July Month 2022 PRELIMS - INSIGHTS IAS

www.insightsonindia.com2

GS PAPER - 1Indian Heritage and Culture• Karnataka’s folklore University 6• GI tag sought for Mayurbhanj’s superfood ‘ant

chutney’ (Kai Chutney) 6• Dr Rajendra Prasad Memorial Award 6• Fields Medal 7• Toys in India 7• Mangarh Hillock to be declared ‘as a monument of

national importance’ 8• TIME’s list of the world’s greatest places of 2022 9• Anayoottu 9• Sannati 9• Pythagoras theorem in Vedic-era texts 10• Ibrahim Adil Shah II 10• Kali Bein 10• Keshava temple at Somanathapur 11• Modhera Sun Temple 11• Craft Villages 11• T.N. sends soil samples for a project relating to the

new Parliament building 11

Festival in News• Kharchi Festival 12• Bonalu Festival 12• Pryushan Parva (festival) 12Modern History/Personality• Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray 13• Four tribal revolts President Murmu invoked in her

inaugural speech 13

Geography• Derecho 14• Heat Index 14• Azores High 15• Tobacco 15• Karakoram Anomaly 15• EU’s palm oil row with Malaysia and Indonesia 15• Coastal Erosion 16• Aridity Anomaly Outlook Index 16Places in News• Donetsk and Luhansk 17Tribes in News• ‘Indigenous’ status for five communities 17• Hattis Community 18• ‘Johar’ greeting 18Society and Social Justice• INTERPOL’s ICSE Initiative On Child Sex Abuse 18• DGCA’s Denial Of A Pilot Licence To Transgender

Person Discriminatory: Ministry 19• Blackout challenge 19• National Internet Exchange Of India (NIXI) 19

GS PAPER - 2Polity• BAIL ACT 20• Right to Repair 20• Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill, 2019 20• Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory (DFSL)

21• Giving up citizenship 21• World Press Freedom Index 2022 21• Flag Code of India 2022 22• Delimitation in four North-East States 22

inside

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• Model Tenancy Act 23• Draft Coffee (promotion and Development) Bill,

2022 23• International Safety Cards 24• The Family Courts (Amendment) Bill 2022 24Government Initiative and Policies• Data points on India’s Digital Initiative: 24• PM Formalisation of Micro Food processing enter-

prise (PMFME) 25• Gujarat, Karnataka and Meghalaya best states for

startup ecosystem: DPIIT rankings 25• PM-Svanidhi scheme 25• Mission Vatsalya 26• PM inaugurates Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam

on implementation of NEP 26• National Industrial Corridor Development Pro-

gramme (NICDP) 27• Giga Mesh 27• Strengthening Of Pharmaceuticals Industry (SPI)

Scheme 28

• India Stack 28• Fertilizers Flying Squad 28• ‘Jute Mark India’ logo 29• POSOCO to run single window green energy system

29• SAMARTH 29• Rise in unvaccinated children 29• Grey water management 30• Data Localization 30• Jagriti 31• National Statistical Office data on employment 31• National Standards for Civil Service Training Institu-

tions 31• NAMASTE Scheme 32• National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme 32• Swadesh Darshan Scheme 2.0 32• Rashtriya Purushkar Portal (national Awards Portal)

33• India Family Planning 2030 vision document 33

• World’s first Locomotion trials of Deep-Sea Mining System 33

• Education Initiatives by Government 34• Seekho aur Kamao (Learn and Earn) scheme 34• Operation “NARCOS” 35• Govt Deletes NGO’s Data From FCRA Site 35

International News and Organization• Chicago Convention 35• Nord Stream 36• International North-South Transport Corridor (IN-

STC) 36• Chin refugees 36• Twiplomacy 37• India-Africa Trade and Investment Agreement (IAT-

IA) 37• Landlord Port Model 38• WHO declares monkey pox public health emergen-

cy of international concern 38• Russia-Ukraine Grain Deal 38• UNRWA 39• UN declares access to a clean and healthy environ-

ment as a universal human right 39

GS PAPER - 3Economy• Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) 39


• InvITs and ReITs 40• Service Charges 40• Hurun India Future Unicorn Index 2022 40• Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) 41• Sovereign wealth funds (SWF) 41• Build- Operate- Transfer Model 42• RBI recommends ban on Cryptocurrencies 42• Remittance in India 42• ICRA (Investment Information and Credit Rating

Agency of India Limited) 42• Impact Investment 43

• Report on Digital Banks 43• NITI Aayog’s India Innovation Index, 2022 44• Strengthening Pharmaceuticals Industry’ (SPI) 44• Resilient Supply Chain 45• Initiatives to boost electric mobility 45• BIS standards on Safety aspects of toys 46• Borrowings by State PSUs 46• MAGIFAC 46• Power Generation Capacity 47• RBI’s Digital Payments Index (RBI-DPI) 47• Amendment to PMLA 47• FDI in India 48• India International Bullion Exchange (IIBX) 48• Aid for Trade (A4T) 49• Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) 49Agriculture• Agriculture Census 49• India’s jute economy is faltering while Bangladesh’s

is flourishing 50• System of Rice Intensification (SRI) 50• Direct-seeded rice 51• Minimum Support Price 51• Opium opened for private players 51• White Onion gets GI tags 52• The fishbone channel plantation method 52Science and Technology• Spatial transcriptomics 53• TiHAN 53• Sand battery 53• “Camo-cropping” trial 54• Co-location 54• Anthrax outbreak in Kerala 54• Oncolytic viruses 55• MUON Magnetism 55• Monkeypox Cases 55• Uber Files 56• Digital Nomads 56• The ISRO System For Safe And Sustainable Space

Operations & Management (IS4OM) 57• AI-Based Mandarin Translation Devices 57• POP-FAME 57• Lavender Scare 58• Facial recognition technology 58• Sodium Ion (Na-ION) based battery 58• Low-power memory device 59• Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy 59• Vaccination in India 59• Aneurysm 60• Marburg virus 60• ISRO’s upcoming mission 60• Wormhole 60• Low-Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD)

technology 61• A new spray coating to protect surfaces from virus-

es, bacteria 61• MIST Submarine Cable System 62• Centaurus 62• N-Treat technology 62


• Lumpy Skin Disease 62• Researchers develop antimicrobial coating from

agricultural waste 63• Fiberisation 63• Vaccine development of Monkeypox Virus 63• Anti-retroviral Therapy (ART) 64• Gaia Hypothesis 64• Crypto-jacking 65• Vitamin B1 (thiamine) 65• Hepatitis 65• Randomized Controlled Trial 66• The Oldest European Human Fossil Found 66Environment• Singalila National Park 66• Decriminalisation Of Indian Forest Act, 1927 67• Green Hydrogen From Biomass 67• Commission for air quality management (CAQM) 67• Initiatives for clean energy 68• Shifting agriculture (podu) 68• Natural Resource Accounting (NRA) 68• Bioeconomy 68• Congo 69• India Designates 5 New Ramsar Sites 69• Manure Management 70• No New construction in ‘Core Areas’ 70• Earth Overshoot Day 70• Loktak Lake 71

Species in News• India adds 540 species to its faunal database, and

315 taxa to its flora in 2021 71• Chenkurinji 71• Nairobi flies 72• Banni grasslands 72• Wolbachia bacteria 72• Sandfish 73• Dragon Fruit Cultivation 73• Indian Bustard count falls below 100 73• Asiatic black bears 74• India and Namibia sign MoU to bring cheetahs to

India 74• Migratory monarch butterflies officially declared

‘endangered’ 74• Snow leopard regulates its prey population 75• Light-malted Albatross 75

Defence• Project 17A Frigate 75• Kilo class submarine 76• SPRINT challenges 76• India to set up joint theatre commands 76• India-Japan Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX)

77• INS Vikrant 77


GS PAPER - 1Indian Heritage and Culture

KARNATAKA’S FOLKLORE UNI-VERSITY

Context:Karnataka Janapada Vishwavidyalaya (Karnataka Folk-lore University), the only university in the world which offers courses in folk arts and culture, has now set its eyes on expanding its reach globally.

It offers certificate courses in doddata (folk drama), dollu kunitha, kamsale, thogalu bombeyata (puppet show), traditional embroidery, folk tourism, folk songs, folk dances, bamboo art, folk martial arts, folk sports, percussion instrument, and yoga.

GI TAG SOUGHT FOR MAYUR-BHANJ’S SUPERFOOD ‘ANT CHUT-

NEY’ (KAI CHUTNEY)Weaver ants, scientifically called Oecophylla smarag-dina, are abundantly found in Mayurbhanj throughout the year. They construct nests with the leaves of host trees. They are eaten raw or mixed with spices.

This savoury food item, rich in valuable proteins, cal-cium, zinc, vitamin B-12, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper, fibre and 18 amino acids, is known to boost the immune system and keep diseases at bay.

DR RAJENDRA PRASAD MEMORI-AL AWARD

Awards in public administration in the field of academ-ic excellence, in memory of the first President of India.

Dr Rajendra Prasad was the first president of indepen-dent India. He was an Indian Freedom Activist, Lawyer, and Scholar too. He served as the Food and Agriculture Minister in the central government after the 1946 elec-tions. He also served as the President of the Constitu-ent Assembly of India.

LITERARY WORKS • Satyagraha at Champaran (1922)• India Divided (1946) • Atmakatha (1946) his autobiography written during

his 3-year prison term in Bankipur Jail• Mahatma Gandhi and Bihar, Some Reminiscences

(1949)• Bapu Ke Kadmon Mein (1954)• Since Independence (1960)


FIELDS MEDALContext:The International Mathematical Union (IMU) rec-ognised Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovs-ka’s work on the sphere-packing problem in 8 and 24 dimensions.

The Fields Medal is awarded by the IMU, an interna-tional non-governmental and non-profit scientific or-ganisation.

The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to one or more mathematicians under the age of 40 in recog-nition of “outstanding mathematical achievement for existing work and for the promise of future achieve-ment.

Indian Origin winners:• Akshay Venkatesh of the Institute for Advanced

Study at Princeton (2018)• Manjul Bhargava of the Department of Mathemat-

ics at Princeton University(2014)

TOYS IN INDIAContext: As per government data, toy import in the country has come down by 70%. The toy industry is primarily an unorganized industry in India.

Government initiatives:• PM’s call on “Rebranding the Indian Toy Story”

• Toycathon 2021 was organised by the Ministry of Education to conceptualise toys/games based on Indian Civilisation.

• National Action Plan for Indian Toy Story to boost local manufacturing.

• Under National Education Policy 2020 toy-making will be introduced to students from the sixth stan-dard onwards.

• Exemptions: there are exemptions on standardiza-tion for goods and articles manufactured and sold by registered local artisans

Toys:Wooden toys (UP): Wooden toys of Varanasi date back to over 200 years.

Mitti ke khilone (RJ)- Clay toy

Etikoppaka bommalu (Andhra): Traditional shapes of the toys include a farmer with nagali, a bridal set, veena, sannai melam, a spread of traditional wedding sweets and more.


Choppu saman (TN): These wooden toy sets of minia-ture kitchen utensils come in different sizes and shapes, polished at the edges and painted bright.

Channapatna toys (Karnataka): Channapatna toys are made from natural products like wood and natural veg-etable dyes.

Chankana, Ghuggu and Handwai (Punjab)

MANGARH HILLOCK TO BE DE-CLARED ‘AS A MONUMENT OF

NATIONAL IMPORTANCE’

Context:The government is exploring the possibility of declar-ing Mangarh Hillock, in Banswara District (Rajasthan), a monument of national importance.

About Mangarh:

• Situated on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border• Religious importance: Known as Mangarh Dham• Mangarh massacre (1913): Bhils under social re-

former Govind Guru and Punja revolted against the British. Govind Guru launched ‘Bhagat move-ment’ asking them to adhere to vegetarianism and abstain from all types of intoxicants. ◦ Mini Jalianwala Bagh massacre: Britishers fired

hundred of tribals gathered at the Mangarh hill-ock for a peaceful meeting in 1913.

• Places of national importance: ASI considers a place to be of ‘national importance’ if the site is: ◦ Not less than 100 years old ◦ Has special historical, archaeological or artistic

interest ◦ Comes under the definition contained under

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958

◦ No objections to declare them as of national im-portance


TIME’S LIST OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST PLACES OF 2022

Indian city Ahmedabad and the state of Kerala have been mentioned in TIME magazine’s list of the world’s greatest places of 2022.

Nomination: TIME solicited nominations of places from our inter-national network of correspondents and contributors, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting ex-periences.

Why Ahmedabad: • India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City• Cultural tourism: Ancient landmarks and contempo-

rary innovations, Gandhi Ashram, Navratri (longest dance festival in the world)

• Ahmedabad’s Gujarat Science City, a “sprawling en-tertainment centre and theme park”, unveiled three major attractions last year, including a 20-acre na-ture park to educate the public on local flora as well as provide new spaces for playing chess and prac-tising yoga.

Why Kerela:• Kerala is one of India’s most beautiful states• Spectacular beaches and lush backwaters, temples,

and palaces, it’s known as “God’s own country”• Kerala is boosting motor-home tourism• State’s first caravan park, Karavan Meadows, opened

in Vagamon, a scenic hill station

ANAYOOTTU

An annual ritual at Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thris-sur, in which more than 50 elephants are fed special food, is done to propitiate Lord Ganesha, who, accord-ing to Hindu belief, removes obstacles in one’s life.Ritual was started to help elephants paraded at the 1982 Games’ opening ceremony regain health.

SANNATIContext:The Archaeological Survey of India has now taken up conservation work at this important Buddhist site near Kalaburagi.

It is an ancient Buddhist site on the bank of the Bhima river near Kanaganahalli in the Kalaburagi district.

The Kanaganahalli excavation opened up many marvels :Magnificent Maha Stupa, which was referred to as Ad-holoka Maha Chaitya (the Great Stupa of the nether-worlds) in the inscriptions and, more significantly, the stone portrait of Emperor Ashoka, surrounded by his queens and female attendants considered to be the only surviving image of the Mauryan Emperor which had the inscription ‘Raya Asoko’ in Brahmi on it.


PYTHAGORAS THEOREM IN VE-DIC-ERA TEXTS

Baudhayana Sulbasutra contains a statement of what is called the Pythagoras theorem. The yajna rituals in-volved the construction of altars (Vedi) and fireplaces (Agni) in a variety of shapes such as isosceles triangles, symmetric trapezia, and rectangles. The sulbasutras de-scribe steps towards the construction of these figures with prescribed sizes.

The Pythagoras theorem describes the relationship connecting the three sides of a right triangle (one in which one of the angles is 90°):a² + b² = c²where a and b are the two perpendicular sides, and c is the length of the diagonal side.If any two sides of a right triangle are known, the theo-rem allows you to calculate the third side. Extended to the sides of squares and rectangles and their diagonals, the equation is of immense importance in construction, navigation and astronomy.

IBRAHIM ADIL SHAH II

Among the Bijapur Sultans of the Adil Shahi dynas-ty (1490–1686), Ibrahim Adil Shah II (r. 1571–1627) stands out as a poet, musician and painter, besides be-ing a talented ruler and patron of art.Ibrahim belonged to the Sunni Islam sect but was broadminded in his religious views and practices. He was devoted to Prophet Muhammad, Hindu deities

Saraswati and Ganapati, and Sufi saint Sayyid Muham-mad Gisu Daraz (1321–1422) of Gulbarga.Ibrahim was well aware of the Indian aesthetic concept of the Rasa (essence), In 1599, he laid the foundation for a new capital, Navraspur, near Bijapur. He also issued a coin, the Nun-i-Nauras.Ibrahim penned 59 songs and 17 couplets—in Ki-tab-i-Nauras (Nauras Nama)—in Deccani, which later developed into Urdu.

KALI BEINContext:Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been admit-ted to Delhi’s Apollo Hospital, days after he had drunk a glass of water directly from the Kali Bein, a holy rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi.• It is a 165-km rivulet that starts from Hoshiarpur

and meets the confluence of the rivers Beas and Sutlej in Kapurthala.

• It is called Kali Bein (black rivulet) as industrial wastes from around 80 villages and half a dozen small and big towns flow into it.

• Religious significance: The Kali Bein is of great signif-icance to the Sikh religion and history, because the first Guru, Nanak Dev, is said to have gotten enlight-enment here.

• When Guru Nanak Dev was staying at Sultanpur Lodhi, he would bathe in the Kali Bein. He is said to have disappeared into the waters one day, before emerging on the third day. The first thing he recited became the “Mool Mantra” of the Sikh religion.


KESHAVA TEMPLE AT SOMANA-THAPUR

Context:The 13th-century Keshava temple also called “poetry in stone”, is getting a makeover ahead of the proposed visit of the UNESCO team to inspect the Hoysala mon-ument nominated for inscription as a World Heritage Site.

The Chennakesava Temple, is a Vaishnava Hindu temple on the banks of River Kaveri at Somanathapura, Karna-taka, India. The temple was consecrated in 1258 CE by Somanatha Dandanayaka, a general of the Hoysala King Narasimha III. It is located 38 kilometres (24 mi) east of Mysuru city

Hoysala Art and Architecture: Hoysalas combined Vesara and Dravida styles and developed a new Hoysa-la style.

Important features of this style are• Star shaped platform• The jagati around the temple is the open pradak-

shinapatha.• Polished pillar with a variety of designs.• Elaborate carvings and beautifully carved madanika

figures.• Vimana(shikara) in pyramidical shape.• Most of their temples are in Bhumija style. In this

style, miniature shikhara is carved on the outer wall of the temple.

MODHERA SUN TEMPLEContext:Ahmedabad railway station to get ‘Modhera temple’ facelift

The Sun Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the so-lar deity Surya located at Modhera village of Mehsana district, Gujarat, India. It is situated on the bank of the river Pushpavati. It was built after 1026-27 CE during the reign of Bhima I of the Chalukyas dynasty. • There is a massive rectangular stepped tank called

the Surya Kund in front of it, perhaps the grandest temple tank in India.

• Every year, at the time of the equinoxes, the sun shines directly into this central shrine of the temple.

CRAFT VILLAGES

Context: Under the programme “Linking Textile with Tourism”, eight craft villages have been taken up to promote craft and tourism at a single location.

Aim: It will develop handicrafts as a sustainable and remu-nerative livelihood option for artisans in the cluster.

T.N. SENDS SOIL SAMPLES FOR A PROJECT RELATING TO THE NEW

PARLIAMENT BUILDING They pertain to the 5 ecological regions mentioned in ancient Tamil Sangam literature

Soil samples from five ecological regions mentioned in ancient Tamil Sangam literature — Kurinji, Mullai,


Marutham, Neithal and Paalai — have been collected and sent to the capital recently.

Festival in News

KHARCHI FESTIVAL

Kharchi Puja is a Hindu festival from Tripura, the festi-val involves the worship of the fourteen gods forming the dynasty deity of the Tripuri people.

Tracing its etymology, ‘khar’ means sin and ‘çhi’ means cleaning. Therefore, together the name translates to – cleaning of sins.

The temple of the 14 gods was built during the reign of Maharaja Krishna Manikya. This is an age-old tradi-tion being celebrated from some time around 1760 AD and since has been an annual occasion for the commu-nity to come together and soak in the festivities.

BONALU FESTIVAL

The festival is dedicated to Goddess Mahakali, thank-ing her for fulfilling the wishes of her devotees.

Bonalu is a popular festival celebrated in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Apart from Yellamma, during the Bon-alu festival, the different forms of Mahakali are wor-shipped, including Mysamma, Dokkalamma, Pedamma, Pochamma, Yellamma, Poleramma and Ankalamma. During this, the devotees offer rice cooked with milk and jaggery in an earthen or brass pot, which is deco-rated with neem leaves, turmeric and vermilion. Wom-en carry these pots on their heads to temples.

PRYUSHAN PARVA (FESTIVAL)

Context: Jain festival in which Jain Monks and Nuns stay with the community and provide them instructions and guid-ance. It is also a festival of “Forgiveness”.

About:• It is usually celebrated in August or September

(rainy season)• During Paryushan, Jains increase their level of

spiritual intensity often using fasting and prayer/meditation to help.

• The five main vows are emphasized during this time- Ahiṃsā (Non-violence), Satya (Truth), Asteya (Non-stealing), Brahmacharya (Chastity), Aparigra-ha (Non-possession)

• Pratikraman is also performed by many Jains during the festival. The word Pratikraman is


made from the combination of two words, Pra meaning return and atikraman meaning viola-tion

Modern History/Personality

ACHARYA PRAFULLA CHANDRA RAY

Context:Ministry of Culture along with the Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, and Vijnana Bharti (VIBHA) organized a curtain-raiser for two days Inter-national Conference on the “Contributions of Acharya Prafulla Chandra Ray as a Chemist and Freedom Fight-er”.

About P.C RayPC Ray’s contribution to the field of Science was a step toward nation-building. He was also a scholar who championed educational reforms, promoted employ-ment through industry, and rallied for political ad-vancement.

Contributions: Discovered several ground-breaking chemical com-pounds (eg: mercurous nitrite), published more than a hundred and fifty research papers in famous science journals (eg: Journal of the Chemical Society of Lon-don); authored many books on chemical sciences (eg: Life and Experience of a Bengali Chemist).

Founder of Bengal Chemical & Pharmaceutical Works

FOUR TRIBAL REVOLTS PRESI-DENT MURMU INVOKED IN HER

INAUGURAL SPEECH

Santhal revolution

The Santhal rebellion (1855-56) was a revolt by the San-thal in present-day Jharkhand against the British East India Company and the zamindari system.· The four Murmu Brothers - Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand, and Bhairav - spearheaded the revolt.

Paika rebellion


Paika Revolt (1817)– a class of military retainers tra-ditionally recruited by the kings of Odisha – revolted against the British colonial rulers mainly over being dis-possessed of their land holdings.• Bakshi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar Mohapatra Bhara-

marbar Rai, the highest-ranking military general of the banished Khurda king, led an army of Paikas to join the uprising of the Kondhs.

Kol revolt

The Kols, tribal people from the Chhota Nagpur area, rose in revolt against the British in 1831. The trigger here too was the gradual takeover of tribal land and property by non-tribal settlers who were aided by new land laws.• It was led to an uprising led by Buddhu Bhagat, Joa

Bhagat and Madara Mahato among others.

Bhil uprising (1818)

After the British intruded into the Bhil territory in Ma-harashtra’s Khandesh region, the tribals pushed back fearing exploitation under the new regime in 1818.• The revolt was led by their leader, Sewaram and was

brutally crushed using the British military might.

Geography

DERECHOIt is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind-storm that is associated with a “band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms”.

Straight-line storms are those in which thunder-storm winds have no rotation, unlike a tornado. These storms travel hundreds of miles and cover a vast area.

HEAT INDEXContext:Recently, the temperature of Delhi felt like 52 degrees C (on Heat Index) even though the actual temperature was 39 degrees C, mainly because of high humidity and lack of rain.

Heat Index: The heat index, also known as the apparent temperature, is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature. This has important considerations for the human body’s comfort.

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AZORES HIGHContext:An extremely large ‘Azores High’ (a subtropical weath-er phenomenon) has resulted in abnormally dry condi-tions across the western Mediterranean.

Azores High is a subtropical high-pressure system that extends over the eastern subtropical North Atlantic and Western Europe during winter. It is associated with anticyclonic winds in the subtropical North Atlantic. It is formed by dry air aloft descending the subtropics and coincides with the downward branch of the Hadley Circulation.

TOBACCOContext:Andhra Pradesh government exported tobacco to the USA for 1st time in the country

Status: India is the 2nd largest producer (1st is China) and 2nd largest export (1st in Brazil) of tobacco.

Climate: Semi-tropical crop, needs 100-120 days of frost-free climate, medium rainfall, loamy soil with high potash and iron content. It cannot tolerate high-speed winds and storms.

Nodal Agency: Tobacco Board (Ministry of Commerce and Industry)

KARAKORAM ANOMALY

It is a phenomenon of the recent resurgence of west-ern disturbances because of which an exception of the Himalayas resisting glacial melt as a result of Climate change has been observed.

In a paper published in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate, his group claimed that the recent revival of western disturbance has been in-strumental in triggering and sustaining the Karakoram Anomaly since the advent of the 21st century.

EU’S PALM OIL ROW WITH MA-LAYSIA AND INDONESIA

Context: European Union previously decided to phase out the import of unsustainable palm oil by 2030. Indonesia and Malaysia say the EU’s palm oil restrictions are un-fair, “discriminatory”, and “crop apartheid” and chal-lenged the EU in the WTO. • Indonesia and Malaysia, are the world’s two largest

palm oil producers, accounting for 90% of the glob-al production. However, most of it is produced on the plantation by clearing rainforests.

• ReFuelEU initiative: EU lawmakers adopted draft rules for the ReFuelEU initiative, which would mean 85% of all used aviation fuel would have to be “sus-tainable” by 2050.

About Palm Oil:• It is an edible vegetable oil derived from the meso-

carp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms.• Uses: As a cooking oil, in cosmetics, processed

foods, cakes, chocolates, soaps, spreads, shampoo,

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and biofuel ( the use of crude palm oil in mak-ing biodiesel is being branded as ‘green diesel’)

• It is inexpensive and produces more oil per hectare as compared to other alternatives such as soybean.

• India is the biggest importer of palm oil (almost 40% of its need)

• Government initiatives: National Mission on Edi-ble Oil-Oil Palm (to boost India’s domestic palm oil production by 3 times ( till 2025-26)); Kharif Strate-gy 2021 for oilseeds; yellow revolution.

COASTAL EROSION

Context: As per the Ministry of Earth Science (MoES) 34% of In-dia’s coastline is under erosion. West Bengal has suf-fered the worst (60.5% of its coast is threatened by ero-sion).• Definition: Coastal Erosion is the process by which

local sea-level rise, strong wave action, and coastal flooding wear down or carry away rocks, soils, and/or sands along the coast.

• Process: There are four main processes of coastal erosion. These are corrosion, abrasion, hydraulic action and attrition.

• Agency: National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) (Under MoES) is monitoring shorelines since

1990.• Impact: Destruction of biodiversity and habitat, loss

of fertile land, loss of tourism, etc.

Mitigation: • Coastal erosion structures Seawalls, revetments,

bulkheads, groins and breakwaters may reduce erosion in the short term.

• Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Ser-vices (INCOIS) has prepared and published an atlas of Coastal Vulnerability Index (CVI) maps for the en-tire coastline

• Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan (ICZM): It ensures optimum suitable use of coastal natural resources

• National centre for Sustainable coastal manage-ment (NSCSCM): To research the areas of CZM in-cluding coastal resources and the environment.

ARIDITY ANOMALY OUTLOOK IN-DEX

Context: Recently Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) re-leased the Index for the month of July

Direction: Remember the percentage of India under dry land and their locations.

Key findings• Nearly 660 of 756 districts (85%) were facing differ-


ent degrees of aridity, while only 63 are non-arid.• At least 196 districts are in the grip of a ‘severe’ de-

gree of dryness and 65 of these are in Uttar Pradesh• Nearly 69% of India is dry land• Applications: Impacts of drought in agriculture, es-

pecially in the tropics where defined wet and dry seasons are part of the climate regime. Both winter and summer cropping seasons can be assessed us-ing this method.

Large Arid regions are found in the desert of Rajasthan, Rann of Kutch and semi-arid regions of Punjab and Gu-jarat, rain shadow areas of Western Ghats.

What can be done: Further intensify drought-prone area programme (DPAP), crop diversification, cultiva-tion of traditional varieties, mulching, intercropping, micro-irrigation, etc.

Three types of drought: Meteorological (actual rainfall is significantly less than the climatological mean); Hy-drological (a marked depletion of surface water); Agri-culture ( low soil moisture leading to acute crop stress)

Places in News

DONETSK AND LUHANSK

Donetsk and Luhansk are the two areas that togeth-er make up the Donbas region on the Ukraine-Russia border.

Donbas is a key industrial hub and important from a re-source perspective having the largest coal reserves in Ukraine.

These two areas broke away from the Ukrainian govern-ment’s control back in 2014 and proclaimed themselves independent “people’s republics”. Donbas region also offers strategic advantages for Russia. By controlling the region, Russia intends to create a ‘land bridge’ to Crimea, a territory it annexed in 2014.

Access to the Black Sea and warm water ports in Crimea such as Sevastopol allows it to access important trade routes throughout the year.

Tribes in News

‘INDIGENOUS’ STATUS FOR FIVE COMMUNITIES

Context: The Assam government approved the indigenous status of five Assamese Muslim sub-groups- Gorias, Moriyas, Jolhas, Deshis and Syeds sub-groups as indigenous As-samese Muslim communities.

Significance:• Fulfil long-standing demand: The ‘indigenous’ sta-

tus of Assamese-speaking Muslim communities will distinguish them from Bengali-speaking Mus-lims, who migrated from East Pakistan (now Bangla-desh) to Assam.

• Better benefits: The move will ensure their devel-opment in health, cultural identity, education, fi-nancial inclusion, skill development and women empowerment.


HATTIS COMMUNITYContext: The demand for ‘tribal’ status for Himachal’s Trans-Giri and its Hatti community

The Hattis are a close-knit community that takes their name from their traditional occupation of selling home-grown crops, vegetables, meat, and wool at small-town markets known as ‘haats’. Hatti men tradi-tionally don distinctive white headgear on ceremonial occasions.

‘JOHAR’ GREETING

Context:The 15th President of India, Droupadi Murmu, assumed office Monday with a ‘Johar’ greeting to the country.

‘Johar’, which essentially means ‘salutation and wel-come’, is used within the tribal communities of Jharkhand, and in parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. According to several tribal leaders from Jharkhand, the

word ‘Johar’ also means ‘paying respect’. Tribal com-munities are nature worshippers and follow the Sarna religion code, although it is not an official religion.

Society and Social Justice

INTERPOL’S ICSE INITIATIVE ON CHILD SEX ABUSE

Context: India’s Central Bureau of Investigation has joined Inter-pol’s International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) ini-tiative that will allow it to collaborate with investigators in other countries for detecting child sexual abuse on-line and identifying abusers, victims, and crime scenes from audio-visual clips using specialised software.

The ICSE database uses video and image comparison to analyse Child Sex Exploitation Material (CSEM) and make connections between victims, abusers and places.• Avoids duplications and enables collaboration:

The database avoids duplication of effort and saves precious time by letting investigators know whether a series of images have already been discovered or identified in another country, or whether it has sim-ilar features to other images.

• Statistics show that in India, every 155 minutes, a child under 16 years of age is raped. Parents of sex-ually abused children are scared to tell anyone due to fear of being shamed in society.

• Previously, CBI had set up ‘Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/Investigation (OCSAE) unit for using CSEM data.


DGCA’S DENIAL OF A PILOT LI-CENCE TO TRANSGENDER PER-

SON DISCRIMINATORY: MINISTRY

Context:• The Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA’s)

denial of a commercial pilot licence to a transgen-der candidate is “discriminatory” and “violates” the law on the rights of transgender people, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has written to the aviation regulator.

• It demanded guidelines for licensing and separate medical standards to enable them to join the pro-fession.

The issue came to the limelight due to the denial of a pilot licence by DGCA to a transgender Adam Harry.

BLACKOUT CHALLENGE

Context:TikTok has been sued for the deadly ‘blackout chal-lenge’, blamed for the deaths of several young children.

It is a challenge in which people are encouraged to choke themselves until they become unconscious due to the lack of oxygen.

NATIONAL INTERNET EXCHANGE OF INDIA (NIXI)

Context: NIXI has established two new Internet exchange points (IXP) in West BengalAn Internet exchange point (IXP) is a physical location through which Internet infrastructure companies such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and CDNs connect with each other.• Nixi is a not-for-profit organization (under the com-

panies act) established in 2003. It works for the exchange of domestic internet traffic between ISP members, and allocates Internet protocol address-es (IPv4 and IPv6)

• Recently, NIXI announced to offer Free Domain (IDN) in local Indian languages


GS PAPER - 2Polity

BAIL ACT

Context: Supreme Court has recommended the Government to introduce a special enactment in the nature of a “Bail Act” to streamline the grant of bail.

Bail: Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.• The principal use of bail in modern legal systems

is to secure the freedom, pending trial, of one arrested and charged with a criminal offence, al-though it may also be used in some cases to secure release pending an appeal of a conviction.

• “Bail and not Jail” is the basic rule given by SC• Bail is right and not a favour: According to section

436 of CrPC, If the offence alleged is bailable, then, the Accused is entitled to Bail as a matter of right, maybe before the Police station itself, or if forward-ed to Magistrates Court.

• In 2020, there were 371,848 under-trial prisoners, an increase from 324,141 in 2018.

RIGHT TO REPAIR

Context: The government is working on a “Right to Repair” framework so that people can get goods such as con-sumer durables, phones and cars fixed on their own.Right to repair is would provide the practical means for equipment owners to repair their devices. • Repair is legal under copyright law and patent law.• Sectors identified: Farming Equipment, Mobile

Phones/Tablets, Consumer Durables and Automo-biles/Automobile Equipment.

Current issues:• Planned obsolescence and creation of monopo-

lies on spare parts by manufacturers: Monopoly on repair processes infringe the customer’s ‘right to choose’.”

• Consumers often lose the right to claim a warranty if they get a product repaired from a “non-recog-nized” outfit.

• No manual: Companies avoid(ing) the publication of manuals that can help users make repairs easily. Manufacturers have proprietary control over spare parts (regarding the kind of design they use for screws and others).

Other countries: The right to repair has been rec-ognised in many countries across the globe, including the US, UK and the European Union.US: Fair Repair Act

REGISTRATION OF PRESS AND PE-RIODICALS BILL, 2019

Context:Government will revive the Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill, 2019 for a new registration regime for newspapers that will include digital Media as well (the current registration framework doesn’t include digital news)

It will replace the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867 ( the act currently regulates the newspaper and printing press industry)

Provisions:• It will enable the Central and State Government to

formulate appropriate rules or regulations for is-suing govt advertisements in newspapers, accred-itation of newspapers and such other facilities for newspapers.

• Create a Press Registrar General along with laying down a simple system of registration of e-papers.


• It is mandatory for the editor of the periodical to be an Indian citizen.

• Allows anyone who is a citizen of India to bring out its publication

• Bill seeks to punish the concerned only with a fine (the previous bill had fine + imprisonment)

DIRECTORATE OF FORENSIC SCI-ENCE LABORATORY (DFSL)

Context: Recently a Mumbai court used the report of DFSL for ‘gait analysis’ (1st time in India), to sentence a man for rape and murder. • Gait analysis is a process where a person’s manner

of walking is compared with CCTV camera footage of the accused.

About:• Established in the year 1958• Function: The DFSL’s main function is to provide a

scientific opinion on different types of evidential material referred to by the investigating agencies and help the judiciary.

• Significance: Reports from DFSL were used in many high-profile cases, including the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Bombay, cases related to the 2006 train blasts and the 2011 serial blasts in Mumbai.

GIVING UP CITIZENSHIP

Context: Over 1.6 lakh Indians renounced their citizenship in 2021, the highest in the past five years, according to information provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).• Over 78,000 Indians acquired U.S. citizenship, the

highest among all other countries.

• India does not allow dual citizenship. The citizenship act, of 1955 prescribes three ways of losing citizenship:• By renunciation: Any citizen of India of full age and

capacity can make a declaration renouncing Indian citizenship. Such declaration may not be accepted during the war. Even the minor children of the per-son who renounces citizenship stand to lose their Indian citizenship. However, when their children at-tain the age of eighteen, they may resume Indian citizenship

• By termination: If a citizen of India voluntarily ac-quires the citizenship of another country, then he loses the citizenship of India

• By deprivation: Compulsory termination of Indian citizenship by the Central government, if the person obtained the citizenship by fraud or shown disloy-alty to the Constitution of India or imprisoned for a term of two years (in the last 5 years after natural-ization) or citizen has been ordinarily resident out of India for a period of 7 years.

WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX 2022

Context: India has been ranked India at 150 (declined from 142) among 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

Important Findings:

Global: • Top: Norway (1st) Denmark (2nd), Sweden (3rd)• Worse: North Korea (bottom) and Russia were

placed in 155th position.• Increased polarization: The report reveals a two-

fold increase in “polarisation” amplified by infor-mation chaos, that is, media polarisation fuelling divisions within countries, as well as polarization between countries at the international level.

For India:• India is “one of the world’s most dangerous coun-

tries for the media” and noted that “journalists are exposed to all kinds of physical violence.

• India’s position has been consistently falling in the index since 2016 when it was ranked 133.

• India’s Neighbour: Nepal (76th position), Pakistan (157th position), Sri Lanka ( 146th), Bangladesh


(162nd) and China (175th position)The government doesn’t agree with the findings of the report: Reasons cited by the government are:- “very low sample size, little or no weightage to fundamen-tals of democracy, adoption of a methodology which is questionable and non-transparent”.

FLAG CODE OF INDIA 2022

Context: National Flag can now be flown day and night if it has been hoisted in the open or on the house of a member of the public (previously it was allowed only from sun-rise to sunset)

Previous amendments to the Flag Code:• 2002: SC judgement: Common citizens could hoist

and unfurl the national flag 24 hours a day (day and night) at their homes and office locations

• The Indian national flag or Tricolour can be made of polyester and with the help of machines (previ-ously only Khadi was allowed)

Har Ghar Tiranga: It is a campaign under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Ma-hotsav to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India’s indepen-dence. (people are encouraged to hoist a flag in their home from 13 to 15th August)

Art 51A(a) – To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the Na-tional Anthem.

Statutes Governing Use of Flag:• Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use)

Act, 1950.• Prevention of Insults to National Honor Act, 1971.

DELIMITATION IN FOUR NORTH-EAST STATES

Context: Supreme Court issues notice on the plea seeking delim-itation in Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mani-pur.

Background: As per section 8A of RPA 1950, President can order de-limitation exercises in these four states. However, no such exercise has taken place in these four states in the last 51 years due to various concerns.• Previous order for delimitation (in 2020) was limit-

ed to J&K only.

What is Delimitation:- • Delimitation literally means the process of fixing

limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a state that has a legislative body.

Delimitation commission orders have the force of law and they cannot be challenged before any court.Composition of the Commission: According to the Delimitation Commission Act, 2002, the Delimitation Commission will have three members: a serving or re-tired judge of the Supreme Court as the chairperson, and the Chief Election Commissioner or Election Com-missioner nominated by the CEC and the State Election


Commissioner as ex-officio members.

Constitutional Provisions:Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.Under Article 170, States also get divided into territori-al constituencies as per the Delimitation Act after every Census.

MODEL TENANCY ACT

Context: Over a year since the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry passed the Model Tenancy Act (MTA) (June 2021), only four States had revised their tenancy laws to be in line with the MTA.• These states are:- Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Ut-

tar Pradesh and Assam have revised Tenancy Acts on the lines of MTA.

• Aim of MTA: To balance the rights of tenants and landlords and to “create an accountable and trans-

parent ecosystem for renting of premises in a disci-plined and efficient manner”.

• Status: There are over 1.1Cr houses lying vacant (census 2011), still there is a scarcity of tenant hous-ing in major cities and rents remain high.

DRAFT COFFEE (PROMOTION AND DEVELOPMENT) BILL, 2022

Context: This will replace the Coffee Act of 1942

Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Commerce and IndustryAim: To modernize coffee board, promote export and sup-port the domestic market

Provisions:• Mandate of coffee board expanded: It will now in-

clude support for production, research, extension, and quality improvement apart from regular work of control, marketing and sale.

• Protection of interests of labour• Simplifying the procedures and registration process

of curing units.• Scheme: Centre extended the RoDTEP (Refund of

Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) scheme to the coffee sector to boost exports.


INTERNATIONAL SAFETY CARDS

Context: Department of chemicals and petrochemicals (Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers) has signed an MoU with the International Labour Organization on International Chemical Safety Cards (ICSCS).

Direction: Few points can be noted down from Mains perspective as well.

ICSCS (by WHO, ILO and EU) will provide essential safe-ty and health information about the safe use of chemi-cals in the workplace.

About chemical disasters• As per NDMA, over 130 chemical disasters have

taken place in the recent past (e.g. Vishakhapatnam disaster involving benzimidazole and Neyveli boiler disaster)

• ILO suggestions: A list of hazardous chemicals and flammable gases should be established, each hav-ing a specific quantity

• SC (in MC Mehta case): gave the doctrine of abso-lute liability (meaning the factory will be responsi-ble for giving full compensation in case of disaster whether it was their fault or not)

• Environment Relief Fund (under Public liability In-surance Act 1991): to provide relief to victims

• Under Environment Protection Act: Manufacture,

Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemicals Rules 1989; Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules 2008 for reg-ulating hazardous substances.

THE FAMILY COURTS (AMEND-MENT) BILL 2022

Context: Statutory cover has been provided to family courts in Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland• The bill has amended the Family Court Act 1984,

which provided for the establishment of family courts by states to deal with disputes related to family and marriage.

• Why the amendment is needed: For the Family Courts Act to come into force, the central govern-ment must notify it for different states. However, it had not done so for Himachal Pradesh and Naga-land.

• There are 715 Family Courts in 26 States and UTs.

About Family Court Act 1984: The act was enacted for the establishment of Fami-ly Courts in order to promote conciliation and secure speedy settlement of disputes relating to marriage and family affairs and related matters. The judges are ap-pointed by the State government in concurrence with the High court. The state government may provide for Social welfare agencies or individuals working in the field of social welfare, to be attached to Family Court for help in mediation and conciliations.

Government Initiative and Policies

DATA POINTS ON INDIA’S DIGITAL INITIATIVE:

• Real-time digital payment in India: 40% of the world’s (2021)

• One of the lowest costs of mobile data


• 133 crores+ Aadhaar numbers• DBT payments: over 23 lakh cr directly transferred• Common Service Centres: 5.5 lakh

PM FORMALISATION OF MICRO FOOD PROCESSING ENTERPRISE

(PMFME)

Context: PMFME achieved two years of its implementation

Key features:• Centrally sponsored scheme under Ministry of

Food processing industries (MoFPI) under Aatama-Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan

• Aim: To empower unorganized Micro Enterprises through the ‘One District One product’ approach. States to identify food products e.g., perishable Agri-produce, and cereal-based products.

• Time: 2020-21 to 2024-25• Convergence: With NULM- will provide Seed cap-

ital to the Area level Federation involved in food processing for giving grants to micro-enterprises in the area.

• Achievements: Implemented in 35 states, Digital ODOP map developed, over 1 lakh SHG members.

GUJARAT, KARNATAKA AND MEGHALAYA BEST STATES FOR STARTUP ECOSYSTEM: DPIIT

RANKINGS The rankings are based on the initiatives taken to devel-op the startup ecosystem for promoting budding entre-preneurs.

The ranking has classified the states under two catego-ries – category A and category B – based on their size. While Karnataka and Gujarat fall in the A category, Me-ghalaya is under the B category.

States such as Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Telan-gana in the A category, and J&K in the B category, have bagged the title of top performers. Meanwhile, eight states, including Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh, and three B category states have been named leaders.

PM-SVANIDHI SCHEME

Context: ‘12-13% NPAs in loans given to street vendors un-der Prime Minister’s Street Vendors AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM-Svanidhi) scheme (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Minister)


Svanidhi Mahotsav: a series of cultural events for street vendors and the public, to be rolled out in 75 cities

The scheme: At first vendors can avail of loans up to ₹10,000 each. After repayment of the first loan, the vendors are eligi-ble for a second loan of ₹20,000 and then the third loan of ₹50,000.• On timely/early repayment of the loan, an interest

subsidy of 7% per annumwill be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through direct bene-fit transfer on a six-monthly basis.

• The scheme incentivises digital transactions by the street vendors through monthly cash back.

• Mobile app to administer the scheme: It will inte-grate the UdyamiMitra portal of SIDBI for credit management and the PAiSA portal of MoHUAto administer interest subsidy automatically.

MISSION VATSALYAContext:Government released guidelines for Mission Vatsalya and asked states to not temper with the name of the scheme in order to access Central funds and benefits under it.• Mission Vatsalya is one of the new triads of schemes

along with Mission Shakti, and Poshan 2.0, which

aims at securing a healthy and happy childhood for every child. (under Women and child development ministry)

• It focuses on Child Protection Services and child welfare services.

• It is essentially a renamed version of the pre-exist-ing scheme called Child Protection Services.

Objectives of the Mission:• To secure a healthy and happy childhood for every

child in India.• To foster a sensitive, supportive and synchronized

ecosystem for the development of children.To assist States/UTs in delivering the mandate of the Ju-venile Justice Act 2015.

PM INAUGURATES AKHIL BHAR-TIYA SHIKSHA SAMAGAM ON

IMPLEMENTATION OF NEP

Context: The Prime Minister inaugurated Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam on implementation of the National Educa-tion Policy in Varanasi.

Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Samagam:• The Ministry of Education is organizing Shiksha Sa-

magam from 7th to 9th July.• It will provide a platform for eminent academicians,

policymakers and academic leaders to deliberate


and share their experiences and discuss the road-map for effective implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

• The event is being organized as part of capacity building of more than 300 Academic, Administra-tive & Institutional Leaders from Universities (Cen-tral, State, Deemed, and Private), and Institutes of National Importance (IIT, IIM, NIT, IISER) from all over the country.

Themes of Shiksha Samagam:

NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL COR-RIDOR DEVELOPMENT PRO-

GRAMME (NICDP)

Context:Meeting of Apex monitoring authority of NICDP

NICDP aims to develop new industrial cities (as “smart Cities”) and industrial corridors (currently it is devel-oping 11 such corridors) under the vision of PM Gati Shakti• NICDC (National Industrial Corridor Development

Corporation) is a special purpose vehicle under De-partment for promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) (Ministry of Commerce and Industry)

PM Gati Shakti– National Master Plan for Multi-Modal connectivity to various Economic Zones. PM GatiShak-ti National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP) was launched on 13th October 2021 for providing multimodal con-nectivity infrastructure to various economic zones.

It has united infrastructural initiatives planned and initiated by 16 central ministries and departments, in-cluding railways, roads and highways, petroleum and gas, power, telecom, shipping and aviation, etc

Other plans under PM GatiShakti: Freight corridor, PM

Mitra parks, Logistics Park, etc.

GIGA MESH

Context: A women-led startup develops deep-tech for reliable low-cost internet services to rural areasGigaMesh is an innovative wireless network solution that can give optical fibre-like speed internet services to suburban and rural areas at a cheaper cost

It has been developed by Astrome, a women-led start-up• The deep tech startup incubated at the Indian In-

stitute of Science(IISc), Bangalore, and supported by the DST-ABI Woman Startup Program of the De-partment of Science and Technology (DST)

Global Liveability Index 2022

Findings:• Best liveable city in the world: Vienna• Best liveable city in India: Delhi• Least: Bengaluru• Released by: Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)• Theme: Recovery and HardshipThe ranking is based on five broad categories: sta-bility (25%), culture and environment (25%), health-care (20%), education (10%), and infrastructure (20%)


STRENGTHENING OF PHAR-MACEUTICALS INDUSTRY (SPI)

SCHEME(Ministry of chemical and fertilizers)

Context:The scheme to strengthen the existing infrastructure facilities of pharmaceutical industries so as to make In-dia a global leader in the pharma sector.• Currently, India is the largest:

◦ Manufacturer and exporter of generic medi-cines (meets 20% of global demand)

◦ Manufacturer of Vaccines (meets 60% of global demand)

The scheme will give assistance to the pharma indus-try, and SMEs through common facilities, technology up-gradation and conducting survey reports, aware-ness programs, creation of databases etc.

Other schemes related to pharma:• Promotion of Bulk Drug Parks Scheme: To devel-

op 3 mega Bulk Drug parks in India• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme: To pro-

mote domestic manufacturing of critical Key Start-ing Materials (KSM) and Active Pharmaceutical In-gredients (APIs) in the country.

INDIA STACK

Context: Recently, India Stack Knowledge Exchange was heldIndia Stack: India Stack is a set of open APIs (Applica-tion Programming Interface- allows two applications to

talk to each other) and digital public goods that aim to unlock the economic primitives of identity, data, and payments at a population scale. • India Stack includes- Aadhar, UPI, Co-Win, Dig-

iLocker, Aarogya Setu, UMANG, DIKSHA, and eSan-jeevani.

• India also launched Indiastack.global (a single re-pository of all major projects on IndiaStack)

Benefits of India Stack:• Will contribute towards Global Digital Public

Goods (open source software, open AI model, open data that adhere to privacy and at the same time help attain socio-economic goals)

• Digital Governance: by increasing transparency, ef-ficiency and accountability

• Will help promote digital innovations• Service Delivery: Presence-less, paperless and

cashless service delivery

FERTILIZERS FLYING SQUAD

Context: Department of fertilizers has instituted a dedicated of-ficer known as a ‘fertilizer flying squad’ to check any diversion, black marketing or adulteration of fertilizers.

Status: • About 10 lakh tonnes (the world around 6000 cr) of

agriculture-grade urea (despite the need for coat-ing) is getting diverted for industrial use every year.

• The subsidized urea is getting diverted mainly to in-dustries.

• The agriculture-grade urea is neem-coated while technical-grade urea is not. The neem-coating is removed through some chemical process and then the urea is used for industrial purposes

• Deficit: India’s annual domestic demand for urea is


around 350 lakh tonnes, of which 260 lakh tonnes are locally produced while the remaining is import-ed.

• Subsidy: The government’s annual fertiliser subsidy bill is likely to be around Rs 2.5 lakh crore during this fiscal because of high international prices.

• Huge requirement for industries: there is an annual requirement of around 13-14 lakh tonnes of tech-nical-grade urea for industrial usage, of which only 1.5 lakh tonnes are produced in the country.

Uses of Urea: It is used in various industries such as resin/glue, plywood, crockery, moulding powder, cattle feed, dairy and industrial mining explosives.

‘JUTE MARK INDIA’ LOGO

Context:Government launches ‘Jute Mark India’ logo to pro-mote jute products.

The Jute Mark India (JMI) scheme will provide the col-lective identity and assurance of origin and quality for traditional jute and jute products. The JMI would therefore be a hallmark of powerful creative work that defines the jute product with quality, distinguishes it from the competition and connects it with customers.

The certification is expected to boost the domestic market and exports of jute products from India.

POSOCO TO RUN SINGLE WIN-DOW GREEN ENERGY SYSTEM

Context: The power ministry has notified Power System Oper-ation Corporation Ltd (POSOCO) as the central nodal agency to set up and run a single window green energy system.

• POSOCO is CPSE under the Ministry of Power to monitor and ensure round-the-clock integrated operation of the Indian Power System in a reliable, efficient and secure manner thus serving a mis-sion-critical activity.

• Green Energy: Green energy is that which comes from natural sources, such as the sun.

Benefits: • Approval process will be quicker (POSOCO will ap-

prove or reject the applications for green power supply within 15 days)

• Large consumers can now take power (under Green Open Access) without any limits

• Distribution companies can demand a supply of green power from generation companies.

• Uniform renewable purchase obligation on users under the open access norms, including captive consumers and commercial entities, in areas as-signed to the discoms.

• Tariffs for green energy will be determined sepa-rately by an appropriate commission.

The 2003 Electricity Act allowed consumers to buy power directly from the generators by using the grid under open access arrangement.

SAMARTHContext: SAMARTH and NTPC have collaborated on the utiliza-tion of agriculture residue for co-firing in thermal pow-er plant• Cofiring is a term used to describe incorporating

a secondary fuel with a primary fuel utilizing the same combustion equipment. A common applica-tion of cofiring is used in coal-fired power plants where coal use is supplemented with biomass.

SAMARTH was launched by the Ministry of power (2021) and mandates all thermal power plants in India use 5-10% of biomass alongside coal to produce power. Consequently, it promotes research on modern boilers which can handle a greater amount of silica and alkalis in biomass pellets.

*Don’t get confused with the SAMARTH Scheme of the Ministry of textile (for capacity building in the textile sector)

RISE IN UNVACCINATED CHIL-DREN

Context: World recorded the largest sustained decline in child-hood vaccinations in approximately 30 years- WHO and UNICEF

Findings:• The number of children who were unvaccinated or

missed the first dose of the diphtheria-tetanus-per-tussis combined vaccine doubled due to the pan-


demic• Until the pandemic, India steadily improved immu-

nisation coverage from 43% during NFHS -3 (2005-2006), to 62% in the (NFHS) -4 (2015-16).

• Red Alert: The world is witnessing the largest sus-tained drop in childhood immunisation in a gener-ation

Mission Indradhanush‘Mission Indradhanush’ was launched by the Govern-ment of India in December 2014. It was aimed to strengthen and re-energize the programme and achieve full immunization coverage for all children and pregnant women.• The ultimate goal of Mission Indradhanush is to en-

sure full immunization with all available vaccines for children up to two years of age and pregnant women.

• India started the fourth round of IMI in February 2022.

GREY WATER MANAGEMENTGreywater refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without faecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater from toilets. Sources of greywater include sinks, showers, baths, washing machines or dishwash-ersIts recycling can help reduce the demand for water and help agriculture (grey water has high nitrogen and phosphorus content). ‘Water+’ status demands grey-

water recycling.

DATA LOCALIZATION

Context: Many Indian start-ups have complained that the pro-vision of the personal data protection Bill is too “com-pliance intensive” and could hamper the ease of doing business.

• Data localisation is the practice of storing data on any device that is physically present within the bor-ders of the country where the data is generated. As of now, most of these data are stored, in a cloud, outside India.

• Draft National E-Commerce Policy Framework: The framework recommended data localisation and also gave a two-year sunset period for the industry to adjust before localization rules become mandatory.

• The Srikrishna Committee wants to localise data for law enforcement to have easy access to data, prevent foreign surveillance, and build an artificial intelligence ecosystem in India.

• As per the committee- At least one copy of personal data will need to be stored within India, any transfer outside the country will need to comply with the rules, and critical personal data will only be stored and processed in India.

• International practices: China, United States, Brazil, Indonesia, EU (data protection regime) and Russia has such law


JAGRITIContext: it is a mascot for empowering consumers and generat-ing awareness of their rights. It will spread awareness about consumer rights, the consumer protection act 2019, Hallmarking, the provision of weights and mea-sures act etc. • Other initiative: “Jago Grahak Jago” campaign, Na-

tional Consumer Helpline (NCH), Consumer welfare fund

• Launched by the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA)

NATIONAL STATISTICAL OFFICE DATA ON EMPLOYMENT

Context: NSO has released its Working Paper on Compilation of Labour Indicators of Minimum Set of Gender Indicators.

Findings:• Childcare affects the employment of women: The

employment rate of females (25-49 years) with at least one child under 3 years of age is less than those with no child. However, for males, it doesn’t make any difference.

• More females work part-time than males across all age groups in both rural and urban areas.

• More part-time retirees: In both rural and urban ar-eas, part-timers as a proportion of total employed are more in the 60+ age group among males and urban females.

About NSO:• It is an overarching body formed by merging the

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Computer Centre and Central Statistical Office (CSO).

• NSO was first envisaged by Rangarajan Com-mission to implement and maintain statistical standards and coordinate statistical activities of Central and State agencies as laid down by the National Statistical Commission (NSC).

• Ministry: It is the statistical wing of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mo-SPI).

NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR CIVIL SERVICE TRAINING INSTITUTIONS

Context:

Launching the “National Standards for Civil Service Training Institutions” (NSCSTI) by Capacity Building Commission (CBC), India became the first country in the world to come out with a unique model to create standards for civil service training institutions at nation-al level

It is part of Mission Karmyogi- which is aimed at build-ing future-ready civil service.


NAMASTE SCHEME

Context: Govt. has formulated the NAMASTE scheme (national action for mechanized sanitation ecosystem) for clean-ing sewers, and septic tanks (to be implemented from 2022 to 2026)• Aim: It aims to achieve outcomes like zero fatali-

ties in sanitation work in India, no sanitation work-ers come in direct contact with human faecal mat-ter and all Sewer and Septic tank sanitation workers have access to alternative livelihoods.

• Nodal Ministries: Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Social Justice and Em-powerment and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

• It will replace the previous scheme: Self Employ-ment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scaven-gers.

• Skill Development and training of Safai Mitras are being taken up with the support of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment through the Na-tional Safai Karamchari Finance Development Cor-poration.

*Note: There is also NAMASTE Portal (under the Minis-try of Ayush) to standardize the various terms and tech-nologies used in alternative medicines.

NATIONAL CHILD LABOUR PROJ-ECT (NCLP) SCHEME

Context: No data has been obtained for child labour under the NCLP scheme Samagra Siksha Abhiyan

Reason: Drying up of funds under NCLP, after its merg-er with

National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme 2007: Children in the age group of 9-14 years, are enrolled in the NCLP Special Training Centres, where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, stipend, mid-day meal, health care, etc. before being mainstreamed into the formal education system.

Definition: “child labour” is defined as work that de-prives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental

development.• Last year, a study by UNDP and Coca-cola company

said that there is still ambiguity in the definition of child labour.

Other provisions related to child labour in In-dia: • Provisions of Child Labour (Prohibition and Regu-

lation) Amendment Act, 2016: employment of chil-dren below the age of 14 years in any commercial enterprise is illegal. However, it allows child labour in “family or family enterprises”.

• Article 23: Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour.

• Article 24: No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed in work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment.

• Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2015: It includes the working child in the cat-egory of children in need of care and protection, without any limitation of age or type of occupation.

• Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child La-bour (PENCIL) Portal 2017: for effective implemen-tation of the NCLP scheme

• International commitment: India has ratified the In-ternational Labour Organizations Convention (ILO) no 138 (minimum age for employment) and Con-vention no 182 (worst forms of child labour).

SWADESH DARSHAN SCHEME 2.0

Context: Ministry of Tourism (MOT) revamps Swadesh Darshan Scheme

Key features of the revamped scheme:• Develop sustainable and responsible tourism• Development of benchmark and standards• Promote domestic tourism mainly in tier-II and ti-

er-III cities• State government will designate implementing

agencies for the projects (earlier ministry of tour-ism used to do that)

• 100% centrally funded

About Swadesh Darshan SchemeTourism Ministry launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2014 to develop theme-based tourist cir-cuits in the country using 100% central funds and CSR funding.


• Funding of individual projects will vary from state to state and will be finalised on the basis of detailed project reports prepared by PMC (Programme Management Consultant).

Status of the Tourism sector: India’s Tourism is ranked in 10th position (World Travel and Tourism Council’s report in 2019 in terms of contribution to GDP). It con-tributed 6.8% to India’s GDP and 8% of the total em-ployment created.• India has 40 sites listed under World Heritage List

(32 cultural, 7 natural and 1 mixed site)• India recently came up with Draft National Tourism

Policy focusing on Green, and digital tourism. Its main points were- ◦ Industry status of the tourism sector ◦ focus on green, digital, destination manage-

ment, skilling and tourism-related support to MSMEs

Other initiatives: Namaste India, Incredible India, PRASAD Scheme

RASHTRIYA PURUSHKAR PORTAL (NATIONAL AWARDS PORTAL)

Context: The portal has been developed to bring together all Awards of various Ministeries under one platform. It allows citizens and organizations to nominate individ-uals/organizations for various Awards instituted by the government.

INDIA FAMILY PLANNING 2030 VISION DOCUMENT

Context: Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare has stated that India has achieved RLF (Replacement Fertility rate) with 31 States/UTs reaching a total fer-tility rate of 2.1 or less. He also unveiled India Family Planning 2030 document vision.

Direction: Just go through observation and trends once. No need to note down numbers.

Key issues discussed:• Teenage Childbearing and early/child marriage de-

clined to 6.8% (2019-21) from 7.9% (2015-16) ◦ Married adolescent girls and young women re-

ported a high unmet need for contraception ◦ Although modern contraceptive use among

married adolescents and young women has in-creased, it remains low.

• From NFHS-4 to NFHS-5, India witnessed an im-pressive improvement in contraceptive use and unmet need

• Lack of access to contraceptives, non-awareness, non-participation of males and inaccessibility to health facilities is a major concern of family plan-ning ◦ Male contraceptive methods were largely limit-

ed to condoms. Male sterilisation was at 0.3%.• Need to involve the private sector to provide mod-

ern contraceptives: Private sector contributes 45% share of pills and 40% share of condoms.

India was 1st country in the world to launch a Nation-al Programme for Family Planning (1952), the Nation-al Commission on Population (2000), and member of Family planning (FP) 2030 (a global initiative for family planning)

WORLD’S FIRST LOCOMOTION TRIALS OF DEEP-SEA MINING

SYSTEMContext: As a part of the deep-sea mission, scientists from the National Institute of Ocean Technology (MoES) con-ducted the world’s deepest underwater locomotion trials of the Deep-Sea Mining System in the Central In-dian Ocean at depth of 5270 m.

Direction: Just remember a few provisions of the mission, ministry and related scheme.

About the Mission:Under the mission (2021-26), a manned submersible will be developed to carry three people to a depth of 6,000 metres in the ocean. An Integrated Mining Sys-


tem will be developed for mining polymetallic nodules at those depths in the central Indian Ocean.

Other objectives:• Searching deep-sea flora and fauna, including mi-

crobes, and studying ways to sustainably utilise them.

• Identify potential sources of hydrothermal miner-als that are sources of precious metals formed from the earth’s crust along the Indian Ocean mid-oce-anic ridges.

• Preparing engineering design for offshore Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) powered de-salination plants.

Potential:India has been allotted 75,000 square kilometres in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) by UN International Sea Bed Authority for the exploration of poly-metallic nodules. It is envisaged that 10% of the recovery of that large reserve can meet the energy requirement of India for the next 100 years.

Polymetallic nodules (also known as manganese nod-ules) are potato-shaped, largely porous nodules found in abundance carpeting the sea floor of the world oceans in the deep sea.

Other initiatives:• Ocean Services, Modelling, Applications, Resourc-

es and Technology (O-SMART) Scheme: It aims at stepping up ocean research and setting up early warning weather systems.

• Blue Economy: It is the sustainable use of ocean re-sources for economic growth, improved livelihoods and jobs. Its size in India is about 4% of GDP.

• Automated Buoy-based coastal observation and water quality nowcasting system: It will provide re-al-time measurements such as temperature, salini-ty, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, etc. ◦ Nowcasting is weather forecasting on a very

short term e.g. 2 hrs.

EDUCATION INITIATIVES BY GOV-ERNMENT

Context: On the occasion of 2 years completion of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the central government has launched several educational initiatives

Direction: NEP is important (keep a not on it handy). Just go through these schemes ( no need to learn by heart as there are 100s of such smaller schemes; the cost-bene-fit ratio is low)• Indian Knowledge System: Will help in technology

demonstration (under Ministry of Education inno-vation Cell)

• Introduction of 75 Bharateeya ( Indian) games in school

• Kalashala initiative: To promote and support local arts

• IGNOU will partner with Skill India: To help stu-dents attain livelihood opportunities

• Vidya Amrit Portal: Help in making school educa-tion better

• Virtual Lab in Science and Maths and skilling e-labs: for simulated learning environment ( will be set up in 2022-23)

• National Initiative for School Heads and Teach-ers Holistic advancement (Nishtha): To help train teachers in Anganwadis

• School Innovation Policy: To promote creativity, innovation, problem-solving and entrepreneurship skills of students

• Higher education Portal: for students in rural areas

SEEKHO AUR KAMAO (LEARN AND EARN) SCHEME

Context: The scheme has nearly 59% female trainees (far great-er than earmarked 33%) in 2020-21.

About the SchemeNodal ministry: Central Sector Scheme under the Min-istry of Minority Affairs (since 2013-14)

Aim: Upgrading the skills of minority youth (14-35 years age group) and ensure 75% placements, out of which 50% should be in the organized sector. Post placement support of Rs. 2000/- per month is provided to placed trainees for two months as placement assistance.

Implementation: Through selected Project Implement-ing Agencies (PIAs).

Other Schemes of Ministry of Minority Affairs:• Naya Savera Scheme (to provide free coaching to

minority students for the various competitive exam)


• Padho Pardesh Scheme (interest subsidy on educa-tional loans for overseas higher studies)

• Nai Udaan Scheme (supports students clearing Pre-lims of UPSC, SPSC or other exams )

• Nai Roshni Scheme ( Leadership development of women belonging to minority communities)

• USTTAD (Upgrading the Skills and Training in Tradi-tional Arts/Crafts for Development)

• Nai Manzil Scheme (for formal school education & skilling of school dropouts)

• Hamari Dharohar (to preserve the rich heritage of minority communities of India)

OPERATION “NARCOS”

In order to bring attention to the menace of NDPS, a month-long pan-India drive against the smuggling of narcotics through rail was launched under the code name Operation “NARCOS” in the month of June-2022.

RPF has been empowered to conduct search, seizure and arrest under NDPS Act since April 2019 and has been actively participating in the efforts of the Govern-ment to restrict this illegal trade.

GOVT DELETES NGO’S DATA FROM FCRA SITE

Context: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has removed some crucial data from its Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) website which includes a list of NGOs whose licences have been cancelled, and the annual returns of NGOs.• Impact: It will lessen the transparency in the func-

tioning of the FCRA division (At a time when alle-gations of corruption within the FCRA division are being investigated by the CBI)

• Recently, the Ministry notified a series of changes

in FCRA rules in “an effort to lessen the compliance burden on NGOs”. These included changes in Rule 13 which deal with “declaration of receipt of foreign contribution”

• Controversies: MHA had rejected the application for renewal of the FCRA licence of Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity and Oxfam India and re-cently cancelled the licence of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.

Insta Link: FCRA

International News and Organization

CHICAGO CONVENTION

Context:In response to SpiceJet’s increasing number of air safe-ty problems, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a show-cause notice

Convention on International Civil Aviation (also known as Chicago Convention), was signed on 7 December 1944 by 52 States, India is also part of this.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/04/09/amendments-to-the-foreign-contribution-regulation-act/


NORD STREAM

Context: There is a fear that the recent shutdown of Nord Stream 1, (Germany’s main source of gas from Russia) may be extended by Russia in retaliation against the current sanctions against Russia.

Nord Stream 1 is a 1,224 km underwater gas pipeline that runs from Vyborg in northwest Russia to Lubmin in northeastern Germany via the Baltic Sea.

Importance of Nord Stream:• The pipeline is the primary route through which

its gas enters Germany and then travels west and southwards through onshore links to other Europe-an countries.

• Nord Stream 2 Pipeline that would have doubled the flow of Russian gas to Germany was suspend-ed in February 2022 (due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine)

INTERNATIONAL NORTH-SOUTH TRANSPORT CORRIDOR (INSTC)

Context:Though the International North-South Transport Corri-dor (INSTC) continues to be hampered by logistics is-sues and US sanctions on Iran, a Russian train with 39 containers of cargo bound for India entered Iran

About INSTC:International North-South Transport Corridor is a cor-ridor to increase trade between India and Russia. This trade route is 7200 Km long and the transport of freight is through a multi-mode network of roads, ships, and railways. This route connects India and Russia through Iran and Azerbaijan.

CHIN REFUGEES

Context: Persecution by Myanmar’s Tatmadaw, a junta regime has led to the exodus of half a million of Myanmar’s people ( including 50,000 ethnic Chin) to India.

Issues:• Central Government on china refugees: The Chin

refugees are not ‘refugees’ but are rebels who con-tinue to extend support to rebel groups in Myan-mar. ◦ So, MHA advised the state government to take

appropriate action to prevent a possible influx into Indian territory.

◦ The Centre directed the North-eastern states bordering Myanmar that they do not have pow-


ers to grant “refugee status to any foreigner”.• State Government perspective:

◦ The Mizoram government has de-fied the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) orders to “detect and deport the refugees”.

India has not ratified the 1951 UN Convention on the Status of Refugees. However, not being a party to the Convention does not prevent any state from granting asylum to the asylum seeker (under the principle of non-refoulment).

About:Chin, a group of tribes of Mongol origin, occupy the southernmost part of the mountain ranges separating Myanmar (Burma) from India.• Both Mizo and Chin communities (predominant-

ly Christian) share a common history. Both come from the same larger Zo tribe, therefore share a strong ethnic bond predating India’s Independence.

• There is a Free Movement Regime (FMR) 2018 be-tween India and Myanmar that allows both commu-nities on either side to go up to 16 km on the other side and stay up to 14 days.

TWIPLOMACYContext:It has been observed recently that many world leaders use Twitter as a means to communicate and put out

their views to the public.Twitter diplomacy, also called “Twiplomacy” or “hashtag diplomacy” is the use of the social media website Twitter by heads of state, leaders of intergov-ernmental organizations (IGOs), and their diplomats to conduct diplomatic outreach and public diplomacy.

INDIA-AFRICA TRADE AND IN-VESTMENT AGREEMENT (IATIA)

Context: Government has reiterated the need for IATIA to strengthen the India-Africa partnership under the Afri-can continent free trade area (AfFTA)

Other initiatives for Africa• PIDA ( Programme for Infrastructure Development

in Africa): India is implementing it with help from African Development Bank

• ‘Focus Africa’ Programme• Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation

(ITEC) program: for technical assistance and train-ing

• Pan-African E-Network to bridge the digital divide in Africa

• Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (2017): India-Japan partnership for linking Indian ports with those in Africa


LANDLORD PORT MODEL

Context: Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNP) has become the first major 100% landlord port in India, having all berths being op-erated on the PPP model.

Landlord model: In this model, the publicly governed port authority (owner) acts as a regulatory body and as a landlord while private companies carry out all other port oper-ations. In return, the landlord port gets a share of the revenue from the private entity.Previously, the government proposed to set up a major port at Vadhavan (India’s 13th major port) near Daha-nu in Maharashtra based on the landlord model.

About JNPJNP (Mumbai) is one of the leading container ports in the country and is ranked 26th among the top 100 glob-al ports (as per Lloyds List Top 100 Ports 2021 Report).

JNPCT is presently handling 9000 TEUs capacity vessels and with the up-gradation, it can handle 12200 TEUs capacity vessels.

Currently, India has 12 major ports- Deendayal (erst-while Kandla), Mumbai, JNPT, Mormugao, New Manga-lore, Cochin, Chennai, Kamarajar (earlier Ennore), VO Chidambaranar, Visakhapatnam, Paradip and Kolkata (including Haldia).

WHO DECLARES MONKEY POX PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY OF

INTERNATIONAL CONCERNPHEIC is the highest level of alert the global health body can issue. Only polio and SARS-CoV-2 were ongoing PHEIC prior to monkeypox.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE GRAIN DEALContext: Ukraine and Russia have signed “mirror” deals which will allow Kyiv to resume exports of grain through the Black Sea.

Significance: The agreement will allow millions of tonnes of grain, currently trapped in Ukraine by the war, to be exported.• The world shortage of Ukrainian grain since Russia’s

24 February invasion has left millions at risk of hun-ger.


UNRWA

Context: India contributed $2.5 mn to United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

About:Established in 1949 with the mandate to provide as-sistance and protection to about 5.6 mn Palestinian refugees (in West Bank, Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan)

Funding: only through voluntary contributions

India: As a part of the Link West Policy, India has de-hy-phenated its relationship with Israel and Palestine in 2018 to treat both the countries as mutually indepen-dent and exclusive.

UN DECLARES ACCESS TO A CLEAN AND HEALTHY ENVIRON-MENT AS A UNIVERSAL HUMAN

RIGHTContext: At a meeting of the UN General Assembly, India voted in favour of the UNGA resolution for a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right. Previ-ously it was not included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.Status: It is not legally bindingUN Human Rights Council has already recognized ac-cess to a healthy and sustainable environment as a uni-versal right (2021)

Constitutional Provision in India:• Article 21: Right to life ( clean environment, free of

disease)• Article 48A (protect the environment and safeguard

forests and wildlife)• Art 51-A(g) (Duty to protect and improve the natu-

ral environment)

GS PAPER - 3Economy

PURCHASING MANAGERS’ INDEX (PMI)

Context:As per the RBI, India’s services sector purchasing man-agers’ index (PMI), climbed to 59.2 in June, its highest reading in 11 years.


Purchasing managers’ indexes are economic indicators derived from monthly surveys of private sector compa-nies.• IHS Markitproduces the PMI for India.• The index is derived after a survey of 500 manufac-

turing companies and 350 services sector compa-nies.

• A level above 50 denotes expansion in activity, while anything below signals contraction.

• Significance: As services constitute a big bulk of our economy’s output, the survey’s findings spell good news.

INVITS AND REITS

Context: Even as markets are down, returns from ReITs and In-vITs are expected to rise.

Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) are invest-ment instruments that work like mutual funds and are regulated by SEBI. Typically, such a vehicle is designed to pool money (small sums) from several investors to be invested in income-generating assets.

ReITs (Real estate investment trusts) is a company that owns and typically operates income-producing real estate or related assets. These may include office buildings, shopping malls, apartments, hotels, resorts, self-storage facilities, warehouses, and mortgages or loans.

SERVICE CHARGES

Context: Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) (regula-tor under the Consumer protection act 2019) barred hotels and restaurants from adding service charges au-tomatically or by default to the food bill.

What are service charges?They are a type of fee collected to pay for services as-sociated with the purchase of the primary product or service.

HURUN INDIA FUTURE UNICORN INDEX 2022

Context: As per the report, Startups- Zepto, Shiprocket, and Tur-tlemint are at the top list of probable unicorns. Benga-luru continues to be the start-up capital of India. It is


home to 46 probable Unicorns.

REVAMPED DISTRIBUTION SEC-TOR SCHEME (RDSS)

Context: DISCOMs to get support under the RDSS scheme so as to make DISCOM financially sustainable, reduce AT&C loss (to 12-15% by 2024-25) and reduce the Cost-reve-nue gap (to zero by 2024-25)

About • Reforms-based and Results-linked scheme to im-

prove the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of discoms (excluding Private Sector DISCOMs)

• Components: ◦ Action plan for each state ◦ Financial assistance to strengthen the supply in-

frastructure of DISCOMS ◦ Compulsory smart metering ◦ Feeder segregation ( to enable solarization un-

der PM KUSUM) ◦ Distribution strengthening: Supervisory Control

and Data Acquisition (SCADA) in all urban areas.• Timeline: till 2025-26• Convergence: Existing power sector reforms

schemes- Integrated Power Development Scheme, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana, and Prad-han Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana will be merged into this umbrella program.

• Nodal body: Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) and Power Finance Corporation (PFC)

Related news: Power Ministry plans to commission a

socioeconomic survey to measure the effectiveness of its marquee schemes aimed at universal access to elec-tricity. Economists say there is a strong link between poverty eradication and the spread of electricity use (SDG 7)

SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS (SWF)

Context: High Crude Oil prices have been advantageous for the countries to invest through their Sovereign wealth funds.• Six of the top 10 countries by SWFs are oil-rich

economies.

A sovereign wealth fund is a state-owned investment fund comprised of the money generated by the gov-ernment, often derived from a country’s surplus re-serves. • Use: Oil-rich countries such as Norway, those in

West Asia, and others such as China use SWFs to invest in businesses, both at home and abroad.

• There are 169 SWFs from 49 countries managing $11.5 trillion of assets in July 2022.

• Positive Current account balance: A common un-derpinning of most major SWFs is a surplus in the current account. E.g. Kuwait’s current account bal-ance was about 21% of GDP in 2021 (India’s is 1.1% of its GDP)


BUILD- OPERATE- TRANSFER MODEL

Context: For new projects, NHAI will prefer the build-oper-ate-transfer model

What is the BOT Model?Under the BOT model, a private player will finance, build and operate a project for a period of time (20 or 30-year period). The developers will be recouping the investments by way of user charges or tolls charged from customers using the facility.• The BOT (toll) model was the preferred model for

road projects, accounting for 96% of all projects awarded in 2011-12. But this progressively reduced to nil.

Shift to other models: When the private company didn’t had incentives post-2011, the government shift-ed to the EPC and HAM models to plug the funding gap. The return to BOT could be a big positive for the sector.

RBI RECOMMENDS BAN ON CRYPTOCURRENCIES

Context: Speaking in Lok Sabha FM said RBI is of the view that cryptocurrencies should be prohibited.

More: • Cryptocurrency, not a currency: Cryptocurrencies

are not a currency because every modern currency needs to be issued by the Central Bank / Govern-ment. ◦ The value of fiat currencies is anchored by mon-

etary policy and their status as legal tender, however, the value of cryptocurrencies rests solely on speculations.

• Need for International Law: Crypto require interna-tional collaboration to prevent regulatory arbitrage. ◦ RBI has recommended to the government that it

should frame regulations for cryptocurrencies. • Regulations in place: Know Your Customer (KYC),

Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Combating of Fi-nancing of Terrorism (CFT), obligations under Pre-vention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) (for overseas remittances)

REMITTANCE IN INDIA

Context: As per RBI, the US has become the top remittance source after UAE (in 2020-21) for India. • Reson: Economic recovery in the US is one of the

important drivers of India’s remittances growth as it accounts for 23% of total remittances received in India.

• India received about $87bn in remittances in FY21 (the world’s highest).

• Decline in remittances from GCC (Gulf): The share of remittances from the GCC region in India’s inward remittances is estimated to have declined from more than 50 per cent in 2016-17 (last surveyed pe-riod) to about 30 per cent in 2020- 21. ◦ Remittances have exceeded foreign direct in-

flows in several countries, including India.• Among states: The share of the traditional remit-

tance recipient states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka has almost halved in 2020-21. ◦ Maharashtra has emerged as the top recipient

state surpassing Kerala.

ICRA (INVESTMENT INFORMA-TION AND CREDIT RATING AGEN-

CY OF INDIA LIMITED)

Context:


As per ICRA, the road connectivity project under Bharat-mala Pariyojana Programme (BMP) is only 23% com-pleted, 60% awarded and is projected to be completed by 2028 (late by 6 years)

Reasons for the delay: Mainly due to delay in land ac-quisition, rise in projected cost, Covid19-related disrup-tions etc.

About ICRA:ICRA (est. 1991) is an independent credit rating agen-cy. It is a joint-venture between Moody’s ( about 51% stake) and various Indian commercial banks and finan-cial services companies.

About Bharat Mala ProjectThe Government of India launched “Bharatmala Pariyo-jana”, in 2017, as a new umbrella program for the high-ways sector that focuses on optimizing the efficiency of road traffic movement across the country by bridg-ing critical infrastructure gaps.

IMPACT INVESTMENT

Context: In recent years, returns from impact investments have witnessed a good growth trajectory.Impact investments are investments made with the intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return.

Examples:• Waste management company: It provides end-to-

end waste management services for corporates, apartment complexes, etc. Therefore, it keeps the environment clean while generating profit.

• A Mumbai-based courier company: It employs hearing impaired youth, and in the process not only creates employment opportunities for capable individuals but also leverages opportunities in the logistics industry to generate profits.

Regulation: Impact funds (similar to Venture Capital funds) are registered and regulated by Sebi as category I Alternative Investment Fund (AIF)AIF-I are funds that intend to invest in early-stage ven-tures or social ventures or SMEs or areas that the gov-ernment or regulators consider as socially or econom-ically desirable.

REPORT ON DIGITAL BANKS

Context: Niti Aayog has called for setting up Digital Banks (DBs)

Other observations:It has highlighted the challenges presented by the ‘part-nership model’ of neo-banking—which has emerged in India due to a regulatory vacuum and the absence of a digital bank licence.

Digital Banks: The Digital Banking definition is banking done through the digital platform, doing away with all the paperwork like cheques, pay-in slips, Demand Drafts, and so on.

Other measures are taken for financial inclu-sion in India: • Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, India Stack, Aad-

haar, UPI, extending microcredit facilities to street vendors through PM-SVANIDHI, ‘open banking’


through the Account Aggregator (AA) regulatory framework.

NITI AAYOG’S INDIA INNOVATION INDEX, 2022

The index determines innovation capacities and eco-systems at the sub-national level.

Key outcomes:• Karnataka topped the ranking, followed by Telan-

gana, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. • Manipur secured the lead in the Northeast and Hill

States category• Chandigarh was the top performer in the Union Ter-

ritories and the City States category.• Bottom rank: Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Guja-

rat were at the bottom of the index.

Issues in India’s innovation system (as pointed out by reports): • India’s innovation insufficient: India’s average inno-

vation score is arguably insufficient, given the coun-try’s ambitious targets to be named among the top 25 nations in the Global Innovation Index

• Low funding: India’s GDERD as a percentage of GDP

stood at about 0.7%. ◦ Countries that spend less on Gross Domestic

Expenditure on R&D (GDERD) fail to retain their human capital in the long run and the ability to innovate is dependent on the quality of human capital

• The expenditure on human capital has been unable to create that knowledge base in the country.

• Innovation is skewed against the manufacturing sector due to the problems pertaining to and the missing middle.

Recommendations:• It has recommended measures such as increasing

GDERD, promoting private sector participation in R&D ( as is present in South Korea, the USA, and Germany) and closing the gap between industry de-mand and what the country produces through its education systems.

• GDERD needs considerable improvement and should touch at least 2%

STRENGTHENING PHARMACEUTI-CALS INDUSTRY’ (SPI)

Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers unveiled three schemes in order to strengthen Micro, Small and Medi-um Enterprises (MSMEs) in the pharmaceutical sector.

Three schemes are:• Pharmaceutical Technology Upgradation Assis-

tance Scheme (PTUAS)– PTUAS would provide pharmaceutical MSMEs with a proven track record, in a bid to upgrade their technology. It will provide a capital subsidy of 10% on loans up to Rs 10 crore.


The minimum repayment period has been fixed at three months.

• Assistance to Pharma Industries for Common Facil-ities Scheme (API-CF)- API-CF will help in strength-ening existing pharmaceutical clusters’ capacity to attain sustained growth. Under it, the assistance of up to 70 per cent of the project cost of Rs 20 crore (Whichever is less) will be provided.

• Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Promotion and Development Scheme (PMPDS)-. It aims to create a database of pharma and medical device sectors.• These schemes anticipate technology up-grada-

tion, liquid waste treatment plants in clusters and the setting up of common research centres for pharma MSMEs.

• Schemes would help the small companies in up-grading their facilities to international manufac-turing standards.

RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAIN

Context: India, the US, EU and other countries have finalized a four-point roadmap (formulated last year during the supply chain summit in the US) for building collective, long-term resilient supply chains (RSC) to counter risks arising from supply dependencies and vulnerabilities. • Meaning: A resilient supply chain means having the

capability to resist or even avoid the impact of a supply chain disruption – and the ability to quickly recover from a disruption.

• Threats to supply chain: Geopolitics (e.g. domina-tion of China on global supply chain), Wars (e.g. Rus-sian oil to EU), Pandemic, Extreme climate events (e.g. heatwaves), and Natural Disasters.

• Initiatives: Supply chain resilience initiative (SCRI) (by India, Japan and Australia) to counter China’s dominance in Indo-pacific.

INITIATIVES TO BOOST ELECTRIC MOBILITY

Context: NITI Aayog launched two significant initiatives — • E-AMRIT (Accelerated e-Mobility Revolution for

India’s Transportation) mobile application to raise awareness of electric mobility

• Report on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Reuse and Recycling Market in India (supported by UK’s green growth fund technical cooperation)

Glasgow Breakthroughs ( launched at the COP26 cli-mate summit): a series of actions across five key eco-nomic sectors that together represent more than 50% of global emissions.• India is among 42 leaders to back and sign up for

the UK’s Glasgow Breakthroughs.• India is also a co-convener of the Glasgow Break-

through on Road Transport, together with the UK and the US.

• It aims to make ZEVs (Zero Emission Vehicle sys-tems) affordable, accessible and sustainable in all regions by 2030.

• India is the fifth largest and fastest growing vehicle market in the world, providing massive potential for electric vehicle uptake.


BIS STANDARDS ON SAFETY AS-PECTS OF TOYS

Context: Bureau of Indian Standards has published 10 Indian Standards on safety aspects of Toys related to physical safety, safety against chemicals, flammability, electrical safety• Seven of these Standards are the part of Quality Con-

trol Order (QCO) on ‘Safety of Toys’ mandates that toys for children under 14 years of age bear ISI Mark No person is permitted to manufacture, import sell or distribute, store, hire, lease or exhibit for sale toys which do not bear ISI Mark under a licence from BIS.

• Before the licence is granted, toys undergo strin-gent tests for various physical, chemical and elec-trical safety requirements to ensure that they are safe for children.

BIS is the National Standard Body of India for the har-monious development of the activities of standardiza-tion, marking and quality certification of goods.• The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Act 2016 es-

tablishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India. It has includ-ed a new area for standardization such as repair or recall of goods, Alternate fuels, E-mobility, Medical Devices, Smart Cities, Digital Technologies (e.g. In-dustry 4.0, Artificial Intelligence, Block Chain etc.), and New and Renewable energy.

BORROWINGS BY STATE PSUS

Context: Now off-budget borrowings by states in form of bor-rowings by state-owned companies, special purpose vehicles etc. will be considered under the state’s FRBM limit.

These borrowings will need the consent of the Union Government under Article 293(3).

FRBM Act: It was made in 2003 to set fiscal discipline on the central and state government. As per the 12th Finance Commission (FC), all the states have to enact their FRBM Act and its compliance will be monitored by state legislatures.• Net Borrowing Ceiling (NBC) if decided by the

Union government at beginning of each financial year e.g. this year (2022-23) it is 3.5% GSDP (based on 15th FC) + 0.05% ( if the state carries out power sector reforms)

• N.K Singh Panel review of the FRBM Act has placed A debt-to-GDP ratio of 40% for the central govern-ment, 20% for the state governments together and a fiscal deficit of 2.5% of GDP (gross domestic prod-uct), both by the financial year 2022-23.

However, several state governments have opposed this move, as it will curtail their borrowing powers.

Article 293 deals with borrowing by the states govern-ment: (just go through it once, no need to note it down)• 293 (1): the executive power of a State extends to

borrowing within the territory of India upon the se-curity of the Consolidated Fund of the State

• 293(2): Central government may make loans to any State or give a guarantee, so long as any limits fixed under Article 292 are not exceeded

• 293(3): A State may not without the consent of the Government of India raise any loan if there is still an outstanding part of a loan.

MAGIFAC

Context: Multi-Agency Group for investigation of Foreign Asset Cases (MAGIFAC) is an inter-agency group of enforce-ment agencies for the coordinated investigation of vari-ous categories of foreign asset cases e.g. Panama Paper, Pandora paper, Paradise papers etc.


POWER GENERATION CAPACITY

Context: Ministry of Power and New & Renewable Energy has estimated India’s electricity generation capacity to reach 820GW by 2030 (out of this 500 GW will be from renewable resources)

TERI released a “roadmap for feasible pathways to achieve decarbonisation targets” (we will cover the re-port in detail in tomorrow’s CA)

At COP26, India announced the highly ambitious goal of decarbonizing energy to 50% and achieving 500 GW of fossil fuel-free generating capacity by 2030

RBI’S DIGITAL PAYMENTS INDEX

(RBI-DPI)

Context: Recent data (March 2021-22) from the Index demon-strated significant growth, indicating rapid adoption and deepening of digital payments across the country.Direction: The data are important for Prelims (analysing the trend) and Mains (Financial Inclusion)

About RBI-DPI• Launched in January 2021, it captures the extent of

digitisation of payments across the country (with 2018 as a base year- score set as 100) and is pub-lished semi-annually.

• Recent Initiatives: RBI has created a Payments In-frastructure Development Fund (PIDF) to encour-age acquirers to deploy Points of Sale (PoS) infra-structure — both physical and digital modes — in tier-3 to tier-6 centres and northeastern states.

RBI’s Other Publications• Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS - Quarterly)• Inflation Expectations Survey of Households (IESH -

Quarterly)• Financial Stability Report (Half-Yearly)• Monetary Policy Report (Half-Yearly)• Report on Foreign Exchange Reserves (Half-Yearly)

AMENDMENT TO PMLA

Context: On the challenge to PMLA (2019 amendments), SC gave a verdict upholding the changes made

Direction: More on this issue will be covered in today’s Insights Editorials

Amendments made: It provided extensive power to Enforcement Directorate (ED) for summons, arrests


and raids, and makes bail provisions difficult while shifting the burden of proof of innocence onto the ac-cused rather than prosecution.

SC Accepted that: • Definition of Money Laundering includes every as-

pect of the proceeds of crime and not just the final act of money laundering.

• Statement recorded before ED will be accepted as ED is not a police official ( and therefore can’t be challenged on the ground of being self-incriminato-ry)

• Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) can-not be equated with an FIR (as ECIR is an internal document of ED) and therefore directive to share ECIR with the accused can’t be issued.

However, experts have allayed apprehension about the powers of ED and the use of this agency for political vendetta.

PMLA act was enacted in 2002 to fight the menace of money laundering ( under the commitment of the Vi-enna Convention). It is being implemented by ED ( un-der Departement of Revenue, Ministry of Finance)

FDI IN INDIAContext: As per the Ministry of Commerce, the total FDI received in 2021-22 was the US $ 84bn (highest annual inflow)Other findings• Top Source: Singapore>USA> Mauritius

• Top Destination state: Karnataka> Maharastra >Delhi

• Top sectors receiving FDI: Computer and IT> Ser-vices Sector> Automobile

• Increase in FDI in Manufacturing (by 76%) to the US $ 21bn in comparison to last year

FDI: A foreign direct investment is an investment in the form of a controlling ownership in a business in one country by an entity based in another country. It is thus distinguished from a foreign portfolio investment by a notion of direct control.

India’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) RoutesCategory 1: 100% FDI through Automatic Route (no need for RBI’s or government’s approval e.g. 100% FDI allowed on Medical devices and thermal powers.

Category 2: Up to 100% FDI through Government Route ( will need government’s permission) e.g. Core Invest-ment Company (100%), Multi-brand retail trade (51%)

Category 3: Up to 100% FDI through Automatic + Gov-ernment Route

INDIA INTERNATIONAL BULLION EXCHANGE (IIBX)

Context: PM launched India’s 1st IIBX at International Financial Services Centres (IFSC) at GIFT City (Gujarat)

Bullion is a metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to the bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver.

Bullion Exchange: It is a market through which buyers and sellers trade gold and silver as well as associated derivatives. E.g. London Bullion Market is known as the primary global market trading platform for gold and silver.

Background:• IIBX was 1st introduced in budget 2020 for easing

gold import by Jewellers in India• Bullion can sometimes be considered legal tender

and is often held as reserves by central banks or held by institutional investors. ◦ Recently, Zimbabwe’s central bank has intro-

duced gold coins (‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’)that it hopes


will ease citizens’ demands for foreign currency. • India is the world’s 2nd biggest consumer of Gold

after China.

Significance of IIBX:• Help in standard gold pricing in the country• It will help dealers and jewellers to trade in pre-

cious metals About GIFT CityIt is a multi-service Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which houses India’s first International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and an exclusive Domestic Tariff Area (DTA).

Fig: Zimbawawe’s Gold currency

AID FOR TRADE (A4T)

Context: India has been the highest recipient of aid from devel-oped countries in 2020 and WTO’s Aid for Trade Initia-tive (launched in 2005)

A4T is aimed at promoting trade for poverty reduction, by helping developing countries (esp. least developed countries) in addressing issues e.g. Supply-side and trade-related issues.

Developed countries provide grants and concession-al loans (as part of Official Development Assistance) — targeted at trade-related programmes and projects e.g. Trade Portal and Trade Repository ( Myanmar) provides helpful information to exporters and importers has been assisted by USAID.

OPEN ACREAGE LICENSING PRO-GRAMME (OALP)

Context:Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas launches Open Acreage Licensing Programme Bid Round-VIIIOpen Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) along with the National Data Repository (NDR) was launched in June 2017 as the key driver to accelerate the Explora-tion and Production (E&P) activities in India.• Under OALP, companies are given the freedom to

carve out areas they want to explore oil and gas. The areas sought are then put on auction.

• Success: The successful roll-out of the HELP regime, followed by OALP Bid Rounds, has led to an increase in exploration acreages in India.

Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP)HELP which replaced the erstwhile New Exploration Li-censing Policy (NELP) in 2016. Under it:-• Exploration blocks shall be awarded on a continu-

ous basis through e-bidding in a transparent man-ner.

• It followed the Revenue sharing modelinstead of Profit-sharing for hydrocarbon exploration. Unified license for all types of hydrocarbons.

• Freedom to carve out acreages of choice under OALP bid rounds.

• Full marketing and pricing freedom of gas. National Data Repository: NDR is a government-sponsored data bank for future exploration and development. E.g. Seismic Data, Well & Log Data, Spatial Data, other data like Drilling, Res-ervoir, Production, Geological, Gravity & Magnetic etc.

Agriculture

AGRICULTURE CENSUS


Context: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched the 11th Agriculture Census (2021-22)Background: The census is part of the World Census of Agriculture of FAO and has been conducted every 5 years from 1970-71.Unique feature of the 11th Census:• Data collection will be conducted on smartphones

and tablets• Use of digital land records like land title records

and survey reports

Aim: It will provide updated information number and area of operational holdings, their size, class-wise dis-tribution, land use, tenancy and cropping pattern, etc.

Operational holding is defined as “all land which is used wholly or partly for agricultural production and is operated as one technical unit by one person alone or with others without regard to title, legal form, size or lo-cation”. It is taken as a statistical unit for data collection in Agriculture Census.

10th agriculture census (2015-16): As per the census, the land holding was inequitably distributed, Small and marginal farmers (less than two hectares of land) ac-counted for 86.2% of all farmers but owned just 47.3% of the crop area.

World Census of Agriculture (WCA): Started in 1950 by FAO. Unlike FAO’s definition, Indian operational holding doesn’t include holdings under livestock, poultry, fish-ing, etc.

INDIA’S JUTE ECONOMY IS FAL-TERING WHILE BANGLADESH’S IS

FLOURISHING

Direction: Not very important, just go through it once

Context: India is still the largest producer of jute but in terms of acreage, Bangladesh is the largest cultivator. It also ac-counts for nearly 75 per cent of the global jute exports, while India’s share is just 7 per cent.Reasons: Lack of market, government procurement and diversification, poor infrastructure as well as the sorry state of Indian jute mills is responsible for this.For more on Jute click here

SYSTEM OF RICE INTENSIFICA-TION (SRI)

It is also called the Madagascar method of rice cultiva-tion as it was first developed there. It promises to save 15 to 20 per cent of ground water, and improve rice productivity, which is almost at a stagnant point now.

Experts said that it gives equal to or more productive than conventional rice cultivation, with less water, less seed and less chemicals. The net effect is a substantial reduction in the investments in external inputs.

SRI is suitable in all types of soil including less fertile soil as in such soil the number of seedlings can be in-creased to double.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/05/04/insights-into-editorial-the-recent-woes-of-the-jute-industry-in-west-bengal/

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/05/04/insights-into-editorial-the-recent-woes-of-the-jute-industry-in-west-bengal/


DIRECT-SEEDED RICEDSR also called the ‘broadcasting seed technique’, is a water-saving method of sowing paddy.

Seeds are directly drilled into the fields in this method. This saves groundwater, as opposed to the traditional water-intensive method, under which rice seedlings are transplanted from a nursery to waterlogged fields.

MINIMUM SUPPORT PRICE

Context: Panel on MSP, natural farming setup (this is in continu-ation to the previous article)The MSP is the rate at which the government buys grains from farmers. This helps farmers bear the price volatility and ensure a basic minimum income.How is MSP fixed?The Centre announces the MSP (which is not legally guaranteed) for 22 mandated crops (and Fair & Remu-nerative Price, or FRP, for sugarcane) on the basis of the recommendations of the CACP.

Crops included are: • 14 Kharif crops (paddy, jowar, bajra, maize, ragi,

tur/arhar, moong, urad, groundnut, soya bean, sun-flower, sesamum, nigerseed, cotton)

• Six are rabi crops (wheat, barley, gram, Masur/len-til, rapeseed and mustard, and safflower)

• Two are commercial crops (jute and copra)

The CACP takes into account various factors including demand and supply; cost of production; market trends; a minimum 50% margin over the cost of production; and likely implications of MSP on consumers.

The CACP calculates three types of costs — A2, A2+FL and C2 — for each mandated crop for different states.

(based on Swaminathan Committee recommenda-tions)• A2: is the actual paid-out cost incurred by a farmer• A2+FL: the actual paid-out cost plus the value of

family labour• C2: it includes A2+FL + Rental Value of Own Land

CACP eventually recommends — and the government announces — MSP on the basis of A2+FL. Protesting farmers have been demanding MSP based on C2, be-sides a legal guarantee.

OPIUM OPENED FOR PRIVATE PLAYERS

Context: For 1st time, the central government has allowed a pri-vate company, Bajaj Healthcare to produce concen-trated poppy straw that is used to derive alkaloids that are the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in pain medication (morphine) and cough syrups.• The move is also aimed at offsetting the declining

area under cultivation of poppy in India.• Last year, the government allowed the produc-

tion of - Opium gum and Concentrate of Poppy Straw (CPS) (previously only opium gum was al-lowed).

Background: India has been growing poppy at least since the 15th century. The British East India Company assumed a monopoly on the cultivation of poppy, and the entire trade was brought under government control by 1873.

Regulation:• At present, the cultivation and processing of pop-

py and opium are controlled by the provisions of The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Rules.

• Due to fear of illegal cropping, Opium is allowed to be sown only in tracts of land notified by the central government in 22 districts in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

• The government announces the licensing policy for opium cultivation every year

• This entire quantity is bought by the government and processed in its own factories (in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur and Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch. )

• Only 12 countries including India allow its cultiva-tion legally for medicinal use.

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/07/19/panel-on-msp-natural-farming-setup/


WHITE ONION GETS GI TAGS

Location: Alibagh (Maharastra) is known for growing white onion using the traditional method and utilizing geo-climatic conditions for a unique taste, flavour and shape.

AboutA GI is primarily an agricultural, natural or manufac-tured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) origi-nating from a definite geographical territory.• Typically, such a name conveys an assurance of

quality and distinctiveness, which is essentially at-tributable to the place of its origin.

How long is the registration of Geographical Indication is valid?• The registration of a geographical indication is valid

for a period of 10 years.• It can be renewed from time to time for a further

period of 10 years each.

In India, Geographical Indications registration is admin-istered by the Geographical Indications of Goods (Reg-istration and Protection) Act, 1999 which came into force with effect in September 2003. The first product in India to be accorded with GI tag was Darjeeling tea in the year 2004-05.

THE FISHBONE CHANNEL PLAN-TATION METHOD

Context:The fishbone channel plantation method has been used to revive mangroves in the Krishna Wildlife Sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh.The water from creeks are being diverted to gaps in mangroves through fish bone shaped channels, so that the saline barren land becomes fertile to support planted mangrove species. The shape allows the water to reach every nook and corner of the area.This technique is used to artificially inundate areas that do not get regular tidal inundation. By flooding dried-up wetlands near the intertidal zones, new mangroves can be reforested.


Science and Technology

SPATIAL TRANSCRIPTOMICS

Context:Researchers are trying to find out exactly where in a cell or tissue each gene is expressed through this method.

It is a range of methods designed for assigning cell types (identified by the mRNA readouts) to their lo-cations in the histological sections, this method can also be used to determine the subcellular localization of mRNA molecules.

TIHANTechnology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Naviga-tion

Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Naviga-tion” is a multidisciplinary initiative, which aims at mak-ing India a global player in the futuristic and next-gen-eration “Smart Mobility” technology. It is seen as one of the steps toward India’s vision of ‘At-manibhar Bharat’, ‘Skill India’ and ‘Digital India’.The focus will be on solving various challenges hinder-ing the real-time adoption of unmanned autonomous vehicles for both terrestrial and aerial applications.

There is no such testbed facility in India to evaluate the autonomous navigation of vehicles. TiHAN aims to fill this gap by developing a fully functional and exemplary testbed facility dedicated to connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs).

SAND BATTERYContext: Finnish researchers have installed the world’s first fully working “sand battery” which can store green power for months at a time.How does it work?1. Charging: Using low-grade sand, the device

is charged up with heat made from cheap electricity from solar or wind.

2. Storage: The sand (placed in siloes) stores the heat at around 500C. Sand is a very effective medium for storing heat and loses little over time.

3. Discharge: When energy prices are higher or in win-


ter, the battery discharges the hot air which warms water for the district heating system which is then pumped around homes, offices and even the local swimming pool.

“CAMO-CROPPING” TRIAL

Context: Scientists hope patchworks of multi-coloured crops will help hide them “in plain sight” from pests as a natural alternative to pesticides.

Fields of sugar beet have been dyed in different colours using food dye at the farm. Colour and the contrast be-tween the plant and soil, using the dye will effective-ly hide the crops in plain sight from the pests such as aphids.”

CO-LOCATIONCo-location is a data centre facility where third parties can lease space for servers and other computer hard-ware. They provide infrastructure like power supply,

bandwidth, and cooling for setting up servers and stor-age of data. Customers usually rent out space by rack, cabinet, cage, or room.

ANTHRAX OUTBREAK IN KERALA

Context:

An outbreak of Anthrax has been declared in Athirap-pilly of Thrissur district, after finding several carcasses of wild boar.

Anthrax is a serious infectious disease, which is caused by spore-forming bacteria.

Anthrax is also called woolsorter’s disease or malig-nant pustule. It is a rare but serious disease, caused due to rod-shaped bacteria called Bacillus anthracis. These bacteria occur naturally in soil.

As per WHO, Anthrax is a disease of herbivores, affect-ing wild as well as domestic animals. It is a zoonotic dis-ease; thus, it is transmissible from animals to humans.


ONCOLYTIC VIRUSES

Context: Recently, the human trial of a cancer-killing virus start-ed• Oncolytic viruses are a form of immunotherapy

that uses viruses to infect and destroy cancer cells in Oncolytic Virotherapy. They can kill cancer cells but leaves nearby healthy cells intact.

• Working: The modified virus works by entering cells and duplicating itself. After the infected cell bursts, releasing thousands of new virus particles that act as antigens, it stimulates the immune system to at-tack nearby cancer cells.

MUON MAGNETISMContext:Experiments are being done to measure the magnetic property of muon in the Fermilab (USA)Muon: A muon is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with an electric charge of −1 e and a spin of

1⁄2, but with a much greater mass. It is classified as a lepton.

Why the experiment?• To resolve the conundrum: the present measured

value of the muon’s magnetic strength, or its “mag-netic moment”, which determines its behaviour in a magnetic field, is significantly higher than the the-oretical predictions of the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics.

• Muon, a heavier, unstable cousin of the elec-tron, behaves like a tiny bar magnet.

MONKEYPOX CASES

Context:The study found three men tested positive for monkey-pox but have no symptoms. None of them reported ex-posure to a diagnosed monkeypox case, nor did any of their contacts develop clinical monkeypox.

About:• It is a viral zoonotic disease (transmission from an-

imals to humans) and is identified as a pox-like dis-ease among monkeys hence it is named Monkey-pox. It is endemic to Nigeria.

• It is caused by monkeypox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae.

• The natural host of the virus remains undefined. But the disease has been reported in many animals.

• Animals known to be sources of Monkeypox virus include monkeys and apes, a variety of rodents (in-cluding rats, mice, squirrels and prairie dogs) and rabbits.

Symptoms:• Infected people break out in a rash that looks a lot

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like chicken pox. But the fever, malaise, and head-ache from Monkeypox are usually more severe than in chicken pox infection.

• In the early stage of the disease, Monkeypox can be distinguished from smallpox because the lymph gland gets enlarged.

UBER FILES

Context:The Uber Files are a leak of gigabytes of data obtained from an anonymous source and shared with the Inter-national Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its media partners from 30 countries.• The Uber Files show how the ride-hailing start-up be-

gun by Travis Kalanick in San Francisco in 2010 be-came a global behemoth by harnessing technology, working around laws, and using aggressive lobby-ing tactics to curry favour with governments during the period of its dramatic expansion.

• In 2017, Uber’s investors forced Kalanick out amid a series of sexual harassment and privacy scandals, causing huge reputational damage to the company.

What is a ‘Kill Switch’?• Emails and internal documents reveal that India

was among the countries where Uber deployed its unique blocking software, ‘Kill Switch’.

• The ‘Kill Switch’ was meant to be used to switch off systems in the event of serious regulatory action, like a tax raid.

• g., Uber used a software named ‘Casper’ and later ‘Ripley’.

DIGITAL NOMADSContext:Indonesia has announced “Digital Nomad Visas” for travellers, to attract more foreign tourists.

Digital Nomads are people who work remotely while travelling to different places and spending their earned income in the country they are travelling to.• Unlike regular remote workers, who tend to stay in

one geographic area, digital nomads travel and ex-plore while working.

The proposal: The Digital Nomad Visa would allow re-mote workers to stay in Indonesia, including Bali, tax-free.

Benefits: Economic and spiritual tourism: Indonesia aims to bring in over 3.6 million overseas travellers into the country over the next year to explore spiritual re-treats as well as the eco-tourism of Indonesia.

What are some other countries that provide nomad visas?Italy (can stay in the country for up to 90 days without a visa), Antigua and Barbuda (for digital nomad visa for two years), Barbados (a year-long remote working visa)

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THE ISRO SYSTEM FOR SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE SPACE OPERA-

TIONS & MANAGEMENT (IS4OM)

Context:ISRO launches the world’s first facility to track space debris, and safeguard assets.IS4OM is ISRO’s holistic approach to ensure the safety of space assets and sustaining the utilization of outer space for national development.

Need:In response to the ever-growing space object popula-tion and the risk of collisions in space, it undertakes ob-servation and monitoring of space objects and space environment, processing the observations for orbit de-termination, object characterization and cataloguing, analysis of space environment evolution, risk assess-ment, and mitigation, and data exchange and collab-oration.Prevent a rising concern about Kessler Syndrome, which states that a collision in space due to pollution could increase the number of space debris, increasing the number of potential collisions due to the multiply-ing space debris.

AI-BASED MANDARIN TRANSLA-TION DEVICES

Context: Artificial Intelligence-based devices developed by an In-dian start-up will be deployed along LAC. It is an offline handheld language translation system which works based on AI.• Other devices produced by Defence PSU: - AI-en-

abled Voice Transcription/Analysis software, Driver Fatigue Monitoring System, and AI-enabled evalua-tion of welding defects.

• Projects for use of AI in Defence: Technological De-velopment Fund projects, ‘Dare to Dream’ contests and ‘Defence-Industry-Academia’ Centres of Excel-lence.

Related News: India’s export of arms and defence tech-nologies touched a record Rs 13,000 crore in the finan-cial year 2021-22, with 70% contribution coming from the private sector. Export is mainly to the US, Philip-pines (Brahmos), other S-E Asian counties as well as to west-Asia and Africa.

POP-FAMEContext: A fuel named POP-FAME has been developed from bac-teria (streptomyces) in the US. It has an energy densi-ty greater than that of Petrol and other rocket fuel. So, ideal for space fuel.

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LAVENDER SCAREContext:The telescope was named after James Webb, who ran the US space agency from 1961 to 1968, and allegedly had a role to play in the “Lavender Scare” at NASA.

The Lavender Scare was the marginalization of LGBTQ employees working in the US government’s offices during the 1950s and 1960s. It is often described as a “witch-hunt”, where those suspected of being from the LGBTQ community were fired from their jobs.

FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOL-OGY

Context:Two retail chains in Australia, Bunnings and Kmart, are being investigated for using facial recognition technol-ogy and storing data of their customers without their knowledge.

Facial recognition technology works by capturing peo-ple’s faces from photographs or video footage as a unique faceprint. The image is then saved and can be compared to other faceprints stored in a common da-

tabase. While this technology can help verify a person’s face, it also raises several privacy issues.

Used in India: • Telangana police launched their own facial recogni-

tion facility (2018)• Ministry of Civil Aviation’s “DigiYatra” has used the

facial recognition system at Hyderabad Airport• NCRB’s Crime and Criminal Tracking Network &

Systems (CCTNS) uses automated facial recognition

SODIUM ION (NA-ION) BASED BATTERY

Context: The University of Houston developed electro-lytes to make sodium-ion batteries commercially viable.

The sodium-ion battery is a type of rechargeable bat-tery (similar to a lithium-ion battery) which uses sodi-um ions as the charge carriers.

Issues with Li-ion batteries: Limited resources, high en-vironmental mining cost, Safety issues due to flamma-bility, expensive, low performance at the cooler tem-perature, recycling is complex.


LOW-POWER MEMORY DEVICE

Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Ban-galore, an autonomous institution of the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India (DST), has developed a low-power memory device with excellent switching characteristics made from the chemical haf-nium oxide, a replacement for silicon oxide, for data storage applications.

Hafnium element is a good absorber of neutrons and is used to make control rods, such as those found in nu-clear submarines. It also has a very high melting point and because of this is used in plasma welding torches.

CHIMERIC ANTIGEN RECEPTOR (CAR) T-CELL THERAPY

Chimeric antigen receptor T cells are T cells that have been genetically engineered to produce an artificial T cell receptor for use in immunotherapy. Chimeric an-tigen receptors are receptor proteins that have been engineered to give T cells the new ability to target a specific protein• It is used to treat certain blood cancers, and it is

being studied in the treatment of other types of cancer.

• T cells are part of the immune system and devel-op from stem cells in the bone marrow. They help protect the body from infection and may help fight cancer.

Under the government programme- An Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) facul-ty from the Department of Science & Technology (DST) is working on an Alternative Anti-Cancer Therapy (An-ti-Angiogenic) using transgenic zebrafish.

VACCINATION IN INDIAIndia has achieved over 200cr vaccinations against CoVID-19 in a record period of just 18 months. At the global level, in over a year, more than 12.2 bil-lion doses have been administered across 184 countries.


ANEURYSMContext:Actor Emilia Clarke, who played the role of Daenerys Targaryen in the series Game of Thrones recently dis-closed that she had suffered two brain aneurysms while filming for the series. Aneurysm is a swelling of the arteries and veins in any part of the body and is caused by the weakening of the walls. It occurs most commonly in the aorta, back of the knees, brain or intestines. If the aneurysm gets rup-tured, it can even cause internal bleeding and stroke.

MARBURG VIRUSContext:• Marburg virus, the Ebola-like outbreak now con-

firmed in Ghana• Marburg virus disease (MVD), earlier known as

Marburg haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal hemorrhagic fever.

• It is a filovirus (like ebola), -both diseases are clini-cally similar.

• Rousettus fruit bats are considered the natural hosts for the Marburg virus.

• It was first detected in 1967 after simultaneous out-breaks in Marburg and Frankfurt in Germany; and in Belgrade, Serbia.

ISRO’S UPCOMING MISSION

• Gaganyaan abort mission (India’s 1st manned mis-sion) – scheduled for later in 2022

• XpoSat ( designed to study cosmic x-rays): XpoSat will be India’s second astronomical observatory in space after the Astrosat.

• ‘Space docking experiment’ (2024): Space dock-ing is a process of joining two separately launched spacecraft, and is mainly used for setting up modu-lar space stations.

• Aditya L1 mission: Indian spacecraft going 1.5 mil-lion km away to the L1 or Lagrangian point between the Sun and Earth.

• Chandrayaan 3: It will be a lander-rover mission that aims for a soft landing on the Moon that was planned for the second lunar mission.

• Three Earth Observation Satellites (EOSs) (2022): EOS-4 (Risat-1A) and EOS-6 (Oceansat-3) — will be launched using Isro’s workhorse PSLV, the third one, EOS-2 (Microsat), will be launched in the first devel-opmental flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehi-cle (SSLV).

• Shukrayaan Mission: The ISRO is also planning a mission to Venus, tentatively called Shukrayaan.

• Own Space Station: India is planning to launch its own space station by 2030, joining the league of the US, Russia, and China as an elite space club.

WORMHOLEA wormhole is like a tunnel connecting two places in space. By going through the wormhole, you could - in


theory - travel immense distances across space remark-ably quickly, even if the two ends of the wormhole were very far apart.The existence of wormholes has been predicted by Lud-wig Flamm, in 1916, soon after Einstein proposed his General Theory of Relativity. However, the presence of wormholes has not yet been established through ob-servation or inference by astronomers.With rapid advances in observational cosmology in re-cent times, there is gathering support for the existence of entities such as the wormhole and others that have not yet been “seen”.

Q. Consider the following statements: (UPSC 2018)1. Light is affected by gravity.2. The Universe is constantly expanding.3. Matter warps its surrounding space-time.Which of the above is/are the prediction/predictions of Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, often discussed in media?(a) 1 and 2 only(b) 3 only(c)1 and 3 only(d) 1, 2 and 3Answer: D

LOW-TEMPERATURE THERMAL DESALINATION (LTTD) TECHNOL-

OGYMinistry of Earth Sciences (MoES) through its autono-mous Institute National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) has developed Low-Temperature Thermal De-salination (LTTD) technology for conversion of seawater to potable water which has been successfully demon-strated in Lakshadweep islands. • LTTD technology was suitable for Lakshadweep is-

lands, because there is a temperature difference of 15 degrees Celsius between sea surface water and deep-sea water, as required by the technology.

A NEW SPRAY COATING TO PRO-TECT SURFACES FROM VIRUSES,

BACTERIAContext:A sprayable coating which can prevent the surface spread of infection from bacteria and viruses, including Covid-19, over a sustained period has been discovered.

The spray works in two ways: • Repelling viruses and bacteria through an air-filled

barrier• Killing pathogens through microscopic materials if

the layer becomes damaged or submerged for ex-tended periods.

It uses a combination of plastics.Application: The coating can be applied to surfaces in public settings such as lift buttons, stair rails, and surfaces in hospi-tals, nursing homes, schools and restaurants.The coating is also safer than existing alternatives to disinfectant, with no harmful side effects.


MIST SUBMARINE CABLE SYSTEMContext: Expert appraisal Committee ( Ministry of forest and Cli-mate Change) has given the coastal Regulatory Zone clearance for the 8100 KM long Myanmar/Malaysia-In-dia-Singapore Transit (MIST) Submarine cable System connecting Tuas (Singapore) to Mumbai. • MIST will directly connect Singapore, Malaysia,

Myanmar, Thailand and India (Mumbai and Chen-nai) and deliver a design capacity of more than 216 terabits per second (Tbps)

Submarine Cable:A submarine cable system consists of a communication cable laid on the sea bed between cable landing sta-tions (CLS) on the land to carry telecommunication sig-nals across stretches of ocean. Submarine cable systems generally use optical fibre cables to carry international traffic.

CENTAURUSA new COVID variant has recently been detected in sev-eral countries including the UK, US, India, Australia and Germany.Called BA.2.75, it’s a subvariant of omicron.

N-TREAT TECHNOLOGY

Context:IIT-Bombay to help treat Mumbai’s sewage with new technology.N-Treat is a seven-stage process for waste treatment that uses screens, gates, silt traps, curtains of coconut fibres for filtration, and disinfection using sodium hy-pochlorite. • The first stage involves screening to prevent the

entry of floating objects such as plastic cups, paper dishes, polythene bags, sanitary napkins, or wood.

• The second stage has proposed the construction of a silt trap, which creates an inclination and ‘parking spot’ on the bed of the nullah for sedimentation.

• The next three stages are the installation of ‘bio zones’ in the form of coconut fibre curtains that will act as filters and promote the growth of biofilm to help in the decomposition of organic matter.

• The final stage for sewage treatment will include disinfection using sodium hypochlorite, to kill the bacteria in the water.

LUMPY SKIN DISEASELumpy skin disease (LSD) is an infectious disease in cattle caused by a virus of the family Poxviridae, also known as the Neethling virus.

Characteristics: The disease is characterized by fever, enlarged superficial lymph nodes and multiple nod-ules (measuring 2–5 centimetres (1–2 in) in diameter) on the skin and mucous membranes (including those of


the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts).• It is transmitted by blood-feeding insects, such as

certain species of flies and mosquitoes, or ticks.• Lumpy skin disease virus is capable of infecting hu-

mans with direct transmission without the need for an insect vector; most probably by inhalation and certainly by direct contact with infected materials, infected persons [man to man], and as laborato-ry-acquired infection.

RESEARCHERS DEVELOP ANTIMI-CROBIAL COATING FROM AGRI-

CULTURAL WASTEA research team from the DBT-CIAB (Center of Inno-vative and Applied Bioprocessing), Mohali, has devel-oped a nanocomposite using lignin and nanoparticles of cadmium sulfide called L@CdS QDs (quantum dots). The team has also coated the nanocomposite on per-sonal protective equipment (PPE) and demonstrated its efficacy in destroying bacteria.

FIBERISATIONContext: 5G spectrum auction has highlighted the need for req-uisite infrastructure in terms of fiberisation

Definition: It is a process of connecting radio towers via optical fi-bre cables, thus facilitating the flow of a large amount of data to be used in 5G services.Issue:• Low fiberasition: Compared to the US, UK, and Ja-

pan (80-90% fiberisation), India has just 33% of the towers fiberized, which is becoming a hurdle in In-dia transitioning to the 5G network.

• Low funding: India requires a huge amount of fund-ing (over 2.2 lakh cr) to fiberize 70% of the towers.

• Slow speed of fiberizationSolution: Satellite-based networks (along with on-ground optical fibre networks) can help reduce depen-dence on fiberization and deliver 5G broadband to us-ers on moving vessels, including cars, ships, aeroplanes and high-speed trains.

Government initiatives:• Amendment in Indian Telegraph Right of Way

(RoW) Rules 2016, to make it easier to install aerial optical fibre cable. However, several states and local bodies have not agreed to RoW rules.

• GatiShakti Sanchar Online Portal (DoTs): It will sim-plify approvals of RoW and granting of compensa-tion.

• BharatNet: Vision to connect every village with op-tical fibre cable in 1000 days

VACCINE DEVELOPMENT OF MONKEYPOX VIRUS

ContextICMR- National Institute of Virology has isolated the vi-rus strain of Moneky pox for the first time in the coun-try

Steps of vaccine:Isolation of virus strains is the first step toward expe-diting the development of drugs, vaccines and rapid di-agnostic kits in the country. The genomic sequence of the Indian strains has a 99.85% match with the West African strain circulating globally.


Two types of virus: There are two known types (clades) of monkeypox virus — one that originated in Central Af-rica and one that originated in West Africa. The current world outbreak (2022) is caused by the less severe West African clade.

Indian Council of Medical Research• Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is the

apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research.

• It is funded by the Government of India through the Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

• ICMR’s EOI document states that it reserves all the Intellectual Property Rights and Commercialisa-tion Rights on the Monkeypox virus isolates and its method/protocols for purification, propagation and characterisation.

• ICMR is lawfully entitled to enter into any form of non-exclusive agreements with experienced Drug/Pharma/Vaccine/IVD manufacturers through de-fined agreement for undertaking R&D as well as manufacturing activities.

ANTI-RETROVIRAL THERAPY (ART)

Context: India is a facing shortage of dolutegravir (given to adults and children) and nevirapine drugs (only for in-fants) used in ART for HIV-positive patients.

These drugs help in protecting CD4 cells thus keeping the immune system strong enough to fight off the dis-ease.

HIV attacks CD4 (a type of White Blood Cell (T cells)- which detects anomalies and infections in cells). Patient with HIV can have CD4 count as low as 200 (a normal person have a 500-1600 count)As per the India HIV Estimation 2019 report, incidences of HIV had been reducing in India since 2000.

Recently: A US patient with leukaemia has become the first woman and the third person to date to be cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant from a do-nor who was naturally resistant to the virus that causes AIDS

GAIA HYPOTHESISContext: James Lovelock (scientists) who created Gaia ecology theory, passed awayDirection: Just go through it once. No need to go into details.The Gaia hypothesis proposes that all organisms and their inorganic surroundings on Earth are closely inte-grated to form a single and self-regulating complex sys-tem, maintaining the conditions for life on the planet.


CRYPTO-JACKINGCrypto-jacking is a cyber-attack wherein a computing device is hijacked and controlled by the attacker, and its resources are used to illicitly mine cryptocurrency.

VITAMIN B1 (THIAMINE)Context: The government is promoting the production of Vitamin B1 under the “Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Bulk Drugs”Thiamine is a water-soluble vitamin, an essential micro-nutrient, which cannot be made in the body. It is found in food and commercially synthesized to be a dietary supplement or medication. Food sources of thiamine include whole grains, legumes, and some meats and fish. Beriberi is a deficiency of thiamin.

HEPATITISContext: World Hepatitis Day (July 28)Theme: “Bringing hepatitis care closer to you”

About HepatitisHepatitis means inflammation of the liver. The liver is a vital organ that processes nutrients, filters the blood, and fights infections. When the liver is inflamed or dam-aged, its function can be affected.• Causes: Heavy alcohol use, toxins, some medica-

tions, and certain medical conditions can cause hepatitis.

• Types: It is caused by a group of viruses known as the “hepatotropic” (liver-directed) viruses and can be of type A, B, C, D and E. It may also be caused by ‘Varicella Virus’ (which is responsible for Chicken-pox)

• Treatment: Hepatitis A and E go away on their own) and require no specific antiviral medications. For Hepatitis B and C, effective medications are avail-able. The vaccine is available for Hepatitis B.

Severity: It can be • Acute (inflammation of the liver that presents with

sickness — jaundice, fever, vomiting)• Chronic (inflammation of the liver that lasts more

than six months, but essentially shows no symp-toms)

India:India has 11% of the estimated global burden of Hepa-titis cases. Hepatitis B has been included in India’s uni-versal Immunization Programme to provide free-of-cost vaccination.

Initiatives:• Global Target is to eliminate viral hepatitis as a pub-

lic health threat by 2030.• Integrated Regional Action Plan for viral hepatitis,

HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infection STIs 2022–2026 (by WHO)

• COBAS 6800: To detect viral Hepatitis B and C along with the Corona virus

• India’s neighbours: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand have successfully controlled Hepatitis B

Q. Which one of the following statements is not cor-rect? ( UPSC 2019)(a) Hepatitis B virus is transmitted much like HIV.(b) Hepatitis B unlike Hepatitis C, does not have a vac-cine.(c) Globally, the number of people infected with Hepa-titis B and C viruses arc several times more than those infected with HIV.(d) Some of those infected with Hepatitis B and C virus-


es do not show the symptoms for many years.Ans: B

RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRI-AL

Context: Nobel Laureate Michael R Kremer has asked for RCT in India for better policy analysis and formulation.

RCT: It is an experimental form of impact evaluation in which the population receiving the programme or policy in-tervention is chosen at random from the eligible pop-ulation, and a control group is also chosen at random from the same eligible population.• E.g., Whether providing a mobile vaccination van

and/or a sack of grains would incentivise villagers to vaccinate their kids and then under an RCT, village households would be divided into groups, study its different aspects, conduct various experiments and, based on such evidence, decide what needs to be done.

Kremer along with economists Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo was awarded the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel for their experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.

THE OLDEST EUROPEAN HUMAN FOSSIL FOUND

Context:A jawbone fragment discovered in northern Spain last month could be the oldest known fossil of a human an-cestor found to date in Europe,

The researchers said the fossil found at an archae-ological site in the Atapuerca mountain range was about 1.4m years old.

Until now, the oldest hominid fossil found in Europe was a jawbone found at the same site in 2007 that was determined to be 1.2m years old.

Atapuerca holds one of the richest records of prehistor-ic human occupation in Europe.

Environment

SINGALILA NATIONAL PARK

Context: Singalila National Park launches a programme that aims to release about 20 red pandas in a period of five years.It is the first attempt to re-wild endangered mammals in India.

Why?The number of red pandas has been declining in the wild, even in the Singalila and Neora Valley National Parks (West Bengal)

About Red Panda:• Category: endangered species (IUCN) and comes

under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

• Red pandas are shy, solitary and arboreal ani-mals and are considered an indicator species for ecological change.

• They are also one of the most iconic species in terms of their importance to global conservation.

• The red panda’s survival is crucial for the eastern and north-eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests and the eastern Himalayan broadleaf for-ests. (2200-4800m under dense bamboo)

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• It is also the state animal of Sikkim.• Protection measure: Transboundary law enforce-

ment cooperation through the use of multi-govern-ment platforms like SAWEN (South Asia Wildlife En-forcement Network).

DECRIMINALISATION OF INDIAN FOREST ACT, 1927

Context: MoEFCC is reviewing to decriminalize the Indian forest act, 1927• Indian Forest Act, 1927: It classified the forests into

three – reserved forests, protected forests and vil-lage forests. ◦ It attempted to regulate the collection of forests

produce by forest dwellers and some activities were declared as offences and imprisonment and fines were imposed in this policy to estab-lish the state control over forests

• Changes suggested: Decriminalizing kindling of fire or carrying fire in the forest areas, felling and drag-ging timbers; violation of the act will only attract a fine of Rs 500 (previously it was six-month impris-onment and fine)

• Previously, the Ministry had proposed the decrim-inalisation of the existing provisions of the Envi-ronment Protection Act, 1986 in order to weed out fear of imprisonment for simple violations (e.g. vio-lation of a ban on single-use-plastic)

GREEN HYDROGEN FROM BIO-MASS

Context:A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has developed a technology to produce green hy-drogen from biomass

This indigenous technology is a step toward achieving the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the National Hydro-gen Energy Roadmap, an initiative of the Government of India that aims to promote the use of hydrogen as a fuel and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Department of Science and Technology of the Govern-ment of India supported the project.

COMMISSION FOR AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT (CAQM)

Context: It released the policy to curb air pollution in the Del-hi-NCR region

Background: The Commission for Air Quality Manage-

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ment (CAQM) was established as a statutory body by the government in August 2021 as an overarching body to carry out air quality management in Delhi NCR.• Its authority supersedes the central and state pol-

lution control board of Delhi, Haryana, UP, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Policy Recommendations:- Time-bound implementa-tion, better monitoring, Dust management, availabili-ty of clean fuels and technology, promotion of Circular economy.

INITIATIVES FOR CLEAN ENERGY• Asia energy transition initiative: It aims for sustain-

able growth and carbon neutrality in Asia. Under this Japan will provide financial support to India for the energy transition.

• Sydney energy forum (Australia and IEA): It aims to secure a clean energy supply chain for the In-do-pacific. At the forum, India declared that it has achieved clean energy targets 9 years ahead of schedule (installed 162 GW of renewable energy to date)

• Other initiatives: Internation Solar Alliance, OS-OWOG, National wind-solar hybrid policy, National Hydrogen Mission, Biogas Power Generation and Thermal application Programme (BPGTP)

SHIFTING AGRICULTURE (PODU)Podu cultivation is a type of shifting cultivation that employs methods like slash and burns. This is exten-sively used by the tribes living in the forests of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

NATURAL RESOURCE ACCOUNT-ING (NRA)

Context: Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board

(GASAB) has released a concept paper on NRA• Natural resource accounting deals with changes in

the stocks of natural assets, comprising biota (pro-duced or wild), subsoil assets (proved reserves), wa-ter and land with their aquatic and terrestrial eco-systems.

• Aim: The aim of natural resource accounting is to provide information on the state of natural resourc-es and the changes affecting them. It is therefore an important link in the chain of sustainable develop-ment.

• It aims to help make policymakers take informed policy decisions about the country’s key natural re-sources.

• It will be in compliance with international stan-dards set by UN’s SEEA CF (SEEA measures the en-vironment and its relationship with the economy)

BIOECONOMYContext: BIRAC (Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council) releases the Indian Bio-economy Report (IBER) 2022• Definition: As per FAO, bioeconomy is “the produc-

tion, use and conservation of biological resourc-es with the aim of moving towards a sustainable economy”.

• Aim: The ultimate aim is to protect the environ-ment, avoid overexploitation of natural resourc-es and enhance biodiversity.

• Example: Bioplastics, biofuels, biodegradable cloth-ing, biomass (for energy), natural farming (for food ) etc.

• Findings of the report: Bioeconomy size in India is USD 80bn; BioAgri ( e.g. biopesticides, marine bio-tech, Bt Cotton) will double its contribution

• India’s initiatives: National Mission on Bioeconomy


(2016); National Biopharma Mission (Industry + Ac-ademia for indigenous manufacture in biopharma); Bio-incubators (startups); Bio-clusters (e.g. NCR, Bangalore, Pune etc.); Ethanol blending target; Na-tional Policy on Biofuels.

CONGOContext: Congo, home to one of the largest old-growth rainfor-ests on Earth, is auctioning off vast amounts of peat-land and rainforest in a push to become “the new des-tination for oil investments”.

Threats: The oil and gas blocks, extend into Virunga National Park, the world’s most important gorilla sanctuary, as well as tropical peatlands that store vast amounts of carbon, keeping it out of the atmosphere and from con-tributing to global warming.

Backtracking on climate pledge:• At the climate summit, Congo endorsed a 10-year

agreement to protect its rainforest, part of the vast Congo Basin, which is second in size only to the Am-azon.

• Norway, a leading advocate of saving forests, is in-creasing oil production with plans for more offshore drilling.

• U.S. President Joe Biden, who pledged early in his term to wean the world from fossil fuels, travelled to Saudi Arabia recently, where he raised the need for more oil production.

INDIA DESIGNATES 5 NEW RAM-SAR SITES

India has designated five (5) new wetlands of Inter-national importance, which include three wetlands (Karikili Bird Sanctuary, Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest & Pichavaram Mangrove) in Tamil Nadu, one (Pala wetland) in Mizoram and one wetland (Sakhya Sagar) in Madhya Pradesh, making a total of 54 Ramsar sites in the country. • Pallikaranai Marsh Reserve Forest (TN): It is a

freshwater marsh in Chennai. It is the only surviv-ing wetland ecosystem in Chennai and the last re-maining natural wetlands of South India.

• Karikili Bird Sanctuary (TN): Located in the Kanchee-puram District of Tamil Nadu

• Pichavaram Mangrove (TN): It is located near Chid-ambaram in the Cuddalore District of Tamil Nadu. It could be counted among the largest mangrove for-ests in the country (more than 1100 hectares).

• Pala wetland (Mizoram): It is the largest natural wetland in Mizoram. The wetland is surrounded by green woodlands.

• Sakhya Sagar (MP): This lake is an integral part of Madhav National Park in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh.

The Ramsar sites have been increased from 49 to 54 Ramsar sites.


Ramsar convention:• It is an international treaty for the conservation

and wise use of wetlands.• It is named after the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the

Caspian Sea, where the treaty was signed on 2 Feb-ruary 1971.

• Known officially as ‘the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat’ (or, more recently, just ‘the Convention on Wetlands’), it came into force in 1975.

Montreux Record:• Montreux Record under the Convention is a regis-

ter of wetland sites on the List of Wetlands of In-ternational Importance where changes in ecologi-cal character have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological develop-ments, pollution or other human interference.

• It is maintained as part of the Ramsar List.

MANURE MANAGEMENT

Context: National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) (a statutory body under NDDB Act 1987) has launched a company (MRIDA ltd.) to work on manure management.• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Hus-

bandry and Dairying• Definition: Manure management refers to the cap-

ture, storage, treatment, and utilization of animal manures in an environmentally sustainable man-ner.

• Benefits of manure management: lower the cost of fertilizers (by producing bio-slurry), increases in-come from milch animals, lowers Greenhouse emis-sions (by generating biogas which can be a substi-tute for LPG)

Government scheme for manure manage-ment:• Gobar Dhan scheme (energy from cattle waste• SuDhan (a trademark to provide a common identity

to dung-based organic fertilizers)• Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme (CISS) of Na-

tional Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA): production of organic manure from bio-waste.

NO NEW CONSTRUCTION IN ‘CORE AREAS’

Context: This is in continuation of tiger conservation article.NTCA has said that No new construction will be carried out in the Core areas of the Tiger Reserve.Tiger comes under Endangered (IUCN), Schedule I (WPA 1972) and Appendix I (CITES)

EARTH OVERSHOOT DAYContext: This is marked as the day when humanity has exhaust-ed nature’s budget for the year. This year it falls on 28th July (last year it was 29th July)It is calculated by Global Footprint Network ( an inter-national research organization)

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/07/29/what-numbers-do-not-reveal-about-tiger-conservation/

https://www.insightsonindia.com/2022/07/29/what-numbers-do-not-reveal-about-tiger-conservation/


LOKTAK LAKE

Context: Manipur government’s Loktak Development Authority (LDA) issued a notice to remove/dismantle all ‘atha-phums’ (circular fish culture ponds) and huts on ‘phum-dis’ (floating organic mass) from the lake, in order to safeguard the environment and biodiversity of the lake.

About Loktak Lake• It is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast In-

dia and is famous for the phumdis floating over it. Keibul Lamjao National Park is also situated in the same lake. The National Park is the only floating na-tional park in the world and is the last natural ref-uge for endangered Sangai deer.

• The lake serves as a source of water for irrigation, drinking water supply and hydropower generation. The lake comes under both Ramsar Site and under Montreux record.

Species in News

INDIA ADDS 540 SPECIES TO ITS FAUNAL DATABASE, AND 315 TAXA TO ITS FLORA IN 2021

New mammal species Crocidura narcondamica, a white-toothed shrew, found in the Andaman and Nico-bar group of islands

Key highlights:• Of the 540 faunal species, 406 are new discoveries

and 134 new records to India. The most number of new discoveries were from the faunal group Hyme-noptera, an order of insects, comprising the saw-flies, wasps, bees, and ants, in which 80 species, including one new genus, were discovered.

• With 1.03 lakh species of fauna, India contributes to 6.1% of faunal diversity in the world.

• Regions such as the Western Ghats and the north-eastern regions have contributed 28% of the total discoverie In State-wise analysis, the most number of discoveries were made from Kerala with 51 taxa followed by Maharashtra and Arunachal Pradesh.

CHENKURINJIContext:Saving Chenkurinji from climate changeThe Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary derives its name from Gluta travancorica, a species endemic to the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve known as ‘Chenkurin-ji’ in local parlance.• Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in

the Western Ghats, India, located in Kollam district of Kerala and comes under the control of Agasthya-malai Biosphere Reserve.

Properties:Medicinal properties and are used to lower blood pres-sure and treat arthritis.The heartwood is quite sturdy with deep red colour thus attracting the wood industry.‘Save Chenkurinji’, is a campaign to be implemented in various areas to create awareness regarding its conser-vation.


NAIROBI FLIESContext: Around 100 students of an engineering college in East Sikkim have reported skin infections after coming in contact with Nairobi fliesAbout:Nairobi flies, also called Kenyan flies or dragon bugs (native to east Africa), are small, beetle-like insects. They are orange and black in colour, and thrive in areas with high rainfall, as has been witnessed in Sikkim in the past few weeks.• Usually, the insects attack pests that consume crops

and are beneficial for humans — but at times, they come in contact with humans directly. These flies do not bite, but if disturbed while sitting on anyone’s skin, they release a potent acidic substance that causes burns.

BANNI GRASSLANDS

Context: The Gujarat Forest department will restore 10,000 hect-ares of the Banni grasslands in the coming year.• Under Bonn declaration: India’s endeavour to

reach the target of restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.

About• Location: It is the largest grassland (accounting for

45% of pastures in Gujarat) in Asia situated near the Great Rann of Kutchin Gujarat.

• Ecosystem and Vegetation: Two ecosystems, wet-lands and grasslands, are mixed side by side in Ban-ni.

• It is dominated by low-growing plants, forbs and graminoids, many of which are halophiles (salt-tol-

erant).• It is a Reserve Forest (most restricted forest; local

people are prohibited unless specifically allowed by a Forest Officer in the course of the settlement.

• Maldharis are a tribal herdsmen community inhab-iting Banni.

• It is one of the last remaining habitats of the chee-tahin India and a possible reintroduction site for the species.

• Issues facing: heavy uncontrolled grazing, wide-spread ingress of Prosopis Juliflora (a harmful exot-ic tree species), dams constructed on rivers flowing towards Banni, periodic occurrence of droughts and continuous increase in soil salinity.

WOLBACHIA BACTERIAContext: Scientists at the Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC) of ICMR have cross-bred local Aedes aegypti mosqui-toes (which transmit dengue, chikungunya and zika vi-rus) with mosquitoes that carry the Wolbachia bacte-ria from Australia’s Monash University.

About:• Wolbachia bacteria blocks the proliferation of

harmful viruses but doesn’t harm the mosquitoes themselves

• Wolbachia is a bug which is found in 60% of insects naturally. But in the Aedes mosquito, this bug is in very low frequencies.

• The Wolbachia is maternally transmitted from mother to offspring and gradually spreads across the population. The Wolbachia inhibits the multi-plication of the dengue virus when present in the mosquitoes.


SANDFISHContext:South Africa’s sandfish is on the brink of extinctionSandfish are migratory freshwater fish found only in South Africa that can grow to over half a metre in length. They help to keep the rivers clean and the food web balanced.They also act as an umbrella species — protecting them indirectly protects river ecosystems and other species that inhabit them.

DRAGON FRUIT CULTIVATIONContext:Following the footsteps of the Gujarat and Haryana Governments, the Centre has decided to promote the cultivation of dragon fruit, known as a “super fruit” for its health benefits.What does the government tell:• The Centre plans to come up with an annual action

plan to motivate more State governments.• Mizoram tops among the States that cultivate this

fruit• The success of Vietnam: The export of fruit has

made a huge contribution to Vietnam’s GDP.

About:• Climatic condition: It can grow in semi-arid and arid

regions and can tolerate a bit of salt. All the States in India except cold areas are suitable for dragon fruit plants. ◦ Its flowering coincides with the monsoon sea-

son in India. ◦ Its flowers are hermaphrodites (male and fe-

male organs in the same flower) in nature and open at night.

• Native to America: The dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus) is indigenous to the Americas. It is a mem-ber of the cacti family.

• Different names: It is also known as ‘Pitaya’, ‘Pi-tahaya’, strawberry pear, noblewoman and queen of the night throughout the world. In India, it is also known as ‘Kamalam’.

• Super Fruit: The plant sustains yield for more than 20 years, is high in nutraceutical properties (hav-ing medicinal effects) and good for value-added processing industries. It is a rich source of vita-mins and minerals.

INDIAN BUSTARD COUNT FALLS BELOW 100

Context: Due to the lack of action to convert the overhead ca-bles to underground power transmission lines in Guja-rat and Rajasthan population of Great Indian Bustard continues to decrease.• The current sex ratio for the bird stands at 1 male

for 3-5 females.


ASIATIC BLACK BEARSScientists have calculated the density and population of Asiatic black without identifying individual animals through hair samples or camera trap images using a rel-atively new statistical model known as the Spatial Pres-ence-Absence Model.

INDIA AND NAMIBIA SIGN MOU TO BRING CHEETAHS TO INDIA

Context:Officials are trying to complete the first transfer of Af-rican Cheetahs to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park, which has been extinct in the country since 1952.

MIGRATORY MONARCH BUTTER-FLIES OFFICIALLY DECLARED ‘EN-

DANGERED’

Habitat destruction and climate change biggest con-tributors, says International Union for Conservation of NatureMonarchs, the most recognizable species of butterfly, are important pollinators and provide various ecosys-tem services such as maintaining the global food web.These butterflies follow a unique lifestyle: They tra-verse the length and breadth of the American conti-nent twice a year, feasting on nectar from a variety of flora. But they breed in only one particular plant — the milkweeds. The monarch larvae feed on this species on hatching.


SNOW LEOPARD REGULATES ITS PREY POPULATION

Context: As per the study by the Zoological Survey of India, the Snow leopard regulates the population of its herbivores prey species (Siberian ibex and blue sheep)Findings:• Snow leopard detection probability was high if the

site was used by its prey species.• Indicator species and flagship species: Snow leop-

ards act as an indicator of the health of the moun-tain ecosystem in which they live, due to their posi-tion as the top predator in the food web.

• Threats: loss of natural prey species, retaliatory kill-ing due to conflict with humans and illegal trade of its fur and bones.

• Habitat: Snow leopards use rugged mountainous areas or non-forested areas covering an altitude be-tween 3200m-5200m ◦ habitat covariates, such as barren area, grass-

land, aspect, slope and distance to water were important drivers of habitat use for the snow leopard as well as its prey species.

Conservation Effort: Global Snow Leopard and Eco-system Protection (GSLEP) Programme (2013), Himal-Sanrakshak (community volunteer programme, 2020), SECURE Himalaya (GEF and UNDP funded programme), Project Snow Leopard (2009), 21 critically endangered species for the recovery programme (MoEFCC), Snow Leopard conservation breeding programme (at Padma-ja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, Darjeeling)

LIGHT-MALTED ALBATROSS

Context: It is a seabird native to Antarctic seas, but has been sighted for the first time in Asia (Rameswaram and ad-joining islets of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park on the Adam’s Bridge (Ram Setu)

Indication: It shows the pattern of bird migration away from the well-known and established routes and sites. Changes in the wind pattern triggered by global warming are bringing non-native birds to other areas.

IUCN: Near Threatened

Defence

PROJECT 17A FRIGATE

Context: Defence Minister recently launched Dunagiri (latest ship of 17A frigate)- Shivalik Class. This is the fourth and latest ship in this class.• It has been designed in-house by the Indian Navy’s

Directorate of Naval Design (DND)• The Shivalik class or Project 17 class is a class of

multi-role stealth frigates in service with the Indi-an Navy. They are the first stealth warships built in India.


KILO CLASS SUBMARINE

Context: INS Sindhudhvaj (Navy’s Kilo-class submarine) was de-commissioned from service after 35 years in service. With this, the Navy now has 15 conventional subma-rines in service.• The Kilo-class boats are called the Sind-

hughosh-class, after the lead vessel in the series. They are diesel-electric submarines that can dive to a depth of 300 metres.

• The Navy’s sub-surface fleet now includes seven Russian Kilo-class submarines, four German HDW submarines, four French Scorpene submarines, and the indigenous nuclear ballistic missile subma-rine INS Arihant.

SPRINT CHALLENGESContext: PM unveiled ‘SPRINT challenges’, an initiative aimed at boosting the usage of indigenous technology in the In-dian Navy.Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO)

in cooperation with the Defence Innovation Organisa-tion (DIO), aims to induct at least 75 new indigenous technologies/products into the Indian Navy.The collaborative project is named SPRINT — Support-ing Pole-Vaulting in R&D through iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence), NIIO and TDAC (Technology Devel-opment Acceleration Cell).Reduced Import: The expenditure on defence procure-ment from foreign sources has reduced from 46% to 36%, thereby reducing the import burden, in the last 3 (three) years i.e. from 2018-19 to 2020-21.

Other initiatives for indigenization of Defence: • Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020: Prioritized

capital investment from domestic manufacturers.• New FDI Policy: Preference to ‘Buy (Indian)’, ‘Buy

& Make (Indian)’ & ‘Make’ categories of acquisition over ‘Buy (Global)’ ◦ FDI through automatic approval is increased

from 49% to 74%.• E- Biz Portal: A one-stop shop for providing G2B

services to investors and business communities. • Mission Raksha Gyanshakti: with the objective of

creating greater Intellectual Property in the De-fence Production Ecosystem.

• Artificial Intelligence in Defence: Creation of De-fence Artificial Intelligence Project Agency (DAIPA) in, 2019 for greater thrust on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Defence.

• Strategic Partnership Policy. ◦ This is to promote Joint Ventures (JV) between

global defence majors and the indigenous pri-vate sector.

INDIA TO SET UP JOINT THEATRE COMMANDS

Defence minister Rajnath Singh announced the setting up of joint theatre commands of the tri-services to en-hance coordination among the armed forces.

The defence minister also said India is moving quick-ly from being the world’s largest importer of defence equipment to an exporter.

About Joint theatre commands• An integrated or joint theatre command envisages

a unified command of the three Services, under a single commander, for geographical theatres (ar-eas) that are of strategic and security concern.

• The commander of such a force will be able to bear


all resources at his disposal — from the Army, the Indian Air Force, and the Navy — with seamless ef-ficacy.

• The integrated theatre commander will not be an-swerable to individual Services.

• Integration and jointness of the three forces will avoid duplication of resources. The resources available under each service will be available to oth-er services too.

• The services will get to know one another bet-ter, strengthening cohesion in the defence estab-lishment.

• The Shekatkar committee has recommended the creation of 3 integrated theatre commands — northern for the China border, western for the Pakistan border, and southern for the maritime role.

INDIA-JAPAN MARITIME PART-NERSHIP EXERCISE (MPX)

Context: The exercise is between Japan’s maritime self-defence force and the Indian navy in the Andaman Sea.• Aim: Enhancing interoperability, communication

and streamlining seamanship• Unique feature: INS Sukanya ( named after notable

women from Indian epics), an offshore patrol vessel of the Indian Navy will be participating in it.

• Other exercises with Japan: Japan-India Maritime Exercise (JIMEX) and Malabar Exercise (India – US-Japan - Australia)

• Maritime exercises with other countries: In-dia-Thailand Coordinated Patrol (Indo-Thai COR-PAT), Konkan - Shakti (UK), Samudra Shakti (Indo-nesia), Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX), Zair-Al-Bahr (Qatar)

INS VIKRANTContext: India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant was hand-ed over to the Indian Navy• Built by: Cochin Shipyard lt. (CSL)- a public sector

shipyard (Ministry of Shipping)• Naming: It is named ‘Vikrant’ as a tribute to India’s first

aircraft carrier, Vikrant (built by the UK) which played a crucial role in the 1971 war.

• It will join the Russian-made INS Vikramaditya• As per the Maritime Capability Perspective Plan,

by 2027, India ought to have about 200 ships but currently, India has just 150 ships and submarines.


Our founder & director, Vinay Sir, with 120 toppers of UPSC CSE-2021 at the Felicitation Ceremony conducted at Bengaluru.


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