was born in India and then

migrated there.

• This finding further strengthens the theory that bamboo came to Asia from India and not from

Europe.

• Today, we can see bamboo in a wide range of climatic conditions from as cold as 5 degree C to even 30 degrees C.

• And at sea level to heights of about 4,000 metres.

• They can survive in varying rainfall conditions too.

• In fact, the European bamboo fossil is about 50 million years old.

• The Indian plate collided with the Eurasian plate about 50 million years ago.

• However, the suturing between the two plates was not completed until 23 million years, meaning the

plates were not completely joined, restricting migration of plants and animals.

• And also as the Himalayas were not formed yet, the temperature was also warm and humid in the

Northeastern region, with not many seasonal variations.

• The present climate in the region is cold with strong winter and summer conditions.

• Bamboo braved these climatic and geographical changes making it the fittest in the survival race

6.10.Centre Clarifies On Definition Of Land As Forest • The freedom to define land, not already classified as forests by the Centre or state records, as forest

has been the prerogative of the States since 1996 and stems from a Supreme Court order called the

Godavarman judgement.

• The States need not take the Centre’s approval to define what constitutes unclassified land as forest, the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the environment ministry, comprising independent experts

and officials in the Centre’s forestry division, has clarified

• The conundrum of defining forests has been around since the 1980s.

• The 1996 Supreme Court judgement expanded the definition of forest to include lands that were

already notified by the Centre as forests that appear in government records as forests as well as those that fell in the “dictionary definition” of forest.

• The latter clause allows the States to evolve their own criteria and define tracts of land as forest, and these would then be bound by forest conservation laws.

• However, not all States have submitted such criteria. www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses

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• Forests defined under this criteria constituted about 1% of the country’s forests and once so defined would be known as 'deemed forests.‘

• An all-encompassing definition of 'forest' wasn't possible for India because the country had 16 different kinds of forest.

• A tract of grassland in one State might qualify in one region as forest, but not in another.

• However, once a State applied a criterion, it couldn't be reversed.

6.11.Foreign Plastic Invades Great Nicobar Island

• The pristine beaches of the Great Nicobar Island, India’s southernmost territory are under threat

from plastic.

• A survey of five beaches in the islands recorded the presence of plastic bottles.

• Sixty of these were analysed and found to be of ‘non-Indian origin,’ according to researchers, whose

findings appear in the latest edition of Current Science.

• Major portion of the litter (40.5%) was of Malaysian origin.

• It was followed by Indonesia (23.9%) and Thailand (16.3%). Other countries contributed a minor portion.

• The litter of Indian origin only amounted to 2.2%

• The overwhelming contribution from Indonesia and Thailand was likely due to its proximity to the island; the plastic is likely to have made its way to the island because of water currents via the

Malacca Strait, which is a major shipping route.

• The huge quantities of marine debris observed on this island might be due to improper handling of the

solid waste from fishing/mariculture activity and ship traffic.

• However, the researchers also point out that litter of Indian origin on beaches and mangroves of the Andaman Islands is continuously increasing.

• This is probably due to lack of proper guidelines and inadequate staff to monitor these islands

• Plastic pollution  has emerged as one of the severest threats to ocean ecosystems and its

concentration has reached 5, 80,000 pieces per square kilometre.

• Plastic represents 83% of the marine litter found.

• The remaining 17% is mainly textiles, paper, metal and wood.

• The Great Nicobar Island of Andaman has an area of about 1044 sq. km.

• According to the 2011 census, has a population of about 8,069.

• The island is home to one of the most primitive tribes of India — the Shompens.

• The island includes the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve (GNBR) comprising of the Galathea National Park and the Campbell Bay National Park.

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• The island harbours a wide spectrum of ecosystems from tropical wet evergreen forests, mountain ranges and coastal plains.

• The island is also home to giant robber crabs, crab-eating macaques, the rare megapode as well as leatherback turtles.

6.12. C40 World Mayors’ Summit • The C40 World Mayors’ Summit is a three-day conference where city leaders from around the world

share ideas on green urban development and on ways to get national governments to act on climate

issues.

• The host city of this year’s conference (scheduled to last from October 9 to October 12) Copenhagen, plans to become carbon neutral by 2025. 

• C40 Summits are known for publishing important research, showcasing innovations by cities, and for forging global partnerships.

• At the 2019 Summit, the Mayor of Los Angeles will take over as chair of the group.

• Over the past decade, C40 has convened six Mayors Summits, hosted by London (2005), New York (2007), Seoul (2009), São Paulo (2011), Johannesburg (2014) and Mexico City (2016).

• Each C40 Mayors Summit has provided unique opportunities for the mayors of the world’s great cities to showcase their climate leadership on the global stage.

• The cities from India that are part of the C40 are Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Jaipur, and Kolkata.

• C40 connects more than 96 of the world’s largest cities to deliver urgent and essential climate action needed to secure a sustainable future for urban citizens worldwide.

• The group is committed to delivering on climate targets set under the 2016 Paris Agreement, and sets the bar for cities to develop and implement local level plans that comply with those targets.

• The C40 group was started in 2005 by the then Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and got its name in

2006, since it had 40 members that year.

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• It has 96 members at present, representing over 70 crore people, and one-quarter of the global economy.

• Cities, according to the C40 website, have the potential to deliver 40 per cent of the emissions reductions to meet the Paris targets.

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7. Science To watch the following topics on YouTube click here

7.1. GEMINI

• Gagan Enabled Mariner’s Instrument for Navigation and Information (GEMINI) is a low-cost device

that will receive messages transmitted through GAGAN satellites.

GAGAN

• GAGAN is GPS-Aided Geo Augmented Navigation system operational since 2015, which provides

navigation services to Departure, en-route and landing operation in suitably equipped aircrafts,

• The system provides very accurate and high level of integrity satellite signals for precision air navigation over the entire Indian airspace

• Jointly developed by Airports Authority of India and Indian Space Research Organisation

• It consists of three geosynchronous satellites (GSAT-8, GSAT-10 and GSAT-15) and covers the entire

Indian Ocean round the clock GEMINI

• Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), an autonomous body under Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) joined hands with Airports Authority of India (AAI) to utilise the

GAGAN (GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation) satellite system to transmit disaster warnings and other information to fishermen

• It is a device for seamless and effective dissemination of emergency information and communication

on disaster warnings, Potential Fishing Zones (PFZ) and Ocean States Forecasts (OSF) to fishermen.

• This is exclusively designed for fishermen about disasters when they are 10 to 12 km away from the

coast.

• These advisories are unable to be communicated beyond 10-12 km, but fishermen move in the sea

beyond 50 nautical miles and sometimes upto 300 nautical miles.

• A lacuna was felt during Ockhi cyclone in 2017.

7.2. Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme (PMILP) -

DHRUV

• Objective: To allow talented students to realise their full potential and contribute to society

• It is being started to identify and encourage talented children to enrich their skills and knowledge

• Gifted children will be mentored and nurtured by renowned experts in different areas in

centres if excellence across the country

• The programme will be called DHRUV (after the Pole Star) and every student to be called ‘DHRUV TARA’

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• Covers 2 areas

1. Science

2. Performing Arts

• Students will be broadly from classes 9 to 12, from all schools including government and private

• The new innovators will be helpful for the Nation to achieve the target of 5 Trillion Dollar economy in

stipulated time

Planet With Most Moons

• International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Centre confirmed 20 new moons orbiting Saturn,

making it the planet with the most moons in our Solar System at 82

• Until the confirmation, the planet with the most moons was Jupiter, at 79

• A count of the moons listed on the NASA website shows that our Solar System’s planets together

have 205 confirmed moons now

• Saturn and Jupiter account for nearly 80% of the count of moons of our Solar system

• Another 20% are orbiting Uranus (27) and Neptune (14)

• Of the remaining three moons, one is Earth’s own while the other two are with Mars

• Mercury is so close to the Sun and its gravity that it wouldn’t be able to hold on to its own moon. Any

moon would most likely crash into Mercury or maybe go into orbit around the Sun and eventually get pulled into it

NOTE:

Study the difference between Terrestrial and Jovian Planets (Question already asked in Prelims)

7.3. International Astronomical Union • The International Astronomical Union is an international association of professional astronomers, at

the PhD level and beyond, active in professional research and education in astronomy.

• Among other activities, it acts as the internationally recognized authority for assigning designations and names to celestial bodies (stars, planets, asteroids, etc.) and any surface features on them.

• Its main objective is to promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through international cooperation. The IAU maintains friendly relations with organizations that include

amateur astronomers in their membership. The IAU has its head office on the second floor of the

Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris in the 14th arrondissement of Paris

Nobel Prize in Physics

• It was awarded to three scientists for their contribution to the understating of the evolution of the

universe

✓Theoretical discoveries in physical cosmology

✓Discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.

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✓An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System

7.4. Nobel Prize in Chemistry

• Dr. Yoshino succeeded eliminating pure lithium from the battery, instead basing it wholly on lithium

ions, which are safer than pure lithium

✓The advantage of lithium-ion batteries is that they are not based upon chemical reactions that

break down the electrodes, but upon lithium ions flowing back and forth between the anode and

cathode

If curious watch the video here

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