He was born in Naihati, Bengal

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www.civilserviceindia.com

Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently

paid homage to Bankim Chandra

Chattopadhyay on his 183rd birth

anniversary.

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee or Bankim

Chandra Chattopadhyay,(27 June 1838 –

8 April 1894) was an Indian novelist,

poet and journalist.

About:

• He is considered among the

pioneers of the shift in Indian,

especially Bangla, literary

tradition away from the verse

and towards prose.

• He was the composer of Vande

Mataram which has been India's

national song since 1937 and

sung by generations of Indians

to evoke the motherland.

• Vande Mataram originally in

Sanskrit, personifying India as a

mother goddess and inspiring

activists during the Indian

Independence Movement.

• He was born in Naihati, Bengal

on 27 June 1838.

• He went on to become a

significant figure in India's

struggle for independence.

• Bankim has left an indelible

mark on modern nationalism

and modern Hinduism.

• His belief was that there was "no

serious hope of progress in India

except in Hinduism-reformed,

regenerated and purified".

• He got his education at the

Hoogly College and Presidency

College.

• He went on to become one of

the earliest graduates of the

University of Calcutta.

• He served in the Indian Civil

Service and retired as a Deputy

Magistrate in 1891.It was this

work under the Raj that made

him deeply critical of India's

colonial masters.

Literary career:

• Chattopadhyay wrote fourteen

novels and many serious, serio-

comic, satirical, scientific and

critical treatises in Bengali. He is

known as Sahitya Samrat

(Emperor of Literature) in

Bengali.

• The most noteworthy

contribution Bankim made to

the nationalistic imagination

was the political novel

Anandamath.

▪ The book is set against the

backdrop of what is known

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as the 'sanyahi bidhroho'

(rebellion of monks in late

18th century).

▪ The book is considered a call

for the rise of Hindu

nationalism, and portrayed

sanyasis (ascetics) fighting

Muslims soldiers of the

British army.

▪ It was in Anandamath, that

Bankim wrote the poem

'Vande Mataram'.

Vande Mataram was announced as

the National Song by Rajendra

Prasad on January 24, 1950, in

recognition of its role in the

Independence Movement, against

the backdrop of demands that it be

made the national anthem of newly

independent India.

It was accorded equal status to the

National Anthem.

Note: The song remains a popular

evocation to national pride and has

been interpreted and performed by

artistes all throughout.

• He published his first fiction

work, Rajmohan's Wife in

English and it is regarded as the

first Indian novel to be written

in English. The story was an

economic exploration of the

Bengal family and domesticity.

• His first work in Bangla was

Durgeshnandini in 1865, which

is considered the first Bangla

novel.

• He also wrote other famous

novels like like Kapalkundala in

1866 which is considered to be

one of the finest works of Indian

literature, Mrinalini in

1869,,Vishbriksha in 1873,

Chandrashekhar in1877, Rajani

in 1877, Rajsimha in 1881,and

Devi Chaudhurani in 1884.

• He started publishing a monthly

literary magazine Bangadarshan

in April 1872. The magazine

played an important role in

establishing a Bengali identity

and nationalism.

• His last work was Sitaram,

published in 1886.

Fun Fact: Once Sri Ramakrishna

Paramahansa, playing on the meaning

of Bankim (Bent A Little), asked him

what it was that had bent him. Bankim

Chandra jokingly replied that it was the

kick from the Englishman's shoe for he

was a well-known critic of the British

government.

Books and Authors:

Fiercely Female: The Dutee Chand

Story: Journalist Sundeep Mishra’s

book titled ‘Fiercely Female: The Dutee

Chand Story’ the book was released on

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Defence

National

50 New Kendriya

Vidyalaya to be setup

through the country

The Union Cabinet,

22 June on ‘SoftCover’ —ThePrint’s e-

venue to launch select non-fiction

books.

• This book chronicles Chand’s

journey with a detailed narrative

of the gender-identity

controversy that made her an

iconic figure in Indian sport.

• The book was published by

Westland Books.

About the Dutee Chand:

• Dutee Chand, the first openly

homosexual athlete from India,

scripted history in 2019 when

she became the first Indian to

win gold in a 100-metre event at

the World Universiade in

Naples.

• Coming from a small village in

Odisha, Dutee Chand went on to

hold the national record in the

women’s 100 metres.

• She is only the fifth Indian to

participate in the women’s 100

metres at the Olympics when

she qualified for the 2016 Rio

Games.

\\

Border Infrastructure Poject: Raksha

Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh dedicated to

the nation 63 bridges in a virtual

program from Kyungam in Leh district.

Highlights:

Shri Rajnath Singh is an a three-day

visit to Ladakh to review the security

situation on the ground as India and

China prepare for the 12th round of

Corps Commander talks to take

forward the disengagement process in

Eastern Ladakh.

These bridges are built by Boarder

Roads Organization (BRO).

The combined cost of the projects is Rs

240 crores.

Key Details:

Mr. Singh inaugurated a 50-metre-long

bridge constructed on the Leh-Loma

Road in Ladakh.

• This single span steel super

structure bridge replaces an

existing bailey bridge.

• The Leh-Loma Road, which

connects Leh with places such as

Chumathang, Hanley and Tso

Morori Lake, is vital for access to

forward areas in Eastern Ladakh.

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• This will ensure unhindered

movement of heavy weapon

systems including guns, tanks

and other specialized

equipment.

Amongst the rest 62 bridges, he

virtually inaugurated -

• 11 in Ladakh,

• 4 in Jammu & Kashmir,

• 3 in Himachal Pradesh,

• 6 in Uttarakhand,

• 8 in Sikkim,

• 29 in Arunachal Pradesh and

• 1 each in Nagaland and Manipur.

BRO’S Infrastructure Poject:

• With the inauguration of 63

bridges in one go, BRO has

surpassed its own record of 44

bridges launched in 2020.

• These 63 bridges, combined with

12 roads dedicated to the nation

by Rajnath Singh on June 17,

2021, form a bouquet of 75

infrastructure projects

completed by the BRO.

About the Bridges:

• BRO used the latest technologies

in building of these bridges.

• These are Class-70 bridges and

can bear the load of movement

of Tanks and other heavy

vehicles.

• These bridges facilitate strategic

and quicker access not just to

Armed forces but to people

living in the border villages as

well.

About BRO:

• It refers to the Border Roads

Organization.

• In order to ensure coordination

and expeditious execution of

projects, the Government of

India (GoI) set up the Border

Roads Development Board

(BRDB) with the Prime Minister

as Chairman of the Board and

Defence Minister as Deputy

Chairman. The BRO was formed

on 7 May 1960 to secure India's

borders and develop

infrastructure in remote areas of

the north and north-east states

of the country.

• It develops and maintains road

networks in India's border areas

and friendly neighboring

countries.

• It is responsible for the

construction and maintenance

of roads along the borders with

China and Pakistan.

• Officers from the Border Roads

Engineering Service (BRES) and

personnel from the General

Reserve Engineer Force (GREF)

form the parent cadre of the

Border Roads Organisation.

• BRO has been entirely brought

under the Ministry of Defence.

Earlier it received funds from the

Ministry of Road Transport and

Highways.

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• The current Director General of

BRO is Lt. Gen. Rajeev

Chaudhary.

Additional Info:

• Shri Rajnath Singh, on the

development of Ladakh, said a

number of welfare schemes are

being implemented, including

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana,

National Rural Livelihood

Mission, Pradhan Mantri Gram

Sadak Yojana, Pradhan Mantri

Kaushal Vikas Yojana and

Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman

Nidhi.

• He also reaffirmed the

government’s commitment to

start the democratic process in

the region.

INS Tabar: INS Tabar was recently

deployed to participate in joint

exercises with friendly navies in Europe

and Africa.

Highlights:

It will visit a number of ports in Africa

and Europe till the September end,

2021.

It will also participate in a number of

joint exercises with friendly navies.

Key Details:

• The ship will transit across the

Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, Suez

Canal, Mediterranean Sea, North

Sea and Baltic Sea while making

port calls at Djibouti, Egypt,

Italy, France, UK, Russia,

Netherlands, Morocco, and

Arctic Council countries like

Sweden and Norway.

• During port visits, the ship is

scheduled to participate in

bilateral exercises like Ex

Konkan with UK Royal Navy, Ex

Varuna with French Navy and Ex

Indra with Russian Federation

Navy, to strengthen military

relations, develop

interoperability and project

long-range sustenance.

• The deployment will also see

participation by the ship in the

Russian Navy Day celebrations

from July 22 to 27.

Aim:

• These engagements are aimed at

further strengthening maritime

security in the region and

consolidating combined

operations against maritime

threats.

About INS Tabar:

• The Indian Navy's Talwar-class

stealth frigate, INS Tabar, was

built in Russia for the Indian

Navy.

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• The ship, which is one of the

Indian Navy's first stealth

frigates, is outfitted with a

diverse array of weapons and

sensors.

• The ship is part of the Western

Fleet of the Indian Navy, which

is stationed in Mumbai and is

part of the Western Naval

Command.

Indrajaal: Hyderabad-based

technology R&D firm Grene Robotics

has designed and developed India’s first

indigenous drone defence dome called

“Indrajaal”.

Key details about Indrajaal:

• The drone defence dome has the

capability to autonomously

protect an area of 1000-2000 sq

km against the aerial threats by

assessing and acting on aerial

threats such as Unmanned

Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), loitering

munitions, and Low- Radar

Cross Section (RCS) targets.

• The ANTI-UAV systems will not

only provide protection to

defence bases but it will be

beneficial for linear

infrastructures like international

borders against advanced

weaponry.

• The design principles of

Indrajaal are based on delivering

autonomy to the armed forces.

• The synergic combination of 9-

10 modern technologies helmed

by Artificial Intelligence (AI),

cybersecurity and robotics.

• Capable of real-time situational

awareness, Indrajaal comprises

all current weapons suite and

infrastructure along with a

honeycombed cell structure to

provide a seamlessly built over a

combination of 9-10

technologies for 24×7 persistent

monitoring, tracking and action.

Salient Features:

I. Real-time situational awareness

II. Integrated and Intelligent

meshed network

III. Integrated all current weapons

suite and infrastructure

IV. Honeycombed cell structure for

seamlessly built

V. Synergic combination of 9-10

technologies

VI. 24×7 persistent and autonomous

monitoring, action and tracking

Why is modern warfare of the

utmost importance?

• India must embark on

responsive and autonomous

systems to be prepared for

modern warfare rather than

adopting reactive measures.

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• Manual weapons and point

based defense systems cannot

fight modern warfare which are

operated by Artificial

Intelligence (AI) and robotics.

• For the first time in India and

many times, globally rogue

forces have adopted cutting-

edge technologies such as UAVs,

Smart Swarms, etc.

• Jammu Air Base on June 27th

was attacked by such

technologies to drop explosives

next to the Mi-17 hangar.

x

IAF: Air Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari

PVSM AVSM VM recently took over as

the Vice Chief of the Air Staff on 01 Jul

21 while Lt. Gen. Sanjeev Kumar

Sharma assumed office as Deputy Chief

of the Army Staff (Strategy).

He succeeds Air Marshal H.S. Arora,

who retired on 30 June 2021 after over

39 years of service.

About Air Marshal Chaudhari:

• Air Marshal Chaudhari was

commissioned into the fighter

stream of the Air Force on

December 29, 1982, and has a

flying experience of more than

3800 hrs on a wide variety of

fighter and trainer aircraft and

trainer aircraft, including

missions flown during Op-

Meghdoot and Op-Safed Sagar.

• He is an alumnus of the National

Defence Academy and the

Defence Services Staff College,

Wellington.

• Prior to the present

appointment, he was Air Officer

Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-

C) of the Western Air

Command.

Key details:

• Air Marshal Ballabha Radha

Krishna, who was the Director

General (DG) Air Operations,

took over as the new AOC-in-C

of the Western Air Command.

• Air Marshal P.M. Sinha assumed

office as DG Air Operations.

• Air Marshal RJ Duckworth

would be taking charge of the

Central Air Command in

Prayagraj.

• On the occasion, the Air

Marshals were presented the

ceremonial Guard of Honour at

Air Headquarters.

• They also took part in the

wreath laying ceremony at the

National War Memorial.

About IAF:

• IAF is an acronym for the Indian

Air Force of India.

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• It is the air arm of the Indian

Armed Forces.

• It was officially established on 8

October 1932 as an auxiliary air

force of the British Empire

which honoured India's aviation

service during World War II

with the prefix Royal.

• With the government's

transition to a Republic in 1950,

the prefix Royal was removed.

• The present Commander-in-

Chief of IAF is Ram Nath

Kovind. The Chief of Air Staff, an

air chief marshal, is a four-star

officer and is responsible for the

bulk of operational command of

the Air Force.

• The present Chief of the Air Staff

(CAS) is Air Chief Marshal

Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria,

PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC and the

Vice Chief of the Air Staff

(VCAS) is Air Marshal Vivek

Ram Chaudhari PVSM AVSM

VM.

Indian Ocean Naval Symposium

(IONS): The 7th edition of Indian

Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a

biennial event, was recently hosted by

the French Navy at Réunion Island.

Highlights:

• This biennial event which was

conceived by the Indian Navy in

2008 was hosted from 28 June to

01 July 2021.

• From the Indian side, Admiral

Karambir Singh, Chief of the

Naval Staff, Indian Navy,

participated virtually in the

inaugural session of the event.

• He provided his congratulatory

remarks to the Outgoing and

Incoming Chairmen.

Key Details of the Symposium:

During the Symposium, Subject Matter

Expert (SME) presentations were made

by French Institute of International

Relations - Observatoire du Climat,

European Union, Indian Ocean

Commission, IFC Singapore, RMIFC

Madagascar and EU led Critical

Maritime Routes Indian Ocean

(CRIMARIO).

The Symposium also held panel

discussions themed on the three IONS

working Groups - HADR, Maritime

Security and Information Sharing &

Interoperability.

The Naval Maritime Foundation (NMF)

also participated in the Panel

Discussion on HADR.

CoC 2021:

• IONS Conclave of Chiefs (CoC)

is the decision-making body at

the level of Chiefs of Navies,

which meets biennially.

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• The 6th IONS abd CoC was

conducted by the Iran Navy in

april 2018 at Tehran, Iran.

• Due to the Pandemic, the CoC

2021 will be hosted by the

French Navy later this year.

About IONS:

• Indian Ocean Naval Symposium

(IONS) was initiated by the

Indian Navy in 2008.

• The symposium was first held in

2008 with India as host.

• The IONS is a voluntary and

inclusive initiative that brings

together navies of Indian Ocean

Region littoral states of the

Indian Ocean region.

• It provides a forum to increase

maritime security cooperation,

discuss regional maritime issues,

and promote friendly

relationships among the

member states.

• It also serves to develop an

effective response mechanism

and humanitarian assistance and

disaster relief (HADR) against

natural disasters.

• In addition to the symposiums,

numerous other activities like

workshops, essay competitions

and lectures are also held under

the umbrella of the organization.

IONS chairmanship:

• The chairmanship and location

of the Symposium rotates

between the various member

states.

• The chairmanship of IONS has

been held by India (2008-10),

UAE (2010-12), South Africa

(2012-14), Australia (2014-16),

Bangladesh (2016-18) and Islamic

Republic of Iran (2018-21).

• France assumed the

Chairmanship in June 2021 for

two-year tenure.

IONS Members:

IONS include 24 member nations that

touch or lie within the Indian Ocean

Region (IOR), and 8 observer nations.

The members have been geographically

grouped into the following four sub-

regions:

1. South Asian Littorals:

Bangladesh, India, Maldives,

Pakistan, Seychelles, Sri Lanka

and United Kingdom (British

Indian Ocean Territory)

2. West Asian Littorals: Iran,

Oman, Saudi Arabia and United

Arab Emirates

3. East African Littorals: France

(Reunion), Kenya, Mauritius,

Mozambique, South Africa, and

Tanzania.

4. South East Asian and

Australian Littorals: Australia,

Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar,

Singapore, Thailand and Timor-

Leste.

Observers:

The Observers nations are China,

Germany, Italy, Japan, Madagascar, the

Netherlands, Russia and Spain.

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Significance for India:

• IONS fit into India’s three-fold

ambitions in the region:

I. Strengthening and

deepening the relations

with the Indian Ocean

littoral states;

II. Establishing its

leadership potential and

aspirations of being a net-

security provider;

III. Fulfilling India’s vision of

a rules-based and stable

maritime order in the

IOR.

• It will help India to consolidate

its sphere of influence from the

Straits of Malacca to Hormuz.

• IONS can be used to counter-

balance the increasing presence

of China in the region.

------------------------------------------------

------

Agni P: The Defence Research and

Development Organization (DRDO)

has successfully flight-tested a New

Generation Nuclear-Capable Ballistic

Missile Agni P from Dr APJ Abdul

Kalam island off the coast of Odisha.

About Agni-P:

• Agni P is a new generation

advanced variant of the Agni

class of missiles.

• Agni P is a canisters based

missile.

o Canisterisation of missiles

reduces the time required to

launch the missile while

improving its storage and

mobility,

o This means that it can be

launched from rail and road

and stored for a longer

period. It can also be

transported across the length

and breadth of the country.

• The missile weighs 50% less than

Agni III and has new guidance

and a new generation of

propulsion.

• The missile has a range between

1000km to 2000km.

• It has been developed

specifically to strike targets in

Pakistan.

• Its range is too short to reach

targets in the Chinese mainland.

• The Agni-P will replace the

Prithvi, Agni-1 and Agni-2

missiles that were built two

decades ago with technologies

that are now considered

outdated.

About Agni Missiles:

• Agni Missiles trace their origins

back to the Integrated Guided

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Economics

ironment

Missile Development

Programme(IGMDP).

• IGMDP was conceived by APJ.

Abdul Kalam in 1980s to enable

India attain self-sufficiency in

the field of missile technology.

• The missiles developed under

this programme include –

(a) Agni

(b) Akash,

(c) Trishul

(d) Prithvi

(e) Nag.

About DRDO:

• It is an acronym for the Defence

Research and Development

Organisation. DRDO is India's

largest research organisation.

• It was founded in 1958.

• It is headquartered in New

Delhi, India.

• It is an agency under the

Ministry of Defence,

Government of India (GoI).

• It is charged with the military's

research and development.

• It has a network of laboratories

engaged in developing defence

technologies covering various

fields, like aeronautics,

armaments, electronics, land

combat engineering, life

sciences, materials, missiles, and

naval systems.

• The Minister currently

responsible for DRDO is Rajnath

Singh, Minister of Defence.

• The present Chairman of DRDO

is Dr. G. Satheesh Reddy.

Expansion of SMCs Definition : The

Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA)

recently expanded the definition of small

and medium businesses (SMCs) by raising

the turnover and borrowing limits.

Highlights:

• As per the new definition, SMC is

an unlisted company, a bank, an

insurance or a financial institution

with sales up to Rs 250 crore and

borrowings up to Rs 50 crore.

• The earlier threshold for sales was

Rs50 crore and that for borrowings

was Rs10 crore.

• Now, SMCs are permitted to avail

number of exemptions under

Company (Accounting Standards)

Rules 2021. It will reduce

complexity of regulatory filings for

smaller firms.

• The Companies (Accounting

Standards) Rules, 2021, will be

effective 1 April, 2021.

• The accounting standards for SMC,

which were earlier notified in

December 2006 and amended from

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time to time, are much simpler as

compared to Indian Accounting

Standards.

Companies classified as SMCs:

• Banks, insurance companies,

financial institutions, and listed

companies cannot be classified as

SMCs.

• SMC which is a holding company or

subsidiary company of a non-SMC

will not qualify as a SMC.

Exemptions available to SMCs:

• They have been completely

exempted from filing cash flow

statements and providing

segmental break up of their

financial performance.

• They can avail partial reporting

exemptions in areas like reporting

on employee benefits obligations.

For instance, on pensions.

• They are not only exempted from

providing detailed analysis of

benefit obligations to employees

but they are also exempted from

reporting diluted earnings per share

in their filings.

Significance:

• This move will promote ease of

doing business for firms which are

included under definition of SMC.

About Small and medium-sized

enterprises (SMEs):

• SMEs are businesses whose

personnel numbers are kept below

certain limits.

• SMEs sometimes outnumber big

companies by wide margin and

employ more people. For instance,

Australian SMEs accounts for 98%

of all Australian businesses produce

one-third of GDP and employ 4.7

million people.

• SMEs are also responsible for

driving innovation and competition

across different sectors.

Independent Directors: The Securities

and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)

recently overhauled the norms pertaining

to the appointment, removal, and

remuneration of independent directors in

order to curtail the sway of promoters over

them.

The SEBI Board made a number of changes

based on a discussion paper issued in

March 2021.

• Key Details:

• As per the new rules, the

appointment, removal of

independent directors shall be

through a special resolution

approved by shareholders.

• It will require 75% votes in support

instead of 51%, as in the case of an

ordinary resolution.

• The nomination and remuneration

committee (NRC), which selects

candidates for appointment as

independent directors, will be

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required to have two-thirds IDs, as

against the existing requirement of

a majority.

• The NRC will have to disclose and

justify the skill-sets while selecting

a candidate.

• Key managerial personnel and their

relatives or employees of the

promoter group will have to

observe a three-year cooling-off

period before they get appointed as

an independent director.

• SEBI has also tightened rules

related to the resignation of

independent directors.

• The regulator has said the new

framework will come into play from

January 1, 2022.

• SEBI will also initiate discussions

with the Ministry of Corporate

Affairs (MCA) for giving greater

flexibility to companies while

deciding the remuneration for

directors, including IDs.

Other decisions by SEBI:

➢ Minimum investment ticket size for

REITs and InvITs lowered sharply

➢ Fund houses asked to invest more

in their NFOs depending on risk

level

➢ Banks other than scheduled banks

also allowed to act as investment

bankers

➢ Reward for informants raised from

Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore to curb

insider trading

➢ Concept of accredited investors;

new regulation to deepen the debt

market

➢ Rules for Indian fund managers to

act as FPIs streamlined

Who are accredited investors?

• Accredited investors can be

individuals, HUFs, family trusts,

partnership firms, sole

proprietorships, trusts and body

corporate on the basis of financial

parameters.

About SEBI:

• The Securities and Exchange Board

of India (SEBI) is the regulatory

body for securities and commodity

market in India under the

jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance,

Government of India (GoI).

• It was established on 12 April 1988

and given Statutory Powers on 30

January 1992 through the SEBI Act,

1992.

• The Preamble of the Securities and

Exchange Board of India describes

the basic functions of the Securities

and Exchange Board of India.

• The main function of SEBI is to

safeguard the rights and interests of

the investor, reduce malpractices

related to the stock exchange,

establishing a code of conduct and

promoting the healthy functioning

of the stock exchange.

Note: Controller of Capital Issues was

the regulatory authority before SEBI

came into existence; it derived

authority from the Capital Issues

(Control) Act, 1947.

• It is headquartered in Mumbai,

Maharashtra.

• The current Chairman of SEBI is

Ajay Tyagi.

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SBI Foundation Day: State Bank of India

(SBI) which is the oldest commercial bank

in the country is celebrated its 66th year on

1st July 2021.

About SBI:

• SBI is an Indian multinational,

public sector banking and financial

services statutory body.

• It is a government corporation

statutory body headquartered in

Mumbai, Maharashtra.

• It was founded on 1 July 1955.

• The Bank of Madras merged into

the other two presidency banks, the

bank of Calcutta and the bank of

Bombay to form the Imperial Bank

of India which in turn became the

State Bank of India on this day in

1955.

• SBI is ranked as 221st in the Fortune

Global 500 list of the world's

biggest corporations of 2020.

• The current Chairman of SBI is

Dinesh Kumar Khara.

Shopsy: Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-

commerce marketplace recently launched

its new app called ‘Shopsy’ for online

business.

With Shopsy, Flipkart aims to enable over

25 million online entrepreneurs by 2023 as

they reap the benefits of digital commerce.

Key details about Shopsy:

• Shopsy will enable Indians to start

their online businesses without any

investment.

• This app will also help in deepening

e-commerce penetration,

particularly in non-metros.

• Users can register on the Shopsy

app using their phone numbers and

begin their online entrepreneurial

journey.

• Once registered, the users of

Shopsy will be able to share

catalogues of a wide selection of 15

crore products offered by Flipkart

sellers.

• These users can share catalogues

with potential customers via

popular social media and

messaging apps, place orders on

their behalf and earn commissions

on the transactions.

• Commission percentage will vary

based on the category of products

being ordered.

• Products range across fashion,

beauty, mobiles, electronics and

home, with potential customers via

popular social media and

messaging apps.

Objective:

• Shopsy’s objective is to power e-

commerce for communities and

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third-party channels where these

users spend time/trust.

• It also aims to provide digital

commerce consumers access to

products by simplifying process by

interacting with trusted person.

About Flipkart:

• Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce

company with its headquarters in

Bangalore, India and incorporated

in Singapore as a private limited

company.

• It was founded in October 2007.

• This company initially started

online book sales and then

expanded into other product

categories like consumer

electronics, home essentials,

fashion, groceries and lifestyle

products.

• The service competes primarily

with Amazon's Indian subsidiary

and domestic rival Snapdeal

• Flipkart has a dominant position in

apparel segment, supported by its

acquisition of Myntra.

• It also owns PhonePe which is a

mobile payments service based on

Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

• The current CE of Flipcart is Kalyan

Krishnamurthy.

New TDS Rules: A new Tax

Deducted at Source (TDS) rule

has come into effect from July 1,

2021.

The Finance Act 2021 amended

rules relating to tax deducted at

source. The particular provision

to tax non-filers of income tax

returns for two years at higher

rates was introduced in Budget

2021.

Key details:

• Under the new rules, non-

filer of income tax for past

two financial years will be

subjected to higher

taxation.

• Such non-filers will have to

bear higher tax deducted at

source (TDS) and tax

collected at source (TCS) if

such tax deduction

amounted to Rs 50,000 or

more in each of the past

two years.

• Provisions of this section

will be applicable to TDS

deductions on resident

payments including

shareholder dividends and

service payment to vendors

rent.

16


• However, it will not be

applicable on salary, horse

race, trust income,

winnings from lottery or

crossword, and cash

withdrawals.

• A higher rate of TDS is also

not applicable in the case of

a non-resident Indian (NRI)

who does not have any

permanent establishment in

India.

Who will enforce these rules?

• To enforce the rule, the

Central Board of Direct

Taxes (CBDT) has

introduced a utility tool,

known as the Compliance

Check for Section 206AB &

206CCA.

• The toll will ease the

compliance burden of tax

deductions who will be able

to use this functionality to

identify non-filers.

• This functionality is already

functioning on reporting

portal of income tax

department.

What are the benefits of this

utility tool?

• The benefits of using this

tool is that the Tax

deductor would be able to

conduct a single PAN

(permanent account

number) search or bulk

search with the help of

Compliance check tool.

• For a single search,

deductor can get income

tax return filing information

about specific person on

portal.

• This information can be

downloaded in PDF format.

• Tax deductor can also get

bulk search involving

multiple PANs.

• To enable this service, tax

deductors & collectors

would be required to check

functionality of PAN of

vendor from whom TDS is

to be deducted.

About CBTD:

• It is an acronym of the

Central Board of Direct

Taxes. CBDT is a statutory

authority functioning under

the Central Board of

Revenue Act, 1963.

• The officials of the Board in

their ex-officio capacity also

17


function as a Division of the

Ministry dealing with

matters relating to levy and

collection of direct taxes. It

functions as a division of

the Ministry of Finance

under the Department of

Revenue.

• Its functions include

formulation of policies,

dealing with natters relating

to levy and collection of

direct taxes, and

supervision of the

functioning of the entire

Income Tax Department.

• The CBDT is headed by a

chairman and can have six

members. All of these

officers are in the rank of

special secretary.

Sea Snot' outbreak in Turkey:

Turkey’s Sea of Marmara, which

connects the Black Sea to the

Aegean Sea, recently witnessed

the largest outbreak of ‘sea snot’.

Highlights:

• The sludge has also been

spotted in the adjoining

Black and Aegean seas.

• A ‘sea snot’ outbreak was

first recorded in the country

in 2007.

• Back then, it was also

spotted in the Aegean Sea

near Greece.

• The President of Turkey

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has

said that considerable steps

will be taken to solve the

problem and protect the

country’s seas.

Steps taken by Turkey to

contain its spread:

• Turkey has decided to

declare the entire Sea of

Marmara as a protected

area.

• Steps are being taken to

reduce pollution and

improve treatment of waste

water from coastal cities

and ships.

• A disaster management

plan is being prepared.

What is sea snot?

Environment

18


• ‘Sea snot’ is marine

mucilage, which floats up

on the surface of the sea

like a brown phlegm.

• This thick slimy layer of

organic matter looks like a

viscous, brown and foamy

substance.

• It can cause considerable

damage to the marine

ecosystem.

• It is formed when algae are

overloaded with nutrients.

• Overloading of nutrients

happens because of warm

weather caused by global

warming, water pollution,

uncontrolled dumping of

household and industrial

waste into the seas etc.

Impacts and concerns of Sea

Snort:

It has spread through the sea

south of Istanbul and also

blanketed harbours and

shorelines. The impacts and

concerns of sea snot are as

follows:

Livelihoods of Fishermen

Affected:

• The ‘sea snot’ outbreak has

affected the livelihoods of

fishermen.

• The collection of sludge in

their nets is making them

so heavy that they break or

get lost.

• Moreover, the mucilage

coating the strings makes

the nets visible to fish and

keeps them away.

Water-borne Diseases:

• It can also cause an

outbreak of water-borne

diseases such as cholera in

cities like Istanbul.

Threat to the Marine

Ecosystem:

• The most important factor

is that it is posing a severe

threat to the marine

ecosystem of the country.

• It has caused mass deaths

among the fish population,

and also killed other aquatic

organisms such as corals

and sponges.

• If unchecked, this can

collapse to the bottom and

cover the sea floor, causing

major damage to the

marine ecosystem.

19


• Over a period of time, it

could end up poisoning all

aquatic life, including

fishes, crabs, oysters,

mussels and sea stars.

International Day of the

Tropics: The International Day of

the Tropics is observed every year

on 29 June to celebrate

extraordinary diversity of tropics.

The Day also highlighting unique

challenges the Tropical nations

face.

Aim:

• It aims to raise awareness

about specific challenges

faced by tropical regions

across the world, far-

reaching implications of

issues affecting world’s

tropical zone and to

underline important role

that topical countries will

play in achieving

Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs).

Theme of International Day of

the Tropics 2021:

• As per the State of the

Tropics Report 2021, the

theme this year is ‘The

Digital Divide in the

Tropics’.

Significance of International

Day of the Tropics:

• It provides opportunity to

take stock of progress

across tropics, to share

tropical stories and

expertise.

• It also acknowledges

diversity and potential of

tropics region.

History:

• On June 14th, 2016 the UN

General Assembly adopted

a resolution that declared

June 29th as the

International Day of the

Tropics.

• The UN chose the date June

29th to mark the

anniversary of the inaugural

“State of Tropics Report”

(SOTT).

20


• The report was launched in

2014 by Nobel Laureate

Aung San Suu Kyi from

Myanmar (Burma).

About Tropics:

• Tropics are a region of

Earth, defined as area

between tropic of Cancer

(23°27 N) and the tropic of

Capricorn (23°27 S).

• The Tropics account for 36

percent of the Earth’s

landmass.

• It includes the Equator and

parts of North and South

America, Africa, Asia, and

Australia.

Climatic Condition of the

Tropics:

• This region is warm all year

round.

• The temperature in the

Tropics ranges from 77 to

82 degrees F.

• The Tropics get a lot of sun

and only have two seasons

i.e., the wet season and dry

season.

• Some parts of the Tropics,

like the Amazon Basin, get

nearly 9 feet of rain per year

while other areas, such as

the Sahara Desert, get only

2 to 10 centimeters of rain a

year.

• This difference in

precipitation affects which

plants and animals live in

the different parts of the

Tropics.

Important Facts of Tropics:

• The Tropics are home to

approximately 80% of

world’s biodiversity (much

of its language and cultural

diversity).

• It hosts about 95% of

world’s mangrove forests by

area and 99% of mangrove

species.

• Although since 1980, area of

mangrove forest has

decreased in all tropical

regions.

• The Tropics are important

because of the number of

economic exports come

from these regions.

• Also, about 40 percent of

the world’s population lives

within the tropical zone.

Loss of Biodiversity:

• While biodiversity is greater

in the Tropics, the loss of

21


biodiversity is also greater

here than in the rest of the

world.

• This loss of biodiversity is

partly attributed to human

activity, such as:

o Destruction of forests

and marine

ecosystems

o Spread of diseases and

invasive species

o Overexploitation of

industrial fishing

fleets

o Commercial hunters

o Growing impacts of

climate change

• Due to the reasons given

above, many species of

plants and animals in the

Tropics face the loss of their

habitats. They become

vulnerable and endangered.

• Humans too living in the

Tropics face many

challenges as well.

• More people live in slums in

the Tropics than in the rest

of the world.

Heat Dome: Canada and parts of

United States are experiencing

extreme temperatures, due to

which hundreds of people have

died.

Highlights:

• The abnormal heat wave

caused the temperature in

Canada to rise to 49.5

degrees Celsius, an all-time

record.

• According to the weather

experts the heat dome

effect is the cause for the

sudden rise in temperature.

• Apart from the US, cities as

far north as the Arctic

Circle broke heat records

this week.

What is heat dome?

• According to National

Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) of

US department of

commerce, a heat dome

occurs when the

atmosphere traps hot ocean

air like a lid or cap.

• It is created when strong

high-pressure atmospheric

conditions combine with

weather patterns like La

22


Niña, creating vast areas of

sweltering heat that get

trapped under the high-

pressure "dome".

• The phenomenon begins

when there is a strong

change (or gradient) in

ocean temperatures.

• In the process known as

convection, the gradient

causes more warm air,

heated by the ocean surface,

to rise over the ocean

surface.

• As prevailing winds move

the hot air east, the

northern shifts of the jet

stream trap the air and

move it toward land, where

it sinks, resulting in heat

waves.

• A heat dome typically lasts

a week.

Effects of heat domes:

• The trapping of heat can

also damage crops, dry out

vegetation and result in

droughts, according to

weather experts.

• The sweltering heat wave

also leads to rise in energy

demand, especially

electricity, leading to

pushing up rates.

• The heat domes can also act

as fuel to wildfires, which

destroys a lot of land area in

the US every year.

• Those living without an air

conditioner see the

temperatures of their

homes rising to unbearably

high, leading to sudden

fatalities like those which

are being reported in

Canada and parts of the US.

Glacial Lake Atlas: The

Secretary, Department of Water

Resources, River Development

and Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR,

RD & GR) Pankaj Kumar recently

released the Glacial Lake Atlas of

Ganga Basin.

The Atlas was released in a virtual

event, in the presence of

Secretary, Department of Space &

23


Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Sivan,

senior officers of DoWR, RD &

GR, Department of Space, and

National Remote Sensing Centre

(NRSC).

Key Details about Glacial Lake

Atlas:

❖ It is an initiative under

National Hydrology Project

(NHP)a Central Sector

Scheme implemented by

DoWR, RD & GR.

❖ The present glacial lake

atlas is based on the

inventoried glacial lakes in

part of Ganga River basin

from its origin to foothills

of Himalayas covering a

catchment area of 2,47,109

sq. km.

❖ The study portion of Ganga

River basin covers part of

India and transboundary

region.

❖ In the present study, glacial

lakes with water spread area

greater than 0.25 ha have

been mapped using

Resourcesat-2 (RS-2) Linear

Imaging Self Scanning

Sensor-IV (LISS-IV) satellite

data using visual

interpretation techniques.

❖ Based on its process of lake

formation, location, and

type of damming material,

glacial lakes are identified

in nine different types,

majorly grouped into four

categories.

❖ A total of 4,707 glacial lakes

have been mapped in the

Ganga River basin with a

total lake water spread area

of 20,685 ha.

Note: Ganga basin is the

biggest river basin in the

country draining an area of

8,61,452 sq.km.

❖ In total, Ganga has 11 basin

states. They are Uttar

Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,

Rajasthan, Bihar, West

Bengal, Uttarakhand,

Jharkhand, Haryana,

Chhattisgarh, Himachal

Pradesh and Delhi.

❖ The Atlas is available on

Bhuvan portal of NRSC,

ISRO, India WRIS Portal

and National Hydrology

Project (NHP) web site of

DoWR, RD & GR.

Utility of the Atlas:

❖ The atlas provides a

comprehensive and

24


systematic glacial lake

database for Ganga River

basin with size > 0.25 ha

❖ In the context of climate

change impact analysis, the

atlas can be used as

reference data for carrying

out change analysis, both

with respect to historical

and future time periods

❖ The atlas also provides

authentic database for

regular or periodic

monitoring changes in

spatial extent

(expansion/shrinkage), and

formation of new lakes

❖ The atlas can also be used

in conjunction with glacier

information for their retreat

and climate impact studies.

❖ The information on glacial

lakes like their type,

hydrological, topographical,

and associated glaciers are

useful in identifying the

potential critical glacial

lakes and consequent GLOF

risk.

❖ Central and State Disaster

Management Authorities

can make use of the atlas

for disaster mitigation

planning and related

program.

National Remote Sensing

Centre (NRSC), Indian Space

Research Organization (ISRO),

Hyderabad as one of the

Implementing Agency under

the National Hydrology Project

(NHP).They are carrying out

hydrological studies using

satellite data and geospatial

techniques.

Explained: Why Glacial Lakes

and Water Bodies in

Himalayan Region need to be

closely monitored?

About Glaciers:

❖ Glaciers are made of layers

of compressed snow that

move or “flow” due to

gravity and the softness of

ice relative to rock.

❖ A glacier's “tongue” can

extend hundreds of

kilometers from its high-

altitude origins, and the

end, or “snout," can

advance or retreat based on

snow accumulating or

melting.

❖ Glaciers are found on every

continent except Australia

and some are hundreds of

thousands of years old.

25


❖ A large cluster of glaciers

are in the Himalayas

What is a Glacial Lake?

❖ A glacial lake is a body of

water with origins from

glacier activity.

❖ Glacial lakes are common in

the high elevation of

glacierised basin.

❖ They are formed when a

glacial ice or moraines

erodes the land, and then

melts, filling the depression

created by the glacier.

❖ There are varieties of such

lakes, ranging from melt

water ponds on the surface

of glacier to large lakes in

side valleys dammed by a

glacier in the main valley.

❖ These lakes normally drain

their water through seepage

in front of the retreating

glacier.

❖ The moraine creates

topographic depression in

which the melt water is

generally accumulated

leading to formation of

glacial lake.

❖ When this lake is

watertight, melt waters will

accumulate in the basin

until seepage or overflow

limits the lake level.

❖ Such moraine-dammed

lakes appear to be the most

common type of glacial

lakes.

❖ The impoundment of the

melt may sometimes be

unstable, leading to sudden

release of large quantities of

stored water.

❖ Failure of these ice or

moraine dams leading to

disastrous destruction

events has been

documented throughout

the world.

❖ Flash floods caused by the

outburst of glacial lakes,

called as Glacial Lake

Outburst Flood (GLOF), are

well known in Himalaya

where such lakes had often

been formed by landslides.

❖ GLOFs have immense

potential of flooding in

downstream areas, causing

disastrous consequences

due to release of large

volumes of water in very

short interval of time.

❖ Most often, the

consequences arising out of

such situations are highly

unpredictable primarily due

26


to lack of availability of

sufficient data regarding

rainfall intensity, location of

landslide, impounded

volume and area and

physical conditions of

lakes/ water bodies.

❖ Therefore, Glacial Lakes

and Water Bodies in

Himalayan Region need to

be closely monitored.

Geography:

Sardar Sarovar Dam: For the first time in

history, Sardar Sarovar Dam is providing

irrigation water in summer.

Key Details:

• According to the Sardar Sarovar

Narmada Nigam Ltd (SSNNL), as

many as 35 dams and reservoirs,

close to 1,200 check dams and 1000

village tanks have been filled with

Narmada water.

• The dam released about 1.3 Million

Acre Feet (MAF) water for

irrigation between April 1 and May

31 in its command area of 21.29 lakh

hectares.

About Sardar Sarovar Dam:

• Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam is a

terminal dam built on the Narmada

river at Kevadia in Gujarat’s

Narmada district.

• The dam is called the ‘lifeline of

Gujarat’.

• The four Indian states namely

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh,

Maharashtra and Rajasthan receive

water and electricity supply from

the dam.

• According to the 1979 award of the

Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal,

the power benefits from the project

are to be shared in the following

ratio:

o Madhya Pradesh at 57 per

cent,

o Maharashtra at 27 per cent,

and

o Gujarat at 16 per cent.

Background:

• The Sardar Sarovar project was a

vision of the first deputy prime

minister of India, Sardar

Vallabhbhai Patel.

• The foundation stone of the dam

was laid out by Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961.

• However, the construction of the

dam was stopped by the Supreme

Court of India in 1995 over

concerns of displacement of people.

• Then in 2000–2001, the project was

again revived but with a lower

height under directions from SC.

• But its height was later again

increased to 139 metres in 2017.

• The dam was then inaugurated in

2017 by the present Prime Minister

Narendra Modi.

About Narmada River:

• The Narmada River, also called the

Reva and previously also known as

Narbada or anglicized as Nerbudda

is the 5th longest river in India, the

largest west-flowing River and

largest flowing river of Madhya

Pradesh.

27


• This River rises from Narmada

Kund, located at Amarkantak range

of mountains and traverses Madhya

Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat

between Vindhya and Satpura hill

ranges before and falling into Gulf

of Cambay in the Arabian Sea.

• This river is located in Madhya

Pradesh and Gujarat state of India.

Importance of river Narmada in Indian

Culture:

• Narmada is considered the mother

and giver of peace.

• The river basin is home to India's

best teak and hardwood forests.

• The sacred Narmada River, the

lifeline of Central India, is

worshipped as Narmada maiyya

(mother) or Ma Rewa (derived from

“rev” meaning leaping one).

• She is one of the five holy rivers of

India.

• It is the only one which has the

tradition of being circumambulated

from source to sea and back, on a

pilgrimage or yatra.

Additional Info:

About Garudeshwar weir:

• Garudeshwar weir is being

constructed on the river Narmada

near the Statue of Unity.

• Located at Garudeshwar at a

distance of 9 kilometre from Sadhu

bet island and 12 kilometre

downstream from Sardar Sarovar

dam; Garudeshwar weir will

increase visual beauty of both – the

Statue of Unity and the Valley of

Flowers by creating a small

reservoir or lake.

• The total height of the weir will be

31.75 metre.

• Hydro electricity will be produced

through this weir.

• The reservoir formed will also

provide a navigation channel of 7

kilometre for ferry service from the

Shreshtha Bharat Bhawan to the

Statue of Unity.

National Statistics Day:

National Statistics Day is

celebrated on June 29 on the birth

anniversary of late Professor

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis.

Key Points:

• The day is observed to

popularize the use of

Statistics in everyday life.

• This year's National

Statistics Day marks the

128th birth anniversary of

Professor Mahalanobis.

National

28


• The first National Statistics

Day was observed on June

29, 2006.

2021 National Statistics Day

Theme:

• End Hunger, Achieve Food

Security and Improved

Nutrition and Promote

Sustainable Agriculture

(Sustainable Developent

Goal or SDG 2 of the UN) is

the theme of this year's

National Statistics Day.

• Goal 2 seeks "sustainable

solutions to end hunger in

all its forms by 2030 and to

achieve food security."

Events of National Statistics

Day 2021:

• This year, due to COVID-19

pandemic, the main event

of the Statistics Day, 2021 is

being organized through

Video Conferencing/

Webcasting at NITI Aayog,

New Delhi.

• The Chief Guest of the

event is Rao Inderjit Singh,

Hon’ble Union Minister of

State (Independent Charge)

of Ministry of Statistics and

Programme

Implementation (MoSPI)

and Ministry of Planning.

• During the event the Prof.

P.C. Mahalanobis National

Award winner, 2021 will be

felicitated.

• The winners of Prof. P.C.

Mahalanobis National

Award in Official Statistics,

2021 and Prof C. R. Rao

National Award for Young

Statistician, 2021 will also be

announced.

• The winners of the ‘On the

Spot Essay Writing

Competition, 2021’ for Post

Graduate Students on the

subject relevant to statistics

organized at the All India

level will also be felicitated.

History:

• The Government of India

(GoI) decided to celebrate

National Statistics Day on

the outstanding

contribution made by Late

Professor Prasanta Chandra

Mahalanobis in the field of

economic planning and

statistics and therefore

National Statistics Day

mark his birth anniversary.

29


• Notification to this effect

was published in the

Gazette of India on June 05,

2007.

Note: World Statistics Day is

held every five years on

October 20th. The day

celebrates the achievements of

the Fundamental Principles of

Official Statistics.

About PC Mahalanobis:

• PC Mahalanobis is often

referred to as the 'father of

Indian statistics'.

• He was born on June 29,

1893 in Calcutta (now

Kolkata), West Bengal. He

died on 28 June, 1972 in

Calcutta.

• He was a key member of the

first Planning Commission

of independent India.

Awards:

He was honoured with many

prestigious awards by India as

well as foreign countries. They

are:

• Padma Vibhushan (1968)

• Weldon Memorial Prize

from the University of

Oxford (1944)

• Fellow of the Royal Society,

London(1945)

His Contributions:

• The key contribution of PC

Mahalanobis is known as

"Mahalanobis distance'.

• He was the member of the

planning commission (1956-

61) and he gave two-sector

Input-output model for the

Second Five Year Plan

which later became known

as the Nehru-Mahalanobis

model.

• He founded Indian

Statistical Institute (ISI) in

Calcutta on 17 December,

1931.

• A few of his major works

include the introduction of

techniques for conducting

large-scale sample surveys.

• He was a pioneer in

anthropometry studies and

in pilot surveys.

• He is credited with

calculating acreages and

crop yields by using random

sampling methods.

• He had also devised a

statistical method, which

could be used to compare

the socio-economic

30


situation of different groups

of people.

• He was instrumental in

formulating India's strategy

for industrialization.

• He was a pioneer in

applying statistics to

planning for flood control.

About Mahalanobis distance:

• The formula is used to find

the distance between a

point and a distribution.

• It is based on

measurements in multiple

dimensions.

• It is widely used in the field

of cluster analysis and

classification.

What is Statistics?

• Statistics is the discipline

concerning collection,

analysis, organization,

interpretation, and

presentation of data.

Importance of Statistics:

• Statistics is applied to a

scientific, industrial, or

social problem which starts

with studying a statistical

population or statistical

model.

• Statistics helps in

formulating economic plans

and policies. It presents

facts in a precise form.

• It also plays an important

role in health field and

helps conduct social

surveys.

• It is an important part of

Mathematics.

NATRAX – HST: Minister of

Heavy Industries and Public

Enterprises Prakash Javdekar on

29 June 2021 inaugurated The

National Automotive Test Tracks

(NATRAX) - the High-Speed

Track (HST) located in

Pithampur, Indore, Madhya

Pradesh.

• This HST is the longest

such track in Asia and

world's fifth-longest in the

world.

• Speaking at the e-

inauguration of the world-

class 11.3 km High Speed

31


Track, Javdekar termed this

as a proud moment for

India and a key initiative in

realizing Prime Minister

Narendra Modi's vision of

Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

About NATRAX Facility:

• The NATRAX facility

measures 11.3 km in length.

• NATRAX is one of the state-

of-the-art automotive

testing and certification

centre under NATRiP.

• It is a flagship project of the

Ministry of Heavy

Industries, planned under

the Automotive Mission

Plan launched by the

Centre.

• It is located near the vibrant

industrial township of

Pithampur (District Dhar),

which is 50 km from the

commercial capital of

Madhya Pradesh i.e. Indore,

situated on NH-3 By-Pass

Road (Indore– Mumbai).

• The center has been

developed in approx 3,000

acres of land.

Power of NATRAX Centre:

• The NATRAX centre has

multiple test capabilities

like measurements of

maximum speed,

acceleration, constant speed

fuel consumption, emission

tests through real road

driving simulation, high

speed handling and stability

evaluation during

maneuvered such as lane

change, high speed

durability testing, etc. and

is a Centre of excellence for

Vehicle Dynamics.

What is High Speed Track

(HST)?

• The High-Speed Track

(HST) is used for measuring

the maximum speed

capability of high-end cars

like BMW, Mercedes, Audi,

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Tesla

and so forth which cannot

be measured on any of the

Indian test tracks.

Key Highlights of HST:

• The high-speed track has

been developed in an area

of 1000 acres of land.

• It is a one-stop solution for

all sorts of high-speed

32


performance tests for the

widest categories of vehicles

ranging from 2 wheelers to

heavy tractor-trailers.

• It will be used for

measuring the maximum

speed capabilities of high-

end cars and other

categories of vehicles.

• It also includes different

test tracks to aid

automotive and component

testing.

• It is located centrally in

Madhya Pradesh, which

makes it accessible for most

of the major Original

Equipment Manufacturers

(OEMs).

• Foreign Original Equipment

Manufacturers (OEMs) will

be looking at NATRAX HST

for the development of

prototype cars for Indian

conditions.

• At present, foreign OEMs

go to their respective high-

speed track abroad for high-

speed test requirements.

Significance:

• The Union Ministry of

Heavy Industries and Public

Enterprises is committed to

fulfilling Prime Minister’s

dream of ensuring that

India becomes a hub of auto

manufacturing.

• The expansion of the

automobiles and

manufacturing industries

will help generate

employment.

• The promotion of

manufacturing and

automobile industry will

help empowering the

nation at a larger scale.

National Doctors' Day 2021: In

India, Doctor's Day is observed on

1st July by the Indian medical

Association (IMA) to mark the

importance of doctors hold in our

lives. This day is also meant to

commemorate the medical

industry and its advancements.

On the occasion of National

Doctor’s Day, PM Modi

addressed the doctor’s

33


community at a program

organized by the IMA.

Why is National Doctor's Day

celebrated on July 1?

National Doctors’ Day is actually

celebrated on July 1 to mark the

birthday of Dr Bidhan Chandra

Roy, who was a world renowned

physician, freedom fighter, and a

politician who held the post of

chief minister of West Bengal.

History:

• The first National Doctors’

Day was celebrated in the

year 1991 in the honour of

Dr BC Roy’s contributions

to serving humanity and to

the medical field.

• He was born on July 1, 1882,

and incidentally passed

away on the same date in

the year 1962.

• Dr Roy was awarded with

the Bharat Ratna on

February 4, 1961.

• He was instrumental in

establishment of

institutions like

Chittaranjan Cancer

Hospital, Chittaranjan Seva

Sadan, Jadavpur T.B.

Hospital, Victoria

Institution (college), and

Kamala Nehru Memorial

Hospital, among others.

• Apart from his service to

the nation and to the field

of medicine, Dr Roy was

also instrumental in the

establishment of the

Medical Council of India

(MCI) and the Indian

Medical Association (IMA).

More about Dr Bidhan

Chandra Roy:

• Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy was

born in Patna, Bihar.

• He studied at Patna

Collegiate School,

Presidency College Calcutta

and Patna College.

• He did his post-graduation

from St Bartholomew’s

Hospital, London, where his

application was accepted by

the Dean after 30 rejections.

• There he became a member

of the Royal College of

Physicians and a fellow of

the Royal College of

Surgeons. He returned to

India in 1911 and whole-

heartedly devoted himself

to community service and

to the freedom movement.

34


• Dr Roy actively helped

students and freedom

fighters during the struggle

for independence.

• He was also close

confidante and doctor of

Mahatma Gandhi.

• He was also the second

chief minister of West

Bengal.

National Doctors’ Day –

Significance:

• The day is dedicated to all

the doctors and healthcare

workers who have been

serving the people by

risking their lives.

• The day is observed to

recognize their functions

and obligations.

• Pandemic has once again

has become a reminder

about the contributions and

sacrifices made by doctors

and healthcare workers

around the globe.

Additional info:

• Doctor’s day is not just

celebrated in India but also

in different countries but on

different dates.

• In the US it is observed on

March 30,

• In Cuban the day is

observed on December 3.

• For the first time the

Doctor's Day was observed

in March 1933 in the US

state of Georgia and was

celebrated by sending a

card to the physicians and

offering flowers on the

graves of doctors who have

passed away.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Day: GST Day is celebrated on 1st

July every year by the

Government of India (GoI) to

mark the roll-out of the historic

tax reform.

Highlights:

• This year, marks 4th

anniversary of the Goods

and Services Tax (GST).

35


• The date of July 1 was

designated by the central

government as 'GST Day'.

• The main objective behind

the implementation of this

tax is to make a uniform tax

system in the country.

• During these years, several

key policy initiatives were

taken by the government to

make the GST system and

compliance mechanism

simple, transparent and

technology driven.

• This year on GST day, the

Union ministry of finance

will issue certificates of

appreciation to over 54,000

GST payers for timely filing

of returns and a cash

payment of the tax.

History:

• The government decided to

celebrate July 1, 2018, as

'GST Day' to mark the first

anniversary of the new

indirect tax regime.

• GST was launched on the

1st July, 2017 in a majestic

ceremony held in the

Central Hall of Parliament

on the midnight of 30th

June, 2017.

• The celebration of the 1st

GST day included listing the

remarkable successes

achieved that year, followed

by the motto, “One Nation,

One Tax, One Market.”

• The tax implementation

was deemed to be the 2nd

historic moment in India’s

independence despite the

initial hardships.

Significance:

• India’s biggest tax reform is

a perfect example of

cooperative federalism and

its motto of ‘One Nation,

One Tax, One Market’-

binds India into an

Economic Union.

• One Nation, One Tax, One

Market became a reality

one year ago with the stroke

of midnight on 1st July.

• Before implementation of

GST, Indian taxation system

was a mix of central, state

and local area levies.

• GST replaced multi-layered,

complex indirect tax

structure with a simple,

transparent and

technology-driven tax

regime.

36


What is GST?

• The Goods and Services Tax

(GST) is an indirect, multi-

stage, comprehensive tax in

India, imposed on the

supply of goods and

services.

• It is intended to replace

other indirect taxes like

Value Added Tax (VAT).

• The tax came into effect

from 1 July 2017 through the

implementation of the One

Hundred and First

Amendment of the

Constitution of India by the

Indian government. The

GST replaced the existing

multiple taxes levied by the

central and state

governments.

• As per the newly

implemented tax system,

there are 4 different types of

GST:

1. Integrated Goods and

Services Tax (IGST)

2. State Goods and

Services Tax (SGST)

3. Central Goods and

Services Tax (CGST)

4. Union Territory

Goods and Services

Tax (UTGST).

20 key facts related GST:

1. The Goods and Services Tax

(GST) was first implemented in

France.

2. India's GST is based on the

Canadian model.

3. GST in India was made on the

recommendation of Vijay Kelkar

Committee.

4. GST in India was implemented

on July 1, 2017

5. The first state which

implemented the GST was Assam.

6. Amitabh Bachchan has been

made the brand ambassador of

GST.

7. GST has been implemented

under Article 279 of the Indian

constitution.

8. GST Council was formed by the

President of India in September

2016.

9. At present Finance Minister

Nirmala Sitharaman is the

Chairman of the GST Council.

10. At present GST Council has 33

members out of which 2 members

are of centre and 31 members are

37


from 28 state and 3 Union

territories with legislation.

11. GST has been implemented by

the 101st Constitution

Amendment Act, 2016.

12. The GST was the 122nd

constitutional amendment bill to

be introduced in the Parliament

of India.

13. The President of India

approved GST bill on 8th

September 2016.

14. During passing of GST bill in

parliament; 336 votes casted in

the favour of GST bill and 11 votes

were against it.

15. There is a provision of 5 years

imprisonment for those who do

not pay GST.

16. There are 5 rates of taxes in

GST i.e. 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and

28%.

17. GST is an indirect tax in

broader terms it can be said a

federal tax.

18. After the implementation of

GST, sales tax, service tax,

customs duty, excise duty, VAT,

Octroi tax etc. will not exist.

19. The biggest reason behind the

implementation of the GST is to

bring uniformity in the tax system

of the country.

20. After the implementation of

GST, tradition of 'Tax upon Tax'

will be eliminated.

Importance of tax payment:

• Taxes paid by citizens

contribute to their

economic benefit via

services and operations.

• They basically help the

government run the

country as a budget and

source of income.

• This helps to finance public

sector services that indeed

aid the population.

• These include healthcare,

defense, and the legal

administration of the

country.

• In addition, tax payments

help foster social security

and the development of the

economy.

Architecture and education are

also aided by tax funding.

How does GST Help?

38


• GST also helps level the

inequalities in income due

to the progressive structure.

• The income effect is curved

due to the reduced

purchasing power of

taxpayers.

• There is also a substitution

effect imposed between

taxed and untaxed goods.

• GST checks all the

necessities of tax and helps

consolidate all the indirect

taxes under one umbrella

factor.

Tax evasion:

• Tax evasion is the illegal

practice of deliberately

avoiding the payment of

taxes to the government.

• Tax evasion is considered a

criminal offence, and the

entity doing so is liable to

judicial charges and

penalties.

National Chartered

Accountants Day: Institute of

Chartered Accountants of India

(ICAI) celebrates its Foundation

Day each year on July 1 as

'Chartered Accountants' Day' or

'CA Day'.

Highlights:

This year, 2021 is the 73rd

celebration of the day.

It is observed to celebrate and

acknowledge the contribution of

India's most professional and old

finance and accounting body

ICAI.

ICAI is a statutory body

established by an Act of

Parliament, viz. The CA Act, 1949

for regulating the profession of

Chartered Accountancy in India.

History:

• Before ICAI came into

existence, the British

Government in India used

to maintain accounts using

the Companies Act. The

British Government then

launched an accountancy

diploma course for auditors.

• The people who completed

this course became eligible

39


to work as auditors all

across India.

• However, the accountancy

profession remained

unregulated in India until

an expert committee, in

1948, suggested the

formation of an

autonomous body to

regulate the same.

• It was followed by the

passing of Chartered

Accountant Act in 1949.

• The ICAI was established

on 1 July 1949.

Significance:

Chartered Accountants (CA) play

a very important role in

development of our country.

Moreover, the ICAI is the most

professional institute which

regulates the accounting standard

in India.

The organization has over 2.5

lakh members.

The official motto of ICAI is taken

from the Upanishad which reads,

“Ya esha supteshu jagriti”. It

means 'the one who is awake in

those that sleep'.

ICAI:

• It refers to the Institute of

Chartered Accountants of

India.

• ICAI functions under the

administrative control of

the Ministry of Corporate

Affairs, Government of

India (GOI).

• It was established on 1st July

in the year 1949 under an

Act passed in Parliament.

• It is the national

professional accounting

body of India and also the

second biggest accounting

organization in the world.

• It is the sole licensing and

regulatory body for the

financial audit and

accounting profession in

India.

• Its recommendations are

followed by everyone – from

the National Financial

Reporting Authority

(NFRA) to companies and

accounting organizations.

• Its affairs are managed by a

Council as per the

provisions of the Chartered

Accountants Act, 1949 and

the Chartered Accountants

Regulations, 1988.

40


• It is headquartered in New

Delhi.

• The current President of

ICAI Nihar Jambusaria.

NFRA:

• It refers to the National

Financial Reporting

Authority. NFRA was

constituted on 1 October

2018 by the Government of

India under Sub Section (1)

of section 132 of the

Companies Act, 2013.

• The current Chairman of

NFRA is R.Sridharan.

Digital India: The government’s

flagship programme- Digital India

has completed six years on 1 July

2021.

Highlights:

• The vision of Digital India

programme is to transform

India into a digitally

empowered society and

knowledge economy.

• Prime Minister of India

Narendra Modi addressed a

virtual event to mark the

completion of six years of

Digital Indian programme.

• The event also witnessed

the presence of Minister of

Electronics and Information

Technology Ravi Shankar

Prasad.

• The programme is being

organized by the Ministry

of Electronics and

Information Technology.

• The digital India initiative

was launched with a vision

to transform India into a

digitally empowered society

and knowledge economy.

• The programme was started

on 1 July, 2015.

On the occasion, PM Modi

interacted with beneficiaries of

various schemes of Digital India

programme, including Diksha,

eNAM, eSanjeevani solution for

telemedicine, DigiBunai and PM

SVANidhi scheme via video

conference.

Key points of PM's Address:

41


• In his address PM Modi said

that the data and

demographic dividend

combined with India’s

proven tech prowess

presents massive

opportunity for the country,

and this decade will be

‘India’s techade’.

• He highlighted Various

Schemes of Digital India

programme:

o Diksha: It stands for

Digital Infrastructure for

Knowledge Sharing. It

serves as National Digital

Infrastructure for

Teachers. All teachers

across the nation will be

equipped with advanced

digital technology.

o eNAM: It was launched

on 14th April 2016 as a

pan-India electronic

trade portal linking

Agricultural Produce

Market Committees

(APMCs) across the

States.

o eSanjeevani: It is a

telemedicine service

platform of the Ministry

of Health & Family

Welfare.

o DigiBunai: DigiBunai

aids the weavers to

create digital artwork

and translate the saree

design to be loaded to

the looms. DigiBunai™ is

a first of its kind Open

Source software for

Jacquard and dobby

weaving.

o PM SVANidhi scheme:

The Ministry of Housing

and Urban Affairs

(MoHUA) has launched

Pradhan Mantri Street

Vendor's AtmaNirbhar

Nidhi (PM SVANidhi),

for providing affordable

loans to street vendors.

It incentivises digital

transactions by the street

vendors.

• The Digital India journey in

the past 6 years has

centered on empowerment,

inclusion, and digital

transformation. It has

positively impacted all

aspects of the lives of Indian

citizens through Aadhaar,

Direct Benefit Transfer,

Common Services Centres,

DigiLocker and mobile-

based UMANG services.

42


• Through Aadhaar, the

Government has provided

digital identity to 129 crore

residents of the country

with 99 per cent coverage of

adult population.

• The combination of

Jandhan bank Accounts,

mobile phones and digital

identity through Aadhaar is

helping the poor in

receiving the benefits

directly into their bank

accounts.

• Digital solutions also played

a pivotal role during

Covid-19: Contact tracing

app, Aarogya Setu.

What is Digital India?

• Digital India is a Rs 1,13,000-

crore flagship programme

of the Government of India

(GoI) with a vision to

transform India into a

digitally empowered society

and knowledge economy.

• Since the mid-1990s, the e-

governance initiatives in

India took a broader

dimension with an

emphasis on citizen-centric

services.

• Among the major focus of

e-governance was railway

computerization, land

record computerization,

etc, which then slowly

percolated to the states to

include other facets of

governance within the

digital purview.

NHP-Bhuvan Portal: The

Secretary, Department of Space &

Chairman, ISRO, Dr. K. Sivan

recently launched the NHP –

Bhuvan portal of the National

Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC).

About NHP –Bhuvan Portal:

• The National Hydrology

Project or NHP-Bhuvan

Portal is a repository of

information on the

initiatives undertaken by

NRSC under NHP (National

Hydrology Project).

43


International

• The portal also has a facility

to download the reports

and knowledge products

being developed by NRSC.

• National Remote Sensing

Centre (NRSC), Indian

Space Research

Organization (ISRO),

Hyderabad as one of the

Implementing Agency

under the National

Hydrology Project (NHP), is

carrying out hydrological

studies using satellite data

and geospatial techniques.

About National Hydrology

Project (NHP):

NHP is being taken up from

Ministry of Jal Shakti,

Government of India (GoI) with

financial aid from World Bank.

The main objective of the project

is to improve the extent and

accessibility of water resources

information and strengthen

institutional capacity to enable

improved water resources

planning and management across

India.

The mission is to establish an

effective and sound hydrologic

database and Hydrological

Information System (HIS),

together with the development of

consistent and scientifically based

tools and design aids to assist in

the effective water resources

planning and management within

each to the implementing

agencies based on sound

scientific driven framework.

The project comprises four broad

components:

• Improving In Situ

Monitoring System (IMS)

• Improving Spatial

Information System (SIS)

• Promoting Water Resources

Operation and

Management Applications

(WROMA)

• Strengthening Water

Resources Institutions and

Capacity Building (WRICB).

44


GCI 2020: United Nations’

specialized agency for

information and communication

technologies — International

Telecommunication Union (ITU)

has released the Global Cyber

Security Index (GCI) 2020.

About GCI:

• The GCI is a composite

index created, analyzed and

published by the

International

Telecommunication Union

(ITU).

• ITU is a specialized

agency of the United

Nations.

• It measures the

commitment to

cybersecurity of its 194

member countries to raise

cybersecurity awareness.

• The latest report is the

fourth GCI edition by the

ITU.

• The first version of GCI was

launched six years ago.

How does GCI measure

countries’ commitment to

cybersecurity on a global scale?

The development or engagement

of each country is assessed along

five pillars –

(i) Legal measures,

(ii) Technical measures,

(iii) Organizational measures,

(iv) Capacity development, and

(v) Cooperation-

Then it is aggregated into a

composite score.

The countries were asked 82

questions where 20 indicators

were measured.

India's ranking:

• According to a United

Nations report released,

India has jumped 37 places

to 10th position in the

Global Cyber Security Index

(GCI) 2020.

Performance of India and its

neighbours:

45


• India is placed on the 10th

spot.

• In 2018, it was ranked on

the 47th spot.

• It was ranked rank 47 in

2019.

• In the Asia-Pacific region

India secured the 4th spot.

• Neighbours China and

Pakistan were ranked at 33

and 79, respectively.

Global rankings:

• The top rank in the GCI was

achieved by the US with a

score of 100.

• The UK and Saudi Arabia

finished second, tied for

next place with a score of

99.54.

• In the Asia Pacific region,

South Korea and Singapore

are on top with a score of

98.52, which ranks fourth

globally.

• Other countries at the top

of the index include Russia,

the United Arab Emirates

and Malaysia (98.06) at fifth

place, Lithuania at sixth,

Japan at seventh and

Canada, France and India at

the subsequent positions.

• Among other countries,

Turkey (97.49) was ranked

11th, Germany (97.41) at

13th, China (92.53) at 33rd

and Israel (90.93) at 36th

position.

International

Telecommunication Union

(ITU):

• ITU was founded in 1865

and is an integral part of

United Nations 1947.

• It has widest decision-

making scope among

international ICT

organizations with respect

to issues addressed and

types of decisions made.

• Its treaties provide an

international legal

framework for cooperation

between states, private

sector etc.

UNSC High-level Open Debate: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will address the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) High-level Open Debate on Children

46


and armed conflict on 28 June 2021 through video conferencing.

The debate will be chaired by the President of Estonia Ms. Kersti Kaljulaid.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Executive Director of UNICEF Ms. Henrietta Fore will also address the High-Level Open Debate.

Baihetan Hydro Project: The

Government of China officially

recently operationalised the two

units of giant Baihetan

hydropower plant, which is the

world’s second-biggest

hydroelectric dam, to start

generating energy.

Highlights:

The Baihetan Dam is set up on

the Jinsha River, in southwestern

China.

The giant Baihetan hydropower

plant on the upstream branch of

China's Yangtze River began

generating electricity for the first

time.

The project's first two 1-gigawatt

(GW) turbines will start operating

after a three-day trial.

About Baihetan Dam:

❖ Baihetan Dam was built by

the China Three Gorges

Corporation which is the

world’s biggest investor in

hydro, solar and wind

generation.

❖ This three Gorges Dam is

located on the border

between southwestern

provinces of Yunnan and

Sichuan.

❖ It is part of a cascade of

dams on the Jinsha river,

which is the upstream

section of the Yangtze.

❖ The dam is a 289-meter-tall

(948 feet) double-curvature

arch dam.

❖ Total installed capacity of

the project is 16 million

kilowatts.

❖ Hydropower station is

equipped with 16 hydro-

generating units.

❖ Each unit has a capacity of 1

million kilowatts.

❖ This is the largest single-

unit capacity worldwide.

Aim:

47


❖ Through the Baihetan Dam,

the Chinese government

aims to curb surging fossil

fuel demand by building

more hydropower capacity.

Background:

❖ The Dam has been

operationalised in the

backdrop of 100th

anniversary of ruling

Communist Party of China

on 1st July 2021.

❖ The project is part of a

national scheme to generate

electricity and deliver it to

high energy-consuming

regions on the eastern

coast, and is also designed

to strengthen control over

water flows during the

heavy summer flood season.

❖ This project symbolizes the

efficiency of Chinese

Communist Party in

planning and completing

large-scale projects.

About Yangtze River:

❖ Yangtze River is the longest

river in Asia and third-

longest in world.

❖ It is also the longest

worldwide to flow entirely

within one country.

❖ It originates from Jari Hill

in Tanggula Mountains in

Tibetan Plateau and flows

for 6,300 km in east

direction to drain into East

China Sea.

❖ It is considered as sixth-

largest river by discharge

volume in world.

❖ The river drains one-fifth of

China’s land area.

❖ About Jinsha River:

❖ It is the Chinese name for

upper stretches of Yangtze

River.

❖ River flows across Qinghai,

Sichuan, and Yunnan

provinces in western China.

❖ It passes through Tiger

Leaping Gorge.

❖ It is significant in

generating hydroelectric

power. Several worlds’

largest hydroelectric power

stations have been

constructed on Jinsha River.

About China:

❖ China, officially the People's

Republic of China, is a

country in East Asia.

❖ It is governed by the

Communist Party of China.

❖ It is a recognized nuclear

weapons state and has the

48


world's largest standing

army, the People's

Liberation Army, and the

second-largest defense

budget.

❖ The capital of China is

Beijing.

❖ The currency used here is

Yuan (CNY) and Renminbi

(RMB).

❖ The yuan is the unit of

account of the country's

economic and financial

system while Renminbi is

the official currency of

China where it acts as a

medium of exchange.

❖ The current President of

china is Xi Jinping.

International Day of

Parliamentarism: International

Day of Parliamentarism is

observed globally on 30 June

every year.

Highlights:

❖ It marks day of

establishment of Inter-

Parliamentary Union (IPU),

the global organization of

parliaments in 1889.

❖ The year 2021 is the 132nd

anniversary of IPU.

❖ The year 2021 marks the 4th

edition of the day.

Significance:

❖ The Day celebrates

parliaments and ways

during which parliamentary

systems of government

improve the everyday lives

of individuals throughout

the world.

❖ It is also a chance for

parliaments to spot

challenges and stock ways

to deal with them

effectively.

History:

❖ It was established by United

Nations General Assembly

in 2018 by adopting n its

resolution A/RES/72/278.

The day seeks to unite all

parliamentarians of the

world.

❖ The first International Day

of Parliamentarism was

celebrated in 2018.

49


Importance of Parliament:

❖ Parliaments play a vital role

in National plans and

strategies.

❖ It ensures greater

transparency and

accountability at both

national as well as global

level.

❖ Strong parliaments are a

cornerstone of democracy

as they represent voice of

people, allocate funds to

implement laws and

policies, pass laws and hold

governments accountable

to people.

About IPU:

❖ IPU is an acronym for Inter-

Parliamentary Union.

❖ The IPU is an international

organization of national

parliaments.

❖ It connects national

parliaments in order to

promote greater

accountability,

transparency and

participation at global level.

❖ Its founders were statesmen

Frédéric Passy of France

and William Randal Cremer

of the United Kingdom,

who sought to create the

first permanent forum for

political multilateral

negotiations.

❖ It is headquartered in

Geneva, Switzerland.

❖ The current President of

IPU is Gabriela Cuevas

Barron.

❖ The current Secretary-

General is Martin

Chungong.

About Parliaments:

❖ The Parliament is a national

assembly of elected

representatives.

❖ Every nation in world has

some form of representative

government be it

Presidential form or

Parliamentary form.

❖ A parliamentary system is

of two categories:

1. Bicameral-with two

chambers of

parliament

2. Unicameral-with one

chamber

❖ Out of 193 countries, 79 are

bicameral and 114 are

unicameral, which makes a

total of 272 chambers of

parliament with more than

50


46,000 members of

parliament.

❖ Althingi, the Icelandic

Parliament, founded in 930

is World’s oldest

parliament.

Indian Parliament:

❖ India's federal legislative

branch consists of the

President, the Rajya Sabha

(Council of States) as the

upper house, and the Lok

Sabha (House of the

People) as the lower house.

❖ The House of People and

the Council of States

constitute India's bicameral

Parliament.

Bill to remove Confederate

statues from Capitol: The

Democratic-controlled U.S.

House of Representatives recently

passed a bill to remove statues

honoring those who upheld

slavery or backed the Confederacy

from the Capitol building, which

displays statues selected by all 50

states.

Highlights:

The bill was passed by a vote of

285 to 120.

Every Democrat present and 67

Republicans voted for it.

The bill heads to the Senate for

consideration, where it would

need 10 Republican senators to

join every Democrat to pass the

upper chamber.

Key Points:

❖ The bill will remove a bust

of the former Supreme

Court chief justice who

wrote the 1857 Dred Scott

decision that denied

enslaved people the right to

be citizens.

❖ House Majority Leader

Steny Hoyer, said on the

House floor before the vote

that it’s time to remove

those symbols of slavery,

segregation and sedition

from these halls.

51


Trump-era Rules: President Joe

Biden recently signed three

separate bills on June 30, 2021 that

dismantle part of Donald Trump

era.

Key Details:

These signed bills -

1. Block payday lenders

from avoiding caps on

interest rates,

2. Restrict climate-

warming greenhouse

gas emissions from oil

& gas drilling

3. End rules on how

Equal Employment

Opportunity

Commission (EEOC)

settles claims.

Each of these rules reflects a

return to common sense and a

commitment to the common

good.

The three bills passed by House

and Senate through

Congressional Review Act allow

Congress to overturn certain

regulations that were in place for

a short time.

Background:

❖ Under former President

Donald Trump, the Office

of the Comptroller of the

Currency had enabled

payday lenders to charge

interest rates in excess of

what was allowed by the

state.

❖ Payday lenders were able to

partner with a nationally

chartered bank to make

high-cost loans and avoid

state usury laws.

❖ The Trump administration

also loosened rules on

methane emissions from

leaks and flares in oil and

gas wells.

About EEOC:

❖ EEOC refers to U.S. Equal

Employment Opportunity

Commission.

❖ EEOC is a federal agency,

established through Civil

Rights Act of 1964.

❖ It was established to

administer and enforce civil

52


rights laws against

workplace discrimination.

❖ It investigates

discrimination complaints

on the basis of race, color,

national origin, sex, age,

religion, disability, gender

identity, sexual orientation,

genetic information etc.

❖ It also mediates and settles

discrimination complaints

prior to their investigation.

❖ It has been empowered to

file civil discrimination suits

against employers on behalf

of alleged victims. It can

also adjudicate claims of

discrimination against

federal agencies.

About USA:

❖ The United States of

America (USA), commonly

known as the United States

(U.S. or US) or America, is a

country consisting of 50

states, a federal district, five

major self-governing

territories, and various

possessions.

❖ The 50 states covers a vast

swath of North America,

with Alaska in the

northwest and Hawaii

extending the nation’s

presence into the Pacific

Ocean.

❖ The currency used in USA is

United States dollar - USD

also abbreviated US$.

❖ The capital of US is

Washington, D.C.

❖ The current President of US

is Joe Biden

Canada Day: Canada Day is the

national day of Canada which is

celebrated on 1 July every year.

Highlights:

• It is a federal statutory

holiday that celebrates the

anniversary of the Canadian

Confederation.

• Canada Day was previously

known as Dominion Day in

honour of the British

Empire's Dominion of

Canada.

• Gradually Canada gained

political control and

governance over its own

53


affairs and gradually

became independent.

• Since then, Canada Day is

observed every year on 1

July to pay tribute to the

people involved in the

independence struggle; to

remember and celebrate

Canada’s independence.

History of Canada Day:

• Although Canada was

formally established on July

1, 1867, it did not achieve

total independence from

British authority until 1982.

• The British North America

Act was signed on July 1,

1867, uniting Ontario,

Quebec, New Brunswick,

and Nova Scotia into a

single Dominion within the

British Empire called

Canada.

• The passing of this Act gave

the people of the country

power to control the

Canadian Constitution and

became a national

milestone in the way of the

country’s independence.

• Later, with the

constitutional changes,

Canada gained more

political control and

governance over its own

affairs, such as national

defence, foreign affairs and

more.

About Canada:

• Canada is a country in

North America.

• It is the second largest

country in the world in area

(after Russia), occupying

roughly the northern two-

fifths of the continent of

North America.

• Its southern and western

border with the United

States, stretching 8,891

kilometres (5,525 mi), is the

world's longest bi-national

land border.

• Canada's capital is Ottawa.

• The currency used here is

Canadian Dollar.

• The current Prime Minister

of Canada is Justin Trudeau.

India Polity

54


Enforcing Contracts Portal: The

Department of Justice has recently

launched ‘Enforcing Contracts Portal.’

This web portal, launched on 29 June 2021

seeks to be a source of comprehensive

information on legislative and policy

reforms being undertaken on the

“Enforcing Contracts” regime for Ease of

Doing Business in India.

Key Details:

• Justice department launched this

portal with an aim of promoting

ease of doing business and

improving ‘Contract Enforcement

Regime’ across India.

• The portal will provide easy access

to latest information on

commercial cases in Dedicated

Commercial Courts of Delhi,

Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

• It will also provide access to a

repository of commercial laws.

• The portal is envisioned to be a

comprehensive source of

information pertaining to the

legislative and policy reforms being

undertaken on the Enforcing

Contracts parameters.

• Legislative and policy reforms

undertaken to strengthen Enforcing

Contracts regime for Ease of Doing

Business is being monitored by

Department of Justice under

Ministry of Law & Justice.

• Dedicated Commercial Courts have

been set up for speedy resolution of

commercial disputes and boast of

dedicated infrastructure & exclusive

judicial human power.

• The new portal also hosts online

reporting by all high courts

regarding the Mediation and

Arbitration centres annexed to the

Commercial Courts in order to

monitor and promote institutional

mediation and arbitration by way of

Pre-institution Mediation and

Settlement (PIMS) of commercial

cases.

Note: PIMS has been introduced with

the aim of reducing pendency of cases

and to promote mediation as a viable

dispute resolution alternative in

commercial cases.

• Information on commercial court

and related services can be easily

accessed by portal using several

features like-

I. Details or links of Dedicated

Commercial Courts in

Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and

Bengaluru

II. Instructive videos related to

e-filing

III. Advocate registration

IV. Manuals on using Electronic

Case Management Tools

(ECMTs) like “JustIS app for

judicial officers”

V. e-Courts services app for

use by lawyers

VI. Repository of all related

commercial laws for ready

reference.

55


About Enforcing Contracts:

• The Enforcing Contracts is an

essential area that measures time

and cost to resolve a standardized

commercial dispute as well as a

series of good practices in the

judiciary.

Parliamentary Privileges: Congress

leader Jairam Ramesh, who chairs the

Parliamentary Standing Committee on

science and technology, recently moved a

privilege motion against news channel

Times Now.

Key Highlights:

• He passed the privilage motion for

“falsified and mischievous”

reporting of the proceedings of the

panel’s meeting by news channel

Times Now.

• Mr. Ramesh, in a letter to Rajya

Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah

Naidu, wrote that the agenda of the

meeting was on “Vaccine

Development for COVID-19” and

“Genetic sequencing of coronavirus

and its variants”.

• But, the channel falsely reported

that the proceedings involved a

discussion on the ‘PM CARES fund’

and that this resulted in ‘high

drama’.

• Thus, this was patently false, and

no such discussion or events ever

took place.

What are Parliamentary Privileges?

• Parliamentary Privileges are certain

rights and immunities enjoyed by

members of Parliament,

individually and collectively, so that

they can “effectively discharge their

functions”.

• Article 105 of the Constitution

expressly mentions two privileges,

that is, freedom of speech in

Parliament and right of publication

of its proceedings.

• Apart from the privileges as

specified in the Constitution, the

Code of Civil Procedure, 1908,

provides for freedom from arrest

and detention of members under

civil process during the

continuance of the meeting of the

House or of a committee thereof

and forty days before its

commencement and forty days

after its conclusion.

Breach of privilege:

When any of the above mentioned rights

and immunities are disregarded, the

offence is called a breach of privilege and is

punishable under law of Parliament.

Then, a notice is moved in the form of a

motion by any member of either House

against those being held guilty of breach of

privilege.

What is the role of the speaker under

such circumstances?

• The Speaker/RS chairperson is the

first level of scrutiny of a privilege

motion.

• The Speaker/Chair can decide on

the privilege motion himself or

herself or refer it to the privileges

committee of Parliament.

56


• If the Speaker/Chair gives consent

under relevant rules, the member

concerned is given an opportunity

to make a short statement.

Applicability:

• The Constitution also extends the

parliamentary privileges to those

persons who are entitled to speak

and take part in the proceedings of

a House of Parliament or any of its

committees.

• These include the Attorney General

of India.

• However, the parliamentary

privileges do not extend to the

President who is also an integral

part of the Parliament. Article 361

of the Constitution provides for

privileges for the President.

Suresh N Patel: The incumbent Vigilance

Commissioner, Suresh N Patel has recently

been appointed as the acting Central

Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) of India in

the Central Vigilance Commission with

effect.

Key Points:

• He has been appointed in place of

Sanjay Kothari, who completed his

term on June 23, 2021.

• He will remain on the post until the

appointment of the new Central

Vigilance Commissioner.

• The Central Vigilance Commission

is headed by the CVC and can have

a maximum of two vigilance

commissioners.

• Currently, Mr Patel is the only VC

in the commission.

• The Personnel Ministry has invited

applications for the posts of CVC

and a vigilance commissioner.

About CVC:

Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an

apex Indian governmental body.

CVC was set up by the Government in

February, 1964 on the recommendations of

the Committee on Prevention of

Corruption, headed by Shri K. Santhanam,

to advise and guide Central Government

agencies in the field of vigilance.

It has the status of an autonomous body,

free of control from any executive

authority, charged with monitoring all

vigilance activity under the Central

Government of India, advising various

authorities in central Government

organizations in planning, executing,

reviewing and reforming their vigilance

work.

Consequent upon promulgation of an

Ordinance by the President, the CVC has

been made a multi member Commission

with "statutory status" with effect from

25th August,1998.

Present status of the CVC:

• The CVC Bill was passed by both

the houses of Parliament in 2003

and the President gave its assent on

57


September 11, 2003. Thus the

Central Vigilance Commission Act

2003 (No45 0f 2003) came into

effect from that date.

• The Annual Report of the CVC not

only gives the details of the work

done by it but also brings out the

system failures which lead to

corruption in various

Departments/Organizations,

system improvements; various

preventive measures and cases in

which the commission's advises

were ignored etc.

Members:

The Commission shall consist of:

• A Central Vigilance Commissioner -

Chairperson;

• Not more than two Vigilance

Commissioners - Members;

Pushkar Singh Dhami: Pushkar Singh

Dhami, a two-term MLA from Khatima in

Udham Singh Nagar district, has become

the new Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

He took oath as Chief Minister of

Uttarakhand in Dehradun on 4 July 2021.

He replaced Tirath Singh Rawat.

45-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami has

become the youngest CM of Uttharakhand.

Key Points:

• The Legislative Party meet took

place at the State Headquarters in

Dehradun to elect the new

Uttarkhand Chief Minister in the

presence of Union Minister

Narendra Singh Tomar and other

BJP leaders.

• He was elected by the State

legislature party as its leader on 3rd

July 2021, following the resignation

of Tirath Singh Rawat.

• Mr. Rawat had submitted his

resignation to Governor Baby Rani

Maurya on 2nd July 2021.

• He had quit citing constitutional

reasons, of not seeing his way clear

to getting elected as a member of

the Assembly in Uttarakhand

within the stipulated six month

period.

• However, he continues to be a Lok

Sabha MP from the State.

About Pushkar Singh Dhami:

• Born in Pithoragarh district in 1975,

Pushkar Singh Dhami is a law

graduate in human resource

management and industrial

relations.

• Dhami has worked in different

positions in the RSS and its affiliate

bodies for 33 years.

• He was also a member of the ABVP

for 10 years, during which time he

worked in the Awadh Prant region

of Uttar Pradesh.

• He had been the president of BJP’s

Uttarakhand Yuva Morcha twice,

from 2002 to 2008.

58


• Dhami had also served as Officer

on Special Duty (OSD) to Bhagat

Singh Koshiyari when he was the

chief minister in 2001-2002.

• He also held the post of vice-

chairman (with state minister rank)

of the urban monitoring committee

in the state.

About Uttarakhand:

• It is a state in northern India

crossed by the Himalayas.

• Uttarakhand became the 27th state

of the Republic of India On 9

November 2000.

• It was carved from the Himalayan

districts of Uttar Pradesh.

• Its winter Capital is Dehradun and

summer capital is Gairsain.

• The Chief Minister and the

Governor of Uttarakhand are

Pushkar Singh Dhami and Baby

Rani Maurya respectively.

]

APPOINTMENTS:

Atul Keshap: The Joe Biden

administration in the US has recently

appointed Indian-American career

diplomat Atul Keshap, an old India-hand at

the state department, as the country's

Charge'd Affairs (CDA) in Delhi.

Highlights:

• Mr Keshap, 50, will replace Daniel

Smith, who is retiring.

• The US State Department said in a

statement that Ambassador

Keshap's appointment will

reinforce the close US partnership

with the Government and people of

India, demonstrated by our

collaboration to overcome global

challenges like the COVID-19

pandemic

About:

• Mr. Keshap was formerly the U.S.

Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the

Maldives.

• He played a key role in developing

the U.S.-Maldives defence

relationship.

• The two countries signed on to a

framework for their security

relationship last September.

• He also served as Deputy

Assistance Secretary for South Asia

and was posted previously to the

American Embassy in New Delhi.

Persons in News

59


Manesh Mahatme: He is a former

Amazon executive Manesh Mahatme who

has been appointed as the director to lead

the growth of its payments business in

India by Whatsapp.

As Director, WhatsApp Payments-India,

Mahatme will focus on enhancing the

payments experience for users, scaling the

service and work towards contributing to

the messaging app’s vision of digital and

financial inclusion in India.

About WhatsApp:

• WhatsApp Messenger, or simply

WhatsApp, is an American

freeware, cross-platform

centralized messaging and voice-

over-IP service owned by Facebook,

Inc.

• It allows users to send text

messages and voice messages, make

voice and video calls, and share

images, documents, user locations,

and other content.

• It was founded in 2009 by Jan

Koum and Brian Acton.

• It is headquartered in Menlo Park,

California, United States.

• The WhatsApp Parent organization

is Facebook.

• The client application was created

by WhatsApp Inc. of Mountain

View, California, which was

acquired by Facebook on 19

February 2014.

AWARDS:

The Order of Polar Star: RK Sabharwal

who is the Engineers Chairman &

Managing Director (CMD) of India Limited

(EIL) has been honoured with the highest

civilian award of Mongolia ‘The Order of

Polar Star by his Excellency.

Highlights:

• Sabharwal was bestowed with the

honour by His Excellency, the

President of Mongolia, Ukhnaa

Khurelsukh for an outstanding

contribution towards the

establishment of the first-ever oil

refinery in Mongolia.

• ‘The Order of Polar Star’ was

presented to him, on behalf of the

government of Mongolia, by His

Excellency, the Ambassador of

Mongolia to India, Mr. Gonching

Ganbold.

• He was conferred the prestigious

award at a ceremony which was

60


organized at the Embassy of

Mongolia, India.

About the award:

• The ‘Order of Polar Star’ is the most

desirable and prestigious state

award bestowed by the President of

Mongolia.

• It is highly valuable and

distinguished and recognizes

individuals who have made an

invaluable contribution with their

outstanding hard work, intelligence

and sincerity to the prosperity of

Mongolia and its friendship with

other nations.

• This award is also given for

outstanding contributions in the

fields of arts, culture, science and

humanity.

About The establishment of an oil

refinery in Mongolia:

• In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra

Modi, the first Indian Prime

Minister to visit Mongolia, had

announced an extension of a line of

credit worth USD 1 billion by the

Indian Government to Mongolia to

expand its economic capacity and

infrastructure, as they decided to

upgrade their relationship from

Comprehensive to “Strategic

Partnership”.

• After several discussions, the

Government of Mongolia decided

to utilize this line of credit towards

setting up of the first Oil Refinery

of Mongolia.

• The project has been the harbinger

of the economic and energy

independence of the country and

has ensured its sustained growth

and development.

Role of EIL in Mongolia:

• After the continuous efforts,

Engineers India Limited (EIL), a

public sector undertaking of the

Ministry of Petroleum and Natural

Gas was able to secure the contract

for providing the Project

Management Consultancy (PMC)

services for the 1.5 MMTPA

Grassroot refinery project.

• EIL is providing project

management consultancy services

for this refinery project.

• On completion of the project, it will

meet about three-fourth of

Mongolian requirement of oil.

• The refinery is expected to be

completed by 2022.

• Currently, the work on the oil

refinery has been progressing well

and while creating job

opportunities in Mongolia, it also

provides great opportunities to the

Indian Industry to provide its goods

and services to the refinery.

About Mongolia:

• Mongolia is a landlocked country in

East Asia.

• It is a nation bordered by China

and Russia.

• Its capital is Ulaanbaatar which

centers around Chinggis Khaan

(Genghis Khan) Square, named for

the notorious founder of the 13th-

and 14th-century Mongol Empire.

• The currency used here is

Mongolian Togrog.

• The current President of Mongolia

is Ukhnaa Khurelsukh.

61


Fukuoka Grand Prize: Noted journalist,

P. Sainath has been awarded the Fukuoka

Grand Prize.

Besides the Grand Prize, there are two

more award categories, academics and

culture.

Fukuoka Award 2021 will be held online on

September 29, 2021.

Key Details:

• The ‘Grand Prize’ of Fukuoka Prize

will be given to Sainath.

Secretariat of Fukuoka Prize

Committee described P. Sainath as

“very deserving recipient of Grand

Prize of Fukuoka Prize”.

He will be awarded for his work of

creating a new form of knowledge

through his writings &

commentaries on rural India and

for promoting civil cooperation.

• The Academics Prize will be given

to Professor Kishimoto Mio, a

historian from Japan who

specialises in the socio-economic

history of China in the Ming-Qing

period.

• Prize for Arts & Culture will be

given Thailand-based writer and

filmmaker Prabda Yoon for an

increased understanding of Japan in

Thailand and for pursuing a deeper

philosophical insight into the

future of humanity.

About Fukuoka Prize:

• It is an award established in 1990 by

the city of Fukuoka in Japan and

Fukuoka City International

Foundation.

• It is given to honor work of

individuals or organizations in

preserving & creating Asian culture.

Fukuoka prize has three following

prize categories:-

1. Grand Prize

2. Academic Prize

3. Arts & Culture Prize

• Fukuoka has organized Asia-Pacific

Exposition with the concept of

interaction between Asia-Pacific

regions in 1989.

• This prize was inaugurated in 1990

to carry on spirit of Expo.

• Prizes are given annually to

distinguished people for fostering &

increasing awareness of Asian

cultures.

Recepients of the Grand Prize:

• Grand Prize has been awarded to

Muhammad Yunus from

Bangladesh, historian Romila

Thapar and sarod maestro Amjad

Ali Khan.

• So far, eleven Indians have received

Fukuoka Prize. About 115 people

from 28 countries and areas have

received Prize in past 30 years.

About Palagummi Sainath:

• He is an Indian journalist born in

Chennai and he has been an editor

of The Hindu and the vice-editor of

political magazine Blitz.

• He is the author of book called

“Everybody Loves a Good Drought”.

It is a collection of 85 articles,

62


published under a series ‘The Face

of Poor India’.

• He has been actively campaigning

over famer’s issues and backed

Samyukta Ekta Morcha that leads

farmers’ agitations in India.

• He founded People’s Archive of

Rural India (PARI) in 2014 which is

an online platform focussing on

social & economic inequality,

poverty, rural affairs, poverty and

aftermath of globalization in India.

Awards:

• Sainath was awarded the European

Commission’s Lorenzo Natali Prize

for journalism in 1995 and the

Amnesty International Global

Rights Journalism Prize in 2000.

• He has also received the United

Nations’ Food and Agriculture

Organisation’s Boerma Prize in

2001.

• He was awarded with Ramon

Magsaysay Award in 2007 because

he believes “journalism is for

people, not for shareholders”.

Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar: Odia poet

Dr. Rajendra Kishore Panda has recently

been selected for the Kuvempu Rashtriya

Puraskar (award) 2020.

• The name of Dr. Panda was

finalised by a three-member

committee comprising Kannada

poet Dr. H.S. Shivaprakash,

Agrahara Krishnamurthy, former

secretary of Central Sahitya

Academy, and Bengali author

Shyamal Bhattacharya.

• The committee met under the

chairmanship of Prof. Hampa

Nagarajaiah and chose Dr. Panda

for the award.

About Dr. Rajendra Kishore Panda

• Dr. Panda, born in 1944, is a poet

and novelist from Odisha.

• He has published 16 poetry

collections and a novel.

• He is a major Indian poet who

steered the path of modern Odia

poetry to great heights.

• He was presented the Gangadhar

National Award in 2010, and the

Sahitya Akademi Award in 1985.

• He was awarded a DLitt by

Sambalpur University.

About Kuvempu Rashtriya Puraskar:

• It is a national award instituted in

memory of the late poet laureate

Kuvempu.

• The award is given annually to a

writer who has contributed in any

of the languages recognised by the

Constitution of India.

• The award carries a cash award of

Rs. 5 lakh, a silver medal and a

citation.

About Kuvempu:

• Kuppali Venkatappa Puttappa was

popularly known by his pen name

Kuvempu.

• He was an Indian poet, playwright,

novelist and critic.

63


• He is widely regarded as the

greatest Kannada poet of the 20th

century.

• He was the first Kannada writer to

be decorated with the Jnanpith

Award for his version of the

Ramayana titled ‘Sri Ramayana

Darshanam.’

About Jnanpith Award:

• The Jnanpith award is the highest

literary award in India.

• This award is conferred annually

only to an Indian citizen.

• English along with other languages

mentioned in Indian Constitution

(8th Schedule) is considered for the

Award.

• The prize carries a cash award of

Rs. 11 lakhs, a citation, and a bronze

replica of Vagdevi (Saraswati), the

goddess of learning.

• It is sponsored by the cultural

organization Bharatiya Jnanpith.

JSCE 'Outstanding Civil Engineering

Achievement Award: The Delhi Metro's

Phase I, II and III projects have been

awarded the prestigious Japan Society of

Civil Engineers (JSCE) 'Outstanding Civil

Engineering Achievement Award' for the

year 2020.

Highlights:

• This award is given to highly

selective showcasing projects in the

development of civil engineering

technology across the world.

• The JSCE termed the Delhi Metro's

project as 'High-Quality

Infrastructure Development

Project.

• The Delhi Metro was awarded

because its projects have brought

awareness of safety and efficiency at

construction sites in India and

provided residents with safe, secure

and comfortable transportation.

• The Delhi Metro's civil engineering

achievements in the past two

decades have received global

recognition and have been

appreciated by prominent

international organizations.

JICA and Delhi Metro:

• The JICA has supported Delhi

Metro's all phases including the

ongoing Phase -IV project by

providing not only smoothest

financial support but with excellent

value-added activities such as

knowledge assistance by

introducing Japanese innovative

technologies and mindset of safety

and innovation, unique work

culture, technical cooperation and

capacity building of DMRC.

• The magnanimous support from

Japan, JICA including India Office

has helped Delhi Metro in

becoming a Shining Example

globally in the field of urban mass

transit.

About JICA:

Places in news

64


• The Japan International

Cooperation Agency (JICA) is a

governmental agency that delivers

the bulk of Official Development

Assistance (ODA) for the

government of Japan.

• It is chartered with assisting

economic and social growth in

developing countries, and the

promotion of international

cooperation.

• It was founded on October 1, 2003.

• It is headquartered in Chiyoda,

Tokyo, Japan.

--------------------------------

Darbar Move Tradition: The Jammu and

Kashmir administration recently cancelled

residential accommodations of

government officials as part of ending the

age-old practice of 'darbar move'.

Key Points:

Days after Lieutenant Governor Manoj

Sinha had announced an end to the 149-

year-old practice of 'darbar move', the

Jammu and Kashmir administration

virtually put an end to the 149-year-old

darbar move tradition.

The officials are to vacate their

government-allotted residential

accommodation in the twin capital cities

within 21 days.

What ushered the end of the century-

old move?

• Under the J&K government’s able

administration, government offices

have revolutionized and completely

transitioned into an e-office.

• This is another feather to the prime

minister’s vision of a digital India.

• This will save the government Rs

200 crore per year, which will be

used for the welfare of the

deprived sections

History of Darbar Move:

• The genesis of the darbar move

dates back to more than 400 years

ago, during the reign of the Mughal

emperor Jahangir.

• For his love of mountains and

valleys, and to evade the scorching

heat of Lahore, Jahangir used to

visit Kashmir, during the summer

months, every year.

• Thus, every year, the darbar used

to temporarily move to Kashmir,

virtually making it the summer

capital of the Mughal Empire.

• The practice was subsequently

followed by the British and Dogra

rulers.

• The practice of darbar move has

been a part of the Jammu and

Kashmir administration since 1872

65


when it was introduced by

Maharaja Gulab Singh.

What is the darbar move?

• The darbar move is thus a practice

in which the government shifts

capital for a brief period, each in

the two capitals of the State.

• For the union territory of J&K,

Srinagar is the summer capital and

Jammu is the winter capital.

• The employees from Jammu were

allotted residential accommodation

in Srinagar and those from

Srinagar in Jammu.

• The Raj Bhavan, the civil

secretariat and other major offices

used to be shifted to the twin cities

in phases, which used to cost the

exchequer close to Rs 200 crore.

About Jammu and Kashmir:

• Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is a

region administered by India as a

Union Territory.

• It was a region formerly

administered by India as a state

from 1954 to 2019.

• Provisions for the formation of the

union territory of Jammu and

Kashmir were contained within the

Jammu and Kashmir

Reorganization Act, 2019, which

was passed by both houses of the

Parliament of India in August 2019.

• It lies to the north of the Indian

states of Himachal Pradesh and

Punjab and to the west of Ladakh,

which is also subject to the dispute

as a part of Kashmir, and

administered by India as a union

territory.

• The current Lieutenant Governor of

J&K is Former Union minister and

BJP leader Manoj Sinha

----------------------------------------------------

-------------------

Smart Cities Awards 2020: The Central

government has recently declared the

Smart City awards 2020.

Highlights:

• Indore (Madhya Pradesh) and Surat

(Gujarat) won the award jointly for

their overall development.

• Whereas, Uttar Pradesh emerged

on the top among all states,

followed by Madhya Pradesh and

Tamil Nadu under the Smart City

award, 2020.

• The Smart City awards were given

across the themes of Social Aspects,

Governance, Culture, Urban

Environment, Sanitation, Economy,

Built Environment, Water, Urban

Mobility.

• According to the Centre, of the

total, proposed projects under the

Smart Cities Mission, 5,924 projects

(115% by number) worth ₹1,78,500

crore have been tendered so far.

Whereas work orders have been

issued for 5,236 projects (101% by

number) worth ₹1,46,125 crore.

66


List of winning Smart Cities under the

different categories:

1. Social Aspects

• Tirupati: Health Benchmark for

Municipal Schools

• Bhubaneshwar: Socially Smart

Bhubaneswar

• Tumakuru: Digital Library Solution

2. Governance

• Vadodara: GIS

• Thane: Digi Thane

• Bhubaneswar: ME app

3. Culture

• Indore: Conservation of Heritage

• Chandigarh: Capitol Complex,

Heritage Project

• Gwalior: Digital Museum

4. Urban Environment

• Bhopal: Clean energy

• Chennai: Restoration of water

bodies

• Tirupati: Renewable Energy

Generation

5. Sanitation

• Tirupati: Bioremediation & Bio-

Mining

• Indore: Municipal Waste

Management System

• Surat: Conservation through

Treated Wastewater

6. Economy

• Indore: Carbon Credit Financing

Mechanism

• Tirupati: Boost Local Identity &

Economy through Design Studio

• Agra: Micro Skill Development

Centre

7. Built Environment

• Indore: Chappan Dukan

• Surat: Canal Corridor

8. Water

• Dehradun: Smart Water Metering

Water ATM

• Varanasi: Eco-Restoration of Assi

River

• Surat: Integrated and Sustainable

Water Supply System

9. Urban Mobility

• Aurangabad: Majhi Smart Buses

• Surat: Dynamic Scheduling Buses

• Ahmedabad: Man-less parking

system and automatic ticket

dispensing machines AMDA Park

10. Innovative Idea Award

• Indore: Carbon Credit Financing

Mechanism

• Chandigarh: For Union Territories

11. Covid Innovation Award

• Kalyan-Dombivali and Varanasi

Other Awards in different categories:

• Surat, Indore, Ahmedabad, Pune,

Vijayawada, Rajkot,

Visakhapatnam, Pimpri-

Chinchwad, and Vadodara were

awarded 4-star rating under

Climate-Smart Cities Assessment

Framework.

• According to the ministry,

Ahmedabad bagged the ‘Smart

Cities Leadership Award’, followed

67


by Varanasi and Ranchi in the

second and third spots respectively.

---------------------------------------

Japanese-style Zen Garden and Kaizen

Academy: Prime Minister Shri Narendra

Modi virtually inaugurated a Zen Garden

and Kaizen Academy at Ahmedabad

Management Association (AMA) premises

in Ahmedabad, Gujarat recently.

Highlights:

• These two new initiatives are part

of PM’s vision of creating a ‘Mini-

Japan’ in Gujarat.

• The newly launched Zen Garden in

Ahmedabad will showcase several

elements of Japanese art, culture,

landscape and architecture.

About:

• The Zen garden features a statue of

Lord Buddha.

• The garden is built in partnership

with the Japan Information and

Study Centre at AMA and Indo-

Japan Friendship Association

(IJFA), Gujarat, supported by the

Hyogo International Association

(HIA), Japan.

About Ahemadabad:

• Ahmedabad, in western India, is

the largest city in the state of

Gujarat.

• The Sabarmati River runs through

its center.

• On the western bank is the Gandhi

Ashram at Sabarmati.

• This city has emerged as an

important economic and industrial

hub in India.

• It is the second-largest producer of

cotton in India, due to which it was

known as the 'Manchester of India'

along with Kanpur.

About Gujarat:

• Gujarat is a state on the western

coast of India most of which lies on

the Kathiawar peninsula.

• The state is bordered by Rajasthan

to the northeast, Dadra and Nagar

Haveli and Daman and Diu to the

south, Maharashtra to the

southeast, Madhya Pradesh to the

east, and the Arabian Sea and the

Pakistani province of Sindh to the

west.

• Its capital city is Gandhinagar.

• The Governor and Chief Minister of

Gujarat are Acharya Devvrat and

Vijay Rupani respectively.

---------------------------------------------

68


National Horticulture Board (NHB):

Union Minister for Agriculture and

Farmers Welfare, Rural Development,

Panchayati Raj and Food Processing

Industries, Narendra Singh Tomar recently

inaugurated the National Horticulture

Board Centre at Gwalior in the state of

Madhya Pradesh (MP).

Highlights:

• The Government has created an

Agricultural Infrastructure Fund of

One Lakh Crore.

• Any farmer can apply online by

creating his own project to seek

help.

• The government reviews every

week to provide financial assistance

to the farmers' projects received

online.

• The Government of India will

spend Rs.6,550 crore through FPO

(Agricultural Production

Organisation). This will

revolutionize the lives of farmers."

Key Points:

• NHB is mandated for integrated

development of hi-tech commercial

horticulture and post-harvest

management/cold chain

infrastructure in the country.

• It is having centers/offices at

various locations of the country and

atleast one centre is there almost in

each state for implementation,

monitoring and coordination of its

various Schemes and activities.

• Some of the bigger states like UP

and Maharashtra are having more

than one centre due to their

geography and higher quantum of

work.

Significance for Madhya Pradesh:

• Madhya Pradesh, which is the

second largest state in the Country,

is rapidly diversifying into

horticulture sector for the last few

years.

• It is the third largest producers of

vegetables in the country and 5th

largest producers in Fruits.

• Gwalior Division of Madhya

Pradesh is geographically located in

Northern part of the State. Gwalior

and Chambal divisions correspond

to the Gird region of Madhya

Pradesh.

• With the opening of new Centre of

NHB at Gwalior, farmers from 21

districts of Northern Madhya

Pradesh including Grid region of

Gwalior and Chambal will be

benefited under the Schemes of

National Horticulture Board.

About MP:

• Madhya Pradesh (MP) is the second

largest Indian state by area.

• It borders the states of Uttar

Pradesh to the northeast,

Chhattisgarh to the southeast,

Maharashtra to the south, Gujarat

to the west, and Rajasthan to the

northwest.

• Its capital is Bhopal.

69


• The current Chief Minister and

Governor of Madhya Pradesh is

Shivraj Singh Chouhan and

Anandiben Patel respectively.

--------------------------------------------------

Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant

(KKNPP): Russia has started the

construction of fifth nuclear power unit at

Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu on June 29,

2021.

About KKNPP:

• This nuclear power plant is the

largest nuclear power of India.

• It is located in Kudankulam town in

Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu.

• Construction of the plant which

started on March 31, 2002 faced

several delays because of opposition

from local fishermen.

• KKNPP is scheduled to have six

VVER-1000 reactors.

• All these reactors have been built or

is being built in collaboration with

Russian state company and Nuclear

Power Corporation of India Limited

(NPCIL). Reactors have the

installed capacity of 6,000 MW of

electricity.

• Unit one was made operation and

synchronised with southern power

grid in October 2013.

• It has been generating electricity up

to 1,000 MW. Unit two was

synchronised with electricity grid

on August 29, 2016.

• Units three & four were

inaugurated on February 17, 2016.

• Now, construction of Unit five & six

will start.

Tamil Nadu:

• It is located in the extreme south of

the subcontinent.

• It is bounded by the Indian Ocean

to the east and south and by the

states of Kerala to the west,

Karnataka (formerly Mysore) to the

northwest, and Andhra Pradesh to

the north.

• It was formerly the Madras

Presidency of British India but was

renamed Madras (State) after

independence in 1947. Madras

(State) was again renamed Tamil

Nadu in 1968.

• Its Capital is Chennai.

• The Governor and Chief Minister of

Tamil Nadu are Banwarilal Purohit

and M. K. Stalin respectively.

----------------------------------

70


Andhra launches IT policy for 2021-24:

The Andhra Pradesh government recently

came out with the new ‘AP Information

Technology Policy 2021-24’ that is expected

to generate more than 55,000 jobs over the

next three years.

Key Details:

• This new policy was approved by

State Cabinet chaired by Chief

Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

• This policy is expected to generate

more than 55,000 jobs in next three

years.

• It will also create 1.65 lakh indirect

employment and ensure a holistic

ecosystem development.

• For this purpose, a robust and

holistic business environment

would be created.

• IT, Electronics and

Communications Department

would also be transformed into

revenue centre in a bid to achieve

self-sustenance.

• The policy would be in force till

March 31, 2024.

How it will be implemented?

• Under the policy, AP government

will establish incubation centers

and organise hackathons &

workshops for startups.

• The Government will also establish

an IT Emerging Technologies

Research University in

Visakhapatnam in order to develop

State as leading contributor to

national talent pool in IT & other

emerging technologies.

Key provisions of new IT Policy:

• New IT Policy links the incentive

disbursement to realization of

committed direct employment

which ensures transparent &

effective utilization of public funds.

• It offers end-to-end support for

start-ups like plug & play office

space, access to investors, &

mentors, funds through venture

capitals and private equity firms.

State’s Revenue:

• Andhra Pradesh will earn revenue

of Rs 783 crore in 10 years in the

form of various taxes through this

policy.

• Direct employment is also expected

to infuse over Rs 2,200 crore year.

• It will thus lead to overall growth of

economy through multiplier effect.

About Andhra Pradesh (AP):

• Andhra Pradesh (AP) is situated in

the south-eastern part of India.

• It came into existence in its present

form in 1956 as a result of the

71


demand of the Andhras for a

separate state.

• Capitals are Visakhapatnam

(executive capital), Kurnool

(judicial capital, Amaravati

(legislative capital).

• The current Governor and the Chief

Minister of Andra Pradesh is

Biswabhusan Harichandan and Y. S.

Jaganmohan Reddy respectively.

ONORC: The Supreme Court recently

directed all states and Union Territories

(UTs) to implement the One Nation, One

Ration Card (ONORC) system by July 31st,

2021.

About ONORC:

• One Nation, One Ration Card

(ONORC) is a government scheme

to make sure that no citizen sleeps

hungry.

• ONORC was launched in August,

2019.

• However, the work on the

portability of ration card had begun

as early as April 2018.

• It was rolled out under the National

Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.

Objective:

The ONORC scheme is aimed at enabling

migrant workers and their family members

to buy subsidized ration from any fair price

shop anywhere in the country under the

National Food Security Act,2013.

• For instance, a migrant worker

from Bihar will be able to access

PDS benefits in Mumbai, where he

or she may have gone in search of

work.

• On the other hand, members of his

or her family can still go to their

ration dealer back home.

How many States have implemented

ONORC?

• Till date, 32 states and Union

Territories have joined the

ONORC, covering about 69 crore

NFSA beneficiaries.

• Four states are yet to join the

scheme — Assam, Chhattisgarh,

Delhi and West Bengal.

Incentives for implementation of

ONORC to the States:

• To promote ONORC reform in the

Public Distribution System(PDS),

the Government of India has

provided incentives to states.

• The Centre had even set the

implementation of ONORC as a

precondition for additional

borrowing by states during the

Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

How does ONORC work?

• ONORC is based on technology

that involves details of

beneficiaries’ ration card, Aadhaar

India Policy

72


number, and electronic Points of

Sale (ePoS).

• The system identifies a beneficiary

through biometric authentication

on ePos devices at fair price shops.

• The system runs with the support

of two portals.

• They are Integrated Management of

Public Distribution System (IM-

PDS) and Annavitran, which host

all the relevant data.

• When a ration card holder goes to a

fair price shop, he or she identifies

himself or herself through

biometric authentication on ePoS,

which is matched real-time with

details on the Annavitaran portal.

• Once the ration card details are

verified, the dealer hands out the

beneficiary’s entitlements.

• While the Annavitaran portal

maintains a record of intra-state

transactions - inter-district and

intra-district — the IM-PDS portal

records the inter-state transactions.

About the National Food Security Act,

2013 (NFSA 2013):

• The National Food Security Act

2013 (also 'Right to Food Act') is an

Indian Act of Parliament which

aims to provide subsidized food

grains to approximately two thirds

of the country's 1.2 billion people.

• It was signed into law on 12

September 2013, retroactive to 5

July 2013.

• The NFSA 2013 converts into legal

entitlements for existing food

security programmes of the

Government of India.

• It includes the Midday Meal

Scheme, Integrated Child

Development Services scheme and

the Public Distribution System.

• In addition, it also recognizes

maternity entitlements.

UDISE+ for 2019-20: The Unified District

Information System for Education Plus

report (UDISE+) for 2019-2020 was recently

released by Union minister of education,

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

UDISE+ report highlighted some

interesting facts, both positive and negative

about Indian school education system.

Key Points of the report:

• As per the report, Gross Enrolment

Ratio at all levels of school

education has improved in 2019-20

compared to 2018-19.

• Enrolment of girls from primary to

higher secondary has increased

substantially by over 14 lakh in

2019-20 as compared to 2018-19.

• Between 2012-13 and 2019-20, the

Gender Parity Index at both

Secondary and Higher Secondary

levels have improved. Enrolment of

Divyang students has increased by

over 6.5 per cent over 2018-19.

• The report also shows a remarkable

improvement in the number of

schools with functional electricity,

with functional computers, internet

73


facility in 2019-20 over the previous

year.

• Pupil-Teacher Ratio too has

improved at all levels of school

education.

Note: Pupil-Teacher Ratio is defined as

“the average number of pupils per

teacher, teaching at specific level of

education in a given school year.

• In addition, major improvement

has been seen in the number of

schools with hand wash facility. In

year 2019-20, more than 90 per cent

schools in India had hand wash

facility as compared to around 36

per cent in 2012-13.

What is UDISE+ report?

• UDISE+, launched in 2018-2019, is

the largest Management

Information Systems on school

education.

• It covers 1.5 million schools, 8.5

million teachers and 250 million

children.

• It was launched for speeding up

data entry, reducing errors,

improving data quality and easing

its verification.

• It is an advanced and improved

version of UDISE which was

launched in 2012-2013 by

integrating DISE for elementary

education & SEMIS for secondary

education.

Superannuation age of LIC Chairman:

The Union Government has recently

extended superannuation age of IPO-

bound LIC Chairman to up to 62 years.

Key Details:

• The superannuation age was

extended by amending Life

Insurance Corporation of India

(Staff) Regulations, 1960.

• The changes made in rules are to be

called as “Life Insurance

Corporation of India (Staff)

Amendment Rules, 2021.

• The retirement age for top

executives of majority of PSUs is 60

years except in State Bank of India

(SBI).

• As per notification, if Central

Government appoints Chairman for

a term of office extending beyond

60 years of age, or extends the term

of office to a period beyond 60

years, he shall not superannuate till

such terms are completed or till he

attains age of 62 years, whichever is

earlier.

Background

• Central government had approved a

nine-month extension to LIC

Chairman M R Kumar from June 30,

2021 to March 13, 2022, recently in

the backdrop of insurer’s proposed

74


initial public offer towards end of

fiscal year 2021-2022.

• In her Budget speech this year,

Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman had said that the Initial

Public Offer (IPO) of LIC would be

floated in 2021-22 as part of the

ambitious Rs 1.75 lakh crore

disinvestment target.

• The government has already

amended the Life Insurance

Corporation Act, 1956 along with

the Finance Act 2021 to facilitate

the public offer.

• Under the amendment,

government significantly increased

authorised capital of LIC to Rs

25,000 crore from Rs 100 crore

which will facilitate listing.

• Life Insurance Corporation Act,

1956 mandates, authorized share

capital of LIC will be Rs 25,000

crore divided into 2,500 crore

shares of Rs 10 each.

About LIC of India:

• Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of

India is an Indian government

owned insurance and Investment

Corporation.

• It is under the ownership of

Ministry of Finance, Government of

India (GoI).

• The Parliament of India passed the

Life Insurance of India Act on 19

June 1956 creating the Life

Insurance Corporation of India,

which started operating in

September of that year.

• LIC of India was established on 1

September 1956.

• Over 245 insurance companies and

provident societies were merged to

create the state-owned Life

Insurance Corporation of India.

• The nationalization of the life

insurance business in India was a

result of the Industrial Policy

Resolution of 1956, which had

created a policy framework for

extending state control over at least

17 sectors of the economy,

including life insurance.

• It is headquartered in Mumbai,

Maharashtra.

Crop Insurance Awareness Campaign:

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister,

Narendra Singh Tomar, recently launched

the Crop Insurance Awareness Campaign

for Fasal Bima Yojana.

Key Details:

• It was launched during Crop

Insurance Week.

• The campaign is a part of

Government’s India@75 campaign

‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’,

commemorating 75 years of India’s

Independence.

• Speaking on the occasion, Mr

Tomar said that the Fasal Bima

Yojana aims to provide security

cover to each farmer.

• He announced that the scheme had

achieved milestone figure of 95

thousand crore of claims paid to

farmers.

• The Agriculture Minister also

flagged off IEC vans which will

75


Science and Technology

continue to engage the farmers on

the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima

Yojana throughout the crop

insurance week.

• Furthermore, he also launched

PMBFY e-brochure, FAQ booklet

and a guidebook to assist farmers

and on ground coordinators to

understand the scheme, its benefits

and the process of crop insurance.

Aim:

• This campaign aims to bring stories

of beneficiary farmers through

videos and photo stories on social

media.

• Stories of those farmers would be

shared who have not only benefited

from this scheme but helped entire

farming community through their

thought-leadership.

About Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima

Yojana (PMFBY):

• The PMFBY is a Crop Indurance

Scheme that has successfully

completes 5 Years of operations on

13th January 2021.

• The PMFBY was launched in 2016

by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• It is an insurance service scheme

for farmers for their yields.

• It aims to reduce the premium

burden on farmers and ensure early

settlement of crop assurance claim

for the full insured sum.

• It was formulated in line with One

Nation–One Scheme theme by

replacing earlier two schemes

Modified National Agricultural

Insurance Scheme (MNAIS) and

National Agricultural Insurance

Scheme (NAIS).

• The scheme is being administered

by Ministry of Agriculture and is

implemented by empanelled

general insurance companies.

• The scheme is compulsory for

loanee farmers availing Crop Loan

/KCC account for notified crops

and voluntary for other others.

• The Scheme covers all Food &

Oilseeds crops and Annual

Commercial/Horticultural Crops

for which past yield data is

available and for which requisite

number of Crop Cutting

Experiments (CCEs) are being

conducted under General Crop

Estimation Survey (GCES).

Dragon Man: Researchers from China

have recently claimed that they have found

a massive fossilized ancient human skull

that could belong to an altogether new

species of humans.

The researchers have published their

findings in the journal ‘The Innovation’.

One of the UK's leading experts in human

evolution, Prof Chris Stringer from

76


London's Natural History Museum, was

also a member of the research team.

Key Details:

The researchers note that the cranium (the

portion that encloses the brain) could be

over 146,000 years old.

The skull was found in the Songhua River

in north-east China’s Harbin city.

The cranium has been dubbed the

“Dragon Man” or Homo longi, a name

that has been derived from the Long Jiang

or Dragon River in the Heilongjiang

province of China where the city of Harbin

is located.

Some members of the team have suggested

that it be declared a part of a new species

of the genus Homo because of the

distinctive shape of the skull, which was

found almost complete.

Nesher Ramla Homo:

Separate news came recently where the

researchers working in Israel where they

also identified a previously unknown type

of ancient human that lived alongside our

species more than 100,000 years ago.

The scientists named the newly discovered

lineage the "Nesher Ramla Homo" that

co-existed with Homo sapiens nearly

100,000 years ago when several species of

humans co-existed in Asia, Europe and

Africa.

These include Homo sapiens, the

Neanderthals, and the Denisovans.

About Human Species:

Modern humans are the only human

species that exist in the world today.

As per the Smithsonian National Museum

of Natural History, there are over 21 human

species. These are:

i. Sahelanthropus tchadensis is

believed to be the oldest member of

the human family tree. According

to the Smithsonian National

Museum of Natural History, this

species lived about 7-6 million

years ago somewhere around

present day Chad in Africa.

Researchers only have cranial

material as evidence that this

species existed, from which they

have deciphered that it had both

ape-like and human-like features

and was bipedalled, an ability that

may have increased its chances of

survival.

ii. Orrorin tugenensis lived about

6.2-5.8 million years ago in Eastern

Africa. As per the Smithsonian

Museum, this species is the oldest

early human on the family tree and

members from this species were

approximately the size of a

chimpanzee.

iii. Ardipithecus kadabba lived 5.8-

5.2 million years ago, in Eastern

Africa. They were bipedalled, and

are believed to have had a body size

similar to that of modern

chimpanzees.

iv. Ardipithecus ramidus lived about

4.4 million years ago in Eastern

Africa, and was first reported in

1994. It is not clear if this species

was bipedalled.

v. Australopithecus anamensis

lived about 4.2-3.8 million years

ago. A skull belonging to this

species was discovered in Ethiopia

in 2016 at a palaeontological site.

77


Two studies published in 2019

analysed this skull and determined

that it was older than Lucy, the

name for another specimen

belonging to the species

Australopithecus afarensis, which

was previously thought to be the

oldest ancestor of modern humans.

The new research also indicated

that the two species (Lucy and her

ancestors) co-existed for at least

100,000 years.

vi. Australopithecus afarensis

(members from Lucy’s species)

existed 3.85-2.95 million years ago

in Africa. Paleontologists have

discovered remains from over 300

individuals belonging to this

species over the years.

vii. Kenyanthropus platyops lived

about 3.5 million years ago in

Kenya. The Smithsonian Museum

notes that the species inhabited

Africa at the same time as Lucy’s

species did, which could mean that

there is a closer branch to modern

humans than Lucy’s on the

evolutionary tree.

viii. Australopithecus africanus lived

about 3.3-2.1 million years ago in

Southern Africa. This species had a

combination of human and ape-like

features.

ix. Paranthropus aethiopicus lived


Eastern Africa and members of this

species are defined by their strongly

protruding face, large teeth, and a

powerful jaw.

x. Australopithecus garhi lived


Eastern Africa, and is characterised

by their long, powerful arms. The

Smithsonian museum notes that

the arms could mean the longer

strides needed during bipedal

walking.

xi. Paranthropus boisei lived about

2.3-1.2 million years ago in Eastern

Africa, and were characterised by a

skull that was specialized for heavy

chewing.

xii. Paranthropus robustus lived


Southern Africa and were

characterised by their wide, deep-

dished faces.

xiii. Australopithecus sediba lived


Southern Africa. Members of this

species had facial features similar to

the later specimens of Homo.

xiv. Homo habilis lived about 2.4-1.4

million years ago in Eastern and

Southern Africa, and is one of the

earliest members of the genus

Homo. Members of this species still

retained some of the ape-like

features, however.

xv. Homo erectus lived about 1.89

million-110,000 years ago, in

Northern, Eastern, and Southern

Africa and Western and East Asia.

‘Turkana Boy’ is the most complete

fossil belonging to this species and

is dated to be around 1.6 million

years old.

xvi. Homo floresiensis lived around

100,000-50,000 years ago, in Asia.

One of the most recently

discovered early human species has

been nicknamed the “Hobbit”.

Specimens have so far only been

found on an Indonesian island.

xvii. Homo heidelbergensis lived

about 700,000-200,000 years ago in

Europe, some parts of Asia and

Africa. As per the Smithsonian

78


museum, this was the first early

human species to live in colder

climes.

xviii. Neanderthals (Homo

neanderthalensis) are believed to

be the closest extinct human

relatives and lived about 400,000-

40,000 years ago in Europe and

southwestern to central Asia.

xix. Homo sapiens, the species to

which all existing humans belong,

evolved in Africa nearly 300,000

years ago as a result of some

dramatic climate change events.

---------------------------------------------------

International Asteroid Day 2021:

International Asteroid Day or Asteroid Day

is observed on 30th June every year across

the globe.

Highlights:

• The Day aims to raise public

awareness about the asteroid

impact hazard and to inform the

public about the crisis

communication actions to be taken

at the global level in case of a

credible near-Earth object threat.

• This year Asteroid Day celebrates

the 25th launch anniversary of

NASA's NEAR-Shoemaker

spacecraft, and the 2021 launch of

three new asteroid missions,

NASA’s Lucy, NEA Scout, and

DART.

• These are the world's first missions

to test an asteroid deflection

technique and much more.

Background:

• On December 2016 the United

Nations General Assembly adopted

resolution A/RES/71/90 and

declared June 30 as International

Asteroid Day.

• The day marks the anniversary of

Earth's most massive asteroid

impact in history, the 1908

Tunguska event.

• Note: On June 30th, 1908, a

mysterious cosmic impact

occurred in Siberia. Tunguska

explosion was the most harmful

recorded asteroid-related event

on Earth as it damaged local

plants and animals.

• The decision by UNGA was made

on the basis of a proposal made by

the Association of Space Explorers,

which was endorsed by the

Committee on the Peaceful Uses of

Outer Space (COPUOS).

• Asteroid Day was co-founded by

Stephen Hawking, filmmaker

Grigorij Richters, B612 Foundation

President, Danica Remy, Apollo 9

astronaut Rusty Schweickart and

Brian May, Queen guitarist and

astrophysicist.

Significance of International Asteroid

Day:

• United Nations officially decided

this day for global awareness about

the opportunities and challenges

that asteroids present.

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• It also tells about the devastating

impact an asteroid has when it

crashes to Earth.

• It also highlights the importance of

discovering the objects that pose a

threat to our planet and make

people aware of what to do if such a

situation arises.

What are Asteroids?

• Asteroids are the small rocky body

that orbits around the sun

consisting of rock, metals, and

other elements.

• They are rocky, airless remnants

left over from the early formation of

our solar system about 4.6 billion

years ago.

• They are sometimes called minor

planets.

• Asteroids range in size from Vesta –

the largest at about 329 miles (530

kilometers) in diameter – to bodies

that are less than 33 feet (10 meters)

across.

• The total mass of all the asteroids

combined is less than that of

Earth's Moon.

• Some asteroids even have a

companion moon.

• Most of this ancient space rubble

can be found orbiting the Sun

between Mars and Jupiter within

the main asteroid belt.

• Scientists refer to this area as the

asteroid belt. There are three

classes of asteroids. They are as

follows:

1. C-type (chondrite) – This

most common type of

asteroid consists of clay and

silicate rocks.

2. S-type (stony) – This

asteroid consists of silicate

rocks and nickel-iron.

3. M-type (metallic) – Nickel-

iron composes these

asteroids.

Impact of Asteroid collision:

• The impact of asteroid collision

with Earth would be very

disastrous.

• The collision would cause

environmental impacts, such as

shock waves, heat radiation,

earthquakes, and tsunamis.

• The currently known asteroid count

is 958,915.

----------------------------------------------------

-------------

Louisiana Delta System: NASA Scientists

and scientists from other universities from

Boston to California decided to create

computer models to protect the delta

system.

Key Points:

❖ NASA is using high-tech airborne

systems comprising of boats and

mud-slogging work on islands at

the cost of $15 million.

❖ They are aiming to create computer

models which can be used with

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satellite data to learn which parts of

their dwindling deltas can be

shored up and which deltas are past

hope.

❖ Scientists felt the need to create

computer models because in the

backdrop of erosion, sinking land

and sea rise due to climate change

have killed Louisiana woods near

the Mississippi River delta system.

❖ NASA is using high-tech airborne

systems comprising of boats and

mud-slogging work on islands at

the cost of $15 million.

About Louisiana:

❖ It is a state in south-central regions

of United States.

❖ It is 19th-smallest by area and 25th

most populous among 50 U.S.

states.

❖ It shares its border with state of

Texas in west, Arkansas in north,

Mississippi in east, and Gulf of

Mexico in south.

❖ Its eastern boundary is demarcated

by Mississippi River.

❖ It is the only state in U.S. with

political subdivisions termed

parishes.

❖ It, along with Alaska, are two U.S.

states which are not subdivided

into counties.

❖ Baton Rouge is its capital while

New Orleans is its largest city.

About Mississippi River:

❖ It is the second-longest river in

North American continent after the

Hudson Bay drainage system.

❖ Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota

is the source of river.

❖ It flows generally south for 2,320

miles to form Mississippi River

Delta in Gulf of Mexico.

Mississippi’s watershed drains

about 32 U.S. states and two

Canadian provinces.

❖ Main stem of the river is entirely

within United States.

❖ It is the fourteenth-largest river by

discharge worldwide.

------------------------------

Triboelectric Nanogenerator(TENG): A

team of Indian scientists have developed a

transparent Triboelectric

Nanogenerator(TENG) device.

Highlights:

❖ Dr Shankar Rao and his team from

the Centre for Nano and Soft

Matter Sciences, Bengaluru, an

autonomous institute under the

department of science and

technology, Government of India

(GoI), have designed the TENG.

❖ The results were published in the

Journal of Nanoscience and

Nanotechnology.

About Triboelectric

Nanogenerator(TENG):

❖ TENG was developed using

thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU)

either in the form of electrospun

81


nanofibers or as a flat film using the

simpler doctor’s blade technique,

along with polyethylene

terephthalate (PET) as tribo layers.

Note: Doctor’s blade technique is one

of the widely used techniques for

producing thin films on large area

surfaces.

❖ TENG is a self-powered device that

makes use of mechanical energy in

the form of vibrations present

everywhere in different forms to

generate electricity.

❖ It is capable of generating

electricity from vibrations all

around for use in optoelectronics,

self-powered devices, and other

biomedical applications

❖ TENG uses mechanical energy in

the form of vibrations present

everywhere in different forms to

generate electricity.

❖ It works on the principle of creation

of electrostatic charges via

instantaneous physical contact of

two dissimilar materials followed

by generation of potential

difference when a mismatch is

introduced between the two

contacted surfaces through a

mechanical force.

❖ This mechanism drives the

electrons to move back and forth

between the conducting films

coated on the back of the tribo

layers.

Significance:

❖ The device could light up 11 LEDs

by gentle hand tapping and could

be a potential candidate for use in

optoelectronics, self-powered

devices and other biomedical

applications.

Note: Optoelectronics is the field of

technology concerned with electronic

device application to the sourcing,

detection and control of light.

❖ This technique is cost effective

compared to currently available

fabrication techniques being easily

available, and owing to the

simplicity of the procedure.

❖ The resulting device is also highly

efficient, robust, and gives

reproducible output over long

hours of operation.

--------------------------------------

Icius Tukarami: A group of scientists

recently discovered two new species of

jumping spiders from the Thane-Kalyan

region.

Key Points:

• One of the newly discovered spider

specie has been named Icius

Tukarami after assistant sub-

inspector Tukaram Omble who laid

down his life to help capture

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Sports

terrorist Ajmal Kasab during the

26/11 terror attacks.

• The second new species of jumping

spider is Phintella cholkei in the

memory of a friend Kamlesh

Cholke.

• The paper citing the discovery of

the new species was published in

the Russian science journal

Anthropoda Selecta.

• It was published by researchers

Dhruv A. Prajapati, John Caleb,

Somnath B. Kumbhar and Rajesh

Sanap.

About Tukaram Omble:

• Tukaram Omble was a Mumbai

police officer and army soldier, who

served as assistant sub-inspector

(ASI) of the Mumbai Police.

• He was martyred in action while

fighting terrorists during the 2008

Mumbai attacks at Girgaum

Chowpatty Mumbai.

• He played an instrumental role in

apprehending Ajmal Kasab alive,

the lone surviving terrorist who was

later convicted and hanged.

• The martyred police officer was

posthumously honoured by the

Indian government with the

Ashoka Chakra on January 26,

2009.

Note:The Ashoka Chakra is the nation's

highest peace-time gallantry award for

extraordinary bravery and valour in the

line of duty.

• Former Mumbai police

commissioner Rakesh Maria wrote

in his memoir that Omble's actions

that led to Kasab's capture were key

to foiling Lashkar-e-Taiba's plans.

----------------------------------------------------

--------------

SPORTS:

Archery World Cup: Olympic-bound

archer Deepika Kumari helped India claim

three recurve gold medals in the Archery

World Cup Stage-3 here on 27 June 2021.

Highlights:

• Deepika blanked Russia's Elena

Osipova 6-0 in the final of the

women's individual recurve event

to complete a hat-trick of gold

medals in one day.

83


• The Indian women's recurve team

of Deepika Kumari, Ankita Bhakat

and Komalika Bari notched up the

gold medal with a comfortable win

over Mexico.

• This was their second successive

gold medal in the World Cup this

year, and sixth overall (Shanghai-

2011, Medellin-2013, Wroclaw-2013,

Wroclaw-2014, Guatemala City-

2o21).

• Deepika then combined with her

husband Atanu Das to bag the

mixed team crown.

• The Indian couple fought back to

beat the Dutch duo of Gabriela

Schloesser and Sjef van der Berg,

the winner of the previous World

Cup in Laussane, 5-3 in the summit

clash.

Additional Info:

After securing a hat-trick of gold medals at

the Archery World Cup stage 3 in Paris,

Deepika Kumari has become the top-

ranked archer among women when the

new rankings are announced.

About Deepika Kumari:

Deepika Kumari Mahato is an Indian

athlete who competes in the event of

archery and is currently ranked World No.

1.

She won a gold medal in the 2010

Commonwealth games in the women's

individual recurve event and also a gold

medal in the women's team recurve event.

She also won a record 3 gold medals at the

2021 Paris World Cup.

She was conferred the Arjuna Award in

2012 and Padma Shri in 2016.

Abhishek Verma: Star Indian archer

Abhishek Verma created history by

becoming the first man to win two World

Cup gold medals in individual compound

archery.

• He won his first individual World

Cup gold at the Archery World Cup

Stage three in Paris on June 26,

2021.

• He beat USA’s Kris Schaff in a

shoot-off to win the gold medal.

• He had previously won gold at the

individual event in Wroclaw in 2015

and also a silver in 2018.

• He also has won two medals at

World Cup Finals, a silver in 2015

and bronze in 2018.

Styrian Grand Prix: Red Bull's Max

Verstappen won the Styrian Grand Prix by

a massive margin on Sunday (Jun 27) to

take an ominous 18 point lead over Lewis

84


Hamilton in the Formula One

championship battle after eight races.

Highlights:

• Verstappen led from start to finish

at Austria's Red Bull Ring, with

seven-times world champion

Hamilton second for Mercedes.

• The Briton was 35.743 seconds

behind at the chequered flag after a

late stop for fresh tyres to bag a

bonus point for fastest lap.

• It was the first time since 2013 that

mighty Mercedes, champions for

the past seven years, had gone four

races in a row without a win and

the first time since then that Red

Bull had celebrated four successive

victories.

• Valtteri Bottas was third for

Mercedes, just holding off

Verstappen's Mexican team mate

Sergio Perez who had fresher tyres

after making a second stop in a bid

for fastest lap.

Sydney McLaughlin: Sydney McLaughlin

broke the women's 400 metres hurdles

world record with a time of 51.90 seconds

in the final of the U.S. Olympic athletics

trials recently.

The 21-year-old booked her spot at the

Tokyo Games, seized the lead around the

final bend and into the home stretch to

power home.

She beat Rio Olympic champion Dalilah

Muhammad's previous mark of 52.16.

Abhimanyu Mishra: Indian-American prodigy Abhimanyu Mishra has recently become the youngest-ever chess Grandmaster after scoring his third GM norm in Budapest, Hungary.

Highlights:

• The 12-year-old hails from New Jersey, USA became a GM from International Master, by crossing the required 2500 Elo rating barrier, as per chess.com.

• At 12 years, four months and 25 days, He broke GM Sergey Karjakin’s record which was there for 19 years.

• On August 12, 2002, Karjakin, became Grandmaster at 12 years and seven months.

• Born on February 5, 2009, in New Jersey, Mishra was taught the moves of chess when he was still a toddler.

• By the time he was 10 years and nine months, he was the youngest International Master (IM) in chess history.

• Until then Indian GM R. Praggnanandhaa held the distinction of being the youngest IM ever at 10 years and 10 months.

• Praggnanandhaa had also

•

85


narrowly missed becoming the youngest GM in history, when he won his third norm in June 2018, at the age of 12 years 10 months.

• The following year another Indian GM, Gukesh D. missed becoming the youngest ever GM by 17 days.

WAKO India Kickboxing

Federation: The Ministry of Youth

affairs & Sports has decided to grant

recognition to WAKO India Kickboxing

Federation as National Sports

Federation (NSF) to promote and

develop sport in India.

Key Details:

• WAKO India Kickboxing

Federation is affiliated to World

Association of Kickboxing

Organizations (WAKO) which is

a world body for kickboxing.

• Since November 30, 2020,

WAKO has been a provisionally

recognized member of

International Olympic

Committee (IOC).

• Recommendation to approve

WAKO as fully recognised

member of Olympic family was

taken by IOC in June 2020.

• International Olympic

Committee (IOC) Executive

Board has approved

recommendation for WAKO on

June 10, 2021 to become a fully

recognized member of Olympic

family of sport.

• The full recognition of WAKO

will be finally decided by the

IOC Session in Tokyo in July

2021.

Importance of this recognition:

• To be fully included and

accepted in the Olympic

movement is important for the

recognition and development of

the sport of kickboxing.

• With government recognition of

WAKO India Kickboxing

Federation as NSF, the sport of

kickboxing will develop at a

faster pace in India.

About Kickboxing:

• Kickboxing is a group of stand-

up combat sports based on

kicking and punching.

• It was historically developed

from karate mixed with boxing.

• Kickboxing is practiced for self-

defence, general fitness, or as a

contact sport.

• Japanese kickboxing originated

in the late 1950s, with

competitions held since then.

• American kickboxing originated

in the 1970s and was brought to

prominence in September 1974,

when the Professional Karate

Association (PKA) held the first

World Championships.

• Historically, kickboxing can be

considered a hybrid martial art

formed from the combination

86


of elements of various

traditional styles.

Kickboxing Governing Bodies:

There is no single international

governing body.

International governing bodies include

the following:

o World Association of Kickboxing

Organizations (also known as

WAKO),

o World Kickboxing Association,

o International Sport Karate

Association,

o International Kickboxing

Federation, and

o World Kickboxing Network,

among others.

About WAKO:

o World Association of Kickboxing

Organizations (WAKO) is an

international organization of

kickboxing.

o It certifies the governing body of

amateur kickboxing to develop

support & govern amateur level

and hold world championship

events.

o It sanctions the champions of

kickboxing.

o WAKO is the only organization

across the world which is

recognized by GAISF (Global

Association of Sports

Federations) and IOC

(International Olympic

Committee).

About IAKO:

o Indian Association of

Kickboxing Organizations

(IAKO) is the national

federation of kickboxing in

India.

o It was established in 1993 to

control and promote kickboxing

activities in India.

o It promotes amateur kickboxing

and professional kickboxing

across the states, union

territories and special armed

force.

o IAKO is the first martial arts

federation which has been

recognized by School Games

Federation of India.

-------------------------------------------------

--------

Cristiano Ronaldo: Portugal striker

Cristiano Ronaldo has become the

joint-top scoring men’s international

player of all time.

Highlights:

He achieved the feat in Portugal's Euro

2020 game against France on Wednesday

87


(local time) here at the Puskas Arena in

Budapest.

He is currently tied with Iran legend Ali

Daei, who scored 109 times in 149

matches between 1993 and 2006.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties

to tie the overall men’s scoring record

with 109 goals in 176 matches and

Portugal advanced to the round of 16 at

the European Championship after a 2-2

draw with France.

------------------------------

ISSF World Cup Shooting: Asian

Games champion and Tokyo Olympics-

bound Rahi Sarnobat recently won

Gold at ISSF World Cup shooting.

The ISSF World Cup 2021 is being held

in Osijek, Croatia.

Highlights:

• India’s Rahi Sarnobat clinched

the gold medal in the women’s

25m pistol event at the ISSF

shooting World Cup.

• She is the first Indian to win one

silver and two bronze medals in

the ongoing tournament.

• She scored 591 out of a

maximum of 600 in the

qualifying stage.

• France’s Mathilde Lamolle won a

silver medal in the final.

• Russian Vitalina Batsarashkina

won the bronze medal. Indian

shooter Manu Bhaker finished at

7 positions.

• This is the last competition

before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

------------------------

Shafali Verma: Opener Shafali Verma

has become the youngest Indian

cricketer to make a debut in all

formats, when India took on England in

the first ODI in Bristol.

Highlights:

• She took 17 years and 150 days to

make her debut in all formats.

• She has become the fifth-

youngest cricketer overall in the

list of all format debuts.

• The list topped by Afghanistan’s

Mujeeb Ur Rahman at 17 years

and 78 days is the youngest

player to play all formats.

88


• He is followed by former

England wicket-keeper Sarah

Taylor.

• Australia’s Elysse Perry is third

on the list, followed by

Mohammad Amir.

Documents

He was born in Naihati, Bengal