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1. Award 2019

• Recently the politician-writer Shashi Tharoor and playwright Nand Kishore Acharya are among 23 writers chosen for the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award 2019. • The national academy of letters announced names of the winners on Wednesday. • Shashi Tharoor won the award for his book “An Era of Darkness” in English and Acharya will receive the recognition for his book of poetry, “Chheelatey Hue Apne Ko”.

About the Sahitya Akademi Award

• This is a literary honour annually conferred by Sahitya Akademi, ’s National Academy of letters, on writers of outstanding works in any of the twenty-four major Indian languages including the English language. • This award was instituted in 1954, comprises a plaque and a cash prize of Rs. 10,000. • This is the second-highest literary honour centred by the Govt. of India.

Other literary awards

Jnanpith Award

• This award is the most prestigious and highest literary award, given for the best creative literary writing by any Indian citizen in any of the languages included in the eighth schedule of the Indian Constitution. • This award carries a cash award of Rs. 5 lakh. • Since 1982 this award has been given for the lifetime contribution of the writer, prior to that the award was given for a single work. • The award was instituted in 1961, was the brainchild of late Smt. Rama Jain, the first President of Bhartiya Jnanapith. • The writer G. Sankar Kurup, was its first recipient.

Vyas Samman

• The Vyas Amman is a literary award annually conferred by K. K. Birla Foundation. The award instituted in 1991. • It carries a cash prize of Rs. 2.5 lakh (as of 2005). • This award is conferred on the best creative literary work in the Hindi language, which has been published in the last 10 years.

Saraswati Samman

• This award is named after Indian goddess , the goddess of learning. • This highest literary works in any Indian languages that are included in the eighth schedule of Indian Constitution and have been published in the previous ten years by a panel of scholars and former award winners. • The Saraswati Samman was instituted in 1991 by the K. K. Birla Foundation.

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Topic- GS Paper 1 –Art and Culture

Source- TOI

2. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana: Phase–III

• The Union government has launched Phase III of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in . • The Phase-III of PMGSY aims at consolidation of 1, 25,000 Kms Through Routes and Major Rural Links that connect habitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools and Hospitals for the period 2019-20 to 2024- 25.

Funding

• The funding pattern will be 60:40 between Centre and the States and 90:10 for North East and the Himalayan States.

About Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana

• It was launched on 25th December 2000 under the Ministry of Rural Development. • It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with the objective to provide all-weather road connectivity to all eligible unconnected habitations in rural areas of the country. • It aims is to ensure rural connectivity. • The programme envisages connecting all eligible unconnected habitations with a population of 500 persons and above (as per 2001 Census) in plain areas. • 250 persons and above (as per 2001 Census) in the Special Category States namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and , Tribal (Schedule-V) areas.

Road Connectivity Project for Left Wing Extremism Affected Areas

• It was launched in 2016 and is implemented under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) to provide connectivity with necessary culverts and cross-drainage structures in 44 worst affected LWE. • The fund sharing pattern of LWE road project will be the same as that of PMGSY. • The roads taken up under the scheme would include Other District Roads (ODRs), Village Roads (VRs) and upgradation of the existing Major District Roads (MDRs) that are critical from the security point of view.

Topic- GS Paper 3 –Important Scheme

Source- PIB

3. Houbara bustard

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• The government of Pakistan has issued special permits to the Emir of Qatar and nine other members of the royal family to hunt the houbara bustard, an internationally protected bird species.

About the Bustards

• These are the large, terrestrial birds that belong to several species, including some of the largest flying birds. • The houbara bustard, which lives in arid climates, comes in two distinct species as recognised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, one residing in North Africa (Chlamydotis undulata) and the other in Asia (Chlamydotis macqueenii). • African Houbara is listed as Vulnerable in IUCN Red List. • Asian Houbara is listed as Critically Endangered in IUCN Red List • The population of the Asian houbara bustards extends from northeast Asia, across central Asia, the Middle East, and the Arabian Peninsula to reach the Sinai desert.

About Great Indian Bustard

• It is the state bird of Rajasthan. • It is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and found in Rajasthan (Desert National park), Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in India and parts of Pakistan • It is listed as critically endangered as per IUCN Red List.

Other Bustard

• Lesser Florican is listed as Endangered. • Bengal Florican listed as Critically Endangered. • Great Indian Bustard, Lesser Florican and Bengal Florican are also listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Topic- GS Paper 3 –Environment and Biodiversity

Source-

4. Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme

• About 90 per cent of villages in India have computerised the Records of Right (RoR), the basic primary record that shows land rights and property transactions. • The Centre, through the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP), is providing financial assistance to the States for the computerisation of land records.

About Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme

Background

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• The Land Reforms (LR) Division was implementing two Centrally Sponsored Schemes viz.: Computerisation of Land Records (CLR) & Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land Records (SRA&ULR). • Later in 2008, the Cabinet approved the merger of these schemes into a modified Scheme named Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP). • The purpose of the programme is to digitize and modernize land records and develop a centralised land record management system.

Components

It has 3 major components

1. Computerization of land record 2. Survey/re-survey 3. Computerization of Registration.

Programme implementation

• The State Governments/UT Administrations will implement the programme with financial and technical support from the Dept. of Land Resources, . • The district will be taken as the unit of implementation, where all activities under the programme will converge.

Benefits

• The integrated land information management system under the DILRMP provides online, single-window, at-a-glance access to all available and relevant information to give a fair comprehensive position of any plot of land. • The move helps reduce land disputes and checks fraudulent and Benami transactions. Digitisation of land records does not require any fee from the landowners.

Note:

• Karnataka was the first State to computerise land records under the ‘Bhoomi Project’, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Topic- GS Paper 2 –Governance

Source- PIB

5. Indian peacekeepers in South Sudan receive prestigious UN medal

• About 850 Indian peacekeepers serving in South Sudan have been awarded the prestigious UN medal for their service and contribution to building peace in the strife- torn nation and supporting the local communities.

About the United Nations Peacekeeping

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• It was created in 1948 which provides security and the political and peacebuilding support to help countries make the difficult, early transition from conflict to peace. • Its first mission involved the establishment of the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO), which served to observe and maintain ceasefire during the 1948 Arab- Israeli War.

UN Peacekeeping maintains three basic principles: a.)Consent of the parties, b.) Impartiality and c.) Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.

• The UN Peacekeepers are led by the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DKPO). • UN Peacekeepers are from diverse backgrounds, from areas all around the world. • They include police, military and civilian personnel. • They are often referred to as Blue Berets or Blue Helmets because of their light blue berets or helmets. • The UN Peacekeeping Force won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. • The United Nations Charter gives the United Nations Security Council the power and responsibility to take collective action to maintain international peace and security.

India and UN Peacekeeping

• The is the largest cumulative troop contributor to United Nations Peacekeeping Missions mandated to maintain stability and negotiate a peace settlement in turbulent regions of the world. • India is among the largest troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping operations. • Currently, there are more than 6,700 troops and police from India who have been deployed to UN peacekeeping missions which is the fourth highest amongst troop- contributing countries. • In 2007, India became the first country to deploy an all-women contingent to a UN peacekeeping mission.

Topic- GS Paper 2 –International Organisation

Source- Indian Express

6. Gandhi Citizenship Education Prize.

• Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced the setting up of a Gandhi Citizenship Education Prize.

About the Prize

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• Portugal would launch the prize in order to promote Gandhi’s ideals. Every year, the prize would be inspired by Gandhi’s thoughts and quotes. • The first year’s prize will be dedicated to animal welfare as Mahatma Gandhi always said that the greatness of any country can be evaluated by the way animals are treated.

Topic- GS Paper 1 –Art and Culture

Source- The Hindu

7. Pinaka missile system

• DRDO has recently successfully test-fired an upgraded version of India's indigenously developed Pinaka guided rocket system from a base on Odisha coast. • Earlier in March, three successful trials of Pinaka guided rocket system were conducted from Pokhran test range in Rajasthan. • The weapon system, mounted on a Tatra truck, is equipped with state-of-the-art guidance kit comprising an advanced navigation and control system. • The Navigation system of the missile is also aided by the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). • It is an indigenously developed system which is significantly boosting the capability of the artillery to hit the targets with precision and accuracy.

Topic- GS Paper 3–Defence

Source- Indian Express

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