Bill to promote Legacies of Gandhi and Martin L.

King Jr

 US congressional committee has passed a bill to promote the

legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
 The Gandhi-King exchange pact, aims at establishing an
exchange initiative between India and the United States to study
the work and legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma
Gandhi.
 The bill seeks to authorize the US Administration, in cooperation
with the Indian government to establish the following

1. Annual Education Forum - For scholars from both the

countries that will focus on the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Jr.
2. Professional development training initiative on conflict
resolution which is based on the principles of non-violence and will
establish a foundation to address the environmental, social, and
health priorities in India.
3. United States-India Gandhi-King Development
Foundation, to identify development priorities and to address
priorities in India such as health initiatives addressing

a. Tuberculosis (TB),
b. Pollution and related health impacts (PHI),
c. Water, Sanitation, and Health (WASH),
d. Education and empowerment of women.

4. Gandhi-King Global Academy - It will target representatives

from NGOs, governments, civic organizations and cultural,
educational, women’s civil and human rights groups, including
ethnic and religious minorities and marginalized communities in
the countries with ongoing social, political, violent, or ethnic
conflict.

India-EU S&T Cooperation

 India and European Union (EU) have renewed its Agreement on

Scientific and Technological Cooperation for the next five years
(2020-2025).
 The Agreement was initially signed in 2001 and renewed two times
in 2007 and 2015.
 The cooperation has been focused on water, green transport, e-
mobility, clean energy, bio-economy, health, and ICT.
  The new agreement will expand the cooperation in scientific and
technological research for economic and social benefit.
 In the last 5 years India-EU Research Technology Development
Projects has addressed societal challenges such as affordable
healthcare, water, energy, food & nutrition has been stepped up.

Kutch Mainland Fault (KMF)

 The Kutch Mainland Fault (KMF) is the major east-west trending

fault.
 The fault line extends for over 150 km from Lakhpat to Bhachau.
 It has been dormant for the last 1,000-odd years
 The fragile crust of Kutch holds four major active faults which
frequently liberate energy in the form of earthquakes.
 The devastating January 26, 2001 earthquake had occurred from
the South Wagad fault system.
 According to recent study Kutch Mainland Fault (KMF), has been
accumulating stress within and could trigger an earthquake.
 The study also gives evidence that there were four major
earthquakes on KMF between 5600 and 1000 Before Present.
 Before Present is a time scale used by geologists to define events
that happened before the origin of radiocarbon dating technology
in the 1950s.

AIM iCREST

 NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has launched AIM

iCREST.
 It is an Incubator Capabilities enhancement program for a Robust
Ecosystem focused on creating high performing Startups.
(iCREST)
  Under the initiative, the AIM’s incubators are set to be up-scaled
and provided requisite support to foster the incubation enterprise
economy.
 This is a first of its kind initiative for advancing innovation at scale
in India to encourage and enable holistic progress in the incubator
ecosystem across the country,
 AIM has joined hands with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and
Wadhwani Foundation for the program.  

National Food Security Act (NFSA)

 The National Food Security Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act) is an
Act of the Parliament of India which aims to provide subsidized
food grains to approximately two thirds of India's 1.2 billion people
.
 It was signed into law on 12 September 2013,
 The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA 2013) converts into
legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the
Government of India, It includes

1. Midday Meal Scheme,

2. Integrated Child Development Services scheme
3. Public Distribution System.
4. Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
5. Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of
children are eligible for daily free cereals.

 Responsibility for identification of beneficiaries under NFSA is

done based on certain criteria.
 The responsibility for this identification rests with the States/UTs,
Department of Food & Public Distribution
 Criteria for identification of beneficiaries as per norms is uniform
across the country.

Central Consumer Protection Authority

 The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 has come into force from 20th
July, 2020.
 As provided in section 10 of the Act, the Central Consumer
Protection Authority (CCPA) has been established recently.
 CCPA is established to promote, protect and enforce the rights of
consumers.
 It will function from Indian Institute of Public Administration
premises.
  It will be empowered to conduct investigations into

1. Violation of consumer rights and institute complaints /

prosecution,
2. Order recall of unsafe goods and services,
3. Order discontinuation of unfair trade practices and misleading
advertisements,
4. Impose penalties on manufacturers/endorsers/publishers of
misleading advertisements.
 Highlights of the NE Policy 2020
School Education

 New Policy aims for universalization of education from pre-school to secondary level with 100%

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in school education by 2030.
 NEP 2020 will bring 2 crore out of school children back into the main stream through open
schooling system.
 The current 10+2 system to be replaced by a new 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to
ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-18 years respectively.
 This will bring the hitherto uncovered age group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which has
been recognized globally as the crucial stage for development of mental faculties of a child.
 The new system will have 12 years of schooling with three years of Anganwadi/ pre schooling.
 Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid separation between academic streams,
extracurricular, vocational streams in schools; Vocational Education to start from Class 6 with
Internships.
 Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/ regional language.
 No language will be imposed on any student.
 Assessment reforms with 360 degree Holistic Progress Card, tracking Student Progress for
achieving Learning Outcomes.
 A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021,
will be formulated by the NCTE in consultation with NCERT.  
 By 2030, the minimum degree qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree.

Higher Education

 Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to be raised to 50 % by 2035; 3.5 crore seats to be
added in higher education.
 The policy envisages broad based, multi-disciplinary, holistic Under Graduate education with
flexible curricula, creative combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education and
multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification.
 UG education can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and appropriate certification within
this period.
 Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate Transfer of Credits
 Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs), at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set
up as models of best multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country.
 The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex body for fostering a strong
research culture and building research capacity across higher education.
 Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) will be set up as a single overarching umbrella
body for the entire higher education, excluding medical and legal education.
 HECI to have  four independent verticals  - National Higher Education Regulatory Council
(NHERC) for regulation, General Education Council (GEC ) for standard setting, Higher
 Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding,  and National Accreditation Council( NAC) for
accreditation.
 Public and private higher education institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for
regulation, accreditation and academic standards.
 Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-wise mechanism is to be
established for granting graded autonomy to colleges.
 Over a period of time, it is envisaged that every college would develop into either an Autonomous
degree-granting College, or a constituent college of a university.

Others

 An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to
provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning,
assessment, planning, administration.
 NEP 2020 emphasizes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund, Special Education Zones for
disadvantaged regions and groups.
 New Policy promotes Multilingualism in both schools and higher education.
 National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit , Indian Institute of Translation and Interpretation to
be set up.
 The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public investment in Education sector
to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)

 ITER is an experimental fusion reactor facility under construction in Cadarache, South of France
to prove the feasibility of nuclear fusion for future source of energy.
 ITER partners are the European Union, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United
States of America.
 European Union being the host party contributes 45% while the rest of the parties contribute 9%
each.
 Most of these contributions are through 'in-kind' procurement of ITER components.
 India became a full seventh partner of ITER in December 2005.
 India signed the ITER Agreement between the partners in 2006.
 ITER Organization (IO) is the central team responsible for construction at site and operation,
while the ITER partners created their own domestic agencies to deliver their commitments to
ITER.
 ITER-India, Institute for Plasma Research (IPR), located in Gandhinagar, western India, is the
Indian Domestic Agency to design, build and deliver the Indian in-kind contribution to ITER

Background

 Current nuclear energy relies on fission, where a heavy chemical element is split to produce
lighter ones.
 Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, works by combining two light elements to make a heavier one.
 The project uses hydrogen fusion, controlled by superconducting magnets, to produce massive
heat energy.
 The magnetic fusion device has been designed to prove the feasibility of fusion as a large-scale
and carbon-free source of energy based on the same principle that powers our Sun and stars.
 Union Minister for HRD had recently launched
India Report on Digital Education, 2020.
 According to the report, besides the central Initiatives State/ UT Governments have also managed
the critical task of providing digital education at the door step of the students.

Some states have launched innovative mobile apps and portals as means to facilitate remote learning.

 Madhya Pradesh has launched Top Parent App, a free mobile app that empowers parents of
young children (3-8 years) with knowledge and strategies around child development to help them
meaningfully engage with their children.
 KHEL (Knowledge Hub for Electronic Learning), a Game Based Application has also been
started, that covers class 1-3.
 Uttarakhand is making use of Sampark Baithak App through which primary school students can
access animated videos, audios, worksheet, puzzles, etc.
 Assam has launched the Biswa Vidya Assam Mobile Application for class 6 to 10.
 Bihar  has launched Vidyavahini App with e-books for class 1 to 12.
 Under Unnayan Bihar Initiative, Bihar has also launched Mera Mobile Mera Vidyalaya for
students, and Unnayan Bihar Teacher App.
 Chandigarh has launched Phoenix Mobile application to assess the learning outcome for the
students of class 1 to 8.
 Maharashtra has launched the Learning Outcomes Smart Q Mobile App to facilitate learning for
students in the state.
 Punjab has launched iScuela Learn Mobile Application for class 1 to 10.
 Sikkim Edutech App connects all the schools of Sikkim under the State Education Department,
Parents also have login access along with students, teachers and administrative units.
 Tripura has an application titled ‘EmpowerU Shiksha Darpan’ in order to facilitate student’s
appraisal.
 Uttar Pradesh launches ‘Top Parent’ app targeting children from 3-8years age. The application
currently houses three high-quality EdTech apps for children – Chimple, Maths Masti and Google
Bolo.

BANDICOOT
 Recently, Guwahati gets Northeast's first Manhole Cleaning Robot 'BANDICOOT'.
 It is the India’s first ‘manhole cleaning robot’ developed by the  brainchild of Genrobotics,
a Thiruvananthapuram-based start-up.

1947 Agreement on Gurkha Regiment

 From the first quarter of the 19th century, Gurkhas had served
under the British, first in the armies of the East India Company,
and then the British Indian Army.
  East India Company first recruited Gurkhas after suffering heavy
casualties during the Anglo-Nepalese War, also known as the
Gurkha War.
 The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816.
 It ensured that Gurkhas in British and Indian service would enjoy
broadly the same conditions of service as that of British and Indian
citizens.
 In 1947, when India became independent, it was decided to split
Gurkha regiments between the British and Indian armies.
 After the 1947 Tripartite Agreement, the British Army
amalgamated the Gurkha regiment into combined Royal Gurkha
Rifles (RGR).
 Currently, the Gurkhas comprise up to 3% of the British Army.
 The Gurkhas are recruited every year at the British Gurkha camp at
Pokhara in Nepal.
 The camp enlists fresh recruits not only for the British Army, but
also for the counter-terror arm of the Singapore Police Force.

National Transit Pass System (NTPS)

 Union Environment Ministry launched the National Transit Pass

System (NTPS).
 It is an online system for issuing transit permits for timber,
bamboo and other forest produce.
 Through mobile application e-pass will be issued for transit of
forest produce.
 NTPS will bring ease of business and expedite issuance of transit
permits for timber, bamboo and other minor forest produce
without physically going to forest offices.
 The pilot project will be functional in Madhya Pradesh and
Telangana for now.
 The system will be will be operational in all states by November
2020, to enhance seamless movement of forest produce.
 Transit of timber, bamboo and other forest produce is governed by
various state specific acts and rules.

Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme

 It is under the Union Ministry of Rural Development.

 It is the merger of two centrally sponsored schemes namely,

a. Computerization of Land Records (CLR).

b. Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land
Records (SRA&ULR).
  The DILRMP has 3 major components

1. Computerization of land record

2. Survey/re-survey
3. Computerization of Registration.

 The State Governments/UT Administrations will implement the

programme with financial and technical supports from the Dept. of
Land Resources.
 The district will be taken as the unit of implementation, where all
activities under the programme will converge.
 Recently, Union Ministry of Rural Development and Panchayati
Raj has released a booklet on “Best Practices in Digital India Land
Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP)”.

Muslim Women Rights Day

 National Commission for Minorities organized a virtual conference

on the occasion of Muslim Women Rights Day.
 It is celebrated every year on August 1, the day which made Muslim
women free from social evil of Triple Talaq.

 The law which makes social evil of Triple Talaq a criminal offence
has strengthened “self-reliance, self-respect and self-confidence” of
the Muslim women of the country.
 The day will help Muslim Women in realizing the goals of Political
Empowerment and not Political Exploitation and push
governments to undertake bold and big reforms for emancipation
of Muslim Women.

Gramodyog Vikas Yojana

 Gramodyog Vikas Yojana aims to promote and develop the village

industries through common facilities, technological
modernization, training etc.
 The scheme is under the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises.
 Under the scheme, R&D support would be given to the institutions
that intend to carry product development, new innovations, design
development, product diversification processes etc.
 The village institutions will be provided market support by way of
preparation of product catalogue, Industry directory, market
research, new marketing techniques, buyer seller meet, arranging
exhibitions etc.
  Recently, a new programme has been approved under the scheme
for the benefit of artisans involved in manufacturing of Agarbatti.
 Under this mission, Khadi and Village Industries Commission
(KVIC), will provide training, and assist artisans with agarbatti
manufacturing machines.

Alliance to End Plastic Waste

 Alliance to End Plastic Waste was founded in 2019 as a nonprofit

organization, in Singapore.
 It helps to solve the serious and complex issue of 8 million tons of
plastic waste entering the ocean every year.
 Nearly 50 companies across the plastics value chain have joined
the Alliance.
 They have committed to invest USD 1.5 billion towards solutions
that will prevent the leakage as well as recover and create value
from plastic waste.
 Recently, it has announced to invest between USD 70 million to
100 million in India over the next five years to reduce plastic waste.
 Currently, ‘Alliance to End Plastic Waste’ is working on the Project
Aviral which aims to reduce plastic waste in the Ganga River.

 After Kargil war, a high level committee was constituted by the Govt. of India who emphasized
that multiplicity of forces on the same border has also led to lack of accountability on the parts of
the forces.
 To enforce the accountability, the principle of 'One Border One Force' may be adopted while
considering deployment of Forces at the border.
 Accordingly, the Indo-Pakistan border and lndo-Bangladesh border given to BSF; the Indo-
Myanmar border given to Assam Rifles; the lndo-Nepal border is given to SSB; and the Indo-
Chinese border given to ITBP.
 Each of these forces has also been designated as the lead intelligence agency for that particular
border for sharing with the other paramilitary forces and the Army which may be in the hinterland
and being able to co-ordinate all the operations.
 As a part of this exercise, it has also been decided that CRPF will be the major Force which would
be dealing with counter insurgency or internal security operations all over the country.

Core sector output shrank further

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Economics – Growth and Development 
Context: 
 The output of eight core sector industries shrank further. 
 Economists expect the negative trend to continue for at least two more months. 
 During April-June 202021, the sector’s output dipped by 24.6% as compared to a
positive growth of 3.4% in the same period previous year.  
Do you know? 
 Of the eight core sectors, the fertilizer industry was the only one which saw actual
growth. 
 It reflects the positive outlook in the agriculture sector where a normal monsoon
is leading to expectations of a bumper kharif crop. 
 The remaining industries showed contraction, with the steel sector continuing to
remain the worst performer. 

Pic: The Hindu 

NEP 2020: KVs unlikely to change medium of

instruction 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Education reforms 
Context: 
 The new NEP contained a clause which provides for the mother tongue or local
language to be used as the medium of instruction “wherever possible” at least until
Class 5, but preferably till Class 8 and beyond.  
 Kendriya Vidyalayas and schools affiliated to the CBSE cater to the needs of
people in transferable jobs. It would not be practical to use students’ mother tongue
or regional languages as the medium of instruction for such schools. 
Do you know? 
 Kendriya Vidyalayas cater to the needs of Central government employees posted
anywhere and it contains students from all over India from Jammu and Kashmir
to Kanniyakumari.  
 Therefore, it becomes practically difficult to teach in their mother tongue or
different medium of instructions in one class. 
 KVs are directly controlled by the Education Ministry. 
 Most of the CBSE schools are also catering to the requirement of people in
transferable jobs.  

A.P. Governor clears Bill which provides for three

capitals 
Part of: GS Mains II – Government policies and interventions for development 
In news: 
 In a major turning point in the history of Andhra Pradesh, Governor gave his
assent to the A.P. Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions and
A.P. Capital Region Development Authority Repeal Bills 2020. 
 The clearance of the decentralisation Bill facilitates the development of
Amaravati, Kurnool and Visakhapatnam as the Legislative, Judicial and Executive
Capitals respectively. 

Pic: Multiple State Capitals  

Do you know? 
 The repeal of the Capital Region Development Authority Act (CRDA) paves the
way for the formation of the Amaravati Metropolitan Region Development Authority.  
 The government is free now to give the ‘three capitals’ proposal a tangible shape 

Menstrual Hygiene Management National Guidelines,

2015 
Part of: GS Mains II and III – Children/Women welfare; Health/Social issue 
Context: 
 National Guidelines on Menstrual Hygiene Management was released by the
Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in 2015 
 It seeks to address every component of menstrual hygiene ranging from, raising
awareness, addressing behaviour change, creating a demand for better hygiene
products, capacity building of frontline community cadre, sensitization of key
stakeholders, convergence needed for effective outreach and intervention, creation
of WASH facilities including safe disposal options, etc. 
Measures needed 
 The Guidelines should recognise sanitary napkins as an essential commodity,
and to add it to the schedule of the Essential Commodity Act. 
 Maharashtra’s Rural Development department had initiated ASMITA scheme – to
ensure that women and young adolescent girls in rural areas have access to quality
and affordable sanitary napkins through a network of women SHGs. (Such schemes
need effective implementation) 
 Vending machines for sanitary napkins should be set up across schools, colleges
and other locations. 

Pic: Menstrual Hygiene Management 

1947 agreement Tripartite agreement
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – India-Nepal relations; International relations 
About: 
 Tripartite agreement between the United Kingdom, India and Nepal was a treaty
signed in 1947 concerning the rights of Gurkhas in military service. 
 In 1947, India became independent from the United Kingdom, and it was decided
between the two governments to split the Gurkha regiments between the British and
Indian armies — six Gurkha units became part of the new Indian Army, while four
were transferred to the British Army. 
 As a part of this arrangement, it was agreed that Gurkhas in British and Indian
service should enjoy broadly the same conditions of service, to ensure that there
was no unfair advantage to serving in one or other, thus maintaining economic
stability and social harmony in the Gurkha recruiting areas.  
 Thus, the governments of the United Kingdom, India and Nepal came to sign the
Tripartite Agreement (TPA). 
Why in news? 
 Nepal Minister said 1947 pact on Gurkha soldiers have become redundant. 
 Gurkha veterans have been alleging that the U.K. has been discriminating against
them. 
Contempt of Court

 Contempt of court is a concept that seeks to protect judicial

institutions from motivated attacks and unwarranted criticism,
and as a legal mechanism to punish those who lower its authority.
 Article 129 of the Constitution conferred on the Supreme Court the
power to punish contempt of itself.
 Article 215 conferred a corresponding power on the High Courts.
 It is one of the restrictions on freedom of speech and expression
under Indian Constitution
 The punishment for contempt of court is simple imprisonment for
a term up to six months and/or a fine of up to Rs. 2,000.
 Civil contempt is committed when someone willfully disobeys a
court order, or willfully breaches an undertaking given to court.
 Criminal contempt consists of three forms:

1. Words, signs and actions that “scandalize” or “lower” the authority

of any court.
2. Prejudices or interferes with any judicial proceeding.
3. Interferes with or obstructs the administration of justice.

 Fair and accurate reporting of judicial proceedings and fair

criticism on the merits of a judicial order after a case is heard and
disposed of will not amount to contempt of court.
  The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 was amended in 2006 to
introduce truth as a valid defence against a charge of contempt, if it
was in public interest and was invoked in a bona fide manner.

Barakah Nuclear Power Plant

 Barakah is the Arab world’s first nuclear reactor started by UAE.

 Barakah, means “blessing” in Arabic, it was built by a consortium
led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation.
 Recently the power plant achieved its criticality, the first step
towards power production.
 Criticality of a nuclear power plant - A nuclear reactor is said
to be critical when the nuclear fuel inside a reactor sustains a
fission chain reaction.
 Each fission reaction releases a sufficient number of neutrons to
sustain a series of reactions.
 Heat is produced in the event, which is used to generate steam that
spins a turbine to create electricity.

Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme

 The Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme was rolled out in

May as part of the Centre’s Aatma-nirbhar package in response to
the COVID-19 crisis.
 It has a corpus of Rs. 41,600 crore and provides fully guaranteed
additional funding of up to Rs. 3 lakh crore.
 Eligibility – As of February 29,2020, MSMEs which have an
annual turnover up to Rs. 100 crore and with outstanding loans of
up to Rs. 25 crores.
 Union government has recently decided to expand the scheme, to
cover enterprises with a turnover up to Rs. 250 crore, with
outstanding loans up to Rs. 50 crore.
 It aims to cover loans given to larger firms, as well as to self-
employed people and professionals who have taken loans for
business purposes.
 Individual beneficiaries include both professionals such as doctors,
lawyers and chartered accountants, as well as self-employed people
such as vendors or taxi drivers.

High Impact Community Development

 HICDPs constitute an important dimension of the dynamic

development partnership between India and the Maldives.
  Under HICDP, India and Maldives have committed to execute
projects under a total grant of USD 5.5 million.
 These projects are driven by the needs of communities on the
islands.
 They will be implemented by City and Local Councils.
 It will enhance the capacities of locally-elected representatives and
support the decentralization efforts of the Government of
Maldives.
 Recently, India and Maldives signed a contract for setting up
Neighborhood Fish Processing Plants at two of the islands in the
neighboring country.

 These fish-processing plants are the first in a series of High Impact

Community Development projects.

Nag River

 The Nag River is flowing through the city of Nagpur in

Maharashtra.
 Nagpur city derives its name from the Nag River.
 It originates in Lava hills near wadi, forming a part of the Kanhan-
Pench river system.
 The river serves as drainage for Nagpur and as a result its
ecosystem is heavily polluted by urban waste from the city.
 In 2019 the Nag River Rejuvenation was cleared by National River
Conservation Directorate.

Lonar Lake

 Lonar Lake is a saline and alkaline lake located in Maharashtra.

 It was created by an asteroid collision with earth impact during the
Pleistocene Epoch.
 It is one of the four known, hyper-velocity, impact craters in
basaltic rock anywhere on Earth.
 The other three basaltic impact structures are in southern Brazil.
 It is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument, situated inside
the Deccan Plateau.
 Recently, the lake turned red/pink due to lowered water levels and
high salinity caused growth of Halo bacterium and increased
Carotenoid levels.

Haloarchaea
  Halophiles are a group of microorganisms that can grow and often
thrive in areas of high salt (NaCl) concentration.
 Halo archaea or halophilic archaea is a bacteria culture which
produces pink pigment and is found in water saturated with salt.
 Because of the biomass of Halo archaea microbes, the surface of
Lonar Lake turned red or pink.
 As the biomass subsides, the color will disappear.
 Halo archaea microbes were ingested by Flamingos.
 These microbes acted as carotenoid (pigment) rich food for the
birds.
 Flamingos get their red-pink color from special coloring chemicals
called pigments found in the algae and invertebrates they eat.

Geo-Heritage Monument

 Geo-heritage refers to the geological features which are inherently

or culturally significant offering insight to earth’s evolution or
history to earth science or that can be utilized for education.
 Geological Survey of India (GSI) is the parent body which is
making efforts towards identification and protection of geo-
heritage sites.

Galapagos Islands

 The Galapagos Islands are located in the Pacific Ocean around

1,000 km away from the South American continent.
 Ecuador made a part of the Galapagos a wildlife sanctuary in 1935,
and the sanctuary became the Galapagos National Park in 1959.
 In 1978, the islands became UNESCO’s first World Heritage Site.
 It contains aquatic species such as manta rays and sharks which
have been endangered by commercial fishing.
 It also hosts a wide array of aquatic wildlife, including marine
iguanas, fur seals, waved albatrosses and giant tortoises
'Galápagos'.
 Galapagos area is natural habitat of critically endangered scalloped
hammerhead sharks.
 Recently, Ecuador has expressed an official discomfort over the
sighting of Chinese fishing vessels near the Galapagos archipelago.
 Chinese fishing ships are frequent in Ecuador's waters during
august month of the year as the cold Humboldt Current brings in
nutrients that lead to a high congregation of hammerhead sharks.
Humboldt Current

 The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-
salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of
South America.
 The Humboldt Current is a highly productive ecosystem.
 It accounts for roughly 18-20% of the total worldwide marine fish
catch.

BeiDou

 China’s administration has officially commissioned BeiDou

Navigation Satellite System constellation.
 It was initiated in 1994.
 It aims to integrate its application in different sectors, including
fishery, agriculture, special care, mass-market applications,
forestry and public security.
 It now offers services including accurate positioning, navigation
and timing as well as short message communication.
 BeiDou uses a network of satellites and can provide positional
accuracies of under 10 meters, whereas GPS provides positioning
accuracies of under 2.2 meters.
 Chinese military has employed Beidou-guided conventional strike
weapons to counter a US intervention in a potential contingency, if
access to GPS is denied.
 Navigation Systems of other countries are as follows

1. NAVIC – India
2. GPS - USA
3. GLONASS - Russia
 4. GALILEO – EU

Dhole

 Dhole is also known as Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian
wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, and mountain wolf.
 Besides the tiger, the dhole is the only large carnivore in India that
is under the IUCN’s ‘endangered’ category.
 It play an important role as apex predators in forest ecosystems.
 A research paper on conserving the endangered dhole was
published in Mammal Review.

Highlights

1. Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh rank high in the

conservation of the endangered dhole in India.
2. On the other hand, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha,
Telangana and Goa will need to increase reduce the ease of
granting forest clearances for infrastructure projects.
3. Improving habitat conditions and prey densities in the Eastern
Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha would
“strengthen the link” between dhole populations in the Western
Ghats and central India.
4. India has the highest number of dholes in the world, but India
don’t have targeted management plans for scientific monitoring of
the species.

Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Genetic Resources (MAPGRs)

 National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) and ICAR-National

Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) have entered into a
MoU to conserve the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Genetic
Resources (MAPGRs).
 The conservation will be done in long-term storage module in the
National Gene bank and/or at Regional Station for medium term
storage module.
  The authorized institute NMPB and the ICAR-NBPGR on behalf of
the ICAR would develop detailed modalities for seed storage of
MAPGRs.

National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB)

 It was set up in 2000.

 It is working under Ministry of AYUSH.
 Mandate – To develop appropriate mechanism for coordination for
overall growth of medicinal plants sector both at the Central /State
and International level.

National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources

 It was established in 1977.

 It is under Department of Agricultural Research and Education.
 It plays a pivotal role in the improvement of various crop plants
and diversification and development of agriculture through
germplasm introduction.

Agatti Island

 It is in the UT of Lakshadweep.
 It is at a distance of 459 km (248 nautical miles) from Kochi and is
located to the west of Kavaratti Island.
 The lagoon area of this island is habitat of coral growth and
multicolored coral fishes in the lagoons.
 Fishing is the most important industry which is perhaps the only
island besides Minicoy getting surplus fish.
 Next to fishing, coir (coconut fibre) and copra (dried meat or
kernel of the coconut) are the main industries.
 Recently, the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal
(NGT) has granted an interim stay on felling of coconut trees on
Agatti Island in Lakshadweep.
 The tree-felling is also violating the Union Territory’s (UT)
Integrated Island Management Plan (IIMP).
 IIMP was formulated on the basis of a report submitted by the
Supreme Court-appointed Expert Committee, headed by Justice
R.V. Raveendran.
 It includes holistic island development plans prepared by the
National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) for
implementation by coastal States/ UTs.

Yellow Fever
  Yellow fever is caused by a virus that is spread by the Aedes aegypti
mosquito.
 These mosquitoes thrive in and near human habitations where
they breed in even the cleanest water.
 It is endemic in 34 countries in the sub-Saharan African region,
despite the existence of a vaccine for the disease.
 There are three transmission ‘cycles’ for the disease in Africa -
Urban, zoonotic and intermediate.
 The urban cycle mediated by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes is
responsible for explosive outbreaks.
 According to new study the disease is projected to shift to Central
and East Africa from West Africa by 2050.
 The study also highlighted that vaccination is the most important
and effective measure against yellow fever.

UK to Issue Coin in Honour of Mahatma Gandhi

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains I – History
Context:
 Britain is considering minting a coin to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi.
 The consideration is seen as part of efforts to celebrate achievements of people
from the Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
 As part of a global reassessment of history, colonialism and racism triggered by
the death in May of a Black man, George Floyd, in the United States, some British
institutions have begun re-examining their past
Do You Know?
 Gandhiji’s birthday, October 2, is observed as the International Day of Non-
Violence. 
 Black Lives Matter Protest is a movement in USA, against systemic violence
meted out to the African American community 

Dhole (Asiatic Wild Dog)

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Environment
In News: Karnataka, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh rank high in the conservation of
dhole in India, according to a new study.
Dhole
 The dhole is a canid native to Central, South, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
 India perhaps supports the largest number of dholes, with key populations found
in three landscapes — Western Ghats, Central India and Northeast India.
 IUCN Status: Endangered 
 Dholes play an important role as apex predators in forest ecosystems.
 Besides the tiger, the dhole is the only large carnivore in India that is under IUCN’s
‘endangered’ category.
 Factors contributing to this decline include habitat loss, loss of prey, competition
with other species, persecution due to livestock predation and disease transfer from
domestic dogs.
Do You Know?
 In 2014, the Indian government sanctioned its first dhole conservation breeding
centre at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) in Visakhapatnam.
 In India, the dhole is protected under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act,
1972.

Bharat Air Fibre Services: BSNL Launches service in

Maharashtra
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Economy
Context:
 The Bharat Air Fibre services are introduced by BSNL as part of Digital India
initiates by the GoI.
 The aim of these services is to provide wireless connectivity in the range of 20
km from the BSNL locations, which will benefit citizens residing in remote areas.
 It provides high-speed broadband to subscribers of remote areas by bridging the
gap of last-mile connectivity through radio waves.
 The state-run telco will also offer free voice calling along with Bharat Air Fibre
connectivity with data speeds of upto 100 Mbps.
 BSNL will provide the Bharat Air Fibre Services through local business partners. 
 The service thus aims at giving a push to ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ Abhiyan as BSNL
will provide monthly income of Rs 1 lakh to the local residents who enroll as
Telecom Infrastructure Partners.

Galapagos Islands
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains I – Geography
In News: Chinese fishing fleet entered the Galapagos region and Ecuador has officially
expressed its “discomfort” to China over the fishing vessels.
About
 The Galapagos Islands, spread over almost 60,000 sq km, are a part of Ecuador,
and are located in the Pacific Ocean around 1,000 km away from the South American
continent.
 The giant tortoises found here – ‘Galápagos’ in old Spanish– give the islands its
name.
 Ecuador made a part of the Galapagos a wildlife sanctuary in 1935, and the
sanctuary became the Galapagos National Park in 1959. In 1978, the islands
became UNESCO’s first World Heritage Site.
 The Galapagos Islands host a wide array of aquatic wildlife, including marine
iguanas, fur seals, and waved albatrosses.

Source - Sink Dynamics & Tiger Population

 Source–sink dynamics is a theoretical model used by ecologists to

describe how variation in habitat quality may affect the population
growth or decline of organisms.
 In this model, organisms occupy two patches of habitat.     

1. Source, is a high-quality habitat that on average allows the

population to increase.
2. Sink, is very low-quality habitat that, on its own, would not be able
to support a population.

 However, if the excess of individuals produced in the source

frequently moves to the sink, the sink population can persist
indefinitely.
 The tiger survey has highlighted that the tiger population in the
source-sink is in the ratio of 60:40.
 33% of the tiger population in India lives outside its source i.e,
tiger reserves.
 17/50 tiger reserves in India are going to achieve its maximum
capacity to hold the tiger populations.

 Tiger survey suggested that there is a need to create buffer areas

around the habitat zones of tigers where guided land-use and
faster conservation interventions can help reduce human-tiger
conflict.

Ecological Trap

 Ecological trap theory describes the reasons why organisms may

actually prefer sink patches over source patches.
  The concept stems from the idea that organisms that are actively
selecting habitat must rely on environmental cues to help them
identify high-quality habitat.
 If either the habitat quality or the cue changes so that one does not
reliably indicate the other, organisms may be lured into poor-
quality habitat.
 It thought to occur when the attractiveness of a habitat increases
disproportionately in relation to its value for survival and
reproduction.
 The result is preference of falsely attractive habitat and a general
avoidance of high-quality but less-attractive habitats.

Leopard

 The Indian leopard is one of the big cats occurring on the Indian
subcontinent, apart from the Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, snow
leopard and clouded leopard.
 Melanism is a common occurrence in leopards, wherein the entire
skin of the animal is black in color, including its spots.
 A melanistic leopard is often called Black Panther or jaguar, and
mistakenly thought to be a different species.
 In India, the leopard is found in all forest types, from tropical
rainforests to temperate deciduous and alpine coniferous forests.
 It is also found in dry scrubs and grasslands, the only exception
being desert and the mangroves of Sundarbans.
 It shares its territory with the tiger in 17 states.
 Conservation Status

1. Listed on a par with Tigers under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife

Protection Act (WPA), 1972.
2. Listed in Appendix I of CITES.
3. Listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.

 The last formal census on India’s leopards was conducted in 2014

which estimated the cat’s population at between 12,000 and
14,000.
 They also estimated 8,000 leopards in the vicinity of tiger habitat.
 As part of its global tiger census, the Wildlife Institute of India
(WII) is set to release a dedicated report on leopard sightings by
the month-end.

Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network

  The Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) is an
innovative technological solution aimed at strengthening
immunization supply chain systems across the country.
 eVIN aims to provide real-time information on vaccine stocks and
flows, and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in the
country.
 It is being implemented under National Health Mission (NHM) by
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
 eVIN has reached 32 States and Union Territories (UTs) and will
soon be rolled-out in the remaining States and UTs of Andaman &
Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Ladakh and Sikkim.
 Since April 2020, eight Indian States are using the eVIN
application with 100 % adherence rate to track State specific
COVID-19 material supplies.

Bharat Air Fiber

 Bharat Air Fibre Services have been inaugurated in Maharashtra

providing the residents wireless internet connections on demand.
 The Bharat Air Fibre services are being introduced by Bharat
Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) as a part of the Digital India
initiative by the Government of India. It is being scaled pan-India.
 It aims to provide BSNL fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) wireless
connectivity up to a range of 20 km from the BSNL points of
presence.
 The connectivity speed is 100 Mbps and BSNL is offering various
broadband plans in wireline and wireless segments.
 It provides high-speed broadband to subscribers of remote areas
by bridging the gap of last-mile connectivity through radio waves.

Protesting a Fundamental Human Right

 UN Human Rights Committee has declared protesting to be a

fundamental human right under the “International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights”.
 According to International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

1. People have the right to demonstrate peacefully and the same

should be respected by governments of 173 countries who have
ratified the convention.
2. They have a right to wear masks, right to gather to celebrate or to
air grievances, “in public and in private spaces, outdoors, indoors
and online.
 3. The right is available for everyone including women, migrant
workers, refugees and asylum seekers.
4. The Governments are forbidden from collecting personal data to
harass the participants or from suppressing the protest using
generalized references to public order or public safety, or an
unspecified risk of potential violence”.
5. The governments are also not allowed to block internet networks
or close down any website because of their roles in organizing or
soliciting a peaceful assembly.

 India is a party to this convention.

Constitutional provisions on Demonstrations

 Every person has a right to protest as per Article 19(1)(a) of the

constitution.
 It flows out from freedom of speech and expression.
 The right however can be curtailed on grounds mentioned in
Article 19(2) such as contempt of court, sovereignty and integrity
of India etc.
 The Committee’s interpretation will be important guidance for
judges in national and regional courts around the world, as it now
forms part of international law.

Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation

 Following SC’s Ayodhya verdict, Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf

Board has constituted a trust to build a mosque in Dhannipur,
Ayodhya.
 The Trust will be called the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation.
 Nine trustees have been announced, while it will “co-opt” the
remaining six (Max.15 member trust).
 Four out of the nine trustees are affiliated to the Board.
 The Trust would construct a center showcasing Indo-Islamic
culture of several centuries.
 Along with it, a center for research and study of Indo-Islamic
culture, a charitable hospital, a public library and other public
utilities will also be established at the site in Dhannipur.

Social Security Code

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II and III – Govt policies and schemes;  
Key facts: 
 Even 73 years after Independence, only 9.3% of India’s 466 million-strong
workforce has social security.  
 This means the remaining 90.7% still cannot aspire to protections that civil
servants, employees of most registered private sector enterprises, banks and public
sector employees, legislators and judges take for granted. 
 No other G20 country has such a high share of informal workers.  
About: 
Report on Social Security Code by Parliamentary Committee on Labour – 
 Recommended the eligibility period for gratuity payable to an employee on
termination of his employment should be reduced to one year from the present
provision of five years.  
 Also recommended that this facility be extended to all kinds of employees,
including contract labourers, seasonal workers, piece rate workers, fixed term
employees and daily/monthly wage workers. 
 Stressed that there should be a robust redressal mechanism in case an employer
does not pay up the dues. 
 Highlighted that the draft social security code does not state any goal
of providing social security to all its citizens. 
 Recommended that the Social Security Code should have provisions to hold the
employer liable for payment of gratuity to the employees within a stipulated time
frame. 

Imparting education to Tribals in their languages

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Education reforms; Govt policies and initiatives 
About: 
 The new National Education Policy lays emphasis on mother tongue-
based instructions up to Class 5. 
 Tribal communities and Odisha state will be at advantage if above provision is
implemented effectively. 
 Although it is easy to prescribe local language as medium of instructions up to
Class 5, it is very difficult to implement it. 
Unique position 
 Odisha occupies a unique position in the tribal map of India. 
 Odisha has most diverse tribal communities. It is home to 62 different tribal
communities including 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs). 
 Tribes in Odisha speak around 21 languages and 74 dialects. 
Do you know? 
 Odisha has been working on multilingual education (MLE) for more than past two
decades. 
 Academy of Tribal Language and Culture in collaborate with Scheduled Castes
and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) is probably the
only institute in entire country which has prepared supplementary readers in 21 tribal
languages for Class 1 to 3.  
 Santhali, a tribal language, has been included in Eighth Schedule of the
Constitution. 
Draft ‘Defence Production & Export Promotion Policy
(DPEPP) 2020 
Part of: GS Mains II and III – Govt policies and schemes; Defence 
About: 
 In order to provide impetus to self-reliance in defence manufacturing, multiple
announcements were made under ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Package’. 
 In implementing such framework and to position India amongst the leading
countries of the world in defence and aerospace sectors, Ministry of Defence (MoD)
has formulated a draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020
(DPEPP 2020).  
 The policy has laid out following goals and objectives: 
 To achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 Crores (US$ 25Bn) including export of Rs
35,000 Crore (US$ 5 Billion) in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025. 
 To develop a dynamic, robust and competitive Defence industry, including
Aerospace and Naval Shipbuilding industry to cater to the needs of Armed forces
with quality products. 
 To reduce dependence on imports and take forward “Make in India” initiatives
through domestic design and development. 
 To promote export of defence products and become part of the global defence
value chains. 
 To create an environment that encourages R&D, rewards innovation, creates
Indian IP ownership and promotes a robust and self-reliant defence industry. 
 The Policy brings out multiple strategies under the following focus areas: 
Procurement Reforms 
 Indigenization & Support to MSMEs/Startups 
 Optimize Resource Allocation 
 Investment Promotion, FDI & Ease of Doing Business 
 Innovation and R&D 
 DPSUs and OFB 
 Quality Assurance & Testing Infrastructure 
 Export Promotion 

MGNREGS running out of funds 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Government policies and interventions for
development; Welfare/Social schemes 
About MGNREGA 
 It stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 
 It guarantees 100 days of wage employment in a financial year to a rural
household whose adult members (at least 18 years of age) volunteer to do unskilled
work. 
 It has unique legal architecture of being demand-driven, and not budget
constrained. 
 It is social security and labour law that aims to enforce the ‘right to work’. 
 It has provision for unemployment allowance, when the state cannot provide
work 
 Agriculture and allied activities constitute more than 65% of the works taken up
under the programme. 
 MGNREGA has helped build rural infrastructure through approximately 10 crore
families. 
Problems facing MGNREGA 
 Governments capping its financial resources and turning it into supply-based
programme 
 Workers had begun to lose interest in working under it because of the inordinate
delays in wage payments. 
 With very little autonomy, gram panchayats found its implementation
cumbersome 
 As a result, over the last few years, MGNREGA had begun to face an existential
crisis. 
New concerns: 
 The Scheme has already used up almost half its allocated funds. 
 It spent more than ₹48,500 crore out of the expanded ₹1 lakh crore allocation
announced (during COVID outbreak) 
 In several Gram Panchayats, the approved projects have already been
exhausted. 
 A number of gram panchayats in vulnerable areas have already exhausted their
funds for the scheme. 
Measures needed: 
 Centre should allocate another ₹1 lakh crore to the scheme 
 It has to double the permitted work limit to 200 days per household. 

SpaceX with NASA crew is back home  

Part of: GS Prelims – Science and Technology – Space missions 
In news: 
 Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth in their SpaceX Dragon capsule named
Endeavour after successful two-month mission. 
 It was the first splashdown by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with
the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from
orbit.  
Do you know? 
 SpaceX’s Crew Dragon craft had delivered Nasa astronauts to the International
Space Station (ISS) and became the first human spaceflight with private
collaboration. 
Draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020

 Recently, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has formulated a draft

Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020 (DPEPP
2020).
 It aims to provide impetus to self-reliance in defence
manufacturing under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package.
 The policy aims to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 Cr (US$
25Bn) including export of Rs 35,000 Cr (US$ 5 Billion) in
Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.
 The Policy brings out multiple strategies under the
following focus areas:

1. Procurement Reforms
2. Indigenization & Support to MSMEs/Startups
3. Optimize Resource Allocation
4. Investment Promotion, FDI & Ease of Doing Business
5. Innovation and R&D
6. DPSUs and OFB
7. Quality Assurance & Testing Infrastructure
8. Export Promotion

Meghnaghat Combined-Cycle Power plant

 A combined-cycle power plant is a relatively more efficient way of

producing electricity.
 It uses both a gas and a steam turbine together to produce up to 50
% more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple-
cycle plant.
 It will reduce the share of environmentally harmful and expensive
fuels like coal and oil.
 Recently, Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $ 200
million financing deal with the Reliance Bangladesh LNG and
Power Limited (RBLPL).
 The deal aims to build and operate a 718-megawatt combined-cycle
gas-fired power plant in Bangladesh.
 The plant is proposed to be located on land allotted by Bangladesh
Power Development Board (BPDB), in Meghnaghat, Narayanganj
District near Dhaka.

Integrated Market Surveillance System 

  Market surveillance is the prevention and investigation of abusive,
manipulative or illegal trading practices in the securities markets.
 It helps to ensure orderly markets, where buyers and sellers are
willing to participate because they feel confident in the fairness
and accuracy of transactions.
 Without market surveillance, a market could become disorderly,
which would discourage investment and inhibit economic growth.
 Market surveillance can be provided by the private sector and the
public sector.
 In India Financial Markets Regulation Department (FMRD)
undertakes surveillance of financial markets regulated by the RBI.
 RBI has shortlisted few private vendors for implementation of
Integrated Market Surveillance System.

FDI in Commercial Coal Mining

 Union government clarified process on FDI in commercial coal

mining.
 Any country that shares land borders with India, which wishes to
invest in commercial coal mining will be allowed only after
government approval.
 A citizen of Pakistan or an entity incorporated in Pakistan can
invest only under the government route in sectors/activities other
than defence, space, atomic energy, and sectors/activities
prohibited for foreign investment.
 While the central government auctions coal blocks, state
governments need to handle local issues efficiently and with
sensitivity.

Ebrahim Alkazi

 Recently Ebrahim Alkazi, the longest-serving director of the

National School of Drama passed away.
 Ebrahim Alkazi is remembered as the father of Indian theatre.
 He revolutionized Indian theatre.
 He was the first person to bring regional language plays to NSD.
 He was the first recipient of Roopwedh Pratishtan's the Tanvir
Award (2004) for lifetime contribution to the theatre.
 He received the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma
Vibhushan.
 He received Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship for lifetime
contribution to theatre.

Suspension of H-1B visas and its impact

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Foreign policies affecting India’s interests; Diaspora 
Context: 
 US President on June 23 suspended the H1B visas, along with other types of
foreign work visas, until the end of 2020 to protect American worker. 
 Trump administration announced that it won’t tolerate firing of Americans for
cheap foreign labour. 
 This would be a major set back for the Indians as a majority of the H-1B visas
were allotted to Indians. 
Impact on Indians 
 Suspending H-1B and other work visas is likely to affect the movement of skilled
professionals, and to have impact on Indian nationals and industry 
 People-to-people linkages, as well as trade and economic cooperation in
technology and innovation sectors, are an important dimension in the US-India
partnership. 
According to a domestic rating agency –  
 Suspension of the H1-B visas by the US will cost domestic IT firms Rs 1,200 crore
and have a marginal 0.25-0.30 per cent impact on their profitability. 
What is a H-1B visa? 
 The H-1B is a visa in the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act,
which allows US employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in
speciality occupations.  
 A speciality occupation requires the application of a specialised knowledge and a
bachelor’s degree or equivalent of work experience.  
 The duration of a stay is three years and can be extended up to six years. Once
this period is over, the visa holder will need to re-apply. 

Operation Gibraltar 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II and III – India and Pakistan relations; Security issues 
About: 
 Operation Gibraltar was the codename given to the strategy of Pakistan to
infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir, and instigate the locals in starting a rebellion against
Indian rule there. 
 Pakistan specifically chose this name to draw a parallel to the Muslim conquest
of Spain that was launched from the port of Gibraltar. 
Do you know? 
 In August 1965, Pakistan Army’s troops disguised as locals, entered Jammu and
Kashmir from Pakistan with the goal of fomenting an insurgency among Kashmiri
Muslims. However, the strategy went awry from the outset due to poor coordination,
and the infiltrators were soon discovered. 
 The operation sparked the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the first major
engagement between the two neighbours since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. 
India-Pakistan: Concerns 
Part of: GS Mains II – India and its neighbours; International Relations 
In news: 
 Pakistan Prime Minister unveiled a “new political map” of Pakistan that includes
the entire erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Junagadh in Gujarat. 
 Indian government has dismissed the new Pakistan map as a “political
absurdity”. 
Do you know? 
 Such maps were published in 1947-48 when Mohammed Ali Jinnah was
Pakistan’s first governor general. 
FATF meeting soon 
 Ahead of the crucial Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meetings in October,
India to highlight Pakistan’s inaction. 
 Pakistan’s performance in acting against terror-financing infrastructure will be
assessed. 

Kerala’s gold smuggling case

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Parallel economy; Economy and issues related to it 
About: 
 National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe revealed that the initial funds for
obtaining gold was raised by persons with dubious antecedents and the funds were
sent abroad through hawala channel. 
Money laundering 
 Money laundering is the processes by which large amounts that are illegally
obtained is given the appearance of having originated from a legitimate source.   
 Some crimes such as illegal arms sales, terror funding, smuggling, corruption,
drug trafficking and the activities of organized crime including tax evasion produce
huge money which is required to be ‘laundered’ to make it look clean. 
Common avenues for money laundering in India: 
 Hawala: Hawala is an alternative or parallel remittance system. In Hawala
networks the money is not moved physically. For ex: A typical Hawala transaction
would be like a resident in USA of Indian origin doing some business wants to send
some money to his relatives in India. The person has option either to send the money
through formal channel of banking system or through the Hawala system. The
commission in Hawala is less than the bank charges and is without any
complications for opening account or visit the bank, etc. The money reaches in to
the doorstep of the person’s relative and the process is speedier and cheaper. 
 Shell companies: These are fake companies that exist for no other reason than
to launder money. They take in dirty money as “payment” for supposed goods or
services but actually provide no goods or services; they simply create the
appearance of legitimate transactions through fake invoices and balance sheets. 
 Structuring Deposits: Also known as smurfing, this method entails breaking up
large amounts of money into smaller, less-suspicious amounts. The money is then
 deposited into one or more bank accounts either by multiple people (smurfs) or by a
single person over an extended period of time 
 Third-Party Cheques: Utilizing counter cheques or banker’s drafts drawn on
different institutions and clearing them via various third-party accounts. Since these
are negotiable in many countries, the nexus with the source money is difficult to
establish. 
 Credit Cards: Clearing credit and charge card balances at the counters of
different banks. 
 Insurance Sector: The internal channels of laundering money are agent/broker
premium diversion, reinsurance fraud and rented asset schemes etc. Phony
insurance companies, offshore/unlicensed Internet companies, staged auto
accidents, vertical and senior settlement fraud are external channels of money
laundering. 
 Open Securities Market: the securities markets, which are known for their
liquidity, may also be targeted by criminals seeking to hide and obscure illicit funds. 
 Cyber-crimes:  identity theft, illegal access to e-mail, and credit card fraud are
coming together with money laundering and terrorist activities. Large amounts of
money is now stored in digital form. 
 Illicit stock options: Example:  Consider an investor ‘A’ who has incurred
significant capital gains in a year. In order to offset these gains, they use illiquid
stock options to book losses. The counterparty to these contracts, say investor ‘B’,
books profit in these options. B already has an arrangement with A wherein he
retains around 10-15 per cent of the profits made and transfers rest of the money to
‘A’ through non-banking channels. 
Measures taken by the government to plug in the legal loopholes: 
 The Income Tax Act, 1961 
 The Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities
Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA)  
 The smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act, 1976 (SAFEMA) 
 The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPSA) 
 The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 
 The Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Act, 1988. 
 The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 2000, (FEMA) 
 Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 
 The Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIUIND) 
 India is also a full time member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which
is responsible for setting global standards on anti-money laundering and combating
the financing of illegal activities. 
 The KYC policies followed by banks. 

COVID vaccine likely by mid-2021: WHO scientist 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Health/Social issue; International Organization 
About: 
 WHO’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said that a realistic timeline to start
receiving the first million doses of COVID vaccine is mid2021. 
 She also warned that it might take longer “as it is not easy to understand the virus
completely.” 
COVAX initiative 
 It aims at having two billion doses of the vaccine by the end of 2021. 
 COVAX Facility is a mechanism to ensure free, rapid and equitable access to
COVID19 vaccines across the world. 
Do you know? 
 Around 27 vaccines are in clinical trials, and another 150 odd are in preclinical
testing. 

SC directs States to provide support to senior citizens 

Part of: GS Mains II – Social/Welfare issue; Role of Judiciary 
In news: 
 Supreme Court directed the States to provide care, support and priority medical
treatment for senior citizens, especially those living alone or quarantined, amid the
pandemic.  
 Many elderly persons were battling loneliness and depression.  
 The lockdown and social isolation imposed had left many of them in the grip of
anxiety. 
 Senior citizens who are aged above 60 years and especially those with medical
conditions are particularly susceptible to infections during this period. 

Education during pandemic 
Part of: GS Mains II – Social/Welfare issue; Education; Vulnerable section 
About: 
According to the United Nation’s policy brief – 
 Almost 24 million children are at risk of not returning to school next year due to
the economic fallout of COVID19. 
 The educational financing gap is also likely to increase by one third. 
  More than 1.6 billion learners across the world have been affected by the
disruption of the education system. 
 Vulnerable populations in low-income countries to be hit harder and longer. 
 UNESCO estimates that 23.8 million additional children and youth may drop out
or not have access to school next year due to the pandemic’s economic impact
alone. 
Alcohol cess 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Economy and taxation 
About: 
 The ‘unscientific’ introduction of the COVID19 cess on wine, beer and spirits had
impacted all stakeholders. 
 Steep rise in the consumer price led many consumers shift to low-priced, low--
quality products, and even moonshine, all of which have huge health and socio-
economic ramifications. 
 The pandemic cess has adversely impacted the States revenue too as the cess
had hit sales volumes. 
Dragon Capsule

 Crew Dragon is a part of the Dragon 2, a class of reusable

spacecraft developed and manufactured by American aerospace
manufacturer SpaceX.
 It is the 5th class of US spacecraft to take human beings into orbit,
after the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs.
 Falcon 9, which carried the spaceship into the orbit, was also built
by SpaceX.
 It is done under the Demo-2 Mission of NASA and SpaceX.
 The Demo-2 mission is part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
with the aim of developing reliable and cost-effective access to and
from the International Space Station.
 Recently, dragon capsule returned back to earth after its short test
flight, this clears the way for possible tourist flights in the near
future.
 It was the first splashdown by U.S. astronauts in 45 years, with the
first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to
and from orbit.
 The last time NASA astronauts returned from space to water was
on July 24, 1975, in the Pacific to end a joint U.S.-Soviet mission
known as Apollo-Soyuz.

Hammer Missile

 Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range Missiles

(HAMMER) is a medium-range modular air-to-ground weapon
designed for the French Air Force and the Navy.
 It a rocket-enabled precision missile with a range of 60 km
perfectly suited for high altitude.
 India has decided to fit HAMMER missiles on the newly-acquired
Rafale jet aircraft
 Earlier Rafale jets with HAMMER missiles carried out airstrikes in
Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
  Apart from the HAMMER missiles, the Rafale aircraft will also be
armed with beyond- visual range missiles like Meteor, SCALP, and
MICA, increasing their ability to take on incoming targets from a
distance.

Munitions and their origins

 HAMMER - Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range

Missile – Made in France
 MICA - Fire and Forget short and Medium-Range Missile System
– Made in France
 Meteor - Radar guided beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile –
Made in France
 SCALP - Beyond visual range air to air missile – Made in France
 SPICE - Smart, Precise Impact, Cost-Effective Air-to-Surface
missile – Made in Israel
 Strom Shadow - General Purpose Long Range Cruise Missile –
Made in UK  

Ammonium Nitrate

 Ammonium nitrate (NH₄NO₃) is one of the world’s most widely

used fertilizers.
 It is produced as small porous pellets, or ‘prills’,
 Ammonium nitrate does not burn on its own, instead it acts as a
source of oxygen that can accelerate the combustion (burning) of
other materials.
 Ammonium nitrate prills provide a much more concentrated
supply of oxygen than the air around us.
 This is why it is effective in mining explosives, where it’s mixed
with oil and other fuels.
 At high enough temperatures, however, ammonium nitrate can
violently decompose on its own.
 This process creates gases including nitrogen oxides and water
vapour.
 It is this rapid release of gases that causes an explosion.
 Recently there was an ammonium nitrate blast in Lebanese capital
Beirut injured many.

Nitrogen di-oxide

 Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) is a red, bad-smelling gas.

 An ammonium nitrate explosion produces massive amounts of
nitrogen oxides.
  Nitrogen oxides are commonly present in urban air pollution, and
can irritate the respiratory system.
 Elevated levels of these pollutants are particularly concerning for
people with respiratory conditions.

NGT order on ground water extraction

 The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has called for commercial

entities to follow new rules for getting permission to extract
groundwater.
 Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) will now form the basis
of granting such permissions.
 The Union Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Central Ground Water
Board (CGWB) were ordered by the NGT to ensure no general
permission was given for withdrawing groundwater, particularly to
any commercial entity.
 Under the order, plants involved in commercial extraction of
ground water will undergo individual assessment through an
expert committee.
 All overexploited, critical and semi-critical (OCS) assessment units
must undergo water mapping.
 Water management plans need to be prepared for all OCS
assessment units in the country based on the mapping data,
starting with overexploited blocks.
 NGT had also mentioned permission to extract groundwater must
be for specified times and quantity of water, not for perpetuity.
 It must be necessarily subject to digital flow meters, which cannot
be accessed by proponents, with mandatory annual calibration by
the authorized agency at proponents.

Section 5 of Environment Protection Act

 Section 5 of the Environment Protection Act that allows the Centre

to shut down industrial units that grossly violate the law.
 Violation Committee Rules of MoEFCC - These rules allow
industrial projects in violation of environmental laws to apply to a
special panel of experts called the ‘Violations Committee’ of the
MoEFCC, provided they meet certain criteria and make
appropriate modifications become compliant operations.
 The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
ordered closure of the LG Polymers plant in Vishakapatnam,
Andhra Pradesh.
 The ministry has also sought updated information on whether the
company had abided by the MSIHC rules by MoEFCC.
  Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals
(MSIHC) Rules, 1989 prescribe how hazardous and industrial
chemicals ought to be stored.
 From LG Polymers plant styrene gas leaked on May 17, 2020.
 The chemical factory had been working since 1997 without
appropriate clearances and had applied for clearance, in 2018,
under rules made by the MoEFCC itself.
 LG Polymers had applied to violation committee and its case was
under consideration.

Hoolock Gibbons

 Hoolock Gibbons are native to eastern Bangladesh, Northeast

India and Southwest China.
 The tailless Hoolock Gibbon is the only ape found in India.
 In the areas of high tree canopies, the gibbons swing from branch
to branch.
 They cannot adapt to living on the ground and cannot bear the
high temperatures brought about by the loss of green cover.
 The Hoolock Gibbon is categorized into two types:

1. Western hoolock gibbon - It inhibits in all the states of the

north-east, restricted between the south of the Brahmaputra River
and east of the Dibang River.

 It is listed as Endangered under the International Union for

Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

2. Eastern hoolock gibbon - It inhabits specific pockets of

Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in India, and in southern China and
north-east Myanmar outside India.

 It is listed as Vulnerable under the IUCN Red list.

 In India, both the species are listed on Schedule 1 of the Indian
(Wildlife) Protection Act 1972.

ShadeSmart

 External shading devices are not common in modern buildings, which are mostly glazed or
buildings with curtain walls.
 The shading systems are usually permanent structures, posing challenges such as maintenance,
obstruction of views, architecturally not meeting the aspirations of the client, and so on.
 In contrast, ShadeSmart changes its configuration depending upon the Sun’s position.
  For example, when the Sun is in the East direction, East façade windows will be shaded, once the
Sun is in South orientation during noon ShadeSmart configuration on East changes to provide
unobstructed external views and glare-free daylight.
 This technology will help to bring inside the buildings more daylight with less heat, thus making
occupants comfortable and also more productive and healthy.
 In the international market, many movable shading devices are available, however, since
ShadeSmart is locally produced in India, it becomes an economically viable energy-efficient
solution which every building may integrate in order to achieve energy efficiency.


Radiant Cooling

 It is where cooling is achieved through radiant heat transfer, as against regular convective air
conditioning.
 This technology is efficient and gives better quality of thermal comfort.
 At present, energy and comfort audits of existing radiant cooled buildings, energy simulations, and
finally, construction of a Demonstration Habitat is being undertaken.
 Besides, the process to integrate radiant cooling in the National Building Code is being undertaken
in India.
 Radiant cooled buildings have an extremely high potential of energy-saving (60-70%).
 Standard protocols for operation of radiant cooled buildings and adaptive thermal comfort
standards for radiant cooled buildings in India will make it convenient for the masses to adopt
radiant cooling technology.

Beirut explosion
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Science; Disaster and Hazards 
In news: 
 At least 100 people were killed and nearly 4,000 injured in a massive explosion at
Lebanon’s capital Beirut. 
 The explosion was of over 2700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored for six years
in a warehouse in the port. 
Do you know? 
 Incident comes at one of the worst times for the country. 
 The Western Asian country in the recent past has been crippled by serious
economic crisis. 
 It had led to large-scale closure of businesses and soaring prices of basic
commodities resulting in social unrest. 
 The country is also grappled by age-old Shia-Sunni rift. 
Ammonium nitrate 
 In its pure form, ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) is a white, crystalline chemical
which is soluble in water.  
 It is the main ingredient in the manufacture of commercial explosives used in
mining and construction. 
Regulations: 
 In India, The Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012, under The Explosives Act, 1884,
define ammonium nitrate as the “compound with formula NH4NO3 including any
mixture or compound having more than 45 per cent ammonium nitrate by weight
including emulsions, suspensions, melts or gels but excluding emulsion or slurry
 explosives and non explosives emulsion matrix and fertilizers from which the
ammonium nitrate cannot be separated”. 
 Pure ammonium nitrate is not an explosive on its own. It is classified as an
oxidiser (Grade 5.1) under the United Nations classification of dangerous goods. If
mixed with ingredients like fuel or some other contaminants, or because of some
other external factors, it can be very explosive. 
Stored ammonium nitrate is a major fire hazard  
Large quantities of stored ammonium nitrate are regarded as a major fire hazard, with
multiple reported cases across the world.  
Big stockpiles of ammonium nitrate can explode in two possible ways.  
 One is by some type of detonation or initiation because the storage comes in
contact with explosive mixture or an outside source of energy.  
 Second, the blast can result due to a fire which starts into the ammonium nitrate
storage because of the heat generated due to the oxidation process at large scale. 
There are several documented examples of deadly ammonium nitrate fire and explosion
incidents in the past, some with large numbers of fatalities like in China in 2015 and in
Texas in 1947. 
Experts say that the world over, the main obstacles in regulating ammonium nitrate is its
widespread use in industry and agriculture.  
While a legislative framework exists, repeated examples of misuse and mishaps show
that a lot more needs to be done. 

103rd Constitution Amendment Act 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Polity – Constitution and recent amendments;
Welfare/ Social issue 
About: 
 It provides for 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions
for the economically weaker section in the unreserved category. 
 The Act amends Article 15 and 16 to provide for reservation based on economic
backwardness. 
For the purposes of this article 15 and article 16, “economically weaker sections” to be
notified by the State from time to time on the basis of family income and other
indicators of economic disadvantage. 
Important points: 
 The new clause (6) to Article 15 allows the government to carve reservation for
the economically weaker sections of society in higher educational institutions,
including private ones, whether they are aided or not by the State. Minority
educational institutions are exempted.  
 Likewise, the new clause (6) to Article 16 provides for quota for economically
deprived sections in the initial appointment in government services. 
Indra Sawhney case (1992) 
 Nine-judge Bench had fixed limit of 50% reservation ceiling 
 Judgment also had barred reservation solely on economic criterion 
 Do you know? 
 Article 46 asks the government to promote the educational and economic
interests of the weaker sections of the society. 
It provides reservation for: 
1. People who have an annual income of less than Rs 8 lakh, or 
2. People who own less than five acres of farm land, or 
3. People who have a house less than 1,000 sq feet in a town (or 100 sq yard in a
notified municipal area). 

Red alert issued in Maharashtra 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains I and III – Climate; Disaster and natural Hazards; Disaster
Management 
In news: 
 Mumbai witnessed heavy rain leading to widespread damage.  
 IMD has issued a ‘red’ alert for ‘extremely heavy’ rainfall in Mumbai and several
parts of the State. 
 There was heavy flooding in the low-lying areas of the city and suburbs. 
Reasons: 
 Mumbai has already received 50 percent of its August average rainfall owing to
incessant downpour over the past 16 hours. 
 According to IMD, the influence of a low-pressure weather system developing
over the north Bay of Bengal has led to the downpour.  
 Active monsoon conditions over the Arabian Sea, led to high convection and
localised circulation that enhanced rain activity, thunderstorms and overnight gusty
winds. 

Basmati Rice
Context: GI tag for Basmati 
 Madhya Pradesh has sought GI tag for Basmati produced in 13 districts of MP. 
 However, All India Rice Exporters’ Association (AIREA) argues that if MP is
included in the GI list of Basmati crop then it will not only harm the reputation of
Indian Basmati as a whole, but also the national interest. 
Do you know? 
 India stands tall in the global arena as the only producer of premium Basmati. 
 No other country (other than 18 districts of Pakistan) can call any of its rice as
‘Basmati’.  
 In May 2010, Basmati rice got GI certification for the region located in Indo-
Gangetic Plains (IGP) below the foothills of the Himalayas, spread across seven
states — Himachal Pradesh, J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Western UP (26
districts) and Delhi. 
Concern: 
 GI tag is basically an assurance that the product is coming from that specific
area. It’s kind of trademark in the international market. 
 AIREA said that under WTO’s TRIPs (trade-related aspects of intellectual property
rights) agreement, physical attributes are not enough for a product to earn GI tag and
that reputation linked to the geographical region is essential and imperative.  
 As per GI of Goods (Registration & Protection) Act in 2003, ‘reputation’ to a
geographical area is central to the recognition of a GI product and only seven states
have that reputation. 
 Even if the rice grown in MP has all the required characteristics (or maybe even
better than Basmati rice grown in the traditional growing areas), the same would not
still entitle such rice to qualify as Basmati. 
 According to APEDA, the origin and reputation of Basmati rice as a ‘long grain,
aromatic rice’ from the IGP is found in tradition, folklore, scientific and culinary
literature and political and historical records. 
 Exporters say that with the inclusion of MP, the ramifications will be disastrous. It
had been a tough battle for the country to protect Basmati name from the
encroachment of various nations which all came out with their own versions of
Basmati. 
 If MP is allowed to be included, it will nullify APEDA’s efforts made earlier to
secure and protect Indian Basmati since 1995 by taking up over a 1,000 legal
actions in nearly 50 countries, spread across all the continents. 

Pokkali rice
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Agriculture; Science and Tech; Research 
About: 
 The pokkali variety is known for its saltwater resistance and ability to flourish 
in the paddy fields of coastal districts of Kerala.  
 The uniqueness of the rice has brought it the Geographical Indication (GI) tag and
is the subject of continuing research. 
 Now, Sundarbans farmers are planning to use  pokkali seeds as about 80% of the
rice paddies in the Sundarbans faced the problem of saltwater incursion. 
 If Pokkali rice seedlings succeeds, it would be a good step to turn around the
fortunes of the farmers.  
Vytilla-11 variety 
 Five kilos of Vyttila11 variety of pokkali seedlings were sent to Sunderbans. 
 Vyttila11 is the latest variety to come out of Kerala Agricultural University.  
 Vyttila11 promises better yield of about 5 tonnes per hectare than the previous
varieties, and is crossed with the Jyoti variety of rice popular in Kerala. The crop
duration is about 110 days. 

Miscellaneous:
Hezbollah
About: 
 Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim political party and militant group based in
Lebanon. 
 Hezbollah emerged during Lebanon’s fifteen-year civil war, which broke out in
1975 when long-simmering discontent over the large, armed Palestinian presence in
the country reached a boiling point.   
 The Iran-backed group is driven by its opposition to Israel and its resistance to
Western influence in the Middle East. 
 With its history of carrying out global terrorist attacks, Hezbollah have been
designated as a terrorist group by the United States and many other countries. 

Atomic Bomb Dome

About: 
 It is part of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan and was
designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996, to call for a non-nuclear world. 
 The ruin of the hall serves as a memorial to the over 140,000 people who were
killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945. 

Kisan Rail

 Kisan Rail or India’s first Kisan Special Parcel Train has been
inaugurated recently.
 The train will transport material between Maharashtra's Devlali
and Bihar's Danapur Railway station.
 It will carry fruits and vegetables and will make stoppages at
several stations and pick-up and deliver them.
 This will help in bringing perishable agricultural products like
vegetables, fruits to the market in a short period of time.
  The Kisan Rail train with frozen containers is expected to build a
seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of
fish, meat and milk.

Cuba’s Election to UNHRC

 The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has 47

members elected for staggered 3-year terms on a regional group
basis from 5 groups.
 To become a member, a country must receive the votes of at least
96 of the 191 states of the UN General Assembly (an absolute
majority).
 The members are elected for a period of 3 years, with a maximum
of two consecutive terms.
 In electing Council members, the resolution provides that General
Assembly members “shall take into account the candidates’
contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and
their voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto.
 The US withdrew from the council in 2018 because the council
adopted resolutions condemning Israel.
 U.S. Secretary of State has recently urged UN members not to
support Cuba’s bid to join the organization’s Human Rights
Council.
 Cuba, previously in the UNHRC in 20142016 and 2017-2019, has
applied to fill one of the regional vacancies for 2021-2023.
 U.S. Secretary of State has described Cuba’s sale of medical
services, Havana’s main source of foreign exchange, as a form of
human trafficking.

Debt Instruments

 A debt instrument is a tool an entity can utilize to raise capital.

 It is a documented, binding obligation that provides funds to an
entity in return for a promise from the entity to repay a lender or
investor in accordance with terms of a contract.
 Debt instrument contracts include detailed provisions on the deal
such as collateral involved, the rate of interest, the schedule for
interest payments, and the timeframe to maturity if applicable.
 As per RBI’s extant Basel III guidelines, if a bank holds a debt
instrument directly, it would have to allocate lower capital as
compared to holding the same debt instrument through a mutual
fund (MF)/exchange traded fund (ETF).
  RBI recently permitted banks to invest in debt instruments
through mutual funds (MFs) or exchange traded funds without
allocating additional charges.
 This is to expand the bond market.
 This will result in substantial capital savings for banks and is
expected to give a boost to the corporate bond market.

Liquidation Process

 The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) notified the

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Liquidation Process)
(Third Amendment) Regulations, 2020.
 IBBI is a key institution in implementing the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code (IBC), which provides for market-linked and
time-bound resolution of stressed assets.
 IBC provides for market-linked and time-bound resolution of
stressed assets.
 In case the insolvency resolution process does not succeed, then
the company concerned goes for liquidation.
 When a company goes into liquidation under IBC, the committee
of creditors (CoC) appoints a liquidator and decides on a fixed fee
to be paid for their services.
 A liquidator can claim fees only on the basis of the amount of work
they have done during the liquidation process of a company, be it
in terms of the amount realised or distributed.
 The new regulations require the committee of creditors to fix the
fee payable to the liquidator. 
 Where the fee has not been fixed by the committee of creditors, the
regulations provide for a fee as a percentage of the amount realized
and of the amount distributed by the liquidator.
 It also amended the regulations for voluntary liquidation to enable
a corporation to appoint an alternate liquidator at any point during
the process through a resolution of members or partners, or
contributories.

Priority Sector Lending Guidelines

 Under Priority Sector Lending (PSL) guidelines, banks have to set

aside a specific portion of bank lending to sectors deemed
important by the central bank.
 The following are the categories listed by RBI under PSL
1. Agriculture
2. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
3. Export Credit
 4.Education
5.Housing
6.Social Infrastructure
7.Renewable Energy
 All scheduled commercial banks and foreign banks with a sizeable
presence in India are mandated to set aside 40% of their Adjusted
Net Bank Credit (ANDC) for lending to these sectors.
 RBI has recently assigned PSL status to India’s startup sector.
 Startups were considered under the MSME category and were
required to show three years of profitability
 RBI also recently increased the limits for renewable energy,
including solar power and compressed bio-gas plants.
 It would benefit smaller bootstrapped businesses that had earlier
faced challenges in getting low-priced debt from banks.
 An incentive framework has been established to help banks
address regional disparities, with respect to flow of priority sector
credit.
 Higher weighting will be assigned to incremental priority sector
credit in identified districts where credit flow is comparatively
lower.
 Whereas a lower weighting will be assigned in case of a
comparatively higher credit flow.

Abanindranath Tagore

 Abanindranath Tagore was an Indian painter who transformed the

post-Renaissance academic realism.
 He founded the Indian Society of Oriental Art and also founded the
Bengal School of Art.
 He promoted a style based on a modern interpretation of
traditional Rajput and Moghul art.
 His sole aim for establishing the school was to counter the English
influence on Indian artists.
 National Gallery of Modern Art has decided organize the virtual
tour titled “The Great Maestro: Abanindranath Tagore”, to
commemorate his 150th Birth Anniversary.
Tsunami Ready

 It is a community performance-based programme initiated by the Intergovernmental

Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO.
 It aims to promote tsunami preparedness through active collaboration of public, community
leaders, and national and local emergency management agencies.
 The main objective of this programme is to improve coastal community's preparedness for
tsunami emergencies, to minimize the loss of life and property and to ensure a structural and
systematic approach in building community preparedness through fulfilling the best-practice
 indicators set by the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami
Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS) of UNESCO-IOC.
 Fulfilment of the guidelines ensures communities have a strong end-to-end tsunami early warning
and mitigation system with a particular focus on community awareness and preparedness to
respond.
 To implement and monitor the implementation of Tsunami Ready and IOWave Exercises in India,
Ministry of Earth Sciences established a National Board under the chairmanship of Director,
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Centre (INCOIS).
 The Indian Tsunami Early Warning Centre (ITEWC), INCOIS is the nodal agency to provide
tsunami advisories to India.
 Tsunami Early Warning Centre is a part of Indian Nation Centre for Ocean Information
Services (INCOIS) located in Hyderabad, Telangana.
 INCOIS is also providing tsunami advisories to Indian Ocean region (25 countries) as a Tsunami
Service Providers as the responsibility assigned by IOC-UNESCO. 

 The Ram temple at Ayodhya, to be built in the Nagara style of architecture, will comprise three
stories with pillars and domes.
 Nagara is the style of temple architecture which became popular in Northern India.
 It is common here to build an entire temple on a stone platform with steps leading up to it.
 Unlike in south India, it doesn’t usually have elaborate boundary walls or gateways.
 The garbhagriha is always located directly under the tallest tower.
 The Lingaraja temple is one of the grandest and is regarded as a gem of Nagara architectural
style.  

RBI Monetary Policy Highlights

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Indian Economy – Monetary policy; RBI and Banking 
Context: 
 RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das announced key policy decisions during the third
review of the monetary policy since the COVID19 pandemic spread in the country. 
Do you know? 
 Monetary policy is the process by which the RBI controls the supply of money,
often targeting an inflation rate or interest rate to ensure price stability. 
 RBI reviews its monetary policy every two months. 
Key highlights: 
1. Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI decided to 
 keep the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent (lowest since it was introduced in
2000) 
 continue accommodative stance of the monetary policy as long as it is necessary
to revive growth and mitigate the impact of the pandemic 
2. RBI Governor announced stimulus measures, which included additional special
liquidity of Rs 10,000 crore at repo rate to NABARD and NHB.
3. To enhance safety of cheque payments, it has been decided to introduce a
mechanism of Positive Pay for all cheques of value ₹50,000 and above. 
4. RBI to set up an innovation hub
5. Priority sector lending to be given tostartups also 
6. Stressed MSME borrowers will be eligible for debt restructuring
7. RBI to announce additional measures to enhance liquidity support, ease financial
stress, improve flow of credit and deepen digital payment system.

Link: The Hindu 
Status of economy, according to RBI: 
 Mutual funds have stabilised since the Franklin Templeton episode 
 Supply chain disruptions persist; inflation pressures evident across segments 
 Economic activity had started to recover, but surge in infection has forced
imposition of lockdowns 
 Real GDP growth is estimated to be negative for 2020-21 
 Recovery in rural economy expected to be robust 
 Global economic activity has remained fragile. 

India-China: Concerns 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – India and its neighbours; International Relations 
About: 
 India rejected the Chinese initiative to discuss the Kashmir issue in a closed-door
meeting in United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and reiterated that Kashmir is a
domestic issue. 
 China’s attempt did not attract sufficient support from the UNSC members.  
Do you know? 
 China had repeatedly attempted to bring Kashmir issue during UNSC meetings. 
 The frequency of such attempts by China has prompted diplomats to highlight
the unequal nature of the UN organ, where the agenda is set by the permanent
members (P5) of the UNSC. 
 Kashmir issue had not been taken up at the council since it last figured in the
world body before the India-Pakistan war of 1971.  

India’s Global Hunger Index 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Health; Poverty; Social/Welfare issue 
About: 
 India ranked 102nd on the Global Hunger Index, despite high food production. 
 Nutritional security requires measures to improve protein and vitamin
deficiencies. 
Global Hunger Index (GHI) Report 
 Prepared by the Concern Worldwide (an Irish agency) and the Welt
Hunger Hilfe (a German organization) 
 The report is based on four GHI indicators namely, undernourishment, child
stunting, child wasting, and child mortality. 
 India’s child wasting rate was extremely high at 20.8% – the highest 
 India’s rank has slipped from 95th position (in 2010) to 102nd (in 2019) 
Child wasting 
 Child wasting refers to the share of children under the age of five who are
wasted, i.e, they have low weight with respect to their height, reflecting acute
undernutrition. 

Indian pangolin 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Conservation; Endangered Species 
In news: 
 Telangana Forest Department has exposed the rampant poaching of pangolins in
the forests of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. 
 Three to four kilograms of pangolin scales were seized, for seized from the gang,
for which three to five animals might have been killed. 
Do you know? 
 Recently, China is reported to have imposed a ban on wildlife meat and removed
pangolin scales from its list of approved traditional medicine, in the context of the
COVID19 spread. 
 Pangolins are among the world’s most trafficked mammals. 
From Prelims Point of view: 
Indian pangolin:  
 Has thick scaly skin  
 Hunted for meat and used in traditional Chinese medicine.  
 Pangolins are among the most trafficked wildlife species in the world.  
 Out of the eight species of pangolin, the Indian and the Chinese pangolins are
found in India.  
 Both these species are listed under Schdule I Part I of the Wildlife (Protection)
Act, 1972. 
IUCN Red List 
 Indian Pangolin: Endangered 
 Chinese Pangolin: Critically Endangered 

States get more funds to mount COVID19 response 

Part of: GS Mains II – Centre-State Relations; Governance  
Context: 
 Union government released more than ₹890 crore as the second instalment of
COVID19 aid 
 The funds are part of ₹15,000crore package announced in March to support the
States’ emergency response and the preparedness of their health systems 
 The money was meant for patient treatment, manpower training and medical
infrastructure. 
Do you know? 
 The first instalment of ₹3,000 crore was released in April to all States and UTs,
and was used to ramp up testing facilities, augment hospital infrastructure and
conduct surveillance activities, along with procurement of essential equipment,
drugs and other supplies. 

Kisan Rail 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Farmers/Agriculture; Infrastructure 
About: 
 Indian Railways said it will begin running Kisan Rail. 
 The first such train will run weekly between Devlali (Maharashtra)
to Danapur (Bihar). 
About Kisan Rail  
 It was announced in the Union Budget 202021  
 This train will help in bringing perishable agricultural produce like vegetables and
fruits to the market in a short period of time 
 The train with frozen containers is expected to build a seamless national cold
supply chain for perishables 
 This train is a step towards realising the goal of doubling farmers’ incomes by
2022 (Ashok Dalwai committee on Doubling of Farmers’ Income.) 

US against Cuba on UNHRC seat 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – International affairs; International Affairs 
About: 
 U.S. urged UN members not to support Cuba’s bid to join the organisation’s
Human Rights Council. 
 U.S. administration described Cuba’s sale of medical services, Havana’s main
source of foreign exchange, as a form of human trafficking. 
Do you know? 
 The main criticism against HRC is that – it is made up of states not known for
their human rights records. (who are outstandingly bad violators of human rights –
China, Cuba and Jordan) 
 Countries grossly violating human rights are still elected as members to the
body.  
 Cuba, which sat on the UNHRC in 2014-2016 and 2017-2019, has applied to fill
one of the regional vacancies for 2021-2023. 
 The seats are distributed geographically and are awarded for a period of three
years. Members are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two
consecutive terms. 
About UNHRC 
 UNHRC is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect
human rights around the world. 
 It is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system. 
 It meets at the UN Office at Geneva. The headquarters of UNHRC is in Geneva,
Switzerland. 
 UNHRC was established by the UN General Assembly in 2006. It is made up of 47
member nations. 

Miscellaneous: 
Person in news: Manoj Sinha and Murmu 
About: 
 Former Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha was appointed as the
Lieutenant-Governor of Jammu and Kashmir after G.C. Murmu, a former IAS officer,
resigned. 
 Murmu was appointed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. 

Committee for Stressed Assets

 Recently RBI set up an expert committee under K V Kamath to

suggest financial parameters for resolution of covid-19 related
stressed assets.
 The committee will submit its recommendations to the RBI, which
will notify them along with modifications, if any, in 30 days.
 Resolution Framework for Covid-19-related Stress envisages to
make recommendations on the required financial parameters to be
factored in into the resolution plans, with sector-specific
benchmark.
 Assets of the banking system comprises of loans given and
investment (in bonds) made by banks.
 Quality of the asset indicates how much of the loans taken by the
borrowers are repaid in the form of interests and principal.
 Stressed assets = NPAs + Restructured loans + Written off
assets
 NPA - means interest or principal is not repaid by the borrower
during a specified time period (‘overdue’ for a period of 90 days.)
 Bad assets are further classified into substandard asset, doubtful
asset, and loss assets depending upon how long a loan remains as
an NPA.
 Restructured loans - Assets which got an extended repayment
period, reduced interest rate, converting a part of the loan into
equity, providing additional financing, or some combination of
these measures.
 Hence, under restructuring a bad loan is modified as a new loan.
 Written off Assets - Those the bank or lender doesn’t count the
money borrower owes to it.
 The financial statement of the bank will indicate that the written
off loans are compensated through some other way.

Business Confidence Index

 National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has

released Business Confidence Index (BCI).
 It tracks the business sentiments of around 600 Indian companies
to compute the composite index.
 Insights from the recent BCI are as follows
 1. It stood at 46.4 in the first quarter of 2020-21, a drop of 40.1 %
from its level of 77.4 in the previous quarter.
2. It fell 62 % in the June 2020 quarter on a year-on-year basis.
3. This is the lowest that the BCI has ever fallen in the history of 113
Rounds of the NCAER Business Expectations Survey (BES).

NCAER

 The National Council of Applied Economic Research is a Delhi

based think tank that was established in 1956.
 The TATA Foundation and other premier organizations came
together to form the think tank with the support of Government of
India.
 The aim of the body is to give support to both government and
private sector economic researches.
 Since 1991, the council is tracking the business confidence in the
country on a quarterly basis.
 The NCAER survey elicits responses from firms across six cities to
assess business sentiments in the four regions of India:

1. Delhi-NCR represents the north;

2. Mumbai and Pune, the west.
3. Kolkata the east. 
4. Bengaluru and Chennai represent the south.

Loya Jirga

 A Loya Jirga, or "grand council", is a mass national gathering that

brings together representatives from the various ethnic, religious,
and tribal communities in Afghanistan.
 The gathering involves participation of Afghan tribal elders,
religious figures, and political leaders.
 The Loya Jirga is a centuries-old institution that has been
convened at times of national crisis or to settle national issues.
 Historically, it has been used to approve a new constitution,
declare war, choose a new king, or to make sweeping social or
political reforms.
 It is considered the "highest expression" of the Afghan people, but
it is not an official decision-making body.
 Its decisions are not legally binding and any verdict it hands out
must be approved by the two houses of the Afghan parliament and
the president in order for it to be made official.
 Recently Loya Jirga, opened in Afghanistan to determine whether
a last set of 400 hard-core prisoners from the Taliban insurgency
 should be freed to clear the way for long-awaited direct peace talks
between Afghanistan’s warring sides. 

Food System Vision Prize 2020

 The Food System Vision Prize is an invitation for organizations

across the globe to develop a Vision of the regenerative and
nourishing food system that they aspire to create by the year 2050.

 The prize awards a cash incentive of USD $200,000.

 It is presented by Rockerfeller Foundation, USA.

 Naandi, a Hyderabad-based non-profit has been selected as a as
one of the ‘Top 10 Visionaries’ in the world for the Food Vision
2050 Prize
 Naandi was based on work with tribal farmers in Araku valley,
Andhra Pradesh, for nearly 20 years.

Exercise Kavkaz 2020

 Kavkaz 2020, also referred to as Caucasus-2020 is a multilateral

strategic command-post exercise, that is about to be held in Russia.
 The invitation for participation to Kavkaz 2020, has been extended
to at least 18 countries including China, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey
apart from other Central Asian Republics part of the SCO.
 India will take part in the exercise, Indian contingent includes 150
Army personnel and a smaller number of personnel from the Navy
and Air Force.

Delhi’s E-Vehicle Policy

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Environment and Pollution; Green initiatives;
Sustainable development 
Context: 
 Delhi government launched Electric Vehicle Policy 
 It aims to ensure 25% of the newly registered vehicles in Delhi by the year 2024
we e-vehicles 
Benefits: 
 Boost the city’s economy 
 Reduces pollution levels 
 Generates employment in the transport sector 
Measures taken – 
 Various incentives to promote the purchase of e-Vehicles 
 Low interest rates for the purchase of e-Vehicles 
 To waive off registration fees and road tax on newly registered e-vehicles 
 Creation of network of charging stations  
 Policy Push by government for e-vehicles (reduction of GST rates from 12% to 5%
for vehicles, and from 18% to 5% for vehicle chargers)  
 Push by State governments to adopt e-vehicles (Eg. Delhi, Kerala) 
 Dedicated schemes like FAME; local manufacturing and the growth of domestic
technology. 
Think! 
 FAME India – Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles
in India Scheme 

Sonneratia alba
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Environment and Biodiversity;
Conservation; Endangered species 
Context: 
 Maharashtra first Indian state to declare state mangrove tree as symbol of
conservation 
 Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) cleared a proposal to
declare Sonneratia alba as the State mangrove tree and approved a recovery
programme for the Arabian Sea Humpback Whale. 
Benefits: 
 The move helps to enhance conservation of the salt-tolerant vegetation 
 Ecological importance of mangroves and biodiversity it hosts 
 Adds aesthetic value to the mangrove ecosystem 
About Sonneratia alba 
 Sonneratia alba or mangrove apple is an evergreen mangrove species found
along the Maharashtra’s coastline  
 Sonneratia alba grow up to five feet and bear white flowers with a pink base as
well as green fruits, that resemble apple and are used to make pickles. 
 The flowers, which bloom at night, are pollinated by nocturnal creatures like bats. 
 The species was introduced in Maharashtra and is native to Andaman Islands. 
Distribution 
 They often grow on newly-formed mudflats and play an important role in
combating land erosion. 
 They are confined to the west coast and some parts of Orissa. 
 It is found along wetlands in Thane creek, Bhandup, Vasai and Dombivli along
major mudflats. 
 Sonneratia alba grows naturally in many tropical and subtropical areas from East
Africa to the Indian subcontinent, southern China, the Ryukyu Islands, Indochina,
Malesia, Papuasia, Australia and the Western Pacific region. 
Do you know? 
 Maharashtra already has the state tree (mango), state animal (giant squirrel),
state bird (green pigeon), state butterfly (Blue Mormon), and state flower (jarul). 

Pic: Sonneratia alba 

Arabian Sea Humpback Whale 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Environment and Biodiversity; Conservation;
Endangered species 
Basic info:  
 IUCN status – Least Concern  
 Found – Around the world  
 The humpback whale is one of the four species of baleen whales occurring in
Indian waters and it is one of the least studied species in India. 
Do you know? 
 Humpback whales are sexually dimorphic, with females tending to be slightly
longer than males.  
 Their flippers are extremely long, about one-third of their total body length.  
 These whales have a small dorsal fin that can be shaped like a small hump or a
triangular shaped fin.  
 Humpback whale flukes have a variable colour and have a serrated or a toothed
edge. 
 They have bumps on their heads and lower jaws that have small stiff hairs. 
Pic: Humpback Whale 

Leopard poaching 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Environment and Biodiversity; Conservation;
Endangered species 
Basic info:  
According to study by TRAFFIC India – 
 Out of the total of 747 leopard deaths between 2015-2019 in India, 596 were
linked to illegal wildlife trade and activities related to poaching.  
 Leopard poaching highest in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra 
About TRAFFIC 
 It is a leading wildlife trade monitoring network across the world.  
 The NGO is working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of
both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. 
  TRAFFIC was established in 1976 by IUCN and WWF to respond to the growing
threats posed by illegal wildlife trade and overexploitation. 
  India became a member of the programme in 1991. 

Arakunomics model
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II –  
About: 
 Hyderabad non-profit Naandi Foundation has been selected for Food Vision 2050
Prize 
 The recognition fetches Naandi a prize money of $200,000 
Do you know? 
 The Food System Vision Prize is an invitation for organizations across the globe
to develop a Vision of the regenerative and nourishing food system that they aspire
to create by the year 2050.  
Arakunomics model 
 The Rockefeller Foundation award recognised the application of the
”Arakunomics” model in the regions of Araku, Wardha and New Delhi. 
 Naandis vision titled ”Arakunomics” was based on work with tribal farmers
in Araku, Andhra Pradesh, for nearly 20 years. 
 Arakunomics is a new integrated economic model that ensures profits for
farmers, quality for consumers through regenerative agriculture 
 The model follows an ”ABCDEFGH” framework centering on: Agriculture, Biology,
Compost, Decentralised decision-making, Entrepreneurs, Families, Global Markets,
and ”Headstands” or turning current approaches on their head.  
The economic model is a tribute to the tribal farmers of Araku region for the world-class
coffee produced and launched in Paris in 2017 as well as for the high carbon landscape
transformation they did in over 955 villages there by planting 25 million trees. 

Kavkaz 2020 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Defence; bilateral and multilateral military exercises 
About: 
 India to take part in Russian Kavkaz 2020 strategic command-post exercise.  
 The invitees include China and Pakistan, apart from other member states of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation 
 Kavkaz 2020 to be held in Astrakhan (Russia) 

Miscellaneous:
U.S. to ban transactions with TikTok, WeChat 
 U.S. President signed executive orders (EOs) barring transactions with Chinese
video sharing app TiKTok and messaging service WeChat. 
 US cited concerns that the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) could retrieve private
data on Americans from these apps and CPC censorship on the apps 
 A proposal to delist Chinese companies from American stock exchanges if they
did not comply with American accounting standards was announced. 
Loya Jirga
 The Loya Jirga is a highly respected traditional consultative body of Afghanistan
and this meeting is an issue internal to Afghanistan. 
 In Afghanistan, loya jirgas have been reportedly organized since at least the early
18th century when the Hotaki and Durrani dynasties rose to power. 
V. Kamath panel for stressed loans resolution norms
 RBI constituted expert committee under the chairmanship of veteran banker K.V.
Kamath to make recommendations on norms for the resolution of COVID19 related
stressed loans. 

Sir Creek
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- Bilateral Relations
In News:
 Former Pakistan Minister recalls plan for Sir Creek pact
 Sir Creek is a 96 km (60 mi) tidal estuary in uninhabited marshlands of  Indus
river delta on the border of India and Pakistan 
 The Creek opens up in the Arabian Sea and roughly divides the Kutch region of
Gujarat from the Sindh Province of Pakistan
 It was originally named Ban Ganga, but was later renamed after a British
representative
 Sir Creek dispute between India & Pakistan lies in the interpretation of the
maritime boundary line between Kutch and Sindh
 India claims that the boundary lies mid-channel according to international law
and the Thalweg principle, while Pakistan claims that the boundary lies to the east of
the creek
 Thalweg Principle states that river boundaries between two Countries may
be divided by the mid-channel if the water-body is navigable

Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization

 The Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) was

launched in April 2014 with an aim to have inclusive growth of
farm mechanization to boost productivity.
 Recently union government has released Rs. 553 crore to states
under the scheme to promote mechanization in the agriculture
sector.
 In the year 2020-21, budget of Rs.1,033 crore has been provided
for the scheme, out of which Rs.553 crore has been released to
state governments.
 Under the scheme Individual farmers are also provided subsidy for
procurement of machinery.
 Agricultural mechanization helps in increasing production through
timely farm operations and cut in operations by ensuring better
management of inputs.
 Mechanization also enhances the productivity of natural resources
and reduces drudgery associated with various farm operations.

FARMS-app

 Union Agriculture ministry has developed a Multi lingual Mobile

App, 'CHC (Custom Hiring Centers) - Farm Machinery' which
connects farmers with Custom Hiring Service Centers situated in
their locality.
 It encourages small and marginal farmers to take machines on
rental basis for agriculture practices without them having to
purchase such high priced machines.
  The app has been further modified and been given the acronym of
FARMS-app (Farm Machinery Solutions-app).

Agri Infra Fund

 Union government has launched a financing facility of Rs.1 lakh

crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
 The fund will cover

1. Agri-entrepreneurs,
2. Startups,
3. Agri-tech players,
4. Farmer groups for post-harvest management,
5. Nurturing farm assets.

 Agri Infra Fund is a pan India central sector scheme, duration of

which will be 10 years till 2029.
 It aims to provide medium - long term debt financing facility for
investment in viable projects for post-harvest management
Infrastructure and community farming assets.
 The fund will be managed and monitored through an online
Management Information System (MIS) platform.

Depsang Plains

 Depsang Plains are located at the Line of Actual Control that

separates the Indian and Chinese controlled regions.
 The Chinese Army occupied most of the plains in 1962.
 India controls the western portion of the plains as part of Ladakh,
whereas the eastern portion is part of the Aksai Chin region, which
is controlled by China and claimed by India.
 Depsang is also close to the Karakoram Pass, overlooking the very
strategic Saltoro Ridge and Siachen glacier.
 Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) is a historic campsite and current military
base located in Ladakh, on an ancient trade route connecting
Ladakh to the Tarim Basin.
 Recently military level strategic talks were held about the region
between India and China at the Daulat Beg Oldie
 This is the first Major General-level talks since the violent clash at
Galwan.

Indus Water Treaty

  Indus system comprises of main Indus River, Jhelum, Chenab,
Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.

 The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan with a small

share for China and Afghanistan.
 Under the treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all
the waters of three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas (Eastern
Rivers) were allocated to India for exclusive use.
 While, the waters of Western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab
were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic, non-
consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in
the Treaty.
 India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity
through run of the river (RoR) projects on the Western Rivers
which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation is
unrestricted.
 Recently India has refused a request by Pakistan to hold a meeting
on issues around IWT at the Attari checkpost border.
 This is in concern with the governing the technical aspects of the
construction of the Ratle run-of-the-river (RoR) project on the
Chenab in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
 India has called for the appointment of a ‘neutral’ party while
Pakistan favours a Court of Arbitration to agree upon a final
resolution for the project.
 IWT meetings are led by Indus Water Commissioners from both
countries and discuss a range of issues on construction of dams
and hydropower projects concerning the Indus river system.

Indian Dams in Indus River System

 To utilize the waters of the Eastern rivers which have been

allocated to India for exclusive use, India has constructed following
dams:

1. Bhakra Dam on Satluj,

2. Pong and Pandoh Dam on Beas and
3. Thein (Ranjit Sagar) on Ravi.
4. Beas-Sutlej Link,
5. Madhopur-Beas Link,
6. Indira Gandhi Nahar Project etc,

 These dams have helped India utilize nearly entire share (95 %) of
waters of Eastern Rivers.
Coronal Magnetic Field

 International team of solar has measured the global magnetic field

of the Sun’s corona, or outer atmosphere, for the very first time.
 The team used a technique known as coronal seismology or
magneto seismology to measure the coronal magnetic field which
has been known for a few decades.
 This method requires the measurement of the properties of
magneto hydrodynamic (MHD) waves and the density of the
corona simultaneously.
 The team used the improved measurements of the Coronal Multi-
channel Polarimeter (CoMP) and advanced data analysis to
measure the coronal magnetic field.
 There are two main puzzles about the Sun which this advancement
will help address.
 Coronal Heating Problem - Though the core of the Sun is at a
temperature of about 15 million degrees, its outer layer, the
photosphere is a mere 5700 degrees hot.
 However, its corona or outer atmosphere, which stretches up to
several million kilometres beyond its surface, is much, much hotter
than the surface.
 It is at a temperature of one million degrees or more, attempts to
explain this puzzle invoke the magnetic field of the corona.
 Mechanisms of Eruptions of the Sun - Solar flares and
coronal mass ejections are driven by magnetic reconnections
happening in the Sun’s corona.
 Magnetic reconnection is a process where oppositely polarity
magnetic field lines connect and some of the magnetic energy is
converted to heat energy and also kinetic energy which leads to the
generation of heating, solar flares, solar jets, etc.
 India’s Contribution - India’s first solar mission, Aditya-L1
satellite will aim to measure the solar coronal magnetic fields
regularly.

 This will help understand the spectacular solar eruptions and

predictions of space weather and many more things.

Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP)

 CoMP is an instrument operated by High Altitude Observatory, of

the U.S.
 It is located at Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, near the summit of
that volcano on the big island of Hawaii.
  It is very important to measure the corneal magnetic fields
regularly since the solar corona is highly dynamic and varies within
seconds to a minute time scale.
 While photospheric magnetic fields are measured regularly from
space.

Plasmodium Vivax Malaria

 Plasmodium vivax is a protozoal parasite and a human pathogen.

 This parasite is the most frequent and widely distributed cause of
recurring malaria.
 Recently, an international team has developed a system to breed
the parasite Plasmodium vivax in the lab and then infect cultured
human liver cells with it.
 The parasite can remain in the liver in a dormant stage and relapse
later.
 It can be difficult to detect P. vivax, since it usually circulates at low
levels in the blood.
 4 countries account for more than 80% of estimated cases of P.
vivax cases (Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan).
 Certain malaria-endemic countries have even abandoned
chloroquine for P. vivax treatment but fortunately chloroquine is
still effective in India.
 The currently used anti-relapse drug, Primaquine, has many
undesirable side-effects, especially in patients with a genetic defect
called

G6PD deficiency

 Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is an

inherited condition usually occurring in males.
 It is condition causing red blood cells to break down in response to
certain medication, infections or other stresses.
 It's more common in those of African and Mediterranean descent.
 Triggers include infections, stress, fava beans, aspirin and other
drugs.
 When symptoms are triggered, they include fever, dark urine,
abdominal and back pain, fatigue and pale skin.
 Most people recover in a few days without treatment.
 However, patients are at risk of recurrent episodes, so avoidance of
triggers is critical.
 The deficiency is chronic and cannot be cured.

India @ 75 Summit
  India @75 Summit is organized by Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII).
 It envisions how India should be in her 75th year of independence.
 The summit seeks to bring together all stakeholders including the
industry, government, institutions, community groups and
individuals to translate the vision into a reality.

Discovery of Exoplanet using Radio waves

 An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star outside the solar system.

 These exoplanets are hard to detect because they are hidden by the
bright glare of the stars they orbit around.
 One of the key features of the exoplanet is that its orbit is wobbly
because the star’s gravitation is not at its center which makes the
phenomenon possible.
 Recently, scientists have been able to discover an exoplanet and a
wobbly star using just radio waves.
 In this method, scientists detect an exoplanet via auroras formed
on it by the interaction of the star and a strong magnetic field
around a planetary body.

Radio waves

 Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with

wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared
light.
 Radio waves have frequencies as high as 300 gigahertz (GHz) to as
low as 30 hertz (Hz).
 The wavelength of a radio wave can be anywhere from shorter than
a grain of rice to longer than the radius of the Earth.
 Like all other electromagnetic waves, radio waves travel at the
speed of light in vacuum.
 They are generated by electric charges undergoing acceleration,
such as time varying electric currents.
 Naturally occurring radio waves are emitted by lightning and
astronomical objects.
 Radio waves are generated artificially by transmitters and received
by radio receivers, using antennas.

Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

 Hydrogen is projected as one of the next generation low carbon

fuels.
  The future of use of hydrogen as a fuel lies in the design of efficient
electro catalysts for facilitating electrochemical splitting of water to
produce hydrogen.
 The effectiveness of the electro catalyst for the hydrogen (H2)
evolution reaction (HER) largely depends on its ability to lower the
potential of an electrochemical reaction maximally, and cost of
synthesis (production).
 The commercially used Platinum (Pt) / Carbon (C) catalysts are
efficient but expensive and suffer from metal ion leaching or
electro catalyst corrosion when used for long duration.
 Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and coordination polymers
(COPs) are envisioned as the next generation catalysts.
 Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) an autonomous
institute under Department of Science and Technology, have
synthesized a novel COP consisting of palladium Pd(II) ions.
 The recent invention serve as a source of active sites for H-
adsorption, and benzene tetra mine (BTA) chelating ligands
capable of better charge transfer.

Co2 from Geothermal Springs

 Carbon outflux from Earth’s interior to the exosphere through

volcanic eruptions, fault zones, and geothermal systems.
 They contribute to the global carbon cycle that effects short and
long term climate of the Earth.
 Himalaya hosts about 600 geothermal springs having varied
temperature and chemical conditions.
 The Himalayan geothermal springs covers about 10,000 square km
in the Garhwal region of Himalaya.
 CO2 in these thermal springs are sourced from metamorphic de-
carbonation of carbonate rocks present deep in the Himalayan core
along with magmatism and oxidation of graphite.
 Most of the geothermal water is dominated by evaporation
followed by weathering of silicate rocks.
 Isotopic analyses further point towards a meteoric source for
geothermal water.

IC-IMPACTS

 India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnership

to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability (IC-
IMPACTS) has organized a conference.
 The annual research conference discussed ways of taking the
cooperation between the countries to the next level by
 a. Strengthening existing international connects,
b. Sharing best practices in multiple areas,
c. Initiating new collaborations in government and institutions.

 The major focus areas of research cooperation under the IC-

IMPACT are

1. Green buildings and smart cities.

2. Occupant’s survivability in buildings during fires.
3. Integrated water management & safe and sustainable
infrastructure.
4. Health problems arising from water-borne and infectious diseases.

Undersea Optical Fiber Cable

 India's first-ever undersea optical fiber cable has been introduced

as part of a new project for Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
 The cable system will help provide for faster internet speeds and
get rid of the cobweb of wires needed for the same.
 The 2,312-Kilometers long submarine optical fiber cable project
connects Chennai - Andaman and Nicobar Islands (CANI).
 The project allow for high-speed broadband connectivity, i.e. 400
Gbps for Port Blair and 200 Gbps for other islands.
 The project can be used by all the telecom operators for mobile and
internet services.
 Apart from Port Blair, the cable will cover other islands namely
Swaraj Dweep (Havlock), Long Island, Rangat, Little Andaman,
Kamorta, Car Nicobar, and Greater Nicobar.

                          
Submarine cable connectivity to Andaman & Nicobar
Islands
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II and III – Govt policies and initiatives; Infrastructure;  
Context: 
 PM launched submarine Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) which connects Andaman &
Nicobar Islands to the mainland. 
 The project will lay 2300 Kms submarine cable, connects major chunk of the
islands from Chennai to Port Blair, Port Blair to Little Andaman and Port Blair to
Swaraj Island. 
Benefits: 
 The connectivity would now enable endless opportunities in the islands 
 Provide modern facilities to every citizen and every sector  
 Ease of living to improve 
 Speedy development of national security 
 Cheaper & better connectivity 
 Enjoy all benefits of Digital India –  improving online education, tele-medicine,
banking system, online trading and in boosting tourism 
 Would boost Act-East policy and India’s Economic-Strategic Cooperation 
Map activity – 
 Locate important places – Car Nicobar; Campbell – Bay; Port Blair; Swaraj Island;
Swaraj Dweep, Shaheed Dweep and Long Island etc. 
Other measures: 
Apart from providing for better internet & mobile connectivity, efforts are being made to
improve physical connectivity through road, air and water. 
 Enhancing capacity of Port Blair Airport 
 Water Aerodrome Infrastructure  
 4 Ships being built at Kochi Shipyard to improve the Water connectivity 
 Port Led Development 
 Speedy construction of the deep draft inner harbor and the proposal to
construct TransShipment Port in Great Nicobar  
 Development of modern infrastructure to accelerate blue economy like Fisheries,
Aquaculture and SeaWeed farming 

Issue with disability Quota 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Social/Welfare issue; Vulnerable section 
Context: 
 Delhi High Court issued notice to UPSC on a plea challenging this year’s
preliminary examination notice for direct recruitment to civil services. 
 The petition filed by Sambhavana (a registered society of the disabled for the
disabled) claimed that the UPSC’s notice reserves only 24 vacancies for persons
with disabilities out of a total 796 expected approximate vacancies. (it neglects the
minimum reservation to be provided to disabled persons) 
  The number of vacancies were below the 4 % mandatory reservation under
section 34 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016. 
4% mandatory reservation under Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016: 
 Section 34(1) of RPwD mandates a minimum 4% reservation for the benchmark
disabled of the total number of vacancies in the cadre strength in each group of
posts meant to be filled with such disabled. 
 It mandates equal distribution of one (20% each) among the disabled classes of
the blind, deaf, locomotor plus the combined class of autism, etc. with those having
multiple disabilities. 

Indigenisation of Defence 
Part of: GS Mains II and III – Govt schemes and policies; Defence; Indigenisation of
technology 
Context: 
 Ministry of Defence (MoD) has decided to impose a ban on 101 import items to
boost indigenisation of defence production. 
Do you know? 
 MoD had bifurcated the capital procurement budget for 2020-21 between
domestic and foreign capital procurement routes. 
 Government has targeted to reach a turnover of USD 25 billion by 2025 through
indigenously manufactured defence products and also expects to export products
worth $5 billion. 
Benefits of indigenisation of defence 
 Boosts indigenisation of defence production  
 Reduces fiscal deficit (India is second-largest arms importer in the world) 
 Indigenisation in defence is important to national security  
 India can generate FOREX by exporting defence equipment 
 This could lead to innovation and R&D in the defence sector 
 Steps towards achieving self-reliance goal 
Steps taken: 
3 facilities were inaugurated – Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) and BEML’s (Bharat Earth
Movers Limited) Industrial Design Centre at its Bangalore Complex 
The three facilities include – 
1. manufacturing facility for sighting devices for T90 Tanks at the Opto Electronics
Factory, Dehradun,  
2. automated assembly line for the production of Pinaka Rockets at the Ordnance
Factory, Chandrapur and  
3. assembly and testing facility of Stabilised Remote Controlled Gun (SRCG) at the
Ordnance Factory, Tiruchirappalli 

Oslo Peace Accord

Part of: GS Prelims and GS Mains III – International Affairs 
Context: The Oslo peace accords of the 1990s gave the Palestinians self-rule in parts of
the West Bank. 
About:  
Oslo Accords are a series of agreements between Israel and the Palestinians signed in
the 1990s. 
 Oslo I (1993)  formally known as the Declaration of Principles (DOP) established
a timetable for the Middle East peace process. It planned for an interim Palestinian
government in Gaza and Jericho in the West Bank. 
 Oslo II  officially called the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West
Bank and Gaza (1995), expanded on Oslo I.  
Oslo II included – 
 Provisions for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from six West Bank cities
and about 450 towns. 
 Timetable for elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council. 
The interim pact was only supposed to last five years while a permanent agreement was
finalised but it has tacitly been rolled over for more than two decades. 
The question of Jerusalem was left undecided under the Oslo Accords 

RBI’s Loan Recast Scheme

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Economy and related issues; Banking 
In news: 
 RBI cleared a loan restructuring scheme for borrowers who are under stress
because of the pandemic. 
 Key sectors, such as micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), hospitality,
aviation, retail, real estate and auto, which are facing a liquidity crunch, will benefit
from this scheme. 
Do you know? 
 Onetime loan restructuring will help soften the COVID19 pandemic’s impact on
banks’ asset quality 
 RBI’s relaxations under the Prudential Framework on Resolution of Stressed
Assets will benefit borrowers in most categories 

Miscellaneous:
Impact of COVID-19 Lockdown
Lockdown hit treatment under PMJAY scheme 
 Claim volume fell by 50% under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) 
 Significant declines in admissions for child delivery and oncology  
 PMJAY beneficiaries delayed or postponed treatment due to the fear of infection
at hospitals 
 78% of rural India stopped work 
 Almost 80% of rural Indians saw their work coming to a standstill during the
COVID19 lockdown 
 Only 20% got work under the Centre’s employment guarantee scheme 
 More than 68% of respondents faced “high” to “very high” monetary difficulties,
with 23% forced to borrow money during the lockdown 
 71% of ration card holders got grains from the government 
 Over 60% of skilled workers and manual labourers faced a complete shutdown.
(Employment was hit) 
 

Human ATM 
Context: 
 Postal department’s new service of delivering money home – where postman
acted as a human ATM – has turned out to be biggest hit countrywide. 
 More than one lakh transactions being recorded across India on a daily basis. 
How does it work? 
 The free service allows people to withdraw — through the postman — up to
₹10,000 at a time from any of their Aadhaar-linked bank accounts.  
 The postman carries a portable biometric device to match fingerprints. 
 All a person needs to do is to use the Postinfo app or simply call the local post
office or spot the postman.  
Benefits: 
 Helped stranded people during COVID-19 forced lockdown 
 Helps elderly and people living in rural areas 
 Deliver monthly pensions 

AR2770 Sunspots

 A Sunspot is an area on the Sun that appears dark on the surface

and is relatively cooler than surrounding parts.
 The sun spots are as large as 50,000 km in diameter, are the visible
markers of the Sun’s magnetic field.
 It forms a blanket that protects the solar system from harmful
cosmic radiation.
 Sunspots are the areas where the star’s magnetic field is the
strongest, around 2,500 times more than the Earth’s magnetic
field.
 Most Sunspots appear in groups that have their own magnetic
field, whose polarity reverses during every solar cycle, which takes
around 11 years.
 In every such cycle, the number of Sunspots increases and
decreases.
  A massive Sunspot group, AR2770, was observed using images of
the Sun’s surface from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).
 This massive sunspot on the Sun will be turning towards earth
which could result in major strong flares.
 Sunspots may release a huge amount of energy which in turn will
lead to solar flares.

Solar flare

 Solar flares are the result of changes in magnetic fields on the

sunspots that cause a huge explosion.
 These eruptions may lead to solar flares and storms.
 This phenomenon is called Coronal Mass Ejections (CME).
 These solar flares are often released into space and its radiation
can disrupt with earth’s radio communication, GPS, Power grids
and satellite.
 Solar flares caused by these CMEs can also trigger intense light in
the sky, called auroras.
 Recently, scientists developed a new model that can successfully
predict seven of the Sun’s biggest flares from the last solar cycle,
out of a set of nine with the help of NASA’s Solar Dynamics
Observatory.

Milne ice shelf

 Ice shelfs are large floating pieces of ice that form when a glacier or
ice sheet flows into the sea surface.
 Milne ice shelf is in Ellesmere Island, Canada and recently it was
broken.
 The Milne ice shelf lost more than 40 % of its ice over 2 days end of
July 2020.
 This has increased concerns over the rapid melting of ice and the
breaking of old ice shelfs due to global warming.
 This also meant the last known Epishelf Lake, a water body
dammed by the ice shelf and floating on the ocean surface on the
Milne ice shelf, no longer exists.
Dwarf Planet Ceres

 Ceres is a dwarf planet and it is the largest celestial object in the

asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
 It has a diameter of about 950 km, which is more than one-fourth
of Earth’s moon.
 It has 92 km wide crater named Occator located in Ceres’ northern
hemisphere.
 Scientist have recently found that it is said to have salty water
underground, by observing the cracks created to form a crater.
 This crater is said to have formed by an impact approximately 22
million years ago.
 The scientists have given Ceres the status of an “ocean world” as it
has a big reservoir of salty water underneath its frigid surface.
 This has led to an increased interest of scientists that the dwarf
planet maybe habitable or has the potential to be.

Mount Sinabung

 Indonesia’s active volcano Mount Sinabung erupted recently.

 A volcano can erupt when magma (a thick flowing substance),
formed when the earth’s mantle melts, rises to the surface.
 Because magma is lighter than solid rock, it is able to rise through
vents and fissures on the surface of the earth.
 After it has erupted, it is called lava.
 Not all volcanic eruptions are explosive, since exclusivity depends
on the composition of the magma.
 Indonesia is home to many active volcanoes, due to its position on
the “Ring of Fire”, or the Circum-Pacific Belt, which is an area
along the Pacific Ocean characterized by active volcanoes and
frequent earthquakes.
Krishi Megh

 Union Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare has launched

the Krishi Megh.
 It is a step forward towards digital agriculture of New India.
 It aims to meet the services and infrastructure needs of Digital
Agriculture of National Agricultural Research and Education
System (NARES).
 The existing Data Centre (ICAR-DC) built during 2012 shall be
strengthened with cloud computing infrastructure.
 It would deploy mission critical applications such as e-Office,
ICAR-ERP, Education Portal, KVK Portal and mobile apps, etc.

National Agricultural Research & Education System

 NARES is a Government of India-World Bank funded project,

designed for strengthening the national agricultural education
system in the country.
 The overall objective of the project is to provide more relevant and
high-quality education to the agricultural university students that
is in tune with the New Education Policy - 2020.

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana

 RKVY scheme was initiated in 2007 as an umbrella scheme for

ensuring holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors.
 The scheme incentivizes States to increase public investment in
Agriculture & allied sectors.
 In 2017, the component of Remunerative Approaches for
Agriculture and Allied Sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) was
added.
 It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in the ratio of 60: 40 except in
the case of northeastern and hilly states where the sharing pattern
is 90:10.
 For UTs the grant is 100% as Central share.
 The main objective is to develop farming as a main source of
economic activity.
 It provide all the states with autonomy and flexibility in making
plans as per their local needs.
 It aims to reduce the risk of farmers by focusing on increasing the
income generation through mushroom cultivation, integrated
farming, floriculture, etc.
  Union Ministry of Agriculture is funding start-ups under the
innovation and agripreneurship component of Rashtriya Krishi
Vikas Yojana in 2020-21.
 These start-ups are in various categories such as agro-processing,
artificial intelligence, digital agriculture, farm mechanization,
waste to wealth, dairy, fisheries etc.

Containing COVID virus 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Govt policies and initiatives; Social/Health issue;
Governance 
Context: 
 PM flagged the need for more testing, tracing in 10 affected States in order to
keep the fatality rate from COVID-19 in India to below 1%.  
 He stressed that 10 States which account for 81% of the cases and 82% of the
fatalities need to step up testing, contact tracing within 72 hours of testing and
isolation of those infected. 
10 States — West Bengal, Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Punjab — are with high COVID-19 levels. 
Measures/Suggestions to contain COVID  
 Some States asked the Centre to lift the current cap of 35% on COVID-19 related
expenditure on State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) as it was not sufficient to meet
current requirements. 
 Some States appealed for an immediate ad hoc grant of Rs. 1,000 crore from the
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to fight the pandemic 
 Some appealed to the Centre to make one year of government service
mandatory for fresh medical graduates and postgraduates so that their services can
be utilised in fighting COVID-19.  
 Some appealed to initiate measures for immediate commencement of final year
medical and paramedical courses so that students could be used in COVID-19
services in areas outside of the designated hospitals. 
 Doubling of medical seats 
 Fund 50% of RT-PCR tests using PM-CARES  
Important value additions: 
About State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) 
 SDRF has been constituted under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. 
 It is the primary fund available with the State governments for responses to
notified disasters to meet expenditure for providing immediate relief. 
 The Centre contributes 75% of the SDRF allocation for general category States
and Union Territories and 90% for special category States and Union Territories
(northeastern States, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir). 
 The annual Central contribution is released in two equal installments as per the
recommendation of the Finance Commission. 
 Disaster (s) covered under SDRF: Cyclone, drought, earthquake, fire, flood,
tsunami, hailstorm, landslide, avalanche, cloudburst, pest attack, frost and cold
waves. 
 A State Government may use up to 10% of the funds available under the SDRF for
providing immediate relief to the victims of natural disasters that they consider to be
‘disasters’ within the local context in the State and which are not included in the
notified list of disasters of the Ministry of Home Affairs. 

Daughters have equal right on property: SC 

Part of: GS Mains II – Social/Women issue 
Context: 
 The Supreme Court recently held that daughters, like sons, have an equal birth-
right to inherit joint Hindu family property.  
 The verdict now grants equal rights to daughters to inherit ancestral property
would have retrospective effect. 
The judgement observes that “a daughter always remains a loving daughter. A son is a
son until he gets a wife. A daughter is a daughter throughout her life”. 
Do you know? 
 A three-judge Bench ruled that a Hindu woman’s right to be a joint heir to the
ancestral property is by birth and does not depend on whether her father was alive or
not when the law was enacted in 2005. 
 The substituted Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 confers the status
of coparcener to a daughter born before or after the amendment in the same manner
as a son. 
 Coparcener is a person who has a birth-right to parental property. 
2005 Amendment 
 The Mitakshara school of Hindu law codified as the Hindu Succession Act, 1956
governed succession and inheritance of property but only recognised males as legal
heirs. 
 The law applied to everyone who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by
religion. 
 Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains and followers of Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj are also
considered Hindus for the purposes of this law. 
 In a Hindu Undivided Family, several legal heirs through generations can exist
jointly. 
 Women were recognised as coparceners or joint legal heirs for partition arising
from 2005. 
 Section 6 of the Act was amended in 2005 to make a daughter a coparcener by
birth in her own right in the same manner as the son. 
 The law also gave the daughter the same rights and liabilities as the son. 
 The law applies to ancestral property and to intestate succession in personal
property. 

Youth faced several challenges during lockdown 

Part of: GS Mains II – Social/Youth issue 
Context: 
According to Population Foundation of India (PFI) survey – 
 Majority of the young women in Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh were not able
to sufficiently access sanitary pads during the COVID19 lockdown. 
 More than one in five men and women between the ages of 1524 reported
experiencing depression (due to challenges of economic insecurity, family clashes
and increased domestic chores) 
 About 22% of young people said they experienced depression due to the
lockdown, citing factors such as worry about the lack of job opportunities, delay in
completing their studies, family pressure and lack of privacy and isolation away from
friends. 
The survey aimed to assess the challenges to mental and reproductive health faced by
adolescents and young adults due to COVID19. 

Tribal Freedom Fighters’ Museums 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains I – Modern History  
About: 
 Minsitry of Tribal Affairs to set up Tribal Freedom Fighters’ museums to give due
recognition to sacrifices and contribution to country’s freedom struggle by tribal
people. 
 Government to set up permanent museums in the States where tribals lived,
struggled against the British and refused to be bowed down. 
Do you know? 
 All the museums will have strong usage of technologies like Virtual Reality (VR),
Augmented Reality (AR), 3D/7D holographic projections etc. 
 These museums will trace the history along the trails, along which the tribal
people in hills and forests fought for their right to live and will. 
 Thus, it will combine ex situ display with in situ conservation, regeneration
initiatives.  
 It is expected that by the end of 2022 all the museums will come into existence. 

Krishi Megh (National Agricultural Research &

Education System -Cloud Infrastructure and Services) 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II and III – Govt schemes and initiatives; Skill
development; Agriculture 
Context:  
 Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare virtually launched Krishi Megh
along with KVC ALUNET (Krishi Vishwavidyalaya Chhatr Alumni Network) and Online
Accreditation System for Higher Agricultural Educational Institutions (HEI). 
 Krishi Megh is a step forward towards digital agriculture of New India.  
About Krishi Megh: 
 Krishi Megh is the National Agricultural Research & Education System -Cloud
Infrastructure and Services. 
 It aims to protect the precious data of the government’s premier research body
Indian Council of Agricultural Research. 
 It has been set up at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management
(NAARM) in Hyderabad. 
Key features: 
 Krishi Megh has been set up under the National Agricultural Higher Education
Project (NAHEP), funded by both the government and World Bank. 
 The data recovery centre at NAARM is synchronized with the data centre at the
main data centre of the ICAR is at Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute
(IASRI) Delhi. 
 Built to mitigate the risk, enhance the quality, availability and accessibility of e-
governance, research, extension and education in field of agriculture in India. 
 Cater the need to save and preserve the important research-based data in a
prompt digitised form to enable its access anywhere in any corner of the country and
the world. 
About KVC ALUNET:  
 Its development has been a result of an idea of social networking for the alumnus
of the Agricultural Universities.  
 It will enable the alumni of all the 74 Agricultural Universities in connecting with
each other and making it possible to assist the students in internship, placements
and to provide support to their alma maters. 

Miscellaneous: 
Person in news: Eminent Urdu poet Rahat Indori 
Why in news? 
 Noted Urdu poet Rahat Indori, who tested positive for coronavirus, passed away. 
 He kept the ‘mushaira’ (poetry symposiums) alive for generations. 
 He was well known as a “rockstar of the Indian literary world”, a “people’s poet”
and prince of the “mushaira” tradition. 
Among the poet’s most powerful lines
are “Sabhi  ka  khoon  hai  shamil  yahan  ki  mitti  mein; Kisi  ke  baap  ka
Hindustan  thodi  hai  (Everybody’s blood mingles in the soil; Hindustan does not belong
solely to one)”.  
About Mushaira 
Mushaira is a poetic symposium. It is an event where poets gather to perform their
works. A mushaira is a beloved part of the Culture of North India, Pakistan and the
Deccan, particularly among the Hyderabadi Muslims, and it is greatly admired by
participants as a forum for free self-expression.  
 
Russia becomes first country to grant regulatory
approval to a COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V 
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – International affairs; Science – Health and Medicine 
Context: 
 Russia became the first country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19
vaccine after less than two months of human testing. 
 The vaccine is named – ‘Sputnik V’ – in homage to the world’s first satellite
launched by the Soviet Union. 
 Sputnik V yet to complete its final trials. 
 Russia expects the vaccine into mass production by the end of the year. 
Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP)

 Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) an initiative by the NITI Aayog, in

collaboration with Dell Technologies has launched Student
Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP).
 AIM is establishing Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) in schools across
India with a vision to cultivate one million children in India as
neoteric (modern) innovators.
 SEP will allow student innovators of ATLs to work closely with Dell
volunteers.
 It provides training on business and entrepreneurship skills to
students.
 They will receive mentor support, prototyping and testing support,
end-user feedback, intellectual property registration and patenting
of ideas, processes, and products, manufacturing support, as well
as the launch support of the product in the market.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)

 It aims to create a paradigm shift where children as young as 12

years of age are being introduced to the world of technology
innovation.
 Eligibility - Schools (minimum Grade VI - X) managed by
Government, local body or private trusts/society.
 Financial Support - It provides grant-in-aid of Rs. 20 Lakh to each
school that includes a one-time establishment cost of Rs. 10 lakh
and operational expenses of Rs. 10 lakh for a maximum period of 5
years to each ATL.

PM-SVANidhi

 The number of loan sanctions and number of applications received

under PM Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi)
scheme have crossed the mark of 1 lakh and 5 lakhs respectively
 within 41 days of commencement of the lending process on July
02, 2020.  
 The PM SVANidhi Scheme was launched by Ministry of Housing &
Urban Affairs under the ambit of ‘AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’.
 It aims at facilitating collateral free working capital loans upto Rs
10,000 of 1 year tenure.
 It covers about 50 lakh street vendors in the urban areas, including
those from the surrounding peri-urban/ rural areas, to resume
their businesses post COVID-19 lockdown.
 Features of the scheme

1. Incentives in the form of interest subsidy @ 7% per annum on

regular repayment of loan.
2. Cashback up to Rs 1,200 per annum on undertaking prescribed
digital transactions.
3. Eligibility for enhanced next tranche of loan have also been
provided.

 Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the

implementation partner for the scheme.
 A graded guarantee cover is provided, on portfolio basis, to these
lending institutions through Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for
Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) to encourage lending to
street vendors.

Human-Elephant Conflict

 World Elephant Day is observed yearly on August 12.

 It aims to spread worldwide awareness for the conservation and
protection of elephants from the numerous threats they face.
 It was launched on August 12, 2012, to bring attention to the
urgent plight of Asian and African elephants.
 Escalation of poaching, habitat loss, human-elephant conflict and
mistreatment in captivity are some common threats to both
African and Asian elephants.
 Recently MoEFCC has compiled a guide highlighting the best
practices of human-elephant conflict management in India.

 The best practices have been discussed under several categories

such as retaining elephants in their natural habitats by creating
water sources and management of forest fires.
 The other best practices include

1. Elephant-proof trenches in Tamil Nadu,

 2. Hanging wire electric fences and rubble walls in Karnataka,
3. Use of chili smoke in north Bengal,
4. Playing the sound of bees or carnivores in Assam.

MSME Restructuring scheme

 Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) announced restructuring package

for small businesses in 2019.

 It aimed to recast Rs. 1 lakh crore of loans for 7 lakh eligible micro,
small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
 The scheme announced by RBI is a one-time scheme wherein a
loan tenor and interest rate can be revised without classifying the
asset as a NPA.
 The facility is available for standard advances of up to Rs 25 crore
only.
 Banks will need to make a provision of 5% towards these
restructured loans.
 As per the existing scheme, the borrower account had to be
standard as on January 1, 2020.
 Recently Union government has extended the scheme till March
2021.

OSOWOG

 The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) had

invited proposals for implementing ‘One Sun One World One Grid’
(OSOWOG) in May 2020.
 The concept of OSOWOG was introduced in the Global RE-Invest
meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association and the first
assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
 OSOWOG is India’s initiative to build a global ecosystem of
interconnected renewable energy resources.
  The blueprint will be developed under the World Bank’s technical
assistance programme that is implemented to accelerate the
deployment of grid connected rooftop solar installations.
 OSOWOG is planned to be completed in three phases.

1. Phase I - It will entail interconnectivity within the Asian continent.

2. Phase II - It will add Africa.
3. Phase III - It will globalize the whole project.   

 This is seen as India’s counter to China’s Belt and Road initiative

(BRI).
Boreal Summer Intra-Seasonal Oscillation (BSISO)

 BSISO is a movement of convection (heat) from the Indian Ocean

to the western Pacific Ocean roughly every 10-50 days during the
monsoon (June-September).
 The BSISO of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) is one of the
most prominent sources of short-term climate variability in the
global monsoon system.
 Researchers at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information
Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad have reportedly found a way to
better forecast the Boreal Summer Intra-Seasonal Oscillation
(BSISO).
 They found that waves induced by active phases of BSISO are
nearly 0.5 meters higher than those which occur during other
phases of BSISO.
 The active phase (between June and August) enhances monsoon
winds and hence the surface waves.
 Some other phases induce high wave activity in the north Indian
Ocean and the Arabian Sea
 Compared with the related Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) it is
more complex in nature, with prominent northward propagation
and variability extending much further from the equator.
 Wave forecast advisories based on the BSISO would be more useful
for efficient coastal and marine management.

Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO)

 MJO is an oceanic-atmospheric phenomenon which affects

weather activities across the globe. It brings major fluctuation in
tropical weather on weekly to monthly timescales.
 It can be defined as an eastward moving 'pulse' of clouds, rainfall,
winds and pressure near the equator that typically recurs every 30
to 60 days.
 It’s a traversing phenomenon and is most prominent over the
Indian and Pacific Oceans.
 The MJO consists of two parts or phases.
 Enhanced rainfall (or convective) phase - winds at the
surface converge, and the air is pushed up throughout the
atmosphere.
 Such rising air motion in the atmosphere tends to increase
condensation and rainfall.
 Suppressed rainfall phase - winds converge at the top of the
atmosphere, forcing air to sink and, later, to diverge at the surface.
   As air sinks from high altitudes, it warms and dries, which
suppresses rainfall.
 The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), El Nino and MJO are all oceanic
and atmospheric phenomena, which affect weather on a large
scale.
 IOD only pertains to the Indian Ocean, but the other two affect
weather on a global scale-up to the mid-latitudes.
 IOD and El Nino remain over their respective positions, while MJO
is a traversing phenomenon.

‘Mega labs’ to boost COVID-19 testing

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II and III – Govt policies and initiatives; Social/Health
issue; Science and Technology 
Context: 
 Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to develop “mega labs” to
ramp up testing for COVID-19 
 The labs will use repurposing large machines, called Next Generation Sequencing
machines (NGS). 
About Next Generation Sequencing machines (NGS) 
 They are normally used for sequencing human genomes or DNA sequencing.  
 Next-generation sequencing machines or instruments are as mentioned as DNA
microarrays, real-time PCR and DNA chips and reagents.   
 These machines can substantially detect the presence of the COVID virus even in
several instances where the traditional RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase
chain reaction) tests fail. 
Do you know? 
 Next-generation sequencing, also known as high-throughput sequencing, is the
term used to describe a number of different modern sequencing
technologies including Illumina (Solexa) sequencing, Roche 454 sequencing, Ion
torrent: Proton / PGM sequencing, solid sequencing. 
Important Value Additions: 
About Genome sequencing: 
 Genome sequencing is a process to figure out order of DNA nucleotides or bases
in a genome. 
 This means the order of As, Cs, Gs, and Ts, a unique combination of which makes
up an organism’s DNA. 
 After the genome is sequenced, the data is analysed to understand the genetic
information of an entire species. 
Difference between Next Generation Sequencing machines (NGS) and RTPCR test 
 RT-PCR test identifies the SARSCoV2 virus by exploring only specific sections,
whereas the genome method can read a bigger chunk of virus genome and thereby
provide more certainty that the virus in question is indeed the particular coronavirus
of interest. 
 NGS test can also trace the evolutionary history of the virus and track mutations
more reliably.  
 Unlike the RT-PCR that needs primers and probes — a key hurdle in
operationalising such tests on a mass scale early on in the pandemic —
the NGS only needs custom reagents.  

Licencing system for tobacco sellers 

Part of: GS Mains II – Social/Health issue; Role of NGOs/Voluntary Groups 
Context: 
 Voluntary groups working for tobacco control demanded a licencing mechanism
for retail tobacco sellers which would restrict the sale of tobacco products and curb
their consumption by the youths.  
Do you know? 
 Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 regulates the sale of tobacco
products.  
 World No Tobacco Day is observed around the world every year on 31 May.  
Concerns: 
 Young tobacco users are vulnerable to catching influenza-like infections and they
could expose non-users to the tobacco products. 
 Youths are getting addicted to tobacco “faster than ever before” and the
projected number of deaths from tobacco far exceeded than those of COVID19. 

Social change through sports

Part of: GS Mains I – Society; Social change 
Context: (Case study) 
 Skateparks which were built in some villages in MP helped few skateboarders
(children from poor or middle-class families and farmer families) to participate in
world championships. 
 Children find hope in skateboarding to pull their households out of extreme
poverty. 
 Skateboards, shoes and trips to tournaments are crowdfunded. 
Sport heralds social change 
 The sport is helping challenge caste and gender prejudices in the village.  
 The sport has accorded identity to tens of children and their families.  
Young skaters must stick to three non-negotiable rules: ‘No school, no skating’,
‘Everyone is equal’ and ‘Girls first’. 
 This has improved school attendance.  
 Boys share their boards with girls during practice hours. 
 The sport has brought the village’s two communities — tribals and the
dominant Yadavs — on the same platform.  
 Sports create an equitable space. 

Abscisic Acid (ABA) 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Science and Technology; Biology; Agriculture
Research 
What is Abscisic Acid? 
 Humans have glands that secrete hormones at different times to stimulate body
processes such as growth, development, and the breaking down of sugars.  
 Plants also have hormones that stimulate processes that are necessary for them
to live.  
Abscisic acid is a plant hormone involved in many developmental plant processes, such
as dormancy and environmental stress response.  
Abscisic acid is produced in the roots of the plant as well as the terminal buds at the top
of the plant. 
Function of Abscisic Acid 
Abscisic acid is involved in several plant functions.  
 Plants have openings on the bottom side of their leaves, known as stomata.
Stomata take in carbon dioxide and regulate water content. Abscisic acid has been
found to function in the closing of these stomata during times when the plant does
not require as much carbon dioxide or during times of drought when the plant cannot
afford to lose much water through transpiration. 
 One of the crucial functions of abscisic acid is to inhibit seed germination.
Abscisic acid has been found to stop a seed from immediately germinating once it
has been placed in the soil. It actually causes the seed to enter a period of
dormancy.  
 This is of great benefit to the plants because most seeds are formed at the end
of the growing season, when conditions would not be favorable for a new plant to
sprout. The abscisic acid causes the seed to wait until the time when conditions are
more favorable to grow. This ensures greater success in the plant’s ability to grow
and reproduce successfully. 
 ABA functions in many plant developmental processes, including seed and bud
dormancy, the control of organ size and stomatal closure. It is especially important
for plants in the response to environmental stresses, including drought, soil salinity,
cold tolerance, freezing tolerance, heat stress and heavy metal ion tolerance. 

Why ABA in news? 

 IISER Bhopal scientists are studying the critical role of ABA in seed germination,
which can lead to crop improvement. 
 Their study proved that the inhibition of seedling growth by ABA is much stronger
in darkness as compared to light conditions. 
Poor access to abortion drugs 
Part of: GS Mains II – Social/Women issue; Health issue 
Context: 
According to a study by Foundation for Reproductive Health Services India (FRHSI) 
 Overregulation of drugs to curb gender-biased sex selection has hindered access
to safe, legal and cost-effective abortion. 
 Five out of six States have been reported to have “overwhelming shortage” of
abortion pills or medical abortion drugs.  
 The only State that seemed to be better was Assam (69.6%). 
 About 79% of chemists do not stock the drugs to avoid legal issues and
excessive documentation requirements. 
Abortion pills or Medical abortion (MA) drugs: 
 Abortion pills or MA drugs are abortifacients which terminate a pregnancy by
expelling an embryo or foetus. 
 Abortion pills are different from emergency contraceptive pills (ECD). 
 ECD are taken 72 hours after unprotected sex to prevent an unintended
pregnancy. 
Major reason for shortage of drugs: 
 The primary reason for non-availability of MA drugs seems to be the incorrect
understanding that medical abortion combipacks can be used for gender biased sex
selection among regulatory officials. 
 A Medical abortion combipacks is indicated for use only up to nine weeks while
an ultrasound can detect the sex of the fetus at 13-14 weeks’ gestation.  
Do you know? 
 Medical abortion drugs are the most preferred method with 81 % of abortions
being administered through them. 
 Their lack of availability hinders women, who do not wish to opt for surgical
abortion methods. 
 In the midst of the pandemic with restricted movement clinical methods of family
planning are not adequately available, there is a dire need to ensure unrestricted
access to drugs. 

Endangered Species in news: Hornbills 

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Conservation; Endangered species; Protected areas 
Context: 
 A study based on satellite data has shown a high rate of deforestation in a major
hornbill habitat in Arunachal Pradesh. 
 Satellite data revealed changes in forest cover of the 1,064
sq.km. Papum Reserve Forest (RF) adjoining Pakke Tiger Reserve and part of
Assam affected by illegal felling and ethnic conflict. 
Do you know? 
 Papum RF is a nesting habitat of three species of the large, colorful fruit-eating
hornbills: Great, Wreathed and Oriental Pied. 
 The 862 sq.km. Pakke reserve houses a fourth species, the Rufous-Necked. 
Important value additions: 
Hornbills: 
 India is home to nine species of hornbills: three of them, the wreathed
hornbill (Aceros undulatus), the brown hornbill (Anorrhinus austeni) and the Rufous-
necked hornbill (Aceros nipalensis) great hornbill is the state bird of Arunachal
Pradesh and Kerala. India also has Narcondam Hornbill, found only on the island
of Narcondam. 
 Hornbill festival celebrated in Nagaland is named after the bird – Hornbill which
is the most revered and admired bird for the Nagas. 
Do you know? 
 Hornbills used to be hunted for their casques — upper beak — and feathers for
headgear despite being cultural symbols of some ethnic communities in the
northeast, specifically the Nyishi of Arunachal Pradesh.  
 But a 20 year-old conservation programme entailing the use of fibreglass beaks
reduced the threat to the birds to a large extent. 
Hornbill species: 
1. Great Hornbill:
 IUCN Red List: Near threatened. 
 Largest of all hornbills in India. 
 Found in a few forest areas in Western Ghats and the forests along Himalayas. 
2. Rufous-necked Hornbill:
 IUCN Red List: Vulnerable 
 Has Northern-most extent, ranging from North-eastern India to Mahananda
Wildlife Sanctuary in West Bengal. 
3. Wreathed Hornbill:
 IUCN Red List: Least Concern 
 Found in forests from far North-eastern India. 
4. NarcondamHornbill: 
 IUCN Red List: Endangered 
 Endemic to Indian island of Narcondam in Andamans. 
 Smallest home range out of all species of Asian hornbills. 
5. Malabar Pied Hornbill:
 IUCN Red List: Near Threatened 
 Common resident breeder in India and Sri Lanka. 
 Habitat: Evergreen and moist deciduous forests often near human settlements. 
6. Oriental Pied Hornbill:
 IUCN Red List: Least Concern 
 Largest distribution, found in the Indian Subcontinent and throughout Southeast
Asia. 
 Habitat: Subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. 
7. White-throated Brown Hornbill:
 IUCN Red List: Near Threatened 
 Found in forests from North-eastern India. 
 Common habitat: Namdapha National Park, Changlang District, Arunachal
Pradesh. 
8. Malabar Grey Hornbill:
 IUCN Red List: Least Concern 
 Common in the Western Ghats and associated hills of southern India. 
9. Indian Grey Hornbill:
 IUCN Red List: Least Concern 
 Habitat: Mainly on the plains up to about 2000 feet, foothills of Himalayas
southwards, bounded to west by Indus system and to east by Ganges Delta. 

Miscellaneous: 
Person in news: Kamala Harris 
Part of: GS Mains II – Indian Diaspora 
Why in news? 
 Kamala Harris has been named running mate of presumptive Democratic
presidential nominee Joe Biden.  
 Ms. Harris is the first woman of Indian descent and black woman to be on the
presidential ticket of a major political party in the U.S.  
 The move puts Ms. Harris in a powerful position to lead the Democratic party in
the near future and with a shot at the presidency in four to eight years. 

Source: The Hindu 
 
‘Smart Connect Scheme’
 Punjab government launched this scheme 
 It aims to distribute smartphones to students of Class XII in government schools
across the State 
 To boost education, connectivity and empower the poor youth in the present
pandemic situation 
 

International Youth Day

About: 
 The United Nations General Assembly in 1999 accepted the recommendation of
the World Conference of Ministers of Youth to designate August 12 as International
Youth Day.  
 It is celebrated to raise awareness about the challenges and problems faced by
the world’s youth at this age.  
 It focuses on the engagement of youth at the local, national and international
levels. 
 The theme for this year’s International Youth Day is ‘Youth Engagement for Global
Action’. 

Business Responsibility Reporting (BRR)

 Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has released a report of the

Committee on Business Responsibility Reporting (BRR) under the
chairmanship of           Gyaneshwar Kumar Singh.
 BRR is a disclosure of adoption of responsible business practices by a
listed company to all its stakeholders.
 It is applicable to all types of companies including manufacturing,
services etc.
 Its focusses on the accountability of the business entities to the larger
society by a new framework ‘Business Responsibility and Sustainability
Report (BRSR)’ for reporting non-financial parameters.
 The BRSR would be integrated with the MCA 21 portal, where top 1000
listed companies are to undertake this reporting mandatorily.
 MCA21 is an e-Governance initiative of Ministry of Company Affairs
(MCA) that enables an easy and secure access of the MCA services to the
corporate entities, professionals and citizens of India.
Sarthak

 Sarthak is an offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), 4th in the series of five OPVs
deployed by the Coast Guard to enhance maritime security.
 The Ship is fitted with state-of-the-art Navigation and Communication
equipment, sensor and machinery.
 The ship is designed to embark and carry a twin-engine helicopter, four
high speed boats and one inflatable boat for swift boarding and Search &
Rescue operations.

Nasha Mukt Bharat Campaign

 Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has formulated ‘Nasha

Mukt Bharat Campaign’.
 It is aimed to be implemented in 272 districts which are identified as most
affected in terms of usage of substances.
 These districts have been identified based on the inputs received from
Narcotics Control Bureau and the findings on the comprehensive
National survey done by the Ministry.
 The campaign will run for 7 months in collaboration with State
governments to contain drug demand and abuse.
 As per the National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances, 2012, different Departments/Ministries have been allocated
different roles.
 While the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is the Nodal
agency for Drug Demand Reduction.
 The aspect of supply reduction is looked after by various enforcement
agencies under Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance and State
Governments and harm reduction by the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare.

Naval Innovation and Indigenization Organization (NIIO)

 Union Defence ministry has launched the Naval Innovation and

Indigenization Organization (NIIO).
 Draft Defence Acquisition Policy 2020 (DAP 20) envisaged
establishment of NIIO by the Service Headquarters.
 The NIIO is a three-tiered organization.

1. Naval Technology Acceleration Council (N-TAC) will bring together

the twin aspects of innovation and indigenization and provide apex level
directives.
2. A working group under the N-TAC will implement the projects.
 3. A Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC) has also been
created for induction of emerging disruptive technology in an accelerated
time frame.

 The NIIO puts in place dedicated structures for the end users to interact
with academia and industry towards fostering innovation and
indigenization for self-reliance in defence.

National Overseas Scholarship Scheme

 National Overseas Scholarship is a Central Sector Scheme under the

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
 It aims to facilitate the low income students obtain Master degree or Ph.D
courses by studying abroad to improve their social and economic status.
 Beneficiaries are selected from the following social groups –

1. Scheduled Castes,
2. Denotified Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes,
3. Landless Agricultural Labourers
4. Traditional Artisans category

 In each Selection Year, 100 fresh awards, subject to availability of funds,

will be given under the Scheme.
 30% of the awards for each year shall be earmarked for women
candidates.
 However, in case, adequate women candidates are not available as per the
stipulations of the scheme, then the unutilized slots will be utilized by
selecting suitable male candidates.
 Recently following changes has been made to the Scheme

1. Annual Family Income limit for National Overseas Scholarship Scheme

for Scheduled Castes students w.e.f. selection year 2020-21 has been
increased from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh per annum.
2. Students securing admission in higher ranking institutions internationally
will be given preference.
3. The minimum qualifying marks have been increased from 55% to 60%.
4. Maintenance Allowance has been linked with progress of the awardee.
5. Police verification has been done away and self-declaration has been
introduced.

 Bachelors Level courses in any discipline are not covered under the
Scheme.

Hornbill
  Horbills are found in tropical and subtropical Africa, and Asia.
 They are referred as ‘forest engineers’ or ‘farmers of forest’ for playing a
key role in dispersing seeds of tropical trees and indicated the prosperity
and balance of the forest.
 India has 9 hornbill species, of which 4 are found in the Western Ghats.
 These are

1.  Indian grey hornbill (endemic to India),

2. Malabar grey hornbill (endemic to the Western Ghats),
3. Malabar pied hornbill (endemic to India and Sri Lanka)
4. Great Indian hornbill (Endangered).

 The Narcondam hornbill are found only on the island of Narcondam in

the Andaman Sea.

 Papum Reserve Forest in Arunachal pradesh is a nesting habitat of 3

hornbill species - Great, Wreathed and Oriental Pied.
 The Pakke reserve houses a fourth species, the Rufous-Necked.
 They are hunted by the ethnic communities specially the Nyishi of
Arunachal Pradesh.
 Recently, a study based on satellite data has flagged a high rate of
deforestation in a major hornbill habitat in Arunachal Pradesh.
 Papum Reserve Forest (RF) adjoining the Pakke Tiger Reserve as well as
a part of Assam affected by illegal felling and ethnic conflict.

“Transparent Taxation — Honouring the Honest”

platform
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II and III – Govt policies and initiatives; Economy –
Taxation
In news:
 “Transparent Taxation — Honouring the Honest” platform was launched recently.
 The platform provides faceless assessment, faceless appeal and a taxpayers’
charter.
Faceless Assessment:
 Under faceless assessment, the scrutiny of returns of a taxpayer will be done by a
tax officer selected at random and not necessarily from the same jurisdiction. 
 This will do away the need for any face-to-face contact between the taxpayer and
tax official, thereby reducing the chances of coercion and rent-seeking. 
 The move is expected to ease the compliance burden for assessees and reward
the “honest taxpayer”, who plays a big role in nation-building. 
 A faceless tax system would give the taxpayer confidence on fairness and
fearlessness. 
 It helps to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of income taxpayers.
 The assessment system seeks to eliminate corrupt practices by doing away with
the territorial jurisdiction of income-tax offices.
Faceless appeal facility:
 This facility would be available to all citizens from September 25 (Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya’s birth anniversary)
 A faceless appeal system would allow the taxpayer to appeal against a tax
official’s decision without the need of making a physical representation.
Taxpayers’ charter
 The taxpayers’ charter was announced in the Union Budget for fiscal year 2020-
21 by the Finance Minister. 
 The charter outlines the rights and duties of an honest taxpayer. 
 It also defines the commitment of the tax department and the expectations from
the taxpayers.
 It is a step towards bringing together rights and duties of the taxpayer and fixing
the government’s responsibilities towards the taxpayer

Do you know?
 All these above reforms are likely to empower citizens by ensuring time-bound
services by the Income Tax Department.
 PM appealed to those not paying taxes, despite having the ability, to come
forward and commit themselves to the cause of making the country self-reliant.

Arunachal groups push for 6th Schedule status

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Indian Polity – Schedules
Context:
Some political parties and community-based groups in Arunachal Pradesh called for –
 bringing the entire Arunachal Pradesh under the ambit of the Sixth
Schedule or Article 371 (A) of the Constitution
 revival of the demand for two autonomous councils
Currently, Arunachal Pradesh is a Fifth Schedule State, that “does not provide special
rights for the indigenous communities” unlike the Sixth Schedule.
Important Value Additions:
Fifth and Sixth schedules of Indian constitution
These two schedules provide for alternate or special governance mechanisms for
certain ‘scheduled areas’ in mainland and certain ‘tribal areas’ in north-eastern India.
 The Fifth Schedule designates Schedule areas in large parts of India in which the
interests of the Scheduled Tribes are to be protected. The Scheduled area has more
than 50 per cent tribal population.
 The Sixth Schedule is related to the administration of North Eastern states  i.e.
the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram in the North-east. It has
provisions for the formation of autonomous districts and autonomous regions within
the districts as there are different schedule tribes within the district.
Why demand for 6th schedule over 5th schedule?
The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in
Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244 of the Indian
Constitution. 
 Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of
tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC). 
 ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given
varying degrees of autonomy within the state legislature.   
 The governors of these states are empowered to reorganise boundaries of the
tribal areas. In simpler terms, she or he can choose to include or exclude any area,
increase or decrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts
into one. They can also alter or change the names of autonomous regions without a
separate legislation.  
Autonomous districts and regional councils
 Along with ADCs, the Sixth Schedule also provides for separate Regional Councils
for each area constituted as an autonomous region. 
 In all, there are 10 areas in the Northeast that are registered as autonomous
districts – three in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram and one in Tripura. 
 These regions are named as district council of (name of district) and regional
council of (name of region).
ADCs empowered with civil and judicial powers
 The ADCs are empowered with civil and judicial powers, can constitute village
courts within their jurisdiction to hear trial of cases involving the tribes. Governors of
states that fall under the Sixth Schedule specifies the jurisdiction of high courts for
each of these cases.
 The councils are also empowered to make legislative laws on matters like land,
forests, fisheries, social security, entertainment, public health, etc. with due approval
from the governor. The roles of the central and state governments are restricted
from the territorial jurisdiction of these autonomous regions.
 Also, Acts passed by Parliament and state legislatures may or may not be levied
in these regions unless the President and the governor gives her or his approval, with
or without modifications in the laws for the autonomous regions.

ILO Conventions on child labour

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – Social/Child issue; International Organizations and
Conventions
News: 
All 187 countries that are members of the UN International Labour Organization (ILO)
have now ratified a convention No. 182 to protect children from the worst forms of child
labour, including slavery, prostitution and trafficking. The Pacific island nation Tonga
became the final country to ratify the treaty.
The two ILO Conventions on child labour are Convention No.138 on Minimum Age and
Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
 The aim of ILO Convention No.138 on the minimum age is the effective abolition
of child labour by requiring countries to: 1) establish a minimum age for entry into
work or employment; and 2) establish national policies for the elimination of child
labour.
 The Recommendation No. 146  which accompanies Convention No. 138,
stresses that national policies and plans should provide for: poverty alleviation and
the promotion of decent jobs for adults, so that parents do not need to resort to child
labour; free and compulsory education and provision of vocational training;
extension of social security and systems for birth registration; and appropriate
facilities for the protection of children, and adolescents who work.
 Convention No. 182 requires countries to take ratifying countries to take
immediate, effective and time-bound measures to eliminate the worst forms of child
labour as a matter of urgency.
 The Recommendation No. 190 , which accompanies Convention No. 182,
recommends that any definition of “hazardous work” should include: work which
exposes children to physical, psychological or sexual abuse; work underground,
underwater, at dangerous heights or in confined spaces; work with dangerous
machinery, equipment and tools or carrying heavy loads; exposure to hazardous
substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels or vibrations
damaging to health; work for long hours, night work, and unreasonable confinement
to the premises of the employer.
These Conventions have been ratified by India
 Core Conventions of the ILO: – The eight Core Conventions of the ILO (also called
fundamental/human rights conventions) are:
 Forced Labour Convention (No. 29)
 Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No.105)
 Equal Remuneration Convention (No.100)
 Discrimination (Employment Occupation) Convention (No.111)
 Minimum Age Convention (No.138)
 Worst forms of Child Labour Convention (No.182)
These Conventions have not been ratified by India
 Freedom of Association and Protection of Right to Organised Convention (No.87)
 Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (No.98)

India-Australia security cooperation

Part of: GS Mains II and III – India-Aus Bilateral ties; International Relations; Cyber
Security
Context:
 India and Australia shared experiences on protecting critical infrastructure,
including 5G networks.
 Both the countries are working on cybersecurity cooperation.
 Another area which the two countries were exploring was of regulatory space,
including Australia’s encryption legislation, and how that could be used to prevent
cyber-enabled crime.
Do you know?
 In June, both the countries signed a cyber and cyber-enabled critical technology
framework agreement along with the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP).

India-Maldives: $500 mn package

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – India-Maldives Bilateral ties; International Relations
Context:
 India announced a slew of new connectivity measures for the Maldives – which
includes air, sea, intra-island and telecommunications.
 The above move is an effort to help the Indian Ocean Islands deal with the
economic impact of the COVID19 pandemic.
Initiatives proposed:
 Air connectivity “bubble” for travel
 direct ferry service
 Submarine cable for telecom connectivity
 assistance for the Greater Male Connectivity project (GMCP)
At present, India-assisted projects in the region include water and sewerage projects on
34 islands, reclamation project for the Addl island, a port on Gulhifalhu, airport
redevelopment at Hanimadhoo, and a hospital and a cricket stadium in Hulhumale.

Do you know?
 India to fund the implementation of the Greater Male Connectivity Project
(GMCP) in the Maldives with $500 mn packages.
 The GMCP will consist of a number of bridges and causeways to connect Male
to Villingili, Thilafushi and Gulhifahu islands that span 6.7 km.
 It would ease much of the pressure of the main capital island of Male for
commercial and residential purposes.

Indian Naval Innovation and Indigenisation

Organisation (NIIO)
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Defence
About:
 Defence Minister launched the Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation
(NIIO).
 The NIIO puts in place dedicated structures for the end users to interact with
academia and industry towards fostering innovation and indigenisation for self-
reliance in defence.
 The NIIO is a three-tiered organisation. 
 The Naval Technology Acceleration Council (NTAC) will bring together the twin
aspects of innovation and indigenisation and provide apex level directives.
Do you know?
 The Draft Defence Acquisition Policy 2020 (DAP 20) rolled out by the Defence
Ministry last month envisaged establishment of Innovation and Indigenisation
Organisation by the Service Headquarters. 
 Indian Navy already has a functional Directorate of Indigenisation and the new
structures created will build upon the ongoing indigenisation initiatives, as well as
focus on innovation.
 A compendium of Indian Navy’s Indigenisation perspective plans
titled ‘SWAVLAMBAN’ was also released.
 A Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC) has also been created for
induction of emerging disruptive technology in an accelerated time frame.

Miscellaneous:
UAE, Israel agrees to establish diplomatic ties
Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – International Affairs
Context:
 United Arab Emirates and Israel have agreed to establish full diplomatic ties.
 The above move is part of a deal to halt the annexation of occupied land sought
by the Palestinians for their future state.
Do you know?
 The announcement makes the UAE the first Gulf Arab state to do so and only the
third Arab nation to have active diplomatic ties to Israel, after Egypt and Jordan.

“Majoritarianism is not nationalism” – Romila Thapar

About:
According to renowned historian of ancient India Professor Romila Thapar –
“Nationalism is the reflection of how people in a society think about their collective self.
The collective means that everyone that constitutes the nation should be included as
equal citizens. But when nationalism is defined by a single identity, which can either be
language or religion or even ethnicity, then nationalism gets derailed into
majoritarianism. And majoritarianism is not nationalism.” 
According to Thapar – struggle for Independence had an “all-inclusive nationalism of
Indians opposed to British rule”, however, the insistence on two nations by the British led
to a nationalism defined by religion that found acceptance among some Indians.
Empowering Tribal, Transforming India

 “Empowering Tribal, Transforming India” is an online

performance Dashboard launched by M/o Tribal Affairs.
 It has been developed by Centre of Excellence of Data Analytics
(CEDA), organization under National Informatics Centre (NIC).
 Performance Dashboard is an interactive and dynamic online
platform that showcases updated & real-time details of 11
schemes / initiatives of the Ministry for achieving Sustainable
Developmental Goals.
 Highlights of the dash board are

1. It captures performance of 5 Scholarship Schemes of Ministry

wherein every year about 30 lakh underprivileged ST beneficiaries
reap benefit to the tune of INR 2500 crores.
2. It also displays the details of functional schools under Eklavya
Model Residential Schools (EMRS) scheme.
3. It maps district wise NGO details, funds given to NGO and
beneficiaries’ details. 

 Ministry of Tribal Affairs has recently got 66th SKOCH Gold

Award for “Empowerment of Tribal through IT enabled
Scholarship Schemes” under the guidance of DBT Mission.

Dekho Apna Desh Webinar

 Ministry of Tourism conducted a webinar series titled “Dekho

Apna Desh”.
 It is an effort to showcase India’s rich diversity under Ek Bharat
Shreshtha Bharat.
 The webinar series were presented in technical partnership with
National e-Governance Department, Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology.
 As a part of 74th Independence Day celebrations a webinar “Lesser
known stories of India’s struggle against the British” was
conducted.
  The webinar as highlighted the known sides of historic events,
places and personalities such as

1. Velu Nachiar - Queen of Sivaganga

2. Benjamin Horniman - British Editor 
 3. Royapuram Railway station - Oldest existing railway station in
the whole of India.
4. Madras regiment - Oldest regiment of the Indian Army, formed
by Major Stringer Laurence.

Queen Velu Nachiar

 She was the princess of Ramanathapuram and the only child of

Raja Vijaya ragunatha Sethupathy of the Ramnad kingdom.

 Velu Nachiar was married to Muthu Vaduganatha Peria Odaya

Thevar a native ruler of Sivaganga.
 In 1772, there was a conflict with king Muthu and Arcot rulers who
were the allies of British.
 British forces swept in Muthu’s kingdom and massacred all of his
forces including King Muthu.
 Velu Nachiar determined to avenge her husband’s death waged a
heroic war against the British.
 She had the support of the Marudu Brothers, fierce warlords who
stood by her, along with a band of loyalists.
 Velu Nachiar was protected by Udaiyal, the leader of her
bodyguards.
 The British captured her and tortured her to get her to reveal the
whereabouts of Velu Nachiar.
 Udaiyal did not give in, and was killed.
 The brave Velu raised one more battalion of women and named it
Udaiyal Regiment.
 It was commanded by the fiercely loyal Kuyili.
 Velu Nachiar met Haidar Ali, the king of Mysore, and convinced
him to help her.
 Haider Ali sent 5,000 men to help Velu Nachiar to get back
Sivaganga.
 But, by now, Sivaganga had been handed over to the British, and
they had fortified the place.
 Kuyili smuggled some female guerillas in, and while they held the
British at bay, she entered the ammunition store, and set it on fire.
She died in the process.
 Velu Nachiar became Queen of Sivaganga and ruled for ten years.
 The Government of India has released a stamp in her honour in
2008.

Benjamin Guy Horniman

  Benjamin Horniman was a British editor of a newspaper called
“The Bombay Chronicle”.
 The Bombay Chronicle was begun by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta.
 As its editor, Horniman spoke up against colonialism and about
Indian nationalist causes.
 He defied the censorship of British after the Jallianwala Bagh
incident in 1919.
 He smuggled a first-hand report of the massacre out of Punjab and
published it, following the incident he was deported.
 He continued to protest against the cruelties of the British rule in
India in all his writings from England.
 In 1926, he exploited a loophole in his deportation order and
returned to India to continue his work.
 The Horniman Circle Gardens is a large park in South Mumbai, got
its name in honor of an Englishman who showed Indians the
power of a free press.

Collaring of Fishing Cats

 Fishing Cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) are nocturnal (active at

night).
 Apart from fish, it also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds,
and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.
 In India, fishing cats are mainly found in the mangrove forests of
the Sundarbans, on the foothills of the Himalayas along the Ganga
and Brahmaputra river valleys and in the Western Ghats.
 Despite multiple threats, the Fishing Cat was recently down listed
to “Vulnerable” from “Endangered” in the IUCN Red List species
assessment.
 Fishing cats are listed under CITES: Appendix II and Indian
Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I
 Shrimp farming is a growing threat to mangrove habitats of the
Fishing Cats.
 Wildlife Institute of India (WII-Dehradun) and the Andhra
Pradesh Forest Department are has planned for a maiden exercise
of collaring 10 fishing cats in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary.
 The sanctuary is located in the Godavari estuary to study the
species’ ecology, home range, and behavior in different seasons,
feeding habits, threats, movements and use of space.
 The project aims to capture the fishing cats and collaring them
with light weight equipment containing the Geographical
Information System.
RBI Surplus Transfer

 Central Board of the RBI on decided to transfer a sum of Rs 57,128

crore of its surplus to the Union government for the fiscal 2019-20,
against Rs 1.76 trillion it did last FY. 
 The Surplus Distribution Policy of RBI that was finalized is in line
with the recommendations of the Bimal Jalan committee that was
formed by the RBI.
 Surplus transfer is in consultation with the Government, to review
the extant Economic Capital Framework of the RBI.
 In view of the RBI’s function as a lender of last resort, it needs to
maintain some Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB) to insure the
economy against any tail risk of financial stability crisis.
 The Jalan Committee recommended that the CRB needs to be
maintained at a range of 5.5% to 6.5% of the RBI’s balance sheet.
 The surplus transfer policy is now formula based and thus
transparent, which is an important departure from the past.
 The formula-based CRB will take care of the risk provisioning and
the central board of RBI will decide on the level of risk
provisioning.
 RBI can transfer its surplus that is the excess of income over
expenditure to the government, in accordance with Section 47
(Allocation of Surplus Profits) of the Reserve Bank of India Act,
1934.
 By and large, with a few exceptions, the quantum of surplus
transfer averages around 0.5% of the GDP.

Israel – UAE Deal

 Israel-UAE have arrived at an important peace agreement that has

the potential to change the geopolitics of West Asia and beyond.

 Under the deal the UAE will establish diplomatic relations with
Israel in return for President Binyamin Netanyahu committing to
give up a stated plan to annex the West Bank.
 West bank is the main territory of a state that the Palestinians
want.
 The UAE becomes the first Gulf Arab country and third Arab
nation to recognize Israel after Egypt (in 1979) and Jordan (1994).
 This deal would dramatically bring all Sunni nations in the region
in an anti-Iran alliance with Israel.
  India ranks 1st in the number of Organic Farmers and 9th in terms of area under Organic
Farming, according to the Minsitry.
 Sikkim became the first state to become fully organic and other States including Tripura and
Uttarakhand have set similar targets.
 Organic Farming, uses ecologically based pest controls and biological  fertilizers derived largely
from animal and plant wastes and nitrogen-fixing cover crops.
 It enhances biodiversity biological cycles and soil biological activity.
 It is a holistic system designed to optimize the productivity and fitness of diverse communities
within the agro-ecosystem.

 Recently, the Supreme Court tells, the Central government to consider amending the Official
Languages Act of 1963.
 It is to include scheduled languages other than Hindi and English as official language of the
Government of India.
 Scheduled languages (22) are those languages which are listed in the 8th schedule of the
Constitution and are given official recognition and encouragement by the Central government.
 However, all official communication and publication of rules and notifications by the Central
government are in Hindi and English.
 The Governor of a State may, with the previous consent of the President, authorise the use of
Hindi or the official language of the State, in addition to the English language, for the purposes of
any judgement, decree or order passed or made by the High Court for that State. 

President’s address on 74th Independence Day

Context:
 President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to the nation on the eve of 74th
Independence Day 
 The below are some of the important excerpts from his address, important for
various stages of the exam –
1. Self-reliance or ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative

 o India’s self-reliance means being self-sufficient without alienating or
creating distance from the world. 
o India will continue to engage with the world economy while maintaining its
identity.
o It has been the tradition of India that we do not just live for ourselves, but
work for the well-being of the entire world.
2. Vasudhaiv kutumbakam : : the global community is but one family
3. When India won freedom, many predicted that our experiment with democracy
will not last long. They saw our ancient traditions and rich diversity as hurdles in
democratisation of our polity. But we have always nurtured them as our strengths that
make the largest democracy in the world so vibrant. India has to continue playing
its leading role for the betterment of humanity.
4. The ethos of our freedom struggle forms the foundation of modern India. Our
visionary leaders brought together a diversity of world views to forge a common
national spirit. They were committed to the cause of liberating Bharat Mata from
oppressive foreign rule and securing the future of her children. Their thoughts and
actions shaped the identity of India as a modern nation.
5. Gandhiji’s teachings answer to present day problems: Troubled by social strife,
economic problems, and climate change, the world should seek relief in Gandhiji’s
teachings. His quest for equality and justice is the mantra for our Republic.
6. The nation is indebted to doctors, nurses and other health workers who have
been continuously on the forefront of our fight against this virus.
7. Look at the current crisis as an opportunity to initiate reforms to revitalise the
economy for the benefit of all, specially farmers and small entrepreneurs. 
8. The invisible virus has demolished the illusion that human being is the master of
nature. It is still not too late for humanity to correct its course and live in harmony with
nature. ‘Human-centric collaboration’ is more important than ‘economy-centric
inclusion’, in the present context.
9. Compassion and mutual help have been adopted as basic values by the people in
India. We need to further strengthen this virtue in our conduct, for better future. 
10. Adoption of science and technology, in harmony with nature, will help sustain our
survival and growth. 
11. Prayer for the well-being
सर्वे भवन्तु सखि
ु नः,सर्वे सन्त ु निरामयाः। सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्त,ु  मा कश्चिद् द:ु खभाग ् भवेत ्॥
It means:
May all be happy,
May all be free from illness,
May all see what is auspicious,
May no one come to grief.
The message of this prayer for universal well-being is India’s unique gift to humanity.

Endangered Species: ‘Fishing Cat’

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Conservation; Endangered Species; Biodiversity
Context:
 Efforts are being made to begin the country’s maiden exercise of collaring 10
fishing cats in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, situated in Andhra Pradesh.
 Experts to study the species’ ecology, home range, behaviour in different
seasons, feeding habits, threats, movements and use of space.
Important Value Additions:
Fishing cat
 Fish cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is mammal double the size of domestic cat
which is a native to wetlands, swamps and marshy areas.
 Rapid depletion of wetland is posing a threat to the animal on a global scale and
India is no exception. 
 Fish cat has been designated as ‘vulnerable’ in the Red List of the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary:
 It is a wildlife sanctuary and estuary situated in Andhra Pradesh.
 The sanctuary is a part of the Godavari estuary and has extensive mangrove
and dry deciduous tropical forest.
 It is the second largest stretch of mangrove forests in India (after Sundarbans).
 It is home to the critically endangered white-backed vulture and the long-billed
vulture.
 Its main wildlife attractions are Golden Jackal, Sea turtle, Fishing cat, Estuarine
Crocodile, Small Blue Kingfisher, Cattle Egret.
 Hope Island and Sacramento Island located in the mangrove region are two
important nesting sites for the endangered Olive Ridley turtles.
Do you know?
 The Andhra Pradesh government has begun the process to get UNESCO world
heritage status for Godavari Mangroves at Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary.

COVID-19 impact on MSMEs

Part of: GS Mains III – Indian Economy and issues related to it; Growth and Development
About:
According to a report from a group of experts on the post-COVID-19 economic and
industrial revival –
 Around 20-40% MSMEs facing closure
 Smaller units in the MSME sector suffered from the effects of demonetisation in
2016 and also from the introduction of GST in 2017
 MSMEs have been hit again by the three-month lockdown and due to the
uncertainty about the pace of recovery 
Do you know?
 Closure of MSMEs could create a serious employment problem, which could
further lead into a social crisis.
Measures:
 National report for MSMEs by Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship
(GAME) outlines a three-stage approach consisting of ‘survive, revive and thrive’. 
 Survival is the first priority and the aim should be to ensure that large numbers of
MSMEs are not immediately wiped out.
 However, those that survive will need to be helped to revive as the economy gets
back to normal.
 There is a need to address the long-term objective of how MSMEs can actually
thrive and support a faster growth rate for industry.

Ban of use and sale of nine agro-chemicals

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains III – Pollution
 Punjab government ordered a ban on the sale and use of nine agro-chemicals,
after the agriculture department found that these were still being used by farmers
though they adversely impacted the quality of rice.
 The ban is aimed at protecting the paddy quality, which is critical to its export and
remunerative pricing in the international market.
Agro-chemicals which are banned include – Acephate, Triazophos, Thiamethoxam,
Carbendazim, Tricyclazole, Buprofezin, Carbofuron, Propiconazole and Thiophinate
Methyl.
Insecticides Act, 1968
 It was brought into force with effect from August 1971 
 The Act regulates the import, manufacture, sale, transport, distribution and use of
insecticides in order to prevent risk to human beings and animals. 
 Central Insecticides Board was established under Section 4 of the Act and it
works under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.
 The board advises the central government and state governments on technical
matters arising out of the administration of the act and to carry out the other
functions assigned to it.

Miscellaneous:
Wagah border
 It is located on the historic Grand Trunk Road
 It was established nearly two months after Partition by Brigadier Mohindar Singh
Chopra on October 11, 1947.

Money lost from fraudulent transactions can be

recovered
 According to the Interpol (international criminal police organisation) –
 Money lost to online scams can be intercepted and recovered, provided the
victims react in time and alert the banks involved in the transactions.
 It is possible to intercept the funds and recover it.

Cobotics A cobot is designed to work with people and not to replace

people
About:
 Department of Science of Technology has sanctioned ₹170 crore under
the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems to set up a
Technology Innovation Hub on Cobotics at the institute.
 The focus will be the technologies where robots should be able to work together
with humans for maximising the benefit of human intelligence with robots’ precision
and ability to work tirelessly in an environment where the humans cannot work.
Cobotics 
 Cobots, or collaborative robots, are robots intended for direct human robot
interaction within a shared space, or where humans and robots are in close
proximity. 
 Cobot applications contrast with traditional industrial robot applications in which
robots are isolated from human contact.