Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas
• The Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas is a collection of images, text, and
Prelim Booster News
Discussion
1 November, 2018
Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas
• The Atlas is prepared by World Wide Fund for Nature.
• It indicates risk index which takes in to account, threats from loss of above-
ground diversity, pollution and nutrient over-loading, over-grazing, intensive
agriculture, fire, soil erosion, desertification and climate change.
• The two key drivers of biodiversity loss were the over exploitation of natural
resources and agriculture.
• The risk index shows India among countries whose soil biodiversity faces the
highest level of risk.
• The report highlighted that, while India’s per capita ecological footprint was
less than 1.75 hectares/person (which is in the lowest band, among countries
surveyed) its high population made it vulnerable to an ecological crisis.
• The other countries which are placed along with India - Pakistan, China, several
countries in Africa and Europe, and most of North America.
• The findings under this are part of the bi-annual Living Planet Report 2018.
figures presenting the importance of soil biology to policy makers,
experts, and general readers alike.
Financial Stability and Development Council
• The council has met recently to discuss the issue of real interest
rate, current liquidity situation.
• FSDC was established in 2010 with Union Finance Minister as its
Chairman.
• Its members include
• i. the heads of financial sector regulators (RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, and
IRDA)
• ii. Finance Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs
• iii. Secretary, Department of Financial Services
• iv. Chief Economic Adviser
• v. Chairman of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board
 Financial Stability and Development Council
• FSDC has two core functions:
• i. to perform as an apex level forum to strengthen and
institutionalize the mechanism for maintaining financial stability
• ii. to enhance inter-regulatory coordination and promote financial
sector development in the country
• It focus on financial literacy and financial inclusion.
• It monitor macro-prudential supervision of the economy and also
assess the functioning of the large financial conglomerates.
• FSDC sub-committee is chaired by the Governor of RBI.
Question
• With reference to ‘Financial Stability and Development Council’,
consider the following statements :
• It is an organ of NITI Aayog.
• It is headed by the Union Finance Minister.
• It monitors macro-prudential supervision of the economy.
• Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
• (a) 1 and 2 only
• (b) 3 only
• (c) 2 and 3 only
• (d) 1, 2 and 3
Dal-Nageen Lake
• J&K administration has appointed an official for
conducting a comprehensive bathymetric survey
(study of underwater depth of lake or ocean
floors) of the Dal-Nageen lake.
• The Nageen lake in Srinagar is a deep blue water
offshoot of the Dal lake that is interconnected by
a thin causeway.
• The lake is located to the east of the city of
Srinagar, at the foothill of the Zabarwan
Mountain.
• The Nageen lake is surrounded by a large
number of willow and poplar trees.
• Hence, it has been referred as a "nageena",
which means "the jewel in the ring".
Multidimensional Poverty Index
• MPI is a measure that takes into account the incidence of poverty
and the extent of deprivation.
• It is calculated by Oxford Poverty and Human Development
Initiative and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• The MPI value ranges between 0 and 1 and the value of 1 indicates
the highest deprivation level, while 0 indicates the lowest.
• It has been calculated for 105 developing economies.
• India’s MPI stood at 0.121 in 2016, half of what it was in 2006.
• India’s MPI is lower than the global average of 0.159 and the South
Asian countries but higher than BRICS countries (excluding Russia).
Multidimensional Poverty Index INS Tarangini:

• The sail training ship of Indian Navy, INS

Tarangini based at Kochi, has returned after a
seven month long sailing across the world to a
grand reception at naval base, Kochi.
• The Voyage named “Lokayan 18” was flagged off
on 10 Apr 18 from Kochi. During the voyage, the
ship travelled across 15 ports in 13 countries.
• The ship sailed across the Arabian Sea, Red Sea,
Suez Canal, Mediterranean Sea, Strait of
Gibraltar, North Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Biscay,
English Channel and North Sea, right up to
Norway.

Multidimensional Poverty Index

Prelim Booster News

Discussion
2 November, 2018
 Kepler Telescope
• The Kepler Space telescope has run out of fuel and will be retired nearly after 9-year
mission.
• It is an observatory in space dedicated to finding planets outside our solar system.
• It was originally launched in 2009 as part of NASA’s Discovery Program.
• It was approved far beyond its original mission length and was operating well until
May 2013, when a second of its four reaction wheels or gyroscopes failed.
• It targets particularly alien planets that are around the same size as Earth in the
“habitable” regions of their parent star.
• Since 2009, it has discovered extra-solar planets in the range between the size of
Earth and Neptune.
• It was the first telescope to find a planet (Kepler-69c) approximately the size of
Earth in the habitable region of a star.
• It examined the TRAPPIST-1 system which likely has multiple Earth-sized planets in it
between December 2016 and March 2017.

National Action Plan for Conservation of Migratory Birds
• Union government has come out with a 5-year national action plan to
conserve habitats of migratory birds.
• It specifically covers species which take long distances from Siberia in Russia
to make the country their temporary home during winter.
• The action plan is brought out by Union Environment Ministry which spans
2018-2023.
• It is meant for coordinated actions among states for securing and enhancing
population of migratory birds in India within their range across the Central
Asian Flyway (CAF).
• A flyway is a geographical region within which a single or a group of migratory
species completes its annual cycle
• CAF is one of the 9 flyways in the world.
• CAF covers northernmost breeding ground in Siberia to the southernmost
non-breeding grounds in west and south Asia, the Maldives and the British
Indian Ocean Territory.
Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
• IIP for the month of September 2018 stood at 4% higher compared to IIP of
September 2017.
• IIP denotes the level of economic activity in different sectors, including
manufacturing, mining and power.
• IIt is calculated by Central Statistical Office (CSO) under Ministry of Statistics
and Program Implementation.
• The base year for calculating IIP is 2011-12.
• The total number of items in IIP is 809 within major categorization of
manufacturing, mining and electricity.
• The manufacturing is given the highest weightage (77%) followed by mining
(14%) and electricity (7%).
• Within IIP, there are 8 core industries which includes Coal, fertilizer,
electricity, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, steel, and cement.
• These 8 core industries comprise 40% of the weight of items included in IIP.
 Parker Solar Probe
• Parker Solar Probe has become the closest spacecraft ever to Sun.
• It passed its current record of 26.55 million miles from the Sun's surface
recently.
• The previous record for closest solar approach was set by the German-
American Helios 2 spacecraft in April 1976.
• Parker mission is a historic one as it is flying into the sun's atmosphere
(or corona) for the first time.
• The corona is the outermost part of the sun's atmosphere that is
unstable, producing the solar wind
• It may also ascertain why the Sun occasionally emits high-energy
particles that are a danger to unprotected astronauts and spacecraft.
• In 2017, NASA renamed the spacecraft from the Solar Probe Plus to the
Parker Solar Probe in honor of astrophysicist Eugene Parker.
 SECURE Himalaya

• The SECURE Himalaya project was launched by the union government

in association with the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP).
• It is a six-year project to ensure conservation of locally and globally
significant biodiversity, land and forest resources in the high Himalayan
ecosystem spread over four states in India.
• It includes Changthang (Jammu and Kasmir), Lahaul - Pangi and Kinnaur
(Himachal Pradesh), Gangotri - Govind and Darma - Byans Valley in
Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) and Kanchenjunga - Upper Teesta Valley
(Sikkim).
• UNDP has recently launched a competition for tagline and illustration
with the theme “Protecting Wildlife, Preserving Landscapes and
Empowering Communities in the High altitude Himalaya”.

SECURE Himalaya

• The key focus areas of the project is protection of snow leopard and
other endangered species and their habitats and also securing
Prelim Booster News livelihoods of people in region and enhancing enforcement to
reduce wildlife crime.
Discussion • Under it, enhanced enforcement efforts and monitoring will be
undertaken to curb illegal trade in some medicinal and aromatic
4 November, 2018 plants which are among most threatened species in these
landscapes.
 MoU among BRICS Nations
• BRICS is an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil,
Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• Union Cabinet has recently given its ex-post facto approval for the MoU
among BRICS nations, regarding Cooperation in the Social and Labour Sphere.
• The MoU provides a mechanism for cooperation, collaboration and maximum
synergy with the common objective of inclusive growth and shared prosperity
in the new industrial revolution.
• The BRICS members are all leading developing or newly industrialized
countries, but they are distinguished by their large, sometimes fast-growing
economies and significant influence on regional affairs.
• All five are G-20 members.
• Since 2009, the BRICS nations have met annually at formal summits.
• Recently, the 10th BRICS summit was held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

UNDP Question
• UNDP, an UN organization formed in 1965, is to help countries eliminate
• With reference to a grouping of countries known as BRICS, consider
poverty and achieve human development.
the following statements
• The status of UNDP is that of an executive board within the United
• 1. The First Summit of BRICS was held in Rio de Janeiro in 2009.
Nations General Assembly.
• 2. South Africa was the last to join the BRICS grouping.
• UNDP also encourages the protection of human rights and the
empowerment of women in all of its programmes. • Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
• The UNDP Human Development Report Office also publishes an annual • (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
Human Development Report (since 1990) to measure and analyze • (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
developmental progress.
 Renaming of Jharsuguda Airport in Odisha
• The Union Cabinet has approved renaming of Jharsuguda Airport in Odisha as
“Veer Surendra Sai Airport, Jharsuguda”.
• Veer Surendra Sai who is well-known freedom fighter and a tribal leader of
Odisha.
• Born in 1809 in Khinda in Sambalpur, he was direct descendant of Madhukar
Sai and was legally entitled to be crowned as king of Sambalpur after demise
of king Maharaja Sai in 1827.
• But he was not acceptable to British power and ignored his claim for
succession.
• He revolted against the British for throne after it allowed widow of Madhukar
Sai Rani Mohan Kumari to succeed him
• The aim of Surendra Sai’s revolt was to drive the British out of Sambalpur.
• His revolution against the British commenced from 1827 when he was only 18
years of age and continued till 1862 when he surrendered and even after that,
until he was finally arrested in 1864.
Renaming of Jharsuguda Airport in Odisha
Earth BioGenome Project
• International biologists have launched Earth BioGenome Project (EBP)-
an ambitious project to read all the DNA in each of the world’s known
animal, plant and fungal species over the next 10 years, sequencing
1.5m different genomes at an estimated cost of $4.7bn.
• The Earth BioGenome Project plans to record the genomes — the DNA
blueprint of life — of 1.5 million species of animal, plant, protozoa and
fungi within a decade.
• So far, 19 research institutions around the world have signed up to take
part in the EBP and more plan to join.
• They expect to read the full DNA sequence of all the world’s eukaryotic
species — organisms whose cells have a nucleus enclosed by
membranes.
• These are animals, plants, fungi and protozoa, which encompass all of
life except simple microbes (bacteria and archaea).
 National Sports Stadium for differently-abled World’s first sovereign Blue Bond by Seychelles

• Government to set up National

Sports Stadium for differently-
abled in Meghalaya:
• The centre has announced that
a stadium of international
standard for differently-abled
persons will be set up in
Meghalaya.

World’s first sovereign Blue Bond by Seychelles

• The Republic of Seychelles has launched

the world’s first Sovereign Blue Bond, a
financial instrument designed to
support sustainable marine and
fisheries projects.
Prelim Booster News
• With this, Seychelles became the first
nation to pioneer such a novel financing
Discussion
instrument. 5 November, 2018
• The bond raised USD 15 million from
international investors.
• The bond demonstrates the potential
for countries to harness capital markets
for financing the sustainable use of
marine resources.
 Aipan
• It is a traditional folk art in the state of
Uttarakhand.
• It is the traditional terracotta and white
motifs drawn on floors and walls on
ceremonial occasions.
• It consists of rhythmic geometrical
patterns on a terracotta painted base.
• A tiny organisation is trying to revive the
domestic interest in this traditional folk
art.
• The Kordylewski clouds are two
mysterious swarms of dust trapped
between the competing gravitational
fields of Earth and the Moon.
• These clouds occupy positions that
are called Lagrange points.
• In 1961, Polish astronomer Kazimierz
Kordylewski became the first scientist
to claim photographic evidence of
this dust accumulation phenomenon.
• Recently, team of scientists captured
evidence of these clouds at Lagrange
point L5.
Lagrange Points
• A Lagrange point is a location in space where the combined gravitational forces of two
large bodies, such as Earth and the sun or Earth and the moon, equal the centrifugal force
felt by a much smaller third body.
• The interaction of the forces creates a point of equilibrium where a spacecraft may be
"parked" to make observations.
• There are five Lagrange points around major bodies such as a planet or a star.
• Three of them lie along the line connecting the two large bodies
• The first point, L1, lies between Earth and the sun and gets an uninterrupted view of the
sun and free from the occurrence of eclipses.
• India's Aditya Satellite is placed at L1 point.
• The James Webb Space Telescope will move into L2 point in 2018.
• The third Lagrange point, L3, lies behind the sun, opposite Earth's orbit. For now, science
has not found a use for this spot.
• Points L4 and L5 are stable and lie along Earth's orbit at 60 degrees ahead of and behind
Earth and dust and asteroids tend to accumulate in these regions due to its stability.
• Asteroids that surround the L4 and L5 points are called Trojans and Earth’s only known
Trojan asteroid, 2010 TK7 is found in the region.
Planetary Nebula
• A planetary nebula is formed when a star
like our Sun, or a few times heavier, is in
its dying days.
• The term was coined by astronomers in
the 19th century since the nebula looked
like planets through their telescopes.
• Indian astrophysicists have recently
discovered planetary nebula called “NGC
6302” using Ultra -Violet Imaging
Telescope (UVIT) onboard AstroSat.
• The nebula is popularly known as the
Butterfly Nebula.
 AstroSat
• AstroSat is a space observatory launched by ISRO in 2015.
• It was launched with a lift-off mass of about 1500 kg by PSLV-C30.
• It is India’s first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory.
• Most other scientific satellites can observe only a narrow range of
wavelength band.
• But AstroSat enables the simultaneous multi-wavelength
observations of various astronomical objects with a single satellite.
• It observes universe in the optical, Ultraviolet, low and high energy
X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT mission are:
• To understand high energy processes in binary star systems
containing neutron stars and black holes
• Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars
• Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems
lying beyond our galaxy
• Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky
• Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the Ultraviolet
region
Orion Spacecraft
• Orion spacecraft is being designed by NASA to take humans deeper into
space than ever before.
• It is the next-generation vehicle that the US is developing to carry
astronauts to the Moon and on to Mars.
• It is scheduled to be launched in 2020.
• It is known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1).
• European industry has recently handed over a key part of the spaceship
infrastructure to NASA.
• This is the first time America has gone outside its shores for such an
important piece of human spaceflight hardware
• The European Service Module (ESM) is essentially Orion's back end.
• ESM will provide propulsion, an electricity supply, thermal control, and
all the gases and water needed to sustain any humans riding inside the
capsule.
 Operation Greens

• Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) has recently

approved the operationalisation strategy for Operation Greens.
• Operation Greens was announced in the Budget 2018-19 with an
outlay of Rs. 500 crores.
Prelim Booster News
• The main objective of the project is to reduce price volatility in agri
commodities such as vegetables.
Discussion
6 November, 2018
• It aims to stabilize the supply of Tomato, Onion and Potato(TOP)
crops and to ensure availability of TOP crops throughout the country
round the year without price volatility.
• It is to promote farmer producers organizations, agri-logistics,
processing facilities and professional management.
 OSIRIS-Rex
• After two years travelling through space, the NASA OSIRIS-REx
spacecraft has started to obtain images of the mission target,
primitive asteroid Bennu.
• The launch of the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission took place on
September 8, 2016.
• Since then, the spacecraft has been two years travelling through
space to reach its target, primitive asteroid Bennu, in October, 2018.
OSIRIS-Rex
• OSIRIS-Rex stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource
Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer.
• OSIRIS-REx is the third mission in NASA’s New Frontiers program,
which previously sent the New Horizons spacecraft zooming by
Pluto and the Juno spacecraft into orbit around Jupiter.
• OSIRIS-REx will spend two years travelling towards Bennu, arriving
at the asteroid in August 2018.
• The probe will orbit the asteroid for 3 years, conducting several
scientific experiments, before returning to Earth, with the sample
capsule expected to land in Utah, USA in September 2023.
OSIRIS-Rex
Palau becomes first country to ban sunscreen to save coral
reefs:
• The Western Pacific nation of Palau has
become the first country to ban many kinds
of sunscreen, in a move to protect its coral
reefs from chemicals that scientists say cause
significant damage.
• Under the ban, which will take effect in 2020,
“reef-toxic” sunscreen — defined as
containing one of 10 prohibited chemicals,
• a list that could grow later — can be
confiscated from tourists when they enter the
country, and retailers who sell it can be fined
up to $ 1,000.
 Saura Jalnidhi scheme
• Odisha Government has launched Saura Jalnidhi scheme to encourage use
of solar energy in irrigation by farmers.
• The beneficiary of this scheme will be farmers who have valid farmer
identity cards and have minimum 0.5 acres of agricultural land.
• Under this scheme, farmers will be given 90% subsidy and 5,000 solar
Prelim Booster News
pumps.
• This will provide irrigation benefits in 2,500 acres of the state. Discussion
• In the first phase, this scheme will be available in those areas where 9 November, 2018
electricity is not available for running the pump set.
• The scheme will generate 1.52 lakh human day employments annually and
provided livelihood to around 5,000 families and also reduce carbon
footprints.
• Under this scheme, farmers will be provided with a well-equipped solar
pump irrigation system in convergence mode.
• It will help to reduce burden of input cost on farmers and also increase
agricultural income

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
• Giving a boost to China’s long standing demand, Pakistan recently said that it
supported active participation of China at the platform of the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
• China has a status of an observer state in South Asia, however an observer
state can get involve with SAARC members on specific initiatives, but they do
not have voting rights. China entered SAARC as an observer in 2005,
supported by most member states.
• If China is given a greater role, India fears that its neighbours will come
together to oppose the country’s interests, particularly under the influence of
Pakistan and China.
• It has been agreed that China’s entry in SAARC as a full-member can give a
push to SAARC to grow as a regional bloc as China’s global economic influence
can help SAARC in international forum.
• But, growing alliances between China and Pakistan may work against India
and which will hamper the regional progress.
• It has also been feared that China may block the projects which are both
strategically and economically important for India.
Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar
• ISRO has inaugurated the Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar
(DWR) at Sriharikota spaceport.
• It provides advanced information, enhances the lead-time essential
for saving lives and property in the event of a natural disaster
associated with severe weather.
• While conventional radars are able to track and predict cyclones,
the DWR provides detailed information on a storm’s internal wind
flow and structure.
• The polarimetric capability of the radar will significantly improve
the accuracy of rainfall estimation leading to accurate and timely
flash flood warnings.
 Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radar
State of Ozone Layer
• A new UN report has unveiled that ozone layer is finally beginning
to heal from all the damages caused by anthropogenic means.
• Scientists across the world have raised the alarm about the impact
of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on ozone layer in the 1980s.
• In 1987, countries around the world agreed in the Montreal
Protocol to phase out CFCs and businesses came up with
replacements for spray cans and other forms of the harmful
chemicals.
• As a result of it, the upper ozone layer above the Northern
Hemisphere should be completely restored in the 2030s.
• The report has highlighted that, a gaping hole in the ozone over the
Antarctic won’t disappear until later in the 2060s.
State of Ozone Layer
Oumuamua
• Two researchers from Harvard University have claimed that a cigar-
shaped rock zooming through our solar system may have been sent
by aliens.
• Oumuamua is the first interstellar object known to enter our solar
system.
• It accelerated faster away from the sun than expected.
• This artificial sunlight known as “Light sail” may be responsible for
the excess acceleration of the object.
 Oumuamua Central Tribal University

• Union Cabinet has recently approved setting

up of a Central Tribal University in Andhra
Pradesh.
• The decision was made according to the
provision provided under the 13th Schedule
to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act,
2014.
• The proposed university will come up after
necessary amendments in the Central
Universities Act.

International Space Station

• The International Space Station is a collaboration between the U.S.,
Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan.
• It has been in operation since 1998 and due to be retired in 2024.
• China has recently unveiled a core module of its space station which is
Prelim Booster News
expected to be completed by 2022.
• It is named “Tiangong” or “Heavenly Palace” with 3 astronauts placed
Discussion
permanently. 11 November, 2018
• China will have the only space station in orbit after ISS expires in 2024.
• Tiangong will be much smaller than the ISS which weighs 400 tonnes.
• It weighs 60 tonnes and will have the lifespan of around 10 years.
• China has announced that the lab would be open to “all countries” to
conduct science experiments.
 Disqualification of MLA Explanation
• Kerala High Court has recently declared the election of Indian Union Muslim • Statements 1 and 3 are incorrect:
League (IUML) from the Azhikode assembly constituency for indulging in
corrupt practices. • If any question arises regarding disqualification of a member, the
• He was disqualified for corrupt practices covered under the Section 123(3) President's decision, in accordance with the opinion of the Election
and 123(4) of Representation of People’s Act 1951. Commission, shall be final.
• Under section 123 of RPA, if a candidate or his agent appeals for votes on • Statement 2 is correct: Under Article 102 of the Indian Constitution,
religious, caste, community, race and language grounds, it would amount to Parliament can make laws regarding disqualification.
corrupt practice
• The court declared the election of MLA citing that he appealed to the voters
to vote for muslim community candidate.
• The court also disqualified him from contesting any election for period of 6
years.
• The findings of the court will be forwarded to the President for appropriate
action.

Question Myanmar Port Development by China

• Consider the following statements: • China has signed a multi-billion-dollar deal with Myanmar to build a port
• 1. In order to decide the disqualification of a Member of the parliament, at a strategic town along the coast of the Bay of Bengal.
the President must take the opinion of the Supreme Court. • It will build the deep sea port project in Kyaukpyu town after
• 2. According to the Constitution, Parliament can make laws regarding negotiations dragged for years.
disqualification. • Under the framework agreement, China will fund 70% of the investment
• 3. Election Commission can take suo-moto decision to disqualify a for the project and Myanmar will pitch in the remaining 30%.
member of either House. • This new framework agreement marks step for the China proposed Belt
• Which of the statements given above is/are not correct? and Road Initiative (BRI).
• (a) 1 only • China is also developing deepwater strategic Gwadar port in Pakistan in
the Arabian Sea which faces the Mumbai coast.
• (b) 1 and 3 only
• It has also acquired Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port on debt swap in the
• (c) 2 and 3 only Indian Ocean.
• (d) 1, 2 and 3
 Myanmar Port Development by China
Report on Child deaths
• International Vaccine Access Centre (IVAC) has recently released Pneumonia
and Diarrhoea Progress Report”.
• The report was released ahead of the 10th World Pneumonia Day on
November 12.
• The report looked at progress in fighting pneumonia and diarrhoea in 15
countries which accounted for 70% of global pneumonia and diarrhoea
deaths in children under five.
• Globally, pneumonia and diarrhoea led to nearly one of every four deaths in
children under five years of age in 2016.
• According to the report, India continues to have the highest burden of
pneumonia and diarrhoea child deaths in the world.
• India’s progress – Coverage of Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (Hib) vaccine
and introduction of rota virus vaccine led to improvement in addressing
diarrhoea deaths.
• Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) was introduced in 2017 under
Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP) to address pneumonia.
Simbex
• It is Singapore – India Maritime
Bilateral Exercise.
• This year edition is scheduled to be
organized in Andaman Sea and Bay
of Bengal.
• This year edition Simbex-18 marks
silver jubilee of this maritime
exercise and it is the largest edition
since 1994.
Advanced Motor Fuels Technology Collaboration Programme
• The programme is under the International Energy Agency.
• It is an international platform for co-operation among countries to promote
cleaner and more energy efficient fuels & vehicle technologies.
• The programme provides an opportunity for fuel analysis, identifying new/
alternate fuels for deployment in transport sector and allied R&D activities
for reduction in emissions in fuel intensive sectors.
• Union Cabinet has recently approved India’s membership in this programme.
• The aim of joining this by Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is
• To facilitate the market introduction of Advanced motor fuels/ Alternate fuels
• To bring down emissions and achieve higher fuel efficiency in transport
sector.
• India is the 16th member of the programme and other members are USA,
China, Japan, Canada, Chile, Israel, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Finland,
Denmark, Spain, Republic of Korea, Switzerland and Thailand.
 Global Cooling Innovation Summit

Prelim Booster News

Discussion
12 November, 2018

Global Cooling Innovation Summit Ralph

• It is going to be inaugurated by Ministry of Science and Technology in New Delhi. • It is a space instrument launched by NASA to explore outer solar
• It is a first-of-its-kind solution focussed event to explore ways to address the system.
climate threat that comes from the growing demand from room air conditioners.
• Global cooling prize - Mission Innovation challenge will be launched in this summit.
• It was first launched aboard the New Horizons spacecraft in 2006.
• It aims to spur development of a residential cooling solution that has at least five • It revealed images of Jupiter and its moons and Pluto.
times less climate impact than today's standard. • In 2021, Ralph is set to journey with the Lucy mission to Jupiter’s
• The objective of the competition is to develop a cooling technology that Trojan asteroids.
1. Requires radically less energy to operate,
• It will study this diverse group of bodies and will detect trojan
2. Utilizes refrigerants with no ozone depletion potential and with low global
warming potential, and asteroid’s chemical foot prints.
3. Cost-effective at scale. •.
• It is organised by Union Ministry of S&T along with Rocky Mountain Institute,
Alliance for An Energy Efficient Economy (AEEE), Conservation X Labs and CEPT
University.
 Lucy Mission Privatisation of Airports

• Lucy is NASA’s robotic mission to explore asteroids.
• IT will explore the environment of Jupite's Trojan asteroids
• Lucy will be the first space mission to study the Trojans and it will be
launched in 2021.
• Trojans are bodies that are present in Lagrange points.
• Union Cabinet has recently given in principle approval for operating,
managing and developing 6 non-metro airports under Public Private
Partnership (PPP).
• The airports are Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati,
Thiruvananthapuram and Mangaluru.
• At present, airports at Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and
Cochin are managed under the PPP model.
• The Airports Authority of India (AAI) will hold a minor stake in 6 new
airports under PPP, just like it does at the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
• The private player will hold at least 75 per cent stake.

Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities 2018

• It is a three-day event organised in Delhi by Ministry of Social Justice

and Empowerment in association with Rehabilitation International
Korea.
• Youth with disabilities from 18 countries have participated in the
Prelim Booster News
event.
• India has been participating in the event since 2013.
Discussion
12 November, 2018
• It is to leverage IT skills among youth with disabilities and to spread
awareness about the application of ICT in enhancing the quality of
life of persons with disabilities.
• It is a capacity building project that helps youth with disabilities to
overcome their limitations.
 Supercomputer
• The world’s largest supercomputer designed to work in the same
way as the human brain has been switched on for the first time.
• SpiNNaker machine – Spiking Neural Network Architecture is
capable of completing more than 200 million million actions per
second, with each of its chips having 100 million transistors.
• It is designed and built in The University of Manchester in the UK.
• In real time, it can model more biological neurons (basic brain cells
in the nervous system that communicate by pure electro-chemical
energy) than any other machine on the planet.
• SpiNNaker Vs Traditional computers - Traditional computers
communicate by sending large amounts of information from point A
to B via a standard network.

Supercomputer
 Supercomputer Tissue Chips in Space

• Whereas SpiNNaker mimics the massively parallel communication
architecture of the brain, sending billions of small amounts of
information simultaneously to thousands of different destinations.
• It will help neuroscientists better understand how our own brain
works.
• It is an initiative by NASA to better understand the
role of microgravity on human health.
• Under this, NASA is planning to send small devices
containing human cells in a 3D matrix known as
“tissue chips or organs-on-chips” to the
International Space Station (ISS).
• It is to test how they respond to stress, drugs and
genetic changes.
• Tissue chips is made of flexible plastic with ports
and channels to provide nutrients and oxygen to
the cells inside them.
• It is expected to behave much like an astronaut’s
body, experiencing the same kind of rapid change.

GSAT – 29
• ISRO is planning to put communication satellite GSAT – 29 from Sriharikota.
• GSAT – 29 is a 3,500 kg communication satellite for providing high quality
internet services.
• It is one of the planned Indian HTS (High Throughput Satellites) quartet. HTS
are sent out to provide improved and faster internet connectivity.
• It will be launched by GSLV –MKIII – D2, which is a three stage (Solid- Liquid
– Cryogenic) heavy lift launch vehicle.
• It is designed to carry 4 ton class of satellites into Geosynchronous Transfer
Orbit (GTO) or about 10 tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which is about twice
the capability of GSLV Mk II.
• The lifespan of the satellite is 10 years.
• It is the second test flight of GSLV –MkIII-D2 carrying the satellite.
 Mission Venus

Prelim Booster News

• ISRO has opened up for its “Mission Venus” seeking experiment ideas Discussion
from space agencies, universities and researchers. 13 November, 2018
• It is planned to be launched in Mid-2023.
• It plans to study the planet from an elliptical orbit that is closest to
Venus at 500 km and 60,000 km at the farthest end.
• If the project is approved would be ISRO’s third interplanetary mission
after Chandrayaan – 1 and Mars Orbiter Mission.

National Monogenic Diabetes Study Group Samudra Shakti

• It is a national body which has been recently setup to identify cases of
monogenic diabetes across the country. • It is a bilateral naval exercise between India
and Indonesia.
• Monogenic diabetes is a group of disorders where mutation of a single gene
• It is going to be organised at port of
causes diabetes. Surabaya, Java.
• The three commonest forms of it - Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young • Indian Naval Ship Rana is going to
(MODY), Neonatal Diabetes Mellitus (NDM) and Congenital Hypoglycaemia. participate in this year edition of the
• Supported by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the Maras exercise.
Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) and Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities • The aim of the exercise is to strengthen
Centre (DMDSC) will be the national coordinating centre for the study group. bilateral relations, expand maritime co-
• The study group has been formed with Madras Diabetes Research operation, enhance interoperability and
Foundation (MDRF) as a nodal center. exchange best practices.
• Under this initiative, MDRF would provide guidelines to the collaborators for • India and Indonesia shares “Comprehensive
identifying monogenic diabetes. Strategic Partnership”.
 Question Point Calimere Sanctuary

• Which of the following is geographically closest to Great Nicobar ? • It is the only Ramsar site in the State of Tamil Nadu.
• (a) Sumatra • It is a haven for migratory birds and resident species.
• (b) Borneo • Chemical companies and small-scale shrimp farms around the wetland have
started to pose a threat to the biodiversity and ecosystem of the sanctuary.
• (c) Java
• Atmospheric temperature, pH and salinity exceeded the permissible limits for
• (d) Sri Lanka ecologically sensitive zones.
• The presence of salt pans around the sanctuary lead to increase in salinity of
the waters.
• Previous studies show that, high acidic or high alkaline water can affect the
metabolic and developmental activities of wild animals and birds.
• Coliform microbial infection in the birds have also been reported which can
cause a change in their natural behaviour and even affect their long-distance
migration.

Map Point Calimere Sanctuary

 Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Energy Efficiency Services (EESL)
signed a USD 13 million grant to set up Energy Efficiency Revolving Fund.
• The fund is to be administered by ADB.
• It aims to expand and sustain investments in the energy efficiency
market in India, build market diversification, and scale up existing
technologies.
• Global Environment Facility (GEF) will provide the additional financing
for the ongoing projects under this fund.
• Additional grants from GEF will be used by EESL for making investments
in new and emerging technologies.
• EESL is under the administration of Ministry of Power and is working
towards mainstreaming energy efficiency.
INSPIRE
• The 2nd edition of INSPIRE (International Symposium to Promote
Innovation & Research in Energy Efficiency ) was recently inaugurated.
• It is being organised by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and
World Bank.
• Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), The Energy & Resources Institute
(TERI), Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP) are the other collaborators for the
symposium.
• It focuses on enhancing grid management, e-Mobility, financial
instruments and technologies for energy efficiency in India.
• Awards for InnovateToINSPIRE, a first-of-its-kind energy innovation
challenge, was also given in the symposium.
UNESCO Asia-Pacific award for conservation
• UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation have
been announced.
• Various awardees:
• Award of Distinction: Restoration of LAMO Center from a state of
partial ruin in Ladakh.
• Honourable Mention: Rejuvenation of iconic Rajabai Clock Tower and
Ruttonsee Muljee Jetha Fountain in Mumbai, along with a project in
China.
• Award of Excellence: Shijo-cho Ofune-hoko Float Machiya, of Kyoto,
Japan.
• New Design in Heritage Contexts: Kaomai Estate 1955, Chiang Mai
(Thailand) and Harts Mill, Port Adelaide, (Australia).
Important Titbits for Prelims:
• Mumbai has won 19 recognitions since the inception of the awards in
2000 – the most for any city in India
• Launched in 2000, Unesco Asia-Pacific awards for cultural heritage
conservation programme is aimed at acknowledging the efforts taken
to restore and conserve historical structures without affecting their
heritage value in the region comprising 48 countries.
• The awards are classified under four categories — Award of Excellence,
Awards of Distinction, Awards of Merit and Award for New Design in
Heritage Context.
• They are being given to encourage the efforts of all stakeholders and
the public in conserving and promoting monuments and religious
institutes with rich heritage in the Asia-Pacific region.
 LEAP Initiative

• It will be implemented through 15

NIRF top ranked Indian Institutions
Prelim Booster News namely, IIT Roorkee; IIT Kanpur; NIT
Trichy; IISER Kolkata; JNU; IIT
Discussion (BHU); Delhi University; IIT
Bombay; TISS Mumbai; University
14 November, 2018 of Hyderabad ; NIEPA, IIT
Kharagpur; Jamia Milia Islamia;
BHU; and AMU.
• The implementation will be through
top ranked universities and top 100
global ranked foreign universities.

LEAP Initiative ARPIT initiative

• Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) was recently launched
by Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
• It is a three weeks flagship leadership development training programme.
• LEAP is being coordinated as an annual programme by IIT Kharagpur
• The objective is mainly to train academic heads who are potentially
likely to assume leadership roles in the future.
• Its focus group is second level academic functionaries in public funded
higher education institutions.
• It would include both domestic and foreign training in managerial skills
such as problem-solving, handling stress, team building work, conflict
management, developing communication skills etc.
• Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT) was recently launched by
Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
• It is a unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher
education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM.
• National Resource Centres (NRC) will be identified to prepare online training
material.
• NRC will be in a mixed range of institutions such as, Central Universities, IISc,
IUCAA, IITs, IISERs, NITs, IGNOU, State Universities, UGC’s Human Resource
Development Centres (HRDCs) and National Institutes for Technical Teachers
Training.
• It will focus on latest developments in the discipline, new & emerging trends,
pedagogical improvements and methodologies for transacting revised
curriculum.
• SWAYAM - Study Webs of Active learning for Young Aspiring Minds is a
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platform launched to offer various
online courses for school education and higher education.
 Global Digital Content Market
• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) organises Global Digital
Content Market (GDCM).
• It is a conference to showcase the latest opportunities and challenges in the
creative industries and, changes brought about by digital technologies.
• This year, the special focus of the conference is Asia-Pacific region.
• India has been chosen as a host nation for the conference by WIPO.
• Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) hosts this conference in
New Delhi.
• This is the 2nd edition of the conference. The first one was hosted in Geneva,
2016.
• It will feature panel sessions on music, education publishing, broadcasting and
digital inclusion.
• It will see participation of professionals from various creative fields, the digital
industry around the world and delegates of the diplomatic community from
Missions to the United Nations.

INDRA Global Digital Content Market

• It is a bilateral joint military exercise

between India and Russia.
• It is joint tactical level operations in the
peace keeping / enforcement environment
under the aegis of UN.
• It is being organised in Babina Military
station, India.
• This year edition is the 10th exercise in the
series of Exercise INDRA.
• INDRA - 2018 focuses on combating
insurgency under the aegis of United
Nations (UN).
 ExoMars

• ExoMars is a joint space venture between European Space Agency and

Russian space agency Roscosmos to Mars.
• The ExoMars programme comprises 2 missions.
• The first mission was launched in 2016 and consists of the Trace Gas
Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli, an entry, descent and landing demonstrator
module.
• The second mission is planned to be launched in 2020 and comprises a
rover and surface science platform.
• The rover that will carry a drill and a suite of instruments dedicated to
search for possible existence of life beyond earth and geochemistry
research.
• It is likely to land on Mars’ equator called Oxia Planum, which had housed a
massive pool of water in the prehistoric era.

PM-STIAC
• Prime Minister has recently interacted with the members of Science,
Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
• It is a 21-member panel, advise the Prime Minister on all matters
related to S&T, innovation and monitor the implementation of PM’s
vision on the same.
Prelim Booster News
• It is chaired by government’s Principal Scientific Advisor. Discussion
• It is expected to act as a high-level advisory body to several ministries
and execute mission-oriented programmes. 15 November, 2018
• Secretaries of various scientific ministries such as education,
environment and health would be ‘special invitees’ to the council
meetings.
• Scientific Advisory Committees (SAC) - Cabinet and SAC-PM was
dissolved and replaced by PM-STIAC
 National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges
• The Council which been set up under POSHAN Abhiyaan, it is the
apex body to formulate overall policies, guide and monitor all
nutrition based schemes.
• The Council will submit its report to the Prime Minister every six
months.
• The mandate of the Council is:
• To provide policy directions to address India’s Nutrition Challenges
• To coordinate and review convergence among ministries
• To review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis
Poshan
• Ministry : Ministry of Women and Child Development
• POSHAN stands for Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic
Nutrition.
• Aims to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for
pregnant women, mothers and children.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan in March 2018.
• It targets to reduce level of under-nutrition and other related problems
by ensuring convergence of various nutrition related schemes.
• It also targets stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia (among young
children, women and adolescent girls) and low birth rate.
• It will monitor and review implementation of all such schemes and
utilize existing structural arrangements of line ministries wherever
available.
Yuva Sahakar Scheme
• National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) has introduced
Yuva Sahakar-Cooperative Enterprise Support and Innovation Scheme.
• This is a youth friendly scheme which will attract youths to cooperative
business ventures.
• The scheme will be linked to Rs 1000 crore ‘Cooperative Start-up and
Innovation Fund (CSIF)’ created by the NCDC.
• The NCDC has the unique distinction of being the sole statutory
organisation functioning as an apex financial and developmental
institution exclusively devoted to cooperative sector.
• It supports cooperatives in diverse fields apart from agriculture and
allied sectors.
• It is an ISO 9001:2015 compliant organisation and has a distinctive edge
of competitive financing.
 Exercise Dharma Guardian 2018
• Dharma Guardian is an exercise for
fostering military and diplomatic ties
between India and Japan.
• The primary focus of the exercise was to
train and equip the contingents to
undertake joint counter insurgency and
counter terrorist operations in urban and
semi urban terrain.
• The exercise provided and ideal platform
for broadening the interoperability and
cooperation between armies of India and
Japan.
World Diabetes Day
• World Diabetes Day (WDD) was created by International Diabetes
Federation (IDF) and the World Health Organization in response to
growing concerns about the escalating health threat posed by
diabetes.
• It is marked every year on 14 November, the birthday of Sir
Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles
Best in 1922.
• The campaign promote the importance of taking coordinated and
concerted actions to confront diabetes as a critical global health
issue.
Sail Together
• A sailing expedition to retrace the maritime trade route of yesteryears
between the Malabar Coast and the Persian Gulf has started from
Kochi.
• The voyage has been planned over a distance of 1200 nm from Kochi to
Muscat and back.
• The route honours the socio-cultural and maritime history that is shared
among populations across the Indian Ocean as a result of this trade.
• The Royal Omani Vessel Zinat-al-Bihaaralong with two Indian Naval
Sailing Ships Sudharshini, Tarangini, with one each “Sea Rider” from Sri-
Lanka, China, United Kingdom, Australia, Bangladesh and Maldives are
participating in this ‘Sail Together’.
ExoMars
• ExoMars is a joint space venture between European Space Agency and
Russian space agency Roscosmos to Mars.
• The ExoMars programme comprises 2 missions.
• The first mission was launched in 2016 and consists of the Trace Gas
Orbiter (TGO) and Schiaparelli, an entry, descent and landing
demonstrator module.
• The second mission is planned to be launched in 2020 and comprises a
rover and surface science platform.
• The rover that will carry a drill and a suite of instruments dedicated to
search for possible existence of life beyond earth and geochemistry
research.
• It is likely to land on Mars’ equator called Oxia Planum, which had
housed a massive pool of water in the prehistoric era.
 Question

• ExoMars, a two-part Martian astrobiology project to search for

evidence of life on Mars is a joint mission of the European Space
Agency (ESA) and ______________
• a) NASA
• b) ISRO
• c) SpaceX
• d) ROSCOMOS

Question

• Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) is a collaborative Mars Mission between

• a) Russian and European Space Agency
• b) JAXA and NASA Prelim Booster News
• c) NASA and ISRO
• d) None of the above
Discussion
15 November, 2018
 Himalayan State Regional Council
• NITI Aayog has recently constituted the Himalayan State Regional Council.
• It is to ensure sustainable development of the Indian Himalayan region.
• The council is chaired by a member of NITI Aayog.
• The Himalayan State Regional Council will be chaired by the Dr VK Saraswat
• The members of the council are Chief Secretaries of the Himalayan States as
well as the Secretaries of key Central Ministries, senior officers of NITI Aayog
as well as special invitees.
• It will be the nodal agency for the Sustainable development in the Himalayan
Region.
• The region consists of the twelve States namely J&K, Uttarakhand, Himachal
Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Sikkim, Tripura, 2 districts of Assam and West Bengal.
• It has been constituted to review and implement identified action points
based on the Reports of five Working Groups.
• It shall monitor the implementation of action points for Central Ministries,
Institutions and 12 Himalayan State Governments.
Himalayan State Regional Council
Indian Health Fund
• It is an initiative led by Tata Trusts, in collaboration with The Global Fund.
• It endeavours to leverage the power of collective impact to eradicate
tuberculosis (TB) by 2025 and malaria by 2030 from India.
• It supplements the government’s efforts to fight the epidemics.
• Tata Trusts is a section 8 company registered under the Companies Act, 2013.
• The Global Fund is an international financing organisation which is
headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• It focuses on accelerating the additional resources to end the epidemics of
HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria.
• India contributes to 27 per cent of the global TB burden and 68 per cent of all
malaria cases in the Southeast Asia region.
• Recent development – India Health Fund has recently announced that it has
chosen 4 innovators to effectively tackle eradicate the diseases.
 Question

• Consider the following statements about India Health Fund (IHF)

• 1. It is an initiative led by Tata Trusts, in collaboration with The Global
Fund
• 2. It supports innovations and technologies designed to combat
public health challenges of tuberculosis (TB) and malaria in India
• Select the correct statements

Draft Resolution on Death Penalty Young Champions Award

• United Nations General Assembly has recently approved a resolution on
death penalty.
• It was approved with a recorded vote of 123 in favour, 36 against and
30 abstentions.
• India has voted against the draft resolution saying it goes against the
statutory law of the country where an execution is carried out in the
"rarest of rare" cases.
• Singapore has introduced an amendment on behalf of 34 countries.
• The amendment reaffirmed the countries' sovereign right to develop
their own legal system, including determining appropriate legal
penalties, in accordance with their international law obligations.
• India voted in favour of this amendment.
• NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and UNICEF India have
announced “Young Champion Award”.
• The awards were presented to the top six most innovative solutions
which were shortlisted through the Atal Tinkering Marathon.
• The marathon was launched by Atal Tinkering Labs established
under AIM.
• It is a nationwide challenge across 6 different thematic areas - clean
energy, water resources, waste management, healthcare, smart
mobility and agri-technology.
• It is to encourage students to observe community problems and
develop innovative solutions.
 Sail Together

• A sailing expedition to retrace the maritime trade route of

yesteryears between the Malabar Coast and the Persian Gulf has
started from Kochi.
• The voyage has been planned over a distance of 1200 nm from Prelim Booster News
Kochi to Muscat and back.
• The route honours the socio-cultural and maritime history that is Discussion
shared among populations across the Indian Ocean as a result of
this trade. 18 November, 2018
• The Royal Omani Vessel Zinat-al-Bihaaralong with two Indian Naval
Sailing Ships Sudharshini, Tarangini, with one each “Sea Rider” from
Sri-Lanka, China, United Kingdom, Australia, Bangladesh and
Maldives are participating in this ‘Sail Together’.

Maternity Incentive Scheme

• Maternity Benefit Act was amended in 2017 to increase paid maternity
leave from 12 to 26 weeks for all women employees in establishments
employing 10 or more people.
• The implementation of the act was good in public sectors, but it was
poor for those with private sector or contract jobs.
• In a bid to encourage private employers, Ministry of Labour and
Employment is working on an incentive scheme.
• Accordingly, the government would bear the cost of maternity leave
wages for 7 weeks for women workers with a wage ceiling up to
Rs.15,000 per month.
• The ministry is in the process of obtaining budgetary approvals.
 ExseedSAT – 1
• t is a CubeSat mission by the Indian private space company Exseed
Space.
• It is going to be launched by Spacex, a private aerospace company,
from California satellite launch pad.
• ExseedSAT is about to make history, as it will be the first Indian
Private entity satellite to be launched by Spacex.
• It will be launched on board SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
• The satellite with a communication payload, will provide a major
boost to ham radio operators in the country.
• It will be placed in a sun-synchronous low-earth orbit.
• It is expected to have a life of 2 years, depending up on how long
the battery lasts and when the satellite de-orbits naturally.
 NBFC-ND-IFC
• RBI has classified Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) in to 4
categories.
• They are Asset Finance Companies, Loan companies and Investment
Companies and Infrastructure Finance Companies (IFCs).
• An IFC is defined as Non-Deposit taking NBFC (NBFC-ND) that fulfils
following criteria,
• A minimum of 75% of its total assets should be deployed in
infrastructure loans,
• Net owned funds of Rs. 300 crore or above,
• Minimum credit rating 'A' or equivalent of CRISIL, FITCH, CARE,
ICRA or equivalent rating by any other accrediting rating agencies and
• CRAR (Capital to Risk Weighted Assets ratio) of 15 % with a minimum
Tier I capital of 10 percent.

India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL)

• Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Government of India has recently
signed $300 million Loan Agreement to support lending by IIFCL.
• IIFCL is a wholly-owned Government of India company set up in 2006.
• It has been registered as a NBFC-ND-IFC with RBI since September 2013.
• It provides long term finance to viable infrastructure projects – Both
Greenfield and Brownfield projects.
• It provides refinance to banks and other eligible financial institutions for
their loans to infrastructure projects.
• The sectors eligible for financial assistance from IIFCL are as per the
harmonized list of Infrastructure Sub-Sectors as approved by the
Government and RBI.
• It broadly includes transportation, energy, water, sanitation,
communication, social and commercial infrastructure.
 Aadi Mahotsav Qaumi Ekta Week
• It is a national tribal • The “Qaumi Ekta Week” (National
festival organised by Integration Week) will be observed all
Ministry of Tribal Affairs over the country, from 20 to 25th
and TRIFED. November, 2018.
• The theme of the festival – • The objective of the celebration is to
“A Celebration of the Spirit foster and reinforce the spirit of
of Tribal Culture, Craft, Communal Harmony, National
Cuisine and Commerce”. Integration and pride in vibrant,
composite culture and nationhood.
• It features exhibition -cum-
sale of tribal handicrafts, • This occasion also provides an
art, paintings, fabric, opportunity to reaffirm age old
jewellery and much more traditions and faith in the values of
through 100 stalls. tolerance, co-existence and brotherhood
in a multi-cultural and multi-religious
society.

National Foundation for Communal Harmony

• The National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH), an

autonomous organisation with the Ministry of Home Affairs,
Prelim Booster News organises Communal Harmony Campaign coinciding with the Qaumi
Ekta Week.
Discussion • The Foundation promotes Communal Harmony and strengthens
National Integration.
19 November, 2018 • It also provides financial assistance for relief and rehabilitation of
children rendered orphan or destitute in communal, caste, ethnic or
terrorist violence.
 Elephant Hospital GROWTH
• India’s first fully equipped dedicated
elephant hospital has been established in
Farah block of Mathura, complete with
wireless digital X-Ray, laser treatment and
dental X-ray facilities.
• The ‘jumbo’ hospital is the result of a
collaborative effort between the Uttar
Pradesh Forest Department and conservation
NGO Wildlife SOS.
• The hospital complex includes an observation
area for the overnight monitoring of
elephants under treatment using Close
Circuit Infra-Red CCTV cameras.

GROWTH Question

• GROWTH is a 0.7 m India telescope at the Indian Astronomical • Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) I located in
Observatory located in Hanle, Ladakh. which of the
• The telescope is potentially fully robotic and can operate on its own. • following countries?
• It can ‘slew’ or move its focus from one part of the sky to another in • a) United States of America
just about 10-15 seconds and its camera can view stellar objects • b) China
that are thousands to millions of light years away.
• c) Puerto Rico
• Recently the telescope has made its first science observation which
is a follow-up study of a nova explosion. • d) Germany
• This recurrent nova, named M31N-2008, has been observed to
erupt several times.
 Question Rani Lakshmi Bai
• Consider the following statements about Giant Metrewave Radio
Telescope (GMRT) • Rani Lakshmi Bai was the famed
• 1. It is an array of thirty fully steerable parabolic radio telescopes of 45 monarch of Jhansi, at the time of birth
metre diameter, observing at metre wavelengths, located near Pune she was named Manikarnika.
• 2. It is operated by the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, a part of • She was married at the age of 14 years
the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai to the King of Jhansi ‘Gangadhar Rao
• Which of the following statements is/are correct? Newalkar’.
• a) Only 1 • She became one of the front ranking
• b) Only 2 leaders of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
• c) Both 1 and 2 with the help of Tatya Tope, a friend
and mentor of the Queen and one of
• d) Neither 1 nor 2 the generals in the rebel army.

Novae and Supernovae World Toilet Day

• Novae are explosive events involving violent eruptions on the • The Swachh Bharat Mission
surface of white dwarf stars, leading to temporary increase in (Grameen) will celebrate World
brightness of the star. Toilet Day with mass awareness
and mobilization activities across
• Unlike a supernova, the star does not go on to die but returns to its States and districts.
earlier state after the explosion, such an explosion is when the inner • The objective is to engage with
material of the star is thrown out communities and reaffirm the
• Transient phenomena such as supernovae are important parts of national resolve to sustain the
time-domain astronomy which is a less-explored frontier in Sanitation achievement.
astronomy. • World Toilet Day was established
by the World Toilet Organization in
2001. Twelve years later, the UN
General Assembly declared World
Toilet Day an official UN day in
2013

Prelim Booster News
Discussion
20 November, 2018
Remission of Convicts
• Three girls of TN Agricultural University were burnt alive when their bus was
set afire by 3 after Jayalalithaa was convicted in a corruption case in 2000.
• Three convicts were initially sentenced to death, but the punishment was
commuted to life in prison by the Supreme Court 2 years ago.
• They were recently granted remission and set free.
• TN governor cleared the government’s recommendation to release them
prematurely.
• The Governor had earlier returned the file seeking remission of their life
sentence for reconsideration by the government.
• However, the State sent back the file sticking to its stand, following which
the governor accepted the recommendation to release them.
• Legal provision – Section 433A deals with the restriction of powers of
remission or commutation in certain cases.
• It says that, a sentence of death imposed on a person has been commuted
under section 433 into one of imprisonment for life, such person shall not be
released from prison unless he/she had served at least 14 years of
imprisonment.
Remission of Convicts
Pardoning Terms
• Pardon - It removes both the sentence and the conviction and
completely absolves the convict from all the sentences, punishments
and disqualifications.
• Commutation - It denotes the substitution of one form of punishment
for a lighter form.
• Remission - It implies reducing the period of sentence without changing
its character.
• Respite - It denotes awarding a lesser sentence in place of one originally
awarded due to some special fact, such as the physical disability of
convict or the pregnancy of a woman offender.
• Reprieve - It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence (especially
that of death) for a temporary period.
• Its purpose is to enable the convict to have time to seek pardon or
commutation from the President/Governor.
 Most Luminous Galaxy Global Fight on Malaria

• Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
(ALMA) telescope in Chile has recently observed
the most luminous galaxy in the Universe.
• The light from this galaxy, known as W2246-
0526, took 12.4 billion years to reach Earth.
• Its brightness is not due to its stars rather it is
powered by a tiny energetic disk of gas that is
being superheated as it spirals in on the
supermassive black hole.
• The light from the energetic disk is then
absorbed by the surrounding dust which re-
emits the energy as Infrared light.
• There are 5 parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and 2 of
these species P. falciparum and P. vivax pose the greatest threat.
• It is preventable and curable.
• An infected mother can also pass the disease to her baby at birth.
This is known as congenital malaria.
• Malaria is transmitted by blood, so it can also be transmitted
through:
• an organ transplant
• 2. a transfusion
• 3. use of shared needles or syringes

Global Fight on Malaria Igla-S missile

• The World Health Organisation in its recent report has revealed that • Igla-S is a Russian man-portable
global efforts to fight Malaria stalled.
Surface to Air missile.
• The number of cases of the disease climbed by 2 million to 219
million in 2017. • Russia has recently bagged the
• The international funding to fight the disease has declined in the contract of Indian Army’s bid for
recent years. air defence missile.
• Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium • IGLA-S very-short range air
parasites. defence missile system
• It is transmitted to people through the bites of infected female (VSHORADS ..
Anopheles mosquitoes.
• The mosquito transmits the parasite in to bloodstream and after it
gets matured it begin to infect red blood cells.
 Telescope to View Kartarpur Sahib
• The government has decided to install a
high-powered telescope along the India-
Pakistan border for devotees to view
kartarpur sahib in Punjab.
• It is organized to mark the 550th birth
anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the
founder of Sikh faith.
• Kartarpur sahib, one of the holiest
shrines, is the final resting place of Guru
Nanak.
• The telescope would be installed by the
Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology.
International Tourism Mart
• International Tourism Mart is an annual event organized in the
North Eastern region with the objective of highlighting the tourism
potential of the region in the domestic and international markets.
• It brings together the tourism business fraternity and entrepreneurs
from the eight North Eastern States.
• The International Tourism Marts are organized in the North Eastern
States on rotation basis, this year the 7th edition of International
Tourism Mart will be held in Agartala, Tripura.
• The earlier editions of this mart have been held in Guwahati,
Tawang, Shillong, Gangtok and Imphal.

Prelim Booster News

Discussion
21 November, 2018
 New species of Indian horned frogs from Himalayan regions: SIMBEX and Vajra Prahar’
• Scientists have discovered four new species of Indian horned frogs
from Himalayan regions of Northeast India. • SIMBEX is the Maritime
Bilateral Exercise between • Vajra Prahar’ is a Indo-US
• Horned frogs get their name from fleshy horn-like projection on upper Special Forces joint training
eyelids of some species Singapore and India, held in the
Bay of Bengal. exercise conducted alternately
• They were discovered in the forests of Meghalaya and Arunachal in India and the US.
Pradesh. • Indian Navy Hawk Jet fighters
• Scientists have named them as Himalayan horned frog (Megophrys and INS Shakti has participated
himalayana), Garo white-lipped horned frog (Megophrys oreocrypta); in the exercise. • The 2018 edition of this exercise
Yellow spotted white-lipped horned frog (Megophrys flavipunctata) • SIMBEX 18 marks the largest has commenced at Mahajan
and Giant Himalayan horned frog (Megophrys periosa). edition of these exercises thus Field Firing Range (MFFR),
• These frogs vary in size — yellow spotted white-lipped horned frog far which have been progressing Bikaner in Rajasthan.
measures about 5.7-7.5 cm and is smallest among four. Giant uninterrupted for the since
Himalayan horned frog measures about 7.1 to 11.2 cm, making it inception in 1994.
largest of 15 horned frog species found in Northeast India.

New species of Indian horned frogs from Himalayan regions: Largest Sugar Producer

• Brazil traditionally the world’s top sugar

producer, this year the output from the
nation will tumble 21 percent to 30.6
million tons due to adverse weather
• By this India will hold the title of world’s
largest sugar producer for the first time in
16 years.
• However Brazil is expected to remain the
top exporter, followed by Thailand.
•
 UPSC 1996 River Delta in Mars

• Which one of the following is an important crop of the Barak valley? • NASA has picked an ancient river delta
(a) Jute (b) Tea as the landing site for its un-crewed
• (c) Sugarcane (d) Cotton Mars 2020 rover.
• The landing site is named as Jezero
Crater, it was filled with a 500-meter
deep lake that opened to a network of
rivers some 3.5 to 3.9 billion years ago.
• The delta is a good place for evidence of
life to be deposited and then preserved
for the billions of years that have
elapsed since this lake was present.
•.

UPSC 2008

• Consider the following statements:

• 1. Chikmagalur is well-known for sugar production.
• 2. Mandya is well-known as a coffee producing region.
• Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
• (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
• (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
 Sentinelese Tribe
• An American man has been killed by an endangered sentinelese tribe in
India's Andaman and Nicobar islands.
• The Sentinelese belongs to negrito tribe who live on the North Sentinel
Island of the Andamans.
• They have been fiercely hostile to outside contact.
• The Govt. of India issued the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of
Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956.
• According to the regulations,
1. Traditional areas occupied by the tribes are declared as Reserves
2. It prohibited entry of all persons to reserves except those with
authorisation.
3. Photographing or filming the tribe members is also an offence.
• The rules were amended later to enhance penalties. But restricted area
permits were relaxed for some islands recently.

Sentinelese Tribe

Prelim Booster News

Discussion
21 November, 2018
 Ease of Doing Business Grand Challenge
• It was launched to resolve 7 identified ‘Ease of doing business’
problems with the use of cutting edge technologies.
• The platform for the Grand Challenge is the Startup India Portal.
• The objective is to tap the potential of young Indians, startups and
other private enterprises to provide solutions to complex problems
using current technology.
• Ease of doing business report is published by World Bank.
• India’s rank in 2018 has recorded a jump of 23 positions against its
rank of 100 in 2017 to be placed at 77th rank among 190 countries.
• India has improved its rank by 53 positions in the last two years and
65 positions in the last four years (2014-18).
Bhudhaar
• Andhra Pradesh government has
recently launched “Bhudhaar”
initiative.
• It aimed at enabling easy
identification of details of the land
parcel.
• Under this, each land parcel will be
given a Bhudhaar number, an 11-digit
unique figure.
• It would put an end to irregularities in
land registration and corruption in
revenue department.
BASIC Nations Meeting
• Environment ministers and climate change negotiators from Brazil,
South Africa, China and India (BASIC) countries has recently
convened in Delhi.
• They aimed at pushing Climate finance from developed countries.
• Developed countries have committed to providing $100 billion
annually from 2020 as part of their NDC.
• Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) are the commitments
made by countries to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions.
• It is ahead of the 24th United Nations Conference of Parties (COP)
meeting at Katowice, Poland in December, 2018.
• It will specify how countries will agree to take forward
commitments taken at the 21st COP in Paris in 2015.
APEC Meet
• The recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was held in
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
• The meeting was topped by disputes between the US and China over trade,
security and which would be the better investment partner for the region.
• APEC is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free
trade throughout the Asia Pacific region.
• It is headquartered at Singapore.
• It was established due to growing inter dependence among Asia Pacific
regions, increasing regional trade blocs, to diffuse growing power of Japan.
• The criterion for membership is that the member is a separate economy,
rather than a state and the result of it is the inclusion of Taiwan.
• APEC also includes three official observers: ASEAN, the Pacific Islands Forum
and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council
• India is not in the grouping.
 Institution’s Innovation Council
• Ministry of Human Resource and Development has recently
launched Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) programme.
• Under the programme, innovation cell at AICTE is going to be
established at AICTE.
• It will systematically foster the culture of Innovation in all Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs) across the country.
Prelim Booster News
Discussion
23 November, 2018
World’s Oldest Rock Art
• Australian Scientists have recently found
the world’s oldest figurative art in a cave in
Indonesia.
• The cave art on the island of Sulawesi is
estimated to be about 40,000 years old.
• This discovery challenges the idea that the
oldest artwork had originated in Spain and
France.
• There is a theory that human capacity for
abstract thinking originated in Europe, but
the new discovery makes the case that this
development was occurring in Asia at the
same time.
 India’s Oil Sourcing Networks Manipur Sangai Festival
• US administration has granted India Sangai festival is an annual cultural extravaganza in manipur.
and 7 other countries waivers on
purchase of oil from Iran.
• Saudi Arabia is India’s top exporter for To promote manipur as a world class tourism destination
crude oil followed by Iraq, Nigeria,
Venezuala.
‘Festival’ is named after the state animal
• Iran is placed 5th for the last six years
though imports from Iran have
increased in recent years. Sangai[engendered],
• Vadinar in Gujarat has handled the
most crude oil imports.
The brow-antlered "deer" found in its natural habitat only at keibul
• It is followed by Sikka , Jamnagar in lamjao national park,manipur
Gujarat and Paradip in Odisha.

Indira Gandhi Peace Prize Manipur Sangai Festival

• Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development is the
prestigious award accorded annually by Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust.
• Individuals or organisations in recognition of efforts towards
promoting international peace, development and a new international
economic order, scientific discoveries used for the larger good of
humanity and enlarging the scope of freedom will be awarded.
• Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) was awarded this year’s
prize.
• CSE is an Environmental NGO and a public interest research and
advocacy organisation based in New Delhi.
• It was awarded for its pioneering work in the field of environmental
education and protection and also for keeping the issue of
environmental sustainability at the forefront of national attention and
public policy.
 Question

• Which of the following National Parks is unique in being a swamp

with floating vegetation that supports a rich biodiversity?
• (a) Bhitarkanika National Park Prelim Booster News
• (b) Keibul Lamjao National Park
• (c) Keoladeo Ghana National Park Discussion
• (d) Sultanpur National Park 25 November, 2018

She box
• The Ministry of Women and Child
Development has linked SHe-Box, to all the
Central Ministries, Departments and districts
across all States/Union Territories.
• SHe-Box is an online complaint management
system for registering complaints related to
sexual harassment at workplace.
• The complaint management system has been
developed to ensure the effective
implementation of Sexual Harassment of
Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act (the SH Act),
2013.
• Once a complaint is submitted to the portal, it
will be directly sent to the Internal
Complaints Committee (ICC) of the concerned
Ministry/Department/PSU/Autonomous Body
etc. having jurisdiction to inquire into the
complaint.
 Ken-Betwa Link Project Transgenic Rice
• Ken River is one of the major rivers of the • CSIR-National Botanical Research
Bundelkhand region of central India, it Institute have developed transgenic rice
originates from Kaimur Range in Jabalpur by inserting a novel fungal gene.
district.
• The new innovation will results in
• Betwa River or Betravati is a tributary of the reduced arsenic accumulation in rice
Yamuna, It rises in the Vindhya Range, north grain.
of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh
• In India large number of people are
• The Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) is India’s affected by arsenic toxicity,
first river linking project started in 2017.
• it is imperative to develop rice with lesser
• It aims to transfer surplus water from the Ken arsenic content and high yield.
River in MP to Betwa in UP to irrigate the
drought-prone Bundelkhand region spread
across the two states.

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau Guru Nanak Dev - Guru from 1469 to 1539

• Wildlife Crime Control Bureau is a statutory body established by the
Government of India under the MoEFCC, to combat organized wildlife
crime in the country.
• Under Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, it is mandated:
• To collect and collate intelligence related to organized wildlife crime
activities.
• To disseminate the same to State and other enforcement agencies for
immediate action so as to apprehend the criminals.
• To establish a centralized wildlife crime data bank.
• Co-ordinate actions by various agencies in connection with the
enforcement of the provisions of the Act.
• Recently WCCB has received United Nation’s Environment award.
• Guru Nanak Dev, first of the 10 gurus, founded
the Sikh faith, introducing the concept of one
God.
• He started the institution of Guru Ka Langar.
• Langar is the term in the Sikh religion refers to
the common kitchen where food is served to
everyone without any discrimination.
• He emphasized the equality of women and
rejected the path of renunciation and he
rejected the authority of the Vedas.
• He was the contemporary of Mughal emperor -
Babur.
 Question ACROSS Scheme

• Consider the following Bhakti Saints: [2013 - I] • Atmosphere & Climate Research-Modelling Observing Systems &
Services (ACROSS) scheme was recently approved by the Cabinet
• 1. Dadu Dayal Committee.
• 2. Guru Nanak • It is an umbrella scheme with 9 sub schemes.
• 3. Tyagaraja • It will be implemented by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)
through its institutes.
• Who among the above was/were preaching when the Lodi dynasty
fell and Babur took over? • Its objective is to provide a reliable weather and climate forecast for
betterment of society.
• (a) 1 and 3 (b) 2 only • It pertains to the atmospheric science programs of the MoES and
• (c) 2 and 3 (d) 1 and 2 addresses different aspects of weather and climate services, which
includes warnings for cyclone, storm surges, heat waves,
thunderstorms etc.

ACROSS Scheme

• Each of the above aspects is incorporated as 9 sub-schemes under

the umbrella scheme "ACROSS".
Prelim Booster News • The schemes will be implemented in an integrated manner by 4
institutes –
Discussion 1. India Meteorological Department (IMD),
26 November, 2018 2. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM),
3. National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting
(NCMRWF), and
4. Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Service (INCOIS)
 Survey on Biodiversity in Andaman & Nicobar Question
• Zoological Survey of India has recently published a report on faunal diversity • Which one of the following pairs of islands is separated from each
of islands of India.
other by the ‘Ten Degree Channel’?
• It is the first time in India that database of all faunal species found in
Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) island has been documented.
• It proves that the A&N island, comprising only 0.25% of India’s geographical • Andaman and Nicobar
area, are home to more than 10% of the country’s fauna species.
• Nicobar and Sumatra
• There are 1,067 endemic faunal species found only on the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands and nowhere else. • Maldives and Lakshadweep
• Some of the endemic species in the island are Narcondam hornbill, Nicobar • Sumatra and Java
megapode, the Nicobar treeshrew,the Long-tailed Nicobar macaque, and the
Andaman day gecko.
• The authors of the publication have highlighted that a long period of
isolation from the mainland made the islands hotspots for speciation
resulting in hundreds of endemic species and subspecies.

Survey on Biodiversity in Andaman & Nicobar World’s First Genetically Edited Babies
• A scientist in China claims to have
created the world's first
genetically-edited babies using
CRISPR technique.
• The twin girls born with their DNA
altered to prevent them from
contracting HIV.
• This kind of gene-editing is banned
in most countries as the
technology is still experimental
and DNA changes can pass to
future generations, potentially
with unforeseen side-effects.
 Goat Plague
• A smart vaccine has recently been developed for Goat Plague disease by the
researchers from UK and India.
• The vaccine has the potential to help eradicate goat plague, which causes
losses of billions of dollars a year. Prelim Booster News
• Goat plague is a highly contagious viral disease that afflicts goats and sheep
in many parts of the country. Discussion
• It is caused by a morbillivirus in the family of paramyxoviruses
27 November, 2018
• It kills small ruminants in large numbers unless they are vaccinated.
• Apart from India, goat plague is prevalent in many African countries, West
Asia, China and Mongolia.
• It is listed in the OIE (World organization for Animal Health) Terrestrial
Animal Health Code, and countries are obligated to report the disease to the
OIE.

Data City Programme PAISA

• The programme was launched by the State government of Karnataka
in Bengaluru.
• The programme aims at solving burning issues of the city using
innovative solutions developed by startups from a pool of
applications.
• It is a 7 month long programme where the corporates, startups,
government agencies and citizens will work closely to find solutions
of city’s growing issues.
• It is the first Data City programme launched in Asia.
• The State government has entered into a partnership with NUMA, an
international innovation and learning hub, and SUEZ, a France based
utility company for this project.
• Portal for Affordable Credit and Interest Subvention Access was
recently launched by Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
• It is a centralized electronic web platform for processing interest
subvention on bank loans to beneficiaries under Deendayal
Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM).
• Allahabad Bank is the nodal bank for this portal.
• It enables the government to connect directly with the beneficiaries
and ensuring greater transparency and efficiency in delivery of
services.
• All the States & UTs, all scheduled commercial banks, RRBs and
Cooperative Banks are expected to deploy this portal.
 NASA’s InSight spacecraft lands on red planet after six-month
journey
• InSight, a NASA spacecraft
designed to burrow beneath the
surface of Mars has landed on the
red after a six-month, 482 million-
km journey.
• It was NASA’s ninth attempt to land
at Mars since the 1976 Viking
probes.
• All but one of the previous U.S.
touchdowns was successful.
• NASA last landed on Mars in 2012
with the Curiosity rover.

About InSight Mission: Hausla – 2018

• InSight is part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the • It is the national festival for
agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. children of child care institutions
• It will be the first mission to peer deep beneath the Martian surface, (CCI) organized by the Ministry of
studying the planet’s interior by measuring its heat output and Women and Child Development.
listening for marsquakes, • The theme of the event is “Child
• which are seismic events similar to earthquakes on Earth. Safety”.
• It will use the seismic waves generated by marsquakes to develop a • It will host an inter CCI competition
map of the planet’s deep interior. for children who reside in child care
institutions to showcase their
talents.
 Migration Pact
• The Australian government has recently decided to withdraw from the
UN’s Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
• Earlier, USA, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland had withdrawn
from the agreement. Prelim Booster News
• The agreement was signed in the UNGA by adopting a political
declaration “New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants” in 2016. Discussion
• The declaration pledged to uphold the rights of refugees, help them
resettle and ensure they have access to education. 29 November, 2018
• The pact is not binding on member countries.
• It is aiming to make migration all over the world safer.
• It addresses issues such as how to protect migrants and how to
integrate them into new countries or how to return them to their
original home countries.

South Asia Regional Youth Peace Conference

• The conference will be organized by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan

Samiti (GSDS), functioning under Ministry of Culture.
• UNESCO MGEIP (Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace
and Sustainable Development) is in partnership with GSDS for
organizing this conference.
• It is being organized to mark the beginning of celebration of 150th
birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
• It focusses on building a network for young leaders from South
Asian countries to work towards achieving UN sustainable
development goals.
 Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti Chandrayaan – 2

• Union Defence Minister has launched

Mission Raksha Gyan Shakti (Power of
Defence Knowledge).
• It aimed at educating scientists and
technologists in defence public sector
undertakings and ordnance factories OFs
to create more patents.
• A target has been set to train
approximately 10,000 persons of OFs and
DPSUs on IPR in the financial year 2018-
19 under the mission.

Chandrayaan – 2 Logix India 2019

• The Chandrayaan-2 lunar’s orbiter with lander and rover is scheduled to be launched
in January, 2019.
• A crucial test before the launch called “Lander Sensor Performance Test (LSPT)” is
going to be conducted by ISRO.
• It involves lander’s sensors which is set to undergo test at Challakere, Karnataka.
• ISRO has planned to fly the sensor on an aircraft over its artificial lunar site at
Challakere, which resemble lunar craters.
• It is to test how the sensor will guide the lander when it starts descending on the
lunar terrain.
• As the plane descends over the artifical terrain, the sensors must show how they will
guide the soft landing of the lunar craft at the right spot, speed and position.
• Role of Sensor in the Lander – It helps assess height from the landing spot.
• It decides speed of the lander.
• It helps lander navigate boulder or uneven surfaces.
• It is the upcoming logistics meet to be held in New Delhi.
• Delegates from more than 20 countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq
are expected to participate.
• It will be organized by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO).
• It is aimed at exploring logistics partnerships with India and will improve
logistics cost effectiveness and operational efficiencies for India’s global
trade.
• It will focus on investment opportunities in infrastructure development,
warehouse consolidation, technology integration and IT enablement and
skilling of manpower.
• India is ranked 44 in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index 2018.
• Logistics costs in India are 13-15% of the product cost, while the global
average is 6%.
 CVF Virtual Climate Summit
• It is an innovative climate summit which is an entirely online event to be
a carbon neutral event.
• It is the world’s first ever political global meeting to be held in online.
• Its focus is on to renew political momentum in tackling climate change.
• It was announced in the Global Environment Facility (GEF) assembly
recently held in Vietnam.
• It is the brainchild of Marshall Islands President who insisted upon such
summit in the GEF assembly.
• The summit is convened by the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) in
its capacity as the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) chair.
• Its main aim is to encourage the international community to keep global
warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Climate Vulnerable Forum

• The climate vulnerable forum is an international partnership of
countries highly vulnerable to a warming planet.
• It brings together climate vulnerable developing countries from across
Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific. Prelim Booster News
• The forum held its first meeting in Maldives in the year 2009.
• CVF High-level meeting was last convened during the UNFCCC Climate Discussion
Change Conference in Paris (COP21).
29 November, 2018
• The Manila-Paris Declaration and the 2016-2018 Roadmap of the CVF,
adopted at this meeting, spell out the CVF’s planned efforts during this
time period.
• The forum has a rotating chairmanship that has been held by Maldives,
Kiribati, Bangladesh, Costa Rica and Philippines, Ethiopia and currently
held by Republic of Marshall.
 HysIS Satellite
• HysIS Satellite is India’s first hyperspectral imaging satellite for advanced
Earth observation, it was launched with the help of PSLV-C43 launcher.
• HysIS will study the Earth’s surface in visible, near-infrared and
shortwave infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, with a
mission life of about 5 years.
• HysIS will be ISRO’s first full-scale working satellite with this capability.
• A hyperspectral imaging camera in space can provide well-defined images
that can help to identify objects on Earth far more clearly than regular
optical or remote sensing cameras.
• The technology will be an added advantage of watching over India from
space for a variety of purposes such as defense, agriculture, land use,
minerals and so on.
HysIS Satellite
Country’s first owl festival in Pune:
• The Indian Owl Festival, the country’s first owl fest, is being held at
Pingori village in Purandar taluka of Pune.
• The two-day festival, organised by Ela Foundation, an NGO working
towards nature education and conservation, will give information on owl
conservation.
• It is a first-of-its-kind festival in the country that is being organised with
the intention of creating awareness about owl as a bird and debunking
numerous superstitions associated with it.
• Indian Owl is protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India.
• Threat: Of the 262 species of owls that are found in the world, 75 feature
in the red data book — meaning they are threatened.
• Major causes behind this are superstitions and habitat loss — both are
man-made.
• They are “highly prized and in demand for black magic purposes”.
Country’s first owl festival in Pune:
 PSLV-C43 Hog Deer

• PSLV is a four-stage launch vehicle with alternating solid and liquid
stages.
• PSLV allows India to launch its Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites
into sun-synchronous orbits.
• PSLV can also launch small size satellites into Geostationary Transfer
Orbit (GTO).
• PSLV-C43, which is the 45th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV), it is the lightest version of the launch vehicle.
• Recently searchers reported the presence of a small population of hog deer
in Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), Manipur.
• The study indicates that the western limit of hog deer is Manipur and not
central Thailand as believed earlier.
• Two sub-species of hog deer have been reported from its range.
• The western race is distributed from Pakistan and the Terai grasslands
(along the Himalayan foothills, from Punjab to Arunachal Pradesh).
• The eastern race of hog deer is found in Thailand, Indo-China, Laos,
Cambodia, and Vietnam.
• The species has lost ground in most of its distribution range, a small and
isolated population of under 250 was reported from Cambodia.
• The hog deer is an endangered species in the IUCN Red List and is protected
under Schedule I of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

Inclusive Wealth Report (IWR) Hog Deer

• IWR is a biennial effort led by the UN Environment, which provides

important insights into long-term economic growth and human
well-being.
• The Index measures the wealth of nations through a comprehensive
analysis of a country’s productive base and the country’s wealth in
terms of progress, well-being and long-term sustainability.
• The biennial report finds The Republic of Korea, Singapore and
Malta as the nations that have had the most economic growth.
• The report also revealed that carbon damage is relatively larger in
high-income countries.
 Prelim Booster News
Discussion
29 November, 2018

EX-INDRA 2018 Konkan 18 and COPE INDIA 2019

• The Tenth Edition of Indo-Russian joint military exercise EX INDRA • Konkan 18:
2018 culminated on 28 November 2018 after a joint tactical exercise • naval exercise between India
and an impressive closing ceremony held at Babina Military Station and United Kingdom.
• EX-INDRA is Indo-Russian joint military exercise, which helps in a • The 2018 edition will be held in
common understanding of transnational terrorism, interoperability Goa.
between the participants. • Bilateral KONKAN exercise was
• The exercise aims for a conduct of joint tactical operations started in 2004 and since then
has grown in scale.
controlled by a Joint Command Post working under the aegis of
United Nations. • The exercise is aimed at
deriving mutual benefit from
• The participating contingents also carried out specialized joint each other’s’ experiences and is
training on hostage rescue by slithering from MI-17 helicopters. indicative of continuing
cooperation between two
countries.
• COPE INDIA 2019’:
• bilateral exercise between
Indian Air Force (IAF) and US
Air Force (USAF) conducted on
and over Indian soil.
• The 2019 edition will be held in
West Bengal.
• The first such exercise was
conducted at IAF air force
station in Gwalior from
February 2004.
 G20 Summit 2018 begins in Argentina
• The 2018 G20 Summit is being held in
the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Nineteen leaders of the world’s
biggest economies and a
representative of the European Union
will be holding a meeting on
November 30 as part of the G20
summit.
• It will be the 13th meeting of Group of
Twenty (G20) and the first G20
summit to be hosted in South
America.
Gender wage gap highest in India
• The International Labour Organization (ILO) has released Global Wage
Report 2018-19. As per the report, women are paid the most unequally
in India, compared to men, when it comes to hourly wages for labour.
• On average, women are paid 34% less than men.
• The gender wage gap has remained unchanged at 20% from 2016 to
2017.
• In advanced economies (G20), real wage growth declined from 0.9 per
cent in 2016 to 0.4 per cent in 2017, meaning near stagnation. By
contrast, in emerging economies and developing G20 countries, real
wage growth dipped marginally from 4.9 per cent in 2016 and 4.3 per
cent in 2017.
• In most countries, women and men differ significantly in respect of
working time – specifically, that part-time work is more prevalent
among women than among men.
Private member’s Bill
• A lawmaker from Karnataka has said he will move a Private
Members’ Bill during the winter session of parliament to facilitate
the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya.
• Any MP who is not a Minister is referred to as a private member.
• Bills introduced by Ministers are referred to as government bills.
• They are backed by the government, and reflect its legislative
agenda.
• Private member’s bills purpose is to draw the government’s
attention to what individual MPs see as issues and gaps in the
existing legal framework, which require legislative intervention.
Private member’s Bill
• Introduction in the House:
• The admissibility of a private member’s Bill is decided by the Rajya Sabha
Chairman. In the case of Lok Sabha, it is the Speaker; the procedure is
roughly the same for both Houses.
• The Member must give at least a month’s notice before the Bill can be
listed for introduction; the House secretariat examines it for compliance
with constitutional provisions
• Up to 1997, private members could introduce up to three Bills in a week.
• This led to a piling up of Bills that were introduced but never discussed;
Chairman K R Narayanan, therefore, capped the number of private
member’s Bills to three per session.
• While government Bills can be introduced and discussed on any
day, private member’s Bills can be introduced and discussed only on
Fridays.
• Fourteen private member’s Bills — five of which were introduced in Rajya
Sabha — have become law so far.
 UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage Question

• UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, • With reference to the Parliament of India, consider the following statements:
Scientific and Cultural Organization, has • A private member’s bill is a bill presented by a Member of Parliament who is
not elected but only nominated by the President of India.
added reggae to its list of cultural • Recently, a private member’s bill has been passed in the Parliament of India for
institutions worthy of protection and the first time in its history.
preservation. • Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
• Each year, UNESCO adds to its • (a) 1 only
Representative List of the Intangible
Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and • (b) 2 only
Jamaica submitted reggae for
consideration earlier this year. • (c) Both 1 and 2

• (d) Neither 1 nor 2

About Reggae: List

• It is Jamaican music originating from marginalized groups, mainly in

Western Kingston.
• It was started out as voice of marginalized. But now it is played and . Representative List of Intangible
embraced by wide cross-section of society, including various
genders, ethnic and religious groups. Cultural Heritage of Humanity
• About UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage:
• This coveted list is made up of those intangible heritage elements
that help demonstrate diversity of cultural heritage and raise
awareness about its importance.
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage
• The list was established in 2008 when Convention for Safeguarding in Need of urgent safeguarding.
of the Intangible Cultural Heritage came into effect.
 From India the Intangible Cultural Heritages added into this
list include:
• Tradition of Vedic chanting
• Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana
• Kutiyattam, Sanskrit theatre
• Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal
Himalayas.
• Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala
• Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan
• Chhau dance
• Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the
trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir.
• Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur
• Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the
Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab
• Yoga
• Nawrouz
• Kumbh Mela