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( 2019 - 3 October 2019)rd27 Septemberth

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INDEXArt and Culture, Society, Social and National Issues

1. Jasraj PanditPolity & Governance, Social Justice, Social Development

2. Central Drug Standard Control Org. (CDSCO)3. Emergency Response Support System (ERSS)4. Margadarshan and Margdarshak Scheme5. National Population Register (NPR)6. National Recruitment Agency7. Zonal Councils

International Relations, India & the World and International Affairs8. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)9. Shanghai Spirit10. UNSC 1267 Committee

Indian Economy and Economic Development11. Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)12. CPI13. Crude Oil & Crude Oil Suppliers

Environment and Ecology14. Shola Grasslands15. National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT)16. Waste Management Accelerator for Aspiring women Entrepreneurs (WAWE) Summit 2019

Science and Technology, Defense, Health17. Aluminum Air Battery18. Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM)19. Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV)20. Google – Indian Languages21. International Command Exercise22. Medical Palmistry – Dermatoglyphics Multiple Intelligence Test (DMIT)23. Zero Interconnect Usage Charges (IUC) regime

More News24. DadashaebPhalke Awards & National Film Awards

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Art and Culture, Society, Social and National Issues

1. Jasraj PanditWhy in News? A minor planet between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter has been named after the legendary vocalist

Pandit Jasraj.What are Minor Planets? Minor planets are celestial objects orbiting the Sun that are not large enough for their gravity to pull them

into a spherical shape. This distinguishes a minor planet — or a “small Solar System body”, which is nowthe preferred term — from planets or “dwarf planets”, which are almost spherical. Small Solar Systembodies include asteroids, comets, and several other celestial objects that go around the Sun.

How Are they named? Names of celestial bodies are finally approved by a committee at the International Astronomical Union

(IAU), a global organisation of professional astronomers, which also decides on definitions of fundamentalastronomical and physical constants.

In the case of small Solar System bodies, the discoverer has the privilege to suggest the name. The discovererholds this privilege for 10 years since the discovery. But there is a process to be followed, and not all namesare acceptable.

Is Pandit the only person to get a name? However, he is not the only Indian to receive the honour. Apparently, there are other Indian figures, who

have minor planets named after them. Here is a list of some of them: Hamsa Padmanabhan SainudeenPattazhy  Akshat Singhal Vishwanath Anand Madhav Pathak

Who is Pandit Jasraj? Pandit Jasraj (Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj, born 28 January 1930) is an Indian classical vocalist, belonging

to the Mewati gharana (musical apprenticeship lineage) Jasraj has taught music in India, Canada and the US. Some of his students have in turn become notable

musicians.

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Polity & Governance, Social Justice, Social Development

2. Central Drug Standard Control Org. (CDSCO)Why in News? Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has asked manufacturers of a fixed-dose combination

(FDC) featuring the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory aceclofenacto perform active post-market safety monitoringon at least 200 patients with colicky pain due to smooth muscle spasm. CDSCO wants manufacturers to filethe resulting report within one year.

About The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is the Central Drug Authority for discharging

functions assigned to the Central Government under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. CDSCO has six zonaloffices, four sub-zonal offices, 13 port offices and seven laboratories under its control.

Under Ministry of Health & Family welfareMajor functions of CDSCO : Regulatory control over the import of drugs, approval of new drugs and clinical trials, meetings of Drugs Consultative Committee (DCC) and Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), approval of certain licenses as Central License Approving Authority

3. Emergency Response Support System (ERSS)Why in News? The Delhi Police on Wednesday launched the single emergency helpline number ‘112’ for immediate

assistance. Now, instead of ‘100, 101 and 102’, the Delhi residents can just use ‘112’. The EmergencyResponse Support System (ERSS-112)

About Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) is a Pan-India single number (112) based emergency response

system for citizens in emergencies. The Emergency Response Centre is capable of receiving emergencycalls through voice call to 112, email, panic buttons activated calls and 112 India mobile App.

112 is a globally recognized single emergency number, adopted by most of European countries, commonwealth nations and mapped to emergency numbers in USA and Canada. Most of Phone handsets aremanufactured with pre-programmed 112 as emergency number to be dialed with single key press. TRAIallotted this number for the purpose of single emergency number in India in May 2015.

Scope & Coverage : It is currently rolled out in 24 States/UTs.Utility to Citizens If you require emergency assistance from Police, Fire or Health departments or from any other services,

you may:– Dial 112 from your phone– If you have a smart phone, Press power button on your smart phone 3 times in quick succession to

activate Panic call;

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– If you have a feature phone, Long press ‘5’ or ‘9’ key on your feature phone to activate Panic call;– Use 112 India mobile app (available in Google Playstore and Apple store) to activate a panic call.– For women and children, 112 India App provides a special SHOUT feature which alerts registered

volunteers in the vicinity of victim for immediate assistance.

4. Margadarshan and Margdarshak SchemeWhy in News? Union Human Resource Development Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched several initiatives

of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)in New Delhi today. It includes Facilitation throughMargadarshan and Margadarshak, Model Curriculum for Diploma Courses, Waste Management Acceleratorfor Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs (WAWE Summit 2019) and 360-degree Feedback of Faculty.

Margadarshan : Under this scheme, institutions having good accreditation record / highly performing institutions are supposed

to mentor relatively newer 10 – 12 potential institutions. Best practices in teaching learning process followed in mentor institute are diffused to mentee institutions. These institutions are also provided funding upto Rs. 50 lakhs (Rupees Fifty Lakhs Only) per institution

over a period of three years in instalments for carrying out various activities like trainings, workshops,conferences and travel.

Margdarshak : Under this scheme, mentor teachers or Margdarshaks who are either serving or superannuated but willing

and motivated with good knowledge of accreditation and who can devote adequate time to make requiredvisits to these Institutions are identified.

These Margdarshaks will regularly visit to the mentee institutions, stay on their campus and guide them fortheir improvement in quality so that institutions are able to get accreditation by NBA.

Selection of Mentee Institutes : In the 1st phase, institutes having student enrolment of 70% or more and willing to get mentoring through

AICTE’s Margadarshaks, but are not yet accredited are provided Margadarshaks. Remaining institutes canbe covered in the subsequent phases. Willingness of mentee institutes is taken. However, response givingwillingness to be a Mentee institute has been received from 400 institutes only to date.

Criteria for Margadarshaks are: Must be a Ph.D. Should be from Technical Education (Engg.) Domain Min experience 20 years; Not less than 5 years in academicsAnd Designation not less than Professor if from AICTE approved institution Or Not less than Associate Professor if from IIT/NIT And Minimum 10 Research Publications Or Minimum 05 Ph.D. Guidance Or Minimum 2 Patents Or Minimum 2 Books written And Member NBA visit team / NAAC visit team Or Participated in accreditation of his/her own department at least for 2 cycles Persons from industry with passion for education & who are NBA/NAAC team members Applicants should have time to visit institutes

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5. National Population Register (NPR)Why in News? Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this week announced that Census 2021 will also have the

National Population Register (NPR), adding that the process will be digital and a mobile app will beused in the exercise.

About NPR The National Population Register (External website that opens in a new window) (NPR) is a

comprehensive identity database to be maintained by the Registrar General and Census Commissionerof India (External website that opens in a new window), Ministry of Home Affairs (External websitethat opens in a new window).

As per Section 14A of the Citizenship Act 1955 (External website that opens in a new window) asamended in 2004, it is compulsory for every citizen of the country to register in the National Registerof Indian Citizens (NRIC). The creation of the National Population Register (NPR) is the first steptowards preparation of the NRIC. Out of the universal dataset of residents, the subset of citizenswould be derived after due verification of the citizenship status. Therefore, it is compulsory for allusual residents to register under the NPR.

6. National Recruitment AgencyWhy in News? The Finance Ministry has approved a proposal to streamline recruitment of Group-B (non-gazetted), Group-

C (non-technical) and clerical posts in the government along with various equivalent recruitment in publicsector banks

A new National Recruitment Agency (NRA) will be set up to conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) forall these competitive examinations

About A new National Recruitment Agency (NRA) will be set up to conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) for

all various competitive examinations, in which an estimated 2.5 crore candidates appear annually. NRA will conduct preliminary examinations for all these recruitment, which are at present conducted by the

Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). It will then subsequently forward the list of qualifying candidates to the respective recruiting agencies to

conduct the mains examinations. The basic idea behind this proposal is to shortlist qualifying candidates through a Common Eligibility Test

before sending them for the mains examination.

7. Zonal CouncilsWhy in News? Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday chaired the Northern Zonal Council meeting in Chandigarh. The

Northern Zonal Council comprises Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab,Rajasthan, and New Delhi.

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About Zonal Council The idea of creation of Zonal Councils was mooted by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal

Nehru in 1956 when during the course of debate on the report of the States Re-organisation Commission,he suggested that the States proposed to be reorganised may be grouped into four or five zones having anAdvisory Council ‘to develop the habit of cooperative working” among these States. This suggestion wasmade by Pandit Nehru at a time when linguistic hostilities and bitterness as a result of re-organisation of theStates on linguistic pattern were threatening the very fabric of our nation. As an antidote to this situation, itwas suggested that a high level advisory forum should be set up to minimise the impact of these hostilitiesand to create healthy inter-State and Centre-State environment with a view to solving inter-State problemsand fostering balanced socio economic development of the respective zones.

Composition In the light of the vision of Pandit Nehru, five Zonal Councils were set up vide Part-III of the States Re-

organisation Act, 1956. The present composition of each of these Zonal Councils is as under: The Northern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir,

Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh; The Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya

Pradesh; The Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim and West Bengal; The Western Zonal Council, comprising the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territories

of Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli; The Southern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and

the Union Territory of Puducherry. The North Eastern States i.e. (i) Assam (ii) Arunachal Pradesh (iii) Manipur (iv) Tripura (v) Mizoram (vi)

Meghalaya and (vii) Nagaland are not included in the Zonal Councils and their special problems are lookedafter by the North Eastern Council, set up under the North Eastern Council Act, 1972. The State of Sikkimhas also been included in the North Eastern Council vide North Eastern Council (Amendment) Act, 2002notified on 23rd December 2002. Consequently, action for exclusion of Sikkim as member of Eastern ZonalCouncil has been initiated by Ministry of Home Affairs.

Organisational Structure Chairman - The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each of these Councils. Vice Chairman - The Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone act as Vice-Chairman of the Zonal

Council for that zone by rotation, each holding office for a period of one year at a time. Members- Chief Minister and two other Ministers as nominated by the Governor from each of the States

and two members from Union Territories included in the zone. Advisers- One person nominated by the Planning Commission for each of the Zonal Councils,

Chief Secretaries and another officer/Development Commissioner nominated by each of the Statesincluded in the Zone

Union Ministers are also invited to participate in the meetings of Zonal Councils depending upon necessity.Objectives The main objectives of setting up of Zonal Councils are as under :

o Bringing out national integration;o Arresting the growth of acute State consciousness, regionalism, linguism and particularistic tendencies;o Enabling the Centre and the States to co-operate and exchange ideas and experiences;o Establishing a climate of co-operation amongst the States for successful and speedy execution of

development projects.

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InternaInternational Relations, India & the World andInternational Affairs

8. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)Why in News? India is expected to back Argentina for the post of Director-General of the International Atomic

Energy Agency (IAEA).The post has been lying vacant since the last incumbent, Yukiya Amano,passed away on July 18.

About It seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose,

including nuclear weapons and materials by the early detection of the misuse. It was established as an autonomous organization which is not under direct control of the UN, but reports to

both the UNGA and Security Council. It is widely known as the world’s “Atoms for Peace” organization. HQ – Vienna. North Korea has withdrawn its candidature from IAEA. IAEA Safeguards are a set of technical measures applied by IAEA and countries accept these measures

through the conclusion of safeguards agreements. It is an essential component of Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which states

that each Non-Nuclear Weapon State is required to conclude a safeguards agreement with the IAEA.

9. Shanghai SpiritWhat it is? The Shanghai Spirit — the core value of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) — has played a

significant role in safeguarding regional security and promoting regional development. The SCO’s undergirding values, which features mutual trust, mutual respect, equality, respect for diverse

civilizations and pursuit of shared development, was born together with the Shanghai Five mechanism, theprecursor of the SCO.

In 2001, the SCO came into being after Uzbekistan formally joined the Shanghai Five, which were China,Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan at that time. The Shanghai Spirit then became the guidelinefor the SCO cooperation.

During the course of its development, the SCO has seen fruitful results in various fields, deepening good-neighborliness and friendship, and win-win cooperation among peoples in the region.

Thanks to the Shanghai Spirit, the SCO has become a paradigm of global and regional cooperation, andserves as a model of efficient cooperation by paying equal attention simultaneously to economic developmentand security cooperation.

The 2016 Summit of the SCO, scheduled for June 23-24 in the Uzbek capital city of Tashkent, marks the15th anniversary of the organization’s establishment and will likely see India and Pakistan take a key steptoward joining the group.

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10. UNSC 1267 Committee (United Nations Security CouncilResolution 1267)

Why in News? The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 Committee has allowed Pakistan-based UN-designated

terrorist Hafiz Saeed limited access to his otherwise sanctioned bank account.About it United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 was adopted unanimously on 15 October 1999. After

recalling resolutions 1189 (1998), 1193 (1998) and 1214 (1998) on the situation in Afghanistan, the Councildesignated Osama bin Laden and associates as terrorists and established a sanctions regime to cover individualsand entities associated with Al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden and/or the Taliban wherever located

The regime has since been reaffirmed and modified by a dozen further UN Security Council Resolutions. Ithas been claimed the sanctions regime caused dire hardship to the people of Afghanistan under the Talibanregime at a time when they were heavily reliant on international food aid, while failing to satisfy any of itsdemands. Since the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the sanctions have been applied to individuals andorganizations in all parts of the world.

The regime is composed of a UN Security Council Committee, a “consolidated list” of people and entities ithas determined as being associated with Al-Qaeda or the Taliban, and laws which must be passed withineach member nation in order to implement the sanctions. The Committee receives reports from each nationas to how the work is proceeding, and is able to vary the conditions imposed on any individual as it sees fit.

There was no right of appeal against listing until December 2006.

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Indian Economy and Economic Development

11. Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)Why in News? The Reserve Bank of India has expanded the scope of the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) by adding

other categories of recurring payments through the portal.About BBPS BBPS is an interoperable platform that enables a customer to pay bills such as telephone, water, gas, direct-

to-home (DTH) and electricity at a single location—electronic or physical. With the expansion of the scopeof the payment facility, other recurring payments such as school fees, municipal taxes, insurance premiumscan also be paid via BBPS.

Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an integrated bill payment system in India offering interoperable andaccessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents of registered member as AgentInstitutions (AI), enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation of payment.

12. CPI (Consumer Price Index)Why in News? Consumer Price Index-based retail inflation reached 3.21 per cent in August, as opposed to 3.15 per cent in

the previous month, showed government data Government is thinking to make a change in the basket

What is CPI? The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of

consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food, and medical care. It is calculated by taking pricechanges for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them. Changes in the CPI areused to assess price changes associated with the cost of living; the CPI is one of the most frequently usedstatistics for identifying periods of inflation or deflation.

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13. Crude Oil & Crude Oil SuppliersWhy in News? India has a strong political and cultural relationship with Iran where it operates a strategic port, US will continue to impose sanctions on whoever purchases Iran’s oil or conducts business with Iran’s

Revolutionary Guards and no oil waivers will be re-issuedIndian Crude Oil Suppliers

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Environment and Ecology

14. Shola GrasslandsWhy in News? Expanding plantains like tea and eucalyptus along with exotic and invasive species in the Nilgiris can wipe

out Shola vegetation, according to a report filed by an expert committee formed by the Madras High Court.About Shola Grassland Shola forests are tropical Montane forests found in the valleys separated by rolling grasslands only in the

higher elevations. They are found only in South India in the Southern Western Ghats. The shola forests arepatches of forests that occur only in the valleys where there is least reach of the fog and mist. Other parts ofthe mountains are covered in grasslands. The trees never grow on the mountain tops. This is such a uniquelandscape formation that is native only to the southern Western Ghats

15. National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT)Why in News?

IIT, NIOT Scientists Using the Power of Oceans to Generate ElectricityAbout NIOT The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was established in November 1993 as an autonomous

society under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. NIOT is managed by a GoverningCouncil and the Director is the head of the Institute. Major aim of starting NIOT under the Ministry ofEarth Sciences, is to develop reliable indigenous technologies to solve the various engineering problemsassociated with harvesting of non-living and living resources in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),which is about two-thirds of the land area of India.

Mission Statement– To develop world class technologies and their applications for sustainable utilization of ocean resources.– To provide competitive, value added technical services and solutions to organizations working in the

oceans.– To develop a knowledge base & institutional capabilities in India for management of ocean resources &

environment.

16. Waste Management Accelerator for Aspiring womenEntrepreneurs (WAWE) Summit 2019

Why in News? Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ launched several initiatives of All

India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in New Delhi on September 18, 2019. It includes facilitationthrough Margadarshan and Margadarshak, Model Curriculum for diploma courses, Waste ManagementAccelerator for Aspiring Women Entrepreneurs (WAWE Summit 2019) and 360-degree feed back of faculty.

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About WAWE ‘WAWE Summit 2019’ is a great initiative because women have skills in their hands and it will further

empower and motivate them. The Ministerinformed that the WAWE Summit will be held in November-December 2019. It will be jointly organized by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) andInstitute of Waste Management (IIWM) at Jaipur. He further said that this conclave will be part of a seriesof activities to encourage entrepreneurship amongst young graduates.

The Union Minister said that we need to be at top in World rankings and the path to take our technicaleducation to the top in the world is made easier through suchinitiatives. It is necessary to create new coursesto prepare students for better understanding in this competitive age and, Model Curriculum for DiplomaCoursesis an effort in this direction.

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Science and Technology, Defense, Health

17. Aluminum Air BatteryWhy in News ? Researchers writing in Energy Storage Materials say they have designed an aluminum battery that is more

environmentally-friendly than the typical lithium kind—it has twice the energy density of previous versionsand is made up of materials abundant in supply

About this battery An aluminum–air battery sandwiches a circulating aqueous electrode between an aluminum anode

and a cathode in contact with ambient air. When the battery is connected to an external circuit, twoelectrochemical reactions take place: At the anode, aluminum reacts with hydroxide ions in theelectrolyte to liberate electrons; at the cathode, oxygen from ambient air reacts with water and withthe electrons reaching the cathode to form hydroxide ions. Since the aluminum is consumed, thebattery can’t be recharged. Still, Al–air batteries offer an appealing combination of light weight, lowcost, and high energy density. But they face a major limitation: When they’re not in use, the electrolytecorrodes the aluminum anodes. In a month the batteries can irreversibly lose as much as 80% of theircharge, compared with 5% losses for lithium-ion batteries. Various strategies have been devised toreduce the corrosion and extend the battery shelf life, but they typically come at the expense of thepower and energy output.

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18. Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM)Why in News? India has a significant burden of typhoid especially among young children and the disease is endemic to the

country. To study how the pathogen that transmits this disease, how the disease progresses, how an individualbody responds to it and how an effective treatment can be formulated to encounter this disease, researchershave proposed Clinical Human Infection Model (CHIM) studies.

About CHIM In a Controlled Human Infection Model (CHIM) study, a well-characterised strain of an infectious agent is

given to carefully selected adult volunteers in order to better understand human diseases, how they spread,and find new ways to prevent and treat them. These studies play a vital role in helping to develop vaccinesfor infectious diseases.

19. Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV)Why in News? For the first time in India, four elephant calves have died in Bhubaneswar’s Nandankanan zoo

within a month after contracting the elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus (EEHV), according tothe Central Zoo Authority.

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About EEHC Elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses (EEHV) or Elephantid betaherpesvirus 1 (ElHV-1) is a type of

herpesvirus, which can cause a highly fatal hemorrhagic disease when transmitted to young Asian elephants.In African elephants, related forms of these viruses, which have been identified in wild populations, aregenerally benign, occasionally surfacing to cause small growths or lesions. However, some types of EEHVcan cause a highly fatal disease in Asian elephants, which kills up to 80% of severely affected individuals.The disease can be treated with the rapid application of antiviral drugs, but this has only been effective inaround a third of cases.

20. Google – Indian LanguagesWhy in News? Google India announced major change to Search in India, the most important one of them being the

introduction of support for new local languages to the Discover feature of Search app in India.About it Besides Hindi and English, we are today adding seven additional Indian languages in Discover(Tamil,

Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam), with three more coming shortly (Oriya,Urdu, Punjabi),

21. International Command ExerciseWhy in News? Russia is holding its annual Center-2019 International Command Exercise involving six other nations

About International Command Exercise Center-2019 is an annual strategic and operational military exercises which aren’t aimed at any third-party

country rather focus on counterterrorist operations and is purely defensive in nature. Military Forces from India, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan will join Russia’s

Central Joint Strategic Command (JSC) for military exercises. Some parts of military drills will be heldoutside Russia in member countries of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) such as Armenia,Kazakhstan, Belarus, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The annual exercises rotate and this year’s mainly focuson Central Joint Strategic Command (JSC). The other JSCs are East, West, and Caucasus. The 2019exercise will be the biggest encompassing nearly 128,000 personnel, 20,000 pieces of equipment and weapons,600 aircraft and helicopters, and 15 warships.

22. Medical Palmistry – Dermatoglyphics Multiple IntelligenceTest (DMIT)

Why in News? Calling it “medical palmistry”, doctors in India have questioned the effectiveness of Dermatoglyphics Multiple

Intelligence Test (DMIT), a popular test used on school children as a “scientific” study of fingerprintspatterns and human brain lobes to determine the “intrinsic potential in a child”.

The Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) has now urged schools and parents to stay away from “suchill-found practices”.

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There is no scientific evidence of this test being useful for measuring or accessing intelligence and brain lobefunctioning or predicting future behaviour.

About DMIT Dermatoglyphics is a scientific analysis of fingerprint patterns.The term Dermatoglyphics originates from

two Greek words. DERMA = SKIN + GLYPHE = CURVE Fingerprints and dermal ridge pattern are unique with each individual.Even Fingerprints are differences

between similar twins also.Discover your intrinsic potential by identifying the form and various types ofstyles on the finger

23. Zero Interconnect Usage Charges (IUC) regimeWhy in News? TRAI released a new consultation paper to review its earlier decision of bringing down IUC to zero paise

from January 2020.About this regime BAK (bill and keep) or zero-termination charge regime At present, interconnect charge is paid by the call-originating telco to the destination operator. But under the

proposed BAK system, which is set to take effect from January, the call-originating telco, which also billsthe user, would keep the money, thus making it a zero-IUC regime.

How incumbent operators misuse IUC In many countries across the world, an IUC regime is seen as an incentive for incumbent telecom operators

to keep providing outdated 2G services and avoid shifting to full VoLTE 4G networks. The theory is that instead of investing on upgrading their networks, it makes business sense for incumbent

operators to keep tariffs high for lower-income subscribers so that they give a missed call whenever theywant to talk to someone. On receiving a missed call, a subscriber at competitor’s network would call themback, thus generating revenue for the incumbent operator.

The IUC game is also inevitably stacked against newer operators, who are more likely to invest in the latesttechnology. New entrants to the telecom industry have fewer subscribers than their incumbent competitors.This means that there are usually more outgoing calls than incoming calls, and thus they pay more IUC thanthey receive.

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24. DadashaebPhalke Awards & National Film AwardsWhy in News? Recently superstar Amitabh Bachchan will be awarded the prestigious DadasahebPhalke Award, Indian

cinema’s highest honour.About India’s Highest award in Cinema It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an

organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The recipient is honoured for their “outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian

cinema selected by a committee consisting of eminent personalities from the Indian film industry. award comprises a Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus) medallion, a shawl, a silk roll and a cash prize of ¹

1,000,000 Presented first in 1969, the award was introduced by the Government of India to commemorate

DadasahebPhalke’s contribution to Indian cinema The award is presented by the President of India The first recipient of the award was Devika Rani Roerich in 1969.

Dada Saheb Phalke Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, the pioneering filmmaker who gave India its first film– ‘Raja

Harishchandra’, in 1913.National Awards Categories 

1. Civilian Awards 2. Military Awards3. Leadership Awards4. Literature Awards5. National Sports Awards

1. Civilian Awards distributed to people for good work in fields such as art, literature and education, sports, medicine,

social work, science and engineering, public affairs, civil service, trade and industry, etc Four Types Bharat Ratna

Highest Civilian Award for the good work in the field of science, Arts, literature, sports etc. Started in Year 1954 A Sanad (certificate) signed by the President and a medallion is presented at the time of distribution

of awards.

More News

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Padma Vibhushan It is second highest civilian award and is given for exceptional and distinguished service.

Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award of of India given for distinguished service of a high order.

Padma Shri fourth highest civilian award in India is Padma Shri which is awarded for distinguished service.

Military Awards awarded to defence persons for their extraordinary bravery and courage and to honour them for their

distinguished services during times of war and peace Categories Wartime Gallantry

Param Vir Chakra Before independence Victoria Cross was given by British government but later on Param Vir

Chakra replaced it. Maha Vir Chakra

It is equivalent to Medal of Honor given in the United States and Victoria Cross of UK. Vir Chakra Peacetime Gallantry

Ashok Chakra Equivalent to Param Vir Chakra, it is awarded for showing courageous action or self-sacrifice away from battle field.

Kirti Chakra Shaurya Chakra

Leadership Awards Gandhi Peace Prize Awards Indira Gandhi Prize

Literature Awards Jyanpith Award Sahitya Akademi Award Sahitya Akademi Fellowship Bhasha Samman Translation Awards Anand Coomarswamy Fellowship Premchand Fellowship

National Sports Award Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Dronacharya Award Arjuna Award Dhyan Chand Award

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