e-Green Watch The e-Green Watch is a web-based and user friendly application that is transparent, reliable

and accountable. It is an integrated e-governance portal that enables the temporal change detection for the
effective online monitoring and evaluation of works in forestry sector undertaken by State CAMPA

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is a statutory multi-disciplinary body
established by the Government of India under the MoEFCC to combat organized wildlife crime in the
country. Under Section 38 (Z) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, it is mandated to collect and collate
intelligence related to organized wildlife crime activities and to disseminate the same to State and other
enforcement agencies for immediate action so as to v Apprehend the criminals

National Nutrition Mission (NNM) (page 14)  NNM targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anemia
(among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per
annum respectively.  Although the target to reduce Stunting is at least 2% p.a., Mission would strive to
achieve reduction in Stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (Mission 25 by 2022).  All the States
and districts will be covered in a phased manner.  Involving masses through Jan Andolan for their
participation on nutrition through various activities.

Jal Mahotsav  India’s biggest water carnival through ‘Jal Mahotsav’ is organised every year in Hanuwantiya
Island in Madhya Pradesh.  The third such ‘Jal Mahotsav’ concluded this year on January 2.  The festival,
held between October and January, is a celebration of Madhya Pradesh’s natural beauty and its culture.

Statutes Governing Use of Flag

• Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950
• Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act, 1971
• Flag Code of India, 2002

The Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) operates in three spectral bands in VNIR and one band in SWIR
with 56 metre spatial resolution and a combined swath of 730 km achieved through two AWiFS cameras. The
catalog contains the orthorectified multi-spectral AWiFS data. The orthorectification process is carried out for
correcting Terrain relief errors, Scale variation, Sensor attitude/ orientation and Internal errors.

BIOFIN: Biodiversity Finance Initiative BIOFIN was initiated in response to the urgent global need to divert
more finance from all possible sources towards global and national biodiversity goals, as highlighted during
the 2010 CBD COP 10 in Nagoya. The objectives of BIOFIN: v To deliver a new methodological framework
v Facilitating the identification v Development and implementation of optimal and evidence-based finance
plans and solutions. BIOFIN is coordinated by UNDP through a global team developing and updating the
BIOFIN methodology, supporting its implementation in the countries, and developing capacities at national
and global level on biodiversity finance.

.Chapchar Kut  Chapchar Kut, the most important traditional festival of the Mizos is celebrated across
Mizoram and Mizo-inhabited areas in the neighbouring states.  There are three Kuts celebrated in the
stateChapchar Kut, Mim Kut and Pawl Kut.  All the three festivals are connected with agricultural activities.
 On this occasion, farmers cut bamboo forests to make place for jhum or seasonal farming.

. UNWTO/UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture  The Second UNWTO/UNESCO World
Conference on Tourism and Culture: Fostering Sustainable Development was held in Muscat, Sultanate of
Oman.  This conference was hosted by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman.  It was conducted within
the framework of International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development (IY2017) to build and
strengthen partnerships between the Tourism and Culture sectors.

Mangroves for the Future (MFF) is a unique multi- country, multi sectoral, partner- led initiative which builds
on the long history of coastal management interventions and lessons learned during the course of post-
tsunami reconstruction and rehabilitation.
MFF is being coordinated by International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN covering, initially, six
Tsunami affected countries namely India, Indonesia, Maldives, Seychelles, Srilanka and Thailand. India has
agreed to participate in the IUCN- MFF Initiative.

A Kisan Credit Card (KCC) is a credit delivery mechanism that is aimed at enabling farmers
to have quick and timely access to affordable credit. It was launched in 1998 by the Reserve
Bank of India and NABARD.

Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) is a software application

program that comprises dynamic crop growth simulation models for over 40 crops. The crop
simulation models simulate growth, development and yield as a function of the soil-plantatmosphere
dynamics. DSSAT has been used for many applications ranging from genetic modeling
to on-farm and precision management to regional assessments of the impact of climate variability
and climate change

Central Statistics Office

• The Central Statistics Office (CSO), an attached office of the ministry, coordinates the statistical
activities in the country and evolves statistical standards.
• Its activities inter-alia, include compilation of National Accounts, Index of Industrial Production,
Consumer Price Indices for Urban/Rural/Combined, Human Development Statistics, including
Gender Statistics in the states and union territories and disseminates Energy Statistics, Social and
Environment Statistics and prepares the National Industrial Classification

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), in Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation,
is responsible for conduct of large scale sample surveys, in diverse fields, on all India basis.
• Primary data is collected regularly through nationwide household surveys on various Socio-Economic
subjects, Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) under the Collection of Statistics Act and Enterprise
surveys, as a follow up of the Economic Census.
• Besides these surveys, NSSO collects data on rural and urban prices; plays a significant role in the
improvement of crop statistics through supervision of the area enumeration and crop estimation
surveys of the state agencies. It also maintains a frame of urban areal units for drawing samples
for Socio-Economic Surveys in urban areas

Price Data Collection

a) Rural Retail Price Collection: The data collected on rural retail prices are used for compiling
the consumer price index (CPI) for agricultural labourers. At present, the Labour Bureau, Ministry
of Labour, compiles and publishes the CPI for agricultural labourers.
b) Consumer Price Index CPI (Urban): The collection of prices is being done by NSSO. The CPI
(U) scheme collects the prices of goods on the basis of three broad segments of the population
(viz. affluent, middle and poor).
c) Wholesale Price Index (WPI): On the request of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industries, NSSO is facilitating the Office of the Economic
Adviser in price data collection for existing series as well as New Series of WPI. New series has
base year - 2011-12.
d) Consumer Price: CSO releases Consumer Price Indices also at group and sub-group levels. It is
to be stated that ‘Food and beverages’ as a whole has 45.86 per cent share,

 Magahi language: o The Magahi language, also known as Magadhi, is a language spoken in Bihar-
Jharkhand region of eastern India. o Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magadh, from which the latter’s
name derives. o It is believed to be the language spoken by Gautama Buddha. o It was the official language of
the Mauryan court, in which the edicts of Ashoka were composed. o Magadhi has a very rich and

. Janadriyah festival  Saudi Arabia celebrated the annual Janadriyah festival. India was this year’s guest of
honor.  Janadriyah is the annual national heritage and culture festival named after the village on the northern
outskirts of Riyadh.  The festival encourages Saudis to celebrate their heritage and to bolster cultural
exchange

Index of Industrial Production

• The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an abstract number or ratio which measures the
growth of various sectors in the economy.
• In India, IIP is a representative figure which measures the general level of Industrial activity
in the country

Electricity 10.32; Steel (Alloy + Non-alloy)

6.68; Refinery Products 5.94; Crude Oil 5.22; Coal 4.38; Cement 2.41; Natural Gas 1.71;
Fertilizers 1.25.

Aadhaar Payment Bridge (APB): A payment can be made to a person’s bank account via his/her
Aadhaar number, provided it is linked to his/her Aadhaar number. Government of India transfers
benefits and subsidies directly to the beneficiaries’ bank account through APB.
b) Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS): AEPS is the platform in which a person can do basic
banking transactions including withdrawal, deposit cash, fund transfer, etc. from his/her bank account
at Micro-ATMs using biometric authentication. Bank is chosen by resident as it is a resident present
transaction.
c) Aadhaar Pay: It is merchant version of AEPS. The Application works on a low cost android phone
with single finger biometric device. It enables merchant to take cashless payment from his customers.
It was launched in 2017.
d) Pay to Aadhaar: It is a facility available on UPI platform integrated to BHIM app. It enables
Person-to-Person (P2P) remittance using Aadhaar number of the recipient as financial address. The
receiving
 Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC)
1. launched in 2000
2. Headquarter — Vientiane, Lao PDR
3. Members six countries – India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia,
Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam
4. It promotes cooperation in
 tourism
 culture
 education
 transport and communications

IMF quota

Quota — based broadly on its relative position in the world economy.Quota

and voting shares will change as members pay their quota increases
1. The current quota formulais a weighted average of
 GDP — 50% weight ( at market exchange rates (60%) and PPP exchange
rates (40%))
 Openness — 30%
 economic variability — 15%
 international reserves — 5%

India — quota – 2.76% (8 position) & Voting share – 2.64%

th

Special Drawing Rights (SDR) — international reserve asset, created by the IMF
in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves
1. value is based on a basket of five major currencies—the US dollar, the euro,
the Chinese renminbi (RMB), the Japanese yen, and the British pound sterling
2. The SDR is neither a currency, nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential
claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members.

World Economic Forum(WEF)

Publications
 Global risk report, 2018
 Readiness for the future of production
 Global gender gap report
  Inclusive development index
 Global competitiveness report (index)
 Global human capital report (index)
 Travel and tourism competitiveness report (index)
 Global energy architecture performance index report
 Network Readiness Index
Energy Transition Index
Fostering Effective Energy Transition
‘Internet for All’ Initiative
Global Manufacturing Index

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Publications
 OECD Economic survey of India
 Government at a Glance
 Education at a Glance
 Agricultural Outlook 2017-2026 (in association with FAO)
 Multilateral Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information
(MCAA) — multilateral convention on administrative assistance in
taxation matters
 How migrants can contribute to developing countries economies
 Employment Protection Index
 Your Better Life Index

WWF

Reprts & programmes ▪ Living Planet Report— published every two years by WWF since 1998; it is based on
a Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculation ▪ Earth hour ▪ Debt-for-nature swaps–financial
transactions in which a portion of a developing nation’s foreign debt is forgiven in exchange for local
investments in environmental conservation measures. ▪ Marine Stewardship Council(MSC) — independent
non-profit organization which sets a standard for sustainable fishing ▪ Healthy GrownPotato — eco-brand that
provides high-quality, sustainably grown, packaged, and shipped potatoes to

WIPO conventions World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

 Geneva Phonograms Convention 1971 — Convention for the Protection of
Producers of Phonograms Against Unauthorized Duplication of Their
Phonograms (sound recordings)
  Rome Convention, 1961 — Protection of Performers, Producers of
Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations (administered UNESCO+ ILO +
WIPO)
 Brussels Convention (Satellites Convention ) — provides for the obligation
of each Contracting State to take adequate measures to prevent the
unauthorized distribution on or from its territory of any programme-carrying
signal transmitted by satellite.

 Important Bird and Biodiversity Area(IBA) –


area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation
of bird populations. Criteria are ▪ A1. Globally threatened species — hold a population of a species
categorized by the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. ▪ A2. Restricted-
range specie ▪ A3. Biome-restricted species — adequate representation of all species restricted to a given
biome, both across the biome as a whole and for all of its species in each range state. ▪ A4. Congregation
WIPO agreements on IP classification
 Strasbourg Agreement, 1971– Concerns with the International Patent
Classification. It establishes a common classification
for patentsfor invention, inventors’ certificates, utility models and utility
certificates, known as the “IPC”
 Nice Agreement – Concerns with the International Classification of Goods
and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks
 Locarno Agreement — Establishes an International Classification
for Industrial Designs
 Vienna Agreement — Establishes an International Classification of
the Figurative Elements of Mark
Peaceful Uses Initiative (PUI), 2010 –To mobilise extrabudgetary contributions
which supplement the Technical Cooperation Fund to support technical
cooperation projects and other unfunded projects of the IAEA in the areas of
peaceful application of nuclear technolo

 Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has launched a programme for
documentation of the tangible and intangible heritage sites along both sides of Mahanadi River.  Seven
teams of culture enthusiasts will cover nearly 1000 kilometres on both side of the river Mahanadi under the
project.  INTACH: o INTACH is an autonomous non-governmental Indian non-profit society that seeks to
preserve Indian culture and heritage. It was founded in 1984 in New Delhi. o Today INTACH is recognized
as one of the world’s largest heritage organizations, with over 190 Chapters across the Country. o
Headquartered in New Delhi, it operates through various divi
e-Governance Competency Framework (e-GCF): Its tool-kit contains a set of end-user knowledge
areas required for government employees. The objective of the framework is to strengthen the
capacity building scheme to identify and define competencies, through a competency-based system
which is required for different job roles under e-governance.

Program of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT)

1.
 partnership with the WHO and other
 Supports IAEA Member States to expand access to health technologies,
build skills and mobilize resources to develop a complete range of
quality, effective and sustainable cancer services.

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

The new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is the most comprehensive

global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to
restore the productivity of vast expanses of degraded land, improve the livelihoods
of more than 1.3 billion people, and reduce the impacts of drought on vulnerable
populations to build.

UNCCD:
 Established in 1994, the United Nations to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking
environment and development to sustainable land management.
 It is the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of the
Rio Conference’s Agenda 21.
 To help publicise the Convention, 2006 was declared “International Year of
Deserts and Desertification”.

Resource Prospector Mission:

 The Resource Prospector mission would have sent a rover to the moon’s polar
regions to learn about water and other deposits on and just beneath the lunar
surface.
 The Resource Prospector mission consisted of a lander and a solar-powered
rover equipped with a drill. The rover would have scouted the lunar surface,
digging up soil for analysis.
 Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP) – endorsed by 194 Member States of the
World Health Assembly in May 2012 – aims to prevent millions of deaths from
vaccine-preventable diseases by 2020 through universal access to immunization.
Despite improvements in individual countries and a strong global rate of new
vaccine introduction, all of the GVAP targets for disease elimination—including
measles, rubella, and maternal and neonatal tetanus—are behind schedule.

INCOIS:
 Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is an
autonomous organization of the Government of India, under the Ministry of
Earth Sciences.
 INCOIS is mandated to provide the best possible ocean information and
advisory services to society, industry, government agencies and the scientific
community through sustained ocean observations and constant improvements
through systematic and focussed research.

GAIA:
 Gaia is an ambitious mission to chart a three-dimensional map of our Galaxy,
the Milky Way, in the process revealing the composition, formation and
evolution of the Galaxy.
 The mission relies on a huge human collaboration to make sense of a large
volume of highly complex data. It demonstrates the need for long-term projects
to guarantee progress in space science and technology and to implement even
more daring scientific missions of the coming decades.
Bhabha Kavach:
What is it? It is an armour panel developed by BARC which gives personal
protection against bullets of different threat levels.
Key features:
 Bhabha Kavach made up of BARC Nano-Sheets are lighter in weight with
reduced trauma level with respect to the existing jackets.
 The jacket is made using extremely hard boron carbide ceramics that is hot-
pressed with carbon nano-tubes and composite polymer.
e-Taal is a web portal for dissemination of e-transactions statistics of national and state level e-governance
projects including mission mode projects. It receives transaction statistics from web based applications
periodically on near real time basis. e-Taal presents quick analysis of transaction counts in tabular and
graphical form to give quick view of transactions done by various e-governance projects.

8. The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS)

 Headquarter —Tashkent, Uzbekistan
 permanent organ of the SCO
 promote cooperation of member states against the three evils of terrorism,
separatism and extremism.
 Head of RATS is elected to a three-year term
 Each member state also sends a permanent representative to RATS

“GI Cloud” which has been coined as “MeghRaj”.

The focus of this initiative is to evolve a strategy and implement various components including governance
mechanism to ensure proliferation of Cloud in government. Formulation of the Cloud Policy is one of
the primary steps that will facilitate large scale adoption of cloud by government.

Digital Gender Atlas for Advancing Girls’ Education: Department of School Education and Literacy
has prepared a Digital Gender Atlas for Advancing Girls’ Education in the country on its
website. The tool, which has been developed with the support of UNICEF, will help identify
low performing geographic pockets for girls, particularly from marginalized groups, on specific
gender related education indicators.
UNEP

1. Established in 1972 — result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm
Conference) 2. Headquarter — Nairobi, Kenya 3. Agency of United Nations that coord

secretariats of multilateral environmental agreements

▪ The Convention on Biological Diversity ▪ The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora ▪ The Minamata Convention on Mercury

▪ The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions ▪ The Vienna Convention for the Protection of Ozone
Layer and the Montreal Protocol ▪ The Convention on Migratory Species – Bonn convention

▪ The Carpathian Convention – 2003 — subregional treaty to foster the sustainable development and the
protection of the Carpathian region ▪ The Bamako Convention – 1998 — treaty of African nations prohibiting
the import into Africa of any hazardous (including radioactive) waste ▪ The Tehran Convention —
Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea,

Tithi Bhojan
“Tithi Bhojan” is a concept designed to ensure greater public participation under the Mid Day Meal
Programme being followed in Gujarat. In order to bring in greater community participation, local
communities are encouraged to celebrate important family events viz., birth of a child, success in
exam, inauguration of new house, etc. by contributing to the mid day meal served in the local
schools

The concept has been adopted by different States with local nomenclatures like ‘Sampriti Bhojan’ in
Assam, ‘Dham’ in Himachal Pradesh, ‘Sneh Bhojan’ in Maharashtra, ‘Shalegagi Naavu Neevu’ in
Karnataka, ‘Anna Dhanam’ in Puducherry, ‘Priti Bhoj’ in Punjab and ‘Utsav Bhoj’ in Rajasthan.

Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana: Objectives: (a) To separate agriculture and non-agriculture
feeders for judicious rostering of supply to agricultural and non-agricultural consumers in rural areas;
(b) Strengthening and augmentation of sub transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural
areas; and (c) Metering in rural areas

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

• The Ministry is also the nodal agency for the:

1. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP);
2. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development(ICIMOD); and
3. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED)

ENVIS (Environmental Information System)

• Environmental Information System (ENVIS) was set up in 1983 as a plan programme as a
comprehensive network in environmental information collection, collation, storage, retrieval and
dissemination to varying users, which include decision-makers, researchers, academicians, policy
planners and research scientists

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is one of the key agreements adopted during the
Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
• The key objectives of CBD convention are:
1. Conservation of biological diversity.
2. Sustainable use of its components.
3. Fair and equitable use of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources.
• India enacted the Biological Diversity (BD) Act in 2002 to give effect to the provision of this
Convention.
• India also prepared a National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) in 2008.
• The Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit sharing (ABS) adopted under the aegis of CBD
in 2010, is aimed at fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic
resources.

Biodiversity Policy and Law

• The Government of India in collaboration with the Norwegian Government has established a
“Centre for Biodiversity Policy and Law (CEBPOL)” in the National Biodiversity Authority
(NBA), Chennai.
• Objective is to develop professional expertise in biodiversity policies and laws and develop
capacity building

Biosphere Reserve
• The idea of ‘Biosphere Reserves’ was initiated by UNESCO in 1973-74 under its Man and
Biosphere (MAB) Programme.
• The MAB, launched in 1970 by UNESCO, is a broad based ecological programme aimed to
develop within the natural and social sciences a basis for the rational use and conservation of
the resources of the biosphere

National Afforestation Programme Scheme: National Afforestation Programme (NAP) is a major

afforestation scheme of the NAEB in the Government of India. The programme is now implemented
through a three tier system of State Forests Development Agency (SFDA) at the state level, Forest
Development Agency (FDAs) at the district/forest division level and Joint Forest Management
Committees (JFMCs) at the village level

GLOBE
• Global Learning and Observation to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) is a hands-on
international environmental science and education programme that brings students, teachers
and scientists together to study the global environment.
• MoEFCC and US Government signed an agreement in 2000 to implement the Globe
programme in India.
• Indian Environmental Society, Delhi is an implementing agency for Globe in India.
B. Ecologically Sensitive Area: Western Ghats is a global biodiversity hotspot. It is a ESA. The
concept of Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA) provides a mechanism to conserve biological
diversity of an area while allowing for sustainable development to take place

Basel Convention
• The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and
their Disposal was adopted in 1989 in Basel, Switzerland.
• The overarching objective of the Basel Convention is to protect human health and the
environment against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes

Rotterdam Convention
• The Rotterdam Convention on the prior informed consent procedure for certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade came into force in 2004.
• India acceded to the convention a year later.
• The Designated National authorities (DNAs) for India are in Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperation. The Official Contact Points (OCPs) are designated in Ministry of Environment,
Forest and Climate Change.
• There are 47 chemicals listed in Annex III to this Convention, which include 33 pesticides and
14 industrial chemicals.

Stockholm Convention
• The Stockholm Convention on persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) is a global treaty to protect
human health and the environment from POPs.
• The Convention sought initially 12 chemicals, for restriction or elimination of the production
and release. Now, the Convention covers 23 chemicals.
• The Convention came into force in 2004.
• India ratified the Convention in 2006.
• As per Article 7 of the Convention, Parties to the Convention were required to develop a
National Implementation Plan (NIP) to demonstrate how their obligations to the Convention
would be implemented and NIP has been developed through Global Environment Facility
(GEF) funding.
• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change serves as the focal point for GEF and
Stockholm Convention.
• Designated national authorities are in Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation and Ministry
of Chemicals and Petrochemicals.

National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) and National Wetlands Conservation Programme (NWCP)
have been merged into a new scheme called the ‘National Plan for Conservation of Aquatic Ecosystems’
(NPCA).
The principal objectives of the new scheme will be holistic conservation and restoration of lakes and
wetlands for achieving desired water quality enhancement, besides improvement in biodiversity and
the ecosystem, through an integrated and multidisciplinary approach with a common regulatory
framework, The scheme would contribute to reduction of pollution loads and improvement in goods
and services provided by these water bodies to stakeholders.

National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change

• National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) is a central sector scheme with National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) as National Implementing Entity (NIE).
• The overall aim of the fund is to support concrete adaptation activities which are not covered under
on-going activities through the schemes of state and central government, that reduce the adverse
impact of climate change facing communities, sectors and states.

Climate Change Action Programme

• Ministry is implementing a scheme titled ‘Climate Change Action Programme’ since January, 2014,
with an objective to create and strengthen the scientific and analytical capacity for assessment of
climate change in the country, putting in place appropriate institutional framework for scientific and
policy initiatives and implementation of climate change related actions in the context of sustainable
development.
• It also deals with understanding of the role of black carbon in climate change through monitoring
and assessment of the impacts of Black Carbon using modelling techniques

The Global Environment Facility

• India is a founder member of Global Environment Facility (GEF).
• Set up in 1991, GEF is the designated multilateral funding mechanism of 183 countries to provide
incremental finance for addressing global environmental benefits
The GEF mandate is decided as per the guidance provided by the Conference of the parties of the
multilateral environmental conventions namely:
1. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),
2. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
3. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD),
4. Stockholm Convention on PoPs, and
5. Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) is divided into fourteen functional Divisions, some of
them are:
– Aid, Accounts and Audit Division;
– Budget Division;
– Coin and Currency Division;
– Financial Sector Reforms and Legislation Division; and
– Investment Division

GREEN CLIMATE FUND

• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a multilateral fund created to support the efforts of developing
countries to respond to the challenge of climate change.
• GCF launched its initial resource mobilization in 2014, and mobilized resources worth USD 10.3
billion.
• So far, 43 projects have been approved by the Board of the GCF.
• India also has one project approved by the Board with NABARD on “Ground water recharge
and Solar Micro Irrigation to ensure food security and enhance resilience in vulnerable tribal
areas of Odisha” from 16th GCF Board meeting.

Integration with e-Biz portal of DIPP

• e-Biz programme is a mission mode project of Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
(DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry to facilitate the investors by providing Single
Window clearance like licensing, environment and land clearances, approvals from various
ministries and departments for start-up businesses.

Aayakar Sewa Kendra

Aayakar Sewa Kendra (ASK) is the single window system for implementation of Citizen’s Charter
of the Income Tax Department and a mechanism for achieving excellence in public service delivery
CUSTOMS NEW INITIATIVES

• ICEGATE: The e-commerce web portal, Indian Customs EDI Gateway (ICEGATE), is the
single point of interaction between ICES and Partners in the Customs community and provides
such services as registration, e-filing, e-payment, document status and helpdesk as well as data
exchange between customs and various regulatory and licensing authorities and facilitation of
compliant trade (with concomitant reduction in transaction costs and cargo dwell time) and
targeting of non-compliant or risky transactions is achieved through the risk management system.
• SWIFT: In 2016, CBEC launched single window interface for facilitating trade (SWIFT) at all
customs EDI locations with six major participating government agencies (PGAs), as a single
point interface for clearance of imported goods. SWIFT enables importers to file common
electronic ‘Integrated Declaration’ which compiles the information requirements of customs,
FSSAI, plant quarantine, animal quarantine, drug controller, wild life control bureau and textile
committee and replaces nine separate forms earlier required by these agencies.
• CBEC-GST Application: GST business processes, namely, Registration, Return, Payment and
Refund are provided from the common portal www.gst.gov.in which is managed by GSTN.

Financial Intelligence Unit - India

• Financial Intelligence Unit - India (FIU-IND) is the central national agency for receiving,
processing,
analyzing and disseminating information relating to suspected financial transactions.
• FIU-IND was established by the Government of India in 2004 for coordinating and strengthening
collection and sharing of financial intelligence through an effective national, regional and global
network to combat money laundering, related crimes and terrorist financing.
• It is an independent body reporting to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC) headed by the
Finance Minister.
• For administrative purposes, FIU-IND is under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
• FIU-IND does not investigate cases.

SAARC Food Bank:

• In pursuance of the decision taken in the 14th SAARC Summit held in New Delhi in 2007,
the Heads of States of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries
have signed the agreement to establish the SAARC Food Bank.
• The Food Bank will supplement national efforts to provide food security to the people of
the region

Mission Indradhanush
• Mission Indradhanush was launched in 2014 to cover all those children who have been partially
vaccinated or not vaccinated during routine immunization rounds.
• The objective of the scheme is to increase full immunization coverage to at least 90 per cent
children by 2020.

Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram

• This initiative launched in 2013 entails provision for Child Health Screening and Early
Intervention Services through early detection and management of 4 Ds, i.e., defects at birth,
diseases, deficiencies, development delays including disability and free management of 30
identified health conditions including surgery at tertiary health facilities.
• Children between 0-18 years of age are expected to be covered in a phased manner across the
country

Kayakalp
• Kayakalp awards were launched to promote cleanliness, hygiene and infection control practices
in public health facilities.
• Under this initiative awards and commendation certificates are given to public healthcare
facilities that show exemplary performance, i.e., meeting standards of protocols of cleanliness,
hygiene and infection control.

SUGAM
• Launched by Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) enables online submission
of applications, their tracking, processing & grant of approvals online mainly for drugs, clinical
trials, ethics committee, medical devices, vaccines and cosmetics. Provides a single window for
multiple stakeholders (Pharma Industry, Regulators, Citizens) involved in the processes of
CDSCO

Sowa-Rigpa
Sowa-Rigpa is among the oldest surviving health traditions of the world with a living history of
more than 2500 years. It has been in vogue and practised in Himalayan regions throughout,
particularly in Leh and Laddakh (J&K),

Sowa-Rigpa is effective in managing chronic diseases like asthma, bronchitis, arthritis, etc.
The basic theory of Sowa-Rigpa is explained in terms of: (i) the body and the mind as the locus
of treatment; (ii) antidote, i.e. the treatment;
e-Dhaga App: Govt of India launched Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) and e-Dhaga
mobile App in 2016 to bring efficiency in service delivery to the handloom weavers and help them
to access information on 24x7 basis. The App is available in 10 languages - Hindi, English, Assamese,
Odiya, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Urdu and Bangla.
• Bunkar Mitra Help Line: To provide a single point of contact to handloom weavers for their
professional queries “Bunkar Mitra”

Department of Science and Technology launched several initiatives for women in science under its
flagship scheme namely KIRAN (Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through
Nurturing).

Agro-Meterological Advisory Services

• The Ministry in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) provides
the Agromet Advisory Services (AAS) for the benefit of farmers.
• Farmers make use of these services for planning the operations like sowing, irrigation, application
of fertilizer and pesticide, harvest and protection of crops from weather disasters.

Polar and Cryosphere Research (PACER)

• National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa established a high altitude
research station in Himalaya called HIMANSH (literally meaning, a slice of ice), situated
above13,500 ft (>4000 m) at a remote region in Spiti Himachal Pradesh.

Seismology and Geo-science Research (SAGE)

• The national seismological network consisting of 82 observatories has been functioning smoothly.
Information pertaining to significant earthquake events were transmitted to all concerned state and
central government agencies, dealing with relief and rescue operations in the region and also posted
on the website

Indian agricultural productivity growth has been stagnant, averaging roughly 3 percent over
the last 30 years because Indian agriculture is vulnerable to temperature increase and still
heavily dependent on precipitation. And if this situation continues then farmer revenues
could decline by up to 20-25% in non-irrigated areas.

Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT):

An Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvITs) is like a mutual fund, which enables direct investment of small
 amounts of money from possible individual/institutional investors in infrastructure to earn a small portion
of the income as return. InvITs work like mutual funds or real estate investment trusts (ReITs) in features.
InvITs can be treated as the modifed version of REITs designed to suit the specifc circumstances of the
infrastructure sector.

1. Hybrid instruments for VCF and Startup. (Hybrid= debt and equity)

After 2000, India’s savings and investment rates falling :

Ascending Descending

 Direct Taxes: Corporation > Income Tax > STT

 Indirect Taxes: CGST > Union Excise > Customs > GST compensation Cess > IGST.
 Subsidies: Food > Fertilizer (Urea) > LPG > Kerosene. (Major subsidies~1.4% of GDP)
 Salaries: President (5L) > Vice President (4L) > Governors (3.5L); MP salaries revised with
inflation every 5 year.
 Deficits Targets for 2018-19: RD: 2.2%, FD: 3.3%; PD: 0.3% of the GDP. Debt to GDP: 40%
 Disinvestment Targets: 80k Crore (Last Year 72,500 cr). New ETFs, incl. Debt-ETFs planned. Air
India to be privatized.
1. 25% corporation tax for Companies with turnover upto Rs.250 cr (earlier only 50 cr.) Companies
given deduction for hiring new people. [previous rules tweaked]
2. Cess on Income Tax & Corporation Tax Cess: 2% Primary Education + 1% Secondary & Higher
education + (new) 1% Health cess to finance the new health insurance scheme for BPL/Rural.
3. Securities: 15% short term CGT + (new) 10% Long term CGT, if profit more than 1 lakh. Equity
Mutual Funds: 10% distribution tax.
4. Gift City (IFSC): certain securities removed from Capital Gains Tax (CGT), There will be Alternate
Minimum Tax (AMT) instead of MAT. New regulator for Gift city.
5. Black Money: Trusts can’t pay more than 10k in cash. Stricter rules for TDS compliance. Every
entity doing transactions of Rs.2.5lakh or more must get PAN, incl. its office bearers.
6. Farmers FPO: 100% deduction for next 5 years. This will help in Op. Greens and Pradhan Mantri
Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing).
7. To reduce Tax terrorism: E-assessment for direct taxes. Customs Act’62 amendments for
implement WTO’s Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Customs to have authority for advance
ruling

 GrAM gramin haats. Because small-marginal farmers can’t bring their produce to APMC / E-NAM.
These GrAM haats will be connect via PM Gram Sadak Yojana.
 Organic farming ke liye Women SHG.
 Op. Greens for Tomato Onion Potato (TOP). National Bamboo Mission. (Bamboo already removed
from the legal definition of ‘trees’ to reduce inspector-raj.)
 Fishermen and Animal Husbandry-walla to get Kisan Credit card and new funds.
 Farmers to sell surplus electricity from solar panels in their farms to DISCOMMs.
 RURAL Infra ke liye: SBM ,Ujjawala, Saubhagya electricity, PM Awas Yojana, PM Krishi Sinchai
yojana, NRLM … all these schemes’ funds and targets increased.

Positive observations
 2017-18: 6.75% growth rate. Per capita income: 1,11,782 Rupees (Current price) | 86,660/-
@constant price (2011). IIP improved.
 2018-19: Growth rate projected at 7 to 7.5% [+0.5% if exports pickup.]
 Moderate level of inflation, CAD, FD.
 IMF: Post-GFC recovery is occurring in major economies. Indian economy is now 2.5 trillion dollar
economy – seventh largest in the world.
 World Bank Ease of Doing Biz 2018: 130->100th rank.
 Moody Rating: BAA3->BAA2.
 Global Innovation Index-2017: 66->60.
 Forex reserve at $409 cr.

Negative observations
 2016 vs 2017: While most sectors recorded positive growth, but Agro ~5% -> 2.1%
 Pre-GFC boom catalysts were 1) private investment 2) exports, but both are not upto picking up at
present.
 “economic convergence,” whereby poorer countries have grow faster than richer countries and
closed the gap in standards of living. Since 80s, India began catching up. But this has not resulted
into labour shifting from agro to mfg, unlike Japan and S.Korea. Now, 4 challenges:
1. Anti-globalization
2. structural transformation and pre-mature deindustrialization
3. HR-challenges (ASER, Skill Development)
4. Climate changes hurting agro.
 Post-demonetization: less cash economy, growth is recovered but not to full potential.
 Global hunger report: India very poor performer.
 RESIDEX: house-prices inflation in majority of the cities, even Post-Demonetization.

Inflation

 OPEC-Russia Oil cut deal: 12% hike in oil prices expected in 2018. If hike is passed on, there will
be inflation. RBI’s 2-4% CPI target already breached on Dec’17 (5.2%).
 Fiscal Deficit to aggravate when there are excise-cuts to absorb oil price hike before election.
 CAD also increasing due to oil price

Environment

 GOBAR-DHAN: Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan for management and conversion
of cattle dung and solid waste in farms to compost, fertilizer, bio-gas and bio-CNG.
 Burning Crop residue = Delhi pollution. So, funds & Subsidy for neighboring states’ farmers.
 Namami Gange, Villages made ODF free. (although nothing major-new)

HDI: Education

 DIKSHA portal to upgrade teachers’ skill. Because we’ve enrolled kids under RTE but their learning
outcomes have not improved (ASER).
 More Ekalavya Residential schools for ST kids.
 “RISE” scheme to promote research in Higher education institutes
 PM Research Fellow Scheme for B.Tech so they do PHD and teach on weekly basis.

1. Agro: Soil health card, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana(PMKSY), Fasal Bima
2. Mfg: Make in India programme, Start-up India and Intellectual Rights Policy. Anti-dumping on
Chinese gods; PM Mudra yojana for MSME.
3. Labour: 38 Acts-> 4 codes.
4. Infra: BHARATMALA, SAGARMALA, BHARATNET, UDAN. Rail budget merged.
5. Electricity: Ujjawal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), DD Gram Jyoti, Saubhagya(Pradhan
Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana), was launched in September 2017 to ensure electrification
of all remaining willing households in the country in rural and urban areas. Pradhan Mantri
Ujjwala Yojana: LPG connection to BPL. Then Ujjawala plus+ Yojana for poor not under
SECC.
6. Girls: BBBP, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. Health: SBM.
7. Intl cooperation: SDG adopted, Voluntary national review given in 2017, Intl. Solar Alliance,
Paris agreement ratified.
Budget2018 speech: Modi now focusing on:

1. Strengthening agriculture and rural economy

2. Healthcare for poor.
3. Tax reliefs for senior citizens.
4. Infrastructure creation and cooperative federalis

Ease of Living”

 PM Ujjwala Yojana gives LPG connection to BPL. Target increased.

 Saubhagya Yojna for electricity connections to poor.
 Passport @doorstep, interviews removed from group C/D. Jan Aushadhi centres for cheap generic
medicines, stent price curtailed….ye sab Ease of Living hai.
 150th birth anniversary of Gandhi in 2019 so Rs.150 cr under PM chaired committee for event
management in latest budget.

Helsinki Rules of 1966, which recognize equitable use of water by each basin State taking
into consideration the geography and hydrology of the basin, the climate, past utilization of waters,
economic and social needs, dependent population and availability of resources.

BLUE AADHAAR
Why in news?
The Unique Identification Authority of India has launched a blue Aadhaar
 Card/Baal Aadhar for children
below five years.
What is it?
It will not include child’s biometric information. The first biometric update is required
at the age of 5 while
the second biometric update is required at the age of 15 and it will be linked to the

parents’ UID.
Although it is not mandatory for children below 5 years to get an Aadhaar however it
will be useful for

attending educational programmes and availing government scholarships

Constitutional and legislative provisions for interstate water disputes

 Article 262(2) empowers Parliament with the
power to by law provide that neither the
Supreme Court nor any other court shall
exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such
dispute or complaint.
 The Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (IRWD Act) enacted under Article 262
 of Constitution.
Seventh Schedule
Entry 17 of State List : Water that is to say, water supplies, irrigation and canals,
o drainage and
embankments, water storage and water power subject to entry 56 of Union List

Entry 56 of the Union List: Regulation and development of inter-State rivers and river
o
valleys
Under Trial Review Committees (UTRCs)
They include the District Judge, the Superintendent of Police and
District Magistrate.

They are set up in every district which deliberates and
recommends the release of under trial prisoners and convicts who

have completed their sentences or are entitled to be released
from jail due to bail or remission granted to them

secondary patents
Patents offer their owners market exclusivity for a limited period of time. For medicines,
this exclusivity
should last as long as the primary patent — which relates to the active pharmaceutical
ingredient (API) of

the medicine — is in effect, typically 20 years.
The end of patent exclusivity is referred to as a patent cliff, because drug prices fall steeply
afterwards — by
as much as 80% — owing to generic competition


Comparison between National

Achievement Survey and ASER
National Achievement Survey ASER
This is a school based survey It is household based survey
Conducted by NCERT for students in
class 3rd, 5th and Conducted by ASER Centre (Pratham)
8th
It is based on a pen-paper test One-on-one assessment
It takes into account the children enrolled
All children irrespective of whether they are school
in
going or not
government schools.
Based on wide variety of skills Based on foundational skills such as reading and math
For both urban and rural areas For rural areas

Nikshay
To enable health functionaries at various levels across the country to monitor TB cases in their areas
 Patients receive daily SMSes to ensure they continue their medication.
 The medicines come with a toll free number that is visible only after the medicine has been taken out
of the foil pack; patients are required to give the number a missed call.
 Every missed call is tracked, and when there are too many gaps, the patient is traced, often by
treatment supervisors who travel to remote areas on bikes that the programme pays for.

Black Spots
 High priority has been accorded to identification and rectification of black spots (accident prone
spots) on national highways, guidelines for carrying out road safety audits and preparation of road
safety improvement proposals on NHs and also guidelines on implementation of road safety
engineering measures on state roads under Central Road Fund (CRF) have been issued.

 Solar jacket: Useful for emitting a focused light, lighting up the identification tag and a facility to
recharge mobile phones. It is particularly useful for defence personnel and forest officials working in
remote and far-flung areas. It will have proper insulating material for use in cold regions.
 Production of a solar ATM in distant rural areas: Biometric ATM – as most of the people are
unlettered and withdraw money from banks using their thumb signature
Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM) – provides for:
 Installation of grid-connected solar power plants each of capacity up to 2 MW in the rural areas;
 Installation of standalone off-grid solar water pumps to fulfill irrigation needs of farmers not
connected to grid;
 Solarisation of existing grid-connected agriculture pumps to make farmers independent of grid
supply and also enable them to sell surplus solar power generated to DISCOM and get extra income;
and
 Solarisation of tube-wells and lift irrigation projects of Government sector
 MILAN International Maritime Seminar
 What: A congregation of littoral navies conducted biennially by Indian Navy at the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands, under the aegis of the Andaman and Nicobar Command. MILAN has now
grown into a prestigious international event and encompasses participation by maritime forces
from not just the Bay of Bengal and South East Asia but the larger Indian Ocean Region (lOR).
India leaped 53 and 33 spots in the taxation and insolvency indices, respectively, on the back of
administrative reforms in taxation and passage of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), 2016.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Centrally Sponsored

Scheme of National Bamboo Mission (NBM) under National Mission for
Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) during remaining period of Fourteenth Finance
Commission (2018-19 & 2019-20). The Mission would ensure holistic
development of the bamboo sector by addressing complete value chain and
establishing effective linkage of producers (farmers) with industry.
 Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project

Context: India has signed a loan agreement with World Bank for US$ 125 million
for “Innovate in India for Inclusiveness Project”.

About the project:

 The project seeks to nurture indigenous innovation, foster local product
development and accelerate commercialization process by bridging critical
skill and infrastructure gaps to promote affordable and innovative healthcare
products generation for inclusive development and increasing competitiveness
in India.
 The project would support consortia of public, private, and the academic
institutions to overcome the key market failures

Researchers have discovered the world’s smallest land fern in the Ahwa forests of the
Western Ghats in Gujarat’s Dang district.
Key facts:
 The size of the new Malvi’s adder’s-tongue fern Ophioglossum malviae is just one
centimetre.
 The fingernail-sized fern belongs to a group known as the adder’s-tongue ferns,
named after their resemblance to a snake’s tongue.

 Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) is to understand the evolution and

organization of life on our planet by sequencing and functionally annotating
the genomes of 1.5 million known species of eukaryotes.
 The project also seeks to reveal some of the estimated 10 to 15 million
unknown species of eukaryotes, most of which are single cell organisms,
insects and small animals in the oceans.
 The Project also plans to capitalize on the “citizen scientist” movement to
collect specimens.
SDG 15 (Life on Land): Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt
and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss. The statement in the question
is one of the targets under this Goal.

The One Health concept (CDC) recognises that the health of people is connected to
the health of animals and the environment.
One of the objectives of India’s National Action Plan on Anti-Microbial Resistance
(NAP-AMR) is to “Define the strategic priorities, key actions, outputs,
responsibilities, and indicative timeline and budget to slow the emergence of AMR
in India and strengthen the organisational & management structures to ensure intra-
& inter-sectoral coordination with a One Health approach..”

The areas of work in which a One Health approach (WHO) is particularly relevant
include food safety, the control of zoonoses

Adilabad Dokra and Warangal Durries get GI tag

Adilabad Dokra:
 It is an ancient metal craft that is popular in the state’s tribal regions.
 The uniqueness of this art form is that no two sculptures are the same, as they
are not made out of a pre-designed cast.
Six monuments / historical sites in North Eastern States identified for listing under World Heritage Site:

Apatani Cultural Landscape, Arunachal Pradesh

Iconic Saree Weaving Clusters of India

Moidams – the Mound – Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty, Assam

Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh

River Island of Majuli in midstream of Brahmaputra River in Assam

Thembang Fortified Village, Arunachal Pradesh

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) is a new initiative to make use the knowledge base in the higher educational
institutions for plugging technology gaps in the rural areas. In this year, 750 institutions are being selected on
challenge mode. This is expected to enrich rural India by way of customising existing technology as per local
needs and also by improving the implementation of existing government schemes.

Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan (RAA):

A convergent framework across School Education and Higher Education aiming to encourage children
towards learning Science and Mathematics and to develop their interest through activities related to Science
and Mathematics.

One of the interventions under RAA is strengthening of school Science and Mathematics laboratories,
through the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA).

Communication satellites carried communication transponders in different frequency bands of C, Extended C,

Ku, Ka and S-band for telecommunication, broadcast and mobile communication services.

Navigation satellites were part of the indigenous constellation NavIC, India’s own regional navigation
system. Navigation satellites carried navigation payloads in L and S-bands for providing position, navigation
and timing services.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT) aims at
addressing comprehensively all issues related to teachers, teaching, teacher preparation, professional
development, curriculum design, and developing assessment & evaluation methodology, research in
developing effective Pedagogy.

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs):

Residential schools at upper primary level for girls belonging to disadvantaged groups such as SC, ST, OBC,
Minority and BPL.

Aims to reduce gender gap at elementary education and is operational in Educationally Backward Blocks
(EBBs).

Protection of Human Rights (Amendments) Bill, 2018: Salient Features:

It proposes to include “National Commission for Protection of Child Rights” as deemed Member of the
Commission;

It proposes to add a woman Member in the composition of the Commission;

It proposes to enlarge the scope of eligibility and scope of selection of Chairperson, National Human Rights
Commission as well as the State Human Rights Commission; and

It proposes to incorporate a mechanism to look after the cases of human rights violation in the Union
Territories.

It proposes to amend the term of office of Chairperson and Members of National Human Rights Commission
and State Human Rights Commission to make it in consonance with the terms of Chairperson and Members
of other Commissions.

Capacity Building Programme for Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) of Panchayati Raj

Project by: Ministry of Women & Child Development

Implementation by: National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD), an
autonomous body functioning under the aegis of the Ministry of Women and Child Development,
Government of India.

Vision: Moving the country from “women development to women-led development”

Issue: Role of EWRs remained ineffective, despite their large presence in the directly elected local
governance. The project is aimed to work on developing EWRs as “change agents

Mahila Kisan Shashaktikaran Pariyojana and Value Chain Initiatives

Objective: In order to promote agro-ecological practices that increase women farmers’ income and reduce
their input costs and risks, the Mission has been implementing the Mahila Kisan Shashaktikaran Pariyojana
(MKSP).

More than 33 lakh women farmers were being supported under this scheme.

Further, about 8 lakh Mahila Kisans have been mobilized into 86,000 Producer Groups (PGs) which are
federated into 126 Producer Companies (PCs).

These value chain development initiatives have contributed significantly to the farmers’ income from
agriculture, horticulture, dairying, fisheries and Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) related activities.

Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY), was launched in August 2017 to provide safe, affordable and
community monitored rural transport services to connect remote rural villages. As of March 2018, proposals
from 17 States have been approved and 288 vehicles are operating.

75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) notified as on date in the country. The criteria followed
for determination of PVTGs are as under:

A pre-agriculture level of technology;

A stagnant or declining population;

Extremely low literacy; and

A subsistence level of economy.

Priority is also assigned to PVTGs under the schemes of Special Central Assistance (SCA) to Tribal Sub-
Scheme (TSS), Grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution, Grants-in-aid to Voluntary Organisations
working for the welfare of Schedule Tribes and Strengthening of Education among ST Girls in Low Literacy
Districts.
CBSE has introduced “Parinam Manjusha” which acts as:-

Academic Repository

Facilitates Online Verification

Students can get digital documents such as Mark Sheet, Pass Certificates and Migration Certificates of CBSE
examination through Digi Locker

Central Capital Investment Incentive for Access to Credit (CCIIAC):

30% of the investment in the industrial plant and machinery with an upper limit of Rs. 5 crore will be
provided as the incentive amount per unit.

Central Interest Incentive (CII) will be available to the tune of 3% on working capital credit advanced by
eligible Banks/Financial Institutions for first 5 years from the commencement of commercial production by
the Unit.

ICAR is initiating the new research programme in the areas of Hybrid technology, Transgenic, Molecular
Breeding, Gene Editing, Agro-biodiversity and Bio-fortification etc. to fulfil the future food requirement of
the ever growing population of the country.

Banana & Sugarcane are being cultivated in Tropical and subtropical areas of the country due to suitable
agro-climatic conditions

SARAS Aajeevika Mela: An endeavour of DAY-NRLM to provide to the rural women (huge socio-economic
transformation) producers a national platform and an opportunity to showcase their products, and seek buyers,
either individuals or bulk buyers for sale nationally / internationally.

-FRRO’ scheme:
Aim: The e-FRRO scheme is aimed at building a centralized, transparent online platform
for the foreigners to avail visa related services and to provide Faceless, Cashless and
Paperless services to the foreigners with user friendly experience.
 Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS)

Context: The Reserve Bank has tightened reporting norms for the Liberalised Remittance
Scheme (LRS). Now banks will be required to upload daily transaction-wise information
undertaken by them under LRS.

What is it?
Under LRS, all resident individuals can freely remit $250,000 overseas every financial
year for a permissible set of current or capital account transactions.
Permitted: Remittances are permitted for overseas education, travel, medical treatment
and purchase of shares and property, apart from maintenance of relatives living abroad,
gifting and donations. Individuals can also open, maintain and hold foreign currency
accounts with overseas banks for carrying out transactions.
Not permitted: However, the rules do not allow remittances for trading on the foreign
exchange markets, margin or margin calls to overseas exchanges and counterparties and
the purchase of Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds issued by Indian companies
abroad.

 It is the first research mission to conduct an integrated study of all four distinct
phases of the world’s largest phytoplankton bloom.

About NAAMES Mission:

 The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) is an
interdisciplinary investigation resolving key processes controlling marine ecosystems
and aerosols that are essential to our understanding of Earth system function and
future change.
 NAAMES is funded by the NASA Earth Venture Suborbital Program and is the first
EV-S mission focused on studying the coupled ocean ecosystem and atmosphere.
 NAAMES consists of four, combined ship and aircraft field campaigns that are each
aligned to a specific event in the annual plankton lifecycle.

Scientific objectives:
The North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES) studies the
world’s largest plankton bloom and how it gives rise to small organic particles that leave
the ocean and end up in the atmosphere, ultimately influencing clouds and climate.
Economic freedom index

Context: The Heritage Foundation has released its Index of Economic Freedom report
2017. The Heritage Foundation is an American conservative public policy think-tank
based in Washington.

Highlights of the report:

 India’s economic freedom score is 54.5, making its economy the 130th freest in the
2018 Index. In 2017, India with a score of 52.6 points was ranked at 143 among 180
countries.

PMNCH Delegation recently called on the Prime Minister and presented the logo for the
2018 Partners’ Forum.

About PMNCH Delegation:

 The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (The Partnership, PMNCH)
is an alliance of more than 1000 organizations in 77 countries from the sexual,
reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health communities, as well as
health influencing sectors.
 The Partnership is governed by a Board, and administered by a Secretariat hosted at
the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
 The Partnership provides a platform for organizations to align objectives, strategies
and resources, and agree on interventions to improve maternal, newborn, child and
adolescent health.

MIMO Technology?
Multiple-input multiple-output, or MIMO, is a radio communications technology or RF
technology that is being mentioned and used in many new technologies these days.
Wi-Fi, LTE; Long Term Evolution, and many other radio, wireless and RF technologies
are using the new MIMO wireless technology to provide increased link capacity and
spectral efficiency combined with improved link reliability using what were previously
seen as interference paths.
MIMO technology uses a natural radio-wave phenomenon called multipath. With
multipath, transmitted information bounces off walls, ceilings, and other objects, reaching
the receiving antenna multiple times at different angles and slightly different times.
Defence, aerospace SME fund:
Context: Department of Defence Production has announced the creation of a dedicated
defence and aerospace small and medium enterprises (SME) fund.
Key facts:
 The fund will be registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI),
where a minority stake could be taken by investors.
Silappatikaram:
 It is one of the Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature according to later Tamil literary
tradition. A poet-prince from Kodungallur near Kochi, referred to by the pseudonym
Ilango Adigal, is credited with this work.
 The epic revolves around Kannagi, who having lost her husband to a miscarriage of
justice at the court of the Pandyan Dynasty, wreaks her revenge on his kingdom.
A rare dance panel of Nayak period and an inscribed pillar of Chola period have been
found on an abandoned brick mound at Pathalapettai near Kiliyur in
Tiruchi. Silappathikaram has references to such ritualistic performances by rural folks.

FSSAI has launched a unique initiative, ‘Project Dhoop’ in association with NCERT,
NDMC and North MCD Schools.

Project Dhoop:
Project Dhoop urges schools to shift their morning assembly to noon time, mainly
between 11am and 1pm to ensure maximum absorption of Vitamin D in students through
natural sunlight.

 Yogik farming refers to a system where it is believed that farmers can channelize
cosmic energy to their fields by performing yoga.
 Rishi krishi is based on pre-Vedic, Vedic and medieval texts like Vishvavallava,
Kashyapiyakrishisukti, and Surapala’s Vrikshayurveda.
 Gou mata kheti is a system of farming which uses cow dung and urine from
indigenous breeds of lactating cows.

Madhavpur Mela:

The purpose of this integration is to bring various parts of the country especially the North-East, close to each
other under the banner of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat announced by the Prime Minister.

The Madhavpur Mela of Gujarat shares its connect to the Mishmi Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The Mishmi
Tribe traces its ancestry to the legendary King Bhishmak and through him to his daughter Rukmini and Lord
Krishna.

India’s Seed Vault:

17,500 feet high on a cliff top in the Himalayas, Chang-La has the sub-zero
temperatures and low humidity necessary to suspend seed life for future
generations.

the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) and the National Bureau
of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in 2010 under the aegis of Defence Research
and Development Organisation (DRDO), this permafrost seed bank is the second
largest in the world

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)

• The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is an arms control treaty that outlaws
the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons and their precursors.
• It is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW), an intergovernmental organization based in The Hague, The
Netherlands.
• The treaty entered into force in 1997
• Currently, there are 192 countries signatories of the treaty.

Developed by Ministry of Power and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), ECBC

2017 prescribes the energy performance standards for new commercial buildings to
be constructed across India. It was developed as a part of the NMEEE which was a
mission under National Action Plan on Climate Change

Types of ATMs include:

• White-label ATMs: owned and operated to increase the geographical spread of
ATMs and enhance financial inclusion.
• Bank ATM: owned and operated by the respective bank.
• Brown Label ATM: banks outsource the ATM operations to a third party. They
have logo of the bank

Autogenic Succession: Autogenic succession is driven by the biotic components of

the ecosystem.
Allogenic succession: Allogenic succession is succession driven by the abiotic
components of an ecosystem. Succession of micro-organisms including fungi

HELP (Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy) Policy

HELP policy are-

(a) Uniform license for exploration and production of all forms of hydrocarbon
(b) An open acreage policy
(c) Easy to administer revenue sharing model and
(d) Marketing and pricing freedom for the crude oil and natural gas produced
Hence, it was a shift from a production sharing model to a revenue sharing model

International Energy Agency (IEA)

• The International Energy Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous
intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the wake of the
1973 oil crisis.
• IEA member countries are required to maintain total oil stock levels equivalent to
at least 90 days of the previous year's net imports.
• Currently there are 29 states that are part of it.
• India is not a member of it.

The world's longest sandstone cave named Krem Puri was discovered nea r
Laitsohum village, located in the Mawsynram area in Meghalaya's East Khasi Hills
district
UTTAM stands for – Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined
Coal (uttam.coalindia.in).
The Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) developed UTTAM which aims
to provide an App for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor the process of
Third Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries.

ndo-Korean joint anti-piracy, search and rescue exercise 'SAHYOG-

HYEOBLYEOG 2018' was conducted off the Chennai coast. The Korean Coast
Guard ship 'BADARO' took part in the exercise.

The National Health Protection Scheme that will cover over 10 crore poor and
vulnerable families, or around 50 crore people
The coverage of up to ₹5 lakh a family a year will be provided for secondary- and
tertiary-care hospitalisation. The scheme will also include pre- and post-
hospitalisation expenses. For urban areas, there are 11 defined occupational
categories that will be entitled under the scheme

Scientists have detected the most distant star ever viewed, located more than
halfway across the universe and named it after the ancient Greek mythological
figure “Icarus”. Researchers used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to spot the star

The Non-Aligned Movement as an organization was founded on the Brijuni islands

in Yugoslavia in 1956. Their actions were known as 'The Initiative of Five'. The
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a group of states that are not formally aligned
with or against any major power bloc

The British biologist Norman Myers coined the term "biodiversity hotspot" in 1988.
To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria:
• it must contain at least 0.5% or 1,500 species of vascular plants as endemics, and
• it has to have lost at least 70% of its primary vegetation

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal of

Department of School Education and Literacy to formulate an Integrated Scheme on
School Education by subsuming
(a) Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)
(b) Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)
(c) Teacher Education (TE)
from 1st April, 2018 to 31st March, 2020.
The main emphasis of the Integrated Scheme is on improving quality of school
education by focussing on the two T's - Teacher and Technology

The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 is an Act of the
Parliament of India enacted to prevent atrocities against scheduled castes and
scheduled tribes.
The Act is popularly known as POA, the SC/ST Act, the Prevention of Atr ocities Act,
or simply the Atrocities Act. Article 17 of Indian Constitution seeks to abolish
'untouchability' and to forbid all such practices. It is applicable to whole of India
except Jammu and Kashmir. The purpose of the Act was to help the social incl usion of
Dalits into Indian society.

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY) is a Pension Scheme announced by

the Government of India exclusively for the senior citizens aged 60 years and above.
The Scheme provides an assured return of 8% p.a. payable monthly (equivalent to
8.30% p.a. effective) for 10 years. The scheme will be operated by LIC.

The planet is named as K2-229b which is almost 20 percent larger than Earth but has a
mass which is over two-and-a-half times greater. K2-229b orbits it star every fourteen
hours.
The researchers discovered the planet with the use of k2 telescope via Doppler
spectroscopy technique - also known as the 'wobble method' - to discover and
characterize this faraway planet.

According to World Travel & Tourism Council, tourism generates 9.6% of the nation's
GDP and supports 9.3% of its total employment. About 88.90 lakh (8.89 million)
foreign tourists arrived in India in 2016
(PIB has recently published an article on Foreign Exchange Earnings through Tourism
in India)
 International conference on climate change was recently held in Nepal.
• The four-day conference is attended by more than 300 experts from different
countries of Asia including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Myanmar.
• The event was organised at the initiative of International Centre for Integrated
Mountain Development (ICIMOD).

Pakistan contends that Ratle, Pakal Dul and Lower Kalnai projects - located in the
Chenab basin- were violating the IWT, signed in 1960.
The Indus Waters Treaty is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan,
brokered by the World Bank. The treaty was signed in Karachi on September 19, 1960
by then Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and then President of
Pakistan Ayub Khan.
Control over the water flowing in three "eastern" rivers of India was given to India.
These rivers are- The Beas, The Ravi, The Sutlej. Control over the water flowing in
three "western" rivers of India was given to Pakistan -The Indus, The Chenab, The
Jhelum.

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is an international treaty for the conservation of

wetlands
The Ramsar Convention works closely with six other organisations known as
International Organization Partners (IOPs). These are:
1) Birdlife International,
2) International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),
3) International Water Management Institute (IWMI),
4) Wetlands International,
5) WWF International,
6) Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT).

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Republic of Congo and Ind onesia
jointly signed the Brazzaville declaration.
The agreement was signed to protect the Cuvette Centrale region in the Congo Basin,
the world’s largest tropical peatlands, from unregulated land use and prevent its
drainage and degradation.
Peatlands are wetlands that contain a mixture of decomposed organic material,
partially submerged in a layer of water, lacking oxygen.

The RH300 sounding rocket, developed by Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) as
part of a study to enrich available atmospheric data, would be launched from Thumba
Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS). A sounding rocket, sometimes called a
research rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and
perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight.

The ministry of urban affairs has launched the first workshop on star rating of garbage-
free cities under the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Rating: Cities can be rated as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 star based on their compliance with the
protocol conditions specified for each of the rating. Further city should be ODF(Open
Defecation Free) before it could be given rating of 3 star or above. While cities may self-
declare themselves as 1-star, 2-star or 4-star, MoHUA will carry out an additional
verification through an independent third party to certify cities as 3-star, 5-star or 7-star.
Cities will need to get recertified themselves every year to retain their star-status.

Integration of e-SANAD portal and NAD – National Academic Depository

e-SANAD?
e-Sanad is a project aimed at online submission/verification of documents with an
ultimate object to extend contact less, cashless, faceless and paperless document
attestation service for apostille and normal attestation to applicants in India (to be
extended to Indians residing abroad as well in a phased manner).
The project is being implemented by NIC in coordination with CBSE, States/UTs and the
Ministry of External Affairs in a phased manner.

National Academic Depository (NAD) is a 24X7 online store house of all academic
awards viz.certificates, diplomas, degrees, mark-sheets etc. duly digitised and lodged by
academic institutions / boards / eligibility assessment bodies.
The RTI Act defines “public authorities” in Section 2(h): A “public authority” means any
authority or body or institution of self- government established or constituted:
 By or under the Constitution.
 By any other law made by Parliament.
 By any other law made by State Legislature.
 By notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government, and includes
any – Body owned, controlled or substantially financed and Non-Government
organization substantially financed, directly or indirectly by funds provided by the
appropriate Governmen

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) technology?

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image
the subsurface. This nondestructive method uses electromagnetic radiation in the
microwave band (UHF/VHF frequencies) of the radio spectrum, and detects the reflected
signals from subsurface structures.

Bagh-e-Naya Qila:
 The Naya Qila garden inside Golconda Fort was built by successive rulers of the
Deccan and is one of the few symmetrical gardens extant.
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) uses a high frequency radio signal that is transmitted
into the ground and reflected signals are returned to the receiver and stored on digital
media. The computer measures the time taken for a pulse to travel to and from the target
which indicates its depth and location. The reflected signals are interpreted by the system
and displayed on the unit’s LCD panel.

Atal Tinkering Labs

Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs)

What are ATLs?

With a vision to ‘Cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’, Atal
Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across
India.
Objective: The objective of this scheme is to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination
in young minds; and inculcate skills such as design mindset, computational thinking,
adaptive learning, physical computing etc.
Financial Support: AIM will provide grant-in-aid that includes a one-time establishment
cost of Rs. 10 lakh and operational expenses of Rs. 10 lakh for a maximum period of 5
years to each ATL.
Eligibility: Schools (minimum Grade VI – X) managed by Government, local body or
private trusts/society can set up ATL.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) endeavours to promote a culture of innovation and

entrepreneurship. Its objective is to serve as a platform for promotion of world-class
Innovation Hubs, Grand Challenges, Start-up businesses and other self-employment
activities, particularly in technology driven areas.

VRIKSH:
 ” VRIKSH ” is a program by EPCH which is totally based on the timber legality
assessment and verification standard for verification of legality and legal origin of
wood and wooden products. It is intended for entities who want to accurately track
and make claims about the legal origin and transport of their products. Export
Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) under the aegis of Development
Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles,

UN Security Council Resolution 1540:

The UN Security Council Resolution 1540 (2004) establishes legally binding obligations
on all States to adopt and enforce appropriate and effective measures to prevent the
proliferation to non-State actors of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and their
delivery systems
Weisbaden process:
The Wiesbaden Process was initiated by the Government of Germany in 2012 to
strengthen the implementation of UNSC 1540 through Government-Industry
partnerships.

. Wiesbaden Conference 2018 was recently held in India.

The title of the Conference is ‘Securing Global Supply Chains through Government-
Industry Partnerships
 The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in cooperation with Germany and the United
Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) hosted the conference.
Commonwealth innovation index

A new Commonwealth Innovation Index has been launched as part of a new

Commonwealth Innovation Hub on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of
Government Meeting (CHOGM) being held in London.

 The index has been created in partnership with the United Nations World Intellectual
Property Organisation (WIPO) and its annual Global Innovation Index (GII).
Performance of countries:
 India is ranked 10th.

The Global Innovation Index (GII), co-published by World-Intellectual Property

Organization (WIPO), Cornell University and INSEAD with CII as a Knowledge Partner
since inception

Commonwealth Innovation Fund:

 The Global Innovation Fund (GIF) will work as the delivery partner to host a new
Commonwealth Innovation Fund (CIF), which will use GIFs existing due diligence
processes for sourcing, evaluating and investing to generate a high-quality portfolio
of enterprises that are aligned with the Commonwealth Secretariats priorities
Global Innovation fund:
 The Global Innovation Fund is a non-profit innovation fund headquartered in London
with an office in Washington D.C. that invests in the development, rigorous testing,
and scaling of innovations targeted at improving the lives of the world’s poorest
people.
MIT researchers have created a wearable device called AlterEgo that can recognize
nonverbal prompts, essentially “reading your mind.” The system is made up of a device
that loops around a user’s ear, follows their jawline, and attaches underneath their mouth,
and a computer system

NASA is expected to launch TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), which will
monitor more than 200,000 stars for temporary drops in brightness caused by planetary
transits.
TESS scientists expect the mission will catalog thousands of planet candidates and vastly
increase the current number of known exoplanets

PETase
A plastic-eating enzyme produced by a naturally-occurring bacteria

Polyesters, the group of plastics that PET (also called polyethylene terephthalate) belongs
to, do occur in nature. “They protect plant leaves,” explained the University of
Portsmouth researcher. “Bacteria have been evolving for millions of years to eat that.

The selection of the Chairperson and the members of Lokpal shall be through a Selection
Committee consisting of the PM, Speaker, LoP, the CJI or a sitting SC Judge nominated
by the CJI and an eminent jurist to be nominated by the President on the basis of
recommendations of the first four members of the Selection Committee.

 Aarambh): Mobile app for rural roads maintenance (Ministry of Rural Development,
NOT of Road Transport and Highways).
SEVA (Saral Eindhan Vitaran Application; Ministry of Coal)

: For power sector consumers, it is aimed at increasing the Consumer Connect as well as
the Transparency and Accountability in Coal dispatch

 UTTAM (Unlocking Transparency by Third Party Assessment of Mined Coal; The

Ministry of Coal and Coal India Limited (CIL) developed UTTAM; it aims to
provide an App for all citizens and coal consumers to monitor the process of Third
Party Sampling of coal across CIL subsidiaries.

The local level Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) are responsible for
promoting conservation, sustainable use and documentation of biological diversity
including preservation of habitats, conservation of land race
2018 Partners’ Forum will be held in New Delhi

objectives, strategies and resources, and agree on interventions to improve maternal,

newborn, child and adolescent health.

A Partners’ Forum has earlier been hosted by India in 2010

Sea Island Summit where G8 countries agreed to establish the 3R Initiative in 2005,
recognising the importance of reducing barriers to the international flow of goods and
materials for recycling and remanufacturing, developing capacity for 3Rs in developing
countries, and encouraging multi-stakeholder collaboration.

The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) is one of the main

international classifications for which ILO is responsible. It belongs to the international
family of economic and social classifications

ISCO is a tool for organising jobs into a clearly defined set of groups according to the
tasks and duties undertaken in the job.

RBI in 2014 came out with a Framework for dealing with Domestic Systemically
Important Banks, which is based on the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
framework from 2011.

 D-SIB.
 These banks will be required to have additional Common Equity Tier 1 capital
requirement ranging from 0.20% to 0.80% of risk weighted assets.
 D-SIBs will also be subjected to differentiated supervisory requirements and higher
intensity of supervision based on the risks they pose to the financial system.
 In case of distress, the government is expected to support these banks.
Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator – will be to demonstrate the ability to fly supersonic, yet
generate sonic booms so quiet, people on the ground will hardly notice them, if they hear
them at all.

‘New Millennium Indian Technology Leadership Initiative’ of the Council of Scientific

and Industrial Research is/are correct?

1.Such projects are selected for which the technology as well as market certainty are low

Hundreds of Bishnoi men, women and children were killed in this manner trying to save
khejri trees (‘Angalwaltha’ movement). It was Amrita Devi who inspired the modern
Chipko movement decades ago in what is now the state of Uttarakhand
Representation of the People Act, 1951 – Description

29A – Registration with the Election Commission of associations and bodies as political
parties
33(7) – Allowing candidates to contest from two constituencies at a time

Chattopadhyay had a career of ‘firsts’ – from being the first woman to run for Legislative
office to setting up some of the first national institutions to archive, protect, and promote
Indian dance, drama, art, puppetry, music, and handicrafts

Chattopadhyay’s contributions to India were numerous.

GOBAR-Dhan’

The scheme falls under Swachh Bharat Mission – Gramin which is being implemented by
the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation

 To accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put focus on
sanitation, the Prime Minister of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd
October, 2014.
 The Mission Coordinator for SBM is Secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and
Sanitation (MDWS) with two Sub-Missions, the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin)
and the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).

FIEOGlobalLinker

 he Federation of Indian Export Organisations GlobalLinker has been set up with a

view to make the business growth of SMEs simpler and more profitable.
 It is a growing global network currently comprising over 140,000 SME firms, who
are seeking business collaboration and growth opportunities

 The MsDP (Ministry of Minority Affairs) was conceived as a special initiative as

part of the follow up action on the Sachar Committee recommendations. It is a
Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) approved by the Government in the beginning
of the 11th five Year Plan and launched in the year 2008-09 in 90 Minority
Concentrations Districts (MCDs). It is an area development initiative to address
the development deficits of minority concentration areas by creating socio-
economic infrastructure and providing basic amenities.


IMO Maritime Environment Division: IMO’s original mandate was principally

concerned with maritime safety. However, as the custodian of the 1954 International
Convention for the prevention of pollution of the sea by oil (OILPOL Convention),

The original focus of its work was the prevention of marine pollution by oil, resulting in
the adoption of the first ever comprehensive antipollution convention, the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) in 1973.

72nd session of the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC72)

Shipping and Climate Summit, representatives from around the world adopted an initial
strategy on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships

says, should peak as soon as possible and to reduce the total annual GHG emissions by at
least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008,
General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO)

GEBCO’s aim is to provide the most authoritative publicly-available bathymetry of the

world’s oceans. It is a non-profit organisation that operates under the joint auspices of the
International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental
Oceanographic Commission (IOC) (of UNESCO). GEBCO has its origins at the
beginning of the 20th century.

The International Hydrographic Organization is an intergovernmental consultative and

technical organization that was established in 1921 to support safety of navigation and
the protection of the marine environment.

 Its headquarters (the IHB) is permanently established in Monaco.

 India is a member.
The Startup India Yatra is an initiative that travels to Tier 2 and Tier-3 cities of India to
search for entrepreneurial talent and help develop Startup ecosystem. The Startup Yatras
have covered the States of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha where more than 18000
young entrepreneurs were supported through mentorship.

Sukhad Yatra mobile application has been prepared by National Highways Authority of
India, NHAI, to empower the Highway user. The key feature of the app includes
provision for the user to enter road quality-related information or to report any accident
or pothole on the highway

Mary River Turtle’s tantalising traits, it has become the latest creature to join the “EDGE
of Existence” list of endangered species compiled by the Zoological Society of London
(ZSL).. “This turtle is able to spend so much time underwater — up to three days —
without coming up for air due to its strange ability to breathe through its bum.

EDGE of Existence: Using a scientific framework to identify the world’s most

Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species, the EDGE of
Existence programme highlights and protects some of the most unique and most
wonderful species on the planet
Pathalgadis – declaring their gram sabha as the only sovereign authority and banning
‘outsiders’ from their area.

In Munda tribal custom, placement of a huge stone marks the death of a person. The
Pathalgadi movement draws on this tradition of honouring the community’s ancestors.
Activists say that the movement derives inspiration from the provisions of the PESA
[Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996].
Accelerators
 Accelerators are organizations that offer a range of support services and funding
opportunities for startups. They tend to work by enrolling startups in months-long
programs that offer mentorship, office space and supply chain resources.
 More importantly, business accelerator programs offer access to capital and
investment in return for startup equity.
Incubators
 An incubator is essentially an organization that provides startups with a shared
operation space. Incubators also provide young businesses with networking
opportunities, mentoring resources and access to shared equipment.
 Incubators are also better than accelerators at fostering slow growth, because
incubators do not generally put a time stamp on their support programs. Where
accelerators sponsor intensive, boot camp style programs that last only a few
months, startups can spend years working from within an incubator to establish
growth.
a National Sports University located in Manipur. It will promote sports education in the
areas of: (i) sports sciences, (ii) sports technology, (iii) sports management, and (iv)
sports coaching

The ‘EU-Atlas’ programme, receiving funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020
Research and Innovation Programme

The ATLAS project is striving to improve our understanding of complex deep-sea

ecosystems (specifically, of the Atlantic Ocean) and their associated species, including
those that are new to science.

 Seabed 2030, a project that aims to map the entire sea floor by the year 2030 using
data gathered from vessels around the world.
 The Chang La seed vault’s sealed ‘black box’ design prevents disputes over
intellectual property rights. According to this arrangement, the vault does not claim
ownership over the deposited samples. Thus, the ownership remains with the
depositor, who has the sole right of acefence Institute of High Altitude Research
(DIHAR) and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) in 2010
under the aegis of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO),
this permafrost seed bank is the second largest in the world.cess to the respective
samples in the seed vault.

‘Copenhagen Consensus Centre

“The Copenhagen Consensus Center focuses on cost-effective solutions to the

world’s biggest challenges. We create a framework to prioritize solutions, with the
goal of achieving the most good for people and the planet. Our analyses take into
account not just the economic, but also health, social and environmental benefits.
2015 amendment to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, 1989?

1. More instances of atrocities have been recognised as crimes against SCs and STs
2. Action against those government servants can be taken who are found to be negligent
in implementing the Act
3. Establishment of exclusive special courts to enable speedy disposal of cases

 Addition of chapter on the ‘Rights of Victims and Witnesses’. It introduces the

provision of witness protection.
 Defining clearly the term ‘wilful negligence’ of public servants at all levels, starting
from the registration of complaint, and covering aspects of dereliction of duty under
this Act.
 Addition of presumption to the offences


…SheWings is a social movement to spread awareness about menstrual health among
homeless, low income women and teens.
 They are a social enterprise to break taboo about menstruation.
 Their motto is to combat period poverty in India.
Some other twitter campaigns that have made the news in recent times:

 #letstalkaboutip – The Cell for IPR Promotions & Management (CIPAM) last year
launched a social media campaign to promote Indian Geographical Indications (GIs)
with #LetsTalkIP which is an ongoing movement initiated by CIPAM to make more
people aware about the importance of Intellectual Property Rights.
 #neveragain – A movement founded by students in the USA in the aftermath of
recent school shootouts; associated with this is also the ‘March for Our
Lives’ campaign.
 #iwearhandloom – By the Ministry of Textiles encouraging users on social media to
show their support for Indian weavers.
 #cottoniscool – Another campaign by the Ministry of Textiles to support Indian
textile products.
 #darwazaband – For promotion of toilet usage across the country’s villages, the
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation has come out with an aggressive new
campaign called Darwaza Band
 #gas4india – Launched by the MoPNG, the campaign is aimed at promoting the use
of gas in the country. Gas4India is a unified cross-country, multimedia, multi-event
campaign to communicate the national, social, economic and ecological benefits of
using natural gas as the fuel of choice to every citizen who uses, or will use in the
near future, gas in any way- cook, travel, light their homes, and power their business.
 #nomore50 – A month-old puppy lost its life in October 2017 after allegedly being
thrown from the terrace by a final year mechanical engineering student. Since the
news broke, a number people took to social media to share the puppy’s photo with
the hashtag #nomore50. Angered by the crime, citizens were calling for the
punishment for cruelty to animals to be increased. The number ‘50’ in the hashtag is
a reference to the abysmally low fine stipulated in the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals Act.
 #JeSuisCharlie – (I am Charlie) from 2015; adopted by supporters of freedom of
speech and the press following the Charlie Hebdo shooting in France.
 #metoo – you all know this.

 SUVIDHA (Single Window Permission System): A single window system for

giving election-related permission/clearness within 24 hours has been created. In this
system, candidates and political parties can apply for permissions for meetings,
rallies, vehicles, temporary election office, loudspeakers etc at a single location,
where back-end convergence of various authorities/departments has been done. This
system is put in place at every RO level in each sub-division.
 SUGAM (Vehicle Manaement System): It is an IT based Vehicle Management
System with the facility of issuance of requisition letters for vehicles, capturing of
vehicle details with address, mobile number and bank details of owner and drive,
transfer of vehicles from one district to another district etc.
 Vanishing Companies are those companies which raised funds from public through
initial public offers (IPOs) and subsequently failed, inter-alia, to comply with the
listing/ filing requirements of Registrar of Companies (ROC) and the Stock
Exchanges for a period of two years and were not found at their registered office
address at the time of inspection done by authorities / Stock Exchange.

a company would be deemed to be a vanishing company, if it is found to have:

 Failed to file returns with Registrar of Companies (ROC) or with Stock Exchange (if
it continues to be a listed company) for a period of two years;
 It is not maintaining its registered office at the address notified with the Registrar of
Companies/ Stock Exchange; and
 None of its Directors are traceable.

Rural Development Ministry has been organising SARAS fairs and also Shishir
Mela and Aajeevika Mela. Inspired by their success, the ministry is organizing the
SARAS Aajeevika Mela 2018 in which SHG women from all states of the country
will be participating for exhibition

When a fire anywhere in the world is detected by NASA’s MODIS (Moderate

Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging
Radiometer Suite) satellites, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) analyses the data by
overlaying the digitised boundaries of forest areas to pinpoint the location to the
exact forest compartment.

i4c: Inter Institutional Inclusive Innovations Center is an independent, non-profit

entity which is a facilitator for people with out-of-box ideas, or innovative working
prototypes. It aims to create and foster a culture of innovative thinking. The purpose
is to manifest latent ideas into commercial products that can benefit humanity in
general, and help solve India’s existing social perils in particular

The Union Cabinet is planning on bringing an Ordinance to award death penalty to those
convicted of sexually assaulting a child.
The criminal law amendment ordinance seeks to amend the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the
Evidence Act, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act to introduce a new provision to sentence convicts of
such crimes punishment of death.
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have passed a Bill providing for death penalty to those
convicted of raping girls of 12 years and below.

A study by the National Law School of India University (NLSUI) also reported that
in 67% of child rape cases, the survivors gave up on the trial or changed their
statement. Therefore, introducing the death penalty in the POCSO Act will aggravate
this problem.

e-Vidhan project:
 e-Vidhan is a mission mode project to digitize and make the functioning of State
Legislatures in India paperless.
 It is a part of the broader Digital India Programme of the Government and is likely to
contribute to the cleanliness & environment by reducing the use of papers to a great
extent.
 The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs is the Nodal Ministry for the project.

In 2014, Himachal Pradesh became the first state in the country to implement e-
Vidhan as a pilot project.

Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP)

What is MAP?
MAP is an alternative available to taxpayers to resolve disputes giving rise to double
taxation, whether juridical or economic in nature. An agreement for avoidance of double
taxation between countries would give authorisation for assistance of Competent
Authorities (CAs) in the respective jurisdiction under MAP.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (Nasa) is planning to award its first
contract for the lunar “Gateway” program in 2019.

Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway:

 The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway is Nasa’s planned “staging” area intended for
studies of the moon and the deep-space environment. Eventually, it will function as a
way station for astronauts travelling to and from Mars.
 The Gateway would also further Nasa’s goal of another human landing on the moon
and will help determine whether water near the surface could be used to manufacture
propellant for deep-space missions.
The Centre has set up a Defence Planning Committee (DPC) chaired by National
Security Advisor (NSA) to facilitate “comprehensive” planning for the defence forces
besides focusing on military doctrines to deal with emerging security challenges.

About the DPC:

The DPC will be a permanent body chaired by the National Security Advisor.

The committee will comprise:

 National Security Advisor (NSA).
 Foreign secretary.
 Chairman of chiefs of staff committee.
 The Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs.
 Secretary (expenditure) in the Finance Ministry.
The chairman of the DPC can co-opt experts into it depending on requirement.

Functions of the committee:

 Prepare drafts of national security strategy and doctrines, international defence
engagement strategy and roadmap to build defence manufacturing ecosystem.
 Work on strategy to boost defence exports, and prioritised capability development
plans for the armed forces.
 Analyse and evaluate all relevant inputs relating to defence planning and foreign
policy imperatives besides focusing on defence acquisition and infrastructure
development plans including the 15-year-long integrated perspective plan.
 Work on development of Indian defence industry and technology advancements.
Gram Swaraj Abhiyan” is being organised between 14th April to 05th May, 2018.
 The campaign, undertaken under the name of “Sabka Sath, Sabka Gaon, Sabka
Vikas”, is to promote social harmony, spread awareness about pro-poor initiatives of
government,

The salient features of the draft CRZ Notification, 2018 and changes with respect to
CRZ Notification, 2011, are as under:
CRZ limits on land along the tidal influenced water bodies has been proposed to be
reduced from 100 meters or the width of the creek, whichever is less, to 50 meters or the
width of the creek, whichever is less.
A No Development Zone (NDZ) of 20 meters has been proposed to be stipulated for all
Islands close to the main land coast and for all Backwater Islands in the main land.
For CRZ-III areas, two separate categories have been proposed viz.: CRZ-III A –
Densely populated rural areas with a population density of 2161 per square kilometre as
per 2011 Census. Such areas shall have an NDZ of 50 meters from the HTL as against
200 meters from the HTL stipulated in the CRZ Notification, 2011. CRZ-III B – Rural
areas with population density of below 2161 per square kilometre as per 2011 Census.

Coastal Regulation Zone or CRZ is a coastal land up to 500m from the High Tide Line
and a range of 100m along banks of creeks, estuaries, backwaters and rivers subject to
tidal fluctuations is CRZ. According to Coastal Regulation Zone notifications, it is
divided into 4 zones:
 CRZ I – It refers to the ecologically sensitive areas, essential in maintaining
ecosystem of the coast. These lie between the HTL and LTL. Only exploration of
natural gas and extraction of salt is permitted.
 CRZ II – These areas form up to the shoreline of the coast. Authorized structures are
not allowed to be constructed in this zone.
 CRZ III – This includes rural and urban localities. Only certain activities relating to
agriculture and public utilities allowed here.
 CRZ IV – This includes the aquatic area up to the territorial limit (12 nautical miles).
Fishing and allied activities permitted in this zone. Solid waste can be let off in this
zone.
.

Kayakalp awards:
Context: Kayakalp awards were recently given to felicitate Public Health Facilities for
maintaining high standards of sanitation and hygiene.
About Kayakalp awards: Kayakalp – Award to Public Health Facilities” was instituted as
part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on 15th May 2015 as a National Initiative to give
Awards to those public health facilities that demonstrate high levels of cleanliness,

Google has partnered with 3D laser scanning nonprofit CyArk to help preserve historical
sites around the world that are at risk of irreversible damage or total erasure due to human
conflict and natural disasters. The joint effort, called the Open Heritage project

3. ‘Insider trading’
It is considered detrimental to the health of financial systems and has been declared
illegal in several nations because the trading agents have access to valuable non-public
information about a corporation.
It is different from Speculation
 Speculation is the practice of engaging in risky financial transactions in an attempt to
profit from fluctuations in the market value of a tradable good. It is not illegal. Also,
insider trading can be more than speculation and can even be a genuine investment.
the Blue Charter on Ocean Governance and on the Commonwealth Connectivity Agenda
for Trade and Investment, which could together counter China’s Belt and Road
Initiative=----Towards a Common Future”, the “Blue Charter on Ocean Governance” and
a “Connectivity Agenda for Trade and Investment”

‘Swell waves’ are massive ripples that form on the sea due to winds coming from as far
away as Madagascar (big waves formed due to prolonged wind action). They might
appear to be tsunami-like waves but have completely different characteristics.

 Swell: These are series of surface gravity waves that are generated not by the
immediate local wind, but by distant weather systems, where wind blows for a
duration of time over a fetch (the uninterrupted distance of open water over which the
wind blows without significant change in direction) of water.
swell waves have dispersed from their generation area, have dissipated and therefore lost
an amount of randomness, taking on a more defined shape and direction.

India-UK partnership in the areas healthcare, innovation, digitization, electric mobility, clean energy, and
cyber security. Under the theme of “Living Bridge”, I will also have the opportunity to meet people from
various walks of life who have enriched the multi-faceted India-UK relationship.
The first Indo-Nordic Summit will focus on promoting a rules-based international order
in the backdrop of China’s attempts to dominate sea lanes of communication that might
impact global free trade. The five Nordic countries are Sweden, Norway, Finland,
Denmark and Iceland…”

Nordic countries and India, and focused their discussions on key issues related to global
security, economic growth, innovation and climate change

Nordic solutions in clean technologies, maritime solutions, port modernisation, food

processing, health, life-sciences and agriculture were mentioned.

7-star rating-Designed on a SMART approach:

 SINGLE METRIC - Rating criteria encapsulates all components of MSWM as

well as plastic waste, waste in drains and water bodies
 MEASURABLE - Criteria under each star rating has measurable parameters
(e.g.% of HHs covered by D2D collection, % of waste processed, etc.)
 ACHIEVABLE - Each criteria and associated parameter has been devised to
ensure that it is realistically achievable by cities.
 RIGOROUS VERIFICATION - Robust 2-step verification mechanism of both
self-declaration and third party verification. Cities rated 1, 2 and 4-star must carry
out self-assessment and self-verification, while 3-star, 5-star and 7-star cities will
 need to be certified through an independent third party. Moreover, a city should be
ODF before going for 3-star and above certification.
 TARGETED TOWARDS OUTCOMES – Based on verifiable outcomes rather
than inputs and processes (e.g. remediation of dumpsites, regular sweeping,
collection of user charges, etc.)

Meeting of the Development Committee (DC) of the World Bank Group and the IMF
and the Restricted Session of the International Monetary and Finance Committee
(IMFC) were recently held in Washington D.C.
IMF Board of Governors is advised by two ministerial committees, the
International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) and the Development
Committee.
IMFC:
 Composition: The IMFC has 24 members, drawn from the pool of 187 governors. Its
structure mirrors that of the Executive Board and its 24 constituencies. As such, the
IMFC represents all the member countries of the Fund.
 Functions: The IMFC meets twice a year, during the Spring and Annual Meetings.
The Committee discusses matters of common concern affecting the global economy
and also advises the IMF on the direction its work.

Development committee:
 The Development Committee is a joint committee, tasked with advising the Boards
of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank on issues related to economic
development in emerging and developing countries.
 The committee has 24 members (usually ministers of finance or development)

South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF)

SASCOF was established as a platform where meteorologists from South Asian
Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries along with
Myanmar, could discuss some of the common weather and climate-related matters

A Fugitive Economic Offender is a person against whom an arrest warrant has been
issued in respect of a scheduled offence and who has left India so as to avoid criminal
prosecution, or being abroad, refuses to return to India to face criminal prosecution.
A scheduled offence refers to a list of economic offences contained in the Schedule to
this Ordinance.
Sunderbans:
The Indian Sunderbans, with 2,114 sq. km. of mangrove forests, comprise almost 43% of
the mangrove cover in the country according to a 2017 Forest Survey of India report.

: Earth Day was celebrated on April 22nd across the globe. It is considered to be the
largest secular world event.
Theme of Earth Day 2018: End Plastic Pollution.
Background: This day was first celebrated on April 22, 1970
G7 foreign ministers’ summit:
Context: G7 foreign ministers’ summit is being held in Toronto. Participants discussed
tensions with Moscow, Iran and North Korea.
About G7:
 The Group of 7 (G7) is a group consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,
the United Kingdom, and the United States. The European Union is also represented
within the G7.
The Cabinet approved the inclusion of Jains in the list of notified minority
communities under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act,
1992 in addition to the five communities already notified as minorities under the
same section. These communities are Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Sikhs
a Maharashtra and West Bengal are the only states in India to have granted the
Jewish communities minority status.
And Zoroastrians (Parsis).