Current: Affairs

Current Affairs
B I G L E A R N I N G S M A D E E ASY
An initiative of Group
September, 2022
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CMD, MADE EASY Group
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Contents
Revolutionary Freedom Fighters.......................................................................... 58
Tribal Freedom Fighters.......................................................................................... 59
India @75: Timeline......................................................................................................7
Santhals........................................................................................................................ 62
India @75: Then & Now............................................................................................ 10
Family Planning Vision-2030.................................................................................. 63
India @75: Analysis................................................................................................... 11
Independence Day Speech.................................................................................... 12 ‘Missing’ Girls (Sex Ratio at Birth)......................................................................... 64
Developed India by 2047........................................................................................ 13 2022 Commonwealth Games................................................................................ 65
Flag Code of India..................................................................................................... 14

Rashtrapati.................................................................................................................. 16
Vice-President of India............................................................................................. 17
UPI Payment Charges............................................................................................... 66
Chief Justice of India (CJI)....................................................................................... 18
Monetary Policy......................................................................................................... 66
Media Trials................................................................................................................. 20
Willful Default............................................................................................................. 66
Obscenity..................................................................................................................... 21
Basmati Crop Survey................................................................................................ 67
Freebies........................................................................................................................ 22
Eleventh Agricultural Census................................................................................ 67
Assam-Arunachal Border Dispute........................................................................ 24 ‘Aqua Bazar’ App........................................................................................................ 67
India-Maldives Relations......................................................................................... 25 Moonlighting.............................................................................................................. 67
Nagorno-Karabakh................................................................................................... 27 Benami Law................................................................................................................. 67
Post-Soviet ‘De-Facto’ States.................................................................................. 28 Kerala Savari................................................................................................................ 68
Nancy Pelosi Visit to Taiwan................................................................................... 30 CAROTAR Rules.......................................................................................................... 68
Yuan Wang 5: Gunboat Diplomacy...................................................................... 31 India’s First E-Double Decker Bus......................................................................... 68
Al-Qaeda Chief Killed............................................................................................... 32 Akasa Air...................................................................................................................... 68
Weapons of Mass Destruction.............................................................................. 33 Industry Tag for Rajasthan Tourism Units.......................................................... 68
Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022.................................................. 34 PMAY-Urban................................................................................................................ 69
IAF’s Squadron Strength......................................................................................... 35 PARVAZ......................................................................................................................... 69
Electricity (Amendment) Bill.................................................................................. 36 FPI Advisory Committee (FAC).............................................................................. 69
Gati Shakti University............................................................................................... 37 Development of Enterprises and Services Hub (DESH)................................ 69
Competition Amendment Bill............................................................................... 38 National Food Security Act (NFSA)...................................................................... 69
Delhi Liquor Policy.................................................................................................... 39 Urban Co-Operative Banks (UCBs)....................................................................... 70
Digital Banks............................................................................................................... 40 International Driving Permit (IDP)....................................................................... 70
Hybrid Electric Vehicle............................................................................................. 41 Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme............................................................. 70
Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill............................................................... 42 Interest Subvention on Short Term Agriculture Loans.................................. 71
Carbon Markets......................................................................................................... 43 Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)...................................... 71
Inflation Reduction Act........................................................................................... 44 E-Invoice....................................................................................................................... 71
Arctic Amplification.................................................................................................. 45 Krishnamurthy V Subramanian............................................................................. 71
Cloudbursts................................................................................................................. 46
Monsoon Havoc in Kerala....................................................................................... 48
SSLV-D1/EOS-2 Mission........................................................................................... 49
India-NATO Relations............................................................................................... 72
Data Protection Bill................................................................................................... 51
Foreign Visits of State Government Ministers.................................................. 72
Automated Fingerprint Identification................................................................ 52
Nord Stream 1............................................................................................................ 73
Tomato Flu................................................................................................................... 53 India-Southeast Asia Cultural Links..................................................................... 73
Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD)...................................................................................... 54 China’s Economic Slowdown................................................................................. 74
Sri Aurobindo: 150th Anniversary......................................................................... 55 Asian Regional Forum.............................................................................................. 74
Lord Curzon................................................................................................................. 56 BM-SEAL-11 Project.................................................................................................. 74
Women Freedom Fighters...................................................................................... 57 Universal Postal Union (UPU)................................................................................ 74
Gaza Strip..................................................................................................................... 75
International Transport Forum (ITF).................................................................... 75
US Navy Ship (USNS) Charles Drew..................................................................... 75 Period Poverty............................................................................................................ 86
Joint Projects/Agreements..................................................................................... 75 Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0................................................................. 86
India and UN Peacekeeping Missions................................................................. 76 Smile Initative............................................................................................................. 86
Rohingya Refugees................................................................................................... 76 Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified,
SCO Defence Ministers Meeting........................................................................... 76 Nomadic, Semi-Nomadic Tribes (SEED).............................................................. 86
Indian Diaspora in U.K............................................................................................. 76 Second Phase of Grameen Udyami Project...................................................... 87
Pakistan’s Political Crisis.......................................................................................... 76 PESA Act....................................................................................................................... 87
GOAL 2.0...................................................................................................................... 87
Banthia Commission................................................................................................ 87
Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act (HMGA), 1956................................... 87
Defence Exercises...................................................................................................... 77 Adoption of Orphans............................................................................................... 88
Samir Kamat................................................................................................................ 77 Paalan 1000 Parenting App.................................................................................... 88
Butterfly Mine............................................................................................................. 77 Bal Raksha Mobile App............................................................................................ 88
Project Zorawar.......................................................................................................... 77 Transgender Pilots.................................................................................................... 88
Vertical Launch Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM)............... 78 Homosexuality........................................................................................................... 89
Swavlamban............................................................................................................... 78 Women in Armed Forces......................................................................................... 89
National Investigation Agency (NIA)................................................................... 78 National Conference of Women Police............................................................... 89
AK-203 Assault Rifles................................................................................................ 78
Positive Indigenisation List (PIL)........................................................................... 78
Moscow Conference on International Security-2022.................................... 79
Healthy Environment is a Human Right............................................................. 90
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).................................................................. 79
Wind Energy................................................................................................................ 90
Gorkhas in Indian Army........................................................................................... 79
Vizhinjam Port............................................................................................................ 90
Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM)....................................................................... 79
Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro Electric Project...................................................... 90
Islamic State (ISIS) in India...................................................................................... 80
India’s Climate Pledges............................................................................................ 91
Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS).............................................. 80
Floating Solar Power Plant at NTPC-Kayamkulam.......................................... 91
President’s Colour to Tamil Nadu Police............................................................. 80
Ethanol Blending....................................................................................................... 91
25 Years of Naga Ceasefire...................................................................................... 80
2G Ethanol Plant at Panipat................................................................................... 92
Ocean Diversity Pact................................................................................................ 92
Ramsar Sites................................................................................................................ 92
Monsoon Session...................................................................................................... 81 Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar Campaign........................................................ 92
Section 9A of Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951...................... 81 Coastal Zone Regulation......................................................................................... 93
Review Petition.......................................................................................................... 81 Indian Virtual Herbarium........................................................................................ 93
Full Court Meeting.................................................................................................... 82 Arth Ganga.................................................................................................................. 93
New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment) Bill, 2022...... 82 Kali Bein........................................................................................................................ 93
Retirement Benefits for Supreme Court Judges.............................................. 82 Hasdeo Aranya........................................................................................................... 94
Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)................................................................ 83 Antarctica’s Floating Ice Shelves.......................................................................... 94
Governing Council of NITI Aayog......................................................................... 83 Earth’s Rotation.......................................................................................................... 94
Section 295(A) of IPC................................................................................................ 83 Karakoram Anomaly................................................................................................. 95
National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj..................... 84 Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022........................................................... 95
Reservation in Local Jobs....................................................................................... 84 Athelia Rolfsii.............................................................................................................. 95
Creation of Districts.................................................................................................. 84 Megalodon.................................................................................................................. 95
Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC)............................................................... 85 Tasmanian Tiger......................................................................................................... 96
PM and President’s Photos in Government Advertisements....................... 85 Ichnites......................................................................................................................... 96
District Legal Services Authorities (DLSAs)....................................................... 85 Peninsular Rock Agama........................................................................................... 97
Mudhol Hounds......................................................................................................... 97
Street Dogs.................................................................................................................. 97
Snow Leopard............................................................................................................ 97
Invasive Species and World Economy................................................................. 97 Swastika..................................................................................................................... 109
Asia’s Longest Elevated Wildlife Corridor.......................................................... 98 Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)..................................................................... 109
Great Indian Bustard................................................................................................ 98 Partition Horrors Remembrance Day................................................................ 109
World Elephant Day.................................................................................................. 98 Ondiveeran................................................................................................................ 109
Reintroduction of Cheetahs................................................................................... 98 PIN Code..................................................................................................................... 109
Mithila Makhana...................................................................................................... 110
Shrimad Rajchandra............................................................................................... 110
Mandala in Art.......................................................................................................... 110
Minerals Security Partnership (MSP)................................................................. 100 National Handloom Day........................................................................................ 110
TALC............................................................................................................................. 100 ‘Chinese’ Manjha...................................................................................................... 110
Forever Chemicals................................................................................................... 100 Johar............................................................................................................................ 110
Fiberisation............................................................................................................... 101 Garba........................................................................................................................... 111
Small Cells.................................................................................................................. 101 Anusilan Samity....................................................................................................... 111
Standalone 5G Architecture................................................................................ 101 Raja Serfoji and Sivaji............................................................................................. 111
Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC).............................................. 101 Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL)............................................... 111
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI)........................................... 102 National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM)...................... 111
Chinese Space Station........................................................................................... 102 Anang Tal Lake......................................................................................................... 112
James Webb Space Telescope............................................................................. 102 Dahi Handi................................................................................................................. 112
Hayabusa-2 Probe................................................................................................... 102 Godna: The Ancient Tribal Art of Tattooing.................................................... 112
Space Kidz India....................................................................................................... 103 Pushpabanta Palace............................................................................................... 112
Spectrographic Investigation of Nebular Gas (SING)................................... 103
International Space Station (ISS)........................................................................ 103
GAGAN........................................................................................................................ 103
African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV)........................................................................ 104 Just War Theory........................................................................................................ 113
Langya........................................................................................................................ 104 Euthanasia................................................................................................................. 114
V.K. Paul Taskforce on Monkeypox..................................................................... 104 Does a Prime Minister have a Right to Party?................................................ 115
Foodborne Pathogen Survey Network (ICMR-FoodNet)............................ 104
Health Star Rating................................................................................................... 104
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)...................................... 105
Human-to-Animal Transmission of Monkeypox............................................ 105 Road Accidents........................................................................................................ 116
Corbevax.................................................................................................................... 105 Kutch Branch Canal (KBC)..................................................................................... 116
HIV Medicine Shortage.......................................................................................... 105 India’s First Earthquake Memorial...................................................................... 116
mRNA Vaccine.......................................................................................................... 105 Neeraj Chopra.......................................................................................................... 116
Standard Treatment Workflows (STWs)............................................................ 106 44th Chess Olympiad............................................................................................. 116
AlphaFold.................................................................................................................. 106 Longboarding Sport............................................................................................... 117
Anna Mani................................................................................................................. 106 Serena Williams........................................................................................................ 117
CSA6 Gene................................................................................................................. 106 Rashtriya Puruskar Portal...................................................................................... 117
Saline Water Lantern.............................................................................................. 106 68th National Film Awards................................................................................... 117
Corneas Bioengineered from Pig Collagen..................................................... 106 Har Ghar Jal Utsav................................................................................................... 117
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome................................................................................... 107
N-Treat Technology................................................................................................. 107
Doctor-Population Ratio....................................................................................... 107
Project for Saturation of 4G Mobile Services in Uncovered Villages....... 107
Origin of Continents............................................................................................... 108
First Woman Chief of CSIR.................................................................................... 108
Did Two Asteroids kill the Dinosaurs?............................................................... 108 Multiple Choice Questions...........................................................................119
India’s Lab-made Diamonds................................................................................ 108 Subjective Questions.....................................................................................128
Feature Articles Current Affairs 5
Edition: September 2022
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Current Affairs Cover Story
Edition: September 2022 B I G L E A R N I N G S M A D E E ASY
COVER STORY Cover Story Current Affairs 7
INDIA @75: TIMELINE

Below is a list of 75 iconic and important moments events that shaped the narrative and
course of 75 years of independent India.
11. 1965: India-Pakistan War- A culmination of skirmishes flared

into war but by the time the United Nations intervened,
Indian forces outfought their Pakistani counterparts and
halted their attack on the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan’s
second-largest city.
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12. 1966: Tashkent Declaration- On January 10, India signed a
peace agreement with Pakistan, in the USSR. A day later,
PM Lal Bahadur Shastri died after signing of the treaty.
13. 1966: Indira Gandhi became the first lady to be the Prime
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Minister of India on January 24.
14. 1966: A high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat variant got
1. 1947: On August 15, India achieved freedom after a shipped to Punjab from Mexico, ushering in the era of Green
long wait. However, it was soon followed by riots and Revolution that would save the nation from an impending
bloodshed as the country was divided into two, India and mass famine and over-dependence on foreign aid.
Pakistan. 15. 1967: Sino-Indian War takes place in Nathu La and Cho La-
2. 1948: On January 30, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated The Nathu La and Cho La clashes, referred to as the Sino-
at the Birla House compound in Delhi by Nathuram Godse. Indian War of 1967, consisted of a series of border clashes
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3. 1950: Though India became a free nation on August 15, 1947, between India and China alongside the border of the
it declared itself a Sovereign, Democratic and Republic state Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, then an Indian protectorate.
with the adoption of Constitution on January 26, 1950. 16. 1969: The government set up the Indian National Committee
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4. 1951: The First Five-year Plan was launched in 1951 which for Space Research (INCOSPAR) in 1962 with Dr Vikram
mainly focused in the development of the primary sector. Sarabhai at its helm. Indian Space Research Organisation was
formed in 1969, which superseded the erstwhile organisation.
5. 1952: General elections were held in India between Oct.
17. 1971: The Bangladesh Liberation War in East Pakistan led to
25, 1951 and Feb 21, 1952. They were the first Lok Sabha
a military confrontation between India and Pakistan. Around
elections after independence.
90,000 Pakistani forces surrendered on 16th December
6. 1955: On July 01, 1955, Government nationalised the
1971, leading to the formation of Bangladesh.
Imperial Bank of India and changed its name to State Bank
18. 1974: Codenamed “Smiling Buddha”, India successfully
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of India (SBI). RBI took 60% stake of the newly formed entity.
tested its first nuclear bomb in Rajasthan’s Pokhran on May 18.
7. 1959: Dalai Lama was given political asylum by India
19. 1975: Emergency was imposed on June 25. Elections
8. 1961: Indian Armed Forces carried out ‘Operation Vijay’ in were cancelled and civil liberties were suspended. Indira
December, which involved air, sea and land strikes for over Gandhi’s opponents were imprisoned and the press
36 hours, resulting in the liberation of Goa, Daman and Diu censored. Human rights violations including a mass forced
from 450 years’ Portuguese rule. sterilisation campaign were undertaken.
9. 1962: India-China War- China attacked on October 20, 20. 1975: On May 16, the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim became
immediately after their Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai’s the 22nd state of the Union of India.
diplomatic visit. The month-long war ended after China 21. 1975: On April 19, India launched its first satellite Aryabhata
declared a ceasefire on November 21. by a Soviet Kosmos-3M rocket from Kapustin Yar. It was
10. 1963: India’s first-ever rocket launch- On November completely designed and fabricated in India.
21, a small rocket took off from Thumba on the outskirts 22. 1977: In the general election, the Janata Party-led umbrella
of Thiruvananthapuram, announcing the birth of India’s alliance defeated Congress. Morarji Desai became the first
modern space programme. non-Congress Prime Minister.
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Current Affairs Cover Story
23. 1979: In January, the Morarji Desai government set up 37. 1995: On July 31, the then-Union Telecom Minister Sukh
Mandal Commission to identify the socially or educationally Ram dialled erstwhile Bengal CM Jyoti Basu from his Nokia
backward classes. The commission considered the question mobile phone, marking the start of India’s mobile age. The
of seat reservations and quotas for people to redress caste Internet was launched in India on August 15.
discrimination. 38. 1998: The Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted at the
24. 1983: On April 11, Bhanu Athaiya became the first Indian to Indian Army’s Pokhran Test Range in May. On May 11, the
win an Oscar for costume design for Richard Attenborough’s tests were initiated, under the code name Operation Shakti,
film, ‘Gandhi’. with the detonation of one fusion and two fission bombs.
25. 1983: India won its first cricket World Cup on June 25, 39. 1999: For the first time a non-Congress govt was formed
beating heavyweights and two-time defending champions by NDA under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee that
West Indies in the final served its full 5 year term.
26. 1984: On April 3, Rakesh Sharma became the first and only 40. 1999: As part of a confidence-building measure, Atal
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Indian citizen to travel in space. He spent 7 days, 21 hours Bihari Vajpayee took a bus ride to Lahore, Pakistan, on
and 40 minutes aboard the Salyut 7 space station. With February 19.
Sharma’s space voyage, India became the 14th nation in 41. 1999: The Kargil War was fought between India and Pakistan
the world to send a man to outer space. from May to July in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir
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27. 1984: Military-operation code-named Operation Blue Star and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC).
was carried out between 1 and 10 June 1984 in order to 42. 1999: An Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route to Indira
remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and their followers from Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, was hijacked on
the buildings of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab. December 24 and flown to several locations before landing
28. 1984: India’s first metro was commissioned in Kolkata in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
on October 24. The first underground stretch, from 43. 2001: On January 26, an earthquake devastated the town of
Bhawanipore to Esplanade started operation. Bhuj on the morning of India’s 52nd Republic Day.
29. 1984: Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 44. 2001: On December 13, Parliament House was attacked by
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October 31 by her Sikh bodyguards Satwant Singh and Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists which
Beant Singh as aftermath of Operation Blue Star. led to the 2001–02 India–Pakistan standoff.
30. 1984: A chemical accident on the night of December 2 at 45. 2002: The burning of a train in Godhra on February 27
the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in caused the death of 58 Hindu pilgrims returning from
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Bhopal. The Bhopal gas tragedy is considered as one of the Ayodhya. This triggered communal violence in Gujarat. The
world’s worst industrial disasters as over 500,000 people ensuing riots ended with deaths of 790 Muslims and 254
were exposed to Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) gas. Hindus, 223 went missing, and 2,500 more left injured.
31. 1990: On January 19, Jammu and Kashmir saw the 46. 2004: Sonia Gandhi-led Congress managed 145 Lok Sabha
beginning of the mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits following seats to beat poll favourites BJP to form the government
a genocidal campaign launched by terrorists. with Manmohhan Singh at helm.
32. 1991: Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 47. 2004: On December 26, an earthquake of magnitude 8.6
off the coast of Sumatra triggered a deadly Tsunami that
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21 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide

bomber of LTTE. claimed more than 3,00,000 human lives across 5 countries
33. 1991: On July 24, Finance Minister Manmohan Singh kick- including India.
started economic reforms that liberalised the economy. 48. 2006: On July 11, 7 simultaneous explosions in local trains
34. 1992: On December 6, a large group of Kar Sevaks from rocked the city of Mumbai. 189 people died and more than
VHP and allied organisations demolished the 16th-century 800 were injured in these terrorist attacks.
Babri Masjid in the city of Ayodhya in UP. 49. 2007: On July 25, Pratibha Patil took oath as the 12th
35. 1992: A market manipulation carried out by Harshad Mehta President of India. She was the first woman to hold the
highest constitutional office in the country.
with other bankers and politicians resulted in the biggest
Indian stock market crash till then. The scam caused 50. 2007: India defeated Pakistan in the final of the inaugural
significant disruption to the stock market, defrauding T20 World Cup in Johannesburg on September 24.
investors of over $10 million. 51. 2008: On October 22, ISRO launched Chandrayaan-1 to the
36. 1993: A series of 12 terrorist bombings rocked Bombay, on Moon. This was India’s first lunar probe under the program, a
March 12. The single-day attack coordinated by Dawood major boost to the space program, as the country researched
Ibrahim resulted in 257 fatalities and 1,400 injuries. and developed its own technology to explore the Moon.
Cover Story Current Affairs 9
52. 2008: On November 26, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by 65. 2018: On September 6, the Supreme Court decriminalised
the sea route and opened fire indiscriminately at multiple Section 377. In a historic judgement, the SC stated that
places in Mumbai killing 166 people, including 18 security consensual adult gay sex is not a crime as sexual orientation
personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging is natural and people have no control over it.
property worth crores. 66. 2019: On February 14, a suicide attack carried out by LeT
53. 2009: The UPA Government launched Aadhar- the Unique militants claimed the lives of 40 CRPF jawans in Jammu &
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for the purpose of Kashmir’s Pulwama. The attack shook the entire nation, and
issuing unique identification numbers. Aadhaar architect was followed by the retaliatory Balakot strikes by Indian Air
Nandan M. Nilekani was appointed as the first chairman of Force (IAF) on February 26.
UIDAI. 67. 2019: On August 5, Articles 370 and 35(A) were nullified that
54. 2010: The Right to Education Act was passed that ensured gave special status to Jammu & Kashmir and the mandate
free and compulsory education for children between 6 and to define its domicile rules. The state was divided into two
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14 years in India under Article 21A of Indian Constitution. separate union territories, namely Union Territory of Jammu
55. 2010: India hosted the Commonwealth Games at Delhi. It and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh.
was India’s most successful Commonwealth Games to 68. 2019: The Supreme Court in a unanimous verdict on
date with Indian athletes winning 38 gold, 27 silver and 36 November 9, cleared the way for the construction of a Ram
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bronze medals. Temple at the disputed site at Ayodhya, and directed the
56. 2011: On April 02, MS Dhoni-led Team India lifted their Centre to allot a 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for
second Cricket ODI World Cup at the Wankhede Stadium in building a mosque.
Mumbai, defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets in the final. 69. 2020: The world and India witnessed once in a century
57. 2011: Veteran Gandhian Anna Hazare, went on a fast-unto- health scare in the form of coronavirus pandemic.
death in Delhi demanding enactment of a comprehensive 70. 2020: Hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, India’s GDP shrunk by
Jan Lokpal Bill to check corruption. 23.9 per cent in the first quarter of FY 20-21. It was the worst
58. 2012: On December 16, a 23-year-old medical student since independence.
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was brutally gang-raped on a moving bus in India’s capital 71. 2020: Farmers’ protest rocked the country after the Government
New Delhi by six men. The gruesome case shocked the of India passed three laws aimed at reforming India’s
entire nation’s conscience, prompting lawmakers to stiffen agriculture sector on November 26. The protests forced the
penalties in rape cases. government to roll back the disputed laws a year later.
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59. 2013: On Nov. 05, ISRO launched Mangalyaan, a spacecraft 72. 2021: Manish Kumar, a 34-year-old sanitation worker
bound for Mars. The Mangalyaan spacecraft successfully at AIIMS, Delhi, became the first person in India to be
entered Mars orbit on September 24, 2014 making ISRO vaccinated against the Covid-19 on January 16.
only the fourth space agency in the world to do so.
73. 2022: In a major push to privatise state-owned entities, the
60. 2014: In the Lok Sabha Elections of 2014. NDA under the Indian Government sold Air India to the Tatas, who regained
leadership of Narendra Modi won 336 seats and he became ownership of the airline after nearly 70 years on January 27.
the 14th Prime Minister of India.
74. 2022: The Air India Privatisation was followed by the LIC IPO
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61. 2015: On January 1, the NDA government replaced the which was launched on May 4. The government sold 3.5%
Planning Commission with NITI Aayog. stake in India’s largest-ever IPO.
62. 2016: On September 18, four JeM terrorists from Pakistan 75. 2022: On July 21, Droupadi Murmu won the Presidential
carried out a deadly attack in Indian Army brigade election and created history by becoming the first President
headquarters near the town of Uri in Jammu and Kashmir. from a tribal community.
19 Indian soldiers were killed in the attack. 10 days after the
Uri attack, India carried out surgical strikes in PoK, inflicting
heavy casualties on terrorists and ‘those protecting them’.
63. 2016: In a televised address, PM Narendra Modi announced
the demonetisation initiative at 8 pm on November 8 to fulfil
four objectives of checking terror-funding by Pakistan,
printing of counterfeit currency, black money and corruption.
64. 2017: On the midnight of July 1, the Indian Government
launched Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the idea of
having ‘One Nation, One Tax’.
COVER STORY
INDIA @75: THEN & NOW

Where we were when India got independence, and where we are now
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INDIA @75: ANALYSIS

After completing 75 years of independence. It is time to reflect back on as to what
all we achieved in these 75 years, and what more we need to achieve.
A Mixed Bag: Probable Reasons:

• India has moved fast forward on all fronts, but due to lack of So, when we look back, India achieved growth but not
holistic approach, the success of one side is decimated by development, India achieved freedom but not independence.
the ignorance of the other side. The reasons are clear:
• India’s longevity has doubled from 33 years during • Instead of promoting meritocracy, we are still living and
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independence to about 70 years now, but we are also the promoting entitlements and quid pro quo.
diabetes and CVD capital of the world. • We have programs for sharing freebies, but we are not
• India’s GDP has increased from ` 2.7 lac crore in 1947 to focussed on creating wealth.
3.17 trillion USD now - India has become the fifth largest • We have always tried to be politically correct though
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economy but India’s GDP per capita at less than US$2000 economically unviable.
puts India under a struggling LMIC – Lower Middle-Income
• Individual interests come above national interests.
Country.
• Rights come before duties.
• India has become the fastest growing economy but our
• While we are upstreaming aspirations, we are lowering the
national debt increased to a whooping 91 lac crore.
level of national discourse.
• Agriculture is self-sufficient and produces five times more than
• Instead of data and facts, we believe in unverified perceptions.
it produced during independence but farmers are moving
out of the profession at an alarming rate and profitability of • Systems have changed, but mindsets are still the same!
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agriculture is a burning issue.
Challenges Ahead:
• India’s literacy rate increased from about 12 percent in 1947
• India of today has capitalist’s objective, a socialist plan and a
to 74 percent, but employability is still a major challenge.
communist minded bureaucracy, where profit is considered
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• Indian education system is the second biggest in the world

ill-intentioned and bordering criminality.
but still an Indian has not won a Nobel Prize in science and
• When we complete 100 years of independence, about 20 percent
education since independence.
of our population will be senior citizens (about 34 crores). So, as
• AIIMS, IISC, IITs and IIMs are amongst the world’s best
we enter the 75th year of independence, India at 75 is a young
education institutions but the rest of the education system is
democracy, aspirational economy and an ageing nation.
struggling to catch up, leading the bright and the wealthiest
• Also, the last few decades, India has faced extremism fuelled
moving to the west for education.
by vile neighbours, but if we don’t pay heed to the climate
• India has moved to Mars and is a world leader in space
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emergency, we will face internal catastrophes due to ignoring

program but the roads, water and electricity are still to reach
our environment which will decimate development. Already,
every household.
according to UN, India has lost about 25% of its GDP due to
• India has created a few world-class billion-dollar companies climate change.
but MSMEs have not been able to catch up.
• Due to a few world class healthcare facilities, medical tourists Concluding Remarks:
flock to India for treatment, but COVID-19 bared the reality for • When India turn 100, it should celebrate two milestones; one
all of us, when medicines, beds, ventilators and oxygen had of India having become a developed country and the other of
to be imported to save lives. 100 years of freedom!
• India is the pharmacy of the world but 70 percent of APIs for • India needs the goal of JRD Tata, vision of Vikram Sarabhai,
manufacturing medicines are imported. faith of Vivekanand and values of Buddha to realise the Panch
• We have now moved from a nation with rationing of landlines Pran of Amrit Kaal.
- to more than 100 % telecom density, but the quality of voice • As Plato wrote in the 4th century BC, “What is honored in a
and data is failing to deliver 2G levels, even though we have country will be cultivated there”. Time for India to decide on
nationwide 4G and are planning to launch 5G soon. what it will honour in this great country.
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Current
COVER Affairs
STORY Cover Story
INDEPENDENCE DAY SPEECH

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the nation from the Red Fort
as India celebrated its 76th Independence Day. Below are the key highlights.
Remembering the Freedom Fighters: Cooperative Federalism:

• PM Narendra Modi in his Independence Day Speech paid • PM Modi called for competitive but cooperative federalism.
tribute to several freedom fighters of the Indian Independence • “Let there be a healthy spirit of competition among the states
Struggle including, Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra on progressing in different sectors,” PM Modi said.
Bose, Ambedkar, Veer Savarkar, Rani Laxmibai, Jhalkari Bai,
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Mangal Pandey, Tatya Tope, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Pledge to Respect Women:
Azad and other innumerable revolutionaries. • One of the most important aspects in the speech of PM Modi
was when he gave a powerful message to respect women.
Falsifying the Worst Predictions about India:
• “We as a country have been disrespecting women through
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• PM Modi mentioned how India dispelled all the worst fears our conversations, behaviour, some words, and actions. Can
about itself, “when India attained freedom, there were many we take a pledge to free ourselves from disrespecting women
skeptics who doubted its development trajectory. by our nature, ethics, and in daily life.” PM Modi said.
• But, they did not know there is something different about the
people of this land.” Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan, Jai Vigyaan, Jai Anusandhan!
• “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” - a phrase given by former PM Lal
Panch Pran: Five Pledges for 100th Independence Day Bahadur Shastri was also invoked by PM Modi in his speech.
• PM Modi laid out five pledges that every citizen of the country • Later, Jai Vigyaan was added to this slogan by the then PM
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– including its chief ministers and other officials must take to Atal Behari Vajpayee.
move ahead with bigger purpose.
• PM Modi spoke, “there is currently an additional requirement
• First, to aspire big and develop India. Second, erase all to add: “Jai Anusandhan” (research and innovation).
traces of servitude. Third, take pride in India’s legacy.
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Fourth, forge unity because it is our strength. Fifth, fulfill Aatmanirbhar Bharat:
one’s duties, from the common man to those in positions of • Since he introduced the term, PM Modi and his government
power. has been actively pushing the concept of self-reliance or
‘Aatmanirbharta’. He says that it must be carried out as “Jan
Andolan” or people’s movement.
• He applauded the forces for moving forward with this plan.
“For the ceremonial gun salute from Red Fort, a gun produced
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in India was employed for the first time in 75 years.”
Environmental Conservation:
• PM Modi said India’s roots, heritage, and culture have the
solution to the world’s environmental problems.
• “We have a way to solve the problems of global warming. For
this, we have the heritage which our ancestors have given
us,” as per PM Modi speech.
Corruption and Nepotism:
• PM Modi said that India was currently facing two big problems Youth for a Developed India:
– corruption and nepotism. • PM invoked youth for the golden developmental period of
• “Corruption is hollowing the country like a termite; we have to India. He said when India will be celebrating 100 years of
fight it. We have to raise awareness against ‘Parivaarwaad’ Independence, the youth will be over 50 and these are the
to realise the strength of our institutions, to take the country golden years of their youth and they will be the ones at the
forward on the basis of merit,” he said. forefront of developing India.
DEVELOPED INDIA BY 2047

In his Independence Day speech, PM Modi asked Indians to embrace the “Panch Pran” (five vows)
by 2047. One of them was Goal of a developed India by 2047.
What is a “Developed” Country? • Former US President Donald Trump had criticised the
• Different global bodies and agencies classify countries categorisation of China as a “developing” country, which
differently. The ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects’ allowed it to enjoy some benefits in the World Trade
of the United Nations classifies countries into three broad Organization. If China is a “developing” country, then the US
categories: developed economies, economies in transition, should also be “made” one, Trump had said.
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and developing economies.
Where does India stand?
• To categorize countries by economic conditions, the United
• India is currently far behind both the so-called developed
Nations uses the World Bank’s categorisation.
countries, as well as some developing countries. Often, the
• The classifications are updated each year on July 1 and are
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discourse is on the absolute level of GDP (gross domestic
based on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (in current
product). On that metric, India is one of the biggest economies
US dollars) of the previous year.
of the world — even though the US and China remain far ahead.
• The World Bank assigns the world’s economies to four income
• However, to be classified as a “developed” country, the
groups (for the current 2023 fiscal year)—
average income of a country’s people matters more. And on
 Low-income economies: GNI per capita of $1,085 or less in
per capita income, India is behind even Bangladesh. China’s
2021;
per capita income is 5.5 times that of India, and the UK’s is
 Lower middle-income economies: GNI per capita between
almost 33 times.
$1,086 and $4,255;
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 Upper middle-income economies: GNI per capita between Quality of Life:
$4,256 and $13,205;
• The disparities in per capita income often show up in the
 High-income economies: GNI per capita of $13,205 or more.
overall quality of life in different countries.
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• A way to map this is to look at the scores of India and

other countries on the Human Development Index (HDI), a
composite index which looks at three factors: (1) Health and
longevity of citizens, (2) Quality of education they receive,
and (3) Their standard of life.
• India is still ranked 131 out of 188 countries in the world in
the HDI 2022, although India has improved on various HDI
metrics. For instance, the life expectancy at birth in India has
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gone from around 40 years in 1947 to around 70 years now.

• India has also taken giant strides in education enrolment at all
three levels — primary, secondary, and tertiary.
How much can India achieve by 2047?

• The World Bank’s 2018 report had made a mention of what
India could achieve by 2047.
Why is the United Nations Classification Contested? • By 2047, at least half its citizens could join the ranks of the
• But the UN’s nomenclature of “developed” and “developing” global middle class. This will mean that households have
is being used less and less, and is often contested. access to better education and health care, clean water,
reliable electricity and affordable housing.
• It can be argued that the UN classification is not very accurate
and, as such, has limited analytical value. Only the US, the • But, fulfilling these aspirations requires income well above
UK and Norway fall in the developed country category. There the extreme poverty line, as well as vastly improved public
are 31 developed countries according to the UN in all. service delivery.
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14 Feature Articles
FLAG CODE OF INDIA

Ministry of Home Affairs recently amended the Flag code of India to implement the
Har Ghar Tiranga campaign.
Timeline of Rules Governing Indian National Flag: Significance of Colours in National Flag:
• 1950: The display of National flag in 1950 was governed by • In the national flag of India the top band is of Saffron colour,
Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. indicating the strength and courage of the country.
It restricted the use of the national flag, the coat-of-arms used • The white middle band indicates peace and truth with Dharma
by a government department, the official seal of the President Chakra.
or Governor, the pictorial representation of Mahatma Gandhi • The last band is green in colour and shows the fertility, growth
and the Prime Minister, and the Ashoka Chakra. and auspiciousness of the land.
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• 1971: The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971 • This Dharma Chakra depicted the “wheel of the law” in the
prohibits the desecration of or insult to the country’s national Sarnath Lion Capital made by the 3rd Century BC Mauryan
symbols, including the national flag, the Constitution, the Emperor Ashoka. The chakra intends to indicate that there is
national anthem and the Indian map. life in movement and death in stagnation.
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• 2002: In 2002, on the basis of recommendations by P.D.
Shenoy Committee, all Indian citizens were permitted the Flag Code of 2002:
usage of National Flag from 26th January, 2002 onwards • “Flag Code of India 2002” is a comprehensive set of
where in the Flag Code of India was enumerated. guidelines that governs the usage, display, and hoisting of
the national flag in the nation.
• Flag hoisting as a basic right, 2004: In 2004, the Supreme Court
of India rendered a decision in favour of Mr. Naveen Jindal • It sets rules for how public, corporate, and governmental
(Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha), citing a new basic right institutions may fly the national flag.
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that would permit every Indian to hoist the national flag every • The flag code of India is divided into three parts:
day of the year.  a general description of the tricolour,
• Constitutional provision regarding national flag of India: Art  rules on display of the flag by public and private bodies
51A(a) – To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and educational institutions,
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and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem.  rules for display of the flag by governments and
government bodies.
Recent Amendments to Flag Code: • It states that whenever the flag is displayed, it should be
• 2021: In December 2021, the Union government modified distinctly placed and should “occupy the position of honour”.
the flag code which permitted usage of polyester or machine • Among the things which are not allowed is: putting up a
made flag. According to the updated flag code, the National damaged or dishevelled flag, flying the tricolour from a
Flag must now be constructed of hand-spun, hand-woven, or single masthead simultaneously with other flags, and no
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machine-manufactured cotton, polyester, wool, silk, or khadi other object, including flowers or garlands, or flag should
bunting. be placed on the same height beside the tricolour or
• 2022: The recent amendment by Ministry of Home Affairs was above it.
incorporated in order to permit the flying of the national flag • It states that the tricolour cannot be utilised for profit-making
even at night to implement the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign endeavours and cannot be dipped in salute to any person or
from August 13th-15th. The flag could previously only be flown thing.
between sunrise and dusk. • The flag should also not be used as a festoon or for any sort
of decoration.
• Only flags that meet the requirements established by the
Bureau of Indian Standards and bear their mark may be used
for official display.
• The flag should be put on the speaker’s platform to the right
of the speaker as they address the crowd or flat against the
wall above and behind the speaker.
• The flag should be flown from a staff that is fastened to the • According to the flag code, there are nine standard sizes for
front right or centre of the bonnet when it is displayed on a the tricolour: 6300 x 4200, 3600 x 2400, 2700 x 1800, 1800
vehicle. x 1200, 1350 x 900, 900 x 600, 450 x 300, 225 x 150, and
• When carried in a parade, the flag should either be in the 150 x 100 (all sizes in mm).
front of the centre of the line or towards the right of the file that • It further states that all table flags must be 150 x 100 mm in
is marching forward. size and that VVIP flights should fly flags that are 450 x 300
• The flag code further states that when the Tricolour is passing mm in size, 225 x 150 mm on vehicles, and 150 x 100 mm on
by in a parade, or during a ceremony of hoisting or lowering all other aircraft.
of the flag, the persons present should stand at attention and
salute the flag. Dignitaries should remove their headgears History of Indian National Flag:
before saluting the flag. • 1906: On August 7, 1906, at Parsee Bagan Square, close to
• In the event of the death of heads of states, dignitaries or Lower Circular Road in Calcutta, it is reported that the first
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during state funerals, the tricolour can be flown at half-mast national flag, consisting of three horizontal stripes of red,
during the period of mourning. yellow, and green, was raised (now Kolkata).
• However, if the period of mourning coincides with events of • 1921: Freedom fighter Pingali Venkayya later met Mahatma
national importance, such as Independence Day, Republic Gandhi in 1921 and suggested a basic flag design that
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Day, etc, the tricolour should not be flown at half-mast featured two red and green bands.
anywhere except over the building in which the body of the
• 1931: At a Congress Committee meeting in Karachi in 1931,
deceased is lying.
the Tricolor was finally chosen as our country’s flag after
Standard Dimensions of Flag: going through a number of modifications.
• The tricolour should also have a rectangular shape and • 1947: On July 22, 1947, the Constituent Assembly met and
always have a length to width ratio of 3:2. adopted the Indian flag in its current design.
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16 Feature Articles
RASHTRAPATI
There was ruckus in Parliament during Monsoon Session as the BJP criticized
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury referring to President Droupadi Murmu as “Rashtrapatni”.
About: • During the debate in the Constituent Assembly in December

• India has had a woman President earlier. The first time this 1948, H V Kamath objected to a modification to the original
happened, there was a minor debate on the proper way to draft that Jawaharlal Nehru had presented on July 4, 1947. He
address the Head of State, apparently because “Rashtrapati”, asked why (then) Article 41 — “The Head of the Federation
shall be the President (Rashtrapati)” — had been changed to
according to some people, has a “male” connotation.
“There shall be a President of India.”
• That debate died down soon, after it was agreed that in
• Ambedkar explained that no prejudice was involved — the
India’s constitutional scheme, words like Rashtrapati and
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change had happened only because the committee that
Sabhapati (Speaker) are understood to be gender-neutral.
was preparing the draft Constitution in English had left it to
When Pratibha Patil was President: those who were preparing the draft in Hindi and Hindustani to
• When the UPA decided to field Pratibha Patil, a former choose the corresponding word. While the draft in Hindustani
used “President”, the one in Hindi used “Pradhan”.
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Governor of Rajasthan, in the presidential election of 2007,
there was some discussion and speculation around this issue. • There were also suggestions during the debate that the word
“Rashtrapati” should be substituted by the word “Neta” or
• It was the first time that India would have a woman President,
“Karnadhar”. But Nehru suggested that the term Rashtrapati
and there was a degree of curiosity about how the nation
should be finalised.
would negotiate the nomenclature.
• Among the suggestions made was “Rashtrapatni”, though it LIST OF PRESIDENTS OF INDIA
was never taken seriously. Activists and feminists objected to Name Tenure
expressions like “Rashtramata”, saying the use of such terms
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Rajendra Prasad 26-Jan-1950 to 13-May-1962
for a constitutional post was “patriarchal” and “gender-biased”.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan 13-May-1962 to 13-May-1967
View of Constitutional Experts: Zakir Hussain 13-May-1967 to 3-May-1969
• Constitutional experts argued that the word Rashtrapati, V V Giri (Acting) 3-May-1969 to 20-Jul-1969
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which was finalised after discussions in the Constituent

Justice Hidayatullah (Acting) 20-July-1969 to 24-Aug-1969
Assembly, should not be changed only because India had
a woman President — because the word has no gender Varahagiri Venkata Giri 24-Aug-1969 to 24- Aug-1974
connotations; it’s simply that ‘President’ translates into Hindi Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed 24-Aug-1974 to 11-Feb-1977
as ‘Rashtrapati’. Basappa Danappa Jatti 11-Feb-1977 to 25-July-1977
• They pointed out that the Constitution has other male-allusive Neelam Sanjiva Reddy 25-July-1977 to 25-July-1982
nomenclature, but it could not be seen as being patriarchal
Giani Zail Singh 25-July-1982 to 25-July-1987
or gender insensitive.
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Ramaswamy Venkataraman 25-July-1987 to 25-July-1992

• Constitutional expert Subhash Kashyap had pointed out at
the time that then Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson Najma Shankar Dayal Sharma 25-July-1992 to 25-July-1997
Heptulla was always addressed as “Upsabhapati”, and thus Kocheril Raman Narayanan 25-July-1997 to 25-July-2002
President Patil could be called “Rashtrapati Mahodaya”. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam 25-July-2002 to 25-July-2007
• Till date India had two women Speakers, Meira Kumar Pratibha Patil 25-July-2007 to 25-July-2012
and Sumitra Mahajan, and both have been referred to as
Pranab Mukherjee 25-July-2012 to 25-July-2017
“Sabhapati”.
Ram Nath Kovind 25-July-2017 to 25-July-2022
• However, the discussion soon petered out — President
Patil was referred to as Rashtrapati throughout her tenure in Droupadi Murmu 25-July-2022 – Incumbent
Rashtrapati Bhavan that ended in July 2012.
NOTE TO READERS
Constituent Assembly Debates:
For detailed analysis of Presidential Elections in India refer
• The Constituent Assembly discussed how the President
Page 42 of July 2022 edition of Current Affairs Magazine.
should be addressed.
Feature Article Current Affairs
Feature Articles 17
VICE-PRESIDENT OF INDIA
Recently, Jagdeep Dhankhar was sworn in as the 14th Vice-President of India. Prior to this,
he served as the Governor of West Bengal.
Roles/Functions: • The election of the next Vice-President is to be held within 60

• The office of Vice President is the second-highest days of the expiry of the term of office of the outgoing Vice-
constitutional office after the President and ranks second in President.
the order of precedence. • Any person qualified to be elected as Vice-President is
• Article 64: required to be nominated by at least 20 MPs as proposers
 The Vice-President is the ex-officio Chairperson of the and at least 20 MPs as seconders.
Rajya Sabha and does not hold any other office of profit. • The Election Commission of India conducts the election for
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 During any period when the Vice-President acts as the office of the Vice-President.
or discharges the functions of the President, he does • The Returning Officer usually appointed to conduct the
not perform the duties of the office of the Chairperson Vice-Presidential elections is the Secretary-General of either
of the Rajya Sabha and, is not entitled to any salary or House of the Parliament, by rotation.
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allowances payable to the Chairperson, Rajya Sabha.
• Article 65: Disputes regarding Election of the Vice-President:
 The Vice-President acts as President, during a vacancy in • All doubts and disputes arising in connection with the election
the office of the President by reason of death, resignation of the Vice-President are enquired into and decided by the
or removal, or otherwise, until a new President is elected. Supreme Court of India whose decision is final.
 When the President is unable to discharge his functions • A petition challenging the election of the Vice-President is
owing to absence, illness, or any other cause, the Vice- heard by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India.
President discharges those functions till the President
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resumes office. Oath:
 During this period, the Vice-President has all the powers, • Article 69 of the Constitution of India provides for the oath or
immunities and privileges of the President and receives affirmation for the office of Vice President.
emoluments and allowances payable to the President. • The President of India administers the oath of office and
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• The vice president also acts as the chancellor of the central secrecy to the vice president.
universities of India.
Tenure:
Eligibility: • The vice president holds office for five years but can continue
• To be qualified to be elected as vice president, a person to be in office, irrespective of the expiry of the term, until the
must: (1) Be a citizen of India; (2) Be at least 35 years of successor assumes office.
age; (3) Not hold any office of profit, and (4) Be qualified for • The vice president can be re-elected any number of times.
election as a member of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
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• The tenure may be terminated earlier by death, resignation,

• The Vice-President is not a member of either House of or removal. The Vice-President may resign his office by
Parliament or of a House of a Legislature of any state. submitting his resignation to the President of India.
• If a member of either House of Parliament or of a House of
a Legislature of any state is elected as Vice-President, he is Removal:
deemed to have vacated his seat in that House on the date • The Vice-President can be removed from office by a resolution
he/she enters his office as Vice-President. of the Rajya Sabha, passed by an Effective majority (majority
of all the then members) and agreed to by the Lok Sabha
Elections Process: with a simple majority as per Article 67(b). A resolution for
• The Vice-President is elected by an electoral college this purpose may be moved only after a notice of at least a
consisting of members of both Houses of Parliament, in minimum of 14 days has been given.
accordance with the system of proportional representation • The Supreme Court can also remove the vice president
by means of the single transferable vote. for committing electoral malpractices and not fulfilling the
• The Electoral College to elect the Vice-President consists of eligibility criteria for Rajya Sabha while in the office per Article
all members of both Houses of Parliament. 71(1) of the constitution.
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18 Feature Articles
CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA (CJI)

Justice Uday Umesh Lalit has been sworn-in as the 49th Chief Justice of India. He succeeded
N. V. Ramana who was the 48th CJI.
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit: Recommendation of the Successor:

• He is the second direct appointee from the Bar Council of • As is the protocol, the ‘senior-most judge’ of the Supreme
India (BCI) to be appointed the Chief Justice of India. Court is designated as the CJI.
 Justice S.M. Sikri was the first lawyer to be elevated • As per practice, a formal recommendation of the CJI-
directly to the top court Bench in March 1964 and went on designate is sought from the incumbent CJI, roughly about a
to become the 13th CJI in January 1971. month ahead of the latter’s date of retirement.
• Justice UU Lalit will retire on 8 November 2022. He will be in
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office for 74 days, a tenure shorter than average. Seniority:
• Background: • Seniority at the apex court is determined not by age, but by
 He was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court in 2014. the date a judge was appointed to the SC.
He was involved in some landmark judgements in past • If two judges are elevated to the Supreme Court on the same
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such as the Triple Talaq case. day, then
 Before that, he was appointed a special public prosecutor for  the one who was sworn in first as a judge would trump
the CBI to conduct trial in the 2G spectrum allocation case. another;
 if both were sworn in as judges on the same day, the one
with more years of high court service would ‘win’ in the
seniority stakes;
 an appointment from the bench would ‘trump’ in seniority
an appointee from the bar.
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Role of the Government in Appointment:
• The outgoing CJI recommends his successor based on
seniority.
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• The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the

Prime Minister who, in turn, advises the President.
• The President of India subsequently appoints the CJI under
the powers conferred to her under Article 124(2).
Remuneration:
• The Constitution of India gives the power of deciding
remuneration as well as other conditions of service of the
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chief justice to the Parliament of India.

• Accordingly, such provisions have been laid down in The
Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service)
Act, 1958.
Appointment of CJI: Article 124
• The Constitution of India does not mention any procedure for Tenure:
appointment of the CJI. • There is no fixed tenure provided in the constitution.
• Article 124 (1) of the Constitution merely says, “there shall • Once appointed, the chief justice remains in the office until
be a Supreme Court of India consisting of a Chief Justice of the age of 65 years.
India.”
• Article 124(4) of Constitution of India lays down the procedure
• Clause (2) of Article 124 says that every Judge of the Supreme for removal of a judge of Supreme Court which is applicable
Court shall be appointed by the President. to chief justices as well.
• Thus, in the absence of a constitutional provision, the • The CJI can be removed only through a process of removal
procedure to appoint CJI relies on convention. by Parliament.
Average Tenure of CJI • It recommended that this step should be implemented from
• It has been observed that since independence, the average August 26, 2022 after the junior-most judge currently serving
tenure of Chief Justice of India is approximately 17 months. in the Supreme Court, and who is slated to be CJI, retires.
• The shortest tenure was of former honourable Chief Justice K
N Singh. The tenure was only for 17 days. POWERS AND ROLE OF CJI
• The longest-serving Chief Justice of India was Yeshwant • During the tenure of the former honourable Chief Justice of
Vishnu Chandrachud. He had served for almost over 7 years. India Dipak Misra, he stated that the Chief Justice is the master
• Data shows that 22 of the honourable Chief Justice of India of the roster and has the privilege to constitute the Benches of
have served longer tenures. the Court and allocate cases to the benches so constituted.
• The inconsistent tenure of the Chief Justice of India began • He also stated that no judge has the power to take up
after independence. It has been observed that we have seen any case on his own until and unless it is allocated by the
49 Chief Justice of India in the past 75 years. Chief Justice of India.
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• Similarly, Chief Justice of High Courts in most cases are • The Chief Justice of India can also act as a President of
appointed for less than two years as some these are also the country in cases where both the office of the President
elevated to the Bench of Supreme Court. and the Vice-President are vacant.
• In the table of precedence, the Chief Justice of India holds
Arguments in favour of Fixed Tenure:
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the sixth position. This clearly shows that the Chief Justice
• Many believe that the inconsistent terms of the Chief Justice
of India holds a vital role in the country.
of India create a difficult situation towards the functioning of
the collegium and the Supreme Court.
• The dominant view is that a short tenure does not provide
Chief Justice adequate time to implement and sustain any
major judicial reform.
• At times, it has also been observed that by the time the Chief
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Justice of India recognises or understands the problem the
tenure comes to an end.
• It is also demoralizing and demotivating when CJs are not in
a position long enough to see the fruits of their efforts, which
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could be source of enormous satisfaction to them.

• Stability of tenure was one of the 14 administrative principles
developed by Henri Fayol as he believed that it takes time
to develop the skills necessary to perform effectively in a
particular situation.
Arguments against Fixed Tenure:

• Some people argue that long tenure won’t change much
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as seen in the past as Chief justices continued to focus on

judicial work while ignoring administrative work and might
lead to “arbitrariness”.
• According to former CJI P Sathasivam, the institution of
Judiciary works on discipline. The fixed tenure is bound to
affect the next member.
• If there is a fixed tenure of the CJI then the legitimate
expectations of other judges would be taken away. Average
tenure of Supreme Court judges is less than four years then
how do you expect fixed tenure of two years for the CJI.
Law Commission’s Recommendation:

• In this background, in 2014, law commission of India
recommended that the CJI should get a fixed tenure of two
years in case their tenure is less than two years.
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20 Feature Articles
MEDIA TRIALS
Recently, the Chief Justice of India has raised concern regarding the rising number of
media trials and Kangaroo courts.
Media Trials: overlap. Supreme Court has observed that media should only
• Trial by media is a phrase to describe the impact of television engage in acts of journalism and not act as a special agency
and newspaper coverage on a person’s reputation by for the court.
creating a widespread perception of guilt or innocence • Against Rule of Law: In the matter of State of Maharashtra v.
before, or after, a verdict in a court of law. Rajendra Jawanmal Gandhi, the Supreme Court observed
• In recent times there have been numerous instances in which that a trial by press or public agitation is the very antithesis of
media has conducted the trial of an accused and has passed the rule of law.
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the verdict even before the court passes its judgment. • Contempt of court: Once a case has reached the court no one
• Some famous criminal cases that would have gone unpunished is allowed to publish his own versions of facts. Violation of this
but for the intervention of media, are Priyadarshini Mattoo rule amounts to contempt of court which is one of the grounds
case, Jessica Lal case, Nitish Katara murder case and Bijal Joshi for reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2) to the freedom
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rape case. of speech and expression.
• Paid News: The paid news which is given by any political
KANGAROO COURT
party or any other big organisation easily deviate the media
• It is an unofficial court held by a group of people in order to from the real objective. Sometimes these issues give birth to
try someone regarded, especially without good evidence, the media trials in which the media prooves someone guilty
as guilty of a crime or misdemeanour. before the judgement of the court.
• The term usually refers to proceedings or activities where • The Law Commission in its 200th report, Trial by Media: Free
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a judgement is made in a manner that is unfair, biased, Speech versus Fair Trial has recommended a law to debar
and lacks legitimacy. media from reporting anything prejudicial to the rights of
• The origin of the phrase is not clearly known. The Collins the accused from time to arrest to investigation and trial in
Dictionary argues that the word ‘kangaroo’ is used criminal proceedings.
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probably to evoke a sense that “justice progresses by • The media cannot use its freedom to invade a person‘s Right
leaps and bounds” in case of kangaroo court verdicts.
to Privacy which is a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19
and 21 of the Constitution of India as upheld by Supreme
Reasons for Media Trials: Court in Puttaswamy vs Union Of India decision.
• Strengthens democracy: Media is considered to be the fourth • The media trial poses additional issues such as hate
pillar of democracy, after Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. campaigns, accusations and witch-hunts that impact the
Media as fourth pillar was coined by Thomas Caryle. juridical process enormously.
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• Freedom of Press: The Supreme Court in Brij Bhushan v. State

of Delhi ruled that freedom of press is a fundamental right Recommendations:
covered by the right to freedom of speech and expression • Upon a collective assessment of the judgments of the
under Article 19(1)(a). Supreme Court of India on the aspect of media trial it is clear
• Strengthens justice: Free and robust reporting, criticism and that the risk that they pose is real.
debate contribute to public understanding of the rule of law, • The State and the Fourth Estate have a responsibility to defer
and to a better comprehension of the entire justice system. to each other’s respective domains.
• TRP race: “Sensation above sense” becomes one of the most
• While the State should be circumspect regarding any
important weapons in the hand of media owners to rig the
censorship or penal action against the media, at the
viewer’s mind so as to get a high Television Rating Point
same time the media should refrain from any unwarranted
(TRP).
transgressions.
Arguments against Media Trials: • Factual narration in itself is safe, however done with a pre-
• Separation of Power: Media and the judiciary are institutions disposed view towards guilt or innocence without any official
inhabiting separate spheres and their functions do not indictment is clear case of overreach by the media.
Feature Articles 21
OBSCENITY
The Mumbai Police registered an FIR against actor Ranveer Singh for sharing photographs from
an apparently nude photoshoot for the New York-based Paper magazine.
Indian Laws and Obscenity: American Roth Test:

• Police have booked Ranveer Singh under Sections 292, 293 • Over the years, the judiciary has narrowed the scope of
and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 67A of obscenity. In the Aveek Sarkar case of 2014, the Supreme
the Information Technology Act, 2000. Court did away with the British Hicklin test and adopted the
American Roth test, instead. As per this test, obscenity was
• Sections 292 and 293 are colonial-era provisions introduced
to be evaluated like an average person would, applying
by the Obscene Publications Act of 1925.
contemporary community standards.
• Under Section 292 (sale of obscene books etc), a book,
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• The contemporary community standards test takes into
pamphlet, paper, writing, drawing, painting, representation,
account the changing values in society. What was obscene a
figure or any other object, shall be deemed to be obscene if it
century or even a decade ago, need not be obscene now.
is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest, or if its effect
tends to deprave and corrupt persons likely to read, see or Freedom of Expression and Obscenity:
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hear the content. • The right to freedom of speech and expression is not absolute.
• Section 293 deals with sale or distribution of obscene objects • Article 19 of the Constitution of India, which guarantees the
to any person under age 20, or an attempt to do so. right also provides for reasonable restrictions on various
• Section 294 punishes obscene acts or words in a public grounds, including that of decency and morality.
place. To be considered a crime, the obscenity must cause • This means that free speech has to be balanced against
“annoyance to others”. A person convicted under this law the contemporary community standards of morality when it
can face up to three months imprisonment. comes to penalising obscene acts or content.
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• The law on obscenity has evolved with the advent of the • Indian courts have often settled the debate between morality
Internet and social media. and freedom in favour of artistic freedom, such as in the
M F Hussain judgment of 2008 and the Perumal Murugan
• Under Section 67 of the Information Technology Act, anyone
judgment of 2016. In the latter, the Supreme Court held that
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who publishes or transmits obscene material in electronic

“art is often provocative and is not meant for everyone”—
form can be punished. The punishment is five years and
material cannot be labelled as obscene simply because it is
Rs 10 lakh (first conviction) or seven years and Rs 10 lakh
unpalatable to one section of society.
(second conviction).
Who has been Prosecuted for ‘Obscenity’ before?
What is considered ‘Obscene’?
• Obscenity laws in India predate Independence. They have
• The Oxford dictionary defines obscene as ‘offensive or been used in colonial India against writers such as Saadat
disgusting by accepted standards of morality and decency’. Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai whose works traversed
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But for lawyers, the meaning of ‘obscene’ is not as easy to themes of sexuality, including female sexuality.
settle on. • In 1995, actor and model Milind Soman along with his then
• The courts, for their part, have developed tests to determine girlfriend Madhu Sapre had posed nude with a python for
whether something is ‘obscene’. an advertisement, following which they were booked for
obscenity, and subsequently acquitted in 2009.
Hicklin Test:
• In 1965, the landmark Ranjit Udeshi judgment of the Supreme
Court adopted the Victorian-era Hicklin test.
• First laid down in England in Regina vs Hickiln (1868), the test
assessed obscenity by the standard of someone who was
open to immoral influences and was likely to be corrupted or
depraved by the material in question.
• When approached from this angle, a wide range of material
could be ‘obscene’.
Feature
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Affairs
22 Feature Articles
FREEBIES
In August 2022, The Supreme Court said there is a need to constitute an apex body for suggestions on
how to control freebies by political parties during election campaigns.
Background: a threat to the development of the nation and needs to be

• In August, 2013, the Election Commission (EC) invited removed from the country’s politics”.
representatives of all recognised political parties to frame
guidelines on freebies announced in election manifestos.
• Leaders of political parties reacted sharply at the meeting,
arguing that it would be an infringement of their rights,
according to election officials privy to the matter.
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• However, backed by the Supreme Court’s directives in the S
Subramaniam Balaji vs Government of Tamil Nadu case, the
EC went ahead, adding a new chapter to its Model Code of
Conduct in February 2014.
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• This empowered the commission to censure a party if its
manifesto could not give a rationale for a particular promise
or failed to explain how the resources would be mobilised for it.
What is a Freebie? Does it differ from a Subsidy?
S. Subramaniam Balaji vs Tamil Nadu Judgment (2013): • While the dictionary meaning of freebie is “something that is
• In the Balaji case judgment, the Supreme Court had held that given to you without you having to pay for it, especially as a
making promises in election manifestos do not amount to a way of attracting your support for or interest in something”,
‘corrupt practice’ under Section 123 of the Representation of there is no clarity on how it should be interpreted in policies.
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People Act (RP). • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) says that provision of free
• It would be “misleading” to construe that all promises in the electricity, free water, free public transportation, waiver of
election manifesto would amount to corrupt practice. The pending utility bills and farm loan waivers can be classified
manifesto of a political party is a statement of its policy. as freebies.
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• The question of implementing the manifesto arises only if • According to RBI, it is because they “potentially undermine
the political party forms a government. It is the promise of a credit culture, distort prices through cross-subsidisation eroding
future government and not of an individual candidate. incentives for private investment, and disincentivise work at the
• However, the court agreed that freebies create an “uneven current wage rate leading to a drop in labour force participation”.
playing field”. It had asked the Election Commission of India • According to former Chief Election Commissioner OP Rawat:
to consult political parties and issue guidelines on the election “Except for subsidies given to promote food production,
manifesto and make it a part of the Model Code of Conduct. direct benefits for employability, educational attainments,
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sports, cultural activities, free medical care to the poor, free

What Triggered the latest Debate on Freebies? Revdi food to those who are destitute to sustain themselves and
Culture: affirmative action for weaker sections everything else is a
• Nine years later, the debate on freebies has returned to the freebie and should be so recognised.”
Supreme Court. • He adds that free power, free cell phones, free laptops etc,
• This began with advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay filing a fall in the ambit of freebies.
petition in the Supreme Court in January 2022. The petition
sought the court’s intervention to direct the EC to deregister Which States Spend the most on Subsidies?
political parties that promise “irrational freebies”, financed • Jharkhand, Kerala, Odisha, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh are
with public money, before elections. the top five states with the largest rise in subsidies over the
• He argued that it is a threat to “democratic values” and is akin last three years, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s
to bribing the voters. (RBI’s) bulletin for June 2022.
• The issue was brought to the forefront with Prime Minister • For FY23, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh
Narendra Modi commenting in mid-July that the “revdi have announced the maximum freebies, as a percentage of
culture” (revdi, a sweet, used as a metaphor for freebies) was revenue receipts, according to the RBI analysis.
Impact on State Finances: How should governments strike a balance between

• RBI’s June bulletin on state finances identified 10 states fiscal deficit and welfare spending?
with the highest debt burden— Punjab, Rajasthan, Kerala, • It’s hardly the case that fiscal deficit arises solely from welfare
West Bengal, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya spending. All government spending contributes to fiscal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. In these states, the deficit, so we need to scrutinise all spending. With welfare, at
report noted that pension accounts for 12.4% of total revenue least it functions as a redistributive mechanism.
expenditure. • Fiscal deficit can be tackled by raising more revenue through
• The total expenditure of all state governments on subsidies taxation, not restricted to income tax. Whether it’s the Centre
grew at 12.9% and 11.2% during 2020-21 and 2021-22. The or states, this is a difficult balance to strike.
share of subsidies in states’ total revenue expenditure also
• There is also the widening gap between rich and poor states.
rose from 7.8% in 2019-20 to 8.2% in 2021-22.
While poor states need more welfare, they are constrained by
• The report, which draws a distinction between subsidies a narrow tax base and lack of productive activity.
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and non-merit goods, or “freebies”, also says freebies have
exceeded 2% of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for Can the EC curb freebies promised by political parties?
some “highly indebted states such as Andhra Pradesh and • The EC can intervene on freebies announced by a political
Punjab”. party in an election manifesto.
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FREEBIES ANNOUNCED BY STATES IN 2022-23 • But the powers that it drew by adding a chapter (chapter
VIII) to the Model Code of Conduct in February 2014 are both
As % of As % of Revenue As % of own
States vague and limited. EC can at best censure a party.
GSDP Receipts tax Revenue
• There have only been a few instances where the EC exercised
Andhra Pradesh 2.1% 14.1% 30.3%
its power. For instance, in 2016, it “censured” AIADMK and
Bihar 0.1% 0.6% 2.7% advised DMK to be “more circumspect”.
Haryana 0.1% 0.6% 0.9% • Election manifesto is not a legally enforceable document when
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Jharkhand 1.7% 8.0% 26.7% it comes to holding a political party responsible for not fulfilling
Kerala 0.0% 0.0% 0.1% its promises. As there is no law on this subject, courts have
refused to entertain litigations on manifesto implementations.
Madhya Pradesh 1.6% 10.8% 28.8%
What is the SC’s role in this debate?
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Punjab 2.7% 17.8% 45.4%

Rajasthan 0.6% 3.9% 8.6% • SC is hearing the PIL filed by Upadhyay. After asking why the
West Bengal 1.1% 9.5% 23.8% government of India doesn’t form a committee to study the
issue, the then Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, who retired
on August 26, said the case would now be heard by a bench
headed by Justice DY Chandrachud.
• On the court’s right to intervene in the matter, SC senior
advocate Sanjay Hegde says, “The SC’s jurisdiction under
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Article 32, to protect the fundamental rights of the citizen, is

rather vast.
• However, it has been selective about when it exercises the
jurisdiction. While it’s not in the business of legislation it can,
under its jurisdiction, frame suitable guidelines that all parties
agree to follow till such time that a legislation is brought on
the subject.”
What is the stand of major political parties on freebies?

• Most opposition parties, including the Congress, AAP and
DMK, have been countering any move to bring in more
restrictions on freebies.
• Though PM Modi warned against the “revdi culture”, NDA is
treading cautiously, awaiting the SC judgement.
Feature
CurrentArticle
Affairs
24 Feature Articles
ASSAM-ARUNACHAL BORDER DISPUTE

Recently, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments have formed 12 regional

committees to resolve 804 km long border dispute.
History: district boundaries, the locals didn’t resent it as much. This is

• The “inner line” restriction was implemented in 1873 by the because no authority objected to their assertions.
British colonial authority. In accordance with this guideline, a • As Assam was divided into states in the post-independence
fictitious line was drawn to separate the plains from the frontier era, the division of the territories along inter-state lines gave rise
hills. Arunachal Pradesh was equivalent to the frontier hills. to a contentious problem. The economic foundations created
• These were referred to as “North East Frontier Tracts” in by the rise in population and land value were added to this.
1915. Following independence, the Assam government took • The tensions were further exacerbated by state/tribal sub-
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over administrative control of these territories. The tracts nationalism.
were renamed North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) in 1954.
Need of Resolving the Dispute:
• The North-East States Reorganisation Act, 1971 resulted in
• The Rights and Risks Analysis Group estimated that 157
the creation of the UT of Arunachal Pradesh in 1972 which
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people have died as a result of fighting over borders between
was granted statehood in 1987.
Assam and its neighbouring states. Ten of these fatalities
• None of the new States accepted the “constitutional boundary”.
were linked to fighting along the Assam-AP border.
They stated it was dictated by the partisan administration of
• The welfare and overall development of the population in the
undivided Assam without consulting the tribal stakeholders.
border region depend on territorial dispute resolution.
Gopinath Bordoloi Study: • Furthermore, a thorough resolution is essential if we are to
• The problem with Arunachal Pradesh is more related to a advance the Act East Policy and benefit from it. Given the
study from 1951 that was written by a subcommittee under ongoing political unrest in Myanmar, it is especially important
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the leadership of Gopinath Bordoloi, the first Chief Minister of to share similar interests and put up a united front.
Assam.
Tarun Chatterjee Commission:
• According to its suggestions, around 3,648 sq. km. of the
• In 2006, the Supreme Court appointed a local border
region was shifted from Assam’s Darrang and Lakhimpur to
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commission of three people. Tarun Chatterjee, a retired judge

the foothills of AP’s Balipara and Sadiya. These areas were
from the High Court, served as its chairman. In 2014, this
referred to as “plains.”
commission submitted its final report.
States Position: • Some of its suggestions are:
• Due to the fact that the transfers were made without the  It suggested that AP get some of the territories transferred
consent of the local population, Arunachal Pradesh rejects in 1951. The commission called for returning some 70-80%
this 1951 announcement as the foundation for demarcation. of the disputed area to AP as it’s demands were justified.
 Additionally, it implied that the two states would explore
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• However, the Assam government maintains that the

demarcation established by the 1951 notification is both reaching a consensus.
constitutional and legitimate.
Namsai Declaration:
Reasons for Dispute: • In July 2022, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments
• The district borders were drawn on a 1 cm: 1 km scale on signed the Namsai Declaration at a chief minister-level
hilly terrain and these later served as the basis for the inter- meeting between the two states with a determination to end
state borders. These lines sometimes failed to clarify whether the inter-state border conflict by this year.
a particular hill-slope or a patch of forest fell on Assam’s side • The two leaders agreed to restrict the number of contested
of the border or on AP’s side. villages to 86 instead of 123.
• These boundaries were created not taking into account the • According to the declaration, all border issues between
population composition of the area. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh will be confined to those
• The borders tended to divide traditional tribal territory across raised before the local commission in 2007.
several jurisdictions even during the demarcation exercises • Namsai is the headquarters of Namsai district in southern
conducted before to independence. Since these were Arunachal Pradesh.
Feature Articles 25
INDIA-MALDIVES RELATIONS
Recently, the President of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, paid an official visit to India.
This was the third visit of the President of Maldives to India since 2018.
Major highlights of the visit: Timeline of India-Maldives Relations:

• Groundbreaking/Review of Projects: • India was among the first to recognize Maldives after its
 Pouring of first concrete of the Greater Male Connectivity independence in 1965 and to establish diplomatic relations
Project marking the commencement of permanent works. with the country.
 Review of the progress on the construction of 4,000 social • The one-time claim of Maldives to Minicoy Island was
housing units in Hulhumale. resolved by the Maritime Boundary Treaty of 1976 between
 Overview of India Maldives development cooperation the two countries, whereby Maldives has recognized Minicoy
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including Addu roads and reclamation, water and sanitation as an integral part of India.
in 34 islands and Friday Mosque restoration projects. • India’s prompt assistance (Operation Cactus) during the
• Agreements/MoUs Exchanged: 1988 coup attempt, led to development of trust and long‐term
 Collaboration on potential fishing zone forecast capacity and friendly bilateral relations with the Maldives.
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building. • India was the first to assist Maldives during the 2004 Tsunami
 Cooperation in the area of cyber security. as well as the water crisis in Malé in Dec 2014.
 Capacity building of women development committees
• These three incidents (in 1988, 2004 and 2014) had
and local government authorities of Maldives.
established the advantages of India’s proximity and capacity
 Cooperation in disaster management.
to come to Maldives’ rescue in distress vis-à-vis any other
 Buyer’s Credit Agreement to construct police infrastructure.
country and are widely acknowledged by the government
 Letter of Intent for Buyer’s Credit financing of 2,000 social
and people of Maldives.
housing units.
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• India’s swift dispatch of 30,000 doses of measles vaccine in
• Announcements: Jan 2020 to prevent an outbreak in the Maldives, and India’s
 Extension of USD 100 Mn new Line of Credit to finance rapid and comprehensive assistance to the Maldives since
infrastructure projects in Maldives. the COVID-19 pandemic began has further reinforced India’s
 Approval for award of EPC contract for the Hanimadhoo
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credentials of being the first responder.

Airport Development project under Line of Credit.
 Approval of DPR and commencement of tendering ‘Neighborhood First’ and ‘India First’ policy
process of the Gulhifahlu Port development project under • The Maldives holds strategic importance for India under the
Line of Credit. government’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy due to its location
 Approval of Feasibility Report and financial closure for the in the Indian Ocean.
Cancer Hospital project under Line of Credit.
• The importance of India’s strategic role in Maldives is well-
 Buyer’s Credit financing by Exim Bank of India for recognized, with India being seen as a net security provider.
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additional 2,000 social housing units in Hulhumale. ‘India First’ has been a stated policy of the Government of
 Facilitation of duty free tuna exports to India from Maldives. Maldives (GoM).
 Supply of a replacement ship for the earlier provided ship-
CGS Huravee to Maldives National Defence Force. Security & Defence Cooperation:
 Supply of the second Landing Craft Assault (LCA) to • Since 1988, defence and security has been a major area of
Maldives National Defence Force. cooperation between India and Maldives. A comprehensive
 Gifting of 24 utility vehicles to Maldives National Defence Action Plan for Defence was also signed in April 2016 to
Force. consolidate defence partnership.
• Capacity Building: India provides the largest number of
training opportunities for Maldives National Defence Force
(MNDF), meeting around 70% of their defence training
requirements.
• Relief and Rescue: MNDF regularly participates in Humanitarian
Assistance & Disaster Relief, Search & Rescue (SAR),
Pollution Control and other exercises organised by India.
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Current Affairs Feature Articles
• Joint Exercises: The defence cooperation also extends to the • Human resource development: Several Maldivian youths
areas of Joint Exercises which includes “Ekuverin”, “Dosti”, acquire their higher education in India Universities every
“Ekatha” & “Operation Shield” (begun in 2021). year. Indian teachers have been a fixture at Maldivian schools
• MNDF continues to participate in various fora such as IONS, across islands for decades.
Goa Maritime Conclave and Goa Symposium. India also • Tourism Sector: The Maldivian economy is heavily dependent
assists the MNDF in Maritime Domain Awareness, gifting of on its tourism sector, which is the major source of foreign
hardware, infrastructure development, etc. exchange earnings and government revenue and directly
accounts for about 75% of GDP of Maldives. In 2021, India
Commercial Relations: continued as the top market with 23% market share and in
• A significant portion of world trade takes place through the 2022, India tourists arrivals ranks 1st as tourists market with
Indian Ocean. All the energy supplies coming from Gulf 14.7% market share.
nations pass through this area. Maldives is adjacent to the
main regional shipping routes, making it an important Indian Concerns: Chinese Presence:
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Ocean toehold. • China’s strategic interests and logistical limitations in the
• Trade Agreement: India and Maldives signed a trade Indian Ocean have prompted it to increase its presence in
agreement in 1981, which provides for export of essential the Indian Ocean.
commodities. In July 2021, India extended the agreement on • In the Maldives, China has been trying to make major
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quotas for restrictions-free export of 9 essential commodities inroads through its infrastructural push. The Maldives being
to the Maldives for the next 3 years. a developing country requires infrastructural development to
• Bilateral Trade: India-Maldives bilateral trade crossed the improve connectivity.
$ 300 MILLION mark for the first time in 2021, reaching an • These grand Chinese infrastructural projects are coming at a
impressive $ 323.29 mn. great cost. It is creating a huge debt burden on the country.
• Indian exports are registering a steady rise. This is a direct • The Maldives feared that it might also fall into a debt trap
consequence of the launch of the cargo vessel service like neighbouring Sri Lanka. At the same time, it wanted its
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between the two countries in 2020 and commencement of infrastructural needs taken care of without creating a burden
work on LoC projects since 2021. for the country.
• MoU on Pre-arrival exchange of information between customs
was signed in July 2021 and is under pilot‐stage. Efforts are
Concerns: Propaganda against India:
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being made to tap the potential of Seafood exports from • India is developing a Coast Guard Harbour at Sifavaru. The
Maldives to India. project is expected to assist the Maldives in enhancing
the capability of the MNDF in exercising jurisdiction and
Development Cooperation: undertaking maritime surveillance of its EEZ and atolls.
• Addu Development Project (Roads and Reclamation): This is • In the Maldives, the pro-China leader has been critical of this
a key infrastructure project required for Addu to establish project alleging that through this project Indian troops would
itself as the southern regional hub of Maldives. The scope be stationed in the Maldives and an “India Out” campaign
includes roads, street lighting, storm water drainage, shore was run on social media, accusing the current regime of
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protection and land reclamation for the development of compromising the country’s sovereignty.
tourism infrastructure. • India’s Ministry of External Affairs in a special briefing
• Greater Male Connectivity Project: The project aims to connect dismissed these allegations and stated that the “India Out”
Male to Villingili,Gulhifalhu and Thilafushi islands through campaign in the Maldives was based on “misinformation and
a series of bridges, causeways and roads. The project is false propaganda”.
crucial for the proposed Gulhifalhu Port, and will be a major
catalyst for the Maldivian economy in the future through jobs Concluding Remarks:
and economic activity. • A favourable maritime environment in the Indian Ocean is
• Currency Swap: A Bilateral USD Currency Swap Agreement essential for the fulfilment of India’s developmental priority.
between RBI and Maldives Monetary Authority was signed in • While India-Maldives relations have always been close,
2019. recent regime instability in the Maldives had posed some
limitations. Fortunately, the resilient democratic process in
Cultural Relations: the Maldives has withstood this short term challenge.
• India and Maldives share ethnic, linguistic, cultural and • In accordance with the “Neighbourhood First” policy, India
religious links steeped in antiquity. should remains a committed for a prosperous Maldives.
Feature Articles 27
NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Recently, Azerbaijan claimed that it had captured the territory in Karabakh in a retaliatory campaign,
after an Armenian attack killed one Azerbaijani soldier.
About: Ceasefire Agreement:

• Nagorno-Karabakh is a disputed territory, internationally • The war ended on 10 November 2020, when a trilateral nine-
recognized as part of Azerbaijan. point ceasefire agreement was signed between Azerbaijan,
• But most of it is controlled by Armenian separatists since the Armenia and Russia.
first Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988 to 1994). • The agreement imposed an immediate ceasefire, a timeline
for withdrawal from Azerbaijan’s occupied regions, the
introduction of Russian peacekeepers, and the need for new
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transport corridors.
• However, this failed to initiate a peace agreement because
it altered the power balance between the two countries and
lacked clarity on several issues resulting in the subsequent
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ceasefire violations on both sides.
Why are Ceasefire Agreements not Working?

• First, Armenia and Azerbaijan have never agreed upon a
boundary between them in the past and the 2020 ceasefire
statement did not make it clear on how exactly the border
should be drawn out.
Background of Conflict: • Second, the dispute over transport routes. The overland
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• Armenians have made historical claims over the enclave, route that goes from Stepanakert (a city within the Nagorno-
which is largely populated by ethnic Armenians. Karabakh region) to Armenia has become an issue between
• The conflict has roots dating back over a century into the two countries.
competition between Christian Armenian and Muslim Turkic • Third, the difference over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
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and Persian influences. Both countries claim absolute historic ownership of the region.
While Armenia supports the aspirations for independence of
• In the 1920s, the Soviet government established the Nagorno-
Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan seeks to preserve its national
Karabakh Autonomous Region—where 95% of the population
and territorial integrity.
is ethnically Armenian—within Azerbaijan.
• Fourth, the dispute over the exchange of prisoners. While
• In 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, the newly
there has been a series of prisoner exchanges in the last
independent Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war over
two years, the Azerbaijan side still has many captives while
Nagorno-Karabakh, which had been an autonomous region
Armenia has just a few.
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within Azerbaijan during the Soviet years.

• In 1994, Russia brokered a cease-fire. Concerns:
• The Minsk Group, a mediation effort led by the Organization • Without successful mediation efforts, cease-fire violations
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), was created and renewed tensions threaten to reignite a military conflict
in 1994 to address the dispute and is co-chaired by the between the countries and destabilize the South Caucasus
United States, France, and Russia. region (the Caucasus, or Caucasia, is a region between the Black
Sea and the Caspian Sea).
2020 War: • This could also disrupt oil and gas exports from the region,
• In September 2020, a new war erupted in Nagorno-Karabakh since Azerbaijan, which produces about 800,000 barrels of
and the surrounding territories, which saw both the armed oil per day, is a significant oil and gas exporter to Central
forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia report casualties. Asia and Europe.
• Azerbaijan made significant gains during the war, regaining • Russia has promised to defend Armenia, Turkey has pledged
most of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno- to support Azerbaijan, and Iran has a large Azeri minority,
Karabakh and large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, including which could escalate a crisis and further complicate efforts
the culturally significant city of Shusha. to secure peace in the region.
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POST-SOVIET ‘DE-FACTO’ STATES

Is the de facto states model followed for Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria
a possible way out for the Russia-Ukraine conflict?
Para States: Recognition • South Ossetia is much more integrated with Russian state
• The three regions namely Abkhazia and South Ossetia (both structures than Abkhazia is. It also receives a lot of subsidies
being breakaway states in Georgia) and Transnistria (a from Russia.
breakaway state in Moldova) are described as de facto or
Transnistria:
para states or “Places that do not exist”.
• Often described as a “remnant of the Soviet Union”,
• These are territories which have internal but not external
Transnistria – a narrow strip of land between the Dniester
sovereignty, i.e., they are not de jure states and are not
river and the Ukrainian border – declared independence like
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recognised by the global community.
Moldova did soon after the break-up of the Soviet Union.
• But these three regions recognise each other and have their
• When Moldovan troops attempted to take over the territory
own governments, parliaments, armed forces, flags etc.
in 1990-1992, Transnistria was able to resist them because
Abkhazia: of Russian soldiers based in Transnistria. These troops have
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• South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from their parent now been largely withdrawn following an agreement between
state, Georgia. Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia had Russia and Moldova and what remains is a peacekeeping
substantial autonomy during the Soviet period. Tensions force of Moldovan, Transnistrian, and Russian soldiers.
broke out as Georgian nationalism rose in the late 1980s. • In a referendum held in 2006, over 97% of Transnistrians voted
• During perestroika, Abkhazia unilaterally declared for future integration with Russia and after the annexation of
independence, leading to a war with Georgia in 1992-1993, Crimea, the government asked if it could to be absorbed into
which it won, allegedly with Russian support. Russia.
• Russia has not welcomed this as it perhaps prefers to retain
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• During the Russia-Georgia war in 2008 over South Ossetia,
Abkhazia successfully attacked the last territories of Abkhazia these territories as buffer zones.
that were still under Georgian control and took them.
Russia’s Relations with them:
• Russia now has an embassy in Sukhumi, the capital. There
• Abkhazia and South Ossetia are recognised by Russia and
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are Russian troops in Abkhazia as per a September 2009

some of its allies like Syria, Nauru and Venezuela. Transnistria,
military cooperation agreement, and Moscow provides
however, is not recognised as independent even by Russia.
substantial financial assistance.
• However, Abkhazia does not completely abide by Russia’s • All three territories have Russia as their patron state and
wishes on policy. For instance, it does not allow Russians to cannot survive without economic, political, and military
buy property for fear of being overwhelmed by Russians. support from Moscow. South Ossetia and Trinistria are more
pro-Russian than Abkhazia.
• As Russian experts say, Abkhazia cooperates with Russia
because of “a recognised necessity more than from a • Their economies and banking systems are all linked to
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romantic ideal”. Russia. Most people speak Russian, at least as a second

language. They have Russian passports and enjoy social
South Ossetia: security benefits from Russia like pensions. So, obviously,
• South Ossetians declared independence from Georgia in they fall within Russia’s sphere of influence.
1991. This resulted in a war, leading to a ceasefire brokered
by Russia, leaving South Ossetia divided. Can they be a model for the Donbass Republics?
• Following the Russia-Georgia war in 2008, the rest of the • One of the solutions to settle the crisis over Russia’s invasion
territory was captured, and in 2008 Russia recognised South of Ukraine is for the Donbass republics to follow the model of
Ossetia’s independence. these de facto states.
• South Ossetia is more pro-Russian than Abkhazia. It planned • They would get recognition from Russia, get a security
a referendum favouring integration with Russia in 2016, but guarantor and exist as de facto states.
this did not take place because of Russian opposition. • Russia would also benefit from having friendly territories on
• Unlike the Abkhazians who insisted on deleting the word its borders, allowing it to remain the hegemon in the region.
“integration” in their agreement with Russia, the South • The question is will Russia be able to subsidise them given
Ossetian version retained this word. the Western sanctions on it?
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NANCY PELOSI VISIT TO TAIWAN

The US House of Representatives Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan in August 2022, becoming
the highest-ranking American official in 25 years to visit the self-ruled island.
Why did Pelosi go to Taiwan? • Taiwan and mainland China split during a civil war in 1949. But
• Pelosi portrays her high-profile trip as part of a US obligation China claims the island as its own territory and has not ruled
to stand with democracies against autocratic countries, and out using military force to take it. China has been increasing
both diplomatic and military pressure in recent years.
with democratic Taiwan against China.
• One China principle is the position held by the People’s Republic
• It will normalise Taiwan’s semi-political dialogue and
of China (PRC) that there is only one sovereign state under
interactions with the United States.
the name China, with the PRC serving as the sole legitimate
• It will further motivate the United States’ allies to send regular
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government of that China, and Taiwan is a part of China.
delegations to Taiwan.
• Any country that wants to establish political and diplomatic
relations with China must agree to adhere to this principle
and not recognize Taiwan as an independent country.
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PORCUPINE DOCTRINE
• As the long-range, live-fire drills began with China’s Eastern
Theatre Command firing several ballistic missiles, Taiwan
said that it was “preparing for war without seeking war”.
• The “porcupine doctrine” is a strategy of asymmetric
warfare focused on fortifying a weak state’s defences to
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exploit the enemy’s weaknesses rather than taking on its
strengths.
Chinese Reaction: Live-Fire Exercises • Three defensive layers are identified in the approach.
 The outer layer is about intelligence and reconnaissance
• In a massive show of strength, China conducted live-fire
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to ensure defence forces are fully prepared.

exercise near Taiwan on August 4, launching at least 11
 Behind this come plans for guerrilla warfare at sea with
ballistic missiles into the country’s coast, a day after US
aerial support from sophisticated aircraft provided by
House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan.
the US.
• Live-fire exercises are exercises primarily used by military  The innermost layer relies on the geography and
personnel, in which live ammunition is used to create training demography of the island.
conditions that are as close to real combat scenarios as
possible.
India’s ‘Studied Silence’ On Taiwan Crisis:
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• During live-fire training, soldiers are placed in simulated

• Amid growing number of international reactions to
combat situations and are given the opportunity to use their developments in the Taiwan straits and tensions between the
weapons and equipment (like ships, aircraft, tanks and U.S. and China, India chose to maintain a “studied silence”
drones). on the unfolding situation, omitting any mention of it.
• The decision not to issue a statement is deliberate, as India
Reason for Chinese Reaction: One China Principle
seeks to avoid a controversy on a sensitive issue between
• The reason her visit ratcheted up tension between China and
the U.S. and China, and also given that India, unlike other
the United States: China claims Taiwan as part of its territory,
countries in the region, has not referenced the “One China”
and it views visits by foreign government officials as them
policy since at least 2010.
recognizing the island’s sovereignty.
• While India has followed the “One China policy” since 1949,
• President Joe Biden has sought to calm that complaint, indicating it does not recognize any government other than
insisting there’s no change in America’s longstanding “one- the PRC in Beijing, and only conducts trade and cultural ties
China policy,” which recognizes Beijing but allows informal with Taiwan, New Delhi stopped mentioning the policy in
relations and defense ties with Taipei. official statements and joint declarations after 2010.
Feature Articles 31
YUAN WANG 5: GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY

Despite serious reservations expressed by both Sri Lanka and India, China’s Strategic Support Force
vessel Yuan Wang 5 finally docked at Chinese-leased Hambantota port on 16 August.
Yuan Wang 5: 3. Coercion through Economic Arm-Twisting:

• ‘Yuan Wang’-class ships of China • China’s economic might allows it to arm-twist the Sri Lankan
are used to track satellite, rocket government, which is already under financial siege and
and intercontinental ballistic debilitating social unrest. Sri Lanka owes over US$ 51 billion
missile (ICBM) launches. The ships in debt to several lenders, with China’s share amounting
supplement Beijing’s land-based between 10 to 20 per cent.
tracking stations. • China refused to defer loan repayment and threatened Sri
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• Yuan Wang 5 is the third generation Lanka to comply with its diktats.
tracking ship of Yuan Wang series. • Sri Lanka’s loan payment default on the Chinese-constructed
• The Yuan Wang 5 incident will Hambantota Port came in handy to arm-twist Sri Lanka into
strengthen China’s drive to acquire hegemony in South Asia accommodating the PLA vessel recently.
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and the Indian Ocean, in four areas:
4. Aggravate Space and Maritime Competition:
1. Disrupt South Asia to Divide and Rule: • Competition in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR)—and in
• In its quest to impose hegemony in different parts of Asia, space—is also further triggered by the Yuan Wang 5 visit.
China has been displacing dominant powers in several Like China’s post-2008 naval missions to the IOR on the
regions. pretext of checking piracy, Yuan Wang 5’s deployment in the
• In South Asia, China has made disruptive inroads into Nepal, region is probably permanent.
Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and • It is shortly expected to be deployed again to monitor the
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the Maldives, while retaining influence over Pakistan. Mengtian space module. In the past decade, China has
• The aim here is not only to dislodge India, but to also create launched over 30 satellites for different countries and made
disequilibrium domestically in South Asian countries. This ground preparations for permanent missions.
will lead to China effectively implementing its divide and rule • Since 2005, China has been crafting the Asia-Pacific Space
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policy and acquiring structural power in the region. Cooperation Organisation to counter US influence in space.
Yuan Wang 5 is expected to support forthcoming ‘fourth
2. Coercion through Gunboat Diplomacy: dimensional warfare’ in space.
• Yuan Wang 5’s berthing at Hambantota revives historical • While China highlights Yuan Wang 5’s civilian achievements,
images of China’s maritime invasions. no data on its military role, specifically on missile tracking
• With China having ascended to being the second largest missions, has been made available.
economy in the world, Beijing is attempting similar antics
Way Ahead for India:
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across the globe.

• Much as the European powers had imposed treaty ports in • Yuan Wang’s predecessor, Xiangyang Hong, and another
coastal China—some like Hong Kong on 99-year lease— vessel, Dongfang Hong, conducted ‘scientific investigations’
China grabbed Hambantota also on a 99-year lease. in the Sea of Japan in the early 2000s, and paved the way for
• It is no surprise then that the head of the China Merchant Port intelligence-gathering missions near Sakishima Islands.
Holdings that owns Hambantota received the Yuan Wang 5, • In a similar pattern, China has reportedly sent several
instead of the vessel docking at the much larger Colombo Port. surveillance ships to the Indian Ocean in the past two years.
This suggests that the PLA Navy will provide permanent
GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY company to the Indian Navy in the region. For India, Yuan
Wang 5’s presence clearly has major security consequences.
• Gunboat diplomacy is an aggressive foreign policy
• For one, India must strengthen its space cooperation agreement
applied with the use of highly-visible displays of military
with Vietnam. Further, with an extra-regional power like China
power (usually naval) to imply a threat of warfare as a
making forays into the Indian Ocean, India—hesitation aside—
means of forcing cooperation.
needs to go concertedly into the South China Sea and protect
• Gunboat diplomacy is considered a form of hegemony. its energy and other interests in the region.
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AL-QAEDA CHIEF KILLED

The United States killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a strike in Afghanistan. This is the biggest
blow to the militant group since its founder Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011.
‘Over-the-Horizon’ Strategy: • Furthermore, al-Zawahiri used the remarks made by Nupur

• On 31 July 2022, al-Qaeda’s face of terror, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Sharma about Prophet Mohammad to issue a threatening
became the first major successful target of America’s ‘Over- letter in June 2022 about staging suicide bombings in Delhi,
the-Horizon’ strategy, after its withdrawal from Afghanistan in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Mumbai as retribution.
August 2021. • Al-Qaeda affiliates in India might use their leader’s ‘martyrdom’
• The Biden administration initiated the strategy in 2021 to to galvanise support among the radicalised youth.
conduct counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan without
India’s Taliban Policy:
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placing boots on the ground.
• Overall, the drone strike may not drastically alter India’s
foreign policy, particularly regarding humanitarian aid
towards Afghanistan.
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• The interim Afghan leadership has repeatedly extended
assurances to the Indian government about disallowing their soil
to be used as a launch pad to undermine the latter’s security.
• While India is engaging with the Taliban, recent developments
indicate that re-adjustments would have to be made to the
threat assessment matrix.
• Since the fall of Kabul, the Taliban have stood steadfast
with non-state actors sponsored by Pakistan—Jaish-e-
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Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—who have a
violent, anti-India and anti-West worldview. Moreover, JeM
Doha Agreement: and LeT have maintained their training camps in Afghanistan.
• US Secretary of State referred to al-Zawahiri’s presence in
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Kabul as a gross violation of the Doha Agreement. IMPLICATIONS OF HIS DEATH

• The Doha Agreement and subsequent assurances from the • Al-Qaeda’s Power Struggle: Al-Zawahiri’s death might result
Taliban movement about disallowing any terrorist group from in a power struggle within al-Qaeda, mainly because he
using Afghan soil became null and void. did not name a successor.
• Revival: Al-Qaeda’s potential to expand and re-enforce
Al-Qaeda and Taliban Ties:
itself and affiliates cannot be written off anytime soon.
• While the Afghan government initially denied the strike
Pro-al-Qaeda Factions assert that Zawahiri’s death will
had happened, later, its spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid,
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not demoralise the cadres. They hope to recruit other

decried the violation of Afghan sovereignty.
radicalised Islamists worldwide, by using his martyrdom
• The drone strike has reaffirmed that Al-Qaeda and Taliban’s as an example.
ties, bolstered by a decades-long terrorist network, would
• Retaliation: Al-Qaeda might encourage their members
never cease.
to stage retaliatory attacks against American targets or
Al-Qaeda in India: governments backed by them.
• India has refrained from making any announcements • Boost to Rival Terrorist Groups: With the killing of al-
regarding the drone strike. However, policymakers will Zawahiri, as a power vacuum develops, rival organisations
like the Islamic State in Khorasan Province’s (ISKP) could
have some breather while re-assessing its threat matrix and
gain momentum.
adapting counter-terrorism strategies.
• American Domestic Politics: The successful operation to
• Al-Qaeda had established its Indian affiliate in 2014. Al-
take out al-Zawahiri, could also boost President Biden’s
Zawahiri incited communal tensions through his video
popularity and that of his Democratic Party, ahead of the
messages in response to the hijab controversy in Karnataka
mid-term elections in November 2022.
in February 2022.
Feature Articles 33
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

The Weapons of Mass Destruction and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities)
Amendment Bill, 2022 has been passed by the Parliament.
Meaning: UNSCR 1540:

• While there is no single, authoritative definition of a WMD in • The 2005 Act was passed to meet the following international
international law, in general terms, WMD can be defined as obligations enforced by the UN Security Council Resolution
those weapons which are extremely dangerous and have a (UNSCR) 1540 of 2004 upon nation states:
potential of exterminating a large chunk of the population.  to not provide any form of support to non-state actors
• The expression covers Nuclear, Biological and Chemical seeking to acquire WMD, related materials, or their means
(NBC) weapons. of delivery;
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 to adopt and enforce laws criminalising the possession
ORIGIN OF TERM and acquisition of such items by non-state actors;
 to adopt and enforce domestic controls over relevant
• The term “weapons of mass destruction” (WMD) was materials, in order to prevent their proliferation.
first used by the leader of the Church of England, the
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Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1937 to describe the Features of 2022 Bill:
bombings in Guernica by German and Italian fascists. • The Bill seeks to prevent the financing of proliferation of
• The expression WMD entered the vocabularies of people weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems in
around the world in the early 2000s after the US under line with India’s international obligations.
President George W Bush justified the invasion of Iraq on • The Bill bars anyone from financing any prohibited activity
the grounds that the government of Saddam Hussain was related to weapons of mass destruction and their delivery
hiding these weapons in the country. No WMDs were ever systems.
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found.
• To prevent persons from financing such activities, the central
government may freeze, seize or attach their funds, financial
Global Treaties: assets, or economic resources (whether owned, held, or
• The use of chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons controlled directly or indirectly).
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is regulated by a number of international treaties and • It may also prohibit persons from making finances or related
agreements. services available for the benefit of other persons in relation
• Among them are the Geneva Protocol, 1925, that banned the to any activity which is prohibited.
use of chemical and biological weapons; and the Biological
Weapons Convention, 1972, and Chemical Weapons
Need of Amendment:
Convention, 1992, which put comprehensive bans on the • In recent times, regulations relating to proliferation of
biological and chemical weapons respectively. weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems by
international organisations have expanded.
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• India has signed and ratified both the 1972 and 1992 treaties.
There are very few non-signatory countries to these treaties, • In the review of UNSCR 1540 undertaken in 2016, it was
even though several countries have been accused of non- concluded that the risk of proliferation to non-state actors is
compliance. increasing due to rapid advances in science, technology,
and international commerce.
• The use and proliferation of nuclear weapons is regulated by
treaties such as Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and • The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has expanded the
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). scope of targeted financial sanctions and demand tighter
controls on the financing of WMD activities, India’s own
2005 Act: legislation has been harmonised to align with international
• The Bill seeks to amend The Weapons of Mass Destruction benchmarks.
and their Delivery Systems (Prohibition of Unlawful Activities) • With advancements in technologies, new kinds of threats
Act, 2005. have emerged that were not sufficiently catered for in the
• The 2005 Act prohibited the manufacturing, transport, and existing legislation. These notably include developments in
transfer of weapons of mass destruction, and their means of the field of drones or unauthorised work in biomedical labs
delivery. that could maliciously be used for terrorist activity.
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CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (IDENTIFICATION) ACT, 2022

The Ministry of Home Affairs notified the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022, which
was passed by Parliament in April 2022. It came into effect from August 4, 2022.
About: • The legislation comes in the backdrop of the right to

• The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 provides privacy being recognised as a fundamental right as per the
legal sanction to law enforcement agencies for “taking Puttaswamy judgment.
measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes • This law was not submitted for public consultation or referred
of identification and investigation of criminal matters”. to parliamentary standing committees, as was done for the
• It defines ‘‘measurements’’ to include finger-impressions, palm- DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019
print and foot-print impressions, photographs, iris and retina which has benefited from such scrutiny.
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scan, physical, biological samples and their analysis, etc. • There are fears that the law will give unbridled powers to the
• The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will be the state and executive machinery, and may even lead to narco-
central agency to maintain the records. The data collected analysis and brain mapping of citizens.
will be retained in digital or electronic form for 75 years. • It implies use of force to take measurements which violates
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the rights of prisoners. It sought to empower the police and
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM THE COLONIAL-ERA LAW? court to take measurements of those who are undertrial and
suspected to be involved in a case, on the presumption that
• The new law will replace a colonial-era legislation, called they may, in future, commit any illegal act.
The Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920.
• Critics also argue that the law fails to put in place adequate
• The new law is described as a modern, broader but an restrictions on storage, sharing, or usage of the collected
“intrusive” version of its predecessor. data of accused.
• While the old law allowed authorities to take only • Such collection can also result in mass surveillance, with
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fingerprint and footprint impressions of a limited category the database under this law being combined with other
of convicted persons, the new law allows police to collect databases such as those of the Crime and Criminal Tracking
a range of biological and identity samples not only from Network and Systems (CCTNS).
convicts but also those arrested or even detained under
• Lastly, concerns are being raised that the present law violates
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any preventive detention law.

the right against self-incrimination enshrined in Article 20(3)
• By design, the old law was limited to serious offenders of the Constitution of India.
only but its new counterpart will include all categories of
criminals and accused. Government’s Defence:
• The Central government has responded to the criticisms
What was the need to replace this Act? of the law stating that privacy and data protection related
• With advancements in forensics, there was a need to concerns will be addressed in the rules formulated under the
legislation and through model Prison Manuals that States can
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recognise more kinds of “measurements” that can be used

by law enforcement agencies for investigation. refer to.
• In 1980, the 87th Report of the Law Commission of India • The government had assured that the rules for the
undertook a review of this legislation and recommended implementation of the proposed law would have safeguards
several amendments. against any misuse of the identification database and
biological samples, by fixing accountability of those entrusted
• This was done in the backdrop of the State of UP vs Ram
with the safety of data.
Babu Misra case, where the Supreme Court had highlighted
• Responding to charges that law is “intrusive and violative
the need for amending this law.
of the Supreme Court verdict on privacy”, it had said only
Concerns: designated people will have the code to access the data.
• Since the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920 was a • It further said those detained for apprehension of breach of
colonial legislation, its duplication in the Criminal Procedure peace and in connection with political protests, would be
(Identification) Act, 2022, a post-independence legislation kept out of the law’s purview.
has raised some concerns related to the protection of • It also clarified that its provisions do not allow narco-analysis,
fundamental rights. brain-mapping or polygraph as part of the measurements.
Feature Articles 35
IAF’s SQUADRON STRENGTH

A MiG-21 Bison aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Barmer, Rajasthan, on July 28,
killing the two pilots aboard the trainer version of the fighter aircraft.
Status of the MIG-21 Jets in the IAF: to-be-acquired 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) will
• The MIG-21 was inducted into the IAF in the early 1960s and help arrest the drawdown.
since then more than 800 variants of the supersonic fighter • A larger LCA-MK2 as well as the fifth generation Advanced
were inducted into service. It remained the frontline fighter jet Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) are under development.
of the force for a long time. However, their availability in enough numbers will take some
• Currently, there are four MIG-21 squadrons in service time.
consisting of the upgraded Bison variant. IAF officials have
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stated that there is technical life still left in them.
• One squadron is set to be phased out in the next few months,
while the remaining three squadrons are planned to be
phased out in the next three years.
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PRONE TO ACCIDENTS
• Since its induction there have been 400 accidents involving
MIG-21, which claimed the lives of around 200 pilots.
• The number of crashes that took place in the IAF were the
highest in its category. Most of these versions had been
licence-produced in India.
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• More than 20 aircraft have crashed since 2010 and 38
aircraft crashed between 2003 and 2013 in a period of ten
years. The high rate of accidents has earned the aircraft a
bad reputation.
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What is the Present Fighter Strength of the IAF?

• The IAF desires a strength of some 42 combat squadrons by
the period 2035 in order to meet the contingencies of a two-
front war.
• As time passes, the drawdown is increasing as the total
technical life is completed.
Recommendations:
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• However, the rate of new inductions is not matching the

• As a first step, it is suggested that full support for the Tejas
drawdown, depleting the overall number of fighter squadrons.
Mk.1A project has to be forthcoming on the part of all
• Additionally, several frontline aircraft in the inventory including
stakeholders – Government, ADA, HAL and IAF. This would
the Jaguars, MIG-29s will begin phasing out by the end of the
deliver four squadrons to the IAF by 2025, with the prospect
decade. For instance, by 2027-28 the first of the MIG-29s,
of additional aircraft.
inducted in the late 1980s, will start going out.
• The second step that needs to be taken is to forego the
Recent Efforts: selection of a new twin-engine fighter under a “Make in India”
• In the last few years, the IAF has inducted two squadrons of initiative. Subject to the price and technology transfer package
the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and two being satisfactory, the induction of additional Rafale aircraft
squadrons of Rafale fighter jets procured from France which beyond the existing 36 should be considered as a priority.
pushed the squadron strength to 32. • Finally, the Government of India through the Ministry of
• In January 2021, the IAF had signed a contract with Hindustan Defence and the IAF needs to take steps towards initiating
Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 83 LCA MK-1A which it will the procurement of a single-engine type through the Strategic
start receiving from early 2024 onwards. Along with that the Partnership route.
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ELECTRICITY (AMENDMENT) BILL

Recently, the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 was introduced in the Lok Sabha amid stiff
resistance and later sent to the standing committee for broader consultation.
Background: Need for Amendments:

• The Bill amends the Electricity Act, 2003. The Act regulates • Earlier open-access provisions were undermined by
the electricity sector in India (by consolidating the laws exceptions and legal disputes. In the past, only large
relating to generation, transmission, distribution & trading of consumers were able to choose their provider. The choice to
electricity). consumers leads to promotion of competition.
• It sets up the Central and State Electricity Regulatory • It has become necessary to strengthen the regulatory
Commissions (CERC and SERCs) to regulate interstate and mechanism, and to bring administrative reforms through
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intrastate matters. improved corporate governance of distribution licensees.
• The amendments are also necessary in view of the
Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022: Major Provisions
importance of green energy for our environment in the
• Multiple discoms in the same area: More than one power
context of global climate change concerns and our
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distributor can operate in an area. This will boost competition
international commitments.
and give more choice to the consumers (just like they can
• Then there are Problems of underinvestment, line losses and
choose ISPs).
issues in billing, metering, and collection by Discoms.
• Tariff Ceiling: Section 62 of the Act, makes provision for
“mandatory” fixing of minimum as well as maximum tariff ceilings Why is there Opposition to the Bill?
by the “appropriate commission” to avoid predatory pricing.
• Against subsidies: The Bill will lead to stopping subsidies and
• Cross-subsidy Balancing Fund: State government will set up that power distribution will thereafter be under the control of
this Balancing Fund. Cross-subsidy refers to the arrangement
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private companies, impacting BPL & poor farmers.
of one consumer category subsidising the consumption of
• Concerns of employees: Privatisation of distribution companies
another consumer category. The fund will be used to finance
and generating units will result in job losses.
deficits in cross-subsidy for other discoms in the same area
• Against federalism: Electricity is a subject which comes under
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or any other area.

the Concurrent List (Seventh Schedule) of the Constitution,
• Payment security: The Bill provides that electricity will not be
and that the Union should have consulted the States before
scheduled or despatched if adequate payment security is not
bringing the Bill.
provided by the discom.
• Profit maximization & inequity: The Bill paves way for
• Contract enforcement: The Bill empowers the CERC and
privatisation of profits and the nationalisation of losses. More
SERCs to adjudicate disputes related to the performance
entities entering lucrative and urban areas and ignoring loss
of contracts. These refer to contracts related to the sale,
making areas.
purchase, or transmission of electricity. Further, the
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Commissions will have powers of a Civil Court. • Threat to smaller segments: Multiple distribution licensees
may lead to a situation similar to the telecom sector where
• Renewable purchase obligation: RPO should not be below a
monopoly companies will destroy the public sector and
minimum percentage prescribed by the central government
smaller companies.
or DISCOMS may face a penalty. Previously, SERCs were
empowered to specify renewable purchase obligations • Financial Losses: The States feel that a greater role for private
(RPO) for discoms. distribution companies and franchises would only lead to
• Composition of Commissions: The Bill increases the number cherry picking of remunerative areas by them.
of members (including the chairperson) in SERCs from three
Recommendations:
to four. Further, at least one member in both the CERC and
• As Electricity is in the List III of 7th Schedule of the Constitution,
SERCs must be from law background.
states should also be taken into consideration.
• Composition of APTEL: Under the Act, Appellate Tribunal for
• More clarity should be developed among the stakeholders.
Electricity (APTEL) consists of a chairperson and three other
members. The Bill provides that the APTEL will have three or • Better regulation of Private Players is the need of the hour.
more members, as prescribed by the central government. • Electricity through direct benefit transfer can be considered.
Feature Articles 37
GATI SHAKTI UNIVERSITY

The Parliament passed the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to establish Gati Shakti
Vishwavidyalaya as a body corporate under the said Act.
Key Features of the Bill: four years (2021-2025), with an emphasis on accelerating
• The Bill amends the Central Universities Act, 2009, which ground-level work, cutting costs, and generating jobs.
provides for establishing central universities in various states. • It intends to include infrastructure plans from various
• The Bill seeks to convert the National Rail and Transportation ministries and state governments, including UDAN,
Institute, Vadodara (a deemed university) to the Gati Shakti Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry and land
Vishwavidyalaya, which will be a central university. ports, and Sagarmala.
• The Vishwavidyalaya will be sponsored and funded by the • A digital platform called Gati Shakti would unite 16 Ministries,
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central government through the Ministry of Railways. including those for Roads and Railways, to plan and carry out
infrastructure connectivity projects in a coordinated manner.
• The scope of the proposed University will also extend beyond
the railways to cover entire transport sector to support the • It also aims to have 11 industrial corridors and two new
ambitious growth and modernisation of the sector. defence corridors - one in Tamil Nadu and other in Uttar
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• Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya will take measures to provide Pradesh. Extending 4G connectivity to all villages is another
quality teaching, research, and skill development in disciplines aim. Adding 17,000 kms to the gas pipeline network is being
related to transportation, technology, and management. planned.
• If required, the University may also establish centres in India • It will help in fulfilling the ambitious targets set by the
and abroad. government for 2024-25, including expanding the length of
the national highway network to 2 lakh kms, creation of more
• The existing Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the National Rail and
than 200 new airports, heliports and water aerodromes.
Transportation Institute will hold office for: (i) six months from
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when the Act is notified, or (ii) until a new VC for the Gati
Shakti Vishwavidyalaya is appointed, whichever is earlier.
Significance:
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• Establishment of Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya will address the

need of talent in the strategically important and expanding
transportation sector and meet the demand for trained talent
to fuel the growth and expansion of the sector.
• By offering doctoral and master’s degrees in transportation,
the planned university will prevent brain drain and build
essential aptitude and capacity in the country.
• Through its plans for skilling and digitising India, it will go
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a long way toward making the country self-reliant in the

transportation sector.
• By developing cutting-edge technologies, it will engage in
critically required research and development that will support
local manufacturing and displace the importation of high-
priced goods, machinery, and technology.
PM Gati Shakti Scheme:

• The Gati Shakti initiative, also known as the National
Master Plan for Multimodal Connectivity, is a 100 lakh crore
initiative launched in 2021 aiming to coordinate the design
and execution of infrastructure projects in order to reduce
logistics costs.
• It seeks to ensure infrastructure projects are planned and
executed in an integrated manner over the course of the next
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38 Feature Articles
COMPETITION AMENDMENT BILL

The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was recently introduced in Lok Sabha. It was subsequently
referred to the standing committee of Parliament.
Need of Amendments: • This will speed up the clearance of combinations and

• It amends the Competition Act, 2002 which establishes the increase the importance of pre-filing consultations with the
Competition Commission of India (CCI) for regulating market Commission.
competition.
‘Settlements’ and ‘Commitments’ Mechanisms:
• The Competition Commission primarily pursues three issues
• The new amendment proposes a framework for settlements
of anti-competitive practices in the market: anti-competitive
and commitments for cases relating to vertical agreements
agreements, abuse of dominance and combinations.
and abuse of dominance.
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• As the dynamics of the market changes rapidly due to
• In the case of vertical agreements and abuse of dominance,
technological advancements, artificial intelligence, and the parties may apply for a ‘commitment’ before the
factors other than price, amendments became necessary to Director General (DG) submits the report. ‘Settlement’ will
sustain and promote market competition. be considered after the report is submitted and before the
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Commission decides.
Hub-and-Spoke Cartels:
• According to the amendment, the Commission’s decision
• The Competition Act primarily recognizes anti-competitive
regarding commitment or settlement will not be appealable
agreements that are either vertical or horizontal agreements.
after hearing all stakeholders in the case. The Commission
• The Bill extends the presumption of liability for active will come out with regulations regarding procedural aspects.
participants in anti-competitive agreements that are neither
vertical or horizontal, often referred to as ‘hub and spoke’ Leniency Plus:
cartels. • In the Bill, ‘Leniency Plus’ provision allows the commission
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• A Hub-and-Spoke arrangement is a kind of cartelisation to give an additional waiver of penalties to an applicant who
in which vertically related players act as a hub and place discloses the existence of another cartel in an unrelated
horizontal restrictions on suppliers or retailers (spokes). market, provided the information enables the Commission to
form a prima facie opinion about the existence of the cartel.
Introduction of Deal Value Thresholds:
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• Any acquisition or merger may constitute a combination. Appointment of Director General:

Section 5 currently says parties indulging in merger, • The Act empowers the central government to appoint a
acquisition, or amalgamation need to notify the Commission Director General to CCI.
of the combination only on the basis of ‘asset’ or ‘turnover’. • The Bill amends this to empower the CCI to appoint the
• The new Bill proposes to add a ‘deal value’ threshold. It will Director General, with prior approval of the government.
be mandatory to notify the Commission of any transaction
with a deal value in excess of ₹2,000 crore and if either of the
Qualification of Members of CCI:
parties has ‘substantial business operations in India’. • As per the Act, the chairperson and members of CCI should
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have professional experience of at least 15 years in fields

Gun-Jumping: such as: (i) economics, (ii) competition matters, (iii) law, (iv)
• Parties should not go ahead with a combination prior to management, or (v) business.
approval of CCI. If the combining parties close a notified • The Bill expands this to include experience in the field of
transaction before the approval, or have consummated a technology.
reportable transaction without bringing it to the Commission’s
knowledge, it is seen as gun-jumping. COMMENT
• The penalty for gun-jumping was a total of 1% of the asset or
• The proposed amendments are undoubtedly needed;
turnover. This is now proposed to be 1% of the deal value.
however, these are heavily dependent on regulations that
Swifter Merger Review: will be notified by the Commission later.
• The Commission earlier had 210 working days to approve • Also, the government needs to recognise that market
the combination, after which it is automatically approved. The dynamics change constantly, so it is necessary to update
new Bill seeks to accelerate the timeline to 150 working days. laws regularly.
Feature Articles 39
DELHI LIQUOR POLICY

Recently, Delhi government’s new liquor policy (Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22) was scrapped.
Key Provisions of Policy: 8,917 crore. However, it was abandoned after only eight
• The policy was proposed in 2020, and it became law in months because of claims of favouritism and corruption in
November 2021. Each of Delhi’s 32 zones would have 27 the licensing process.
alcohol vends. • Irregularity in rollout and losses: The rollout was not as
• Walk-in experience: According to the 2021-22 Excise Policy, seamless as anticipated. On the first day, a small number
every liquor outlet would provide a walk-in experience to of stores opened. Later, 644 liquor vends operated before
the customer who will have multiple brands to choose from, retailers began to give up their licences since the business
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and an entire standard selection and sale process will be was no longer profitable.
completed within the premises. • Irregular profiteering by big players: Deep discounts offered
• Support to shops: The policy supported microbreweries, by larger merchants made it difficult for smaller retailers to
allowed bars in hotels, restaurants, and clubs to stay open compete since the Delhi government permitted stores to sell
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until 3 am. below MRP to encourage healthy competition.
• Avoid crowding at liquor vends: Air-conditioned retail vends • Operated without LG’s consent: As a result of the COVID-19
will feature glass doors. Customers will not be permitted to outbreak, adjustments to the excise policy were implemented
line up outside the vend and buy through the counter. without the consent of Lieutenant Governor of Delhi (LG).
• Pricing mechanism: The government also made regulations However, any modifications carried out without the consent
for licensees more lenient by allowing them to determine their of the cabinet and LG are illegal and in violation of the Delhi
own pricing and give discounts rather than adhering to the Excise Rules, 2010 and the Transaction of Business Rules,
MRP set by the government. 1993.
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• Cheap imported liquor: The reports highlighted that by
Need of New Policy: lowering the prices of imported alcohol and eliminating the
• As per policy document, Delhi is the 28th most visited city 50 cent import pass charge per case of beer, the Excise
worldwide by foreign visitors. In India, Delhi holds first rank in
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Department unfairly benefited liquor licence holders. This

the most visited city list. resulted in cheaper imported alcoholic beverages and beer
• Excise income is a significant source of income for state at retail, which caused the state exchequer to lose money.
government. In Delhi, the current excise structure is extremely
complex and the liquor trade is conducted in an outdated Comment:
manner. • The unpredictable nature of state excise policies, with their
• Additionally, it signalled the end of the government’s role in frequent and ad hoc changes, creates uncertainty, negatively
the sale of alcohol; only privately owned liquor stores were to affects the production cycles of manufacturers operating
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operate in the city and each municipal ward would have 2-3 across multiple states, and also prevents them from planning
vends. their investments.
• Delhi Government planned to check tax evasion, the conduct
of retail vends, spurious liquor with special inspection teams CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS wrt LIQUOR
and a state-of-the-art lab. • Article 47 of the Directive Principles of State Policy
• Its objectives were to eradicate the liquor mafia and black (DPSP) states that” the State shall endeavor to bring
marketing, boost sales, enhance customer satisfaction, and about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal
guarantee a fair distribution of liquor vends. purposes of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are
injurious to health”.
Issues with the Policy:
• Entry 8 of list II-state list of the seventh schedule introduces
• A report by Delhi’s Chief Secretary (CS) had found “procedural
the state’s authority regulate the sale of alcoholic beverages.
lapses”, irregularities, illegalities, cartelization, and monopolies
• Entry 51, List II-State List, states’ authority to impose excise
in the liquor sector in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
taxes and anti-subsidy levies on alcoholic beverages
• Corruption and Favouritism: By bidding against a reserve
intended for human consumption.
price of Rs 7,041 crore, the government made nearly Rs
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DIGITAL BANKS
Recently, Niti Aayog launched a report titled ‘Digital Banks: A Proposal for
Licensing & Regulatory Regime for India'.
Digital Banks (DB): Concerns of Digital Banks:

• DB would be a bank as defined by the Banking Regulation • It is easy to fall prey to fraudulent transactions by falsifying
Act of 1949. It would be a separate legal entity with its own some cards.
balance sheet. • The professional computer technician can access accounts
• Similar to current commercial banks, digital banks will be or copy another person’s information, enabling the information
subject to prudential and liquidity standards. to come out of its confidential structure.
• In other words, these entities will issue deposits, make loans • Digital banking forums are also prone to vulnerabilities
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and offer the full suite of services that the Act empowers them and hacks such as phishing, pharming, identity theft, and
to. As the name suggests however, DBs will principally rely keylogging.
on the internet and other proximate channels to offer their • Increase the gap that arises between the client and the bank.
services and not physical branches.
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Recommendations by NITI Aayog:
DIGITAL BANKING UNIT (DBU) The report recommends a carefully calibrated approach,
comprising the following steps:
• Digital Bank will be distinct from the 75 Digital Banking
Units (DBUs) that the Finance Minister indicated will be 1. Issue of a restricted digital bank licence (to a given applicant)
established to promote digital payments, banking, and (the license would be restricted in terms of volume/value of
fintech innovations in underserved areas in the Union customers serviced and the like).
Budget 2022–23. 2. Enlistment (of the licensee) in a regulatory sandbox framework
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• A DBU is a specialised fixed point business unit or enacted by the Reserve Bank of India.
hub housing certain minimum digital infrastructure for 3. Issue of a ‘full-scale’ digital bank licence (contingent on
delivering digital banking products and services as well satisfactory performance of the licensee in the regulatory
as servicing existing financial products and services sandbox, including salient, prudential and technological risk
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digitally in self-service mode at any time. management).
Conditions / Features of Digital Bank License:

Need & Benefits of Digital Banks:
• Minimum paid-up capital: Minimum Paid-up Capital for a
• It saves effort and time where the customer can conduct restricted Digital Business bank operating in a regulatory
banking activities without going to any bank headquarters, sandbox may be proportionate to its status as restricted.
where he can keep it at home. Digital Business bank may be required to bring in ₹ 20 crore
• It provides Ease of Banking transactions in electronic banks of minimum paid-up capital.
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and speed of handling them. • Prudential / Liquidity risk regulation: Regulatory touchpoints
• In addition to the reliability of cash flow and the speed of like capital adequacy, risk weights, liquidity coverage ratio
cash flow, it provides higher security and lower risk of check will be included under this head.
manipulation. • Technological Risk regulation: Technological preparedness
• It reduces reliance on paper forms, as all transactions are includes conditions like: Incorporation of zero trust
done electronically. architecture to mitigate technology risks; Creation of
• India has witnessed success in payments front but it hasn’t clearly defined processes (leveraging technology) enabling
yet been able to meet the credit needs of its micro, small, and consumers that have encountered a security event, to report
medium-sized businesses. the event.
• Existing partnership-based neo-bank models struggle with a • Priority Sector Lending obligation: Digital Business banks
number of issues, including viability and revenue creation. are proposed to be established to enable credit penetration
Neobanks rely on bank partners to offer services that are among under-served small business niches. Thus, there is a
covered by bank licences because they lack their own bank justifiable case for keeping the PSL mandate component of
licence. their book narrow (in terms of % of the total book size).
Feature Articles 41
HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE

In recent months, automakers Maruti Suzuki, Toyota and Honda have launched Hybrid Electric Vehicles
in India, offering car buyers more choices in the nascent electric vehicle market.
About: HEV can power the vehicle for longer distances using just
• A Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) uses an ICE (a petrol/diesel electric mode, whereas a mild HEV cannot drive using only
engine) and one or more electric motors to run. the electric motor and uses the battery at traffic lights or in
stop-and-go traffic to support the ICE.
• It is powered by the electric motor alone, which uses energy
• Micro hybrids do not offer electric torque assistance as they
stored in batteries, by the ICE, or both.
lack an electric motor, but they have an idle stop-start system
• The powertrain of the HEV is more complex than a
and energy management functions.
regular ICE-powered car as it has EV components and a
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• Full HEVs offer better fuel economy compared with the other
conventional ICE.
two types of HEVs but they also cost more than them.
• That means a typical HEV will have a low-voltage auxiliary
• Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) are just like full HEVs,
battery, a traction battery pack to store electricity for the
but they can be charged using a wall outlet, as they have an
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electric motor, an electric generator, an AC/DC converter,
onboard charger and a charging port. PHEVs generally use
a power electronics controller, a thermal system to maintain
the electric motor until the battery is almost drained, and then
working temperature, an ICE, a fuel tank, a fuel filler, a
automatically switch to the ICE.
transmission and an exhaust system.
How do HEV Powertrains Work?

• HEV powertrains are designed to power cars in a (1) series,
(2) parallel or (3) series-parallel (power split) methods.
• A series HEV uses only the electric motor to drive the wheels,
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while the ICE powers the generator, which in turn recharges
the battery.
• A parallel HEV, based on the driving condition, uses the best
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power source to power the vehicle. It will alternate between

the electric motor and the ICE to keep the car moving.
• A series-parallel HEV offers a combination of both models and
allows to split power, wherein power is routed from the ICE alone
or from the battery to the electric motor to drive the vehicle. Advantages of Hybrid Technology:
• Most vehicles with hybrid technology offer better fuel
REGENERATIVE BRAKING TECHNOLOGY efficiency, more power, and minimum emissions.
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• In all three designs, the battery is charged through • The design of hybrid vehicles for reduced engine size and
car weight as compared to ICE vehicles, translates into
regenerative braking technology.
increased mileage to favour the demand for these vehicles.
• A Regenerative Braking System (RBS) used in automotive
• Moreover, with the increase in total power and torque, HEVs
applications has several advantages like better braking
can deliver instant torque and provide high torque even at
efficiency in stop-and-go traffic which enhances fuel
low speeds.
economy and also helps in reducing carbon emissions.
• HEVs are helping the auto industry transition from ICE
• Besides, RBS also helps in energy optimisation resulting
vehicles to EVs.
in minimum energy wastage.
Challenges of Hybrid Technology:

Types of HEVs
• In a price-sensitive market like India, one of the major
• The HEVs can be categorised into micro, mild and full hybrid
challenges for HEVs is the high vehicle cost. Battery, a vital
vehicles, based on the degree of hybridisation.
component of an HEV, increases the cost of the vehicle,
• A full HEV will have a larger battery and a more powerful making it pricier than vehicles powered only by an ICE. The
electric motor compared with a mild HEV. As a result, a full RBS also adds to the higher cost of an HEV.
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WILD LIFE (PROTECTION) AMENDMENT BILL

The Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 was passed by Lok Sabha in August 2022.
The Bill is yet to be passed by the Rajya Sabha.
Need for the Amendment: • Conservation reserves: Under the Act, state governments may
• The Bill aims to amend the Wild Life (Protection) Act (WLPA), declare areas adjacent to national parks and sanctuaries as
1972 which aims to protect wild animals, birds and plants. a conservation reserve, for protecting flora and fauna, and
their habitat. The Bill empowers the central government to
• India is a party to the Convention on International trade in
also notify a conservation reserve.
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which
requires that appropriate measures are taken to enforce the • Surrender of captive animals: The Bill provides for any person
provisions of the Convention. It is proposed to amend the Act to voluntarily surrender any captive animals or animal
products to the Chief Wild Life Warden. No compensation
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to provide for the implementation of the Convention.
will be paid to the person for surrendering such items. The
• The Act broadly has two classes of animals, that is to say, (a)
surrendered items become property of the state government.
species listed in Schedule I and Part II of Schedule II; and
(b) species listed in Part I of Schedule II, Schedule III, and Criticism by Animal Activists:
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Schedule IV, based on which their protections and penalties
• The amendment made to Section 43 of the WLPA permits
for contravention differ.
elephants, a Schedule I animal, to be used for ‘religious or
• Since, the Act essentially has only these two levels of any other purpose’. The move has been criticised by wildlife
protection for animals, the segregation of protected animals activists and animal experts.
or species in four Schedule may not be appropriate and may
• Animal rights group PETA India pointed out that the ‘any other
cause confusion and be difficult for the public to understand.
purpose’ seemed to have a limitless meaning.
• Thus, it is proposed to rationalise and amend the Schedules.
• This would thereby potentially increase the demand for illegal
capture of wild elephants, followed by cruel training in kraals,
The Bill proposes to:
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which are small, dark wooden enclosures.
• Rationalising schedules: Currently, the Act has six schedules
• The Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC), headed
for specially protected plants (one), specially protected
by Jairam Ramesh, Rajya Sabha member and former
animals (four), and vermin species (one). The Bill reduces
environment minister had made recommendations for the
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the total number of schedules to four by:

deletion of this clause.
 reducing the number of schedules for specially protected
animals to two (one for greater protection level),
 removing the schedule for vermin species, and WILDLIFE PROTECTION ACT 1972
 inserting a new schedule for specimens listed in the • The Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 provides for the
Appendices under CITES (scheduled specimens). protection of the listed species of flora and fauna and
• Obligations under CITES: The Bill provides for the central creates a network of ecologically important protected
government to designate a: (i) Management Authority, which areas.
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grants export or import permits for trade of specimens, and • It gives central and state governments the power to
(iii) Scientific Authority, which gives advice on aspects related designate any area as a nature reserve, national park, or
to impact on the survival of the specimens being traded. closed area.
• Invasive alien species: The Bills empowers the central • Under the provisions of the Act Union Government will
government to regulate or prohibit the import, trade, setup the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), which will
possession or proliferation of invasive alien species.
review all wildlife-related issues and approving projects in
• Control of sanctuaries: and around national parks and protected areas.
 The Act entrusts the Chief Wild Life Warden – appointed • The Prime Minister of the country is the ex officio
by the state government – to manage all sanctuaries in a chairperson of the NBWL. The Minister of Environment is
state. the Vice-Chairperson of the Board.
 The Bill specifies that actions of Chief Warden must be in
• The act provides for the creation of the State Board for
accordance with the management plans for the sanctuary.
Wildlife by state governments, a Central Zoo Authority,
 These plans will be prepared as per guidelines of the
National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Wildlife
central government, and as approved by the Chief Crime Control Bureau (WCCB).
Warden.
Feature Articles 43
CARBON MARKETS
The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was introduced in Lok Sabha to
amend the Energy Conservation Act, 2001.
The Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022:

CARBON MARKETS
• Obligation to use non-fossil sources of energy: The Act
empowers the central government to specify energy • The creation of a domestic carbon market is one of the
consumption standards. The Bill adds that the government most significant provisions of the proposed Bill.
may require the designated consumers to meet a minimum • Carbon markets allow the trade of carbon credits with
share of energy consumption from non-fossil sources. the overall objective of bringing down emissions. These
• Carbon trading: The Bill empowers the central government to markets create incentives to reduce emissions or improve
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energy efficiency.
specify a carbon credit trading scheme.
• E.g. an industrial unit which outperforms the emission
• Energy conservation code for buildings: The Bill provides for
standards stands to gain credits. Another unit which
an ‘energy conservation and sustainable building code’.
is struggling on the standards can buy these credits
This new code will provide norms for energy efficiency
and show compliance to these standards. The unit that
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and conservation, use of renewable energy, and other
did better on the standards earns money by selling
requirements for green buildings.
credits, while the buying unit is able to fulfill its operating
• Applicability to residential buildings: The new energy obligations.
conservation and sustainable building code will also apply to
Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement:
the office and residential buildings meeting the above criteria.
• Under the Kyoto Protocol, the predecessor to the
• Standards for vehicles and vessels: Under the Act, the energy
Paris Agreement, carbon markets have worked at the
consumption standards may be specified for equipment and
international level as well.
appliances which consume, generate, transmit, or supply
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• The Kyoto Protocol had prescribed emission reduction
energy. The Bill expands the scope to include vehicles (as
targets for a group of developed countries. Other
defined under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988), and vessels
countries did not have such targets, but if they did reduce
(includes ships and boats).
their emissions, they could earn carbon credits.
• Regulatory powers of SERCs: The Act empowers the State
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• These carbon credits could then be sold off to those

Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs) to adjudge
developed countries which had an obligation to reduce
penalties under the Act. The Bill adds that SERCs may also
emissions but were unable to. This system functioned well
make regulations for discharging their functions.
for a few years, but later on collapsed.
• Composition of the governing council of BEE: The Bureau • A similar carbon market is envisaged under the successor
of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has a governing council with Paris Agreement, but its details are being worked out.
members between 20 and 26 in number. The Bill provides
Global Scenario:
that the number of members will be between 31 and 37. It also
provides for up to seven members representing industries • Carbon markets are already functioning in several places,
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and consumers. most notably in Europe, where an Emission Trading

Scheme (ETS) works on similar principles.
Need of Bill: • Industrial units in Europe have prescribed emission
• The Bill proposes to amend the Electricity Conservation Act standards to adhere to, and they buy and sell credits
2001, last amended in 2010, to introduce changes such based on their performance. China, too, has a domestic
as incentivising the use of clean energy by issuing carbon carbon market.
saving certificates. Indian Scenario:
• The main objective of these proposed amendments is to • This BEE scheme, called PAT, (or perform, achieve and
reduce India’s power consumption via fossil fuels and thereby trade) allows units to earn efficiency certificates if they
minimize the nation’s carbon footprint. outperform the prescribed efficiency standards. The
• The Centre aims to develop India’s Carbon market and boost laggards can buy these certificates to continue operating.
the adoption of clean technology. India aims to meet its • However, the new carbon market that is proposed
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), as mentioned to be created through this amendment to the Energy
in the Paris Climate Agreement, before its 2030 target date. Conservation Act, would be much wider in scope.
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INFLATION REDUCTION ACT

On August 7, the U.S. Senate approved a Bill titled the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022,
with a simple majority of 51 to 50.
About: a new methane deal to curb methane emissions from the oil
• The bill is a scaled-down version of President Biden’s Build and gas industry.
Back Better Act (BBBA), which failed to get approval from the • The Bill being the largest-ever investment in addressing the
Senate. climate crisis in U.S. history, will help the nation get closer to
• The IRA has a special focus on climate, healthcare, and tax its climate target of reducing 50-52% emissions below 2005
levels by 2030.
provisions to address inflation.
• The investments in the Bill could reduce greenhouse gas
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Climate change Provisions: emissions by 31 to 44% by 2030.
• The Bill includes packages worth $369 billion for the clean • The Bill can help the U.S. compete with China in terms of
energy transition. renewable production as China is a leading producer of solar
• It provides a tax deduction to low and middle-income energy.
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households to go electric and seeks to lower the energy bills • It can also facilitate the creation of domestic jobs.
of American households.
Opposition:
• It also aims to bolster the domestic production of heat pumps
• The Republicans criticised the Bill for its inability to curb inflation.
and critical minerals.
• Fossil fuel supporters criticise the bill as it does not take into
• For disadvantaged low-income communities and tribal
account the communities that are dependent on the fossil fuel
communities, the Bill provides funding to benefit from
industry for their income.
zero-emission technologies which reduce greenhouse gas
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emissions, enhance climate resilience, and mitigate risks • Climate advocates criticise the bill for coupling the
from extreme heat. development of renewable energy, which is the cause of
global warming, with land leasing for oil and gas drilling. The
• The Bill provides significant investment in renewable energy
Bill still contains giveaways to the fossil fuel sector.
through heavy tax credits for wind and solar energy projects
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• The Bill does not address any issues of global climate finance
and electric vehicles.
which is a major impediment to global climate action. It is
• Additionally, the Bill imposes a tax on the largest and most
a mere step toward achieving the climate target agreed
profitable companies in order that they pay their fair share,
upon in the Paris Agreement, where Article 2 states global
without levying any taxes on households with income less
temperature should be limited below 2°C.
than $40,000 per annum. It also imposes a fee on methane
leaks from oil and gas drilling. CLIMATE PACKAGES BY OTHER COUNTRIES
• It seeks to expand oil and gas drilling, with the federal
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• Even though the Bill is not enough to address the climate

government offering land for onshore and offshore drilling
crisis, such historic initiatives by global leaders in
as a prerequisite for developing renewable energy. Thus,
greenhouse gas emissions can be a benchmark for other
it handcuffs the expansion of oil and gas with renewable
large emitters to push their climate action programmes.
energy development.
• In May 2022, Japan announced its ‘Invest in Kisida’ plan
Need of this Act and Expected Benefits: which aims for a $1.1 trillion investment to bolster the
• The U.S is currently facing extreme climate threats. This Japanese economy. As part of the plan, the country aims
includes heatwaves, wildfires, cyclones, floods, and to transition to clean energy and achieve 46% reduction in
hurricanes that have become frequent and intense in the past greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
few years. • In June 2021, the European Union (EU) proposed a similar
• Additionally, President Joe Biden has also undertaken certain ‘Fit for 55’ plan to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030. The
climate commitments. plan is expected to become law soon. Being the largest
• In 2021, he committed to the new ambitious target of cutting emitters, both the U.S. and the EU can play a significant
role in taking responsibility for historical emissions.
emissions by 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030 and signed
Feature Articles 45
ARCTIC AMPLIFICATION
In August 2022, Finnish Meteorological Institute researchers published their study concluding that
the Arctic is heating four times faster than the rest of the planet.
Key Findings: Consequences of Arctic Warming:

• The warming is more concentrated in the Eurasian part of the • Greenlandic ice sheet holds the second largest amount of
Arctic, where the Barents Sea north of Russia and Norway is ice, after Antarctica, and therefore it is crucial for maintaining
warming at an alarming rate — seven times faster than the the sea level. If the sheet melts completely, the sea level
global average. would rise by seven metres, capable of subsuming island
• Earlier studies in 2021 and in 2022 indicate that the Arctic countries and major coastal cities around the globe.
amplification is four times the global rate. • The warming of Arctic Ocean and the seas in the region, the
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acidification of water, changes in the salinity levels, is causing
widespread starvation and death among the Arctic fauna.
• The permafrost in the Arctic is thawing and in turn releasing
carbon and methane which are among the major greenhouse
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gases responsible for global warming.
• Experts fear that the thaw and the melt will also release the
long-dormant bacteria and viruses that were trapped in the
permafrost and can potentially give rise to diseases. The
best-known example of this is the permafrost thaw leading to
an anthrax outbreak in Siberia in 2016, where nearly 2,00,000
reindeer succumbed.
Benefits:
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• Connectivity: Arctic’s ice meltdown and its geographical
Arctic Amplification: location will ensure shortest sea distance between America,
• Global warming, the long-term heating of the earth’s surface, Europe and North East Asia. This will transform the global
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hastened due to anthropogenic forces or human activities maritime commerce, presently conducted through the East–
since pre-industrial times and has increased the planet’s West route through the Malacca Strait and Suez Canal.
average temperature by 1.1 degrees Celsius. • Hydrocarbons: The Arctic contains a wealth of hydrocarbon
resources. Arctic can therefore potentially address India’s
• While changes are witnessed across the planet, any change
energy security needs.
in the surface air temperature and the net radiation balance
tend to produce larger changes at the north and south poles. What is the impact on India?
This phenomenon is known as polar amplification. • The changing Arctic can have impact on the monsoons in
• These changes are more pronounced at the northern latitudes India. The link between the two is growing in importance due
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and are known as the Arctic amplification. to the extreme weather events the country faces, and the
heavy reliance on rainfall for water and food security.
Causes of Arctic Amplification: • A study titled published in 2021 found that the reduced sea
• A large part of the explanation relates to sea ice. This is a thin ice in the Barents-Kara sea region can lead to extreme rainfall
layer (typically one metre to five metres thick) of sea water in the latter half of monsoons — in September and October.
that freezes in winter and partially melts in the summer. • According to the World Meteorological Organization’s report,
• Sea ice and snow have high albedo (measure of reflectivity of ‘State of Global Climate in 2021’, sea level along the Indian
the surface), implying that they are capable of reflecting most coast is rising faster than the global average rate. One of the
of the solar radiation as opposed to water and land. primary reasons for this rise is the melting of sea ice in the
• When covered with sea ice, the Arctic Ocean acts like a large polar regions, especially the Arctic.
reflective blanket, reducing the absorption of solar radiation.
NOTE TO READERS
• As the sea ice melts, absorption rates increase, resulting in
For detailed analysis of India’s Arctic policy refer Page 7
the rapid pace of ocean warming which further amplifies sea
of August 2022 edition of Current Affairs Magazine.
ice melt, contributing to even faster ocean warming.
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46 Feature Articles
CLOUDBURSTS
Over 20 people have been killed in destruction caused by cloudbursts and flash floods in
different parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
What is Cloudburst? • Most of these happen in the Himalayan states where the local
• A cloudburst is an extreme downpour in a short period of topology, wind systems, and temperature gradients between
the lower and upper atmosphere facilitate the occurrence of
time. It may be accompanied with hail and thunder.
such events.
• A cloudburst has a very specific definition. According to the
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), an unexpected Are Cloudburst Incidents Increasing?
precipitation exceeding 100mm (or 10 cm) per hour over a • There is no long-term trend that suggests that cloudbursts
geographical region of approximately 20 to 30 square km is
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are rising. However, incidents of extreme rainfall, as also
a cloudburst. other extreme weather events, are increasing — not just in
• By this definition, 5 cm of rainfall in a half-hour period over the India but across the world.
same area would also be categorized as a cloudburst. • This kind of pattern, attributed to climate change, does
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suggest that cloudburst events might also be on the rise.
Cloudburst vs Rainfall:
• Rain is condensed water falling from a cloud which may or
Impact:
may not be intense, however a cloudburst in a sudden heavy • Short spells of very heavy rainfall over a small geographical
area often trigger landslides and flash floods which can
downpour.
cause widespread destruction downstream, especially in
• Rain over 100mm per hour is categorised as a cloudburst.
hilly regions.
Heavy rainfall can be classified as a cloudburst only if it fits
this criteria set by the IMD. What are some of the Worst Cloudbursts in India?
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• Great Musi flood, 1908: On 26 September, 1908, Hyderabad’s
How and where does a Cloudburst Occur? surrounding areas witnessed a cloudburst. It was caused
• Cloudbursts do occur at plains, however, mountainous due to a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. The city had recorded
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regions are more prone to cloudbursts due to orography (the 153.2 mm rainfall on 27 September, 1908.
geographical features of a mountain). • Mumbai cloudburst, 2005: On 26 July, 2005, Mumbai received
• A cloudburst occurs when warm air current from the ground or an astonishing 944 mm of rain in just 24 hours. It lead to a big
below the clouds rushes up and carries the falling raindrops chaos in the city.
up with it. As a result, new raindrops that are formed are • Uttarakhand cloudburst, 2013: In 2013, Uttarakhand’s
heavier and denser. Kedarnath received unprecedented heavy rainfall between
• After a point, the raindrops become too heavy for the cloud 14 and 17 June. The estimated toll was around 10,000, with
over 3,000 persons missing, as per the state government.
and it falls down together in a short period over a small area,
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causing a cloudburst. Monitoring:

• The India Meteorological Department forecasts rainfall
events well in advance, but it does not predict the quantum
of rainfall.
• Additionally, the forecasts are for a relatively large
geographical area, usually a region, a state, a meteorological
sub-division, or at best a district. As they zoom in over smaller
areas, the forecasts get more and more uncertain.
• Thus, it is very difficult to predict the cloudbursts due to its
very small scale in space and time.
How common are Cloudbursts? • To monitor the cloudburst, one needs dense radar network
• Cloudbursts are not uncommon events in India, particularly over the cloudburst-prone areas or a very high resolution
during the monsoon months. weather forecasting models.
Feature Articles 47
FLASH FLOODS
Recently, there have been landslides and flash floods triggered by cloud burst in Himachal Pradesh.
What are Flash Floods? • They can occur in urban areas located near small rivers,
• Excessive or continuous rainfall over a period of days, or since hard surfaces such as roads and concrete do not allow
during particular seasons can lead to stagnation of water the water to absorb into the ground.
and cause flooding. Flash floods refer to such a situation, but
Indian Scenario:
occurring in a much shorter span of time.
• According to government data from a project by the Assam
Reasons: State Disaster Management Authority, India is the worst flood-
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• According to the US’s meteorological agency, the National affected country in the world after Bangladesh and accounts
Weather Service, flash floods are caused when rainfall for one-fifth of the global death count due to floods.
creates flooding in less than 6 hours. • Flash floods have been commonly witnessed in cities like
• Flash floods can also be caused by factors apart from rainfall, Chennai and Mumbai.
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like when water goes beyond the levels of a dam. • About 40 million hectares of land in the country are liable to
• In India, flash floods are often associated with cloudbursts – floods according to the National Flood Commission, and an
sudden, intense rainfall in a short period of time. Himalayan average of 18.6 million hectares of land are affected annually.
states further face the challenge of overflowing glacial lakes,
Recommendation:
formed due to the melting of glaciers, and their numbers have
been increasing in the last few years. • One way of dealing with the current situation is to have a
comprehensive strategy of monitoring on the ground in hilly
• Depression and cyclonic storms in the coastal areas of
areas, planning development works in a way that is sensitive
Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and others also cause
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to the region’s ecology, and mitigation to reduce the extent of
flash floods.
damages.
• One of the reasons for flood situations occurring so
frequently, is that nearly 75 per cent of the total Indian rainfall
STATE OF ENVIRONMENT REPORT
is concentrated over a short monsoon season of four months
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(June to September). As a result, the rivers witness a heavy • The report is released by the Department of Environment,
discharge during these months. Science and Technology. The report shows that the
• Flash floods may in the future, begin to take place after Himachal Pradesh is vulnerable to 25 out of 33 identified
wildfires that have been taking place more frequently. This types of hazards.
is because wildfires destroy forests and other vegetation, • It points out that mountain areas are highly vulnerable to
which in turn weakens the soil and makes it less permeable natural disasters, where development over the years has
for water to seep through. compounded the problem by upsetting the ecological
balance of various physical processes.
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• About 58.36% of the land is subjected to intense soil erosion,

much of which is located in the Himalayas, and Himachal
Pradesh, which forms part of the western Himalayas, is
environmentally fragile and ecologically vulnerable.
• The report says qualitative weightage was given on a
scale of 0-5 for different hazards such as earthquakes,
landslips, avalanches, industrial hazards, construction
type, and density of population. A district-wise matrix was
prepared by evaluating the risk severity.
• The evaluation also gave weightage to the density of the
population likely to be affected. The matrix includes the
Vulnerable Areas: evaluation of hazards likely to be induced on account of
• Flash flooding commonly happens more where rivers are development works such as hydel projects, roads, and
narrow and steep, so they flow more quickly. industries.
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48 Feature Articles
MONSOON HAVOC IN KERALA

Recently, Kerala witnessed multiple heavy rain alerts, following

an aberrant South-West Monsoon Season.
About: Scenario in Districts:

• Kerala witnessed poor rainfall in the months of June and July • July rainfall shows significant decreasing trend in Kasargod,
and in the month of August the state is witnessing heavy Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram districts. Kasargod district
rainfall, with issuance of orange alert several times. received the highest amount of rainfall (2795.9 mm) and
• The heavy rainfall in Kerala is due to the influence of at least Thiruvananthapuram district received the lowest amount of
three rainfall triggering weather conditions: rainfall (841.7 mm) in southwest monsoon season.
 westerly winds flowing-in from the Arabian Sea, and • In annual scale, Idukki (3671.5 mm) and Thiruvananthapuran
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bringing moisture over Kerala; (1828.2 mm) received the highest and lowest amount of
 presence of a north-south through running between rainfall, respectively.
Chhattisgarh and Comorin areas located closer to south • In August, all the districts show an increasing trend except
Kerala; and Thrissur and Alapuzha. September rainfall shows an increase
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 presence of an east-west shear zone located 10 degrees in all districts except Alapuzha.
north over the southern peninsula. This vertical zone • No district has shown any significant trend in southwest
— that can prevail either in the lower, middle or upper monsoon rainfall. In the Annual scale, Kasargod and Kollam
atmospheric levels — allows active winds of high speeds districts show a significant decreasing trend in rainfall.
to interact. This zone also allows monsoon winds to remain Maximum number of rainy days (64-74 days) observed in
active, thus causing intense rainfall over the area under its north and central Kerala.
influence.
Colour-Coded Rainfall Alerts:
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Rainfall trends in Kerala: • The India Meteorological Department, an agency of the
• Kerala is among India’s high rainfall receiving states and Ministry of Earth Sciences issues the alerts for rainfall in India.
records an annual rainfall of 2855 mm. • Alerts by the IMD are colour-coded from Green to Red.
• Out of the rainfall received during monsoon season, July
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• ‘Green’ stands for ‘No warning’: no action needs to be taken

and June rainfall accounts for 32.9 per cent (642.7mm) and by the authorities, and the forecast is of light to moderate
32.6 percent (637.2mm), respectively and in August only 21 rain.
percent (414 mm) of the seasonal rainfall occurs. • A ‘Yellow’ alert signifies “Watch”, and authorities are advised
• In Kerala, the amount of annual rainfall has been on the to “Be updated” on the situation.
decline, but not during the monsoon season, according to • An ‘Orange’ warning stands for “Alert”, and authorities are
scientists. Nearly 70% of Kerala’s annual rainfall falls between expected to “Be prepared”. The forecast during an Orange
June and September. warning is of heavy to very heavy rainfall.
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• There has been a significant variation in the rainfall • A ‘Red’ alert stands for “Warning”, and asks authorities to
distribution within the monsoon season and there has been a “Take action”. The forecast is for extremely heavy rainfall.
declining rainfall trend during June and July as compared to The IMD, however, clarifies that “Red colour warning does
an increase in rainfall during August and September over the not mean ‘Red Alert’,” and that it only means “take action”.
past three decades.
• Long-term rainfall patterns show a considerable increase in
August’s heavy rainfall (64.5 mm to 115.4 mm in 24 hours) in
the state of Kerala.
• Additionally, throughout the four-month monsoon season,
there has been an increase in instances of extremely heavy
rainfall (greater than 204.4 mm in 24 hours).
• In Annual scale, maximum number of rainy days lies in the
range of 93-104 days and minimum number of rainy days lies
in the range of 53-63 days.
Feature Articles 49
SSLV-D1/EOS-2 MISSION
The maiden lift-off of the SSLV ended in failure after the two satellites — EOS-02 and AzaadiSAT —
were placed by ISRO in an elliptical orbit instead of a circular one, rendering them unusable.
Timeline: for climate studies to simply keeping an eye on Earth.

• On August 7, ISRO got ready for the first developmental flight • AzadiSAT, on the other hand, was a collective of 75 tiny
of the SSLV-D1/EOS-2 mission. payloads weighing around 50 grams each, which were
• The launch took place from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre integrated by students. It carried tiny experiments which
would have measured the ionising radiation in its orbit and
at Sriharikota.
also a transponder which worked in the ham radio frequency
• The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) D1/EOS-2 mission,
to enable amateur operators to access it.
was carrying two satellites — the Earth Observation Satellite-2
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(EOS-2) which weighed about 135 kg and AzadiSAT which Which part of the Mission Succeeded and where did
weighed about eight kg. it fail?
• The initial part of the story was successful with the launch • The SSLV was composed of three stages powered by solid
vehicle operating smoothly.
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fuels and these three performed their function as planned.
• However, the mission failed to place the satellites in their However, when it came to the stage when the satellites had
required orbits, and the satellites, as they were already to be set in orbit, there was a glitch which resulted in the
detached from the launch vehicle, were lost. satellites being lost forever.
• ISRO announced that there was a malfunctioning of a sensor
WHAT IS EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE? which resulted in placing the satellites in an elliptical orbit,
rather than a circular orbit.
• Earth observation satellites or Earth remote sensing satellites
• The ellipse or oval shape of the elliptical orbit is elongated
are satellites used or designed for Earth observation (EO)
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in one direction and compressed in another (the so-called
from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended
major and minor axes, which are like two radii of the ellipse).
for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring,
The shortest height above the Earth of this oval orbit was only
meteorology, cartography, and others.
about 76 km.
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• These satellites help us to monitor and protect our

• Why were the satellites lost? If the closest distance to the
environment, manage our resources, respond to
Earth is only 76 km, as it happened this time, there is an
global humanitarian disasters and enable sustainable
atmospheric drag experienced by the object at that height.
development and provide essential information on a vast
Thereafter, unless adequate thrust is applied to overcome the
number of areas, including; ocean salinity, ice thickness,
drag, it will lose height and fall towards the Earth because of
crop health, and air quality.
gravity and may eventually burn up due to friction.
• ISRO launched its first operational remote sensing
satellite, IRS-1A, in 1988. India now operates one of the
CIRCULAR vs ELLIPTICAL ORBITS
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biggest constellations of remote sensing satellites. There

are now four geostationary satellites and thirteen operating • Mostly objects such as satellites and spacecrafts are put
satellites in sun-synchronous orbit. in elliptical orbits only temporarily.
• EOS-01, launched by India in November 2020, is Radar • They are then either pushed up to circular orbits at a
Imaging Satellite (RISAT) a type of earth observation satellite. greater height or the acceleration is increased until the
trajectory changes from an ellipse to a hyperbola and the
spacecraft escapes the gravity of the Earth in order to
Purpose of the SSLV-D1/EOS-2 Mission:
move further into space — for example, to the Moon or
• The purpose of this mission was to place the two satellites in Mars or further away.
circular low-Earth orbits at a height of about 350 km above
• Satellites that orbit the Earth are mostly placed in circular
the Equator.
orbits. One reason is that if the satellite is used for imaging
• The larger one, the EOS-2 which was designed and the Earth, it is easier if it has a fixed distance from the Earth.
developed by ISRO, offered advanced optical remote If the distance keeps changing as in an elliptical orbit,
sensing operations. It would have operated in the infrared keeping the cameras focussed can become complicated.
region and could have served many purposes, from imaging
ISRO’S 3 LAUNCHERS: SSLV, GSLV, AND PSLV
Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) recent years on account of the need for developing countries,
• SSLV is the smallest launch vehicle. The liftoff mass of the private corporations, and universities for small satellites.
launch vehicle is approximately 120 tonnes. • The launch of small satellites has until now been dependent
• The SSLV has a height of 34 meters and has three solid on ‘piggy-back’ rides with big satellite launches on ISRO’s
stages. work-horse – the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle which has
had over 50 successful launches so far.
Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle: • Former ISRO chairman K Sivan in 2019 said, “only six people
• Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark II (GSLV Mk will be required to do launch an SSLV , instead of 60 people.
II) is the largest launch vehicle developed by India, which is The entire job will be done in a very short time and the cost
currently in operation. will be only around Rs 30 crore. It will be an on-demand
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• This fourth-generation launch vehicle is a three-stage vehicle vehicle.”
with four liquid strap-ons.
• The indigenously developed cryogenic Upper Stage (CUS),
which is flight proven, forms the third stage of GSLV Mk II.
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From January 2014, the vehicle has achieved four consecutive
successes, according to ISRO.
• The GSLV’s height is 49.13 m and it is divided into three
stages. Its lift of mass is 414.75 tonnes.
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV):

• PSLV is the third generation launch vehicle of India. It is the
first Indian launch vehicle to be equipped with liquid stages.
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It has a height of 44m and 2.8 m in diameter. It is divided into
4 stages. Its lift of Mass is 320 tonnes (XL).
• After its first successful launch in October 1994, PSLV
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emerged as the reliable and versatile workhorse launch

vehicle of India with 39 consecutively successful missions by
June 2017.
• During 1994-2017 period, the vehicle has launched 48 Indian
satellites and 209 satellites for customers from abroad.
• Besides, the vehicle successfully launched two spacecraft –
Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mars Orbiter Spacecraft in 2013
– that later traveled to Moon and Mars respectively.
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Why do we need to develop an SSLV?

• The PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) and GSLV
(Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle) are quite powerful
and can carry huge loads. To place an Earth Orbiting Satellite
in a low Earth orbit, one does not need such power horses.
• The SSLV can easily carry small-to-medium loads from 10 kg
to 500 kg. It is less expensive.
• The three stages being powered by solid fuel is another
advantage. Solid fuel is easier to handle, whereas handling
the liquid propellants used in the PSLV and GSLV is more
complex.
• The SSLV is intended to cater to a market for the launch of
small satellites into low earth orbits which has emerged in
Feature Articles 51
DATA PROTECTION BILL

Union Information Technology Minister announced the withdrawal of the Personal Data
Protection Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha.
What was the Bill? • Global attempts include the General Data Protection
• The Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill was proposed by the Regulation implemented by the European Union, and the
government to protect citizens’ data privacy. State data privacy laws in the United States. Even, Brazil has
implemented a data privacy legislation.
• Personal data was defined in the Bill as “any characteristic,
trait, attribute or any other feature information” that can be • While India has some laws to regulate sensitive data under the
used to identify a person. Information and Technology Act of 2000, no legislation has
been passed so far to implement the ethos of the Puttaswamy
• The Bill also identified a sub-category of Sensitive Personal
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judgment, which guaranteed Indians their right to privacy.
Data, such as details on a person’s finance, health, sexual
orientation and practices, caste, political and religious • As Indians increasingly onboard onto digital platforms, there
beliefs, and biometric and genetic data. is an urgent need to protect citizens’ personal data and make
• It also created Critical Personal Data category, which was the data utilisation process transparent.
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“personal data as may be notified by the Central Government”
What were the Controversial Aspects of the Bill?
in the future.
• The PDP Bill’s opponents included tech companies and civil
• The Bill stated that while Sensitive Personal Data can be
liberties organisations.
transferred abroad for processing, a copy of it must be kept
• Most private enterprises opposed the data localisation norms
in India. Critical Personal Data can be stored and processed
that were part of the Bill, which they felt were stringent.
only in India.
• Many tech giants such as Google and Meta frowned at the
Timeline of Bill: JPC’s criticism of their data collection methods.
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• Earlier attempts: Between 2011 and 2014 the Ministry of • Indian technology industry bodies also felt that some aspects
Personnel started coordinating the Draft Privacy Bill’s of the PDP Bill would hamper the growth of the Indian tech
versions dealing with Data Protection and Surveillance start-up ecosystem. Civil liberties organisations noted that
reform, however, the work was halted. there was significant state overreach in the PDP Bill.
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• Puttaswamy Judgement: The next trigger was the Supreme • Privacy rights organisation Internet Freedom Foundation said
Court’s decision on the Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs Union of more needs to be done to hold the Data Protection Authority
India case, where it ruled that a citizen’s right to privacy is a accountable, furthermore the utilisation of citizen data by the
fundamental right. Indian State also must be kept ‘in check’.
• Srikrishna Committee: In 2018, the Srikrishna Committee
released a report and proposed the first draft of the PDP Bill. Reaction to Withdrawal:
• Draft Bill: The draft PDP went through various consultation • The move to withdraw the PDP Bill has evoked a range of
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processes and revisions after which it was introduced in reactions – ranging from puzzlement to disappointment.
Parliament in 2019 along with the Srikrishna Committee’s • If the Bill was deeply flawed, was it then not a good move to
recommendations. withdraw it and redraft it again?
• Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC): In 2019 the Bill was • Or would it have been better to let the draft go through the
sent to the JPC for review from both Houses, which came whole process of Parliamentary debate and amendments,
out with its report in December 2021, where it proposed 81 and later, if need be, judicial challenge? Or is this a matter of
amendments and 12 recommendations. the government simply buying more time?
• Withdrawal: Union Minister of Communications said the Bill
Way Ahead:
was withdrawn because the JPC proposed a large set of
changes, and it would be far easier to come out with a new • After withdrawing the PDP Bill the government plans to
Bill instead of modifying the current one. introduce four comprehensive laws to cover the digital tech
landscape.
Why is there a need of Law? • This will include introducing new regulations in the domains
• For the first time, a Bill was enacted to protect the digital of telecom, information and technology, personal data and
rights and privacy of Indians. privacy, and social media accountability.
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52 Feature Articles
AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION

Union Home Minister Amit Shah inaugurated the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS)
at the two-day National Securities Strategies (NSS) Conference 2022 held in New Delhi.
About: History of Fingerprinting as a Crime-Fighting Tool:

• NAFIS is Conceptualized and managed by the National • A system of fingerprinting identification first emerged in
Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) at the Central Fingerprint colonial India, where it was tested before it spread to Europe
Bureau (CFPB) in New Delhi. and beyond.
• NAFIS project is a country-wide searchable database of • Anthropometry, the measurement of physical features of the
crime- and criminal-related fingerprints. body, was used by officials in India, but was soon replaced
• The web-based application functions as a central information with a system of fingerprints, which were seen to be more
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repository by consolidating fingerprint data from all states accurate as it was believed that no two people can have
identical sets of patterns.
and Union Territories.
• The uniqueness of every individual’s fingerprints was first
• It enables law enforcement agencies to upload, trace, and
proposed in Europe by the German anatomist Johann Mayer
retrieve data from the database in real time on a 24×7 basis.
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in 1788, and was confirmed through detailed studies by the
It would help in the quick and easy disposal of cases with the
Scottish doctor Henry Faulds around the same time that
help of a centralised fingerprint database.
Herschel had begun to implement fingerprinting as a means
• In April 2022, Madhya Pradesh became the first state in the
of identification in Bengal.
country to identify a deceased person through NAFIS.
• At first, it was used by British colonial officials for administrative
Working: rather than criminal purposes.
• NAFIS assigns a unique 10-digit National Fingerprint Number • William Herschel, the chief administrator of the Hooghly
district of Bengal, from the late-middle 1800s onwards,
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(NFN) to each person arrested for a crime. This unique ID
will be used for the person’s lifetime, and different crimes used fingerprinting to reduce fraud and forgeries, in order
to ensure that the correct person was receiving government
registered under different FIRs will be linked to the same
pensions, signing land transfer deeds, and mortgage bonds.
NFN.
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• The ID’s first two digits will be that of the state code in which
FINGERPRINT RECOGNITION: ANALYSIS
the person arrested for a crime is registered, followed by a
sequence number. Advantages:
• By automating the collection, storage, and matching of • Secure: Fingerprints are much harder to fake. They also
fingerprints, along with digitizing the records of fingerprint change very little over a lifetime, so the data remains
data, NAFIS will “provide the much-needed unique identifier current for much longer than photos and passwords.
for every arrested person in the CCTNS (Crime and Criminal • Ease of use: Person doesn’t have to remember the
password or worry about forgetting a photo ID at home.
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Tracking Network & Systems) database as both are

connected at the backend. • Non-transferable: Fingerprints are non-transferrable,
ruling out the sharing of passwords. It provides additional
Earlier attempts at Automation: Fingerprint Analysis security against the theft of sensitive materials.
& Criminal Tracing System (FACTS) Disadvantages:
• Upon the recommendations of the National Police • System failures: Scanners are subject to the technical
Commission in 1986, the Central Fingerprint Bureau first failures such as power outages and errors.
began to automate the fingerprint database by digitizing • Cost: It is true that fingerprint recognition systems are more
the existing manual records through India’s first Automated cost effective than ever, but for smaller organisations the
Fingerprint Identification System (AFI) in 1992, called cost of implementation and maintenance can still be a
Fingerprint Analysis & Criminal Tracing System (FACTS 1.0) barrier to implementation.
• The latest iteration, FACTS 5.0, which was upgraded in 2007, • Exclusions: Older people with a history of manual work may
was considered to have “outlived its shelf life”, according to struggle to register worn prints into a system or people
a 2018 report by the NCRB and thus needed to be replaced who have suffered the loss of fingers or hands would be
excluded.
by NAFIS.
Cover Story 53
TOMATO FLU
According to a recent Lancet study, a new virus known as tomato flu, or tomato fever,
has emerged in India among children younger than 5 years.
Spread in India: • Tomato flu could be an after-effect of chikungunya or dengue

• The tomato flu was first identified in the Kollam district of fever in children rather than a viral infection.
Kerala in May 2022. As of August 21, 2022, apart from Kerala, • The virus could also be a new variant of the viral hand, foot, and
Tamil Nadu, and Odisha, no other regions in India have been mouth disease, a common infectious disease targeting mostly
affected by the virus. children aged 1–5 years and immunocompromised adults.
Causes: Vulnerable Groups:
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• The ‘tomato flu’ is caused by Coxsackievirus A16. It belongs • Children younger than 5 years are at increased risk of exposure
to Enterovirus family. to this infection through use of nappies, touching unclean
• Hand-foot-and-mouth-disease (HFMD) is a frequent febrile surfaces, as well as putting things directly into the mouth.
rash illness of childhood caused by enteroviruses (EV): • However, given the similarities to hand, foot, and mouth
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Coxsackie A16 (CA16), EV-A71, Coxsackie A6, Coxsackie B disease, if the outbreak of tomato flu in children is not
and Echo viruses. controlled and prevented, transmission might lead to serious
consequences by spreading in adults as well.
Symptoms / Impact:
• The rare viral infection is considered non-life-threatening. Diagnosis:
• The primary symptoms observed in children with tomato flu • In children with these symptoms, molecular and serological
are similar to those of chikungunya, which include high fever, tests are done for the diagnosis of dengue, chikungunya,
intense pain in joints and rashes on the skin that leads to skin zika virus, varicella-zoster virus, and herpes; once these
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irritation. viral infections are ruled out, contraction of tomato virus is
confirmed.
• As with other viral infections, further symptoms include,
fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, dehydration, Treatments:
swelling of joints, body aches, and common influenza-like
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• Tomato flu is a self-limiting illness and no specific drug exists

symptoms, which are similar to those manifested in dengue.
to treat it.
• Because tomato flu is similar to chikungunya and dengue
WHY CALLED TOMATO FLU?
as well as hand, foot, and mouth disease, treatment is also
Tomato flu gained its name on the basis of the eruption of similar—i.e., isolation, rest, plenty of fluids, and hot water
red and painful blisters throughout the body that gradually sponge for the relief of irritation and rashes.
enlarge to the size of a tomato. These blisters resemble those • Supportive therapy of paracetamol for fever and body ache
seen with the monkeypox virus in young individuals. and other symptomatic treatments are required.
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Prevention:
• As yet, no vaccines are available for the prevention of tomato
flu.
• Similar to other types of influenza, tomato flu is very
contagious. Hence, it is mandatory to follow careful isolation
of confirmed or suspected cases to prevent the spread of
infection. Isolation should be followed for 5–7 days from
symptom onset.
• The best solution for prevention is the maintenance of proper
hygiene and sanitisation of the surrounding necessities and
Relation with other Viruses: environment.
• Although the tomato flu virus shows symptoms similar to • Also, prevent the infected child from sharing toys, clothes,
those of COVID-19, the virus is not related to SARS-CoV-2. food, or other items with other non-infected children.
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54 Feature Articles
LUMPY SKIN DISEASE (LSD)

Several states, including Gujarat and Rajasthan, have been battling the outbreak of
Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD), a viral infection of cattle.
The LSD Virus: How does it lead to death?

• LSD is caused by the Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV), which • The virus causes necrotic vasculitis or death of living tissues
is a virus of the CapriPoxvirus genus in the poxviridae family. in local areas and fibrosis in various organs of infected
• Sheeppox virus and goatpox virus are the other members of cattle. Such a situation leads to failure of various organs, and
the genus capripoxvirus. eventually death.
• Vulnerable Species: The LSDV mainly affects cattle — cow • Also, the nodules may burst due to outer pressure or friction.
and its progeny, and the Asian water buffaloes. Such open wounds make animals susceptible infections and
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development of magots which can prove fatal.
How it Spreads? • Animals may also develop bronchopneumonia, impairing
• The LSDV spreads through blood-sucking vectors like ticks their respiratory system.
and mites like houseflies, mosquitoes, etc.
Global Prevalence:
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• It also spreads through contaminated water, fodder and feed.
• LSD was long restricted to sub-Saharan Africa. However, over
Are Humans at Risk? the past decade, it spread to the Middle East and Turkey.
• The disease is not zoonotic, meaning it does not spread from • From 2015 onward, it has impacted the Balkan (southeast
animals to humans, and humans cannot get infected with it. Europe) countries, Caucus (eastern Europe) and Russia.
• Milk produced by an infected animal will be fit for human • LSD entered India, Bangladesh and China in July 2019.
consumption after boiling or pasteurisation as these Since 2019, outbreaks of the disease have been reported in
processes will kill the viruses, if any, in the milk. 20 states of India.
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Symptoms: Recent outbreak in India:
• Since the first LSD case was reported in April 2022 in Kutch,
• LSDV attacks the circulatory system of an animal and causes
the disease has spread to 26 districts of Gujarat and has
vasculitis or inflammation of blood vessels and lesions in
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claimed more than 4,000 cattle heads as of August 25, 2022.

various organs like liver, lungs, spleen, lymph nodes etc.
In Rajasthan, 27,000 cattles have succumbed to the virus.
• This causes epidermis, making the outer surface of the skin
• Mosquito and housefly infestations remain at their peak
to get separated from dermis (the inner layer of the skin). This
during the monsoon. Thus, scientists blame a very wet July
leads to formation of lumps or nodules on an animal’s body.
for the rapid spread of the infection in Gujarat this year.
• Fever, increased mucus secretion, loss of appetite etc are
among other symptoms. Economic Impact:
• The virus has important economic implications since affected
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animals tend to have permanent damage to their skin,

lowering the commercial value of their hide.
• In cases of aggravated symptoms, cows stop producing milk
and pregnant cows suffer miscarriages.
• Kankrej, the coveted indigenous cattle breed of Gujarat known
for being resistant to diseases and parasites, has been the
worst hit by LSD.
Can Spread be Prevented?

• Being a viral disease, there is no specific cure for LSD.
• Therefore, successful control and eradication of LSD relies
on “early detection, followed by a rapid and widespread
vaccination campaign”.
• Once an animal has recovered, it is well protected and cannot
be the source of infection for other animals.
Feature Articles 55
SRI AUROBINDO: 150th ANNIVERSARY

August 15, 2022, marked the 150th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo (born as Aurobindo Ghose)
a yogi, philosopher, poet, educationist, and Indian nationalist.
Early Life and Education: Surendranath Tagore. He helped establish a series of youth
• He was born on August 15, clubs, including the Anushilan Samiti of Calcutta in 1902.
1872, in Calcutta. • Aurobindo provided the ideological foundation to the ultra-
• He was sent to England for radical Jugantar party, as an offshoot of the Anushilan Samiti.
further schooling. He entered • In 1906, Aurobindo was appointed the first principal of
the University of Cambridge, the National College in Calcutta, started to impart national
where he became proficient education to Indian youth.
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in two classical and several
modern European languages.
Spirituality:
• In 1910 he withdrew from politics and went to Pondicherry in
• Having ticked all the
order to devote himself entirely to his inner spiritual life and work.
checkboxes to join the Indian
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Civil Service (ICS) ranks, somehow, he either failed or failed • He met Mirra Alfassa in Pondicherry, and their spiritual
to appear for the horse-riding tests, abjuring the career of a collaboration led to “Integral Yoga”. Aurobindo retreated into
British Raj bureaucrat. virtual seclusion, anointing Alfassa as “the Mother” to lead the
organization.
• In 1893, Aurobindo returned to India and joined the Baroda
state, first as a bureaucrat and then as a professor of French • In 1926, with the help of his spiritual collaborator, the Mother,
at Baroda college. he founded the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The ashram eventually
attracted seekers from many countries throughout the world.
Revolutionary Movement: • In Pondicherry, Aurobindo eschewed overt political activities
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• The partition of Bengal in 1905 provoked Aurobindo to leave and embraced spiritual pursuits, soon to emerge as one of the
his job in Baroda and where he soon became one of the most original thinkers, philosophers, and spiritual masters.
leaders of the Nationalist movement. Aurobindo became • He was a prolific writer, producing several insightful treatises
inspired by the story of Bankim’s novel Anandamath. on Indian religious, spiritual, and cultural knowledge. In 1943,
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• He started the patriotic journal Bande Mataram to propagate he was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature and then
radical methods and revolutionary tactics instead of supplication. again in 1950 for the Nobel Peace Prize. Sri Aurobindo died
• He publicly hailed the blood and fire approach of the on December 5, 1950, in Pondicherry.
French revolution against the glacial process of the British
Teachings:
parliamentary dialogue.
• He was one of the first original thinkers to have paved the way
• He was the first political leader in India to openly put forward,
for India’s mandate as “the spiritual guide to humanity” or
in his newspaper Bande Mataram, the idea of complete
the “Vishwaguru”, and that mandate was based on spiritual
independence for the country.
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anchoring, inclusivity, and shared humanity.

• As an indomitable intellectual and an ardent nationalist, he
• The evolutionary philosophy underlying Aurobindo’s integral
published articles in the Bombay-based journal Indu Prakash
yoga is explored in his main prose work, The Life Divine (1939).
attacking the extractive British and indolent Congressmen.
• Rejecting the traditional Indian approach of striving for
• He wrote a series on Bankim Chandra’s Vande Mataram,
moksha (liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth) as
attributing divine nationhood to “Mother India” and depicting
a means of reaching happier, transcendental planes of
the independence struggle as the sacred cause of freedom.
existence, Aurobindo held that terrestrial life itself, in its
• Aurobindo’s pragmatic strategies to get rid of British rule higher evolutionary stages, is the real goal of creation.
marked him as “the Prophet of Indian Nationalism”.
• Prosecuted twice for sedition and once for conspiracy, he Literary Work:
was released each time for lack of evidence. • His major works include The Life Divine, Essays on the Gita
(1922), Collected Poems and Plays (1942), The Synthesis of
Organizations: Yoga (1948), The Human Cycle (1949), The Ideal of Human
• In Bengal, he established contacts and inspired Unity (1949), Savitri: A Legend and a Symbol (1950), and On
revolutionaries such as Bagha Jatin or Jatin Mukherjee and the Veda (1956).
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LORD CURZON
Bardhaman municipality in West Bengal has decided to erect a statue of Bardhaman’s Maharaja Bijay Chand
Mahtab in front of the Curzon Gate which is being opposed by Historians and politicians.
Lord Curzon: populated by more than 78 million people, encompassing

• Born in 1859, George Curzon was a present day West Bengal, Bangladesh, Bihar, parts of
British conservative politician. Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Assam.
• He served as Under-Secretary of • For long, the British had maintained that Bengal was too large
State for India (1891-1892), and for to efficiently manage and administer; it was also believed that
Foreign Affairs (1895-1898), before with Calcutta as the nerve centre of the educated nationalists,
being appointed Viceroy of India in the resistance to colonial rule would only increase.
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1899 till 1905. • In July 1905, Curzon announced the partition of Bengal into
• As viceroy, Curzon created a separate Muslim majority two provinces. East Bengal and Assam, with a population
province of the North-West Frontier Province, sent a British of 38 million, was predominately Muslim, while the western
expedition to Tibet, established a separate police service, province, called Bengal, was reduced to 55 million people,
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and established the Archaological Survey of India, in order to primarily Hindus.
study and protect historical monuments. • The educated Bengali bhadralok saw this move as an attempt
to break apart their homeland, and curb their influence in
Criticism: the region, while later nationalists would argue that it was
• Of all the Viceroys of India, Curzon is possibly the most indicative of the British’s divide and rule policy.
criticised — he is the man who partitioned Bengal in 1905.
Consequences of the Partition:
• He was also one of the more openly imperialist of viceroys,
and a man who saw Britain’s rule over India as critical to • In opposition to the partition, nationalist leaders organized
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the survival of empire. In 1900, Curzon famously stated, a campaign of boycott of British goods and institutions,
“We could lose all our [white settlement] dominions and still and encouraged the use of local products. After a formal
survive, but if we lost India, our sun would sink to its setting.” resolution was passed at a meeting in Calcutta in August
1905, the Swadeshi movement began.
• Curzon was enraged by the growing nationalist movement in
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India and he sought to throttle the growing aspirations of the • There was a surge in nationalist rhetoric, and the song ‘Bande
educated Indian middle class. Mataram’, set to music by Rabindranath Tagore, became the
informal anthem of the movement.
Controversial Steps: • The Swadeshi movement and boycott was not restricted to
• A staunch imperialist, he took a series of extremely unpopular Bengal, and spread to other parts of the country, including
measures, including passing: Punjab, Maharashtra, and parts of the Madras Presidency.
 the Calcutta Municipal Amendment Act in 1899 which • A number of secret societies, such as Anushilan Samiti of
reduced the number of elected representatives in the
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Bengal, sought to overthrow British rule through violent means.

Calcutta Corporation;
 the Indian Universities Act (1904), that placed Calcutta BIJAY CHAND MAHTAB
University under government control, and
• Bijay Chand Mahtab was the ruler of Bardhaman Estate,
 the Indian Official Secrets Amendment Act (1904) that
Bengal in British India from 1887 till his death in 1941.
reduced the freedom of the press even further.
• In 1903, he invited Lord Curzon to the Bardhaman palace
• Curzon believed that the Indian National Congress had lost
and to commemorate the event constructed a gate now
its influence and appeal amongst the Indians, and in 1900
known as Curzon Gate in Gothic style.
declared that the organisation was “tottering to its fall”.
• He was a member of the Bengal Legislative Council from
• His biggest decision was to partition Bengal in 1905 that led to
1907 to 1918, and of the Imperial Legislative Council from
a spurt in nationalist sentiment and revitalized the Congress.
1909 to 1912. He was also the President of British Indian
Partition of Bengal (1905): Association from 1911 to 1918 and again in 1925.
• Calcutta was the capital of the British Raj, and Bengal • In 1938, he was a member of the Francis Floud Commission
Presidency was one of the largest provinces in India, to suggest changes in the Permanent Settlement of 1793.
Feature Articles 57
WOMEN FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Recently, Prime Minister of India in his Independence Day speech paid tribute to
women freedom fighters-veeranganas.
Veeranganas of Nation: Rajguru, and Sukhdev, she later launched a failed attempt to
• Veerangana is a term describing a courageous female who assassinate Lord Hailey, the former governor of the Punjab.
is capable of standing up for herself. A powerful woman
Rani Gaidinliu:
defending not only herself but also everyone around her.
• Rani Gaidinliu was a Naga spiritual and political leader who
Rani Laxmi Bai: opposed the British. She was born in 1915 in Manipur.
• Rani Laxmibai, the queen of the princely state of Jhansi, is • She joined the Heraka religious organisation, which later evolved
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well-known for her participation in the First War of Indian into an anti-British movement. She rebelled against the Empire
Independence in 1857. Born Manikarnika Tambe in 1835, she and refused to pay taxes, asking people to do the same.
married the king of Jhansi. • Gaidinliu was detained in 1932 at the age of 16 and received
• Before the king passed away, the couple adopted Damodar a life sentence. She was released in 1947 after India attained
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Rao as their son; however, the East India Company refused to independence.
recognise Damodar Rao as the legitimate heir in accordance • Jawaharlal Nehru described Gaidinliu as the “daughter of the
with the Doctrine of Lapse and decided to conquer Jhansi. hills”, and gave her the title of ‘Rani’ for her courage.
• The queen chose to rule on behalf of the heir rather than cede
her land, and she joined the rebellion against the British in Rani Chennamma:
1857. • Rani Chennamma, the queen of Kittur, was one of the first
• With the aid of Tatya Tope and Nana Saheb, she took control monarchs to organise an armed uprising against British rule. In
of the Gwalior fort. She escaped from Jhansi Fort after the the modern-day state of Karnataka, Kittur was a princely state.
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British surrounded her. She suffered a wound during battle • After the death of her little son in 1824, she retaliated against
close to Phool Bagh in Gwalior, where she later passed away. the attempt to take control of her domain. Raja Mallasarja, her
spouse, had passed away in 1816.
Jhalkari Bai: • In her initial uprising, Rani Chennamma overthrew the British,
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• Born in 1830, in Bhojla village near Jhansi, Jhalkari Bai, a but the East India Company’s second attack resulted in her
female soldier in Rani Laxmibai’s army, went on to become capture and imprisonment.
one of the queen’s most trusted advisors.
• She also earned herself a position in Rani Lakshmi Bai’s Begum Hazrat Mahal:
women’s army called the Durga Dal and often made • Begum Hazrat Mahal and her supporters battled the British in
important decisions on behalf of the queen. She is renowned 1857 and took over Lucknow when her husband, the Nawab
for jeopardising her own life to protect the queen. of Awadh Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh was exiled
to Calcutta.
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• She is revered as an incarnation of God by several Dalit

communities in the area, and Jhalkaribai Jayanti is held • Hazrat Mahal decided to stay back in Lucknow along with her
annually in her honour. son Birjis Qadir. She fought for independence all the way up
until her death in 1879.
Durga Bhabhi:
• Revolutionary Durgawati Devi, also referred to as Durga Velu Nachiyar:
Bhabhi, joined the armed resistance to colonial rule. • Born in Ramanathapuram in 1780, she was married to the
• Durgawati, who was born in Allahabad in 1907 and king of Sivagangai.
maintained a bomb factory in Delhi with other revolutionaries, • She entered the conflict and prevailed with the help of
was married to Bhagwati Charan Vohra, a member of the neighbouring rulers after her husband was assassinated
Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). fighting the East India Company.
• A member of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, she assisted • In the late 1700s, she established the first army of skilled
Bhagat Singh in escaping from Lahore in disguise following female soldiers and created the first human bomb. Kuyili, the
the 1928 murder of British police officer John P. Saunders. commander of her army, is thought to have lit herself on fire
• In retaliation for the subsequent hangings of Bhagat Singh, before entering a British ammunition storage facility.
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REVOLUTIONARY FREEDOM FIGHTERS

In his address on Independence Day, PM Narendra Modi paid tribute to a range of freedom
fighters including fearless revolutionary heroes.
Mangal Pandey: Chandrashekhar Azad:

• A soldier with the British Indian army, Mangal Pandey sparked • Azad, a comrade and intellectual fellow traveller of Ramprasad
off the mutiny of Indian soldiers at Meerut that eventually Bismil and Bhagat Singh was born in Allahabad and began
became the great revolt of 1857. taking part in revolutionary activities from the age of 15.
• The revolt is said to have been sparked by the introduction • He gave himself the name ‘Azad’ and vowed never to be held
of the new Enfield rifle, which required soldiers to bite off the captive; when cornered by police in his final moments, he
cartridge casing before the weapon could be fired. chose to shoot himself in 1931.
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• Soldiers believed the casing was greased with cow fat and • He reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association
pig fat, which offended both Hindus and Muslims. (HRA) under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican
• Pandey was court-martialed for his protest and sentenced to Association (HSRA) after the death of its founder, Ram Prasad
death, and the rebellion was put down in some months. But Bismil.
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the revolt marked the first united Indian challenge to colonial • He was involved in the Kakori Train Robbery of 1925, in the
rule and left a deep and long-lasting imprint. attempt to blow up the Viceroy of India’s train in 1926, and
at last the shooting of J. P. Saunders at Lahore in 1928 to
Tantya Tope:
avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.
• Born in 1814, Tantya Tope was a trusted lieutenant of Nana
Sahib, the adopted son of Peshwa Baji Rao II of the Maratha Ashfaqulla Khan:
empire. • Born in Shahjahanpur, Khan helped form the HSRA and was
• Nana Sahib lost his ancestral rights under the ‘Doctrine of part of the Kakori incident.
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Lapse’ that disallowed adopted heirs of Indian rulers from • In September 1926, Khan’s close friend Ramprasad Bismil
ascending to the throne. was arrested, and finally, Khan too was arrested.
• In the summer of 1857, Tantya brought together armed forces • The trial continued for about a year and a half, and in April
to declare Nana Sahib the ruler of Kanpur and attempted to
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1927, Bismil, Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, and Roshan Singh were

protect the seat of power for over five months.
sentenced to death.
• After Kanpur was lost to the British in December 1857, he
assisted the Rani of Jhansi, whose adopted son was also a Ramprasad Bismil:
victim of the Doctrine of Lapse, to mobilise an armed force. • Ram Prasad Bismil was a poet, writer and revolutionary who
• Tantya Tope was sent to the gallows in April 1859 in Shivpuri, participated in the Mainpuri Conspiracy of 1918, and the
Madhya Pradesh, after a trusted aide betrayed him. Kakori Conspiracy of 1925, and fought against British Raj.
• He was one of the founding members of the revolutionary
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev, Rajguru:
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organization Hindustan Republican Association.

• In December 1928, Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru
• He started writing powerful patriotic poems in Urdu and Hindi
plotted the assassination of the superintendent of police
under the pen names ‘Bismil’, ‘Ram’, and ‘Agyat’.
James Scott in Lahore to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat
Rai. In a case of mistaken identity, assistant superintendent • The cult patriotic song “Mera rang de Basanti chola” is
of police John Saunders was shot dead. attributed to him.
• To avoid arrest, Singh escaped to Calcutta after shaving his • He published a pamphlet titled Deshvasiyon ke nam Sandesh.
beard and cutting his hair. He translated some of Bengali books viz. Bolshevikon Ki
Kartoot and Yogik Sadhan (of Arvind Ghosh).
• In April 1929, Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt hurled bombs in
the Central Assembly Hall in Delhi, and raised the slogan of • Beside these a collection of poems Man Ki Lahar and
“Inquilab Zindabad!”. They were later arrested. Swadeshi Rang was also written by him.
• Singh and his revolutionary comrades Rajguru and Sukhdev • Another Swadhinta ki devi: Catherine was fabricated from an
were hanged to death on March 23rd, 1931, in the Lahore English book into Hindi.
Conspiracy case. ‘Shaheed Diwas’ is annually observed on • Bismil was associated with the Arya Samaj from an early age.
March 23rd to mark their martyrdom. • He was hanged in 1927 at the age of 30.
Feature Articles 59
TRIBAL FREEDOM FIGHTERS

Addressing the nation on the 76th Independence Day, PM Modi said the role of tribals such as Birsa Munda,
Tirot Sing and Alluri Seetharama Raju in the freedom struggle cannot be forgotten.
Tilka Manjhi: • At the outset, the British rule was paralyzed in the area and
• State: Bihar the native agents were killed.
• Movement: The Manjhi Revolt of 1785

Nilamber and Pitamber:
• Start Year: 1785 • State: Jharkhand
• Determined to defend his people and land, Tilka organized • Movement: Revolt against the East India Company in 1857,
the Adivasis into an army trained in the use of bows and Palamu
arrows.
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• Start Year: 1857
• In 1770, there was a severe famine in the Santhal region.
• In October 1857, the brothers - Nilamber and Pitamber from
• With this began his “Santhal Hool” (the revolt of the Santhals). Latehar district - led around 500 tribals in an attack against
He continued to attack the British and their sycophantic allies. the British agents in the region.
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• From 1771 to 1784, Tilka did not surrender to the colonial • The Palamu Fort was occupied by the rebelling tribals.
authorities.
• Later, the strong British forces suppressed the rebellion,
Tirot Sing: arrested the brothers and hanged them in Lesliganj.
• State: Meghalaya Veer Surendra Sai:

• Movement: The Khasi Rebellion of 1833 • State: Odisha
• Start Year: 1833 • Movement: 1857 Rebellion of Sambalpur
• Tirot Sing, also known as U Tirot Sing Syiem was a Khasi chief • Start Year: 1857
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of the early 19th century.
• Surendra Sai was born in the year 1809 in Rajpur Khinda,
• He drew his lineage from the Syiemlieh clan and declared war located about 35 kms. from Sambalpur.
and fought against British for attempts to take over control of
• Next in line to the throne of Sambalpur after the death of
the Khasi Hills. In the Anglo-Khasi War, the Khasis resorted to
Maharaja Sai in 1827, Surendra Sai helped the tribal people
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guerrilla activity, which dragged on for about four years.

in the fight against the British by encouraging their language
• Tirot Sing was eventually captured by the British in January and cultural development.
1833 and deported to Dhaka. • He was a man with great military genius. He guarded the
passes to check military inflow of the Britishers in Sambalpur.
Telanga Kharia:
• During the 1857 Mutiny, the Hazirabagh Jail was broken down
• State: Jharkhand
and prisoners were liberated including Veer Surendra Sai. The
• Movement: Telanga Kharia Revolt, 1850-1880
1857 rebellion of Sambalpur was essentially a tribal rebellion.
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• Telanga Kharia, belongijng to the Kharia tribe, encouraged Thamman-Dora and Alluri Seetharama Raju:
the tribals to fight against the British atrocities and injustice in • State: Andhra Pradesh
the Chota Nagpur region. • Movement: The Koya Revolt, 1862 and 1922-1924
• Under his leadership, 13 jury panchayats were formed, and • Start Year: 1862
he formed an army of around 1500 trained men in guerrilla • The Koya revolt started against the ‘Muttadars’ (zamindars)
warfare against the colonial regime. who formed a chain of rent collectors from the colonial rulers
in the year 1862.
Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu:
• The Britishers deprived the tribals of their traditional rights
over the toddy trees (most valuable property of the tribals
• Movement: Santhal Hul of 1855-57 for they yielded drinks). the traders from the region took
• Start Year: 1855 advantage of the situation, by extending loans to the tribals
• In 1855, the Santhals gathered in the Bhagnadihi Village they confiscated their produce and cattle.
under the leadership of the brothers - Sidhu and Kanhu • As a result, the tribals attacked the authorities under the
Murmu - and declared themselves free from the colonial rule. leadership of Thamman-Dora in 1879.
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Current Affairs Feature Articles
• In 1922-24, this movement synchronized with the Non- • He was arrested on 3rd February, 1900, in Chakradharpur
Cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movement launched forest, after a fierce encounter and died in captivity. His
by Gandhiji under the leadership of Alluri Seetharama memory continues to be revered.
Raju (a Kashtriya from West Godavari district whose deep
involvement with the tribals made him immortal among them).
• Guerilla warfare was launched against the British that
spanned a course of two years.
Diva-Kishun Soren:
• Movement: Soren Revolt 1872
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• Soren and Diva Soren were maternal brothers.
• His guru’s name was Raghunath Bhuiyan.
• After Raja Abhiram Singh of Podhat accepted the independence
of the British, he inspired the people to stand against King
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Abhiram Singh of Podhat and the British administration.
• The rebellion began in 1872 AD under the leadership of Diva-
Kisun. This rebellion lasted for a long time, but at last the local
people informed the British administration about Diva-Kisun
hiding in the mountain.
• Diva-Kisun was arrested by the British administration and
soldiers of Raja Abhiram Singh and hanged in Seraikela jail.
Thangal General:
Pa Togan Sangma:
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• State: Manipur
• State: Meghalaya
• Movement: Anglo-Manipur War, 1891
• Movement: Garo Attack against the British Occupation, 1872
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• General Thangal, a Naga tribal of Senapati district of

• Pa Togan Sangma or Togan Sangma or Pa Togan Nengminja
Manipur. He was among the most prominent heroes of the
Sangma was a Garo (Tibeto-Burman ethnic group from the
Anglo-Manipur War 1891. He was hanged to death on 13th
subcontinent) tribal leader.
August 1891 at Pheida-pung, Imphal.
• Along with other Garo warriors, Pa Togan Sangma attacked
the British officials while they were sleeping during their Paona Brajabashi:
occupation of the region. • State: Manipur
• Movement: Khongjom Battle of 1891
Birsa Munda:
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• The Anglo-Manipuri war or the Khongjom Battle broke out
• Movement: Munda Rebellion, 1899 in 1891. Attempting to resist British forces marching from
• Start Year: 1899 Tamu, 700 Manipuri soldiers were dispatched to Thoubal led
• Birsa, a Munda youngster, started thinking about the ills by Major General Paona Brajabashi, a brave soldier of the
plaguing his society and decided to remove them by setting kingdom of Manipur.
his people free from the British domination. • Manipur celebrates Khongjom Day every year on 23rd April.
• He provided the Mundas with leadership, with religion and
with a code of life seeking dignity and freedom. Gunda Dhur:
• In 1894, he led the Mundas for redressal of grievances to • State: Chhattisgarh
Chaibasa and was arrested. • Movement: 1910 Rebellion of the Dhurwas of Kanger forest in
• He spent two years of rigorous imprisonment. He continued Bastar
to serve his people, especially the needy and the sick and • Start Year: 1910
was worshipped as ‘Birsa Bhagvan’. • The British rule in Bastar was abolished, the tribal rule was
• Birsa struggled against the British throughout his life. re-established even though for a short span of time.
• Consequently, the reservation of land for industrial use by the works like construction of roads, building bridges and
colonial regime was suspended and the reserved area was establishing schools.
reduced almost to half. • He asked the villagers not to pay any tax. He spearheaded
the fight against colonial oppression and exploitation.
Jatra Bhagat:
• During the Quit India Movement 1942, he was nominated
• State: Jharkhand to represent Matili. He used nonviolence as a main weapon
• Movement: Tana Bhagat Movement, 1920-1921 against colonial power.
• Start Year: 1920 • The tribal people called him “Gandhi of Malkangiri.
• Jatra Bhagat, also known as Jatra Oraon, from the Gumla • The Bonda tribes of this region seized Matili police station
District (his followers were known as ‘Tana Bhagats’) under the leadership of Laxman Naik.
organized the Oraon tribals (one of the five largest tribes in • The police opened fire, klling around 7 people and injuring
South Asia) to fight against the oppression being done by the many. At the break of dawn on 29 March 1943, Laxman Naik
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local zamindars and authorities. was executed by the British at the Berhampur jail.
• In 1921, the tribals actively participated in the Non-
Cooperation Movement. On their persuasion, ‘The Bhagat Narayan Singh:
Agricultural Lands Restoration Act’ was passed in the then • State: Chhattisgarh
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Bihar, for the land alienated tribals. • Movement: Hero of the First War of Independence of
Chhattisgarh, 1856-1857
Malati Mem: • Start Year: 1856-1857
• State: Assam • The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 was not confined to the activities of
• Movement: Anti-opium campaign in tea gardens, 1921 Indian Armymen, it spread to the tribal hinterland as well.
• Start Year: 1921 • One such exmaple is Narayan Singh, the tribal landlord
• Malati Mem (Mangri Orang) was one of the leading members whose ancestors belonged to the Gond tribal group residing
of the anti-opium campaign in tea gardens. in Sarangarh.
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• In 1921, she was killed by government supporters at Lalmati • In August 1856, he relieved the cultivators by distributing
in Darrang district for supporting Congress Volunteers in the grain hoarded by a merchant - an act of public benefit for
prohibition campaign. which he was publicly executed by the colonial authorities on
10th December, 1857 at Raipur.
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Haipou Jadonang: • He was earlier arrested in 1856 for a period of 10 months,

• State: Manipur from whence he escaped by digging an underground tunnel
• Movement: Leader of the Naga Nationalist Movement, 1930s on 28th August 1857.
• Start Year: 1930 • With the assistance of landlord of Deori, the British forces
arrested Narayan Singh.
• Haipou Jadonang, a Rongmei Naga leader from Manipur,
was a spiritual and political leader who fought for freedom Govind Guru:
from the clutches of the British colonial rule.
• State: Rajasthan
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• He began establishing an army, Riphen, that comprised of • Movement: Bhagat Movement 1883
500 men and women who were well trained in military tactics,
weaponry and reconnaissance missions.
• The great famine of 1899-1900 affected tribals
• He was arrested in 1931 and hanged by the colonial rulers.
disproportionately.
Laxman Naik: • From this tragedy emerged a social reform movement
that aimed at the betterment of the marginalised. Led by
• State: Odisha
Govind Guru, the Bhagat Movement was initiated to address
• Movement: Koraput Revolt, 1942
the challenges faced by the Bhils. In 1913, along with his
• Start Year: 1942 followers, Guru reached Mangarh.
• Laxman Naik, belonging to the Bhumia tribe of Odisha, was • Rumour spread that they were planning to revolt against the
accepted as the tribal leader by the people of Koraput and its princely states.
surrounding region like Malkanagiri and Tentulipada. • The combined forces of the British and the princely states
• The tribal people devoted themselves for the cause of national bombarded the crowd with bullets and artillery, killing over
freedom. He mobilized the tribal people for development 1000 - this came to be knowas the Magadh Massacre.
Feature
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62 Feature Articles
SANTHALS
The Santhal community is in the spotlight after Draupadi Murmu became

the first tribal President of India.
Population: Santal Hul:

• Santhals, also spelt as Santals, are the third largest scheduled • The Santhals are credited for taking on the force of the East
tribe community in India after the Gonds and Bhils. India Company through the Santal Hul (revolution) of 1855-
• Their population is mostly distributed in Odisha, Jharkhand 56. The anguished Santhals formed their own troops which
and West Bengal. included farmers and marched against their oppressors.
• Murmu’s home district, Mayurbhanj, has one of the largest • They destroyed the postal communications along with
concentrations of the tribe. the rail lines and burgled and vandalised storehouses
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• In Odisha, Santhals are found in Keonjhar and Balasore, and warehouses. When the British was made aware of the
other than Mayurbhanj district. situation, they sent the military to gun down the Santhals.
• The Santhals led a nomadic life in the past but then settled • While, the revolt wasn’t successful, the Santhal Rebellion is
in the Chhotanagpur plateau. Towards the end of the 18th considered to be one of the most extraordinary incidents in
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century, they migrated to the Santhal Parganas of Bihar and the history of pre-independent India.
then they came to Odisha.
Schedule Tribe Status:
Culture: • The Santhal people are constitutionally designated Schedule
• The word ‘Santhal’ is derived from two words; ‘santha’ tribe status only in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha
meaning calm and peaceful and ‘ala’ meaning man. state of India.
• The Santhals have a high literacy rate compared to other • And the remaining Santhal living in other administrative
region, specifically North Eastern states, who migrated
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tribes in Odisha. Their high literacy could be attributed to a
pro-school education awareness since at least the 1960s. during British raj to work as Assam tea garden laborer are not
• Santhals speak Santhali, which belongs to the Austro- Asiatic considered as Scheduled Tribes.
language family. Santhals have their script called Olchiki,
Notable People:
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which was developed by Dr Raghunath Murmu in 1925.

• Bishweswar Tudu: Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Jal
• Various forms of marriage are accepted in the Santhal society
Shakti.
– including elopement, widow remarriage, levirate and the
• G. C. Murmu: 14th Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of
one in which a man is made to marry the woman he has
India and first lieutenant governor of J&K (Union Territory).
impregnated.
• Raghunath Murmu: Inventor of Ol Chiki script.
• Santhal houses called ‘Olah’ are distinct and can be identified
from a distance. They are large, neat and attractive with • Hemant Soren: Chief Minister of Jharkhand.
multi-coloured paintings on the outside walls. The bottom • Shibu Soren: former chief minister of Jharkhand and president
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of the wall is painted with black soil, the middle portion with of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha.
white and the upper portion with red.
DROUPADI MURMU
Culture:
• Droupadi Murmu is the 15th President of India, in the
• Sohrai is the principal festival of Santal community. Besides
office serving since 25 July 2022. She is the first person
that Baha, Karam, Dashain, Sakrat, Mahmore, Rundo and
belonging to the tribal community and also the second
Magsim are important festivals.
woman after Pratibha Patil to hold the office.
• Chadar Badar, a form of puppetry known also as Santal
• She is the youngest and first individual born after India’s
puppetry, is a folk show involving wooden puppets placed in
independence in 1947 to have been elected president.
a small cage which acts as the stage.
• Prior to her presidency she served as the ninth governor of
• When it comes to religion, the Santhals have no temples
Jharkhand between 2015 and 2021.
of their own and follow the Sarna religion. They are nature
worshipers and pay their obeisance at Jaher (sacred groves) • She was born to a Santhali family in 1958, in Uparbeda
irrespective of the positions they hold. village in the Baidaposi area of Rairangpur, Odisha.
Feature Articles 63
FAMILY PLANNING VISION-2030

The Union Health Ministry released its Family Planning Vision-2030 document.
Population Growth: • While multiple factors have been identified that explain low
• India is the second largest country in the world. contraceptive use among married adolescents and young
women, two most important factors are child marriage and
• The country’s population is expected to continue to grow
teenage pregnancy.
until mid-century (due to population momentum), however,
the population growth will decline substantially. Teenage Pregnancy:
• India’s population has reached 136.3 crore (1.36 billion) and • Over 118 districts reported high percentage of teenage
is expected to reach 147.9 crore (1.47 billion) by 2031 and
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pregnancies and are mostly concentrated in Bihar (19), West
further 152.2 crore (1.52 billion) by 2036. Bengal (15), Assam (13), Maharashtra (13), Jharkhand (10),
Andhra Pradesh (7), and Tripura (4).
Demography:
• Although there has been a steady decline in teenage
• The adolescent population will reach 22.9 crore (229 million)
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childbearing, from 7.9% in the National Family Health Survey
by 2031 and further 22 crore (220 million) by 2036.
(NFHS-4) to 6.8% (in the NFHS-5) it remains a priority area
• The youth population in the age-group of 15-24 increased
that requires to be addressed, especially since India will
from 23.3 crore (233 million) in 2011 to 25.2 crore (252
continue to have one of the youngest populations in the world
million) in 2021 and will now decline to reach at 23.4 crore
until 2030.
(234 million) in 2031 and further reach 22.9 crore (229 million)
in 2036. Child Marriage:
• Over 44% of the districts in India reported high percentage of
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women marrying before they reach the age of 18.
• These districts were in the States of Bihar (17), West Bengal
(8), Jharkhand (7), Assam (4), two each in Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
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• Coincidentally, these districts also experience low rates of

modern contraceptive use.
Strategy:
• Strategies to overcome teenage childbearing, lack of male
participation in awareness programmes, migration and lack
of access to contraceptives have been identified as priorities.
• Participation of men will be encouraged in the family planning
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Contraceptives Use: programme.

• Lack of access to contraceptives had been identified as a • The vision also included a plan to use the private sector for
priority challenge area. providing modern contraceptives.
• Male contraceptive methods were largely limited to condoms.
Male sterilisation was at 0.3%. Overall male participation DO YOU KNOW?
was also determined by perception towards women’s • India was the first country in the world to have launched a
contraceptive use. National Programme for Family Planning in 1952.
• Modern contraceptive use among married adolescents and • There occurred a gradual shift from clinical approach to the
young women, although increasing over time, has been reproductive child health approach and further, the National
rather low.
Population Policy (NPP) in 2000 brought a holistic and a
• Private sector contributes 45% share of pills and 40% target free approach which helped in the reduction of fertility.
share of condoms. For other reversible contraceptives like
• The government had recently said in Parliament that it
injectables, the share is 30% and 24% for IUCD. Sterilisation
sought to stabilise the population by 2045.
was mostly done by the government sector.
Feature
CurrentArticle
Affairs
64 Feature Articles
‘MISSING’ GIRLS (SEX RATIO AT BIRTH)
The latest study by Pew Research Center has pointed out that “son bias” is on a decline in India. The findings
of the report are based on the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).
Key Findings: • Now the sex ratio at birth appears to have normalized to 108
• The average annual number of baby girls “missing” in India as of NFHS (2019-21).
fell from about 4.8 lakh in 2010 to 4.1 lakh in 2019. • Between 2000-2019, nine crore female births went “missing”
• The sex ratio at birth has declined from 111 boys per 100 girls because of female-selective abortions.
in 2011 to 108 boys per 100 girls in 2019-21.
• Reasons for improvement
 This follows government efforts to curb sex selection
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– including a ban on prenatal sex tests and a massive
advertising campaign urging parents to “save the girl child”.
 This coincides with broader social changes such as rising
education and wealth.
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• Religion-wise Sex Ratio at Birth:
 The report has also analysed religion-wise sex selection.
 Among the major religions, the gender imbalance was
highest for Sikhs. But even the biggest reduction in sex
selection is also among the Sikhs.
 In the 2001 census, Sikhs had a sex ratio at birth of 130 males
per 100 females which has now narrowed down to 110 boys
per 100 girls, about the same as among the Hindus (109).
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 Both Chirstians (105 boys to 100 girls) and Muslims (106
boys to 100 girls) have sex ratios close to the natural norm.
MEANING OF ‘MISSING’ GIRLS? Reason for Sex Selection:

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• Sex selection is attributed to “son preference” (or “daughter

• “Missing” is a term used by demographers to describe
aversion”), a form of gender bias in which families prioritize
the deficit in a population caused by discriminatory family
having sons over daughters for economic, historical or
planning practices, largely female-selective abortions and
religious reasons.
female infanticide.
• In India, son preference may be tied to cultural practices
• In short, how many more female births would have occurred
that make daughters more costly to raise than sons. In Indian
during this time if there were no female-selective abortions.
tradition, mainly sons pass down the family name, thereby
• Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen in 1990 was
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carrying on the family lineage, and are expected to perform

the first to draw international attention to the concept of last rites for deceased parents.
“missing” women. • Due to malpractices like dowry, parents are burdened to
give away major part of their wealth to the daughters after
Timeline of Sex Selective Abortions: marriage. And while sons continue to live in the parental
• Naturally, boys modestly outnumber girls at birth World Over, at home after marriage, a daughter is expected to move away
a ratio of approximately 105 male babies for every 100 female from her parents and into her husband’s family home.
babies. That was the ratio in India in the 1950s and 1960s.
Impact: Marriage Squeezes
• India legalised abortion in 1971 but the trend of sex selective
abortions started picking up in the 1980s due to the increased • Societies with high rates of sex-selective abortions typically
availability of prenatal diagnostic technology. suffer within a couple of decades from a shortage of
marriageable women and a surplus of men seeking brides.
• The sex ratio at birth widened rapidly from about 105 boys
per 100 girls before 1970, to 108 boys per 100 girls in the • This “marriage squeeze” can trigger a variety of social
early 1980s; it reached 110 in the 1990s and remained at that problems, such as increases in sex-related violence and
level for roughly 20 years. crimes and trafficking of women.
Feature Articles 65
2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES

India competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games at Birmingham,

England from 28 July to 8 August 2022.
About: Gold Medal Winners for India in CWG 2022:

• The 2022 Commonwealth Games was an international multi- • PV Sindhu - Badminton Women’s Singles
sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations. • Lakshya Sen - Badminton Men’s Singles
• It was India’s 18th appearance at the Commonwealth Games. • Nikhat Zareen - Boxing Women’s Light Flyweight
• Vinesh Phogat - Wrestling Women’s Freestyle 53kg
COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS • Ravi Kumar Dahiya - Wrestling Men’s Freestyle 57kg
• Naveen - Wrestling Men’s Freestyle 74kg
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• The Commonwealth of Nations is a political association of
56 member states, the vast majority of which are former • Sharath Kamal - Table Tennis men’s singles
territories of the British Empire. • Nitu Ghanghas - Boxing Minimumweight
• It was originally created in 1926 as the British • Amit Panghal - Boxing Flyweight
• Bajrang Punia - Wrestling Men’s Freestyle 65kg
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Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration
and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute • Sakshi Malik - Wrestling Women’s Freestyle 62kg
of Westminster in 1931. • Deepak Punia - Wrestling Men’s Freestyle 86kg
• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom. • Mirabai Chanu - Weightlifting Women’s 49kg
• The head of the Commonwealth is currently Queen • Jeremy Lalrinnunga - Weightlifting Men’s 67kg
Elizabeth II. • Achinta Sheuli - Weightlifting Men’s 73kg
• Lovely Choubey, Pinki, Nayanmoni Saikia, Rupa Rani Tirkey -
Lawn Bowls Women’s Fours
Key Highlights:
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• Sharath Kamal, Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, Harmeet Desai, Sanil
• Team India finished fourth on the medals tally, behind
Shetty - Table Tennis Men’s Team
Australia (178 medals), England (176 medals) and Canada
• Sudhir - Para Powerlifting Men’s Heavyweight
(92 medals). Overall, Indian athletes won 22 gold, 16 silver
• Bhavina Patel - Table Tennis Women’s Singles Classes 3-5
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and 23 bronze medals, for a total of 61 medals.

• Eldhose Paul- Men’s Triple Jump
• The final count is just 5 medals less than what India won at
• Sharath Kamal, Sreeja Akula - Table Tennis Mixed Team
CWG 2018 (66 medals). India emerged as best nation in 4
• Satwik Sairaj Rankireddi and Chirag Shetty - Badminton men’s
sports: badminton, table tennis, wrestling and weightlifting.
doubles
• Mirabai Chanu won the first gold medal for the country in
weightlifting. India won its first ever medals in Lawn Bowls after SPORT-WISE BREAK-UP OF MEDALS WON BY INDIA
the Women’s Fours team won the Gold Medal. SPORT GOLD SILVER BRONZE TOTAL
• It is the first time when women’s cricket is part of the CWG.
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Wrestling 6 1 5 12
• Sharath Kamal was India’s most successful player having won
Table Tennis 4 1 2 7
four (3 gold and 1 silver) medals in table tennis.
Weightlifting 3 3 4 10
• Squash player Anahat Singh became the youngest Indian
athlete to compete at the Commonwealth Games at just 14 Boxing 3 1 3 7
years of age. Badminton 3 1 2 6
Athletics 1 4 3 8
Lawn Bowls 1 1 - 2
Para Powerlifting 1 - - 1
Judo - 2 1 3
Hockey - 1 1 2
Cricket - 1 - 1
Squash - - 2 2
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Economy
ECONOMY
UPI PAYMENT CHARGES About:

• The MPC also said it would remain focused on “withdrawal
Less than a week after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came of accommodation” to ensure that inflation remains within the
out with a discussion paper seeking stakeholder views on target, while supporting growth.
charges in payment systems, the Finance Ministry clarified
• The RBI retained its inflation and GDP growth projections
that there is “no consideration” in the government to levy
for the current fiscal year ending in March 2023 at 6.7% and
any charges for Unified Payments Interface (UPI) services.
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7.2%, respectively.
• Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands
About: adjusted to 5.15%; and the marginal standing facility (MSF)
• In a discussion paper released, the RBI had asked rate and the Bank Rate to 5.65%.
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stakeholders if merchant discount rate (MDR), a fee paid by
• The policy response to the unfolding economic situation
merchants to acquiring banks, should be brought back for
would be ‘calibrated, measured and nimble’.
UPI transactions.
• On the external sector, Mr. Das said the Current Account
• MDR, or merchant discount rate, on UPI transactions has
Deficit (CAD) would remain within manageable limits and the
been a long-standing demand of the payments industry.
RBI had the ability to finance the CAD.
Most other modes of digital retail payments attract a charge
on transactions. Currently, the government has mandated
a “zero-charge framework” for UPI transactions, with effect WILLFUL DEFAULT
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from January 1, 2020. This translates into charges on UPI for
users as well as merchants being nil. With an eye on willful defaulters, the Finance Ministry
• Terming UPI services as a “digital public good”, the Finance recently released the Foreign Exchange Management
(Overseas Investment) Rules, 2022.
Ministry stepped in to clarify that the concerns for the service
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providers for cost recovery have to be met through other

means. About:
• The new rules stipulate that any Indian resident who has an
MERCHANT DISCOUNT RATE (MDR) account appearing as a non-performing asset; or is classified
as a willful defaulter by any bank; or is under investigation
• Merchant Discount Rate (alternatively referred to as the
by a financial service regulator or by investigative agencies
Transaction Discount Rate or TDR) is the sum total of all
in India, will have to seek an no objection certificate before
the charges and taxes that a digital payment entails.
making any overseas financial commitment.
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• For instance, the MDR includes bank charges, which a

• According to the RBI, a willful default is deemed to have
bank charges customers and merchants for allowing
occurred in any of the following four circumstances:
payments to be made digitally.
 When there is a default in repayment obligations by the
• Similarly, MDR also includes the processing charges that
unit (company/individual) to the lender even when it has
a payments aggregator has to pay to online or mobile
the capacity to honour the said obligations. There is
wallets or indeed to banks for their service.
deliberate intention of not repaying the loan.
 The funds are not utilised for the specific purpose for
which finance was availed but have been diverted for
MONETARY POLICY other purposes.
 When the funds have been siphoned off and not been
With inflation remaining at ‘elevated levels’, the Monetary utilised for the purpose for which it was availed. Further,
Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India
no assets are available which justify the usage of funds.
unanimously decided to raise the policy repo rate by 50
 When the asset bought by the lenders’ funds have been
basis points (bps) to 5.4%.
sold off without the knowledge of the bank/lender.
In-Shorts | Economy Current Affairs 67
BASMATI CROP SURVEY ‘AQUA BAZAR’ APP

The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export National Fisheries Development Board (NPFB) launched an
Development Authority (APEDA), Ministry of Commerce online marketplace - 'Aqua Bazar' app.
and Industry has commenced Basmati crop survey to
estimate acreage, assess crop health and expected yield of
About:
aromatic and long grain rice during 2022-2023 kharif crop
• The app will help the fish farmers and stakeholders to source
season using climate-based yield modelling.
the inputs such as fish seed, feed and medicines and services
required for fish culture. It will connect various stakeholders
About: involved in aquaculture sector.
• The survey is being executed under the Basmati Export • The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) was
Development Foundation (BEDF), which is an arm of APEDA. established in 2006 as an autonomous organization under
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The final survey report is to be finalized by December this year. the administrative control of the Ministry of fisheries animal
• Basmati is a variety of long, slender-grained aromatic rice husbandry and dairying.
which is traditionally grown in South Asia. Since 2017, the
Indian Patent Office has given GI tag for Basmati rice.
MOONLIGHTING
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• India has exported Basmati to the tune of close to USD 12
billion in the last three years.
Food delivery start-up Swiggy recently announced an
• Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, United “industry-first” policy of allowing its employees to take up
States of America, Kuwait, United Kingdom, Qatar and Oman gigs or projects outside of their regular employment at the
have a share of close to 80 per cent in total shipments of company, during the hours away from work. Swiggy calls
aromatic long grained rice from India in 2021-22. these new norms the “moonlighting” policy.
ELEVENTH AGRICULTURAL CENSUS About:

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• Moonlighting is the act of working at an extra job beyond
The Eleventh Agricultural Census (2021-22) was launched regular working hours, usually without the knowledge of the
in the country by the Union Minister for Agriculture. employer. Since the side job was mostly at nighttime or on
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weekends, it was referred to as moonlighting.

About: • The term gained popularity when workers in the US started
• The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Ministry seeking a second job beyond their regular 9-to-5 work for
of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India additional income.
conducts Agriculture Censuses in India in collaboration with
States/UTs.
BENAMI LAW
• Agriculture Census is conducted every 5 years, which is
being undertaken now after delay due to corona pandemic.
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The Supreme Court (SC) declared the amendments

• Agricultural Census is the main source of information on a introduced to the Benami law in 2016, as “unconstitutional
variety of agricultural parameters at a relatively minute level, and manifestly arbitrary” which apply retrospectively
such as the number and area of operational
holdings, their and can send a person to prison for three years even as it
size, class-wise distribution, land use, tenancy and cropping empowers the Centre to confiscate “any property” subject
pattern, etc. to a benami transaction.
• The field work of agricultural census started in August 2022.
This is the first time that data collection for agricultural census About:
will be conducted on smart phones and tablets, so that data • The SC declared Sections 3(2) and 5 as unconstitutional which
is available in time. introduced through the Benami Transactions (Prohibition)
• Till present day, ten Agriculture Censuses with reference Amendment Act, 2016. The 2016 law amended the original
years 1970-71, 1976-77, 1980-81, 1985-86, 1990-91, 1995- Benami Act of 1988, expanding it to 72 Sections from a mere
96, 2000-01, 2005-06, 2010-11 and 2015-16 have been nine.
conducted. The reference period in the Agriculture Census is • Section 3(2) mandates three years of imprisonment for
the agriculture year starting from July to June. those who had entered into benami transactions between
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September 5, 1988 and October 25, 2016. That is, a person INDIA’S FIRST E-DOUBLE DECKER AIR
can be sent behind bars for a benami transaction entered
CONDITIONED BUS
into 28 years before the Section even came into existence.
• The Supreme Court held that the provision violated Article India’s first electric double-decker bus was launched
20(1) of the Constitution. Article 20(1) mandates that no in Mumbai by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and
person should be convicted of an offence, which was not in Transport (BEST).
force “at the time of the commission of the act charged as
an offence”.
About:
• Section 5 of the 2016 Amendment Act said that “any property,
• Switch mobility limited a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland has
which is subject matter of benami transaction, shall be liable
manufactured this unique electric double-decker bus called
to be confiscated by the Central Government”. The court held
as Switch EiV 22.
that this provision cannot be applied retrospectively.
• History: The hundred-year history of Kolkata’s double-decker
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buses can be traced back to 1922, when the motorbus,
KERALA SAVARI manufactured by Walford & Company, was first introduced
to the city by the Calcutta Tramways Company. In 1926,
Kerala has launched ‘Kerala Savari’, to ensure decent Walford & Company would go on to launch Kolkata’s first
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service to passengers along with fair remuneration to auto- double-decker bus.
taxi workers.
AKASA AIR
About:
• ‘Kerala Savari,’ is the country’s first online taxi service owned First Flight of Akasa Air from Mumbai to Ahmedabad was
by a State government. inaugurated recently.
• An initiative by the Motor Workers Welfare Board under the
leadership of the Labour department, Kerala Savari ensures
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About:
safe travel for the public at government-approved fares.
• Akasa Air is the 7th schedule airline with brand name of SNV
• This online platform promises ‘fair and decent service to
Aviation having Corporate Headquarters at Mumbai with
passengers and a reasonable remuneration to auto rickshaw
Boeing Max - 8 aircraft.
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and taxi workers.’

• Akasa Air is the first major airline to take to the skies in seven
• Unlike other online platforms which switch to dynamic pricing
years since Tata Sons- Singapore Airline joint venture Vistara
during peak hours, there will be no fluctuation in fares on
started operations in 2015. Though there have been several
Kerala Savari.
new regional carriers, some have shut shop, and a few others
have suspended flights due to cash crunch.
CAROTAR RULES • The airline is founded by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
along with aviation veterans Vinay Dube, who was the CEO
The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs said of Jet Airways until it closed down in April 2019, and Aditya
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customs field officers should be sensitive to applying Ghosh, who earlier helmed IndiGo.
CAROTAR and maintain consistency with the provisions of • Akasa Air plans to be a low-cost carrier with single fleet and all
relevant trade agreement or its Rules of Origin. economy seats. Akasa Air is planning to expand its activities
to 72 aircrafts in next five years which will significantly
About: enhance the domestic aviation services in India.
• Customs (Administration of Rules of Origin under Trade
Agreements) or CAROTAR Rules, came into effect from
September 21, 2020.
INDUSTRY TAG FOR RAJASTHAN TOURISM
• It empowers officers to seek further information from an
UNITS
importer, consistent with the trade agreement, in case the
The ‘industry’ status accorded to the tourism and hospitality
officer has reasons to believe that the country-of-origin criteria
sector in Rajasthan earlier this year has given a sure and
have not been met. Where the importer fails to provide the
certain fillip to the State’s tourism units that had incurred
requisite information, the officer can make further verification
huge losses during the pandemic.
consistent with the trade agreement.
About: • Jammu & Kashmir Horticultural Produce Marketing and

• The power tariff and other taxes levied on tourism operators Processing Corporation (JKHPMC), the implementing agency
have now been brought on a par with other industries, against of the scheme is regularly creating awareness among the
the much-higher commercial rates levied earlier. farmers about the significance of this scheme so that ample
number of them can take benefit from it.
• Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had announced in his 2022-23
Budget speech in the State Assembly in February this year
that the tourism and hospitality sector would be granted FPI ADVISORY COMMITTEE (FAC)
industry status.
• The concessions to the tourism sector as an ‘industry’ would The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has
constituted an expert group of Foreign Portfolio Investors
bring a financial burden of ₹700 crore a year on the State
(FPIs) to boost overseas flows into the country.
exchequer.
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About:
PMAY-URBAN
• The FPI Advisory Committee (FAC) will be chaired by former
The Union Cabinet has approved continuation of Pradhan Chief Economic Adviser KV Subramanian and consists of 14
Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) - Housing for All other members representing foreign banks, stock exchanges
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Mission up to 31st December 2024. depositories and RBI.
• The FAC has been tasked with advising on issues related to
About: investments and operations of FPIs in the financial markets,
including measures to facilitate ease of doing business by
• Financial assistance is being provided for the completion
FPIs in India.
of already sanctioned over 122 lakh houses till 31st March
2022.
• The scheme is one of the major flagship programmes being DEVELOPMENT OF ENTERPRISES AND
SERVICES HUB (DESH)
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implemented by Central Government to provide all-weather
pucca houses to all eligible beneficiaries in the urban areas
of the country through States, Union Territories, and Central A Workshop on Development of Enterprises and Services
Nodal Agencies. Hub (DESH) Bill, 2022 was organized by Department of
Commerce. The workshop was organised in partnership
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• The continuation of the scheme based on the request

with Export Promotion Council for EOUs and SEZs.
of States and UTs upto 31st December 2024 will help in
completion of already sanctioned houses under Beneficiary
Led Construction, Affordable Housing in Partnership, and In- About:
situ Slum Redevelopment verticals. • The government plans to facilitate easier financing norms to
activities pertaining to the manufacturing and services hubs
PARVAZ envisaged under the proposed revamped law for Special
Economic Zones (SEZs), also known as Development
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The innovative Market Linkage scheme- PARVAZ possesses (Enterprise and Services) Hub Bill, 2022.
tremendous potential for uplifting the economic conditions • This will be done by giving them infrastructure status, at par
of the farmers across the Union Territory of Jammu and with sectors such as road, rail waterways, airports, to improve
Kashmir. access to finance and enable long-term borrowing from
lenders at easier terms.
About:
• The scheme was launched by the Government with an aim to NATIONAL FOOD SECURITY ACT (NFSA)
create market linkage support for the shipment of Agriculture
and Horticulture perishables being harvested in Jammu and The Supreme Court (SC) has directed the Centre to increase
Kashmir through Air Cargo. coverage under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) so
that “more and more needy persons and citizens get the
• Under the scheme, 25 per cent subsidy on freight charges
benefit” under the 2013 law which entitles rural and urban
is given for carrying perishable fruits harvested in Jammu
poor to subsidised foodgrains under the Targeted Public
and Kashmir for shipment through Air Cargo. The subsidy is
Distribution System.
provided to farmers through DBT mode.
70
About: • Revaluation Reserves will be considered for inclusion in

• The coverage under the NFSA is still decided by the Tier-I capital subject to applicable discount on the lines of
population figures of the 2011 census. scheduled commercial banks.
• The SC ordered the Union government to re-determine the • A Working Group made up of representatives from the RBI,
NFSA coverage in the States and Union Territories after SEBI, and Ministry of Co-operation, Government of India,
considering the population increase between 2011 and 2021 has been established to examine the issues pertaining
so that benefits were not restricted to beneficiaries identified to recommendations for capital augmentation under the
back in 2011. provisions of Section 12 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949
• “The right to food is a fundamental right available under (as amended) (as applicable to co-operative societies).
Article 21 of the Constitution,” the Supreme Court noted. • The Committee has also made certain recommendations
regarding the Umbrella Organisation for UCB Sector which
e-Shram Portal: will be examined once the entity is fully operational.
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• In the order, the court directed the States which were not able
to register unorganised workers, including migrant labourers, URBAN COOPERATIVE BANKS (UCBS) IN INDIA
in the e-Shram portal to do so within six weeks.
• The term Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs), though not
• The Union Labour Ministry has developed a National
formally defined, refers to primary cooperative banks
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Database of Unorganised Workers (NDUW) portal and the
located in urban and semi-urban areas.
e-Shram portal for registration of labourers spread over
400 occupations including in constructions, agriculture, • These banks, till 1996, were allowed to lend money only
fishing, and dairy, those self-employed and even ASHA and for non-agricultural purposes.
anganwadi workers. • The RBI regulates the banking activities of UCBs
and establishes standards for capital adequacy, risk
management, and lending. However, the Registrar of
URBAN CO-OPERATIVE BANKS (UCBs)
Co-operative Societies, either under the State or Central
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government, regulates their management and resolution
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), released an expert
committee report on Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs). in the event of a crisis.
This committee was chaired by N. S. Vishwanathan, former
Deputy Governor.
INTERNATIONAL DRIVING PERMIT (IDP)
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Recommendations of the Committee: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has issued a
• A simple four-tiered regulatory framework with differentiated notification for greater facilitation of citizens in the issue of
regulatory prescriptions will be set up aimed at strengthening International Driving Permit (IDP) across the country.
the financial soundness of the existing UCBs.
• The minimum CRAR requirement for Tier 1 banks is retained About:
at the present prescription of 9% under current capital
• India, being a signatory to Convention on International Road
N
adequacy framework based on Basel I norms.

Traffic of 1949 (Geneva Convention), is required to issue IDP
• While maintaining the current capital adequacy framework, it as provided under this Convention, for the acceptance of the
has been determined to increase the minimum CRAR for Tier same on reciprocal basis with other countries.
2, Tier 3, and Tier 4 UCBs to 12% in order to enhance their
• Now, through this amendment, the format, size, colour etc. for
capital structure.
IDP has been standardized for issuance across India, and in
• It has been decided to introduce an automatic route for adherence to the Geneva Convention.
branch expansion to UCBs that meet the updated Financially
• A comparison of vehicle categories across various
Sound and Well Managed (FSWM) criteria and allow them to
Conventions and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 has also
open new branches up to 10% of the number of branches as
been added for facilitation of regulatory authorities.
at the end of the previous financial year in order to increase
growth opportunities in the sector.
• In respect of housing loans, it has been decided to assign the
REVAMPED DISTRIBUTION SECTOR SCHEME
risk weights on the basis of Loan to Value (LTV) Ratio alone
PM Modi launched the Ministry of Power’s flagship
which would result in capital savings and will be applicable
Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).
to all Tiers of UCBs.
About: About:
• The scheme is aimed at improving the operational efficiencies • India’s Finance Ministry introduced the Emergency Credit
and financial sustainability of the power distribution Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) in May 2020, as a part of
companies (discoms). the Indian Government’s COVID-19 financial relief package.
• The scheme, with an outlay of over Rs 3.03 trillion in five years • Under this scheme, financial institutions in India provide
to FY26, will enable discoms to modernise and strengthen emergency loan facilities to various companies and MSMEs
the distribution infrastructure and improve the reliability and that have suffered during this pandemic. This scheme can
quality of supply of power to end consumers. aid firms to meet their working capital needs and other
• It also aims to reduce the AT&C (aggregate technical and operational costs as well.
commercial) losses to pan-India levels of 12-15% and ACS-
ARR (average cost of supply-average revenue realised) gap
to zero by 2024-25. REC and PFC have been nominated as
E-INVOICE
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nodal agencies for the scheme.
To ensure better flow of data on taxpayers to the authorities,
• RDSS mandates compulsory installation of smart meters the turnover threshold for e-invoicing has been halved to Rs
across the country. The Centre has set an ambitious target of 10 crore effective October 1 this year under the Goods and
installing 250 million smart meters by 2025. Services Tax (GST) regime.
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• With this new scheme coming into force, all other previous
schemes such as Integrated Power Development Scheme,
What is the decision on the threshold for e-invoice?
Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana and Ujjwal Discom
• Businesses with annual turnover of Rs 10 crore or more will
Assurance Yojana (UDAY) would stand subsumed.
have to generate e-invoices for business-to-business (B2B)
transactions from October 1 this year. The existing threshold
INTEREST SUBVENTION ON SHORT TERM for this is Rs 20 crore.
AGRICULTURE LOANS • Pursuant to the GST Council’s decision to introduce
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e-invoicing in a phased manner, the Central Board of Indirect
The Union Cabinet has approved to restore Interest Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on August 1 notified lowering the
Subvention on short term agriculture loans to 1.5% for all e-invoice threshold to Rs 10 crore.
financial institutions.
• The GST Council approved the standard of e-invoice in its
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37th meeting held on September 20, 2019. E-invoicing for

About: B2B transactions was made mandatory for companies with
• Thus, Interest Subvention of 1.5% will be provided to lending turnover of over Rs 500 crore from October 1, 2020, which
institutions (Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Bank, Small was then extended to those with turnover of over Rs 100 crore
Finance Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Cooperative Banks effective January 1, 2021.
and Computerized PACS directly ceded with commercial
banks) for the financial year 2022-23 to 2024-25 for lending
KRISHNAMURTHY V SUBRAMANIAN
short term agri-loans upto Rs 3 lakh to the farmers.
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• Increase in Interest Subvention will ensure sustainability of Former chief economic adviser (CEA) Krishnamurthy V
credit flow in the agriculture sector as well as ensure financial Subramanian will take over as the next executive director
health and viability of the lending institutions especially (ED) for India at the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
Regional Rural Banks & Cooperative Banks, ensuring from November 1. He will replace economist Surjit Bhalla.
adequate agriculture credit in rural economy.
About:
EMERGENCY CREDIT LINE GUARANTEE • According to an order by the Appointments Committee of
SCHEME (ECLGS) the Cabinet, Subramanian’s term will continue for a period of
three years or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
The Union Cabinet has approved the enhancement in the • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an agency of the
limit of Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS)
United Nations, and an international financial institution,
by Rs 50,000 crore from Rs. 4.5 Lakh crore to Rs. 5 Lakh crore,
headquartered in Washington, D.C. Subsequent to the
with the additional amount being earmarked exclusively
Bretton Woods Conference of 1944, it formally came into
for enterprises in hospitality and related sectors.
existence in 1945.
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | International
INTERNATIONAL
INDIA-NATO RELATIONS What are the next steps?

• In NATO’s view, India, given its geo-strategic position and
It was recently reported that India held its first political unique perspectives on various issues, was relevant to
dialogue with the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation international security and could be an important partner
(NATO) in Brussels on December 12, 2019. in informing the alliance about India’s own region and
beyond.
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO): • India may consider proposals emanating from NATO, if any,
on bilateral cooperation in areas of interest to India, based on
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• The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, or NATO, is a political
and military alliance of 28 European countries and two the progress achieved in the initial rounds.
countries in North America (United States and Canada). • While many say it is logical to follow up and formalise the
• It was set up in 1949 by the US, Canada, and several western talks, some caution because of sensitivities attached to the
European nations to ensure their collective security against perception of NATO — seen by some as expansionist in nature.
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the Soviet Union. It was the US’s first peacetime military
alliance outside the western hemisphere.
FOREIGN VISITS OF STATE GOVERNMENT
• Thirty countries are currently members of NATO, which is
headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The headquarters of the MINISTERS
Allied Command Operations is near Mons, also in Belgium.
Delhi Lieutenant-Governor (LG) recently advised Chief
Significance of India’s talks with NATO: Minister Arvind Kejriwal against attending the World Cities
Summit in Singapore as it was for “mayors of cities”.
• India’s talks with NATO hold significance given that the North
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Atlantic alliance has been engaging both China and Pakistan
in bilateral dialogue.
Provisions for Approvals:
• In 1982, the Cabinet Secretariat issued “Guidelines regarding
• Engaging NATO in a political dialogue would provide India an
foreign travel of Ministers of State government and Union
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opportunity to bring about a balance in NATO’s perceptions

Territories and State government officials”.
about the situation in regions and issues of concerns to India.
• It mentions that foreign visits by members of the State
• Reaching out to NATO would add a key dimension to India’s
governments in their official capacity would require clearances
growing engagement with US and Europe.
from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Ministry of Home
Was there any Common Ground? Affairs, Finance Ministry, and the Central Administrative
• The first dialogue, it is learnt, revealed three critical issues Ministry. It issued another order in 1995, reiterating the same.
on which India expected only limited common ground with • The Secretariat circulated another order on September 3,
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NATO: 2004, modifying the provisions to the extent that the final
 From NATO’s perspective, it was not China, but Russia orders were to be issued by the Finance Ministry.
whose aggressive actions continued to be the main threat • The following directive dated November 2, 2004, stipulated
to Euro-Atlantic security. that Chief Ministers required further approval from the Prime
 Given the divergence among NATO countries, its view Minister’s Office before an official visit.
on China was seen as mixed; while it did deliberate on • On August 26, 2010, yet another office memorandum made
China’s rise, the conclusion was that China presented political clearances mandatory before private visits of
both a challenge and an opportunity. Ministers in State governments, which was reiterated through
 In Afghanistan, NATO saw the Taliban as a political an order on May 6, 2015.
entity, which was not in line with India’s stance. This was
almost two years before the Taliban announced an interim Recent Petition:
government in Afghanistan in September 2021. • Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has filed a petition in
• However, the Indian side felt maritime security was a principal the Delhi High Court for quashing the 2010 and 2015 office
area of conversation in the future, given a substantial common memoranda which require State government Ministers to ask
ground with NATO. for political clearances for personal visits abroad.
In-Shorts | International Current Affairs 73
• He has also asked for the framing of appropriate guidelines • It is crucial to provide the required heating in the upcoming
with respect to the clearances for official foreign tours of winter.
Chief Ministers and other State government members.
Significance for Germany:
Arguments raised: • Energy prices in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, are
• The need for political clearances from the MEA for personal among the lowest in the continent.
foreign visits of State government Ministers violates their right
• This is made possible due to cheap gas supplies via Nord
to privacy and right to travel abroad as guaranteed under
Stream 1. This also makes German manufactured goods
Article 21;
more competitive in the international market.
• that the “undated” LG letter advising against the proposed
Singapore visit is beyond the jurisdiction of his office’s • Russian threats to choke this gas supply to Europe present
authority; an economic threat to Germany.
• To expand its options and double the supply from Russia,
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• that the use of “gross delay” to effectively deny clearances
for official foreign visits is an “arbitrary non-exercise of power” Germany had decided to build Nord Stream 2. But it was
and violates the dignity of their constitutional office; halted in February post-Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
• that the “arbitrary and capricious implementation” of the travel
Politics around Nord Stream 1:
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clearance Office Memoranda is against national interest and
good governance. • Russia is using the supplies via the crucial pipeline as a
bargain to navigate its economy through sanctions from the
western countries, imposed in response to its invasion of
NORD STREAM 1 Ukraine in February.
Russia halted gas supplies for three days (August 31 to • Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy had, in July, said
September 2, 2022) to Europe via Nord Stream 1, citing that Putin is trying to wage an “overt war” against Europe
maintenance issues. using the pipeline.
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What is Nord Stream 1? INDIA-SOUTHEAST ASIA CULTURAL LINKS
• Nord Stream 1 is the biggest pipeline transporting natural
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gas between Russia and Europe. As part of his visit to Thailand for the ninth India-Thailand
joint commission meeting, External Affairs Minister
• It runs from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald in Germany
S. Jaishankar visited the Devasthan in Bangkok. The
through the Baltic Sea.
Devasthan is the Royal Brahmin Office of the Thai Royal
• It is majorly owned by Gazprom, a Russian gas company. Court and is the official centre of Hinduism in Thailand.
About:
• India and the Southeast Asia region share a long history of
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cultural and commercial relations.

• The classical Sanskrit and Pali texts from India carry references
of the region using various names such as Kathakosha,
Suvarnabhumi (the land of god) or Suvarnadvipa (the golden
island), indicating that this was a region that attracted Indian
merchants.
• In more recent times, European and Indian scholars have
referred to Southeast Asia as ‘Farther India’, ‘Greater India’,
or ‘Hinduised or Indianised states’.
Significance for Europe: • The Ramayana — known in Thailand as Ramakriti (the glory of
• The twin pipeline system of Nord Stream can transport 55 Rama) or Ramakien (the account of Rama) — has provided an
billion cubic metres of gas from Russia to Europe. In 2021, outlet of cultural expression in Thailand for both the elite and
Russia supplied nearly 40 per cent of the EU’s natural gas the common man. Episodes from the epic are painted on the
needs through this pipeline. walls of Buddhist temples and enacted in dramas and ballets.
74
CHINA’S ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN About:

• The meet saw participation from Election Management
Sustained slowdown in China is troubling policymakers and Bodies (EMBs) of Mexico, Mauritius, Philippines, Nepal,
trade experts worldwide. Uzbekistan, Maldives and Representatives from International
IDEA, Association of World Election Bodies (A-WEB) and
Chinese Economy and its Importance: International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES).
• In the past few years, China has overtaken the US in becoming • This Regional Forum meet is precursor to the “Global Summit
the center of the global trading system. China’s share in world for Democracy’’ to be hosted by the National Electoral
exports has quadrupled from 4% to 15%. It is the leading Institute of Mexico in the coming months.
world economy in purchasing-power-parity parameter. • As part of this ‘Global Summit for Democracy’, five Regional
• In the wake of the pandemic, the world shifted to digitalization, Forums namely Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and countries
which led to a great increase in the demand for electronic of the Arab States have been created. India is hosting the
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products. Zero-covid strategy did not allow China to cater Asian Regional Forum meet of the EMBs.
to these demands, resulting in a huge scale shortage in its
electronic goods supply. BM-SEAL-11 PROJECT
How does India benefit in the Global Market?
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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has
• Resetting of the global supply chain following the covid-19 approved additional investment of USD 1,600 million
pandemic has brought India to the fore. Around 200 (about Rs. 12,000 crore) by Bharat Petro Resources Ltd.
companies are seeking to shift their manufacturing bases (BPRL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum
from China to India. E.g. Foxconn. Corporation Limited (BPCL) for development of BM-SEAL-11
• A prolonged slowdown in China could help India leverage the Concession Project in Brazil.
opportunity by negotiating better deals with major developed
economies. About:
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• Australia’s worsening relationship with China pushed it • The start of production from BM-SEAL-11 project is expected
to focus on India resulting in India-Australia Economic from 2026-27.
Cooperation and Trade Agreement.
• BPRL has 40% Participating Interest (PI) in this Concession
• India could benefit from lower oil prices, due to concerns of
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along with Petrobras, National oil company of Brazil, as the

a demand slowdown as China is the largest crude importer, Operator with 60% Participating Interest.
sparking global recessionary concerns. This may help lower
• Significance: This will help in diversifying India’s crude oil
India’s import bill and may support the rupee.
supply. It will strengthen India’s foothold in Brazil, which
will further open business avenues in neighbouring Latin
Concerns:
American countries.
• China is India’s second-largest trading partner, accounting
for 5.04% of India’s total exports and 15.43% of India’s
imports. A lot of raw material used in India’s electronics, auto, UNIVERSAL POSTAL UNION (UPU)
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and pharmaceuticals come from China.

The Union Cabinet has approved the ratification of
• Demand slowdown there may further hit India’s total outbound
amendments to the Constitution of the Universal Postal Union
shipments, which have sharply slowed down, growing just
(UPU) which happened last year during the 27th Congress of
2.14% in July.
the UPU held at Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire) in August, 2021.
• Supply side disruption due to China may also fuel further
inflationary pressures in India. The headline CPI inflation About:
rates have been projected at 7.1 %.
• The Universal Postal Union (UPU) established by the Treaty
of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations
ASIAN REGIONAL FORUM (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations,
in addition to the worldwide postal system.
The Election Commission of India hosted a virtual meet • The UPU’s headquarters are located in Bern, Switzerland.
of the ‘Asian Regional Forum’ on the theme “Making our • It’s parent organization is United Nations Economic and
Elections Inclusive, Accessible and Participative”. Social Council.
In-Shorts | International Current Affairs 75
GAZA STRIP INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT FORUM (ITF)

Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip exchanged Union Cabinet has approved signing of Contract between
fire in the cross-border violence in August recently, since an the Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment
11-day war between Israel and Hamas last year. Council (TIFAC), India and France to support the
International Transport Forum (ITF) activities on the Indian
About: Transport Sector.
• The Gaza Strip or simply Gaza, is a Palestinian enclave on
the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Egypt About:
on the southwest for 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) and Israel on • The International Transport Forum (ITF) is an inter-
the east and north along a 51 km (32 miles) border. governmental organisation within the OECD (Organisation for
• The Gaza Strip and the West Bank are claimed by the de jure Economic Co-operation and Development) system.
sovereign State of Palestine. • It is Headquartered in Paris, France.
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• The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from
each other by Israeli territory. US NAVY SHIP (USNS) CHARLES DREW
• Both fell under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but
the Strip has, since the Battle of Gaza in June 2007, been In a first, a U.S. Navy Ship, Charles Drew, arrived in India for
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governed by Hamas, a militant, Palestinian, fundamentalist carrying out repairs and allied services at Larsen & Toubro’s
Islamic organization, which came to power in the last-held (L&T) Shipyard at Kattupalli, Chennai, adding a new dimension
elections in 2006. to the fast expanding Indo-U.S. strategic partnership.
• It has been placed under an Israeli and US-led international
economic and political boycott from that time onwards. About:
• This is the first ever repair of a U.S. Navy ship in India. The
U.S. Navy had awarded a contract to L&T’s Shipyard at
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Kattupalli for undertaking maintenance of the ship.
• The event signifies the capabilities of Indian shipyards in the
global ship repairing market.
• At the India-U.S. 2+2 in April, both sides agreed to explore
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the possibilities of utilising Indian shipyards for the repair and

maintenance of ships of the U.S. Maritime Sealift Command
to support mid-voyage repair of U.S. Naval ships.
JOINT PROJECTS/AGREEMENTS
PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD
Following below is the list of projects and agreements
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• Rockets fired from the Gaza Strip reached Jerusalem for executed/signed by India with other countries and
the first time since the 2021 crisis. organizations.
• These rockets had been fired in retaliation for the killing of
Khaled Mansour, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander About:
for southern Gaza.
1. The Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers laid the
• The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a militant faction, like foundation stone of the Indo-Israel Center of Excellence for
Hamas, but is smaller in size. Like Hamas, the Palestinian Vegetables in Chandauli (Uttar Pradesh).
Islamic Jihad has been designated a terrorist organization
2. India and the UK sign MoU on Mutual Recognition of Academic
by the US, Israel, and the EU. Qualification to facilitate student mobility and academic
• The Palestinian Islamic Jihad was founded in 1982 by collaboration between Higher Education Institution (HEIs).
Fathi Abd al-Aziz al-Shikaki, a physician from Rafah, 3. Union Cabinet has approved the signing of an Audio Visual
Gaza. Although it had its origins in the network of the C0-Production Treaty, between India and Australia with a view
Muslim Botherhood, it has over the years developed into a to promote co-production of films. India has so far signed 15
distinct organisation. Audio Visual Co-production Treaties with foreign countries.
76
INDIA AND UN PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS About:

• The SCO is an influential economic and security bloc and
Two BSF personnel who were part of the UN Peacekeeping has emerged as one of the largest transregional international
Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), organisations.
were among five people killed during a protest in an eastern
• The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the
town near the border with Uganda on July 26.
presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan became its
About: permanent members in 2017. It is headquartered in Beijing.
• India’s contribution to UN Peacekeeping began with its • India has shown a keen interest in deepening its security-
participation in the UN operation in Korea in the 1950s. related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-
• More than 2,53,000 Indians have served in 49 of the 71 UN Terrorism Structure (RATS) – headquartered in Tashkent,
Peacekeeping missions established around the world since Uzbekistan – which specifically deals with issues relating to
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1948. security and defence.
• Currently, India is the fifth largest troop contributor (TCC)
with 5,323 personnel deployed in 8 out of 13 active UN INDIAN DIASPORA IN U.K.
Peacekeeping Missions.
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• In 2007, India became the first country to deploy an all- Indian citizens received the largest share of U.K. student,
women contingent to a UN Peacekeeping Mission. skilled worker and visitor visas for the year ending
• A total 175 Indian peacekeepers have so far died while
June 2022, as per official data published by the British
government.
serving with the United Nations.
About:
ROHINGYA REFUGEES
• As per the data, 1,17,965 students received student visas in
Union Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted that the year ending June 2022, up 215% from 2019.
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Rohingya refugees would be shifted to flats meant for • India has displaced China to become the country with the
economically weaker sections (EWS), and provided with highest number of sponsored study visas in the U.K. for the
basic amenities and police protection. first time since the year ending June 2011.
EX
• Indians received 1,02,981 work visas in the year ending

About: June 2022, an 80% increase compared to the year ending
• The Minister said “India respects & follows the UN Refugee December 2019, just before the pandemic began.
Convention 1951 & provides refuge to all, regardless of their • Forty-six percent of worker (formerly, ‘skilled worker’) visas
race, religion or creed.” went to Indians.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under Amit Shah issued a
clarification saying that no such direction had been given to PAKISTAN’S POLITICAL CRISIS
provide EWS flats to “Rohingya illegal foreigners”.
N
The Pakistani police have charged former Prime Minister

What is India’s stand on refugees? Imran Khan under anti-terror law.
• India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to
the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol. About:
• All foreign undocumented nationals are governed as per the • He has been holding mass rallies seeking to return to office
provisions of The Foreigners Act, 1946, The Registration of since he was removed from power in April in a no-confidence
Foreigners Act, 1939, The Passport (Entry into India) Act, motion.
1920 and The Citizenship Act, 1955.
• Khan came to power in 2018, promising to break the pattern
of family rule in Pakistan. His opponents contend he was
SCO DEFENCE MINISTERS MEETING elected with help from the powerful military, which has ruled
the country for half of its 75-year history.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh travelled to Tashkent
• The opposition alliance had accused him of economic
(capital of Uzbekistan) to attend a defence ministerial
mismanagement amid soaring inflation and sliding value of
conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
rupee before it moved the no-confidence vote in April.
In-Shorts | Internal Security Current Affairs 77
INTERNAL SECURITY
DEFENCE EXERCISES About:

• Incumbent chairman G. Satheesh Reddy has been made
Following below is the list of defence Exercises in which the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister. Mr. Kamat will
Indian armed forces participated recently. retain his post till the age of 60 or further orders.
• The DRDO is charged with the military’s research and
Exercise Vajra Prahar: development under the Department of Defence Research
• The 13th Edition of the Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise and Development in Ministry of Defence. It was formed in
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“Ex Vajra Prahar 2022” was held at the Special Forces 1958.
Training School at Bakloh of Himachal Pradesh.
• This annual exercise is hosted alternatively between India BUTTERFLY MINE
and the United States.
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• The 12th edition was conducted at Joint Base Lewis Mcchord, The PFM-1 and PFM-1S are two kinds of anti-personnel
Washington (USA) in October 2021. landmines that are commonly referred to as ‘Butterfly
mines’ or ‘Green Parrots’.
Exercise Pitch Black:
• The Indian Air Force (IAF) joined 16 other nations, including About:
Quad partners for Exercise Pitch Black, a biennial warfare • These names are derived from the shape and colour of the
exercise hosted by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). mines.
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• The exercise is normally held in Northern Australia, primarily • The ‘Butterfly mine’ has earned a reputation for being
at RAAF Bases Darwin and Tindal. particularly attractive to children because it looks like a
• The 2022 exercise is being held from 19 August to 6 coloured toy.
September. • It is very sensitive to touch and just the act of picking it up can
EX
set it off.
Al Najah:
• Because of the relatively lesser explosive packed in this small
• The fourth edition of India-Oman joint military exercise ‘AL mine, it often injures and maims the handler rather than killing
NAJAH-IV’ between contingents of Indian Army and the them. These mines are also difficult to detect because they
Royal Army of Oman took place at the Mahajan Field Firing are made of plastic and can evade metal detectors.
Ranges in Rajasthan.
• The previous edition of the exercise was organised in Muscat
PROJECT ZORAWAR
N
in March 2019.
VINBAX: The Indian Army is set to procure a fleet of light tanks

for deployment in high-altitude areas in eastern Ladakh
• The 3rd Edition of Vietnam-India Bilateral Army Exercise “Ex
under ‘Project Zorawar’ to bolster its overall firepower and
VINBAX 2022” was held at Chandimandir (Haryana).
operational prowess to deal with any eventuality.
• The exercise is a sequel to a previously conducted bilateral
exercise in Vietnam in 2019.
About:
• The plan for deployment of the light tanks comes amid the
SAMIR KAMAT lingering border row in eastern Ladakh that severely strained
the ties between India and China.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet appointed • These tanks to be procured under ‘Project Zorawar’ —
Samir V. Kamat as Secretary, Department of Defence named after legendary Zorawar Singh, a military general who
Research and Development and Chairman, Defence served under Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu — will have equal
Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
firepower as the current ones.
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Internal Security
• Missile-firing capability, counter-drone apparatus, warning About:

system and a power-to-weight ratio will make the tanks “very • The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the primary
agile”. counter-terrorist task force of India.
• The Agency came into existence with the enactment of the
VERTICAL LAUNCH SHORT RANGE SURFACE- National Investigation Agency Act 2008 by the Parliament
TO-AIR MISSILE (VL-SRSAM) of India on 31 December 2008, which was passed after the
deadly 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.
The DRDO and the Indian Navy successfully flight-tested • Headquartered in New Delhi, the NIA has branches in various
the indigenously developed Vertical Launch Short Range cities.
Surface-to-Air Missile (VL-SRSAM) from the Integrated Test
Range (ITR) at Chandipur off the coast of Odisha.
AK-203 ASSAULT RIFLES
S
About:
The production of the AK-203 assault rifles by the Indo-
• The VL-SRSAM, a ship-borne weapon system, is meant for Russian joint venture at Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, is set to
neutralising various aerial threats at close ranges, including begin by year-end.
sea-skimming targets, and was last test-fired in June.
IA
• The flight test was carried out from an Indian naval About:
ship against a high-speed unmanned aerial target for
• As per the contract, over 6.1 lakh AK-203 assault rifles
demonstration of vertical launch capability. The missiles,
costing over ₹5,000 crore will be manufactured by a Joint
equipped with indigenous Radio Frequency (RF) seeker,
Venture, Indo-Russian Rifles Private Ltd (IRRPL), at Korwa,
intercepted the target with high accuracy.
Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
• During the test launch, flight path and vehicle performance
• IRRPL was set up jointly between erstwhile OFB [now
parameters were monitored using flight data captured by
Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited
various range instruments, the statement said.
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(AWEIL) and Munitions India Limited (MIL)] of India and
Rosoboronexport (RoE) and concern Kalashnikov of Russia.
SWAVLAMBAN • As per contractual terms, first 70,000 AK-203 rifles will be
produced in India with a phased increase in the extent of
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‘Swavlamban’, the maiden seminar of the Naval Innovation localisation from 5% to 70%. The remaining rifles will be
and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO), was held at New produced with 100% localisation.
Delhi on 18-19 July 2022.
POSITIVE INDIGENISATION LIST (PIL)

About:
• Prime Minister Modi was shown a demo of ‘Varuna’ Personal Defence Minister approved the third Positive Indigenisation
Air vehicle – an autonomous multi-copter drone capable of List (PIL) of 780 strategically important line replacement units
carrying a passenger. (LRU), sub-systems and components, with a timeline beyond
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• The highlight of the seminar was the release of the iDEX which they will only be procured from the domestic industry.
DISC7 (SPRINT) challenges by the Prime Minister.
• SPRINT (Supporting Pole-vaulting in R&D through iDEX, NIIO About:
and TDAC) is a collaborative project between the Defence • This list is in continuation to the two PILs of LRUs, sub-
Innovation Organisation (DIO) and NIIO aimed at developing systems, assemblies, sub-assemblies and components that
atleast 75 indigenous technologies / products as a part of were published in December 2021 and March 2022.
Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. • The positive indigenisation list means that the Armed
Forces—Army, Navy, and Air Force—will only procure the
listed items from domestic manufacturers. The manufacturers
NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY (NIA)
could be private sector players or Defense Public Sector
Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah inaugurated office Undertakings(DPSUs).
of National Investigation Agency (NIA) at New Raipur in • This will promote self-reliance in defence manufacturing, and
Chhattisgarh. minimising imports by the defence public sector undertakings
(DPSUs).
In-Shorts | Internal Security Current Affairs 79
MOSCOW CONFERENCE ON INTERNATIONAL About:

SECURITY-2022 • The decision to postpone these rallies has been taken by
the Nepalese government as it is of the opinion that this new
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh virtually participated in the form of entry into the Indian military is not covered under the
Moscow Conference on International Security. Tripartite Agreement signed between Nepal, Indian and UK
governments in 1947, soon after Indian independence.
About: • As per the terms of this agreement four regiments of Gorkha
• The 10th annual Moscow Conference on International soldiers – 2nd, 6th, 7th and 10th – were transferred to the
Security took place in August 2022. British Army while the rest – 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th –
remained with the Indian Army.
• Défense ministers, chiefs of army staff and international
organizations from 35 countries participated in it. • A new Gorkha Regiment, the 11th Gorkha Rifles, was raised
by India soon after Independence.
S
• The agreement also provides for the terms and conditions of
CENTRAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (CBI) the Nepal-domiciled Gorkha soldiers in the Indian Army and
for their post-retirement benefits and pensions.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) recorded a
conviction rate of 67.56% in 2021, compared to 69.83% in Can Nepalese Gorkhas in Foreign Armies be called
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2020, according to the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) Mercenaries?
annual report.
• Mercenaries are understood as fighters who take part in a
conflict for financial gain and usually are not parties to that
About: conflict.
• Of the total cases instituted last year, 457 pertained to • As per the definition of the 1949 Geneva Convention, soldiers
various charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act. They serving in sovereign armies are not considered mercenaries,
involved 549 public servants, of whom 221 were gazetted and Gorkha soldiers cannot be called mercenaries.
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officers. • In addition, Gorkha soldiers from Nepal serve side-by-side
• The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier with Gorkha soldiers who are born and brought up in India.
investigating agency of India.
• It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel,
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Public Grievances and Pensions.

ANTI-TANK GUIDED MISSILES (ATGM)
• It was formed in 1963 by resolution of home ministry. India successfully test-fired laser-guided Anti-Tank Guided
• Headquarters: New Delhi. Missiles (ATGMs) from Main Battle Tank (MBT) Arjun at KK
• CBI is India’s officially designated single point of contact for Ranges near Ahmednagar in Maharashtra.
liaison with the Interpol.
About:
Brief History of CBI:
• The indigenously developed laser-guided ATGMs were
N
• The Central Bureau of Investigation traces its origin to the

successfully flight tested by the Defence Research and
Special Police Establishment (SPE) which was set up in 1941
Development Organisation (DRDO) and Indian Army with
by the Government of India.
the support of Armoured Corps Centre and School (ACC&S),
• The Delhi Special Police Establishment Act was brought into Ahmednagar.
force in 1946.
• The missile has been developed with multi-platform
• The DSPE acquired its popular current name, Central Bureau launch capability by Pune-based Armament Research and
of Investigation (CBI), through a Home Ministry resolution Development Establishment (ARDE) in association with
dated 1.4.1963. High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL) and
Instruments Research and Development Establishment
GORKHAS IN INDIAN ARMY (IRDE), Dehradun.
• It is currently undergoing technical evaluation trials from 120
Nepal has postponed the recruitment rallies which were mm rifled gun of MBT Arjun. The missile locks and tracks the
to be held in the country to recruit Gorkha soldiers for the targets with the help of laser designation to ensure precision
Indian Army under the Agnipath scheme. hit accuracy.
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Internal Security
• The all-indigenous laser guided ATGMs employ a tandem • The ATAGS is an indigenous 155 mm x 52 calibre howitzer
high explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead to defeat explosive gun developed by the Defence Research and Development
reactive armour (ERA) protected armoured vehicles in ranges Organisation (DRDO) with its Pune-based facility Armament
from 1.5 km to 5 km. Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) being the
• ATGMs are primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily nodal agency.
armoured military vehicles. The missiles can be transported • The ATAGS project was started in 2013 by DRDO to replace
by a single soldier, to larger tripod-mounted weapons, which older guns in service in the Indian Army with a modern 155
require a squad or team to transport and fire, to vehicle and mm artillery gun.
aircraft mounted missile systems. • Howitzers is an umbrella term for a category of long-range
• This type of guided missiles rely on an electro-optical imager artillery guns.
(IIR) seeker, a laser or a W-band radar seeker in the nose
of the missile. These are ‘fire-and-forget’ missiles where the
PRESIDENT’S COLOUR TO TAMIL NADU
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operator can retreat right after firing as there is no more
guidance required.
POLICE
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu presented the President's
ISLAMIC STATE (ISIS) IN INDIA colour to the Tamil Nadu Police.
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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested an About:
accused for being allegedly involved in the activities of the • The President’s Colour is the highest honour given to the
Islamic State (ISIS) module case, after conducting searches
military, paramilitary and police forces of States and Union
at Batla House in New Delhi.
Territories.
• The State of Tamil Nadu ranks second in the list of more
About: women in the police force and the State was the first to create
• He has been arrested for his involvement in collection of a women commando force.
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funds for ISIS from sympathisers in India as well as abroad. • Tamil Nadu is the only State to have a police unit to investigate
He was sending these funds to Syria and other places in form smuggling of idols and statues.
of crypto currency in order to further the activities of ISIS.
• The Islamic State announced its establishment of a new
25 YEARS OF NAGA CEASEFIRE
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branch in India (Wilayat-al Hind) after Indian security forces

in Kashmir killed a group member in May 2019. Recently, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-
• The Islamic State started its jihadist propaganda in India in Muivah) [NSCN (I-M)] observed 25 years of signing the
2020 during the pandemic crisis publishing its magazine “Indo-Naga” ceasefire agreement.
Voice of Hind or Sawt al-Hind to encourage Indian Muslims to
wage jihad and carry out attacks in the country. About:
• The ceasefire between NSCN (I-M) and the Union Government
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ADVANCED TOWED ARTILLERY GUN SYSTEM came into effect on August 1, 1997.
(ATAGS) • A framework agreement was signed in 2015 between the
NSCN (I-M) and the Union Government.
In a first, an indigenously developed howitzer gun, ATAG, • The framework was meant to open the door for peace in
became part of the 21-gun salute during the Independence Nagaland and the Naga-populated regions beyond in three
Day ceremony at the Red Fort. other northeastern States.
• The two parties’ apparent disagreement over the Yehzabo
About: (Naga constitution) and the Naga flag, which the NSCN
• Developed by the DRDO, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun (I-M) maintains were included in the Framework Agreement,
System (ATAGS) was used alongside the traditional British- prevented the peace process from moving forward.
origin ’25 Pounders’ artillery guns.
NOTE TO READERS
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi also referred to the gun while
speaking about the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the Centre
For detailed analysis on Naga Ceasefire Pact refer Page 20
of June 2022 edition of Current Affairs Magazine.
during his Independence Day speech.
In-Shorts | Polity & Governance Current Affairs
POLITY &
81
GOVERNANCE
MONSOON SESSION LOK SABHA STILL WITHOUT A DEPUTY SPEAKER
The Monsoon session of Parliament was held from July 18, • Article 93 of the Constitution states that Lok Sabha will
2022 to August 8, 2022. choose two Members of the House to be Speaker and
Deputy Speaker as soon as possible.
About: • In the 17th Lok Sabha, election to the post of Deputy
• This session saw the election of the new President and Vice Speaker has not been conducted even after three years
S
President (who is also the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha). since it first convened. There has just been one instance
in the past – 269 days during the 12th Lok Sabha – when
• Session cut short: Parliament adjourned sine die two working
it took over three months to elect a Deputy Speaker.
days ahead of schedule, having sat for 16 days. In this Lok
Sabha, this is the seventh consecutive session that has been
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cut short.
SECTION 9A OF THE REPRESENTATION OF
• Duration: Parliament functioning time is the second lowest
so far in the 17th Lok Sabha. In this session, Lok Sabha
THE PEOPLE ACT (RPA), 1951
functioned for 47% of scheduled time, while Rajya Sabha
Uncertainty looms large over Hemant Soren’s continuation
functioned for 42%. Scheduled time for each House is six
as Jharkhand Chief Minister as he is likely to be disqualified
hours per sitting. by the Governor as Member of the Legislative Assembly; the
• Suspension: In Rajya Sabha, 23 Members were suspended Governor has received the Election Commission of India’s
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for a week for protesting in the well of the House. In Lok opinion on the question.
Sabha, four Members were initially suspended for the rest of
the session; the suspension was revoked later.
About:
• Parliament saw limited legislative activity: At the beginning of
• The case against him has its roots in a mining lease that
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the session, the legislative agenda listed the introduction of

he gave himself as a Minister for Mines in 2021. The BJP
24 Bills and passing of 32 Bills. Only six Bills were introduced
complained to the Governor on February 11, 2022, that this
and five were passed by Parliament.
act was in violation of Section 9(A) of the Representation of
• Bills introduced: Bills introduced include the Competition the People Act, 1951.
(Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Energy Conservation
• Section 9A in The Representation of the People Act, 1951
(Amendment) Bill, 2022, and the Electricity (Amendment) Bill,
deals with Disqualification for Government contracts, etc.
2022. The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 was withdrawn.
• It says that “A person shall be disqualified if, and for so long
• Standing Committee: In this session, only the Electricity
N
as, there subsists a contract entered into by him in the course

(Amendment) Bill, 2022 was referred to a Standing Committee.
of his trade or business with the appropriate Government for
So far, in the current Lok Sabha, 13% of Bills introduced have
the supply of goods to, or for the execution of any works
been referred to Committees. This is lower than the last three
undertaken by, that Government.”
Lok Sabhas: 60% in the 14th, 71% in the 15th, and 27% in the
16th Lok Sabha.
• Lok Sabha spent 6.4 hours discussing the issue of price rise,
REVIEW PETITION
while Rajya Sabha discussed it for 5.8 hours. The last time
A (recently retired) CJI NV Ramana-led bench of the Supreme
Parliament discussed the economic situation of the country
Court on 26 August issued notice on a review petition filed
was during the Winter Session of 2019.
against another recent top court judgment (Vijay Madanlal
• Question Hour was held for the entire duration of one hour Choudhary and Ors vs Union of India and Ors).
only on two days in Lok Sabha and four days in Rajya Sabha.
Unlike other business of Parliament, time lost during Question
About:
Hour (on account of adjournments) cannot be made up by
sitting till late. • In this judgment – commonly known as the ‘PMLA’ judgment
– a Justice Khanwilkar-led bench of the apex court had
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Polity & Governance
rejected the challenge to various provisions of the Prevention the Chief Justice of India to discuss issues of importance to
of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002. This judgment, the judiciary. The senior designations of practising advocates
however, was heavily criticised. in the Supreme Court and high courts are also decided during
• Meanwhile, the petitioners in the PMLA judgment filed a the full court meetings.
review petition before the Supreme Court, which issued • How frequently is it held? Full court meetings have been held
notice on the same while observing that at least two issues many times in the past. In March 2020, it was convened to
require reconsideration. discuss demands by associations of lawyers to close the
court till further notice following the Covid-19 outbreak.
How is a Judgment Reviewed?
• A ruling by the Supreme Court is final and binding. However,
NEW DELHI INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION
Article 137 of the Constitution grants the SC the power to
review its judgments or orders.
CENTRE (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2022
S
• A review petition must be filed within 30 days of pronouncement The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (Amendment)
of the judgment. Except in cases of death penalty, review Bill, 2022 was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 5, 2022.
petitions are heard through “circulation” by judges in their
chambers, and not in an open court. Key Features of the Bill include:
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• Lawyers make their case through written submissions and not • The Bill renames the New Delhi International Arbitration
oral arguments. The judges who passed the verdict decide Centre as the India International Arbitration Centre.
on the review petition as well.
• The Act requires the Arbitration Centre to strive to facilitate
• The SC rarely entertains reviews of its rulings. A review is the conduct of international and domestic arbitration and
allowed on narrow grounds to correct grave errors that have conciliation. The Bill expands this to include conduct of other
resulted in a miscarriage of justice. “A mistake apparent on the forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) which will be
face of record” is one of the grounds on which a case for review specified by the central government through regulations.
is made. This mistake, the court has said, must be glaring and • The Act allows the central government to provide for removing
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obvious — such as relying on case law that is invalid. any difficulties in implementing the Act up to two years from
the date of commencement of the Act. The Bill extends this
NOTE TO READERS time period to five years.
For detailed analysis on PMLA refer Page 27 of August,
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2022 edition of Current Affairs Magazine. New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Act, 2019:
• The Bill amends the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre
Act, 2019.
FULL COURT MEETING • The Act provides for setting up the New Delhi International
Arbitration Centre and designates it as an institute of national
After taking over as the new Chief Justice of India U U importance.
Lalit called a meeting of the ‘full court’ where the judges
• The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre replaced the
discussed how to deal with issues relating to listing and
International Centre for Alternative Dispute Resolution.
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backlog of cases.
About:
RETIREMENT BENEFITS FOR SUPREME
• Meaning: A full court meeting literally means one which is
COURT JUDGES
attended by all the judges of the court.
The Centre amended the Supreme Court Judges Rules to
• When is it held? There are no written rules dealing with this. As provide chauffeurs and domestic help for retired Chief
a full court meeting is convened at the discretion of the Chief Justices of India and Supreme Court judges for their entire
Justice of India, it does not follow any particular calendar. lifetime.
• Significance: The basic idea is to take everyone along. Full
court meetings are an ideal occasion to arrive at common About:
solutions to deal with problems that beset the country’s • The government has amended the original Supreme Court
legal system and to make any amends, if necessary, in the Judges Rules of 1959 in exercise of powers conferred on it
administrative practices of the court. under the Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of
• Agenda: As per convention, full-court meetings are called by Service) Act, 1958.
In-Shorts | Polity & Governance Current Affairs 83
• Retired CJIs would also get secretarial assistants. The • In addition to the Ministries and Departments of Central
staff would be paid the salary and allowances of regular Government, the Government of India has notified 214
employees of the Supreme Court. organizations under section 14 (2) of the Administrative
• The amendments allows retired CJIs and Supreme Court Tribunals Act, 1985 to bring them within the jurisdiction of the
judges chauffeurs, secretarial assistants and security cover Central Administrative Tribunal, from time to time.
only for a year. • In addition the Central Administrative Tribunal, Principal
• The benefit of 24-hour security cover has been extended to Bench is dealing with the matters of Govt. of National Capital
five years for retired Chief Justices and three years for retired Territory of Delhi.
judges of the Supreme Court. The judiciary had recently
raised concerns about attacks on judges. GOVERNING COUNCIL OF NITI AAYOG
• Besides, former CJIs and retired judges of the top court can
get their monthly mobile phone and Internet bills reimbursed Prime Minister Modi addressed the seventh meeting of the
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to the extent of ₹4,200. Governing Council of NITI Aayog in New Delhi.
• A retired CJI is also entitled to a rent-free Type VII
accommodation, other than the designated official residence, About:
in New Delhi for six months immediately after retirement. • This was the first physical meeting of the Governing Council
IA
• The notification issued by the Law Ministry however said since the onset of the pandemic, with the 2021 meeting held
these post-retirement benefits would be available only if the via video conferencing.
retirees were not getting similar facilities from any High Court • The meeting was attended by 23 Chief Ministers, 3 Lieutenant
or government body. Governors and 2 Administrators and Union Ministers.
• This year, the Governing Council discussed four key agenda
items:
 crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in
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pulses, oilseeds and other agri-commodities;
 implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) in
school education;
 implementation of National Education Policy in higher
EX
education; and
 urban governance.
Key Facts:
• The Governing Council of NITI Aayog comprises the Prime
Minister of India; Chief Ministers of all the States and Union
Territories with legislature; Lt Governors of other UTs; Ex-
CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL (CAT) Officio Members; Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog; Full-Time
N
Members, NITI Aayog; and Special Invitees.

The President of India appointed Justice Ranjit Vasantrao • The Governing Council, which embodies the objectives of
More (former Chief Justice, Meghalaya High Court), to the cooperative federalism, presents a platform to discuss inter-
post of Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). sectoral, inter-departmental and federal issues to accelerate
the implementation of the national development agenda.
About: • The Governing Council Secretariat (GCS) coordinates the
• The Central Administrative Tribunal had been established meetings of the Governing Council. It also coordinates the
under Article 323 - A of the Constitution for adjudication of activities of all the Verticals, Divisions and Units of NITI Aayog.
disputes and complaints with respect to recruitment and
conditions of service of persons appointed to public services SECTION 295(A) OF IPC
and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or other
authorities under the control of the Government. Mohammad Zubair of Alt News was arrested for tweeting a
• There are 17 Benches and 21 Circuit Benches in the CAT all still picture from a movie that had some religious context
attached to it.
over India.
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Polity & Governance
About: About:
• As far as laws in India go, there isn’t formal legislation against • In 2016, the Jharkhand government had invited applications for
blasphemy. appointment to the posts of Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT)
• The closest equivalent to a blasphemy law is Section 295(A) in government secondary schools, with 100% reservation for
of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which punishes any speech, local candidates/residents of 13 Scheduled Areas in the State.
writings, or signs that “with premeditated and malicious • The Supreme Court said “the citizens have equal rights, and
intent” insult citizens’ religion or religious beliefs with a fine the total exclusion of others by creating an opportunity for
and imprisonment for up to three years. one class is unconstitutional and ultra vires Articles 14, 16(2)
• The history of Section 295(A) of the IPC can be traced back and 16(3) of the Constitution of India.”
to 1927. • It relied on the Constitution Bench judgement in the case of
• The legality of Section 295(A), which had been challenged in Chebrolu Leela Prasad Rao (2020 verdict) related to 100%
the Ramji Lal Modi case (1957), was affirmed by a five-judge quota in jobs in Andhra Pradesh and said it was held that the
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Bench of the Supreme Court. power conferred on the Governor to deal with the Scheduled
• The apex court reasoned that while Article 19(2) allows Areas is not meant to prevail over the Constitution.
reasonable limits on freedom of speech and expression • The question of permissibility also arises if the Indira Sawhney
for the sake of public order, the punishment under Section vs Union of India case is considered, where the Supreme
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295(A) deals with aggravated form of blasphemy which is Court had capped the reservation limit in public sector jobs
committed with the malicious aim of offending the religious at 50% in 1992.
sensibilities of any class.
CREATION OF DISTRICTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF RURAL
The West Bengal cabinet has approved the creation of
DEVELOPMENT AND PANCHAYATI RAJ seven new districts in the state. This will take the number of
districts in West Bengal to 30 from the existing 23.
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The Union Cabinet has approved the signing of MoU
between National Institute of Rural Development and
Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) and University of Reading List of Districts:
(UoR), United Kingdom (UK) for collaboration in the • A new Sundarban district will be carved out of South
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field of agriculture and rural development in developing 24-Parganas district.

countries.
• Two new districts will be created out of North 24-Parganas
district — Ichhamati in Bongaon subdivision and a yet
About: unnamed district in Basirhat.
• NIRD&PR, an autonomous organisation under the Union • Ranaghat, a city and municipality in Nadia district, will
Ministry of Rural Development, is a premier national centre of become the fourth new district.
excellence in rural development and Panchayati Raj. • A new district of Bishnupur will be carved out of the existing
• It was founded in 1977.
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Bankura district.
• It is recognized internationally as one of the UN-ESCAP • Two new districts of Baharampur and Jangipur will be created
Centres of Excellence. out of Murshidabad district.
• The Institute is located in Hyderabad, Telangana. In addition
to the main campus at Hyderabad, this Institute has North- DO YOU KNOW?
Eastern Regional Centre at Guwahati, Assam.
• States keep creating new districts from time to time as
smaller units would make governance easier and would
RESERVATION IN LOCAL JOBS benefit the people by bringing the government and the
administration closer to them.
The Supreme Court quashed the Jharkhand government’s • This power of creating or scrapping districts, or changing
2016 decision to grant 100% reservation to local people their boundaries lies with the state governments, who can
of 13 Scheduled Areas in public jobs and upheld a High pass a law in the Assembly or simply issue an order and
Court decision that had termed the government decision notify it in the gazette. The Centre does not have a say in
“discriminatory and impermissible”. the matter.
In-Shorts | Polity & Governance Current Affairs 85
CENTRAL VIGILANCE COMMISSIONER (CVC) advertisements. It essentially regulated the 2007 New
Advertisement Policy of the Government of India.
Vigilance Commissioner Suresh N. Patel was sworn in as • The petitioners had argued that there is arbitrary spending on
the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) by President advertisements by the government. The allegations ranged
Droupadi Murmu. from wastage of public money for political mileage to using
advertisements as a tool to manipulate media.
About: • In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that the government
• Background: The Central Vigilance Commission was set up by advertisements will not contain a political party’s symbol,
the Government in February,1964 on the recommendations logo or flag and are required to be politically neutral and must
of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, headed by refrain from glorifying political personalities.
Shri K. Santhanam, to advise and guide Central Government • Photographs of leaders should be avoided and only the
agencies in the field of vigilance. photographs of the President/ Prime Minister or Governor/ Chief
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Minister shall be used for effective government messaging.
• Statutory status: It is governed by the Central Vigilance
Commission Act 2003. • In 2018, Supreme Court relaxed the bar, allowing pictures
of Union ministers, Chief Ministers, Governors and State
• Composition: The Commission shall consist of A Central
ministers in government advertisements.
Vigilance Commissioner (Chairperson); and Not more than
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two Vigilance Commissioners (Members).
• Appointment: The Central Vigilance Commissioner and the DISTRICT LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITIES
Vigilance Commissioners are appointed by the President (DLSAs)
on recommendation of a Committee consisting of the Prime
Minister (Chairperson), the Minister of Home Affairs (Member) The first-ever national level meet of District Legal Services
and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. Authorities (DLSAs) was organized in New Delhi by National
Legal Services Authority (NALSA). The meeting deliberated
Mandate: on bringing homogeneity and synchronisation across DLSAs.
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• CVC are conceived to be the apex vigilance institution,
free of control from any executive authority, monitoring all Legal Aid structure in India:
vigilance activity under the Central Government and advising • Article 39A of the Constitution of India provides that State
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various authorities in Central Government organizations in shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes
planning, executing, reviewing and reforming their vigilant justice on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall in particular,
work. provide free legal aid, by suitable legislation or scheme.
• The CVC is not an investigating agency: The only investigation • The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has been
carried out by the CVC is that of examining Civil Works of the constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987
Government. to provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the
society and to organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement
of disputes. NALSA is housed at Supreme Court of India,
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PM AND PRESIDENT’s PHOTOS IN New Delhi.

GOVERNMENT ADVERTISEMENTS • In every State, State Legal Services Authority has been
constituted to give effect to the policies and directions of
The Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu government
the NALSA and to give free legal services to the people and
to include the photographs of the President of India and
conduct Lok Adalats in the State. The State Legal Services
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in advertisements on the
Authority is headed by the Chief Justice of the respective
44th Chess Olympiad held in Chennai.
High Court.
• In every District, District Legal Services Authority has been
About: constituted to implement Legal Services Programmes in the
• The High Court relied on a 2015 Supreme Court ruling District. The District Legal Services Authority is situated in the
that issued guidelines on government spending on District Courts Complex in every District and chaired by the
advertisements. District Judge of the respective district.
• In Common Cause v Union of India, the Supreme Court • They are constituted under Section 9 of the Legal Services
sought to regulate the way the government spends on Authorities Act, 1987.
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Society
SOCIETY
PERIOD POVERTY AYUSH practices, supported by the ‘Poshan Tracker’, a new,

robust ICT centralised data system which is being linked with
A law has taken effect in Scotland to ensure period products the RCH Portal (Anmol) of Ministry of Health.
are available free of charge to anyone who needs them.
This is an historic step towards ending period poverty.
SMILE INITATIVE
About: Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment
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• The Scottish government said it became the first in the world launched the 'SMILE: Support for Marginalised Individuals
to legally protect the right to access free period products for Livelihood and Enterprise' initiative in New Delhi.
when its Period Products Act came into force Monday.
• Under the new law, schools, colleges and universities as well About:
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as local government bodies must make a range of period • The Initiative aims to make cities, towns and municipal
products available for free in their bathrooms. areas begging-free and make a strategy for comprehensive
• A mobile phone app will also help people find the nearest rehabilitation of the persons engaged in the act of begging
place — such as the local library or community center — through the coordinated action of various stakeholders.
where they can pick up period products. • The Ministry has allocated a total budget of a hundred crore
rupees for the project till 2025-26.
Period Poverty:
• Through the project, the Ministry envisions developing
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• Period poverty describes the struggle many low-income a support mechanism for holistic rehabilitation of those
women and girls face while trying to afford menstrual engaged in the act of begging and building an India where
products. no person is forced to beg in order to survive and fulfill their
• It also refers to the increased economic vulnerability women basic needs.
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and girls face due the financial burden posed by menstrual • Under the initiative 75 Municipal Corporations in collaboration
supplies. with Non-Government Organisations and other stakeholders
• Period poverty does not only affect women and girls in will cover several comprehensive welfare measures for
developing countries; it also affects women in wealthy, persons who are engaged in the act of begging.
industrialized countries.
SCHEME FOR ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

SAKSHAM ANGANWADI AND POSHAN 2.0 OF DENOTIFIED, NOMADIC, SEMI-NOMADIC
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TRIBES (SEED)
Ministry of Women and Child Development has issued
Operational Guidelines regarding implementation of The Union Ministry of Social Justice received over 400 online
‘Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0'. applications from across the country for benefits under
the Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified,
About: Nomadic, Semi-nomadic Tribes (SEED).
• Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is an Integrated
Nutrition Support Programme. About:
• The scheme will be implemented during the 15th Finance • The scheme aims to provide free competitive exam coaching
Commission period 202l-22 to 2025-26. to students, health insurance and financial assistance for
• It seeks to address the challenges of malnutrition in children, housing and uplift clusters of these communities through
adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers. livelihood initiatives.
• This will be achieved through focus on Maternal Nutrition, • The Ministry has been allocated ₹200 crore for this scheme to
Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, Treatment through be spent over five financial years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
In-Shorts | Society Current Affairs 87
• The scheme would be implemented through an online portal GOAL 2.0

that would issue a unique ID to each applicant to apply and
track the status of the application online. The second phase of the GOAL Programme (GOAL 2.0) was
launched recently.
SECOND PHASE OF GRAMEEN UDYAMI

About:
PROJECT
• GOAL (Going Online as Leaders) is a joint initiative of Ministry
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) in of Tribal Affairs and Meta (formerly Facebook), which aims
partnership with Seva Bharti and Yuva Vikas Society at digital empowerment of tribal youth and women through
launched the second phase of Grameen Udyami Project concept of mentor and mentee.
to augment skill training in tribal communities for their • The first phase of the GOAL programme was launched as a
inclusive and sustainable growth. pilot project in May 2020 and it was completed by Dec 2021.
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• The mentees in the first-phase were provided with 40+ hours
About: of training across three course pillars: (1) Communication &
• Grameen Udyami is a unique multiskilling project, funded Life Skills; (2) Enabling Digital Presence, and (3) Leadership
by NSDC that aims to train 450 tribal students in Madhya & Entrepreneurship.
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Pradesh and Jharkhand. • The second phase of the GOAL Programme (GOAL 2.0)
was launched in June, 2022 with an aim to digitally upskill
• The project is being implemented in Maharashtra, Rajasthan,
tribal youth by promoting entrepreneurship and opening up
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Gujarat.
opportunities for them using digital technology.
• This concept was crystallized by Minister of Tribal Affairs and
• The programme is fully funded by Meta (Facebook India).
tribal MPs.
PESA ACT BANTHIA COMMISSION

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The Supreme Court accepted the report of the Banthia
Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi
Commission and directed the Maharashtra State Election
Party (AAP) declared a six-point “guarantee” for tribals
Commission to hold elections as per this report.
in Gujarat’s Chhota Udepur district, including the “strict
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implementation” of The Panchayats (Extension to the

Scheduled Areas) Act (PESA Act). About:
• With this, the way for political reservation for candidates
About: belonging to Other Backward Classes in the Local Bodies’
Elections in the state has been cleared.
• The PESA Act was enacted in 1996 “to provide for the
extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution • Apart from this, the top court has also asked to take steps to hold
relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas”. the stalled elections in the state urgently. It has been ordered to
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announce the Election Schedule in the next two weeks.

• Under the PESA Act, Scheduled Areas are those referred to
in Article 244(1), which says that the provisions of the Fifth • The Jayantkumar Banthia Commission, in its report,
Schedule shall apply to the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled recommended that OBCs should be given up to 27 percent
Tribes in states other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and reservation in local bodies. As the court accepted this report,
Mizoram. OBCs will get 27 percent political reservation in local self-
government elections in the state.
• The Fifth Schedule provides for a range of special provisions
for these areas.
• The PESA Act was enacted to ensure self-governance HINDU MINORITY AND GUARDIANSHIP ACT
through Gram Sabhas (village assemblies) for people living (HMGA), 1956
in the Scheduled Areas.
• It recognises the right of tribal communities, who are residents A mother and father should have equal rights as guardians
of the Scheduled Areas, to govern themselves through their of their children and the Hindu Minority and Guardianship
own systems of self-government, and also acknowledges Act (HMGA), 1956 should be amended as it discriminates
against women, a parliamentary panel has recommended.
their traditional rights over natural resources.
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Society
About: PAALAN 1000 PARENTING APP

• The said Act does not provide for joint guardianship nor does
it recognise the mother as the guardian of the minor legitimate India has taken rapid strides in reducing child mortality
child unless the father is deceased or is found unfit. since 2014 from 45 per 1,000 live births to 35 per 1,000 live
births in 2019, Union Minister of State for Health Bharati
• The Act gives preference to father over mother, it goes
Pravin Pawar said.
against the right to equality and right against discrimination
envisaged under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution.
• The committee feels that there is an urgent need to amend About:
the HMGA and accord equal treatment to both mother and • She said this after the virtual launch of the ‘Paalan 1000’
father as natural guardians. National Campaign and Parenting App at the Early Childhood
• Section 6 of the HMGA lays down that in the case of a Hindu Development Conclave in Mumbai.
minor boy and a Hindu minor unmarried girl, the father is the • ‘Paalan 1000’ focuses on the cognitive development of
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natural guardian and ‘after’ him the mother. children in the first two years of their life.
• Section 7 of the same Act provides that the natural guardianship • The app will provide practical advice to caregivers on what
of an adopted son, who is a minor, passes on adoption to the they can do in their everyday routine and will help clear
adopted father and ‘after’ him to the adoptive mother. doubts.
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• The first 1,000 days encompasses conception as well as the
ADOPTION OF ORPHANS first two years of a growing child’s life.
• During this period, the child needs the right nutrition,
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel and stimulation, love and support. The first 1,000 days establishes
Law and Justice tabled a report on “Review of Guardianship a solid platform for a child’s physical, mental, emotional,
and Adoption Laws” in Parliament. cognitive and social health.
• The app combines coaching for parents, families and other
About: caregivers with services designed to meet the families’ basic
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• In a country with millions of orphans, there are only 2,430 needs.
children available for adoption while the number of parents • The programme is aligned with the mission of the Rashtriya
desiring to bring home a child is growing rapidly. The total Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), emphasising responsive care
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number of children adopted in 2021-2022 was only 3,175. and focused interventions during the first 1,000 days.
• To address this paradox, it has recommended district-level
surveys to proactively identify orphaned and abandoned BAL RAKSHA MOBILE APP
children.
• A monthly meeting chaired by the District Magistrate should The Union Minister of Ayush recently launched the Bal
be held in every district to “ensure that abandoned children Raksha mobile app.
found begging in streets are produced before the Child
Welfare Committee and are made available for adoption at
About:
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the earliest.”
• The app is aiming at creating awareness of paediatric
Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA): preventive healthcare through Ayurveda intervention
amongst parents.
• It is an autonomous body of Union Ministry of Women and
Child Development. • The app will also collect feedback from parents regarding the
impact of the kit on their children’s health and immunity.
• It was set up in 1990.
• It is a statutory body under Juvenile Justice (Care and
Protection of Children) Act, 2015. TRANSGENDER PILOTS
• It functions as the nodal body for the adoption of Indian
children. In a big win for aspiring pilot Adam Harry and the entire
transgender community, the aviation safety regulator has
• It is the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions
for the first time framed new medical guidelines that allow
in accordance with the provisions of the 1993 Hague
transgender persons who have completed gender transition
Convention on Inter-country Adoption, ratified by Government
therapy or surgery to be declared fit to fly.
of India in 2003.
In-Shorts | Society Current Affairs 89
Features of Guidelines: • However, the repeal of the Section 377A stops short of full
• The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued marriage equality.
guidelines for aeromedical evaluation of transgender persons
Indian scenario: Section 377
for obtaining medical clearance for all categories of pilot’s
• Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India is a landmark decision
licence — private pilot’s licence, student pilot licence and
of the Supreme Court of India in 2018 that decriminalised all
commercial pilot licence.
consensual sex among adults, including homosexual sex.
• These say that candidates who have completed their
• The court was asked to determine the constitutionality of
hormone therapy and gender affirmation surgery more than
Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a colonial-era law
five years ago will be declared medically fit provided they
which, among other things, criminalised homosexual acts as
clear screening for mental health in accordance with the
an “unnatural offence”.
World Professional Association for Transgender Health.
• On 6 September 2018, the court unanimously declared the
• If transgender applicants have completed the treatment within
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law unconstitutional “in so far as it criminalises consensual
the past five years, they will have to undergo a psychological
sexual conduct between adults of the same sex”.
and psychiatric evaluation apart from providing a detailed
• Elements of Section 377 relating to sex with minors, non-
report from the surgeon, if there has been a surgery within
consensual sexual acts such as rape, and bestiality remain in
the past year.
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force.
• An ongoing hormone therapy will also not be a ground for
disqualification.
WOMEN IN ARMED FORCES
Background: Adam Harry
• Adam Harry became India’s first transgender trainee pilot in Indian Navy’s women officers have created history after
2019. In the year 2020, Kerala Government extended its they completed the first-ever all-women independent
support for Adam to realize his dream of becoming a maritime reconnaissance and surveillance mission in the
commercial pilot. North Arabian Sea onboard a Dornier 228 aircraft.
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• But the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA) declared him unfit to About:
fly citing hormone therapy and gender • The mission was carried out by five officers of the Indian
dysphoria as the reasons.
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Navy Air Squadron (INAS) 314 based at Naval Air Enclave at

• In July 2022, Ministry of Social Justice Gujarat’s Porbandar.
and Empowerment criticized the DGCA, • The aircraft was captained by the Mission Commander, Lt
calling its decision of denying a transgender person a Cdr Aanchal Sharma.
commercial pilot licence “discriminatory” and violative of the • The INAS 314 is a frontline Naval Air Squadron based at
Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019. Porbandar, Gujarat. This “first-of-its-kind military flying
mission” is expected to pave the way for women officers
HOMOSEXUALITY in the aviation cadre to assume greater responsibility and
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aspire for more challenging roles.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced the
country will repeal a colonial-era law criminalising gay sex, NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF WOMEN POLICE
though he maintained that the government will continue to
“uphold” marriage as between a man and a woman. The 10th National Conference of Women Police was held in
Shimla In Himachal Pradesh.
About:
• Inherited from the British colonial era, Section 377A of About:
Singapore’s penal code penalises sex between men with up • The conference is being organised by the Ministry of
to two years in jail. Home Affairs (MHA) and Bureau of Police Research and
• Gay rights campaigners have long said the law runs Development (BPRD) in collaboration with Himachal Police.
afoul of the affluent city-state’s increasingly modern and • The main objective of this conference is to enhance the
vibrant culture, and had mounted two unsuccessful legal leadership potential of women police officers and discuss
challenges. their problems and challenges.
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Environment & Geography
ENVIRONMENT & B I G L E A R N I N G S M A D E E ASY
GEOGRAPHY
HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT IS A HUMAN RIGHT India has a gross wind power potential of 302 GW in the
country at 100 meter and 695.50 GW at 120 meter above
The United Nations General Assembly declared in July ground level.
2022 that everyone on the planet has a right to a healthy • Most of this potential exists in seven windy States namely
environment. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, madhya
Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
About: • The country currently has the fourth highest wind installed
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• The resolution is not legally binding on the 193 UN Member capacity in the world with total installed capacity of 39.25 GW
States. (as on 31st March 2021).
• But advocates are hopeful it will have a trickle-down effect,
prompting countries to enshrine the right to a healthy VIZHINJAM PORT
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environment in national constitutions and regional treaties,
and encouraging states to implement those laws. Protests against the construction of the Adani Group’s
• The resolution comes as the planet grapples with a triple Vizhinjam Port in Kerala intensified.
planetary crisis of (1) climate change, (2) nature and
biodiversity loss, and (3) pollution and waste. About:
• Earlier, in April 2022, the UN Human Rights Council declared • The Vizhinjam International Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport,
access to a “clean, healthy and sustainable environment” a also known as the Vizhinjam Port is an under-construction
human right. port on the Arabian Sea coast at Thiruvananthapuram.
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• Five decades agao, in 1972, the United Nations Conference • Vizhinjam is a natural port near the international ship route.
on the Environment in Stockholm, which ended with its own It will also affect existing cargo movement to other ports and
historic declaration, was the first one to place environmental will cater to transhipment.
issues at the forefront of international concerns.
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• One of the main concerns around the project is its impact

on the coastline as the Thiruvananthapuram District is
WIND ENERGY considered high erosion through a study conducted by
Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Annual installation of new wind power projects in India
will peak by 2024 and likely decline thereafter, according
to a report released by the Global Wind Energy Council VISHNUGAD PIPALKOTI HYDRO ELECTRIC
(GWEC) and MEC+, a consulting firm that specialises in PROJECT
renewable energy.
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The World Bank is considering a plea by residents of Haat village,

Chamoli district, Uttarakhand to investigate environmental
About:
damage from the under-construction Vishnugad Pipalkoti
• As part of its transition away from fossil fuels, India has Hydro Electric Project (VPHEP) in the district.
committed to sourcing half its electricity in 2030 from non-
fossil fuel sources and installing 60 gigawatt (GW, or 1000
MW) of wind power by 2022.
About:
• The 444-MW VPHEP is being built by the Tehri Hydropower
• So far, only 40 GW of wind power capacity has been established.
Development Corporation (THDC), a partially State-owned
• Wind industry installations have been slowing down in India
enterprise. The project is primarily funded by the World Bank
since 2017. Only 1.45 GW of wind projects were installed in
and was sanctioned in 2011. It is proposed to be completed
2021 with many delayed due to the second wave of COVID-19
in June 2023.
and supply chain-related disruptions.
• According to Residents, the dam threatens the local Lakshmi
Key Facts: Narayan Temple, which is deemed to be of historical and
• According to the National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), cultural importance by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
In-Shorts | Environment & Geography Current Affairs 91
INDIA’S CLIMATE PLEDGES • The floating solar system was built on a 450-acre lake area
adjacent to the NTPC’s Rajiv Gandhi Combined Cycle Power
The Union Cabinet chaired has ratified India’s updated Project (RGCCPP).
Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). The updated • The project consists of around three lakh Made in India solar
NDCs will be communicated to the United Nations PV panels floating on water.
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• Do you know? NTPC Limited also commissioned 56 MW Kawas
Solar PV Project at NTPC Kawas, Gujarat on 15.08.2022.
About:
• Earlier, the Union Cabinet approved an update to India’s
Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). PM Modi had laid
ETHANOL BLENDING
out five commitments, or Panchamrit namely:
The Prime Minister announced that India has achieved its
 India will increase its non-fossil energy capacity to 500
target of blending 10 percent sugarcane-extracted ethanol
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GW (gigawatt) by 2030; in petrol earlier than the prescribed schedule.
 will meet 50% of its energy requirements from “renewable
energy” by 2030;
 will reduce the total projected carbon emissions by one
What is Ethanol?
• It is a biofuel. It is an agricultural by-product which is mainly
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billion tonnes from now till 2030;
 will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by more obtained from the processing of sugar from sugarcane, but
than 45%; and also from other sources such as rice husk or maize.
 will achieve the target of “net zero” by the year 2070, • Ethanol is categorised as first (1G), second (2G) and third-
when there will be no net carbon dioxide emitted from generation (3G), based on the source of raw material used for
energy sources. production.
• However, a press statement released in August 2022, • First generation: These are made from sugar, starch,
following the Cabinet approval, only mentions two of these vegetable oil, or animal fats using conventional technology.
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promises, namely that Common first-generation biofuels include Bioalcohols,
 India is committed to reduce emissions intensity of its Biodiesel, Vegetable oil, Bioethers, Biogas.
GDP by 45% by 2030, from the 2005 level and • Second generation: These are produced from non-food crops,
 achieving 50% cumulative electric power installed capacity such as cellulosic biofuels and waste biomass (stalks of
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from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030. wheat and corn, and wood) e.g. biohydrogen, biomethanol.
• Third generation: These are produced from micro-organisms
PARIS AGREEMENT like algae.
• The Paris Agreement requires each Party to prepare,
What is Ethanol blending?
communicate and maintain successive nationally
• The mixing of ethanol with petrol in different proportions is
determined contributions (NDCs) that it intends to achieve.
termed as ethanol blending.
• The Paris Agreement aims to keep global warming far
• The commonly used blends are E5 (5 percent ethanol,
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below 2°C, ideally to 1.5°C, relative to pre-industrial levels.

95 per cent petrol), E10 (10 percent ethanol, 90 per cent
petrol), or E85 (85 percent ethanol by volume and known
as flex fuel).
FLOATING SOLAR POWER PLANT AT NTPC- • The government has launched the Ethanol Blended Petrol
KAYAMKULAM (EBP) Programme to mix ethanol with petrol to reduce the
consumption of fossil fuel.
PM Modi dedicated to the nation the 92-MW floating
solar power project set up at the National Thermal Power Benefits of Ethanol Blending:
Corporation's (NTPC) Kayamkulam unit in Kerala.
• E-10 blending has improved India’s energy security while
also having a positive impact on the foreign exchange market
About: of around Rs 41,500 crores.
• The Kayamkulam plant is the second-largest floating • Additionally, it has resulted in a 27 lakh MT decrease in GHG
solar power project of the NTPC after the 100-MW plant at emissions and the prompt payment of more than Rs. 40,600
Ramagundam in Telangana. crores to farmers.
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2G ETHANOL PLANT AT PANIPAT • During 1982 to 2013, a total of 26 sites were added to the list
of Ramsar sites, however, during 2014 to 2022, the country
PM Modi dedicated to the nation the 2nd Generation (2G) has added 49 new wetlands to the list of Ramsar sites.
Ethanol Plant at Panipat in Haryana. • Tamil Nadu has maximum number of Ramsar sites which
is 14, followed by Uttar Pradesh which has 10 numbers of
About: Ramsar sites.
• Built by the Indian Oil Corporation at the cost of over Rs 900 LIST OF 11 NEW RAMSAR SITES
crore, the plantis located close to the Panipat refinery. It aims
to utilise about 2 lakh tonnes of rice straw (crop-residue)
S.No Name of wetland State
annually to generate around 3 crore litres of ethanol annually. 1. Tampara Lake
• The plant would generate ethanol by using paddy straw as 2. Hirakud Reservoir Odisha
raw material, thus serving the dual purpose of discouraging 3. Ansupa Lake
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stubble burning while also providing them returns for their
4. Yashwant Sagar Madhya Pradesh
agricultural waste.
5. Chitrangudi Bird Sanctuary
6.
OCEAN DIVERSITY PACT Suchindram Theroor Wetland
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Complex Tamil Nadu
A delegation from India and other countries of United 7. Vaduvur Bird Sanctuary
Nations deliberated on a one-of-its-kind agreement to 8. Kanjirankulam Bird Sanctuary
conserve marine biodiversity in the high seas, namely the
oceans that extend beyond countries’ territorial waters. 9. Thane Creek Maharashtra
10. Hygam Wetland Conservation
About: Reserve Jammu and
11. Shallbugh Wetland Conservation Kashmir
• The agreement follows a resolution by the UN General
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Assembly in May and is expected to be the final in a series set Reserve
in motion since 2018 to draft an international legally binding
instrument under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the NOTE TO READERS
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Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

For detailed information on Ramsar Sites refer Page 91 of
• A key aspect of the agreement is deciding on the rights
August, 2022 edition of Current Affairs Magazine.
of companies that undertake exploration for biological
resources in the high seas.
HIGH SEAS
SWACHH SAGAR, SURAKSHIT SAGAR
CAMPAIGN
• The high seas are those areas of the ocean that are not a
part of a state’s territorial sea, internal waters, or exclusive The Union Minister of Environment participated in Swachh
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economic zones. Sagar, Surakshit Sagar Campaign at Puducherry.

• All nations, whether coastal or landlocked, have access to
the high seas. The conditions outlined by this Convention About:
and other international laws must be met in order to • “Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar/Clean Coast, Safe Sea”
exercise freedom of the high seas. Nearly 45% of the Campaign, is a 75-day citizen-led initiative, aimed at
surface of the Earth is covered by the high seas. improving the coastal and ocean health via community action.
• The campaign began on July 5, 2022, and will culminate on
17th September 2022 - International Coastal Clean-up Day.
RAMSAR SITES • The three strategic underlying objective of the Campaign is
to alter and save the environment through behaviour change.
India added 11 Ramsar sites to take the total counts
The campaign’s three overarching goals are:
of wetlands in India to 75 on the eve of India’s 75th
 Consume Responsibly,
Independence Day. With this, Tamil Nadu has maximum
 Separate waste at home, and
number of Ramsar sites (14), followed by Uttar Pradesh (10).
 Dispose of waste responsibly.
• The campaign is spearheaded by Ministry of Earth Sciences About:

(MoES) in partnership of Ministry of Environment, Indian • Indian Virtual Herbarium (IVH) has been developed by
Coast Guard, National Disaster Management Authority scientists of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).
(NDMA), other central ministries/organisation and other
• IVH is a database of dried plants that maximises the
social organizations and educational institutions.
usefulness of the collections.
• The coastal clean-up campaign is being taken at 75 beaches
• Each record in the digital herbarium includes an image of
along the coast line of with average 75 volunteers for every
the preserved plant specimen, scientific name, collection
kilometre of coastline.
locality, and collection date, collector name, and barcode
• A mobile app “Eco Mitram” has been launched to spread
number.
awareness about the campaign and also for the common
• The digital herbarium also includes features to extract the
people for voluntary registration for the beach cleaning
activity on the 17th September 2022. data State-wise and users can search plants of their own
States which will help them to identify regional plants and in
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building regional checklists.
COASTAL ZONE REGULATION
BOTANICAL SURVEY OF INDIA (BSI)
Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in its
'Conservation of Coastal Ecosystems' report, mentions
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• It was established in 1890.
that several coastal zone projects were approved despite • Headquarters: Kolkata
environmental impact assessment inadequacies.
• Objectives: Undertaking intensive floristic surveys and
collecting accurate and detailed information on the
About: occurrence, distribution, ecology and economic utility of
• Coastal Zone Regulation (CRZ) was approved by the plants in the country.
government in 2018 and the regulations were last reviewed
and issued in 2011.
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• Some of the salient features of the CRZ Regulations, 2018 are: ARTH GANGA
 Allowing Floor Space Index (FSI) as per current norms in
CRZ areas. The Director General of the National Mission for Clean Ganga
 Densely populated rural areas to be afforded greater highlighted the Arth Ganga model during the Stockholm
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opportunity for development World Water Week 2022 (23 August to 1 September).
 Tourism infrastructure for basic amenities to be promoted
 A No Development Zone (NDZ) of 20 metres has been About:
stipulated for all Islands
• PM Modi first introduced the concept during the first National
 All Ecologically Sensitive Areas have been accorded
Ganga Council meeting in Kanpur in 2019, where he urged
special importance
for a shift from Namami Gange, the Union Government’s
 Pollution abatement has been accorded special focus
flagship project to clean the Ganga, to the model of Arth
 Defence and strategic projects have been accorded
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Ganga.
necessary dispensation
• Arth Ganga focuses on the sustainable development of the
• In 2019, the Union Government notified the Island Coastal
Ganga and its surrounding areas, by focusing on economic
Zone Regulation(ICRZ) and declared certain coastal
activities related to the river. At its core, the Arth Ganga model
stretches as ‘Coastal Regulation Zone’.
seeks to use economics to bridge people with the river.
• The regulations also imposed restrictions on setting up and
expanding industries, operations, and processes within such • Do You Know? Since 1991, the Stockholm International Water
protected zones. Institute has been organising the World Water Week every
year to address global water concerns.
INDIAN VIRTUAL HERBARIUM

KALI BEIN
With details of about one lakh plant specimens, the Indian
Virtual Herbarium, the biggest virtual database of flora in Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was admitted to
the country, is generating a lot of interest after PM Modi Hospital after he had drunk a glass of water directly from
mentioned about it in the Mann Ki Baat Episode. the Kali Bein, a holy rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi.
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About: The Key finding of the study are:

• Kali Bein, the 165-km rivulet starts from Hoshiarpur, runs • The net loss of the continent’s ice sheet from calving alone
across four districts and meets the confluence of the rivers in the past quarter-century spans nearly 37,000 sq km. Ice
Beas and Sutlej in Kapurthala. calving, also known as glacier calving or iceberg calving, is
• Along its banks are around 80 villages and half a dozen small the breaking of ice chunks from the edge of a glacier.
and big towns. Waste water from there as well as industrial • West Antarctica, which is a region more severely affected
waste used to flow into the rivulet via a drain, turning its by warmer ocean currents, experienced the most marked
waters black, hence the name Kali Bein (black rivulet). acceleration of glacial calving and ice thinning.
• The Kali Bein is of great significance to Sikh religion and • The consequences could be enormous as the Antarctica
history, because the first Guru, Nanak Dev, is said to have region holds 88% of the sea level potential of all the world’s ice.
got enlightenment here.
Antarctica’s Ice Shelves:
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• There are approximately 300 ice shelves around Antarctica.
HASDEO ARANYA Together they cover around three quarters of the Antarctic
coastline.
The Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly passed a private
• These are permanent floating sheets of frozen freshwater
member resolution urging the Centre to cancel allocation
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attached to land, which take thousands of years to form and
of all coal mining blocks in the ecologically sensitive area
act like buttresses holding back glaciers.
of Hasdeo Aranya.
• The long-term natural cycle of calving and regrowth regulates
the extent of ice shelves when they are stable.
About:
• Its white surface acts as an enormous reflector, sending heat
• The Hasdeo Aranya (Aranya means forest) lies in the
back to space and keeping the planet cool.
catchment area of the Hasdeo river and is spread across
1,878 sq km in North-Central Chhattisgarh.
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• The Hasdeo river is a tributary of the Mahanadi river which EARTH’S ROTATION
originates in Chhattisgarh and flows through Odisha into the
Bay of Bengal. On June 29, the Earth completed one full spin — a day —
in 1.59 milliseconds less than its routine 24 hours. It was
• The Hasdeo Aranya are called the lungs of Chhattisgarh.
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the shortest day recorded since the 1960s, when scientists

• The Hasdeo forests are also the catchment area for the first began to use the precise atomic clocks to measure the
Hasdeo Bango Dam built across the Hasdeo river which Earth’s rotational speed.
irrigates six lakh acres of land, crucial to a State with paddy as
its main crop. Besides, the forests are ecologically sensitive
About:
due to the rich biodiversity they offer and due to the presence
• While the Earth has been completing its rotations faster in
of a large migratory corridor for elephants.
recent years, when looked at over a much longer period of
Coal Mining Controversy: time, our planet is actually spinning slower.
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• Underneath the Hasdeo Aranya is a coalfield that comprises • Every century, the Earth takes a few milliseconds longer to
of 22 coal blocks. In 2010, the Centre categorised Hasdeo complete one rotation — and on average, days are actually
Aranya to be a “no-go” zone for mining. getting longer. So, 1.4 billion years ago, a day would have
• However, only a year later, the Ministry of Environment granted ended in less than 19 hours in 2018
clearance for the mining. At present, of the 22 blocks, seven • The larger trend of the Earth’s slower spin is attributed mostly
blocks have been allotted to different companies. to the gravitational pull of the Moon, which causes tidal
friction and slows down the Earth’s rotations.
ANTARCTICA’S FLOATING ICE SHELVES Then why are days getting shorter these days?
• Scientists aren’t entirely sure. Climate change-induced
According to a study led by researchers at NASA’s Jet surface variations, which impact the way that the Earth spins,
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the melting of Antarctica's could be a reason.
floating ice shelves are being accelerated by climate
• These surface variations include melting ice sheets in Greenland
change.
and Antarctica, as well as changes in ocean circulation.
• Some experts suggest that the shortened length of the day About:
could be related to the ‘Chandler wobble’, a phenomenon • New rules will replace Batteries (Management and Handling)
that refers to the small deviation in the movement of Earth’s Rules, 2001.
geographical poles.
• The rules cover all types of batteries, viz. Electric Vehicle
batteries, portable batteries, automotive batteries and
KARAKORAM ANOMALY industrial batteries.
• The rules function on the concept of Extended Producer
Researchers have unraveled the mystery of why few pockets Responsibility (EPR) where the producers (including
of glaciers in the Karakoram Range are resisting glacial importers) of batteries are responsible for collection and
melt due to global warming, defying the trend of glaciers recycling of waste batteries and use of recovered materials
losing mass across the globe. from wastes into new batteries.
• It enables setting up a mechanism and centralized online
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About: portal for exchange of EPR certificates between producers
• Glaciers are fast receding under the impacts of global and recyclers/refurbishers to fulfil the obligations of
warming, and stifling stress on the water resources is producers.
inevitable in the coming decades. • It promotes setting up of new industries and entrepreneurship
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• However, the glaciers of central Karakoram have surprisingly in collection and recycling/refurbishment of waste batteries.
remained unchanged or slightly increased in the last few • Prescribing the use of certain amount of recycled materials in
decades. making of new batteries will reduce the dependency on new
• The phenomenon of Karakoram not losing glacier mass, is raw materials and save natural resources.
known as Karakoram Anomaly”. • On the principle of Polluter Pays Principle, environmental
compensation will be imposed for non-fulfilment of Extended
Key Findings:
Producer Responsibility targets, responsibilities and
• Researchers claimed that the recent revival of western
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obligations set out in the rules.
disturbance has been instrumental in triggering and sustaining
• The funds collected under environmental compensation
the Karakoram Anomaly since the advent of the 21st century.
shall be utilised in collection and refurbishing or recycling of
• Western disturbances are storms that originate in the Caspian uncollected and non-recycled waste batteries.
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or Mediterranean Sea, and bring non-monsoonal rainfall to

northwest India
• Earlier studies have highlighted the role of temperature in ATHELIA ROLFSII
establishing and sustaining the anomaly over the years.
Researchers at the Integrated Farming Systems Research
Station (IFSRS), a Kerala Agricultural University (KAU)
KARAKORAM RANGE?
facility at Karamana, have reported the emergence of a
• The Karakorams are part of a complex of mountain ranges new fungal disease in jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus).
at the center of Asia, including the HinduKush to the west,
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the Pamirs to the northwest, the Kunlun Mountains to the About:

northeast, and the Himalayas to the southeast.
• Athelia rolfsii is a soil-borne fungal pathogen with a wide host
• The borders of India, China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and range which attacks various commercially cultivated crops
Tajikistan, all converge within the Karakoram system, belonging to different families. But this is the first time it is
giving this remote region great geopolitical significance. being reported in jackfruit in the country.
• Its highest peak (and the world’s second highest peak), • One disease which is found in immature jackfruit is the
K2, is located in the Gilgit-Baltistan region. Rhizopus fruit rot, but it does not affect mature fruit.
BATTERY WASTE MANAGEMENT RULES, 2022 MEGALODON

Union Ministry of Environment published the Battery Waste Using fossil evidence to create a three-dimensional model,
Management Rules, 2022 to ensure environmentally sound researchers have found new evidence about the life of one of
management of waste batteries. the biggest predatory animals of all time — the Megalodon.
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About: • A genome sequenced from DNA recovered from a 108-year-

• According to the study, The Megalodon could “completely old specimen kept at Australia’s Victoria Museum will be
ingest, and in as few as five bites,” a prey as big as the killer used for the de-extinction research.
whale. • To determine all the changes, the genome from the specimen
• The Megalodon was bigger than a school bus at around 50 will be compared to that of the closest living member of the
feet from nose to tail. In comparison, the great white sharks of species, the fat-tailed dunnart.
the present can grow to a maximum length of around 15 feet. • Scientists will modify the DNA of the living cell where it
• Using their digital model, the researchers have suggested differs after all the changes have been discovered, basically
that the giant transoceanic predator would have weighed bringing the extinct species back.
around 70 tonnes — or as much as 10 elephants.
• Megalodons roamed the oceans an estimated 23 million to
2.6 million years ago.
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TASMANIAN TIGER
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Scientists in the US and Australia have embarked on a
$15-million project to resurrect the thylacine or Tasmanian
Tiger, a marsupial that went extinct in the 1930s, using
gene-editing technology.
About:
• The ambitious project aims to reintroduce the animal to its
native place Tasmania to revive the region’s lost ecological ICHNITES
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balance.
• Tasmanian Tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus), the only animal Scientists have discovered over 4,300 dinosaur footprints
in Hebei province of Zhangjiakou in northern China. This is
in the Thylacinidae family to survive in modern times, was a
the largest number of footprint fossils found in one spot in
marsupial mammal that raises young ones in a pouch.
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the country.
• Even though the species earned its nickname Tasmanian
Tiger because of the stripes along its back, it was a slow-
paced carnivorous that usually hunted alone or in pairs at
About:
night. • The largest number of dinosaur footprint fossils located in
northern China, these cover an area of 9,000 square metres.
• The sharply clawed animal had a dog-like head and ate
The footprints show four different dinosaur species, one of
kangaroos, other marsupials, small rodents, and birds.
which might be undiscovered.
• Once widespread in the grass and woodlands of continental
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Australia extending north to New Guinea and south to • The footprints belong to herbivores and carnivores dinosaurs;
Tasmania, the animal’s fate changed after the European while the former could reach lengths of nearly 15 metres, the
Colonisation of Australia.The animals were reported to have latter was four to five metres.
eaten poultry of farmers, and were killed following official
How did the dinosaur footprints become fossils?
authorisation.
• Preserved footprints, also known as ichnites, are trace
• The last wild thylacine was killed between 1910 and 1920.
fossils that have survived millions of years. These are found
Resurrection Process: in earthen materials that were soft enough to form the foot
impression and hard enough to retain it.
• The thylacine is an excellent candidate for de-extinction
because human hunting caused its extinction only in 1936, • Over time, the material dried, hardened, and was covered
and the ecology we want to reintroduce it to is still in place. with layers of sediment, helping the impression become
• Many embryos and young specimens of the species have fossilised. In numerous instances, soil erosion is now bringing
been preserved, which will be used for the revival of the them to the surface.
species.
PENINSULAR ROCK AGAMA About:

• The Minister cited these figures from the Livestock Censuses
A study was carried out by researchers from Indian Institute of of these two years.
Science (IISc), Bengaluru, to understand where the Peninsular
• There was a decline of 18 lakh dogs on the streets across the
rock agama reside in and around Bengaluru specifically.
country, marking a 10% reduction, between 2012 and 2019.
• The Union Territory of Lakshadweep had not a single dog on
About: the streets, in either of the two Livestock Censuses.
• The Peninsular Rock Agama (Psammophilus dorsalis) which
is a type of garden lizard is a common species of agama
found on rocky hills in south India. SNOW LEOPARD
• This species of lizard has a large head that is elongated and
A recent study by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) on
depressed.
snow leopard (Panthera uncia) has thrown up interesting
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• Its IUCN Status is Least Concern. insights on the elusive mountain cat and its prey species.
• The study revealed that they are found mainly in rocky places
and warm spots. Habitat loss and other such features of
About:
urbanisation have affected the presence of the animal in
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• According to the study carried out in Spiti Valley of Himachal
urban centres.
Pradesh, the snow leopard detection probability was high if
• Thus, the inference is that conservation efforts must focus
the site was used by its prey species — Siberian ibex and
towards retaining rocky patches even while reviving
blue sheep.
landscapes by planting trees.
• The snow leopard (Panthera uncia), also known as the ounce,
is a felid in the genus Panthera native to the mountain ranges
MUDHOL HOUNDS of Central and South Asia.
• Snow leopards use rugged mountainous areas or non-
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India’s elite protection force, the Special Protection forested areas covering an altitude between 3,200 metres to
Group, which guards very very important persons (VVIPs), 5,200 metres.
including the Prime Minister and Central Ministers, has
• Classified as ‘Vulnerable’ by the International Union for
inducted Mudhol hounds on experimental basis.
Conservation of Nature Red list and listed in Schedule-I
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species of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, snow

About: leopards are elusive mountain cats.
• The dogs already serve with the Indian armed forces and
some paramilitary forces thus becomes the first indigenous
breed to be part of the SPG.
INVASIVE SPECIES AND WORLD ECONOMY
• Known for their hunting and guarding skills, the
Two invasive species, the American bullfrog and the brown
characteristically lanky Mudhol hounds get their name from tree snake, cost the world an estimated $16 billion between
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the erstwhile kingdom of Mudhol (in present-day Bagalkot), 1986 and 2020, by causing problems ranging from crop
whose rulers first began to breed them. damage to power outages, according to a study published
• The dogs are fast runners, with excellent stamina and agility, in Scientific Reports.
and have a sharp vision and a keen sense of smell.
• One issue that has been observed, however, is that About:
the performance of the hounds appears to dip in cold
• The brown-and-green frog, known as lithobates catesbeianus
environments.
and weighs over two pounds (0.9 kg), had the greatest impact
in Europe.
STREET DOGS • The brown tree snake, known as boiga irregularis, has
multiplied uncontrollably on Pacific islands including Guam
The number of dogs on India’s streets declined from 1.71 and the Mariana Islands, where the species was introduced
crore in 2012 to 1.53 crore in 2019, according to figures by the U.S. troops in World War II.
tabled in Lok Sabha by Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and • The snakes have, at times, been so abundant that they
Dairying Minister. caused power outages by crawling on electrical equipment.
ASIA’S LONGEST ELEVATED WILDLIFE About:

CORRIDOR • It was conceived in 2011 by Canadian filmmakers Patricia
Sims and Michael Clark of Canazwest Pictures, and
Asia’s longest elevated wildlife corridor (12km) is currently Sivaporn Dardarananda, Secretary-General of the Elephant
under construction in Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand. Reintroduction Foundation in Thailand.
• It was officially founded, supported and launched by Patricia
About: Sims and the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation on August
• This 12 km long wildlife corridor will form a major chunk of the 12, 2012.
Delhi-Dehradun Expressway. • There are three species of elephants — African Forest,
• The foundation of this Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor was African Savanna (bush), and Asian. The animals can be
laid last year by PM Modi. differentiated by their ears and trunks. African elephants are
• Once completed, the expressway would reduce travel time larger. Their ears are also larger and shaped like Africa.
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between Dehradun-Delhi from 6 hrs to 2.30 hours & Delhi- • Conservation Status of Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus):
Haridwar from 5 hours to 2 hours.  IUCN Red List Status: Endangered.
 Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I.
GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD
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 CITES: Appendix I
• Project Elephan was launched in 1992 as a centrally sponsored
The Great Indian Bustard (GIBs) has adopted a new habit of
scheme to protect elephants, their habitat & corridors.
laying a clutch of two eggs at a time
• India has 30 notified elephant reserves, spread across 15
Elephant Range States.
About:
• There are also 10 sites for the MIKE (Monitoring of Illegal
• A clutch is the total eggs a bird lays per each nesting attempt.
Killing of Elephants) programme, mandated by the
Some birds have more than one nesting attempt per year.
Conference of Parties to the Convention on International
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• The new inclination of the GIBs has been identified by Trade in Endangered Species.
researchers working on ex-situ breeding in the Desert
National Park of the Jaisalmer district (DNP).
REINTRODUCTION OF CHEETAHS
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KEY FACTS
India and Namibia signed a memorandum of understanding
• It is a large terrestrial bird of the bustard family (Otididae), (MoU) for reintroduction of cheetahs into the historical
one of the heaviest flying birds in the world. range in India.
• Its scientific name is Ardeotis nigriceps.
• Distribution: Its population is confined mostly to Rajasthan About:
and Gujarat. Small population occur in Maharashtra, • The cheetahs will be released in Kuno National Park, Madhya
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh Pradesh because of its suitable habitat and adequate
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• Habitat: GIBs favour flat open landscapes with minimal prey base. Additionally, a lot of restorative investment had
visual obstruction and disturbance, therefore adapt well in already been made at this site for introducing the Asiatic
grasslands lions.
• Conservation Status: • India has lost only one large wild mammalian species since
 Indian Wildlife (Protection)Act, 1972 : Schedule I the country’s independence in 1947.
 IUCN : Critically Endangered • In India, Asiatic Cheetahs became extinct in 1952 (surviving
 CITES : Appendix I only in Iran). As a result, the Union government initiated the
‘Cheetah Relocation’ project.
WORLD ELEPHANT DAY NOTE TO READERS

World Elephant Day is an international annual event on For detailed information on Cheetahs refer Page 24 of
August 12, dedicated to the preservation and protection of April, 2022 edition of Current Affairs Magazine.
the world's elephants.
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Science & Technology
SCIENCE &
100
TECHNOLOGY
MINERALS SECURITY PARTNERSHIP (MSP) TALC
As part of a global ‘China-plus-one’ strategy adopted post Pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson (J&J)
the Covid-19 pandemic that caused massive supply-chain announced that it would discontinue the sale of its talc-
disruptions, a group of western nations are cooperating to based baby powder globally in 2023.
develop alternatives to China to ensure key industrial supplies.
About:
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About: • The announcement came amidst the tens of thousands of
• A new US-led partnership initiative of 11 nations aims to lawsuits from women who claim that the product caused them
bolster critical mineral supply chains. India is not part of to have ovarian cancer, due to the alleged contamination of
this arrangement — called the Minerals Security Partnership asbestos, a known carcinogen.
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(MSP) — but New Delhi is working through diplomatic • Talc is the softest known mineral and is mined from
channels to fetch an entry. underground deposits. Chemically, it is hydrous magnesium
• The US and 10 partners — Australia, Canada, Finland, France, silicate, according to the US Food & Drug Administration
Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), (FDA), and is used in a variety of cosmetic and personal
Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the European Commission care products, like baby powder, lipstick, eyeshadow and
— have come together to form the MSP. The new grouping foundation.
is aimed at catalysing investment from governments and the • When reduced to a fine powder, it is able to absorb moisture
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private sector to develop strategic opportunities. and reduce friction which keeps the skin dry, helps prevent
• The new grouping could focus on the supply chains of rashes, stops makeup from caking and generally helps
minerals such as Cobalt, Nickel, Lithium, and also the 17 ‘rare improve the feel and texture of a product.
earth’ minerals.
Does it cause Cancer?
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What are rare Earth Elements? • Asbestos, the name for another group of naturally occurring
• The 17 rare earth elements (REE) include the 15 Lanthanides silicate minerals, can also be found near talc deposits.
(atomic numbers 57 — which is Lanthanum — to 71 in the • There is the potential for contamination of talc with asbestos.
periodic table) plus Scandium (atomic number 21) and Asbestos has been used in construction and manufacturing,
Yttrium (39). and is known to cause lung cancer, ovarian cancer,
• REEs are classified as light RE elements (LREE) and heavy mesothelioma and other health conditions.
RE elements (HREE).
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• Some REEs are available in India — such as Lanthanum,

Cerium, Neodymium, Praseodymium and Samarium, etc.
FOREVER CHEMICALS
Others such as Dysprosium, Terbium, and Europium, which
A recent study published in Environment Science and
are classified as HREEs, are not available in Indian deposits
Technology has found that rainwater from many
in extractable quantities. places across the globe is contaminated with “per- and
• Hence, there is a dependence on countries such as China for polyfluoroalkyl substances,” (PFAs), which are called “forever
HREEs, which is one of the leading producers of REEs, with chemicals” because of their tendency to stick around in the
an estimated 70 per cent share of the global production. atmosphere, rainwater and soil for long periods of time.
About:
• PFAs are man-made chemicals used to make non-stick
cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain-resistant fabrics,
cosmetics, firefighting forms and many other products that
resist grease, water and oil.
In-Shorts | Science & Technology Current Affairs 101
• PFAs can migrate to the soil, water and air during their • As per the TRAI paper, small cells provide coverage for very
production and use. Since most PFAs do not break down, short distances and therefore they are installed in a large
they remain in the environment for long periods of time. Some number — even more than 200 per square kilometre — for
of these PFAs can build up in people and animals if they are good geographical coverage to provide highly reliable and
repeatedly exposed to the chemicals. high-capacity broadband.
• Variety of health risks are attributed to PFA exposure including
decreased fertility, developmental effects in children, STANDALONE 5G ARCHITECTURE
interference with body hormones, increased cholesterol
levels and increased risk of some cancers. India’s largest telecom company Reliance Jio announced
the launch of its 5G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and
Chennai by Diwali this year, with an aim to expand and
FIBERISATION
cover the entire country by December 2023.
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India is preparing to auction off about 72 Ghz of airwaves
to rollout 5G services in the country. However, the About:
infrastructure needed for such a rollout requires existing • The company said it will launch its 5G services on a
radio towers to be connected via optical-fibre cables. “standalone” 5G architecture, against the “non-standalone”
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approach that other operators are betting on.
What is Fiberisation? • 5G networks are deployed mainly on two modes: standalone
• The process of connecting radio towers with each other via and non-standalone.
optical fibre cables is called fiberisation.
• In the standalone mode, which Jio has chosen, the 5G network
• It helps provide full utilisation of network capacity, and carry operates with dedicated equipment, and runs parallel to the
large amounts of data once 5G services are rolled out. It existing 4G network, while in the non-standalone mode, the
will also aid in providing additional bandwidth and stronger 5G network is supported by the 4G core infrastructure.
backhaul support.
• The standalone mode provides access to full 5G capabilities
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• The backhaul is a component of the larger transport that is and new network functionalities such as slicing that provides
responsible for carrying data across the network. greater flexibility to operators to efficiently use their spectrum
• It represents the part of the network that connects the core of holdings.
the network to the edge. As a result, fibre backhaul remains • Non-standalone networks are generally considered to be a
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an important part of transport across all telecoms. stepping stone, and global precedent suggests operators
• Fibre-based media, commonly called optical media, provides that have launched non-standalone 5G networks eventually
almost infinite bandwidth and coverage, low latency and high transition to standalone networks. The non-standalone mode,
insulation from interference. however, lets operators maximise the utilisation of their existing
network infrastructure with relatively lower investment.
SMALL CELLS
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To expedite the roll-out of 5G, telecom operators in

the country will leverage street furniture such as poles,
advertisement hoardings and bus shelters for deploying
low-power base stations called ‘small cells’ that will help
bring the network closer to the consumers.
About:
• Small cells are needed for deploying 5G as opposed to
earlier generations such as 4G, because of the frequency.
The higher the frequency, the lower the wavelength, which OPEN NETWORK FOR DIGITAL COMMERCE
means that the distance they travel is less. (ONDC)
• Small cells are low-powered radio access nodes or base
US firm Microsoft has become the first big tech company
stations that have a coverage range from a few metres up to
to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), a
a few hundred metres. They are portable, easy to deploy and
Government of India backed project.
help provide localised coverage.
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About: • Mengtian is expected to be launched in October and, like

• ONDC is an initiative aimed at promoting open networks for Wentian, is to dock with Tianhe, forming a T-shaped structure.
all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or
electronic networks. JAMES WEBB SPACE TELESCOPE
• ONDC is to be based on open-sourced methodology, using
open specifications and open network protocols independent The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s latest and most
of any specific platform. powerful telescope, has captured new images of solar
system’s largest planet, Jupiter, presenting it in a never
• It is being developed as a counter to the current duopoly in
before seen light.
the Indian e-commerce market which is largely dictated by
Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.
About:
• The photographs published have captured a new view of
INTERNATIONAL MOBILE EQUIPMENT
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the planet, presenting in detail its massive storms, colourful
IDENTITY (IMEI) auroras, faint rings and two small moons — Amalthea and
Adrastea.
With rising cases of mobile phone snatching in the national
capital, the Delhi Police is now planning to close ranks • Jupiter’s famous Great Red Spot, a storm so big that it could
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with internet service providers and the department of swallow Earth, appeared bright white in the image, since it
telecommunications to block stolen or robbed phones. was reflecting a lot of sunlight, the space agency stated.
• NASA’s $10 billion James Webb Telescope was developed
About: with the assistance of the European Space Agency and the
Canadian Space Agency.
• This will be done by using the device’s International Mobile
Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. • It was launched to space on December 25, 2021 and is
• The International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI is a unique currently observing from Lagrange point 2, approximately
1.5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The
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number that is used to identify a device on a mobile network. It
has 15 digits, and is like your phone’s unique identity. telescope released its first image on July 11 2022.
• When you use the internet or place a call through your cellular
service provider, then this number is used to verify the identity
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of your device.
• If you have a dual SIM phone, then you will have two IMEI
numbers, one for each slot.
CHINESE SPACE STATION

China launched the second of three modules to its
permanent space station, in one of the final missions
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needed to complete the orbiting outpost by year's end.
About:
• The 23-tonne Wentian (“Quest for the Heavens”) laboratory HAYABUSA-2 PROBE
module was launched on the back of China’s most powerful
rocket, the Long March 5B from the Wenchang Space Launch How did the Earth, believed to have been covered in
Centre on the southern island of Hainan. The launch was “a bubbling oceans of magma billions of years ago, transform
complete success”. into the ‘blue planet’ and become covered in water?
• China began constructing the space station in April 2021 with
the launch of the Tianhe module, the main living quarters, in the About:
first of 11 crewed and uncrewed missions in the undertaking. • In an article published in the journal Nature Astronomy on
• The Wentian lab module, 17.9 m long, will provide space August 15, scientists from Japan suggest that water and
for experiments, along with the other lab module yet to be organic materials might have been brought to our planet from
launched — Mengtian (“Dreaming of the Heavens”). the outer edges of the solar system.
• The scientists made the hypothesis after analysing samples applicants in 2019 as part of a UN-led initiative that invites
from the asteroid Ryugu, collected by the Japan Aerospace research teams from all over the world to compete for an
Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa-2 probe, which had opportunity to design payloads that will be shuttled to
brought 5.4 grams of rocks and dust from the asteroid to Tiangong aboard rockets of the Chinese Manned Space
Earth in December 2020. Agency.
• The Hayabusa-2 mission was launched in December 2014 • The project, called Spectrographic Investigation of Nebular
when the spacecraft was sent on a six-year voyage to study Gas (SING), also involves collaboration with the Institute of
the asteroid Ryugu. Astronomy, Russian Academy of Sciences, and has been
designed and developed by research students at the IIA.
SPACE KIDZ INDIA • The plan is to have it ready by the year-end so that it can be
launched in the summer of 2023.
Space Kidz India unfurled the Indian flag about 30
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kilometres above the planet on Independence Day.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS)
About: Russia will pull out of the International Space Station after
• The flag was sent to an altitude of 1 lakh 6 thousand feet 2024 (when the current international arrangements for its
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above the planet on a balloon that unfurled it. operation end) and focus on building its own orbiting outpost.
• The event was part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav slogan
and under the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign launched to About:
celebrate the 75 years of independence.
• NASA and other international partners hope to keep the
• Space Kidz India is an organization creating ‘young scientists space station running until 2030, while the Russians have
for the country and spreading awareness among children for been reluctant to make commitments beyond 2024.
a borderless world.’
• The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular
• The organization recently launched a satellite into Low Earth
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space station currently in low Earth orbit.
Orbit. AzadiSAT was developed by 750 girl students from
• It is a multinational collaborative project involving five
across India to mark the 75 years of Independence.
participating space agencies: NASA (United States),
Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA
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(Canada).
• The first ISS component was launched in 1998, and the first
long-term residents arrived on 2 November 2000.
• The station serves as a microgravity and space environment
research laboratory in which scientific research is conducted.
GAGAN
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The Government of India has exempted Boeing 787 aircraft

in India from complying with the indigenously developed
GAGAN navigation system until December 2025 as the aircraft
SPECTROGRAPHIC INVESTIGATION OF manufacturer has said that it involves a major design change.
NEBULAR GAS (SING)
Tensions between India and China since May 2020 is
About:
worrying Indian astrophysicists involved in an ambitious • The GPS-aided GEO augmented navigation (GAGAN) is an
project to install an Indian-made spectroscope aboard the implementation of a regional satellite-based augmentation
developing Chinese space station Tiangong. system (SBAS) by the Government of India.
• GAGAN helps aircraft with guided landing at airports that do
About: not have an instrument landing system.
• Scientists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), • It is a system to improve the accuracy of a GNSS receiver by
Bengaluru, were among nine groups selected from 42 providing reference signals.
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AFRICAN SWINE FEVER VIRUS (ASFV) • Langya’s genome organization is “identical to that of other
Henipaviruses”, and that it is closely related to the “Mojiang
After Wayanad district of Kerala, African swine fever has Henipavirus, which was discovered in southern China”.
been confirmed at a private pig farm in Kanichar Panchayat
in Kannur district.
V.K. PAUL TASKFORCE ON MONKEYPOX
About: In the wake of the detection of monkeypox cases in India, the
• African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) is a large, double-stranded Union government has constituted a task force.
DNA virus in the Asfarviridae family.
• It is the causative agent of African Swine Fever (ASF). About:
• ASF is a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and wild • It will be headed by V.K. Paul, member (Health), NITI Aayog.
pigs. The virus is highly resistant in the environment, meaning • It will monitor and provide guidance on the expansion of
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that it can survive on clothes, boots, wheels, and other materials. diagnostic facilities and to explore vaccination against the
• The virus causes a hemorrhagic fever with high mortality infection in the country.
rates in domestic pigs; some isolates can cause death of
NOTE TO READERS
animals as quickly as a week after infection.
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For detailed information on Monkeypox refer Page 39 of
• It persistently infects its natural hosts, warthogs, bushpigs,
June 2022 edition of Current Affairs Magazine.
and soft ticks of the genus Ornithodoros, which likely act as a
vector, with no disease signs.
• The virus can be spread by ticks, but also by swine eating
FOODBORNE PATHOGEN SURVEY NETWORK
pork products that contain the virus.
(ICMR-FOODNET)
• ASF is not a threat to human health and cannot be transmitted
from pigs to humans. It is not a food safety issue. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has
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• ASFV replicates in the cytoplasm of infected cells. inaugurated the Foodborne Pathogen Survey Network
• It was first detected in Africa in the 1920s. Historically, (ICMR-FoodNet) in Northeast India.
outbreaks have been reported in Africa and parts of Europe,
South America, and the Caribbean. About:
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• It is the only virus with a double-stranded DNA genome • It is the beginning of a unique public health initiative in the
known to be transmitted by arthropods. region, the Council said.
• Vaccine research: Vietnam successfully produced the first • The integrated task force coordinates project-based activity
vaccine against African swine fever on June 1, 2022. campaigns, monitors food-borne enteric disease outbreaks,
and conducts intensified systematic laboratory-based
surveillance in four north-eastern States, in collaboration with
LANGYA research and medical institutions and food sectors.
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A new zoonotic virus has been discovered in the China’s two

eastern provinces. HEALTH STAR RATING
A new study in India has found that warning labels on food
About:
packets are most effective in helping consumers identify
• This new type of Henipavirus is also being called Langya foods high in sugar, saturated fat and sodium as compared
Henipavirus or the LayV. to other labelling formats. It found that on most parameters,
• The newly discovered virus is a “phylogenetically distinct the Health Star Rating (HSR) format was least effective.
Henipavirus”. Henipaviruses are classified as biosafety
level 4 (BSL4) pathogens. They can cause severe illness in About:
animals and humans, and as of now there are no licensed
• In February 2022, the Food Safety Standards Authority of
drugs or vaccines meant for humans.
India (FSSAI) decided to adopt the Health-Star Rating (HSR)
• The types of Henipaviruses that had been identified prior to this system. In its draft regulations for Front of Package Labelling
included Hendra, Nipah, Cedar, Mojiang and the Ghanaian (FOPL), the FSSAI designed a system called HSR, that gives
bat virus. Langya, meanwhile, is known to cause fever. a product 1/2 a star (unhealthy) to 5 stars (healthy).
• After analysing the nutritional information present in 100 mg About:

quantity of packaged food, the levels of fat, sugar and salt in • Corbevax will be available as precaution dose after the
the food will determine the HSR. completion of six months from the date of administration of
• FSSAI has exempted milk and dairy products from the the second dose of either Covaxin or Covishield vaccines for
proposed FoPL, as they were in the earlier FSSAI draft a population above 18 years.
notified in 2019. • Corbevax is a protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine developed
by Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development
and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and
NATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL PRICING Dynavax technologies based in Emeryville, California.
AUTHORITY (NPPA) • It is licensed to Indian biopharmaceutical firm Biological E.
Limited (BioE) for development and production.
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)
celebrated its Silver Jubilee.
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HIV MEDICINE SHORTAGE
About: People living with HIV have been protesting outside
• On the occasion, Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Dr. offices of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO),
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Mansukh Mandaviya launched Integrated Pharmaceutical demanding that they receive medicines in a timely manner
Database Management System 2.0, an integrated responsive following shortages for nearly five months.
cloud-based application. It will provide a single window for
submissions of various forms as mandated under Drug Price
About:
Control Order, 2013. • The main shortage is of dolutegravir, used as part of the first-,
second-, and third-line ART combinations. There is also a
• The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is a
shortage of nevirapine syrup that is given to infants with HIV.
government regulatory agency that controls the prices of
• While there is no cure for HIV infection, ART aims to reduce
pharmaceutical drugs in India.
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the replication of HIV and bring the viral load to undetectable
• It was constituted vide Government of India Resolution dated
levels.
29th August 1997 as an attached office of the Department of
• There has been a decline in mortality and illness resulting
Pharmaceuticals (DoP).
from HIV infection due to better availability of affordable and
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effective ART.
HUMAN-TO-ANIMAL TRANSMISSION OF
MONKEYPOX mRNA VACCINE
The first case of human-to-animal transmission of Moderna is suing Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech
monkeypox has been reported in a dog, according to for patent infringement in the development of the first
research published in the medical journal The Lancet. Covid-19 vaccine approved in the United States, alleging
they copied technology that Moderna developed years
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before the pandemic.

About:
• The infected dog showed symptoms such as lesions on About:
the skin, specifically “mucocutaneous lesions, including • Just a decade old, Moderna, based in Cambridge,
abdomen pustules and a thin anal ulceration”. Massachusetts, had been an innovator in the messenger RNA
• It is unclear right now if dogs can further spread the disease (mRNA) vaccine technology that enabled unprecedented
to other dogs or humans. speed in developing the COVID-19 vaccine.
• The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use the same technology,
based on messenger RNA, or mRNA. Such vaccines make
CORBEVAX use of the messenger RNA molecules that tell the body’s cells
what proteins to build.
The Centre has said that the option of heterologous
precaution dose with Corbevax will be available to all • mRNA enters cells shortly after vaccination and instructs
people above 18 years of age. them to create a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, prompting the
immune response.
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STANDARD TREATMENT WORKFLOWS (STWs) • She retired as the Deputy Director General of the Indian
Meteorological Department and further served as a visiting
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) made available professor at the Raman Research Institute.
its Standard Treatment Workflows (STWs) — three • She made several contributions to the field of meteorological
volumes — which contain 11 specialities with 52 diseases instrumentation, conducted research and published
on its website and through a mobile application to help numerous papers on solar radiation, ozone and wind energy
physicians in far-flung areas access the document. measurements.
About: CSA6 GENE

• The document has been developed by respective subject
experts and clinicians and is recommended by National A newly identified gene can hold the key to prevent fungal
Health Authority for uniform treatment at different hospitals infection Candidiasis that often affects intensive-care
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and also for bill claims. unit (ICU) patients, cancer patients and patients receiving
• The document aims to make Universal Health Coverage a immunosuppressive therapy.
reality in the country, government of India has started many
initiatives, development of Standard Treatment Workflows is About:
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a catalytic step in this direction, notes the document. • The gene called CSA6 has been identified in Candida
albicans a fungal species infamous for causing high rates of
morbidity and mortality under certain immuno-compromised
ALPHAFOLD
conditions such as AIDS or during cancer treatment.
DeepMind, a company owned by Google, announced this • The fungal species residing in mucosal linings of the
week that it had predicted the three-dimensional structures gastrointestinal and urogenital tract of healthy individuals
of more than 200 million proteins using AlphaFold. turns into a pathogen under immuno-compromised conditions
breaching the host defense causing superficial as well as life-
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threatening systemic infection.
About:
• AlphaFold is an AI-based protein structure prediction tool. It
used processes based on “training, learning, retraining and SALINE WATER LANTERN
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relearning” to predict the structures of the entire 214 million

unique protein sequences deposited in the Universal Protein Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Dr.
Resource (UniProt) database.
Jitendra Singh unveiled India’s first Saline Water Lantern
which uses the sea water to power the specially designed LED
• The Indian community of structural biology needs to take
lamps.
advantage of the AlphaFold database and learn how to use
the structures to design better vaccines and drugs.
About:
• Earlier Development for Predicting the Protein Structures:
RoseTTaFold, developed by David Baker at the University • The Minister visited the SAGAR ANVESHIKA, a Coastal
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of Washington in Seattle, U.S., is another tool. Although Research Vessel, operated and used by the National Institute
less accurate than AlphaFold, it can predict the structure of of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai to review the progress
protein complexes. of the implementation of the Deep Ocean Mission of India.
• The saline Water Lantern will bring “Ease of Living” to the
fishing community living along the 7500 Kilometres long
ANNA MANI
coastal line of India. Saline water-powered Roshini LED
lamps will also boost and supplement UJALA scheme.
Google on August 23, 2022 celebrated the 104th birth
anniversary of Indian physicist and meteorologist Anna
Mani, one of the country's first female scientists, with a CORNEAS BIOENGINEERED FROM PIG
special Doodle. COLLAGEN
About: For the first time, researchers in Sweden have been able
• Anna Mani (1918–2001) was an Indian physicist and to create a successful alternative — bioengineered cornea
meteorologist.
implants made of collagen derived from pig skin.
About: About:
• The implant was used to successfully restore the vision of • This will be done with the help of Indian Institute of Technology-
20 people in India and Iran, most of whom were blind due Bombay’s (IIT-B) N-Treat Technology.
to keratoconus, a disease that leads to thinning of the • N-Treat is a seven-stage process for waste treatment that
cornea. The findings were published in the journal Nature uses screens, gates, silt traps, curtains of coconut fibres for
Biotechnology in August 2022. filtration, and disinfection using sodium hypochlorite.
• Researchers claim that there is a severe shortage of corneas, • It is a natural and environment friendly way for sewage
with only one available for 70 patients. treatment. Its set up takes place within the nullah channels,
• As a substitute for human corneas, the researchers utilised that is through the in-situ or on-site method of treatment, and
medical-grade collagen derived from pig skin, a byproduct does not require additional space.
of the food industry that is already used in medical devices
for glaucoma surgery.
DOCTOR-POPULATION RATIO
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• This is not only cheaper and easier to access than donated
corneas, but requires a less invasive procedure and can be
The Government of India said the doctor-population ratio
stored for a significantly longer period — up to two years, the
in the country is better than the standards set by the World
study notes.
Health Organisation (WHO).
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME About:
A woman has filed a petition in the Delhi High Court to stop • The doctor-population ratio in the country is 1:834 whereas
her friend, who has been suffering from Chronic Fatigue WHO standard is 1:1000.
Syndrome since 2014, from travelling to Europe to undergo • As per the National Medical Commission, there are 138009
a physician-assisted euthanasia. registered allopathic doctors besides 565000 AYUSH
doctors. There are over 34 lakh registered nursing personnel
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About: and 13 lakh allied and healthcare professionals in the country.
• Also known as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), Chronic

Fatigue Syndrome, is a serious and debilitating disease that PROJECT FOR SATURATION OF 4G MOBILE
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affects the nervous system, the immune system and the

SERVICES IN UNCOVERED VILLAGES
body’s production of energy.
• Experts have suggested that the term can trivialize the The Union Cabinet approved a project for saturation of 4G
severity of the illness. In a 2015 report, the US Institute of mobile services in uncovered villages across the country at
Medicine proposed the term Systemic Exertion Intolerance a total cost of Rs. 26,316 Cr.
Disease (SEID).
• Its causes are still unknown. However, the potential triggers About:
would include viral or bacterial infection, hormonal imbalances
• The project will provide 4G mobile services in 24,680
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and genetic predispositions. There is no specific test for the

uncovered villages in remote and difficult areas. The project
disease, and doctors have to rely on medical examinations,
has a provision to include 20% additional villages on account
blood and urine tests.
of rehabilitation, new-settlements, withdrawal of services by
• ME/CFS can affect anyone, from children to adults of all
existing operators etc.
ages. According to the CDC, it’s more common in women
• In addition, 6,279 villages having only 2G/3G connectivity
and people between 40 and 60 years old.
shall be upgraded to 4G.
• As of yet, there is no specific cure or approved treatment.
• The project will be executed by BSNL using Atmanirbhar
Bharat’s 4G technology stack and will be funded through
N-TREAT TECHNOLOGY Universal Service Obligation Fund.
To prevent sludge and sewage from 25 storm water drains Background:

between Bandra and Dahisar from flowing into the sea, • Last year Government approved a project for providing 4G
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has planned
mobile services in 7,287 uncovered villages in 44 aspirational
in-situ treatment of sewage from the drains.
districts across 5 states.
108
• In his Independence Day address in 2021, Prime Minister

Shri Narendra Modi gave a call for saturation of government
schemes.
ORIGIN OF CONTINENTS
A new Curtin University study has found the most robust
evidence yet showing that Earth’s continents were formed
by giant meteorite impacts.
About:
• The paper, ‘Giant impacts and the origin and evolution of
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continents’, was published in Nature.
• By examining tiny crystals of the mineral zircon in rocks from
the Pilbara Craton in Western Australia, which represents
Earth’s best-preserved remnant of ancient crust, experts
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found evidence of these giant meteorite impacts.
• These impacts were prevalent during the first billion years or
so of the planet’s history.
FIRST WOMAN CHIEF OF CSIR

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
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has, for the first time in its 80-year-old history, appointed a
woman Director-General.
About:
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• N. Kalaiselvi, currently Director of the CSIR-Central Electro

Chemical Research Institute (CSIR-CECRI), Karaikudi, Tamil
Nadu, will now lead the network of 38 laboratories and nearly
4,500 scientists, and has been appointed for two years.
• She has been involved in projects to increase electric mobility
in India.
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR):

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• CSIR is an autonomous body of Government of India that

has emerged as the largest research and development
organisation in India.
• Prime Minister of India is the Ex-Officio President of CSIR.
• The Director General is the head of the governing body.
• it was established in 1942 Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar was its
first director-general.
Pending:
• Digantara to set up India’s first private SSA observatory in
Uttrakhand.
• Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India unveils
Manthan.
• Mystery ‘dwarfing’ disease hits rice in Punjab and Haryana.
In-Shorts | Culture & History Current Affairs 109
CULTURE & HISTORY

SWASTIKA • India now has 14 intangible cultural heritage elements on the

prestigious UNESCO Representative List of ICH of Humanity.
New South Wales became the second state in Australia
(after Victoria in June), to criminalise the display of the
NOTE TO READERS
swastika, while allowing its use for educational and For detailed analysis on Intangible Cultural Heritage refer
religious purposes for Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists. Page 109 of Aug. 2022 edition of Current Affairs Magazine.
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About:
• Despite its association for centuries with the Hindu, Buddhist, PARTITION HORRORS REMEMBRANCE DAY
and Jain religions, Western World generally see the swastika
only as the defining symbol of the antisemitic, racist, fascist India commemorated August 14, as Partition Horrors
Remembrance Day.
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Third Reich (1933-1945) of Adolf Hitler.
• The word swastika has a Sanskrit root, which means good
fortune or well-being, and it has been an auspicious symbol About:
for Hindus over many millennia. • The commemoration was announced by Prime Minister
• Unlike the black hakenkreuz of the Nazis, the swastika used Narendra Modi in 2021. This date also marks Pakistan’s
by Indians is usually red or yellow in colour, is not tilted to independence day.
the right, and has dots at each corner, which are believed to • The Partition is acknowledged as one of the most violent
represent the four Vedas. and abrupt displacements in the recent history of the world.
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Estimates of the numbers of those killed could be between
500,000 to over a million.
ONDIVEERAN
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The Union Ministry for Communications released a

commemorative postal stamp for freedom fighter Ondiveeran.
About:
• Ondiveeran Pagadai (or Ondi Veeran) (died 20 August 1771)
was an Indian commander-in-chief who fought against the
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British East India Company in Tamil Nadu.

• Ondiveeran came from the Arunthathiyar community and is
INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE (ICH)
viewed by them as a hero.
The Ministry of Culture along Sangeet Natak Akademi, the
designated nodal agency for ICH in India organized the PIN CODE
celebration of the successful inscription of ‘Durga Puja in
Kolkata’ on the Representative List of ICH of Humanity in The Postal Identification Number (PIN) was introduced in
2021. India in August 15, 1972, thus completing 50 years.
About: About:
• ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ was inscribed on the Representative • The PIN code was meant to ease the process of mail sorting
List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity during and delivery in India as different places, often, have the same
its 16th session held in Paris, France from 13th to 18th or similar names, and letters are written in a wide variety of
December 2021. languages.
110
Current Affairs In-Shorts | Culture & History
• The PIN is made up of six digits. The first number indicates • Literally meaning “circle” or “centre” in Sanskrit, mandala is
the postal region — Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern; defined by a geometric configuration that usually incorporates
and number 9, which signifies the Army Postal Service. the circular shape in some form. While it can also be created
• The second number denotes a sub-region, and the third in the shape of a square, a mandala pattern is essentially
represents the sorting district. The remaining numbers narrow interconnected.
the geography further to the specific post office making the • In Hinduism, the mandala imagery first appeared in Rig Veda
delivery. (1500 – 500 BCE).
• In Buddhism, it first appeared in the first century BC in
MITHILA MAKHANA India. Over the next couple centuries, Buddhist missionaries
travelling along the silk road took it to other regions.
The Union government has awarded Geographical • By the sixth century, mandalas have been recorded in China,
Indication (GI) tag to Mithila Makhana. Korea, Japan, Indonesia and Tibet.
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About:
NATIONAL HANDLOOM DAY
• Mithila Makhana or Makhan (botanical name: Euryale ferox
Salisb.) is a special variety of aquatic fox nut cultivated in
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8th National handloom day was observed on August 7, 2022.
Mithila region of Bihar and Nepal.
• Makhana is the one of the three prestigious cultural identity of
About:
Mithila, the other two being Pan and Machh (fish).
• National Handloom Day is observed every year on August
• In Mithila, Makhana is also termed as Makhan. It is also very
7th across the country. It was on this day, in 1905 Swadeshi
famous in Kojagara festival of Maithil Brahmins celebrated for
newly married couples. Aandolan was started.
• Makhana contains protein and fiber, along with micronutrients • In 2015, Prime Minister Modi announced to celebrate this
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like calcium, magnesium, iron, and phosphorus. date as National handloom day.
• In India, after agriculture, handloom is one of the largest
employment providers. This sector provides employment to
SHRIMAD RAJCHANDRA 43.31 lakh persons engaged in about 23.77 lakh handlooms.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated

various projects of the Shrimad Rajchandra Mission at ‘CHINESE’ MANJHA
Dharampur in Gujarat.
Every year, as Independence Day inches closer, Delhi’s
About: streets become witness to deaths and injuries because of
the ‘Chinese’ manjha.
• Shrimad Rajchandra (1867-1901) was a Jain poet,
mystic, philosopher, scholar and reformer. He wrote much
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philosophical poetry including Atma Siddhi. About:

• He is best known for his teachings on Jainism and his spiritual • The Chinese manjha is a glass-coated synthetic string used
guidance to Mahatma Gandhi. to fly kites. It is made of monofilament fishing lines.
• Monofilament strings are deadly because they are very hard
to break. They are made by melting and mixing polymers,
MANDALA IN ART
and after the strings are formed, they are then coated with
A Mandala art installation, bigger than the size of a football glass. Stretched tight, monofilament strings have the ability
field, was made at a public park in the United Kingdom recently. to injure humans and animals alike.
About: JOHAR
• Mandala patterns are a centuries-old motif that are used to
depict the cosmos, and have been adapted by artists the The 15th President of India, Droupadi Murmu, assumed
world over, each of whom have added their own interpretation office with a ‘Johar’ greeting to the country.
and painted it as their own.
In-Shorts | Culture & History Current Affairs 111
About: History of the Painting:

• ‘Johar’, which essentially means ‘salutation and welcome’, is • For long, the rulers of Thanjavur had been devoid of absolute
used within the tribal communities of Jharkhand, and in parts power. Serfoji, who was placed by the British on the throne
of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. over his stepbrother Amar Singh, died in 1832.
• According to several tribal leaders from Jharkhand, the word • His only son Sivaji ruled until 1855. However, he had no male
‘Johar’ also means ‘paying respect’. successor.
• Thanjavur became a casualty of Lord Dalhousie’s infamous
‘Doctrine of Lapse’, and it got absorbed into British-ruled
GARBA
Indian provinces.
A controversy has broken out over the imposition of 18 per • The painting, which has Raja Serfoji and his young son,
cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) on garba passes this year. according to some historians, was probably painted between
1822 and 1827 and kept in the Saraswathi Mahal.
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About:
• Garba is a form of dance which originates from the state of TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE DIGITAL
Gujarat in India. LIBRARY (TKDL)
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• Traditionally, it is performed during the nine-day Hindu
festival Navarātrī. The Cabinet has approved the “Widening access of the
• The word garba comes from the Sanskrit word for womb and Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) database
so implies gestation or pregnancy — life. Traditionally, the to users, besides patent offices” to inculcate knowledge
dance is performed around a clay lantern with a light inside,
leadership through Bharatiya Gnana Parampara, under the
New Education Policy 2020.
called a Garbha Deep (“womb lamp”). This lantern represents
life, and the fetus in the womb in particular.
About:
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ANUSILAN SAMITY • The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) is a prior art
database of Indian traditional knowledge.
The Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged • It was established in 2001, jointly by the Council of Scientific
NCERT to include enough information about Anusilan and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Department of Indian
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Samity in the upcoming National Curriculum Framework. Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM&H, now Ministry
of AYUSH).
About: • The TKDL currently contains information from existing
• Anusilan Samity was a prominent secret revolutionary society literature related to Indian system of medicine (ISM) such as
operating from Bengal in the 20th century with a mission Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha, Sowa Rigpa and Yoga.
to overthrow colonial rule and give momentum to India’s • The information is documented in a digitized format in five
struggle for freedom. international languages which are English, German, French,
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• Founded by Satish Chandra Pramatha Mitra, Aurobindo Japanese and Spanish.

Ghose and Sarala Devi, Anusilan Samity was one among the
many illustrious institutions from the land of Bengal.
NATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
• Legends like, Deshabandhu Chittaranjan Das, Surendranath
AWARENESS MISSION (NIPAM)
Tagore, Jatindranath Banerjee, Bagha Jatin were associated
with Anusilan Samity. Hedgewar was also an alumnus of the National Intellectual Property Awareness Mission (NIPAM)
Samity. has achieved target of imparting Intellectual Property (IP)
awareness and basic training to 1 million students on 31st
RAJA SERFOJI AND SIVAJI July 2022, ahead of the deadline which was 15 August 2022.
A 19th century painting of Raja Serfoji and his son Sivaji, About:
which was stolen from Saraswathi Mahal, Thanjavur, a few
• NIPAM, a flagship program to impart IP awareness and basic
years ago has been traced by the Idol Wing CID police to the
training, was launched on 8 Dec 2021 as a part of “Azadi Ka
Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, in the U.S.
Amrit Mahotsav’’ celebrations.
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Culture & History
• The program is being implemented by Intellectual Property • Participants or their families will be provided with
Office, the Office of Controller General of Patents, Designs and compensation in case of fatal or other injuries suffered by the
Trade Marks (CGPDTM), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. players during the formation of human pyramids.
• The state government would also bear the medical treatment
cost of ‘govindas’ in case they suffer injuries.
ANANG TAL LAKE
Recently, the anang tal lake has been declared a Monument GODNA: THE ANCIENT TRIBAL ART OF
of National Importance by the ministry of culture. TATTOOING
About: A group of locals from Bastar in Chhattisgarh has taken up the

task of reviving the region’s age-old ‘Godna’ tattoo art form.
• Anang Tal is situated to the north of Jog Maya temple and
approximately 500 metres to the northwest of Qutub Complex,
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Delhi. About Godna
• It dates back to 1,060 AD. It was built by the 11th Century • Tattooing is a long-standing custom in India and tribal
king Anang Pal Tomar. communities in general. It is known as Godna, a name
• Anangpal II, popularly known as Anangpal Tomar, was a frequently used among tribals in central and eastern India.
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ruler from the Tomar Rajput Dyansty. He is known to have • The skill: Godna Tattooing is done by excavating the skin with
established and populated Delhi in the 11th century. the tip of the needle and then releasing vegetable juice such
as beans or datura combined with oil and soot.
Monuments of National Importance: • Ink used: Some tribes make ink using a combination of cow
• The Monuments of National Importance are designated by bile, soot, herbs, and pig fat. Others make ink by crushing
the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). and burning various grape seeds.
• As per the Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, • Duration: A godna covering the face, also known as a black
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‘Ancient Monument’ means any structure, erection or mask, might take up to three days.
monument, or any tumulus or place of interment, or any cave, • Significance: Godna tattoo designs serve as identification
rock-sculpture, inscription or monolith which is of historical, marks that distinguish one individual from another, one ethnic
archaeological or artistic interest and which has been in group from another, and one culture region from another.
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existence for not less than 100 years. They believe that these tattoo marks are the only things that
are certain to go with them till the grave and beyond.
DAHI HANDI • The decline in Art: This primitive artistry, known for traditional
designs like the bow and arrow and bison horn headgear,
The Maharashtra government has decided to accord is waning in the fast-changing world as people are more
adventure sport status to 'Dahi Handi'. attracted towards the modern tattoo designs.
Dahi Handi: PUSHPABANTA PALACE

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• The Dahi Handi (earthen pots filled with yogurt) is part of

the Janmashtami festival where young participants called The century-old iconic Pushpabanta Palace is being
‘Govindas’, dressed in colorful clothes, make a human developed as a national-level museum and cultural centre.
pyramid to reach the pot hung mid-air, and break it.
• The Dahi Handi event emulates the legend of baby Krishna’s About:
attempts to steal “makhhan” or butter from neighboring • The palace is situated in the state capital Agartala, and was
kitchens, which would be kept out of his reach. built in 1917 by Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya. He
himself was a painter and used this palace as a studio.
Significance of the Adventure Sport Status: • The palace was the guest house in princely Tripura and then
• By declaring Dahi Handi as an adventure sport, the it was the Governor House till April 2018.
Maharashtra government will now recognize the participants,
• Rabindranath Tagore stayed here during his last visit to
Govindas, as sportspersons.
the state. Historian said that Tagore’s 80th birthday was
• With this recognition, the players will become eligible to apply celebrated here by Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya
for government jobs under the sports quota. during an event in May 1941.
In-Shorts | Ethics Current Affairs 113
ETHICS
JUST WAR THEORY Elements:

• There are two parts to Just War theory, both with Latin names:
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, it is time to
 Jus ad bellum: The conditions under which the use of
examine the invasion through just war theory, a tested
military force is justified.
framework for assessing the ethical aspects of the use of force.
 Jus in bello: How to conduct a war in an ethical manner.
Introduction: • A war is only a Just War if it is both justified, and carried out
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• The just war theory is a largely Christian philosophy that in the right way. Some wars fought for noble causes have
attempts to reconcile three things: been rendered unjust because of the way in which they were
 taking human life is seriously wrong fought.
 states have a duty to defend their citizens, and defend
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justice
Failing – Jus ad Bellum:
 protecting innocent human life and defending important • The invasion has a cause that is intelligible, but it is not just.
moral values sometimes requires willingness to use force It is understandable that the Russia would prefer Ukraine not
and violence to turn towards NATO and the EU.
• The theory specifies conditions for judging if it is just to go to • The stated aims of Russia’s ‘special operation’ do not amount
war, and conditions for how the war should be fought. to a right intention. None of the goals that Vladimir Putin
highlighted in his original speech are a plausible intention.
Purpose:
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• The ‘demilitarization’ of a state that does not pose a threat is
• The aim of Just War Theory is to provide a guide to the
an attempt at subjugation, not a step towards a better peace.
right way for states to act in potential conflict situations. It
It is implausible, at best, that a state that is governed by a
only applies to states, and not to individuals (although an
president of Jewish descent requires ‘denazification’.
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individual can use the theory to help them decide whether it

is morally right to take part in a particular war). • The goal of putting ‘to justice those that committed numerous
bloody crimes against peaceful people, including Russian
• Just War Theory provides a useful framework for individuals
nationals’ remains farfetched.
and political groups to use for their discussions of possible
wars. • The supplementary claim that military action was intended
• The theory is not intended to justify wars but to prevent to prevent ‘genocide’ seems to have come up in Russian
them, by showing that going to war except in certain limited state media only from mid-February, after close to 200,000
circumstances is wrong, and thus motivate states to find Russian troops had already been massed by Ukraine’s
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other ways of resolving conflicts. borders.

• Moreover, the recent invasion fails the test of being
‘Just’, or merely ‘Permissible’? proportional to any potential grievance. Even if there were
• The doctrine of the Just War can deceive a person into merits to some of Russia’s claims, they are not proportional to
thinking that because a war is just, it’s actually a good thing.
unleashing an invasion that would cost the lives of thousands
• But behind contemporary war theory lies the idea that war is of Ukrainians and Russians.
always bad. A just war is permissible because it’s a lesser
• No plausible ethical case, therefore, can be made to justify
evil, but it’s still an evil.
Russia’s recent invasion.
Origins: • Rather, the invasion is detached from any ethical framework.
• The principles of a Just War originated with classical Greek In that regard, it is an aggression reminiscent of how the
and Roman philosophers like Plato and Cicero and were Melian islanders describe the arrival of the Athenians in
added to by Christian theologians like Augustine and Thomas Thucydides’s Peloponnesian War: ‘We see that you have come
Aquinas. to be judges in your own cause.’
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Current Affairs In-Shorts | Ethics
Bleak – Jus in Bello: that that the right to life guaranteed by Article 21 of the
• Conflicts with murky justifications can still be fought with constitution does not include the right to die.
restraint. Yet here, too, Russia’s actions seem to lack • A major development took place in this field on 7 March 2011.
proportionality, with a sweeping attack throughout much the The Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment, allowed passive
country. Residential areas have been bombed. euthanasia.
• It is unclear how the Kharkiv city council building hit by a • Refusing mercy killing of Aruna Shaunbag, lying in a vegetative
cruise missile or the TV tower in Kyiv are military targets. (By state in a Mumbai Hospital for 37 years, a two-judge bench laid
the same standard, some Western targeting in conflicts from down a set of tough guidelines under which passive euthanasia
Iraq to Kosovo can also be held up to scrutiny). can be legalized through a high-court monitored mechanism.
• There are plausible reports that civilians are mass targeted • The court further stated that parents, spouses, or close
especially in Mariupol, with thousands feared dead. In that relatives of the patient can make such a plea to the high
way, Russian forces are targeting rather than protecting non- court. The chief justices of the high courts, on receipt of such
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combatants. a plea, would constitute a bench to decide it. The bench in
turn would appoint a committee of at least three renowned
doctors to advise them on the matter.
EUTHANASIA
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ARUNA SHANBAUG CASE
A petition has been filed in the Delhi High Court to stop a
person from travelling to Europe for Euthanasia (Mercy • Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug (1948 – 2015), was an
Killing), suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Indian nurse who was at the centre of attention in a court
case on euthanasia after spending nearly 42 years in a
vegetative state as a result of sexual assault.
Meaning:
• In 1973, while working as a junior nurse at King Edward
• Euthanasia, which comes from the Greek words meaning “a
Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai, Shanbaug was sexually
good death”, refers to the practice under which an individual
assaulted by a ward boy, Sohanlal Bhartha Walmiki, and
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intentionally ends their life. remained in a vegetative state following the assault.
• Euthanasia falls under the category of assisted dying, which • On 24 January 2011, after Shanbaug had been in this state
also includes assisted suicide. for 37 years, the Supreme Court of India responded to a
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• The difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is plea for euthanasia filed by journalist Pinki Virani, setting
contingent on the person who commits the act. Euthanasia up a medical panel to examine her. The court rejected
is when an individual ends another person’s life painlessly the petition on 7 March 2011. However, in its landmark
whereas under assisted suicide a physician assists a patient opinion, it allowed passive euthanasia in India.
in ending their life usually by lethal injection. • Shanbaug died of pneumonia on 18 May 2015, after being
in a persistent vegetative state for nearly 42 years.
Types:
• Euthanasia can be further categorised as active or passive. Arguments against Euthanasia:
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• Passive euthanasia is far more common and usually entails • Eliminating the invalid: Euthanasia opposers argue that
withholding lifesaving interventions with the consent of the if we embrace ‘the right to death with dignity’, people with
patient or someone on their behalf. incurable and debilitating illnesses will be disposed from our
• Active euthanasia is legal in only a handful of countries and civilised society.
necessitates deliberately using substances or forces to end • Constitution of India: ‘Right to life’ is a natural right embodied
the life of another person. in Article 21 but suicide is an unnatural termination or
extinction of life and, therefore, incompatible and inconsistent
Indian Scenario: with the concept of ‘right to life’. It is the duty of the State
• Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) deals with the to protect life and the physician’s duty to provide care and
attempt to commit suicide and Section 306 of the IPC deals not to harm patients. If euthanasia is legalised, then there is
with abetment of suicide – both actions are punishable. a grave apprehension that the State may refuse to invest in
• Only those who are brain dead can be taken off life support health (working towards Right to life).
with the help of family members. • Symptom of mental illness: Attempts to suicide or completed
• Likewise, the Honorable Supreme Court is also of the view suicide are commonly seen in patients suffering from
In-Shorts | Ethics Current Affairs 115
depression, schizophrenia and substance users. Hence, it is DOES A PRIME MINISTER HAVE A RIGHT TO
essential to assess the mental status of the individual seeking
PARTY?
for euthanasia.
• Malafide intention: In the era of declining morality and Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin is under scrutiny after
justice, there is a possibility of misusing euthanasia by family leaked video raises questions on leader’s right to party.
members or relatives for inheriting the property of the patient.
The Supreme Court has also raised this issue in the recent About:
judgement. ‘Mercy killing’ should not lead to ‘killing mercy’ in • In a leaked video, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin is
the hands of the noble medical professionals. seen dancing and singing with friends at a private party.
• Emphasis on care: The intention is to provide care when cure is • Countless similar videos are shared daily on social media by
not possible by low cost methods. The expectation of society young and not-so-young people partying in Finland and all
is, ‘cure’ from the health professionals, but the role of medical over the world.
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professionals is to provide ‘care’. Hence, euthanasia for no • But the leak has triggered a debate among Finns about
cure illness does not have a logical argument. what level of revelling is inappropriate for a prime minister,
especially considering neighbouring Russia’s attack on
• Commercialisation of health care: Passive euthanasia occurs
Ukraine, which prompted long-neutral Finland and Sweden
in majority of the hospitals across the county, where poor
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to apply for NATO membership.
patients and their family members refuse or withdraw
treatment because of the huge cost involved in keeping • Marin, who leads the centre-left Social Democratic Party, has
faced a barrage of questions about the party: Were there
them alive. If euthanasia is legalised, then commercial health
drugs? Alcohol? Was she working or on summer vacation?
sector will serve death sentence to many disabled and elderly
Was the prime minister sober enough to handle an emergency
citizens of India for meagre amount of money. This has been
had one arisen?
highlighted in the Supreme Court Judgement.
• She also acknowledged that she and her friends celebrated
Counterargument of Euthanasia Supporters: in a “boisterous way” and that alcohol – but, to her knowledge,
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• Caregivers burden: ‘Right-to-die’ supporters argue that people no drugs – was involved. She said she took a drug test to put
who have an incurable, degenerative, disabling or debilitating an end to speculation about illegal substances.
condition should be allowed to die in dignity. Majority of such • The prime minister, who is married and has a four-year-old
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petitions are filed by the sufferers or family members or their daughter, has often insisted that even though she is the head
caretakers. The caregiver’s burden is huge and cuts across of Finland’s government, she is just like anyone else her age
various domains such as financial, emotional, time, physical, who likes a good time with friends and family in their leisure
time.
mental and social.
• However, public opinions are split. According to one section,
• Refusing care: Right to refuse medical treatment is well
the episode was potentially damaging to Finland’s reputation
recognised in law, including medical treatment that sustains
and to the public’s confidence in Finnish politicians.
or prolongs life. For example, a patient suffering from
• But according to others, the leaked video was getting too
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blood cancer can refuse treatment or deny feeds through

much attention. Some supporters have said the criticism
nasogastric tube. Recognition of right to refuse treatment
against the prime minister smacks of sexism.
gives a way for passive euthanasia.
• Right to die: Many patients in a persistent vegetative state or
else in chronic illness, do not want to be a burden on their
family members. Euthanasia can be considered as a way
to upheld the ‘Right to life’ by honouring ‘Right to die’ with
dignity.
• Encouraging the organ transplantation: Euthanasia in
terminally ill patients provides an opportunity to advocate for
organ donation. This in turn will help many patients with organ
failure waiting for transplantation. Not only euthanasia gives
‘Right to die’ for the terminally ill, but also ‘Right to life’ for the
organ needy patients.
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Current Affairs Miscellaneous
MISCELLANEOUS
ROAD ACCIDENTS About:

• PM Modi dedicated India’s first earthquake memorial to the
According to figures tabled in Lok Sabha, the number of nation named Smruti Van at Bhuj in Gujarat.
road accidents, and the resultant deaths and number of
• Smruti Van is a unique memorial carrying the names of more
people injured declined from 2018 to 2020, with the fall
than 12,000 people who lost their lives in the devastating
particularly sharp from 4.5 lakh accidents (1.5 lakh deaths)
in 2019 to 3.5 lakh accidents (1.3 lakh deaths) in 2020. earthquake that struck here in January 2001.
• The earthquake simulator will provide real like experience of
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earthquake tremors to visitors.
About:
• Tamil Nadu had the highest number of road accidents in • This memorial is built atop Bhujia Hill or Bhujiyo Dungar, a
2020, while Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of deaths hill located in the outskirts of the town of Bhuj in the district of
Kutch, Gujarat.
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as a result of such accidents.
NEERAJ CHOPRA
Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra created
history by winning Silver medal in men's javelin throw
event at World Athletics Championships.
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About:
• In the competition held at Eugene in Oregon, United States,
Neeraj Chopra grabbed second position with his best throw
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of 88.13 metres. Grenadian javelin thrower Anderson Peters

won the gold medal with a throw of 90.54 meters.
KUTCH BRANCH CANAL (KBC) • Neeraj Chopra is the first ever Indian to win a silver medal at
World Athletics Championships.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the
• He is the second Indian after former long jumper Anju Bobby
357.18-kilometer-long Kutch Branch Canal (KBC) that
George (who won a bronze medal in long jump at 2003 in
stretched from the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam in
Narmada district 750 kilometres away, to the last of the Paris) to win a medal at World Athletics Championships.
villages of Gujarat’s Mandvi taluka, Mod Kuba.
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44th CHESS OLYMPIAD

About:
• Built at the cost of Rs 6493 crore, Sardar Sarovar Narmada The 44th Chess Olympiad (also known as the Chennai Chess
Nigam Ltd (SSNNL) officials acclaim KBC as the “longest Olympiad), was held in Chennai, India from 28 July to 9
branch canal in the world”. August 2022.
• The project began around 2008 and passes over Dudhai
village which was the epicentre of the 2001 earthquake. About:
• It was organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs
INDIA’S FIRST EARTHQUAKE MEMORIAL (FIDE).
• This was the first Chess Olympiad to take place in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a two-day visit to
• The official mascot was named “Thambi”, a chess knight
Gujarat. During this visit, Mr Modi will inaugurate several
dressed in the traditional Tamil male attire vetti with a white
projects in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Kutch.
shirt.
Miscellaneous Current Affairs 117
• Uzbekistan won the gold medal in the Open event, while • These include the Digital India awards, Jeevan Raksha
Ukraine claimed their second gold in the Women’s event. Padak Series of Awards, the Nari Shakti Puraskar, Pandit
Deendayal Upadhyaya Telecom Skill Excellence Award,
Sardar Patel National Unity Award, Subhash Chandra Bose
LONGBOARDING SPORT Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar and the National Awards for
Institutions engaged in empowering persons with disabilities.
The death of Anas Hajas, a 31-year-old skating enthusiast
from Kerala, while ‘longboarding’ has raised serious
concerns about adventurous solo trips undertaken using 68th NATIONAL FILM AWARDS
the skateboard.
The 68th National Film Awards were announced by
Information and Broadcasting Ministry.
About:
• Basically, a longboard is similar to a skateboard, which is a
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Prominent Winners:
long plank or board made of wood, plastic, or even heavier
• Bollywood actor Ajay Devgan and Tamil actor Suriya have
materials, balanced on top of small wheels.
jointly bagged the National Film Award for the year 2020 for
• Players often perform impressive stunts and move downhill
best actor for their roles in Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior and
from a height on the boards, doing tricky movements even
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Soorarai Pottru.
when suspended mid-air.
• Aparna Balamurali won the award of best actress for her role
• The sport originated in the US around the 1950s, and in
in the Tamil film Soorarai Pottru.
the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, skateboarding was included as a
• The award for Best Hindi film went to Toolsidas Junior and
competitive category for the first time.
award for Best Feature Film was given to Soorarai Pottru.
• A longboard is naturally longer but flatter when compared
• Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior won the Award for Best Popular
to skateboard boards, which have upward-curving ends
Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.
usually.
• Testimony of Ana bagged the Best Non-Feature Film award.
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• Best film on Social Issues award went to ‘Justice Delayed but
SERENA WILLIAMS Delivered’ and Three Sisters.
American tennis legend Serena Williams has announced National Film Awards:
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that she will retire from professional tennis. The 2022 US

• The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award
Open, which commenced on August 29, 2022 is her last
ceremony in India.
tournament.
• Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the
International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama,
About: by the government’s Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.
• She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any
player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time
HAR GHAR JAL UTSAV
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(behind Margaret Court’s 24). She has also won four Olympic
gold medals.
Prime Minister Modi addressed the Har Ghar Jal Utsav
• Serena and older sister Venus have been widely regarded as which was held in Goa under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
changing the face of tennis.
About:
RASHTRIYA PURUSKAR PORTAL • Goa is the first Har Ghar Jal certified State and Dadra and
Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu are the first Union Territory
The Union Government has launched Rashtriya Puruskar in the country.
Portal to bring together all the awards of the various • In this state and UT, people from all the villages have declared
agencies of the government under one platform.
their village as Har Ghar Jal through a resolution passed by
the Gram Sabha.
About: • Har Ghar Jal is a scheme initiated by the Government of
• Besides the Padma Awards, the nominations for 14 other India in 2019 with the aim to provide tap water to every rural
award categories are open on the portal. household by 2024.
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Current Affairs Miscellaneous
DATA RECAP
• Tomato Flu: It is caused by Coxsackievirus A16. Vulnerable • Asia’s Longest Elevated Wildlife Corridor: 12 km long on Delhi-
groups are Children younger than 5 years. Dehradun Expressway, in Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand.
• Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD): It is caused by the Lumpy Skin • Great Indian Bustard Conservation status: Indian Wildlife
Disease Virus (LSDV), a non-zoonotic disease, and spreads (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I; IUCN status: Critically
through blood-sucking vectors like ticks and mites. It mainly Endangered; and CITES: Appendix I.
affects cattle, cows and their progeny, and the Asian water • Asian Elephant Conservation status: IUCN Status: Endangered,
buffaloes. Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I, CITES Appendix I.
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• Family Planning Vision-2030: 118 districts reported a • Cheetah conservation status: IUCN Status: Vulnerable.
high percentage of teenage pregnancies and are mostly • African swine fever: Caused by African Swine Fever Virus
concentrated in Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, and Maharashtra. (ASFV), a highly contagious viral disease of domestic and
44% of the districts in India report a high percentage of Child wild pigs. It is the only virus with a double-stranded DNA
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Marriage. genome that is known to be transmitted by arthropods.
• Missing Girls: The sex ratio at birth has declined from 111 boys • Langya, a new zoonotic virus (classified as biosafety level 4
per 100 girls in 2011 to 108 boys per 100 girls in 2019-21. pathogens) has been discovered in China.
• The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to raise the • Alphafold: An AI-based protein structure prediction tool.
Policy Repo Rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.40%. • For the first time, researchers in Sweden have been able
• Basmati Crop: Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, United Arab to create a bioengineered cornea implant made of collagen
Emirates, United States of America, Kuwait, United Kingdom, derived from pig skin.
Qatar, and Oman have a share of close to 80 per cent in total • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (also known as myalgic
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shipments of Basmati from India in 2021-22. encephalomyelitis) is a serious and debilitating disease that
• Kerala Savari is India’s first Online Taxi Service. affects the nervous system, the immune system and the
body’s production of energy.
• Nord Stream 1 transports Natural Gas between Russia and
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• The doctor-population ratio in India is 1:834 whereas the

Europe via Germany.
WHO standard is 1:1000.
• Indian Diaspora in the U.K.: India has displaced China with the
• N. Kalaiselvi has been appointed as the First woman Director-
highest number of sponsored study visas in the U.K.
General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
• President’s Colour is the highest honour given to the military,
(CSIR).
paramilitary, and police forces of States and Union Territories.
• Durga Puja in Kolkata’ was inscribed on the Representative
• Scotland became the first in the world to legally protect the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity. India
right to access free period products so as to end Period now has 14 intangible cultural heritage elements on the List.
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Poverty.
• The Union government has awarded Geographical Indication
• Bal Raksha Mobile App aims to create awareness of paediatric (GI) tag to Mithila Makhana.
preventive healthcare through Ayurveda intervention amongst • Maharashtra government has accorded adventure sport
parents. status to Dahi Handi.
• UN General Assembly declared everyone on the planet has a • Anang Tal Lake has been declared a Monument of National
Right to a Healthy Environment. It is not legally binding on the Importance by the Ministry of Culture.
Member States.
• PM Modi dedicated India’s first earthquake memorial to the
• India added 11 Ramsar sites to take the total counts of wetlands nation named Smruti Van at Bhuj in Gujarat.
in India to 75. Tamil Nadu has a maximum number of Ramsar • Goa is the first Har Ghar Jal certified State and Dadra and
sites (14). Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu are the first Har Ghar Jal
• Megalodon is one of the biggest predatory animals of all time. certified Union Territory in the country.
• Snow Leopard: Native to the mountain ranges of Central and • Neeraj Chopra became the first-ever Indian to win a
South Asia, IUCN status - Vulnerable, Schedule-I species of Silver medal in the men’s javelin throw at World Athletics
the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Championships held at Eugene in Oregon, United States.
Miscellaneous Current Affairs 119
Test Yourself
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Consider the following technologies: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Artificial Intelligence 2. Machine Learning (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
3. Internet of Things 4. Big Data (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
5. BlockChain Technology 7. Consider the following statements:
With the present level of development, which of the 1. The Constituent Assembly adopted the Indian flag in its
technologies given above can be applied to agriculture? current design on 26th January,1950.
(a) 1 and 3 only (b) 1 and 5 only 2. Under Article 51A(b), it is our fundamental duty to respect
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(c) 1, 3, and 5 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 the National Anthem.
2. Consider the following statements Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Cheetah has been declared extinct in India. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
2. Asiatic Cheetahs are bigger in size than African Cheetahs. (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
IA
3. Cheetah will be transferred from Namibia to Kuno National 8. Consider the following statements:
Park in India.
1. State Government alone has the sole authority to determine
Which of the statements given above are correct? the requirements for requesting and granting mining
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 and 3 concessions with respect to minor minerals.
(c) 1 and 3 (d) 1,2 and 3 2. India’s mineral potential is comparable to that of South
3. Arrange the following mountain ranges in a North to South Africa and Australia.
direction: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Tian Shan 2. Ladakh Range (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
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3. Karakoram Range 4. Pir Panjal (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Select the correct answer using the codes given below: 9. With respect to PM Gati Shakti Scheme, consider the following
(a) 2-1-4-3 (b) 1-2-3-4 statements:
(c) 1-3-2-4 (d) 4-3-2-1 1. It seeks to ensure infrastructure projects are planned and
EX
executed in an integrated manner over the course of the

4. With reference to Swachh Sagar, Surakshit Sagar campaign,
next five years.
consider the following statements
1. The campaign has been launched by the Ministry of 2. It would unite 16 Ministries, including those for Roads and
Environment. Railways, to plan and carry out infrastructure connectivity
projects.
2. During the campaign a massive clean-up drive will be
carried out at 75 beaches countrywide with 75 volunteers Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
for every kilometer of the coastline. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
N
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only 10. Which of the following international platforms are shared by
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 India and Maldives?
5. With reference to Ethanol Bleding, consider the following 1. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
statements: 2. Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)
1. The commonly used blends are E5 and E10 only. 3. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
2. It has resulted in a 27 lakh MT decrease in GHG emissions. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 11. Consider the following statements with reference to the One
6. Consider the following statements: China principle:
1. Durgawati Devi, successfully retaliated against the hanging 1. Any country that wants to establish political and diplomatic
of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev by assassinating relations with China must agree to adhere to this principle
Lord Hailey. and not recognize Taiwan as an independent country.
2. She was a member of Naujawan Bharat Sabha and 2. India and USA don’t adhere to the one china policy.
maintained a bomb factory in Delhi. 3. Taiwan doesn’t honor the One China Policy.
120
Current Affairs Test Yourself
Select the correct answer using the code given below: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (a) 1 and 2 (b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 2 and 3 only
12. Consider the following statements: 17. Consider the following statements:
1. According to the US’s meteorological agency, flash floods 1. As per the Paris Agreement’s provisions, countries must
are caused when rainfall creates flooding in less than 6 ‘update’ their pledges every five years.
hours. 2. India’s updated pledges to combate climate change are
2. In India, flash floods are often associated with cloudbursts. sector-specific and binding in nature.
3. Himalayan states face the challenge of overflowing glacial Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
lakes, formed due to the melting of glaciers. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
Select the correct answer using the code given below: (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only 18. With reference to the Directorate of Enforcement (ED),
S
(c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 consider the following statements:
1. The ED enforces the Foreign Exchange Management Act,
13. Which of the following countries are not a part of the Minsk
Group led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation 1999 (FEMA) which is criminal law.
in Europe (OSCE)? 2. The ED works under the control of the Ministry of Home
Affairs.
IA
1. USA 2. Russia
3. Belarus 4. Georgia Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
(c) 3 and 4 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 19. Consider the following statements regarding the collegium
system:
14. Consider the following statements with reference to the
1. The provisions related to the collegium system are
Kangaroo courts:
mentioned in Art 217 of the constitution.
1. The term originated in Australia hence, it is named so.
T
2. The Supreme Court collegium is headed by the Chief
2. It is an unofficial court held by a group of people in order to
Justice of India.
try someone regarded, especially without good evidence.
3. The government cannot seek clarification on the collegian’s
3. The word ‘kangaroo’ is used probably to evoke a sense
choice of selected judge.
that justice progresses by leaps and bounds.
EX
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 only
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only (d) 3 only
(c) 2 only (d) 1, 2, and 3
20. The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act allows investigators
15. With reference to the eligibility for being elected as the Vice- to collect identifiable information from which of the following?
President consider the following statements:
1. All categories of criminals and accused.
1. He shall be a citizen of India
2. The Act does not explicitly bar taking measurements of
2. He shall complete the age of 35 years juveniles.
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3. He shall be qualified for election as a member of the 3. Persons detained under any preventive detention law
Council of States (Rajya Sabha)
4. He shall not also hold any office of profit under the
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only
Government.
(c) 1 and 2 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
21. With reference to Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF),
(a) 1 and 2 (b) 3 and 4 only
consider the following statements:
(c) 1, 2, and 4 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 1. It is a pan India Central Sector Scheme launched in the
16. With reference to Financial Inclusion Index, consider the year 2020.
following statements: 2. It provides a medium - long-term debt financing facility for
1. It is published annually by the State Bank of India (SBI). investment in viable projects.
2. It is responsive to ease of access, availability and usage of 3. All loans under this financing facility will have an interest
services, and quality of services. subvention of 10% per annum up to a limit of Rs. 2 crores.
3. It has been constructed without any base year and reflects Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
the cumulative efforts of all stakeholders over the years (a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only
towards financial inclusion.
(c) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Test Yourself Current Affairs 121
22. With reference to Antarctica, consider the following statements: 1. She was a soldier in Rani Laxmibai’s women’s army, Durga
1. It is covered by the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and the Dal.
Atlantic Ocean. 2. She is known for putting her own life at risk to keep the
2. Ross Ice Shelf is situated in the western part of Antarctica. queen out of harm’s way.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 3. She is often presented as a representative of the Bundeli
identity.
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 The statements given above are related to which of the
following?
23. Recently, the Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022
(a) Durgawati Devi (b) Rani Chennamma
report was released by which organisation?
(c) Velu Nachiyar (d) Jhalkari Bai
(a) World Economic Forum
(b) World Bank 29. Consider the following statements:
1. Nagorno Karabakh region is surrounded by Armenia,
(c) International Labour Organisation
Azerbaijan and Iran.
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(d) International Monetary Fund
2. Armenia shares a border with the Caspian Sea.
24. Which of the following are Literary works of Aurobindo Ghose?
1. The Life Divine 2. The Synthesis of Yoga
3. Savitri
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
IA
Select the correct answer using the codes given below
30. Consider the following statements:
(a) 1 and 2 Only (b) 2 and 3 Only
1. India is a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its
(c) 1 and 3 Only (d) 1, 2 and 3 1967 protocol.
25. Consider the following statements regarding the recently 2. In India, there is no law to deal with refugees.
passed Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022:
3. The constitution of India protects the refugees’ right to life
1. It provides a legal sanction to the police to take physical with dignity.
and biological samples of convicts as well as those
accused of crimes.
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2. State Police departments are empowered to store,
preserve and share the records for up to a period of 75 (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
years. 31. With reference to the International Seabed Authority (ISA),
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? consider the following statements:
EX
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only 1. It is an autonomous international organisation under the

United Nations.
2. All States Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the
26. Consider the following statements regarding Euthanasia: Sea are ipso facto members of ISA.
1. Active Euthanasia refers to death by not providing 3. It is empowered to allot ocean areas for exploitation of
essential, necessary, and ordinary care or food and water. Polymetallic Nodules.
2. Passive Euthanasia refers to causing the intentional death Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
of a human being by direct intervention.
Which of the given above statement(s) is/are correct?
N
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

32. Consider the following statements regarding National
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS):
27. He was the first political leader in India to openly put forward 1. It is conceptualized and managed by the National Crime
in his newspaper Bande Mataram, the idea of complete Records Bureau (NCRB).
independence for the country. In 1910, he withdrew from
2. NAFIS assigns a unique 10-digit National Fingerprint
politics and went to Pondicherry in order to devote himself
entirely to his inner spiritual life and work. He evolved a new Number (NFN) to each person arrested for a crime.
method of spiritual practice, which he called Integral Yoga. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
He was (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(a) Bal Gangadhar Tilak (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
(b) Aurobindo Ghose 33. Which of the following are the prominent features of Cloudbursts?
(c) Gopal Krishna Gokhale 1. Short spells of very heavy rainfall of10 cm or more.
(d) Lala Lajpat Rai 2. Confined geographical area - Roughly 10 km x 10 km.
28. Consider the following statements regarding a personality 3. Widespread destruction especially in hilly regions.
associated with India’s freedom struggle: 4. It mostly results in Flash floods.
122
Select the correct answer using the code given below: 39. Consider the following statements:
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only 1. The Monuments of National Importance are designated by
(c) 3 and 4 only4 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 the Archaeological Survey of India.
2. The state government is authorized to maintain, protect
34. With reference to the Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical
and promote Monuments of National Importance.
Marketing Practices(UCPMP), consider the following
statements: 3. Once declared to be of national importance, the site will be
1. It is a voluntary code issued under the Union Ministry of protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.
Chemical and Fertilizers. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
2. It was made voluntary for six months from 1st January (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only
2015. (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 40. Consider the following statements:
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only 1. National Monuments Authority is established under the
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Ministry of Culture.
S
35. Consider the following statements: 2. The Archaeological Survey of India regulates the Antiquities
and Art Treasure Act, 1972.
1. Mandala art can only be created in the shape of a circle
only. 3. National Monuments Authority regulates all archaeological
activities in the country as per the Ancient Monuments and
2. Mandala art is deeply rooted in Jainism culture.
IA
Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?
(c) 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
36. With reference to National Handloom day consider the
41. Consider the following statements with reference to Godna:
following statements:
1. It is a name frequently used among tribals in southern
1. August 7 was chosen as the National Handloom Day to
India.
commemorate the Swadeshi Movement.
2. It is a practice based on religious beliefs, a desire for
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2. Swadeshi movement was launched in Calcutta Town Hall
compassion, and human ambitions.
to protest against the partition of Bengal.
3. The prime objective is to highlight the contribution of
handlooms to socio-economic development. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
EX

(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only 42. Consider the following statements:
1. Tasmanian Tiger is the only animal in the Thylacinidae
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
family to survive in modern times.
37. With reference to Pushpabanta Palace consider the following
2. Its habitat is spread over the grass and woodlands of Africa.
statements:
1. It was built in 1917 by Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya. 3. There is a project to reintroduce the animal to its native
place to revive the region’s lost ecological balance.
2. The palace was the guest house in Assam and then it was
the Governor House.
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3. It is set to be converted into a museum soon.
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3.
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only 43. Consider the following statements:
1. The Inflation Reduction Act has been passed by the USA
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
recently.
2. It has provisions for inflation reduction in the field of
1. Recently Uttar Pradesh has declared Dahi Handi as an healthcare, clean energy, and taxes.
adventure sport.
3. It aims to cut the deficit and inflation while boosting
2. Declaring a sport as an adventure sport doesn’t recognize homegrown energy production.
the participants as sportspersons.
3. With this recognition, the players will become eligible to
apply for government jobs under the sports quota.
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3.
1. The mixing of ethanol with petrol in different proportions is
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
termed ethanol blending.
2. One of the commonly used blends is E5 i.e 5 percent 50. Consider the following statements:
petrol, and 95 percent ethanol. 1. India has pledged to develop 60 megawatts (MW) of wind
3. The target of 10 percent blending (E-10) with petrol has power by 2022.
been delayed. 2. After 2024, fresh projects are likely to be wind-solar hybrid
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? projects.
(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only 3. Wind-solar hybrid projects refer to projects where both
systems are installed on a piece of land to generate power
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3.
throughout the day.
1. Godna Tattooing is done by excavating the skin with the tip
of the needle.
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3
2. Godna artists in some cultures use thorns as needles.
3. Some tribes make ink using a combination of cow bile, 51. Indian Virtual Herbarium has been developed by?
soot, herbs, and pig fat. (a) Ministry of Science and Technology
S
4. A godna covering the face is known as a black mask. (b) Council of Scientific & Industrial Research
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (c) Botanical Survey of India
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 3 and 4 only (d) Forest Research Institute (FRI)
IA
(c) 1, 2, and 3 only (d) 1, 2, 3, and 4 52. Conservation of Coastal Ecosystems Report has been
released by?
(a) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
1. Digital Banks will be regulated by RBI under the Banking
Regulation Act of 1949. (b) Comptroller and Auditor General of India
(c) Botanical Survey of India
2. PSL norms will be applicable to digital banks on case by
case basis. (d) Zoological Survey of India
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 53. Consider the following statements:
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only 1. Corals are vertebrates and are the largest living structures
T
on the planet.
2. Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps
live together to form a colony.
1. BSNL is a public sector undertaking that is 51% owned by
3. Soft corals extract calcium carbonate from seawater to
the government established in 2000.
EX
build hard, white coral exoskeletons.

2. The corporation offers telecom services over the whole
nation.
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 54. Consider the following statements:
1. Jhalkari Bai was a female soldier in the Rani Laxmibai
army, who went on to become one of the queen’s most
Appointment Of the Chief Justice Of India (CJI):
trusted advisors.
1. As per the convention, the ‘senior-most judge’ of the
N
2. She was a part of the Durga Dal and often made important
Supreme Court (SC) is designated as the CJI.
decisions on behalf of the queen.
2. Seniority at Supreme Court (SC) is determined not by age,
but by the date a judge was appointed to the SC.
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 55. Consider the following statements with reference to the Mines
and Minerals (Development And Regulation) Act 1957:
49. Consider the following statements with reference to Minerals 1. The act is the primary law governing the country’s mines
Security Partnership:
and minerals, including coal and lignite.
1. The project has a total of 11 members including India.
2. It establishes rules for the Indian mining industry and lays
2. The new organisation aims to stimulate public and private out the criteria for acquiring and granting mining leases for
sector investment in the creation of strategic possibilities. mining operations.
Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect? Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
124
56. Consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Assam and Arunachal Pradesh dispute resolution formula (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 1 and 3 only
is similar to Assam and Meghalaya resolution formula. (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3.
2. They have chosen a give-and-take method in which the two
states receive a nearly equal distribution of the territory. Coastal Zone Regulation:
3. The agreement doesn’t need Parliamentary approval as 1. It was approved by the government in 2018.
well as delineation and demarcation by the Survey of India.
2. In 2019, the Union Government declared certain coastal
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? stretches as Coastal Regulation Zone.
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 1 and 3 only 3. The regulations also imposed restrictions on setting up and
(c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3. expanding industries, operations, and processes within
protected zones.
57. Doctrine of Lapse is associated with which of the following?
(a) Legitimate heir of any princely state under the vassalage of Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
the East India Company. (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 1 and 3 only
S
(b) A treaty for surrendering sovereignty to East India Company. (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3.
(c) Paramount power of the Company to annex any Indian 63. Consider the following statements with reference to Digital
state. Banks:
(d) Power of Zamindars to take control of farmers’ land in case 1. Similar to current commercial banks, digital banks will be
IA
of failure of tax payments. subject to prudential and liquidity standards.
58. Consider the following statements with reference to Rare 2. They will principally rely on the physical branches to offer
Earth Elements: their services.
1. The Rare Earth Elements is a set of seventeen metallic Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
elements. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
2. These elements are rarely found in nature. (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
3. China has some of the largest known reserves and 64. Consider the following statements with reference to Personal
resources of these elements. Data Protection Bill:
T
4. Canada is the world’s largest producer of Rare Earth Elements. 1. It was designed to safeguard individual rights by limiting
Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect? the gathering, transfer, and processing of data that is
personal.
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 1, 3, and 4 only
2. It was introduced by the Minister of Science and
(c) 2, 3, and 4 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
EX
Technology in Lok Sabha.

59. Consider the following statements: Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?
1. The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef
system composed of 900 islands.
2. The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of
Queensland, Australia. 65. Consider the following statements:
1. Rani Gaidinliu was a Naga spiritual and political leader
3. It is a world heritage site.
who opposed the British.
2. She joined the Heraka religious organization, which later
N

evolved into an anti-British movement.
(c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3. 3. She was also a member of the Hindustan Socialist
60. Which of the following states are among the states that have Republican Association (HSRA).
the highest potential for wind energy? Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Gujarat 2. Rajasthan
3. Uttar Pradesh 4. Assam
(c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3.
66. With reference to the recent Amendments to the Flag code of
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 1 and 3 only India, consider the following statements:
(c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2, and 3. 1. The National Flag must now be constructed of hand-spun,
61. Consider the following statements with reference to the hand-woven, or machine-manufactured cotton, polyester,
Botanical Survey of India: wool, silk, or khadi bunting.
1. It was established in 1890. 2. Permitted the flying of the national flag even at night.
2. It is hedquared in Himachal Pradesh. Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?
3. It documents plant resources in the form of local, district, (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
state, and national flora. (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
67. India is a signatory to which of the following conventions on (a) It is an inorganic chemical compound.
efforts to control the spread of Weapons of Mass Destruction? (b) It is simple alcohol with the chemical formula C2H6O.
1. Biological Weapons Convention
(c) It is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid.
2. Chemical Weapons Convention
(d) It can be produced from crops that have high starch
3. Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty content.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below. 73. Consider the following statements:
(a) 1 only (b) 3 only 1. There are nine coastal states in India.
(c) 1 and 2 only (d) 2 and 3 only 2. The nodal ministries for the coastal region are the Ministry
68. With reference to the African Swine Fever, consider the of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC),
following statements: and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
1. It is a contagious hemorrhagic viral disease affecting Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
domestic and wild pigs.
S
2. It is the only virus with a double-stranded DNA genome.
3. It is also called Hog Cholera.
74. Which of the following are among the Five Pledges for the
Which of the statements given above are correct? 100th Independence Day?
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only 1. to aspire big and develop India
IA
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 2. take pride in India’s legacy
69. Consider the following statements regarding Rare Earth 3. fulfill one’s duty
Elements (REE): 4. sense of duty
1. Both light RE elements (LREE) and heavy RE elements
5. remove any trace of the colonial mindset.
(HREE) are abundantly found in India.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
2. India is a part of the USA-led Minerals Security Partnership
(MSP). (a) 1, 2, and 3 only (b) 2, 3, and 5 only
3. REEs are an essential part required for the manufacturing (c) 1, 2, 3, and 4 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
T
of batteries used in electric vehicles. 75. Consider the following statements:
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 1. Talc is the softest known mineral and is mined from
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 only underground deposits.
(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 3 only 2. Asbestos, the name for a group of naturally occurring
EX
silicate minerals, can also be found near talc deposits.

70. With reference to Coral Reefs, consider the following
statements: Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Coral polyps live in a symbiotic relationship with algae. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
2. The temperature of the water should not be below 25°C. (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
3. Corals can survive only under saline conditions. 76. With reference to forever chemicals consider the following
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? statements:
1. They are found naturally in the environment.
N
2. They have a tendency to stick around in the atmosphere,

(c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
rainwater, and soil for long periods of time.
71. Which of the following are the key provisions of the Energy
Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022?
1. Mandating the use of non-fossil sources. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
2. Establishment of Carbon Markets (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
3. Bringing large residential buildings within the fold of the 77. Consider the following statements:
Energy Conservation regime 1. Small cells are needed for deploying 4G.
4. Increasing the members of the governing council of the 2. Small cells are portable, easy to deploy, and help provide
Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) localized coverage.
Select the correct answer using the code given below: 3. Small cells provide coverage for very long distances and
(a) 1 and 2 only (b) 3 and 4 only therefore they are installed in small numbers.
(c) 1, 2, and 3 only (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4 Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?
72. Which of the following statements is not correct with reference (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only
to Ethanol? (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
126
78. Consider the following statements 84. Recently, Mithila Makhana has been awarded the Geographical
1. In the standalone mode, the 5G network is supported by Indication (GI) Tag by the Union Government from which state?
the 4G core infrastructure. (a) Maharashtra (b) Bihar
2. In the non-standalone mode, the 5G network operates with (c) Uttar Pradesh (d) Himachal Pradesh
dedicated equipment and runs parallel to the existing 4G 85. What is Alphafold?
network. (a) AI Robot
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (b) A technique used in Gene cloning
(a) 1 Only (b) 2 Only (c) AI-based protein structure prediction tool.
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 (d) New technique developed recently for 5G Spectrum.
79. Artemis I Mission recently seen in the news, it is related to 86. What is keratoconus?
which of the following?
(a) A bird species discovered recently.
(a) Mercury (b) Neptune
(b) A disease that leads to thinning of the cornea.
(c) Moon (d) Jupiter
(c) A protein found in the hair of humans.
S
80. She was the Naga spiritual and political leader who belonged
(d) A membrane found in the eye of all mammals.
to the Rongmei tribe (also known as Kabui). She led an armed
uprising against the British in Manipur, Nagaland, and Assam. 87. It is a serious and debilitating disease that affects the nervous
Jawaharlal Nehru called her the Daughter of the Hills and system, the immune system, and the body’s production of
gave her the title Rani or queen acknowledging her role in energy. The disease is:
IA
the struggle against the British. In 1972, she was awarded (a) HIV (b) Haemophilia
Tamara Patra by the Government of India for her contribution (c) Turner syndrome (d) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
to the freedom movement.
88. Exercise Vajra Prahar is a defence exercise between India
She was: and which country?
(a) Sarojini Naidu (b) Rani Laxmibai (a) The Maldives (b) Australia
(c) Aruna Asaf Ali (d) Rani Gaidinliu (c) The USA (d) Singapore
81. With reference to Lumpy Skin Disease, which of the following 89. Consider the following statements:
statement(s) is/are correct? 1. The PFM-1 and PFM-1S are two kinds of anti-personnel
T
1. It is a zoonotic bacterial illness that causes prolonged landmines that are commonly referred to as ‘Butterfly mines’.
morbidity in cattle and buffaloes. 2. These mines are named so because few exotic species of
2. It is confined to Africa only. butterflies were found here.
Select the correct answer using the code given below. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
EX
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (a) 1 only (b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
82. Consider the following statements regarding freedom fighters: 90. With reference to the Central Bureau Of Investigation consider
1. He was born in Wardha, Maharashtra. the following statements:
2. He was one of the founding members of the Ghadar Party. 1. It is the premier investigating agency in India.
3. He was a professor at the National School of Agriculture in 2. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Chapingo, in Mexico. Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions.
4. He was also revered as an agricultural scientist in Mexico. 3. It is headquartered in Kolkata.

N

The statements given above are related to which of the
following? (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(a) Anant Laxman Kanhere (b) Narayan Meghaji Lokhande (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
(c) Mahadev Govind Ranade (d) Pandurang Khankhoje 91. Consider the following statements:
83. With reference to the James Webb Telescope comparison 1. The President’s Colour is the highest honour given to the
with other Telescopes, consider the following statements: military, paramilitary, and police forces of States and Union
1. Kepler was designed to be a wide and shallow survey Territories.
telescope, while Webb is designed for narrow and deep. 2. The State of Tamil Nadu ranks first in the list of more women
2. Webb is sensitive to wavelengths from visible light to mid- in the police force.
infrared, while Herschel was sensitive to the far-infrared 3. Tamil Nadu is the only State to have a police unit to
wavelength. investigate the smuggling of idols and statues.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
92. Which of the following were Set up for the Empowerment of 3. CBI can suo motto take investigation only of offences in the
Denotified tribes (DNTs)? Union Territories.
1. Ayyangar Committee 2. Kalelkar Committee Which of the statements given above are correct?
3. Idate Commission 4. Raja Chelliah Committee (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2 and 3 only
Select the correct answer using the code given below. (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only (b) 2, 3 and 4 only 97. With reference to the Convention on International Trade
(c) 1,3 and 4 only (d) 1,2,3 and 4 in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),
93. With reference to Geological Survey of India (GSI), consider
the following statements: 1. It is legally binding on the member states.
1. It is an organization under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. 2. India is a signatory to this convention.
2. GSI is the prime provider of basic earth science information Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
to the government and industry. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
S
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only 98. Consider the following statements regarding Anti-Tank
(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Guided Missiles (ATGM):
1. It is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy
94. With reference to the Representation of the People Act, 1951,
heavily armored military vehicles.
2. HELINA is Anti-tank Guided Missile (ATGM) system
1. The Act provides for the allocation of seats for Lok Sabha
IA
mounted on the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).
and state assembly elections.
2. A Schedule Caste candidate of one State cannot contest
the Lok Sabha election from any other State. (a) 1 only (b) 2 only
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only 99. Consider the following statements:

(c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 1. Article 93 of the Constitution states that Lok Sabha will
choose two Members of the House to be Speaker and
95. With reference to the Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), consider Deputy Speaker as soon as possible.
the following statements:
T
2. In the 17th Lok Sabha, an election to the post of Deputy
1. They were established as per the recommendations of the
Speaker has not been conducted even after three years.
Shivaraman Committee to cater to the rural credit needs.
3. There has been no instance in the past where it took over 3
2. The Prathama Grameen Bank was the first bank to be months to elect a Deputy Speaker.
established under the Regional Rural Banks Act, 1976.
EX
Which of the given above statements is/are correct?

3. The equity of the Regional Rural Banks is wholly held by
the Union Government.
Which of the given above statements is/are correct?
100. What comprises the governing council of Niti Ayog?
1. Prime Minister of India
2. Chief Ministers of all states
96. With reference to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI),
3. Chief Ministers of all Union Territories with Legislators
1. It is a statutory body established under the Special Police 4. President of India
N
Establishment (Amendment) Act. Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
2. It is the nodal agency in India which coordinates (a) 1 and 2 only (b) 2, 3, and 4 only
investigation on behalf of Interpol Member countries. (c) 1, 2, and 3 only (d) 1, 2, 3, and 4
ANSWER KEY
1. (d) 2. (c) 3. (c) 4. (b) 5. (b) 6. (b) 7. (d) 8. (c) 9. (b)
10. (a) 11. (a) 12. (d) 13. (c) 14. (b) 15. (d) 16. (d) 17. (a) 18. (d)
19. (b) 20. (d) 21. (b) 22. (a) 23. (c) 24. (d) 25. (a) 26. (d) 27. (b)
28. (d) 29. (d) 30. (c) 31. (d) 32. (c) 33. (d) 34. (c) 35. (d) 36. (d)
37. (c) 38. (a) 39. (c) 40. (c) 41. (a) 42. (c) 43. (d) 44. (a) 45. (d)
46. (c) 47. (d) 48. (c) 49. (a) 50. (b) 51. (c) 52. (b) 53. (c) 54. (c)
55. (c) 56. (a) 57. (a) 58. (c) 59. (d) 60. (a) 61. (b) 62. (d) 63. (a)
64. (b) 65. (a) 66. (d) 67. (c) 68. (a) 69. (d) 70. (c) 71. (d) 72. (a)
73. (c) 74. (d) 75. (c) 76. (b) 77. (c) 78. (d) 79. (c) 80. (d) 81. (d)
82. (d) 83. (c) 84. (b) 85. (c) 86. (b) 87. (d) 88. (c) 89. (a) 90. (a)
91. (c) 92. (a) 93. (b) 94. (d) 95. (b) 96. (b) 97. (c) 98. (a) 99. (a)
100. (c)
128
Test Yourself
Subjective Questions
GS PAPER-I GS PAPER-III
1. The position of women in the Indian independence 12. Discuss the salient features of the Electricity (Amendment)
struggle was one of aid rather than of heroism. Critically Bil, 2022.
examine. 13. Stating the significance of PM Gati Shakti Scheme,
2. The “Son Bias” in India is on a decreasing trend. In the highlight the expected outcome and associated concerns
S
light of the given statement discuss the reasons behind of the scheme.
the selective abortions in India and associated concerns. 14. “India needs to now move with a renewed focus and
3. The tribal leaders played a key role in the freedom resolve for the next 25 years, and this can be made
struggle of India. In the light of the given statement outline possible through the strength and determination of
IA
the major contributions of tribal leaders in India’s freedom 130 crore Indians”. In the light of the given statement
struggle. examine what India needs to do to become a developed
4. Kerala has witnessed heavy rainfall during this monsoon nation.
season. Discuss the reasons behind the aberrant rainfall 15. What is a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle? Also discuss the
and also discuss the rainfall alert system in India. difference between the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and
Small Satellite Launch Vehicle.
GS PAPER-II
16. The creation of a domestic carbon market is one of the
T
5. Discuss the key provisions of Flag Code of India, 2002. most significant provisions of the proposed Energy
Also discuss the recent amendment of the Flag Code. Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022. Discuss.
6. The average tenure of the Chief Justice of India has been 17. Even though the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) 2022 is
on a lower side. Critically Examine.
EX
not enough to address the climate crisis, such historic

7. “Freebies and social welfare schemes are different… initiatives can be a benchmark for other large emitters to
Economy losing money and the welfare of people, both push their climate action programmes. Critically Examine.
have to be balanced and that is why, this debate” – 18. Ayman Al-Zawahiri’s death is a huge setback for Al-
Supreme Court of India. Comment on this quote in the Qaeda, which has been trying to re-establish itself in the
light of recent development. sub-continent, especially in India. Discuss.
8. The rising cases of media trials is a threat to the fabric of
society. Discuss. GS PAPER-IV
N
9. The Personal Data Protection Bill was recently withdrawn. 19. “In order for a war to be just, three things are necessary:
Discuss the reasons behind its withdrawal and the need authority of the sovereign, just cause and a rightful
of such a bill for India. intention.” Comment on this statement while doing
analysis of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the Just War
10. Discuss the various aspects of India-Maldives bilateral
Perspective.
relations.
20. “One should die proudly when it is no longer possible to
11. Is the de facto states model followed for Abkhazia,
live proudly” - Friedrich Nietzsche. Debate this statement
Transnistria and South Ossetia a possible way out for the
in the context of Euthanasia.
Russia-Ukraine conflict?

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Flag Code of India..................................................................................................... 14

INDIA @75: TIMELINE

11. 1965: India-Pakistan War- A culmination of skirmishes flared

21 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide

INDIA @75: THEN & NOW

INDIA @75: ANALYSIS

A Mixed Bag: Probable Reasons:

• Indian education system is the second biggest in the world

emergency, we will face internal catastrophes due to ignoring

INDEPENDENCE DAY SPEECH

Remembering the Freedom Fighters: Cooperative Federalism:

in India was employed for the first time in 75 years.”

DEVELOPED INDIA BY 2047

• A way to map this is to look at the scores of India and

gone from around 40 years in 1947 to around 70 years now.

How much can India achieve by 2047?

FLAG CODE OF INDIA

About: • During the debate in the Constituent Assembly in December

which was finalised after discussions in the Constituent

Ramaswamy Venkataraman 25-July-1987 to 25-July-1992

Roles/Functions: • The election of the next Vice-President is to be held within 60

• The tenure may be terminated earlier by death, resignation,

CHIEF JUSTICE OF INDIA (CJI)

Justice Uday Umesh Lalit: Recommendation of the Successor:

• The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the

chief justice to the Parliament of India.

could be source of enormous satisfaction to them.

Arguments against Fixed Tenure:

as seen in the past as Chief justices continued to focus on

Law Commission’s Recommendation:

• Freedom of Press: The Supreme Court in Brij Bhushan v. State

Indian Laws and Obscenity: American Roth Test:

who publishes or transmits obscene material in electronic

Background: a threat to the development of the nation and needs to be

sports, cultural activities, free medical care to the poor, free

Impact on State Finances: How should governments strike a balance between

Punjab 2.7% 17.8% 45.4%

Article 32, to protect the fundamental rights of the citizen, is

What is the stand of major political parties on freebies?

ASSAM-ARUNACHAL BORDER DISPUTE

Recently, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments have formed 12 regional

History: district boundaries, the locals didn’t resent it as much. This is

commission of three people. Tarun Chatterjee, a retired judge

• However, the Assam government maintains that the

Major highlights of the visit: Timeline of India-Maldives Relations:

credentials of being the first responder.

About: Ceasefire Agreement:

Why are Ceasefire Agreements not Working?

within Azerbaijan during the Soviet years.

POST-SOVIET ‘DE-FACTO’ STATES

are Russian troops in Abkhazia as per a September 2009

romantic ideal”. Russia. Most people speak Russian, at least as a second

NANCY PELOSI VISIT TO TAIWAN

to ensure defence forces are fully prepared.

• During live-fire training, soldiers are placed in simulated

YUAN WANG 5: GUNBOAT DIPLOMACY

Yuan Wang 5: 3. Coercion through Economic Arm-Twisting:

Yuan Wang 5: 3. Coercion through Economic Arm-Twisting: