2. economy and finance 3. science and technology 4 ... · plasmodium type, most commonly...

Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. National Affairs

2. Economy and Finance

3. Science and Technology

4. Environment and Ecology

5. International Affairs, Bilateral Issues and Geopolitics

6. Miscellaneous


NATIONAL AFFAIRS

➢ Reliance Jio Infocomm Launches Asia-Africa-Europe (AAE-1) Submarine Cable System

• A submarine cable system consists of telecom and internet cables on the seabed between land-

based stations. These carry telecommunication and data signals across stretches of oceans.

• AAE-1, the longest 100 Gbps (gigabits per second) technology-based submarine system, will

stretch over 25,000 km from Marseille, France, to Hong Kong, with 21 cable landings across Asia

and Europe.

➢ Government Launches Index To Rank 116 Cities On Quality Of Life

• The first ‘City Liveability Index’, will cover cities with population above one million, including the

capital cities, a total of 116 cities to be covered.

• The cities will be assessed on a comprehensive set of 79 parameters, including availability of roads,

education, healthcare, mobility, employment opportunities, emergency response, grievance

redressal, pollution, availability of open and green spaces, cultural and entertainment opportunities.

• The ranking will be released in 2018.

➢ West Bengal Govt's Kanyashree Scheme Bags UN Award

➢ POSOCO-IMD Weather Portal for Power Sector & Web Portal ‘MERIT’

• The information available in the Portal regarding weather forecast shall help State Discoms to take

pro-active steps regarding short term and medium term management processes and supply

planning requirements and also for better planning for infrastructure availability to ensure cost

effective and reliable supply.

• The Portal provides the following information: Regional Weather Summary, Radar, Satellite

Images, Meteogram, Region Specific Forecast.

• Another portal ‘MERIT’ (Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and

Transparency). This has been developed by Ministry of Power in association with POSOCO and

Central Electricity Authority. The MERIT Web portal displays extensive array of information

regarding the merit order of Electricity procured by State(s) such as daily state-wise marginal variable

costs of all generators, daily source-wise power purchases of respective states/UTs with source-wise

fixed and variable costs, energy volumes and purchase prices. The web-portal also give

The United Nations has awarded the West Bengal government the first place for Public Service

for its “Kanyashree” scheme.

The “Kanyashree Prakalpa” is a targeted conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at

retaining girls in schools and other educational institutions. It also aims towards skill

development and prevent child marriage.

Over 4 million adolescent girls have already enrolled in the scheme and about $ 500 million

handed over to the beneficiaries through their bank account. The scheme is being implemented

through 16000 institutes and schools.


information regarding reasons for deviation from merit order such as must run conditions,

transmission constraints etc.

➢ VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty) Scheme

• The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a Statutory body of the Department of

Science and Technology (DST) has recently launched a ‘Visiting Advanced Joint Research

(VAJRA) Faculty Scheme’ to connect the Indian academic and research and development

(R&D) systems to the best of global science and scientists for a sustained international collaborative

research.

• The scheme offers adjunct / visiting faculty assignments to overseas scientists, faculty members and

R&D professionals including Non-resident Indians (NRI) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to

undertake high quality collaborative research in cutting edge areas of science and technology

including interdisciplinary areas of priority such as energy, water, health, security, nutrition, materials

and manufacturing, etc.

• The residency period of VAJRA Faculty in the host institution would be for a minimum of 1 month

and a maximum of 3 months every year.

➢ Pune Municipality Became The First Civic Body In The Country To Raise Money By Issuing

Bonds On Bombay Stock Exchange

• The municipal body raised Rs 200 crore through BSE's bond trading platform and was oversubscribed

by six times -approximately Rs 1,200 crore.

• This also marked the re-entry of municipal bonds after 14 years, which is being seen as the

beginning of resurgence in the municipal bond market in India.

• Over-subscription of PMC's bonds is also being seen as a positive sign considering that only Rs 1,100

crore has been raised through bonds in the past three decade.

➢ Uttarakhand And Haryana Declared 4th And 5th ODF States In The Country

• Under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G), rural Uttarakhand and rural Haryana have

declared themselves as the 4th and 5th Open Defecation Free (ODF) States of India.

• The two today joined the league of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, which were the first

three states to be declared ODF.

The objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission include eliminating open defecation through the

construction of household-owned and community-owned toilets and establishing an

accountable mechanism of monitoring toilet use.

Run by the Government of India, the mission aims to achieve an Open-Defecation Free

(ODF) India by 2 October 2019, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.

It has two sub-Missions viz. Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) and Swachh Bharat Mission

(Urban). While rural mission is under the purview of Ministry of Drinking Water and

Sanitation; the urban mission comes under Ministry of Urban Development.


➢ Operation Swarn: Rajdhani & Shatabdi Trains to Get a Massive Makeover

• The Project will focus on 10 key areas, including punctuality, cleanliness, linen, coach interiors,

toilets, catering, staff behaviour, security, entertainment, housekeeping and regular feedback.

• An amount of Rs 50 lakh will be allotted to each Rajdhani and Shatabdi train on various routes for the

revamp.

• The plan is reported to be upgraded with better facilities like Wi-Fi, infotainment screens (that were

first provided in Tejas Express) and coffee vending machine.

➢ IOC, BPCL, HPCL Sign Agreements To Set World's Largest Refinery In Maharashtra

• The Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan

Petroleum have signed the joint venture agreement to jointly set up the world's largest refinery and

petrochemical complex in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.

• Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will hold 50 per cent stake, BPCL and HPCL will have 25 percent stake each.

• The new refinery complex will have a refining capacity of 60 million tonnes. The refinery will

produce petrol, diesel, LPG, ATF and feedstock for making petrochemicals. The complex will

also have an accompanying mega petrochemical plant which will include an aromatic complex,

naptha cracker, and polymer complex.

• India is world's third largest consumer of energy after US and China. However, the per-capita

energy consumption in the country is one-fourth of the world average.

➢ NITI Aayog Clears Six Proposals For High-Tech Public Transport

• The Ministry Of Road Transport And Highways sought the approval of NITI Aayog to experiment

and introduce six latest mass rapid transportation technologies. These technologies include metrino,

stadler buses, hyperloop, pod taxis, hybrid buses and freight rail road.

+

➢ Cabinet Approves Bill To Make IIMs Autonomous


• The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017 that aims to grant “complete autonomy” to the

elite B-schools and allow them to award degrees instead of diplomas, as is the case now.

➢ Union Cabinet Clears Minimum Wage Code Bill

• New Wage Code Bill will ensure a minimum wage across all sectors by integrating four labour

related laws.

• The Labour Code on Wages Bill will consolidate the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of

Wages Act, 1936; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.

• The new minimum wage norms would be applicable for all workers irrespective of their pay. At

present, the minimum wages fixed by the Centre and states are applicable to workers getting up to

Rs 18,000 pay monthly.

➢ Ministry Of Rural Development To Launch Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana

• The Ministry of Rural Development launched a new sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya

Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) which will be named as “Aajeevika

Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY)”.

• The main objectives of AGEY are to provide an alternative source of livelihoods to members of Self

Help Groups (SHGs) under DAY-NRLM by facilitating them to operate public transport services in

backward rural areas.

• This will provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services like e-rickshaws,

3 and 4 wheeler motorised transport vehicles to connect remote villages with key services and

amenities including access to markets, education and health for the overall economic development

of the area.

• The programme has a special focus on women empowerment including a dedicated component for

promoting farm and non-farm based livelihoods for women farmers in rural areas

➢ Bicentenary Celebration of Paika Rebellion of Odisha

• The Paika Bidroha (Paika Rebellion) of 1817 in Odisha briefly shook the foundations of British rule

in the eastern part of India.

• Paikas were essentially the peasant militias of the Gajapati rulers of Odisha who rendered military

service to the king during times of war while taking up cultivation during times of peace.


• They unfurled the banner of rebellion against the British under the leadership of Baxi Jagandhu

Bidyadhara as early as 1817 to throw off the British yoke.

➢ National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22)

• The new Strategic Plan gives year wise elimination targets in various parts of the country

depending upon the endemicity of malaria in the next 5 years.

• The strategies involve strengthening malaria surveillance, establishing a mechanism for early

detection and prevention of outbreaks of malaria, promoting the prevention of malaria by the use of

Long Lasting Impregnated Nets (LLINs), effective indoor residual spray and augmenting the

manpower and capacities for effective implementation for the next five years.

• New interventions for case management and vector control such as rapid diagnostic tests,

artemisinin-based combination therapy and Long Lasting Insecticidal nets (LLINs) were

introduced under the strategic plan last year.

• Under the new five year plan we have decided to take up concerted efforts at the district level and

push for a micro-level approach. Case detection and management, and community outreach

services will be carried out by ASHA workers and community health volunteers of various NGOs.

➢ Maharashtra Prohibition of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and

Redressal) Act, 2016

• The Act is the first law in India to punish social boycott, and will regulate organisations like the

‘jat’ (caste) panchayat, to help deal with caste based discrimination.

• Under the Act, social boycott is a punishable offence which includes a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh and

imprisonment of up to 7 years or both.

• Reasons for social boycott include religious rituals, inter-caste marriage, lifestyle, dress or vocation,

and a victim can file a complaint either with the police or directly to the magistrate.

• The Act also makes provisions for six-month long speedy trials.

• The decision was a reaction to pressures from growing incidents of atrocities on individuals by jati

panchayats or gavkis wielding extra-judicial powers. The highest number of incidents were reported

from the districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Nashik; and the largest number of cases of social

boycott were provoked by inter-caste marriages.

➢ Government To Push E-Education With 4 Digital Initiatives

• The schemes are: Swayam — an indigenously designed massive open online course

(MOOC), Swayam Prabha — 32 Direct-to-Home channels for transmitting high-quality educational

content, the National Digital Library containing 6.5 million books, and the National Academic

Depository for authenticating all certificates issued by institutions.

• Malaria is a vector borne disease caused by Parasitic Protozoans belonging to the

Plasmodium type, most commonly transported by an infected Female Mosquito.

• In India, malaria is caused by the parasites Plasmodium Falciparum, found more in

forest areas , and Plasmodium Vivax, found in plain areas.

• According to the World Malaria report 2016, India accounts for 89% of Malaria

incidence in South-East Asia Region.


• These initiatives will increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in the higher education from 24.5

(2015-16) to 30 by 2020.

• Swayam programme would target those students who could not complete their studies and

professional who wished to upgrade their knowledge. Swayam, however, would not run courses

such as engineering, medicine, dental, pharmacy, nursing, architecture, and physiotherapy.

• Through Swayam Prabha, the government would air new content of four hours every day. It would

be repeated six times a day. The content would be mainly for students from Class IX to XII and those

who are preparing for admission into IITs.

➢ JIGYASA” - Student-Scientist Connect Programme

• Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has joined hands with Kendriya Vidyalaya

Sangathan (KVS) to implement this programme.

• The focus is on connecting school students and scientists so as to extend student’s classroom

learning with that of a very well planned research laboratory based learning.

• The “JIGYASA” would inculcate the culture of inquisitiveness on one hand and scientific temper on

the other, amongst the school students and their teachers.

• The Programme is expected to connect 1151 Kendriya Vidyalayas with 38 National Laboratories

of CSIR targeting 100,000 students and nearly 1000 teachers annually.

➢ Comprehensive Online Modified Modules on Induction Training (COMMIT) for State

Government officials

• The objective of this training programme is to improve the public service delivery mechanism and

provide citizen centric administration through capacity building of officials who interact with

the citizens on day-to-day basis.

• The COMMIT programme, developed by DoPT in collaboration with United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP), will supplement the existing 12-Day ITP launched in 2014-15 for newly

recruited state Government officials to develop in them Generic & Domain specific competencies.

➢ Parliament Passes Bill To Allow RTE Teachers Time Till 2019 To Acquire Qualification

• According to the amendment bill, every teacher appointed or in position as on March 2015 is now

required to acquire the minimum qualifications by 2019.

• When the RTE Act was implemented in 2010, new schools were set up but qualified teachers were

not available and unqualified teachers, including those with graduation degrees, were recruited.

• According to the existing Act which came into effect from 1 April, 2010, these teachers were to acquire

minimum qualifications within five years by 31 March, 2015.

➢ Centre Launches Scheme To Provide Easy Legal Aid In Bihar

• The Centre in association with the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) launched ‘Tele-Law’

scheme in Bihar with an aim to provide an opportunity to the common man to access legal aid easily.

• Under the scheme, villagers can have access to legal consultation with the help of para legal

volunteers at Common Service Centre (CSC) which will be equipped with computers and Internet

facility.


• Rs. 30 will be charged for the legal consultation, but in case of BPL people, this amount would be

returned to their account.

• Besides, various other services like making Aadhaar card, PAN, applying for passports,

reservation of train berths and bill payments can be done from CSCs.

➢ Swachh Bharat Launches Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017

• Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation launched a third party verification survey report to take

stock of the progress already made by the Mission in rural India.

• The Quality Council of India (QCI) has conducted a transparent third-party assessment of the

present status of rural sanitation in all States and UTs, called Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017.

• Under the Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017, QCI surveyed 1.4 lakh rural households across 4626

villages, and found the overall toilet coverage to be 62.45%. The survey also observed

that 91.29% of the people having access to a toilet, use it.

• The Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up in the 1997 to asses and accredit bodies in the field of

health, education and quality promotion. The Union Government jointly with Indian Industry made

QCI an autonomous body.

➢ Odisha Government And Facebook Launch 'She Means Business' Programme To Train

Women Entrepreneurs In Odisha

• Under the scheme, 25,000 women entrepreneurs and self-help-groups (SHG) members will be

given training on digital marketing skills within the next one year.

• The session included training on how to start your business in Facebook, how to make it real-

time business, quick response to queries and timely delivery, quality assurance and so on.

• The She Means Business programme has been launched in 16 countries around the world,

including India.

➢ The Lowdown On Article 35A

• Article 35A is a provision incorporated in the Constitution giving Jammu and Kashmir Legislature

a carte blanche to decide who all are ‘permanent residents’ of the State and confer on them

special rights and privileges in public sector jobs, acquisition of property in the State, scholarships

and other public aid and welfare.

• Article 35A was incorporated into the Constitution in 1954 by an order of the then President

Rajendra Prasad on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet. The controversial Constitution

(Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order of 1954 followed the 1952 Delhi Agreement entered

into between Nehru and the then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah, which

extended Indian citizenship to the ‘State subjects’ of Jammu and Kashmir.

• The parliamentary route of lawmaking was bypassed when the President incorporated Article

35A into the Constitution. Article 368 (i) of the Constitution empowers only Parliament to amend

the Constitution.

➢ Authorized Joint Secretary Can Order Suspension Of Telecom Services


• According to new guidelines under Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public

Emergency and Public Safety) Rules 2017, a joint secretary level officer authorised by Union or

State Home Secretary can order suspension of telecom services in an area in case of an emergency

or under unavoidable circumstances, where obtaining of prior direction is not feasible,

• The government often suspends telecom services in disturbed areas with an aim to maintain law and

order.

➢ CCTNS Digital Police Portal Launched To Fast-Track Criminal Justice System In The Country

• The CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems) portal will provide investigators the

complete record history of any criminal from anywhere across the country.

• Equipped with a Google-type Advance Search engine and ability to give analytical reports, the

portal is expected to become the backbone of the country’s criminal justice system.

• For the State Police organisations and investigating agencies like the CBI, IB, ED and NIA, the

Digital Police Portal provides a National Database of crime and criminals with facility for 11

searches and 44 reports.

• To citizens, the Digital Police Portal offers online facility to register FIRs. There will be initially

seven Public Delivery Services in 34 States & UTs, like Person and Address Verification of

employees, tenants, nurses etc; permission for hosting Public Events, Lost & Found Articles

and Vehicle theft.

➢ SC Strikes Down Instant Triple Talaq, Says Practice Is Unconstitutional

• The Supreme Court banned a controversial Islamic practice of instant divorce as arbitrary and

unconstitutional, in a landmark verdict for gender justice.

• The practice of saying “talaq”, or divorce, three times in one go – sometimes even over email

and WhatsApp – The 395-page ruling held the practice to be “violative of the fundamental

right under Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution of India

• Muslim men in India can still divorce using two other forms of talaq that have a three-month cooling

off period. Muslim women usually divorce using a practice called Khula. Instant talaq, or “talaq-e-

biddat”, is banned in 22 Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan, for being sinful and arbitrary.

• The bench of five judges were from India’s major faiths -- Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism

and Zoroastrianism.

➢ NITI Aayog To Launch “Mentor India” Campaign

• NITI Aayog will launch the Mentor India Campaign, a strategic nation building initiative to engage

leaders who can guide and mentor students at more than 900 Atal Tinkering Labs, established

across the country as a part of the Atal Innovation Mission.

• Atal Tinkering Labs are dedicated works spaces where students from Class 6th to Class 12th learn

innovation skills and develop ideas that will go on to transform India. The labs are powered to

acquaint students with state-of-the-art equipment such as 3D printers, robotics & electronics

development tools, Internet of things & sensors etc.


• NITI Aayog is looking for leaders who can spend anywhere between one to two hours every

week in one or more such labs to enable students experience, learn and practice future skills such

as design and computational thinking.

• NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission is among one of the flagship programs of the Government of

India to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

➢ DIKSHA Portal: National Digital Infrastructure For Our Teachers By MoHRD

• It will serve as National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers. All teachers across nation will be

equipped with advanced digital technology. It is a unique initiative which leverages existing highly

scalable and flexible digital infrastructures, while keeping teachers at the center.

• It is built considering the whole teacher's life cycle - from the time student teachers enroll

in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to after they retire as teachers.

• States, government bodies and even private organisations, can integrate DIKSHA into their

respective teacher initiatives based on their goals, needs and capabilities.

➢ NITI Aayog Calls Renewed Focus On Nutrition, Launches The National Nutrition Strategy

• The nutrition strategy envisages a framework wherein the four proximate determinants of nutrition

– uptake of health services, food, drinking water & sanitation and income & livelihoods – aims

at ensuring every child, adolescent girl and woman attains optimal nutritional status by 2022.

• The Integrated Child Development Services Mission would be expanded to form a National

Nutrition Mission along the lines of National Health Mission under the Ministry Of Women And Child

Development (WCD).

• This strategy, gives prominence to demand and community mobilisation as a key determinant to

address India's nutritional needs.

• The Nutrition Strategy Framework envisages a Kuposhan Mukt Bharat - linked to Swachh Bharat

and Swasth Bharat. The aim is to ensure that States create customized State/ District Action Plans

to address local needs and challenges.

• The strategy enables states to make strategic choices, through decentralized planning and local

innovation, with accountability for nutrition outcomes.

➢ Vishwajeet Scheme A Non-Starter

• The scheme, which entailed the provision of Rs. 1,250 crore to each of the top seven IITs over a

period of five years to upgrade infrastructure, hire foreign faculty, and collaborate with foreign

institutions to break into the top league in global rankings, has reportedly been shot down by the

Finance Ministry.

➢ ‘Cooling Off’ Period In Hindu Divorce Can Go: SC

• Once a couple moves a court of law for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, they have to

wait for a minimum period of six months. The waiting period under Section 13B was mandated to

prevent couples from taking any hasty decision to end their marriage as marriage is a sacrament in

Hinduism.


• Divorce by mutual consent was introduced as an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act in

1976.

• The court held that the waiting period should be done away within cases where there is no way to

save the marriage and all efforts at mediation and conciliation have run their course; where parties

have genuinely settled their differences including alimony, custody of child, etc.

➢ Citizenship For Chakma, Hajong Refugees Soon

• Centre will grant citizenship to all Chakma and Hajong refugees living in the Northeast but will ensure

that rights of indigenous people are not diluted. The Supreme Court had ordered for such in 2015.

• The Chakma are a Buddhist tribe who fled Chhitagong hill tracts in erstwhile East Pakistan. The

Hajong are a Hindu tribe who left mainland East Pakistan due to religious persecution and are settled

in Mizoram ,Meghalaya and Assam.

• The Centre moved the majority of them to the North East Frontier Agency, which is now

Arunachal Pradesh.

➢ Nai Udaan Scheme

• Ministry of Minority Affairs is implementing the scheme for Support to Minority Students for

preparation of Main Examination, who clear Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission,

Staff Selection Commission, State Public Service Commissions.

• The objective of the Scheme is to provide financial support to the minority candidates clearing prelims

conducted by the above mentioned exams.

➢ Sardar Sarovar Dam Dedicated To The Nation

• The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a gravity dam on the Narmada river near Navagam, Gujarat. Four

Indian states, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Rajasthan, receive water and electricity

supplied from the dam.

• The foundation stone of the dam was laid on April 5, 1961 by the country’s first Prime Minister,

Jawaharlal Nehru. However, it took 56 years to finally complete its construction due to court cases

and protests by the affected villagers.

• The project has helped transport the waters of the Narmada river to the water-deficient areas of

Gujarat through an elaborate canal and pipeline network (SAUNI).


➢ Zero Hunger Programme Begins On World Food Day

• The Zero Hunger Programme will be focusing on nutrition, setting up genetic gardens for

biofortified plants and initiation of 'Zero Hunger' training.

• The genetic garden will help grow biofortified plants containing germplasm of naturally biofortified

crops through plant breeding with extra nutrional values.

• These crops and plants will be vital for India to supplement micro-nutrient deficiencies,

including iron, zinc, vitamin A and iodine among many others.

• This programme is in support with India's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end

hunger by the year 2030 and also the government's plan to deal with issue of malnutrition through

various other initiatives under its goal to make India malnutrition free by the year 2022.

• The programme will be initiated by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Indian Council of

Medical Research, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation and Biotechnology Industry

Research Assitance council (BIRAC).

➢ Vistadome Coaches In Select Trains In Railways

• One of the stand-out features of the Vistadome coaches is the glass roof that boasts

electrically controlled opalescence. Hence, the roof can be made transparent for the passengers

to get a panoramic view of their journeys.

• All the seats in the vistadome coaches are rotatable and are pushback chairs. The coaches also

boast a plethora of other features such as automatic sliding compartment doors, multiple

television screens ,wide side door for Divyangs, GPS based info system, LED lights.

• The Integral Coach Factory in Chennai has built the coaches. There will be a total of four of such

coaches in the whole of India for now. Two will ply in Araku and two have been built for Kashmir.

• A trial run was made on Mumbai -Madgaon Janshatabdi train.

➢ Saubhagya Scheme: All You Need To Know

• Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, or Saubhagya--to provide electricity connections to

over 40 million families in rural and urban areas by December 2018.

• The scheme funds the cost of last-mile connectivity to willing households to help achieve the goal of

lighting every household by 31 December 2018.

• By providing electricity access to all households with prepaid and smart meters, demand will be

created which in turn will force the discoms to supply to these villages.

• With no subsidy component for monthly electricity consumption, the Gram Panchayat and public

institutions in the rural areas will be authorised to carry out billing and collection tasks which have

been pain points for the discoms.

➢ Karnataka Cabinet Approves Bill Against Superstition

• Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2017 — better

known as the anti-superstition Bill — which seeks to ban among other practices the

controversial ‘made snana’ ritual (devotees rolling over plantain leaves having food leftovers) in

public/religious places.


• The Bill does not cover regulations for astrology and vaastu practice, piercing of ears and nose

of children in accordance with certain rituals, and performance of religious rituals such as

‘Keshlochan’ by the Jains.

➢ NHRC Notice To TN, AP Over Devadasi-Like System

• The NHRC has issued notices to the governments and police chiefs of Tamil Nadu and Andhra

Pradesh over the alleged inhuman treatment being meted out to girls and women who are

forcibly taken to temples as part of an old ritual that resembles the banned Devadasi system.

• Allegedly, as part of the ritual, the girls are dressed up as a bride and once the ceremony is over,

their dresses are removed by five boys, virtually leaving them naked. They are denied to live with

their families and have education. They are forced to live in Mathamma temple deemed to be like a

public property and face sexual exploitation.

• Devadasi system is a banned religious practice in some parts of India whereby parents marry a

daughter to a deity or a temple. The marriage usually occurs before the girl reaches puberty.

➢ Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana

• Pt Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana” will experiment and endeavour to

formulate and implement appropriate S&T Interventions for Sustainable Development through

cluster approach in Uttarakhand.

• Implemented by Department of Science and Technology, Four clusters at Gaindikhata, Bazeera,

Bhigun (in Garhwal) and Kausani (in Kumaon) have been selected.

• Areas of interventions in these selected clusters would be processing and value addition of milk,

honey, mushroom, herbal tea, forest produce, horticulture and local crops, medicinal &

aromatic plants and traditional craft and handloom of Uttarakhand.

• Post-harvest processing of Kiwi, Strawberry, Cherry, Tulsi, Adrak, Badi Elaichi through solar drying

technology, extraction of apricot oil using cold press technology. Stringent product and process

control interventions for energy and water conservation would also be ensured through this project.

➢ PENCIL

• An electronic Platform For Effective Enforcement For No Child Labour (PENCIL) has been

developed by Ministry of Labour and Employment .

• The genesis of the portal is in the felt need to create a robust implementing and monitoring

mechanism for both enforcement of the legislative provisions and effective implementation of

the NCLP especially in the backdrop that the subject of Labour is in the concurrent list .


• The National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme initiated in 1988 to rehabilitate working

children by eliminating all forms of child labour through identification and withdrawal of all

children in the Project Area from child labour, Preparing children withdrawn from work for mainstream

education along with vocational training. NCLP has been revised expanded and aligned to the new

legislative provisions.

➢ Foundation Stone For National Waterway-4 In Andhra Pradesh

• The NW-4 would be developed in three phases.

• Phase-I: -Muktyala to Vijayawada (Krishna River) (82 Km)

• Phase-II: -Vijayawada to Kakinada (Eluru canal & Kakinada canal) and Rajahmundry to

Polavaram stretch of Godavari (233 Km)

• Phase-III: - Commamur Canal, Buckingham canal and balance stretches of Krishna & Godavari

Rivers (573km).

• Under the National Waterways Act 2016, 111 inland waterways have been declared as National

Waterways (NWs) in addition to the five existing NWs, across 24 States for utilizing them as an

environment friendly and sustainable mode of transport.

➢ Karnataka Government Has Launched Mathru Poorna Scheme

• The State government launched Mathru Poorna, a scheme meant to meet the nutritional needs

of pregnant and lactating women in rural areas who will get one nutritious meal daily for 25

days in a month.

• The scheme will be implemented through anganwadis in the State. Each meal is estimated to cost

around Rs 20. The food will be provided for 15 months, from the start of pregnancy up to six

months after delivery.


➢ “Paryatan Parv” Was Organised Across The Country From The 5th To 25th October 2017.

• Programme was organized with the objective of drawing focus on the benefits of tourism,

showcasing the cultural diversity of country and reinforcing the principle of “Tourism for All”.

• Paryatan Parv will have three main components: 1. Dekho Apna Desh : To encourage Indians to

visit their own country. 2. Tourism for All: Tourism Events at sites across all States in the country.

3. Tourism & Governance:Interactive Sessions & Workshops with Stakeholders on varied themes

➢ National Mission On Bovine Productivity-Embryo Transfer Technology

• National Mission on Bovine Productivity has been launched in November 2016 with the aim of

enhancing milk production and productivity and thereby making dairying more remunerative to

the farmers.

• Embryo transfer technology (ETT) has revolutionized the breeding strategies in Bovines as a tool to

optimize the genetic improvement in cattle.

• Through the use of ETT, (i) a farmer can get a 5-6 fold increase in number of offsprings , (ii) the calves

so born will be of high genetic merit and (iii) the offsprings born will be free from diseases.

• Under this programme, embryos of higher genetic merit indigenous bovines are being

transferred in to surrogate cows. Embryos of Indigenous breeds such as Sahiwal, Gir, Red

Sindhi, Ongole, Deoni and Vechur have been transferred under this programme.

➢ Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA)

• PMGDISHA is government initiative with an objective to impart digital literacy among the people

residing in rural areas. It is an important initiative under PM Modi’s vision of ‘Digital India’ that

intends at making one person in every family digitally literate.

• This scheme will focus on making at last six crore people in rural areas (across States/UTs)

digitally literate. By March 31, 2019, it is expected to reach around 40 per cent rural households in

the country

• Under free of cost PMGDISHA scheme, people in the rural area will be trained to operate

a computer, tablet, smartphones, etc. They will be taught how to access the Internet, government

services, undertake digital payment, compose e-mails, etc.

• Illiterate people between the age group 14-60 years, nominated from every eligible rural

household, are qualified for the scheme.

➢ Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI)

• Through this programme, Government of India aims to reach each and every child under two years

of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine

immunisation programme.

• The special drive will focus on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities

to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December 2018.

• The IMI programme is supported by 12 ministries and departments and would be monitored by

the Cabinet Secretary at the national level .

Embryo transfer refers to a step in the process of assisted reproduction in which embryos are

placed into the uterus of a female with the intent to establish a pregnancy.


• Following diseases are covered: diphtheria, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, tetanus,

tuberculosis, measles and Hepatitis B.

➢ SANKALP & STRIVE Schemes to boost Skill India Mission

• Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill

Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE).

• SANKALP is Rs 4,455 crore Centrally sponsored scheme including Rs. 3,300 crore loan support from

World Bank whereas STRIVE is a Rs. 2,200 crore - central sector scheme, with half of the scheme

outlay as World bank loan assistance.

• Both the schemes are aimed at institutional reforms and improving quality & market relevance of skill

development training programs in long and short term VET (Vocational Education and Training )

• STRIVE scheme shall incentivize ITIs to improve overall performance including apprenticeship

by involving SMEs, business association and industry clusters.

• SANKALP envisages setting up of Trainers and Assessors academies with self-sustainable

models. Over 50 such academies are to be set up in priority sectors.

• SANKALP aims at enhancement of inclusion of marginalized communities including women,

Scheduled Castes (SCs), Schedule Tribes (STs) and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) to provide skill

training opportunities to the underprivileged and marginalised section of the society.

➢ #IamThatWoman:-Campaign On ‘Women For Women’

• In an attempt to end Gender bias in women against women, the Ministry of Women and Child

Development is undertaking online campaign #IamThatWoman. one can share story onl

• Through the campaign, the Ministry seeks to highlight the various aspects of women standing ‘by’

and ‘for’ women. Ministry of WCD has urged people to shun stereotypes associated with women

harming other women.

➢ Ro-Ro Ferry Service In Gujarat

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Phase 1 of the Ro-Ro (Roll on, Roll off) ferry service

between Ghogha and Dahej in Gujarat.

• This will be South Asia's first world-class Ro-Ro ferry service. The project will link South Gujarat

and Saurashtra and by allowing vehicles with passengers aboard, will save travel time, fuel and

will clear congested roads.

• World-class terminals have been built at Ghogha near Bhavnagar and Dahej near Bharuch.

➢ Debate Over ‘Therapeutic Food’

• Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), also referred to as energy dense nutritious food (EDNF),

is a medical intervention to improve the nutrition intake of children suffering from Severe Acute

Malnutrition (SAM).

• RUTF is a packaged paste of peanuts, oil, sugar, vitamins, milk powder and mineral

supplements, which contains 520-550 kilocalories of energy per 100 g. Additional ingredients may

include nuts, legumes, grains and sweeteners to improve the taste.


• The paste is given to children aged between six months and six years, usually after a doctor’s

prescription.

• RUTF use is common in Africa, where the incidence of malnutrition among children is high. In

India, the global collaborative Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement has tied up with Maharashtra,

Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand to promote therapeutic food as a solution to malnourishment.

• The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) wrote to states and UTs that “Enough

evidence is not available for use of RUTF vis-à-vis other interventions for the management of SAM.

➢ State Vs LG: SC Reminds Delhi Of Its Power Limitations

• In urgent matters, it is the L-G who is given primacy. The executive power of the government of

Delhi was not exclusive to the executive power of the Centre.

• Public order in Delhi, police or land cannot be subject of executive power of government of Delhi.

• Under Article 239 (1), it was the President who appoints the administrator for Delhi and this

administrator was designated as L-G, “which means the administration of Delhi is by the President

in the name of the administrator”.

• In matters where the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) had differences with State government, he

could not sit on files. Instead, he was required to forward them to the President within a “reasonable

time”.

➢ Mission Indradhanush: Global Report Shows Lauds Vaccination Drive

• India’s Mission Indradhanush has come in for high praise in a global report card analysing the

progress of 15 countries that have the highest incidence of pneumonia and diarrhea — the two

biggest killers of children aged less than five years.

• The report is brought out annually by the International Vaccine Access Center, Johns Hopkins

Bloomberg School of Public Health, to assess the progress made in these countries in tackling the

two diseases.

• India has showed the largest positive change among the 15 countries evaluated in the report,

with a seven-point increase in Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia

and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) score.

• The 15 countries that have been assessed include India, Bangladesh, Angola, Nigeria, Pakistan,

Afghanistan, Chad, China, Niger Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia.

➢ Cabinet Approves Amendment In The National Council For Teacher Education Act, 1993

• The amendment seeks to grant retrospective recognition to the Central/State/Union Territory

funded Institutions/Universities conducting Teacher Education Courses without NCTE

recognition till the academic year 2017-2018.

• The retrospective recognition is being given as a onetime measure so as to ensure that the future of

the students passed out/enrolled in these institutions are not jeopardized.

• The amendment will make students studying in these Institutions/Universities, or already

passed out from here, eligible for employment as a teacher.

• All institutions running Teacher Education Courses such as B.Ed. and D.El.Ed. have to obtain

recognition from the National Council for Teacher Education under section 14 of the NCTE Act.


➢ Cabinet Approves Ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme (State Plans) - RKVY as RKVY-

RAFTAAR for Three Years

• In a bid to incentivise States to increase allocations for agriculture and allied sectors the,

Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the continuation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas

Yojana (RKVY) for three years — 2017-18 to 2019-20 —renaming it as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas

Yojana-Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RKVY-

RAFTAAR).

➢ Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana By Madhya Pradesh Government

• Under the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana or the Price Deficit Finance Scheme, where the state

government would pay the farmers the difference between modal rate (the average prices in major

mandis) and the minimum support prices (MSPs) for the kharif crops if the latter prices could not be

fetched by them.

• The benefit of the price deficit finance scheme is available to other kharif crops like pulses

(moong, urad and arhar), oilseeds, groundnut and maize.

• As mandated in the scheme launched recently, farmers had to upload details like Aadhaar numbers,

bank account details, details of the crop cultivated and average yield with websites of two state

government agencies for availing the benefits.

• A few years ago, Goa had initiated a similar scheme in a limited way for paddy and betel nuts.

➢ SHe-Box Online Complaint Management System

• The new SHe-Box portal offers the facility of making online complaints of sexual harassment at

workplace to all women employees in the country including government and private employees.

• Those who have already filed a written complaint with the concerned Internal Complaint Committee

(ICC) or Local Complaint Committee (LCC) constituted under the Sexual Harassment Act are also

eligible to file their complaint through this portal.

• Users of SHe-Box also have the option of interacting with Ministry of WCD through this portal, with

an assured time-bound response.

➢ NTA To Conduct Entrance Examinations For Higher Educational Institutions

• National Testing Agency (NTA) will be a Society registered under the Indian Societies Registration

Act, 1860, and as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct

entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.

• The RKVY-RAFTAAR funds would be provided to States as 60:40 grants between Centre

and States (90:10 for North-Eastern States and Himalayan States).

• Under the revamped scheme, about 50 per cent of the annual outlay will be provided for

setting up infrastructure and assets, 30 per cent for value addition-linked production

projects and 20 per cent of the outlay will be flexi-fund. States can use this (flexi-funds) for

supporting projects as per the local needs.

• In addition, about 20 per cent of the annual outlay would be provided for implementing special

sub-schemes of national priorities under RKVY-RAFTAAR.


• The NTA would initially conduct those entrance examinations which are currently being conducted

by the CBSE. Other examinations will be taken up gradually after NTA is fully geared up.

• The entrance examinations will be conducted in online mode at least twice a year, thereby

giving adequate opportunity to

• In order to serve the requirements of the rural students, it would locate the centres at sub-

district/district level and as far as possible would undertake hands-on training to the students.

• NTA will be given a one-time grant of Rs.25 crore from the Government of India to start its operation

in the first year. Thereafter, it will be financially self-sustainable.

➢ FSSAI Launches Logo For Organic Food Products

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has launched an “Indian Organic Integrity Data

Base”, to help consumers verify the authenticity of organic food.

• The portal has been jointly developed by the FSSAI in collaboration with the Agricultural and

Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Participatory Guarantee

System for India (PGS-India) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

• FSSAI said that through this portal, consumers can access information about the producer, the

certification system and the availability of certified organic products

• It has also introduced a common logo for “organic foods” with the tagline ‘Jaivik Bharat’. The unified

logo is an identity mark to distinguish organic products from non-organic ones, supported with

the tagline “Jaivik Bharat” at the bottom, for easy identification of Organic Food from India.

➢ India: Health Of The Nation’s States India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative

• The India State-level Disease Burden Initiative was a joint study conducted by the Indian Council

of Medical Research, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), and Institute for Health Metrics

and Evaluation Key findings:

• While life expectancy rose, data revealed that six out of 10 Indians now succumb to non-

communicable diseases (NCDs) like heart diseases, child and maternal malnutrition is the

leading cause of premature death and poor health and the burden of tuberculosis is the highest

in the world.

• Kerala, Goa, and Tamil Nadu, relatively prosperous states, have the largest share of NCDs such

as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, mental health and

neurological disorders, cancers, musculoskeletal disorders and chronic kidney disease.


• Malnutrition is particularly severe in so-called empowered action group (EAG) states that are

socioeconomically backward—Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha,

Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. Malnutrition is higher among females.

• Disability Adjusted Life Years, or DALY, rate—that is, disease burden expressed as the

number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death.

➢ Child Rights Week (Hausla 2017) from 16th to 20th November, 2017

• The country celebrates the Children’s Day on 14th November and the International Child Rights

Day is celebrated on 20th November every year. The period between the two important events

will be celebrated as Child Rights Week(Hausla 2017) by WCD Ministry by hosting an Inter CCI

Festival for the children who reside in Child Care Institutions (CCIs).

• Children participated in various events like Bal Sansad, painting competition, athletics meet,

football, chess competition and speech writing.

➢ Project Saksham

• a comprehensive plan for imparting training to all employees of Indian Railways is being

prepared with a view to upgrade skill & knowledge. This comprehensive training programme

named as “Project Saksham” will help boost productivity and efficiency.

• Under this plan, all employees in each zone will be put through a week’s training in skills and

knowledge relevant to their work area over next one year. This training shall be a five-day on the job

training or as classroom training in Railway Training Centre depending on the nature of training.

➢ Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra (PMMSK)

• It aims at empowering rural women through community participation to create an environment

in which they can realize their full potential

• PMMSK scheme is envisioned as one-stop convergence support service with opportunities

for skill development, digital literacy, health and nutrition and employment

• It will aim to improve declining child sex ratio; ensuring survival and protection of the girl child;

ensuring her education, and empowering her to fulfill her potential(Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao).

• Through this scheme, government plans to reach 115 most backward districts in the country with

920 Mahila Shakti Kendra by community engagement through student volunteers who will play an

instrumental role in awareness generation.

• More than 3 lakhs student volunteers from local colleges will be engaged. At national level, Mahila

Shakti Kendra will provide domain-based knowledge support while at state level, it will cater to State

Resource Centre for Women.

➢ Union Cabinet Approves New Metro Rail Policy

• The policy gives a big boost to private players by making private participation mandatory for all the

three funding options: private partnership (PPP) model, a grant from the Centre or a 50:50

equity sharing model between the Central and State governments.

• The metro project can be proposed only if it is found to be more cost effective as opposed to

other mass transit projects such as tramways, light rail transit, or bus rapid transit system.


• It also stipulates rigorous project evaluation by a third party.

• The policy also makes it mandatory for state governments to set up a unified metropolitan

transport authority.

• States are required to adopt innovative mechanisms such as ‘value capture financing’ and

‘betterment levy’ to mobilise resources for the project. States will also get a free hand in

implementing the projects.

• The policy stipulates an increase in rate of return from the current the 8% to 14%.

➢ Saksham - 2017 Mahotsav

• Saksham - 2017 (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav) is aimed to create awareness amongst

masses towards judicious utilization and conservation of petroleum products along with use

of energy efficient appliances and switching to cleaner fuels.

• The programme is being organized by PCRA (Petroleum Conservation Research Association) and

other Oil & Gas PSUs under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.

➢ Sankalp Se Siddhi: A 5-Year Programme For New India

• Sankalp se Siddhi" (Attainment through Resolve) scheme, which aims at good governance, is

a five year plan under which new India movement 2017-2022 would take place

• The New India Movement 2017-2022 envisages India free from poverty, corruption, terrorism,

communalism, casteism and uncleanliness and unite the entire country by adopting good

governance and using technology.


ECONOMY AND FINANCE

➢ NITI-Aayog Chooses CCMB To House Atal Incubation Centre

• Niti-Aayog has chosen the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad for

hosting the Rs. 10-crore Atal Incubation Centre aimed at identifying promising start-ups, creating

facilities and guiding them to success in the field of biotechnology.

• The Central government has set up the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog for promoting

a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship .

• The CCMB, a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is

among the 10 institutions across the country to be chosen for the facility.

➢ Energy Conservation Building Code 2017 (ECBC 2017)

• Developed by Ministry of Power and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), ECBC 2017 prescribes

the energy performance standards for new commercial buildings to be constructed across India.

• ECBC 2017 sets parameters for builders, designers and architects to integrate renewable

energy sources in building design with the inclusion of passive design strategies.

• The code aims to optimise energy savings with the comfort levels for occupants, and prefers life-cycle

cost effectiveness to achieve energy neutrality in commercial buildings.

• In order for a building to be considered ECBC-compliant, it would need to demonstrate minimum

energy savings of 25%. With the adoption of ECBC 2017 for new commercial building construction

throughout the country, it is estimated to achieve a 50% reduction in energy use by 2030.

➢ India Top Remittance-Receiving Country In 2016: UN Report

• The ‘One Family at a Time’ study by the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development

(IFAD) said about 200 million migrants globally sent more than $445 million in 2016 as remittances

to their families.

• Indians working across the globe sent home USD 62.7 billion last year, making India the top

remittance-receiving country surpassing China.

• The study is the first-ever of a 10-year trend in migration and remittance flows over the period 2007-

2016. It said 80 per cent of remittances are received by 23 countries, led by India, China, the

Philippines, Mexico and Pakistan.

• About 40 per cent of remittances ,are sent to rural areas where the majority of poor people live. Remittances are therefore critical to help developing countries achieve the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDG).

➢ NPCI Gets RBI Nod To Operate Bharat Bill Payment System

• Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an integrated bill payment system in India offering

interoperable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents,

enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation of payment.

• Nearly 45 crore bills which comprise of electricity, telecom, DTH, water and gas are permitted under

BBPS.


• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is the umbrella organisation for all retail payment

systems in India, which aims to allow all Indian citizens to have unrestricted access to e-payment

services.

➢ Codex Standards For Pepper, Cumin, Thyme

• The decision of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the international food standards

setting body set up by FAO and WHO, to adopt codex standards (they ensure that food is safe

and could be traded) for pepper, cumin and thyme.

• With the adoption of the Codex standards on pepper, cumin and thyme, spices have been included

for the first time as commodities that will have such universal standards.

➢ NABARD Takes First Step To Access Green Climate Fund

• India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) signed an Accreditation

Master Agreement (AMA) with the Green Climate Fund.

• The GCF was set up in 2010 under the UNFCCC’s financial mechanism to channel funding from

developed countries to developing countries to allow them to mitigate climate change and also adapt

to disruptions arising from a changing climate.

• Till now, only one project Installation of Groundwater Recharge System in Odisha is underway

using funds from GCF amounting to $34 million.

• With the signing of the AMA, NABARD becomes the first Indian organisation to get Direct Access

Entity status and is the first step for the body to access GCF resources. So far, NABARD and SIDBI

have been accredited by the GCF.

➢ Sovereign Gold Bonds Are Now Much More Lucrative

• Now individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) will be able to buy up to 4 kg of gold under

the scheme, whereas a Trust will be able to buy up to 20 kg of gold in a fiscal. Besides increasing the

investment limit, government plans to design and introduce variants of SGBs with different

interest rates and risk protection or pay-offs.

• Also planning to make SGBs available ‘on tap’, which means it may be offered throughout the year,

and not in tranche for limited periods.

➢ Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana

• PMVVY is a pension scheme exclusively for senior citizens—aged 60 years or more. There is no

maximum age for entry.

• Senior citizens can purchase it offline as well as online, through Life Insurance Corporation of India

(LIC), which has been given the sole rights to operate it.

The SGB scheme was launched in 2015 with the aim to curb the demand for physical gold, by

replacing it with alternate investment options in form of paper or electronic investments. The intention

was to mobilise finances and reduce the economic strain caused by imports of physical gold

and reduce the Current Account Deficit (CAD). Under the scheme, investors were offered bonds,

where each bond was equivalent to 1 gram of gold.


• Scheme provides an assured return of 8% to 8.30% per annum, depending on whether you choose

to get your pensions on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis. For the monthly option

the return is 8% and it is 8.30% for the annual option.

• The minimum purchase price for receiving pensions every month is Rs 1.5 lakh, where a senior

citizen will get a pension of Rs1,000 per month.

• The maximum purchase price for monthly pension is Rs7.5 lakh, which will fetch Rs5,000 per

month. Importantly, this is the maximum amount that a family can invest under this scheme. The

family, for this scheme, comprises the pensioner, his or her spouse and dependants.

• If a pensioner survives the policy term (10 years), purchase price along with final pension

instalment shall be payable. The scheme also allows premature exit/withdrawal for treatment of

any critical or terminal illness of self or spouse.

➢ India Ranks 116 Out Of 157 Nations On SDG Index

• India is ranked 116th on the index with a score of 58.1, behind countries such as Nepal, Iran, Sri

Lanka, Bhutan and China. Pakistan is ranked 122.

• The SDG Index and Dashboards Report provides a report card for country performance on the historic

Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

• The SDG Index ranks countries based on their performance across the 17 Sustainable Development

Goals.

• It is produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann

Stiftung.

➢ DIPP To Set Up India’s First TISC In Punjab

• The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry,

Government of India, signed an Institutional agreement with the Punjab State Council of Science and

Technology to establish India’s first Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) at Patent

Information Centre, Punjab, under the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) TISC

program.


• The objective of the TISC is to stimulate a dynamic, vibrant and balanced Intellectual Property

Rights (IPRs) system in India to foster creativity and innovation, thereby promoting

entrepreneurship and enhancing social, economic and cultural development by establishing a

network of TISCs in India.

• WIPO’s Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) program provides innovators in

developing countries with access to locally based, high quality technology information and related

services, helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create, protect, and manage

their Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

• The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) is designated as the National Focal Point

for the TISC national network.

➢ Tax Payer Service Module Aaykar Setu

• The module compiles various tax tools, live chat facility, dynamic updates, and important links to various

processes within the Income Tax Department in a single module. The tax payers will also be able to

receive regular updates regarding important tax dates, forms and notifications on mobile numbers

registered with the ITD.

• This e-initiative would help in reducing physical interface between assesses and tax assessing

authorities and thereby minimizing the chances of any tax harassment.

➢ NMCE And ICEX To Merge, Creating India’s Third Largest Commodity Exchange

• National Multi-Commodity Exchange (NMCE), India’s first demutualized multi-commodities

exchange, will merge with Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX).

• The proposed merger will create India’s third largest commodities exchange, offering a range of

contracts including bullion, oil, rubber and other agri-commodities.

• The exchange will also offer the world’s first diamond futures contract, which has already

received “in-principle” approval from the regulator.

➢ Industry-Academia Collaborative Mission For Accelerating Discovery Research To Early

Development For Biopharmaceuticals (National Biopharma Mission)

• The program named Innovate in India (i3) will witness an investment of USD 250 million with USD

125 million as a loan from World Bank and aspires to create an enabling ecosystem to promote

entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the sector.

• This Mission of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology will

be implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) - a Public

Sector Undertaking of DBT. The programme will specifically focus on the development of new

vaccines, bio-therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices to better address the rising burden of

diseases in the country.

• Currently India has only 2.8% share in the global biopharmaceutical market, the program would

elevate this to 5% resulting in an additional business opportunity of 16 Billion USD. The program

thereby stands unique in its approach with involvement of global experts, industry leaders and

World Bank in driving it and ensuring world class biomedical products are born out of the initiative.

➢ Government Launches E-Rakam


• The Union Government has launched e-Rashtriya Kisan Agri Mandi (e-RaKAM) portal to provide a

platform for farmers to sell agricultural produce.

• Under this initiative, e-RaKAM centres are being developed throughout the country in a phased

manner to facilitate farmers for online sale of their produce. The farmers will be paid through e-

Payment directly into their bank account under this initiative.

• The portal is a joint initiative by state-run-auctioneer MSTC and Central Warehousing

Corporation arm CRWC.

• E-RaKAM is a digital initiative that aims to bring together the farmers, PSUs, civil supplies and

buyers on a single platform to ease selling and buying process of agricultural products.

➢ Parliament Passes Banking Regulation Amendment Bill

• Parliament passed a bill that will empower the RBI to deal with stressed assets in the banking

sector which have soared to Rs 8 lakh crore.

• The measure allows the RBI to initiate insolvency resolution process on specific stressed

assets.

• The RBI would also be empowered to issue other directions for resolution, appoint or approve

for appointment, authorities or committees to advise the banking companies for stressed asset

resolution.

➢ AGRI UDAAN- Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0

• ICAR-NAARM Technology Business Incubator (TBI), a-IDEA and Indian Institute of Management

Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A) incubator Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE)

announced “AGRI UDAAN”- Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0.

• This programme will help to selected innovative startups who will be mentored in to scale up

their operations in agri value chain for effective improvement in agriculture. This is a 6 month

program in which shortlisted agri startups with promising innovative business models will be

mentored & guided to scale up their operation.

➢ A New Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) by the Name “BHARAT 22”

• Bharat 22 consists of 22 stocks of CPSE's, PSB's & strategic holding of SUUTI (specified undertaking

of Unit Trust of India). Compared to energy heavy CPSE ETF, Bharat 22 is a well Diversified

portfolio with 6 sectors (Basic Materials, Energy, Finance, FMCG, and Industrials & Utilities).

• The Bharat 22 Index will be rebalanced annually. ICICI Prudential AMC will be the ETF Manager

and Asia Index Private Limited (JV BSE and S& P Global) will be the Index Provider.

An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is a marketable security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds,

or a basket of assets like an index fund. Unlike mutual funds, an ETF trades like a common stock on a

stock exchange.

Large Investors (Sovereign/Pension Funds) prefer investing in ETFs due to the benefits of ETF being Low

cost & Less risky; being Highly Liquid assets; Transparent Investment and that these can be traded at

Real Time Market Price


➢ SATH Program Launched By NITI Aayog

• Furthering the agenda for cooperative federalism, NITI Aayog has launched SATH, a program

providing ‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital’ with the State Governments.

• The vision of the program is to initiate transformation in the education and health sectors.

• SATH aims to identify and build three future ‘role model’ states for health systems. NITI will

work in close collaboration with their state machinery to design a robust roadmap of intervention,

develop a program governance structure, set up monitoring and tracking mechanisms, hand-hold

state institutions through the execution stage and provide support on a range of institutional measures

to achieve the end objectives.

➢ National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) To Monitor Cyber Threats

• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has announced National Cyber

Coordination Centre (NCCC) which will be scanning the country's web traffic to detect cyber

security threats.

• It will be India's first layer for cyber threat monitoring and all communication with the

government as well as the private service providers will be monitored round the clock.

• It has powers under the Indian constitution with provision of section 69B of the Information

Technology Act, 2000.

➢ Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh (MUSK) for Secondary and Higher Education

• It will be a non-Lapsable fund, have all the proceeds from the 1% cess the government collects

under the ‘secondary and higher education cess’ which has been in place since 2007.

• The fund will be akin to the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) already in place since 2005 to fund

elementary education schemes such as Sarva Shikha Abhiyan. The government collects a

separate 2% cess for PSK.

• The fund will cater to schemes such as interest subsidy on education loans, education credit

guarantee fund, scholarship schemes, girls’ education schemes and a scheme that funds

higher education in states.

• Money from the MUSK corpus will be an extra budgetary provision, meaning it would be utilized at

times when demand for these educational schemes goes up and all budgetary allocations available

with the HRD ministry have been exhausted.

➢ NHAI Launches Mobile App MyFASTag and FASTag Partner

• National Highways Authority of India launched two mobile Apps – MyFASTag and FASTag

Partner to facilitate the availability of FASTags for Electronic Toll Collection.

• MyFASTag is a consumer App that can be downloaded from the App Store for both Android

and iOS systems. A consumer can purchase or recharge FASTags on this App. The App also

helps to keep track of transactions and provides for online grievance redressal.

• FASTag Partner is a merchant App. Agencies like Common Services Centre, banking partners

and vehicle dealers can sell and enroll FASTag through this App.

• In addition to this, the App can also be used to activate the RFID tags that came built in with around

74 lakh cars in the country following the 2013 Gazette Notification in this regard. These RFID tags


are already fixed on the cars but are dormant. This App will convert these RFID tags into ETC Tag

(FASTag).

➢ Purchasing Managers’ Index

• The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index measures the performance of the

manufacturing sector and is derived from a survey of 500 manufacturing companies.

• For India, the PMI Data is published by Japanese firm Nikkei but compiled and constructed by

Markit Economics.

• The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index is based on five individual indexes with the

following weights: New Orders (30 percent), Output (25 percent), Employment (20 percent),

Suppliers’ Delivery Times (15 percent) and Stock of Items Purchased (10 percent), with the

Delivery Times index inverted so that it moves in a comparable direction.

• A reading above 50 indicates an expansion of the manufacturing sector compared to the

previous month; below 50 represents a contraction; while 50 indicates no change.

• The popular index that measures growth in the industrial sector as far as India is concerned is the

CSO prepared Index of Industrial Production. IIP shows the change in production volume in

major industrial subsectors like manufacturing, mining and electricity.

• But compared volume based production indicator like the IIP, the PMI senses dynamic trends

because of the variable it uses for the construction of the index.

➢ Country’s Increasing Trade Deficit With ASEAN Nations

• Increasing trade deficit with ASEAN nations is due to imports of essential commodities and it

is strongly recommended that India seek better market access for its products and services with the

10-nation bloc.

• India has suffered a trade deficit in respect of five ASEAN members — Malaysia, Indonesia,

Thailand, Brunei and Lao PDR — over 2015-16 and 2016-17, with the biggest deficit emerging

in trade with Indonesia.

• The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises of Indonesia, Singapore,

Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam.

• ASEAN is India’s fourth largest trading partner.

➢ Interconnect Usage Charge: Facts That You Should Know

• IUC is a fee that one telecom company pays to another when a call from the former’s network lands

on the latter’s. The charge is levied on a per minute basis.

.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and

track tags attached to objects. The tags contain electronically stored information. Passive tags

collect energy from a nearby RFID reader's interrogating radio waves. Active tags have a local power

source (such as a battery) and may operate hundreds of meters from the RFID reader. Unlike

a barcode, the tag need not be within the line of sight of the reader, so it may be embedded in

the tracked object.


• Bill and keep (BAK) is a mechanism under which there is no interconnect charge, one telco does not

pay another, but keeps a record of the calls made to the other’s network.

• TRAI has cut IUC to 6 paise a minute from the current 14 paise a minute from October 1, 2017.

IUC will be brought down to zero paise from January 1, 2020, while moving to BAK.

• TRAI said that that the reduction in IUC is likely to yield consumer benefits

• It adds that these charges work as a disincentive for deployment of new technologies such as

Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE), and migration to Internet Protocol networks by

operators, wherein there are no interconnection charges.

➢ Joint Proposal By India & China In WTO On Aggregate Measurement Of Support (AMS)

• India and China, in a joint proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO), have called for

elimination of trade-distorting agricultural subsidies given by developed countries.

• In WTO terminology, these subsidies are called as ‘Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS)’ or

‘Amber Box’ support.

• Developed members of the WTO have access to huge amount of AMS beyond their de minimis—

the minimal amount of domestic support that are allowed even though they distort trade—up to

5% of the value of production for developed countries, 10% for developing.

• In contrast, most developing members have access only to de minimis resulting in a major asymmetry

in the rules on agricultural trade.

➢ Consolidated FDI Policy Document Released By DIPP

• The consolidated policy lays down the general conditions on FDI, procedures for government

approval and sector specific conditions on FDI.

• The policy document also includes a separate paragraph on start-ups which can raise up to

100 per cent of funds from Foreign Venture Capital Investor (FVCI) against receipt of foreign

remittance.

• A start-up company engaged in a sector where foreign investment requires government

approval may issue convertible notes to a non-resident only with approval of the government.

➢ India’s Exclusive Rights to Explore Polymetallic Nodules from Central Indian Ocean Seabed

Basin Extended by Five Years

• These rights are over 75000 sq. km of area in international waters allocated by International Seabed

Authority for developmental activities for polymetallic nodules.

There are two routes by which India gets FDI. • Automatic route: By this route FDI is allowed without prior approval by Government or Reserve

Bank of India • Government route: Prior approval by government is needed via this route. The application needs

to be made through Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, which will facilitate single window clearance of FDI application under Approval Route


• India is the first country to have received the status of a pioneer investor in 1987 and was

allocated an exclusive area in Central Indian Ocean Basin by United Nations (UN) for exploration and

utilization of nodules

• International Seabed Authority (ISA) is a UN body set up to regulate the exploration and

exploitation of marine non-living resources of oceans in international waters.

• The estimated polymetallic nodule resource potential is 380 million tonnes, containing 4.7 million

tonnes of nickel, 4.29 million tonnes of copper and 0.55 million tonnes of cobalt and 92.59 million

tonnes of manganese.

➢ The Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) Is Set To Take Off Soon

• The Union Cabinet had approved HEFA in September 2016 as a Special Purpose Vehicle with a public

sector bank (Canara Bank). It would be jointly funded by the promoter/bank and the MHRD with

an authorised capital of Rs 2,000 crore. The government equity would be Rs1,000 crore.

• As per the funding mechanism, an institution can claim 10 times the sum it escrows in the first

year. “If an institution escrows Rs10 crore, it can get approval for a ₹100-crore project.

• The agency is also expected to mobilise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds from public

sector units (PSUs) and corporates.

• Funding from HEFA is expected to boost infrastructure, especially state-of-the-art laboratories, in key

institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management

(IIMs), and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs).

➢ RBI Lists HDFC As D-SIB (Domestic Systemically Important Bank )

• State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were identified as DSIBs under the RBI rules in 2015

• SIBs are perceived as banks that are ‘Too Big To Fail (TBTF)’. This perception of TBTF creates an

expectation of government support for these banks at the time of distress.

• The selected lenders are then assessed on the four systemic importance buckets—size,

interconnectedness, substitutability and complexity.

• For D-SIBs, while there are additional capital requirements, there is advantage in the form of

lower borrowing costs.


➢ CERT-In Issues Alert on Locky Ransomware

• The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued an alert about spread of new

ransomware (malicious software) ‘Locky’ that can lock computers and demand ransom for

unlocking them.

• It encrypts files on victims’ PCs and adds a .locky file extension. The attackers then demand ransom

in Bitcoin payment to unlock the files.

• Locky ransomware is being circulated through massive spam campaign in which spam emails with

common subject lines.

➢ SEBI Proposes Physical Settlement For Stock Derivatives

• SEBI is looking at introducing physical, or delivery-based, settlement in the equity derivatives

segment, a move that many say will curtail price manipulation and boost government taxes by

encouraging cash market trade.

• Currently, equity derivatives are cash settled. This means difference between the entry price

and exit price is either debited or credited in cash. In physical settlement, traders will have to take

delivery of the shares against the derivatives position.

.

➢ Use Web-Based Inspection Platform, FSSAI Tells States

• The ‘Food Safety Compliance through Regular Inspections and Sampling’ (FoSCoRIS) system

uses instant geo-tagging, time stamping, real-time data collection and multiple levels of

verification and can be used via hand-held devices like mobile phones and tablets.

• The technology will help ensure that periodic inspections of food businesses are carried out by

regulatory staff on a regular basis in an objective and transparent manner.

• This would use a nationwide information technology (IT) platform to bring together all key

stakeholders—the food businesses, FSOs, designated officers (DOs), state food safety

commissioners (FSCs).

• FSSAI will develop the FoSCoRIS system and put in place infrastructure required for its operation

and maintenance at the national level. The food regulator will provide the devices and reimburse

internet charges.

➢ CCEA Approves Survey Of Unappraised Areas Of Sedimentary Basins

• The project will be implemented by NOCs, i.e. Oil India Limited (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas

Corporation (ONGC). OIL will conduct survey in North - Eastern States while remaining area

will be covered by ONGC. Survey work will be carried out in 24 States.

A derivative is a security with a price that is dependent upon or derived from one or more

underlying assets. The derivative itself is a contract between two or more parties based upon the asset or

assets. Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common underlying

assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes

FSSAI is a nodal statutory agency responsible for protecting and promoting public health

in India through regulation and supervision of food safety., established under the Food Safety

and Standards Act, 2006 and is under Ministry of Health and Family welfare.


• India has 26 sedimentary basins covering an area of 3.14 Million Sq Km spread over onland,

shallow water and deep water. An area of about 1.502 Million Sq. Km i.e. 48% of total sedimentary

basin area does not have adequate geo-scientific data.

➢ What is Google Tez

• Google Tez is a mobile wallet based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform built by

the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). UPI-enabled wallets permit users to transfer

money without requiring the bank account details of the recipient.

• Unlike most other wallets apps, it does not require money to be stored in the app to make

digital payments. Tez works as an extension of one's bank account, which means that unused

money remains in the bank earning interest.

• 'Cash Mode' that allows quick transfer of money with nearby Tez users without sharing phone

numbers using Near Field Communication(NFC) technology.

• The biggest incentive to other businesses to enrol for Tez is that all payments go through to

the merchant's bank with minimal latency, and more importantly, without levying transaction

fees.

➢ Free Trade Talks With EFTA Grouping Hit IPR, Services Wall

• India’s proposed free trade agreement with EFTA — a bloc comprising Switzerland, Norway,

Iceland and Liechtenstein — has hit a rough patch, with the group of four insisting on stringent

commitments in intellectual property rights without ceding ground in the matter of liberalising visas for

professionals.

• India and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) started negotiating a free trade pact in October

2008, shortly after India started FTA talks with the European Union.

• One of the primary demands of EFTA countries is that India should drop Section 3(d). But India

has to protect its generic companies, which supply cheap medicines to the poor not only in India but

other regions.

• The trade gap is heavily in favour of the EFTA countries, with total two-way trade at $19 billion

in 2016-17 and India’s exports at less than $2 billion.


➢ UDAN Flights: Govt Allows Airlines To Use Bigger Planes, Eases Rules On Connecting Flights

• UDAN—or Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik, is a regional aviation scheme that encourages airlines

to fly to underserved airports at low fares. The airlines have to sell a certain number of seats

(between nine and 40 currently) on such flights at a maximum of Rs2,500 per hour of flying. In

return, they receive a subsidy from the government.

• Typically airlines use small 70-seater planes for regional flights but some underserved

airports can also handle bigger aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.

• The ministry has also done away with the stipulation that requires two airports to be 150km away

from each other to qualify for UDAN flights. It has also allowed helicopters to participate in UDAN,

and, in mountainous regions, four-seater aircraft.

• Five airlines—Air India, SpiceJet, Turbo Megha, Air Odisha and Air Deccan—were allotted 128

routes to fly in the first round of UDAN.

➢ Cabinet approves signing of (i) Inter-bank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement and (ii)

Cooperation Memorandum relating to Credit Ratings by EDIM Bank under BRICS Interbank

Cooperation mechanism

• Interbank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement: It is a framework mechanism to extend credit

lines in local currencies to the BRICS’ Interbank Cooperation Mechanism (ICM) members.

• Cooperation Memorandum Relating to Credit Rating: It would enable sharing of credit ratings

amongst the BRICS member banks, based on the request received from another bank. This would

be an ideal mechanism to mitigate the credit risks associated with cross-border financing.

• The Agreement and the MoU have also been highlighted in the BRICS Leaders Xiamen

Declaration made in Xiamen, China on 4th September 2017.

➢ Electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (e-NWR) System

• e-NWRs would have no chances of any tempering, mutilation, fudging, loss or damage and

with no possibility of any multiple financing. Hence, these NWRs will not only facilitate an easy

pledge financing by banks and other financial institutions but also smooth trading on various trading

centres like commodity exchanges, electronic National Agriculture Markets (e-NAM) and other

electronic platforms.

• These e-NWRs will save expenditure in logistics as the stocks could be traded through

multiple buyers without physical movement and can be even split for partial transfer or withdrawal.

➢ IMF Lowers India’s Growth Projection, Attributes It To Demonetisation, GST

• The IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook Report projected India to grow at 6.7% in 2017

and 7.4% in 2018, which are 0.5 and 0.3 percentage points less than the projections earlier this year.

• The report said the downward revisions for 2017 and 2018 reflect “still lingering disruptions

associated with the currency exchange initiative introduced in November 2016, as well as

transition costs related to the launch of the national Goods and Services Tax in July 2017.

• The IMF has revised upwards “global growth projections to 3.6% for this year and 3.7% for next

— in both cases 0.1 percentage point above previous forecasts.


➢ RBI Asks Large Borrowers To Obtain 20-Digit Legal Entity Identifier Unique Code

• LEI is a global reference number that uniquely identifies every legal entity or structure that is

party to a financial transaction, in any jurisdiction.

• Legal Entity Identifier India Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Clearing Corporation of India,

acts as a local operating unit (LOU) for issuing globally compatible LEIs in India.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday directed corporate borrowers having exposure of Rs 5

crore and above to mandatorily obtain 20-digit Legal Entity Identifier (LEI).

• The move is aimed at improving risk management in the wake of the huge stressed assets in

the banking system.

➢ SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small

Industries)

• Ministries of Power and Textiles have joined hands under a new initiative SAATHI.

• Under this initiative, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a public sector entity under the

administrative control of Ministry of Power, would procure energy efficient Powerlooms, motors and

Rapier kits in bulk and provide them to the small and medium Powerloom units at no upfront cost.

• The use of these efficient equipment would result in energy savings and cost savings to the unit owner

and he would repay in installments to EESL over a 4 to 5 year period. This is the aggregation,

bulk procurement and financing model that EESL has successfully deployed in several

sectors like LED bulbs, Smart Meters and Electric Vehicles.

➢ What Bank Recapitalization Means

• Bank recapitalisation via special recapitalisation bonds is an approach the government

used in the 1980-1990s. Between financial years (FY) 1985-1999, the government infused Rs204

billion into public sector banks via recapitalization bonds.

• The promised recapitalization Rs2.1 Trillion takes care of not only the provisioning requirements

of public sector banks, but also provides them with growth capital.

➢ i-Bharat 2017

• The ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY), in association with industry body FICCI, organised

i-Bharat 2017, saw members from government, industry and think tanks coming together to explore

avenues for enhancing India’s role through information and communications technology (ICT) for

good governance.

• i-Bharat is an initiative under the government’s Digital India campaign. It is a leading platform

for the digital community to harness the power of ICT, exchange ideas, knowledge and

experience, discuss international best practice.

• Theme :‘ICT Elucidations for Unserved and Unsolved’.

Recapitalization is restructuring a company's debt and equity mixture, often with the aim of making a

company's capital structure more stable or optimal. Essentially, the process involves the exchange of

one form of financing for another, such as removing preferred shares from the company's capital

structure and replacing them with bonds.


➢ RBI Sets Up Task Force For India Public Credit Registry

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formed a high-level task force on public credit registry (PCR)

for India. The task force is chaired by Y M Deosthalee.

• Currently, there are four credit bureaus in India — Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL),

Equifax, Experian, and CRIF Highmark. These bureaus provide credit scores and allied reports and

services. As of now, their analysis reports are used for issuing credit cards and for taking

decisions mainly on retail loans.

• Typically, a PCR is set up by the central bank and reporting of loan details to the Registry by lenders

and/or borrowers is mandated by law.

• A public credit registry would help “good borrowers” in securing credit at lowers costs and also

improve access of credit to small and medium enterprises.

➢ Jobless Growth Is For Real, Says Rating Agency CARE

• Confirming fears of a jobless growth, domestic rating agency Care Ratings has said employment

generation has not kept pace with GDP expansion,and termed it as a "major concern".

• A jobless growth a situation in which an economy recovers from a recession but the jobs

market does not.

• Banking is the highest among sectors when it comes to generating employment, with a 21.3 per cent

share, and is followed by IT, mining, healthcare and textiles.

• Sectors which witnessed a fall in employment in FY17 from the previous fiscal included fast moving

consumer goods, media and entertainment and paper.

➢ Why Companies Use Commercial Papers As A Source Of Funds

• A commercial Paper (CP) is an unsecured loan raised by firms in money markets through

instruments issued in the form of a promissory note. CPs can be issued for maturities between

a minimum of 7 days and a maximum of up to one year from the date of issue.

• Because of surplus liquidity, short-term borrowing rates in money markets have significantly

declined post demonetisation and are much lower than the lowest benchmark lending rates of the

banks,

• Because banks cannot lend below the benchmark lending rates, firms with good ratings have

preferred to meet short-term working capital requirements through commercial papers at lower-

than-bank rates.

• Apart from being a cheaper source of funds, it helps meet funding requirements relatively

quickly for better-rated corporates. Procedural requirements for securing bank facilities and charge

creation on assets is not required.

➢ Crypto Currencies, ICOs Under SEBI Lens

• The rising popularity of crypto currencies and the increasing number of entities looking at

raising funds through Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) has caught the attention of the capital market

regulator.


• An ICO is largely similar to an initial public offering, but it differs to the extent that instead of

offering shares in a company, cryptocurrencies or crypto-tokens are offered at a

predetermined rate.

• Unlike an IPO, which is governed by SEBI regulations, there is no regulatory body for ICOs in

India.

• These crypto-tokens are basically digital assets which can be configured in a number of ways to

represent a variety of services. They are a method of payment for the service that the company

proposes to offer.

• Bitcoins are neither ‘commodities derivatives’ nor ‘securities’ under Securities Contracts

(Regulation) Act, 1956. Amending definition of ‘securities’ alone may not resolve the issue of bitcoin

regulation as there are numerous issues revolving around.

➢ Routing Central Funds Via PFMS Made Mandatory

• The Centre has made the use of Public Finance Management System (PFMS) mandatory for

transfer of funds under the central-sector schemes, which account for 31 per cent of the Budget.

• The department of expenditure is administering the PFMS, which is an end-to-end online solution

for processing payments, tracking, monitoring, accounting, reconciliation and reporting.

• The efficient fund management would help the Centre save on borrowing costs as well as on

opportunity costs,

➢ Ease Of Business: New Insolvency Rules, Tax Norms Lift India 30 Ranks To Top 100

• India surged up 30 places to the 100th rank among 190 countries in the latest edition of the World

Bank’s global rankings on Ease of Doing Business.

• According to the Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2018 report, India figures among the top 10

countries that have marked an improvement this year moving up in rankings of six out of 10

“Doing Business” indicators.

A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that

uses cryptography to secure its transactions, to control the creation of additional units, and to verify the

transfer of assets. Bitcoin was the first such currency. Etherium, Litecoin, PPcoin etc are others.

Cryptocurrencies make it easier to transfer funds between two parties in a transaction; these transfers are

facilitated through the use of public and private keys for security purposes. These fund transfers are done

with minimal processing fees.

A defining feature of a cryptocurrency, and arguably its most endearing allure, is its organic nature; it is not

issued by any central authority, rendering it theoretically immune to government interference or

manipulation..

Central to the genius of Bitcoin is the block chain it uses to store an online ledger of all the transactions that

have ever been conducted using bitcoins, providing a data structure for this ledger that is exposed to a

limited threat from hackers and can be copied across all computers running Bitcoin software


➢ Insolvency Resolution Norms Made Stringent

• The amendment also imposes greater responsibility on the resolution professional and the

Committee of Creditors in discharging their duties.

• The revised regulations make it incumbent upon the resolution professional to ensure that the

resolution plan presented to the Committee of Creditors contains relevant details to assess the

credibility of the resolution applicants.

• The resolution professional has to also submit details in respect of transactions covered under the

provisions relating to undervalued transactions, extortionate credit transactions and fraudulent

transactions.

➢ National Anti-Profiteering Authority Under GST

• The Government has approved the constitution of a National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) – the

institutional mechanism under the GST law to check the unfair profit-making activities by the

trading community.

• The "anti-profiteering" measures enshrined in the GST law provide an institutional mechanism

to ensure that the full benefits of input tax credits and reduced GST rates on supply of goods or

services flow to the consumers.

• The Authority’s core function is to ensure that the benefits of the reduction in GST rates on goods

or services made by the GST Council is passed on to the ultimate consumers by way of a

reduction in prices by traders.

• The Authority’s main function is to ensure that traders are not realizing unfair profit by

charging high price from the consumers in the name of GST. The responsibility of the NAA is to

examine and check such profiteering activities and recommend punitive actions including cancellation

of licenses.


• Profiteering means unfair profit realized by traders by manipulating prices, tax rate adjustment

etc in the context of the newly launched GST.

➢ BIS Act 2016 brought into force with effect from 12th October, 2017

➢ FEMA Norms Eased To Spur Investment From Overseas

• RBI has simplified the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person

Resident outside India) Regulations, by putting all the 93 amendments under one notification.

• The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), introduced in 1999, was amended 93 times.

• The new notification combines two regulations on foreign investments — one which is popularly called

investment in an Indian company or a partnership, or in a limited liability partnership, or FEMA 20,

and the other — FEMA 24, which is investment in a partnership firm.

• Another significant change is the introduction of a late submission fee that could allow an investor to

regularize any contravention due to non-reporting, by paying the fee.

➢ FAME India Scheme

• FAME India Scheme [Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India],

2015, with the objective to support hybrid/electric vehicles market development and

Manufacturing eco-system. The scheme has 4 focus areas i.e. Technology development,

Demand Creation, Pilot Projects and Charging Infrastructure.

• The FAME India Scheme is aimed at incentivising all vehicle segments i.e. 2 Wheeler, 3 Wheeler

Auto, Passenger 4 Wheeler Vehicle, Light Commercial Vehicles and Buses.

• The Centre has recently invited proposals from cities with population of above 10 lakh for

extending grants under the FAME India scheme to promote large-scale adoption of EVs (electric

vehicles) in multi-modal public transport.

The Act establishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India. The Act has

enabling provisions for the Government to bring under compulsory certification regime any goods or article of

any scheduled industry, process, system or service which it considers necessary in the public interest or for the

protection of human, animal or plant health, safety of the environment, or prevention of unfair trade

practices, or national security.

Enabling provisions have also been made for making hallmarking of the precious metal articles mandatory. The

new Act also allows multiple types of simplified conformity assessment schemes including self-declaration of

conformity against a standard which will give simplified options to manufacturers to adhere to the standards

and get certificate of conformity.

The Act enables the Central Government to appoint any authority/agency, in addition to the BIS, to verify the

conformity of products and services to a standard and issue certificate of conformity. Further, there is provision

for repair or recall, including product liability of the products bearing Standard Mark but not conforming to

the relevant Indian Standard.


SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

➢ NASA Developing First Asteroid Deflection Mission

• NASA is developing the first-ever mission that will deflect a near-Earth asteroid, and help test

the systems that will allow mankind to protect the planet from potential cosmic body impacts in future.

• The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) — which is being designed and would be built and

managed by the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

• DART would be NASA’s first mission to demonstrate what’s known as kinetic impactor technique

— striking the asteroid to shift its orbit — to defend against a potential future asteroid impact.

• The target for DART is an asteroid, Didymos that will have a distant approach to Earth in October

2022, and then again in 2024.

➢ Petya Ransomware Attack

• Petya ransomware was part of a new wave of cyber attacks that had hit computer servers all across

Europe, locking up computer data and crippling enterprise services in the corporate sector.

• Ransomware is a type of malware that blocks access to a computer or its data and demands

money to release it.

• When a computer is infected, the ransomware encrypts important documents and files and then

demands a ransom, typically in Bitcoin, for a digital key needed to unlock the files

• Ukraine and Russia are the worst affected, though the attack has also impacted some companies

in the US and other Western European countries

➢ NASA’s MARS Probe Spots Evidence Of Ancient Lake

• The Opportunity rover found rocks at the edge of Endeavour Crater that were either transported

by a flood or eroded in place by wind.

• The features were seen just outside the crater rim’s crest above “Perseverance Valley” . The

Opportunity mission has been investigating sites on and near the western rim of Endeavour Crater

since 2011. The crater is about 22 kilometres across.

• Researchers plan to drive Opportunity down Perseverance Valley after completing a “walkabout”

survey of the area above it. “The walkabout is designed to look at what’s just above Perseverance

Valley.


➢ ` Odisha Set To Become First State To Establish A Blood Bank For Cattle

• The project will have a 60:40 sharing between the Centre and the state government.

• Cattle farmers will provide blood voluntarily. Blood bank will also go and collect blood from centres.

• Blood transfusion facility for cattle blood will also be done at the proposed blood bank. This will

prevent death of cattle during deliveries and other ailments.

➢ NASA Launches World's Lightest Satellite Designed By 18-Year-Old Tamil Nadu Student

• KalamSat is named after the former president and one of India's greatest nuclear scientists Dr APJ

Abdul Kalam. It was made using reinforced carbon fiber polymer and weighs lesser than a

smartphone's weight.

• This project by Sharook is the first one to be manufactured via 3D printing and got selected through

a competition named 'Cubes in Space', which was sponsored jointly by NASA and 'I Doodle

Learning.

• The competition was all about creating an experimental satellite that would fit in a 4 metre cube and

also possess an accurate mass of 64 grams, which can be sent to space.

• The main role of satellite would be to demonstrate the performance of 3D-printed carbon fiber.

➢ NASA Tests ROSA on Space Station for First Time

• The Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA, an advanced, flexible solar array that rolls out like a tape

measure ,can be easily adapted to different sizes, including very large arrays, to provide power for a

variety of future spacecraft.

• It also has the potential to make solar arrays more compact and lighter weight for satellite radio

and television, weather forecasting, GPS and other services used on the Earth.

• In addition, the technology conceivably could be adapted to provide solar power in remote locations.

• The traditional solar panels which are at present used to power satellites are very bulky with panels

being folded using mechanical hinges.

➢ James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) First Science Targets Announced

• It will look at very first galaxies after the Big Bang, search for fingerprints of life on Enceladus,

Europa, and exoplanets like TRAPPIST-1e etc.

• JWST is a joint project of the NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

• The JWST will be the successor of 26-year-old Hubble Space Telescope. JWST, an Infrared

telescope is 100 times powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope and will be the largest

Telescope sent ever into space.

➢ Nasa's Kepler Telescope Finds 10 Earth-Like Planets

• Astronomers have added 219 candidates to growing list of planets beyond our solar system, 10 of

which may be about the same size and temperature as Earth, boosting their chances of hosting life.

• They include 10 newly discovered rocky worlds (in the Cygnus constellation) that are the right

distance from their parent stars for water, if it exists there, to pool on the surface. Scientists believe

liquid water is a key ingredient for life.


• NASA launched the Kepler telescope in 2009 to learn if Earth-like planets are common or rare. During a four-year mission Kepler found 2,335 confirmed planets and another 1,699 candidates,

bringing its tally to 4,034.

• That number includes about 50 worlds that may be about the same size and temperature as Earth. The Kepler team found that planets which are about 1.75 times the size of Earth and smaller tend to

be rocky, while those two to 3.5 times the size of Earth become gas-shrouded worlds like Neptune.

➢ MOM Completes 1000 Earth Days In Its Orbit, Beyond Its Designed Mission Life Of 6 Months.

• The spacecraft was indigenously designed, built and launched by ISRO in record period of less than

2 years in Rs.450 crore budget, making it cheapest inter-planetary mission till date to reach Mars.

• India had on 24 September 2014 successfully placed the spacecraft in the orbit around the Mars in

its very first attempt.

• Citing surplus fuel as the reason, the ISRO had in March 2015 first announced that the spacecraft’s

life was extended by another six months. Later ISRO said it has enough fuel for it to last “many years”.

➢ Breakthrough Starshot Successfully Launch World's Smallest Spacecraft

• Known as “Sprites”, the miniature satellites are just 3.5cm x 3.5cm and carry radios, sensors and

computers, with each device powered by sunlight and weighing just four grams.

• Breakthrough Starshot is a comprehensive space program launched under the US $100 million

Breakthrough Initiatives, announced by Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking to develop and launch

practical interstellar space missions.

• The program aims to demonstrate proof of concept for light-propelled spacecraft that could fly

at 20 per cent of light speed. Its main objective is to send one-gram chips to star systems beyond

the solar system in search of extraterrestrial intelligence.

• The top destination for such a mission is our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, within which is

the star Proxima Centauri which is orbited by the planet Proxima b.

➢ China Launches First X-Ray Telescope To Study Black Holes

• The 2.5-tonne Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), dubbed 'Insight', will also study how

to use pulsars for spacecraft navigation, and search for gamma- ray bursts corresponding to

gravitational waves.

MOM was launched to study the Martian surface and mineral composition, and scan its atmosphere for

methane, an indicator of life on the Red Planet. The spacecraft has five scientific instruments—Lyman Alpha

Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA),

Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS).

NASA's Kepler Space Telescope is an observatory in space dedicated to finding planets outside

our solar system, particularly alien planets that are around the same size as Earth in the

"habitable" regions of their parent star.


• Recently (may, 2017) China opened a "Lunar Palace" laboratory on Earth to simulate a moon-

like environment and house students for up to 200 days as the country prepares for its long-term

goal of sending humans to the natural satellite.

➢ Liquid Nitrogen In Food Industry

• It is nothing but cooled liquefied form of nitrogen gas. It is so cold that its boiling point is -195.8

degree Celsius. It can instantly freeze anything that it comes in contact with while evaporating.

• Liquid nitrogen is so cold that it can give instant frostbite and when ingested it can damage

tissues in the oesophagus and the stomach

• Liquid nitrogen is often used to instantly freeze foods and is safe when handled properly. Any food

that uses liquid nitrogen should be had after all the gas has completely evaporated.

• Liquid nitrogen is permitted as an additive in frozen food as per the guidelines of the national

regulatory body FSSAI, however its use is a grey area.

➢ Saraswati”- One Of The Most Massive Large-Scale Structures In The Universe Discovered

• A team of astronomers from the Inter University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics (IUCAA), and

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), both in Pune have identified a previously

unknown, extremely large supercluster of galaxies located in the direction of constellation

Pisces-named as Saraswati.

• This is one of the largest known structures in the nearby Universe, and is at a distance of 4,000 million

(400 crore) light-years away from us.

• The Saraswati supercluster and its environs reveal that some extreme large-scale, prominent

matter density enhancements had formed in the past when dark energy had just started to dominate

structure formation. This galactic concentration sheds light on the role of dark energy and

cosmological initial conditions in supercluster formation.

• The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-spectral imaging and spectroscopic redshift

survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New

Mexico, United States.

➢ School of International Biodesign

• SIB is a flagship Program of the DBT aimed to develop innovative and affordable medical

devices as per India's unmet clinical needs and to train the next generation of medical technology

innovators in India.

A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star or white dwarf, that emits a beam

of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can be observed only when the beam of emission

is pointing toward Earth.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous body established

under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The FSSAI has been

established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute

related to food safety and regulation in India. FSSAI is responsible for protecting and

promoting public healththrough the regulation and supervision of food safety.]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_Safety_and_Standards_Authority_of_India#cite_note-fssaiintro-3


• It is implemented jointly at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and IIT Delhi in

collaboration with International partners. Biotech Consortium India Limited manages techno-legal

activities of the Program.

➢ Meet Surfnet: A Software That Can Convert 2D Images To 3D Model

• Scientists have developed a new artificial intelligence software that can create 3D models from

two dimensional photographs, an advance that could allow future robots to navigate in the real world.

• This software can only be used to convert but can also be used to merge two shapes in one.

• It can be used in self-driven cars and robotics.

➢ Scientists For First Time Edit Genes Of Human Embryos.

• Scientists from US for first time have successfully edited genes of human embryos to correct

defective DNA that cause inherited diseases. They had used the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing

technology to alter human DNA in single-cell embryos.

➢ SOHUM

• It is a low cost indigenous device to detect congenital hearing loss in newborns.

• It measures auditory brain waves via three electrodes placed on the baby's head. When

stimulated, electrodes detect electrical responses generated by the brain's auditory system. If there

is no response, it indicates child cannot hear

Genome editing (also called gene editing) is a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to

change an organism's DNA. These technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or

altered at particular locations in the genome.

A recent one is known as CRISPR-Cas9, which is short for clustered regularly interspaced short

palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9. The CRISPR-Cas9 system has generated a

lot of excitement in the scientific community because it is faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more

efficient than other existing genome editing methods.


• It has in-built algorithm that filters out ambient noise from the test signal. This is important

because health clinics can be crowded and noisy.

➢ Scientists Discover Smallest-Ever Star

• Researchers from University of Cambridge in the U.K. identified the star located about 600 light years

away, called EBLM J0555-57Ab - slightly larger than Saturn in size — which may possibly have

Earth-sized planets with liquid water in its orbit.

• The star is likely as small as stars can possibly become, as it has just enough mass to enable

the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium.

• The gravitational pull at its stellar surface is about 300 times stronger than what humans feel

on Earth.

• The star was identified by WASP, a planet-finding experiment run by several universities of UK

➢ NASA Probe Successfully Peers Into Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

• A NASA spacecraft, Juno, has successfully peered into the giant storm raging on Jupiter, known as

the Great Red Spot.

• Great Red Spot is a massive storm — some 16,000 kilometers wide — that has been churning

for centuries, but little is known about the forces driving it.

• Juno launched on August 5, 2011,has been orbiting Jupiter for just over one year.

➢ Chemical From Turmeric Helps Treat Cancer In Children

• Curcumin, the bioactive component of turmeric that is widely used in Indian cuisine, can target

and destroy neuroblastoma tumour cells.

• Curcumin has been shown to have substantial anti-cancer ability, but its low solubility and

poor stability have restricted its use in therapeutic applications.

• Neuroblastoma is one of the most common cancers in children below the age of five years.

The cancer starts in early nerve cells and commonly forms in the tissue of the adrenal glands,

near the kidneys. It is also associated with developmental delays, hearing loss and other disabilities.

➢ Israel Launches Its 1st Environmental Research Satellite

• The VENUS satellite (Vegetation and Environment Monitoring New Micro-Satellite) is an earth-

observation micro-satellite designed jointly by Israel's agency and France's National Center for Space

Studies (CNES).

• Venus has a dual mission: one scientific and the other technological. The scientific mission

will monitor Earth's vegetation using a camera capable of recording 12 narrow spectral bands.

• The technological mission will test the operation of an innovative electric propulsion system

based on the Israeli-designed Hall Effect Thrusters.

• A Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a relatively low power device used to propel some spacecraft

after entering orbit or farther out into space.


➢ Sun’s Core Rotates Four Times Faster Than Its Surface: Study

• The most likely explanation is that this core rotation is left over from the period when the Sun

formed, some 4.6 billion years ago.

• The rotation of the solar core may give a clue to how the Sun formed. After the Sun formed, the

solar wind likely slowed the rotation of the outer part of the Sun

• The rotation might also impact sunspots, which also rotate. Sunspots can be enormous; a single

sunspot can even be larger than the Earth.

• Scientists used the data from SOHO’s Global Oscillations at Low Frequencies (GOLF) instrument. SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) - a joint project of the European Space Agency

and NASA.

➢ NISAR Mission.

• ISRO and NASA are jointly working on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)

mission to co-develop and launch a dual frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite.

• It is a dual frequency (L & S Band) Radar Imaging Satellite.

• The aim and objectives of NISAR mission are:

• Design, Develop and launch a Dual frequency (L and S Band) Radar Imaging Satellite.

• Explore newer application areas using L and S band microwave data, especially in natural

resources mapping & monitoring; estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle;

assessing soil moisture; monitoring of floods and oil slicks; coastal erosion, coastline changes and

variation of winds in coastal waters; assessment of mangroves; surface deformation studies due to

seismic activities etc.

➢ Low-cost, Sensitive CO Sensor from IISc

• Indian Institute of Science researchers have developed a highly sensitive nanometre-scale

carbon monoxide sensor by employing an innovative fabrication technique.

• To build this zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanostructure on a silicon wafer substrate, the researchers first

placed tiny polystyrene beads on the wafer. These beads arrange themselves into what is called

a hexagonal close-packed structure on the oxidised silicon wafer.

• It is known that carbon monoxide (CO) can have adverse effects on the health of people

exposed to it. Hence, it becomes necessary to have good, low-cost carbon-monoxide sensors.


• Most available sensors are in the micrometer range, a nanometer-sized detector would have

a higher sensitivity, but the cost of manufacturing it goes up as the size decreases.

➢ Hubble Detects Exoplanet WASP-121b with Glowing Water Atmosphere

• Scientists have found the strongest evidence to date for a stratosphere on an enormous planet

outside our solar system, with an atmosphere hot enough to boil iron.

• WASP-121b, located approximately 900 light years from Earth, is a gas giant exoplanet

commonly referred to as a 'hot Jupiter', although with a greater mass and radius than Jupiter.

➢ ISRO To Develop Full-Fledged Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite

• ISRO said that it plans to launch a full-fledged niche Earth observation (EO) satellite — called

the Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite or HySIS — using a critical chip it has developed.

• ‘Hyspex’ imaging is said to enable distinct identification of objects, materials or processes on Earth

by reading the spectrum for each pixel of a scene from space.

• The satellite can see in 55 spectral or colour bands from 630 km above ground. It can be used

for a range of applications from monitoring the environment, crops, looking for oil and

minerals, military surveillance.

• Hyperspectral imaging or hyspex imaging (imaging spectroscopy) combines the power of

digital imaging and spectroscopy It collects and processes information from across the

electromagnetic spectrum.

• Earth observation satellites are satellites specifically designed for Earth

observation from orbit, similar to spy satellites but intended for non-military uses such

as environmental monitoring, meteorology, map making etc. To get (nearly) global coverage with a

low orbit it must be a polar orbit or nearly so.

➢ Now Water Used As Propellant For Tiny Satellites

• Called a “Film-Evaporation MEMS Tunable Array”, or FEMTA thruster, it uses capillaries thinner

than human hair through which the propellant water can flow.

• Small heaters located near the ends of the capillaries turn the water into vapor, which, on escape

from these tiny tubes, provides the thrust.

➢ U.S. Approves First Gene Therapy For Cancer

• The United States approved the first gene therapy in the nation -a treatment that uses a patient’s

own immune cells to fight childhood leukaemia.

• The treatment is not a pill or a form of chemotherapy. It uses a patient’s own immune cells,

called T-cells, along with white blood cells. These cells are removed from a patient, sent to a lab,

and encoded with a viral vector, reprogrammed, and returned to the patient.

CubeSats are basically miniature satellites which typically weigh around two kilograms. In the

future, they have potential to carry out tasks like imaging and remote-sensing currently performed

by heavier satellites which are expensive to build and launch.


• The treatment is made by Novartis and is called Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel). Studies have shown that

83% of patients responded to the treatment, achieving remission within three months.

➢ More Potent, Safer Zika Vaccine Developed

• Scientists have developed the world’s first plant-based Zika vaccine that may be more

effective, safer and cheaper than other vaccines against the mosquito-borne virus.

• The vaccine, developed using tobacco plant, targets a key protein -- called DIII -- which envelopes

the outside of the Zika virus and plays a key role for the virus to infect people.

➢ IISER Mohali: Spider silk, a material for the future

• Spider silk is a biomaterial With five times the strength of steel of comparable weight.

• During spinning of the silk, amino acids arrange themselves as tiny nanocrystals embedded in a soft

amorphous matrix of molecular nanosprings. While the amorphous regions provide elasticity, the

nanocrystalline domains are optimized to provide great strength.

➢ NASA Rockets To Create Glowing Artificial Clouds

• The Waves and Instabilities from a Neutral Dynamo (WINDY) mission will study a phenomenon

that occurs in the ionosphere - a layer of charged particles in the upper atmosphere.

• Known as equatorial spread F (ESF) these disturbances occur after sunset at latitudes near the

equator in part of the ionosphere known as the F region. The disturbances interfere with radio

communication, navigation and imaging systems and pose a hazard to technology and society

that depends on it.


• The WINDY mission consists of two NASA suborbital sounding rockets. One rocket will carry a

substance called tri-methyl aluminium (TMA), which will form the white artificial clouds that

glow in the night sky.

➢ Vijay, The Country’s First Calf Delivered By A Surrogate Or Recipient Cow Through IVF

• In the past few years, indigenous cow breeds have been destroyed due to cross-breeding. While in

human beings, IVF technology comes to the aid when either of the couple is infertile.

• In the case of cows, our objective is to protect the breed in its original form. In its lifetime (15 years

on an average), a cow gives birth to 10 calves at the most. Through IVF technology, it can give birth

to 20 calves in a year through recipient cows, which means nearly 200 in its lifetime.

• In Vijay’s case, the donor cow, Ratan, belongs to the Gir breed, whose population across the country

is around one lakh currently — unevenly spread across Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

➢ UK Scientists Create World’s Smallest Surgical Robot

• The robot, called Versius, mimics the human arm and can be used to carry out a wide range of

laparoscopic procedures – including hernia repairs, colorectal operations, and prostate and ear,

nose and throat surgery.

• The robot is controlled by a surgeon at a console guided by a 3D screen in the operating theatre.

• Although surgical robots already exist, the new creation is much easier to use, takes up about a

third of the space of current machines.

➢ NASA Successfully Launches Latest Communications Satellite

• NASA’s tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M) will become part of NASA’s Space

Network providing navigation and high-data-rate communications to the International Space

Station, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, rockets and a host of other spacecraft.

➢ China Launches The First Quantum Communications Satellite

• Launching the world’s first quantum communications satellite, Quantum Experiments at Space

Scale (QUESS), nicknamed Micius after the philosopher, China achieved a milestone in space

and cryptography.

• Using this satellite, Chinese researchers, were able to transmit secret messages from space to

Earth at a further distance than ever before.

• The technology is called quantum key distribution (QKD). QKD works by using photons — the

particles which transmit light — to transfer data.

➢ IIT Madras: New Eco-Friendly Cement Being Tested For Use In Industry

The ionosphere is defined as the layer of Earth’s atmosphere that is ionised by solar and cosmic radiation.

Ionisation occurs when incoming energetic radiation strips electrons from atoms and molecules, creating

temporarily charged particles.


• Research collaboration between India and Switzerland on a new cement material that can reduce

carbon dioxide emissions in the manufacturing process.

• One way of mitigating the emissions factor is the use of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement or

the LC3 technology.

• LC3 effects a synergy between these processes. The combination of the new method and the material

properties effectively reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 30% as compared to the traditional

way of manufacturing cement.

• In manufacturing portland cement, limestone and materials like clay are heated together in huge kilns

to high temperatures so that they fuse without melting to give clinker. This is the most CO2-

intensive part of the whole process.

➢ TRAPPIST-1 Planets Likely To Have Water

• The Earth-sized planets orbiting the ultracool TRAPPIST-1 dwarf star 40 light-years away may

have substantial amounts of water and could be habitable.

• In February this year, astronomers had announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets

orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1.

• Scientists used the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble telescope to study

the amount of ultraviolet radiation received by the individual planets of the system.

➢ Cassini Spacecraft Makes Death Plunge Into Saturn

• Cassini’s plunge into the ringed gas giant — the furthest planet visible from Earth with the naked

eye — came after the spacecraft ran out of rocket fuel after a journey of some 7.9 billion km.

• Its well-planned plunge was a way to prevent any damage to Saturn’s ocean-bearing moons

Titan and Enceladus, which scientists want to keep pristine for future exploration because they

may contain some form of life.

➢ Fourth Detection Of A Merging Binary Black Hole System Detected By LIGO, Virgo

Observatory

A white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become after they have exhausted their nuclear fuel. Only the hot

core of the star remains. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored thermal

energy; no fusion takes place in a white dwarf. The nearest known white dwarf is Sirius B, at 8.6 light

years, the smaller component of the Sirius binary star. There is a limit on the amount of mass a white

dwarf can have. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar discovered this limit to be 1.4 times the mass of the

Sun. This is appropriately known as the "Chandrasekhar limit”.

• In 2005, Cassini orbiter released a lander called Huygens on Titan, marking the first and

only such landing in the outer solar system, on a celestial body beyond the asteroid belt.

• The Cassini mission began on Oct. 15 1997 and arrived at Saturn in 2004.NASA is

partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency on the

Cassini-Huygens mission.


• This time, the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) was joined by the

Virgo observatory from Europe, which significantly contributed to the improved localization of this

astronomical source in the sky and enabled new tests of Einstein’s theory based on the

polarization of gravitational waves.

• These detections of gravitational waves from merging black hole pairs allow us to map out

the distribution of black holes in the universe and to do precision tests of Einstein’s theory of

General Relativity

In simple terms, gravitational waves can be explained as ripples in the fabric of space-time which can only be caused by massive astronomical events such as neutron stars or black holes orbiting each other so that these waves would finally radiate from them.

These gravitational waves, if detected, will carry signatures of their origin, explaining much about the nature of gravity and the origin of the universe. They had remained elusive till their

detection was first announced last year.


➢ Japan Launches Michibiki Satellite; Fourth Such Satellite

• The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched Michibiki-4 satellite

(QZSS-4).

• It was fourth satellite in Michibiki series i.e. Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), which is a satellite-

based high-precision global positioning system similar to US operated GPS.

• Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS): It is own version of GPS and is dubbed as Michibiki system.

Michibiki means guidance in Japanese. It is intended for civilian use.

➢ Organic Near-Infrared Filter Developed By NIIST Team

• An organic filter that allows only near-infrared (NIR) light to pass through has been developed

by scientists at the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST)

based in Thiruvananthapuram.

• The new NIR filter can be used for night vision glasses, night photography, and will have

applications in security and forensics such as identifying blood stains on a dark fabric.

• Currently available inorganic filters are expensive and brittle whereas organic filters are easy to

process and flexible too. The organogel-based filter has the ability to absorb both ultraviolet

and visible light while allowing the near-infrared light alone to pass through

• The filter was prepared by mixing a black dye (diketopyrrolopyrrole or DPP) having an amide group

that helps the molecules to be in close contact with each other and interact, leading to changes in

their optical properties.

➢ Planet Nine Does Exist In Solar System: NASA

• The elusive ‘Planet Nine’ does exist, and may be 10 times the mass of the Earth and 20 times

away from the Sun than Neptune.

• Planet Nine could turn out to be our solar system’s missing ‘super Earth’ — a planet with a mass

higher than the Earth’s, but substantially lower than the masses of ice giants Uranus and

Neptune.

• Kuiper Belt is a region of icy bodies stretching from Neptune outward towards interstellar

space.

• Astronomers studying the Kuiper Belt have noticed some of the dwarf planets and other small, icy

objects tend to follow orbits that cluster together. By analyzing these orbits, the team predicted

the possibility that a large, previously undiscovered planet may be hiding far beyond Pluto.

• They estimate the gravity of this potential planet might explain the unusual orbits of those Kuiper

objects.

➢ Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Holds Its Annual Science Meeting In Goa

• SKA is an international effort to build the largest and the most sensitive radio telescope in the

world.

• The SKA will be a collection of thousands of dishes and radio receivers spread across two sites in

Africa and Western Australia. Currently, Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, Netherlands, New

Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and United Kingdom are involved in the project.


• The NCRA-TIFR in Pune is the nodal institute for overseeing SKA related activities in India.

• The Meeting presented their latest results and discussed cutting edge science projects that can be

achieved when the SKA becomes operational.

➢ India And South Africa To Jointly Study Evolution Of Galaxies Using Radio Telescopes

• India and South Africa have decided to expand their reach in tracing the evolution of galaxies. India

decided to participate in the multi-nation Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in a bid to make

world's most powerful radio telescope.

• Optical telescopes can be hampered by cloud or poor wealth conditions on Earth, radio

telescopes will work with signals at a longer wavelength and it can be used even in cloudy skies.

➢ ISRO’s Astrosat Telescope Measures Star Parameters In Taurus Constellation

• India’s multi-wavelength space telescope AstroSat had measured the X-ray polarisation of the

Crab pulsar (star) in the Taurus constellation.

• The telescope measured the variations of polarisation as the magetised object (pulsar) spins 30 times

per second. The landmark measurement challenges theories of high energy X-ray emission

from pulsars.

• A pulsar is a rotating neutron star or white dwarf, which emits electromagnetic radiation. Neutron

stars and black holes are examples of such objects.

➢ Small Molecule Reverses Antibiotic Resistance

• Using a small molecule, researchers at the IIT Roorkee have been able to reverse drug resistance

and restore the efficacy of fluoroquinolone-group of antibiotics by inhibiting the proton gradient

which drives the efflux pump.

• Antibiotic-resistant bacteria use the efflux pumps to expel antibiotics from the intracellular

environment thus preventing antibiotics from reaching the target thus helping the bacteria to

survive.

• By inhibiting the proton gradient using the small molecule, the team was able to inactivate the

efflux, leading to an effective build-up of antibiotic inside the bacteria and subsequent bacterial death.

• Since discovering new antibiotics takes a long time, boosting the activity of existing antibiotics by

inhibiting the mechanism that prevents the drugs from acting will be a viable alternative.

Galaxies are made up of gas (hydrogen) and stars, and in order to understand how galaxies evolved, we

need to understand how gas is converted to stars and vice versa. To understand star formation, the key

component of gas in galaxies is the cold gas component.

It is this gas component, which eventually collapses under gravity to form stars. By mapping the

distribution of the cold gas in galaxies, we can understand how galaxies had formed and evolved.

Radio telescopes can help in find invisible gas and can reveal areas of space that may be obscured by

cosmic dust.


➢ Brahmos Test Fired From Sukhoi Fighter Jet For First Time

• The armed forces are now capable of launching the Brahmos, which has a strike range of around

290 km and is described as the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile, from land, sea and

air, completing the tactical cruise missile triad for the country.

• Brahmos is a joint venture between DRDO of India and NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of

Russia and is named after the rivers Brahmputra(India) and Moscova(Russia).

Nobel Prize Category Winners Recognition Work

Physics

Rainer Weiss

Barry C. Barish

Kips S. Thorne

“for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector

and the observation of gravitational waves”

Chemistry

Jacques Dubochet

Joachim Frank

Richard Henderson

“for developing cryo-electron

microscopy for the high-resolution structure

determination of biomolecules in solution”

Medicine/Physio

logy

Jeffrey C. Hall

Michael Rosbah

Michael W. Young

“for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms

controlling the circadian rhythm”

Peace

International

Campaign to

Abolish Nuclear

Weapons (ICAN)

“for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic

humanitarian consequences of any use of

nuclear weapons and for its ground-

breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based

prohibition of such weapons”.

Literature

Kazuo Ishigoru

“who, in novels of great emotional force, has

uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory

sense of connection with the world”

Economics

Richard Thaler

“By exploring the consequences of limited

rationality, social preferences, and lack of

self-control, these human traits systematically

affect individual decisions as well as market

outcomes”

Six ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter

baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) cause the most hospital-acquired

infections.

A. baumannii causes pneumonia, meningitis and urinary tract infections and is one of the most prevalent

hospital-acquired infections across the world

.


➢ Cryo- electron Microscopy

• Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), or electron cryomicroscopy, is a form of transmission electron

microscopy (TEM) where the sample is studied at cryogenic temperatures.

• Transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) use a beam of electrons to examine the structures of

molecules and materials at the atomic scale.

• The utility of cryoelectron microscopy stems from the fact that it allows the observation of

specimens that have not been stained or fixed in any way, showing them in their native

environment.

• Cryo-EM doesn’t require crystals, and it also enables scientists to see how biomolecules move and

interact as they perform their functions, which is much more difficult using crystallography.

➢ Circadian Rhythm

• A circadian rhythm is any biological process that displays an endogenous, entrainable oscillation of

about 24 hours. These 24-hour rhythms are driven by a circadian clock, and they have been widely

observed in plants, animals, fungi, and cyanobacteria.

• Using fruit flies as a model organism, this year's Nobel laureates isolated a gene that controls the

normal daily biological rhythm. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the

cell during the night, and is then degraded during the day.

• We now recognize that biological clocks function by the same principles in cells of other multicellular

organisms, including humans.


➢ Space Missions in News :

MISSION

OBJECTIVE

HAYABUSA 2 Launched by JAXA,Japan, is enroute to asteroid 162173 Ryugu.

OSIRIS-REx Launched by NASA, is en route to asteroid 101955 Bennu.

ARTEMIS P1/P2 Launched by NASA, are studying the effect of the solar wind on the Moon.

Originally launched as Earth satellites, they were later repurposed and

moved to lunar orbit.

Lunar Reconnaissance

Orbiter

Launched by NASA, is engaged in lunar mapping intended to identify safe

landing sites, locate potential resources on the Moon, characterize the

radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.

Akatsuki The first Japanese Venusian probe. Also known as Planet-C and Venus

Climate Orbiter, Akatsuki failed to enter Venusian orbit in December

2010. It continued to function and entered Venus orbit in 2015.

2001 Mars Odyssey, A tribute to the classic novel and film, is one of six currently active human-

made Mars satellites. It is continuing its extended mission to map the

surface of Mars and also acts as a relay for

the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers. Launched by NASA.

Mars Express ESA; Mars orbiter designed to study the planet's atmosphere and geology,

search for sub-surface water, and deploy the Beagle lander.

Mars Reconnaissance

Orbiter

The second NASA satellite orbiting Mars. It is specifically designed to

analyze the landforms, stratigraphy, minerals, and ice of the red planet.

Curiosity Rover Part of NASA’s Mars Science Lab (MSL),is searching for evidence of

organic material on Mars, monitoring methane levels in the atmosphere,

and engaging in exploration of the landing site at Gale Crater.

Mangalyaan

Is the first Indian interplanetary space probe. It was successfully inserted

into orbit of Mars on 24 September 2014.

Mars Atmosphere and

Volatile EvolutioN

Mission (MAVEN)

is a space probe developed by NASA designed to study the Martian

atmosphere while orbiting Mars. Mission goals include determining how

the planet's atmosphere and water, presumed to have once been

substantial, were lost over time.

Trace Gas

Orbiter (ExoMars 2016)

Launched by ESA is carrying the lander Schiaparelli ,scheduled to use

atmospheric braking for some months before commencing data collecting

operations.

Dawn NASA;successfully entered asteroid Vesta's orbit in July 2011. There it

studied Vesta until September 2012, when it departed for dwarf

planet Ceres


Juno

Launched by NASA to scientifically investigate Jupiter andis in polar

orbit around Jupiter .

Cassini Orbiter NASA,Began studying Saturn and its moons after passing Venus and

Jupiter and deploying the Huygens Landing Probe to Titan. It is primarily

investigating Saturn's rings, its magnetosphere and the geologic

composition of its satellites; ended in 2017

New Horizons NASA;Is the first spacecraft to study Pluto up close, and ultimately the

Kuiper Belt. It is the fastest artificially-accelerated object and will be the

fifth probe to leave the solar system.

Voyager 1 NASA;Is currently the farthest man-made object from Earth, as well as the

first object to leave the Solar System and cross into interstellar space. It

was originally tasked with investigating Jupiter and Saturn, and the moons

of these planets.

Voyager 2 Has not yet left the solar system, but will become one of the first five

probes to do so eventually. Its mission to study all four gas giants.

Scientists are now using Voyager 2 to learn what the solar system is like

beyond the heliosphere.

Rosetta

Messenger

Operated by ESA, is orbiting the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

On November 12, 2014, a lander was successfully deployed

for further investigation. Mission ended on 30 September 2016, when the

probe landed onto the comet's surface.

NASA;was studying Mercury. It is only the second probe to do so and

is the first to orbit the planet. Technologically, it is far superior to its 1975

predecessor, Mariner 10. Having previously

passed Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury three times, it entered orbit

in March 2011. Mission ended on 30 April 2015, when the probe crashed

onto the planet's surface.


ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

➢ What Is A Green Building

• Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally

responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle from siting to design,

construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction.

• Green building is also known as a sustainable or high performance building.

• LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a green building rating system used

across the world for all building project types including schools and colleges.

• In India, there are currently around 2,500 ongoing LEED projects of which, many are educational

institutions. Other projects include hospitals, housing projects, IT Parks and commercial spaces such

as malls.

➢ Paris Agreement's 1.50C Target 'Only Way' To Save Coral Reefs, UNESCO Says

• The first global scientific assessment of the impacts of climate change on the 29 world

heritage-listed coral reefs, found that the frequency, intensity and duration of heat-stress

events had worsened with increasing global warming.

• Compounding the devastating impact of bleaching – which can take coral communities at least 15 to

25 years to recover from – were more frequent and more severe extreme weather events,

increasing ocean acidification, and pollution.

• The UNESCO report found that local efforts to increase reefs’ resilience “remain necessary but are

no longer sufficient” without complementary national and international efforts to limit the temperature

increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels – the most ambitious target set by the Paris agreement.

About Indian Green Building council (IGBC): The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), part of

the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was formed in the year 2001. The vision of the council

is, "To enable a sustainable built environment for all and facilitate India to be one of the global

leaders in the sustainable built environment by 2025.

The ITC Maurya is the first and largest LEED Platinum rated hotel in the world and uses parabolic

solar concentrators to save energy. Also, it has been awarded honourable National Tourism Award

as the Best Eco-friendly Hotel in India.


➢ Help Preserve Land – Our 'Home And Future' – UN Urges On World Day To Combat

Desertification

• Commemorated annually on June 17, World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought seeks to

promote public awareness of land degradation and to draw attention to the implementation of the UN

Convention to Combat Desertification

• This year's (2017) commemoration focuses on the theme “Our Land. Our Home. Our Future.”

• Goal 15, of the SDGs in particular, calls for combating desertification, and undertaking efforts

to halt and reverse land degradation.

➢ Scooping Out Oil Spills Made Easy By IISER Thiruvananthapuram

• Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) in

Thiruvananthapuram who have developed a hydrophobic sorbent that can suck up oil and

congeal it.

• A hydrophobic material automatically becomes oil-loving and takes up oil when it comes in

contact with it. IISER developed the hydrophobic sorbent by using a cheap raw material (mannitol)

and cellulose pulp as a matrix.

• Once the sorbent sucks the oil, the gelator slowly gets released from the cellulose fibre and

congealing of oil takes place.

• Studies found that the sorbent was able to absorb and congeal 16 times its own weight of oil.

The absorbed oil can be recovered by applying pressure or fractionated by a simple distillation

process.

➢ International Tiger Day Is Observed Annually On 29 July

• India is currently home to 70 per cent of the world's tiger population in over 17 states and 50

sanctuaries across the country.

• India is a part of the St Petersburg target, commonly referred to as the global wildlife conservation

goal TX2, which aims to double the tiger numbers in the Tiger Range countries by 2022.

• There are 13 Tiger Range Countries (TRC), including India, in the world where tigers roam free,

but the big cats continue to remain endangered.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious

Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) is a Convention to

combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that incorporate

long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements.

The Convention, the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of Rio

Conference's Agenda 21, was adopted in Paris, France on 17 June 1994 and entered into force in December

1996.

It is the only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the problem of desertification.

The Convention is based on the principles of participation, partnership and decentralization.

9 species of tigers were found originally, out of which three are extinct: Bali, Caspian and Java. The six

species still found are: Malayan, Sumatran, South China , Siberian,Indo Chinese and Bengal.


➢ Sagar Vani” - An Integrated Information Dissemination System

• The ‘Sagar Vani’ is a software platform where various dissemination modes will be integrated

on a single central server. The ‘Sagar Vani’ includes Multi Lingual SMS, Voice Call / Audio Advisory,

Mobile Apps (User / Admin modules), Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), Email, GTS, Fax, Digital

Display Boards, Radio / Television broadcast units, IVRS, Cloud Channels, etc.

• The system also has facility to provide access to various stakeholders (NGOs, State Fishery

Departments, Disaster Management Authorities, etc.) so that they too will be able to further

disseminate these ocean information and alerts to the user community.

➢ NCS Launches ‘India Quake’ – An App For Earthquake Parameter Dissemination

• National Centre for Seismology (NCS) operates national seismological network with 84 stations.

These stations are connected to NCS headquarter through VSAT for real time data communication.

• a Mobile App has been developed by the NCS for automatic dissemination of earthquake parameter

(location, time and magnitude) after the occurrence of earthquakes. The App will make information

dissemination faster with no restrictions on the number of recipients.

➢ India To Contribute USD 100 Million To UN Partnership Fund

• India has pledged an additional USD 100 million towards the UN partnership fund, significantly scaling

up it support to sustainable development projects across the developing world.

• South–South Cooperation is a term historically used by policymakers and academics to describe

the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries, also

known as countries of the Global South.

➢ World’s First ‘White Tiger Safari’ Opened For Public In Madhya Pradesh

• The world’s maiden ‘White Tiger Safari’ inaugrated at Mukundpur in Satna district in the state’s

Vindhya region where the feline was first discovered more than 100 years ago.

• The government is planning to establish a breeding centre for the white tigers in nearby Govindgarh.

• The first white tiger was spotted in Madhya Pradesh’s Vindhya region, in which the Satna

district falls, in 1915.

• In 1951, a white tiger cub, named Mohan, was captured. It later became the progenitor of all

known white tigers in the world after the Rewa princely state’s ruler Maharaja Martand Singh for

arranged its breeding.

The India-UN Development Partnership Fund is a dedicated facility within the United Nations Fund for South-

South Cooperation established in 2017. It is supported and led by the Government of the Republic of India,

managed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and implemented in collaboration with the

United Nations system.

The India-UN Development Partnership Fund supports Southern-owned and led, demand-driven, and

transformational sustainable development projects across the developing world, with a focus on least developed

countries and small island developing states. United Nations agencies implement the Funds projects in close

collaboration with partnering governments.


• White tigers' are animals afflicted with a a condition known as leucism (partial lack of

pigmentation), which can be compared to leucoderma in humans.

➢ New Doppler Weather Radar Commissioned

• A state-of-the-art, indigenous doppler weather radar, capable of predicting with increased accuracy

weather events such as cyclone , was inaugurated at Kochi.

• It is the latest in a chain of 27 such advanced radars already installed in various parts of the country,

and 25 more, in the Himalayan and northeast, are in the offing.

• The S-Band doppler weather radar in Kochi was made with support from ISRO and Bharat

Electronics. Doppler weather radar is an observational tool for monitoring and predicting severe

weather events. It uses the Doppler effect by bouncing a microwave signal off a desired target to

produce velocity data.

➢ Establishment of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), South Asia Regional Center

(ISARC) at campus of National Seed Research and Training Center (NSRTC) in Varanasi

• A Centre of Excellence in Rice Value Addition (CERVA) will be set up in Varanasi. This will

include a modern and sophisticated laboratory with capacity to determine quality and status of heavy

metals in grain and straw.

• This Center will be the first international Center in the eastern India and it will play a major role in

harnessing and sustaining rice production in the region.

• The Centre will help in utilizing the rich biodiversity of India to develop special rice varieties.

This will help India to achieve higher per hectare yields and improved nutritional contents. India's food

and nutritional security issues will also be addressed.

• The Centre will support in adopting value chain based production system in the country. This will

reduce wastage, add value and generate higher income for the farmers.

➢ Supreme Court Bans Use Of Heavy Metals In Firecrackers To Prevent Air Pollution

• Five harmful heavy metals like lithium, antimony, mercury, arsenic and lead in the manufacturing

of firecrackers as they cause air and noise pollution.

• The Supreme Court maintained that it is the responsibility of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety

Organisation (PESO) to ensure compliance of ban order to ensure compliance of ban order

Doppler Effect: It is an increase (or decrease) in the frequency of sound, light, or other waves as the

source and observer move towards (or away from.) each other.

Radar,Radio Detection And Ranging, is an object-detection system that uses radio waves to determine the

range, angle, or velocity of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor

vehicles, weather formations, and terrain

The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which has offices in 17 countries, is

known for its work in developing rice varieties that contributed to the green revolution in 1960s.


• PESO is a topmost department that controls and administers manufacture, storage, transport

and handling of explosives, petroleum, compressed gasses and other hazardous substances

in India.

• It functions under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce

and Industry.

➢ Assam To Raise New Force For Rhino Protection

• The Assam government is going to raise a new Special Rhino Protection Force (SRPF) for better

protection of the one-horned rhinos in Assam.

➢ India Ratifies 2nd Commitment Period Of Kyoto Protocol

• The first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol was from 2008–2012. The Doha

Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Qatar in December 2012. The amendment

includes new commitments for parties to the Kyoto Protocol who agreed to take on commitments

in a second commitment period from January 2013 to December 2020 and a revised list of

greenhouse gases to be reported on by Parties in the second commitment period.

➢ Gaj Yatra Campaign

• The “Gaj Yatra”, partnered by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), will take the

form of a roadshow that will move through 12 elephant range states over the next 15 months,

with elephant-sized artworks created by local artists and craftsmen as the centerpiece.

• The campaign was launched by the NGO, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI)

• The greater one-horned rhinoceros is the largest of the Asian Rhinos. Formerly, they were

extensively distributed in the Gangetic plains. However, today they are restricted to small

habitats in Indo-Nepal terai and North Bengal, and Assam. They are found in Kaziranga.

They are on the IUCN list of threatened species

•

•

The Kyoto Protocol(KP)is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework

Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which commits its Parties by setting internationally

binding emission reduction targets. Under the Kyoto Protocol (KP) which had become

operational in 2005, only developed nations are mandatorily required to undertake mitigation

(emission cuts) targets and to provide financial resources and transfer of technology to the

developing nation

The KP was adopted in 1997, recognizing that the developed countries are principally responsible

for the current high levels of Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Developing countries

like India and China have no mandatory mitigation obligations or targets under the Kyoto

Protocol.

Unlike the KP which requires only developed countries to take mandatory actions, the Paris

Agreement mandates all countries to take action to minimise the impact of climate change as per

their voluntary commitments and individual capacity.


• World Elephant Day is an annual global event celebrated across the world on August 12,

dedicated to the preservation and protection of elephants.

• African elephants are listed as “vulnerable” and Asian elephants as “endangered” in the IUCN Red

List of threatened species.

➢ Aeroplanes May Be Affecting Ozone, Monsoon

• Aeroplanes may be ejecting significant amounts of black carbon (BC) — a pollutant known to

aggravate breathing disorders, upset the monsoon and quicken glacier melt — and may be

depleting the ozone layer.

• Though airborne, BC is known to dissipate and settle down in a few months under the influence of

rain and wind and is unlikely to travel upward of 4 km, however they have been found till 18km height

(stratospheric).

• Given the shape and location of these particles, they argue, it could only derive from emissions from

aviation fuel and they pose a problem because these black carbon particles can linger long enough

to provide a fertile ground for other chemical reactions that can deplete the ozone layer.

• Because BC particles strongly absorb solar and terrestrial radiation and heats up the

atmosphere it can upset the monsoon system. If deposited on snow, it could accelerate the

heating of snow and quicken the melting of glacier.

➢ India signs Global Environment Facility (GEF) Grant Agreement with the World Bank for USD

24.64 Million for “Ecosystems Service Improvement Project”.

• Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) will implement the Project in the

States of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh through Indian Council of Forestry Research &

Education under the National Mission for Green India.

• The project would be financed entirely by the World Bank out of its GEF Trust Fund. The project's

duration is five years.

Black carbon is the sooty black material emitted from gas and diesel engines, coal-

fired power plants, and other sources that burn fossil fuel. It comprises a significant

portion of particulate matter or PM, which is an air pollutant.


• The objective of the Project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Departments of

Forestry and Community Organisations to enhance forest ecosystem services and improve

the livelihoods of forest dependent communities in Central Indian Highlands.

➢ In Bandipur, The War Against Lantana

• Lantana camara, one of the most invasive of plants that has taken over the country’s forests,

driving wild animals out for foraging.

• In the Bandipur National Park, an estimated 60% is affected by Lantana.The problem with

lantana camara is that it kills native species of plants on which herbivores such as deer and

elephants feed on. Further, its fruit is toxic to animals.

• Native to South America, Lantana camara was brought to India by the British as ornamental

plants, possibly as long as 200 years ago.

• The forest department is banking on a bug to deal with the Lantana menace in both Bandipur

and Nagarhole. Called Teleonemia scrupulosa, or Lantana Lace, it has made a comeback and

has begun eating the Lantana leaves vigorously.

• The bug has been used as biological control measure against the invasive plant all over the

world.

➢ A Novel Yeast Strain Was Used To Ferment The Glucose And Make Ethanol

• Scientists from CSIR’s National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST) have produced ethanol from discarded cotton-stalks by using a combination of chemical and

biological techniques.

• India has about 9.4 million hectares under cotton cultivation and every hectare generates 2

million tonnes of cotton stalk wastes.

• The stalks were first treated with an acid, alkali and different enzymes to breakdown the complex

organic polymers of the stalk.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help

tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems.

A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP of 18 agencies — including United Nations agencies, multilateral

development banks, national entities and international NGOs — working with 183 countries to address

the world’s most challenging environmental issues.

The GEF also serves as financial mechanism for the following conventions: the United Nations

Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Convention on Biological

Diversity (UNCBD), the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the United

Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related

to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, persistent

organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, sustainable forest management, food security, sustainable cities.


• These treatments expose cellulose, the major component made of glucose to the action of

enzymes. The cellulose was further treated using enzymes to convert it into glucose.

• To convert the glucose into ethanol, fermentation using a novel yeast strain was carried out- accharomyces cerevisiae-RRP-03N, from a rotting wild fruit found in the Silent Valley National Park

in Palakkad, Kerala.

• It is mandatory to blend 10% ethanol with petrol. Bioethanol presently in use is obtained by

fermentation of sugar cane molasses which is a byproduct of sugar production, and has food value.

➢ Kerala Varsity Identifies 12 Indigenous Plants That Can Be Used To Colour Silk, Cotton

• A study by the College of Agriculture (CoA), Vellayani, as part of the Western Ghat Development

Programme (WGDP), has identified 12 indigenous plants capable of giving colour to cotton and

silk textiles.

• The technology for using these plants for commercial textile industry has been standardised under

another research project sponsored by the RKVY (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana).

• The technology will be of great value in the development of eco-friendly and safe clothing,

especially for newborns and people allergic to synthetic dyes.

• The university has not revealed the names of the plants owing to patent issues.

➢ Ministry Of Earth Sciences To Launch ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ By January 2018

• To explore and harness mineral resources beneath the ocean floor.

• India was the first country in the world to have been given the Pioneer Area for exploration of

deep-sea mineral viz. Polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin in 1987.

• Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are rock concretions on the sea bottom

formed of concentric layersof iron and manganese hydroxides around a core.

➢ Tigers To Make A Comeback In Buxa Reserve

• Tigers will roar again at Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal. Located in Alipurduar district, the

reserve, parts of which border Bhutan, has been identified for the tiger augmentation programme

by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

• Buxa consists of moist, deciduous and evergreen forests. Tigers from the forest reserves of

Assam, which have a similar flora and fauna, will be introduced in Buxa.

• Challenges: Human Habitations Inside, Tea Plantations, broad gauge rail line passing through

the reserve, connecting Siliguri and Alipurduar.

➢ Ocean Forecasting System Unveiled At Hyderabad

• The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) of the Ministry of Earth

Sciences inaugurated the Ocean Forecasting System for Comoros, Madagascar, and

Mozambique .

• The system would offer oil spill advisory services, high wave alerts, port warnings, forecast

along the ship routes in addition to tsunami and storm surge warnings and help in search and

rescue operations.


• Wave surge ( kallkadal ) and coastal flooding that occurred from July 28 to August 3 in 2016

along Kerala and West Bengal were well predicted and real-time data from Seychelles were highly

beneficial for predicting these incidents.

➢ In A First, Nepal Launches Climate-Smart Snow Leopard Plan

• This is the first climate-smart landscape management plan for snow leopard conservation in

the world and is evidence of the government of Nepal's high level of commitment to this goal.

• The Bishkek Declaration talks about the Conservation of the Snow Leopard in the range

countries which include India, china, Pakistan, Russia,

Afghanistan,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Bhutan,Nepal,Mongolia,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan

➢ Habitat Connectivity Crucial For Tigers

• The isolated tiger population in Ranthambore in Rajasthan demands urgent conservation

attention, being at risk of inbreeding and lack of connectivity with other populations.

• Apart from poaching and habitat loss, fragmentation is one of the threats India’s tiger’s faces.

Tiger populations are now cut off from each other and their genetic profiles reflect this — smaller,

isolated populations are less genetically diverse (due to lesser intermixing of different

populations) than larger, connected ones. Genetic variation is crucial for evolution and low genetic

diversity can threaten the survival of populations.

➢ How Two Microbes Joined Forces To Produce Bio-Diesel From Carbon Waste

• A team of researchers from Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) discovered two distinctly

different species of bacteria from Aravalli marble mines near Alwar and from the high-altitude

Pangong Lake in Ladakh and found that they can combine forces to produce bio-diesel from

carbon-containing waste materials.

• The bacterium identified and isolated from the marble rocks in Rajasthan, called Serratia sp.

ISTD04, is capable of sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic compounds such

as lipids. Meanwhile, lipase, isolated from cold-loving bacterium Pseudomonas sp. ISTPL3, can

convert these lipids into bio-diesel.

The Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) is an international and

intergovernmental institution, owned and managed by its Member States, for the generation and application of early

warning information.

RIMES evolved from the efforts of countries in Africa and Asia, in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, to

establish a regional early warning system within a multi-hazard framework for the generation and communication of

early warning information, and capacity building for preparedness and response to trans-boundary hazard.

RIMES was established on 30 April 2009, and was registered with the United Nations on 1 July 2009.

Genetically, India’s tigers comprise three distinct populations: the northwest cluster (consisting only of

tigers from Ranthambore), southern (south India) and central (comprising tigers from the Terai,

northeast and central India). While the isolated Ranthambore population had the least genetic

diversity, the central cluster — which is also the most connected — harboured the highest


• This catalytic process — called transesterification — can be done using either chemical catalysts

or enzymes. This lipase is nothing but an enzyme that works as a catalyst to produce bio-

diesel.

➢ Environment Ministry To Launch ‘Prakriti Khoj’ – An Environment Quiz

• An environment awareness initiative, under which an online environmental quiz competition named

“Prakriti Khoj” – an Environment Quiz to be conducted at the national level.

• The objective of the quiz is to generate interest among school children about the science related to

environment, interactions within it and the problems therein.

• The quiz is planned in two phases. For the first phase, it is envisaged that maximum number of

children of schools under the National Green Corps (NGC) should get an opportunity to

participate in this environmental quiz.

• The mode of quiz will be online through multiple choice questions. After this, based on the

feedback received from the participants, the second phase of the quiz will be open to students from

all schools across the country in the year 2018.

• Recently, under the Swachh Bharat Mission “Prakriti Paryavaran aur Hum – Green March” was

considered to be launched as a continuous activity and campaign.

➢ Solar Storms May Have Caused Beaching Of Whales

• Solar storms, caused by ejections of charged particles from the Sun, disrupt the Earth’s

magnetic field, especially near the poles, where they are also responsible for producing

auroras.

• Twenty-nine sperm whales washed up on German, Dutch, French and British shores between

January and February 2016.

• Solar storms have caused the world’s magnetic field to shift by up to 460 km (286 miles)

which, he said, would interfere with the whales’ sense of orientation.

• That could explain why the whales swam into the relatively shallow North Sea rather than

follow their traditional routes in the Atlantic.

• If whales enter the North Sea they cannot navigate back as it’s an unnatural environment for them

and very shallow.

➢ ‘Re-Curving’ Western Pacific Tropical Cyclones May Have Played A Role In Reducing The

August Rainfall

• A strange pattern of tropical cyclones (TC) in the Western Pacific appear to be the reason for the

drying up of monsoon rains in August across India.

• During the monsoon months, cyclones in the Western Pacific move westwards towards India

and aid rain-bearing systems over the sub-continent. But during some years they ‘recurve’, or

NGC was initiated by Ministry in 2001-02 for creating environmental awareness among children by

formulating “Eco-clubs” in schools across the country. There are around 1,00,000 Eco-clubs across the

country, making it one of the largest conservation networks, wherein students are involved in various kind

of activities such as cleanliness drives, carrying out waste segregation, composting using bio-degradable

wastes, subsisting the concept of three R’s, viz, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle; Nukkad Nataks etc.


start to swing north-east, and do not give as much of a push to the rains as they do in the good

monsoon years.

• This re-curving frequently happens during the El Nino years but this time it inexplicably

occurred when an El Nino didn’t take shape.

• El Nino years are those when sea surface temperatures in the east equatorial Pacific rise, and

often dampen the monsoon.

➢ Jackals of Pirotan Island

• Pirotan is the eastern most island in the Marine National Park in Gujarat’s Jamnagar district.

Located 12 km from the coast in the Gulf of Kutch, Pirotan covers an area of around 3 sq km and is

partly submerged during high tide.

• The jackals are the only large mammals on this isolated island amidst marine fish, crabs and

corals.

• Although the island has no natural water source, the jackals have adapted to manage their

water needs from the crab meat. It was also observed that jackals lick dew on the leaves in

the morning just after sun rise.

➢ Sahara Forest Project (SFP) Of Jordan

• The Sahara Forest Project is a scheme that aims to provide fresh water, food and renewable

energy in hot, arid regions as well as re-vegetating areas of uninhabited desert.

• The SFP is centered around the core technologies of saltwater-cooled greenhouses,

concentrated solar power, and desert revegetation practices.

Important Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries in India:

1. Gulf of Kutch Marine National Park is situated on the southern shore of the Gulf of Kutch in the

Jamnagar of Gujarat. It is the first national marine park of India with 42 islands on the Jamnagar

coast in the Marine National Park.

2. Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park is a national park of India on the Andaman Islands, Situated

29 km. from Port Blair. Most of the coral reefs in the park are fringing reefs and the park is an

important breeding ground for turtles.

3. Gahirmatha is the first and the only Marine Sanctuary of Orissa, number of marvelous creatures

including Olive Ridley sea turtles migrate in huge numbers. Gahirmatha Beach separates the

Bhitarkanika mangroves from the Bay of Bengal is the world’s most important nesting beach for Olive

Ridley Sea Turtles.

4. Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park consist of 21 small islands and coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar

in the Indian Ocean of Tamil Nadu. The park has a high diversity of plants and animals in its marine

and shore habitats, Dugong, a vulnerable marine mammal also found here.

5. Rani Jhansi Marine National Park is located in Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal.

6. Malvan Marine Sanctuary is the only marine sanctuary is located in Malvan Taluka of Sindhudurg

district in Konkan region of Maharashtra. The Malvan Wildlife Sanctuary includes Padamged island

and other submerged rocky structures.


• Photovoltaic panels will generate solar power at the station, and there are salt ponds to

produce salt. Another benefit of the project is job creation; the Sahara Forest Project aims to

fight poverty and promote development through green jobs.

• The Norwegian government and European Union are the two biggest donors to the project. A

pilot project at Qatar has been completed, and Ongoing projects are in Jordan and Tunisia.

➢ Wood Is Good Campaign

• The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched

“Wood is Good” Campaign under Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-Plus).

• The purpose of the campaign is to promote wood as a climate-friendly resource and substitute

to materials like steel and plastic as it is a renewable resource, having zero carbon footprint, unlike

other materials that leave carbon footprint in their production.

• The Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-Plus) is a joint programme by the United States

Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and

Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to strengthen capacity for REDD (Reducing Emissions from

Deforestation and Forest Degradation) implementation in India.

• The programme brings together experts from India and the United States to develop technologies,

tools and methods of forest management to meet the technical challenges of managing

forests for the health of ecosystem, carbon stocks, biodiversity and livelihood.

➢ Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) published compendium “Fauna of Sundarban Biosphere

Reserve in Indian Sundarbans

• The Sundarbans is the world's largest coastal mangrove forest, with an area of approximately 10,000

sq km, spread across India and Bangladesh, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a

Ramsar Site.

• Zooligical survey of India (ZSI): Established in 1916 to promote the survey, exploration,

research, and documentation of animal taxonomy in Indian subcontinent and Designated

Repository for National Zooligical collection as per National Biodiversity Act , 2002.

• The activities of the ZSI are coordinated by the Conservation and Survey Division under

the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.


• Some important functions include: Status survey of Threatened and Endemic species, Preparation of

Red Data Book, Fauna of India and Fauna of States, Chromosomal Mapping and DNA Barcoding.

➢ Maharashtra’s Employment-Linked Scheme To Increase Mangrove Cover

• Mangrove Protection and Employment Generation Scheme for 2017-18 - a special scheme to

preserve mangroves on public and private land and to provide employment opportunities.

• Under the scheme, 50 villages in the coastal districts such as Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri

and Sindhudurg will be selected for the current financial year.

• The employment would be generated by setting up businesses such as crab farming, bee

keeping, rice farming, fish farming and tourism.

➢ A ‘Boat Lab’ To Study Brahmaputra

• Brahmaputra Biodiversity and Biology Boat (B4) on the Brahmaputra River, a major ecology

hotspot, in NER, in collaboration with DONER, B4 will establish a large barge on the river with

a well-equipped laboratory for analysis of all components of the entire ecosystem of the river

and surroundings. The B4 will link to the local research institutions along the river, as well as

national and international laboratories.

• B4 will have capability to analyse soil, water, environment,

plant and animal life, human health and agricultureand an equal component that involves loc

Mangroves are salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in harsh coastal

conditions. They are adapted to the low oxygen (anoxic) conditions of waterlogged mud. Mangroves

occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S.

The total mangrove area along the Indian coast is estimated to be approximately 700,000 ha. The

mangroves along the east coast of India is more (80%) than that of west coast (20%) because the terrain

of the east coast has a gradual slope as plains compared with the steep gradient along the west coast.

West Coast: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala,

East Coast: Tamilnadu(Pichavarm,Mannar),Andhra Pradesh(Krishna Godavari Delta),Odisha(Bhitarkanika)

and West Bengal(sundarbans)


al citizens in the experimental process of science in data generation and management. B4 will

also have a teaching laboratory for school/college children. It is also proposed to have mobile satellite

boat labs which will run along the tributaries of Brahmaputra to feed in data to the main B4.

• Important Tributaries Include: Dibang , Lohit ,Dhansiri , Kolong (Left Bank); Kameng

, Manasarover,Beki , Raidak ,Jaldhaka , Teesta ,Subansiri (Right Bank)

➢ Phyto-Pharma Plant Mission

• This is a Rs 50 crore Mission aimed at conservation and cultivation of endangered and

threatened endemic medicinal plants, and discovery of new botanical drugs for unmet medical

needs using the rich traditional ethno-botanical knowledge and biodiversity of the North Eastern

Region (NER) states. For this Mission, DBT will be the nodal coordinating and implementing

department and work closely with Ministry of DONER and other identified institutions.

• DBT has announced launch of the Phyto-pharmaceutical Mission in NER with three major

objectives:

1.Captive cultivation of selected medicinal plants of NER, which have great demand to ensure supply

of authentic and quality botanical raw material to the user industries in the country.

2. Development of technology packages for production of GMP grade medicinal plant extracts for

export markets.

3.Production of safe and efficacious phytopharmaceuticals from medicinal plants of NER for unmet

medical needs using modern scientific tools and following global standards.

➢ At school levels, DBT has launched the ‘Biotechnology Labs in Senior Secondary schools

(BLiSS) programme’, a first of its kind in India, for schools where biotechnology labs have been set

up at 88 Senior Secondary Schools from NER with an investment of Rs. 2.20 crore.

➢ VNL Signs Pact With BSNL To Provide Solutions For Disaster Management

• The 'Relief 123' service will restore connectivity at disaster sites, help locate the affected and

integrate information across platforms to enable informed decision-making for quick relief.

• The service is an integrated disaster response solution for first responders and public safety agencies.

The solution is designed and manufactured by VNL and the backhaul connectivity will be provided by

BSNL.

• This model can be scaled for SAARC countries, wherein BSNL would have roaming agreements

with local mobile service operators, and have type approvals executed in advance with local regulator.

➢ India Hosts Global Wildlife Programme to Address Illegal Wildlife Trade

• It was jointly hosted by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), World

Bank and United Nations Development Programme. Theme of the Conference was – “Peoples’

participation in wildlife conservation”.

• The GWP is World-Bank led global partnership of 19 countries in Asia and Africa to promote the

conservation and sustainable development by combating t rafficking in wildlife. It was initiated

in 2015 by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).


• It serves as a platform to exchange knowledge and coordinate in on-ground action for combating

illegal poaching of wildlife and improve governance on wildlife conservation.

➢ National Wildlife Action Plan(NWAP) 2017-2031

• The Plan focuses on preservation of genetic diversity and sustainable development. The

NWAP has five components, 17 themes, 103 conservation actions and 250 projects. The NWAP

has been made landscape-based, rather than sanctuary, or national park-based.

• The five components are – strengthening and promoting the integrated management of wildlife and

their habitats; adaptation to climate change and promoting integrated sustainable management of

aquatic biodiversity in India; promoting eco-tourism, nature education and participatory management;

strengthening wildlife research and monitoring of development of human resources in wildlife

conservation and enabling policies and resources for conservation of wildlife in India.

• The Plan will help to mainstream wildlife conservation in development planning processes. Some new

action issues have been considered in the Third National Wildlife Action Plan. These issues include

– climate change and wildlife, wildlife health, inland, coastal and marine conservation and

wildlife conflict mitigation.

• The third action plan comes after the first plan in 1983 and second from 2002 till 2016.

➢ 'Secure Himalaya' To Conserve Snow Leopard, Uplift Mountain Community Launched

• Launched by Union Environment Ministry in collaboration with United Nations Development

Program (UNDP). Will cover Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim.

• Intended to conserve the snow leopards by protecting their habitats and improve the ecology of

Himalayan ranges and lives of the mountain communities. Its a six year project

• The project includes the Kangchenjunga and Teesta valley areas in Sikkim, the Gangotri-

Govind and Darma Bayas valley in the Pithoragarh area of Uttarakhand, Pangi and Kinnaur in

Himachal Pradesh and Changhang in Jammu and Kashmir.

➢ Turtle Sanctuary To Be Set Up In Allahabad

• In order to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic

pressures, development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with a River Biodiversity

Park at Sangam have been approved under Namami Gange programme.

• Rivers Ganga and Yamuna at Allahabad are home to some of the most endangered fauna like turtles

(Batagur kachuga, Batagur dhongoka, Nilssonia gangetica, Chitra indica, Hardella thurjii etc.), the

National Aquatic Animal - Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica), the Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)

and numerous migratory and resident birds.

• ‘Namami Gange Programme’, is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as ‘Flagship

Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore to

CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also

known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and

animals. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not

threaten the survival of the species in the wild


accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and

rejuvenation of National River Ganga

• Main pillars of the Namami Gange Programme are: Sewage Treatment Infrastructure,River front

Development, River surface Cleaning, Bio-Diversity,Afforestation,Public awareness,

Industrial effluent Monitoring and Ganga Gram.

➢ First ‘Negative Emissions’ Plant Opens in Iceland, Turning Atmospheric CO2 Into Stone

• The gas will be dissolved in water and piped about 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) underground, where

Reykjavik Energy says carbon reacts with basaltic rock and turns to stone.

• CarbFix is a project in Iceland intended to lock away carbon dioxide by reacting it with basaltic rock.

➢ Hans Joachim Schellnhuber Wins 2017 Blue Planet Prize

• Prof Hans Joachim Schellnhuber from Germany won 2017 Blue Planet Prize, world’s most

prestigious award for pioneers in environmental science.

• He was awarded for establishing new field of science ‘Earth System Analysis’ and introducing most

influential concepts including the notion of tipping elements in the climate system in Tokyo.

• Blue Planet Prize is world’s most prestigious award for pioneers in environmental science and

often considered as Nobel Prize for environmental research. It honours outstanding thinkers who

help to meet challenges of planetary dimensions.

➢ Kaleshwaram Gets MoEF’s Stage-1 Forest Clearance

• Kaleshwaram Project would provide both irrigation and drinking water to several districts thus

ensuring effective utilisation of Godavari River water in the Telangana state.

• The final forest clearance was given for diversion of 3,168.131 hectares of forest land in eight forest

divisions —Mahadevpur, Karimnagar-Sircilla, Siddipet, Yadadri, Medak, Nizamabad, Banswada

and Nirmal —for the construction of canals, tunnels etc as part of the project in different districts.

➢ IIT Hyderabad Uses Activated Jamun To Remove Fluoride From Water

• Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad have used activated jamun seed

powder to bring the fluoride content in drinking water to less than the WHO limit of 1.5 mg per litre.


• Mixing the jamun seed powder thoroughly with potassium hydroxide and heating it to 900 degree

C for an hour produces activated jamun powder.

• The activation increases the pore volume several times and the surface area by more than 50 times.

• The fluoride ion removal increases with a decrease in pH, with maximum adsorption found at

pH 3. The activated jamun seed acquires a positive charge at low pH and the positive charge

attracts the fluoride ions while the negative charge in an alkaline medium repulses the fluoride ions.

• Ingestion of excess fluoride, most commonly in drinking-water, can cause fluorosis which affects the

teeth and bones

➢ To Check Flying Coal Dust Hazard, Railways Looking At Covering Its Wagons

• Currently, to prevent coal dust from flying into the environment, water is sprinkled on the coal at

the loading point, and in many cases — like in Goa — the wagons are covered with tarpaulin.

• Railways is thinking to introduce BOXN wagons- open-to-sky boxes on wheels are used for coal-

carriage for operational efficiency as they can be loaded and unloaded faster, owing to being

coverless.

➢ Mass Bathing In Ganga Aggravates Anti-Microbial Resistance Woes

• Mass-bathing in the Ganga during pilgrimages may be contributing to anti-microbial

resistance (AMR), says a government-commissioned report on the threat from AMR.

• The report was commissioned by the Department of Biotechnology and the UK Research

Council and prepared by the Centre for Disease Dynamics and Economic Policy.

• The researchers had then said preventing the spread of resistance-genes that promote life-

threatening bacteria could be achieved by improving waste management at key pilgrimage sites.

• In 2014, India was the highest consumer of antibiotics, followed by China and the United

States. However, the per-capita consumption of antibiotics in India was much lower than in several

other high-income countries.

• Other than ‘cultural factors’ such as bathing in the Ganga, the drivers of AMR included excessive

use of antibiotics in the livestock industry and unchecked discharge of effluents by the

pharmaceutical industry.

➢ Edible Wild Banana Species Discovered, The Second Such On The Islands Of Andamans In

Two Years

• The islands are a biodiversity hotspot that hosts seven different species of wild banana

• The latest discovery is of a species of wild banana named Musa paramjitiana, in honour of Paramjit

Singh, who happens to be the director of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).

• The species was found in North Andaman’s Krishnapuri forest, is declared as ‘Critically

Endangered’.

• The plant grows to a height of nine metres and bears an edible, sweet-and-sour tasting fruit

that is boat-shaped and has numerous bulb-shaped seeds.

• The fruit is part of the diet of local tribes. “The fruits and seeds have ethno-medicinal importance.


➢ Warm Air Helped Make 2017 Ozone Hole Smallest Since 1988

• The smaller ozone hole in 2017 was strongly influenced by an unstable and warmer Antarctic

vortex – the stratospheric low pressure system that rotates clockwise in the atmosphere above

Antarctica. This helped minimize polar stratospheric cloud formation in the lower stratosphere.

The formation and persistence of these clouds are important first steps leading to the chlorine- and

bromine-catalyzed reactions that destroy ozone.

➢ Mysterious Geothermal 'Mantle Plume' Under Antarctica Is Heating Its Ice Sheet, NASA Study

• A geothermal heat source called mantle plume lies deep below Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land,

formed 50 to 110 million years ago, long before the West Antarctic ice sheet came into existence

explaining some of the melting that creates lakes and rivers under the ice sheet.

• The heat source may help explain why the West Antarctic ice sheet collapsed rapidly in an

earlier era of rapid climate change, and why it is so unstable today.

• A mantle plume is an upwelling of abnormally hot rock within the Earth's mantle

➢ Emissions Gap Report 2017

• The eighth edition of UN Environment’s Emissions Gap report, finds that national pledges only

bring a third of the reduction in emissions required by 2030 to meet climate targets, with private

sector and sub-national action not increasing at a rate that would help close this worrying gap.

• This report focuses on the “gap” between the emissions reductions necessary to achieve the

agreed targets at lowest cost and the likely emission reductions from full implementation of the

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which form the foundation of the Paris Agreement.

First detected in 1985, the Antarctic ozone hole forms during the Southern Hemisphere’s late

winter as the returning sun’s rays catalyze reactions involving man-made, chemically active forms of chlorine

and bromine. These reactions destroy ozone molecules.

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer regulates ozone-depleting

Compounds. NOAA and NASA collaborate to monitor the growth and recovery of the ozone hole every year

Ozone is a molecule comprised of three oxygen atoms that occurs naturally in small amounts. In the

stratosphere, roughly 7 to 25 miles above Earth’s surface, the ozone layer acts like sunscreen, shielding the

planet from potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancer and cataracts, suppress

immune systems and also damage plants.


➢ Will Delhi's Air Replicate London's 'Great Smog'?

• On December 5, 1952, thick yellow smog brought London to a standstill for four days and is

estimated to have killed more than 4,000 people.

• In London, smog killed because people faced breathing problems. But the toxins in Delhi's air could

lead to long-term problems and chronic health disorders, and not just short-term health issues.

➢ Bonn Climate Talks: COP 23 Of UNFCCC

• The Bonn climate talks - officially the COP-23 - is the 23rd annual meeting of countries who are part

of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

• It is the first time signatory nations of the Paris climate agreement met after the US announced

its decision to withdraw. It is the first time a COP is being presided over by a small island

nation, Fiji.

• Parties have now decided to take stock of what has been achieved and implementations of actions

during COP24 in Poland in December 2018.

• The submissions in the ‘stocktake’ would include details of the mitigation actions that have

been taken in the pre-2020 period, the provision of support of developing and vulnerable

countries during the period, and summaries for policymakers that have come as a result of

the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action initiated during COP22 in Marrakesh last year

to mobilise immediate climate action.

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is

an international environmental treaty adopted in Rio earth summit, 1992., objective is to

"stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent

dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.

➢ Three Point Compromise Formula By Fiji At Bonn Climate Change Talks

• Since the start of the COP-23 conference, developing countries have been protesting against non-

inclusion of the ‘pre-2020 actions’ in the official agenda of discussions.

• The developing countries have been accusing the developed world of trying to run away from

their obligations under Kyoto Protocol that has three more years to run. The Paris Agreement,

finalised in 2015, is essentially the successor agreement to Kyoto Protocol.

• After a few rounds of informal discussions, Fiji put forward a three-point compromise formula,

proposing that : (1)discussions on ‘pre-2020 actions’ be held at a scheduled review meeting

next year, (2) and every subsequent year after that, and (3) a new website be set up providing

information on ‘pre-2020 actions’ being taken.

Smog is a type of air pollutant, composed of nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, ozone, smoke or dirt particles

and particulates among others. Human-made smog is derived from coal emissions, vehicular emissions,

industrial emissions, forest and agricultural fires and photochemical reactions of these emissions.

Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion

engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that

also combine with the primary emissions to form photochemical smog. In certain cities, such as Delhi,

smog severity is often aggravated by stubble burning in neighboring agricultural areas.


➢ Developed , Developing Nations Lock Horns On Pre – 2020 Action

• The ‘pre-2020 action’ refers to the obligations of the developed countries under the 1997 Kyoto

Protocol that has still three more years to run. The Paris Agreement, finalized in 2015, is

essentially a successor treaty for the post-2020 world.

• Developing countries want to get this included in the formal agenda of discussions. Almost every

developing country grouping — the G-77, which is the largest negotiating group with over 130

countries, the African group, the Arab group, the ALBA and AILAC group of Latin American

and Caribbean countries, and the small island states — supported the demand.

➢ Facebook Introduces Disaster Maps In India For Better Response To Disasters

• Facebook Inc. rolled out Disaster Maps for India to help communities across the country recover

and rebuild from natural disasters faster by sharing critical pieces of data sets with humanitarian

agencies in a timely manner.

• Disaster Maps, which was introduced globally in June, uses aggregated, de-identified

Facebook data to help organizations address the critical gap in information they often face when

responding to natural disasters.

• Facebook researchers have built three kinds of maps: Location density maps, Movement maps

and Safety Check.

• While globally Facebook has partnered with organizations like the Red Cross, in India, initially

it will join hands with two organizations: the NDMA and SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and

Ecological Development Society).

➢ Delhi Pollution: A Deadly Pollutant Enters The Mix

• Carbon Monoxide has been among the two primary pollutants in Delhi’s air twice over the November

mid week.

• The most common primary pollutant is PM (particulate matter) 2.5. CO is harmful as it reduces

the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen to organs and tissues.

• The main cause of CO in air is carbons that have not been burnt completely. This can be

because of unburnt fuel such as petrol, diesel, CNG, PNG or even LPG.

• ALBA Group of countries: ALBA or ALBA-TCP is an intergovernmental organization based on the

idea of the social, political and economic integration of the countries of Latin America and the

Caribbean.

• The eleven member countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela

• ALBA nations may conduct trade using a virtual regional currency known as the SUCRE.

• AILAC Group of countries: The Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean is a

group of eight countries that share interests and positions on climate change.

• AILAC was established as a formal negotiating group under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2012, during the Conference of the Parties in Doha, Qatar

• AILAC comprises the following countries: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru


• Another reason for the build-up of CO in Delhi’s air is low inversion height — which is the layer

beyond which pollutants cannot disperse into the upper layer of the atmosphere. This has dropped

because of dipping temperatures and absence of wind.

➢ India Becoming World Top Sulphur Dioxide Emitter: Study

• India’s emissions of the air pollutant sulphur dioxide increased by 50 per cent since 2007,

while Chinas fell by 75 per cent.

• Sulphur dioxide is an air pollutant that causes acid rain, haze and many health-related problems. It

is produced predominantly when coal is burned to generate electricity.

• China and India are the world’s top consumers of coal, which typically contains up to three per

cent sulphur. Most of the two countries sulphur dioxide emissions come from coal-fired power plants

and coal-burning factories.

➢ Key Achievements From COP23- Bonn, Germany

• 2018 Talanoa Dialogue: An inclusive and participatory process that allows countries, as well as non-

state actors, to share stories and showcase best practices in order to urgently raise ambition –

including pre-2020 action – in nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

• Launch of Ocean Pathway Partnership: launched the Ocean Pathway Partnership to encourage

the climate negotiations process to address the relationship between climate change and the ocean.

• Launch of InsuRelience Global Partnership: The German Federal Ministry for Economic

Cooperation and Development (BMZ) contributed 110 million euros (US $125 million) to bring

affordable insurance and other financial protection to millions of vulnerable people around the world.

• Finalisation of the Gender Action Plan: Countries finalised the first-ever Gender Action Plan, which

aims to increase the participation of women in all UNFCCC processes. It also seeks to increase

awareness of and support for the development and effective implementation of gender-responsive

climate policy.

• America’s Pledge: A delegation of sub-national leaders of America to uphold the emissions

reduction target of the United States under the Paris Agreement.

• Health Initiative for the Vulnerable: The World Health Organisation, in collaboration with the

UNFCCC launched a special initiative to protect people living in Small Island Developing States from

the health impacts of climate change. Its goal by 2030 is to triple the levels of international financial

support to climate and health in Small Island Developing States.

➢ More than 20 Countries Launch Global Alliance to Phase Out Coal

• The United Kingdom and Canada are leading a new global coal alliance aimed at accelerating

clean growth and achieving the rapid phase-out of traditional coal power.

• More than 20 countries, including France, Finland, and Mexico, are part of the “Powering Past

Coal Alliance” which also brings together a wide range of businesses and civil society

organizations that have united for climate protection.

National Air Quality Index (AQI): The AQI will consider eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3,

NH3, and Pb) for which short-term (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air Quality

Standards are prescribed.


• According to the International Energy Agency, Coal-fired power plants produce almost 40% of global

electricity, making carbon pollution from coal a leading contributor to climate change.

• The member countries of the alliance, launched during the UN Climate Change Conference in

Bonn, have agreed to phase out existing traditional coal power and place a moratorium on

any new traditional coal power stations without operational carbon capture and storage.

➢ Delhi Smog: Gulf Dust Storm Had A Bigger Role Than Stubble Burning

• The dust storm was responsible for 40 per cent of the pollution on November 8, when the

average air quality index was 478, indicating “severe” levels of pollution. While stubble burning was

responsible for 25 per cent of the pollution, “local sources” also played a role.

• There was a large multi-day dust storm that emerged in Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the

last week of October 2017 and continued up to November 3 and 4. This dust storm was carried by

relatively cool winds.

• Stubble burning in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryan was very high on November 6 and upper-

air winds became North Westerly (towards Delhi) with high speed and started pumping pollution

in Delhi.

➢ Mobile App To Monitor Tiger Reserves Launched

• In the forthcoming All-India Tiger Estimation, to be taken up in December-January, an app named M-

STRiPES (Monitoring System For Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status)

developed by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, will be used for the first time.

• Its usage and application has been made mandatory now for the fourth All-India Tiger Estimation.

• Use of the app in habitat monitoring is not new. Bandipur had Hejje or Pugmark, an Andrioid-

based app, while BRT started with Huli.

• The national tiger estimates are conducted once in four years, with the first conducted in 2006. The last nationwide assessment, held in 2014, pegged the tiger figures across the country at 2,226.

➢ India, UNISDR Sign Statement Of Cooperation On Sendai Framework

• The Statement underlined the guiding principles, objectives and areas of cooperation between India

and UNISDR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) towards the effective

implementation and monitoring of the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR).

• India will partner with UNISDR to work towards strengthening the capacity of Asian countries in

ensuring risk resilient development.

• The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 outlines seven clear targets and

four priorities for action to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks: (i) Understanding

disaster risk; (ii) Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; (iii) Investing

in disaster reduction for resilience and; (iv) Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective

response, and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction.

• It is the successor agreement to Hyogo Framework, successor instrument to the Hyogo

Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015.


➢ Bamboo Ceases To Be A Tree, Freed Of Forest Act

• For 90 years Bamboo - taxonomically a grass - was registered as a tree in the Indian

Forest Act,1927 , but the recent amendment has axed bamboo from a list of plants that also

included palms, skumps, brush-wood and canes.

• Bamboo grown in non-forest areas has now been omitted from the definition of trees.

• The government hoped to promote cultivation of bamboo in non-forest areas to achieve the “twin

objectives” of increasing the income of farmers and also increasing the green cover of the

country. Bamboo grown in the forest areas would continue to be governed by the provisions of

the Indian Forest Act,1927.

➢ The UN Ocean Conference Concluded With A 14-Point ‘Call For Action’

• The UN Ocean Conference concluded with a 14-point ‘Call for Action’ “to conserve and

sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development “which is

UN Sustainability Goal 14 (SDG14).

• Its theme is "Our oceans, our future: partnering for the implementation of Sustainable

Development Goal 14.

➢ Meet ‘Bhoorsingh The Barasingha’

• Kanha has become the first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot —

Bhoorsingh the Barasingha .

• Barasingha, or swamp deer, is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh. The Kanha tiger reserve,

spread over Mandla and Balaghat districts, is the only place in the world where the species exists.

The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was largely based on previous Indian Forest Acts implemented under

the British. The most famous one was the Indian Forest Act of 1878. Both the 1878 act and the 1927 one

sought to consolidate and reserve the areas having forest cover, or significant wildlife, to regulate

movement and transit of forest produce, and duty leviable on timber and other forest produce. It also

defines the procedure to be followed for declaring an area to be a Reserved Forest, a Protected Forest or a

Village Forest. It defines what is a forest offence, what are the acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest, and

penalties leviable on violation of the provisions of the Act.


INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

➢ India Gives $100,000 To UN Tax Fund; Becomes First Country To Contribute

• India has contributed USD 100,000 to a UN fund to help developing countries actively participate

in the discussion of tax issues, becoming the first country to make the contribution.

• The UN Tax Trust Fund aims to support the work of the Committee of Experts on International

Cooperation in Tax Matters (the UN Tax Committee).

• The UN Tax Committee, a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council (ESOSOC),

has provided guidance on current issues such as double taxation treaties, transfer pricing (profit

shifting) taxation of the extractive industries and taxation of services.

• The call for contributions was also emphasised in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted at the

third International Conference on Financing for Development in 2015.

➢ India Becomes The 71st Country To Ratify The United Nations TIR (Transports Internationaux

Routiers) Convention

• By joining the convention, the need for inspection of goods at intermediate borders as well as

physical escorts en route shall be obviated due to reciprocal recognition of Customs controls.

• The TIR Convention can be an instrument for movement of goods along the International

“North-South” Transport (INSTC) Corridor, which India is developing along with Russia and

can be a counter to chian’s One Belt One Road initiative.

• It would be helpful in boosting trade with the Central Asian Republics and other Commonwealth

of Independent States (CIS), particularly using ports in Iran like the Chabahar port.

The Addis Agenda provides a global framework to ensure the effective mobilisation of resources

at the national and international level for sustainable development.

Implementation of the Addis Agenda supports the implementation of the Sustainable

Development Goals (SDGs) and is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development .

• The Customs Convention on International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnets, 1975

(TIR Convention), is an international transit system under United Nations Economic Commission for

Europe.

• The INSTC is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight

between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. The route

primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road


➢ Know India Programme By Ministry Of External Affairs

• Know India Programme (KIP) is a flagship initiative for Diaspora engagement which

familiarizes Indian-origin youth (18-30 years) with their Indian roots and contemporary India.

• It is a three-week orientation programme which is aimed at promoting awareness on different

facets of life in India as well as the progress made by the country in fields such as economic

and education.

• In 2016, the scheme was revamped to increase duration from 21 to 25 days, with a 10-day visit to

one or two States and preference given to PIOs from Girmitiya countries.

➢ India Has Been Re-Elected To The UN’s Principal Organ On Economic, Social And

Environmental Issues For Another Three-Year Term

• ECOSOC, one of the six main organs of the United Nations, is the principal body for coordination,

policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues,

as well as for implementation of the internationally agreed development goals.

• India’s re-election to ECOSOC comes just a day after Neeru Chadha won a crucial election to the

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), becoming the first Indian woman to be

elected as judge to the tribunal.

➢ China Produces Gas From ‘Flammable Ice’ Under South China Sea

• China has successfully produced natural gas from methane hydrate, also known as “flammable

ice”, in an experimental project in the South China Sea.

• Flammable ice consists of methane trapped within water crystals, and has been identified as a

potential new gas source for China, with the South China Sea thought to contain some of the world’s

most promising deposits.

• Japan reported a similar successful production test in May. India, Canada and the United States

are also believed to be looking at hydrates as an alternative energy source.

➢ Sri Lanka, China Sign $1.1 Billion Hambantota Port Deal

• Sri Lanka has signed a $1.1 billion deal to sell a 70% stake of the strategic Hambantota port

to China, amid concerns over the massive debt the island nation incurred in building the port.

• According to the new deal, only Sri Lankan Navy will be responsible for security of the deep-sea

port, and the port will not be allowed to become a base for any foreign Navy.

• The String of pearls is a geopolitical theory on potential Chinese intentions in the Indian

Ocean region. It refers to the network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and

relationships along its sea lines of communication, which extend from the Chinese mainland to Port

Sudan. The sea lines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb,

Girmityas or Jahajis are descendants of indentured Indian labourers brought to Fiji and

the Caribbean to work on sugarcane plantations for the prosperity of the European settlers and

save the Fijians from having to work on these plantations and thus to preserve their culture.

"Agreement" is the term that has been coined into "Girmit", referring to the "Agreement" of

the British Government with the Indian labourers as to the length of stay in Fiji and the Caribbean,

and when they would be allowed to go back to India.


the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Lombok Strait as well as other strategic

maritime centers in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Somalia.

➢ India Third In World In People Having Highest Trust In Central Govt: OECD Report

• While the confidence in public institutions and governments has fallen globally, India is seeing a rise

in the trust in the government, according to Government at a Glance report for 2017.

• Only Indonesians and the Swiss have more trust at 80%. However, the number of people who

trust the government has fallen by nine percentage points between 2007 and 2016.

➢ G-20 Leaders Propose Hamburg Action Plan At Summit Conclusion

• The two-day G-20 summit that took place in Germany's Hamburg city ended with the leaders

proposing the Hamburg Action Plan to address major global challenges, including climate

change, harnessing digitalisation, and to contribute to prosperity and well-being.

• Issues addressed: fighting Corruption, Anti-Microbial Resistance, Climate change with focus on

Paris Accord,, etc

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental

economic organisation with 35 member countries, founded in 1960 to stimulate economic progress

and world trade. It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and

the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common

problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.

Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and

are regarded as developed countries.

The G20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors

from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, R

ussian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, US, and the European

Union. Founded in 1999, the G20 aims to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international

financial stability. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.


➢ UN Adopts Global Treaty Banning N-Weapons

• The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first multilateral legally-binding

instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years, was adopted by a vote

of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands) and one abstention (Singapore).

• None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons—the United States, Russia, Britain,

China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel—took part in the negotiations or the vote.

• The treaty prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon related activities, such as undertaking to

develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear

explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.

➢ Doklam Standoff

• The Doklam Plateau, north of the tri-junction of Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet, by India's claim, is not

just a disputed area, but has huge strategic significance for both India and China.

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is

a multilateral treaty that bans all nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all

environments. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996, but has not

entered into force, as eight specific states have not ratified the treaty.

As of 2017, eight states have not ratified the treaty: China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States have

signed but not ratified the Treaty; India, North Korea and Pakistan have not signed it.

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons: commonly known as the Non-Proliferation

Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and

weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the

goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The treaty entered into

force in 1970

Four states—India, Israel, Pakistan, and South Sudan—have never signed the treaty. India and Pakistan

have publicly disclosed their nuclear weapon programs, and Israel has a long-standing policy of deliberate

ambiguity with regards to its nuclear program

Apart from this, a number of Nuclear weapon free zones, comprising of multi- country has been established.

These include:

1. African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba)

2. Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (Treaty of Semei)

3. South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga)

4. Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Bangkok)

5. Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco)


• For the Chinese to reach their border posts with Bhutan, Doklam provides an easy way to

construct a road, and they have been trying to do so. Not very far from Doklam is the strategically

important Chumbi Valley in the Tibetan region, to which Chinese are now planning to expand

their rail connectivity.

• The disputed area also provides, according to India's perspective, a bigger buffer to its sensitive

Chicken’s Neck, or the Siliguri Corridor, which is an extremely narrow stretch of land that

connects the Northeast to the rest of the country. From the Chumbi Valley it is just a little over

100 kilometres away.

➢ India-Bhutan Trade & Transit Pact Come Into Force

• India and Bhutan mutually decided to bring into force the 'new' bilateral Agreement on Trade,

Commerce and Transit with effect from this July 29.

• The agreement provides for a free trade regime between the territories of India and Bhutan.

The agreement also provides for duty-free transit of Bhutanese merchandise for trade with third

countries.

➢ India Can Go Ahead With Kishanganga, Ratle Projects Under Indus Water Treaty : World Bank

• Under the Indus Waters Treaty(IWT), India is permitted to construct hydroelectric power facilities

on tributaries of the Jhelum and Chenab rivers with certain restrictions, the World Bank has said.

• The World Bank said the IWT designates these two rivers (Jhelum and Chenab) as well as the

Indus as the "Western Rivers" to which Pakistan has unrestricted use.wheraeas India was

assigned unrestricted use of waters of rivers Sutlej,Beas and Ravi(Eastern rivers).


• The IWT was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the

help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory.

• Ratle is a run of the river Hydroelectric Power plant on the Chenab river. Whereas

Kishanganga is on the river Kishanganga, a tributary of Jhelum.

➢ Cabinet Clears Proxy Voting For Nris

• While NRIs and overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in constituencies where they are

registered, according to the proposal, they would also be allowed to use the option of proxy,

which as of now is only available to service personnel.

• Proxy voting involves casting of a person(NRI in this case)’s vote by another person known as

Nominee.( to be authoritated by the NRI).

➢ India, Germany Sign Pact To Improve Grid Integration Of Renewable Energy

• An agreement on technical cooperation under the “Indo-German Energy Programme – Green

Energy Corridors (IGEN-GEC).

• This programme component supports the implementation of the Renewable Energy Management

Centre (REMCs), Green Energy Corridors scheme of the Government of India which is a prerequisite

for large scale grid integration of renewable energy thus contributing to achieve the 175 GW target

of the Government of India for renewable energy generation capacity by 2022.

• The main objective of this programme component is to improve the sector framework and

conditions for grid integration of renewable energies.

➢ India keeps off ‘Bali Declaration’

• The Bali Declaration, adopted at the World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development

in Indonesia, called on all parties to contribute to restoring stability and security in the region.

It urged everyone to “exercise maximum self-restraint from using violent means, respect the human

rights of all people in Rakhine state regardless of their faith and ethnicity, as well as facilitate and

guarantee safe access for humanitarian assistance”.

• The Indian delegation, led by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, said it was inappropriate and

unjustified to refer to the Myanmar violence in particular as the forum was focused on the

Sustainable Development Goals of all countries.

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwj_tabI1rvYAhVGqo8KHbP1DHcQjRwIBw&url=http://pak-today.blogspot.com/2013/02/kishanganga.html&psig=AOvVaw2UjDWJ_qdIQOOfx09u6yvq&ust=1515064848391929


• This was in view of the fact that the declaration, which was to be adopted at the conclusion of the

forum, was not in line with the agreed global principles of ‘sustainable development.

➢ Rohingya Refugee Crisis

• The Rohingya refugee crisis refers to the mass migration of thousands of Rohingya

people from Myanmar (also known as Burma) and Bangladesh since 2015, collectively dubbed

"boat people" by international media.

• The Rohingya people are a Muslim minority group residing in the Rakhine state, formerly

known as Arakan. The Rohingya people are considered “stateless entities”, as the Myanmar

government has been refusing to recognise them as one of the ethnic groups of the country. For this

reason, the Rohingya people lack legal protection from the Government of Myanmar, are regarded

as mere refugees from Bangladesh, and face strong hostility in the country.

• India is home to around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims, inspite of not having a concrete refugee

policy [India being a non-signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention on the Status of

Refugees and ensuing 1967 protocol]. This is mainly due to porous borders we share with

Myanmar and Bangladesh.

• India’s official stand is they do not consider Rohingya’s as refugees, they are reportedly

considering them as illegal settlers and are planning to deport them.

➢ Trump Ends DACA

• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is a program started by the Obama government in 2012

which proves temporary legal immigration status to people who arrived in the US illegally as

children.

• People protected under this program are called Dreamers and are given temporary right to live,

study and work legally in the United States.

• US President defended his decision to scrap DACA saying "American workers" must come first.

If the DACA gets scrapped, 7,000 Indian-Americans will be affected by it.

➢ North Korea Conducts 6th Nuclear Test, Says It Was H-Bomb

• The explosion created a magnitude-6.3 tremor, making it the most powerful weapon

Pyongyang has ever tested.


• It is almost impossible to independently confirm North Korean statements about its highly secret

weapons programme. North Korea is thought to have a growing arsenal of nuclear bombs.

➢ ‘90-90-90’ Target Set By The United Nations Programme On HIV And AIDS

• By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status. By 2020, 90% of all people

with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy. By 2020, 90% of all

people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.

➢ Operation Insaniyat

• In response to the humanitarian crisis being faced on account of the large influx of refugees into

Bangladesh, Government of India extended assistance to Bangladesh. The relief material consists

of items required urgently by the affected people, namely rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil,

tea, ready to eat noodles, biscuits, mosquito nets etc.

➢ BRICS Declaration Names Pakistan-Based Terror Groups: Diplomatic Victory For India

• This is the first time anti-India groups such as LeT and JeM have been named in a BRICS

declaration (Xiamen). The document also contained references to groups such as the Haqqani

Network, Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement and Pakistani Taliban that have targeted

Afghanistan and China.


• The document did not specify which region it was referring to but added: “We reaffirm that

those responsible for committing, organizing or supporting terrorist acts must be held accountable.”

• It was a marked departure from earlier BRICS statements - the declaration issued after last year’s

summit in Goa referred to terrorism several times but only named one group, the Islamic State.

➢ THE World University Rankings 2018: IISc Slides, No Indian Institute In Top 200

➢ QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2018

• QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2018, which assesses how successfully universities

produce employable graduates and foster connections between students and employers.

• Of these, Stanford achieved a perfect score in three: (1) employer reputation, (2) alumni

outcomes and (3) partnerships with employers.

• University of Delhi and University of Mumbai have left two top IITs behind to grab a spot in the

top 500 universities in the QS Graduate Employability Ranking.

BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national

economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC" (or

"the BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa in 2010. The term "BRIC" was coined in 2001 by then-

chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O'Neill, in his publication Building Better Global

Economic BRICs.

The BRIC grouping's first formal summit, also held in Yekaterinburg, commenced on 16 June 2009

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman_Sachs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_O%27Neill_(economist)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_BRIC_summit


➢ ‘Hyper loop One’ Trains Between Bengaluru-Chennai, Mumbai-Chennai Part of Global

Challenge Winners

• In the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, the company had invited people to submit viable

transport plans for their respective countries.

• From India, out five teams two were finalized: (1) Hyperloop India - Mumbai-to-Chennai via

Bengaluru: 1,102 km. 50 minutes. Phased development for freight and passengers. Boosts

capacity at ports of Mumbai and Chennai. (2) Infi-Alpha - Bengaluru to Chennai: 334 km in 20

minutes. Meeting the demand of a passenger and freight super-corridor growing at 15% a

year. Connects with major airports.

• Hyperloop is a technology that was proposed by inventor and businessman Elon Musk, who is

behind the electric car company Tesla and the commercial space transport company SpaceX. It

involves sending magnetically levitated pods through low-pressure tubes at very high speeds,

carrying goods or people.

➢ Friendship With Robot : UN Report

• The report by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says,

"despite the hype", use of industrial robots remains low at around 1.6 million in 2015. This is

expected to rise by about half to 2.5 million by 2019.

• studies suggest robot use benefits sectors such as automobiles, electronics and transport

equipment more than labourintensive low-wage sectors such as textiles and apparel, and food and

beverages.

➢ India Signs Mou To Train Afghan Police

• India and Afghanistan exchanged a memorandum of understanding which will see Afghan police

forces trained in India for the first time.

• It follows a reworking of the US Afghan strategy, outlined by US President Donald Trump- to defeat

the Taliban was a bigger role for India in stabilising Afghanistan.

• India has pledged $3.1 billion in assistance to Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban from Kabul

in November 2001. It is one of the biggest donors in the region to the war-torn country.

➢ In A First, India Gets US Crude Oil Shipment

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a

permanent intergovernmental body. UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General

Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues. The organization's goals are to:

"maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in

their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis.

The primary objective of UNCTAD is to formulate policies relating to all aspects of development including

trade, aid, transport, finance and technology. The conference ordinarily meets once in four years; the

permanent secretariat is in Geneva.


• India received its first ever shipment crude oil from the US, with State-owned Indian Oil

Corporation Ltd importing 1.6 million barrels at the Paradip Port in Odisha. The move comes after

US resumed its oil exports last year.

• Buying US crude has become attractive for Indian refiners after the differential between Brent (the

benchmark crude or marker crude that serves as a reference price for buyers in western world) and

Dubai (which serves as a benchmark for countries in the east) has narrowed.

• Sweet and sour crude oil are types of crude oil wherein the sulphur content varies. Generally, crude

oil with sulphur content less than 0.5 % is called sweet and greater than that is called sour.

➢ New Urban Agenda Unveiled At Habitat III Conference In Quito, 2016

• The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, also known

as Habitat III, is aimed at steering the course of global urbanization towards environmentally

sustainable and socially equitable development pathways.

• The highlight of Habitat III is the adoption of the New Urban Agenda, which is a policy

document that will set global standards for the way cities are built, managed and inhabited.

• The Habitat conferences happens once in every 20 years, with Habitat II being held in Istanbul

in 1996 and Habitat I in Vancouver in 1976.

• The Vancouver Declaration from Habitat I responded to the rapidity and magnitude of

urbanisation, calling for “bold, meaningful and effective human settlement policies and spatial

planning strategies.

• Habitat II, popularly known as the ‘City Summit’, aimed at providing adequate shelter for all as

well as creating sustainable cities and towns in an urbanising world.

• The New Urban Agenda, which was taken up in Habitat III, aims at implementing the targets of

Goal 11 in the Sustainable Development Goals, which specifically deals with making human

cities and towns inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

➢ World Space Week

• World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology, and their

contribution to the betterment of the human condition. The United Nations General Assembly

declared in 1999 that World Space Week will be held each year from October 4-10. These dates

commemorate two event:

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 14

nations as of May 2017, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi

Arabia, Venezuela), and headquartered in Vienna. The 14 countries accounted for an estimated 44 percent

of global oil production and 73 percent of the world's "proven" oil reserves.

As of May 2017, OPEC's members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial

Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (the de facto leader), United Arab

Emirates, and Venezuela, while Indonesia is a former member.


(1) October 4, 1957: Launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, thus opening the

way for space exploration

(2) October 10, 1967: The signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activites of States in

the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial

Bodies.

The 2017 World Space Week Theme focuses attention on astrobiology missions like New

Horizons (NASA’s first mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt); feats of engineering such as

Lockheed Martin’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (NASA’s first spacecraft designed to facilitate

long-duration, human-rated deep space exploration of new worlds) and efforts of New Space actors

such as Space X and other entities with a vision for exploration and utilization of extraterrestrial

resources, such as metals from asteroids, water from the Moon, and unlimited solar energy in the

Earth's orbit.

➢ Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation Disaster

Management Exercise (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017)

• The Exercise was conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead

agency from October 10-13, 2017 in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR).

• Most BIMSTEC nations i.e. – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and

Thailand are prone to natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes, avalanches

and drought.

• The main focus of the BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 will be on testing the region's preparedness and

resilience towards effective activation of inter-governmental interaction/dialogue/agreements

for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster response.

➢ International Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations – IV-New Delhi

• The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in collaboration

with National Geographic Society hosted an international conference on “Dialogue of Civilizations

– IV” from 8th – 15th October, 2017 at Delhi, Gandhinagar and Dholavira.

• This conference is fourth in this series of ‘dialogues’ initiated by National Geographic Society in 2013

with an objective to encourage scholarly and public discourse about the five ancient, literate

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional

organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal

constituting a contiguous regional unity. This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997

through the Bangkok Declaration. It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia,

including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar

and Thailand.

The main objective of BIMSTEC is technological and economic cooperation among south Asian and

southeast Asian countries along the coast of the bay of Bengal. Commerce, investment, technology,

tourism, human resource development, agriculture, fisheries, transport and communication, textiles,

leather etc. have been included in it.


civilizations of the world, i.e. Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia, China and Mesoamerica and

how the study of the past can share our present and future towards the right direction.

• The first conference of this series was inaugurated in Guatemala in 2013 followed by Turkey in 2014

and China in 2015. The present conference is the fourth in this series, with the final dialogue

planned in Egypt.

➢ India Has A “Serious” Hunger Problem And Ranks 100 Among 119 Developing Countries,

Lagging Behind Countries Such As North Korea And Iraq

• With a Global Hunger Index (GHI) score of 31.4, India is at the high end of the “serious” category.

• India’s rank (100) was lower than all its neighbours—Nepal (72), Myanmar (77), Bangladesh

(88), Sri Lanka (84) and China (29)—except Pakistan (106).

• Prepared by Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ,The GHI

score is a multidimensional index composed of four indicators—proportion of undernourished

in the population, prevalence of child mortality, child stunting, and child wasting.

• On India, the report said that the country’s top 1% own more than 50% of its wealth, India is

the world’s second largest food producer, yet it is also home to the second highest population

of under-nourished in the world.

➢ India, Brazil, South Africa Sign IBSA Trust Fund Agreement

• The IBSA Trust Fund brings together the three emerging economies of India, Brazil and South Africa

to combat poverty in other developing countries.

• Each country contributes USD 1 million annually to this fund which is managed by the UN

Development Programmes (UNDP) Special Unit for South-South Cooperation.

➢ Indian Passport Ranked 75 In Global Power Index 2017

• The Passport Index's Global Passport Power Rank 2017 by global advisory firm Arton Capital

has ranked India at a lowly 75thposition. Singapore, for the first time, has topped the Index.

• The ranking is based on the score that the countries get after an analysis is made of the access

that the different passports allow to countries around the world. The 'Visa-free score'

represents the number of countries its holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival.

• India has a 'Visa-free score' of 51, which in effect means that 24 countries allow Indian passport

holders visa-free entry and 27 provide them with the visa on arrival.

➢ Two Italian Regions Vote In Autonomy Referendums

• Two wealthy regions of northern Italy, Lombardy and Veneto, voted in referendums for

autonomy .Both these regions are run by the once openly secessionist Lega Nord party, to

explore mandate to negotiate better financial deals from Rome.

• Unlike the Spanish region of Catalonia, which held an independence referendum on Oct. 1 despite

it being ruled unconstitutional, the Italian referendums are within the law.

• Like Catalonia, Lombardy and Veneto complain they pay far more in taxes than they receive.


• Under Italy’s Constitution, regions can enter into negotiations at any time with Rome to take on

more functions from the centre.

➢ China Again Blocks Bid In UN To List Masood Azhar As A Global Terrorist

• A veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has repeatedly blocked

India’s move to designate Azhar a terrorist under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN

Security Council, citing a lack of consensus among the members of the UN Security Council.

• The JeM, founded by Azhar, has already been in the UN’s list of banned terror outfits. Azhar is

accused of several terrorist attacks in India, including one on Pathankot air force station in Jan 2016.

➢ US, Japan, India, and Australia Hold Working-Level Quadrilateral Meeting on Regional

Cooperation

• Senior officials from the United States, Japan, India, and Australia met in Manila—on the sidelines of

the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and East Asia Summits—to discuss regional and global

cooperation-termed as Quadrilateral dialogue

• They agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-

term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large.

➢ India Sends 1st Wheat Shipment To Afghanistan Via Chabahar Port

• The shipment is part of commitment made by the Government of India to supply 1.1 million tonnes

of wheat for the people of Afghanistan on grant basis.

The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) is an informal strategic dialogue between the United

States, Japan, Australia and India that is maintained by talks between member countries. The dialogue

was initiated in 2007 by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, with the support of Vice President Dick

Cheney of the US, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India.

The dialogue was paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar


• It will pave the way for operationalisation of the Chabahar port as an alternate, reliable and robust

connectivity for Afghanistan.

• When linked to the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Chabahar-Zahedan-

Zaranj corridor would connect South Asia on one hand and Europe on the other. INSTC is an

ambitious multimodal transport system established in 2000 by Iran, Russia and India to promote

transportation cooperation. It is planned to connect the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to Caspian

Sea through Iran and then onwards to St. Petersburg and northern Europe through Russia.

➢ India Signs Loan Agreement with World Bank for “Odisha Higher Education Programme for

Excellence and Equity (OHEPEE) Project

• The Objective of the project is to improve the quality of 'students’ equitable access to selected

institutions and enhance governance of the higher education system in Odisha. IBRD would

provide loan of US$ 119 million (equivalent).

➢ Global Nutrition Report 2017: India Carries a Serious Burden of Anemia, Obesity and

Malnutrition

• The Global Nutrition is an independently produced annual report of the state of the world’s

nutrition. It tracks global nutrition targets on maternal, infant, and young child nutrition and on

diet-related non-communicable diseases.

• In order to determine the significant burden of malnutrition in every country, the report uses three

important trends as indicators: 1.childhood Stunting 2. Anaemia in women of Reproductive

age 3.Overweight adult Women.

It was in 2003 that India and Iran first agreed to develop the Chabahar port, located in the Gulf of Oman

near Iran’s border with Pakistan, to allow New Delhi to reach markets in Afghanistan and landlocked

Central Asia. The project was delayed due to international sanctions on Iran over its suspect nuclear

programme and India’s focus on concluding a civil nuclear pact with the US. Interest in the project was

rekindled in 2013 after Iran and the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany reached an interim

agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme and some sanctions were lifted.

And in May last year, India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a trilateral trade pact when Prime Minister

Narendra Modi visited Tehran to enable the movement of goods from Chabahar to Afghanistan.


• As far as India is concerned, the numbers are disappointing. About 38 per cent of the children

under 5 are affected by stunting– which means that they do not weigh enough for their height.

Moreover, 51 per cent of the women of reproductive age suffer from anemia and more than 22

per cent of adult women are overweight.

➢ Bandhan Express – Inaugurated Between Kolkata And Khulna In Bangladesh

• The air-conditioned passenger train will run every Thursday from both Kolkata and Khulna.

➢ India's Hopes Fade For Farzad-B Gas Field Deal

• The Indian consortium — comprising ONGC Videsh, Indian Oil Corporation, and Oil India —

discovered gas reserves in the field under an exploration contract signed in 2002. The field in the

Persian Gulf holds about 19 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to Indian estimates.

• Initially, the deal was meant to be completed by February 2017, but has been delayed.Iranians cite

India’s lack of flexibility when it comes to pricing, for delayed negotiations.

• It is a very difficult field to extract gas, and the gas itself is very impure, so ONGC videsh will

have to undertake additional costs to clean it. Gas prices have been steadily falling globally as

supply is outstripping demand.

➢ APEC Summit Held In Vietnam

• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was held in Da Nang, Vietnam. The theme of

summit was ‘Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future’.

• The summit laid emphasis on collaborative activity, such as provision of support for small

businesses, promoting sustainable growth and deepening economic integration.

It is regional economic forum of 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the

Asia-Pacific region.

It was established in 1989 in order to leverage growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific region’s economies

and promote free trade in the region. Its headquarters are in Singapore.

21 Members countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand,

Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea,

Chile, Peru, Russian and Vietnam..


➢ Why Paradise Papers Matter

• The Paradise Papers are a huge leak of financial documents that throw light on the top end of

the world of offshore finance- A trove of 13.4 million corporate records, primarily from

Bermuda firm Appleby, as well as from Singapore-based Asiaciti Trust and corporate registries

maintained by governments in 19 secrecy jurisdictions, often referred to as “tax paradises”.

• As with last year's Panama Papers leak, the documents were obtained by the German

newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which called in the International Consortium of Investigative

Journalists (ICIJ) to oversee the investigation.

• Like the three major global financial leaks in the past, Paradise Papers also reveal tracks of veiled

offshore financial activities. Like Mossack Fonseca (of Panama Papers, 2016), Appleby helps set

up companies and bank accounts overseas, provides nominee office-bearers, and facilitates

bank loans or transfer of shares, in multiple secrecy jurisdictions.

• But unlike in the previous leaks, the latest revelations are more about mega corporates than

individual players and how they took advantage of and, in many cases, misused offshore

jurisdictions.

➢ International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

• The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is an independent Washington

D.C.-based international network. Launched in 1997 by the Center for Public Integrity, ICIJ was

spun off in February 2017 into a fully independent organisation which includes more than 200

investigative journalists in over 70 countries who work together on "issues such as "cross-border

crime, corruption, and the accountability of power.

• They have been instrumental in the recent Paradise Paper Leaks and Panama paper leaks.

➢ Global Conference on Cyber Space 2017

• India, for the first time ever hosts the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS), one of the

world’s largest conferences in the field of Cyber Space and related issues. Its the 5th edition of the

event.

• Incepted in 2011 in London, second GCCS was held in 2012 in Budapest with focus on relationship

between internet rights and internet security. The third edition of GCCS was held in 2013

in Seoul with commitment to Open and Secure Cyberspace. The fourth version GCCS 2015 was

held in 2015 in The Hague, Netherlands

• Themed on Cyber4All: A Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development. 6

oldest IITs and IISc are among academic partners of the GCCS

• The State Bank of India also hosted Ideathon, wherein ideas to strengthen their soon-to-be

launched app YONO (You Only Need One) were invited from the participants.

➢ Moody’s Lifts India’s Rating To Baa2, Outlook Stable

• India’s sovereign rating has been upgraded by Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Services for

the first time in 14 years, taking cognizance of the Centre’s ongoing reforms such as the new

Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and the mechanisms for resolving bad loans and re-

capitalise ailing public sector banks.


• Obligations rated Baa2 are subject to moderate credit risk. They are considered medium grade and

as such may possess certain speculative characteristics. Baa3, by contrast, was the lowest

investment grade rating.

• While India's high debt burden remains a constraint on the country's credit profile, Moody's

believes that the reforms put in place have reduced the risk of a sharp increase in debt.

➢ 31st ASEAN Summit Hosted By The Philippines

Top accomplishments of the 2017 ASEAN Summit:

• After a decade, ASEAN finally made progress in ensuring the protection of migrant workers by

signing the “ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant

Workers”.

• Leaders of ASEAN and China agreed to start talks on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South

China Sea.

• ASEAN member-countries “placed strong emphasis on the aspect of deradicalization in

rehabilitation and reintegration programs as part of comprehensive measures in countering

terrorism according to the "Manila Declaration To Counter The Rise of Radicalization and

Violent Extremism".

➢ Solar Alliance To Set Up 1000 GW Of Solar Energy By 2030

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) has just been ratified by enough number of countries to make

it operational. It will become operational by December 6 this year.

• The ISA has a set for itself a target of installing 1000 GW of solar electricity in its member

countries by the year 2030. This will be one of the biggest global efforts to shift away from fossil fuels

and move towards cleaner sources of energy.

• The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 121 countries, most of them

being sunshine countries, which come either completely or partly between the Tropic of

Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The alliance's primary objective is work for efficient

exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

➢ Blue Flag 2017

• Air forces from eight countries kicked off the Blue Flag exercise in southern Israel — the largest

aerial exercise ever held by the Israel Defense Forces.

• Teams from India, the United States, Greece, Poland, France, Italy and Germany are taking part

in the exercise, along with Israel.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN ) is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising

ten Southeast Asian states which promotes Pan-Asianism and intergovernmental cooperation and

facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational and socio-cultural integration amongst its

members and Asian states.

Members: Indonesia, Malaysia,Philippines, Singapore Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar.

.


• It is the first time that India is taking part in the biennial exercise, a sign of the improving military

ties between Jerusalem and New Delhi.

• The goal of the exercise is to both improve technical ability and to strengthen the “diplomatic

cooperation between the countries.”

➢ Cabinet Approves India's Membership For EBRD

• The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial

institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD

uses investment as a tool to build market economies.

• The EBRD was founded to support countries of the former Eastern Bloc in the process of

establishing their private sectors. The Eastern Bloc was the group of socialist states of Central

and Eastern Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.

• EBRD's core operations pertain to private sector development in their countries of operation.

The membership would help India leverage the technical assistance and sectoral knowledge of

the bank for the benefit of development of private sector.

➢ Justice Dalveer Bhandari re-elected to ICJ

• Justice Dalveer Bhandari was re-elected as a judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ),

making him the third Indian to secure a prominent position in a United Nations (UN) body in recent

months.

• International law expert Neeru Chadha was elected to the UN body, the International Tribunal for the

Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and Soumya Swaminathan was appointed deputy director general for

programmes at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva.

• Bhandari, was declared elected for a fresh term at the ICJ after Britain withdrew its candidate

Christopher Greenwood . It is for the first time that a candidate from a permanent member of

the UN Security Council (P-5) has not found a seat at the ICJ

➢ China Draws 3-Stage Path For Myanmar, Bangladesh To Resolve Rohingya Crisis

• The first phase is to effect a ceasefire on the ground, to return to stability and order, so the people

can enjoy peace and no longer be forced to flee.

• Once a ceasefire is seen to be working, Talks between Myanmar and Bangladesh should find a

workable solution for the return of refugees.

• The final phase should be to work toward a long-term solution based on poverty alleviation.

➢ Particle Accelerator For Art Revs Up

The International Court of Justice (ICJ ) is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations (UN). Seated

in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, the court settles legal disputes submitted to it

by states and provides advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized

international branches, agencies, and the UN General Assembly.


• The 37-metre AGLAE accelerator housed underneath the huge Paris museum will be now be

used for the first time to routinely study and help authenticate paintings and other items made from

organic materials.

• The AGLAE works by speeding up helium and hydrogen nuclei to speeds of between 20,000 to

30,000 km per second and then bombarding the object, which emits radiation that can be

captured and analysed.

• The tool offers non-invasive technology to analyse paintings and sculptures.

➢ Collaboration Agreement to support the Belmont Forum Secretariat

• The Belmont Forum, created in 2009, is a high level group of the world's major and emerging

funders of global environmental change research and international science councils.

• It provides an opportunity to identify study and deliver international environmental research

priorities, for the society, in an accelerated way through transnational research collaboration

between natural and social scientists and alignment of international resources

• India is a member of Belmont Forum, besides Australia, Brazil, Canada, European

Commission, France, Germany, Japan, Netherland, South Africa, UK and USA etc.

• In order to coordinate the activities of the Belmont, and to ensure certain degree of continuity in

operations, a Secretariat is hosted by one of the Belmont forum member on rotational basis. ANR,

France is hosting the Secretariat from January, 2015 to December, 2017.

➢ Australia Abolishes 457 Visa Programme

• The programme, known as 457 visa, allows business to employ foreign workers for a period up

to four years in skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australian workers.

• The visa programme was used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, majority of them

Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country.

➢ Asian Highway Network

• The Asian Highway (AH) project, also known as the Great Asian Highway, is a cooperative project

among countries in Asia and Europe and the United Nations Economic and Social

Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), to improve the highway systems in Asia.

• Some of the countries taking part in the highway project are India (Look-East connectivity

projects), Sri Lanka, Pakistan, China, Iran, Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh.

➢ G33 (Developing Countries)

• The G33 (or the Friends of Special Products in agriculture) is a coalition of developing

countries, established prior to the 2003 Cancun ministerial conference, that have coordinated

during the Doha Round of World Trade Organisation negotiations, specifically in regard to

agriculture.

• Dominated by India, the group has "defensive" concerns regarding agriculture in relation to World

Trade Organisation negotiations, and seeks to limit the degree of market opening required of

developing countries. The group has advocated the creation of a "special products" exemption, which


would allow developing countries to exempt certain products from tariff reductions, and also a "special

safeguard mechanism" which would permit tariff increases in response to import surges.

➢ List of Military Exercises

Participating Country ARMY NAVY AIRFORCE

Russia Indra

USA, Japan Malabar

Japan Sahyog-Kaijin

USA Yudh Abhyas Red Flag

China Hand in Hand

France Shakti Varuna Garuda

UK Ajeya Warrior Konkan Indradhanush

Nepal Surya Karan

Bangladesh Sampriti

Sri Lanka Mitra Shakti SLINEX

Thailand Maitree

Indonesia Garuda Shakti CORPAT

UAE Desert Eagle

Oman Naseem AlBahr EasternBridge

Kazakhstan Prabal Dostyk

Mongolia Nomadic Elephant

Seychelles LAMITIYE

Singapore Bold Kurukshetra SIMBEX

Australia Ausindex

Kyrgyzstan Khanjar

ASEAN + Force 18

Maldives Ekuverin

South Africa, Brazil IBSAMAR


➢ Indexes and India’s Rankings

Index Published by India’s

ranking

(2017)

Global Competitiveness index World Economic Forum 40

Global Innovation index Cornell University, INSEAD and WIPO 60

Global Peace index Institute of Economics and Peace 137

Human Development index United Nation Development Programme

(UNDP)

131

World Happiness Index United Nation Sustainable Development

Solutions Network

122

Prosperity Index Legatum Institute 100

Ease of Doing Business Index World Bank 100

Correction Perception Index Transparency International 79

Global Talent Competitiveness index Global business school INSEAD in

partnership with Adecco Group and

Human capital Leadership Institute (HCLI)

of Singapore.

92

Inclusive development Index World Economic Forum 60

Climate Change Performance Index German NGO and Climate Action Network

Europe

20

Logistics Performance Index World Bank’s 35

World Press Freedom Index Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) 136

Sustainable Development Goals Index Sustainable Development Solutions

Network(SDSN)

116

International Intellectual Property Index US Chamber of Commerce’s GIPC 43

Global Hunger Index International Food Policy Research

Institute (IFPRI)

100

Global Human Capital Index World Economic Forum 103

Travel and Tourism Competitiveness

Index

World Economic Forum 40


MISCELLANEOUS

➢ UNESCO Declares Sharjah As World Book Capital 2019

• UNESCO has named Sharjah as 'the World Book Capital' for 2019 by for the quality of its literary

and cultural activities and for its efforts to make books accessible to the entire population of the nation.

• The honour is a recognition of the emirate's pioneering role in supporting and expanding the

local and regional publishing industries, promoting reading to become an intrinsic cultural

practice, as well as embracing intercultural, knowledge-based dialogue.

• Sharjah is the 19th city to become World Book Capital. New-delhi was declared the same in 2003.

➢ Centenary Celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the centenary celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram

in Ahmedabad .

• Sabarmati Ashram otherwise called as Gandhi Ashram, Harijan Ashram, or Satyagraha Ashram

is located on the banks of the River Sabarmati.

• Gandhiji started the Dandi march also called as Salt Satyagraha from Sabarmati Ashram on 12

March 1930.

• The Prime Minister has also released the coin and postal stamp in the honour of Shrimad

Rajchandraji on his 150th birth anniversary at Abhay Ghat.

• Shrimad Rajchandra is a Jain poet, philosopher, scholar and reformer, known for his teachings of

Jainism. He was the spiritual guide to Mahatma Gandhi.

➢ Srinivas Gokulnath From Maharashtra Became The First Indian To Complete The 4,900-Km

Race Across America (RAAM)

• RAAM is not a stage based cycle race. It is a continous cycle race that allows less than two hours

of rest per day and is supposed to be finished inside 12 days. The cyclists pedal around 400

kilometres per day.

• The RAAM race begins from climes in Pacific Coast and enters the Mojave Desert and laters

goes through Arizona. The extreme race then leads the cyclists to Colorado and it’s cold mountains.

Entering America again, it passes through central America where strong winds blow. The final stage

is the Appalachian Mountains before riders finish at the Atlantic.

The accolade is an important addition to Sharjah's existing portfolio of milestones like, Capital of

Arab Culture (1998), Capital of Islamic Culture (2014), and Capital of Arab Tourism (2015). More

so, the emirate is the first in the GCC and third in the Arab world and Middle East to have received

this recognition


➢ Prime Minister’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Promotion and Development of Yoga

• The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute,Pune has been selected as the first recipient of

the Prime Minister's Award for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of Yoga.

• The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute has worked to spread Yoga, internationally, over

a period of 4 decades. The Institute has published books on Yoga and these have been

translated into multiple languages. There are thousands of Iyengar Yoga teachers popularising

and propagating yoga across the world.

➢ Muntra, Country's First Unmanned Tank, Rolls Out From The Chennai Lab

• Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an unmanned,

remotely operated tank which has three variants - surveillance, mine detection and

reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and bio threats.

• Muntra-S is the country's first tracked unmanned ground vehicle developed for unmanned

surveillance missions while Muntra-M is for detecting mines and Muntra-N is for operation in areas

where there is a nuclear radiation or bio weapon risk.

➢ Japan’s Men-Only Island, Okinoshima Gets UNESCO Heritage Tag

• A men-only island in Japan where women are banned and male visitors must bathe naked in the

sea before visiting its shrine, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.

• The tiny landmass of Okinoshima is permanently manned by a Shinto priest who prays to the

island’s goddess, in a tradition that has been kept up for centuries. The island, sits off the north-

west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands

• It is considered dangerous for women to travel by sea to get to the island. It is meant to protect

women, the birth-giving gender.

➢ Ahmedabad Declared India’s First Heritage City By UNESCO

• More than 600 year old Walled City of Ahmedabad founded by Ahmed Shah has been declared

India’s first World Heritage City.


• The 5.5 km walled city area with approximate population of four lakh living in century old wooden

residences in around 600 pols or neighbourhoods is regarded as living heritage and the UNESCO

had preferred Ahmedabad’c entry over Delhi and Mumbai, country’s two main metro cities.

• Ahmedabad’s nomination received huge support from around 20 countries, who lauded the peaceful

co-existence of dominant Hindu, Islamic and Jain communities in the Walled City area.

• The city has now joined the privileged club of heritage cities like Paris, Cairo, Edinburg and two

cities in subcontinent Bhaktpur in Nepal and Galle in Sri Lanka.

➢ Meet OLLY- The Turtle, Mascot Of The 22nd Asian Athletics Championship

• Olly, the Olive Ridley sea turtle was unveiled as the official mascot for the 22nd edition of the Asian

Athletics Championships, 2017 held at Bhubaneshwar.

• Olly has rightfully being designated as the mascot as it belongs to the endangered Olive Ridley

sea turtles that travel thousands of miles in the ocean and arrive in millions every year on the

Rushikulya and Gahirmatha beaches in Odisha the state for their annual nesting.

➢ New Israeli Crysanthumun Flower Named After PM Modi

• A new fast-growing Israeli flower was named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Crysanthumun

flower will now be called ‘MODI’.

• The three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

➢ Renowned Dhrupad Singer Ustad Sayeeduddin Dagar Passes Away

• Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar, one of the foremost exponents of the Dhrupad tradition,

passed away.

• Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music. It is one of the oldest forms of compositions in

the classical Indian music and a form that is also found in its Carnatic tradition.

• It is a Sanskrit name, derived from the words dhruva (immovable, permanent) and pad (verse), a

combination that means "pillar". The roots of Dhrupad are ancient, and it is discussed in the

Hindu Sanskrit text Natyashastra (200 BCE - 200 CE).

➢ India’s First Private Missile Production Facility Unveiled

• India’s first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility, a joint venture between

Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., was inaugurated near

Hyderabad.

• The Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) plant will make anti-tank guided missile (ATGM)

Spike. Besides supplying to the Indian Army, the plan is to export to South East Asian countries.

• Formed in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Centre and the policy to encourage private

sector participation in defence production, the 51:49 joint venture will develop a wide range of

advanced capabilities.

➢ Measles-Rubella (MR) Campaign Widens Its Reach


• India, along with ten other WHO South East Asia Region member countries, have resolved to

eliminate measles and control rubella/congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) by 2020.

• All children from 9 months to less than 15 years of age will be given a single shot of Measles-Rubella

(MR) vaccination during the campaign.

• Following the campaign, MR vaccine will become a part of routine immunization and will

replace measles vaccine, currently given at 9-12 months and 16-24 months of age of child.

• Measles is a highly contagious infection caused by the measles virus.

➢ Malpelo Plate: New Tectonic Microplate Discovered Off The Coast Of Ecuador

• It has been named Malpelo plate, after a Colombian island

and an oceanic ridge it contains. It is overall 57th tectonic

mircoplate to be discovered so far and the first in nearly a

decade. Microplates are tectonic plates with an area less

than 1 million km2.

• Malpelo microplate is located west of the Galapagos Islands

off the coast of Ecuador. It is wedged in-between the Nazca,

Cocos, and Caribbean minor plates. It is linked to a nearby

oceanic ridge along the Ring of Fire.

• A tectonic plate is essentially a part-crust, part-mantle

that is pushed around by the convecting currents of superheated rock (magma) beneath them.

• Malpelo plate is the thumb of the Nazca plate between South American plate and Cocos plate.

➢ Completion Of Balance Works Of North Koel Reservoir Project

• The project is situated on North Koel river which is a tributary of Sone river finally joining the river

Ganga. The North Koel Reservoir is located in the most backward tribal areas in Palamau and

Garhwa districts of Jharkhand State.

• The construction was originally started in the year 1972 and continued till 1993 when it was stopped

by the Forest Department, Govt. of Bihar. Since then, the work on dam is at a standstill.

• Under the fresh approval, the proposed concrete dam - called Mandal dam - will store 190 million

cubic metre (MCM) of water instead of 1160 MCM envisaged earlier

• It will take care of irrigation needs of farmers in the most backward and drought-prone areas of

Palamu and Garhwa districts in Jharkhand and Aurangabad and Gaya districts in Bihar.

➢ Navika Sagar Parikrama

• Navika Sagar Parikrama is a project wherein a team of women officers of the Indian Navy

would circumnavigate the globe on an Indian-built sail boat INSV Tarini. This is the first ever

Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. The journey began in

September,2017 and will end by March, 2018.

• The first Indian Solo circumnavigation was undertaken by Capt Dilip Donde, SC (from 19 Aug

09 to 19 May 10 onboard the Indian built vessel, INSV Mhadei. The first Indian non-stop solo

circumnavigation was undertaken by Cdr Abhilash Tomy, KC from 01 Nov 12 to 31 Mar 13


• Navika Sagar Parikrama would be covered in five legs with stop-overs at four ports for replenishment

of ration and repairs as necessary.

• Additional aims of the Expedition are as follows: - Nari Shakti., Environment and Climate Change,

Make in India. Meteorological/ Ocean/ Wave Data Observation, Marine Pollution, Interaction

with Local PIOs.

➢ Nationwide Programme To Test All TB(Tuberculosis) Patients

• The new policy, called the Universal Drug Sensitivity Test, will be implemented using a

molecular diagnostic test called GeneXpert, a US-developed technology tool being used

worldwide since 2010.

• It can detect the TB bacterium as well check for resistance to rifampicin, one of the standard

key TB drugs, within 90 minutes

• India tops the world in the number of Tuberculosis cases.

• Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium

tuberculosis (MTB). Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of body.

➢ Fighter Planes Dilemma for India

• F-16 and Gripen, built by Swedish company Saab, are competing for the proposed single engine

fighter acquisition for the IAF. French Rafale and Boeing’s F/A-18 are competing for the

contract for the Navy’s twin engine fleet for its aircraft carriers. Lockheed Martin and Tata have

formed a joint venture to make F-16, while Saab announced a JV with the Adani group last week

for Gripen.

➢ Navy Sinks ‘Graveyard’ INS Sindhurakshak

• The Navy has sunk decommissioned submarine INS Sindhurakshak after using it for target practice.

• A fire and series of explosions on the submarine in 2013 had killed 18 Navy personnel.

• INS Sindhurakshak was a Russian-made Kilo-class 877EKM diesel-electric submarine of the Indian

Navy.

➢ President Lays Foundation For Link-4 SAUNI Project

• The Link-4 Sauni project based on Narmada dam will fill up Hiran-II dam which is in Gir

Somnath area.SAUNI stands for Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Yojana. The project is aimed at

bringing the waters of Narmada River to the reservoirs of parched Saurashtra region.


➢ Cabinet Approves Revamped ‘Khelo India’ Programme

• A revamped Khelo India (Play India) scheme under which 1,000 selected athletes will receive an

annual scholarship of Rs500,000 each for eight years. The new scheme will focus on nurturing talent

and connecting rural India to global games

• The programme would impact the entire sports ecosystem, including infrastructure, community

sports, talent identification, coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy.

➢ INS Kalvari: All You Need To Know About Navy’s First Scorpene Submarine

• Kalvari is named after the dreaded Tiger Shark, a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean,

developed as a part of ‘Make in India’ campaign.

• Kalvari was built indigenously under a venture called Project 75, at Mumbai’s Mazagon Docks.

Under this project, the Indian Navy was authorised to build six submarines in collaboration

with French firm DCNS.

• It has superior stealth and the ability to launch crippling attacks on the enemy with precision-

guided weapons.

• This Scorpene submarine is designed to operate in all theatres of war, including the tropics.

• Kalvari is capable of handling various missions such as anti-surface warfare (attacking surface

ships), anti-submarine warfare (destroying submarines), intelligence gathering, mine-laying

and area surveillance.

➢ Fossil Remains Found In The Newest Found Continent –Zealandia

• Drilling into the crust of Zealandia, thousands of feet below the surface, researchers

discovered the remains of hundreds of species including pollen from land plants.

• Now it is believed Zealandia was once much closer to the ocean's surface and may have

served as a land bridge for animals moving around the south Pacific region.


➢ President Launches Incredible India 2.0 Campaign; ‘Adopt A Heritage’ Project

• Incredible India 2.0 campaign will be focusing on specific promotional plans, with greater

emphasis to be given to social media, whereas, ‘Adopt A Heritage’ Project plans to entrust

heritage sites to the public sector and private sector companies and individuals for the

development of tourist amenities.

• Adopt a Heritage Project', was launched with the efforts of the Tourism Ministry, Culture

Ministry and Archaeological Survey of India, has great potential to make our rich and diverse

heritage monuments, tourist-friendly.

➢ Meenakshi Temple Gets ‘Cleanest Iconic Place’ Tag

• Dedicated to Meenakshi, an incarnation of Parvati, and her consort Sundareswar, an

incarnation of Shiva , Meenakshi temple in Madurai has been adjudged the best ‘Swachh

Iconic Place’ (clean place) in India.

➢ HDFC Life Launches Service BOT Neo

• HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched Neo — a servicing bot for Twitter that uses

artificial intelligence(AI) for customer service. The insurer hopes to deploy the bot in answering

policy —related queries on social media.

• Other life insurers like PNB Metlife have launched VR humanoids like Kushi leveraging the power

of AI, chat bots, natural language processing. This is the second bot put in operation by HDFC

Life, after the launch of SPOK, which was an email bot to answer customer queries.

• Ira, a humanoid bot was launched by HDFC, first bank in India to do so. Lakshmi, an AI bot by

city Union Bank also captured attention.

➢ Russia Launches ‘World’s Biggest And Most Powerful’ Nuclear Icebreaker Ship

• Sibir, designed to transport cargo along the Northern Sea Route is powered by two nuclear

reactors and will be able to break ice fields up to three metres thick, clearing the path for Russian

ships delivering gas to Asia.

• Russia is building nuclear powered Ice –Breakers under Project 22220.Arktika and Ural are

other two ice breakers.

• Russian authorities want to maintain control in Arctic waters due to drilling opportunities, minerals

and strategic importance.

➢ World Food India 2017

• World Food India aims to transform Food Economy and realize the vision of doubling of famers’

income by establishing India as a preferred investment destination and sourcing hub for the

global food processing industry.

• A special highlight of the event was renowned chef Sanjeev Kapoor creating a world record by

preparing 'Brand India Khichdi' using 800 kg of grains in a giant kadhai .

➢ Project CHAMAN


• Coordinated programme on Horticulture Assessment and Management using geo informatics

• Under the project, the remote sensing technology and sample survey techniques will be used

for production forecasting of major horticultural crops in select districts. Other components

include geospatial applications for horticultural development and management planning (site

suitability, post-harvest infrastructure, crop intensification, GIS database creation, orchard

rejuvenation, aqua-horticulture).

• Fruits such as banana, mango, citrus and vegetables such as potato, tomato, onion and chilli

will be covered under the project.

• This project is being implemented by Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC)

using remote sensing technology and is likely to be completed in March 2018.

➢ Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana

• Under the scheme of SPARSH (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps

as a Hobby), it is proposed to award annual scholarships to children of Standard VI to IX having good

academic record and also pursuing Philately as a hobby through a competitive selection process in

all postal circles.

• Philately is the hobby of collection and study of Postage stamps. It also entails the collection,

appreciation and research activities on stamps and other related philatelic products.

• Philately is called the king of hobbies because Stamp collection as a hobby has lot of

educational benefits - it teaches a lot about the socio economic political reality of the period in

which the stamp is issued or the theme on which it is issued.

➢ Banaganapalle Mangoes Get GI Tag

• A GI is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial

goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.

• The famous Banaganapalle mangoes of Andhra Pradesh and Tulaipanji rice of West Bengal are

among the seven commodities that have been granted Geographical Indication (GI) this fiscal

year by the Indian patent office.

• The other five products which have received the GI tag this year include Pochampally Ikat of

Telangana; Gobindobhog rice of West Bengal; Durgi stone carvings and Etikoppaka toys of

Andhra Pradesh; and Chakshesang shawl of Nagaland.

• Recently , Rosogolla from West Bengal was given GI tag, putting an end to Odisha’s clam for

the same.


➢ The Rise Of The Bots

• A bot is a computer programme designed to work automatically. It is mainly used to gather

information on the Internet or perform repetitive jobs.

• Some popular examples of bots are Apple’s Siri, the Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and

Microsoft’s Cortana.

• One of the typical beneficial uses of a bot is to gather information. Bots in such guises are called web

crawlers.

• Norton defines a malicious bot as self-propagating malware that infects its host and connects

back to a central server(s). Malicious bots can gather passwords, log keystrokes, obtain financial

information, relay spam, and exploit back doors opened by viruses and worms.

• Artificial intelligence-based bots are increasingly being used by organisations and entities to

provide customer care, and sales and marketing services.

• Some banks have also introduced AI-based chatbots that are capable of interacting with users

and answering information-related queries.eg. Lakshmi, Eva

➢ Former PM Manmohan Singh To Get Indira Gandhi Peace Prize

• Manmohan Singh will receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and

Development this year for his leadership of the country between 2004 and 2014 and for enhancing

India's stature globally.

• The international award named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was instituted in 1986,

given to Parliamentarians for Global Action. The last two recipients have been the Indian Space

Research Organisation (2014) and the UN High Commission for Refugees (2015).

➢ India's Longest Bridge In Assam

• India's longest bridge - the 9.15 km long Dhola-Sadiya bridge, built over the River Brahmaputra,

in Assam has been named After , Musician,Lyricist and Poet, Bhupen Hazarika .

• The bridge will enhance connectivity and greatly reduce travel time between Assam and Arunachal.

➢ VIDYA VEERTA ABHIYAN

• Through this campaign a wall of valour will be built in colleges and universities across the country

and this will be built on contributory funding by students and teachers on voluntary basis.

• This wall will be 15X20 feet in size and will depict the portraits of all the 21 Paramveer Chakra

recipients. This will help revive and re-energize the patriotic fervour in our young minds.

➢ UNESCO Inscribes Yoga In Representative List Of Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Humanity

• Yoga, India’s one of the ancient practices has now been inscribed as an element in the UNESCO’s

list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity .

• Recognising its universal appeal, in December 2014, the United Nations had proclaimed June 21

as International Yoga Day.

• Yoga has become the 13th intangible cultural heritage that has been listed from India so far

with UNESCO.


• Previous ones includes the :Chhau dance( Inscribed in 2010), the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh (

inscribed in 2012), Sankirtana –the ritual singing, drumming, and dancing of Manipur( inscribed in

2013), the traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru,

Punjab(inscribed in 2014) and Ramlila- the traditional performance of the Ramayana ( inscribed in

2008). Ramman, Vedic Chanting, Koodiyattam,Mudiyettu, Kalbelia, Nowruz, Kumbh Mela are others.

➢ Empowering The Soldier By Project Yash Vidya

• Under the scheme , a MoU was signed between Indian Army and Yashwantrao Chavan

Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), Nasik for Bachelors degree programme.

• The Bachelor’s degree Programme designed for the Army Personnel gives special recognition

to the in-service training/Army courses completed and by providing exemption from studying certain

courses.

• The University will award Diploma in Self Empowerment and a Bachelors Degree in Arts or

Commerce under Project Yash Vidya enabling them with academic qualifications for better future.

➢ Important Awards

Jnanpith Award/Winner (2017) : krishna sobti

Vyas SammanAward (2017) : Mamta Kalia“sukkham dukkham”

Saraswati Samman (2016) : Mahabaleshwar Sail“ Hawthan” (Konkani)

Moortidevi Award (2017) : Joy Goswami “ Du Dondo Phowara Matro”(Bengali)

Bihari Puraskar (2016) : Satya Narayan2016 "Yeh Ek Dunia"

Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (2017) Prize: Pawan Kumar Chamling

➢ Important committees

Committes Chairpersons Mandate

N.K.Singh N.K.Singh To review the Fiscal Responsibility And Budget

Management (FRBM) Act.

Amitabh

Chaudhry

Amitabh Chaudhry To analyze the existing framework of IRDA

N S Kang

committtee

N.S.Kang To frame uniform rules for the states to avoid delay in

proper implementation of the Rights Of Persons with

Disabilities Act across the country.

Timothy

Gonsalves

Committee

Prof. Timothy Gonsalves Suggested to create 20 percent reservation seats for the

girl students in IITs

Sports Code

committee

Injeti Srinivas To suggest improvements in the National Sports

Development Code functioning of sports federations.

11member

Inter-

disciplinary

Standing

Committee on

Cyber Security

RBI Executive Director Meena

Hemchandra

To review the threats emerging from the Use of technology,

Suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen

cyber security and resilience.

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=12&ved=0ahUKEwjhsqyZ3J3YAhXEuo8KHY9FC5EQFghtMAs&url=https%3A%2F%2Fkhabar.ndtv.com%2Fnews%2Fliterature%2Fkrishna-sobti-will-be-awarded-gyanpeeth-award-for-the-year-2017-1770714&usg=AOvVaw37vkJAUbLXWSOzXWo9biys

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bengali_language


D B Shekatkar

Committee

D B Shekatkar To reform the military financial management

Agricultural Produce Market

Committee

Mr.Ashok Dalwai To establish a regulated wholesale agri-market at

a distance of every 80km

Inter-Disciplinary Committee Dinesh Sharma To propose new regulations related to digital

currencies or virtual currencies

Chitale Committee Madhav Chitale To recommend measures for desiltation of river

Ganga

High-level taskforce Arvind Panagariya To compute timely data on employment situation

in the country.

RBI Overseeing Committee Pradeep Kumar To look at the stressed assets of the banking

sector.

Panel on National Education

Policy

Krishnaswamy

Kasturirangan

To draft the National Education Policy

Task Force on Artificial

Intelligence

Dr.V.Kamakoti Artificial Intelligence(AI) for India’s Economic

Transformation

Hate speech on internet T.K.Viswanathan The committee has suggested thatsection78 of the

IT Act needs to be substituted and Section153 &

505A of the Indian Penal Code needs to be

amended

Group of Ministers on the

implementation of GST.

Hasmukh Adhia To look at the issues of exports sector and to

recommend to the GST Council

Group of Ministers on the

implementation of GST.

Sushil Kumar Modi To monitor and resolve IT challenges faced in

implementation of Goods and Services Tax(GST)

Water resources in the North

Eastern Region(NER).

Rajiv Kumar A high-level committee for proper management of

the water resources in the North Eastern Region

Sub Categorization of OBCs G Rohini To examine sub categorization of

OBCs Under Article340 of the Constitution

Standing Committee on External

Affairs

Shashi Tharoor Examine the issue of cooperation between India

and China in International organisations.

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