(DECEMBER 2020) - Optimize IAS

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DAILY PRELIMS NOTES COMPILATION

(DECEMBER 2020)

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DAILY PRELIMS NOTES

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

ARTS AND CULTURE ...................................................................................10ANNAPURNA IDOL: ......................................................................................................... 10

SCO ONLINE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION:............................................................. 10

LOK VIRASAT: ................................................................................................................. 10

THEREMIN ....................................................................................................................... 11

HAMPI STONE CHARIOT: .............................................................................................. 11

WORLD HERITAGE CITIES:........................................................................................... 12

CARNATIC CLASSICAL MUSIC : ................................................................................... 13

INDUS VALLEY: ............................................................................................................... 14

AIRAVATESVARA TEMPLE: .......................................................................................... 17

MAHAKALI CAVES : ....................................................................................................... 17

NUPI LAN MEMORIAL COMPLEX :............................................................................... 18

POUSH MELA: .................................................................................................................. 18

NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ARTS: .................................................................. 19

DILLI GHARANA: ............................................................................................................ 19

YOGASANA: ..................................................................................................................... 20

ARCHITECTURE OF PARLIAMENT: ............................................................................. 21

INDIGENOUS GAMES:..................................................................................................... 22

BAUL FOLK MUSIC : ....................................................................................................... 22

TANSEN MUSIC FESTIVAL :........................................................................................... 23

SANGEET NATAK ACADEMY: ....................................................................................... 23

HISTORY..........................................................................................................25KHUDAI KHIDMATGARS : ............................................................................................. 25

PAGRI SAMBHAL JATTA :.............................................................................................. 26

ABDUL RAHIM KHAN-e-KHANA TOMB :...................................................................... 26

GURU TEGH BAHADUR: ................................................................................................. 27

ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY (AMU): ..................................................................... 28

UDHAM SINGH:................................................................................................................ 29

GEOGRAPHY..................................................................................................30LA NINA AFTER A DECADE: .......................................................................................... 30

CYCLONE BUREVI: ......................................................................................................... 31

BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER:................................................................................................. 31

LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS .............................................................................................. 33

ROSSBY WAVES:.............................................................................................................. 35

MOUNT EVEREST:........................................................................................................... 36

NORTHERN LIGHTS:....................................................................................................... 37

MONSOON DROUGHTS:.................................................................................................. 38








ESWATINI (SWAZILAND): .............................................................................................. 39

GREAT CONJUNCTION :................................................................................................. 39

INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE .....................................................41COMMISSION FOR AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE NCR:.............................. 41

ELECTION TO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL: ..................................................................... 42

UMANG APP: .................................................................................................................... 43

SESSIONS OF PARLIAMENT: ......................................................................................... 43

CONSENT FOR CONTEMPT :.......................................................................................... 44

APEX COMMITTEE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF PARIS AGREEMENT (AIPA): ...... 45

NRI VOTING: .................................................................................................................... 45

BODOLAND TERRITORIAL COUNCIL :........................................................................ 46

SECTION 144..................................................................................................................... 47

EMERGENCY USE AUTHORISATION: ............................................................................ 48

NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDING:..................................................................................... 49

KARNATAKA’S NEW ANTI-COW SLAUGHTER BILL: ................................................ 50

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL : .............................................................................................. 51

COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA: ..................................................................... 51

NO CONFIDENCE MOTION: ........................................................................................... 52

SEVENTH SCHEDULE: .................................................................................................... 53

NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR WOMEN: ..................................................................... 54

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL: ................................................................... 55

BREACH OF PRIVILEGE:................................................................................................ 57

POSTAL VOTING: ............................................................................................................................ 58

FORCED CONFESSIONS:................................................................................................. 59

UAPA: ................................................................................................................................ 61

VACCINE DISTRIBUTUION POLICY: ............................................................................ 61

NATIONAL EMERGENCY: .............................................................................................. 62

SELECT COMMITTEE:.................................................................................................... 63

COLLEGIUM SYSTEM: ................................................................................................... 64

NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK: ......................................................................................... 65

CABINET COMMITTEE ON SECURITY:........................................................................ 66

INSTITUTE OF EXCELLENCE : ...................................................................................... 66

SUMMONING OF PARLIAMENT: ................................................................................... 67

SPECTRUM AUCTION: .................................................................................................... 68

ARTICLE 356: ................................................................................................................... 69

SUPPLEMENTARY GRANTS :......................................................................................... 70

REASONABLE RESTRICTIONS: ..................................................................................... 71

GOVERNOR’S ROLE IN CALLING AN ASSEMBLY SESSION: ..................................... 71

Street vendor scheme a hit, government plans next phase:................................................... 72








ELECTORAL BONDS: ...................................................................................................... 72

ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE: .................................................................................. 73

KEVADIA TOURISM CIRCUIT: ...................................................................................... 74

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS.........................................................................76H1 B VISA:......................................................................................................................... 76

UN DECIDES CANNABIS NOT A DANGEROUS NARCOTIC:........................................ 76

ARTIFICIAL SUN: ............................................................................................................ 77

DACA PROGRAMME : ..................................................................................................... 77

UNGA CULTURE OF PEACE : ......................................................................................... 78

IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL: ................................................................................................... 78

SHAHTOOT DAM : ........................................................................................................... 79

BHASHAN CHAR ISALND : ............................................................................................. 80

YEAR OF NURSE AND MIDWIFE: .................................................................................. 80

FIVE EYES ALLIANCE: ................................................................................................... 81

INDIA VIETNAM LEADER'S VIRTUAL SUMMIT: ........................................................ 81

US POLICY ON TIBET: .................................................................................................... 82

Donald Trump signs into law Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative:.......................... 83

ECONOMICS ...................................................................................................84CAPITAL ACCOUNT CONVERTABILITY:..................................................................... 84

NATIONAL WATERWAYS : ............................................................................................ 85

XP 100: ............................................................................................................................... 86

PURCHASING MANAGERS INDEX: ............................................................................... 87

RBI POLICY REVIEW:..................................................................................................... 87

TLTRO: ............................................................................................................................. 88

INFLATION IN MONETARY POLICY: ........................................................................... 88

FINANCIAL SECRECY: ................................................................................................... 90

BAN ON E-CIGARETTE : ................................................................................................. 91

RBI REPO RATE: .............................................................................................................. 92

AYUSH EXPORTS :........................................................................................................... 92

GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION (GIs):............................................................................ 92

RBI TIGHTENS OVERSIGHT OF NBFCs, UCBs: ............................................................ 93

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN FOR E-COMMERCE ENTITIES: .............................................. 95

KV KAMATH COMMITTEE: ........................................................................................... 96

IFSCA REGULATIONS, 2020:........................................................................................... 96

FUEL PRICING: ................................................................................................................ 97

HEADLINE AND CORE INFLATION: ............................................................................. 97

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN KUTCH REGION:........................................................ 98

Total Factor Productivity and Growth: ............................................................................... 99

FSDC:................................................................................................................................. 99








POSITIVE PAY :.............................................................................................................. 100

RESERVE PRICE : .......................................................................................................... 101

NIIF :................................................................................................................................ 102

CURRENCY MANIPULATION: ..................................................................................... 102

CORPORATE TAX :........................................................................................................ 103

EASE OF DOING BUISNESS: ......................................................................................... 104

TECHNICAL TEXTLES:................................................................................................. 105

DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS: ............................................................................................. 106

FAIR AND REMUNERATIVE PRICE: ........................................................................... 107

DISTRICT MINERAL FOUNDATION:........................................................................... 107

INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY CODE:.................................................................. 108

FSSAI NOTIFICATION:.................................................................................................. 109

RBI to conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of G-Secs:................................................ 110

PM Modi to launch Dedicated Freight Corridor:............................................................... 111

New code for co-ops to kick in from April: ........................................................................ 112

ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE: Balancing industry and environment : ............................. 113

Commerce ministry has recommended for extension of anti-dumping duty: ...................... 113

SWISS CHALLENGE: ..................................................................................................... 114

ZERO COUPON BONDS: An innovative tool to fund PSBs and keep deficit in check: ...... 115

THOUBAL MULTIPURPOSE PROJECT & ILP:............................................................ 115

DIVERGENCE IN RURAL-URBAN INFLATION:.......................................................... 116

Maintaining 4% Inflation Appropriate For India: RBI Paper: .......................................... 117

BANK INVESTMENT COMPANY:................................................................................. 117

Sethusamudram ship channel project set to be beached: ................................................... 118

FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT:........................................................................ 119

SOVEREIGN GOLD BOND SERIES: .............................................................................. 120

CURRENT ACCOUNT SURPLUS:.................................................................................. 121

DPIIT SINGLE WINDOW SYSTEM: .............................................................................. 122

ASHA INDIA:................................................................................................................... 122

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY......................................................................124INFLUENZA: ................................................................................................................... 124

EMERGENCY USE AUTHORISATION (EUA): ............................................................. 124

PARKINSON'S DISEASE: ............................................................................................... 125

PFIZER VACCINE: ......................................................................................................... 125

ARECIBO TELESCOPE:................................................................................................. 126

NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE TEST: ............................................................... 127

POST QUANTUM CRPTOGRAPHY:.............................................................................. 127

HERD IMMUNITY: ......................................................................................................... 128

HAYABUSA2 MISSION:.................................................................................................. 128








SYNTHETIC DRUGS: ..................................................................................................... 130

ALPHAFOLD 2:............................................................................................................... 130

HAVANA SYNDROME: .................................................................................................. 132

5G TECHNOLOGY: .....................................................................................133KLI PROJECT : ............................................................................................................... 134

SINOPHARM VACCINE: ............................................................................135EPIGENETICS: ............................................................................................................... 136

TB TEST FEOM URINE SAMPLE: ................................................................................. 137

GALLIUM NITRIDE: ...................................................................................................... 137

CHANG'E 5 LUNAR PROBE: ......................................................................................... 138

LiDAR TECHNOLOGY:.................................................................................................. 139

MUCORMYCOSIS FUNGUS:.......................................................................................... 140

SURGERY IN AYURVEDA: ............................................................................................ 140

ARTEMIS ACCORD:....................................................................................................... 141

ADVERSE EVENT FOLLOWING IMMUNISATION: .................................................... 142

S-400 & CAATSA: ............................................................................................................ 142

CMS 01 SATELLITE: ...................................................................................................... 143

LOW EARTH ORBIT: ..................................................................................................... 144

ACE2 ENZYME: .............................................................................................................. 145

US CYBER ATTACKS :................................................................................................... 145

HYPERSONIC WIND TUNNEL FACILITY: .................................................................. 146

CRYOGENIC ELECTRON MICROSCOPY :.................................................................. 146

MUTANT CORONAVIRUS: ............................................................................................ 147

COMPRESSED BIO GAS: ............................................................................................... 149

UNICEF and the World Economic Forum signs charter: .................................................. 150

CERN : ............................................................................................................................. 150

DRY RUN FOR COVID 19 VACCINES: .......................................................................... 151

PINK BOLL WORM: ....................................................................................................... 152

NANOMICELLES: using nanotechnology for cancer treatment: ...................................... 152

ISRO DEVELOPING GREEN PROPULSIONS: .............................................................. 153

DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR CFR AND HABITAT RIGHTS: .......................................... 154

Pneumosil: India’s first indigenously created vaccine : ...................................................... 154

Tendulkar wants ICC to relook DRS:................................................................................ 156

GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE CONSORTIUM: .............................................................. 156

GENOMIC SEQUENCING: ............................................................................................. 157

UK APPROVES OXFORD VACCINE: ............................................................................ 158

ENVIRONMENT ...........................................................................................161ZEBRA FISH: .................................................................................................................. 161

BRAHMAPUTRA FLOODING AND TREE RINGS : ...................................................... 161








MALAYAN GIANT SQUIRREL:..................................................................................... 161

JASDAN: .......................................................................................................................... 162

RAT HOLE MINING: ...................................................................................................... 162

CLIMATE CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX (CCPI): ................................................ 163

AEROSOL IMPACTS : .................................................................................................... 164

ISCHAEMUMJANARTHANAMII: ................................................................................. 165

CITES: ............................................................................................................................. 166

PARIS PLEDGE:.............................................................................................................. 167

MYRISTICA SWAMP TREEFROG: ............................................................................... 168

KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK: .................................................................................. 168

HIMALAYAN SEROW:................................................................................................... 169

GREEN BUILDINGS: ...................................................................................................... 170

WILDLIFE INSTITUTE OF INDIA (WII) : ..................................................................... 170

AMUR FALCON:............................................................................................................. 171

DENTAL AEROSOLS :.................................................................................................... 171

NATIONAL PARKS IN ASSAM: ..................................................................................... 172

HIMALAYAN HERB: ...................................................................................................... 173

MIYAWAKI FOREST: .................................................................................................... 173

REHABILITATION CENTRE FOR MONKEYS:............................................................ 174

STATUS OF LEOPARD REPORT:.................................................................................. 174

GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDS: ......................................................................................... 175

AIR POLLUTION: ........................................................................................................... 176

RAJAJI AND JIM CORBETT NATIONAL PARK: ......................................................... 177

Opposition to inclusion of the areas around Statue of Unity under eco-sensitive zone. Ecosensitive Zones: ................................................................................................................. 178

TADOBA ANDHARI TIGER RESERVE: ........................................................................ 179

WMO’s provisional report on the State of the Climate 2020: ............................................. 179

TSUNAMI 16th ANNIVERSARY: ................................................................................... 180

GIANT ICEBERG A68a:.................................................................................................. 182

MAN MADE WETLANDS: .............................................................................................. 182

MUTATION OF VIRUS: .................................................................................................. 183

Ducks die in large number in Kuttanad:............................................................................ 183

Uttarakhand in talks to bring in white tigers from Madhya Pradesh: ................................ 184

PORTULACA LALJII: .................................................................................................... 185

Rhino DNA INDEXING SYSTEM: ................................................................................... 185

KOLAR LEAF NOSED BAT:........................................................................................... 186

AMMONIA POLLUTION:............................................................................................... 186

CURRENT EVENTS .....................................................................................188WORLD AIDS DAY: ........................................................................................................ 188








COVID SURAKSHA: ....................................................................................................... 188

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES:..................................... 189

WORLD MALARIA REPORT 2020: ............................................................................... 189

NISARG GRAM: .............................................................................................................. 190

INDIA’S FIRST HOME FOR TRANSGENDER CHILDREN: ......................................... 190

FSSAI GUIDELINES: ...................................................................................................... 191

THE 2nd CANCER GENOME ATLAS (TCGA) 2020: ..................................................... 191

ARMS SALE REPORT: ................................................................................................... 192

UN INVESTMENT PROMOTION AWARD: ................................................................... 193

Invest India:...................................................................................................................... 193

MIXOPATHY .................................................................................................................. 193

ICMR STUDY: ................................................................................................................. 194

DAKPAY APP:................................................................................................................. 195

PANDIT DEENDAYAL UPADHYAY TELECOM SKILL EXCELLENCE AWARDS : .. 195

NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS AND CHEST DISEASES (NATCON) : .195

LANCET CITIZENS COMMISSION:.............................................................................. 196

NATIONAL MATHEMATICS DAY : .............................................................................. 196

NATIONAL FARMERS DAY: ......................................................................................... 197

UN POPULATION AWARD FOR 2020: .......................................................................... 197

UMANG APP: .................................................................................................................. 198

NUTRITION GARDEN:................................................................................................... 199

VISVA BHARATI: ........................................................................................................... 200

BHARATSKILLS PLATFORM: ...................................................................................... 200

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SKILLS: .................................................................................. 201

WATER QUALITY TESTING INNOVATION CHALLENGE: ....................................... 201

INCOIS - DIGITAL OCEAN:........................................................................................... 202

REPORTS .......................................................................................................204THE ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT 2020: ................................................................. 204

H - INDEX.......................................................................................................204HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI): ...................................................................... 204

FOOD PRICE INDEX: ..................................................................................................... 205

HUMAN FREEDOM INDEX: .......................................................................................... 206

INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS.....................................................207

SAARC :..........................................................................................................207ISRAEL MOROCCO DEAL: ........................................................................................... 207

NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK: ....................................................................................... 209

PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION: .................................................................. 210

GOVERNMENT SCHEMES ........................................................................211








DEENDHAYAL UPADHYAYA - GRAMEEN KAUSHAL YOJANA : ............................. 211

ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT ROJGAR YOJANA (ABRY):.....................212PM -WANI: ...................................................................................................................... 212

MPLADS: ......................................................................................................................... 213

NPCDCS: ......................................................................................................................... 214

ANAEMIA MUKT BHARAT : ......................................................................................... 215

PRIME MINISTER’S SPECIAL SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME (PMSSS):........................... 215

PM- AASHA:.................................................................................................................... 216

PM KISAN: ...................................................................................................................... 217

AYUSHMAN BHARAT PM-JAY SEHAT:....................................................................... 217

PM Modi flags off 100th run of Kisan Rail in Maharashtra:.............................................. 218

ONE DISTRICT ONE PRODUCT SCHEME: .................................................................. 218

PRICE STABILIZATION SCHEME:............................................................................... 220

DEFENCE .......................................................................................................222C32-LH2 TANK: .............................................................................................................. 222

ARMY REFORMS: .......................................................................................................... 222

PASSEX: .......................................................................................................................... 223

THEATRE COMMAND: ................................................................................................. 223

ADMM – PLUS: ............................................................................................................... 224

JOINT VENTURE PROTECTIVE CARBINE (JVPC):.................................................... 224

INS VIRAAT : .................................................................................................................. 225

HIMGIRI: ........................................................................................................................ 225

DEFENCE ACQUISITION: ............................................................................................. 226

DRDO SYSTEMS : ........................................................................................................... 226

OPERATION VIJAY: ...................................................................................................... 227

ADVANCED TOWED ARTILLERY GUN SYSTEM (ATAGS): ...................................... 227

COASTAL RADAR CHAIN NETWORK:........................................................................ 228

F/A-18 SUPER HORNET FIGHTER JETS: ..................................................................... 228

INS VIKRAMADITYA:.................................................................................................... 229

AKASH MISSILE: ........................................................................................................... 229

SOCIAL ISSUES ............................................................................................231THARU TRIBALS: .......................................................................................................... 231

GUPKAR DECLARATION: ............................................................................................ 231

PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICE: ......................................................................................... 232

SENTINELESE: ............................................................................................................... 232

PATHALGADI MOVEMENT:......................................................................................... 233

ZOMI TRIBAL GROUP: ................................................................................................. 234








ARTS AND CULTURE

ANNAPURNA IDOL:

Context: Prime Minister announced that an ancient idol of the goddess Annapurna, stolenfrom India about a century ago, is being brought back from Canada.

Concept:

• This idol was stolen from a temple of Varanasi and smuggled out of the countryaround 100 years ago somewhere around 1913.

• Annapurna, also spelt Annapoorna, is the goddess of food. The 18th-century idol,carved in the Benares style, is part of the University of Regina, Canada’s collection atthe MacKenzie Art Gallery.

• A few weeks ago, Union Culture Minister Prahlad Patel handed over 13th-centurybronze idols of Lord Rama, Lakshmana and goddess Sita, which were repatriatedfrom the UK recently, to the Tamil Nadu government.

• Between 2014 and 2020, the government has been able to retrieve 40 antiquities fromvarious countries; between 1976 and 2014, as per ASI records, 13 antique pieces hadbeen repatriated to India.

SCO ONLINE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION:

Context: Vice President of India & Chair of the SCO Council of Heads of Government in2020, launched the first ever SCO Online Exhibition on Shared Buddhist Heritage, during the19th Meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (SCO CHG).

Concept:

• This SCO online International exhibition, first ever of its kind, is developed andcurated by National Museum, New Delhi, in active collaboration with ShanghaiCooperation Organisation (SCO) member countries.

• The exhibition deploys state of the art technologies like 3D scanning, webGLplatform, virtual space utilization, innovative curation and narration methodology etc.

• Buddhist philosophy and art of Central Asia connects Shanghai CooperationOrganization (SCO) countries to each other.

• The visitors can explore the Indian Buddhist treasures from the Gandhara andMathura Schools, Nalanda, Amaravati, Sarnath etc. in a 3D virtual format.

LOK VIRASAT:








Context: Films Division (FD) has organised Lok Virasat, a festival of films on folk artand painting.

Concept:

• An exclusive bouquet of documentary films on folk art and paintings - Lok Virasat -is being showcased on FD website and You Tube channel.

• The films being streamed include:

• The Kingdom of God , on the great Indian heritage of art and culture with focus onvarious folk art traditions,

• Bhavai - Fading Memories, a film on Bhavai - a folk art of Gujarat,

• Naman – Khele, a film on the ancient folk art performed in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra.

• Sahi Jata, The Fusion Cult, a film on the unique fusion of muscle and music in theform of folk art on the back-drop of the ancient Orissa town of Puri.

• Therukoothu : Dancing For Life , a film depicting the age old Tamil folk art.

THEREMIN:

Context: Theremin instrument turned 100 years old this year.

Concept:

• The Theremin is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physicalcontact by the thereminist (performer).

• The instrument was invented in 1920. It is named after its inventor, Leon Theremin,who patented the device in 1928.

• The instrument's controlling section usually consists of two metal antennas that sensethe relative position of the thereminist's hands and control oscillators for frequencywith one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other. The electric signals from thetheremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker.

HAMPI STONE CHARIOT:

Context: Tourists can no longer get too close to the iconic stone chariot in front of the VijayaVittala Temple at Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Concept:

• The architectural marvel, one of the most photographed monuments, has beencordoned off by a chain barricade by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

• The ASI put up the barricade to prevent people from touching or climbing themonument and causing damage to it in any way.

Hampi Chariot

• The chariot inside the temple complex is a shrine dedicated to Garuda, but thesculpture of Garuda is now missing.








• The Hampi chariot is one among the three famous stone chariots in India, the othertwo being in Konark, Odisha, and Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu.

• The delicately carved chariot at Hampi reflects skill of temple architecture under thepatronage of Vijayanagara rulers who reigned from 14th to 17th century CE.

WORLD HERITAGE CITIES:

Context: The historical fort cities of Gwalior and Orchha in Madhya Pradesh have beenincluded in the list of UNESCOs world heritage cities under its urban landscape cityprogramme.

Concept :

• Gwalior was established in 9th century and ruled by Gurjar Pratihar Rajvansh,Tomar, Baghel Kachvaho and Scindias. The memorabilia left by them is found inabundance in memorials, forts and palaces in the area.

• Gwalior is known for its palaces and temples, including the intricately carved SasBahu Ka Mandir temple. The Gwalior Fort occupies a sandstone plateau overlookingthe city and is accessed via a winding road lined with sacred Jain statues. Within theforts high walls is the 15th-century Gujari Mahal Palace, now an archaeologicalmuseum.

• Orchha is is popular for its temples and palaces and was the capital of the Bundelakingdom in the 16th century. The famous spots in the town are Raj Mahal, JehangirMahal, Ramraja Temple, Rai Praveen Mahal, and Laxminarayan Mandir.

World Heritage City

• UNESCO World Heritage Sites are designated specific locations such as forest areas,mountains, lakes, deserts, monuments, buildings, or cities, etc. These are selected bythe World Heritage Sites Committee. This committee oversees these sites with thehelp of UNESCO.

• The objective of this program is to select and preserve such places of the world whichare important for humanity in terms of world culture. UNESCO provides financialassistance to such sites under certain circumstances.

• Each heritage site is the property of the particular country in which that site is located.But, it is also important for the international community to protect them for thecoming generations.

• UNESCO believes that the entire world community is responsible for its protection.According to the official website of UNESCO, there are six cultural and four naturalcriteria for the selection of a world heritage site.








CARNATIC CLASSICAL MUSIC:

Context: For the first time in 93 years, Chennai’s iconic December music festival, whichbrings together the finest exponents of Carnatic classical music and dance and the culturalcognoscenti, will go completely digital.

Concept:

• Carnatic music owes its name to the Sanskrit term Karnâtaka Sangîtam which denotes“traditional” or “codified” music.

• Composed of a system of Ragam (Raga) and Thalam (Tala), it has a rich history andtradition.

• Carnatic Sangeet has developed in the south Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala,Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. These states are known for their strong presentationof Dravidian culture.

Renaissance of Carnatic Music

• The course of the evolution of Indian music saw the emergence of two differentsubsystems as Hindustani and Carnatic music. Both the terms emerged for the firsttime in Haripala’s “Sangeeta Sudhakara”, written in the 14th century A.D.

• The two distinct styles, Hindustani and Carnatic came into vogue after the advent ofthe Muslims, particularly during the reign of the Mughal Emperors.

• Purandardas (1484-1564), a prolific poet-composer and mystic of Vijayanagar, isconsidered to be the father of Carnatic music (Carnatic Sangeeta Pitamaha).

• Venkatamakhi is regarded as the grand theorist of Carnatic music. In 17th centuryAD, he developed “Melakarta”, the system for classifying south Indian ragas. Thereare 72 Melakartas at present.

• Tyagaraja (1767-1847), his contemporaries Syama Sastri and Muttusvami Dikshitarare together known as the “Trinity” of Carnatic music.

Difference between Carnatic and Hindustani Music

• Carnatic music originated in South India whereas Hindustani music in North India.

• It is believed that the music of India was more or less uniform before the 13thcentury. Hindustani synthesises with Vedic, Islamic and Persian traditions. Carnatic iscomparatively untouched and developed on the original lines.

• Carnatic music has homogenous and Hindustani music has a heterogeneous Indiantradition.

• Carnatic music has a restrained and intellectual character as compared with the moresecular Hindustani traditions.

• The major vocal forms of Hindustani music are Dhrupad, Khayal, Tarana, Thumri,Dadra and Gazals. While Carnatic music has several varieties of improvisation suchas Alapana, Niraval, Kalpnaswaram and Ragam Thana Pallavi.








• Hindustani music has various gharanas like Lucknow, Jaipur, Kirana, Agra etc.,wherein Carnatic music no such gharanas found.

INDUS VALLEY:

Context: A new study has found the presence of animal products, including cattle andbuffalo meat, in ceramic vessels dating back about 4,600 years at seven Indus ValleyCivilisation sites in present-day Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Concept:

• The study, which was published on Wednesday in the Journal of ArchaeologicalScience and conducted as a part of the Two Rains project of the University ofCambridge and Banaras Hindu University, analyzed the lipid residue in pottery foundat the ancient sites.

• About 50-60% of domestic animal bones found at Indus Valley sites come fromcattle/buffalo, the study said. Also, the high proportions of cattle bones may suggest acultural preference for beef consumption across Indus populations, supplemented bythe consumption of mutton/lamb.

Features of Indus Valley Civilization

• BC. 2700- BC.1900 ie for 800 years.

• On the valleys of river Indus.

• Also known as Harappan Civilization.

• Beginning of city life.

• Harappan Sites discovered by – Dayaram Sahni (1921) – Montgomery district,Punjab, Pakistan.

• Mohanjodaro discovered by – R. D. Banerji – Larkana district, Sind, Pakistan.

• The city was divided into Citadel(west) and Lower Town(east).

• Red pottery painted with designs in black.

• Stone weights, seals, special beads, copper tools, long stone blades etc.

• Copper, bronze, silver, gold present.

• Artificially produced – Faience.

• Specialists for handicrafts.

• Import of raw materials.

• Plough was used.

• Bodies were buried in wooden coffins, but during the later stages ‘H symmetryculture’ evolved where bodies were buried in painted burial urns.

• Sugar cane not cultivated, horse, iron not used.








• Indus Valley Sites and Specialties

HARAPPA:

• Seals out of stones

• Citadel outside on banks of river Ravi

MOHENJODARO:

• Great Bath, Great Granary, Dancing Girl, Man with Beard, Cotton, Assembly hall

• The term means ” Mount of the dead”

• On the bank of river Indus

• Believed to have been destructed by flood or invasion(Destruction was not gradual).

CHANHUDARO:

• Bank of Indus river. – discovered by Gopal Majumdar and Mackey (1931)

• Pre-Harappan culture – Jhangar Culture and Jhukar Culture

• Only cite without citadel.

KALIBANGAN:

• At Rajasthan on the banks of river Ghaggar, discovered by A.Ghosh (1953)

• Fire Altars

• Bones of camel

• Evidence of furrows

• Horse remains ( even though Indus valley people didn’t use horses).

• Known as third capital of the Indus Empire.

LOTHAL:

• At Gujarat near Bhogava river, discovered by S.R. Rao (1957)

• Fire Altars

• Beside the tributary of Sabarmati

• Storehouse

• Dockyard and earliest port

• double burial

• Rice husk

• House had front entrance (exception).








ROPAR:

• Punjab, on the banks of river Sutlej. Discovered by Y.D Sharma (1955)

• Dog buried with humans.

BANAWALI:

• Haryana

• On banks of lost river Saraswathi

• Barley Cultivation.

DHOLAVIRA:

• Biggest site in India, until the discovery of Rakhigarhi.

• Located in Khadir Beyt, Rann of Kutch, Gujarat. Discovered by J.P Joshi/RabindraSingh (1990)

• 3 parts + large open area for ceremonies

• Large letters of the Harappan script (signboards).

The religion of Indus Valley People:

• Pashupathi Mahadev (Proto Siva)

• Mother goddess

• Nature/ Animal worship

• Unicorn, Dove, Peepal Tree, Fire

• Amulets

• Idol worship was practised ( not a feature of Aryans)

• Did not construct temples.

• The similarity to Hindu religious practises. (Hinduism in its present form originatedlater)

• No Caste system.

Indus Valley Society and Culture:

• The systematic method of weights and measures ( 16 and its multiples).

• Pictographic Script, Boustrophedon script – Deciphering efforts by I. Mahadevan

• Equal status to men and women

• Economic Inequality, not an egalitarian society

• Textiles – Spinning and weaving








• 3 types – burial, cremation and post-cremation were there, though burial wascommon.

• Majority of people Proto-Australoids and Mediterranean (Dravidians), thoughMongoloids, Nordics etc were present in the city culture. Read more on races of India.

AIRAVATESVARA TEMPLE:

Context: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is exploring ways to find a permanentsolution to prevent flooding in the Airavatesvara temple in Darasuram, near Kumbakonam inThanjavur district.

Concept:

• It was built by the Chola king Rajaraja II (1144-1173 CE):

• It is much smaller in size as compared to the Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur andGangaikondacholapuram.

• The temple consists of a sanctum without a circumambulatory path and axialmandapas.

• The front mandapa is unique as it was conceptualized as a chariot with wheels.

• The temple entered the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1987 and is also a part of"Great Living Chola Temples" along with the Brihadisvara Temple atGangaikondacholapuram and Tanjavur.

MAHAKALI CAVES:

Concept:

• The Mahakali Caves, are a group of 19 rock-cut monuments built between 1st centuryBCE and 6th century CE.

• This Buddhist monastery is located in the eastern suburb of Andheri in the city ofMumbai (Bombay) in western India. Monument consists of two groups of rock-cutcaves - 4 caves more to the north-west and 15 caves more to the south-east.

• Most caves are viharas and cells for monks, but Cave 9 of south-eastern group ischaitya.

• Caves in north-west have been created mainly in 4th - 5th century, while south-eastern group is older. Monument contains also rock-cut cisterns and remnants ofother structures.

• Caves are carved out of a solid black basalt rock,(volcanic trap breccias, prone toweathering).

• The largest cave at Kondivite (Cave 9) has seven depictions of the Buddha andfigures from Buddhist mythology but all are mutilated.








NUPI LAN MEMORIAL COMPLEX :

Context: Manipur observed the 81st anniversary of the “women’s war” at an officialfunction held at the “Women’s War Memorial Complex” in Imphal.

Concept:

• This memorial complex is dedicated to the memory of several Manipuri women, wholost their lives while fighting for justice against the British on December 12, 1939.

• The word NupiLan in Manipuri means women's war. The memorial complex housessculptures portraying Manipuri women fighting against the British officials and isworth a visit.

• As the story goes, what began as an agitation against the oppressive policies of therulers of Manipur and the British government, later turned into a movement forManipur's constitutional and administrative reform.

• During NupiLan, agitations and protest rallies were held by the women traders inManipur's ImaKeithel Market. The historical movement paved the way for economicand political reforms in the state during the early 40s.

POUSH MELA:

Context :The annual "PoushMela", a heritage cultural event attracting lakhs of travellers toWest Bengal's Santiniketan(visvabharati university) , will not be held this year due toCOVID-19 restrictions, an official said.

Concept :

• The 120-year-old fair and festival (PoushMela) is organised for 3 to 4 days everyyear generally at the december end.

• In its history it has been disrupted only twice – in 1943 due to the famine and in 1945due to the second world war.

• PoushMela takes place in Santiniketan, in Birbhum District in the Indian state of WestBengal, marking the harvest season.

• The central university’s executive council (EC) on Friday decided to scrap the fair,which attracts over two lakh visitors.

Visva-Bharati University

• Visva-Bharati University is a public research central university and an Institution ofNational Importance located in Santiniketan, West Bengal, India.

• It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it Visva-Bharati, which means thecommunion of the world with India.

• Until independence it was a college.








NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ARTS:

Concept :

• NGMA was established in 1954, at the Jaipur House, New Delhi.

• It is run and administered as a subordinate office to the Ministry of Culture,Government of India.

• The NGMA has two branches, one at Mumbai and the other at Bengaluru.

Main objectives of the NGMA are

• to create an understanding and sensitivity among the Indian Public towards the visualand plastic arts in general

• to promote the development of contemporary Indian art in particular.

DILLI GHARANA:

Context : Music maestro Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan passed away at the age of

Concept :

• Iqbal Ahmed Khan was raised in the Dilli Gharana of music.

• He began his stage career at the age of four, under the guidance of his teacher andgrandfather Ustad Chand Khan. Keeping up with the family traditions, Khan hadactively promoted Amir Khusro’s musical works.

• He also founded Dilli Durbar, “aimed solely towards the renaissance of IndianClassical Music”, which held its first classical event in 2019.

Delhi Gharana

• The Delhi Gharana is the oldest of the tabla gharanas and the first to establishimprovisation rules.

• It was founded in North India and is one of the most common gharanas (or Baj) usedtoday. The Purbi Gharana also originates from the eastern areas of Delhi.

• Delhi Gharana was founded in the early 18th century most probably by Mia SiddharKhan Dhadi, who is sometimes also referred to as the inventor of the tabla.

• Siddhar Khan is the earliest available name associated with tabla that is found inhistorical records.

• Siddhar Khan and his descendants contributed greatly to the development of the Tablalanguage and compositional structures of the 'Peshkars' and the 'Kayadas'.

• The Delhi tabla style is famous for its vast and rich repertoire of Kayadas.

• Overall, the sound quality tends to focus on avoiding the overuse of loud, resonantbaya (left-hand bass drum) strokes in favor of lighter, more precise strokes.








• Bols such as dha, tita (tite), tirakita and tinnakinna are prominent. The temperamentand style of playing is generally soft and esoteric.

YOGASANA:

Context : The Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports announced theformal recognition of Yogasana as a competitive sport at a joint press conference.

Concept :

• The origins of Yogasana(part of ashtanga yoga ) competitions can be traced to theIndian Yoga tradition, where such competitions have been held for centuries.

• Yogasana is an integral and important component of Yoga, which is psycho-physicalin nature and popular across the globe for its efficacy in fitness and general wellness.

• Competitions that will arise out of the recognition of Yogasana as a sport willenhance interest in Yoga among people around the globe.

• Government of India is planning to include Yogasana as a Sport discipline in NationalGames, Khelo India and international sports events.

Ashtanga Yoga:

• Ashtanga yoga is based on Yoga Philosophy of Patanjali.

Yama (Principles or moral code)

• Ahimsa – A principle of non-violence

• Satya – A principle of Truthfulness

• Asteya – A principle of non stealing

• Brahmacharya – Continence / Celibacy

• Aparigah – A principle of non-hoarding or non possessiveness

Niyama (Personal Disciplines)

• Shoucha – Purity

• Santosh – Contentment

• Tapa – Endurance

• Swadhyaya – Self study

• Eshwar Pranidhan – Dedication

Asana (Yoga Positions or Yogic Postures):

• A stable and comfortable posture which helps attain mental equilibrium.

Pranayama (Yogic Breathing)

• Extension and control of breath.








Pratyahara (Withdrawal of Senses)

• A mental preparation to increase the power of mind.

Dharana (Concentration on Object):

• Concentration of mind on one object and its field.

Dhyan (Meditation):

• With drawing mind from all external objects and Focusing it on one point andmeditating on it.

Samadhi (Salvation):

• State of Super bliss, joy and merging individual consciousness in to universalconsciousness. Union between Jivatman and Paramatman. Union of Shiva and Shaktiin Sahasrar Chakra (the top of the head). Realizing the Bramhan (pure consciousness)or Realization of God is the ultimate achievement of Human Birth.

ARCHITECTURE OF PARLIAMENT:

Concept:

• The Sansad Bhavan is the seat of the Parliament of India. It houses the Lok Sabha andthe Rajya Sabha which represent lower and upper houses respectively in India’sbicameral parliament.

• The existing building draws inspiration from Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple (in M.P.)and was built under the British empire for its Imperial Legislative Council in 1927.

• The opening ceremony, which then housed the Imperial Legislative Council, wasperformed on 18 January 1927 by Lord Irwin, Viceroy of India.

• Following the end of British rule in India, it was taken over by Constituent Assemblyof India which was succeeded by the parliament of India once Constitution of Indiacame into force in 1950.

Architectural details:

• Originally called the House of Parliament, it was designed by the British architects’Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker in 1912-1913.

• It was held as part of their wider mandate to construct a new administrative capitalcity for British India.

• The perimeter of the building is circular, with 144 columns on the outside.

• The building is surrounded by large gardens and the perimeter is fenced off bysandstone railings (jali).

• Construction of the House began in 1921 and it was completed in 1927.








INDIGENOUS GAMES:

Context : The Sports Ministry has approved the inclusion of four Indigenous Games to be apart of Khelo India Youth Games 2021, scheduled to take place in Haryana. The gamesinclude: Gatka, Kalaripayattu, Thang-Ta and Mallakhamba.

Concept :

• Kalaripayattu has its origin from Kerala and has practitioners all over the world;Bollywood actor Vidyut Jammwal being one.

• Mallakhamba, meanwhile, has been well-known across India and Madhya Pradeshand Maharashtra have been the hotspots of this sport.

• Gatka originates from the State of Punjab and this traditional fighting style of theNihang Sikh Warriors is used both as self-defense as well as a sport.

• Thang-Ta, a Manipur marital art has passed into oblivion in the recent decades, butthe sport will get national recognition again with the help of the Khelo India YouthGames 2021.

BAUL FOLK MUSIC :

Context : The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has made attempts to reach out to Bengali folksinger Basudeb Das Baul, days after he hosted Union Home Minister for lunch at his home inBolpur.

Concept :

• Baul Music is a form of folk music, unique to Bangladesh and West Bengal ofIndia.

• The word Baul means “afflicted with the wind disease” and the Baul singers aretraditionally wandering minstrels singing their particular form of folk music.

• The lyrics and music are soul searching, quite comparable to the genre of Sufi music.The lyrics in Baul music urge man to search for God within himself and decry the roleof mosques and temples in the quest of God.

• Lalon Shah is regarded as the most celebrated Baul saint in history.

• Baul singers usually traveled alone and had their characteristic musicalaccompaniments.

• They usually carried either a khamak, a string instrument with one or two stringsattached to the head of a small drum or an ektara, a plucked single string drone.

• Other instruments were a khanjani, a tambourine without jangles, mandira or kartalwhich are small bell-shaped cymbals or ramchaki, a pair of wooden clappers withjangles.

• In 2005, the Baul tradition of Bangladesh was included in the list of Masterpiecesof the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.








TANSEN MUSIC FESTIVAL :

Context: The five-day Tansen Music Festival will begin from December 26 and continuetill December 30 in the city of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. The event would be kickstartedwith recitations of 'Harikatha' and 'Milad'.

Concept:

• 'Tansen Samaroh' is one of the most prestigious events of the country in the field ofIndian classical music.

• This event is organised by the Ustad Alauddin Khan Kala Evam Sangeet Academy bythe Culture department of the Madhya Pradesh government.

• The five-day festival is celebrated every year in the month of December in Behatvillage of Gwalior district, Madhya Pradesh.

• It is celebrated in the memory of one of the most eminent singers of Indian history,‘Mian Tansen’

Mian Tansen

• He was a prominent figure of Hindustani classical music.

• He began his career and spent most of his adult life in the court and patronage of theHindu king of Rewa, Raja Ramchandra Singh (1555–1592), where Tansen’s musicalabilities and studies gained widespread fame.

• This reputation brought him to the attention of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, who sentmessengers to Raja Ramchandra Singh, requesting Tansen to join the musicians at theMughal court.

• Akbar considered him as a Navaratnas (nine jewels), and gave him the title Mian, anhonorific, meaning learned man.

• Tansen is remembered for his epic Dhrupad compositions, creating several newragas, as well as for writing two classic books on music Sri Ganesh Stotra and SangitaSara.

SANGEET NATAK ACADEMY:

Context: The Chandigarh Administration has reconstituted the general council ofChandigarh Sangeet Natak Akademi.

Concept:

• The Sangeet Natak Akademi was set up in 1953 for the promotion of performing arts.The Sangeet Natak Akademi is an Autonomous Body under the Ministry of Culture.

It acts at the national level for the:

• Promotion and growth of Indian music, dance and drama;

• Maintenance of standards of training in the performing arts;








• Revival, preservation, documentation and dissemination of materials as well asinstruments relating to various forms of music, dance and drama.

• Recognition of outstanding artists.

• The Akademi is also responsible for the establishment and maintenance of institutionsand projects of national importance in the field of performing arts.

Sangeet Natak Akademi awards

• Sangeet Natak Akademi’s Fellowships (Akademi RatnaSadsya) and Sangeet NatakAkademi Awards (Akademi Puraskar) are two awards presented annually.

• These awards are recognised as the most coveted national honours bestowed onperforming artists as well as teachers and scholars of performing arts.

• The award will be given to the eminent persons from the field of tribal music, dance,theatre and traditional folk arts.








HISTORY

KHUDAI KHIDMATGARS :

Concept:

• The Khudai Khidmatgar was a non-violent movement against British occupation ofthe Indian subcontinent.

• It was led by Abdul Ghaffar Khan, a Pashtun freedom fighter, in the North-WestFrontier Province.

• Over time, the movement acquired a more political colour, leading to the Britishtaking notice of its growing prominence in the region.

• Following the arrest of Khan and other leaders in 1929, the movement formally joinedthe Indian National Congress after they failed to receive support from the All-IndiaMuslim League.

• Members of the Khudai Khidmatgar were organised and the men stood out because ofthe bright red shirts they wore as uniforms, while the women wore black garments.

Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre :

• Abdul Ghaffar Khan and other leaders of the Khudai Khidmatgar were arrested onApril 23, 1930 by British police after he gave a speech at a gathering in the town ofUtmanzai in the North-West Frontier Province.

• Khan’s arrest spurred protests in neighbouring towns, including Peshawar.

• Protests spilled into the Qissa Khwani Bazaar in Peshawar on the day of Khan’sarrest.

• British soldiers entered the market area to disperse crowds that had refused to leave.In response, British army vehicles drove into the crowds, killing several protestersand bystanders.

• In August 1931, the Khudai Khidmatgar aligned themselves with the Congress party,forcing the British to reduce the violence they were perpetrated on the movement.

Post Independence:

• The Khudai Khidmatgar opposed Partition, a stance that many interpreted as themovement not being in favour of the creation of the independent nation of Pakistan.

• Post 1947, the Khudai Khidmatgar slowly found their political influence decreasing tosuch an extent that the movement and the massacre 90 years ago in the Qissa KhwaniBazaar has been wiped out from collective memory.








PAGRI SAMBHAL JATTA :

Context: Sardar Ajit Singh Sandhu, the brain behind the ‘Pagri Sambhal Jatta’ movement isnow being remembered in the ongoing agrarian resentments by punjab farmers.

Concept :

‘Pagri Sambhal Jatta’ Movement

• In 1879, the British constructed the Upper Bari Doab canal to draw water from theChenab river and take it to Lyallpur (now in Pakistan and renamed Faisalabad) to setup settlements in uninhabited areas.

• Promising to allot free land with several amenities, the government persuadedpeasants and ex-servicemen from Jalandhar, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur to settle there.

• In 1907, in Lyallpur, Ajit Singh Sandhu also Bhagat Singh’s uncle headed themovement that articulated this discontent.

• The catchy slogan, Pagdi Sambhal Jatta, the name of the movement, was inspired bythe song by Banke Lal, the editor of the Jang Sayal newspaper.

• The agitated protestors ransacked government buildings, post offices, banks,overturning telephone poles and pulling down telephone wires.

Ajit Singh

• He was a revolutionary and a nationalist during the time of British rule in India.

• With compatriots, he organised agitation by Punjabi peasants against anti-farmer lawsknown as the Punjab Colonization Act (Amendment) 1906 and administrativeorders increasing water rate charges.

• He was an early protester in the Punjab region of India who challenged British ruleand openly criticized the Indian colonial government.

• In May 1907, with Lala Lajpat Rai, he was exiled to Mandalay in Burma.

• Due to great public pressure and apprehension of unrest in the Indian Army, the billsof exile were withdrawn and both men were released in November 1907.

ABDUL RAHIM KHAN-e-KHANA TOMB :

Context: The 16th-century mausoleum of one of the nine prominent courtiers duringMughal emperor Akbar’s reign, which is believed to inspire the Taj Mahal, has been restoredto its lost glory and is now open to the public.

Concept:

• The tomb of poet Abdur Rahim Khan- I- Khana, popularly known as 'Rahim'- one ofAkbar's 'Navratnas' and a military leader has been restored by Aga Khan Trust forCulture (AKTC) and InterGlobe Foundation.

• The tomb stands within an ensemble of 16th century medieval monuments in theNizamuddin area of the national capital.








• The tomb was originally built by Rahim for his wife, making it the first ever Mughaltomb to be built for a woman, with the more celebrated Taj Mahal having been builtlater.

• Abdul Rahim was the son of Bairam Khan, Akbar's trusted guardian and mentor, whowas of Turkic ancestry.

• Apart from writing various dohas, Rahim translated Babar's memoirs, Baburnamafrom Chagatai language to Persian language. In Sanskrit, he wrote two books onastrology -‘Khetakautukam’ and ‘Dwatrinsha Yogavali’.

GURU TEGH BAHADUR:

Context : Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an unscheduled visit to Gurdwara RakabGanj Sahib in New Delhi. The Prime Minister paid his respects at the gurdwara a day afterthe death anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

Concept :

• Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621 – 1675) was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion.

• He was born as Tyaga Mal. He came to be known by the name Teg Bahadur (Mightyof The Sword), given to him by Guru Hargobind after he shown his valour in a battleagainst the Mughals.

• His father was the Sixth guru, Guru Hargobind. His son Guru Gobind Singh, becamethe tenth Sikh guru.

Life and works:

• He built the city of Anandpur Sahib (in Rupnagar/Ropar district, on the edge ofShivalik Hills, near the Sutlej River, in Punjab). Here the last two Sikh Gurus livedand where Guru Gobind Singh Ji founded the Khalsa Panth in 1699.

• He contributed more than 100 poetic hymns to Granth Sahib which cover varioustopics, such as the nature of God, human attachments, body, mind, dignity service etc.

• He resisted the forced conversions of Kashmiri Pandits and non-Muslims to Islam.

Martyrdom:

• He was publicly beheaded in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb inDelhi for himself refusing to convert to Islam. He is remembered for giving up his lifefor freedom of religion.

• His martyrdom is remembered as the Shaheedi Divas of Guru Tegh Bahadur everyyear on 24 November, according to the Nanakshahi calendar released by theShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in 2003.

Memorials in Delhi:

• Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib mark the place of his execution.

• Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib mark the places of cremation of his body.








ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY (AMU):

Context : Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the centenary celebrations of AligarhMuslim University on 22 December, 2020.

Concept :

• AMU became a University in 1920, through an Act of Indian Legislative Council byelevating the Mohammedan Anglo Oriental (MAO) College to the status of a CentralUniversity.

• MAO College was set up in 1877 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan.

• The University campus is located in the city of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. It also hasthree off-campus centres in Malappuram (Kerala), Murshidabad-Jangipur (WestBengal) and Kishanganj (Bihar).

Contributions of Syed Ahmed Khan

• He started his career as a civil servant and served the British before the revolt of 1857.

• The 1857 revolt was one of the turning points in Syed Ahmed’s life and he penned apamphlet titled “The Causes of the Indian Revolt” to explain the reasons of the revoltfrom a “native perspective”.

• He supported the British during the 1857 revolution. In 1859 he published thebooklet Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind (The Causes of the Indian Revolt) in which hestudied the causes of the Indian upheaval.

• He raised voice against the existing religious intolerance, ignorance and irrationalismprevailing in the society at that time.

• He denounced the orthodox systems of purdah, polygamy and easy divorce of theMuslim community.

• Tahzebul Akhlaq (Social Reformer in English), a magazine founded by him, triedto awaken people’s consciousness on social and religious issues in very expressiveprose.

• He instituted the Scientific Society in 1863 to instill a scientific temperament into theMuslims and to make the Western knowledge available to Indians in their ownlanguage.

• He launched The Aligarh Institute Gazette, an organ of the Scientific Society inMarch 1866 and succeeded in agitating the minds in the traditional Muslim society.

• In 1875, Sir Syed founded the Madarsatul Uloom in Aligarh and patterned theMAO College after Oxford and Cambridge universities that he went on a trip toLondon. His objective was to build a college in line with the British education systembut without compromising its Islamic values.

The Aligarh Movement:








• Sir Syed Ahmad Khan is best known for the Aligarh Movement a systemic movementaimed at reforming the social, political and educational aspects of the Muslimcommunity.

• In 1886, he set up the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Education Congress which waslater renamed the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental Educational Conference. It aimed tobring together education and culture.

• He also emphasised the need for an autonomous Muslim institution free of anygovernment funding.

• It undertook to modernise Muslim’s education by adapting English as a medium oflearning and western education rather than just focusing on traditional teachings.

• The movement helped the Muslims revival and gave them a common language Urdu.

UDHAM SINGH:

Context: December 26 is the birth anniversary of freedom fighter Udham Singh, knownfor avenging the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919.

Concept:· He was born in Sunam in Punjab’s Sangrur district in 1899.· He was a political activist who got associated with the Ghadar Party while in the US.· In 1934, Singh made his way to London with the purpose of assassinating O’Dwyer,

who in 1919 had been the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab and unsurprisingly, Singhconsidered O’Dwyer to be responsible for the massacre.

· Instead of Dyer, who instructed his men to open fire at the crowd gathered inJallianwala Bagh, O’Dwyer is considered to be the actual perpetrator, since Dyercould not have executed it without his permission.

· On March 13, 1940 Singh shot O’Dwyer at a meeting of the East India Associationand the Royal Central Asian Society at Caxton Hill.

· He was sentenced to death and was hanged on July 31, 1940 at Pentonville Prison.








GEOGRAPHY

LA NINA AFTER A DECADE:

Context: Developing ocean-atmospheric phenomenon (LaNina) will influence our weather inthe coming months

Concept:

• It means the large-scale cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central andeastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, together with changes in the tropical atmosphericcirculation, namely winds, pressure and rainfall.

• It has the opposite impacts on weather and climate as El Niño, which is the warmphase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

Weather changes because of La Nina:

• The Horn of Africa and central Asia will see below average rainfall due to La Niña.

• East Africa is forecast to see drier-than-usual conditions, which together with theexisting impacts of the desert locust invasion, may add to regional food insecurity.

• It could also lead to increased rainfall in southern Africa.

• It could also affect the South West Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclone season, reducingthe intensity.

• Southeast Asia, some Pacific Islands and the northern region of South America areexpected to receive above-average rainfall.

• In India, La Niña means the country will receive more rainfall than normal, leading tofloods.








CYCLONE BUREVI:

Context : The Deep Depression over southwest Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 09 kmph during past six hours, intensified into Cyclonic Storm‘Burevi’.

Concept:

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) announced that a cyclone brewing in theBay of Bengal is likely to affect Tamil Nadu and Kerala, less than a week aftercyclone Nivar wreaked havoc in the southern states.

• The cyclone will cross the Sri Lanka coast on December 2 and bring heavy rain overTamil Nadu and Kerala.

• Due to upwelling caused by nivar cyclone , there is high possibility that Burevicyclone will not strengthen beyond the intensiy of cyclonic storm.

• When consecutive cyclonic sysytems develop in the same region of the ocean , thepredecessor system leads to upwelling in ocean that is cooler waters from lower partof teh ocean are pushed towards the surface part of the ocean which leads to decreasein temperature.

• In the absence of warm sea conditions , any cyclone will not have enough fuel tointensify beyond cyclonic storm.

• IMD has predicted that Burevi will remain as a cyclonic storm till december 5 , beforeit weakens into deep depression.

BRAHMAPUTRA RIVER:

Context: India on Thursday said it “carefully monitors all developments on theBrahmaputra” river, even as Beijing said it was its “legitimate right” to develop hydro powerprojects.

Concept:

• Brahmaputra river system is one of the largest rivers in the world. In the Tibet region,it is known by the name of Yarlung Tsangpo. It enters by the names of Siang andDihang in India. And after it is joined by its two main tributaries, the Dibang and theLohit, it is known by the name of Brahmaputra. It flows in Bangladesh by the name ofJumna. Finally, it merges with the Ganga river.

Brahmaputra River System

• The world's largest riverine island, Majuli Island is on the Brahmaputra river in thestate of Assam. Important cities along Brahmaputra are Dibrugarh, Pasighat, Neamati,Tezpur and Guwahati.

• Source of origin: The Brahmaputra river rises from Chemayundung glacier of theKailash range near the Mansarovar Lake to the north of the Himalayas in thesouthwest Tibet region.








• Confluence of Mouth: The Brahmaputra drains into the Bay of Bengal before forminga huge delta along with the Ganga.

Course of the Brahmaputra river

• In Tibet, it runs parallel to the Himalayas for about 1,200 km. It turns into the southand creates a deep gorge through the Himalayas near Namcha Barwa and enters Indiaunder the name of the Dihang.

• Near Sadia, it receives the Dibang coming from the north and the Lohit coming fromthe east and enters the Assam valley where it is called the Brahmaputra. It flows in thewest direction up to Dhubri and further below, it runs to the south and entersBangladesh.

• The Brahmaputra receives numerous tributaries in the Assam valley. The number ofstreams joining the Brahmaputra on its right-bank is greater than that of those joiningit on the left-bank. Most of the tributaries are large streams and they pour greatquantities of water in the Brahmaputra.

• During the rainy season, it is 8 km broad, slow-moving and heavily laden with silt.Its channel is braided. It is notorious for floods and erosion of its banks. Recurrentfloods not only hampers the navigation through the river but also the establishment oflarge towns on its banks.

Primary Tributaries of the Brahmaputra River:

The Dhansiri River:

• It is the left-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river.It rises from Liasang peak ofNagaland. It is the main river of the Golaghat district of Assam and the Dimapurdistrict of Nagaland.

The Lohit River:

• It is an important left-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It rises in the easternTibet region. The Lohit river flows through the Mishmi Hills. It joins the left-bank ofthe Brahmaputra at Sadia town in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

• . The newly constructed massive Dhola-Sadia bridge or the Bhupen Hazarika bridgespans the Lohit river.

The Dibang River:

• It is the left-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It is one of the principaltributaries of the Brahmaputra river. It flows through the states of Arunachal Pradeshand Assam.

The Subansiri River:

• It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It rises in the Tibet region inthe Himalayas. It flows east and southeast through the Lower Subansiri district inArunachal Pradesh, and then south to the Assam valley, where it joins the right-bankof the Brahmaputra river in the Lakhimpur district of Assam. The Subansiri River is








known as the Gold River by the locals. This river is famous all over the world for itsgold dust.

The Kameng River:

• It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It rises in the Tawang district inthe eastern .

• The Kaziranga National Park and the Pakkhui Wildlife Sanctuary are located nearthe Kameng river.

The Manas River:

• It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It is a trans-boundary river inthe Himalayan foothills between southern Bhutan and India. The Manas river flowsthrough Bhutan and Assam in India before it joins the right-bank of the Brahmaputrariver.

The Sankosh River:

• It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. It is a trans0boundary river andit flows through Bhutan, India, and Bangladesh. It rises in the northern Bhutan region

The Teesta River:

• It is the right-bank tributary of the Brahmaputra river. The Teesta rises from Zemuglacier in Kanchenjunga massif in Sikkim. The Teesta river drains the entire state ofSikkim and a part of Darjeeling Hills. It is known as the lifeline of Sikkim.

LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS:

Context: With the entire Lakshadweep group of islands being declared an organicagricultural area, the island administration is eyeing an expansion of the traditional businessin coconuts and coconut products.

Concept :

• It consists of three major islands. They are ,

• Amindivi Islands (consisting of six main islands of Amini, Keltan, Chetlat, Kadmat,Bitra and Perumul Par). [don’t have to remember all these names]

• Laccadive Islands (consisting of five major islands of Androth, Kalpeni, Kavaratti,Pitti and Suheli Par) and

• Minicoy Island.

• At present these islands are collectively known as Lakshadweep.

• The Lakshadweep Islands are a group of 25 small islands.

• They are widely scattered about 200-500 km south-west of the Kerala coast.








• Amendivi Islands are the northern most while the Minicoy island is the southernmost.

• All are tiny islands of coral origin {Atoll} and are

• They are surrounded by fringing reefs.

• The largest and the most advanced is Lakshadweep Islandsthe Minicoy island with anarea of 4.53 sq km.

• Most of the islands have low elevation and do not rise more than five metre above sealevel (Extremely Vulnerable to sea level change).

• Their topography is flat and relief features such as hills, streams, valleys, etc. areabsent.

EL NINO :

Context : A new study carried out by researchers of the Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc)Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (CAOS) has found that El Niño alone is not beblamed for droughts that in the Indian subcontinent.

Concept:

• El Nino refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked toperiodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and east-centralEquatorial Pacific. It is associated with high pressure in the western Pacific. El Ninoadversely impacts the Indian monsoons and hence, agriculture in India.

El Nino impacts on India:

• In a normal monsoon year (without El Nino), the pressure distribution is as follows:

• The coast of Peru in South America has a higher pressure than the region nearnorthern Australia and South East Asia.

• The Indian Ocean is warmer than the adjoining oceans and so, has relatively lowerpressure. Hence, moisture-laden winds move from near the western Pacific to theIndian Ocean.

• The pressure on the landmass of India is lower than on the Indian Ocean, and so, themoisture-laden winds move further from the ocean to the lands.

• If this normal pressure distribution is affected for some reason, the monsoons areaffected.

• El Nino means lesser than average rains for India. Indian agriculture is heavilydependent on the monsoons and because of this, lesser rainfall during the monsoonsgenerally translates to below-average crop yields.

What happens because of El Nino?

• The cool surface water off the Peruvian coast goes warm because of El Nino. Whenthe water is warm, the normal trade winds get lost or reverse their direction.








• Hence, the flow of moisture-laden winds is directed towards the coast of Peru fromthe western Pacific (the region near northern Australia and South East Asia).

• This causes heavy rains in Peru during the El Nino years robbing the Indiansubcontinent of its normal monsoon rains. The larger the temperature and pressuredifference, the larger the rainfall shortage in India.

ROSSBY WAVES:

Concept :

• The meandering jet streams are called Rossby Waves.

• Rossby waves are natural phenomenon in the atmosphere and oceans due to rotationof earth.

• In planetary atmospheres, they are due to the variation in the Coriolis effect (Whentemperature contrast is low, speed of jet stream is low, and Coriolis force is weakleading to meandering) with latitude.

• Rossby waves are formed when polar air moves toward the Equator while tropical airis moving poleward.

• The existence of these waves explains the low-pressure cells (cyclones) and high-pressure cells (anticyclones).

Jet Stream

• The Jet Stream is a geostrophic wind blowing horizontally through the upper layers ofthe troposphere, generally from west to east, at an altitude of 20,000 - 50,000 feet.

• Jet Streams develop where air masses of differing temperatures meet. So, usuallysurface temperatures determine where t/he Jet Stream will form.

• Greater the difference in temperature, faster is the wind velocity inside the jet stream.








• Jet Streams extend from 20 degrees latitude to the poles in both hemispheres.

Where does it actually begin?

• Air when warmed in the tropics, around the equator, fuel the Jet Stream as it rises.Hitting the tropopause at about 58,000 feet (the layer of the atmosphere separating thetroposphere from the stratosphere), it is drawn toward the colder air at the north andsouth poles.

Types of Jet Streams:

• Sub Tropical Jet Streams are best developed in winter and early spring. Theirmaximum speed approaches 300 knots which are associated with the merger withpolar-front jets. A subsidence motion accompanies subtropical jets and gives rise topredominantly fair weather in areas they pass over. Sometimes they drift northwardand merge with a polar-front jet.

• Tropical Easterly Jet Stream occurs near the tropopause over Southeast Asia, India,and Africa during summer. This jet implies a deep layer of warm air to the north ofthe jet and colder air to the south over the Indian Ocean. The difference in heating andcooling and the ensuing pressure gradient is what drives this jet.

• Polar-Night Jet Stream meanders through the upper stratosphere over the poles.They are present in the convergence zone above the sub polar low pressure belt.

MOUNT EVEREST:

Context: The Foreign Ministers of Nepal and China jointly certified the elevation ofMount Everest at 8,848.86 metres above sea level — 86 cm higher than what was recognisedsince 1954.

Concept:

• Mount Everest (also called Sagarmatha in Nepal) is Earth’s highest mountain abovesea level, located in the Himalayas between China and Nepal with their bordersrunning across its summit point.

• Its current official elevation is 8,848m which places it more than 200m above theworld’s second-highest mountain, K2, which is 8,611m tall and located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.








• Mount Everest gets its English name from Sir George Everest, a colonial-erageographer who served as the Surveyor General of India in the mid-19th century.

• It was first scaled in 1953 by the Indian-Nepalese Tenzing Norgay and NewZealander Edmund Hillary.

How and when was the earlier measurement of 8,848 m done?

• This was determined by the Survey of India in 1954, using instruments liketheodolites and chains, with GPS still decades away.

• The elevation of 8,848 m came to be accepted in all references worldwide — exceptby China. Mount Everest rises from the border between Nepal and China.

Need for new measurement:

• The devastating earthquake of April 2015 triggered a debate among scientists onwhether it had affected the height of the mountain.

• The Nepal’s government subsequently declared that it would measure the mountainon its own, instead of continuing to follow the Survey of India findings of 1954.

NORTHERN LIGHTS:

Context: Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, are usually witnessed far up inthe Polar Regions or the high latitude regions of Europe, like in Norway. But, recently, theycould be visible in southern regions, such as in the Pennsylvania in the US.

Concept:

• This is happening due to a solar flare, which emerged from a Sunspot. The flare isaccompanied by a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) — a large bubble of radiation andparticles emitted by the Sun that explodes into space at high speed.

• The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said theelectromagnetic storm could be growing to major status, causing the Northern Lightsto be visible in more number of areas than usual.

AURORA:

• Auroras occur when charged particles ejected from the Sun’s surface — called thesolar wind — enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

• While flowing toward Earth, the fast-moving solar wind carries with it the Sun’smagnetic field, which disrupts the magnetosphere — the region of space around Earthin which the magnetic field of our planet is dominant.

• When the Sun’s magnetic field approaches Earth, the protective magnetic fieldradiating from our planet’s poles deflects the former, thus shielding life on Earth.

• However, as this happens, the protective fields couple together to form funnels,through which charged solar wind particles are able to stream down to the poles.

• At the north and south poles, the charged particles interact with different gases in theatmosphere, causing a display of light in the sky. This display, known as an aurora, is








seen from the Earth’s high latitude regions (called the auroral oval), and is active allyear round.

• In the northern part of our globe, the polar lights are called aurora borealis orNorthern Lights, and are seen from the US (Alaska), Canada, Iceland, Greenland,Norway, Sweden and Finland.

• In the south, they are called aurora australis or southern lights, and are visiblefrom high latitudes in Antarctica, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.

• Generally, the auroral oval is confined to the polar regions. But occasionally, the ovalexpands, and the lights become visible at lower latitudes.This happens duringperiods of high solar activity, such as the arrival of solar storms.

MONSOON DROUGHTS:

Context:A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science and Cotton Universityhas found that some droughts during monsoon season in India are due to unique NorthAtlantic disturbance.

Concept:

• Previous research has shown that El Niño events almost always lead to dry monsoonseasons, but not all dry seasons are due to El Niño events. In this new effort, theresearchers sought to learn more about other events that might impact monsoonseason rains.

• They found that nearly half (10 out of 23) of all droughts in India over the pastcentury did not occur in El Niño years. They also found that in years when there weredroughts unrelated to El Niño, there were unique atmospheric disturbances in theNorth Atlantic Ocean.

• These disturbances, they also found, resulted in the development of currents thatdisturbed the factors that normally lead to the heavy rains typically associated withmonsoon season in South Asia.

• The researchers found that the North Atlantic Ocean disturbances tend to coincidewith the sudden drop in rainfall in mid-August.

• During an El Niño year, the rainfall deficit — departure fromdeparture from a long-term average — sets in early around month of June and becomes progressively worse. However, the drought during non-Elnino year when analyzed together also seemed tofollow a common pattern. First, there was a moderate slump in June. Then , duringmid-July to mid – august – the peak season monsoon showed signs of recovery andrainfall amount increased., However , around third week of August rainfall againdeclined steeply.

• They were not able to explain the nature of such disturbances, however, except tonote that they involved winds from the upper atmosphere mixing with cycloniccirculation over the cold water of the North Atlantic.

• The resulting wave of air currents, called a Rossby wave, curved down from theNorth Atlantic — squeezed in by the Tibeteanplateau — and hit the Indian








subcontinent around mid-August, and hit the Indian subcontinent around mid-August,suppressing of rainfall and throwing off the monsoon that was trying to recover fromthe June slump.

ESWATINI (SWAZILAND):

Context:The Prime Minister, has expressed grief over the demise of Ambrose MandvuloDlamini, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Eswatini.

Concept:

• Eswatini is officially known as the Kingdom of Eswatini, sometimes written inEnglish as eSwatini, and formerly and still commonly known in English asSwaziland.

• Eswatini is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambiqueto its northeast and South Africa to its north, west, and south.

• The population is composed primarily of ethnic Swazis.

• The government is an absolute monarchy, ruled by King Mswati III since 1986.Elections are held every five years to determine the House of Assembly and theSenate majority

GREAT CONJUNCTION :

Context : On 21 December 2020, almost all the viewers across the world seen the two gasgiants very close to each other, while they will still be hundreds of millions of miles apart inspace.

Concept :

• After nearly 400 years, Saturn and Jupiter – the two largest planets in our solar systemwere brought closest in the night sky by an astronomical event called the “greatconjunction” and popularly referred to as the “Christmas Star”.








• The event coincided with the winter solstice (shortest day of the year in terms ofhours of sunlight received) in the Northern Hemisphere and summer solstice in theSouthern Hemisphere.

Great Conjunction:

• A conjunction is not unique to Saturn and Jupiter however, it is the name given to anyevent where planets or asteroids appear to be very close together in the sky whenviewed from the Earth.

• In June 2005 for instance, as a result of the “spectacular” conjunction, Mercury,Venus and Saturn appeared so close together in the sky that the patch of sky wherethe three planets were could be covered by a thumb.

• Astronomers use the word “great” for the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn becauseof the planets’ sizes.

• The “Great Conjunction” happens once in about 20 years because of the time each ofthe planets take to orbit around the Sun. Jupiter takes roughly 12 years to completeone lap around the Sun and Saturn takes 30 years (Saturn has a larger orbit and movesmore slowly because it is not as strongly influenced by the Sun’s gravitational forceas planets that are closer to the Sun).

• As the two planets move along their orbits, every two decades, Jupiter catches up withSaturn resulting in what astronomers call the great conjunction.

• Every two decades Jupiter–which can be thought of as a fast runner on the insidetrack of a racecourse–will overtake Saturn.

• This overtaking is what viewers on Earth witnessed on the night of 21 December2020, when the planets appeared aligned in the sky, while they will still be millions ofmiles apart in space.








INDIAN POLITY AND GOVERNANCE:

COMMISSION FOR AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE NCR:

Context: The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region andAdjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020 was promulgated.

Concept:

• The Ordinance provides for constitution of a Commission for better co-ordination,research, identification, and resolution of problems related to air quality in thenational capital region (NCR) and adjoining areas.

• Adjoining areas refers to areas in the states of Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and UttarPradesh where any source of pollution may cause adverse impact on air quality in theNCR.

Composition of the Commission:

• The Commission will be headed by a full-time chairperson who has been a Secretaryto the Government of India, or a Chief Secretary to a State government.

• The chairperson will hold the post for three years or until s/he attains the age of 70years.

• It will have members from several Ministries as well as representatives from thestakeholder States.

• It will have experts from the CPCB, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) andCivil Society.

Responsibilities:

• In matters of air pollution and air quality management, the Commission willsupersede all existing bodies such as the CPCB, and even the state governments ofHaryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. It will have the powers to issuedirections to the states.

• CPCB and its State branches have the powers to implement provisions of theEnvironment Protection Act, 1986 for air, water and land pollution. Their powerscontinue.

• However, in case of dispute or a clash of jurisdictions, the Commission’s writ willprevail specific to matters concerning air pollution.

• The Commission will also coordinate efforts of state governments to curb airpollution, and will lay down the parameters of air quality for the region.

• It will have powers to restrict the setting up of industries in vulnerable areas, and willbe able to conduct site inspections of industrial units.








• If its directions are contravened, the Commission will have the power to impose a fineof up to Rs. 1 crore and imprisonment of up to 5 years.

• Only the National Green Tribunal (NGT), and not civil courts, is authorised tohear cases where the Commission is involved.

Selection Committee:

• The appointment of the Chairperson and members of the Commission will be done bythe central government on the recommendations of a Selection Committee. TheCommittee will be headed by the Minister in-charge of the Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest and Climate Change as the Chairperson.

• Further, the Committee will include the Cabinet Secretary and the Minister in-chargeof: (i) Ministry of Commerce and Industry, (ii) Ministry of Road Transport andHighways, and (iii) Ministry of Science and Technology.

ELECTION TO LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL:

Concept:

Article 169:

• The Parliament can abolish a legislative council (where it already exists) or create it(where it does not exist) by a simple majority, that is, a majority of the members ofeach House present and voting, if the legislative assembly of the concerned state, by aspecial majority, passes a resolution to that effect.

• Special majority implies, a majority of the total membership of the assembly andmajority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the assembly present andvoting.

Composition:

• Under Article 171 of the Constitution, the Legislative Council of a state shall nothave more than one-third of the total strength of the State Assembly, and not less than40 members.

• Like the Rajya Sabha, the legislative council is a continuing chamber, that is, it is apermanent body and is not subject to dissolution. The tenure of a Member of theLegislative Council (MLC) is six years, with one-third of the members retiring everytwo years.

Manner of Election:

• One-third of the MLCs are elected by the state’s MLAs,

• Another 1/3rd by a special electorate comprising sitting members of localgovernments such as municipalities and district boards,

• 1/12th by an electorate of teachers and another 1/12th by registered graduates.








• The remaining members are appointed by the Governor for distinguished services invarious fields namely, literature, science, art, cooperative movement and socialservice.

LC vis-à-vis Rajya Sabha:

• The legislative power of the Councils are limited. Unlike Rajya Sabha which hassubstantial powers to shape non-financial legislation, Legislative Councils lack aconstitutional mandate to do so.

• Assemblies can override suggestions/amendments made to legislation by the Council.

• Again, unlike Rajya Sabha MPs, MLCs cannot vote in elections for the Presidentand Vice President. The Vice President is the Rajya Sabha Chairperson while amember from the Council itself is chosen as the Council Chairperson.

UMANG APP:

Context : Union Minister for IT launched the UMANG’s international version incoordination with Ministry of External Affairs for select countries that include USA, UK,Canada, Australia, UAE, Netherlands, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Concept:

• It will help Indian international students, NRIs and Indian tourists abroad, to availGovernment of India services, anytime.

• It will also help in taking India to the world through ‘Indian Culture’ servicesavailable on UMANG and create interest amongst foreign tourists to visit India.

• The UMANG mobile app (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance)is a Government of India all-in-one single multi-lingual, multi-service Mobile Appproviding access to high impact services of various Government of India Departmentsand State Governments.

SESSIONS OF PARLIAMENT:

Context: Farmers in Delhi protest is demanding for a special session of parliament.

Concept:

• Under Article 85, the Houses of Parliament shall be summoned in such a manner thatsix months shall not lapse between two sessions of Parliament. By convention, theParliament meets in three regular sessions in a calendar year apart from the specialsessions.

• The regular and special sessions of Parliament are convened by the President on theadvice of Council of Ministers. However, if the President thinks that the time periodof six months may expire and Union Council of Ministers has not asked him to callthe session of Parliament, then the President may convene the session of Parliament athis own discretion.

• As per convention, there are three regular sessions of Parliament:








Regular sessions of parliament:

• Budget session: It starts with an address by the President to a joint sitting of both thehouses of Parliament. It is in this session that the budget is presented and passed. It isthe longest and most important of the three sessions. It generally begins in the monthof February and lasts till third week of May. From year 2017, the budget session hasbeen preponed, as the government has decided to introduce budget on 1st Februaryevery year.

• Monsoon Session: It is held in the month of July-September. It is the second longestsession of the Parliament.

• Winter Session: It is held in the month of November-December and it is the shortestof the three sessions.

Special Session of Parliament:

• It is held in order to transact a particular business as mentioned in the notice ofinvitation sent to the members of parliament and in this session no other business istaken up for consideration. It may be held within or outside the regular session ofParliament.

• Apart from the special session of Parliament, there is a special session of Lok Sabhaunder Article 352(8) inserted by 44th Amendment Act. Special session of Lok Sabhacan take place if not less than one-tenth members of Lok Sabha give in writing to thePresident (if Lok Sabha is not in session) or to the speaker (if Lok Sabha is insession), about an intention to move a resolution for disapproval of continuance ofnational emergency.

• If majority of the members present and voting disapprove the national emergency,then national emergency comes to an end.

CONSENT FOR CONTEMPT :

Context : Attorney General for India granted consent to initiate criminal contempt ofcourt proceedings against a comic illustrator for allegedly scandalising the judiciary throughher tweets and illustrations.

Concept :

• The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, lays down the law on contempt of court. Section15 of the legislation describes the procedure on how a case for contempt of court canbe initiated.

• In the case of the Supreme Court, the Attorney General or the Solicitor General, andin the case of High Courts, the Advocate General, may bring in a motion before thecourt for initiating a case of criminal contempt.

• However, if the motion is brought by any other person, the consent in writing of theAttorney General or the Advocate General is required. If the AG denies consent, thematter ends.

• The objective behind requiring the consent of the Attorney General before takingcognizance of a complaint is to save the time of the court.








Is the AG’s consent mandatory for all contempt of court cases?

• The AG’s consent is mandatory when a private citizen wants to initiate a case ofcontempt of court against a person. However, when the court itself initiates acontempt of court case, as it did in the case of Prashant Bhushan recently, the AG’sconsent is not required.

• This is because the court is exercising its inherent powers under the Constitution topunish for contempt and such Constitutional powers cannot be restricted because theAG declined to grant consent.

APEX COMMITTEE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF PARIS AGREEMENT (AIPA):

Context: The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) hasconstituted a high-level inter-ministerial Apex Committee for Implementation of ParisAgreement (AIPA) under the chairmanship of Secretary, MoEFCC.

Concept:

• The purpose of AIPA is to generate a coordinated response on climate change mattersthat ensures India is on track towards meeting its obligations under the ParisAgreement including its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

• Senior officials from fourteen ministries will serve as Members to AIPA who willoversee the progress in implementation of India’s NDC

Other key functions of AIPA:

• To operate as a National Authority to regulate carbon markets in India under Article 6of the Paris Agreement,

• To formulate guidelines for consideration of projects or activities under Article 6 ofthe Paris Agreement,

• To issue guidelines on carbon pricing, market mechanism, and other similarinstruments that have a bearing on climate change and NDCs.

NRI VOTING:

Context: Election Commission (EC) approached the Law Ministry to permit NRIs tocast their votes from overseas through postal ballots.

Concept:

• According to a UN report of 2015, India’s diaspora population is the largest in theworld at 16 million people. Registration of NRI voters, in comparison, has been verylow: a little over one lakh overseas Indians registered as voters in India, according tothe EC. In last year’s Lok Sabha elections, roughly 25,000 of them flew to India tovote.

• An NRI can vote in the constituency in which her place of residence, as mentioned inthe passport, is located. She can only vote in person and will have to produce herpassport in original at the polling station for establishing identity.








• Voting rights for NRIs were introduced only in 2011, through an amendment to theRepresentation of the People Act 1950.

• According to the EC proposal, any NRI interested in voting through the postal ballotin an election will have to inform the Returning Officer (RO) not later than five daysafter the notification of the election.

• On receiving such information, the RO will dispatch the ballot paper electronically.The NRI voters will download the ballot paper, mark their preference on the printoutand send it back along with a declaration attested by an officer appointed by thediplomatic or consular representative of India in the country where the NRI isresident.

Postal Ballots System:

• Ballot papers are distributed electronically to electors and are returned to the electionofficers via post.

• Currently, only the following voters are allowed to cast their votes through postalballot:

• Service voters (armed forces, the armed police force of a state and governmentservants posted abroad),

• Voters on election duty,

• Voters above 80 years of age or Persons with Disabilities (PwD),

• Voters under preventive detention.

• The exception to the above-mentioned category of voters is provided under Section60 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

BODOLAND TERRITORIAL COUNCIL :

Context: More than 70% of the 1,365,207 voters turned out for the first phase of theelections to the Bodoland Territorial Council.

Concept:

• Bodoland Territorial Council is an autonomous region in the state of Assam inIndia.

• It is made up of four districts (Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri) on the northbank of the Brahmaputra river, by the foothills of Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh.

• The area under the jurisdiction of BTC, formed under the 2003 Accord, was called theBodo Territorial Autonomous District (BTAD).

• BTC is an area governed under the 6th schedule. However, BTC is an exception to theconstitutional provision under the 6th schedule.

• As it can constitute up to 46 members out of which 40 are elected.








• Of these 40 seats, 35 are reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and non-tribalcommunities, five are unreserved and the rest six are nominated by the governor fromunderrepresented communities of the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD).

• Thus, the creation of the BTC can be seen as a new experiment of territorialautonomy under the Sixth Schedule.

Sixth Schedule:

• The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas inAssam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244 of the IndianConstitution.

• It seeks to safeguard the rights of the tribal population through the formation ofAutonomous District Councils (ADC).

• ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given varyingdegrees of autonomy within the state legislature.

• The governors of these states are empowered to reorganize boundaries of the tribalareas.

• In simpler terms, she or he can choose to include or exclude any area, increase ordecrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts into one.

• They can also alter or change the names of autonomous regions without separatelegislation.

Autonomous districts and regional councils

• The ADCs are empowered with civil and judicial powers can constitute village courtswithin their jurisdiction to hear the trial of cases involving the tribes.

• Governors of states that fall under the Sixth Schedule specify the jurisdiction of highcourts for each of these cases.

• Along with ADCs, the Sixth Schedule also provides for separate Regional Councilsfor each area constituted as an autonomous region.

• In all, there are 10 areas in the Northeast that are registered as autonomous districts –three in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram and one in Tripura.

• These regions are named as district council of (name of district) and regional councilof (name of region).

• Each autonomous district and regional council consists of not more than 30 members,of which four are nominated by the governor and the rest via elections. All of themremain in power for a term of five years.

SECTION 144:

Context : To thwart attempts by the Opposition parties and farmers’ outfits to enforce theBharat Bandh in Gujarat, the government is set to impose Section 144 of the Cr.P.C.

Concept :








• Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is frequently used to prohibitassemblies of four or more individuals, or to order mobile phone companies to blockvoice, SMS, or Internet communications in one or more geographical areas.

• It empowers a district magistrate, a sub-divisional magistrate or any other executivemagistrate specially empowered by the state government in this behalf to issue ordersto prevent and address urgent cases of apprehended danger or nuisance.

• The orders may be directed against a particular individual, or to persons residing in aparticular place or area, or to the public generally when frequenting or visiting aparticular place or area.

• No order passed under Section 144 can remain in force for more than two monthsfrom the date of the order.

• The state government can extend this, but not more than six months.

EMERGENCY USE AUTHORISATION:Context : Three vaccine developers have sought emergency use approval while their

candidates are still in trials. India’s regulations provide for ‘accelerated approval’ in specialsituations.

Concept :

Regular procedure for drug approval:

• Vaccines and medicines, and even diagnostic tests and medical devices, require theapproval of a regulatory authority before they can be administered.

• In India, the regulatory authority is the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO).

• For vaccines and medicines, approval is granted after an assessment of their safetyand effectiveness, based on data from trials.

When can emergency use authorisation (EUA) be granted?

• In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) grants EUA only after it hasbeen determined that the “known and potential benefits outweigh the known andpotential risks of the vaccine” (or medicine).

• This means that a EUA application can be considered only after sufficient efficacydata from phase 3 trials had been generated.

• A EUA cannot be granted solely on the basis of data from phase 1 or phase 2 trials.

What is the process of getting an emergency use authorisation in India?

• Experts and activists say India’s drug regulations do not have provisions for a EUA,and the process for receiving one is not clearly defined or consistent.

• Despite this, CDSCO has been granting emergency or restricted emergency approvalsto Covid-19 drugs during this pandemic for remdesivir and favipiravir.








Is there a risk in using a product that has only been granted an EUA?

• According to the US FDA, the public has to be informed that a product has only beengranted an EUA and not full approval.

• In the case of a Covid-19 vaccine, for example, people have to be informed about theknown and potential benefits and risks, and the “extent to which such benefits or risksare unknown”, and that they have a right to refuse the vaccine.

NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDING:

Context : Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the New ParliamentBuilding.

Concept :

• The new parliament building will be the highlight of the ambitious ₹ 20,000 croreCentral Vista project that PM Modi said will become "a symbol of a new and self-reliant India".

• The four-story building will be triangular and its interiors will have three nationalsymbols - the lotus, the peacock and the banyan tree - as its themes.

• The triangular shape of the new parliament was a reference to "sacred geometries invarious religions and cultures of India".

• In the Lok Sabha chamber, the national bird (peacock) will be the theme. In the RajyaSabha the national flower (lotus) and in the central lounge the national tree (banyan)will be the theme.

• The parliament building alone will cost an estimated ₹ 971 crore and will, thegovernment hopes, be ready before India's 75th Independence Day (in 2022).However, construction cannot yet begin as a legal challenge is pending in theSupreme Court.

• To be constructed by Tata Projects Ltd, the new parliament building will overlook theold - which was built nearly 100 years ago at a cost of ₹ 83 lakh and will be turnedinto a museum.

• The new Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha halls will have increased seating capacities (888and 384 seats, respectively) in anticipation of an expanded Parliament; a 25-year-oldfreeze on increasing state-wise distribution of seats ends in 2026.

• In addition, seating in the Lok Sabha hall can be expanded to 1,272 to host jointsessions.

• Dholpur stone will be the primary construction material (as it was with the currentbuilding) and red granite may replace red sandstone in some interior sections.

• The building will be equipped with modern audio-visual communication systems. Thenew parliament will also be fully wheelchair- and disabled-access friendly.








KARNATAKA’S NEW ANTI-COW SLAUGHTER BILL:

Context : Karnataka government passed the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter andPreservation of Cattle Bill (2020) in the Assembly amid strong opposition.

Concept :

• The Bill envisages a ban on all forms of cattle slaughter and stringent punishment foroffenders.

• While ‘beef’ is defined as the flesh of cattle in any form, the word ‘cattle’ is definedas “cow, calf of a cow and bull, bullock, and he or she buffalo below the age ofthirteen years”.

• The Bill also terms shelters established for the protection and preservation of cattleregistered with the Department of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries as ‘gau shalas’.

• Police officers ranked sub-inspector and above or a competent authority will have thepower to search premises and seize cattle and materials used or intended to use tocommit the offence.

• Terming cow slaughter as a cognizable offence, violators can attract three to sevenyears of imprisonment. While a penalty between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh can belevied for the first offence, second and subsequent offences can attract penaltiesranging between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.








LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL :

Context : Karnataka government defers tabling anti-cow slaughter bill in LegislativeCouncil.

Concept :

Abolition or Creation - Article 169

• The Parliament can abolish a legislative council (where it already exists) or create it(where it does not exist) by a simple majority, that is, a majority of the members ofeach House present and voting, if the legislative assembly of the concerned state, by aspecial majority, passes a resolution to that effect.

• Special majority implies , a majority of the total membership of the assembly and amajority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the assembly present andvoting.

Composition

• Under Article 171 of the Constitution, the Legislative Council of a state shall not havemore than one-third of the total strength of the State Assembly, and not less than 40members.

• Like the Rajya Sabha, the legislative council is a continuing chamber, that is, it is apermanent body and is not subject to dissolution. The tenure of a Member of theLegislative Council (MLC) is six years, with one-third of the members retiring everytwo years.

Manner of Election

• One-third of the MLCs are elected by the state’s MLAs,

• Another 1/3rd by a special electorate comprising sitting members of localgovernments such as municipalities and district boards,

• 1/12th by an electorate of teachers and another 1/12th by registered graduates.

• The remaining members are appointed by the Governor for distinguished services invarious fields namely, literature, science, art, cooperative movement and socialservice.

LC vis-à-vis Rajya Sabha

• The legislative power of the Councils are limited. Unlike Rajya Sabha which hassubstantial powers to shape non-financial legislation, Legislative Councils lack aconstitutional mandate to do so.

• Assemblies can override suggestions/amendments made to legislation by the Council.

• Again, unlike Rajya Sabha MPs, MLCs cannot vote in elections for the President andVice President. The Vice President is the Rajya Sabha Chairperson while a memberfrom the Council itself is chosen as the Council Chairperson.

COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA:








Context : CCI initiates investigation against cement companies in India.

Concept :

• Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body of the Government ofIndia responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002, it was duly constituted inMarch 2009.

• The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act) was repealedand replaced by the Competition Act, 2002, on the recommendations of Raghavancommittee.

• Competition Commission of India aims to establish a robust competitive environment.

• Through proactive engagement with all stakeholders, including consumers, industry,government and international jurisdictions.

Competition Act, 2002

• The Competition Act was passed in 2002 and has been amended by the Competition(Amendment) Act, 2007. It follows the philosophy of modern competition laws.

• The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position byenterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and M&A),which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition withinIndia.

• In accordance with the provisions of the Amendment Act, the CompetitionCommission of India and the Competition Appellate Tribunal have been established.

• Government replaced Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) with the NationalCompany Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in 2017.

Composition of CCI

• The Commission consists of one Chairperson and six Members as per theCompetition Act who shall be appointed by the Central Government.

• The commission is a quasi-judicial body which gives opinions to statutoryauthorities and also deals with other cases. The Chairperson and other Members shallbe whole-time Members.

• Eligibility of members: The Chairperson and every other Member shall be a personof ability, integrity and standing and who, has been, or is qualified to be a judge of aHigh Court, or, has special knowledge of, and professional experience of not less thanfifteen years in international trade, economics, business, commerce, law, finance,accountancy, management, industry, public affairs, administration or in any othermatter which, in the opinion of the Central Government, may be useful to theCommission.

NO CONFIDENCE MOTION:

Context : Stating that he intends to move a no-confidence motion against the BJP-JJPgovernment in Haryana, former chief minister has written to Governor.








Concept :

• A no-confidence motion is a parliamentary motion which is moved in the Lok Sabhaagainst the entire council of ministers, stating that they are no longer deemed fit tohold positions of responsibility due to their inadequacy in some respect or their failureto carry out their obligations.

• No prior reason needs to be stated for its adoption in the Lok Sabha.

Procedure to move a “No Confidence Motion”:

• A motion of “No Confidence Motion” against the Government can be introduced onlyin the Lok Sabha under rule 198.

• The Constitution of India does not mention about either a Confidence or a NoConfidence Motion. Although, Article 75 does specify that the Council of Ministersshall be collectively responsible to the Lok Sabha.

• A motion of No Confidence can be admitted when a minimum of 50 members,support the motion in the house.

• The Speaker then, once satisfied that the motion is in order, will ask the House if themotion can be adopted.

• If the motion is passed in the house, the Government is bound to vacate the office.

• A no-confidence motion needs a majority vote to pass the House.

• If individuals or parties abstain from voting, those numbers will be removed from theoverall strength of the House and then the majority will be taken into account.

SEVENTH SCHEDULE:

Context : Fifteenth Finance Commission chairman N.K. Singh has called for a fresh lookat the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule and hinted at the need to fill an ‘institutional vacuum’created by the abolition of the Planning Commission.

Concept :

• The Constitution provides for a three-fold distribution of legislative subjects betweenthe Union and the states, viz., List-I (the Union List), List-II (the State List) and List-III (the Concurrent List), described in this schedule:

• Union List: This List contains matters of national importance and the matters whichrequire uniformity of legislation nationwide. This list has at present 100 subjects(originally 97) like defence, naturalisation & citizenship (entry 17), banking, foreignaffairs, atomic energy, communication, census, etc.

• State List: This List contains matters of regional and local importance which requirestate-specific solution and the matters which permit diversity of interest. It presentlycontains 61 subjects (originally 66 subjects) like public order, police, public healthand sanitation, agriculture, local government, gambling, etc.








• Concurrent List: This List contains matters on which uniformity of legislationthroughout the country is desirable but is not essential. This List at present has 52subjects (originally 47 subjects) like criminal law and procedure, civil procedure,marriage and divorce, population control and family planning, electricity, economicand social planning, etc.

NATIONAL FAMILY HEALTH SURVEY (NFHS):Context:Health minister Harsh Vardhan released the 5th National Family Health Survey(NFHS) which contains detailed information on population, health and nutrition for India andits states and union territories.

Concept:

• The results of 17 States and 5 UTs have been released Phase-I. Phase II covering theremaining 12 States and 2 UTs had their fieldwork suspended due to Covid-19, whichhas been resumed from November and is expected to be completed by May 2021.

• Substantial improvement in maternal and child health indicators over NFHS-4 (2015-16) was recorded in the present survey.

• The fertility rate has further declined, contraceptive use has increased and unmet needhas been reduced in most phase I states.

• The survey found considerable improvement in vaccination coverage among childrenage 12-23 months across all states and UTs.

• But malnutrition indicators have worsened, with the proportion of children withstunting rising in 11 out of 18 states for which data was available, of those withwasting going up in 14, and of those with anaemia in 17.

NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR WOMEN:

Context: If the West Bengal government fails to respond to more than 260 complaintsfrom the state in the next 15 days, the National Commission for Women (NCW) will submitdetails of those cases to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the panel’s Chairperson said.

Concept:

• It was set up as a statutory body in January 1992 under the National Commission forWomen Act, 1990.

• Its mission is to strive towards enabling women to achieve equality and equalparticipation in all spheres of life by securing her due rights and entitlements throughsuitable policy formulation, legislative measures, etc.

• Its functions are to:

Review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women.

Recommend remedial legislative measures.

Facilitate redressal of grievances.

Advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.








Composition:

• Chairperson: The central government should nominate the chairperson.

• Five members: The five members are also to be nominated by the centralgovernment from amongst the person of ability, integrity, and standing. They shouldpossess experience in various fields like law or legislation, trade unionism,management of industry potential of women, women’s voluntary organization,education, administration, economic development, and social good-being.

• Member Secretary: The Central Government also nominates member secretary. He/she should be either an expert in the field of management, an organization, or anofficer who is a member.

CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL:

Concept:

• The Central Administrative Tribunal had been established under Article 323 - A ofthe Constitution for adjudication of disputes and complaints with respect torecruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services andposts in connection with the affairs of the Union or other authorities under the controlof the Government.

• In pursuance of Article 323-A, the Parliament has passed the AdministrativeTribunals Act in 1985. The act authorises the Central government to establish oneCentral Administrative Tribunal and the state administrative tribunals.

• This act opened a new chapter in the sphere of providing speedy and inexpensivejustice to the aggrieved public servants.

• Benches: There are 17 Benches and 21 Circuit Benches in the Central AdministrativeTribunal all over India.

• Objective and Composition: The CAT is a specialist body consisting ofAdministrative Members and Judicial Members who by virtue of their specializedknowledge are better equipped to dispense speedy and effective justice. It wasestablished in 1985.

• A Chairman who has been a sitting or retired Judge of a High Court heads the CentralAdministrative Tribunal.

Operating Principles:

• It exercises jurisdiction only in relation to the service matters of the parties coveredby the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.

• The Tribunal is guided by the principles of natural justice in deciding cases and isnot bound by the procedure, prescribed by the Civil Procedure Code.

• Under Section 17 of the Administrative Tribunal Act, 1985, the Tribunal has beenconferred with the power to exercise the same jurisdiction and authority in respectof contempt of itself as a High Court.








• Independence: The conditions of service of the Chairman and Members are the sameas applicable to a Judge of High Court as per the Administrative Tribunals(Amendment) Act, 2006.

• Appeals against Orders: The orders of Central Administrative Tribunal arechallenged by way of Writ Petition under Article 226/227 of the Constitution beforerespective High Court in whose territorial jurisdiction the Bench of the Tribunal issituated.

INTER STATE MIGRANT WORKMEN ACT:

Context : Migrant labourers, abandoned by employers and the state, undertaking an arduousjourney home, in many cases walking hundreds of kilometres on the highways, became thedefining image of the national lockdown during the pandemic.

Concept :

• The Act seeks to regulate the employment of inter-State migrants and their conditionsof service.

• It envisages a system of registration of such establishments.

• The principal employer is prohibited from employing inter-State workmen without acertificate of registration from the relevant authority.

• The law also lays down that every contractor who recruits workmen from one Statefor deployment in another State should obtain a licence to do so.

• Contractors are bound by certain conditions. These include committing them toproviding terms and conditions of the agreement or any other arrangement on thebasis of which they recruit workers.

Applicability of the law:

• It is applicable to every establishment that employs five or more migrant workmenfrom other States; or if it had employed five or more such workmen on any day in thepreceding 12 months.

• It is also applicable to contractors who employed a similar number of inter-Stateworkmen.

• The Act would apply regardless of whether the five or more workmen were inaddition to others employed in the establishment or by the contractors.

Beneficial provisions for inter-State migrants:

• Registration of establishments employing inter-State workers creates a system ofaccountability and acts as the first layer of formalising the utilisation of their labour.

• It helps the government keep track of the number of workers employed and provides alegal basis for regulating their conditions of service.

• The wage rates, holidays, hours of work and other conditions of service of an inter-State migrant workman shall be the same as those extended to other workmen in thesame establishment, if the nature of their work is similar.








Attempts to reform:

• As part of the present regime’s efforts towards consolidating and reforming labourlaw, a Bill has been introduced in Parliament called the Occupational Safety, Healthand Working Conditions Code, 2019.

• The proposed code seeks to merge 13 labour laws into a single piece of legislation.The Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979, is one of them.

BREACH OF PRIVILEGE:

Context:Maharashtra legislator submitted a letter to the state legislature secretariat seekingadmission of his breach of privilege notice against print and electronic media outlets fordefaming him.

Concept:

• Parliamentary privileges are certain rights and immunities enjoyed by members ofParliament, individually and collectively, so that they can effectively discharge theirfunctions.

• Parliamentary privileges are defined in Article 105 of the Indian Constitution andthose of State legislatures in Article 194.

• When any of these rights and immunities are disregarded, the offence is called abreach of privilege and is punishable under law of Parliament.

• Besides, Rule No 222 in Chapter 20 of the Lok Sabha Rule Book and correspondinglyRule 187 in Chapter 16 of the Rajya Sabha rulebook govern privilege.

Privileges of Parliamentarians:

• Freedom of Speech: According to the Indian Constitution, the members ofParliament enjoy freedom of speech and expression. No member can be taken to taskanywhere outside the four walls of the House (e.g. court of law) or cannot bediscriminated against for expressing his/her views in the House and its Committees.

• Freedom from Arrest:It is understood that no member shall be arrested in a civilcase 40 days before and after the adjournment of the House (Lok Sabha or RajyaSabha) and also when the House is in session.

• It also means that no member can be arrested within the precincts of the Parliamentwithout the permission of the House to which he/she belongs.

• Exemption from attendance as witnesses:The members of Parliament also enjoyfreedom from attendance as witnesses.

Privileges of Parliament:

Right to publish debates and proceedings:

• Though by convention, the Parliament does not prohibit the press to publish itsproceedings, yet technically the House has every such right to forbid such publication.








• Again, while a member has the privilege of freedom of speech in Parliament, he hasno right to publish it outside Parliament.

• Anyone violating this rule can be held responsible for any libellous matter it maycontain under the common law rules.

Right to exclude strangers:

• ach house of Parliament enjoys the right to exclude strangers (no-members or visitors)from the galleries at any time and to resolve to debate with closed doors.

Right to punish members and outsiders for breach of its privileges:

• In India, the Parliament has been given punitive powers to punish those who areadjudged guilty of contempt of the House.

• Such contempt can be committed by the members of any House or any outsider.When a member of the House is involved for parliamentary misbehaviour or commitscontempt he can be expelled from the House.

Right to regulate the internal affairs of the House:

• The House has the right to regulate its internal affairs. A member of the House is freeto say whatever he likes subject only to the internal discipline of the House or theCommittee concerned.

Privileges committee

• In the Lok Sabha, the Speaker nominates a committee of privileges consisting of 15members as per respective party strengths.

• A report is then presented to the House for its consideration. The Speaker may permita half-hour debate while considering the report. The Speaker may then pass finalorders or direct that the report be tabled before the House.

• A resolution may then be moved relating to the breach of privilege that has to beunanimously passed. In the Rajya Sabha, the deputy chairperson heads the committeeof privileges, that consists of 10 members.

POSTAL VOTING:

Context : The Election Commission’s (EC) proposal to grant postal voting rights to Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) may get implemented first for voters based in the US, Canada, NewZealand, Japan, Australia, Germany, France and South Africa.

Concept:

• A restricted set of voters can exercise postal voting. Through this facility, a voter cancast her vote remotely by recording her preference on the ballot paper and sending itback to the election officer before counting.

• Ballot papers are distributed electronically to electors and are returned to the electionofficers via post.

People who can avail this facility at present








• Members of the armed forces like the Army, Navy and Air Force, members of thearmed police force of a state (serving outside the state), government employees postedoutside India and their spouses are entitled to vote only by post.

• The exception to the above-mentioned category of voters is provided under Section60 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

Representation of the People Act, 1951:

• This act provides for the actual conduct of elections in India. It deals with thefollowing matters:

• Details like Qualification and Disqualification of members of both the Houses ofParliament and the State Legislatures,

• Administrative machinery for conducting elections,

• Registration of Political parties,

• Conduct of Elections,

• Election Disputes,

• Corrupt practices & Electoral offences, &

• By-elections.

FORCED CONFESSIONS:

Context:The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a petition challenging the allegedpractice of mandatory and forced confessions in Kerala’s Malankara Orthodox SyrianChurch.

Concept:

• The petition raises the question of whether mandatory sacramental confession beforepriests violates Articles 21 (personal liberty) and 25 (freedom of religion) of theConstitution.

Article 21:

• “Protection of Life and Personal Liberty: No person shall be deprived of his life orpersonal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”

• This fundamental right is available to every person, citizens and foreigners alike.

• Article 21 provides two rights:

Right to life

Right to personal liberty

• The fundamental right provided by Article 21 is one of the most important rights thatthe Constitution guarantees.








• The Supreme Court of India has described this right as the ‘heart of fundamentalrights’.

• The right specifically mentions that no person shall be deprived of life and libertyexcept as per the procedure established by law. This implies that this right has beenprovided against the State only. State here includes not just the government, but also,government departments, local bodies, the Legislatures, etc.

• Any private individual encroaching on these rights of another individual does notamount to a violation of Article 21. The remedy for the victim, in this case, would beunder Article 226 or under general law.

• The right to life is not just about the right to survive. It also entails being able to live acomplete life of dignity and meaning.

• The chief goal of Article 21 is that when the right to life or liberty of a person is takenaway by the State, it should only be according to the prescribed procedure of law.

Article 25:

• Freedom of Conscience and Free Profession, Practice and Propagation of Religion

• Article 25 says that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and theright to freely profess, practice and propagate religion.

Implications:

• Freedom of conscience: Inner freedom of an individual to mould his relation withGod or Creatures in whatever way he desires.

• Right to Profess: Declaration of one’s religious beliefs and faith openly and freely.

• Right to Practice: Performance of religious worship, rituals, ceremonies andexhibition of beliefs and ideas.

• Right to Propagate: Transmission and dissemination of one’s religious beliefs toothers or exposition of the tenets of one’s religion.

Scope:

• Article 25 covers religious beliefs (doctrines) as well as religious practices (rituals).

• Moreover, these rights are available to all persons—citizens as well as non-citizens.

Restrictions:

• These rights are subject to public order, morality, health and other provisions relatingto fundamental rights.

• The State is permitted to regulate or restrict any economic, financial, political or othersecular activity associated with religious practice.








UAPA:

Context:Kalita is facing trial in a Northeast delhi riots case where the stringent UnlawfulActivities Prevention Act (UAPA) has been invoked against her over charges that she waspart of a conspiracy that led to the riots.

Concept:

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act:

• Passed in 1967, the law aims at effective prevention of unlawful activitiesassociations in India.

• The Act assigns absolute power to the central government, by way of which if theCentre deems an activity as unlawful then it may, by way of an Official Gazette,declare it so.

• It has death penalty and life imprisonment as highest punishments.

• Under UAPA, both Indian and foreign nationals can be charged. It will be applicableto the offenders in the same manner, even if crime is committed on a foreign land,outside India.

• Under the UAPA, the investigating agency can file a charge sheet in maximum 180days after the arrests and the duration can be extended further after intimating thecourt.

Amendments and changes:

• The 2004 amendment, added “terrorist act” to the list of offences to ban organisationsfor terrorist activities, under which 34 outfits were banned. Till 2004, “unlawful”activities referred to actions related to secession and cession of territory.

• In August, Parliament cleared the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill,2019 to designate individuals as terrorists on certain grounds provided in the Act.

• The Act empowers the Director General of National Investigation Agency (NIA) togrant approval of seizure or attachment of property when the case is investigated bythe said agency.

• The Act empowers the officers of the NIA, of the rank of Inspector or above, toinvestigate cases of terrorism in addition to those conducted by the DSP or ACP orabove rank officer in the state.

VACCINE DISTRIBUTUION POLICY:

Context:The Centre has asked states to utilize data generated at the district level duringscreening for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) to identify a priority group that isexpected to receive Covid vaccinations early next year: those below the age of 50 withcomorbidities.

Concept:








• A high-level expert group co-chaired by Member, NITI Aayog, and Union HealthSecretary Rajesh Bhushan, recommended three groups to be simultaneouslyvaccinated on priority depending on availability of vaccine:

• 1 crore health care workers; 2 crore frontline workers, including police and armedforces; and, about 27 crore above the age of 50 and those less than 50 years withcomorbidities

• The basic document for identification will be the electoral roll, which will providestates with age details of beneficiaries.

• The states will superimpose this basic document with the NCD screenings that theyhave conducted.

• The states can also create their own mechanisms, as health is a subject of the state.

NATIONAL EMERGENCY:

Context: The Supreme Court agreed to consider whether it is “feasible or desirable” toexamine the validity of the proclamation of Emergency by the government of Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi 45 years ago in 1975.

Concept:

• This can be declared due to war / external aggression [external emergency] or armedrebellion [internal emergency]. A proclamation can be issued by the president fordifferent grounds. It can be issued when an already existing proclamation is in forcetoo.

• It can apply to entire country or a part.

• It can be declared even before an actual occurrence if president is satisfied ofimminent threat.

• The president can declare this only after written recommendation of the entirecabinet.

• A proclamation can be subject to judicial review.

• A proclamation must be approved by both houses within one month by a specialmajority. This extends the life of emergency by six months at a time. This can be doneinfinite times.

• If Lok Sabha is dissolved then the approval of proclamation or extension of its lifecan be done by Rajya Sabha. The proclamation survives till 30 days after first sittingof the newly reconstituted Lok Sabha.

• A proclamation can be revoked by president anytime [this doesn’t need parliamentratification]. Also Lok Sabha can force a revocation by disapproving it with a simplemajority. Thus Rajya Sabha has no role in revocation.

Effects of national emergency:








• Centre can issue executive directions to states on any matters. However stategovernments aren’t suspended.

• Parliament can make laws on matters in the state list. If parliament isn’t in sessionpresident can pass ordinances on state list matters.

• Parliament can also confer powers and duties on center and its authorities to carry outtasks under its extended jurisdiction.

• Such legislative actions become inoperative within 6 months of the emergencyceasing to operate. Such laws apply even to states where the emergency isn’timposed.

• President can modify distribution of revenues between centre and states till the end offinancial year when emergency is over. Such orders have to be laid before parliament.

• Parliament by law can extend term of Lok Sabha and state legislative assembly by 1year at a time [any number of times]. This becomes inoperable by the end of 6 monthsof emergency ending.

• Under article 358, all fundamental rights under Article 19 i.e. Right to Freedom, areautomatically suspended when a proclamation of national emergency on externalgrounds [not armed rebellion] is declared. This action applies to whole country not apart.

• Any law can be passed that violates these rights but not any other, such a law can’t beinvalidated till the emergency is operative. Any action as per laws also remains abovejudicial remedy even after emergency is revoked.

• Under article 359 a presidential order can be passed disallowing people from seekingjudicial remedy to enforce other fundamental rights i.e. article 14-32 that are specifiedin that order [ except article 20&21: right to life and liberty] for a specific periodonly.

• The rights remain in force but right to seek remedy is suspended. The state can makelaws abridging the fundamental rights mentioned in the order such laws can’t bechallenged in court.

• Any executive action under such laws is also protected. Presidential order has to beapproved by both houses. Article 359 is available even during national emergency onarmed rebellion. The presidential order can apply to whole country or a part.

SELECT COMMITTEE:

Context: During the debate on farm bills in the both houses of the Parliament, members fromopposition parties had expressed their concerns regarding several provisions and demandedfor a select committtee to review the bill.

Concept:

• This is formed for examining a particular Bill and its membership is limited to MPsfrom one House.

• They are chaired by MPs from the ruling party.








• Since Select Committees are constituted for a specific purpose, they are disbandedafter their report.

Parliament Scrutinyof Bills:

• By discussing it on the floor of the two Houses: This is a legislative requirement; allBills have to be taken up for debate.

• By referring a Bill to a parliamentary committee: There is not enough time todiscuss every Bill in detail on the floor of the House. In such scenarios, the bill arereferred to a parliamentary committee.

• Referring of Bills to parliamentary committees is not mandatory.

• Bills are not automatically sent to committees for examination.

Three broad paths by which a Bill can reach a committee :

• When the minister piloting the Bill recommends to the House that his Bill beexamined by a Select Committee of the House or a joint committee of both Houses.

• If the minister makes no such motion, it is up to the presiding officer of the House todecide whether to send a Bill to a departmentally related Standing Committee.

• Also, a Bill passed by one House can be sent by the other House to its SelectCommittee.

What happens after the the bill is referred to a committee?

• The committee undertakes a detailed examination of the Bill.

• It invites comments and suggestions from experts, stakeholders and citizens.

• The government also appears before the committee to present its viewpoint.

• All this results in a report that makes suggestions for strengthening the Bill.

• The report of the committee is of a recommendatory nature.

COLLEGIUM SYSTEM:

• Context : The Supreme Court Collegium on Wednesday announced itsrecommendations for appointment of chief justices in five high courts.

• Concept :

• The Collegium System is a system under which appointments/elevation of judges/lawyersto Supreme Court and transfers of judges of High Courts and Apex Court are decided by aforum of the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the SupremeCourt.’

• There is no mention of the Collegium either in the original Constitution of India or insuccessive amendments.

• The recommendations of the Collegium are binding on the Central Government; if theCollegium sends the names of the judges/lawyers to the government for the second time








• How did this come into being?

• ‘First Judges Case’ (1981) ruled that the “consultation” with the CJI in the matter ofappointments must be full and effective. However, the CJI’s opinion should haveprimacy.

• Second Judges Case (1993) introduced the Collegium system, holding that“consultation” really meant “concurrence”. It added that it was not the CJI’s individualopinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-mostjudges in the Supreme Court.

• Third Judges Case (1998): SC on President’s reference expanded the Collegium to afive-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.

• Procedure followed by the Collegium:

• The President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges.

• For other judges of the top court, the proposal is initiated by the CJI.

• The CJI consults the rest of the Collegium members, as well as the senior-most judge ofthe court hailing from the High Court to which the recommended person belongs.

• The consultees must record their opinions in writing and it should form part of the file.

• The Collegium sends the recommendation to the Law Minister, who forwards it to thePrime Minister to advise the President.

• The Chief Justice of High Courts is appointed as per the policy of having Chief Justicesfrom outside the respective States.

• The Collegium takes the call on the elevation.

• Appointment of Judges for High Courts:

• High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.

• The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned inconsultation with two senior-most colleagues.

• The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send theproposal to the Union Law Minister.

NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK:

Context: The government signed a loan agreement worth $1 billion with the NewDevelopment Bank (NDB) to support the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and India’s rural infrastructure.

• Concept :

• It is a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India,China and South Africa).








• The New Development Bank was agreed to by BRICS leaders at the 5th BRICS summitheld in Durban, South Africa in 2013.

• It was established in 2014, at the 6th BRICS Summit at Fortaleza, Brazil.

• The bank is set up to foster greater financial and development cooperation among the fiveemerging markets.

• In the Fortaleza Declaration, the leaders stressed that the NDB will strengthencooperation among BRICS and will supplement the efforts of multilateral and regionalfinancial institutions for global development.

• The bank will be headquartered in Shanghai, China.

• Unlike the World Bank, which assigns votes based on capital share, in the NewDevelopment Bank each participant country will be assigned one vote, and none of thecountries will have veto power.

• Roles and functions:

• The New Development Bank will mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainabledevelopment projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries,to supplement existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for globalgrowth and development.

CABINET COMMITTEE ON SECURITY:

Context: The Cabinet Committee on Security approved the setting up of a new NationalSecurity Directive on telecommunication sector with an intent to classify telecom productsand their sources under the ‘trusted’ and ‘non-trusted’ categories.

Concept :

• The move could potentially make it more difficult for Chinese telecom equipmentvendors like Huawei and ZTE to supply equipment to Indian telecom players.

• The two companies have been under global scrutiny for allegedly installing ‘backdoor’ or‘trap door’ vulnerabilities and spying for the Chinese government and have been bannedby several countries.

• Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS)

• Major decisions with respect to the significant appointments, issues of national security,defence expenditure of India are taken by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) inIndia.

• The Prime Minister chairs the CCS. The committee comprises the Minister of ExternalAffairs, the Home Minister, Finance Minister and the Defence Minister.

INSTITUTE OF EXCELLENCE :

Context : An eight-member committee appointed by the government for suggestingmeasures for effective implementation of reservation in students admissions and faculty








recruitment in IITs has recommended that the 23 engineering schools should be exemptedfrom reservations under CEI Act, 2019.

Concept :

• Among two sets of recommendations made by the committee, one stated that IITs shouldbe added to the list of “Institutions of Excellence” mentioned in the Schedule to theCentral Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act 2019.

• Section 4 of the Act exempts “institutions of excellence, research institutions, institutionsof national and strategic importance” mentioned in the Schedule and minority institutionsfrom providing reservation.

• Institute of Excellence Scheme

• It was launched in order to empower the Higher Educational Institutions and to help thembecome world-class teaching and research institutions.

• Objectives:

• Excellence and Innovation: To provide for higher education leading to excellence andinnovations in such branches of knowledge as may be deemed fit at post-graduate,graduate and research degree levels.

• Specialization: To engage in areas of specialization to make distinctive contributions tothe objectives of the university education system.

• Global Rating: To aim to be rated internationally for its teaching and research as a tophundred Institution in the world over time.

• Quality teaching and Research: To provide for high quality teaching and research and forthe advancement of knowledge and its dissemination.

• Incentives of the scheme:

• Institutes with IOE tag will be given greater autonomy and freedom to decide fees, coursedurations and governance structures.

• The public institutions under IOE tag will receive a government grant of ₹1,000 crore,while the private institutions will not get any funding under the scheme.

SUMMONING OF PARLIAMENT:

• Context: In response to a letter from the Congress leader in Lok Sabha seeking ashort session of Parliament to discuss the new farm laws, Parliamentary Affairs Ministerhas said that some opposition parties “have expressed concerns about the ongoingpandemic and opined of doing away with winter session”.

• Concept :

• The power to convene a session of Parliament rests with the government. The decision istaken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which currently comprisesnine ministers, including those for Defence, Home, Finance, and Law.








• The decision of the Committee is formalised by the President, in whose name MPs aresummoned to meet for a session.

• Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs:

• This committee draws the schedule for Parliament sessions and monitors the progress ofgovernment business in Parliament. It scrutinises non-government business and decideswhich official Bills and resolutions are to be presented.

• Summoning of Parliament

• The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution.

• Like many other articles, it is based on a provision of The Government of India Act,1935.

• Summoning is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet.

• The President summons each House of the Parliament from time to time.

• The gap between two sessions of the Parliament cannot exceed 6 months, which meansthe Parliament meets at least two times in one year.

• However, the constitution does not prevent the legislature from being summoned moreoften than what has been provided.

SPECTRUM AUCTION:

Context: The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal of the Department ofTelecommunications to conduct spectrum auction through which spectrum will be assignedto the successful bidders for providing commercial mobile services.

Concept :

• The auction will be for spectrum in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz frequency bands.

• Spectrum will be offered for assignment for validity period of 20 years. A total of2251.25 MHz is being offered with total valuation of Rs. 3,92,332.70 crore (at reserveprice).

• By winning right to use spectrum through the auction, incumbent telecom serviceproviders will be able to augment their network capacity whereas new players will beable to start their services.

• Successful bidders may pay entire bid amount in one go (upfront) or may exercise anoption to pay a certain amount upfront and remaining amount in a maximum up to 16equated annual instalments, after a moratorium of two years.

• In addition to the bid amount, successful bidders will also have to pay 3% of the AdjustedGross Revenue (AGR) excluding wireline services as spectrum usage charges for thespectrum won through this auction.








ARTICLE 356:

Context: The Supreme Court Friday stayed an order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court toexamine if there has been constitutional breakdown in the state.

Concept:

• Article 356 of the Constitution of India gives President of India the power to suspendstate government and impose President’s rule of any state in the country “if he issatisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the state cannot becarried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution”.

• It is also known as ‘State Emergency’ or ‘Constitutional Emergency’.

Implications:

• Upon the imposition of this rule, there would be no Council of Ministers.

• The state will fall under the direct control of the Union government, and the Governorwill continue to head the proceedings, representing the President of India.

Parliamentary Approval and Duration:

• A proclamation imposing President’s Rule must be approved by both the Houses ofParliament within two months from the date of its issue.

• The approval takes place through simple majority in either House, that is, a majorityof the members of the House present and voting.

• Initially valid for six months, the President’s Rule can be extended for a maximumperiod of three years with the approval of the Parliament, every six months.

Report of the Governor:

• Under Article 356, President’s Rule is imposed if the President, upon receipt of thereport from the Governor of the State or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation hasarisen in which the government of the State cannot be carried on in accordance withthe provisions of the Constitution.

Revocation:

• A proclamation of President’s Rule may be revoked by the President at any time by asubsequent proclamation.

• Such a proclamation does not require parliamentary approval.

MATRU SAHYOGINI SAMITI: Context: The Madhya Pradesh government has issued an order for the appointment ofcommittees led by mothers to ensure better monitoring of services delivered at anganwadi orday care centres across the State.

Concept:

• ‘Matru Sahyogini Samiti’ or Mothers’ Cooperation Committees, these will comprise10 mothers at each anganwadi representing the concerns of different sets of








beneficiaries under the Integrated Child Development Services, or National NutritionMission —

children between six months to three years,

children between three years and six years,

adolescent girls and pregnant women and lactating mothers.

• The committees will include mothers of beneficiary children as well as be representedby pregnant women and lactating mothers who are enrolled under the scheme.

• The Committees will also include a woman panch, women active in the communityand eager to volunteer their support to the scheme, teachers from the local school, andwomen heads of self-help groups (SHG).

• These mothers will keep a watch on weekly ration distribution to beneficiaries as wellas suggest nutritious and tasteful recipes for meals served to children at the centres.

• The move is being taken as per the mandate of the National Food Security Act, 2013(NFSA).

SUPPLEMENTARY GRANTS :

Context : With the Winter Session of Parliament standing cancelled, Central ministries,departments lose access to supplementary demands for grants.

Concept :

• Article 115: Supplementary, additional or excess grants.

• Supplementary grants are the additional grant required to meet the requiredexpenditure of the government.

• When grants, authorised by the Parliament, fall short of the required expenditure, anestimate is presented before the Parliament for Supplementary or Additional grants.These grants are presented and passed by the Parliament before the end of thefinancial year.

• When actual expenditure incurred exceeds the approved grants of the Parliament, theMinistry of Finance and Ministry of Railways presents a Demand for Excess Grant.The Comptroller and Auditor General of India bring such excesses to the notice of theParliament.

• The Public Accounts Committee examines these excesses and gives recommendationsto the Parliament. The Demand for Excess Grants is made after the actual expenditureis incurred and is presented to the Parliament after the end of the financial year inwhich the expenses were made.

Other grants:

• Additional Grant: It is granted when a need has arisen during the current financialyear for supplementary or additional expenditure upon some new service notcontemplated in the Budget for that year.








• Excess Grant: It is granted when money has been spent on any service during afinancial year in excess of the amount granted for that year. The demands for excessgrants are made after the expenditure has actually been incurred and after the financialyear to which it relates, has expired.

• Exceptional Grants: It is granted for an exceptional purpose which forms no part ofthe current service of any financial year

• Token Grant: It is granted when funds to meet proposed expenditure on a newservice can be made available by re-appropriation, a demand for the grant of a tokensum may be submitted to the vote of the House and, if the House assents to thedemand, funds may be so made available.

REASONABLE RESTRICTIONS:

Context : The Bombay High Court while hearing a criminal writ plea on Monday againstactor Kangana Ranaut for her allegedly offensive tweets, observed that the actor had thefundamental right to express her views through tweets albeit reasonable restrictions.

Concept :

• Article 19(2) of the Indian constitution enables the government to impose certainrestrictions on free speech for issues –

• Security of the State,

• friendly relations with foreign States,

• public order,

• decency and morality,

• contempt of court,

• defamation,

• incitement to an offense, and

• sovereignty and integrity of India.

GOVERNOR’S ROLE IN CALLING AN ASSEMBLY SESSION:

Context : Kerala Governor has turned down a request by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanto summon a special sitting of the Assembly to debate the new three central farm laws. Thisraises questions on the role of a Governor and the contours of the powers he or she has underthe Constitution.

Concept:

• According to Article 174 of the Constitution “The Governor shall from time to timesummon the House or each House of the Legislature of the State to meet at such timeand place as he thinks fit”.

• The provision also puts on the Governor the responsibility of ensuring that the Houseis summoned at least once every six months.








• Although it is the Governor’s prerogative to summon the House, according to Article163, the Governor is required to act on the “aid and advice” of the Cabinet.

• So when the Governor summons the House under Article 174, this is not of his or herown will but on the aid and advice of the Cabinet.

Can the Governor refuse the aid and advice of the Cabinet?

• There are a few instances where the Governor can summon the House despite therefusal of the Chief Minister who heads the Cabinet.

• When the Chief Minister appears to have lost the majority and the legislativemembers of the House propose a no-confidence motion against the Chief Minister,then the Governor can decide on his or her own on summoning the House.

• But the actions of the Governor, when using his discretionary powers can bechallenged in court.

• A number of rulings by the Supreme Court has settled the position that the Governorcannot refuse the request of a Cabinet that enjoys majority in the House unless it ispatently unconstitutional.

Street vendor scheme a hit, government plans next phase:

Context: As part of the new drive, between January 4 and 22, over 10 lakh street vendorsacross the country who have availed of the Rs 10,000 loan will be trained in using digitalpayments.

Concept:

• The 'Main bhi Digital' (me too digital )drive has been prompted by the success of thePrime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PMSVANidhi) scheme,launched in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdown, to provide vendors microcredit.

• Encouraged by the response to PMSVANidhi, the government has also launched itsfirst-ever official socio-economic survey of vendors, to bring them under schemessuch as the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri SurakshaBima Yojana, Jan-Dhan Yojana, Building and Other Construction Workers Act,Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Matri VandanaYojana, and others.

ELECTORAL BONDS:

Context: The government on Tuesday approved the 15th tranche of electoral bonds whichwill be open for sales between January 1 and January 10.

Concept:

• The State Bank of India (SBI), in the XV Phase of sale, has been authorised to issueand encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorised Branches (as per list enclosed)w.e.f. 01.01.2021 to 10.01.2021.

Electoral Bonds








• An electoral bond is like a promissory note that can be bought by any Indian citizenor company incorporated in India from select branches of State Bank of India.

• The bonds are similar to bank notes that are payable to the bearer on demand and arefree of interest. An individual or party will be allowed to purchase these bondsdigitally or through cheque.

Conditions for the Purchase

• The bonds will be issued in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 100,000 and Rs 1crore (the range of a bond is between Rs 1,000 to Rs 1 crore).

• These will be available at some branches of SBI. A donor with a KYC-compliantaccount can purchase the bonds and can then donate them to the party or individual oftheir choice.

• Now, the receiver can encash the bonds through the party's verified account. Theelectoral bond will be valid only for fifteen days.

• The 29 specified SBI branches are in cities such as New Delhi, Gandhinagar,Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata andGuwahati.

• The electoral bonds are available for purchase for 10 days in the beginning ofevery quarter. The first 10 days of January, April, July and October has beenspecified by the government for purchase of electoral bonds.

• An additional period of 30 days shall be specified by the government in the year ofLok Sabha elections.

• In February 2017, the then finance minister said that the donations would be taxdeductible. Hence, a donor will get a deduction and the recipient, or the politicalparty, will get tax exemption, provided returns are filed by the political party.

Eligibility for Political Party

• Any party that is registered under section 29A of the Representation of the PeoplesAct, 1951 (43 of 1951) and has secured at least one per cent of the votes polled in themost recent General elections or Assembly elections is eligible to receive electoralbonds.

• The party will be allotted a verified account by the Election Commission of India(ECI) and the electoral bond transactions can be made only through this account.

• The electoral bonds will not bear the name of the donor. Thus, the political partymight not be aware of the donor's identity.

ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE:

Context : Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued orders for the attachment of severalproperties belonging to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and leader of the NationalConference in connection with its investigation into alleged money laundering in the Jammuand Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) case.








Concept :

Provisional attachment

• According to Section 5 of PMLA, the Director of ED or any other officer (DeputyDirector and above) authorised by him can issue orders for attachment of a propertythat is suspected to have been acquired with the proceeds of crime in a case ofscheduled offence.

• The order is valid for 180 days. If it is not confirmed by an ED-appointedAdjudicating Authority by then, the property is automatically released.

• Properties in foreign locations can be attached after a Letter Rogatory is sent througha competent court to the concerned country. The relevant authority in that countrythen attaches the property.

• Because the attachment is provisional, the accused can continue to enjoy the property.

• The ED will have the power to claim possession only after the Adjudicating Authorityconfirms the attachment. There is hardly any PMLA attachment that the AdjudicatingAuthority has refused to confirm so far.

• The accused has the right to challenge the Adjudicating Authority’s confirmationorder at the PMLA’s Appellate Tribunal within 45 days. If the Appellate Tribunal tooconfirms the order, the accused can file a plea in the High Court, and so on.

About Enforcement Directorate:

• It is a Multi Disciplinary Organization mandated with the task of enforcing theprovisions of two special fiscal laws – Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999(FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).

KEVADIA TOURISM CIRCUIT:

Context : The Gujarat government on Wednesday decided to “withdraw” revenue recordentry from the lands of 121 villages falling under the eco-sensitive zone in Narmada district,which is home to the Statue of Unity and the Kevadia tourism circuit.

Concept :

• Kevadia is a village in the tribal Narmada district. It is home to the Sardar SarovarDam reservoir on the Narmada river.

• Kevadia circuit covers 35 tourist spots including the Valley of Flowers, Vishwa Van,Cactus Garden, Butterfly Garden.

Major attractions of the Circuit

• Sardar Patel Zoological Park and Jungle Safari

• Children’s Nutrition Park

• The Mirror Maze

• Carnival look








• Riverfront cycling tour

• The Gardens

• The cruises

• Dynamic lighting on Sardar Sarovar Dam








INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

H1 B VISA:

Context: In a huge relief to the Indian techies and IT industry, a US court, on December 1,blocked the H-1B visa rule changes that made it tough to recruit H-1B workers

Concept:

• The H-1B category is an expedient and lawful method to bring foreign-bornprofessionals temporarily to the United States, and therefore one of the most widelysought after visa classifications for employment in the United States.

• The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa in the United States under the Immigration andNationality Act, section 101(a)(15)(H).

• It allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialtyoccupations.

• If a foreign worker in H-1B status quits or is dismissed from the sponsoring employer,the worker must either apply for and be granted a change of status to another non-immigrant status, find another employer (subject to application for adjustment ofstatus and/or change of visa), or leave the U.S.

• An individual may work in H-1B status for a maximum of six years.

UN DECIDES CANNABIS NOT A DANGEROUS NARCOTIC:

Context: The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) took a number of decisions,leading to changes in the way cannabis is internationally regulated, including itsreclassification out of the most dangerous category of drugs.

Concept:

• In reviewing a series of World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations onmarijuana and its derivatives, the CND zeroed-in on the decision to remove cannabisfrom Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs — where it waslisted alongside deadly, addictive opioids, including heroin.

• The CND’s 53 Member States voted to remove cannabis – where it had been placedfor 59 years – from the strictest control schedules, that even discouraged its use formedical purposes.

• With an historic vote, the CND has opened the door to recognizing the medicinal andtherapeutic potential of the commonly-used but still largely illegal recreational drug.

• The decision could also drive additional scientific research into the plant’s long-heralded medicinal properties and act as catalyst for countries to legalize the drug formedicinal use, and reconsider laws on its recreational use.

Additional Information:








• Twenty-seven of the CND’s 53 Member States — including India, the United Statesand most European nations — voted “Yes” on the motion to delete cannabis andcannabis resin from Schedule IV of the 1961 Convention.

• Under India’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, theproduction, manufacture, possession, sale, purchase, transport, and use of cannabis isa punishable offence.

ARTIFICIAL SUN:

Context : China successfully powered up its "artificial sun" nuclear fusion reactor for thefirst time, state media reported Friday, marking a great advance in the country's nuclearpower research capabilities

Concept:

• The artificial Sun (not to be confused with the ‘artificial moons’ China intends to sendup to space soon), is a popular name given to one of the most promising nuclearfusion experiments to date.

• Designed to replicate the process our Sun uses to generate energy, researchers set upthe Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion reactor in2006.

• A ‘Tokamak’ is a reactor design that resembles a donut — a donut that generatespowerful magnetic forces to contain unimaginably hot plasma inside the reactorduring nuclear fusion. The walls of a tokamak are built to absorb the massiveamounts of heat from the continuous splitting of atoms in the reactor’s core.

• The artificial sun’s plasma is mainly composed of electrons and ions, and thecountry’s existing Tokamak devices have achieved an electron temperature ofover100 million degrees C in its core plasma, and an ion temperature of 50 million C,and it is the ion that generates energy in the device.

• The HL-2M Tokamak will be able to achieve an ion temperature of 100 milliondegrees Celsius, about seven times hotter than the real Sun’s ion temperature.

• The process of nuclear fusion, where two hydrogen atoms combine in a reaction thatproduces an enormous amount of energy, is often called the ‘great white whale’ ofglobal energy.

• Nuclear reactors like EAST are a means to exactly that: an almost infinite supply ofenergy that is clean.

DACA PROGRAMME :

Context: A U.S. judge ordered the Trump administration to fully reinstate DACAprogramme that protects from deportation immigrants who came to the country illegally aschildren.

Concept:

• DACA is an American immigration policy established by the Obama administrationthrough an executive action in 2012.








• It allows some individuals who entered the country illegally as minors to receive arenewable two-year period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for awork permit.

• The DACA programme has helped around 8,00,000 beneficiaries, a group that iscommonly referred to as the ‘Dreamers’.

• This program protects such immigrants from deportation & grant them a two-yearrelief which can be extended by issuing work permit and a Social Security number.

• Recipients of DACA need to satisfy several requirements, including clear criminalrecord. Also, Such immigrants must have been 30 or younger at the time of launch ofDACA and brought to the US before age 16.

• DACA does not provide legal US residency; it only provides the reprieve fromdeportation while being allowed to legally work. The large majority of DACArecipients are from Mexico.

UNGA CULTURE OF PEACE :

Context: At a United Nations General Assembly session on 'Culture of Peace', Indiapointed out that UN resolutions on important issues speak only of Islam, Judaism, andChristianity.

Concept:

• Key UN General Assembly resolutions over the years have categorically condemnedand voiced concern over the increase in anti-Semitism, Christianophobia andIslamophobia in various parts of the world.

• However, violence against other religious minorities get little more than a slap on thewrist, a sentiment shared by several other countries also, sources said.

• India also co-sponsored a resolution presented by Bangladesh titled, ‘Follow-up tothe Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace’.

• The resolution reiterates that the objective of the effective implementation of theProgramme of Action is to strengthen further the global movement for a culture ofpeace.

• It invites member states to continue to place greater emphasis on and expand theiractivities promoting a culture of peace at the national, regional and internationallevels and to ensure that peace and non-violence are fostered at all levels.

IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL:

Context: Iran has said that it is enhancing its nuclear programme, which can be reversed iftalks with the U.S. are revived.

Concept:

• In 2015, Iran with the P5+1 group of world powers - the USA, UK, France,China, Russia, and Germany agreed on a long-term deal on its nuclear programme.








• The deal was named as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and incommon parlance as Iran Nuclear Deal.

• Under the deal, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear activity in return for the lifting ofsanctions and access to global trade.

• The agreement allowed Iran to accumulate small amounts of uranium forresearch but it banned the enrichment of uranium, which is used to make reactorfuel and nuclear weapons.

• Iran was also required to redesign a heavy-water reactor being built, whose spent fuelwould contain plutonium suitable for a bomb and to allow international inspections.

• In May 2018, the USA abandoned the deal criticising it as flawed and reinstated andtightened its sanctions.

• The USA held that it would attempt to force all countries to stop buying Iranian oiland put pressure on Iran to negotiate a new nuclear accord.

• The top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani (the commander of the Al-Quds Force ofIran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC) was assassinated by the USAduring his visit to Iraq. This escalated tensions in the international arena.

• Amid rising tensions, Britain, France and Germany declared that Iran was violatingthe 2015 pact and launched a dispute mechanism that could eventually see the matterreferred back to the Security Council and the reimposition of UN sanctions.

• Since sanctions were tightened, Iran has been steadily breaking some of itscommitments to pressure the remaining signatories to find a way to provide sanctionsrelief.

SHAHTOOT DAM :

Context : The Union Minister of External Affairs recently announced at the GenevaDonors conference that India is to construct the Shahtoot Dam across the Maidan river, atributary of river Kabul in Afghanistan.

Concept :

• The Shahtoot dam is to be constructed in Kabul river basin, one of the five riverbasins of Afghanistan. The dam will provide irrigation, drinking water for the Kabulprovince of the country. The cost of the project has been estimated as 305 millionUSD.

Benefits of the project

• The dam will provide irrigation facilities to about 10,000 hectares of agricultural land.It will supply drinking water to around 2 million people in the city of Kabul.

• Also, it will recharge the underground water for drinking purposes in and aroundKabul.








• It will contribute to national food security by helping in the production of fishery,crops and industries. It will also promote tourism and increase opportunities ofincome.

Other projects:

• Along with the Shahtoot dam, India has pledged to rebuild Afghanistan committing to80 million USD worth projects. Around 150 projects have been announced by India inthe conflict-ridden country.

BHASHAN CHAR ISALND :

Context: United Nations (UN) human rights investigator had requested Bangladesh toallow a safety assessment of the remote islet of Bhashan Char, where the government hadshipped 1,600-odd Rohingya refugees.

Concept:

• Bhashan Char Island was formed about two decades ago on the mouth of riverMeghna.

• The uninhabited island is located around 30 kilometres east of Hatiyaisland in South-East Bangladesh.

• Bangladesh wants to move 100,000 Rohingya refugees to the muddy silt island totake the pressure off the overcrowded border camps.

• The Bhashan Char falls in an ecologically fragile area prone to floods, erosion andcyclone.

• Though the Bangladesh government has built a three-metre-high embankment alongits perimeter to keep out tidal surges during cyclones.

YEAR OF NURSE AND MIDWIFE:

Concept :

• World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated the year 2020 as the “Year of theNurse and midwife”, in honour of the 200th birth anniversary of FlorenceNightingale.

• The declaration of “Year of the Nurse and midwife” will help to strengthen nursingand midwifery for Universal Health Coverage.

• Strengthening nursing will help to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, inparticular the (SDG) 3 - ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages,SDG 5-promoting gender equity and SDG 8- contributing to economic development.

• Nurses and midwives constitute more than 50% of the health workforce in manycountries.

• The declaration will also help to endorse “The NursingNow!” a three-year campaign(2018-2020) to improve health globally by raising the status of nursing.








• Moreover, WHO is also leading the development of the first-ever State of the World’sNursing report which will be launched in 2020.

FIVE EYES ALLIANCE:

Context: Five Eyes alliance issued a joint statement in this regard after China imposednational security law in Hong Kong and postponed its Legislative Council Election.

Concept:

• The Five Eyes (FVEY) is an intelligence alliance comprising Australia, Canada, NewZealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.

• The origins of the Five Eyes alliance can be traced back to the Atlantic Charter, whichwas issued in August 1941 to lay out the Allied goals for the post-war world.

• These countries are parties to the multilateral UK-USA Agreement, a treaty for jointcooperation in signals intelligence.

• India is among seven countries to back a UK-led campaign against end-to-endencryption of messages by social media giants such as Facebook, which they sayhinder law enforcement by blocking all access to them.

• The UK and India joined this group to ensure they do not blind themselves to illegalactivity on their platforms, including child abuse images.

• This marks an expansion of the so-called “Five Eyes” group of nations, a globalalliance on intelligence issues, to include India and Japan.

Common Cause

• All members claim that end-to-end encryption policies such as those employed by thesocial media giant erode the public’s safety online.

• They have made it clear that when end-to-end encryption is applied with no access tocontent, it severely undermines the ability of companies to take action against illegalactivity on their own platforms.

• It also prevents law enforcement investigating and prosecuting the most seriouscrimes being committed on these services such as online child sexual abuse, groomingand terrorist content.

INDIA VIETNAM LEADER'S VIRTUAL SUMMIT:

Context : Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a Virtual Summit with the Prime Minister ofVietnam.

Concept :

• A ‘Joint Vision for Peace, Prosperity and People’ document was adopted during theSummit, to guide the future development of the India-Vietnam ComprehensiveStrategic Partnership.








• Both leaders also welcomed the signing of a Plan of Action for period 2021-2023 forfurther implementation of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to implement theJoint Vision.

Announcements made:

• Implementation of the High Speed Guard Boat (HSGB) Manufacturing Project forVietnam Border Guard Command under the US$ 100 million Defence Line of Creditextended by Government of India to Vietnam;

• Completion and handing over of seven Development Projects with Indian ‘Grant-in-Aid’ Assistance of US$ 1.5 million for the benefit of local community in Vietnam’sNinh Thuan province.

• Enhancing the number of annual Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) from currently five toten commencing FY 2021-2022.

• Three new Development Partnership projects in heritage conservation in Vietnam (F-block of Temple at My Son; Dong Duong Buddhist Monastery in Quang Namprovince; and Nhan Cham Tower in Phu Yen province).

• Launch of bilateral project for preparing an Encyclopaedia on India - VietnamCivilizational and Cultural Relations.

US POLICY ON TIBET:

Context: The Tibet Policy and Support Act, passed by the US Senate earlier this week,bookends a turbulent year in US-China relations.

Concept:· The TPSA is an amended version of the Tibet Policy Act of 2002, which came into

existence during the Bush Administration.· The act once signed into law would make it the official policy of the US Government

to oppose any effort by the govt. of the People’s Republic of China to select, educate,and venerate Tibetan Buddhist religious leaders in a manner inconsistent with TibetanBuddhism.

· The proposed legislation will empower the US Government to impose sanctions onChina who might try to interfere in the Adding much fuel to the issue, the TPSAintroduces stronger provisions on Tibet, plus teeth in the form of a threat of sanctions,including travel bans on Chinese officials.

The Dalai Lama· Among the most significant amendments is that the TSPA makes it US policy to

oppose attempts by Beijing to install its own Dalai Lama in a manner inconsistentwith Tibetan Buddhism.

· The legislation makes reference to the Chinese government’s ‘Measures on theManagement of the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas’ in 2007.

· China had earlier insisted that the reincarnation of living Buddhas including the DalaiLama must comply with Chinese laws and regulations.

Other provisions of TPSA· The TPSA has introduced provisions aimed at protecting the environment of the

Tibetan plateau, calling for greater international cooperation and greater involvementby Tibetans.








· Alleging that China is diverting water resources from Tibet, the TPSA also calls for aregional framework on water security, or use existing frameworks… to facilitatecooperative agreements among all riparian nations.

· While the 2002 Act said the US should establish a “branch office” in Lhasa, theTSPA ups the ante by changing that to a “consulate”.

· It recognizes the Central Tibetan Administration, whose Prime Minister LobsangSangay takes credit for ensuring that the Senate took up the legislation for a vote.

Chinese response to TPSA· China had earlier said the TPSA severely breached international law and basic norms

governing international relations, interfered in China’s internal affairs, and sent awrong message to ‘Tibet independence’ forces”.

· After the passage of the Bill through the Senate, China said it “resolutely opposes” the“adoption of Bills containing such ill content”.

Donald Trump signs into law Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative:

Context : American Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis recently introduceda Bill in the US House of Representatives that aims to promote the legacy of MahatmaGandhi and Martin Luther King Junior.

Concept :

• The House Bill (HR 5517) has been moved to mark the 150th birth anniversary ofGandhi and affirms the friendship between the US and India.

• Lewis had introduced a similar Bill (HR 3056) in 2011. It was called the, “Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchange Initiative Act of 2011” and it focussed on using peacefuland non-violent methods in global conflict resolution.

Purpose:

• The aim of this Bill is to affirm the friendships of the governments of the US andIndia and to establish a bilateral partnership, “for collaboration to advancedevelopment and shared values, and for other purposes”.

• The Bill also proposes the establishment of a Gandhi-King Scholarly Exchangeinitiative with an allocation of over million for five years until 2025.

• It also authorises USD 2 million for just FY 2021 for the Gandhi-King GlobalAcademy, and USD30 million for 2021 for the US-India Gandhi-King DevelopmentFoundation.

• The new law also authorises the United States Agency for International Development(USAID) to establish a US-India development foundation that would leverage theIndian private sector to address development priorities in India.

Who is John Lewis?

• In 1963, Lewis was 23-years-old when he was being dubbed one of the Big Sixleaders of the Civil Rights Movement, during the years when the movement hadreached its peak.








• He decided to become a part of the Civil Rights Movement and since then has been aproponent of progressive social movements and a crucial defender of human rights inthe US.

ECONOMICS

CAPITAL ACCOUNT CONVERTABILITY:

Context: The RBI Governor recently said that India will continue to approach capitalaccount convertibility as a process rather than an event.

Concept:

• Capital account convertibility refers to the ease and freedom in converting a country scurrency into any other foreign currency (such as US dollar, pound sterling, Euro etc)and vice versa for the capital account transactions.

• It is the freedom to convert the local financial assets into foreign financial assets at themarket determined exchange rates. Full capital account convertibility wouldultimately lead to unrestricted movement of capital.

• Full capital account convertibility of Indian rupee was not introduced because theprevailing conditions were not in its favour as India was facing a large currentaccount deficit.

• The government wanted to ensure the availability of foreign exchange at lower pricesfor the input of essential goods and commodities.

• India adopted a cautious approach in the full capital account convertibility of rupee inthe view of the Mexican crisis.

• The subsequent East Asian crisis justified the approach of partial capital accountconvertibility. Earlier also partial capital account convertibility was allowed undercertain conditions.

• Complete capital account convertibility can increase the inflow of capital in thecountry but if the conditions become unfavourable there is a great risk of the outflowof capital from the home country. This can lead to higher volatility in the exchangerates and can even create a crisis like situation as happened during the East Asiancrisis.

Preconditions:








• Macroeconomic stability in the domestic economy and sufficient degree ofcompetitiveness of the domestic sector firms and companies.

• Trade oriented development strategy must be adopted before-hand along withsufficient incentives by the government for the growth of exports.

• The industrial policy of the country should be attractive for investments and thegovernment should provide a favourable investment climate.

• There should be sufficient foreign exchange reserves and the current account positionshould also be comfortable.

NATIONAL WATERWAYS :

Context : The Inland Waterways Authority of India has eased tender terms for privatisingthe multi-modal cargo terminals at Varanasi, Haldia and Sahibganj on National Waterway 1.

Concept :

• National Waterways Act came into effect in 2016. It proposed 106 additionalNational Waterways and merges 5 existing Acts which were declared the 5 NationalWaterways.

• In 1986, the Government of India created the Inland Waterways Authority of India(IWAI) for regulation and development of Inland Waterways for navigation andshipping.

• Out of the 111, National Waterways declared under the National Waterways Act,2016, 13 are operational for shipping and navigation and cargo/passenger vessels aremoving on them.

Important National Waterways :

• National Waterway-1: Allahabad-Haldia stretch of the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghlyriver (1620 Km) declared as NW in 1986 in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,Jharkhand and West Bengal.

• National Waterway-2: Sadiya-Dhubri stretch of the Brahmaputra river (891 Km)declared as NationalWaterway in 1988 in the state of Assam.

• National Waterway-3: Kollam-Kottapuram stretch of West Coast Canal andChampakara and Udyogmandal canals (205 Km) declared as National Waterway in1993 in the state of Kerala.

• National Waterway-4: Kakinada-Pudducherry stretch of canals and Kaluvelly tank,Bhadrachalam-Rajahmundry stretch of river Godavari and Wazirabad-Vijayawadastretch of river Krishna (1078 Km) declared as National Waterway in 2008 in thestates of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry.

• National Waterway-5: Talcher-Dhamra stretch of Rivers, Geonkhali-Charbatiastretch of East Coast Canal, Charbatia-Dhamra stretch of Matai river and MahanadiDelta Rivers (588 Km) declared as National Waterway in 2008 in the states of WestBengal and Orissa.








Inland Waterways Authority of India

• It is a statutory body that came into existence on 1986 for development and regulationof inland waterways for shipping and navigation.

• It primarily undertakes projects for development and maintenance of IWTinfrastructure on national waterways through grants received from the Ministry ofShipping.

• It is headquartered at Noida with regional offices at Patna (Bihar), Kolkata (WestBengal), Guwahati (Assam) and Kochi (Kerala) and sub-offices at other placesthroughout India.

XP 100:

Context: Indian Oil launched a new premium grade petrol – Octane 100.

Concept:

• Branded as XP100, the premium grade petrol was launched across ten cities byMinister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

• The technology for India’s first octane petrol has been indigenously created by IndianOil Research and Development.

• The availability of XP100 puts India in an elite group of countries, having access tosuch high-quality oil. The petrol will provide high quality and power to the engine.

• Indian Oil plans to roll-out XP100 premium grade petrol in 15 identified cities acrossthe country in two phases.








PURCHASING MANAGERS INDEX:

Context: PMI for India’s manufacturing touched 56.3 in November, signaling that evenas an improvement in wider industrial activity continued, the sector’s expansion as well asthe pace of new orders slowed down while employment also declined further.

Concept:

• It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in theirperception about key business variables as compared with the previous month.

• It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then acomposite index is constructed.

• The PMI is a number from 0 to 100.

• PMI above 50 represents an expansion when compared to the previous month;

• PMI under 50 represents a contraction, and

• A reading at 50 indicates no change.

• If PMI of the previous month is higher than the PMI of the current month (as is thecase mentioned above), it represents that the economy is contracting.

• The PMI is usually released at the start of every month. It is, therefore, considereda good leading indicator of economic activity.

RBI POLICY REVIEW:

Context: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India on Fridaydecided to keep repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent. The reverse repo rate stays at 3.35 percent. The RBI last changed policy rate on May 22.

Concept:

• The key lending rate of the RBI or the repo rate was left unchanged at 4% while thereverse repo rate, or the rate the RBI pays when funds are parked with it, stayed at3.35%.

• The RBI has also projected the ongoing GDP contraction to narrow to 7.5% this fiscalwith the economy returning to growth of 0.1% in Q3 and expanding 0.7% in Q4 ofFY21.

• Governor Shaktikanta Das, while announcing the policy, said inflation still remains aconcern as RBI sees core inflation remaining sticky. He projected retail inflation toaverage 6.8% in Q3, before moderating to 5.8% in Q4.

• The RBI also announced a host of measures for liquidity management and to dealwith exchange rate risks.








TLTRO:

Context: Stressed sectors have got a fresh line of support with the RBI extending itstargeted long-term repo operations (TLTROs) to the 26 industries — including power, realtyand textiles.

Concept:

• LTRO is a tool that allows banks to borrow one to three years of funds from theCentral Bank at the Repo rate.

• It is called ‘Targeted’ LTRO if the Central Bank wants banks opting for funds underthis option to be specifically invested in investment-grade corporate debt.

• The TLTRO is a facility under which the RBI nudges banks to lend by providingthem cheap refinance for loans and bond investments.

• Earlier this year, when NBFCs were facing a credit squeeze, the RBI helped themnavigate the crisis by making available cheap funds to banks, which lent to them.

• As a result the finance companies were able to smoothly meet their short-termrepayment obligations during the lockdown.

• According to bankers, while the TLTRO encourages banks by providing them a largemargin, the emergency credit line guarantee scheme, which has been extended to thesame 26 sectors, will address the credit risk.

CONTACTLESS PAYMENT:

Context: Reserve Bank of India governor announced that RBI has enhanced limits forcontactless card payments from ₹2,000 to ₹5,000. This will be effective from 1 January 2021and will be at the discretion of the user.

Concept:

• The RBI’s decision to increase the limit from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 5000 without entering aPIN on contactless transactions through NFC cards is a welcome as in recent monthsseen a marked increase in contactless transaction on our network.

• NFC transactions follow safety protocols as specified by RBI and Payment Schemesand cardholders can be assured that their transactions are being conducted in a securemanner.

• Contactless payment refers to methods that allow consumers to pay using debit andcredit cards without actually making contact with others. This is done using radiofrequency identification (RFID) or near-field communication (NFC) technologies.

• The most common methods include tapping your card on a point of sale (PoS)terminal, but smartphone makers have made NFC-based systems — like Samsung Payand Apple Pay — which also qualify as contactless payment systems.

INFLATION IN MONETARY POLICY:

Concept:








• Monetary Policy Committee opined that inflation was likely to remain elevated,“barring transient relief in the winter months from prices of perishables”. This, itstressed, “constrains monetary policy at the current juncture from using the spaceavailable to act in support of growth”.

Projection on CPI inflation

• Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, the RBI said, would average 6.8% for Q3 and5.8% in Q4 — both levels above or close to the 6% upper bound of the target rangefor ensuring price stability — before easing to a 5.2% to 4.6% range in the first half ofthe next financial year, starting April 2021.

How does India measure retail inflation?

• Inflation is the rate of change in the prices of a given set of items. India bases its retailinflation metrics on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

• The index records changes in prices for a sample of family budget items that arerepresentative of what consumers typically spend their household income on — food,fuel, housing, clothing, health, education, amusement and even paan, tobacco andintoxicants. The measure is based on a weighted average.

• The CPI-based retail inflation is measured monthly and is published as a percentagevalue of change in the index from the corresponding year-earlier period.

• Data for a certain month are released by the Ministry of Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation generally on the twelfth day of the subsequent month.

Why is faster inflation a concern for policymakers?

• Faster retail inflation is indicative of prices of household items rising quickly. Whileinflation affects everyone, it is often referred to as a ‘tax on the poor’ as the low-income stratum of society bears the brunt.

• Persistent high inflation pushes several items out of reach for this category ofconsumers. For example, onions and potatoes are generally a key staple in an averageIndian family’s diet. But, if the price of potatoes starts rising rapidly, a poorhousehold is often forced to sharply reduce or forgo its consumption of this keysource of essential nutrients, including carbohydrates.

• Over time, if unchecked, persistent high inflation erodes the value of money and hurtsseveral other segments of the population, including the elderly living off a fixedpension. It hence ends up undermining a society’s consumptive capacity, and thereby,economic growth itself.

RBI’s role in tackling inflation

• The RBI’s explicit mandate is to conduct monetary policy. “The primary objective ofmonetary policy is to maintain price stability while keeping in mind the objective ofgrowth. Price stability is a necessary precondition to sustainable growth,” the RBIstates on its website.

• In 2016, the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, was amended to provide a statutorybasis for the implementation of a flexible inflation-targeting framework, where the








Centre and the RBI would review and agree upon a specific inflation target every fiveyears.

• Under this, 4% was set as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation target for theperiod from August 5, 2016, to March 31, 2021, with the upper tolerance limit of 6%and the lower tolerance limit of 2%.

What is core inflation and why is it important?

• Core inflation helps measure inflation after excluding the effects of temporaryvolatility, especially from prices of items such as fuel and food. For example, seasonalspikes in food prices may skew the inflation rate, but the effect is only transitory.

• Viewing inflation after stripping out such volatility helps give it a better picture of theunderlying trend in prices.

FINANCIAL SECRECY:

Context: Global tax rules must be rewritten to bring in more transparency and make taxrevenues available for development.

Concept:

• A report was jointly launched by Tax Justice Network, Public Services Internationaland the Global Alliance for Tax Justice.

• Called “State of Tax Justice 2020” that tells us how much each country in the worldloses to corporate and private tax abuses. It also indicates the extent of the impactthese losses have on each country’s health spending.

• Countries around the world are on average losing the equivalent of 9.2 per cent oftheir health budgets to tax havens every year. While this tax shortfall represents 8.4per cent of health budgets for higher-income countries, the proportion jumps to 52.4per cent in lower-income countries.

Losing to Tax Havens:

• Of the $427 billion, nearly $245 billion is lost to multinational corporations shiftingprofit into tax havens.

• This works on a very simple principle: multinationals only pay taxes in thesubsidiaries where they declare their profits (profit shifting).

• To do that, they only have to show low profits or deficits where taxes are relativelyhigh (even if it is in those countries that they undertake the bulk of their activities)while reporting high profits in jurisdictions where taxes are very low, or even zero —even if they have only parked trademarks and rented mailboxes there.

• Different tax rates and bilateral tax treaties mean that multinationals do a lot of profitshifting to advanced countries like Ireland, the Netherlands, the Channel Islands in theUK and some US states, to reduce and sometimes even eliminate their tax burdens,even when their total profits are increasing.








• Multinational companies must be made to report country-by-country data on sales,costs and profits and to publish these.

• The continuing failure to do so means that the public is blocked from seeing theinformation that corporations, accountants and governments already have wheremultinational corporations are shifting their profits to.

BAN ON E-CIGARETTE :

Context: One year has passed since, the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production,Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act,2019 was notified.

Concept:

• The Act categorizes production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale,distribution, storage, and advertisement of e-cigarettes and similar devices ascognizable offences.

• The Act stipulates that persons found in violation of the law for the first time will facea jail term of up to one year or a fine of up to one lakh rupees, or both. For subsequentoffences, a jail term of up to three years and fine upto Rs 5 lakh.

• It further punishes storage of e-cigarettes with imprisonment up to six months or afine of up to Rs 50,000, or both. Once the Bill comes into force, the owners ofexisting stocks of e-cigarettes will have to declare and deposit these stocks at thenearest office of an authorized officer.

Electronic-cigarettes

• Battery-operated devices that produce aerosol by heating a solution containingnicotine, which is the addictive substance in combustible cigarettes.

• These include all forms of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems, Heat Not BurnProducts, e-Hookah and the like devices.

Concerns

• Their use has increased exponentially and has acquired epidemic proportions indeveloped countries, especially among youth and children.

• Apart from nicotine, e-cigarettes may also be used for delivery of other psychoactivesubstances.

• Widespread use and unchecked proliferation of e-cigarettes and the like deviceswould seriously undermine and derail Government’s efforts to reduce the prevalenceof tobacco use.

Significance of the decision:

• The decision to prohibit e-cigarettes will help protect population, especially the youthand children, from the risk of addiction through E-cigarettes.








• Enforcement of the Ordinance will complement government’s efforts for tobaccocontrol and will help in reduction of tobacco use and reduction in associatedeconomic and disease burden.

• The WHO has also urged member countries to take appropriate steps includingprohibiting these products.

RBI REPO RATE:

Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its bi-monthly monetary, has decided tokeep the repo rate unchanged.

Concept :

• This is the third time in a row the central bank has kept the key rates unchanged. Thestatus quo on monetary policy was as expected by most economists, amid high levelsof inflation.

• RBI policy have prioritised growth over inflation. This is an acknowledgment thatinflation drivers seem to be more supply side led.

• An accommodative liquidity stance will ensure access to liquidity will not be achallenge and the ongoing recovery continues to gather steam. This will help pushthrough govt borrowings in a year where the revenues are under pressure.

AYUSH EXPORTS :

Context: Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Ministry of AYUSH have decided toset up an AYUSH Export Promotion Council to boost AYUSH exports.

Concept:

• Ministry of AYUSH and Ministry of Commerce and Industry will work together forestablishing an AYUSH Export Promotion Council (AEPC). The proposed AEPC canbe housed at Ministry of AYUSH.

• Standardisation of HS code for AYUSH will be expedited.

• Ministry of AYUSH will work in collaboration with Bureau of Indian standards todevelop international standards for AYUSH products as well as services.

• AYUSH industry will work on ensuring quality and standards of AYUSH products aswell as to become price-competitive.

• AYUSH will figure in the Brand India activities.

GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION (GIs):

Context: The Himachal Pradesh government is trying to obtain GIs (GeographicalIndication) for five products from the state – Karsog Kulth, Thangi of Pangi, Chamba MetalCrafts, Chamba Chukh, and Rajmah of Bharmour.








Concept:

• Karsog Kulth: Kulthi or Kulth (horse gram) is a legume grown as a kharif crop inHimachal Pradesh. Kulth grown in the Karsog area of Mandi district is believed to beparticularly rich in amino acids.

• Pangi ki Thangi: It is a type of hazelnut which grows in Pangi valley located in thenorth-western edge of Himachal. It is known for its unique flavour and sweetness.

• Chamba metal crafts: These include items such as metal idols and brass utensilswhich, historically, were made by skilled artisans in the courts of kings of Chamba.There are efforts to revive the trade, and a plate made from a brass-like alloy andhaving carvings of gods and goddesses is still popular.

• Chamba Chukh: It’s a chutney made from green and red chillies grown in Chamba,and prepared in traditional and unique ways. The practice has largely declined in ruralhouseholds of Chamba, but survives to some extent at the small-scale industrial level.

• Bharmouri Rajmah: It’s more specifically called the Kugtalu Rajmah, since it growsin the area around Kugti Pass in the Bharmour region of Chamba district. It is rich inproteins and has a unique flavour.

RBI TIGHTENS OVERSIGHT OF NBFCs, UCBs:

Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced the introduction of risk-basedinternal audit norms for large urban cooperative banks (UCBs) and non-banking financialcompanies (NBFCs), as part of measures aimed at improving governance and assurancefunctions at supervised entities.

Concept:

• The RBI also moved to harmonise the guidelines on appointment of statutory auditorsfor commercial banks, UCBs and NBFCs in order to improve the quality of financialreporting.

• The growing significance of NBFCs and their interlinkages with different parts of thefinancial system had made it imperative to enhance the sector’s resilience. Thus it hadbeen decided to put in place transparent criteria for the declaration of dividends bydifferent categories of NBFCs.

• With a view to deepening financial markets, regional rural banks would be allowed toaccess the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) and marginal standing facility (MSF) ofthe RBI, as also the call/notice money market.

• To significantly improve the ecosystem of digital payment channels with robustsecurity and convenience for users, the RBI has proposed to issue Digital PaymentSecurity Controls directions for the regulated entities.

BHARATMALA PARIYOJANA

Concept:








• Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella program for the highways sector envisaged bythe Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

• Under Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana, implementation of 34,800 km of nationalhighways in 5 years (from 2017 to 2022) has been approved at an estimated outlay ofRs. 5,35,000 crore.

• National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has mandated the development ofabout 27,500 km of national highways under Phase-I.

• However, as per ICRA Limited, Phase-I is likely to be delayed by four years due tothe prevailing uncertainty due to Covid-19 and consequent impact on valuations.

• ICRA Limited is an Indian independent and professional investment information andcredit rating agency.

• Phase-II envisages around 48,000 km of road network across India by 2024.

Features:

• Improvement in the efficiency of existing corridors through the development ofMultimodal Logistics Parks and elimination of chokepoint.

• Multimodal Logistics Parks are a key policy initiative of the Government of India toimprove the country's logistics sector by lowering overall freight costs, reducingvehicular pollution and congestion, and cutting warehousing costs.

• A chokepoint is a single point through which all incoming and outgoing networktraffic is funnelled and hence, leads to congestion and traffic.

• Enhance focus on improving connectivity in North East and leveraging synergies withInland Waterways.

• Emphasis on the use of scientific and technological planning for Project Preparationand Asset Monitoring.

• Satellite mapping of corridors to identify up-gradation requirements.

• Delegation of powers to expedite project delivery for successful completion of Phase Iby 2022.








COUNTRY OF ORIGIN FOR E-COMMERCE ENTITIES:

Context: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Centre if e-commerce entitiessuch as Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal, are complying with the requirement of displaying‘country of origin’ on products offered for sale on their websites.

Concept:

• It has been stated that the laws relating to the issue were enacted under the LegalMetrology Act, 2009 and the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011.

• Enforcement of the provisions of the Act and Rules is the responsibility of the Statesand UTs governments. Whenever violations are observed, the action could be takenby the legal metrology officials of the States/ UTs governments in accordance withthe law.

Significance:

• The declaration of the country of origin of products will enable consumers to make aninformed decision and action will be taken on firms for violating the rules accordingto the provisions of the Act.

• Enforcement of the mandate was important in the current scenario when citizensintend to comply with the central government’s appeal to promote and purchaseIndian goods and not from some neighbouring countries.








KV KAMATH COMMITTEE:

Context: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked borrowers to make requests forresolution rather than working out resolution plans under the KV Kamath committee’sresolution framework to tackle Covid-related stress.

Concept:

• RBI set up a committee headed by K.V. Kamath on restructuring of loans impacted bythe Covid-19 pandemic.

• The Committee was tasked to recommend parameters for one-time restructuring ofcorporate loans.

Recommendations made by the Committee:

• Graded approach to restructuring of stressed accounts based on severity of the impacton the borrowers- Banks can classify the accounts into mild, moderate and severe asrecommended by the committee.

• Five financial parameters to gauge the health of sectors facing difficulties- totaloutside liabilities to adjusted tangible networth, total debt to earnings before interest,taxes, depreciation, and amortization (Ebitda), debt service coverage ratio (DSCR),current ratio and average debt service coverage ratio (ADSCR).

• 26 sectors have been identified including auto, aviation, construction, hospitality,power, real estate and tourism.

Applicability of these recommendations:

• The committee was to scrutinize restructuring of loans above ₹1500 crore.

• The resolution under this framework is applicable only to those borrowers who havebeen impacted on account of Covid.

• Only those borrowers which were classified as standard and with arrears less than 30days as at March 1, 2020 are eligible under the Framework.

IFSCA REGULATIONS, 2020:

Context:IFSCA has notified International Financial Services Centres Authority (BullionExchange) Regulations, 2020.

Concept:

• In the Union Budget 2020, Union Minister of Finance had made an announcement forsetting up an International Bullion Exchange at the International Financial ServicesCentre in GIFT City, Gandhinagar, and Gujarat.

• Subsequently, the Government of India had notified the bullion spot delivery contractand bullion depository receipt (with bullion as underlying) as Financial Products andrelated services as Financial Services under the International Financial ServicesCentres Authority (IFSCA) Act, 2019.








• IFSCA has been entrusted with the responsibility of operationalization of thisExchange.

• In this regard, International Financial Services Centres Authority (Bullion Exchange)Regulations 2020 were approved by the Authority in its meeting held on October27,2020. The said regulations have been notified and published in the Gazette of Indiaon December 11, 2020.

• The regulations inter alia cover the Bullion Exchange, Clearing Corporation,Depository and Vaults.

• The regulations are divided into the 16 chapters. First half of the regulation deals withthe Exchange and Clearing Corporations while the second half pertains to the Vaultsand Depositories and related provisions.

FUEL PRICING:

Concept:

Fuel pricing mechanism

• The Indian basket of crude oil represents a derived basket comprising Sour Grade(Oman and Dubai average) and Sweet Grade (UK based) of crude oil processed inIndian refineries.

• Prices of petrol and diesel have been made market-determined effective June 2010and October 2014 respectively.

• Since then, the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) are supposed to takeappropriate decisions on the pricing of petrol and diesel.

• It must be in line with international product prices and other market conditions suchas exchange rate and the demand-supply situation, among others.

• From June 2017 dynamic daily pricing is being followed.

Determining factors of fuel costs

• Market factors -The price is determined by the movement of crude oil price (themain raw material), the rupee/dollar exchange rate and demand-supply situation in themarket.

• Excise duty-There was a series of excise duty hikes in the second half of 2015 andthe initial months of 2016 on both petrol and diesel to help shore up finances.

• This has helped the Centre realise higher central excise duties will fetch higherrevenues.

• Oil companies -Oil companies have the pricing freedom and Government has nobusiness interfering in the day-to-day affairs of the companies.

• At many instance companies buy crude oil at high price and they sell it for low pricedue to market trends, to match this losses they hike the prices.

HEADLINE AND CORE INFLATION:








Context:Softening prices of food items like cereals, fruits and milk pulled down retailinflation to 6.93 percent in November, though it remained above the comfort level of theReserve Bank of India.

Concept:

Headline Inflation

• Headline inflation is the raw inflation figure reported through the Consumer PriceIndex (CPI) that is released monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Headline inflation is not adjusted to remove highly volatile figures, including thosethat can shift regardless of economic conditions.

• Headline inflation is often closely related to shifts in the cost of living, whichprovides useful information to consumers within the marketplace.

• The headline figure is not adjusted for seasonality or for the often-volatile elements offood and energy prices, which are removed in the core Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Core Inflation

• Core inflation is the change in the costs of goods and services but does not includethose from the food and energy sectors.

• This measure of inflation excludes these items because their prices are much morevolatile.

• It is most often calculated using the consumer price index (CPI), which is a measureof prices for goods and services.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN KUTCH REGION:

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat to lay foundation stones forseveral development projects in the state.

Concept:

Hybrid Renewable Energy Park:

• Hybrid Renewable Energy Park is world’s biggest Renewable Energy Park, being setup close to Indo Pak border, near Khavda village in Kutch district.

• It will produce 30 Giga watt solar and wind energy on a vast expanse of waste landsituated beyond India bridge from Khavda village to Vighakot, where civilian accessis not permitted and area is controlled by BSF and Indian Army.

Desalination plant:

• The PM will also lay foundation stone virtually for a desalination plant coming up atGundiyali village near Mandvi in Kutch district. This plant aims to convert sea waterfor potable purposes for a population 8 lakh of 300 villages.

• The desalination plant assumes great importance for Kutch peninsula which isperennial rain-deficit area with no other source of water.








Fully automated milk processing of Sarhad dairy:

• Prime Minister Modi will also lay foundation stone, virtually, for 130 crore rupeesmilk processing plant of Sarhad dairy, an apex dairy cooperative entity.

• This massive 2 lakh litre per day milk processing and packaging facility will come upunder RashtriyaKisanVikas Yojna.

Total Factor Productivity and Growth:

Context: The moot question now before the economy is even though growth will revive in2020-21, how soon will it move to a higher trajectory and how soon will it be in the zone ofnon-inflationary sustainable levels.

Concept:

• This requires higher investment relative to GDP supported by increased financialsavings in the economy and augmentation of total factor productivity in terms ofphysical and human capital investment.

Economic growth

• Economic growth is a function of the quantity of inputs such as labour and capitalemployed for productive purposes, along with factor productivity.

• It is intuitive that if more people are employed, more goods and services would beproduced. Over time, due to a rise in population, labour employed increases and dueto accumulation, capital also increases in an economy.

• A rise in productivity enables an economy to grow faster with the same set of labourand capital being employed. It is important to recognize the factors responsible forgrowth to address the current slowdown.

Total Factor Productivity

• Total factor productivity (TFP) is derived as a ratio of the total production andweighted average of inputs such as labour and capital.

• The measure gives us the growth in real output, which is in addition to the growth ininputs such as labour or capital employed for productive purposes.

• So TFP gives us the relationship between the quantity of factors employed and theoutput in an economy. A higher TFP implies higher growth with the same set oflabour and capital employed.

FSDC:

Context:The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) discussed measures thatmay be needed to support the financial sector for achieving faster real economic growth andachieving the overall macroeconomic targets.

Concept:








• The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) was constituted by anExecutive Order of the Union Government as a non-statutory apex body under theMinistry of Finance in 2010.

Council Members

• The Finance Minister is the Chairman of the FSDC.

• Members of FSDC include Heads of the Financial Sector Regulators listed below:

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

• Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA)

• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

• Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)

• Other members are Finance Secretary, Chief Economic Advisor and Secretary of theDepartment of Financial Services.

Member Reforms

• The government reconstituted the FSDC to include the following Members in theCouncil:

• Minister of State responsible for the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA)

• Secretary of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology

• Revenue Secretary

• Chairman of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI)

• The reconstitution would make FSDC more broad-based to incorporate changes in theeconomic regulatory framework of the country.

Functions of FSDC

• The Financial Stability and Development Council was established as an autonomousbody dealing with macro prudential and financial regularities in the entire financialsector of India.

• The body envisages to strengthen and institutionalize the mechanism of maintainingfinancial stability, financial sector development, inter-regulatory coordination alongwith monitoring macro-prudential regulation of the economy.

• It must be noted that no funds are separately allocated to the council for undertakingits activities.

POSITIVE PAY :

Context: The new cheque payment rule will come into effect from 1 January 2021 tokeep consumer safety in focus and to lower the cases of fraud and abuse with respect tocheque payment.








• Concept :

• Under this rule, the issuer of the cheque will submit certain minimum details of thatcheque like date, name of the beneficiary / payee, amount, etc. to the drawee bankelectronically, through channels like SMS, mobile app, internet banking, ATM, etc.

• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) shall develop the facility of Positive Payin the Cheque Truncation System (CTS) and make it available to participant banks.

• Banks, in turn, shall enable it for all account holders issuing cheques for amounts of₹50,000 and above.

• The details will be uploaded by the bank’s system into the centralized data system ofPositive Pay.

• When the cheque is received by the bank, it will verify the details from the centraldatabase and make the payment if the details which the account holder has providedmatch those on the cheque. In case of a mismatch, the bank will reject the cheque.

• Although availing this facility is at the discretion of the account holder, banks mayconsider making it mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of ₹5,00,000 and above.

• Positive Pay Mechanism

• The Positive Pay is an automated fraud detection tool that matches specific informationrelated to the cheque presented for clearing, such as the cheque number, cheque date,payee name, account number, amount, and other details against a list of chequespreviously authorized and issued by the issuer.

RESERVE PRICE :

Context : Government has kickstarted the process of auctioning 4G spectrum, approving thesale of 2,251 MHz of spectrum at a reserve price of Rs 3.92 lakh crore.

Concept :

• The auction is expected to be completed by March next year with bidders having theoption of either paying the entire amount upfront, or paying a certain amount now,with the balance being paid in annual instalments subsequently.

• However, whether this round of auction will be met with enthusiasm is not clear ashigh reserve prices have in the past led to poor outcomes.

• For instance, in the previous auctions held in 2016, while the government had offered2,354.55 MHz of spectrum, it was able to sell just 40 per cent (965 MHz) due to highreserve prices. As a result, it was able to mop up only Rs 65,789 crore.

• This time around, it is possible that telcos looking to renew their licences in bandswhich are expiring in 2021, and seeking to plug existing gaps, might pick up spectrumin the less expensive bands. But demand for the higher priced bands is uncertain.

• Alternatively, high reserve prices could lead to a situation where bidding is dominatedby a single player to the detriment of both competition and consumers.








NIIF :

Context : Public sector utility NTPC is in talks with the government's strategic investmentfund NIIF to set up an infrastructure investment trust (InvIT) as a joint venture. The movewill help the company to unlock the value of its renewable energy projects.

Concept :

• The sovereign fund is also expected to be a joint venture partner in the utility's forayin the power distribution business where NTPC is bidding for the privatisation ofunion territory discoms.

National Investment and Infrastructure Fund

• The government had set up the ₹40,000 crore NIIF in 2015 as an investment vehiclefor funding commercially viable greenfield, brownfield and stalled infrastructureprojects.

• The Indian government is investing 49% and the rest of the corpus is to be raisedfrom third-party investors such as sovereign wealth funds, insurance and pensionfunds, endowments, etc.

• NIIF’s mandate includes investing in areas such as energy, transportation, housing,water, waste management and other infrastructure-related sectors in India.

• NIIF currently manages three funds each with its distinctive investment mandate. Thefunds are registered as Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) with the Securities andExchange Board of India (SEBI).

The three funds are:

• Master Fund: It is an infrastructure fund with the objective of primarily investing inoperating assets in the core infrastructure sectors such as roads, ports, airports, poweretc.

• Fund of Funds: Managed by fund managers who have good track records ininfrastructure and associated sectors in India. Some of the sectors of focus includeGreen Infrastructure, Mid-Income & Affordable Housing, Infrastructure services andallied sectors.

• Strategic Investment Fund: Is registered as an Alternative Investment Fund II underSEBI in India. The objective is to invest largely in equity and equity-linkedinstruments. It will focus on green field and brown field investments in the coreinfrastructure sectors.

CURRENCY MANIPULATION:

Context : The United States has once again included India in its monitoring list ofcountries with potentially “questionable foreign exchange policies” and “currencymanipulation”.

Concept :








• The term ‘currency manipulator’ is a label given by the US government to countries itfeels are engaging in “unfair currency practices” by deliberately devaluing theircurrency against the dollar.

• The practice would mean that the country in question is artificially lowering the valueof its currency to gain an unfair advantage over others.

• This is because the devaluation would reduce the cost of exports from that countryand artificially show a reduction in trade deficits as a result.

What are the parameters used?

• An economy meeting two of the three criteria in the Trade Facilitation and TradeEnforcement Act of 2015 is placed on the Monitoring List. This includes:

• A “significant” bilateral trade surplus with the US — one that is at least $20 billionover a 12-month period.

• A material current account surplus equivalent to at least 2 percent of gross domesticproduct (GDP) over a 12-month period.

• “Persistent”, one-sided intervention — when net purchases of foreign currencytotalling at least 2 percent of the country’s GDP over a 12 month period are conductedrepeatedly, in at least six out of 12 months.

• Once on the Monitoring List, an economy will remain there for at least twoconsecutive reports “to help ensure that any improvement in performance versus thecriteria is durable and is not due to temporary factors.

CORPORATE TAX :

Context : Overall advance corporate tax stood at Rs 2,39,125 crore so far this year, down 4.9per cent from Rs 2,51,382 crore as the first two quarters bore the brunt of the lockdown.

Concept :

• Corporate tax is the tax imposed by the Government of India on the net income orprofit that corporate enterprises make from their businesses. It is a tax imposed on thenet income of the company.

• Corporate Income Tax is a Direct Tax.

• The tax is imposed at a specific rate as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act,1961.

• In most nations, the Corporate Tax is levied at a national level and can also be leviedat a State or local level.

• Private and public companies registered in India under the Companies Act are liableto pay corporate tax.

• Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) is not applicable to such companies.








• The Minimum Alternate Tax is a measure to include all companies in the income taxloop. The MAT ensures that no company with healthy finances and substantialincome can avoid paying income tax, even after claiming exemptions.

EASE OF DOING BUISNESS:

Context : The World Bank has corrected two of its recent ease of doing business rankings,adjusting the scores for China and three other nations based on an internal audit after staffers’claimed of “undue pressure” by management to alter ratings.

Concept:

• Ease of doing business’ refers to the regulatory environment in a country to set up andoperate a business.

• The ease of doing business index is an index created by the World Bank Group.Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1–190. A high ease ofdoing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to thestarting and operation of a local firm.

A nation's ranking on the index is based on the average of 10 sub-indices:

• Starting a business – Procedures, time, cost and minimum capital to open a newbusiness

• Dealing with construction permits – Procedures, time and cost to build a warehouse

• Getting electricity – procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain apermanent electricity connection for a newly constructed warehouse

• Registering property – Procedures, time and cost to register commercial real estate

• Getting credit – Strength of legal rights index, depth of credit information index

• Protecting investors – Indices on the extent of disclosure, extent of director liabilityand ease of shareholder suits

• Paying taxes – Number of taxes paid, hours per year spent preparing tax returns andtotal tax payable as share of gross profit

• Trading across borders – Number of documents, cost and time necessary to exportand import

• Enforcing contracts – Procedures, time and cost to enforce a debt contract

• Resolving insolvency – The time, cost and recovery rate (%) under bankruptcyproceeding

• The Doing Business project also offers information on following datasets:

• Distance to frontier - Shows the distance of each economy to the “frontier,” whichrepresents the highest performance observed on each of the indicators across alleconomies included since each indicator was included in Doing Business








• Entrepreneurship - Measures entrepreneurial activity. The data is collected directlyfrom 130 company registrars on the number of newly registered firms over the pastseven years

• Good practices - Provide insights into how governments have improved theregulatory environment in the past in the areas measured by Doing Business

• Transparency in business regulation - Data on the accessibility of regulatoryinformation measures how easy it is to access fee schedules for 4 regulatory processesin the largest business city of an economy

India's Performance

• In India, these rankings are based on the business environment in Mumbai andDelhi. A lower rank indicates better performance on that parameter, whereas a higherrank indicates worse performance on the indicator.

• India jumped 30 spots to secure a place among the top-100 countries on World Bank'sease of doing business ranking list in 2018. With this year's performance, Indiabecame the first ever country to record highest jump in World Bank's ease of doingbusiness ranking.

TECHNICAL TEXTLES:

Context: The Textiles Ministry is working on a structure to roll out the ProductionLinked Incentive (PLI) scheme for technical textiles and man-made fibre (MMF) segment,Textiles Minister has said.

Concept:

• Technical Textiles are defined as Textile material and products manufacturedprimarily for their Technical performance and functional properties rather thanaesthetic and decorative characteristics.

• Technical textiles include textiles for automotive applications, medical textiles (e.g.,implants), geotextiles (reinforcement of embankments), agrotextiles (textiles for cropprotection), and protective clothing (e.g., heat and radiation protection for fire fighterclothing, molten metal protection for welders, stab protection and bulletproof vests,and spacesuits).

Significance and potential applications:

• Technical Textiles are being used globally for last several decades. These materialshave provided innovative

• Engineering solutions for several applications in civil and geotechnical engineering,for infrastructure water resources projects.

• Even while Technical Textiles have been extensively used in developed as well asmany developing countries, India has yet to capitalize the technical, economical andenvironmental benefits on large scale.








• Various parts of India are subjected to floods and environmental degradation. In someof the terrains, the flood management and control can rely on Technical Textilestubes, containers and bags.

• Technical Textiles have been found to perform better than concrete as waterprotection component because of permeability, flexibility and ease of underwaterplacement.

DEPOSITORY RECEIPTS:

Context: Markets regulator Sebi on Friday gave certain relaxations to non-residentIndians in respect of holding of depository receipts (DRs) issued by India-listed companies.

Concept:

• NRIs can now hold DRs issued by the company under the employee stock optionschemes, bonus issue and rights issue, the regulator said.

Depository Receipts

• A Depository Receipt (DR) is a negotiable financial instrument issued by a companyin a foreign jurisdiction. They represent certain securities like bonds, shares etc.

• DRs is an important mechanism for raising funds by tapping foreign investors whootherwise may not be able to participate in the domestic market.

• In India, any company, whether private limited or public limited or listed or unlistedare capable of issuing DRs. The issue of DRs is regulated by Ministry of Finance’s“The Depository Receipts Scheme, 2014″.

• Depending upon the location in which DRs are issued, they are called as ADRs(American Depository Receipts), IDR (Indian Depository Receipts) or in general asGDR (Global Depository Receipt).

IDR

• An Indian Depository Receipt is an instrument denominated in Indian Rupees in theform of a depository receipt created by a Domestic Depository (custodian of securitiesregistered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India) against the underlyingequity of issuing company to enable foreign companies to raise funds from the IndianSecurities Markets.

ADR

• A certificate issued in the United States in lieu of a foreign security. The originalsecurities are lodged in Bank/Custodian abroad, and the American DepositoryReceipts (ADRs) are traded in the US for all intents and purposes as if they were adomestic stock.

• An ADR dividend is paid in US dollars, so it provides a way for American investorsto buy foreign securities without having to go abroad, and without having to switch inand out of foreign currencies.

GDR








• Any instrument in the form of a depository receipt or certificate created by theOverseas Depository Bank outside India and issued to non-resident investors againstthe issue of ordinary shares or Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds of issuingcompany.

• Generally, GDR is a collective term used to refer DRs issued in non-US jurisdictionsand includes the DRs traded in London, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Singapore.

FAIR AND REMUNERATIVE PRICE:

Context: Food Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said the government cannot reduce theFRP, the minimum price at which sugar mills buy cane from farmers, and asked the industryto be efficient, profitable and diversify product portfolio with less dependency on the centralsubsidy.

Concept:

• Fair and remunerative price (FRP) is the minimum price at which rate sugarcane is tobe purchased by sugar mills from farmers.

• The FRP is fixed by Union government on the basis of recommendations ofCommission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

• The ‘FRP’ of sugarcane is determined under Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966.

• Recommended FRP is arrived at by taking into account various factors (cost ofproduction, demand-supply situation, domestic & international prices, inter-crop priceparity etc.

• FRP assures margins to farmers, irrespective of whether sugar mills generate a profitor not.

• This will be uniformly applicable all over the country. Besides FRP, some states suchas Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, UP and TN announce a State Advised Price, whichis generally higher than the FRP.

DISTRICT MINERAL FOUNDATION:

Context : Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner has ordered an audit and an impact assessmentof utilisation of funds from the District Mineral Foundation Trust (DMFT) for the financialyears 2017-2020.

Concept :

• DMFs were instituted under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation)(MMDR) Amendment Act 2015.

• They are non-profit trusts to work for the interest and benefit of persons and areasaffected by mining-related operations.

• Objective: To work for the interest of the benefit of the persons and areas affectedmining related operations in such manner as may be prescribed by the StateGovernment.








• Its manner of operation comes under the jurisdiction of the relevant StateGovernment.

• The fund is collected at the district level. There are certain high-priority areasidentified in all states’ DMF rules, where at least 60 per cent of the fund must be used.These include vital and pressing concerns, including healthcare.

• The various state DMF rules and the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Khestra Kalyan Yojana(PMKKKY) guidelines stipulate some “high priority” issues for DMFs, including:

Drinking water.

Health

Women and child welfare.

Education

Livelihood and skill development.

Welfare of aged and disabled.

Sanitation

Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY):

• The programme is meant to provide for the welfare of areas and people affected bymining related operations, using the funds generated by District Mineral Foundations(DMFs).

Objectives of the scheme:

• To implement various developmental and welfare projects/programs in miningaffected areas that complement the existing ongoing schemes/projects of State andCentral Government.

• To minimize/mitigate the adverse impacts, during and after mining, on theenvironment, health and socio-economics of people in mining districts.

• To ensure long-term sustainable livelihoods for the affected people in mining areas.

INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY CODE:

Context : Suspension of the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) is being extended tillMarch 31, 2021, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said at the Bangalore Chamber ofIndustry and Commerce virtual conference.

Concept :

About :

• Insolvency and bankruptcy code 2016 was introduced to resolve the bankruptcy crisisin corporate sector.

• Under IBC, either the creditor (banks) or the loaner (defaulter) can initiate insolvencyproceedings.








• It is done by submitting a plea to the adjudicating authority, the National CompaniesLaw Tribunal (NCLT).

• According to IBC, a financial creditor holds an important role in the corporateinsolvency process.

• The Committee of Creditors (CoC) under IBC includes all financial creditors of acorporate debtor.

• The CoC will appoint and supervise the Insolvency Professional.

• It has the power to either approve or reject the resolution plan to revive the debtor, orto proceed to liquidate the debtor.

Reasons for Suspension

• Companies are facing significant disruption due to the nationwide lockdown amongother COVID-19-related measures.

• The government is also working on a special resolution framework for micro, small,and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

• The threshold for triggering the insolvency process has been increased substantiallyfor these.

• All the above measures are designed to extend relief to businesses in theseextraordinary times.

• However, policy-makers would do well to account for the unintended consequencesas well.

• E.g. banks are worried that the moratorium on repayment of loans could affect thecredit culture

• It might well lead to higher non-performing assets (NPAs).

FSSAI NOTIFICATION:

Context : In the wake of setting stronghold principles for staples, the Food Safety andStandards Authority of India (FSSAI) has advised standards for passable degrees ofmicronutrients for fortifying food items that are processed.

Concept :

• The FSSAI has confined the measure of fortification to be added to 15 to 30 % of thenormal day to day dietary input levels. This has been done to guarantee balancedutilization of micronutrients fortified items.

• The processed food that is fortified shall give 15 to 30 % of the Indian grown-up RDA(Recommended dietary Allowance) of micro-nutrient, that is based on a normalcalorie intake of 600 kcal from processed nourishments (around 33% of day to dayenergy prerequisite for a grown-up) .

• Organizations will have the option to sustain the items with iron, folic acid, zinc,nutrient B12, vitamin A, among several other micronutrients. The issued notification








has characterized the degrees of these vitamins along with minerals for every 100 gm.For example, iron levels have been set at 1.4-1.7 milligram per 100 grams of grains.These standards will become effective from July 1, 2021.

• Essentially, reasonable degrees of supplements, for example, iron, zinc, nutrient B1,nutrient B12 and nutrient B3 have been indicated in the guidelines for rusks, biscuits,breads and buns. "Fruit juices when sustained will contain Vitamin C at the degrees of6 to 12 mg for each 100 ml," the guideline added.

• Effectively, many food organizations sell packaged items, for example, noodles andrusks sustained with nutrients and minerals. They should abide by the set standards bynext year.

• Recently, the FSSAI had additionally delivered a draft notice looking for stakeholderremarks on making fortification with nutrient A and D obligatory for edible oils andmilk.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)

• The FSSAI is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health & FamilyWelfare, Government of India.

• It has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is aconsolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India.

• It is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation andsupervision of food safety.

• It is headed by a non-executive Chairperson, appointed by the Central Government,either holding or has held the position of not below the rank of Secretary to theGovernment of India.

RBI to conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of G-Secs:

Context : The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday said it will conduct simultaneouspurchase and sale of government securities (G-Secs) under Open Market Operations (OMO)for an aggregate amount of ₹10,000 crores each on December 30.

Concept :

Open Market Operations

• Open market operations is the sale and purchase of government securities andtreasury bills by RBI or the central bank of the country.

• The objective of OMO is to regulate the money supply in the economy.

• RBI carries out the OMO through commercial banks and does not directly deal withthe public.

• When the RBI wants to increase the money supply in the economy, it purchases thegovernment securities from the market and it sells government securities to suck outliquidity from the system.








PM Modi to launch Dedicated Freight Corridor:

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate the largest section of theEastern Dedicated Freight Corridor at midday on December 29 to launch the operations ofone of the largest rail infrastructure projects in India.

Concept:

• The 351-km Khurja-Bhaupur (Kanpur) section of the Eastern Dedicated FreightCorridor is ready and necessary trials and testing have already been concluded.

• Along with the section, the PM will also unveil the state-of-the-art Operation ControlCentre of the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, based in Prayagraj.

• The centre, with galleries of multiple screens, will keep track of all train movement inreal time on the freight corridor and enable seamless planning of operations.

Dedicated freight corridors (DFC)

• These are freight-only railway lines to move goods between industrial heartlands inthe North and ports on the Eastern and Western coasts.

• The dedicated freight-only lines are being built along the four key transportationroutes – known as the Golden Quadrilateral and connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,Howrah and its two diagonals (Delhi – Chennai and Mumbai – Howrah).

• Covering a total of 10,122 km, these corridors carry the heaviest traffic and are highlycongested.

• The route carries 52 per cent of passenger traffic and 58 per cent of freight traffic,according to the Make-in-India report of 2017.

PM to flag off country’s first-ever driverless Metro:

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the driverless train service on the 37km-Magenta Line (Janakpuri West to Botanical Garden) and will also be launching the fullyoperational National Common Mobility Card for travel on the 23-km Airport Express Line.

Concept:

• The Delhi Metro driverless trains are to operate on the Magenta Line and the PinkLine, made as part of the Phase-III of the DMRC.

• The Delhi Metro in September 2017 had started full signalling trials of its new'driverless trains' along a 20-km-long stretch on the Pink Line, which was yet to becommissioned back then.

• The trials were to test the automation of the new metro trains, equipped withUnattended Train Operations (UTO) and CBTC (Communication Based TrainControl) signalling systems, which will significantly increase their frequency.

• The driver-less trains, having six coaches, are equipped with several advancedfeatures. These new trains of the Delhi Metro have undergone significanttechnological as well as eco-friendly upgrades and many additional features havebeen added to increase passenger comfort.








• They are designed for a maximum speed of 95 kmph and operational speed of 85kmph, the Delhi Metro had earlier said.

• Although, initially drivers will be deputed for operating the trains they would begradually withdrawn to move to Unattended Train Operation (UTO).

• These new-generation trains are suitable to eventually run on UTO mode, that is, trainoperators will not be required to operate these trains and the Operations ControlCentres (OCC) of the Delhi Metro system will directly regulate the movement of thetrains.

• Each coach can accommodate a maximum of 380 passengers, which translates to2,280 passengers in each train set of six coaches.

• The cabin-less trains would be able to accommodate 40 commuters more in a sixcoach train as the driver's cab will not be required in such trains.

New code for co-ops to kick in from April:

Context : All Central co-operative banks and States co-operative banks will follow new setof regulations as prescribed under Banking Regulations Amendment Act with effect fromApril 1, 2021.

Concept :

• The Finance Ministry has issued a notification stating that from April 1, theprovisions of Section 4 of the said Act shall come into force for State co-operativebanks and Central co-operative banks.

• Section 4 is about amending Section 56 of original act of 1949, which deals with co-operative societies.

• There is amendment which makes it clear that for public issue of private placement ofshares, a co-operative bank will need prior approval of RBI.

• This will also be needed for issuance of unsecured debentures or bonds or other likesecurities with initial or original maturity of not less than ten years, to any member ofsuch co-operative bank or any other person residing within its area of operation.

• The amendments do not affect existing powers of the State Registrars of Co-operative Societies under state co-operative laws.

• The amendments do not apply to Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) orco-operative societies.

• The Act also amends Section 45 of the Banking Regulation Act, to enable making of ascheme of reconstruction or amalgamation of a banking company for protecting theinterest of the public, depositors and the banking system and for securing its propermanagement, even without making an order of moratorium, so as to avoid disruptionof the financial system.








ZERO LIQUID DISCHARGE: Balancing industry and environment :

Context: The Centre is examining various options of moving forward on the country’s ZeroLiquid Discharge (ZLD) policy to ensure that investment in emerging sectors such assemiconductors is not hampered while environment continues to be protected.

Concept:

• The Department for Policy on Investments and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has beengetting suggestions for removing regulatory compliances such as Zero LiquidDischarge to encourage investments in sectors like semiconductors.

• The DPIIT has held discussions with stakeholders such as Ministry of Environment,Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Ministry of Electronics and InformationTechnology, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the State governments ofGujarat, Haryana and Tamil Nadu, on what the policy for zero level discharge will begoing ahead, the official said

Zero Liquid Discharge

• ZLD is a water treatment process to recirculate all the water back to the process withzero liquid waste. Government regulations demand fool-proof operations of thewastewater treatment plants for the purpose.

• The focus of ZLD is to reduce wastewater economically and produce clean water thatis suitable for reuse (e.g. irrigation), thereby saving money and being beneficial to theenvironment.

• ZLD systems employ advanced wastewater/desalination treatment technologies topurify and recycle virtually all of the wastewater produced.

• Also ZLD technologies help plants meet discharge and water reuse requirements,enabling businesses to:

• Meet stringent government discharge regulations

• Reach higher water recovery (%)

• Treat and recover valuable materials from the wastewater streams, such as potassiumsulfate, caustic soda, sodium sulfate, lithium and gypsum

• The conventional way to reach ZLD is with thermal technologies such as evaporators(multi stage flash (MSF), multi effect distillation (MED) and mechanical vaporcompression (MCV)) and crystallizers and recover their condensate. Thus, ZLDplants produce solid waste

Commerce ministry has recommended for extension of anti-dumping duty:

Context: The commerce ministry has recommended for extension of anti-dumping duty forfive years on carbon black used in the rubber and tyre industry from China and Russia, with aview to guard domestic players from cheap imports from these two countries.

Concept:








• In a notification, the ministry's investigation arm Directorate General of TradeRemedies (DGTR) has said there is a "positive" evidence of likelihood of dumping of'carbon black used in rubber applications' and injury to the domestic industry if theexisting anti-dumping duty would be removed.

Carbon Black

• Carbon black (subtypes are acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp blackand thermal black) is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavypetroleum products such as FCC tar, coal tar, or ethylene cracking tar.

• Carbon black is a form of paracrystalline carbon that has a high surface-area-to-volume ratio, albeit lower than that of activated carbon.

• It is dissimilar to soot in its much higher surface-area-to-volume ratio andsignificantly lower (negligible and non-bioavailable) polycyclic aromatichydrocarbon (PAH) content.

Anti-Dumping Duty

• Anti-Dumping Duty is a trade levy imposed by any government on imported productswhich have prices less than their fair normal values in their domestic market.

• Thus, it is protectionist tariff that seeks to stop dumping process where companyexports a product at a price lower than price it normally charged in domestic marketof importing countries’.

• Anti-Dumping Duty is imposed under the multilateral World Trade Organisation(WTO) regime and varies from product to product and from country to country.

• In India, anti-dumping duty is recommended by the Union Ministry of Commerce(i.e. by DGAD), while the Union Finance Ministry imposes it.

SWISS CHALLENGE:

Concept:

• Swiss Challenge method is one of the ways of awarding government contracts toprivate players.

• Without an invitation from government, a private player can submit a proposal togovernment for development of an infrastructure project with exclusive intellectualproperty rights. Then government has two options with it:

• Government can buy the intellectual property rights from the original proponent andcall for a competitive bidding to award the project.

• Government allows other players with similar capabilities to submit their proposals. Ifany proposal is better than the proposal of the original proponent, the originalproponent is asked to match with the other proposal. If he fails, then it would beawarded to the best bidder.

Swiss Challenge method in India








• Many states in India are using this method of awarding contracts for roads andhousing projects.

• Several states included it in their infrastructure development acts. The Draft PublicPrivate Partnership Rules, 2011 allow the use of Swiss Challenge only in exceptionalcircumstances – that too in projects in rural areas or to BPL populations.

• In 2009, the Supreme Court of India has approved the Swiss Challenge method forawarding contracts.

Advantages

• Swiss Challenge method would encourage the private players to bring innovation,technology and uniqueness in development of projects. It will bring in costefficiencies, cuts the red tape and shortens the project timelines.

ZERO COUPON BONDS: An innovative tool to fund PSBs and keep deficit in check:

Context: The government has used financial innovation to recapitalise Punjab & SindBank by issuing the lender Rs 5,500-crore worth of non-interest bearing bonds valued at par.

Concept:

• A zero-coupon bond is a debt security that does not pay interest but instead trades at adeep discount, rendering a profit at maturity, when the bond is redeemed for its fullface value.

• Some bonds are issued as zero-coupon instruments from the start, while others bondstransform into zero-coupon instruments after a financial institution strips them of theircoupons, and repackages them as zero-coupon bonds.

• Because they offer the entire payment at maturity, zero-coupon bonds tend tofluctuate in price, much more so than coupon bonds.

• A zero-coupon bond is also known as an accrual bond.

• The difference between the purchase price of a zero-coupon bond and the par value,indicates the investor's return.

THOUBAL MULTIPURPOSE PROJECT & ILP:

Context: Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched several development projects inManipur and also said ILP is the biggest gift by government to the state of manipur.

Concept:

• He inaugurated the e-office and Thoubal Multipurpose Project (Thoubal Dam) inImphal through virtual mode which will irrigate 35,104 hectares.

• He also laid the foundation stone of projects, including the Churachandpur MedicalCollege, IT-SEZ at Mantripukhri, Manipur Bhawan in New Delhi and the IntegratedCommand and Control Center at Imphal.

Inner Line Permit








• It is a document required by non- natives to visit or stay in a state that is protectedunder the ILP system.

• At present, four Northeastern states are covered, namely, Arunachal Pradesh,Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland.

• Both the duration of stay and the areas allowed to be accessed for any non native aredetermined by the ILP.

• The ILP is issued by the concerned state government and can be availed both byapplying online or in person

DIVERGENCE IN RURAL-URBAN INFLATION:

Context: Rural-urban inflation divergence does not persist in the long run and convergesover time, and both exhibit a long-term equilibrium relationship, said an RBI article.

Concept:

• Rural-urban inflation divergence does not persist in the long run and converges overtime, and both exhibit a long-term equilibrium relationship, said an RBI article.

• This convergence of rural-urban inflation supports the relevance of one inflationtarget as nominal anchor at the national level.

• It can be observed from monthly data that rural and urban all groups inflation haveoften diverged during 2012-2020, but the divergence has not persisted long,suggesting the existence of a long-run relationship between them.

• The article noted that headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation witnessedsignificant and sustained moderation during 2012-13 to 2018-19, before risingthereafter. Both rural and urban inflation exhibited a similar trend with the onlydifference that urban inflation started rising from 2018-19.

• It further said that in 2020-21 so far, headline inflation has firmed up furtherreflecting the impact of COVID-19 induced lockdown measures and associatedsupply chain disruptions. Rural and urban inflation, however, have displayedsignificant convergence, broadly mirroring the trends in food price inflation afterApril-May 2020.

• The RBI said the views expressed in the article are those of the authors and do notrepresent the views of the central bank.

Reasons for divergence:

• Different baskets of product consumed

• Structural problems like infrastructure

• Costlier food price

• Fuel usage








Maintaining 4% Inflation Appropriate For India: RBI Paper:

Context : Maintaining 4 percent inflation is appropriate for India as targeting a lower ratecould impart deflationary bias to the monetary policy, said a Reserve Bank paper.

Concept :

• Under the current dispensation, the RBI has been mandated by the government tomaintain retail inflation at 4 percent with a margin of 2 per cent on either side.

• There is a steady decline in trend inflation to 4.1-4.3 per cent since 2014.

• A target set too below the trend imparts a deflationary bias to monetary policy.

• A target that is fixed above-trend renders monetary policy too expansionary and proneto inflationary shocks and unanchored expectations.

• Hence, maintaining the inflation target at 4 per cent is appropriate for India.

Monetary Policy

• Monetary policy is the macroeconomic policy laid down by the Reserve Bank ofIndia.

• It involves the management of money supply and interest rates. The central banktweaks interest rates to achieve macroeconomic objectives such as liquidity,consumption and inflation.

• Legal framework: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is vested with the responsibilityof conducting monetary policy, explicitly mandated under the Reserve Bank of IndiaAct, 1934.

Inflation Targeting by RBI:

• The primary objective of monetary policy is to maintain price stability while keepingin mind the objective of growth. Price stability is a necessary precondition tosustainable growth.

• In May 2016, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, 1934 was amended to provide astatutory basis for the implementation of the flexible inflation targeting framework.

• The amended RBI Act also provides for the inflation target to be set by theGovernment of India, in consultation with the Reserve Bank, once in every five years.

• Accordingly, the Central Government has notified 4 percent (+/- 2%) Consumer PriceIndex (CPI) inflation as the target for the period from August 5, 2016 to March 31,2021.

BANK INVESTMENT COMPANY:

Context : The government is likely to set in motion the process of establishing a BankInvestment Company (BIC) to hold its stake in public sector banks (PSBs).

Concept :

• BIC was mooted in RBI's PJ Nayak Committee report in 2014.








Recommendations of the Nayak Committee regarding BIC

• Scrapping and removal of Bank Nationalisation Acts, SBI Act and SBI(SubsidiaryBanks) Act

• Conversion of PSBs into Companies as per the Companies Act

• Formation of a Bank Investment Company/BIC under the Companies Act; transfer ofshares by the central government in PSBs to the BIC

• BIC in turn would have over the controlling power to boards of PSBs

• Government will only control earning return on investment

• Fair return on investment to the Central government would be the responsibility ofBIC

• Appointments of CEOs, Inside Directors and top Executives of PSBs would be theresponsibility of the Bank Boards Bureau constituting three serving or retired bankchairmans and the government would not be involved in this decision in any way

• Nayak committee also recommends proportionate voting rights to all shareholders andreduction of governmental shareholding to 40%.

Sethusamudram ship channel project set to be beached:

Context : Sethusamudram Corporation Ltd (SCL) is set to be wound up, bringing to endan ambitious maritime project that turned controversial over religious sentiments.

Concept :

• The project was conceived in 1860 by Alfred Dundas Taylor

• In 2005, the Government of India approved Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project

• It is a proposed project to create a shipping route in the shallow straits between Indiaand Sri Lanka across the Palk Bay cutting across Rama Setu.

• The project involves digging a 44.9-nautical-mile long deep-water channel linking theshallow Palk Strait with the Gulf of Mannar.

• The channel would be dredged in the Sethusamudram sea passing through thelimestone shoals of Ram Sethu.

Rama Setu (Adam’s Bridge):

• Rama Setu is also known as Adam’s Bridge.








• The 50 km long bridge separates the Gulf of Mannar (south-west) from the Palk Strait(northeast).

• It is a chain of limestone shoals, between Pamban Island (a.k.a. Rameswaram Island)off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka.

• The bridge starts as a chain of shoals from the Dhanushkodi tip of India’s PambanIsland and ends at Sri Lanka’s Mannar Island.

FOREIGN PORTFOLIO INVESTMENT:

Context : Foreign portfolio investment flows in December have crossed $6 billion andcould well hit $7 billion before the month is over.

Concept :

• While it’s the abundance of liquidity worldwide that is channelling funds intoequities, India seems to be getting more than its fair share as Indian equities thoughvalued at their most expensive ever but foreign portfolio investors continue to bebuyers. .

Foreign Investments:

• Foreign investment, quite simply, is investing in a country other than your home one.It involves capital flowing from one country to another and foreigners having anownership interest or a say in the business.

• Foreign investment is generally seen as a catalyst for economic growth and can beundertaken by institutions, corporations, and individuals.

• Investors interested in foreign investment generally take one of two paths: foreignportfolio investment or foreign direct investment.

Foreign Portfolio Investments

• Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) refers to investing in the financial assets of aforeign country, such as stocks or bonds available on an exchange.

• This type of investment is at times viewed less favorably than direct investmentbecause portfolio investments can be sold off quickly and are at times seen as short-term attempts to make money, rather than a long-term investment in the economy.

• Portfolio investments typically have a shorter time frame for investment return thandirect investments.

• As securities are easily traded, the liquidity of portfolio investments makes themmuch easier to sell than direct investments. With any equity investment, foreignportfolio investors usually expect to quickly realize a profit on their investments.

• Portfolio investments are more accessible for the average investor than directinvestments because they require much less investment capital and research.








• Examples of foreign portfolio investments include stocks, bonds, mutual funds,exchange traded funds, American depositary receipts (ADRs), and global depositaryreceipts (GDRs).

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

• FDI involves establishing a direct business interest in a foreign country, such asbuying or establishing a manufacturing business, building warehouses, or buyingbuildings.1

• Foreign direct investment tends to involve establishing more of a substantial, long-term interest in the economy of a foreign country.

• Due to the significantly higher level of investment required, foreign direct investmentis usually undertaken by multinational companies, large institutions, or venture capitalfirms.

• Foreign direct investment tends to be viewed more favorably since they areconsidered long-term investments, as well as investments in the well-being of thecountry itself.

• Some common ones include establishing a subsidiary in another country, acquiring ormerging with an existing foreign company, or starting a joint venture partnership witha foreign company.

SOVEREIGN GOLD BOND SERIES:

Context: The latest installment of the government-run Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs) 2020-21- Series IX- is open for subscription. The last date for subscription is January 1, 2021, withJanuary 5 as the settlement date.

Concept:

• This is the ninth tranche of gold bonds for this fiscal issued by the RBI. The firsttranche of sovereign gold bond in the financial year 2020-2021 was open forsubscription in April.

• The issue price for the next series of sovereign gold bonds is fixed at Rs 5,000 pergram, the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement.

• Sovereign Gold Bond 2020-21 is issued by the Reserve Bank India on behalf of theGovernment of India.

Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme

• SGB scheme was launched in November 2015 with an objective to reduce the demandfor physical gold, by shifting the purchase of gold into financial savings. The yellowmetal is considered to be a less risky asset during times of economic turmoil.

• Gold bonds offer an annual interest rate of 2.50% per annum on the issue price toinvestors, which is paid half-yearly.








• Gold sovereign bonds can be traded on stock exchanges within a specific date. Theyare substitutes for investment in physical gold. Gold bonds can be used as collateralfor loans.

• Gold bonds come with a tenor of 8 years and a lock-in period of 5 years. Themaximum limit of subscription shall be 4kg for individuals and HUFs, and 20kg fortrusts and similar entities per fiscal year.

• The bonds are denominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold. The minimuminvestment limit in gold bonds is one gram of gold, where one unit of the bond isequal to one gram of gold.

• Investors can buy the SGB schemes through commercial banks, post offices, stockexchanges Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange, and the StockHolding Corporation.

• Investors who can invest in the SGBs include individuals, trusts, charitableorganizations, Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) and universities.

CURRENT ACCOUNT SURPLUS:

Context : The current account surplus moderated to $15.5 billion (2.4 per cent of GDP) inthe quarter ended September of 2020-21 from $19.2 billion (3.8 per cent of GDP) in the firstquarter this fiscal.

Concept :

• The narrowing of the current account surplus in Q2 of FY21 was on account of a risein the merchandise trade deficit to $14.8 billion from $10.8 billion in the precedingquarter, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

• It said the net services receipts increased both sequentially and on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, primarily on the back of higher net earnings from computer services.

• Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employedoverseas, declined on a y-o-y basis but improved sequentially by 12 per cent to $20.4billion in Q2FY21.

Current Account Surplus

• A current account surplus is a positive current account balance, indicating that anation is a net lender to the rest of the world.

• The current account measures a country's imports and exports of goods and servicesover a defined period of time, in addition to earnings from cross-border investments,and transfer payments.

• Exports, earnings on investments abroad, and incoming transfer payments (aid andremittances) are recorded as credits; imports, foreign investors' earnings oninvestments in the country, and outgoing transfer payments are recorded as debits.

• When credits exceed debits, the country enjoys a current account surplus, meaningthat the rest of the world is in effect borrowing from it.








Balance of Payments

• The balance of payments include both the current account and capital account.

• The current account includes a nation's net trade in goods and services, its netearnings on cross-border investments, and its net transfer payments.

• The capital account consists of a nation's transactions in financial instruments andcentral bank reserves.

• The sum of all transactions recorded in the balance of payments should be zero;however, exchange rate fluctuations and differences in accounting practices mayhinder this in practice.

DPIIT SINGLE WINDOW SYSTEM:

Context : As many as fourteen States have given their consent to be part of the singlewindow clearance system and the investment clearance cell that the Centre hopes to launch inApril 2021 to provide all requisite clearances to investors at one point.

Concept :

• The Department of Policy for Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is driving theexercise of building the single window system of clearances for investors and tryingto get all stakeholders together.

• DPIIT hopes to launch the technology-driven single window clearance system forinvestors which would save investors the trouble of filling in multiple applicationsacross different portals.

• The centralised Investment Clearance Cell, is being set up as part of the singlewindow mechanism.

Significance

• The cell will be a one-stop digital national portal that integrates the existing clearancesystems of various ministries/departments of the government and will have a single,unified application form.

• It would provide end-to-end facilitation support, including pre-investment advisory,information related to land banks and facilitating clearances at Central and state level.

• It will allow digital access to regulators, policymakers and facilitators at one pointirrespective of their geographical location and also provide time-bound approvals anda real-time status update to investors.

• It will enable the potential investor to interact with all the ministries whose approvalsare required, in the central government as well as in the states.

ASHA INDIA:

Context: On 1st January 2021, Prime Minister Modi will announce winners under AffordableSustainable Housing Accelerators - India (ASHA-India) and give out annual awards forexcellence in implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) Mission.








Concept:

• Affordable Sustainable Housing Accelerators - India (ASHA-India) aims to promotedomestic research and entrepreneurship by providing incubation and accelerationsupport to potential future technologies.

• Under ASHA-India initiative, five ASHA-India Centers have been set up forproviding incubation and acceleration support.

• The technologies, processes and materials identified through this initiative willprovide a major fillip to young creative minds, start-ups, innovators andentrepreneurs.

PMAY-U Mission:

• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) Mission has been designed toachieve the vision of “Housing For All by 2022”.

• In order to recognize the outstanding contribution by States, UTs,Urban Local Bodiesand beneficiaries, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has introduced annualawards for excellence in implementation of PMAY-Urban.








SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

INFLUENZA:

Context: Researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet have described findings leadingto so-called “superinfections”. It can also contribute to research on Covid-19.

Concept:

• The researchers found that different nutrients and antioxidants, such as vitamin C,leak from the blood. This creates an environment in the lungs that favours growth ofthe bacteria.

• The bacteria adapt to the inflammatory environment by increasing the production ofan enzyme called HtrA. The presence of HtrA weakens the immune system andpromotes bacterial growth in the influenza-infected airways.

Influenza:

• Influenza is caused by a virus, but the most common cause of death is secondarybacterial pneumonia rather than the influenza virus per se.

• Pneumococcal infections are the most common cause of community-acquiredpneumonia and a leading global cause of death.

• A prior influenza virus infection sensitizes for pneumococcal infections, butmechanisms behind this increase susceptibility are not fully understood.

• Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now identified influenza-induced changes inthe lower airways that affect the growth of pneumococci in the lungs.

EMERGENCY USE AUTHORISATION (EUA):

Context: Moderna said it was applying for emergency use authorisation for its Covid-19vaccine. In India, Serum Institute of India, which is trialling a version of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, has said it expects to seek emergency use authorisation within the next twoweeks.

Concept:

• Vaccines and medicines, and even diagnostic tests and medical devices, require theapproval of a regulatory authority before they can be administered. In India, theregulatory authority is the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO).

• For vaccines and medicines, approval is granted after an assessment of their safetyand effectiveness, based on data from trials. This is a long process, designed to ensurethat a medicine or vaccine is absolutely safe and effective.








• In emergency situations, like the current one, regulatory authorities around the worldhave developed mechanisms to grant interim approvals if there is sufficient evidenceto suggest a medical product is safe and effective.

• Final approval is granted only after completion of the trials and analysis of full data;until then, emergency use authorisation (EUA) allows the medicine or the vaccine tobe used on the public.

CDSCO :

• The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under DirectorateGeneral of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government ofIndia is the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) of India.

• Functions: Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, CDSCO is responsible for approvalof New Drugs, Conduct of Clinical Trials, laying down the standards for Drugs,control over the quality of imported Drugs in the country and coordination of theactivities of State Drug Control Organizations by providing expert advice with a viewto bring about the uniformity in the enforcement of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

• CDSCO along with state regulators, is jointly responsible for grant of licenses ofcertain specialized categories of critical Drugs such as blood and blood products, I. V.Fluids, Vaccine and Sera.

PARKINSON'S DISEASE:

Context: Father Swamy, the 83-year-old activist who suffers from Parkinson’s disease,was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged involvement in the2018 Bhima Koregaon violence.

Concept :

• Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects thecentral nervous system.

• It damages nerve cells in the brain dropping the levels of dopamine. Dopamine is achemical that sends behavioural signals from the brain to the body.

• The disease causes a variety of "motor" symptoms (symptoms related to movement ofthe muscles), including rigidity, delayed movement, poor balance, and tremors.

• Medication can help control the symptoms of the disease but it can't be cured.

• It affects the age group from 6 to 60 years. Worldwide, about 10 million people havebeen affected by this disease.

PFIZER VACCINE:

Context: Britain became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer-BioNTechCovid-19 vaccine for use and said that it will be rolled out from early next week.

Concept:








• The British regulator Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency(MHRA) declared that the vaccine offers protection of up to 95 per cent and is safe tobe used for immunisation against Covid-19.

• The American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech lastmonth concluded phase 3 study of their mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine candidateBNT162b2, meeting all primary efficacy endpoints.

• BNT162b2 is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by BioNTech and Pfizer andgiven by intramuscular injection.

• It is an RNA vaccine composed of nucleoside-modified mRNA encoding a mutatedform of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, and is encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles.

ARECIBO TELESCOPE:

Context: One of the world's largest telescopes collapsed at Puerto Rico's AreciboObservatory on Tuesday.

It had been in operation for 57 years, but shut after engineers warned of the structure'sdeterioration earlier this year.

Concept:

• The Arecibo Telescope has one of the most powerful radar employed to observeasteroids, planets, and ionosphere.

• The telescope has discovered the first exoplanets, prebiotic molecules in distantgalaxies and first millisecond Pulsar. Prebiotic molecules are matter that lead to theorigin of life.

• The Telescope had served as a hub in the search of extra-terrestrial life and has pickedup several radio signals from alien civilisations. It has played a major role in trackingkiller asteroids heading towards the earth.

• In 1993, the scientists Joseph Taylor and Russell Hulse were awarded the Nobel Prizein physics. With the help of the observatory they monitored a binary Pulsar. It was thefirst evidence for the existence of gravitational waves.

• The telescope had become a symbol of Puerto Rico. It drew more than 90000 visitorsevery year.

Why did the Arecibo Telescope collapse?

• On November 19, 2020, the National Science Foundation of the United Statesrecommended controlled demolition of the telescope as two cables broke offthreatening the survival of the observatory.

• The foundation came to this conclusion after several assessments found that thetelescope structure is in danger of catastrophic failure and the cables of the telescopeare no longer capable of carrying its weight. The receiver platform of the telescopealone weighs 900 tonnes. The receiver platform collapsed 450 feet into the 1000 feetwide dish.








• Earlier, the telescope had survived several hurricanes and earthquakes.

NUCLEAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE TEST:

Context: Honey marketed by prominent Indian brands failed a key test of purity, theCentre for Science and Environment (CSE) has claimed, citing an investigation it conducted.

Concept:

• Current regulations specify around 18 parameters that honey must comply with forproducers to label it ‘pure honey’.

• Most brands passed muster but when subjected to one test, called Nuclear MagneticResonance (NMR) that was done at a lab in Germany, only three brands passed:Saffola, Markfed Sohna and Nature’s Nectar. There were often multiple samplestested for each brand.


• Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Test can ascertain the composition of a productat the molecular level)

• The NMR test is not required by Indian law for honey that is being marketed locallybut is needed for export.

POST QUANTUM CRPTOGRAPHY:

Concept:

• Classical computers use classical bits that can take the value 0 or 1, allowing for abinary system to be set up and the lowest level of computer language is donemanipulating these bits.

• A Quantum Computer uses qubit on the other hand can exist as a superposition of twostates 0 and 1. So if you have an n-qubit number, it can exist as a superposition of 2nstates. This also allows for immense amount of parallel processing.

• Post quantum cryptography – a field which deals with additional possibilitiesoffered by a quantum system, which goes beyond being able to break the integerfactor code.

Enter lattices

• One of the main contenders for a mathematical problem that is hard for the quantumcomputer to crack is the so-called shortest vector problem.

• This involves lattices. Lattices are regular arrangement of points in space; examplesin nature include honeycombs and all crystalline solids, like common salt.

• A line of regularly spaced points is a lattice in one dimension, and a crystal of salt isa three-dimensional lattice. Mathematically, we can extend this construction to 5, 10or even 500 dimensions.








• At this magnitude, it becomes in theory a “hard” problem for a quantum computer tocalculate the shortest vector from one point to any other point. This problem cantherefore be used to construct “locks” that can even withstand a quantum attack.

• Post Quantum Cryptography provides new methods to construct such encryptionschemes which are secure against quantum computers.

HERD IMMUNITY:

Context: Director-General of ICMR Dr. Balram Bhargava said: “If we’re able tovaccinate a critical mass of people and break virus transmission, then we may not have tovaccinate the entire population.”

Concept:

• Herd immunity is a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurswhen a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, therebyproviding a measure of protection for individuals who are not immune.

• Initially, herd immunity, an important tool in epidemic control, was proposed as ameans to overcome the pandemic.

• Only a certain proportion of the population needs to be infected in order to stop largeoutbreaks, either through naturally-acquired disease, or through vaccination.

Challenges in achieving Herd Immunity through Partial Vaccination:

• The levels of immunization needed for herd immunity are determined by how thevirus spreads in the population, and makes the assumption that spread is homogenous.But SARS-CoV-2 virus spread exhibits a high level of uneven transmission.

• This is the reason why there have been a number of super-spreading events wheresome infected individuals spread the virus to very a large number of people whilemost infected individuals transmit the virus only to a few or none.

• With COVID-19 vaccines, we will also need to reach age groups which are notcurrently targeted as part of the large-scale immunisation efforts. This will be adesign, logistics and implementation challenge. All of these aspects are important toconsider while considering the country-wide COVID-19 immunisation plans.

• Considering that the government has already listed out the high-priority groups thatwill receive the vaccine, the issue of choosing other sections of the population thatneeds to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity will be ethically challenging.

• Another contentious area is the question of vaccinating those who have already beeninfected. The immunity offered by the natural infection is probably long term. Tilldate, we are not aware of the added benefits or risks of vaccinating the people who arealready infected.

HAYABUSA2 MISSION:

Context: Six years after Japan’s Hayabusa2 mission was launched, it is set to return backto Earth on December 6 carrying with it samples from the one-kilometre wide Ryuguasteroid that orbits the Sun.








Concept:

• The Hayabasu2 mission was launched in December 2014 when the spacecraft wassent on a six-year-long voyage to study the asteroid Ryugu and collect samples that itis now bringing back to the Earth.

• The mission is similar to NASA’s OSIRIS-REX mission that brought back samplesfrom asteroid Bennu late in October.

• According to the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), this is the firsttime that a probe has visited a celestial body that is under 100 metres in diameter.

Additional Information

• Hayabasu2’s predecessor, the Hayabusa mission brought back samples from theasteroid Itokawa in 2010.

• Ryugu is classified as a Potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs). It was discoveredin 1999 and was given the name by the Minor Planet Center in 2015. It is 300 millionkilometres from Earth and it took Hayabusa2 over 42 months to reach it.

LAB-GROWN MEAT:Context: The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) approved this week the sale of a lab-grownmeat product. This is the first time cultured meat has been cleared for sale anywhere in theworld. The product approved by the SFA is cultured chicken, produced by US-based EastJust.

Concept:

How is lab-grown or cultured meat different from plant-based meat?

• The latter is made from plant sources such as soy or pea protein, while cultured meatis grown directly from cells in a laboratory.

• Both have the same objective: to offer alternatives to traditional meat products thatcould feed a lot more people, reduce the threat of zoonotic diseases, and mitigate theenvironmental impact of meat consumption.

• In terms of cellular structure, cultured or cultivated meat is the same as conventionalmeat — except that cultured meat does not come directly from animals.

Benefits:

• According to the Good Food Institute (GFI)’s 2019 State of the Industry Report oncultivated meats, compared to conventional meat, cultivated meat could reduce landuse by more than 95%, climate change emissions by 74-87% and nutrient pollution by94%.

• Since cultivated meat is created in clean facilities, the risk of contamination bypathogens such as salmonella and E coli, which may be present in traditionalslaughterhouses and meat-packing factories, is significantly reduced.

• It does not require antibiotics either, unlike animals raised for meat, thereby reducingthe threat posed to public health by growing antibiotic resistance.








SYNTHETIC DRUGS:

Context: Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu accounted for themajority of drug seizures during 2019-20.

Concept:

• The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence annual report said that 72 seizures arecovered under Narcotic drugs & Psychotropic substance act.

Synthetic Drugs:

• Synthetic drugs are chemical compounds produced in a laboratory. They can beproduced commercially by drug manufacturers for valid medical purposes and arediverted from legal channels or produced illegally in clandestine laboratories for illicitmarkets worldwide.

• When produced clandestinely, synthetic drugs aim to mimic or even enhance theeffects of natural illicit drugs, such as marijuana.

• Synthetic drugs could be addictive and pose a serious threat on the health of everydayindividuals. Nevertheless, it is difficult for regulatory agencies to control or monitorsynthetic drugs.

• Manufacturers often slightly modify the molecular structures of illegal or controlledsubstances to circumvent existing drug laws or labeled “not for human consumption”to mask their intended purpose and avoid regulatory oversight of the manufacturingprocess.

• Easy access, low prices and a misconception that synthetic drugs are "natural”, andharmless have likely contributed to synthetic drug abuse. Another contributing factoris the ability for synthetic drugs to circumvent standard drug tests that cannot easilydetect many of the chemicals in the drug.

Types of Synthetic Drug:

• Based on their chemical composition, synthetic drugs are commonly divided into twocategories:

• Cannabinoids such as K2 and Spice. Synthetic Cannabinoids are chemicals thatmimic the effect of THC, the primary psychoactive active ingredient in marijuana.

• Stimulants such as Bath Salts. Most synthetic stimulants contain chemicalcompounds that mimic the effects of cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine. (Similardrugs include MDMA sometimes referred to as “ecstasy”, “molly”)

ALPHAFOLD 2:

Context: DeepMind Technologies Ltd.’s AlphaFold reached the threshold for “solving”the problem at the latest Critical Assessment of Structure Prediction competition.

Concept:

• DeepMind became a subsidiary of Google after a 2014 acquisition and is best knownfor its gamer AI.








• DeepMind is now looking into ways of offering scientists access to the AlphaFoldsystem in a scalable way.

• Google’s artificial intelligence unit took a giant step to predict the structure ofproteins, potentially decoding a problem that has been described as akin to mappingthe genome.

• Different folds in a protein determine how it will interact with other molecules, andunderstanding them has implications for discovering how new diseases like Covid-19invade our cells, designing enzymes to break down pollutants and improving cropyields.

FELUDA TEST:

Context: The Delhi government has decided to conduct a part of the total COVID-19 testsin the city using Feluda paper strip test. It is expected to start within a week to 10 days,according to officials.

Concept:

• The Feluda is a paper strip test that detects the coronavirus in an hour. It is anacronym for FNCAS9 Editor Linked Uniform Detection.

• It is expected to help to fulfil an urgent need of the rapid testing in India.

• It is the first such indigenous test kit to be developed in India based on ClusteredRegularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology.

• CRISPR is a gene editing technology, which replicates natural defence mechanismsin bacteria to fight virus attacks, using a special protein called Cas9.

• CRISPR-Cas9 technology behaves like a cut-and-paste mechanism on DNA strandsthat contain genetic information. The specific location of the genetic codes that needto be changed, or edited, is identified on the DNA strand, and then, using the Cas9protein, which acts like a pair of scissors, that location is cut off from the strand.

• A DNA strand, when broken, has a natural tendency to repair itself. Scientistsintervene during this auto-repair process, supplying the desired sequence of geneticcodes that binds itself with the broken DNA strand.

Comparison to the RT-PCR Test:

• Working Principle: The Feluda test uses the gene-editing tool-Crispr-Cas9 to targetand identify genomic sequences of the novel coronavirus in suspected individualsamples.

• RT-PCR test (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) detects the virusgenetic material, which is the Ribonucleic acid (RNA) .

• Cost: The Feluda test will cost less than Rs.500 compared to Rs. 4500 for the real-time PCR test which is currently being used for Covid-19 diagnosis in India.








• Required Medical Machinery: The Feluda test also does not rely on expensive real-time PCR machines for RNA isolation, DNA conversion, and amplification which arealready in limited supply in the country.

HAVANA SYNDROME:

Context : Recently, a report by the National Academies of Sciences (NAS), USA hasfound directed microwave radiation to be the plausible cause of the Havana syndrome.

Concept :

• In late 2016, USA diplomats and other employees stationed in Havana (capital ofCuba) reported feeling ill after hearing strange sounds and experiencing odd physicalsensations.

• The symptoms included nausea, severe headaches, fatigue, dizziness, sleepproblems, and hearing loss, which have since come to be known as the HavanaSyndrome.

• The more chronic problems suffered by Havana personnel included mainly vestibularprocessing and cognitive problems as well as insomnia and headache.

• While the symptoms have resolved for some of the affected employees, for others, theeffects have lingered and posed a significant obstacle to their work and affected thenormal functioning of lives.

About the Report:

• The NAS report examined four possibilities to explain the symptoms viz. infection,chemicals, psychological factors and microwave energy.

• So far, only this report provides the clearest and detailed estimation of what may havetranspired.

• In earlier attempts by various other government agencies, scientists talked aboutpsychological illness due to the stressful environment of foreign missions or brainabnormalities in the diplomats who had fallen ill.

GLOBAL NAVIGATION SATELLITE SYSTEM

Concept:

• Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) refers to a constellation of satellitesproviding signals from space that transmit positioning and timing data to GNSSreceivers. The receivers then use this data to determine location.

• By definition, GNSS provides global coverage. Examples of GNSS include Europe’sGalileo, the USA’s NAVSTAR Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia’sGLONASS)and China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite System and India 's IRNSS -NAVIC.








The performance of GNSS is assessed using four criteria:

• Accuracy: the difference between a receiver’s measured and real position, speed ortime;

• Integrity: a system’s capacity to provide a threshold of confidence and, in the event ofan anomaly in the positioning data, an alarm;

• Continuity: a system’s ability to function without interruption;

• Availability: the percentage of time a signal fulfils the above accuracy, integrity andcontinuity criteria.

5G TECHNOLOGY:

Context : Telecom industry leaders on Tuesday urged the Centre to spell out the policyframework and standards that would enable an expeditious roll-out of 5G technology in thecountry and help ensure the success of the ‘Digital India’ initiative

Concept :

• 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long term evolution (LTE) mobilebroadband networks.

• The first generation of networks allowed only mobile voice calls to be made, whilethe second generation allowed mobile voice calls as well as sending of short textmessages.

• It was the third generation or 3G network which allowed web browsing on mobiledevices, the speed and latency of which improved with fourth-generation or 4Gnetworks.

• The 5G networks will have even faster speeds with latency down to between 1-10milliseconds.

• Note: Latency is the time a device takes to communicate with the network, whichstands at an average of up to 50 milliseconds for 4G networks across the world.

How does 5G work?

• All 5G networks chiefly operate on three spectrum bands.

• The low-band spectrum has been proven to have great coverage and works fast evenin underground conditions. However, the maximum speed limit on this band is 100Mbps (Megabits per second).

• In the mid-band spectrum, though the speeds are higher, telcos across the world haveregistered limitations when it comes to coverage area and penetration of telephonesignals into buildings.

• The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed but has extremely limited networkcoverage area and penetration capabilities.

• The telcos using this band rely on the existing LTE networks and will need to install anumber of smaller towers to ensure adequate coverage and high-speed performance.








What does it mean to be 5G ready?

• Globally many companies have been deploying 5G networks across their serviceareas as early as 2018.

• Not only the network, but the devices will also have to be 5G ready for customers tobe able to enjoy the maximum benefits of the latest upgrade in mobile broadband.

• One of the major improvements in 5G is the use of beam tracking to follow alldevices on the network to ensure consistent connection in real-time for the device.

• 5G networks are also designed to multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) efficientwhich improves signal throughput for all devices on the network.

Where does India stand on the deployment of 5G?

• Companies, both telecom service providers and their equipment vendors, havecompleted lab trials of 5G network components but are yet to commence field trials,which were initially scheduled to happen last year.

• For the same, telecom companies are awaiting allocation of test spectrum from theDepartment of Telecommunications (DoT).

• The service providers have already tied up with equipment makers like Nokia,Ericsson, etc for deploying their 5G networks

KLI PROJECT :

Context: The Union Cabinet has given its approval for Provision of Submarine OpticalFibre Cable Connectivity between Mainland (Kochi) and Lakshadweep Islands (KLI Project).

Concept:

• The Project envisages provision of a direct communication link through a dedicatedsubmarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Kochi and 11 Islands of Lakshadweepviz. Kavaratti, Kalpeni, Agati, Amini, Androth, Minicoy, Bangaram, Bitra, Chetlat,Kiltan & Kadmat.

• The estimated cost of implementation is about Rs. 1072 crore including operationalexpenses for 5 years. The Project would be funded by Universal ServiceObligation Fund.

• The project will vastly improve telecommunication facility in the LakshadweepIslands by providing large bandwidth.

• The project is targeted to be completed by May 2023.

Implementation Strategy:

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) has been nominated as Project Execution Agencyand Telecommunications Consultant India Ltd. (TCIL) as the Technical Consultant ofthe Project to assist Universal Service Obligation Fund, Department ofTelecommunications.








• The ownership of the asset under the project will rest with USOF, the funding agency,under DoT.

SINOPHARM VACCINE:

Context : The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday officially registered the coronavirusvaccine produced by Chinese drug giant Sinopharm, saying it was 86% effective according toanalysis of third-phase trials.

Concept :

• The vaccine has been undergoing third-phase trials in the Emirates since July, and itwas approved for emergency use for healthcare workers in September.

• The announcement is a significant vote of confidence by the UAE’s health authoritiesin the safety and efficacy of this vaccine.

• China has four vaccine products in the final stages of development, three of which —including Sinopharm — use an inactivated form of the novel coronavirus to boostimmunity.

• This means they only need to be refrigerated and can be easily distributedcompared to jabs developed by rivals Pfizer and BioNTech or Moderna, whichhave reported efficacy of 95% and 94% respectively but need to be transported atminus 70 to 20 degrees Celsius.

SATELLITE-BASED NARROW BAND-IoT

Context : BSNL, in partnership with Skylotech India, announced a breakthrough insatellite-based NB-IoT (Narrow Band-Internet of Things).

Concept :

• This new ‘Made in India’ Solution, which is indigenously developed by Skylo, willconnect with BSNLs satellite- ground infrastructure and provide PAN-India coverage,including Indian seas.

• The coverage will be so vast that it will not leave any dark patch within the boundaryof India.

• This is the world’s first satellite-based NB-IoT network.

3D PRINTING

Context : Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will soon comeup with a policy aimed at promoting 3D printing on an industrial scale and helping domesticcompanies “overcome technical and economic barriers”.

Concept :

• Three-dimensional printing (3-D printing), also known as Additive manufacturing(AM) is a process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usuallylayer upon layer. It is basically a process of making three dimensional solid objectsfrom a digital file.








• This is opposite of ‘Subtractive Manufacturing’which works on removal of materialto create a desired object. It is similar to a man who cuts a stone to create a sculpture.

Process of 3D Printing:

• 3D printing starts by making a virtual design of the object to be created. Virtualdesign can be made using a 3D modelling program such as CAD (Computer AidedDesign) or 3D scanners.

• The 3D digital copy is then put into a 3D modelling program. The model is thensliced into hundreds or thousands of horizontal layers in preparation for printing.

• This prepared file is thus uploaded in the 3D printer which reads each slices in 2Dformat and then proceeds to create the object layer by layer and the resulting objecthas no sign of layering visible, but a 3 dimensional structure.

3D Printing in India

• The government has launched several initiatives such as ‘Make in India’, ‘DigitalIndia’ and ‘Skill India’ to improve investment opportunities and to enhancemanufacturing capabilities in the country.

• Given the government’s interest in boosting manufacturing, major manufacturers haveestablished 3-D printing assembly lines and distribution centres in partnership withforeign technological firms.

• A PwC report titled ‘The Global Industry 4.0’ in 2016 shows that in India, 27% ofindustries have either already invested or will be investing in AM technology withinthe next five years.

EPIGENETICS:

Concept:

• Epigenetics refers to chemical changes in our genetic material and proteins thatregulate it.

• The best-known epigenetic mark is the methylation, the addition of a methylchemical group (-CH3) in our DNA. The epigenome consists of all the epigeneticmarks of a living being.

• Unlike DNA mutations that are permanent, such epigenetic changes are reversible andare mediated by regulatory proteins such as DNA methyl transferases (DNMTs),histone acetyl transferases (HATs), histone deacetylases (HDACs) and so on.








• These regulatory proteins can add or remove such modifications and can result inturning ON/OFF a specific gene in a tissue or organ specific manner.

TB TEST FEOM URINE SAMPLE:

Context: IIT Madras researchers are developing a point-of-care platform for early-stageTB screening and detection using urine samples. The platform is yet to be tested in clinicaltrials.

Concept:

• Diagnosing TB usually involves using a sputum sample or a biopsy in the detectiontests. This is not just time-consuming or expensive, there are also cases where gettinga sputum sample is not easy or even possible, such as with small children or in thecase of extra pulmonary TB.

Process:

• The glycolipid lipoarabinomannan (LAM), an integral component of the cell wall andcell membrane of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the disease-causing bacterium,has been explored as a biomarker for TB diagnosis.

• Since it is known that LAM is released into the blood stream during active infectionand passed out in urine, it can be viewed as a potential biomarker for even cases otherthan pulmonary TB.

GALLIUM NITRIDE:

Concept:

• Gallium nitride (GaN) is a semiconductor commonly used in light-emitting diodessince the 1990s. The compound is a very hard material that has a Wurtzite crystalstructure. Its wide band gap of 3.4 eV affords it special properties for applications inoptoelectronic, high-power and high-frequency devices.

Features

• lower on resistance giving lower conductance losses

• faster devices yielding less switching losses

• less capacitance resulting in less losses when charging and discharging devices

• less power needed to drive the circuit

• smaller devices taking up less space on the printed circuit board. GaN transistors canwithstand higher electric fields, which in turn, increases power density and makes thedevice smaller.

Applications of GaN:

• Its sensitivity to ionizing radiation is low (like other group III nitrides), making it asuitable material for solar cell arrays for satellites.








• Military and space applications could also benefit as devices have shown stability inradiation environments.

• Because GaN transistors can operate at much higher temperatures and work at muchhigher voltages than gallium arsenide (GaAs) transistors, they make ideal poweramplifiers at microwave frequencies.

• GaN semiconductor devices are already in use in LEDs and power amplifiers for 4Gradio base stations, and now GaN-based transistors are becoming a key enablingtechnology in power electronics products like adapters, power supplies, and solarinverters. GaN is used to manufacture light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with colors thatcan go from red to ultra-violet.

• GaN-based electronics (not pure GaN) has the potential to drastically cut energyconsumption, not only in consumer applications but even for power transmissionutilities.

• GaN nanotubes are proposed for applications in nanoscale electronics, optoelectronicsand biochemical-sensing applications.

Concern:

• One of the problems with GaN, like any other new technology, has been the high cost.While the costs are not as prohibitive as they used to be a few years ago–as per LuxResearch, GaN would cost $1,900 for a two-inch substrate whereas silicon would cost$25-50 for a six-inch substrate–they are still high as compared to silicon.

• More important, company processes are more attuned to silicon products; a switch toGaN would require more research and development and surety that the productswould not fail

CHANG'E 5 LUNAR PROBE:

Context :A Chinese space capsule bringing back the first moon rocks in more than fourdecades started its three-day return to Earth on Sunday.

Concept :

• The Long March-5 Y5 rocket, carrying the Chang’e-5 spacecraft, was launched fromWenchang Space Launch Center (China).

• Objective : To drill 2 meters beneath the moon’s surface and scoop up about 2kilograms of rocks and other debris to be brought back to Earth.

• It will help scientists learn about:

Moon’s origins,

Volcanic activity on its surface and its interior, and

When its magnetic field, key to protecting any form of life from the sun’s radiationdissipated.

Functioning:








• Upon entering the moon's orbit, the spacecraft is intended to deploy a pair of vehiclesto the lunar surface, a lander and an ascender.

• A lander will drill into the ground, then transfer its soil and rock samples to anascender that will lift off and dock with an orbiting module.

• There will be an attempt to collect 2 kg of samples in a previously unvisited area in amassive lava plain known as Oceanus Procellarum, or “Ocean of Storms”.

• Area of the moon where the spacecraft is due to land is 1-2 billion years old.

• If this is successful, the samples will be transferred to a return capsule that will returnthem to Earth, with a landing in China's Inner Mongolia region.

• The entire mission is scheduled to take around 23 days.

• If the mission is completed as planned, it would make China only the third country tohave retrieved lunar samples, joining the United States and the Soviet Union.

China’s Moon Missions:

• China made its first lunar landing in 2013.

• In January 2019, the Chang’e-4 probe touched down on the far side of the moon, thefirst by any nation’s space probe.

• Chang’e is a series of lunar probes launched by China National Space administration.

China’s Other Space Plans:

• It aims to have a permanent manned space station in service by around 2022.

• Within the next decade, China plans to establish a robotic base station to conductunmanned exploration in the south polar region of the moon.

• It is to be developed through the Chang’e-6, 7 and 8 missions through the 2020s.

Other Important Mission to Moon:

• Chandrayaan 3 by ISRO

• Artemis Mission by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

LiDAR TECHNOLOGY:

Context :To conduct ground survey for the Delhi-Varanasi high speed rail corridor, IndianRailways will use the LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technique with laser-enabledequipment mounted on a helicopter, said the National High Speed Rail Corporation Limited(NHSRCL).

Concept:

• Lidar, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a remote sensing method thatuses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure ranges (variable distances) to theEarth.








• These light pulses combined with other data recorded by the airborne system-generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth and itssurface characteristics.

• A lidar instrument principally consists of a laser, a scanner, and a specialized GPSreceiver. Airplanes and helicopters are the most commonly used platforms foracquiring lidar data over broad areas.

• Two types of lidar are topographic and bathymetric. Topographic lidar typicallyuses a near-infrared laser to map the land, while bathymetric lidar uses water-penetrating green light to also measure seafloor and riverbed elevations.

• Lidar systems allow scientists and mapping professionals to examine both natural andmanmade environments with accuracy, precision, and flexibility.

MUCORMYCOSIS FUNGUS:

Context: In another shocking discovery related to the post-COVID-19 recovery, ENTsurgeons in Delhi have come across over 12 cases of coronavirus-triggered deadlyMucormycosis fungal infection, within the last 15 days.

Concept:

• Mucormycosis (previously called zygomycosis) is a serious but rare fungal infectioncaused by a group of molds called mucormycetes.

• These molds live throughout the environment. Mucormycosis mainly affects peoplewho have health problems or take medicines that lower the body’s ability to fightgerms and sickness.

• It most commonly affects the sinuses or the lungs after inhaling fungal spores fromthe air, or the skin after the fungus enters the skin through a cut, burn, or other type ofskin injury. However, it can occur in nearly any part of the body.

• Mucormycosis is a serious infection and needs to be treated with prescriptionantifungal medicine, usually amphotericin B, posaconazole, or isavuconazole.

SURGERY IN AYURVEDA:

Concept:

• Ayurveda practitioners are trained in surgeries, and do perform them.

• In fact, they take pride in the fact that their methods and practices trace their originsto Sushruta, an ancient Indian sage and physician.

• Sushruta’s comprehensive medical treatise Sushruta Samhita makes descriptions ofillnesses and cures.

• It also has detailed accounts of surgical procedures and instruments.

• There are two branches of surgery in Ayurveda:

• Shalya Tantra refers to general surgery








• Shalakya Tantra pertains to surgeries related to the eyes, ears, nose, throat and teeth.

Sushruta

• He is from Banaras, (time period he existed is not clear

• Known as father of Indian medicine and first plastic surgeon of the world. Greekscalled him Sucruta.

• Studied human anatomy in great detail.

• Wrote the oldest treatise on surgery – Sushrut Samhita. It has details about surgicalinstruments, surgery procedures like rhinoplasty , usage of anesthesia etc.

Emphasized the importance of balancing theoretical knowledge with practical experience.

ARTEMIS ACCORD:

Context:NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and the Government of Brazil Minister ofScience, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI) Marcos Pontes signed a joint statement ofintent.

Concept:

• The statement describes Brazil’s intention to be the first country in South America tosign the Artemis Accords.

• Brazil has expressed interest in potentially contributing a robotic lunar rover – inaddition to conducting lunar science experiments and other investigations – as part ofNASA’s Artemis program.

Artemis Mission

• Artemis– Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of Moon’sInteraction with the Sun. It is NASA’s next mission to the Moon.

• Objective: To measure what happens when the Sun’s radiation hits our rocky moon,where there is no magnetic field to protect it. Artemis was the twin sister of Apolloand goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology.

• With the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and next man on theMoon by 2024.

Mission details:

• NASA’s powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), will send astronautsaboard the Orion spacecraft nearly a quarter million miles from Earth to lunar orbit.

• Astronauts will dock Orion at the Gateway and transfer to a human landing system forexpeditions to the surface of the Moon.

• They will return to the orbital outpost to board Orion again before returning safely toEarth.

Artemis 1, 2:








• The agency will fly two missions around the Moon to test its deep space explorationsystems.

• NASA is working toward launching Artemis I, an uncrewed flight to test the SLS andOrion spacecraft together, followed by the Artemis II mission, the first SLS and Oriontest flight with crew.

• NASA will land astronauts on the Moon by 2024 on the Artemis III mission andabout once a year thereafter.

Scientific objectives:

• Find and use water and other critical resources needed for long-term exploration.

• Investigate the Moon’s mysteries and learn more about our home planet and theuniverse.

• Learn how to live and operate on the surface of another celestial body whereastronauts are just three days from home.

• Prove the technologies we need before sending astronauts on missions to Mars, whichcan take up to three years roundtrip.

ADVERSE EVENT FOLLOWING IMMUNISATION:

Context: Health secretary said, we can’t deny chances of an adverse event when Covid-19vaccination begins. In countries where immunization has already begun, especially in theUK, adverse events have taken place on the very first day.

Concept:

• As vaccine-preventable infectious diseases continue to decline, people have becomeincreasingly concerned about the risks associated with vaccines.

• Furthermore, technological advances and continuously increased knowledge aboutvaccines have led to investigations focused on the safety of existing vaccines whichhave sometimes created a climate of concern.

• Adverse event following immunization is any untoward medical occurrence whichfollows immunization and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship withthe usage of the vaccine.

• If not rapidly and effectively dealt with, can undermine confidence in a vaccine andultimately have dramatic consequences for immunization coverage and diseaseincidence.Alternatively, vaccine-associated adverse events may affect healthyindividuals and should be promptly identified to allow additional research andappropriate action to take place.

• In order to respond promptly, efficiently, and with scientific rigour to vaccine safetyissues, WHO has established a Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety.

S-400 & CAATSA:








Context: The United States has imposed sanctions on Turkey on Monday over its acquisitionof Russian S-400 air defence systems.

Concept:

• The S-400 Triumf, (NATO calls it SA-21 Growler), is a mobile, surface-to-air missilesystem (SAM) designed by Russia.

• It is the most dangerous operationally deployed modern long-range SAM (MLRSAM) in the world, considered much ahead of the US-developed Terminal HighAltitude Area Defense system (THAAD).

• The system can engage all types of aerial targets including aircraft, unmanned aerialvehicles (UAV and ballistic and cruise missiles within the range of 400km, at analtitude of up to 30km. The system can track 100 airborne targets and engage six ofthem simultaneously.

• The S-400 Triumf air defence system integrates a multifunction radar, autonomousdetection and targeting systems, anti-aircraft missile systems, launchers, andcommand and control centre. It is capable of firing three types of missiles to create alayered defence.

CAATSA:

• Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) was passedunanimously by the US Congress and signed reluctantly by US President DonaldTrump. Enacted on August 2, 2017, its core objective is to counter Iran, Russia andNorth Korea through punitive measures.

• With India set to get the consignment of the S-400 air defence system early next year,India is watching Washington’s moves closely.

• While it has got a waiver from the outgoing Trump administration, India hopes thatthe incoming Biden administration would not work towards reversing the decision.

CMS 01 SATELLITE:

Context : The 25-hour countdown for the launch of communication satellite CMS-01 onboard launch vehicle PSLV-C50 commenced.

Concept :

• CMS-01 is the 42nd communication satellite from India and weighs around 1,410 kgs. Itwill be replacing the ageing GSAT-12 satellite that was launched in 2011.

• It will provide telecom services in the Extended-C Band of the frequency spectrum.

• In a statement, ISRO has said the Extended-C Band coverage will include Indianmainland, Andaman-Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands. Twenty minutes into the flight, itwill be set in the Geostationary Orbit (GEO) at 83° inclination.

• The expected mission life of this spacecraft is supposed to be seven years or more.

• PSLV C-50








• PSLV-C50 is the 22nd flight of the PSLV in the 'XL' configuration, and the 52nd PSLVflight.

• The PSLV is 44-metre-high and has four stages with six strap-on booster motors on to thefirst stage that gives it's a higher thrust during the initial flight moments.

• ISRO has developed and used different PSLV variants, including ones with either two orfour strap-on motors, or the Core Alone variant without any strap-on motors.

• As the PSLV is not a reusable rocket, the first stage won't be reclaimed and it willcrash into the Indian Ocean.

LOW EARTH ORBIT:

Context: Bharti Global and UK government-led OneWeb announced the launch of 36communications satellites and said it aims to offer high-speed internet from its constellationof satellites in India by mid-2022.

Concept:

• The Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellite communications company on Fridaylaunched the 36 satellites from a Soyuz launch vehicle, which began from theVostochny Cosmodrome, in Russia.

• This takes the total in-orbit constellation to 110 satellites, part of OneWeb's 648 LEOsatellite fleet that will deliver high-speed, low-latency global connectivity, a companyrelease said.

• The launch puts OneWeb on track to offer global services to customers from late2021, starting with the United Kingdom, Alaska, Northern Europe, Greenland,Iceland, the Arctic Seas, and Canada, with global service in 2022.

Low Earth Orbit

• A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with an altitude above Earth'ssurface from 160 kms to 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles).

• LEO is high enough to cross all the mountains and also high enough that atmosphericdrag won't bring satellites right back home again.

• It is worth to mention that objects below approximately 160 kilometers (99 mi) willexperience very rapid orbital decay and altitude loss.

• Most satellites, the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station and the HubbleSpace Telescope are also present in LEO. Most manmade objects in space are in LEO.Most navigation satellites by military are also in LEO.

Uses of LEOs;

• LEO-based telecommunication systems provide cheap services to countries. It helpsin providing satellite telephone service in hilly areas where it would be too costly oreven impossible to lay land lines.








• Low Earth Orbit is used for things that we want to visit our Space Shuttle, like theInternational Space Station (ISS), Hubble Space Telescope and other military andcommunication satellites.

• It also helps the country in having a close eye on the cross border activates throughnavigation satellites.

ACE2 ENZYME:

Context: The human enzyme ACE2, which enables the novel coronavirus to infect thecell, is also key in protecting against cardiovascular, lung and kidney diseases. And, newresearch has found, it may be offering protection to women against Covid-19 disease.

Concept:

• The study of several thousand patients has revealed that men have higherconcentrations of ACE2 in their blood than women.

• The study also found that heart failure patients taking a certain class of drugs (calledRAAS inhibitors) did not have higher concentrations of ACE2 in their blood.

• Some recent research had suggested that Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System(RAAS )inhibitors might increase ACE2 concentrations in blood plasma, therebyincreasing the risk of Covid-19 for cardiovascular patients taking these drugs, but thenew study indicates that this is not the case.

ACE2:

• ACE2 (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2), is an enzyme molecule that connectsthe inside of our cells to the outside via the cell membrane. ACE2 responds to thenovel coronavirus and enables it to infect the human cell.

• High levels of ACE2 are present in the lungs and play a crucial role in the progressionof lung disorders related to COVID-19.

• ACE2 is found primarily in lungs, it is also present in our heart, intestines, bloodvessels and muscles.

US CYBER ATTACKS :

Context : The ‘SolarWinds hack’, a cyberattack recently discovered in the United States,has emerged as one of the biggest ever targeted against the US government, its agencies andseveral other private companies. In fact, it is likely a global cyberattack.

Concept:

• This is being called a ‘Supply Chain’ attack. Instead of directly attacking the federalgovernment or a private organisation’s network, the hackers target a third-partyvendor, which supplies software to them.

• In this case, the target was an IT management software called Orion, supplied by theTexas-based company SolarWinds.








• Orion has been a dominant software from SolarWinds with clients, which includeover 33,000 companies. SolarWinds says 18,000 of its clients have been impacted.

• The hackers gained “access to victims via trojanized updates to SolarWinds’ Orion ITmonitoring and management software. Once installed, the malware gave a backdoorentry to the hackers to the systems and networks of SolarWinds’ customers.

HYPERSONIC WIND TUNNEL FACILITY:

Context: Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh visited DRDO’s Dr APJ Abdul KalamMissile Complex during his visit to Hyderabad on 19th Dec 2020. On this occasion, heinaugurated the advanced Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) test facility.

Concept:

• The state-of-the-art HWT Test facility is pressure vacuum driven enclosed free jetfacility having nozzle exit diameter of 1 meter and will simulate Mach No 5 to 12(Mach represents the multiplication factor to the speed of sound).

• After USA and Russia, India is the third country to have such a large facility interms of size and operating capability. It is an indigenous development and anoutcome of synergistic partnership with Indian industries.

• The facility has the capability to simulate hypersonic flow over a wide spectrum andwill play a major role in the realization of highly complex futuristic aerospace anddefence systems.

CRYOGENIC ELECTRON MICROSCOPY :

Context: Using the technique of cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM), Dr Bing Chenand colleagues at Boston Children’s Hospital have freeze-framed the spike protein in both itsshapes — before and after fusion with the cell.

Concept:

• Cryo-electron microscopy is a specific type of electron microscopy that is based onthe principle of forming a 3D image by collection and combination of thousands ofprojections of bio-molecules.

• With the help of this, the researchers can now visualize the processes never seenbefore by freezing the mid-movement of the bio-molecules.

• Cryo-electron microscopy makes it possible to freeze the bio-molecules at thecryogenic temperature ie, at -150°C, preserving their natural shape. By this, thestructure of molecules is revealed in exquisite detail.

• It is significant for better understanding of basic Chemistry and for the developmentof pharmaceuticals as it simplifies and improves the imaging of bio-molecules.

• It facilitates the study of fine viruses, protein complexes and cellular structures at amolecular resolution as it gives the scientists an opportunity to have a look at themachinery of life in a 3D form.








• The earlier forms of electron microscopes made it impossible to study the bio-molecules in 3D form as the powerful beams often destroyed the biological matter.

• The resolution now has improved from shapeless blobs to imaging the proteins atatomic resolution. The Cryo-Electron Microscopy has broken several limitations,moving biochemistry into a new Era.

MUTANT CORONAVIRUS:

Context : A new variant Covid-19 strain has been discovered in the United Kingdom lastweek and could be the reason behind the sharp rise in cases in the country.

Concept :

• Scientists and researchers say the new strain has much higher transmissibility thancompared to the earlier variant.

Why do viruses mutate?

• A mutation just means a difference; a letter change in the genome.

• Mutations in viruses are a natural part of evolution.The pressure on the virus to evolveis increased by the fact that so many millions of people have now been infected.

Covid-19 mutant strain

• It has been named VUI-202012/01 (the first “Variant Under Investigation” inDecember 2020) and is defined by a set of 17 changes or mutations. As of Dec 13, atotal of 1,108 cases with this new variant had been identified, predominantly in thesouth and east of England where cases have been rising.

• This new variant is showing some 17 changes in the genome, this is a very largechange. Due to this change, the transmissibility of this virus has also changed and is70% more infectious compared to the earlier variant.

• There is a high possibility that the new strain is still in the UK as it has not beendetected in other parts of Europe.

NANOBODIES:Context: From a llama named Cormac, researchers at the US National Institutes of

Health (NIH) have isolated a set of tiny antibodies, or “nanobodies”, that hold promiseagainst the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

Concept:

• At least one of these nanobodies could prevent infections and detect virus particles bygrabbing hold of SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins, the researchers suggest in the journalScientific Reports.

• This nanobody, called NIH-CoVnb-112, appeared to work equally well in eitherliquid or aerosol form, which suggests it could remain effective after inhalation.

• A nanobody is a special type of antibody naturally produced by the immune systemsof camelids, a group of animals that includes camels, llamas, and alpacas. They are








called nanobodies because they are tiny, about a tenth the weight of most humanantibodies.

• Because nanobodies are more stable, less expensive to produce, and easier to engineerthan typical antibodies, researchers have been using them for medical research.

• Since the pandemic broke, several researchers have produced llama nanobodiesagainst the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that may be effective at preventing infections.

• In the current study, the researchers used a slightly different strategy than others tofind nanobodies that may work especially well, NIH said in a statement.

• The spike protein acts like a key during coronavirus infection. It “unlocks” the door toinfections when it binds to a human protein called ACE2 receptor on the cell surface.

• The NIH scientists developed a method that would isolate nanobodies that blockinfections by covering part of the spike protein that bind to and unlock the ACE2receptor.

ANTARTIC STATIONS:Context: Indian contingent in Antarctica is not worried about the virus spreading. The

two Indian permanent stations, Maitri and Bharati, are at least 5,000 km away from theChilean base in which 36 people have been found infected with the novel coronavirus.

Concept:

• India presently has two research stations at Antarctica namely ‘Maitri’ and ‘Bharati’.New station ‘Bharati’ has just been constructed and established in March, 2013.

• Maitri station has been in operation since 1989.

• At both the stations, research and investigations are undertaken to understand thePolar processes and phenomenon. Observations and studies are carried out inatmospheric, biological, geological, ecological sciences etc.

Maitri

• In the year 1988an ice-free, rocky area on the Schirmacher Oasis was selected to buildthe second research station named Maitri

• The building was erected on steel stilts, and has stood the test of time — conductingexperiments in geology, geography and medicine

• India built this station close to a freshwater lake around Maitri known as LakePriyadarshini.

• Maitri accomplished the mission of geomorphologic mapping of Schirmacher Oasis.

Bharati

• About 3000 km east of Maitri, the new Indian research base ‘Bharati’ is locatedbetween Thala Fjord & Quilty bay, east of Stornes Peninsula in Antarctica

• The station with a very small footprint was commissioned on 18 March 2012 tofacilitate year-round scientific research activity by the Indian Antarctic program.








• Bharati made India an elite member of the club of 9 nations that have multiplestations in the region.

COMPRESSED BIO GAS:

Context : Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said in November that India wasset to receive investments of Rs 2 lakh crore in 5,000 CBG plants.

Concept :

• Bio-gas is produced naturally through a process of anaerobic decomposition fromwaste / bio-mass sources like agriculture residue, cattle dung, sugarcane press mud,municipal solid waste, sewage treatment plant waste, etc.

• After purification, it is compressed and called CBG, which has pure methane contentof over 95%.

What is CBG?

• Compressed Bio-Gas is exactly similar to the commercially available natural gas in itscomposition and energy potential.

• With calorific value (~52,000 KJ/kg) and other properties similar to CNG,Compressed Bio-Gas can be used as an alternative, renewable automotive fuel.

How it works?

• CBG produced at these plants will be transported through cascades of cylinders to thefuel station networks of OMCs for marketing as a green transport fuel alternative.

• The entrepreneurs would be able to separately market the other by-products fromthese plants, including bio-manure, carbon-dioxide, etc., to enhance returns oninvestment.

• This initiative is expected to generate direct employment for 75,000 people andproduce 50 million tonnes of bio-manure for crops.

• There are multiple benefits from converting municipal solid waste into CBG on acommercial scale:

Responsible waste management, reduction in carbon emissions and pollution.

Additional revenue source for farmers.

Boost to entrepreneurship, rural economy and employment.

Support to national commitments in achieving climate change goals.

Reduction in import of natural gas and crude oil.

Buffer against crude oil/gas price fluctuations.








UNICEF and the World Economic Forum signs charter:

Context : UNICEF and the World Economic Forum sign charter with 18 shipping, airlinesand logistics companies to deliver COVID-19 vaccines.

Concept :

• 18 shipping, airlines and logistics industry CEOs, the Executive Director of UNICEF,and the President of the World Economic Forum, have signed a charter supportingUNICEF and COVAX countries in four main ways:

• Engage with governments, customs authorities, UNICEF and other UN Agencies, andNGOs;

• Participate in operational asset and competency sharing

• Assign expertise to support governments, where requested by UNICEF

• Support UNICEF’s Global Vaccine Logistics Distribution, for COVID-19, withprioritization and solutions for international and in country distribution of vaccinesand related supplies on behalf of the COVAX facility.

COVAX FACILITY:

• COVAX is one of three pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator,which was launched in April by the World Health Organization (WHO), the EuropeanCommission and France in response to this pandemic.

• It is the only truly global solution to this pandemic because it is the only effort toensure that people in all corners of the world will get access to COVID-19 vaccinesonce they are available, regardless of their wealth.

• Coordinated by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for EpidemicPreparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the WHO, COVAX will achieve this byacting as a platform that will support the research, development and manufacturing ofa wide range of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, and negotiate their pricing.

• All participating countries, regardless of income levels, will have equal access tothese vaccines once they are developed.

• The initial aim is to have 2 billion doses available by the end of 2021, which shouldbe enough to protect high risk and vulnerable people, as well as frontline healthcareworkers.

CERN :

Context: Indian physicist and Padma Shri recipient Prof Rohini Godbole talked about herjourney from studying physics in Pune to her current position as a particle physicist bestknown for her work at CERN.

Concept:

• European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) is world’s largest nuclearand particle physics laboratory.








• It is situated in North West suburbs of Geneva on France-Swiss Border.

• Members: It has 22 member states, four associate member states (including Indiaand Pakistan) and three International Organisations have observer status.

Functions:

• The laboratory helps scientists and engineers probing fundamental structure ofUniverse using the most sophisticated scientific instruments and advanced computingsystems

• Provide the necessary infrastructure needed for high-energy physics researchincluding particle accelerators.

Achievements:

• CERN operates the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which is the world’s largest andmost powerful particle accelerator.

• It is associated with the discovery of the Higgs Boson which is popularly known asthe God particle.

• Indian scientists has been active in construction of the LHC in the areas of design,development and supply of hardware accelerator components, software developmentand deployment in the machine.

• They also had played significant role in the CMS (Compact Muon Experiment), oneof the two large experiments that led to discovery of God particle.

DRY RUN FOR COVID 19 VACCINES:

Context : The Centre is gearing up for the roll out of COVID-19 vaccine across thecountry, with four States all set to initiate a dry-run for vaccine administration next week, theUnion Health Ministry said .

Concept :

• Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, and Punjab have been selected considering thegeographical locations.

• Each State will plan it in two districts and preferably in different (five) session typesettings e.g. district hospital, CHC/PHC, urban site, private health facility, ruraloutreach etc.

• The Ministry added that this exercise will enable end-to-end mobilisation and testingof COVID-19 vaccination process (except the vaccine) and check the usage of Co-WIN in field environment.

• The linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanisms andidentify challenges and guide way forward prior to actual implementation includingimprovements that may be required in the envisaged process.








• This two-day activity is planned on December 28 and 29, and will include activitiesfrom the necessary data entries in Co-WIN to vaccine receipt and allocation todeployment of team members, mock drill of session sites with test beneficiaries toreporting and evening meeting.

• This will also include testing for cold storage and transportation arrangements for thevaccine, management of crowds at the session sites with proper physical distancing,said the Ministry.

• Detailed checklist has been prepared by the Health Ministry and shared with the fourStates to guide them in the dry run.

• Meanwhile the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID-19(NEGVAC) has recommended three prioritised population groups includingHealthcare Workers (HCWs) about one crore, Frontline Workers (FLWs) about twocrore, and Prioritised Age Group (about 27 crore).

PINK BOLL WORM:

Context :With the cotton season in Maharashtra is about to end, this year also saw thecontinual attacks of Pink Boll Worms (PBW) on the crop.

Concept :

• It is an insect known for being a pest in cotton farming.

• The pink bollworm is native to Asia, but has become an invasive species in most ofthe world’s cotton-growing regions.

• The female moth lays eggs in a cotton boll, and when the larvae emerge from theeggs, they inflict damage through feeding.

• Since cotton is used for both fiber and seed oil, the damage is twofold.

• Their disruption of the protective tissue around the boll is a portal of entry for otherinsects and fungi.

• Infestation on susceptible cotton is generally controlled with insecticides.

• Populations of bollworms are also controlled with mating disruption, chemicals, andreleases of sterile males which mate with the females but fail to fertilize their eggs.

NANOMICELLES: using nanotechnology for cancer treatment:

Concept:· With the advance in nanotechnology, researchers across the globe have been

exploring how to use nanoparticles for efficient drug delivery.· Similar to nanoshells and nanovesicles, nanomicelles are extremely small structures

and have been noted as an emerging platform in targeted therapy.· Nanomicelles are globelike structures with a hydrophilic outer shell and a

hydrophobic interior.· This dual property makes them a perfect carrier for delivering drug molecules.








· Now a multidisciplinary, multi institutional team has created a nanomicelle that canbe used to deliver a drug named docetaxel, which is commonly used to treat variouscancers including breast, colon and lung cancer.

· The nanomicelles are less than 100nm in size and are stable at room temperature.· Once injected intravenously these nanomicelles can easily escape the circulation and

enter the solid tumours where the blood vessels are found to be leaky.· These leaky blood vessels are absent in the healthy organs. “Chemical conjugation

would render the phospholipiddocetaxel prodrug to be silent in the circulation andhealthy organs.

· But once it enters the cancer cells, the enzymes will cleave the bond to activate thedrug, and kill the cancer cells

ISRO DEVELOPING GREEN PROPULSIONS:

Context: Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have reportedprogress in the development of an environment-friendly propellant to power satellites andspacecraft.

Concept:· The effort is to replace the conventional hydrazine rocket fuel, a highly toxic and

carcinogenic chemical, with a greener propellant for future missions· Due to its high-performance characteristics, hydrazine has dominated the space

industry as the choice of propellant for over six decades, despite its environmentaland health hazards and the challenges faced in its manufacturing, storage, groundhandling and transportation

· Initial tests by a research team at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre(LPSC) here have shown promising results in the formulation and associated testsof a propellant blend based on hydroxyl-ammonium nitrate (HAN)








Particulars of HAN· The LPSC team has formulated the HAN-based monopropellant· A monopropellant is a chemical propulsion fuel which does not require a separate

oxidizer. It is used extensively in satellite thrusters for orbital correction andorientation control

· The in-house formulation consists of HAN, ammonium nitrate, methanol and water· Methanol was added to reduce combustion instability, the choice of ammonium

nitrate was dictated by its capacity to control the burn rate and lower the freezingpoint of the propellant.

DRAFT GUIDELINES FOR CFR AND HABITAT RIGHTS:

Context: Gram Sabhas will have more power in the management of community forestrights (CFR) and habitat rights, according to new guidelines drafted by the Union Ministry ofTribal Affairs (MoTA) in December 2020.

Concept: According to the draft, the Gram Sabhas will:

· Integrate the committees that it has had traditional rights with for protection ofwildlife, forest and biodiversity, catchment areas, water sources and other ecologicalsensitive areas

· Be empowered to carry out the powers and authority as laid down under section 5 ofFRA

· File complaint before the state level monitoring committee (SLMC) under section 7and 8 of the Act in case of any violation

· Make rules and issue appropriate directions for governance and conservation of CFR,including functions of CFRMC; conflict / dispute resolution; benefit sharing; issuanceof transit permit; fund management and etc., regulating powers, functions andactivities of the CFRMC

· Make rules or issue directions for management of fund generated from varioussources

· Approve CFR conservation and management plan / strategies / actions prepared /suggested by the CFRMC. If required, the Gram Sabha can modify suggested plans /actions / strategies including CFR conservation and management plans

· Appoint any person or hire any institution for extending support to the Gram Sabhafor preparation of CFR conservation and management plan, financial managementsystem or activities coming under the purview of the Gram Sabha

· Resolve any conflict or dispute related to the CFR governance and management· The guidelines also propose financial independence of the Gram Sabha through a

fund, which would get the money from the sale of forest produce, development grantfrom the government and non-profits as well as compensatory afforestation funds.

Pneumosil: India’s first indigenously created vaccine :

Context : Recently, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) unveiled India’s firstindigenously developed pneumococcal vaccine - Pneumosil.

Concept :

• SII’s pneumococcal vaccine is developed through a collaboration spanning over adecade with the health organisation PATH and the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation.








• Based on the trials, Pneumosil was licensed by the Drugs Controller General (India)in July 2020.

• The vaccine also makes SII the world’s third supplier of the pneumococcal conjugatevaccine (PCV) and the first developing country vaccine manufacturer to access theglobal PCV market.

• It targets the pneumococcal bacterium, which causes pneumonia and other seriouslife-threatening diseases such as meningitis and sepsis, and is estimated to causenearly four lakh deaths in children under five years of age each year worldwide.

Significance:

• Will reduce under-five mortality: Pneumococcal disease is a significant contributorunder-five mortality rate worldwide.

• Significant milestone for the country’s and the world's public healthcare: As theSerum Institute’s vaccines are used in 170 countries and every third child in the worldis immunised with one of its vaccines.

• Affordable: While PCVs have helped reduce pneumococcal deaths, they are difficultfor many countries to afford. Pneumosil addresses the need for a more affordableoption.

Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine(PCV):

• It prevents pneumococcal disease.

• The vaccine is a mix of several bacteria of the pneumococci family, which are knownto cause pneumonia. Hence ‘conjugate’ is included in the name of the vaccine.

• Conjugate vaccines are made using a combination of two different components.

Pneumococcal disease:

• It refers to any illness caused by pneumococcal bacteria. Pneumococcal bacteria areone of the most common causes of pneumonia.

• Symptoms: Can cause many types of illnesses, including pneumonia, which is aninfection of the lungs.

• Anyone can get pneumococcal disease, but children under 2 years of age, people withcertain medical conditions, adults 65 years or older, and smokers are at the highestrisk.

Status in India :

• Incidence: 4.8 episodes per 1,000 children younger than 5 years (in 2010).

• The top five contributors: In terms of the number of cases and deaths were UttarPradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jharkhand.

• Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) was launched by the government in1985, to prevent mortality and morbidity in children and pregnant women against 12vaccine-preventable diseases - Tuberculosis, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio,








Hepatitis B, Pneumonia and Meningitis due to Haemophilus Influenzae type b (Hib),Measles, Rubella, Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Rotavirus diarrhoea.

Tendulkar wants ICC to relook DRS:

Context : A series of dodgy decisions in the ongoing Boxing Day Test in Melbourne has leftumpires under the scanner.

Concept :

Decision Review System

• DRS is technology-based system used in sport of cricket for the sole purpose ofreviewing controversial decisions made by on-field umpires as to whether or not abatsman had been dismissed.

• The system was first tested in an India v Sri Lanka match in 2008. It was officiallylaunched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2009 during the first Testmatch between New Zealand and Pakistan.

• Initially, ICC had made the DRS mandatory in all international matches, but latermade its use optional, so that the system would only be used if both teams agree.

How does DRS works?

• The DRS comprises a combination of several off-field technologies. Using these off-field technologies, the third umpire informs the on-field umpire whether to overturnor uphold their original decision.

• Off-field technologies of DRS includes

• footage from TV cameras placed around the ground;

• Hot Spot, an infrared camera system that highlights parts of the bat and body thathave been hit by the ball;

• Hawkeye, a ball-tracking system usually used to check leg before wicket decisions;and

• Real time Snickometre, a waveform of the sound captured by a stump microphone.

GENOMIC SURVEILLANCE CONSORTIUM:

Context: In the wake of a mutated variant of coronavirus detected in the UK, a genomicsurveillance consortium has been formed for laboratory and epidemiological surveillance ofcirculating strains of the SARS-CoV-2 in India, the Centre said on Saturday.

Concept:

• Indian government has set up a genomic surveillance consortium - Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) - under National Centre for DiseaseControl to detect the any circulating variants in the country.








• The Central government said that more than 50 samples of returnees from the UK,are currently undergoing genome sequencing at the designated laboratories across thecountry.

• The overall aim of the proposed consortium is to monitor the genomic variations inthe SARS-CoV-2 on a regular basis through a multi-laboratory network.

Pertinent objectives of the consortium:

• To ascertain the current status of new variant of SARS-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV-2 VUI202012/01) in the country

• To establish a sentinel surveillance for early detection of genomic variants with publichealth implication

• To determine the genomic variants in the unusual events/trends (super-spreaderevents, high mortality/morbidity trend areas etc.)

India’s Action Plan

• The country has ten regional genome sequencing laboratories, which will cater totheir nearest states.

• The states will send 5% of the positive samples to these labs for genome sequencing.

• The data generated would then be analyzed by the respective centres and sent to theNational Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi for collation and integration.

• The data from the genome sequencing laboratories will be analyzed to study thelinkages (if any) between the genomic variants and epidemiological trends.

• This will help to understand super spreader events, outbreaks and strengthen publichealth interventions across the country to help in breaking the chains of transmission

GENOMIC SEQUENCING:

Context : Of the 14 Covid-19 samples processed by the National Centre for Disease Control(NCDC) to check genome sequencing, eight have tested positive for the new variant found inthe UK, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Concept :

• Genome: It is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes.

• Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain thatorganism. In humans, a copy of the entire genome—more than 3 billion DNA basepairs—is contained in all cells that have a nucleus.

Genome sequencing:

Genome sequencing refers to sequencing the entire genome of an organism.It involvestaking a “genetic fingerprint” of an organism and maps how the DNA or RNA inside it isordered. Looking at the genetic sequence of different cases, we can detect differences in eachnew infection and detect variations or mutations.








It is figuring out the order of DNA nucleotides, or bases, in a genome—the order of As, Cs,Gs, and Ts that make up an organism's DNA. The human genome is made up of over 3 billionof these genetic letters.

Sequencing the genome doesn't immediately lay open the genetic information of an entirespecies. Even with a rough draft of the human genome sequence in hand, much work remainsto be done. Scientists still have to translate those strings of letters into an understanding ofhow the genome works.

Methodology

• Genomes will be sequenced based on a blood sample.

• Every person whose genomes are sequenced will be given a report. The participantswould be told if they carry gene variants that make them less responsive to certainclasses of medicines.

• For instance, having a certain gene makes some people less responsive to clopidogrel,a key drug that prevents strokes and heart attack.

• The sequencing to be done at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology(IGIB) and the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB).

Applications

• Determining genetic traits and gene-disease link: Ever since the human genomewas first sequenced in 2003, it opened a fresh perspective on the link between diseaseand the unique genetic make-up of each individual.

• Nearly 10,000 diseases — including cystic fibrosis, thalassemia — are known to bethe result of a single gene malfunctioning.

• While genes may render some insensitive to certain drugs, genome sequencing hasshown that cancer too can be understood from the viewpoint of genetics, rather thanbeing seen as a disease of certain organs.

• Mapping population diversity: Participants of genome-sample collections representdiversity of the country’s population.

• It will help us to compare causes of diseases across other countries. For instance, indeveloped countries diarrhoeal infections are rarer than in India. It will helpunderstanding of role of genes in this and can track health changes over long periods.

UK APPROVES OXFORD VACCINE:

Context : The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for use in the UK, with thefirst doses due to be given on Monday. There will be 530,000 doses available from nextweek, and vaccination centres will now start inviting patients to come and get the jab.

Concept :

• Priority groups for immunisation have already been identified, starting with carehome residents, the over-80s, and health and care workers.








• It comes as millions more in England are placed in tier four restrictions.

• The UK has ordered 100 million doses of the new vaccine - enough to vaccinate 50million people.

About the vaccine

• ChAdOx1 COVID-9 was jointly developed by British-Swedish company AstraZenecaand the University of Oxford.

• The vaccine belongs to a category called non-replicating viral vector vaccines.

• This vaccine is made from a genetically engineered virus that causes the commoncold in chimpanzees.

• The adenovirus, genetically modified so that it cannot replicate in humans, will enterthe cell and release the code to make only the spike protein.

• The body’s immune system is expected to recognise the spike protein as a potentiallyharmful foreign substance, and starts building antibodies against it.

• Once immunity is built, the antibodies will attack the real virus if it tries to infect thebody.

Spike Protein:

• When someone is infected with the Covid-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2), the reason itspreads in the body easily is because of the spikes on its surface. These spikes, knownas the ‘spike protein’, allow the virus to penetrate cells and, thereafter, multiply.








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ENVIRONMENT

ZEBRA FISH:

Context: Scientists at Agharkar Research Institute have used the Zebrafish as a researchmodel and identified genes that can promote heart regeneration. Scientists have sought todecode the heart regeneration processes using this animal model.

Concept:

• Zebrafish – a tiny freshwater fish barely 2-3 cm long can efficiently regenerate itsdamaged heart within a short time period.

• Zebrafish is found in the tropical and subtropical regions. The fish is native to SouthAsia’s Indo-Gangetic plains, where they are mostly found in the paddy fields andeven in stagnant water and streams.

• It is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name Danio.

BRAHMAPUTRA FLOODING AND TREE RINGS :

Context: Destructive flooding of the Brahmaputra will probably be more frequent thanpreviously estimated, even without factoring in the effects of human-driven climate change,says a new study which assembled a chronology of the river's flow for the last sevencenturies.

Concept:

• In the current study, based on the tree rings data, they said the earlier estimateslikely fall short by about 40 per cent.

• The scientists also looked at data from the rings of ancient trees sampled at 28 sites inTibet, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan -- at sites within the Brahmaputra watershed.

• Since the rings grow wider when the soil moisture is high, the researchers couldindirectly piece together rainfall and resulting river runoff during these years.

• Based on the analysis, they assembled a 696-year chronology, running from 1309 to2004, and found that the widest rings lined up neatly with known major flood years.

• According to the scientists, anyone using the modern discharge record to estimatefuture flood hazard would be underestimating the danger by 24 to 38 per cent, basedsolely on natural variations.

• They cautioned that human-driven warming would have to be added on top of theseestimates.

MALAYAN GIANT SQUIRREL:

Context: A first-of-its-kind study by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) under theUnion Ministry of Environment, has projected that numbers of the Malayan Giant Squirrel(Ratufa bicolor) could decline by 90 per cent in India by 2050.








Concept:

• The Malayan Giant Squirrel, one of the world's largest squirrel species that has a darkupper body, pale under parts, and a long, bushy tail, is currently found in parts ofWest Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Nagaland.

• Destruction of its habitat could restrict the squirrel to only southern Sikkim and NorthBengal by 2050, according to the ZSI.

• A large tree squirrel that is considered to be a “forest health indicator species” isdisappearing, and may by the middle of this century no be longer found in the forestsof India’s Northeast to which it is native.

• According to the study, the Malayan Giant Squirrel and its habitat are under threatfrom deforestation, fragmentation of forests, crop cultivation and over-harvesting offood, illegal trade in wildlife, and hunting for consumption. Slash-and-burn jhumcultivation in many areas of the Northeast contribute to destruction of its habitat.

• India is home to three giant squirrel species; the other two – Indian Giant Squirrel andGrizzled Giant Squirrel – are found in peninsular India.

JASDAN:

Context: Leaving their known habitat in Dhari in Gir (east) wildlife division in Amrelidistrict, three Asiatic lions have walked around 100 km to reach Jasdan taluka of Rajkotdistrict, Gujarat and have been camping in a grassland and revenue areas of Jasdan for a weeknow.

Concept:

• Lions keep moving from surrounding areas to Gir National Park and WildlifeSanctuary (NGPWLS), creating what is called lion corridors.

• But their Jasdan visit differs for the fact that it is second year in a row, that too aroundsame time of the year. Also, Jasdan is not connected to Amreli by any contiguousriverine patch associated with corridors like Krakach.

• Lions are considered top predators of grassland and shrubland ecosystems. Jasdan,Vinchhiya and Chotila talukas have grasslands, both private as well as in protectedforest areas.

RAT HOLE MINING:

Context: Rat-hole coal mining had sucked the life out of Moolamylliang(village) less than adecade ago. The village in the East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya has now risen like theproverbial phoenix to become a clean, green dot in a vast black blot.

Concept:

• The Jaintia Coal Miners and Dealers’ Association claims there are some 60,000 coalmines across 360 villages in East Jaintia Hills district. Moolamylliang used to be onesuch village until the National Green Tribunal banned rat-hole mining in April 2014.








• Though the NGT ban did not stop illegal mining in the district, it helpedMoolamylliang reform — in part because unregulated mining had contaminated itsfarmlands and turned the streams acidic, and also because the village dorbar, ortraditional governing body, had a change of guard.

Rat Hole Mining

• Rat hole mining involves digging of very small tunnels, usually only 3-4 feet high,which workers (often children) enter and extract coal.

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned it in 2014, on grounds of it beingunscientific and unsafe for workers. The state (Meghalayan) government haschallenged the NGT ban in the Supreme Court.

• According to available government data, Meghalaya has a total coal reserve of 640million tonnes, most of which is mined unscientifically by individuals andcommunities.

• Since the coal seam is extremely thin in Meghalaya, no other method would beeconomically viable.

Impacts

• The water sources of many rivers, especially in Jaintia Hills district, have turnedacidic.

• The water also has high concentration of sulphates, iron and toxic heavy metals, lowdissolved oxygen (DO) and high BOD, showing its degraded quality.

• The roadside dumping of coal is a major source of air, water and soil pollution.

• Off road movement of trucks and other vehicles in the area for coal transportation alsoadds to the ecological and environmental damage of the area.

• The practice has been declared as unsafe for workers by the NGT.

• The mines branch into networks of horizontal channels, which are at constant risk ofcaving in or flooding.

CLIMATE CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX (CCPI):

Context: India remains in the top 10 for the second year in a row in the latest global ClimateChange Performance Index (CCPI) released in Germany.

Concept:

• The biggest current emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) China figures at 33rd rankwhile the largest historical polluter, the USA, appears at the bottom of the list.

• Though India slid one position down from ninth in 2019 to 10th this year, thecountry’s journey towards climate protection has been consistent with it improving itsranking from 31st in 2014.

• Globally none of the countries assessed for the annual CCPI report are, however, onthe path to meet their Paris Agreement commitment of keeping global warming








increase below 2 degree celsius by the end of the century and restrict it to 1.5 degreecelsius rise.

• The CCPI 2021, covering the year 2020, shows that only two G20 countries - the UKand India - are among the high rankers while six others - the USA, Saudi Arabia,Canada, Australia, South Korea and Russia (52nd) – are at the bottom of the index.

About CCPI

• The CCPI is developed by not-for-profit organisations Germanwatch andNewClimate Institute (Germany) together with the Climate Action Network (CANInternational).

• It is an important tool to enhance transparency in international climate politics andenables comparison of climate protection efforts and progress made by individualcountries.

• The latest list is prepared by assessing performances of 57 countries and EuropeanUnion (as a whole) in four categories - GHG emissions (40%), renewable energy(20%), energy use (20%) and climate policy (20%). These 57 countries and the EUcollectively are responsible for about 90% of global GHG emissions.

AEROSOL IMPACTS :

Context : Scientists have found that aerosols like black carbon and dust, which makes theIndo-Gangetic Plain one of the most polluted regions of the world, have led to increasedincidents of high rainfall events in the foothills of the Himalayan Region.

Concept :

• The Indo-Gangetic Plainis located South and upwind of the Himalayan foothills isassociated with high aerosol loading, much of which is black carbon and dust,

• It thus provides an opportunity for studying how aerosol affects extreme rainfallevents, particularly when air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevationas it moves over rising terrain technically called orographic forcing.

• The study showed us that particulate emissions can alter the physical and dynamicalproperties of cloud systems and, in turn, amplify rainfall events over orographicregions downwind of highly polluted urban areas.

• The study used 17 years (2001–2017) of rainfall rate, aerosol measurements calledaerosol optical depth (AOD), meteorological reanalysis fields such as pressure,temperature, and moisture content at different altitudes are used to compute thethermodynamic variable “moist static energy” and outgoing long-wave radiation fromIndian region to investigate high precipitation events on the foothills of theHimalayas.

• The team found clear associations between high precipitation events, high aerosolloading, and high moist static energy (MSE) values (Moist static energy of an airmass includes the potential energy due to its height above the ground and the latentheat due to its moisture content).








• The findings also highlight the crucial role of the radiative effect of aerosol on highprecipitation events over the Himalayan region.

Aerosols

• Aerosols are defined as a combination of liquid or solid particles suspended in agaseous or liquid environment.

• In the atmosphere, these particles are mainly situated in the low layers of theatmosphere (< 1.5 km) since aerosol sources are located on the terrestrial surface.

• However, certain aerosols can still be found in the stratosphere, especially volcanicaerosols ejected into the high altitude layers.

ISCHAEMUMJANARTHANAMII:

Context : A new species of Indian Muraingrasses known for their ecological andeconomic importance, such as fodder, have been spotted by scientists in Goa in the WesternGhats, one of the four global biodiversity hotspots of India.

Concept :

• Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune, an autonomous institute of the Departmentof Science & Technology, has been exploring the biodiversity of the Western Ghatsfor last few decades.

• A team from ARI has been working on relationships among different groups of plantsand their evolutionary development (plant taxonomy and phylogeny) of IndianMuraingrasses (Genus Ischaemum) to document the diversity and report novelspecies.

• The team discovered a novel species named Ischaemumjanarthanamii fromplateaus of Western Ghats of Goa, and a research paper describing this species waspublished recently in Annales BotaniciFennici, a Finland based journal.

• The species was named Ischaemumjanarthanamiiin honour of Prof. M. K.Janarthanam, Professor of Botany, Goa University, for his contribution to the Indiangrass taxonomy and documentation of the floristic diversity of Goa state.


• Ischaemumjanarthanamii grows on low altitude lateritic plateaus in the outskirts ofBhagwan Mahavir National Park, Goa.

• The vegetation is exposed to extreme climatic conditions like desiccation in driermonths and soils with low nutrient availability. However, withstanding these, thespecies has adapted to survive harsh conditions and blossom every monsoon.

• Globally 85 species are known from Ischaemum, of which 61 species are exclusivelyfound in India. The Western Ghats have 40 species with the highest concentration ofthe genus.








CITES:

Concept :

• The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna andFlora (CITES) is an international agreement to which States and regional economicintegration organizations adhere voluntarily.

• It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledgeand tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservationto take place together.

• Aim: Ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does notthreaten their survival.

• The CITES Secretariat is administered by UNEP (The United Nations EnvironmentProgramme) and is located at Geneva, Switzerland.

• It plays a coordinating, advisory and servicing role in the working of the Convention(CITES).

• The Conference of the Parties to CITES, is the supreme decision-making body of theConvention and comprises all its Parties.

• Although CITES is legally binding on the Parties, it does not take the place ofnational laws.

• Rather, it provides a framework to be respected by each Party, which has to adopt itsown domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level.

Functions

• The CITES works by subjecting international trade in specimens of selected speciesto certain controls.

• All import, export, re-export and introduction from the sea of species covered by theConvention has to be authorized through a licensing system.

• Each Party to the Convention must designate one or more Management Authorities incharge of administering that licensing system and one or more Scientific Authoritiesto advise them on the effects of trade on the status of the species.

• Appendices I, II and III to the Convention are lists of species afforded different levelsor types of protection from over-exploitation.

Appendix I

• It lists species that are the most endangered among CITES-listed animals and plants.

• Examples include gorillas, sea turtles, most lady slipper orchids, and giant pandas.Currently 931 species are listed.

• They are threatened with extinction and CITES prohibits international trade inspecimens of these species except when the purpose of the import is not commercial,for instance for scientific research.








• In these exceptional cases, trade may take place provided it is authorized by thegranting of both an import permit and an export permit (or re-export certificate).

Appendix II

• It lists species that are not necessarily now threatened with extinction but that maybecome so unless trade is closely controlled.

• It also includes so-called "look-alike species", i.e. species whose specimens in tradelook like those of species listed for conservation reasons.

• International trade in specimens of Appendix-II species may be authorized by thegranting of an export permit or re-export certificate.

• No import permit is necessary for these species under CITES (although a permit isneeded in some countries that have taken stricter measures than CITES requires).

• Permits or certificates should only be granted if the relevant authorities are satisfiedthat certain conditions are met, above all that trade will not be detrimental to thesurvival of the species in the wild.

Appendix III

• It is a list of species included at the request of a Party that already regulates trade inthe species and that needs the cooperation of other countries to prevent unsustainableor illegal exploitation.

• International trade in specimens of species listed in this Appendix is allowed only onpresentation of the appropriate permits or certificates.

• Species may be added to or removed from Appendix I and II, or moved betweenthem, only by the Conference of the Parties.

• However, species may be added to or removed from Appendix III at any time and byany Party unilaterally.

PARIS PLEDGE:

Context : Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that India was the only majorG20 country that was on track towards keeping to its nationally determined commitments tohalt runaway global warming.

Concept :

• India had achieved 21% of its emissions intensity reduction target as a proportion ofits GDP in line with its pledge to a 33-35% reduction by 2030, he said.

Voluntary Pledge

• In 2015, ahead of the United Nations’ significant climate conference in Paris, Indiaannounced three major voluntary commitments called the Nationally DeterminedContributions (NDC)

• It states that India will improve the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33–35% by2030 over 2005 levels; increase share of non-fossil fuels-based electricity to 40% by








2030, and enhance its forest cover, thereby absorbing 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbondioxide.

• The Paris Agreement, adopted at COP 21 in Paris, on 2015, constitutes a landmarkagreement on climate change that seeks to limit global average temperature rise towell below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and endeavour to limit the increase to1.5°C.

• The agreement, which came into force on November 4, 2016, currently has 188parties. All parties to it are expected to undertake ambitious efforts to support theagreement’s goals and communicate their related intentions every five years in theform of NDCs.

MYRISTICA SWAMP TREEFROG:

Context: Myristica swamp tree frog, a rare arboreal species endemic to the WesternGhats has been recorded for the first time north of the Shencottah gap in the VazhachalReserve Forest in Kerala’s Thrissur district.

Concept:

• It’s scientific name is Mercurana myristicapalustris.

• These frogs are rare and elusive for the reason that they are arboreal and active onlyfor a few weeks during their breeding season.

• During this season, there is a large aggregation of males that descend from the highcanopy of the trees. The males vocalize in groups from the low perches in theswamps.

• They exhibit unique breeding behavior. The breeding season, unlike for other frogs,starts in the pre-monsoon season (May) and ends before the monsoon becomes fullyactive in June.

• Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees.

KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK:

Context:The Park can now be explored by boats while bicycle tracks are also beingfinalised. One can go trekking too. But the new activities are beyond the 1,302 sq kmKaziranga’s core area of 482 sq km according to officials.

Concept:

• It is located in the State of Assam and covers 42,996 Hectare (ha). It is the singlelargest undisturbed and representative area in the Brahmaputra Valley floodplain.

Status of the National park:

• It was declared as a National Park in 1974.

• It has been declared a tiger reserve since 2007. It has a total tiger reserve area of 1,030sq km with a core area of 430 sq. km.








• It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

• It is recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International.

Important Species Found:

• It is the home of the world's most one-horned rhinos. Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuaryhas the highest density of one-horned rhinos in the world and second highest numberof Rhinos in Assam after Kaziranga National Park.

• Much of the focus of conservation efforts in Kaziranga are focused on the 'big four'species— Rhino, Elephant, Royal Bengal tiger and Asiatic water buffalo.

• Kaziranga is also home to 9 of the 14 species of primates found in the Indiansubcontinent.

Rivers and Highways:

• The National Highway 37 passes through the park area.

• The park also has more than 250 seasonal water bodies, besides the Diphlu Riverrunning through it.

Other national parks in Assam are:

• Dibru-Saikhowa National Park,

• Manas National Park,

• Nameri National Park,

• Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park.

HIMALAYAN SEROW:

Context: A Himalayan serow has been sighted for the first time in the Himalayan cold desertregion. The animal was spotted near Hurling village in Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.

Concept:

• The Himalayan serow, or Capricornis sumatraensis that, is a subspecies of themainland serow (Capricornis sumatraensis).

• Himalayan serow resembles a cross between a goat, a donkey, a cow, and a pig. It’s amedium-sized mammal with a large head, thick neck, short limbs, long, mule-likeears, and a coat of dark hair.

• There are several species of serows, and all of them are found in Asia. Himalayanserows are typically found at altitudes between 2,000 metres and 4,000 metres (6,500to 13,000 feet).

• They are known to be found in eastern, central, and western Himalayas, but not in theTrans Himalayan region.

• They are herbivorous animal.








Conservation status:

• The Himalayan serow is now been categorised as ‘vulnerable’ in the IUCN Red Listof Threatened Species.

• It is listed under Schedule I of The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which providesabsolute protection.


• Serows are generally not found at this altitude, and never before has a serow beenseen in the Himalayan cold desert.

• Wildlife officials believe this particular animal may have strayed into the Spiti valleyfrom the RupiBhaba Wildlife Sanctuary in adjoining Kinnaur.

GREEN BUILDINGS:

Context : The Vice President of India, virtually inaugurating the 12th GRIHA (Green Ratingfor Integrated Habitat Assessment) Summit, organized by the GRIHA Council fromHyderabad.

Concept:

• Quoting the World Green Building Council data, the Vice President said thatbuildings and construction account for 39% of energy-related CO2 emissions in theworld and called for accelerating the process of total de-carbonization of the builtenvironment.

• Opining that the roof cooling should be an area of priority for all, he mentioned that inIndia, over 60 percent of roofs are made from metal, asbestos, and concrete - thustrapping heat inside buildings and contributing to heat island effect in urban areas.cool roofs can lower indoor temperatures by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius as compared totraditional roofs.

• Observing that the implementation of Bureau of Energy Efficiency’s EnergyConservation Building Code (ECBC) has not been uniform across the nation, ShriNaidu appreciated the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for taking a lead inthis regard.

• GRIHA Council has developed the Building Fitness Indicator (BFI) tool - a free-to-use self-assessment tool that allows organizations to measure the preparedness ofworkplaces to prevent exposure to COVID-19.

WILDLIFE INSTITUTE OF INDIA (WII) :

Context: Two years after the controversial shooting of Pandharkawda tigress T1, nicknamedAvni, authorities are set to release into the wild her female cub after successfully radio-collaring her by WII.

Concept :








• The three-year-old cub, named T1C2, is currently under observation in a five-hectareenclosure at Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), where she was brought after being captured inDecember 2018.

• Since then, Forest Department officials have been carrying out “re-wilding” exercises —releasing natural prey to let her gain experience in hunting.

• Wildlife Institute of India

• Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is an internationally acclaimed Institution, which offerstraining program, academic courses and advisory in wildlife research and management.

• WII carries out wildlife research in areas of study like Biodiversity, Endangered Species,Wildlife Policy, Wildlife Management, Wildlife Forensics, Spatial Modeling, Ecodevelopment, Habitat Ecology and Climate Change.

• It was established in 1982.

• It is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climatechange, Government of India.

• The institute is based in Dehradun.

AMUR FALCON:

Context: An Amur falcon was sighted earlier this week on the campus of the BombayNatural History Society (BNHS) at Kodiakkarai, abutting the Point Calimere Sanctuary.

Concept :

• The Amur Falcon is a long-distance Migratory bird. It is a small raptor of the falconfamily

• Breeding: It breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China before migrating in largeflocks across India and over the Arabian Sea to winter in Southern Africa

• It travels around 22,000 kms which is one of the longest distances to be travelled by abird

• At just 150 grams, an Amur falcon, Falco amurensis is a small bird, the male mostly greyin colour, and the females having dark-streaked cream or orange underparts.

• IUCN status: Least concerned

• Amur Falcon is protected under both the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and Conventionon Migratory species

• It is also listed in Appendix II of CITES.

DENTAL AEROSOLS :

Context : Dental procedures can pose a high risk of viral transmission because the toolsoften produce aerosols — which can contain the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Newresearch has found that careful operation of dental drills can minimise the aerosol spread.








Concept :

• Aerosols are generated when saliva mixes with water and the air streams used indental procedures.

• Now, researchers have measured and analysed aerosol generation during dentalprocedures and suggested changes to prevent contamination to improve safety forboth patients and the dental practice workforce.

Dental Aerosols

• A dental aerosol is an aerosol that is produced from dental instrument, dentalhandpieces, three-way syringes and other high-speed instruments. These aerosols areair suspended in the clinical environment.

• These aerosols can pose risks to the clinician, staff and other patients as well.

• The heavier particles (>50 µm ) of the aerosols suspend in the air for relatively shortperiod and settles down quickly, but the lighter particles tend to remain suspended forlonger periods and are capable to enter and get deposited in the lungs when they areinhaled and possess the capacity of transmitting diseases.

• These dental aerosols are also bioaerosols which are contaminated with bacteria,fungi and viruses of the oral cavity, skin and the water used in the dental units.

• Dental aerosols also have micro-particles of the burs, and silica particles which areone of the components of dental filling materials like dental composite.

NATIONAL PARKS IN ASSAM:

Context: Data shared by the Assam Forest Department show that the state saw 113 elephantdeaths due to electrocution between 2009 and September 25, 2020, in several national parkswith several more casualties reported since.

Concept:

Orang National Park

• The Orang National Park also known as Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park is locatedon the north bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts ofAssam and covers an area of 78.81 square kilometers.

• It was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1985 but was declared as National Park in1999. It is also 49th Tiger Reserve of the country, being notified in 2016.

• It is also known as the mini Kaziranga National Park (IUCN site) since the two parkshave a similar landscape made up of marshes, streams, and grasslands.

• It is the only stronghold of rhinoceros on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river.

Manas National Park

• Manas National Park is a national park, UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, aProject Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve in Assam, India








• It is located in the Himalayan foothills,

• It is contiguous with the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan

• The Manas river flows thorough the west of the park and is the main river within it. Itis a major tributary of Brahmaputra river

• The Manas river also serves as an international border dividing India and Bhutan.

HIMALAYAN HERB:

Context : The Himalayan trillium (Trillium govanianum), a common herb of theHimalayas was declared ‘endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) last week.

Concept:

• Found in temperate and sub-alpine zones of the Himalayas, at an altitude from 2,400-4,000 metres above sea level, the existence of the plant has been traced across India,Bhutan, Nepal, China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

• In India, it is found in four states only- Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,Sikkim, and Uttarakhand. Often called Nagchatri, in local areas this herb grows to aheight of 15-20 cm.

• Given the suspected rate of decline and an expected continued demand for rhizomesinto the foreseeable future, population declines of at least 50% are expected to occurbetween 2010 and 2079.

Factors causing decline:

• Several factors threatening the survival of the plant such as over-exploitation, longlife cycle - slow to reach reproductive maturity - and poor capacity for seed dispersal.The highly specific habitat requirement, high trade value, and increasing marketdemand are all causing its decline.

Uses:

• It has been used in traditional medicine to cure diseases like dysentery, wounds, skinboils, inflammation, sepsis, as well as menstrual and sexual disorders.

• Recent experiments have shown that the rhizome of the herb is a source of steroidalsaponins and can be used as an anti-cancer and anti-aging agent. This increased itsmarket value and has now become an easy target for poachers.

MIYAWAKI FOREST:

Context: The Greater Chennai Corporation will develop Miyawaki urban forests at 1,000locations across the city, said Corporation Commissioner.

Concept:








• The Miyawaki method, developed by a Japanese botanist after whom it is named,involves planting saplings in small areas, causing them to “fight” for resources andgrow nearly 10 times quicker.

• It originated in Japan, and is now increasingly adopted in other parts of the world. Ithas revolutionised the concept of urban afforestation by turning backyards into mini-forests.

Process:

• A pit has to be dug, and its dimensions depend on the available space. Before diggingthe pit, the list of tree species should be chosen judiciously. As there is very littlespace to work around with, trees with varying heights should be chosen.

• Fill it with one layer of compost, followed by a layer of natural waste such as bagasseand coconut shells and then top it with a layer of red soil.

• Plant the saplings following interval and tree height specifications.

• The whole process can be completed in two to three weeks. The saplings have to bemaintained regularly for a year.

REHABILITATION CENTRE FOR MONKEYS:

Context : The first rescue and rehabilitation centre for monkeys in Telangana wasinaugurated at Gandi Ramanna Haritavanam near Chincholi village in Nirmal district.

Concept :

• Monkeys that venture into human habitations would be caught in a phased manner,brought to the centre where they would be operated on for birth control and would bereleased into the forests again after the rehabilitation period.

• To make the rehabilitation centre a sustainable habitat for the primates, several fruitand flowering plants, a variety of trees that provide shade, and medicinal plants wouldbe grown.

• It is the second such facility for the primates in the country. The rehabilitation centrefor the monkeys was also the first such facility in south India.

• The other facility in the country was in Himachal Pradesh.

STATUS OF LEOPARD REPORT:

Context : Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar on Monday announced that a60 per cent increase has been recorded in the population count of leopards in India from 2014estimates according to status of leopard report.

Concept :

• The leopard population has been estimated using camera trapping method.

• There are 12,852 leopards in India as of 2018 as compared to the previous estimate of7910 conducted 2014, an increase of 60% in 4 years.








• The highest concentration of the leopard in India is estimated to be in MadhyaPradesh (3,421) followed by Karnataka (1,783) and Maharashtra (1,690).

• Recent meta-analyses of leopard status and distribution suggest 48–67% range lossfor the species in Africa and 83–87% in Asia.

• In India, leopards have experienced a possibly human-induced 75-90% populationdecline in the last ~120-200 years.

• In Indian subcontinent poaching, habitat loss, depletion of natural prey and conflictare major threats to leopard populations. All these have resulted in changing thespecies status from ‘Near Threatened’ to ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Unionfor Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

• As for region-wise distribution, the highest number of 8,071 leopards were found incentral India and eastern ghats. In the northeast hills, there are just 141 leopards.

• The leopard was estimated across forested habitats in tiger range areas of the countrybut other leopard occupied areas such as non-forested habitats, higher elevations inthe Himalayas, arid landscapes and majority of North East landscape were notsampled.Therefore, the population estimation should be considered as minimumnumber of leopards in each of the landscapes.

GREAT INDIAN BUSTARDS:

Context: The Ministry of Environment along with the Wildlife Conservation Society, India,has come up with a unique initiative — a “firefly bird diverter” for overhead power lines inareas where Great Indian Bustard (GIB) populations are found in the wild.

Concept:

• The GIB is one of the most critically threatened species in India, with fewer than 150birds left in the wild. It is listed as Critically Endangered in IUCN Red List.

• A 2019 report by the Ministry pointed out that power lines, especially high-voltagetransmission lines with multiple overhead wires, are the most important current threatfor GIBs in the Thar region, and are causing unsustainably high mortality in about15% of their population.

Why GIB prone to collision?

· Bustards have wide sideways vision to maximize predator detection, at the cost ofnarrow frontal vision.

· Because of this, and a habit of scanning the ground while flying, they cannot detectpower-lines ahead of them, from far.

· Being heavy fliers, they fail to manoeuvre across power lines within close distances.The combination of these traits make them vulnerable to collision with power-lines.As a result, they collide with power lines and die from the impact, injuries/trauma orelectrocution. Firefly bird diverters are flaps installed on power lines. They work asreflectors for bird species like the GIB. Birds can spot them from a distance of about50 metres and change their path of flight to avoid collision with power lines.








• The firefly detectors have been installed along two stretches of approximately 6.5 km,selected between Chacha to Dholiya villages in the Pokhran tehsil, Rajasthan.

• The diverters are called fireflies because they look like fireflies from a distance,shining on power lines in the night.

AIR POLLUTION:

Context: The India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative published a scientific paper onTuesday on the health and economic impact of air pollution in Lancet Planetary Health,which documents the trends in health loss due to air pollution and its economic impact inevery state of India.

Concept:

• As many as 1.7 million deaths in India — 18 per cent of the total deaths in the country— were attributable to air pollution in 2019.

• The economic impact of this health loss due to lost productivity was huge, resulting in1.4 per cent loss of the country’s GDP in 2019 .

• The findings in the paper highlight that the disease burden due to household airpollution is reducing in India but the same has increased due to ambient outdoor airpollution.

• Meanwhile, household air pollution is decreasing in India resulting in 64 per centreduction in the death rate attributable to it from 1990 to 2019, whereas the death ratefrom outdoor ambient air pollution has increased during this period by 115 per cent.

Household Air Pollution

• With the continual improvement in our quality of life, indoor air quality has becomean important area of concern in the 21st century.

• Indoor air quality is affected by many factors, including the type and runningconditions of indoor pollution sources, ventilation conditions, as well as indooractivities.

• According to WHO, around three billion people, mostly women in the villages ofIndia and in other parts of the world still cook and heat their homes using dirty solidfuels.

• These include waste wood, charcoal, coal, dung and abundantly available cropwastes. These are burnt on open fireplaces, cooking stoves etc. This generates a largeamount of air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrous oxides (NOx), carbonmonoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM).

• A number of air pollutants have been recognised to exist indoors, including NOx,SO2, ozone (O3), CO, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs), PM,radon and microorganisms.

• Some of these pollutants (NOx, SO2, O3, and PM) are common to both indoor andoutdoor environments and some of them may originate from outdoors.








• These air pollutants can be inorganic, organic, biological or even radioactive. Theeffect of these air pollutants on humans depends on their toxicity, concentration andexposure time and may vary from person to person.

• The most common effect is called sick building syndrome (SBS), in which peopleexperience uncomfortable or acute health effects such as irritation of nose, eyes andthroat, skin ailments, allergies and so on.

RAJAJI AND JIM CORBETT NATIONAL PARK:

Context : The Rajaji Tiger Reserve is set to welcome the first big cat from Jim CorbettTiger Reserve on Thursday, in the first such relocation in Uttarakhand aimed at tigerpopulation management.

Concept :

Rajaji National Park

• It is nestled between the Shivalik ranges and the Indo-Gangetic plains.

• Broadleaved deciduous forests, riverine vegetation, scrubland, grasslands and pineforests form the range of flora in this park.

• The park is spread over three districts of Uttarakhand: Haridwar, Dehradun and PauriGarhwal.

• The Ganga and Song rivers flow through the park.

• It is at the northwestern limit of distribution for both elephants and tigers in India andhas the largest population of elephants in Uttarakhand.

• The Park is also home to the Great Pied Hornbill, Himalayan Pied Kingfisher andthe fire tailed sunbird.

• This area is the first staging ground after the migratory birds cross over the Himalayasinto the Indian subcontinent.

• In 2015, Rajaji National Park was notified as a tiger reserve by the centralgovernment. Benefits of Tiger Reserve - Protected area for Tigers, Tourist attraction,Huge Development fund for the Park, Eco-Tourism development.

Jim Corbett National Park

• Corbett National Park, also called Jim Corbett National Park, natural area in southernUttarakhand state, northern India.

• It was established as Hailey National Park in 1936 and it is India's oldest nationalpark.

• The park is located in the foothills of the Himalayas—about 35 miles (50 km)northwest of Ramnagar.

• It mainly occupies the broad Patlidoon Valley, through which the Ramganga Riverflows in a westerly direction.








• The forest cover includes species of sal (Shorea), teak, oak, silver fir, spruce, cypress,birch, and bamboo. A reed forest was planted to afford natural cover for the park’sanimals.

• The park was established mainly for the protection of the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigristigris); it is there that India’s Project Tiger was established in 1973 to providehavens for tigers in the country’s national parks.

Opposition to inclusion of the areas around Statue of Unity under eco-sensitive zone.Eco sensitive Zones:

Context: Former BJP MLA Motilal Vasava has written to the sarpanches of 121 villagesaround the Statue of Unity in Narmada district, urging them to oppose the inclusion of theareas under eco-sensitive zone as per a 2016 notification of the Ministry of Environment,Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).

Under which power villages can oppose it?

· Gram Sabha has been bestowed rights to protect properties, jungles and otherpossessions as indigenous communities under Schedule V of the Constitution as wellas the special PESA Act

Concept:

· Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 or PESA, a law enacted by theGovernment of India for ensuring self-governance through traditional gram sabhas forpeople living in the Scheduled Areas of India as per Schedule V of the Constitution.

· The salient feature of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996(PESA) and the modalities worked out to grant rights to tribals in the country are:

(i) Legislation on Panchayats shall be in conformity with the customary law, social andreligious practices and traditional management practices of community resources;

(ii) Habitation or a group of habitations or a hamlet or a group of hamlets comprising acommunity and managing its affairs in accordance with traditions and customs; and shallhave a separate Gram Sabha.

(iii) Every Gram Sabha to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of people,their cultural identity, community resources and the customary mode of dispute resolution.

(iv) The Gram Sabhas have roles and responsibilities in approving all development worksin the village, identify beneficiaries, issue certificates of utilization of funds; powers tocontrol institutions and functionaries in all social sectors and local plans.

(v) Gram Sabhas or Panchayats at appropriate level shall also have powers to manageminor water bodies; power of mandatory consultation in matters of land acquisition;resettlement and rehabilitation and prospecting licenses/mining leases for minor minerals;power to prevent alienation of land and restore alienated land; regulate and restrictsale/consumption of liquor; manage village markets, control money lending to STs; andownership of minor forest produce. The provisions of Panchayats with certain modification






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and exceptions have been extended to the Schedule V areas viz. the ten States where thePanchayats exists in the country.

Eco Sensitive Zones:· The basic aim of ESZ is to regulate certain activities around National Parks and

Wildlife Sanctuaries so as to minimise the negative impacts of such activities onthe fragile ecosystem encompassing the protected areas

· ESZs are notified by MoEFCC, Government of India under Environment ProtectionAct 1986.

· The guidelines include a broad list of activities that could be allowed, promoted,regulated or promoted. This is an important checklist for conservationists to keep inmind while identifying threats in ESZs.

· For this purpose, the ministry has asked all states to constitute a committeecomprising the wildlife warden, an ecologist and a revenue department official of thearea concerned to suggest the requirement of an eco-sensitive zone and its extent.

· The width of the ESZ and type of regulation may vary from protected area to area.However, as a general principle, the width of the ESZ could go up to 10 kmsaround the protected area.

TADOBA ANDHARI TIGER RESERVE:

Context : A woman was killed in yet another attack by a tiger in Gadchiroli on Friday, takingthe annual tally of human victims of tiger attacks in the district to six.

Concept :

• Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is located in Chandrapur district in Maharashtra.

• It is Maharashtra's oldest and largest national park.

• It is one of India's 50 "Project Tiger" - Tiger reserves.

• Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve was established as the second Tiger Reserve inMaharashtra in 1993-94.

• The first Tiger Reserve established in the State is Melghat Tiger Reserve (1973-74).

• It represents Southern Tropical Dry Deciduous Teak Forests in the Tiger habitat andhas viable tiger population of more than 40 tigers.

WMO’s provisional report on the State of the Climate 2020:

Context : This year is also second hottest year on record after 2016, as per WMO’sprovisional report on the State of the Climate 2020 published on December 2, whichcollected data from January till October 2020.

Concept :

State of the Global Climate Provisional Report

• This report was released by the World Meteorological Organization.

• The decade 2011-2020 would be the warmest ever on record.








• Also, the year 2020 is set to be among the three warmest on record.

• The record heat in 2020 has been despite La Niña conditions prevailing in theequatorial Pacific Ocean.

• Scientific evidence indicates increasing temperatures are a direct result of human-ledglobal warming, an impact of Green House Gas emission.

• After record GHG levels of 2019, there has been a slight dip this year due to measurestaken by countries to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

• Global sea-level rise was similar to 2019 values and the general decreasing trend hascontinued.

• Extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, floods, heavy rainfall and droughtswhich are an expensive consequence of global warming impacted many parts of theworld.


• The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a specialized agency of theUnited Nations dedicated to meteorology (weather), climatology (climate),operational hydrology (water) and other related geophysical sciences such asoceanography and atmospheric chemistry.

TSUNAMI 16th ANNIVERSARY:

Context : December 26, 2020 marks the 16th anniversary of the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

Concept :

• Tsunami is a Japanese word for “Harbour wave”. A tsunami is a series of very long-wavelength waves in large water bodies like seas or large lakes caused by a majordisturbance above or below the water surface or due to the displacement of a largevolume of water.

• They are sometimes referred to as tidal waves because of long wavelengths, althoughthe attractions of the Moon and Sun play no role in their formation.

• Earthquakes (e.g. 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami), volcanic eruptions (e.g. tsunamicaused by the violent eruption of Krakatoa in 1883), landslides (tsunami caused bythe collapse of a section of Anak Krakatoa in 2018), underwater explosions, meteoriteimpacts, etc. have the potential to generate a tsunami.

Mechanism of Tsunami Waves

• Megathrust earthquakes cause a sudden displacement in a seabed sufficient to causethe sudden raising of a large body of water.

• As the subducting plate plunges beneath the less dense plate, stresses build-up, thelocked zone between the plates give way abruptly, and the parts of the oceanic crust isthen upthrust resulting in the displacement of a large column of water vertically.








• The tsunami on December 26, 2004, was caused after an earthquake displaced theseabed off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.

• A marine volcanic eruption can generate an impulsive force that displaces the watercolumn and gives birth to a tsunami.

• During a submarine landslide, the equilibrium sea-level is altered by sediment movingalong the floor of the sea. Gravitational forces then propagate a tsunami.

• Most destructive tsunamis can be caused due to the fall of extra-terrestrial objects onto the earth.

2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

• The earthquake of 9.2 magnitude occurred in Indian Ocean near the Sumatra-Andaman Subduction Zone.

• This triggered a massive and largest Tsunami in the Indian Ocean region. Over 2.3lakh people died across 14 countries in the Indian Ocean region and out of which themajor affected countries were Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and India.

• At that time there was no Tsunami warning system in place in India. Though similarsystem existed in other parts of the world in pacific and Atlantic, but was not able toprovide early warning to the Indian Ocean region.

Tsunami Early Warning System

• Within 2 years a state-of-the-art Tsunami warning system was established at IndianNational Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad.

• By October 2007, 24*7 early warning systems was in place which is capable of givingearly warning within 10 minutes of occurrence of earthquake anywhere in IndianOcean region.

• INCOIS is developing 3D GIS mapping in vulnerable coastal areas to have new earlywarning systems for tsunamis in the eastern coast of India. This will be extended toother vulnerable areas of the Indian coasts.

• There is a standard operating procedure to deal with Tsunami activities which areestablished by Tsunami warning centre at Hyderabad.

• This information is passed on to National Disaster Management Authority within 10minutes of occurrence of earthquake.

• The coastal states administrators have been trained to provide the help required for thepeople living in the coastal region. There are periodic awareness programmes in thecoastal region and people will be taught what to do when the Tsunami occurs.

• In 2010 there was National Disaster Management Guidelines which emphasised onadvanced systems like Topography, GIS database and remote sensing data.

• Tsunami warning system is a system of systems where it requires various branches ofscience and technology to develop the system and make it operational. We require








data from satellites, ocean observation systems, ships, and good communication togenerate tsunami forecast.

GIANT ICEBERG A68a:

Concept :· The giant iceberg A68, the biggest block of free-floating ice from Antarctica with an

area of about 5,800 sq. km, has been drifting in the Atlantic Ocean since 2017.· This year, due to an ocean current the iceberg was propelled into the South Atlantic

Ocean and since then it has been drifting towards the remote sub-Antarctic island ofSouth Georgia, prompting fears about the impact the iceberg could have on theisland’s abundant wildlife.

· The US National Ice Center (USNIC) (USNIC is responsible for naming icebergs,which are named according to the Antarctic quadrant in which they are spotted)confirmed that two new icebergs calved from A68a and were large enough to benamed and tracked. They are called A68E and A68F.

· On the otherhand, there are some positives of an iceberg being stuck in the openocean, since icebergs carry dust which fertilises ocean plankton, which draws upcarbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

MAN MADE WETLANDS:

Context : A unique sustainable experiment is under way in Delhi, where a ‘constructed’natural feature brings hope of reducing the need for expensive sewage treatment plants, withissues of capacity and utility. Concept :

· At the South Delhi Biodiversity Park, being developed by the Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA) on about 200 hectares of land behind Kalindi Colony, DelhiUniversity professor is making 11 constructed wetland systems.

· These constructed wetland systems will use boulders and a variety of plants tonaturally treat sewage from 25 drains, stretching from Okhla to Kalindi Colony,before it enters the river

How treatment works· The method involves a three-step process, which does not require electricity. At the

mouth of the drain, a team of scientists led by Prof Babu have made a one-acre widewetland from boulders and plants.

· The drain opens into an oxidation pond, which is the first step of the treatmentprocess. Here the solid material in the waste is removed from a wire mesh andatmospheric oxygen dissolves in the water.

· The water then travels further and passes through channels and small ridges madefrom boulders, which creates turbulence and causes aeration.

· Aeration brings water and air in close contact, introducing small bubbles of air whichrise through the water and remove dissolved gases in it.

· Higher turbulence means better oxygen saturation and better quality of water.Waterfalls have maximum oxygen saturation and, therefore, have very good waterquality.

· The final step in the treatment process happens when water passes through 25 speciesof plants — including typha, phragmites, ipomoea and cyprus — which are effectivein the treatment of heavy metals, including arsenic.








MUTATION OF VIRUS:

Context: The coronavirus variant circulating in the UK is defined by many mutations.Concept:· A mutation means an alteration in genetic material.· In an RNA virus such as SARS-CoV-2, proteins are made of a sequence of amino

acids. Such a virus contains some 30,000 ‘base pairs’, which are like bricks placednext to each other to form a structure. An alteration in this base can be a mutation,effectively changing the shape and behaviour of the virus.

· In the UK variant, one mutation has made the virus more likely to bind with humanproteins called receptors. This is called N501Y.

N501Y:· In simple words, the amino acid represented by the letter N, and present at position

501 in the coronavirus genetic structure, has been replaced in that position withanother amino acid, represented by Y.

· The position where this alteration has taken place is in the spike protein’s receptor-binding domain. (It is the spike protein of the virus that binds with the humanreceptor.)

· Therefore, the mutation has increased the binding affinity of the coronavirus. Themutated virus reportedly accounts for 60% of recent infections in London.

P681H and HV 69/70:· According the World Health Organization (WHO), other than N501Y, mutations that

“may influence the transmissibility of the virus in humans” are P681H and HV 69/70.· P681H: This mutation has occurred in the amino acid present at 681 — another

position in the receptor-binding domain. Here the amino acid P has been replacedwith H.

· HV 69/70: This mutation is the result of a deletion of amino acids at positions 69 and70. These positions are again in the spike protein of the virus. This deletion has beenobserved in France and South Africa as well.

Ducks die in large number in Kuttanad:

Context: Although the exact cause of the death of ducks is yet to be ascertained, officialssaid that bacterial infection could be the reason.

Concept: Kuttanad

• Kuttanad is a delta region of about 900 sq. km situated in the west coast of KeralaState, India.

• The area is a larger mosaic of fragmented landscape patches and varied ecosystemssuch as coastal backwaters, rivers, vast stretches of paddy fields, marshes, ponds,garden lands, edges, corridors and remarkably networked water ways.

• The Kuttanad Below Sea-level Farming System (KBSFS) is unique, as it is the onlysystem in India that practices rice cultvation below sea level.

• The major land use structure of KBSFS is flat stretches of rice fields in about 50,000ha of mostly reclaimed delta swamps.








• The rice fields, which are popularly known as "Puncha Vayals" exist in threelandscape elements: Karapadam (upland rice fields), Kayal (wetland rice fields) andKari (land buried with black coal like materials).

• Farmers of Kuttanad have developed and mastered the spectacular technique of belowsea level cultivation over 150 year ago.

• They made this system unique as it contributes remarkably well to the conservation ofbiodiversity and ecosystem services including several livelihood services for localcommunities.

• It is one of the three recognized GIAHS sites in India by FAO.

• Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) was started by the FAOto safeguard and support the world's agricultural heritage systems.Three recognizedGIAHS sites in India:

• Kuttanad below Sea Level Farming System of Kerala.

• Koraput Traditional Agriculture of Odisha.

• Pampore Saffron Heritage of Kashmir.

Uttarakhand in talks to bring in white tigers from Madhya Pradesh:

Context : Uttarakhand is in talks with the Madhya Pradesh government to bring white tigersto Nainital’s Sitabani Wildlife Reserve for a forthcoming tiger safari project.

Concept :

• According to officials, if a few white tiger cubs from Madhya Pradesh could be madeavailable for Uttarakhand, it will give a new dimension to wildlife tourism at Sitabaniand to the tiger safari project.

• Tourism Department officials are directed to chalk out a plan to promote tourism forthe new tiger safari park.

• To make it more attractive and exciting for the tourists, white tiger are requested fromMP to the safari park.

• The project is likely to be completed by November 2021 and will cost the state Rs150 crore.

White Tigers

• The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Bengaltigers, Siberian Tiger and man-made hybrids between the two

• They are reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of MadhyaPradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha in the Sundarbans region andespecially in the former State of Rewa.

• Such a tiger has the black stripes typical of the Bengal tiger, but carries a white ornear-white coat.








• The first white tiger was spotted in Madhya Pradesh’s Vindhya region, in which theSatna district falls, in 1915. The rare breed of the big cat, which was caught for thefirst time, died in 1920.

Sitabani Wildlife Reserve

• Sitabani Wildlife Reserve falls in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand and hasgeographical and ecological characteristics of the Sub-Himalayan belt.

• It comprises an entire hill of the Kumaon Himalayas and is flanked on three sideswith dense Sal forest connecting it to the famous Jim Corbett National Park.

• To the north, it is connected to the Oak and Rhododendron Himalayan mountainforests of Nainital forest division and the western boundary is etched by a sub-tributary of the Kosi river.

• Broadleaved deciduous forest, riverine vegetation, scrubland, grassland along withgorges and ravines form a varied topography inhabited by rare wildlife.

PORTULACA LALJII:

Context : Botanists have discovered a new species of wild sun rose from the EasternGhats in India.

Concept :

• The new species, named Portulaca laljii, discovered from Prakasam district of AndhraPradesh has unique features such as a tuberous root, no hair in its leaf axils, a reddishpink flower, prolate-shaped fruits, and copper brown seeds without lustre.

• The flowers are very attractive and bloom for months from June to February.

• The plant bears beautiful, tiny pink flowers for eight months. It is because of thesucculent nature of tuberous roots that the plant can survive on rocky crevices.

• Portulaca laljii has been named to honour the contribution of Lal Ji Singh, an eminentbotanist of the Botanical Survey of India associated with its Andaman and NicobarCentre.

Rhino DNA INDEXING SYSTEM:

Context : Cases of poaching of rhinoceroses have come down drastically in South Africaever since it implemented its Rhino Database as part of its conservation efforts. DNA tracinghas allowed for conviction rates to rise sharply.

Indian researchers planning a similar system for the animal in the country’sjungles is welcome.

Concept :

• The project is part of the Rhino DNA Indexing System (RhODIS- India) conservationprogramme started a couple of years ago.








• Wildlife agencies elsewhere have been using modelling techniques to determineroutes that poachers can take and predict when a crime is about to happen.

• DNA tracing can add to these technologies and convictions using scientific evidencecan help with conservation efforts.

RhoDIS :

• RhODIS(Rhino DNA Index System) is a project that was initiated by the VeterinaryGenetics Laboratory of the University of Pretoria in order to help with the plight ofthe rhinos.

• The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory is collecting DNA samples of rhinos across thecountry to create a database using the unique DNA profile of individual rhinos.

• The goal is for all rhinos to be on the system. This will deter poachers and assist inforensic prosecutions.

• South African National Parks (SANParks) have partnered with RhODIS since 2010and in association with the Forensics Science Laboratory of the South African PoliceServices have played a key role in the development and implementation of theRhODIS Kit for sample collection.

• Samsung is the exclusive technology partner associated with this development.

KOLAR LEAF NOSED BAT:

Context: The Bat Conservation India Trust, has been entrusted with drawing up aconservation plan for kolar leaf nosed bats and also has been awarded a grant to conductfurther research on this species of bats.

Concept:

• The Kolar leaf-nosed bat (Hipposideros hypophyllus), or leafletted leaf-nosed bat is aspecies of bat in the family Hipposideridae.

• It is endemic to India. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forestsand caves.

• Kolar Leaf-Nosed Bat was found in only two caves in the village of Hanumanahalli inKolar district of Karnataka. For reasons that are still unknown, the bat became locallyextinct in one of the two caves.

• Now , it is found in only one cave in India, and its population is less than 200individuals.

• It is listed as Endangered Species by IUCN.

AMMONIA POLLUTION:

Context: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) said water supply to parts of north, central and southDelhi would be disrupted on Wednesday following a spike in ammonia levels in the Yamuna.

Concept:








• DJB vice-chairman asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the UpperYamuna River Board (UYRB) to look into the issue and sternly deal with the state’sirresponsible behaviour of releasing industrial effluents.

• The most recent spike was noted on Monday and Tuesday, when ammonia levels shotup to 7.3 parts per million (ppm) at the Wazirabad pond area — where DJB drawswater from — against its acceptable limit of 0.5 ppm.

Impact on Water Supply

• The impact of increasing pollution in the Yamuna is being noted in frequentdisruption to Delhi’s water supply.

• The most likely source is believed to be effluents from dye units, distilleries and otherfactories in Panipat and Sonepat districts in Haryana, and also sewage from someunsewered colonies in this stretch of the river

• When the concentration rises beyond the DJB’s treatment capacity of 0.9 ppm, waterproduction at 3 out of 9 water treatment plants have to be stopped or reduced, whichimpacts supply to parts of the city.

Ammonia

• Ammonia is a colourless gas and is used as an industrial chemical in the production offertilisers, plastics, synthetic fibres, dyes and other products.

• It consists of hydrogen and nitrogen. In its aqueous form, it is called ammoniumhydroxide.

• This inorganic compound has a pungent smell.

• Occurrence: Ammonia occurs naturally in the environment from the breakdown oforganic waste matter.

• It is lighter than air.

Uses of Ammonia

• About 80% of the ammonia produced by industry is used in agriculture as fertilizer.

• Ammonia is also used as a refrigerant gas, for purification of water supplies, and inthe manufacture of plastics, explosives, textiles, pesticides, dyes and other chemicals.

• It is found in many household and industrial-strength cleaning solutions. Householdammonia cleaning solutions are manufactured by adding ammonia gas to water andcan be between 5 and 10% ammonia.

• Ammonia solutions for industrial use may be concentrations of 25% or higher and arecorrosive.








CURRENT EVENTS

WORLD AIDS DAY:

Context: World AIDS Day is being observed on December 1 to raise public awarenessabout Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS. The theme this year is ‘Ending theHIV/AIDS epidemic: resilience and impact.’

Concept:

• World AIDS Day is observed on the 1st of December, every year, since 1988. WorldAIDS Day was the first global health day to be celebrated.

• AIDS is the abbreviation for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. It is a chronicillness, which can also be potentially life-threatening. The disease is caused by thehuman immunodeficiency virus, HIV which affects the human immune system.


• According to the WHO, In 2019, there were still 38 million people living with HIVinfection. In 2019, 6.9 lakh people died from HIV-related causes and 1.7 millionpeople were newly infected.

• Since the inception of the National AIDS Control Program in 1992, India has done acommendable job in raising awareness and bringing down the number of HIVinfections.

• India is a signatory to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and hascommitted itself to achieving the target of ending the epidemic of AIDS by 2030.

COVID SURAKSHA:

Context: The Government of India (GOI) has announced the third stimulus package ofRs. 900 Crore for the Mission COVID Suraksha- The Indian COVID-19 VaccineDevelopment Mission.

Concept:

• This grant will be provided to the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) for Research& Development of Indian COVID-19 vaccines.

• The COVID-19 Vaccine development Mission with end-to-end focus from preclinicaldevelopment through clinical development and manufacturing and regulatoryfacilitation for deployment, would consolidate all available and funded resourcestowards an accelerated product development.

• Led by Department of Biotechnology and implemented by a dedicated MissionImplementation Unit at Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council(BIRAC),the existing activities under National Bio Pharma Mission (NBM) and Ind-CEPI Mission will provide complementary strengths to this Mission.








INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES:

Context : International Day of Persons with Disabilities is being observed on December3, 2020.

Concept :

• International Day of People with Disabilities (IDPWD) is a United Nations sanctionedday celebrated internationally on 3 December each year.

• The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimedin 1992 by United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3.

• Its objective is to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in allspheres of society and development and to increase awareness.


• This year, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) falls on the sameweek as the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Personswith Disabilities and will be observed throughout the week in conjunction with the13th session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD.

WORLD MALARIA REPORT 2020:

Context: The World Malaria Report (WMR) 2020 released by WHO indicates that Indiahas made considerable progress in reducing its malaria burden.

Concept:

• India is the only high endemic country which has reported a decline of 17.6% in2019 as compared to 2018.

• The Annual Parasitic Incidence (API) reduced by 27.6% in 2018 compared to 2017and by 18.4% in 2019 as compared to 2018. India has sustained API less than onesince year 2012.

• India has also contributed to the largest drop in cases region-wide, fromapproximately 20 million to about 6 million. The percentage drop in the malaria caseswas 71.8% and deaths was 73.9% between 2000 to 2019.

• India achieved a reduction of 83.34% in malaria morbidity and 92% in malariamortality between the year 2000 and 2019, thereby achieving Goal 6 of theMillennium Development Goals (50-75% decrease in case incidence between 2000and 2019).

• States of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Meghalaya and Madhya Pradeshdisproportionately accounted for nearly 45.47 percent of malaria cases and 70.54percent of falciparum Malaria cases in 2019. 64% of malaria deaths were alsoreported from these states.


• WHO has initiated the High Burden to High Impact (HBHI) initiative in 11 highmalaria burden countries, including India. Implementation of HBHI initiative has








been started in four states i.e. West Bengal and Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and MadhyaPradesh in July, 2019.

• National Framework for Malaria Elimination (NFME) was launched in India in 2016by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

• National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22) was launched by the HealthMinistry in July, 2017 which laid down strategies for the next five years that is upto2022.

NISARG GRAM:

Context: Ministry of AYUSH will develop Nisarg Gram campus at Pune as the 21stCentury abode of Naturopathy.

Concept:

• Invoking recollections of Mahatma Gandhi’s famous Nature Cure campaign of 1946at the “Nisarg Upchar” Ashram in Uruli Kanchan village near Pune, the upcomingnew campus of National Institute of Naturopathy (NIN), Pune will be called “NisargGram”.

• Located at a distance of 15 Km from NIN’s present premises at Bapu Bhavan, thenew Institution will be future-ready, with many novelties and innovationsincorporated in the project per se and the curriculum of the Naturopathy courses.


• NIN, Pune is an Autonomous Body under the Ministry of AYUSH.

• The institution was called All India Nature Cure Foundation and was set up underGandhi Ji’s leadership in 1945 at the same premises where the NIN presentlyfunctions.

• It was subsequently taken over by the Central Government and structured into thepresent National Institute of Naturopathy.

INDIA’S FIRST HOME FOR TRANSGENDER CHILDREN:

Context: India’s first homes for transgender children in need of care and protection willsoon be established in Bengaluru. Two government-run homes for transgender children willbe established in Bengaluru Urban.

Concept:

• The Ministry of Women and Child Development gave its nod for the project lastweek.

• Many transgender children in State-run children’s homes for girls or boys were notcomfortable.

• It is essential that a home is established for transgender children as they face a lot ofstigma and abuse. Establishing a separate home and giving them attention and care ata young age will help address some of their concerns.








FSSAI GUIDELINES:

Context: From January 1, 2021 packaged drinking water players in the country will toneed to ensure that their products contain minerals such as calcium and magnesium in linewith the limits set by the food safety authority.

Concept:

• Earlier this year, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) haddecided to extend the deadline for implementation of these standards for packageddrinking water to July 1 which was further extended to January 1, 2021 due to thepandemic.

• According to the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and FoodAdditives) fourth Amendment Regulations, 2019, the mandatory requirement ofcalcium and magnesium in packaged drinking water has been set at 20-75 mg/litreand in the range of 10-30 mg/litre respectively.

• FSSAI brought in these amendments in response to a direction from the NationalGreen Tribunal last year.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI):

• The FSSAI is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health &Family Welfare, Government of India.

• It has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is aconsolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India.

• It is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation andsupervision of food safety.

• It is headed by a non-executive Chairperson, appointed by the Central Government,either holding or has held the position of not below the rank of Secretary to theGovernment of India.

THE 2nd CANCER GENOME ATLAS (TCGA) 2020:

Context: The Minister of Science and Technology and Vice President of Council forScientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), virtually inaugurated the 2nd TCGA 2020conference in New Delhi.

Concept:

• TCGA is a landmark cancer genomics program that molecularly characterized over20,000 primary cancer and matched normal samples spanning 33 cancer types.

• This joint effort between the US- National Cancer Institute and the National HumanGenome Research Institute began in 2006, bringing together researchers from diversedisciplines and multiple institutions.

• Over the years, TCGA generated over 2.5 petabytes of genomic, epigenomic,transcriptomic, and proteomic data. The data, which has already led to improvements








in the ability to diagnose, treat, and prevent cancer, will remain publicly available foranyone in the research community to use.

• On similar lines, the establishment of an ‘Indian Cancer Genomics Atlas (ICGA)’ hasbeen initiated by a consortium of key stakeholders in India led by CSIR, Governmentof India.

ARMS SALE REPORT:

Context : U.S. and Chinese companies dominated the global arms market in 2019, whileWest Asia made its first appearance among the 25 biggest weapons manufacturers, a reportby the SIPRI research institute said.

Concept :

• The U.S. has dominated the market for decades, but for China — whose companies’sales rose by almost 5% in 2019 — this increase corresponds to the implementation ofreforms to modernise the People’s Liberation Army underway since 2015.

• For the first time, a company from the West Asia made it into the “Top 25”. That is,EDGE, of the United Arab Emirates, which was formed by the consolidation of some25 defence entities in 2019.

• In 22nd spot, EDGE is a good illustration of how the combination of high nationaldemand for military products and services with a desire to become less dependent onforeign suppliers is driving the growth of arms companies in the Middle East.

NATIONAL EXPERT DROUP ON VACCINE ADMINISTRATION:

Context: NEGVAC has recommended that the priority group should include health careproviders and workers, from both government and private for vaccine administration

Concept:

• The Centre has begun its preparations for introduction of Covid-19 vaccine and aNational Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) has beenformed as the highest group that will guide the strategies for vaccine introduction.

• It is anticipated that initially the supply of the vaccine will be limited in view of hugedemand.

• Hence, prioritization of population will be done based on risk assessment forvaccination and subsequently other groups will be included for vaccination.

• One crore health care workers, two crore frontline workers including the police andarmed forces, and about 27 crore people above the age of 50 years and those less than50 years with associate comorbidities, these are the three groups who should besimultaneously vaccinated on priority depending on the availability of a vaccine.

• However, these are only recommendations of the NEGVAC, and that the governmentstill has to take a decision.








UN INVESTMENT PROMOTION AWARD:

Context: The United Nations (UNCTAD) has declared Invest India as a winner of the2020 United Nations Investment Promotion Award.

Concept:

• The award ceremony took place on 7th December 2020 at UNCTAD Headquarters inGeneva.

• The award recognizes and celebrates the outstanding achievements and best practicesof Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs) across the globe.

• This United Nations Investment Promotion Award is the most coveted award forInvestment Promotion Agencies.

• UNCTAD is a central agency that monitors performance of IPAs and identifies globalbest practices. Germany, South Korea and Singapore have been some of the pastwinners of the award.

Invest India:

• Invest India is the National Investment Promotion and Facilitation Agency of India,set up as a non-profit venture under the aegis of Department of Industrial Policy &Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

• It facilitates and empowers all investors under the ‘Make in India’ initiative toestablish, operate and expand their businesses in India.

• Operationalized in early 2010, Invest India is set up as a joint venture companybetween the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) (now renamed asDepartment for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)), Ministry ofCommerce & Industry (35% equity), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerceand Industry (FICCI) (51% equity), and State Governments of India (0.5% each).

MIXOPATHY :

Context : The Indian Medical Association (IMA), an apex body of doctors in India, hascalled for a nationwide strike to express its opposition of the government’s decision to allowAyurvedic practitioners to perform medical surgeries.

Concept :

• On November 19, a government notification listed out specific surgical proceduresthat a postgraduate medical student of Ayurveda must be “practically trained toacquaint with, as well as to independently perform”.








• The notification has invited sharp criticism from the Indian Medical Association,which questioned the competence of Ayurveda practitioners to carry out theseprocedures, and called the notification an attempt at “mixopathy”.

• The IMA has done nationwide protests on December 8 against this notification, andhas called for withdrawal of all non-essential and non-Covid services.

How far is surgery part of Ayurveda?

• Ayurveda practitioners take pride in the fact that their methods trace their origins toSushruta, an ancient Indian sage and physician, whose comprehensive medicaltreatise Sushruta Samhita has also detailed accounts of surgical procedures andinstruments.

• There are two branches of surgery in Ayurveda — Shalya Tantra, which refers togeneral surgery, and Shalakya Tantra which pertains to surgeries related to the eyes,ears, nose, throat and teeth.

ICMR STUDY:

Context: The detection of the presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in sewage samples hasraised the possibility of using environmental water surveillance to monitor virus activity ininfected areas, researchers have said.

Concept:

• In the paper, titled “SARS-CoV-2 detection in sewage samples: standardisation ofmethod and preliminary observations”, published recently in the Indian Journal ofMedical Research, researchers claimed to have undertaken the study to standardisethe methodology for detection of SARS-CoV-2 from sewage and explore thefeasibility of establishing supplementary surveillance for COVID-19.

• They suggested that SARS-CoV-2 detection in waste water could be used tounderstand the epidemiology of COVID-19. “

• Decreasing concentration or absence of virus at previously SARS-CoV-2-positivesewage sampling sites may indicate successful implementation of COVID-19 controlstrategies.

• It may also provide evidence of the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2-infectedpopulations and confirmation of COVID-19-free zones.

• The study, conducted by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, (Mumbai unit) andDivision of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, ICMR, Delhi, said the viruswas also detected in stool samples of patients, indicating active infection of thegastrointestinal tract.

• Similar environmental surveillance for the polio virus had played a critical role in theeradication of wild polio virus globally.








DAKPAY APP:

Context:India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) along with Department of Posts (DoP)launched digital payment application ‘DakPay' to facilitate easy digital transactions and otherbanking services.

Concept:

• DakPay is a suite of digital financial and assisted banking services provided by IndiaPost and India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) through the trusted Postal (‘Dak’) networkacross the nation to cater to the financial needs (‘Pay’) of various sections of thesociety.

• DakPay UPI app allows users to create UPI ID and link multiple accounts acrossbanks in a single mobile app. The app facilitates instant money transfers, QR basedpayments in merchant stores and online shopping on e-commerce websites.

• The app wass launched as part of its ongoing efforts to provide Digital Financialinclusion at the last mile across India.

PANDIT DEENDAYAL UPADHYAY TELECOM SKILL EXCELLENCE AWARDS:

Context: Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad presented Pandit DeendayalUpadhyay Telecom Skill Excellence Awards including cash award of Rs 50,000 and Rs30,000 respectively, to both awardees.

Concept:

• Department of Telecommunications (DoT) launched Pandit Deendayal UpadhyayTelecom Skill Excellence Awards scheme in 2017.

• Objective is to reward the successful telecom skilled people for their specialcontributions in the areas of Telecom Skilling, Telecom Services, TelecomManufacturing, deploying Telecom Applications in different fields such asagriculture, commerce, health, education etc.

• The award was named after Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay to commemorate his birthcentenary.

NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF TUBERCULOSIS AND CHEST DISEASES(NATCON) :

Context : Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare addressed the Platinum Jubileeof the National Conference of Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases (NATCON).

Concept :

• The Tuberculosis Association of India (TAI) is one of the oldest and largest voluntaryorganizations having its affiliates all over the country.

• It was set up in February, 1939 as a registered society by incorporating the KingEmperor's Anti-Tuberculosis Fund and King George Thanks-giving (Anti-Tuberculosis) Fund.








• Since the year 1939 the Association is organizing National Conference onTuberculosis and Chest Diseases (NATCON), an annual conference wherein around500 delegates from all over India assemble and exchange views on tuberculosis.

LANCET CITIZENS COMMISSION:

Context : The Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System, across-sector initiative to develop a citizens’ roadmap to achieving universal health coverage(UHC) in India over a period of ten years, was launched online.

Concept :

• It was a first-of-its-kind participatory, countrywide initiative, in collaboration withworld’s leading health journal The Lancet and the Lakshmi Mittal and Family SouthAsia Institute, Harvard University.

• The mission of the Commission is to lay out the path to achieving UHC in India in thecoming decade, working with all stakeholders.

• The Commission will be guided by four principles:

UHC covers all health concerns;

Prevention and long-term care are key;

Concern is financial protection for all health costs, and

Aspiring for a health system that can be accessed by all who enjoy the same quality.

NATIONAL MATHEMATICS DAY :

Context : National Mathematics Day is celebrated every year on December 22, honouringthe birth anniversary of mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan.

Concept :

• National Mathematics Day is celebrated every year on December 22.

• It is observed to honor the birth anniversary of the famous mathematician SrinivasaRamanujan who greatly contributed towards mathematical analysis, number theory,infinite series and continued fractions.

• In 2012, the Indian Government declared that 22 December will be celebrated everyyear as National Mathematics Day.

Contribution of Srinivasa Ramanujan :

• In 1911, Ramanujan published the first of his papers in the Journal of the IndianMathematical Society.

• Ramanujan traveled to England in 1914, where Hardy tutored him and collaboratedwith him in some research.

• He worked out the Riemann series, the elliptic integrals, hypergeometric series, thefunctional equations of the zeta function, and his own theory of divergent series.








• The number 1729 is known as the Hardy-Ramanujan number after a famous visit byHardy to see Ramanujan at a hospital.

• Hardy observed Ramanujan’s work primarily involved fields less known evenamongst other pure mathematicians.

• Ramanujan’s home state of Tamil Nadu celebrates 22 December as ‘State IT Day’,memorialising both the man and his achievements, as a native of Tamil Nadu.

• The Dev Patel-starrer ‘The Man Who Knew Infinity’ (2015) was a biopic on themathematician.

NATIONAL FARMERS DAY:

Context : This year, Kisan Diwas takes place against the backdrop of intensifying farmers'protests on the borders of the national capital.

Concept :

• The National Famers Days or Kisan Diwas is celebrated every year in India on the23rd of December. 23rd December was chosen to honour the birth anniversary of thefifth Prime Minister of India, Choudhary Charan Singh.

• Born on 23rd December 1902, the former Prime Minister was also known as a KisanLeader and followed the slogan of 2nd Prime Minister of India, Lal BahadurShashtri’s ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’.

• From pre-Independence to the post Independence era, Chaudhary Charan Singhplayed a pivotal role in the Agricultural Sector of India by drafting and enactingvarious bills for farmer’s reforms.

• The day is celebrated to promote awareness among the citizens of the country tounderstand the importance of the contributions of the farmers to the society andoverall economic and social development of a country.

• By celebrating the National Farmers Day, the government also aims to encourage thefarmers across the country by organizing various activities for farmers were thewinners are rewarded with prizes.

UN POPULATION AWARD FOR 2020:

Context: HelpAge India has been presented the UN Population Award for 2020 (institutionalcategory), according to a release issued by UNFPA.

Concept:

• Established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1981, the United NationsPopulation Award recognises contributions in the fields of population andreproductive health.

• The Committee for the United Nations Population Award, which made the selections,is chaired by Ion Jinga, the permanent representative of Romania to the UnitedNations, and is composed of representatives of nine other UN Member States.








• For the first time in the history of the UN Population Award, the honour is beingconferred on an Indian institution.

• HelpAge India, which has been working for ‘the cause and care of disadvantagedolder persons to improve their quality of life’ for over four decades, is the first Indianinstitution to receive this award.

• The last time the Award came to an Indian was 28 years ago, back in 1992, when itwas awarded to Mr. J.R.D. Tata as an individual laureate.

UMANG APP:

Context : India’s digital infrastructure has been a global case study for modernisationand has amazed large tech corporations in private sectors across the globe. Making themmore unified, relevant to each region and taking the services to the last mile is UMANGwhich has been in operation for the last three years.

Concept :

• The UMANG is an acronym for Unified Mobile Application for New-ageGovernance.

• It is an all-in-one single, unified, secure, multi-channel, multi-platform, multi-lingual,multi-service mobile app, powered by a robust back-end platform providing access tohigh impact services of various organizations.

• It was in 2017 to bring major government services on a single mobile app, with alarger goal to make the government accessible on the mobile phone of our citizens.

• About 660 services from 127 departments & 25 states and about 180 utility billpayment services are live and more are in pipeline.

• UMANG user base has crossed 2.1 Crore including Android, iOS, Web and KaiOS.

• Citizens can also access their Digilocker from UMANG and give their feedback afteravailing any service through Rapid Assessment System (RAS) which has beenintegrated with UMANG.

Key features

• Unified Platform: It brings together all government departments and their services ona single platform to provide better and easier services to citizens.

• Mobile-First Strategy: It aligns all government services with the mobile-first strategyto leverage mobile adoption trends.

• Integration with Digital India Services: It provides seamless integration with otherDigital India Services like Aadhaar, DigiLocker, and PayGov. Any new such servicewill automatically be integrated with the platform.

• Uniform Experience: It is designed to enable citizens to discover, download, access,and use all government services easily.








• Secure and Scalable: It supports Aadhaar-based and other authentication mechanismsfor service access. The sensitive profile data is saved in an encrypted format and noone can view this information.

NUTRITION GARDEN:

Context: Nutritional Garden, an initiative of the Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), isexpected to bring in drastic changes in the food habits of many families from Kottoor, anadopted village of KVK.

Concept:

• It is a year-long project under which the institute supplies locally available andindigenous seeds to the families nearby so that they can grow vegetables in theirkitchen garden and ensure uninterrupted supply of vegetables for their householdneeds.

• KVK has also included three anganwadis in the panchayat under the scheme, aimingto ensure nutrition supply to children, adolescents and pregnant women from theregion

• Beneficiary families were offered vermi compost units along with the seeds, theywere able to generate fertilizers from kitchen waste.

• KVK is promoting an integrated farming model for residents and many have startedrearing poultry and goats along with vegetables.

• Apart from seed supply and training, KVK also carries out nutrition intake surveysamong the beneficiary families to review the impact of the garden on their nutritionintake.

• It evaluates the food consumption time of children and adults and assesses thevegetable intake by the family members.

Krishi Vigyan Kendra

• A Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) is an agricultural extension center in India.

• Usually associated with a local agricultural university, these centers serve as theultimate link between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and farmers, andaim to apply agricultural research in a practical, localized setting.

• All KVKs fall under the jurisdiction of one of the 11 Agricultural TechnologyApplication Research Institutes (ATARIs) throughout India.

• KVKs provide several farm support activities like providing technology disseminationto farmers, training, awareness etc.

• To achieve these, KVKs undertake:

Farm advisory service.

Training programme for different categories of people.

Training programme for the extension functionaries.








Front line demonstration.

On farm testing

VISVA BHARATI:

Context : Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore's vision is the essence of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'mission of his government for empowerment of India and the world, Prime Minister said, ashe took forward his outreach to premier educational institutions.

Concept :

Visva-Bharati University

• The university was set up by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in 1921 atSantiniketan, Bolpur in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.

• It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it Visva-Bharati, which means thecommunion of the world with India.

• Until independence, it was a college. Soon after independence, the institution wasgiven the status of a central university in 1951 by an act of the Parliament.

Significance

• Rabindranath Tagore believed in open-air education and had reservations about anyteaching done within four walls.

• This was due to his belief that walls represent the conditioning of the mind.

• Tagore did not have a good opinion about the Western method of educationintroduced by the British in India; on this subject, Tagore and Gandhiji’s opinionmatched.

• So he devised a new system of learning in Visva-Bharati. He allowed students tocontinue their course till the student and his teacher both are satisfied.

• At Visva-Bharati, if a course demanded by a student is not available, then theuniversity will design a course and bring teachers for that course.

• The university would not be bothered by the consideration of whether there is ademand for the course.

BHARATSKILLS PLATFORM:

Context: The Directorate General of Training (DGT) joined hands with Microsoft andNASSCOM Foundation to provide a digital content for ITI students.

Concept:

• Nearly 1,20,000 students in around 3000 ITIs across India can be benefited by thisdigitized e-learning module via the Bharatskills portal.

• The Directorate General of Training (DGT) has launched an online learning platformcalled the Bharatskills in Oct 2019.








• It is a Central Repository for skills providing easy access for the trainees and trainersof the ITI ecosystem, to access updated curriculums and course content of all coursesunder the Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS), Question Banks, mock/practice papers,learning videos, etc., hence enabling anytime, anywhere learning outside theclassrooms.

• This platform also presents a unique access to a centralized, scalable and a thrivingsupport ecosystem through its industrial partners for the students and teachers whocan now learn the newer IR 4.0 skills to meet the demands of the industry.

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SKILLS:

Context : Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship inaugurated the firstbatch of Indian Institute of Skills in Mumbai.

Concept :

• The institute is a joint initiative between Ministry of Skill Development &Entrepreneurship (MSDE), Government of India and Tata Indian Institute of Skills.

• Formal agreement for setting up institute has been signed between MSDE and TATAIIS on 11th November, 2020.

• The first batch at TATA-Indian Institute of Skills will commence training with twocourses in Factory Automation, envisaged to be the foundation for future courses andSmart Manufacturing (Industry 4.0) technology and applications.

WATER QUALITY TESTING INNOVATION CHALLENGE:

Context : The National Jal Jeevan Mission has launched an innovation challenge inpartnership with Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade to develop portabledevices for water testing.

Concept :

• Water quality testing is one of the priority areas under Jal Jeevan Mission, theflagship programme of Union Government.

• The aim of the innovation challenge is to ensure that water sources are tested atvarious locations, at different levels; thereby, helping the policy framers to designprograms which address the water contamination issues.

• Jal Jeevan Mission is under implementation in partnership with the States to enableevery rural home to have tap water connection by 2024.

• The Uniform Drinking Water Quality Protocol, 2019 has specified some importantparameters to be monitored for assuring portability of drinking water as per BIS IS10500:2012 and subsequent amendments.








INCOIS - DIGITAL OCEAN:

Context: Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan launched the‘Digital Ocean’ platform of Indian National Centre for Oceanic Information Services(INCOIS).

Concept:

Digital Ocean Platform

• It will act as a one stop-solution for all data related needs of a wide range of users,including research institutions, operational agencies, strategic users, academiccommunity, maritime industry, and the public.

• It will facilitate an online interactive web-based environment for data integration, 3Dand 4D data visualization, data analysis to assess the evolution of oceanographicfeatures obtained from multiple sources like on site monitoring devices, remotesensing and model data.

INCOIS

• INCOIS is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).

• It is located in Hyderabad & was established in 1999.

• It is a unit of the Earth System Science Organization (ESSO), New Delhi.

• It is mandated to provide the best possible ocean information and advisory services tosociety, industry, government agencies and the scientific community throughsustained ocean observations and constant improvement through systematic andfocused research.

Services Offered by INCOIS

• Potential Fishing Zone Advisory Services

• Ocean and Coastal State Forecast

• Early Warning System for Tsunami and Storm Surges

• Ocean Modelling

• Satellite Coastal and oceanographic Research

• National and Regional Oceanographic Data Centre

• Coastal Geospatial Applications

• Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System

Global Cooperation

• ESSO-INCOIS has a prominent international presence, being a permanent memberof the Indian delegation to IOC(International Oceanographic Commisssion) ofUNESCO








• Founding member of the Indian Ocean Global Ocean Observing System (IOGOOS)and the Partnership for Observing the Oceans (POGO) which is actively engaged incapacity building and international exchange of students and researchers.

• ESSO-INCOIS houses the IOGOOS secretariat and the Sustained Indian OceanBiogeochemistry and Ecosystem Research (SIBER) International Programme Office.

Through the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa andAsia (RIMES), ESSO-INCOIS provides ocean information and forecasts to membercountries.








REPORTS

THE ERICSSON MOBILITY REPORT 2020:

Context: India, which has the highest average monthly mobile data traffic persmartphone, is expected to surpass 350 million 5G subscriptions by 2026, accounting for27% of all mobile subscriptions in the country, according to a report by Swedish telecomequipment maker Ericsson.

Concept:

• As per the ‘The Ericsson Mobility Report 2020,’ four out of every ten mobilesubscriptions in 2026 will be 5G globally with 5G subscriptions forecast to reach 3.5billion.

• In the India region, LTE (long-term evolution technology) subscriptions are forecastto increase from 710 million in 2020 to 820 million in 2026” by which time 3G willbe phased out.

• In India, the reliance of people on mobile networks to stay connected as well as workfrom home during the pandemic has resulted in average traffic per smartphone userrising from 13.5 GB a month in 2019 to 15.7 GB in 2020, the highest globally.

H - INDEX :

Concept :

• The h-index is an author-level metric that measures both the productivity and citationimpact of the publications of a scientist or scholar.

• The h-index correlates with obvious success indicators such as winning the NobelPrize, being accepted for research fellowships and holding positions at topuniversities.

• The index is based on the set of the scientist's most cited papers and the number ofcitations that they have received in other publications.

• The index can also be applied to the productivity and impact of a scholarly journal aswell as a group of scientists, such as a department or university or country.

• The index was suggested in 2005 by Jorge E. Hirsch, a physicist at UC San Diego, asa tool for determining theoretical physicists' relative quality and is sometimes calledthe Hirsch index or Hirsch number.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI):

Context : India ranked 131 among 189 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI)for 2019, slipping two places from the previous year, according to the Human DevelopmentReport (HDR) 2020 released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Concept :








• If the Index were adjusted to assess the planetary pressures caused by each nation’sdevelopment, India would move up eight places in the ranking, according to the report.

• Norway topped the index, followed by Ireland and Switzerland. Hong Kong and Icelandcomplete the top five.

• India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Cambodia, Kenya, and Pakistan wereranked under countries with medium human development with a rank in between 120 and156 among the 189-counties.

• In the BRICS grouping, Russia was 52 in the human development index, Brazil 84,and China 85.

• India’s gross national income (GNI) per capita on the basis of purchasing power parity(PPP), too, fell from $6,829 in 2018 to $6,681 in 2019, it said.

• India’s HDI value for 2019 is 0.645, which put the country in the medium humandevelopment category, positioning it at 131 out of 189 countries and territories.

• Between 1990 and 2019, India’s HDI value increased from 0.429 to 0.645, an increase of50.3%.

• Between 1990 and 2019, India’s life expectancy at birth increased by 11.8 years, meanyears of schooling increased by 3.5 years, and expected years of schooling increased by4.5 years. India’s GNI per capita increased by about 273.9% between 1990 and 2019.

• HDI measures average achievement on three basic aspects of human development, lifeexpectancy, education, and per capita income.

• For the first time, the United Nations Development Programme introduced a newmetric to reflect the impact caused by each country’s per-capita carbon emissionsand its material footprint, which measures the amount of fossil fuels, metals and otherresources used to make the goods and services it consumes.

FOOD PRICE INDEX:

Context: The value of the FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) from the Food and AgricultureOrganization of the United Nations stood at 105 points in November 2020.

Concept:

• The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) is a measure of the monthly change in internationalprices of a basket of food commodities.

• It consists of the average of five commodity group ( vegetable oil ,sugar, cereals,dairy and meat ) price indices weighted by the average export shares of each of thegroups over 2014-2016.

• A feature article published in the June 2020 edition of the Food Outlook presents therevision of the base period for the calculation of the FFPI and the expansion of itsprice coverage, to be introduced from July 2020.

• FAO Food Price Index registered a sharp rise in November to its highest level innearly six years








• The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 105.0 points in November 2020, up 4.0points (3.9 percent) from October and 6.4 points (6.5 percent) higher than its value ayear ago.

• The November increase did not only mark the biggest month-on-month rise since July2012, but it also resulted in the index reaching its highest level since December 2014.

• All sub-indices of the FFPI registered gains in November, with the vegetable oil sub-index rising the most, followed by those of sugar, cereals, dairy and meat.

• The FAO Cereal Price Index averaged 114.4 points in November, up 2.7 points (2.5percent).

HUMAN FREEDOM INDEX:

Context: The Human Freedom Index 2020, a worldwide ranking of civil, economic andpersonal freedom, released recently placed India at the 111th spot out of 162 countries. Indiaranked 94 on the index in 2019.

Concept:

• India’s scored 6.30 out of 10 in personal freedom and 6.56 in economic freedom. Thecountry’s overall human freedom score was 6.43.

• New Zealand, Switzerland and Hong Kong bagged the first three spots.

• The United States and United Kingdom are tied at the 17th spot on the index. War-torn Syria ranked the last on the list.

• The index put China at 129 rank, Bangladesh at 139 and Pakistan at 140.

• The index was published by American think tank Cato Institute and Fraser Institute inCanada. Fred McMahon and Ian Vásquez are the authors of the report.

• It takes into account 76 indicators of personal, civil, and economic freedoms to rank162 countries from 2008 to 2018.

• The institutes noted that the world has seen a notable decline in personal freedomsince 2008.








INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

SAARC :

Context : SAARC can only be fully effective in the absence of “terror and violence”,Prime Minister said in a message to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation onits 36th Charter Day anniversary.

Concept :

• South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established withthe signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985.

• Afghanistan became the newest member of SAARC at the 13th annual summit in2005.

• The Headquarters and Secretariat of the Association are at Kathmandu, Nepal.

Importance of SAARC:

• SAARC comprises 3% of the world’s area, 21% of the world’s population and 3.8%(US$2.9 trillion) of the global economy.

• It is the world’s most densely populated region and one of the most fertile areas.

• SAARC countries have common tradition, dress, food and culture and politicalaspects thereby synergizing their actions.

• All the SAARC countries have common problems and issues like poverty, illiteracy,malnutrition, natural disasters, internal conflicts, industrial and technologicalbackwardness, low GDP and poor socio-economic condition.

ISRAEL MOROCCO DEAL:

Context:Recently, Morocco and Israel have agreed to normalise relations in a deal brokeredby the USA.








Concept:

• It makes Morocco the fourth Arab country, after the UAE, Bahrain (AbrahamAccords) and Sudan, to set aside hostilities with Israel in the past four months.

Highlights of the Deal:

• Morocco will establish full diplomatic relations and resume official contacts withIsrael, reopen their liaison offices in Rabat (capital of Morocco) and Tel Aviv (a cityin Israel) immediately with the intention to open embassies and promote economiccooperation between Israeli and Moroccan companies.

• Morocco intends to facilitate direct flights for Israeli tourists to and from Morocco.

• The USA has changed its longstanding policy and recognised Morocco'ssovereignty over Western Sahara.

• Since 2007, the UN Security Council, of which the USA is a veto-capable permanentmember, has called on Morocco and the Polisario to engage in negotiations withoutpreconditions to reach a “mutually acceptable political solution, which will providefor the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.”

Western Sahara

• Western Sahara is a desert region, a former Spanish colony and was annexed byMorocco in 1975.

• Since then, it has been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute betweenMorocco and its indigenous Saharawi people, led by the pro-independence PolisarioFront.

• Morocco says it has always been part of its territory, while the African Unionrecognises it as an independent state.

• A 16-year-long insurgency ended with an UN-brokered truce in 1991 and the promiseof a referendum on independence, which has yet to take place.

• The USA supported the ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front.

• In November 2020, after a border incident, the Polisario pulled out of that deal andannounced a return to armed struggle.

• The USA’s backing of Morocco's claim to sovereignty over Western Sahara is a bigdeal because it diminishes the hope of a people who have aspired for theindependence of that territory for decades.








NEW DEVELOPMENT BANK:

Context: The government signed a loan agreement worth $1 billion with the NewDevelopment Bank (NDB) to support the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) and India’s rural infrastructure.Concept :

• It is a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India,China and South Africa).

• The New Development Bank was agreed to by BRICS leaders at the 5th BRICS summitheld in Durban, South Africa in 2013.

• It was established in 2014, at the 6th BRICS Summit at Fortaleza, Brazil.

• The bank is set up to foster greater financial and development cooperation among the fiveemerging markets.

• In the Fortaleza Declaration, the leaders stressed that the NDB will strengthencooperation among BRICS and will supplement the efforts of multilateral and regionalfinancial institutions for global development.

• The bank will be headquartered in Shanghai, China.

• Unlike the World Bank, which assigns votes based on capital share, in the NewDevelopment Bank each participant country will be assigned one vote, and none of thecountries will have veto power.

• Roles and functions:

• The New Development Bank will mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainabledevelopment projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries,to supplement existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for globalgrowth and development.








PERMANENT COURT OF ARBITRATION:

Context: Cairn Energy Plc won a major relief on Wednesday as the Permanent Court ofArbitration at The Hague ruled that the Indian government’s retrospective tax demand againstthe global oil and gas major was “inconsistent” with the UK-India bilateral treaty.

Concept:

• The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is an intergovernmental organizationlocated at The Hague in the Netherlands.

• The PCA is not a court in the traditional sense but provides services of an arbitraltribunal to resolve disputes that arise out of international agreements between memberstates, international organizations or private parties.

• The cases span a range of legal issues involving territorial and maritime boundaries,sovereignty, human rights, international investment, and international and regionaltrade.

• It was established in 1899 by the first Hague Peace Conference of 1899 HagueConvention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes. At the second HaguePeace Conference, the earlier Convention was revised by the 1907 Convention for thePacific Settlement of International Disputes.

• The organization is not a United Nations agency. But the PCA is an official UnitedNations Observer.

Membership of the PCA

• Parties to the Convention on the Pacific Settlement of disputes of 1899 (71 memberstates) and 1907 (101 member states) are automatically parties to the PCA.

• As 51 are parties to both conventions, the PCA has 121 member states: 119 membersof the United Nations, as well as Kosovo and Palestine.

• India is a party of the PCA according to the Hague Convention of 1899.








GOVERNMENT SCHEMES

DEENDHAYAL UPADHYAYA - GRAMEEN KAUSHAL YOJANA :

Context: Out of 10.78 lakh, rural youths trained under DDU-GKY over 6.27 lakh (58 percent) have got placement till date. Over 4.50 lakh trained youth are still to get a job in themarket under this scheme run by the Ministry of Rural Development.

Concept :

• The scheme is tasked with the dual objectives of adding diversity to the incomes ofrural poor families and cater to the career aspirations of rural youth. DDU-GKY isuniquely focussed on rural youth between the ages of 15 and 35 years from poorfamilies

• The overall target of the scheme is to train and get placement for 28,82,677 ruralyouth by March 2022.

• It is a placement linked skill development program which allows skilling in a PPPmode and assured placements in regular jobs in an organization not owned by theskilled person.

• DDU-GKY is being undertaken as PPP Project all over the country through ProjectImplementing Agencies (PIAs) registered with the Ministry of Rural Development.

• Further, Guidelines of the scheme mandate State Governments to take up skilltraining projects with Corporate Social Responsibility funding.

• DDU-GKY Guidelines provide for setting apart 15% of the funds of the funds at fornational level beneficiaries from among minority groups.

Beneficiary Eligibility:

• Rural Youth:15 – 35 Yrs

• SC/ST/Women/PVTG/PWD: upto 45 Yrs.

KLI PROJECT :

Context: The Union Cabinet has given its approval for Provision of Submarine OpticalFibre Cable Connectivity between Mainland (Kochi) and Lakshadweep Islands (KLI Project).

Concept:

• The Project envisages provision of a direct communication link through a dedicatedsubmarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) between Kochi and 11 Islands of Lakshadweepviz. Kavaratti, Kalpeni, Agati, Amini, Androth, Minicoy, Bangaram, Bitra, Chetlat,Kiltan & Kadmat.

• The estimated cost of implementation is about Rs. 1072 crore including operationalexpenses for 5 years. The Project would be funded by Universal ServiceObligation Fund.








• The project will vastly improve telecommunication facility in the LakshadweepIslands by providing large bandwidth.

• The project is targeted to be completed by May 2023.

Implementation Strategy:

• Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) has been nominated as Project Execution Agencyand Telecommunications Consultant India Ltd. (TCIL) as the Technical Consultant ofthe Project to assist Universal Service Obligation Fund, Department ofTelecommunications.

• The ownership of the asset under the project will rest with USOF, the funding agency,under DoT.

ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT ROJGAR YOJANA (ABRY):

Context: The Union Cabinet has given its approval for Atmanirbhar BharatRojgarYojana (ABRY) to boost employment in formal sector and incentivize creation of newemployment opportunities during the Covid recovery phase under Atmanirbhar BharatPackage 3.0.

Concept:

Salient features of the Scheme:

• Government of India will provide subsidy for two years in respect of new employeesengaged on or after 1st October, 2020 and upto 30th June, 2021.

• Government of India will pay both 12% employees' contribution and 12% employers'contribution i.e. 24% of wages towards Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) in respectof new employees in establishments employing upto 1000 employees for two years.

• Government of India will pay only employees' share of EPF contribution i.e. 12% ofwages in respect of new employees in establishments employing more than 1000employee for two years.

• An employee drawing monthly wage of less than Rs. 15000/- who was not working inany establishment registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation(EPFO) before 1st October, 2020 and did not have a Universal Account Number orEPF Member account number prior to 1stOctober 2020 will be eligible for the benefit.

• Any EPF member possessing Universal Account Number (UAN) drawing monthlywage of less than Rs. 15000/- who made exit from employment during Covidpandemic from 01.03.2020 to 30.09.2020 and did not join employment in any EPFcovered establishment up to 30.09.2020 will also be eligible to avail benefit.

PM -WANI:

Context: The Union Cabinet has given its approval for the proposal of DoT for settingup of Public Wi-Fi Networks by Public Data Office Aggregators (PDOAs) to provide publicWi-Fi service through Public Data Offices (PDOs) spread across the country.

Concept:








• This Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface will be known as PM-WANI.

• PM-WANI eco-system will be operated by different players as described hereinunder:

• Public Data Office (PDO): It will establish, maintain, and operate only WANIcompliant Wi-Fi Access Points and deliver broadband services to subscribers.

• Public Data Office Aggregator (PDOA): It will be an aggregator of PDOs andperform the functions relating to Authorization and Accounting.

• App Provider: It will develop an App to register users and discover WANI compliantWi-Fi hotspots in the nearby area and display the same within the App for accessingthe internet service.

• Central Registry: It will maintain the details of App Providers, PDOAs, and PDOs.To begin with, the Central Registry will be maintained by C-DoT.

• While no registration would be required for PDOs, PDOAs and App Providers willget themselves registered with DoT through online registration portal(SARALSANCHAR;) of DoT, without paying any registration fee.

• There shall be no license fee for providing Broadband Internet through these publicWi-Fi networks.

• The proposal will promote the growth of Public Wi-Fi Networks in the country and,in turn, will help in proliferation of Broadband Internet, enhancement of income andemployment and empowerment of people.

MPLADS:

Context : At a meeting of the standing committee on MP Local Area Development(MPLAD) funds of the Rajya Sabha headed by Deputy Chairman , members of all partiesunanimously asked the government to release funds for the projects sanctioned in 2018 and2019, which were under way before the funds were suspended due the COVID-19 pandemic.

Concept:

• The MPLADS is a Plan Scheme fully funded by Government of India. The annualMPLADS fund entitlement per MP constituency is Rs. 5 crore.

• MPs are to recommend every year, works costing at least 15 per cent of the MPLADSentitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 percent for areas inhabited by S.T. population.

Works under the scheme:

• Works, developmental in nature, based on locally felt needs and always available forthe use of the public at large, are eligible under the scheme. Preference under thescheme is given to works relating to national priorities, such as provision of drinkingwater, public health, education, sanitation, roads, etc.

Release of Funds:








• Funds are released in the form of grants in-aid directly to the district authorities.

• The funds released under the scheme are non-lapsable.

• The liability of funds not released in a particular year is carried forward to thesubsequent years, subject to eligibility.

Execution of works:

• The MPs have a recommendatory role under the scheme. They recommend theirchoice of works to the concerned district authorities who implement these works byfollowing the established procedures of the concerned state government.

• The district authority is empowered to examine the eligibility of works sanction fundsand select the implementing agencies, prioritise works, supervise overall execution,and monitor the scheme at the ground level.

Recommendation of works:

• The Lok Sabha Members can recommend works in their respective constituencies.

• The elected members of the Rajya Sabha can recommend works anywhere in the statefrom which they are elected.

• Nominated members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may select works forimplementation anywhere in the country.

NPCDCS:

Concept:

• National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, CardiovascularDiseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) was launched in 2010 in 100 districts across 21States, in order to prevent and control the major NCDs.

• The main focus of the programme is on health promotion, early diagnosis,management and referral of cases, besides strengthening the infrastructure andcapacity building.

Main strategies of the programme:

• Health promotion through behavior change with involvement of community, civilsociety, community-based organizations, media etc.

• Outreach Camps are envisaged for opportunistic screening at all levels in the healthcare delivery system from sub-centre and above for early detection of diabetes,hypertension and common cancers.

• Management of chronic Non-Communicable diseases, especially Cancer, Diabetes,CVDs and Stroke through early diagnosis, treatment and follow up through setting upof NCD clinics.

• Build capacity at various levels of health care for prevention, early diagnosis,treatment, IEC/BCC, operational research and rehabilitation.








• Provide support for diagnosis and cost-effective treatment at primary, secondary andtertiary levels of health care.

• Provide support for development of database of NCDs through a robust SurveillanceSystem and to monitor NCD morbidity, mortality and risk factors.

Funding:

• The funds are being provided to States under NCD Flexi-Pool through State PIPs ofrespective States/UTs, with the Centre to State share in ratio of 60:40 (except forNorth-Eastern and Hilly States, where the share is 90:10).

NCDs:

• No communicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, tend to be oflong duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological,environmental and behaviours factors.

• The main types of NCDs are cardiovascular diseases (like heart attacks and stroke),cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseand asthma) and diabetes.

ANAEMIA MUKT BHARAT :

Concept:

• Anaemia Mukt Bharat strategy is focused on benefitting six target beneficiary groups,through six interventions and six institutional mechanisms to achieve the envisagedtarget of anaemia reduction under the POSHAN Abhiyaan.

Key highlights of the strategy

• Provision of supervised biweekly iron-folic acid(IFA) supplementation by the ASHAfor all under-five children

• Weekly IFA supplementation for 5-10 years old children

• Annual/biannual deworming (children and adolescents)

• Point of care testing(POCT) and treatment for in-school adolescents and pregnantwomen using newer technologies

• Establishing institutional mechanisms for advanced research in anaemia

• Addressing non-nutritional causes of anaemia and

• Setting a comprehensive communication strategy including mass/mid media/socialmedia communication material (radio and TV spots, posters, job-aids, interpersonalcommunication material

PRIME MINISTER’S SPECIAL SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME (PMSSS):

Context : Extending support to J&K and Ladakh students, AICTE has decided to releasethe instalment of Rs. 20,000/- as maintenance allowance under Prime Minister’s SpecialScholarship Scheme (PMSSS).








Concept :

• An Expert Group was constituted by the Prime Minister for enhancing employmentopportunity among youths of J&K and Ladakh and formulate job opportunities inpublic and private sectors.

• Subsequently, Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS) is beingimplemented by the All India Council for Technical Education(AICTE), New Delhi.

• The Scheme aims to build the capacities of the youths of J&K and Ladakh byEducating, Enabling and Empowering them to compete in the normal course.

• Under the Scheme, the youths of J&K and Ladakh are supported by way ofscholarship in two parts namely the academic fee and maintenance allowance.

PM- AASHA:

Context : According to the Department of Administrative Reforms and PublicGrievances (DARPG), better bet is the Price Deficiency Payment Scheme, as it is easy toexecute and can cover all crops and farmers.

Concept :

• To correct the policy bias in MSP operations, the Centre introduced PM-AASHA(Pradhan Mantri-Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan) in 2018, as an effort to ensureMSP for all 23 crops.

• The new Umbrella Scheme includes the mechanism of ensuring remunerative pricesto the farmers and is comprised of-

Price Support Scheme (PSS),

Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS)

Pilot of Private Procurement & Stockist Scheme (PPPS).

• The other existing schemes of Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD)for procurement of paddy, wheat and nutri-cereals/coarse grains and of Ministry ofTextile for cotton and jute will be continued for providing MSP to farmers for thesecrops.

Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS)

• Under PDPS it is proposed to cover all oilseeds for which MSP is notified.

• In this direct payment of the difference between the MSP and the selling/modal pricewill be made to pre-registered farmers selling his produce in the notified market yardthrough a transparent auction process.

• All payment will be done directly into registered bank account of the farmer.

• This scheme does not involve any physical procurement of crops as farmers are paidthe difference between the MSP price and Sale/modal price on disposal in notifiedmarket.








PM KISAN:

Context : At the virtual event, which marks the birth anniversary of former PM AtalBihari Vajpayee, PM Modi transferred over Rs 18,000 crore to more than nine crore farmers,the latest tranche of funds under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN)scheme.

Concept :

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi:

• It is implemented as a central sector scheme by the Government of India.

• This scheme was introduced to augment the source of income of many small andmarginal farmers.

• Under the Scheme an amount of Rs.6000/- per year is transferred directly into thebank accounts of the farmers, subject to certain exclusion criteria relating to higherincome status.

• The entire responsibility of identification of beneficiaries rests with the State / UTGovernments.

Ambit:

• The Scheme initially provided income support to all Small and Marginal Farmers’families across the country, holding cultivable land upto 2 hectares. Its ambit waslater expanded w.e.f. 01.06.2019 to cover all farmer families in the countryirrespective of the size of their land holdings.

Exceptions:

• Affluent farmers have been excluded from the scheme such as Income Tax payers inlast assessment year, professionals like Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, CharteredAccountants etc and pensioners pensioners drawing at least Rs.10,000/- per month(excluding MTS/Class IV/Group D employees).

Similar programmes by states:

• Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana- MP.

• The Rythu Bandhu scheme- Telangana.

• Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income augmentation (KALIA)- Odisha.

AYUSHMAN BHARAT PM-JAY SEHAT:

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY SEHAT toextend coverage to all residents of Jammu & Kashmir.

Concept:

• The scheme will provide a financial cover of Rs. 5 lakh per family for in-patient careand surgical procedures.








• Getting free treatment of up to 5 lakh rupees under this scheme would improve theease of living. Right now about 6 lakh families of the state are getting the benefit ofAyushman Bharat Scheme. All 21 lakh families will get the same benefit after theSEHAT scheme.

• Another benefit of this scheme would be that treatment is not limited to governmentand private hospitals in Jammu and Kashmir only. Rather, treatment can be availedfrom thousands of hospitals empanelled under this scheme in the country.

PM Modi flags off 100th run of Kisan Rail in Maharashtra:

Context: The 100th run of the Kisan Rail was flagged off from Sangola in Maharashtra toShalimar in West Bengal virtually. Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Piyush Goyalwere also present at the event.

Concept :

Kisan Rail

• It was announced in the Union Budget 2020-21.

• This train will help in bringing perishable agricultural produce like vegetables andfruits to the market in a short period of time

• The train with frozen containers is expected to build a seamless national cold supplychain for perishables

• This train is a step towards realising the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by 2022(Ashok Dalwai committee on Doubling of Farmers’ Income.)

• Currently, of only a handful of trains plying across the India connecting states likeAndhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Nagpur.

• There are nine Kisan Rail running on nine routes.

ONE DISTRICT ONE PRODUCT SCHEME:

Context : Wine from the Nashik valley has been selected by the Department of Promotionof Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry forits ‘One District, One Product’ scheme.

Concept :

• Under this scheme, Nashik’s Valley Wine, which had earlier received theGeographical Indication (GI) tag, will now come under the PM’s Atmanirbhar Bharatscheme.

Nashik Valley Wine

• Nashik valley wines are specially protected under the patent of the geographicalindicator in India for the region of Nashik district in Maharashtra, India.

• The wine is produced in two types: red and white.








• The district has 29 wineries in operation and consequently Nashik is occasionallyknown by the epithet "The Wine Capital of India".

• The product is protected under the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration &Protection) Act (GI Act) 1999 of the Government of India.

• Under the protection stipulations, at least 80% of the grapes used for making wine areto be grown in the Nashik district, and the wines are to be produced, bottled, andlabelled within the district.

One District One Product

• Firstly , the UP government has launched the One District One Product (ODOP)programme which aims to create product-specific traditional industrial hubs across 75districts of UP.

• This is going to provide an impetus to the traditional industries across respectivedistricts in the state. The Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi hasalso praised the ODOP programme describing it as “An extension of Make in India”.

• Ministry of Commerce and Industry is now working on an institutional mechanism topromote the ODOP scheme across India.

ODOP Objectives

• The objective is to convert each district of the country into an export hub byidentifying products with export potential in the district.

• Preserve and develop local crafts and promote traditional art

• Increase incomes and local employment which will in turn result in decline inmigration for employment

• Improve product quality and develop local skills

• Transform local products in an artistic way through packaging, branding

• Connect production with tourism through live demos and sales outlets for gifts andsouvenirs

• Resolve issues of economic difference and regional imbalance

Financial Assistance under ODOP

• The ODOP programme provides aid in the form of following major schemes:

• Common Facility Centre (CFC) Scheme –Under this scheme, financial assistanceof up to 90% of the project cost of a CFC would be provided by the state government.

• Marketing Development Assistance Scheme – Under this scheme, financialassistance will be provided to participants of national and international fairs/exhibitions for display and sale of their products selected under ODOP programme.








• Finance Assistance Scheme (Margin Money Scheme) – Under this scheme, acertain margin of the project cost will be paid to the applicants in the form of subsidyto setup the project.

• Skill Development Scheme – Under this scheme, skilled artisans will be trainedthrough RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) and will be certified through relevantSector Skill Councils (SSCs) while the unskilled artisans will be provided a 10-daytraining and an advanced toolkit which will be free of cost

PRICE STABILIZATION SCHEME:

Concept:

• The scheme provides for maintaining a strategic buffer of commodities for subsequentcalibrated release to moderate price volatility and discourage hoarding andunscrupulous speculation.

• For building such stock, the scheme promotes direct purchase from farmers/farmers’association at farm gate/Mandi.

• The PSF is utilized for granting interest free advance of working capital to CentralAgencies, State/UT Governments/Agencies to undertake market interventionoperations.

• Apart from domestic procurement from farmers/wholesale mandis, import may alsobe undertaken with support from the Fund.

• Fund will be maintained in a Central Corpus Fund account to be opened by SmallFarmers Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC), which will act as Fund Manager.

Funding

• It is a Central Sector Scheme.

• The States will have to set up a revolving fund to which Centre and State willcontribute equally (50:50).

• The Ratio will be 75:25 in North East states.

Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)

• CACP is an expert body which recommend minimum support prices (MSPs) toGovernment (CCEA) by taking into account cost of production, trends in domesticand international prices.

• It is a statutory panel under the Ministry of Agriculture

• It makes the recommendations for MSPs for 23 kharif and rabi crops.

• Currently, CCEA comprises Chairman, Member Secretary, one Member (Official)and two Members (Non-Official).

• The non-official members are representatives from farming community and usuallyhave active association with farming community.








• Its suggestions are not binding on the government.








DEFENCE

C32-LH2 TANK:

Context: The public sector aerospace manufacturing company, the HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL) delivered the biggest cryogenic propellant tank C32-LH2 to theIndian Space Research Organisation in Bengaluru.

Concept:

• The C32-LH2 tank is a developmental cryogenic propellant tank of aluminium alloydesigned for improving the payload capability of GSLV MK-III launching vehicle ofISRO.

• The tank designed by HAL can load 5755 kg propellant fuel in the 89 cubic metervolume. Even earlier HAL had partnered with ISRO to supply satellite structures forthe PSLV, GSLV Mark II and III launch vehicles.

Cryogenic fuels:

• Cryogenic fuels are fuels that require storage at extremely low temperatures inorder to maintain them in a liquid state.

• These fuels are used in machinery that operates in space because ordinary fuel cannotbe used there due to the very low temperatures often encountered in space, and due toabsence of an environment that supports combustion.

• Cryogenic fuels most often constitute liquefied gases such as liquid hydrogen.

ARMY REFORMS:

Context: The government sanction letter for the creation of a new post of Deputy Chief ofArmy Staff (Strategy) as part of Army headquarters’ reorganisation has been issued, Armysources said on Thursday.

Concept:

• As part of the reorganisation of Army Headquarters, the government has approved thecreation of a new deputy chief of strategy in the headquarters.

• The government has also cleared the creation of the post of Director GeneralInformation Warfare in the headquarters who would be dealing with media affairs too.

• The first officer to assume the new appointment would be the present DirectorGeneral of Military Operations Lt General Paramajit Singh, they said.

• The new office of the third deputy chief in the Army would reduce the burden on thevice chief of the Army as he would have important officers including the in-chargesof military intelligence and military operations under him.

• The new post was envisaged during the Doklam crisis when a need for closer anddirect coordination was felt in the headquarters.








PASSEX:

Context: The Indian Navy (IN) is undertaking a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) withRussian Federation Navy (RuFN) in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region (IOR) from 4 to 5December 2020.

Concept:

• PASSEXs are conducted regularly by IN with units of friendly foreign navies,whilst visiting each other’s ports or during a rendezvous at sea.

• This exercise, being conducted in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region, reflects the stronglong-term strategic relationship between the two countries and particularly, defencecooperation in the maritime domain.

• This exercise is being conducted on the occasion of ‘Navy Day’ of the IN on 4thDecember, which emphasizes the strong bonds of friendship shared between the twofriendly militaries.

• This PASSEX would be another step towards strengthening Indo-Russian defencerelations. The two navies have built a robust relationship through regular exercisessuch as INDRA Navy conducted biennially, with the last edition held in the NorthernIndian Ocean Region from 4 to 5 September 2020.

• The exercise is aimed at enhancing interoperability, improving understanding andimbibing best practices between both the friendly navies, and would involve advancedsurface and anti-submarine warfare exercises, weapon firings, seamanship exercisesand helicopter operations.

THEATRE COMMAND:

Context: Navy has started work to establish maritime theatre command: AdmiralKarambir Singh.

Concept:

• It is a unified command in which the resources of all the services are unified under asingle commander looking at a geographical theatre.

• Meaning, a single military commander, as per the requirements, will have theresources of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force to manage a security threat.

Functions of joint command:

• The commander of a joint command will have the freedom to train and equip hiscommand.

• He will have logistics of all the services at his beckoning.

• However, the three services will retain their independent identities as well.

Joint command at present:

• There are two tri-services commands at the moment.








• The joint command at the moment, the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), isa theatre command, which is headed by the chiefs of the three services in rotation. Itwas created in 2001 after a Group of Ministers had given a report on national securityfollowing the Kargil War.

• The Strategic Forces Command was established in 2006 and is a functional tri-services command.

ADMM – PLUS:

Context : Defence Minister, attended the 14th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plusorganized online at Hanoi, Vietnam on 10 December 2020 that marked the 10th anniversaryof ADMM Plus.

Concept :

• ASEAN Defense Minister’s Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) is the only officialframework of Defense Minister's meetings in the Asia-Pacific Region.

• It is a platform for ASEAN and its eight Dialogue Partners to strengthen security anddefence cooperation for peace, stability, and development in the region.

• The ADMM-Plus comprises the ten ASEAN countries as well as Australia, China,Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

• It was established in 2010.

JOINT VENTURE PROTECTIVE CARBINE (JVPC):

Context : Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) designed 5.56x30mm Protective Carbine has successfully undergone the final phase of User trials on 7thDecember 2020. This has paved the way for induction into the services.

Concept :

• JVPC is a Gas Operated Semi Bull-pup automatic weapon having more than 700 rpmrate of fire.

• The effective range of the carbine is more than 100 m and weighs about 3.0 kg withkey features like high reliability, low recoil, retractable Butt, ergonomic design, singlehand firing capability, and multiple Picatinny rails etc.

• These features make it a very potent weapon for Counter Insurgency /CounterTerrorism operations by security agencies.

• The carbine has been designed as per Indian Army’s GSQR, by Armament Researchand Development Establishment (ARDE), a Pune based laboratory of DRDO.

• The Weapon is manufactured at Small Arms Factory, Kanpur while the Ammunitionis manufactured at ammunition Factory, Kirkee Pune.








INS VIRAAT :

Context: INS Viraat is the second aircraft carrier to be broken in India in the last six years. In2014, INS Vikrant, which played a crucial role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, was dismantled inMumbai.

Concept:

• Viraat a Centaur class aircraft carrier weighing 27,800 tonnes, served in the BritishNavy as HMS Hermes for 25 years.

• Viraat played a major role in Operation Jupiter in 1989 during the Sri LankanPeacekeeping operation. It also saw action during Op Parakram in 2001-2002, postthe terrorist attack on Parliament.

• The indigenous Advance Light Helicopters ‘Dhruv’ and the Russian twin rotorKamov-31 have also operated from the ship.

• It was decommissioned in March 2017, and the Navy had been incurring expendituresince then on its upkeep, such as the provision of electricity and water, and repairs. Itwas also taking up space in the crowded Naval dockyard.

• There had been demands from various quarters to not let Viraat go the way ofVikrant, India’s first carrier that was eventually scrapped.

• In 2014, INS Vikrant, which played a role in the 1971 war with Pakistan was brokendown in Mumbai.

• India is currently doing with only the 44,500-tonne INS Vikramaditya, therefurbished Admiral Gorshkov inducted from Russia in November 2013.

• The trials of the first indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC-I, to be named as INS Vikrant)being built at the Cochin Shipyard have been derailed by the pandemic.

• The government’s approvals for a third carrier, the 65,000-tonne IAC-II (tentativelychristened INS Vishal) has been pending since May 2015.

• India needs aircraft carriers to secure the seas of the Indo-Pacific, to maintain peace,secure trade routes, and provide security to the region.

HIMGIRI:

Context:‘Himgiri’, the first of the three Project 17A ships being built at M/s Garden ReachShipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE), Kolkata was launched.

Concept:

• The ship has taken its name and crest of the second Frigate of the Leander Class ofships, which incidentally was launched 50 years ago in 1970.

• Under the Project 17A program, a total of seven ships, four at Mazagon DockShipbuilders Limited (MDL) and three ships at GRSE are being built with enhancedstealth features, advanced indigenous weapon and sensor fit along with several otherimprovements.








• P17A ships are the first gas turbine propulsion and largest combat platforms ever builtat GRSE.

• P17A ships have been indigenously designed by Directorate of Naval Design (SurfaceShip Design Group) - DND(SSG), and are being built at indigenous yards namelyMDL and GRSE.

DEFENCE ACQUISITION:

Context : The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) in its meeting, held under theChairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh approved proposals to procure equipmentworth Rs 28,000 crore.

Concept :

• This is the first meeting of the DAC under the new regime of Defence AcquisitionProcedure 2020 and these are the first set of Acceptance of Necessity (AoNs)accorded with majority AoNs being accorded in the highest categorization of BuyIndian (IDDM).

• 6 of the 7 proposals, that is, Rs 27,000 Cr out of Rs 28,000 cr for which AoNs weregranted will be sourced from the Indian industry to give a boost to the “Make inIndia” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives of the Government.

• Acquisition proposals approved today include the DRDO designed and developedAirborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) Systems for the Indian Air Force, NextGeneration Offshore Patrol Vessels for the Indian Navy and Modular Bridges for theIndian Army.

DRDO SYSTEMS :

Context: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh handed over three indigenously developedDefence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) systems to Army, Navy and AirForce at a function held in DRDO Bhawan.

Concept:

• BOSS is an all-weather electronic surveillance system successfully designed anddeveloped by Instruments Research & Development Establishment (IRDE),Dehradun.

• The system facilitates monitoring and surveillance by automatically detecting theintrusions in harsh high-altitude sub-zero temperature areas with remote operationcapability.

• The IMSAS is high performance intelligent software system that provide GlobalMaritime Situational Picture, Marine planning tools and Analytical capabilities toIndian Navy. Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR), Bengaluru andIndian Navy has jointly conceptualised and developed the product and the BEL,Bengaluru has implemented it.

• The ASTRA Mk-I is the indigenously developed first Beyond Visual Range (BVR)Missile, which can be launched from Sukhoi-30, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), Mig-








29 and Mig-29K. it was developed by Defence Research & Development Laboratory(DRDL) Hyderabad.

OPERATION VIJAY:

Context: President Ram Nath Kovind became the first President to visit Goa on the state’sLiberation Day as he inaugurated a cultural event to mark the beginning of Goa’s 60th yearof liberation from 451 years of colonial Portuguese rule.

Concept:

• Every year 19th December is celebrated by India as on this day Operation Vijay wascompleted by the Indian Forces liberating Territories of Goa, Daman and Diu and theAnjadiv Island and from the Portuguese rule.

• Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ordered a military intervention for the liberation ofGoa after all the diplomatic talks failed with the Portuguese, thereby launching theOperation Vijay on 17th December 1961.

• Portuguese army was not well prepared to handle the attack of Indian armed forces.

• The operation lasted for two days and was done with minimal bloodshed.

• The Portuguese Governor General Vassalo da Silva was coerced to give up control ofGoa with which Goa finally became independent and a part of India.

• Major-General K. P. Candeth was appointed as the military governor of Goa and keptdirectly under the administration of the President of India.

ADVANCED TOWED ARTILLERY GUN SYSTEM (ATAGS):

Context: User trials of the indigenous Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS)developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) jointly withprivate industry are scheduled to be resumed later this month and the trials will be completedby mid-2021.

Concept:

• The ATAGS is a 155-mm, 52-calibre artillery gun jointly developed by the DRDO inpartnership with Bharat Forge of the Kalyani Group and the Tata Power SED.

• ATAGS has greater than 95% of indigenous content. It set a world record for thelongest unassisted projectile range of 48 kilometres.

Features:

• The gun consists of a barrel, breech mechanism, muzzle brake and recoil mechanismto fire 155 mm calibre ammunition with a firing range of 48 km.

• It has an all-electric drive to ensure reliability and minimum maintenance over a longperiod of time.

• It has advanced features like high mobility, quick deployability, auxiliary powermode, advanced communication system, automatic command and control system withnight capability in direct fire mode.








COASTAL RADAR CHAIN NETWORK:

Context : As part of India’s efforts to further expand the coastal radar chain networkmeant to enable real-time monitoring of the high seas for threats, efforts are in advancedstages to set up coastal radar stations in the Indian Ocean littoral states of Maldives,Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Concept :

• Mauritius, Seychelles and Sri Lanka have already been integrated into the country’scoastal radar chain network. Similar plans are in the pipeline with Maldives andMyanmar and discussions are ongoing with Bangladesh and Thailand.

• Under Phase-I of the coastal radar chain network, 46 coastal radar stations have beenset up across the country’s coastline.

• Under Phase-II of the project, which is currently under way, 38 static radar stationsand four mobile radar stations are being set up by the Coast Guard and is in advancedstage of completion.

Other developments:

• The Indian Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) located inGurugram, which was set up after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, is the nodalagency for maritime data fusion.

• As part of information exchange regarding traffic on the high seas, the Navy has beenauthorised by the government to conclude white shipping agreements with 36countries and three multilateral constructs. So far agreements have been concludedwith 22 countries and one multilateral construct.

• At the Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR)which is meant to promote Maritime Domain Awareness, three more InternationalLiaison Officers (ILO) are expected to join soon. The ILOs from France, Japan andthe U.S. have joined the centre.

F/A-18 SUPER HORNET FIGHTER JETS:

Context: Boeing announced the successful demonstration of the compatibility of its F/A-18Super Hornet fighter jets with the Indian Navy’s aircraft carriers as part of its pitch for theNavy’s fighter procurement.

Concept :

• The demonstrations were held in coordination with U.S. Navy on a shore-basedfacility at the Naval Air Station Patuxent river in Maryland, U.S.

• The demonstrations show that the F-18 Super Hornet would do well with the IndianNavy’s Short Take-off but Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) system and validate earliersimulation studies done over the last two years.








• As a part of Boeing’s proposed “By India, for India” sustainment program, the BlockIII Super Hornets could be serviced in partnership with the Indian Navy as well asIndia and U.S. based partners throughout the life cycle of the aircraft.

Significance:

• The F/A-18 Block III Super Hornet would not only provide superior war-fightingcapability to the Indian Navy but also create opportunities for cooperation in navalaviation between the U.S. and India.

• F/A-18 can also interface with the Navy’s P-8I as a “force multiplier” and also withother platforms under induction.

INS VIKRAMADITYA:

Context: The Navy Chief’s views revived the discussion among the forces on whether Indianeeds a third aircraft carrier – apart from INS Vikramaditya and the under-constructionIndigenous Aircraft Carrier 1 (IAC 1).

Concept:

• INS Vikramaditya is the country’s most powerful aircraft carrier.

• It was built in 1987 and had served the Soviet navy (named as Baku). It was laterrenamed Admiral Gorshkov under the Russian navy.

• The Indian navy purchased the vessel in 2004 and commissioned it in November 2013at Severodvinsk in Russia.

• It can carry over 30 aircraft comprising MiG-29Ks, Kamov-28s, Kamov-31s, ALH-Dhruv and Chetak helicopters.

• It was retrofitted with a Barak missile system under joint development with Israel.

• It is based at its home port at Karwar in Karnataka.

AKASH MISSILE:

Context: The Union Cabinet approved export of the Akash surface-to-air missile to“friendly countries” and constituted a committee, headed by the Defence Minister, for fasterapproval of export of defence platforms.

Concept:

• Akash is an important missile of the country with over 96 per cent indigenisation.

• This is surface to air anti-aircraft missile with a strike range of 25 km andcapability to carry warhead of 60 kilogram.

• It can reach an altitude of 18 km and can be fired from both tracked and wheeledplatforms.

• The missile is guided by a phased array fire control radar called ‘Rajendra’ which istermed as Battery Level Radar (BLR) with a tracking range of about 60 km.








• The Akash missile having a multi target, multi directional, all weather air-defencesystem consisting of surveillance and tracking radars, could take off at a speed ofaround 2.5 Mach and reach a high altitude of 18 kms and as low as 30 meters.

Expert Committee for faster approval

• The export version of Akash, an official statement said, will be different from thesystem currently deployed with the Indian armed forces.

• Besides Akash, there is interest in other major platforms like the coastal surveillancesystem, radars and air platforms.

• To provide faster approvals for export of such platforms, a Committee comprisingRaksha Mantri, External Affairs Minister and National Security Advisor has beencreated.

• This committee, the statement said, would authorise subsequent export of majorindigenous platforms to various countries.

• The committee would also explore available options including the Government-to-Government route.








SOCIAL ISSUES

THARU TRIBALS:

Context : The Uttar Pradesh government has recently embarked upon a scheme to takethe unique culture of its ethnic Tharu tribe across the world.

Concept :

• The community of Tharu people belongs to the Terai lowlands, amid the Shivaliksor lower Himalayas. Most of them are forest dwellers, and some practice agriculture.

• The word tharu is believed to be derived from sthavir, meaning followers ofTheravada Buddhism. Tharus worship Lord Shiva as Mahadev, and call their supremebeing “Narayan”, who they believe is the provider of sunshine, rain, and harvests.

• The Tharus live in both India and Nepal. In the Indian terai, they live mostly inUttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.

• Members of the tribe survive on wheat, corn and vegetables grown close to theirhomes. A majority still lives off the forest.

• They speak various dialects of Tharu, a language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup, andvariants of Hindi, Urdu, and Awadhi. In central Nepal, they speak a variant ofBhojpuri, while in eastern Nepal, they speak a variant of Maithili.

• Tharu women have stronger property rights than is allowed to women inmainstream North Indian Hindu custom.

Scheme by UP government:

• The state government is working to connect Tharu villages in the districts ofBalrampur, Bahraich, Lakhimpur and Pilibhit bordering Nepal, with the home stayscheme of the UP Forest Department.

• The idea is to offer tourists an experience of living in the natural Tharu habitat, intraditional huts made of grass collected mainly from the forests.

GUPKAR DECLARATION:

Context:National Conference chief has announced People's Alliance for GupkarDeclaration 2.0 after an all-party meet at his residence in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

Concept:

• The six parties have jointly stated the Centre’s decision to alter the special status ofJammu and Kashmir is ‘grossly unconstitutional’.

• The parties have unequivocally and unanimously reiterated that there can be nothingabout us without us. This clearly means that the Centre has to take the people ofJammu and Kashmir in confidence before making any changes in the Constitution.








• The parties have stated that the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A is a measure todisempower the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICE:

Context:AIIMS, in a petition before the court, submitted that the nurse's union is a publicutility service as defined in Section 2(n) of the Industrial Disputes Act and their strike is inviolation of Section 22 of the Act.

Concept :

• The Industrial Disputes act, 1947 regulates Indian labour laws. The main objective ofthe act is to secure harmony and peace in the work culture of Indian Industries. Theact applies only to organized sector.

• As per Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Section 2(n) defines public utility service" as--

• any railway service or any transport service for the carriage of passengers or goods byair

• any service in, or in connection with the working of, any major port or dock

• any section of an industrial establishment, on the working of which the safety of theestablishment or the workmen employed therein depends

• any postal, telegraph or telephone service

• any industry which supplies power, light or water to the public

• any system of public conservancy or sanitation

• any industry specified in the First Schedule which the appropriate Government may,if satisfied that public emergency or public interest so requires, by notification in theOfficial Gazette, declare to be a public utility service for the purposes of this Act, forsuch period as may be specified in the notification:

• Provided that the period so specified shall not, in the first instance, exceed six monthsbut may, by a like notification, be extended from time to time, by any period notexceeding six months, at any one time, if in the opinion of the appropriategovernment, public emergency or public interest requires such extension.

SENTINELESE:

Context: Any exploitation of the North Sentinel Island of the Andamans for commercialand strategic gain would spell the death knell for its occupants, the Sentinelese, a mostsecluded, particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) who reside in complete isolation on theisland, the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) has said.

Concept:

• In a policy document, which comes almost two years after American national JohnAllen Chau was allegedly killed by the Sentinelese on the island, the AnSI says the“right of the people to the island is non-negotiable”.








• The Sentinelese, with a population of about 50 to 100 on the North Sentinel Island,are not only among the most isolated of nearly 70 PVTGs across the country, but alsoamong the five in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which include the GreatAndamanese, the Onge, the Jarawa, and the Shompens.

• This is the first detailed policy draft for the Sentinelese island, prepared at the requestof the Andaman and Nicobar Administration.

Sentinelese

• The Sentinelese are a negrito tribe who live on the North Sentinel Island of theAndamans.

• The inhabitants are connected to the Jarawa on the basis of physical, as well aslinguistic similarities. Their numbers are believed to be less than 150 and as low as40.

• Based on carbon dating of kitchen middens by the Anthropological Survey of India,Sentinelese presence was confirmed in the islands to 2,000 years ago.

• Genome studies indicate that the Andaman tribes could have been on the islands even30,000 years ago.

Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI)

• Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) is the apex Indian government organisationinvolved in anthropological studies and field data research for human and culturalaspects.

• Operating under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, it is headquartered inKolkata.

• Anthropological Research in India was founded 1945 in Varanasi and shifted to theIndian Museum at Calcutta in 1948.

PATHALGADI MOVEMENT:

Concept:

Pathalgadi Movement:

• Pathalgadi’ literally means carving a stone — it is an ancient tradition in the tribalcommunities of Jharkhand.

• Adivasis usually erected engraved stones to mark the birth or death of a person.

• The practice took on a new meaning after tribal activists, former IAS officer B.D.Sharma (now deceased) and IPS officer Bandi Oraon, initiated the practice of erectingstones outside villages after the Panchayat (Extension of Scheduled Area) Act cameinto existence in 1996.

• That Act empowered the gram sabhas or panchayats to safeguard and preserve theirtraditions, community spaces and culture, and gave them the right to mandatoryconsultation in land acquisition.








• The two civil servants got stones engraved with the provisions of the PESA Act tospread awareness among the tribals about their rights.

• These green-painted stones are usually 15-feet long and 4-feet wide, and are found infour districts of Jharkhand, including Khunti, the birthplace of Adivasi icon BirsaMunda.

• The stones include excerpts from the PESA Act and the Fifth Schedule of theConstitution of India, which deals with the administration and control of ‘scheduledareas’ as well as of Scheduled Tribes residing in that area.

• The stones signify self-rule by the local gram panchayat, declaring the village assovereign territory and prohibiting the entry of outsiders into the village.

• The supporters of the movement also declare the gram Sabha as the highest authority,and refuse to obey the state and central governments.

• The current movement was against the proposed amendments to the ChotanagpurTenancy (CNT) Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act in Jharkhand whichwere impairing tribal rights over their land.

ZOMI TRIBAL GROUP:

Context: Manipur's Zomi ethnic group has renewed its demand for the creation of ZolandTerritorial Council (ZTC) under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, a self-administeredzone on the lines of the Bodoland Territorial Council in Assam.

Concept:

• The Zou people or Zomi are an indigenous community living along the frontier ofIndia and Burma. They are a sub-group of the Zo people (Mizo-Kuki-Chin).

• In India, they live with and are similar in language and habits to the Paite and theSimte peoples.

• In India, the Zou are officially recognized as one of the thirty-three indigenouspeoples within the state of Manipur, and are one of the Scheduled tribes.

• According to the 2001 Census, the Zou/Jou population in Manipur is around 20,000,less than 3% of the population. The community is concentrated in Churachandpur andChandel districts of Manipur.



















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(DECEMBER 2020) - Optimize IAS