TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. National Affairs

2. Economy and Finance

3. Science and Technology

4. Environment and Ecology

5. International Affairs, Bilateral Issues and Geopolitics

6. Miscellaneous

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS ➢ Reliance Jio Infocomm Launches Asia-Africa-Europe (AAE-1) Submarine Cable System • A submarine cable system consists of telecom and internet cables on the seabed between land- based stations. These carry telecommunication and data signals across stretches of oceans. • AAE-1, the longest 100 Gbps (gigabits per second) technology-based submarine system, will stretch over 25,000 km from Marseille, France, to Hong Kong, with 21 cable landings across Asia and Europe.

➢ Government Launches Index To Rank 116 Cities On Quality Of Life • The first ‘City Liveability Index’, will cover cities with population above one million, including the capital cities, a total of 116 cities to be covered. • The cities will be assessed on a comprehensive set of 79 parameters, including availability of roads, education, healthcare, mobility, employment opportunities, emergency response, grievance redressal, pollution, availability of open and green spaces, cultural and entertainment opportunities. • The ranking will be released in 2018.

➢ West Bengal Govt's Kanyashree Scheme Bags UN Award

The United Nations has awarded the West Bengal government the first place for Public Service for its “Kanyashree” scheme.

The “Kanyashree Prakalpa” is a targeted conditional cash transfer scheme aimed at retaining girls in schools and other educational institutions. It also aims towards skill development and prevent child marriage.

Over 4 million adolescent girls have already enrolled in the scheme and about $ 500 million handed over to the beneficiaries through their bank account. The scheme is being implemented through 16000 institutes and schools.

➢ POSOCO-IMD Weather Portal for Power Sector & Web Portal ‘MERIT’ • The information available in the Portal regarding weather forecast shall help State Discoms to take pro-active steps regarding short term and medium term management processes and supply planning requirements and also for better planning for infrastructure availability to ensure cost effective and reliable supply. • The Portal provides the following information: Regional Weather Summary, Radar, Satellite Images, Meteogram, Region Specific Forecast. • Another portal ‘MERIT’ (Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and Transparency). This has been developed by Ministry of Power in association with POSOCO and Central Electricity Authority. The MERIT Web portal displays extensive array of information regarding the merit order of Electricity procured by State(s) such as daily state-wise marginal variable costs of all generators, daily source-wise power purchases of respective states/UTs with source-wise fixed and variable costs, energy volumes and purchase prices. The web-portal also give

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information regarding reasons for deviation from merit order such as must run conditions, transmission constraints etc.

➢ VAJRA (Visiting Advanced Joint Research Faculty) Scheme • The Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), a Statutory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) has recently launched a ‘Visiting Advanced Joint Research (VAJRA) Faculty Scheme’ to connect the Indian academic and research and development (R&D) systems to the best of global science and scientists for a sustained international collaborative research. • The scheme offers adjunct / visiting faculty assignments to overseas scientists, faculty members and R&D professionals including Non-resident Indians (NRI) and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to undertake high quality collaborative research in cutting edge areas of science and technology including interdisciplinary areas of priority such as energy, water, health, security, nutrition, materials and manufacturing, etc. • The residency period of VAJRA Faculty in the host institution would be for a minimum of 1 month and a maximum of 3 months every year.

➢ Pune Municipality Became The First Civic Body In The Country To Raise Money By Issuing Bonds On Bombay Stock Exchange • The municipal body raised Rs 200 crore through BSE's bond trading platform and was oversubscribed by six times -approximately Rs 1,200 crore. • This also marked the re-entry of municipal bonds after 14 years, which is being seen as the beginning of resurgence in the municipal bond market in India. • Over-subscription of PMC's bonds is also being seen as a positive sign considering that only Rs 1,100 crore has been raised through bonds in the past three decade.

➢ Uttarakhand And Haryana Declared 4th And 5th ODF States In The Country • Under the Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G), rural Uttarakhand and rural Haryana have declared themselves as the 4th and 5th Open Defecation Free (ODF) States of India. • The two today joined the league of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, which were the first three states to be declared ODF. The objectives of Swachh Bharat Mission include eliminating open defecation through the construction of household-owned and community-owned toilets and establishing an accountable mechanism of monitoring toilet use.

Run by the Government of India, the mission aims to achieve an Open-Defecation Free (ODF) India by 2 October 2019, the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi.

It has two sub-Missions viz. Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) and Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban). While rural mission is under the purview of Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation; the urban mission comes under Ministry of Urban Development.

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➢ Operation Swarn: Rajdhani & Shatabdi Trains to Get a Massive Makeover • The Project will focus on 10 key areas, including punctuality, cleanliness, linen, coach interiors, toilets, catering, staff behaviour, security, entertainment, housekeeping and regular feedback. • An amount of Rs 50 lakh will be allotted to each Rajdhani and Shatabdi train on various routes for the revamp. • The plan is reported to be upgraded with better facilities like Wi-Fi, infotainment screens (that were first provided in Tejas Express) and coffee vending machine.

➢ IOC, BPCL, HPCL Sign Agreements To Set World's Largest Refinery In Maharashtra • The Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum have signed the joint venture agreement to jointly set up the world's largest refinery and petrochemical complex in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. • Indian Oil Corp (IOC) will hold 50 per cent stake, BPCL and HPCL will have 25 percent stake each. • The new refinery complex will have a refining capacity of 60 million tonnes. The refinery will produce petrol, diesel, LPG, ATF and feedstock for making petrochemicals. The complex will also have an accompanying mega petrochemical plant which will include an aromatic complex, naptha cracker, and polymer complex. • India is world's third largest consumer of energy after US and China. However, the per-capita energy consumption in the country is one-fourth of the world average.

➢ NITI Aayog Clears Six Proposals For High-Tech Public Transport • The Ministry Of Road Transport And Highways sought the approval of NITI Aayog to experiment and introduce six latest mass rapid transportation technologies. These technologies include metrino, stadler buses, hyperloop, pod taxis, hybrid buses and freight rail road.

+ ➢ Cabinet Approves Bill To Make IIMs Autonomous

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• The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017 that aims to grant “complete autonomy” to the elite B-schools and allow them to award degrees instead of diplomas, as is the case now.

➢ Union Cabinet Clears Minimum Wage Code Bill • New Wage Code Bill will ensure a minimum wage across all sectors by integrating four labour related laws. • The Labour Code on Wages Bill will consolidate the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976. • The new minimum wage norms would be applicable for all workers irrespective of their pay. At present, the minimum wages fixed by the Centre and states are applicable to workers getting up to Rs 18,000 pay monthly.

➢ Ministry Of Rural Development To Launch Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana • The Ministry of Rural Development launched a new sub-scheme under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) which will be named as “Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana (AGEY)”. • The main objectives of AGEY are to provide an alternative source of livelihoods to members of Self Help Groups (SHGs) under DAY-NRLM by facilitating them to operate public transport services in backward rural areas. • This will provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services like e-rickshaws, 3 and 4 wheeler motorised transport vehicles to connect remote villages with key services and amenities including access to markets, education and health for the overall economic development of the area. • The programme has a special focus on women empowerment including a dedicated component for promoting farm and non-farm based livelihoods for women farmers in rural areas

➢ Bicentenary Celebration of Paika Rebellion of Odisha • The Paika Bidroha (Paika Rebellion) of 1817 in Odisha briefly shook the foundations of British rule in the eastern part of India. • Paikas were essentially the peasant militias of the Gajapati rulers of Odisha who rendered military service to the king during times of war while taking up cultivation during times of peace.

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• They unfurled the banner of rebellion against the British under the leadership of Baxi Jagandhu Bidyadhara as early as 1817 to throw off the British yoke.

➢ National Strategic Plan for Malaria Elimination (2017-22) • The new Strategic Plan gives year wise elimination targets in various parts of the country depending upon the endemicity of malaria in the next 5 years. • The strategies involve strengthening malaria surveillance, establishing a mechanism for early detection and prevention of outbreaks of malaria, promoting the prevention of malaria by the use of Long Lasting Impregnated Nets (LLINs), effective indoor residual spray and augmenting the manpower and capacities for effective implementation for the next five years. • New interventions for case management and vector control such as rapid diagnostic tests, artemisinin-based combination therapy and Long Lasting Insecticidal nets (LLINs) were introduced under the strategic plan last year. • Under the new five year plan we have decided to take up concerted efforts at the district level and push for a micro-level approach. Case detection and management, and community outreach services will be carried out by ASHA workers and community health volunteers of various NGOs. • Malaria is a vector borne disease caused by Parasitic Protozoans belonging to the Plasmodium type, most commonly transported by an infected Female Mosquito. • In India, malaria is caused by the parasites Plasmodium Falciparum, found more in forest areas , and Plasmodium Vivax, found in plain areas. • According to the World Malaria report 2016, India accounts for 89% of Malaria incidence in South-East Asia Region.

➢ Maharashtra Prohibition of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2016 • The Act is the first law in India to punish social boycott, and will regulate organisations like the ‘jat’ (caste) panchayat, to help deal with caste based discrimination. • Under the Act, social boycott is a punishable offence which includes a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh and imprisonment of up to 7 years or both. • Reasons for social boycott include religious rituals, inter-caste marriage, lifestyle, dress or vocation, and a victim can file a complaint either with the police or directly to the magistrate. • The Act also makes provisions for six-month long speedy trials. • The decision was a reaction to pressures from growing incidents of atrocities on individuals by jati panchayats or gavkis wielding extra-judicial powers. The highest number of incidents were reported from the districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Nashik; and the largest number of cases of social boycott were provoked by inter-caste marriages.

➢ Government To Push E-Education With 4 Digital Initiatives • The schemes are: Swayam — an indigenously designed massive open online course (MOOC), Swayam Prabha — 32 Direct-to-Home channels for transmitting high-quality educational content, the National Digital Library containing 6.5 million books, and the National Academic Depository for authenticating all certificates issued by institutions.

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• These initiatives will increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio in the higher education from 24.5 (2015-16) to 30 by 2020. • Swayam programme would target those students who could not complete their studies and professional who wished to upgrade their knowledge. Swayam, however, would not run courses such as engineering, medicine, dental, pharmacy, nursing, architecture, and physiotherapy. • Through Swayam Prabha, the government would air new content of four hours every day. It would be repeated six times a day. The content would be mainly for students from Class IX to XII and those who are preparing for admission into IITs.

➢ JIGYASA” - Student-Scientist Connect Programme • Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has joined hands with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) to implement this programme. • The focus is on connecting school students and scientists so as to extend student’s classroom learning with that of a very well planned research laboratory based learning. • The “JIGYASA” would inculcate the culture of inquisitiveness on one hand and scientific temper on the other, amongst the school students and their teachers. • The Programme is expected to connect 1151 Kendriya Vidyalayas with 38 National Laboratories of CSIR targeting 100,000 students and nearly 1000 teachers annually.

➢ Comprehensive Online Modified Modules on Induction Training (COMMIT) for State Government officials • The objective of this training programme is to improve the public service delivery mechanism and provide citizen centric administration through capacity building of officials who interact with the citizens on day-to-day basis. • The COMMIT programme, developed by DoPT in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will supplement the existing 12-Day ITP launched in 2014-15 for newly recruited state Government officials to develop in them Generic & Domain specific competencies.

➢ Parliament Passes Bill To Allow RTE Teachers Time Till 2019 To Acquire Qualification • According to the amendment bill, every teacher appointed or in position as on March 2015 is now required to acquire the minimum qualifications by 2019. • When the RTE Act was implemented in 2010, new schools were set up but qualified teachers were not available and unqualified teachers, including those with graduation degrees, were recruited. • According to the existing Act which came into effect from 1 April, 2010, these teachers were to acquire minimum qualifications within five years by 31 March, 2015.

➢ Centre Launches Scheme To Provide Easy Legal Aid In Bihar • The Centre in association with the National Legal Service Authority (NALSA) launched ‘Tele-Law’ scheme in Bihar with an aim to provide an opportunity to the common man to access legal aid easily. • Under the scheme, villagers can have access to legal consultation with the help of para legal volunteers at Common Service Centre (CSC) which will be equipped with computers and Internet facility. Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 7

• Rs. 30 will be charged for the legal consultation, but in case of BPL people, this amount would be returned to their account. • Besides, various other services like making Aadhaar card, PAN, applying for passports, reservation of train berths and bill payments can be done from CSCs.

➢ Swachh Bharat Launches Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017 • Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation launched a third party verification survey report to take stock of the progress already made by the Mission in rural India. • The Quality Council of India (QCI) has conducted a transparent third-party assessment of the present status of rural sanitation in all States and UTs, called Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017. • Under the Swachh Survekshan Gramin 2017, QCI surveyed 1.4 lakh rural households across 4626 villages, and found the overall toilet coverage to be 62.45%. The survey also observed that 91.29% of the people having access to a toilet, use it. • The Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up in the 1997 to asses and accredit bodies in the field of health, education and quality promotion. The Union Government jointly with Indian Industry made QCI an autonomous body.

➢ Odisha Government And Facebook Launch 'She Means Business' Programme To Train Women Entrepreneurs In Odisha • Under the scheme, 25,000 women entrepreneurs and self-help-groups (SHG) members will be given training on digital marketing skills within the next one year. • The session included training on how to start your business in Facebook, how to make it real- time business, quick response to queries and timely delivery, quality assurance and so on. • The She Means Business programme has been launched in 16 countries around the world, including India.

➢ The Lowdown On Article 35A • Article 35A is a provision incorporated in the Constitution giving Jammu and Kashmir Legislature a carte blanche to decide who all are ‘permanent residents’ of the State and confer on them special rights and privileges in public sector jobs, acquisition of property in the State, scholarships and other public aid and welfare. • Article 35A was incorporated into the Constitution in 1954 by an order of the then President Rajendra Prasad on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet. The controversial Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order of 1954 followed the 1952 Delhi Agreement entered into between Nehru and the then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah, which extended Indian citizenship to the ‘State subjects’ of Jammu and Kashmir. • The parliamentary route of lawmaking was bypassed when the President incorporated Article 35A into the Constitution. Article 368 (i) of the Constitution empowers only Parliament to amend the Constitution.

➢ Authorized Joint Secretary Can Order Suspension Of Telecom Services

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• According to new guidelines under Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency and Public Safety) Rules 2017, a joint secretary level officer authorised by Union or State Home Secretary can order suspension of telecom services in an area in case of an emergency or under unavoidable circumstances, where obtaining of prior direction is not feasible, • The government often suspends telecom services in disturbed areas with an aim to maintain law and order.

➢ CCTNS Digital Police Portal Launched To Fast-Track Criminal Justice System In The Country • The CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network Systems) portal will provide investigators the complete record history of any criminal from anywhere across the country. • Equipped with a Google-type Advance Search engine and ability to give analytical reports, the portal is expected to become the backbone of the country’s criminal justice system. • For the State Police organisations and investigating agencies like the CBI, IB, ED and NIA, the Digital Police Portal provides a National Database of crime and criminals with facility for 11 searches and 44 reports. • To citizens, the Digital Police Portal offers online facility to register FIRs. There will be initially seven Public Delivery Services in 34 States & UTs, like Person and Address Verification of employees, tenants, nurses etc; permission for hosting Public Events, Lost & Found Articles and Vehicle theft.

➢ SC Strikes Down Instant Triple Talaq, Says Practice Is Unconstitutional • The Supreme Court banned a controversial Islamic practice of instant divorce as arbitrary and unconstitutional, in a landmark verdict for gender justice. • The practice of saying “talaq”, or divorce, three times in one go – sometimes even over email and WhatsApp – The 395-page ruling held the practice to be “violative of the fundamental right under Article 14 (equality before law) of the Constitution of India • Muslim men in India can still divorce using two other forms of talaq that have a three-month cooling off period. Muslim women usually divorce using a practice called Khula. Instant talaq, or “talaq-e- biddat”, is banned in 22 Muslim-majority countries, including Pakistan, for being sinful and arbitrary. • The bench of five judges were from India’s major faiths -- Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism.

➢ NITI Aayog To Launch “Mentor India” Campaign • NITI Aayog will launch the Mentor India Campaign, a strategic nation building initiative to engage leaders who can guide and mentor students at more than 900 Atal Tinkering Labs, established across the country as a part of the Atal Innovation Mission. • Atal Tinkering Labs are dedicated works spaces where students from Class 6th to Class 12th learn innovation skills and develop ideas that will go on to transform India. The labs are powered to acquaint students with state-of-the-art equipment such as 3D printers, robotics & electronics development tools, Internet of things & sensors etc.

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• NITI Aayog is looking for leaders who can spend anywhere between one to two hours every week in one or more such labs to enable students experience, learn and practice future skills such as design and computational thinking. • NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission is among one of the flagship programs of the Government of India to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

➢ DIKSHA Portal: National Digital Infrastructure For Our Teachers By MoHRD • It will serve as National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers. All teachers across nation will be equipped with advanced digital technology. It is a unique initiative which leverages existing highly scalable and flexible digital infrastructures, while keeping teachers at the center. • It is built considering the whole teacher's life cycle - from the time student teachers enroll in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to after they retire as teachers. • States, government bodies and even private organisations, can integrate DIKSHA into their respective teacher initiatives based on their goals, needs and capabilities.

➢ NITI Aayog Calls Renewed Focus On Nutrition, Launches The National Nutrition Strategy • The nutrition strategy envisages a framework wherein the four proximate determinants of nutrition – uptake of health services, food, drinking water & sanitation and income & livelihoods – aims at ensuring every child, adolescent girl and woman attains optimal nutritional status by 2022. • The Integrated Child Development Services Mission would be expanded to form a National Nutrition Mission along the lines of National Health Mission under the Ministry Of Women And Child Development (WCD). • This strategy, gives prominence to demand and community mobilisation as a key determinant to address India's nutritional needs. • The Nutrition Strategy Framework envisages a Kuposhan Mukt Bharat - linked to Swachh Bharat and Swasth Bharat. The aim is to ensure that States create customized State/ District Action Plans to address local needs and challenges. • The strategy enables states to make strategic choices, through decentralized planning and local innovation, with accountability for nutrition outcomes.

➢ Vishwajeet Scheme A Non-Starter • The scheme, which entailed the provision of Rs. 1,250 crore to each of the top seven IITs over a period of five years to upgrade infrastructure, hire foreign faculty, and collaborate with foreign institutions to break into the top league in global rankings, has reportedly been shot down by the Finance Ministry.

➢ ‘Cooling Off’ Period In Hindu Divorce Can Go: SC • Once a couple moves a court of law for divorce under the Hindu Marriage Act, they have to wait for a minimum period of six months. The waiting period under Section 13B was mandated to prevent couples from taking any hasty decision to end their marriage as marriage is a sacrament in Hinduism.

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• Divorce by mutual consent was introduced as an amendment to the Hindu Marriage Act in 1976. • The court held that the waiting period should be done away within cases where there is no way to save the marriage and all efforts at mediation and conciliation have run their course; where parties have genuinely settled their differences including alimony, custody of child, etc.

➢ Citizenship For Chakma, Hajong Refugees Soon • Centre will grant citizenship to all Chakma and Hajong refugees living in the Northeast but will ensure that rights of indigenous people are not diluted. The Supreme Court had ordered for such in 2015. • The Chakma are a Buddhist tribe who fled Chhitagong hill tracts in erstwhile East Pakistan. The Hajong are a Hindu tribe who left mainland East Pakistan due to religious persecution and are settled in Mizoram ,Meghalaya and Assam. • The Centre moved the majority of them to the North East Frontier Agency, which is now Arunachal Pradesh.

➢ Nai Udaan Scheme • Ministry of Minority Affairs is implementing the scheme for Support to Minority Students for preparation of Main Examination, who clear Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission, State Public Service Commissions. • The objective of the Scheme is to provide financial support to the minority candidates clearing prelims conducted by the above mentioned exams.

➢ Sardar Sarovar Dam Dedicated To The Nation • The Sardar Sarovar Dam is a gravity dam on the Narmada river near Navagam, Gujarat. Four Indian states, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Rajasthan, receive water and electricity supplied from the dam. • The foundation stone of the dam was laid on April 5, 1961 by the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. However, it took 56 years to finally complete its construction due to court cases and protests by the affected villagers. • The project has helped transport the waters of the Narmada river to the water-deficient areas of Gujarat through an elaborate canal and pipeline network (SAUNI).

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➢ Zero Hunger Programme Begins On World Food Day • The Zero Hunger Programme will be focusing on nutrition, setting up genetic gardens for biofortified plants and initiation of 'Zero Hunger' training. • The genetic garden will help grow biofortified plants containing germplasm of naturally biofortified crops through plant breeding with extra nutrional values. • These crops and plants will be vital for India to supplement micro-nutrient deficiencies, including iron, zinc, vitamin A and iodine among many others. • This programme is in support with India's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end hunger by the year 2030 and also the government's plan to deal with issue of malnutrition through various other initiatives under its goal to make India malnutrition free by the year 2022. • The programme will be initiated by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Indian Council of Medical Research, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation and Biotechnology Industry Research Assitance council (BIRAC).

➢ Vistadome Coaches In Select Trains In Railways • One of the stand-out features of the Vistadome coaches is the glass roof that boasts electrically controlled opalescence. Hence, the roof can be made transparent for the passengers to get a panoramic view of their journeys. • All the seats in the vistadome coaches are rotatable and are pushback chairs. The coaches also boast a plethora of other features such as automatic sliding compartment doors, multiple television screens ,wide side door for Divyangs, GPS based info system, LED lights. • The Integral Coach Factory in Chennai has built the coaches. There will be a total of four of such coaches in the whole of India for now. Two will ply in Araku and two have been built for Kashmir. • A trial run was made on Mumbai -Madgaon Janshatabdi train.

➢ Saubhagya Scheme: All You Need To Know • Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, or Saubhagya--to provide electricity connections to over 40 million families in rural and urban areas by December 2018. • The scheme funds the cost of last-mile connectivity to willing households to help achieve the goal of lighting every household by 31 December 2018. • By providing electricity access to all households with prepaid and smart meters, demand will be created which in turn will force the discoms to supply to these villages. • With no subsidy component for monthly electricity consumption, the Gram Panchayat and public institutions in the rural areas will be authorised to carry out billing and collection tasks which have been pain points for the discoms.

➢ Karnataka Cabinet Approves Bill Against Superstition • Karnataka Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Bill, 2017 — better known as the anti-superstition Bill — which seeks to ban among other practices the controversial ‘made snana’ ritual (devotees rolling over plantain leaves having food leftovers) in public/religious places.

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• The Bill does not cover regulations for astrology and vaastu practice, piercing of ears and nose of children in accordance with certain rituals, and performance of religious rituals such as ‘Keshlochan’ by the Jains.

➢ NHRC Notice To TN, AP Over Devadasi-Like System • The NHRC has issued notices to the governments and police chiefs of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh over the alleged inhuman treatment being meted out to girls and women who are forcibly taken to temples as part of an old ritual that resembles the banned Devadasi system. • Allegedly, as part of the ritual, the girls are dressed up as a bride and once the ceremony is over, their dresses are removed by five boys, virtually leaving them naked. They are denied to live with their families and have education. They are forced to live in Mathamma temple deemed to be like a public property and face sexual exploitation. • Devadasi system is a banned religious practice in some parts of India whereby parents marry a daughter to a deity or a temple. The marriage usually occurs before the girl reaches puberty.

➢ Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana • Pt Deen Dayal Upadhayay Vigyan Gram Sankul Pariyojana” will experiment and endeavour to formulate and implement appropriate S&T Interventions for Sustainable Development through cluster approach in Uttarakhand. • Implemented by Department of Science and Technology, Four clusters at Gaindikhata, Bazeera, Bhigun (in Garhwal) and Kausani (in Kumaon) have been selected. • Areas of interventions in these selected clusters would be processing and value addition of milk, honey, mushroom, herbal tea, forest produce, horticulture and local crops, medicinal & aromatic plants and traditional craft and handloom of Uttarakhand. • Post-harvest processing of Kiwi, Strawberry, Cherry, Tulsi, Adrak, Badi Elaichi through solar drying technology, extraction of apricot oil using cold press technology. Stringent product and process control interventions for energy and water conservation would also be ensured through this project.

➢ PENCIL • An electronic Platform For Effective Enforcement For No Child Labour (PENCIL) has been developed by Ministry of Labour and Employment . • The genesis of the portal is in the felt need to create a robust implementing and monitoring mechanism for both enforcement of the legislative provisions and effective implementation of the NCLP especially in the backdrop that the subject of Labour is in the concurrent list .

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• The National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme initiated in 1988 to rehabilitate working children by eliminating all forms of child labour through identification and withdrawal of all children in the Project Area from child labour, Preparing children withdrawn from work for mainstream education along with vocational training. NCLP has been revised expanded and aligned to the new legislative provisions.

➢ Foundation Stone For National Waterway-4 In Andhra Pradesh • The NW-4 would be developed in three phases. • Phase-I: -Muktyala to Vijayawada (Krishna River) (82 Km) • Phase-II: -Vijayawada to Kakinada (Eluru canal & Kakinada canal) and Rajahmundry to Polavaram stretch of Godavari (233 Km) • Phase-III: - Commamur Canal, Buckingham canal and balance stretches of Krishna & Godavari Rivers (573km). • Under the National Waterways Act 2016, 111 inland waterways have been declared as National Waterways (NWs) in addition to the five existing NWs, across 24 States for utilizing them as an environment friendly and sustainable mode of transport.

➢ Karnataka Government Has Launched Mathru Poorna Scheme • The State government launched Mathru Poorna, a scheme meant to meet the nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women in rural areas who will get one nutritious meal daily for 25 days in a month. • The scheme will be implemented through anganwadis in the State. Each meal is estimated to cost around Rs 20. The food will be provided for 15 months, from the start of pregnancy up to six months after delivery.

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➢ “Paryatan Parv” Was Organised Across The Country From The 5th To 25th October 2017. • Programme was organized with the objective of drawing focus on the benefits of tourism, showcasing the cultural diversity of country and reinforcing the principle of “Tourism for All”. • Paryatan Parv will have three main components: 1. Dekho Apna Desh : To encourage Indians to visit their own country. 2. Tourism for All: Tourism Events at sites across all States in the country. 3. Tourism & Governance:Interactive Sessions & Workshops with Stakeholders on varied themes

➢ National Mission On Bovine Productivity-Embryo Transfer Technology • National Mission on Bovine Productivity has been launched in November 2016 with the aim of enhancing milk production and productivity and thereby making dairying more remunerative to the farmers. • Embryo transfer technology (ETT) has revolutionized the breeding strategies in Bovines as a tool to optimize the genetic improvement in cattle. • Through the use of ETT, (i) a farmer can get a 5-6 fold increase in number of offsprings , (ii) the calves so born will be of high genetic merit and (iii) the offsprings born will be free from diseases. • Under this programme, embryos of higher genetic merit indigenous bovines are being transferred in to surrogate cows. Embryos of Indigenous breeds such as Sahiwal, Gir, Red Sindhi, Ongole, Deoni and Vechur have been transferred under this programme. Embryo transfer refers to a step in the process of assisted reproduction in which embryos are placed into the uterus of a female with the intent to establish a pregnancy.

➢ Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan (PMGDISHA) • PMGDISHA is government initiative with an objective to impart digital literacy among the people residing in rural areas. It is an important initiative under PM Modi’s vision of ‘Digital India’ that intends at making one person in every family digitally literate. • This scheme will focus on making at last six crore people in rural areas (across States/UTs) digitally literate. By March 31, 2019, it is expected to reach around 40 per cent rural households in the country • Under free of cost PMGDISHA scheme, people in the rural area will be trained to operate a computer, tablet, smartphones, etc. They will be taught how to access the Internet, government services, undertake digital payment, compose e-mails, etc. • Illiterate people between the age group 14-60 years, nominated from every eligible rural household, are qualified for the scheme.

➢ Intensified Mission Indradhanush (IMI) • Through this programme, Government of India aims to reach each and every child under two years of age and all those pregnant women who have been left uncovered under the routine immunisation programme. • The special drive will focus on improving immunization coverage in select districts and cities to ensure full immunization to more than 90% by December 2018. • The IMI programme is supported by 12 ministries and departments and would be monitored by the Cabinet Secretary at the national level . Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 15

• Following diseases are covered: diphtheria, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, tetanus, tuberculosis, measles and Hepatitis B.

➢ SANKALP & STRIVE Schemes to boost Skill India Mission • Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) and Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE). • SANKALP is Rs 4,455 crore Centrally sponsored scheme including Rs. 3,300 crore loan support from World Bank whereas STRIVE is a Rs. 2,200 crore - central sector scheme, with half of the scheme outlay as World bank loan assistance. • Both the schemes are aimed at institutional reforms and improving quality & market relevance of skill development training programs in long and short term VET (Vocational Education and Training ) • STRIVE scheme shall incentivize ITIs to improve overall performance including apprenticeship by involving SMEs, business association and industry clusters. • SANKALP envisages setting up of Trainers and Assessors academies with self-sustainable models. Over 50 such academies are to be set up in priority sectors. • SANKALP aims at enhancement of inclusion of marginalized communities including women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Schedule Tribes (STs) and Persons with Disabilities (PWD) to provide skill training opportunities to the underprivileged and marginalised section of the society.

➢ #IamThatWoman:-Campaign On ‘Women For Women’ • In an attempt to end Gender bias in women against women, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is undertaking online campaign #IamThatWoman. one can share story onl • Through the campaign, the Ministry seeks to highlight the various aspects of women standing ‘by’ and ‘for’ women. Ministry of WCD has urged people to shun stereotypes associated with women harming other women.

➢ Ro-Ro Ferry Service In Gujarat • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated Phase 1 of the Ro-Ro (Roll on, Roll off) ferry service between Ghogha and Dahej in Gujarat. • This will be South Asia's first world-class Ro-Ro ferry service. The project will link South Gujarat and Saurashtra and by allowing vehicles with passengers aboard, will save travel time, fuel and will clear congested roads. • World-class terminals have been built at Ghogha near Bhavnagar and Dahej near Bharuch.

➢ Debate Over ‘Therapeutic Food’ • Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), also referred to as energy dense nutritious food (EDNF), is a medical intervention to improve the nutrition intake of children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). • RUTF is a packaged paste of peanuts, oil, sugar, vitamins, milk powder and mineral supplements, which contains 520-550 kilocalories of energy per 100 g. Additional ingredients may include nuts, legumes, grains and sweeteners to improve the taste.

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• The paste is given to children aged between six months and six years, usually after a doctor’s prescription. • RUTF use is common in Africa, where the incidence of malnutrition among children is high. In India, the global collaborative Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement has tied up with Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand to promote therapeutic food as a solution to malnourishment. • The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) wrote to states and UTs that “Enough evidence is not available for use of RUTF vis-à-vis other interventions for the management of SAM.

➢ State Vs LG: SC Reminds Delhi Of Its Power Limitations • In urgent matters, it is the L-G who is given primacy. The executive power of the government of Delhi was not exclusive to the executive power of the Centre. • Public order in Delhi, police or land cannot be subject of executive power of government of Delhi. • Under Article 239 (1), it was the President who appoints the administrator for Delhi and this administrator was designated as L-G, “which means the administration of Delhi is by the President in the name of the administrator”. • In matters where the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) had differences with State government, he could not sit on files. Instead, he was required to forward them to the President within a “reasonable time”.

➢ Mission Indradhanush: Global Report Shows Lauds Vaccination Drive • India’s Mission Indradhanush has come in for high praise in a global report card analysing the progress of 15 countries that have the highest incidence of pneumonia and diarrhea — the two biggest killers of children aged less than five years. • The report is brought out annually by the International Vaccine Access Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, to assess the progress made in these countries in tackling the two diseases. • India has showed the largest positive change among the 15 countries evaluated in the report, with a seven-point increase in Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD) score. • The 15 countries that have been assessed include India, Bangladesh, Angola, Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Chad, China, Niger Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia.

➢ Cabinet Approves Amendment In The National Council For Teacher Education Act, 1993 • The amendment seeks to grant retrospective recognition to the Central/State/Union Territory funded Institutions/Universities conducting Teacher Education Courses without NCTE recognition till the academic year 2017-2018. • The retrospective recognition is being given as a onetime measure so as to ensure that the future of the students passed out/enrolled in these institutions are not jeopardized. • The amendment will make students studying in these Institutions/Universities, or already passed out from here, eligible for employment as a teacher. • All institutions running Teacher Education Courses such as B.Ed. and D.El.Ed. have to obtain recognition from the National Council for Teacher Education under section 14 of the NCTE Act.

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➢ Cabinet Approves Ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme (State Plans) - RKVY as RKVY- RAFTAAR for Three Years • In a bid to incentivise States to increase allocations for agriculture and allied sectors the, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the continuation of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) for three years — 2017-18 to 2019-20 —renaming it as Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana-Remunerative Approaches for Agriculture and Allied sector Rejuvenation (RKVY- RAFTAAR). • The RKVY-RAFTAAR funds would be provided to States as 60:40 grants between Centre and States (90:10 for North-Eastern States and Himalayan States). • Under the revamped scheme, about 50 per cent of the annual outlay will be provided for setting up infrastructure and assets, 30 per cent for value addition-linked production projects and 20 per cent of the outlay will be flexi-fund. States can use this (flexi-funds) for

supporting projects as per the local needs.

• In addition, about 20 per cent of the annual outlay would be provided for implementing special sub-schemes of national priorities under RKVY-RAFTAAR.

➢ Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana By Madhya Pradesh Government • Under the Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana or the Price Deficit Finance Scheme, where the state government would pay the farmers the difference between modal rate (the average prices in major mandis) and the minimum support prices (MSPs) for the kharif crops if the latter prices could not be fetched by them. • The benefit of the price deficit finance scheme is available to other kharif crops like pulses (moong, urad and arhar), oilseeds, groundnut and maize. • As mandated in the scheme launched recently, farmers had to upload details like Aadhaar numbers, bank account details, details of the crop cultivated and average yield with websites of two state government agencies for availing the benefits. • A few years ago, Goa had initiated a similar scheme in a limited way for paddy and betel nuts.

➢ SHe-Box Online Complaint Management System • The new SHe-Box portal offers the facility of making online complaints of sexual harassment at workplace to all women employees in the country including government and private employees. • Those who have already filed a written complaint with the concerned Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) or Local Complaint Committee (LCC) constituted under the Sexual Harassment Act are also eligible to file their complaint through this portal. • Users of SHe-Box also have the option of interacting with Ministry of WCD through this portal, with an assured time-bound response.

➢ NTA To Conduct Entrance Examinations For Higher Educational Institutions • National Testing Agency (NTA) will be a Society registered under the Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860, and as an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization to conduct entrance examinations for higher educational institutions.

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• The NTA would initially conduct those entrance examinations which are currently being conducted by the CBSE. Other examinations will be taken up gradually after NTA is fully geared up. • The entrance examinations will be conducted in online mode at least twice a year, thereby giving adequate opportunity to • In order to serve the requirements of the rural students, it would locate the centres at sub- district/district level and as far as possible would undertake hands-on training to the students. • NTA will be given a one-time grant of Rs.25 crore from the Government of India to start its operation in the first year. Thereafter, it will be financially self-sustainable.

➢ FSSAI Launches Logo For Organic Food Products • The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has launched an “Indian Organic Integrity Data Base”, to help consumers verify the authenticity of organic food. • The portal has been jointly developed by the FSSAI in collaboration with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS-India) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. • FSSAI said that through this portal, consumers can access information about the producer, the certification system and the availability of certified organic products • It has also introduced a common logo for “organic foods” with the tagline ‘Jaivik Bharat’. The unified logo is an identity mark to distinguish organic products from non-organic ones, supported with the tagline “Jaivik Bharat” at the bottom, for easy identification of Organic Food from India.

➢ India: Health Of The Nation’s States India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative • The India State-level Disease Burden Initiative was a joint study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Key findings: • While life expectancy rose, data revealed that six out of 10 Indians now succumb to non- communicable diseases (NCDs) like heart diseases, child and maternal malnutrition is the leading cause of premature death and poor health and the burden of tuberculosis is the highest in the world. • Kerala, Goa, and Tamil Nadu, relatively prosperous states, have the largest share of NCDs such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, mental health and neurological disorders, cancers, musculoskeletal disorders and chronic kidney disease.

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• Malnutrition is particularly severe in so-called empowered action group (EAG) states that are socioeconomically backward—Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. Malnutrition is higher among females. • Disability Adjusted Life Years, or DALY, rate—that is, disease burden expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death.

➢ Child Rights Week (Hausla 2017) from 16th to 20th November, 2017 • The country celebrates the Children’s Day on 14th November and the International Child Rights Day is celebrated on 20th November every year. The period between the two important events will be celebrated as Child Rights Week(Hausla 2017) by WCD Ministry by hosting an Inter CCI Festival for the children who reside in Child Care Institutions (CCIs). • Children participated in various events like Bal Sansad, painting competition, athletics meet, football, chess competition and speech writing.

➢ Project Saksham • a comprehensive plan for imparting training to all employees of Indian Railways is being prepared with a view to upgrade skill & knowledge. This comprehensive training programme named as “Project Saksham” will help boost productivity and efficiency. • Under this plan, all employees in each zone will be put through a week’s training in skills and knowledge relevant to their work area over next one year. This training shall be a five-day on the job training or as classroom training in Railway Training Centre depending on the nature of training.

➢ Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra (PMMSK) • It aims at empowering rural women through community participation to create an environment in which they can realize their full potential • PMMSK scheme is envisioned as one-stop convergence support service with opportunities for skill development, digital literacy, health and nutrition and employment • It will aim to improve declining child sex ratio; ensuring survival and protection of the girl child; ensuring her education, and empowering her to fulfill her potential(Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao). • Through this scheme, government plans to reach 115 most backward districts in the country with 920 Mahila Shakti Kendra by community engagement through student volunteers who will play an instrumental role in awareness generation. • More than 3 lakhs student volunteers from local colleges will be engaged. At national level, Mahila Shakti Kendra will provide domain-based knowledge support while at state level, it will cater to State Resource Centre for Women.

➢ Union Cabinet Approves New Metro Rail Policy • The policy gives a big boost to private players by making private participation mandatory for all the three funding options: private partnership (PPP) model, a grant from the Centre or a 50:50 equity sharing model between the Central and State governments. • The metro project can be proposed only if it is found to be more cost effective as opposed to other mass transit projects such as tramways, light rail transit, or bus rapid transit system.

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• It also stipulates rigorous project evaluation by a third party. • The policy also makes it mandatory for state governments to set up a unified metropolitan transport authority. • States are required to adopt innovative mechanisms such as ‘value capture financing’ and ‘betterment levy’ to mobilise resources for the project. States will also get a free hand in implementing the projects. • The policy stipulates an increase in rate of return from the current the 8% to 14%.

➢ Saksham - 2017 Mahotsav • Saksham - 2017 (Sanrakshan Kshamta Mahotsav) is aimed to create awareness amongst masses towards judicious utilization and conservation of petroleum products along with use of energy efficient appliances and switching to cleaner fuels. • The programme is being organized by PCRA (Petroleum Conservation Research Association) and other Oil & Gas PSUs under the aegis of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.

➢ Sankalp Se Siddhi: A 5-Year Programme For New India • Sankalp se Siddhi" (Attainment through Resolve) scheme, which aims at good governance, is a five year plan under which new India movement 2017-2022 would take place • The New India Movement 2017-2022 envisages India free from poverty, corruption, terrorism, communalism, casteism and uncleanliness and unite the entire country by adopting good governance and using technology.

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ECONOMY AND FINANCE ➢ NITI-Aayog Chooses CCMB To House Atal Incubation Centre • Niti-Aayog has chosen the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad for hosting the Rs. 10-crore Atal Incubation Centre aimed at identifying promising start-ups, creating facilities and guiding them to success in the field of biotechnology. • The Central government has set up the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) under NITI Aayog for promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship . • The CCMB, a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), is among the 10 institutions across the country to be chosen for the facility.

➢ Energy Conservation Building Code 2017 (ECBC 2017) • Developed by Ministry of Power and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), ECBC 2017 prescribes the energy performance standards for new commercial buildings to be constructed across India. • ECBC 2017 sets parameters for builders, designers and architects to integrate renewable energy sources in building design with the inclusion of passive design strategies. • The code aims to optimise energy savings with the comfort levels for occupants, and prefers life-cycle cost effectiveness to achieve energy neutrality in commercial buildings. • In order for a building to be considered ECBC-compliant, it would need to demonstrate minimum energy savings of 25%. With the adoption of ECBC 2017 for new commercial building construction throughout the country, it is estimated to achieve a 50% reduction in energy use by 2030.

➢ India Top Remittance-Receiving Country In 2016: UN Report • The ‘One Family at a Time’ study by the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said about 200 million migrants globally sent more than $445 million in 2016 as remittances to their families. • Indians working across the globe sent home USD 62.7 billion last year, making India the top remittance-receiving country surpassing China. • The study is the first-ever of a 10-year trend in migration and remittance flows over the period 2007- 2016. It said 80 per cent of remittances are received by 23 countries, led by India, China, the Philippines, Mexico and Pakistan. • About 40 per cent of remittances ,are sent to rural areas where the majority of poor people live. Remittances are therefore critical to help developing countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

➢ NPCI Gets RBI Nod To Operate Bharat Bill Payment System • Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an integrated bill payment system in India offering interoperable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation of payment. • Nearly 45 crore bills which comprise of electricity, telecom, DTH, water and gas are permitted under BBPS.

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• National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in India, which aims to allow all Indian citizens to have unrestricted access to e-payment services.

➢ Codex Standards For Pepper, Cumin, Thyme • The decision of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), the international food standards setting body set up by FAO and WHO, to adopt codex standards (they ensure that food is safe and could be traded) for pepper, cumin and thyme. • With the adoption of the Codex standards on pepper, cumin and thyme, spices have been included for the first time as commodities that will have such universal standards.

➢ NABARD Takes First Step To Access Green Climate Fund • India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) signed an Accreditation Master Agreement (AMA) with the Green Climate Fund. • The GCF was set up in 2010 under the UNFCCC’s financial mechanism to channel funding from developed countries to developing countries to allow them to mitigate climate change and also adapt to disruptions arising from a changing climate. • Till now, only one project Installation of Groundwater Recharge System in Odisha is underway using funds from GCF amounting to $34 million. • With the signing of the AMA, NABARD becomes the first Indian organisation to get Direct Access Entity status and is the first step for the body to access GCF resources. So far, NABARD and SIDBI have been accredited by the GCF.

➢ Sovereign Gold Bonds Are Now Much More Lucrative • Now individuals and Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs) will be able to buy up to 4 kg of gold under the scheme, whereas a Trust will be able to buy up to 20 kg of gold in a fiscal. Besides increasing the investment limit, government plans to design and introduce variants of SGBs with different interest rates and risk protection or pay-offs. • Also planning to make SGBs available ‘on tap’, which means it may be offered throughout the year, and not in tranche for limited periods.

The SGB scheme was launched in 2015 with the aim to curb the demand for physical gold, by replacing it with alternate investment options in form of paper or electronic investments. The intention was to mobilise finances and reduce the economic strain caused by imports of physical gold and reduce the Current Account Deficit (CAD). Under the scheme, investors were offered bonds, where each bond was equivalent to 1 gram of gold.

➢ Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana • PMVVY is a pension scheme exclusively for senior citizens—aged 60 years or more. There is no maximum age for entry. • Senior citizens can purchase it offline as well as online, through Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which has been given the sole rights to operate it.

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• Scheme provides an assured return of 8% to 8.30% per annum, depending on whether you choose to get your pensions on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis. For the monthly option the return is 8% and it is 8.30% for the annual option. • The minimum purchase price for receiving pensions every month is Rs 1.5 lakh, where a senior citizen will get a pension of Rs1,000 per month. • The maximum purchase price for monthly pension is Rs7.5 lakh, which will fetch Rs5,000 per month. Importantly, this is the maximum amount that a family can invest under this scheme. The family, for this scheme, comprises the pensioner, his or her spouse and dependants. • If a pensioner survives the policy term (10 years), purchase price along with final pension instalment shall be payable. The scheme also allows premature exit/withdrawal for treatment of any critical or terminal illness of self or spouse.

➢ India Ranks 116 Out Of 157 Nations On SDG Index • India is ranked 116th on the index with a score of 58.1, behind countries such as Nepal, Iran, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and China. Pakistan is ranked 122. • The SDG Index and Dashboards Report provides a report card for country performance on the historic Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) • The SDG Index ranks countries based on their performance across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. • It is produced by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Bertelsmann Stiftung.

➢ DIPP To Set Up India’s First TISC In Punjab • The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, signed an Institutional agreement with the Punjab State Council of Science and Technology to establish India’s first Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) at Patent Information Centre, Punjab, under the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) TISC program.

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• The objective of the TISC is to stimulate a dynamic, vibrant and balanced Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) system in India to foster creativity and innovation, thereby promoting entrepreneurship and enhancing social, economic and cultural development by establishing a network of TISCs in India. • WIPO’s Technology and Innovation Support Center (TISC) program provides innovators in developing countries with access to locally based, high quality technology information and related services, helping them to exploit their innovative potential and to create, protect, and manage their Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs). • The Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) is designated as the National Focal Point for the TISC national network.

➢ Tax Payer Service Module Aaykar Setu • The module compiles various tax tools, live chat facility, dynamic updates, and important links to various processes within the Income Tax Department in a single module. The tax payers will also be able to receive regular updates regarding important tax dates, forms and notifications on mobile numbers registered with the ITD. • This e-initiative would help in reducing physical interface between assesses and tax assessing authorities and thereby minimizing the chances of any tax harassment.

➢ NMCE And ICEX To Merge, Creating India’s Third Largest Commodity Exchange • National Multi-Commodity Exchange (NMCE), India’s first demutualized multi-commodities exchange, will merge with Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX). • The proposed merger will create India’s third largest commodities exchange, offering a range of contracts including bullion, oil, rubber and other agri-commodities. • The exchange will also offer the world’s first diamond futures contract, which has already received “in-principle” approval from the regulator.

➢ Industry-Academia Collaborative Mission For Accelerating Discovery Research To Early Development For Biopharmaceuticals (National Biopharma Mission) • The program named Innovate in India (i3) will witness an investment of USD 250 million with USD 125 million as a loan from World Bank and aspires to create an enabling ecosystem to promote entrepreneurship and indigenous manufacturing in the sector. • This Mission of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology will be implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) - a Public Sector Undertaking of DBT. The programme will specifically focus on the development of new vaccines, bio-therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices to better address the rising burden of diseases in the country. • Currently India has only 2.8% share in the global biopharmaceutical market, the program would elevate this to 5% resulting in an additional business opportunity of 16 Billion USD. The program thereby stands unique in its approach with involvement of global experts, industry leaders and World Bank in driving it and ensuring world class biomedical products are born out of the initiative.

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• The Union Government has launched e-Rashtriya Kisan Agri Mandi (e-RaKAM) portal to provide a platform for farmers to sell agricultural produce. • Under this initiative, e-RaKAM centres are being developed throughout the country in a phased manner to facilitate farmers for online sale of their produce. The farmers will be paid through e- Payment directly into their bank account under this initiative. • The portal is a joint initiative by state-run-auctioneer MSTC and Central Warehousing Corporation arm CRWC. • E-RaKAM is a digital initiative that aims to bring together the farmers, PSUs, civil supplies and buyers on a single platform to ease selling and buying process of agricultural products.

➢ Parliament Passes Banking Regulation Amendment Bill • Parliament passed a bill that will empower the RBI to deal with stressed assets in the banking sector which have soared to Rs 8 lakh crore. • The measure allows the RBI to initiate insolvency resolution process on specific stressed assets. • The RBI would also be empowered to issue other directions for resolution, appoint or approve for appointment, authorities or committees to advise the banking companies for stressed asset resolution.

➢ AGRI UDAAN- Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0 • ICAR-NAARM Technology Business Incubator (TBI), a-IDEA and Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad’s (IIM-A) incubator Center for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) announced “AGRI UDAAN”- Food and Agribusiness Accelerator 2.0. • This programme will help to selected innovative startups who will be mentored in to scale up their operations in agri value chain for effective improvement in agriculture. This is a 6 month program in which shortlisted agri startups with promising innovative business models will be mentored & guided to scale up their operation.

➢ A New Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) by the Name “BHARAT 22” • Bharat 22 consists of 22 stocks of CPSE's, PSB's & strategic holding of SUUTI (specified undertaking of Unit Trust of India). Compared to energy heavy CPSE ETF, Bharat 22 is a well Diversified portfolio with 6 sectors (Basic Materials, Energy, Finance, FMCG, and Industrials & Utilities). • The Bharat 22 Index will be rebalanced annually. ICICI Prudential AMC will be the ETF Manager and Asia Index Private Limited (JV BSE and S& P Global) will be the Index Provider. An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is a marketable security that tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets like an index fund. Unlike mutual funds, an ETF trades like a common stock on a stock exchange. Large Investors (Sovereign/Pension Funds) prefer investing in ETFs due to the benefits of ETF being Low cost & Less risky; being Highly Liquid assets; Transparent Investment and that these can be traded at Real Time Market Price

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➢ SATH Program Launched By NITI Aayog • Furthering the agenda for cooperative federalism, NITI Aayog has launched SATH, a program providing ‘Sustainable Action for Transforming Human capital’ with the State Governments. • The vision of the program is to initiate transformation in the education and health sectors. • SATH aims to identify and build three future ‘role model’ states for health systems. NITI will work in close collaboration with their state machinery to design a robust roadmap of intervention, develop a program governance structure, set up monitoring and tracking mechanisms, hand-hold state institutions through the execution stage and provide support on a range of institutional measures to achieve the end objectives.

➢ National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) To Monitor Cyber Threats • Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has announced National Cyber Coordination Centre (NCCC) which will be scanning the country's web traffic to detect cyber security threats. • It will be India's first layer for cyber threat monitoring and all communication with the government as well as the private service providers will be monitored round the clock. • It has powers under the Indian constitution with provision of section 69B of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

➢ Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh (MUSK) for Secondary and Higher Education • It will be a non-Lapsable fund, have all the proceeds from the 1% cess the government collects under the ‘secondary and higher education cess’ which has been in place since 2007. • The fund will be akin to the Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh (PSK) already in place since 2005 to fund elementary education schemes such as Sarva Shikha Abhiyan. The government collects a separate 2% cess for PSK. • The fund will cater to schemes such as interest subsidy on education loans, education credit guarantee fund, scholarship schemes, girls’ education schemes and a scheme that funds higher education in states. • Money from the MUSK corpus will be an extra budgetary provision, meaning it would be utilized at times when demand for these educational schemes goes up and all budgetary allocations available with the HRD ministry have been exhausted.

➢ NHAI Launches Mobile App MyFASTag and FASTag Partner • National Highways Authority of India launched two mobile Apps – MyFASTag and FASTag Partner to facilitate the availability of FASTags for Electronic Toll Collection. • MyFASTag is a consumer App that can be downloaded from the App Store for both Android and iOS systems. A consumer can purchase or recharge FASTags on this App. The App also helps to keep track of transactions and provides for online grievance redressal. • FASTag Partner is a merchant App. Agencies like Common Services Centre, banking partners and vehicle dealers can sell and enroll FASTag through this App. • In addition to this, the App can also be used to activate the RFID tags that came built in with around 74 lakh cars in the country following the 2013 Gazette Notification in this regard. These RFID tags

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

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. The tags contain electronically stored information. Passive tags collect energy from a nearby RFID reader's interrogating radio waves. Active tags have a local power source (such as a battery) and may operate hundreds of meters from the RFID reader. Unlike a barcode, the tag need not be within the line of sight of the reader, so it may be embedded in the tracked object.

➢ Purchasing Managers’ Index

• The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index measures the performance of the manufacturing sector and is derived from a survey of 500 manufacturing companies.

• For India, the PMI Data is published by Japanese firm Nikkei but compiled and constructed by Markit Economics. • The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index is based on five individual indexes with the

following weights: New Orders (30 percent), Output (25 percent), Employment (20 percent), Suppliers’ Delivery Times (15 percent) and Stock of Items Purchased (10 percent), with the Delivery Times index inverted so that it moves in a comparable direction. • A reading above 50 indicates an expansion of the manufacturing sector compared to the previous month; below 50 represents a contraction; while 50 indicates no change. • The popular index that measures growth in the industrial sector as far as India is concerned is the CSO prepared Index of Industrial Production. IIP shows the change in production volume in major industrial subsectors like manufacturing, mining and electricity. • But compared volume based production indicator like the IIP, the PMI senses dynamic trends because of the variable it uses for the construction of the index.

➢ Country’s Increasing Trade Deficit With ASEAN Nations • Increasing trade deficit with ASEAN nations is due to imports of essential commodities and it is strongly recommended that India seek better market access for its products and services with the 10-nation bloc. • India has suffered a trade deficit in respect of five ASEAN members — Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei and Lao PDR — over 2015-16 and 2016-17, with the biggest deficit emerging in trade with Indonesia. • The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) comprises of Indonesia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam.

• ASEAN is India’s fourth largest trading partner.

➢ Interconnect Usage Charge: Facts That You Should Know • IUC is a fee that one telecom company pays to another when a call from the former’s network lands on the latter’s. The charge is levied on a per minute basis. .

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• Bill and keep (BAK) is a mechanism under which there is no interconnect charge, one telco does not pay another, but keeps a record of the calls made to the other’s network. • TRAI has cut IUC to 6 paise a minute from the current 14 paise a minute from October 1, 2017. IUC will be brought down to zero paise from January 1, 2020, while moving to BAK. • TRAI said that that the reduction in IUC is likely to yield consumer benefits • It adds that these charges work as a disincentive for deployment of new technologies such as Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE), and migration to Internet Protocol networks by operators, wherein there are no interconnection charges.

➢ Joint Proposal By India & China In WTO On Aggregate Measurement Of Support (AMS) • India and China, in a joint proposal to the World Trade Organization (WTO), have called for elimination of trade-distorting agricultural subsidies given by developed countries. • In WTO terminology, these subsidies are called as ‘Aggregate Measurement of Support (AMS)’ or ‘Amber Box’ support. • Developed members of the WTO have access to huge amount of AMS beyond their de minimis— the minimal amount of domestic support that are allowed even though they distort trade—up to 5% of the value of production for developed countries, 10% for developing. • In contrast, most developing members have access only to de minimis resulting in a major asymmetry in the rules on agricultural trade.

➢ Consolidated FDI Policy Document Released By DIPP • The consolidated policy lays down the general conditions on FDI, procedures for government approval and sector specific conditions on FDI. • The policy document also includes a separate paragraph on start-ups which can raise up to 100 per cent of funds from Foreign Venture Capital Investor (FVCI) against receipt of foreign remittance. • A start-up company engaged in a sector where foreign investment requires government approval may issue convertible notes to a non-resident only with approval of the government.

There are two routes by which India gets FDI. • Automatic route: By this route FDI is allowed without prior approval by Government or Reserve Bank of India • Government route: Prior approval by government is needed via this route. The application needs to be made through Foreign Investment Facilitation Portal, which will facilitate single window clearance of FDI application under Approval Route

➢ India’s Exclusive Rights to Explore Polymetallic Nodules from Central Indian Ocean Seabed Basin Extended by Five Years • These rights are over 75000 sq. km of area in international waters allocated by International Seabed Authority for developmental activities for polymetallic nodules.

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• India is the first country to have received the status of a pioneer investor in 1987 and was allocated an exclusive area in Central Indian Ocean Basin by United Nations (UN) for exploration and utilization of nodules • International Seabed Authority (ISA) is a UN body set up to regulate the exploration and exploitation of marine non-living resources of oceans in international waters. • The estimated polymetallic nodule resource potential is 380 million tonnes, containing 4.7 million tonnes of nickel, 4.29 million tonnes of copper and 0.55 million tonnes of cobalt and 92.59 million tonnes of manganese.

➢ The Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) Is Set To Take Off Soon • The Union Cabinet had approved HEFA in September 2016 as a Special Purpose Vehicle with a public sector bank (Canara Bank). It would be jointly funded by the promoter/bank and the MHRD with an authorised capital of Rs 2,000 crore. The government equity would be Rs1,000 crore. • As per the funding mechanism, an institution can claim 10 times the sum it escrows in the first year. “If an institution escrows Rs10 crore, it can get approval for a ₹100-crore project. • The agency is also expected to mobilise Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds from public sector units (PSUs) and corporates. • Funding from HEFA is expected to boost infrastructure, especially state-of-the-art laboratories, in key institutions such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs).

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

• State Bank of India and ICICI Bank were identified as DSIBs under the RBI rules in 2015 • SIBs are perceived as banks that are ‘Too Big To Fail (TBTF)’. This perception of TBTF creates an expectation of government support for these banks at the time of distress. • The selected lenders are then assessed on the four systemic importance buckets—size, interconnectedness, substitutability and complexity. • For D-SIBs, while there are additional capital requirements, there is advantage in the form of lower borrowing costs.

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➢ CERT-In Issues Alert on Locky Ransomware • The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued an alert about spread of new ransomware (malicious software) ‘Locky’ that can lock computers and demand ransom for unlocking them. • It encrypts files on victims’ PCs and adds a .locky file extension. The attackers then demand ransom in Bitcoin payment to unlock the files. • Locky ransomware is being circulated through massive spam campaign in which spam emails with common subject lines.

➢ SEBI Proposes Physical Settlement For Stock Derivatives • SEBI is looking at introducing physical, or delivery-based, settlement in the equity derivatives segment, a move that many say will curtail price manipulation and boost government taxes by encouraging cash market trade. • Currently, equity derivatives are cash settled. This means difference between the entry price and exit price is either debited or credited in cash. In physical settlement, traders will have to take delivery of the shares against the derivatives position. . A derivative is a security with a price that is dependent upon or derived from one or more

underlying assets. The derivative itself is a contract between two or more parties based upon the asset or assets. Its value is determined by fluctuations in the underlying asset. The most common underlying assets include stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and market indexes

➢ Use Web-Based Inspection Platform, FSSAI Tells States • The ‘Food Safety Compliance through Regular Inspections and Sampling’ (FoSCoRIS) system uses instant geo-tagging, time stamping, real-time data collection and multiple levels of verification and can be used via hand-held devices like mobile phones and tablets. • The technology will help ensure that periodic inspections of food businesses are carried out by regulatory staff on a regular basis in an objective and transparent manner. • This would use a nationwide information technology (IT) platform to bring together all key stakeholders—the food businesses, FSOs, designated officers (DOs), state food safety commissioners (FSCs). • FSSAI will develop the FoSCoRIS system and put in place infrastructure required for its operation and maintenance at the national level. The food regulator will provide the devices and reimburse internet charges. FSSAI is a nodal statutory agency responsible for protecting and promoting public health in India through regulation and supervision of food safety., established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and is under Ministry of Health and Family welfare.

➢ CCEA Approves Survey Of Unappraised Areas Of Sedimentary Basins • The project will be implemented by NOCs, i.e. Oil India Limited (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). OIL will conduct survey in North - Eastern States while remaining area will be covered by ONGC. Survey work will be carried out in 24 States.

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• India has 26 sedimentary basins covering an area of 3.14 Million Sq Km spread over onland, shallow water and deep water. An area of about 1.502 Million Sq. Km i.e. 48% of total sedimentary basin area does not have adequate geo-scientific data.

➢ What is Google Tez • Google Tez is a mobile wallet based on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform built by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). UPI-enabled wallets permit users to transfer money without requiring the bank account details of the recipient. • Unlike most other wallets apps, it does not require money to be stored in the app to make digital payments. Tez works as an extension of one's bank account, which means that unused money remains in the bank earning interest. • 'Cash Mode' that allows quick transfer of money with nearby Tez users without sharing phone numbers using Near Field Communication(NFC) technology. • The biggest incentive to other businesses to enrol for Tez is that all payments go through to the merchant's bank with minimal latency, and more importantly, without levying transaction fees.

➢ Free Trade Talks With EFTA Grouping Hit IPR, Services Wall • India’s proposed free trade agreement with EFTA — a bloc comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein — has hit a rough patch, with the group of four insisting on stringent commitments in intellectual property rights without ceding ground in the matter of liberalising visas for professionals. • India and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) started negotiating a free trade pact in October 2008, shortly after India started FTA talks with the European Union. • One of the primary demands of EFTA countries is that India should drop Section 3(d). But India has to protect its generic companies, which supply cheap medicines to the poor not only in India but other regions. • The trade gap is heavily in favour of the EFTA countries, with total two-way trade at $19 billion in 2016-17 and India’s exports at less than $2 billion.

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➢ UDAN Flights: Govt Allows Airlines To Use Bigger Planes, Eases Rules On Connecting Flights • UDAN—or Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik, is a regional aviation scheme that encourages airlines to fly to underserved airports at low fares. The airlines have to sell a certain number of seats (between nine and 40 currently) on such flights at a maximum of Rs2,500 per hour of flying. In return, they receive a subsidy from the government. • Typically airlines use small 70-seater planes for regional flights but some underserved airports can also handle bigger aircraft such as the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737. • The ministry has also done away with the stipulation that requires two airports to be 150km away from each other to qualify for UDAN flights. It has also allowed helicopters to participate in UDAN, and, in mountainous regions, four-seater aircraft. • Five airlines—Air India, SpiceJet, Turbo Megha, Air Odisha and Air Deccan—were allotted 128 routes to fly in the first round of UDAN.

➢ Cabinet approves signing of (i) Inter-bank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement and (ii) Cooperation Memorandum relating to Credit Ratings by EDIM Bank under BRICS Interbank Cooperation mechanism

• Interbank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement: It is a framework mechanism to extend credit lines in local currencies to the BRICS’ Interbank Cooperation Mechanism (ICM) members. • Cooperation Memorandum Relating to Credit Rating: It would enable sharing of credit ratings amongst the BRICS member banks, based on the request received from another bank. This would be an ideal mechanism to mitigate the credit risks associated with cross-border financing. • The Agreement and the MoU have also been highlighted in the BRICS Leaders Xiamen Declaration made in Xiamen, China on 4th September 2017.

➢ Electronic Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (e-NWR) System • e-NWRs would have no chances of any tempering, mutilation, fudging, loss or damage and with no possibility of any multiple financing. Hence, these NWRs will not only facilitate an easy pledge financing by banks and other financial institutions but also smooth trading on various trading centres like commodity exchanges, electronic National Agriculture Markets (e-NAM) and other electronic platforms. • These e-NWRs will save expenditure in logistics as the stocks could be traded through multiple buyers without physical movement and can be even split for partial transfer or withdrawal.

➢ IMF Lowers India’s Growth Projection, Attributes It To Demonetisation, GST • The IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook Report projected India to grow at 6.7% in 2017 and 7.4% in 2018, which are 0.5 and 0.3 percentage points less than the projections earlier this year. • The report said the downward revisions for 2017 and 2018 reflect “still lingering disruptions associated with the currency exchange initiative introduced in November 2016, as well as transition costs related to the launch of the national Goods and Services Tax in July 2017. • The IMF has revised upwards “global growth projections to 3.6% for this year and 3.7% for next — in both cases 0.1 percentage point above previous forecasts.

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➢ RBI Asks Large Borrowers To Obtain 20-Digit Legal Entity Identifier Unique Code • LEI is a global reference number that uniquely identifies every legal entity or structure that is party to a financial transaction, in any jurisdiction. • Legal Entity Identifier India Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Clearing Corporation of India, acts as a local operating unit (LOU) for issuing globally compatible LEIs in India. • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday directed corporate borrowers having exposure of Rs 5 crore and above to mandatorily obtain 20-digit Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). • The move is aimed at improving risk management in the wake of the huge stressed assets in the banking system.

➢ SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help small Industries) • Ministries of Power and Textiles have joined hands under a new initiative SAATHI. • Under this initiative, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a public sector entity under the administrative control of Ministry of Power, would procure energy efficient Powerlooms, motors and Rapier kits in bulk and provide them to the small and medium Powerloom units at no upfront cost. • The use of these efficient equipment would result in energy savings and cost savings to the unit owner and he would repay in installments to EESL over a 4 to 5 year period. This is the aggregation, bulk procurement and financing model that EESL has successfully deployed in several sectors like LED bulbs, Smart Meters and Electric Vehicles.

➢ What Bank Recapitalization Means • Bank recapitalisation via special recapitalisation bonds is an approach the government used in the 1980-1990s. Between financial years (FY) 1985-1999, the government infused Rs204 billion into public sector banks via recapitalization bonds. • The promised recapitalization Rs2.1 Trillion takes care of not only the provisioning requirements of public sector banks, but also provides them with growth capital. Recapitalization is restructuring a company's debt and equity mixture, often with the aim of making a company's capital structure more stable or optimal. Essentially, the process involves the exchange of one form of financing for another, such as removing preferred shares from the company's capital structure and replacing them with bonds.

➢ i-Bharat 2017 • The ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY), in association with industry body FICCI, organised i-Bharat 2017, saw members from government, industry and think tanks coming together to explore avenues for enhancing India’s role through information and communications technology (ICT) for good governance. • i-Bharat is an initiative under the government’s Digital India campaign. It is a leading platform for the digital community to harness the power of ICT, exchange ideas, knowledge and experience, discuss international best practice. • Theme :‘ICT Elucidations for Unserved and Unsolved’.

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➢ RBI Sets Up Task Force For India Public Credit Registry • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formed a high-level task force on public credit registry (PCR) for India. The task force is chaired by Y M Deosthalee. • Currently, there are four credit bureaus in India — Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL), Equifax, Experian, and CRIF Highmark. These bureaus provide credit scores and allied reports and services. As of now, their analysis reports are used for issuing credit cards and for taking decisions mainly on retail loans. • Typically, a PCR is set up by the central bank and reporting of loan details to the Registry by lenders and/or borrowers is mandated by law. • A public credit registry would help “good borrowers” in securing credit at lowers costs and also improve access of credit to small and medium enterprises.

➢ Jobless Growth Is For Real, Says Rating Agency CARE • Confirming fears of a jobless growth, domestic rating agency Care Ratings has said employment generation has not kept pace with GDP expansion,and termed it as a "major concern". • A jobless growth a situation in which an economy recovers from a recession but the jobs market does not. • Banking is the highest among sectors when it comes to generating employment, with a 21.3 per cent share, and is followed by IT, mining, healthcare and textiles. • Sectors which witnessed a fall in employment in FY17 from the previous fiscal included fast moving consumer goods, media and entertainment and paper.

➢ Why Companies Use Commercial Papers As A Source Of Funds • A commercial Paper (CP) is an unsecured loan raised by firms in money markets through instruments issued in the form of a promissory note. CPs can be issued for maturities between a minimum of 7 days and a maximum of up to one year from the date of issue. • Because of surplus liquidity, short-term borrowing rates in money markets have significantly declined post demonetisation and are much lower than the lowest benchmark lending rates of the banks, • Because banks cannot lend below the benchmark lending rates, firms with good ratings have preferred to meet short-term working capital requirements through commercial papers at lower- than-bank rates. • Apart from being a cheaper source of funds, it helps meet funding requirements relatively quickly for better-rated corporates. Procedural requirements for securing bank facilities and charge creation on assets is not required.

➢ Crypto Currencies, ICOs Under SEBI Lens • The rising popularity of crypto currencies and the increasing number of entities looking at raising funds through Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) has caught the attention of the capital market regulator.

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• An ICO is largely similar to an initial public offering, but it differs to the extent that instead of offering shares in a company, cryptocurrencies or crypto-tokens are offered at a predetermined rate. • Unlike an IPO, which is governed by SEBI regulations, there is no regulatory body for ICOs in India. • These crypto-tokens are basically digital assets which can be configured in a number of ways to represent a variety of services. They are a method of payment for the service that the company proposes to offer. • Bitcoins are neither ‘commodities derivatives’ nor ‘securities’ under Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956. Amending definition of ‘securities’ alone may not resolve the issue of bitcoin regulation as there are numerous issues revolving around.

A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to secure its transactions, to control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets. Bitcoin was the first such currency. Etherium, Litecoin, PPcoin etc are others.

Cryptocurrencies make it easier to transfer funds between two parties in a transaction; these transfers are facilitated through the use of public and private keys for security purposes. These fund transfers are done with minimal processing fees.

A defining feature of a cryptocurrency, and arguably its most endearing allure, is its organic nature; it is not issued by any central authority, rendering it theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation..

Central to the genius of Bitcoin is the block chain it uses to store an online ledger of all the transactions that have ever been conducted using bitcoins, providing a data structure for this ledger that is exposed to a limited threat from hackers and can be copied across all computers running Bitcoin software

➢ Routing Central Funds Via PFMS Made Mandatory • The Centre has made the use of Public Finance Management System (PFMS) mandatory for transfer of funds under the central-sector schemes, which account for 31 per cent of the Budget. • The department of expenditure is administering the PFMS, which is an end-to-end online solution for processing payments, tracking, monitoring, accounting, reconciliation and reporting. • The efficient fund management would help the Centre save on borrowing costs as well as on opportunity costs,

➢ Ease Of Business: New Insolvency Rules, Tax Norms Lift India 30 Ranks To Top 100 • India surged up 30 places to the 100th rank among 190 countries in the latest edition of the World Bank’s global rankings on Ease of Doing Business. • According to the Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2018 report, India figures among the top 10 countries that have marked an improvement this year moving up in rankings of six out of 10 “Doing Business” indicators.

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➢ Insolvency Resolution Norms Made Stringent • The amendment also imposes greater responsibility on the resolution professional and the Committee of Creditors in discharging their duties. • The revised regulations make it incumbent upon the resolution professional to ensure that the resolution plan presented to the Committee of Creditors contains relevant details to assess the credibility of the resolution applicants. • The resolution professional has to also submit details in respect of transactions covered under the provisions relating to undervalued transactions, extortionate credit transactions and fraudulent transactions.

➢ National Anti-Profiteering Authority Under GST • The Government has approved the constitution of a National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA) – the institutional mechanism under the GST law to check the unfair profit-making activities by the trading community. • The "anti-profiteering" measures enshrined in the GST law provide an institutional mechanism to ensure that the full benefits of input tax credits and reduced GST rates on supply of goods or services flow to the consumers. • The Authority’s core function is to ensure that the benefits of the reduction in GST rates on goods or services made by the GST Council is passed on to the ultimate consumers by way of a reduction in prices by traders. • The Authority’s main function is to ensure that traders are not realizing unfair profit by charging high price from the consumers in the name of GST. The responsibility of the NAA is to examine and check such profiteering activities and recommend punitive actions including cancellation of licenses.

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• Profiteering means unfair profit realized by traders by manipulating prices, tax rate adjustment etc in the context of the newly launched GST.

➢ BIS Act 2016 brought into force with effect from 12th October, 2017

The Act establishes the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) as the National Standards Body of India. The Act has enabling provisions for the Government to bring under compulsory certification regime any goods or article of any scheduled industry, process, system or service which it considers necessary in the public interest or for the protection of human, animal or plant health, safety of the environment, or prevention of unfair trade practices, or national security.

Enabling provisions have also been made for making hallmarking of the precious metal articles mandatory. The new Act also allows multiple types of simplified conformity assessment schemes including self-declaration of conformity against a standard which will give simplified options to manufacturers to adhere to the standards and get certificate of conformity.

The Act enables the Central Government to appoint any authority/agency, in addition to the BIS, to verify the conformity of products and services to a standard and issue certificate of conformity. Further, there is provision for repair or recall, including product liability of the products bearing Standard Mark but not conforming to the relevant Indian Standard.

➢ FEMA Norms Eased To Spur Investment From Overseas • RBI has simplified the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident outside India) Regulations, by putting all the 93 amendments under one notification. • The Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), introduced in 1999, was amended 93 times. • The new notification combines two regulations on foreign investments — one which is popularly called investment in an Indian company or a partnership, or in a limited liability partnership, or FEMA 20, and the other — FEMA 24, which is investment in a partnership firm. • Another significant change is the introduction of a late submission fee that could allow an investor to regularize any contravention due to non-reporting, by paying the fee.

➢ FAME India Scheme • FAME India Scheme [Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India], 2015, with the objective to support hybrid/electric vehicles market development and Manufacturing eco-system. The scheme has 4 focus areas i.e. Technology development, Demand Creation, Pilot Projects and Charging Infrastructure. • The FAME India Scheme is aimed at incentivising all vehicle segments i.e. 2 Wheeler, 3 Wheeler Auto, Passenger 4 Wheeler Vehicle, Light Commercial Vehicles and Buses. • The Centre has recently invited proposals from cities with population of above 10 lakh for extending grants under the FAME India scheme to promote large-scale adoption of EVs (electric vehicles) in multi-modal public transport.

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SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ➢ NASA Developing First Asteroid Deflection Mission • NASA is developing the first-ever mission that will deflect a near-Earth asteroid, and help test the systems that will allow mankind to protect the planet from potential cosmic body impacts in future. • The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) — which is being designed and would be built and managed by the John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. • DART would be NASA’s first mission to demonstrate what’s known as kinetic impactor technique — striking the asteroid to shift its orbit — to defend against a potential future asteroid impact. • The target for DART is an asteroid, Didymos that will have a distant approach to Earth in October 2022, and then again in 2024.

➢ Petya Ransomware Attack • Petya ransomware was part of a new wave of cyber attacks that had hit computer servers all across Europe, locking up computer data and crippling enterprise services in the corporate sector. • Ransomware is a type of malware that blocks access to a computer or its data and demands money to release it. • When a computer is infected, the ransomware encrypts important documents and files and then demands a ransom, typically in Bitcoin, for a digital key needed to unlock the files • Ukraine and Russia are the worst affected, though the attack has also impacted some companies in the US and other Western European countries

➢ NASA’s MARS Probe Spots Evidence Of Ancient Lake • The Opportunity rover found rocks at the edge of Endeavour Crater that were either transported by a flood or eroded in place by wind. • The features were seen just outside the crater rim’s crest above “Perseverance Valley” . The Opportunity mission has been investigating sites on and near the western rim of Endeavour Crater since 2011. The crater is about 22 kilometres across. • Researchers plan to drive Opportunity down Perseverance Valley after completing a “walkabout” survey of the area above it. “The walkabout is designed to look at what’s just above Perseverance Valley. Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 39

➢ ` Odisha Set To Become First State To Establish A Blood Bank For Cattle • The project will have a 60:40 sharing between the Centre and the state government. • Cattle farmers will provide blood voluntarily. Blood bank will also go and collect blood from centres. • Blood transfusion facility for cattle blood will also be done at the proposed blood bank. This will prevent death of cattle during deliveries and other ailments.

➢ NASA Launches World's Lightest Satellite Designed By 18-Year-Old Tamil Nadu Student • KalamSat is named after the former president and one of India's greatest nuclear scientists Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. It was made using reinforced carbon fiber polymer and weighs lesser than a smartphone's weight. • This project by Sharook is the first one to be manufactured via 3D printing and got selected through a competition named 'Cubes in Space', which was sponsored jointly by NASA and 'I Doodle Learning. • The competition was all about creating an experimental satellite that would fit in a 4 metre cube and also possess an accurate mass of 64 grams, which can be sent to space. • The main role of satellite would be to demonstrate the performance of 3D-printed carbon fiber.

➢ NASA Tests ROSA on Space Station for First Time • The Roll-Out Solar Array, or ROSA, an advanced, flexible solar array that rolls out like a tape measure ,can be easily adapted to different sizes, including very large arrays, to provide power for a variety of future spacecraft. • It also has the potential to make solar arrays more compact and lighter weight for satellite radio and television, weather forecasting, GPS and other services used on the Earth. • In addition, the technology conceivably could be adapted to provide solar power in remote locations. • The traditional solar panels which are at present used to power satellites are very bulky with panels being folded using mechanical hinges.

➢ James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) First Science Targets Announced • It will look at very first galaxies after the Big Bang, search for fingerprints of life on Enceladus, Europa, and exoplanets like TRAPPIST-1e etc. • JWST is a joint project of the NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency. • The JWST will be the successor of 26-year-old Hubble Space Telescope. JWST, an Infrared telescope is 100 times powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope and will be the largest Telescope sent ever into space.

➢ Nasa's Kepler Telescope Finds 10 Earth-Like Planets • Astronomers have added 219 candidates to growing list of planets beyond our solar system, 10 of which may be about the same size and temperature as Earth, boosting their chances of hosting life. • They include 10 newly discovered rocky worlds (in the Cygnus constellation) that are the right distance from their parent stars for water, if it exists there, to pool on the surface. Scientists believe liquid water is a key ingredient for life. Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 40

• NASA launched the Kepler telescope in 2009 to learn if Earth-like planets are common or rare. During a four-year mission Kepler found 2,335 confirmed planets and another 1,699 candidates, bringing its tally to 4,034. • That number includes about 50 worlds that may be about the same size and temperature as Earth. The Kepler team found that planets which are about 1.75 times the size of Earth and smaller tend to be rocky, while those two to 3.5 times the size of Earth become gas-shrouded worlds like Neptune.

NASA's Kepler Space Telescope is an observatory in space dedicated to finding planets outside our solar system, particularly alien planets that are around the same size as Earth in the "habitable" regions of their parent star.

➢ MOM Completes 1000 Earth Days In Its Orbit, Beyond Its Designed Mission Life Of 6 Months. • The spacecraft was indigenously designed, built and launched by ISRO in record period of less than 2 years in Rs.450 crore budget, making it cheapest inter-planetary mission till date to reach Mars. • India had on 24 September 2014 successfully placed the spacecraft in the orbit around the Mars in its very first attempt. • Citing surplus fuel as the reason, the ISRO had in March 2015 first announced that the spacecraft’s life was extended by another six months. Later ISRO said it has enough fuel for it to last “many years”.

MOM was launched to study the Martian surface and mineral composition, and scan its atmosphere for methane, an indicator of life on the Red Planet. The spacecraft has five scientific instruments—Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP), Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA), Mars Colour Camera (MCC) and Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS).

➢ Breakthrough Starshot Successfully Launch World's Smallest Spacecraft • Known as “Sprites”, the miniature satellites are just 3.5cm x 3.5cm and carry radios, sensors and computers, with each device powered by sunlight and weighing just four grams. • Breakthrough Starshot is a comprehensive space program launched under the US $100 million Breakthrough Initiatives, announced by Yuri Milner and Stephen Hawking to develop and launch practical interstellar space missions. • The program aims to demonstrate proof of concept for light-propelled spacecraft that could fly at 20 per cent of light speed. Its main objective is to send one-gram chips to star systems beyond the solar system in search of extraterrestrial intelligence. • The top destination for such a mission is our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, within which is the star Proxima Centauri which is orbited by the planet Proxima b.

➢ China Launches First X-Ray Telescope To Study Black Holes • The 2.5-tonne Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), dubbed 'Insight', will also study how to use pulsars for spacecraft navigation, and search for gamma- ray bursts corresponding to gravitational waves.

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• Recently (may, 2017) China opened a "Lunar Palace" laboratory on Earth to simulate a moon- like environment and house students for up to 200 days as the country prepares for its long-term goal of sending humans to the natural satellite. A pulsar is a highly magnetized, rotating neutron star or white dwarf, that emits a beam of electromagnetic radiation. This radiation can be observed only when the beam of emission

is pointing toward Earth.

➢ Liquid Nitrogen In Food Industry • It is nothing but cooled liquefied form of nitrogen gas. It is so cold that its boiling point is -195.8 degree Celsius. It can instantly freeze anything that it comes in contact with while evaporating. • Liquid nitrogen is so cold that it can give instant frostbite and when ingested it can damage tissues in the oesophagus and the stomach • Liquid nitrogen is often used to instantly freeze foods and is safe when handled properly. Any food that uses liquid nitrogen should be had after all the gas has completely evaporated. • Liquid nitrogen is permitted as an additive in frozen food as per the guidelines of the national regulatory body FSSAI, however its use is a grey area. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is an autonomous body established under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India. The FSSAI has been established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 which is a consolidating statute related to food safety and regulation in India. FSSAI is responsible for protecting and

promoting public healththrough the regulation and supervision of food safety.]

➢ Saraswati”- One Of The Most Massive Large-Scale Structures In The Universe Discovered • A team of astronomers from the Inter University Centre for Astronomy & Astrophysics (IUCAA), and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), both in Pune have identified a previously unknown, extremely large supercluster of galaxies located in the direction of constellation Pisces-named as Saraswati. • This is one of the largest known structures in the nearby Universe, and is at a distance of 4,000 million (400 crore) light-years away from us. • The Saraswati supercluster and its environs reveal that some extreme large-scale, prominent matter density enhancements had formed in the past when dark energy had just started to dominate structure formation. This galactic concentration sheds light on the role of dark energy and cosmological initial conditions in supercluster formation. • The Sloan Digital Sky Survey or SDSS is a major multi-spectral imaging and spectroscopic redshift survey using a dedicated 2.5-m wide-angle optical telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico, United States.

➢ School of International Biodesign • SIB is a flagship Program of the DBT aimed to develop innovative and affordable medical devices as per India's unmet clinical needs and to train the next generation of medical technology innovators in India.

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• It is implemented jointly at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and IIT Delhi in collaboration with International partners. Biotech Consortium India Limited manages techno-legal activities of the Program.

➢ Meet Surfnet: A Software That Can Convert 2D Images To 3D Model • Scientists have developed a new artificial intelligence software that can create 3D models from two dimensional photographs, an advance that could allow future robots to navigate in the real world. • This software can only be used to convert but can also be used to merge two shapes in one. • It can be used in self-driven cars and robotics.

➢ Scientists For First Time Edit Genes Of Human Embryos. • Scientists from US for first time have successfully edited genes of human embryos to correct defective DNA that cause inherited diseases. They had used the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology to alter human DNA in single-cell embryos. Genome editing (also called gene editing) is a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to change an organism's DNA. These technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome.

A recent one is known as CRISPR-Cas9, which is short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9. The CRISPR-Cas9 system has generated a lot of excitement in the scientific community because it is faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more efficient than other existing genome editing methods.

➢ SOHUM • It is a low cost indigenous device to detect congenital hearing loss in newborns. • It measures auditory brain waves via three electrodes placed on the baby's head. When stimulated, electrodes detect electrical responses generated by the brain's auditory system. If there is no response, it indicates child cannot hear

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• It has in-built algorithm that filters out ambient noise from the test signal. This is important because health clinics can be crowded and noisy.

➢ Scientists Discover Smallest-Ever Star • Researchers from University of Cambridge in the U.K. identified the star located about 600 light years away, called EBLM J0555-57Ab - slightly larger than Saturn in size — which may possibly have Earth-sized planets with liquid water in its orbit. • The star is likely as small as stars can possibly become, as it has just enough mass to enable the fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium. • The gravitational pull at its stellar surface is about 300 times stronger than what humans feel on Earth. • The star was identified by WASP, a planet-finding experiment run by several universities of UK

➢ NASA Probe Successfully Peers Into Jupiter’s Great Red Spot • A NASA spacecraft, Juno, has successfully peered into the giant storm raging on Jupiter, known as the Great Red Spot. • Great Red Spot is a massive storm — some 16,000 kilometers wide — that has been churning for centuries, but little is known about the forces driving it. • Juno launched on August 5, 2011,has been orbiting Jupiter for just over one year.

➢ Chemical From Turmeric Helps Treat Cancer In Children • Curcumin, the bioactive component of turmeric that is widely used in Indian cuisine, can target and destroy neuroblastoma tumour cells. • Curcumin has been shown to have substantial anti-cancer ability, but its low solubility and poor stability have restricted its use in therapeutic applications. • Neuroblastoma is one of the most common cancers in children below the age of five years. The cancer starts in early nerve cells and commonly forms in the tissue of the adrenal glands, near the kidneys. It is also associated with developmental delays, hearing loss and other disabilities.

➢ Israel Launches Its 1st Environmental Research Satellite • The VENUS satellite (Vegetation and Environment Monitoring New Micro-Satellite) is an earth- observation micro-satellite designed jointly by Israel's agency and France's National Center for Space Studies (CNES). • Venus has a dual mission: one scientific and the other technological. The scientific mission will monitor Earth's vegetation using a camera capable of recording 12 narrow spectral bands. • The technological mission will test the operation of an innovative electric propulsion system based on the Israeli-designed Hall Effect Thrusters. • A Hall-effect thruster (HET) is a relatively low power device used to propel some spacecraft after entering orbit or farther out into space.

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➢ Sun’s Core Rotates Four Times Faster Than Its Surface: Study • The most likely explanation is that this core rotation is left over from the period when the Sun formed, some 4.6 billion years ago. • The rotation of the solar core may give a clue to how the Sun formed. After the Sun formed, the solar wind likely slowed the rotation of the outer part of the Sun • The rotation might also impact sunspots, which also rotate. Sunspots can be enormous; a single sunspot can even be larger than the Earth. • Scientists used the data from SOHO’s Global Oscillations at Low Frequencies (GOLF) instrument. SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) - a joint project of the European Space Agency and NASA.

➢ NISAR Mission. • ISRO and NASA are jointly working on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission to co-develop and launch a dual frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite. • It is a dual frequency (L & S Band) Radar Imaging Satellite. • The aim and objectives of NISAR mission are: • Design, Develop and launch a Dual frequency (L and S Band) Radar Imaging Satellite. • Explore newer application areas using L and S band microwave data, especially in natural resources mapping & monitoring; estimating agricultural biomass over full duration of crop cycle; assessing soil moisture; monitoring of floods and oil slicks; coastal erosion, coastline changes and variation of winds in coastal waters; assessment of mangroves; surface deformation studies due to seismic activities etc.

➢ Low-cost, Sensitive CO Sensor from IISc • Indian Institute of Science researchers have developed a highly sensitive nanometre-scale carbon monoxide sensor by employing an innovative fabrication technique. • To build this zinc-oxide (ZnO) nanostructure on a silicon wafer substrate, the researchers first placed tiny polystyrene beads on the wafer. These beads arrange themselves into what is called a hexagonal close-packed structure on the oxidised silicon wafer. • It is known that carbon monoxide (CO) can have adverse effects on the health of people exposed to it. Hence, it becomes necessary to have good, low-cost carbon-monoxide sensors.

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• Most available sensors are in the micrometer range, a nanometer-sized detector would have a higher sensitivity, but the cost of manufacturing it goes up as the size decreases.

➢ Hubble Detects Exoplanet WASP-121b with Glowing Water Atmosphere • Scientists have found the strongest evidence to date for a stratosphere on an enormous planet outside our solar system, with an atmosphere hot enough to boil iron. • WASP-121b, located approximately 900 light years from Earth, is a gas giant exoplanet commonly referred to as a 'hot Jupiter', although with a greater mass and radius than Jupiter.

➢ ISRO To Develop Full-Fledged Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite • ISRO said that it plans to launch a full-fledged niche Earth observation (EO) satellite — called the Hyperspectral Imaging Satellite or HySIS — using a critical chip it has developed. • ‘Hyspex’ imaging is said to enable distinct identification of objects, materials or processes on Earth by reading the spectrum for each pixel of a scene from space. • The satellite can see in 55 spectral or colour bands from 630 km above ground. It can be used for a range of applications from monitoring the environment, crops, looking for oil and minerals, military surveillance. • Hyperspectral imaging or hyspex imaging (imaging spectroscopy) combines the power of digital imaging and spectroscopy It collects and processes information from across the electromagnetic spectrum. • Earth observation satellites are satellites specifically designed for Earth observation from orbit, similar to spy satellites but intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, meteorology, map making etc. To get (nearly) global coverage with a low orbit it must be a polar orbit or nearly so.

➢ Now Water Used As Propellant For Tiny Satellites • Called a “Film-Evaporation MEMS Tunable Array”, or FEMTA thruster, it uses capillaries thinner than human hair through which the propellant water can flow. • Small heaters located near the ends of the capillaries turn the water into vapor, which, on escape from these tiny tubes, provides the thrust. CubeSats are basically miniature satellites which typically weigh around two kilograms. In the future, they have potential to carry out tasks like imaging and remote-sensing currently performed by heavier satellites which are expensive to build and launch.

➢ U.S. Approves First Gene Therapy For Cancer • The United States approved the first gene therapy in the nation -a treatment that uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight childhood leukaemia. • The treatment is not a pill or a form of chemotherapy. It uses a patient’s own immune cells, called T-cells, along with white blood cells. These cells are removed from a patient, sent to a lab, and encoded with a viral vector, reprogrammed, and returned to the patient.

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• The treatment is made by Novartis and is called Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel). Studies have shown that 83% of patients responded to the treatment, achieving remission within three months.

➢ More Potent, Safer Zika Vaccine Developed • Scientists have developed the world’s first plant-based Zika vaccine that may be more effective, safer and cheaper than other vaccines against the mosquito-borne virus. • The vaccine, developed using tobacco plant, targets a key protein -- called DIII -- which envelopes the outside of the Zika virus and plays a key role for the virus to infect people.

➢ IISER Mohali: Spider silk, a material for the future • Spider silk is a biomaterial With five times the strength of steel of comparable weight. • During spinning of the silk, amino acids arrange themselves as tiny nanocrystals embedded in a soft amorphous matrix of molecular nanosprings. While the amorphous regions provide elasticity, the nanocrystalline domains are optimized to provide great strength.

➢ NASA Rockets To Create Glowing Artificial Clouds • The Waves and Instabilities from a Neutral Dynamo (WINDY) mission will study a phenomenon that occurs in the ionosphere - a layer of charged particles in the upper atmosphere. • Known as equatorial spread F (ESF) these disturbances occur after sunset at latitudes near the equator in part of the ionosphere known as the F region. The disturbances interfere with radio communication, navigation and imaging systems and pose a hazard to technology and society that depends on it.

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• The WINDY mission consists of two NASA suborbital sounding rockets. One rocket will carry a substance called tri-methyl aluminium (TMA), which will form the white artificial clouds that glow in the night sky. The ionosphere is defined as the layer of Earth’s atmosphere that is ionised by solar and cosmic radiation. Ionisation occurs when incoming energetic radiation strips electrons from atoms and molecules, creating temporarily charged particles.

➢ Vijay, The Country’s First Calf Delivered By A Surrogate Or Recipient Cow Through IVF • In the past few years, indigenous cow breeds have been destroyed due to cross-breeding. While in human beings, IVF technology comes to the aid when either of the couple is infertile. • In the case of cows, our objective is to protect the breed in its original form. In its lifetime (15 years on an average), a cow gives birth to 10 calves at the most. Through IVF technology, it can give birth to 20 calves in a year through recipient cows, which means nearly 200 in its lifetime. • In Vijay’s case, the donor cow, Ratan, belongs to the Gir breed, whose population across the country is around one lakh currently — unevenly spread across Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

➢ UK Scientists Create World’s Smallest Surgical Robot • The robot, called Versius, mimics the human arm and can be used to carry out a wide range of laparoscopic procedures – including hernia repairs, colorectal operations, and prostate and ear, nose and throat surgery. • The robot is controlled by a surgeon at a console guided by a 3D screen in the operating theatre. • Although surgical robots already exist, the new creation is much easier to use, takes up about a third of the space of current machines.

➢ NASA Successfully Launches Latest Communications Satellite • NASA’s tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M (TDRS-M) will become part of NASA’s Space Network providing navigation and high-data-rate communications to the International Space Station, NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, rockets and a host of other spacecraft.

➢ China Launches The First Quantum Communications Satellite • Launching the world’s first quantum communications satellite, Quantum Experiments at Space Scale (QUESS), nicknamed Micius after the philosopher, China achieved a milestone in space and cryptography. • Using this satellite, Chinese researchers, were able to transmit secret messages from space to Earth at a further distance than ever before. • The technology is called quantum key distribution (QKD). QKD works by using photons — the particles which transmit light — to transfer data.

➢ IIT Madras: New Eco-Friendly Cement Being Tested For Use In Industry

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• Research collaboration between India and Switzerland on a new cement material that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the manufacturing process. • One way of mitigating the emissions factor is the use of Limestone Calcined Clay Cement or the LC3 technology. • LC3 effects a synergy between these processes. The combination of the new method and the material properties effectively reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 30% as compared to the traditional way of manufacturing cement. • In manufacturing portland cement, limestone and materials like clay are heated together in huge kilns to high temperatures so that they fuse without melting to give clinker. This is the most CO2- intensive part of the whole process.

➢ TRAPPIST-1 Planets Likely To Have Water • The Earth-sized planets orbiting the ultracool TRAPPIST-1 dwarf star 40 light-years away may have substantial amounts of water and could be habitable. • In February this year, astronomers had announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. • Scientists used the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble telescope to study the amount of ultraviolet radiation received by the individual planets of the system. A white dwarf is what stars like the Sun become after they have exhausted their nuclear fuel. Only the hot core of the star remains. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes from the emission of stored thermal energy; no fusion takes place in a white dwarf. The nearest known white dwarf is Sirius B, at 8.6 light years, the smaller component of the Sirius binary star. There is a limit on the amount of mass a white dwarf can have. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar discovered this limit to be 1.4 times the mass of the Sun. This is appropriately known as the "Chandrasekhar limit”.

➢ Cassini Spacecraft Makes Death Plunge Into Saturn • Cassini’s plunge into the ringed gas giant — the furthest planet visible from Earth with the naked eye — came after the spacecraft ran out of rocket fuel after a journey of some 7.9 billion km. • Its well-planned plunge was a way to prevent any damage to Saturn’s ocean-bearing moons Titan and Enceladus, which scientists want to keep pristine for future exploration because they may contain some form of life. • In 2005, Cassini orbiter released a lander called Huygens on Titan, marking the first and only such landing in the outer solar system, on a celestial body beyond the asteroid belt. • The Cassini mission began on Oct. 15 1997 and arrived at Saturn in 2004.NASA is partnering with the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Italian Space Agency on the Cassini-Huygens mission.

➢ Fourth Detection Of A Merging Binary Black Hole System Detected By LIGO, Virgo Observatory

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• This time, the LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) was joined by the Virgo observatory from Europe, which significantly contributed to the improved localization of this astronomical source in the sky and enabled new tests of Einstein’s theory based on the polarization of gravitational waves. • These detections of gravitational waves from merging black hole pairs allow us to map out the distribution of black holes in the universe and to do precision tests of Einstein’s theory of General Relativity In simple terms, gravitational waves can be explained as ripples in the fabric of space-time which can only be caused by massive astronomical events such as neutron stars or black holes orbiting each other so that these waves would finally radiate from them.

These gravitational waves, if detected, will carry signatures of their origin, explaining much about the nature of gravity and the origin of the universe. They had remained elusive till their detection was first announced last year.

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➢ Japan Launches Michibiki Satellite; Fourth Such Satellite • The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched Michibiki-4 satellite (QZSS-4). • It was fourth satellite in Michibiki series i.e. Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), which is a satellite- based high-precision global positioning system similar to US operated GPS.

• Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS): It is own version of GPS and is dubbed as Michibiki system. Michibiki means guidance in Japanese. It is intended for civilian use.

➢ Organic Near-Infrared Filter Developed By NIIST Team • An organic filter that allows only near-infrared (NIR) light to pass through has been developed by scientists at the CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST) based in Thiruvananthapuram. • The new NIR filter can be used for night vision glasses, night photography, and will have applications in security and forensics such as identifying blood stains on a dark fabric. • Currently available inorganic filters are expensive and brittle whereas organic filters are easy to process and flexible too. The organogel-based filter has the ability to absorb both ultraviolet and visible light while allowing the near-infrared light alone to pass through • The filter was prepared by mixing a black dye (diketopyrrolopyrrole or DPP) having an amide group that helps the molecules to be in close contact with each other and interact, leading to changes in their optical properties.

➢ Planet Nine Does Exist In Solar System: NASA • The elusive ‘Planet Nine’ does exist, and may be 10 times the mass of the Earth and 20 times away from the Sun than Neptune. • Planet Nine could turn out to be our solar system’s missing ‘super Earth’ — a planet with a mass higher than the Earth’s, but substantially lower than the masses of ice giants Uranus and Neptune. • Kuiper Belt is a region of icy bodies stretching from Neptune outward towards interstellar space. • Astronomers studying the Kuiper Belt have noticed some of the dwarf planets and other small, icy objects tend to follow orbits that cluster together. By analyzing these orbits, the team predicted the possibility that a large, previously undiscovered planet may be hiding far beyond Pluto. • They estimate the gravity of this potential planet might explain the unusual orbits of those Kuiper objects.

➢ Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Holds Its Annual Science Meeting In Goa • SKA is an international effort to build the largest and the most sensitive radio telescope in the world. • The SKA will be a collection of thousands of dishes and radio receivers spread across two sites in Africa and Western Australia. Currently, Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and United Kingdom are involved in the project.

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• The NCRA-TIFR in Pune is the nodal institute for overseeing SKA related activities in India. • The Meeting presented their latest results and discussed cutting edge science projects that can be achieved when the SKA becomes operational.

➢ India And South Africa To Jointly Study Evolution Of Galaxies Using Radio Telescopes • India and South Africa have decided to expand their reach in tracing the evolution of galaxies. India decided to participate in the multi-nation Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in a bid to make world's most powerful radio telescope. • Optical telescopes can be hampered by cloud or poor wealth conditions on Earth, radio telescopes will work with signals at a longer wavelength and it can be used even in cloudy skies. Galaxies are made up of gas (hydrogen) and stars, and in order to understand how galaxies evolved, we need to understand how gas is converted to stars and vice versa. To understand star formation, the key component of gas in galaxies is the cold gas component.

It is this gas component, which eventually collapses under gravity to form stars. By mapping the distribution of the cold gas in galaxies, we can understand how galaxies had formed and evolved.

Radio telescopes can help in find invisible gas and can reveal areas of space that may be obscured by cosmic dust.

➢ ISRO’s Astrosat Telescope Measures Star Parameters In Taurus Constellation • India’s multi-wavelength space telescope AstroSat had measured the X-ray polarisation of the Crab pulsar (star) in the Taurus constellation. • The telescope measured the variations of polarisation as the magetised object (pulsar) spins 30 times per second. The landmark measurement challenges theories of high energy X-ray emission from pulsars. • A pulsar is a rotating neutron star or white dwarf, which emits electromagnetic radiation. Neutron stars and black holes are examples of such objects.

➢ Small Molecule Reverses Antibiotic Resistance • Using a small molecule, researchers at the IIT Roorkee have been able to reverse drug resistance and restore the efficacy of fluoroquinolone-group of antibiotics by inhibiting the proton gradient which drives the efflux pump. • Antibiotic-resistant bacteria use the efflux pumps to expel antibiotics from the intracellular environment thus preventing antibiotics from reaching the target thus helping the bacteria to survive. • By inhibiting the proton gradient using the small molecule, the team was able to inactivate the efflux, leading to an effective build-up of antibiotic inside the bacteria and subsequent bacterial death. • Since discovering new antibiotics takes a long time, boosting the activity of existing antibiotics by inhibiting the mechanism that prevents the drugs from acting will be a viable alternative.

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Six ESKAPE pathogens (Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species) cause the most hospital-acquired infections.

A. baumannii causes pneumonia, meningitis and urinary tract infections and is one of the most prevalent hospital-acquired infections across the world

. ➢ Brahmos Test Fired From Sukhoi Fighter Jet For First Time • The armed forces are now capable of launching the Brahmos, which has a strike range of around 290 km and is described as the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile, from land, sea and air, completing the tactical cruise missile triad for the country. • Brahmos is a joint venture between DRDO of India and NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM) of Russia and is named after the rivers Brahmputra(India) and Moscova(Russia).

Nobel Prize Category Winners Recognition Work

Rainer Weiss “for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector Physics Barry C. Barish and the observation of gravitational waves” Kips S. Thorne

Jacques Dubochet “for developing cryo-electron Chemistry Joachim Frank microscopy for the high-resolution structure Richard Henderson determination of biomolecules in solution”

Jeffrey C. Hall “for their discoveries of molecular mechanisms Medicine/Physio Michael Rosbah controlling the circadian rhythm” logy Michael W. Young

International “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic Peace Campaign to humanitarian consequences of any use of Abolish Nuclear nuclear weapons and for its ground- breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based Weapons (ICAN) prohibition of such weapons”. “who, in novels of great emotional force, has Literature Kazuo Ishigoru uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world”

“By exploring the consequences of limited Economics Richard Thaler rationality, social preferences, and lack of self-control, these human traits systematically affect individual decisions as well as market outcomes”

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➢ Cryo- electron Microscopy • Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), or electron cryomicroscopy, is a form of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) where the sample is studied at cryogenic temperatures. • Transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) use a beam of electrons to examine the structures of molecules and materials at the atomic scale. • The utility of cryoelectron microscopy stems from the fact that it allows the observation of specimens that have not been stained or fixed in any way, showing them in their native environment. • Cryo-EM doesn’t require crystals, and it also enables scientists to see how biomolecules move and interact as they perform their functions, which is much more difficult using crystallography.

➢ Circadian Rhythm • A circadian rhythm is any biological process that displays an endogenous, entrainable oscillation of about 24 hours. These 24-hour rhythms are driven by a circadian clock, and they have been widely observed in plants, animals, fungi, and cyanobacteria. • Using fruit flies as a model organism, this year's Nobel laureates isolated a gene that controls the normal daily biological rhythm. They showed that this gene encodes a protein that accumulates in the cell during the night, and is then degraded during the day. • We now recognize that biological clocks function by the same principles in cells of other multicellular organisms, including humans.

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➢ Space Missions in News :

MISSION OBJECTIVE

HAYABUSA 2 Launched by JAXA,Japan, is enroute to asteroid 162173 Ryugu.

OSIRIS-REx Launched by NASA, is en route to asteroid 101955 Bennu.

ARTEMIS P1/P2 Launched by NASA, are studying the effect of the solar wind on the Moon. Originally launched as Earth satellites, they were later repurposed and moved to lunar orbit. Lunar Reconnaissance Launched by NASA, is engaged in lunar mapping intended to identify safe Orbiter landing sites, locate potential resources on the Moon, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology. Akatsuki The first Japanese Venusian probe. Also known as Planet-C and Venus Climate Orbiter, Akatsuki failed to enter Venusian orbit in December 2010. It continued to function and entered Venus orbit in 2015. 2001 Mars Odyssey, A tribute to the classic novel and film, is one of six currently active human- made Mars satellites. It is continuing its extended mission to map the surface of Mars and also acts as a relay for the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers. Launched by NASA. Mars Express ESA; Mars orbiter designed to study the planet's atmosphere and geology, search for sub-surface water, and deploy the Beagle lander. Mars Reconnaissance The second NASA satellite orbiting Mars. It is specifically designed to Orbiter analyze the landforms, stratigraphy, minerals, and ice of the red planet.

Curiosity Rover Part of NASA’s Mars Science Lab (MSL),is searching for evidence of organic material on Mars, monitoring methane levels in the atmosphere, and engaging in exploration of the landing site at Gale Crater. Mangalyaan Is the first Indian interplanetary space probe. It was successfully inserted into orbit of Mars on 24 September 2014. Mars Atmosphere and is a space probe developed by NASA designed to study the Martian Volatile EvolutioN atmosphere while orbiting Mars. Mission goals include determining how Mission (MAVEN) the planet's atmosphere and water, presumed to have once been substantial, were lost over time. Trace Gas Launched by ESA is carrying the lander Schiaparelli ,scheduled to use Orbiter (ExoMars 2016) atmospheric braking for some months before commencing data collecting operations. Dawn NASA;successfully entered asteroid Vesta's orbit in July 2011. There it studied Vesta until September 2012, when it departed for dwarf planet Ceres

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Juno Launched by NASA to scientifically investigate Jupiter andis in polar orbit around Jupiter . Cassini Orbiter NASA,Began studying Saturn and its moons after passing Venus and Jupiter and deploying the Huygens Landing Probe to Titan. It is primarily investigating Saturn's rings, its magnetosphere and the geologic composition of its satellites; ended in 2017 New Horizons NASA;Is the first spacecraft to study Pluto up close, and ultimately the Kuiper Belt. It is the fastest artificially-accelerated object and will be the fifth probe to leave the solar system.

Voyager 1 NASA;Is currently the farthest man-made object from Earth, as well as the first object to leave the Solar System and cross into interstellar space. It was originally tasked with investigating Jupiter and Saturn, and the moons of these planets.

Voyager 2 Has not yet left the solar system, but will become one of the first five probes to do so eventually. Its mission to study all four gas giants. Scientists are now using Voyager 2 to learn what the solar system is like beyond the heliosphere.

Rosetta Operated by ESA, is orbiting the comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. On November 12, 2014, a lander was successfully deployed for further investigation. Mission ended on 30 September 2016, when the probe landed onto the comet's surface.

NASA;was studying Mercury. It is only the second probe to do so and is the first to orbit the planet. Technologically, it is far superior to its 1975 predecessor, Mariner 10. Having previously passed Earth once, Venus twice and Mercury three times, it entered orbit in March 2011. Mission ended on 30 April 2015, when the probe crashed

onto the planet's surface. Messenger

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ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY ➢ What Is A Green Building • Green building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. • Green building is also known as a sustainable or high performance building. • LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a green building rating system used across the world for all building project types including schools and colleges. • In India, there are currently around 2,500 ongoing LEED projects of which, many are educational institutions. Other projects include hospitals, housing projects, IT Parks and commercial spaces such as malls.

About Indian Green Building council (IGBC): The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was formed in the year 2001. The vision of the council is, "To enable a sustainable built environment for all and facilitate India to be one of the global leaders in the sustainable built environment by 2025.

The ITC Maurya is the first and largest LEED Platinum rated hotel in the world and uses parabolic solar concentrators to save energy. Also, it has been awarded honourable National Tourism Award as the Best Eco-friendly Hotel in India.

➢ Paris Agreement's 1.50C Target 'Only Way' To Save Coral Reefs, UNESCO Says • The first global scientific assessment of the impacts of climate change on the 29 world heritage-listed coral reefs, found that the frequency, intensity and duration of heat-stress events had worsened with increasing global warming. • Compounding the devastating impact of bleaching – which can take coral communities at least 15 to 25 years to recover from – were more frequent and more severe extreme weather events, increasing ocean acidification, and pollution. • The UNESCO report found that local efforts to increase reefs’ resilience “remain necessary but are no longer sufficient” without complementary national and international efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels – the most ambitious target set by the Paris agreement.

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➢ Help Preserve Land – Our 'Home And Future' – UN Urges On World Day To Combat Desertification • Commemorated annually on June 17, World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought seeks to promote public awareness of land degradation and to draw attention to the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification • This year's (2017) commemoration focuses on the theme “Our Land. Our Home. Our Future.” • Goal 15, of the SDGs in particular, calls for combating desertification, and undertaking efforts to halt and reverse land degradation.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) is a Convention to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through national action programs that incorporate long-term strategies supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements.

The Convention, the only convention stemming from a direct recommendation of Rio Conference's Agenda 21, was adopted in Paris, France on 17 June 1994 and entered into force in December 1996.

It is the only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the problem of desertification. The Convention is based on the principles of participation, partnership and decentralization.

➢ Scooping Out Oil Spills Made Easy By IISER Thiruvananthapuram • Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) in Thiruvananthapuram who have developed a hydrophobic sorbent that can suck up oil and congeal it. • A hydrophobic material automatically becomes oil-loving and takes up oil when it comes in contact with it. IISER developed the hydrophobic sorbent by using a cheap raw material (mannitol) and cellulose pulp as a matrix. • Once the sorbent sucks the oil, the gelator slowly gets released from the cellulose fibre and congealing of oil takes place. • Studies found that the sorbent was able to absorb and congeal 16 times its own weight of oil. The absorbed oil can be recovered by applying pressure or fractionated by a simple distillation process.

➢ International Tiger Day Is Observed Annually On 29 July • India is currently home to 70 per cent of the world's tiger population in over 17 states and 50 sanctuaries across the country. • India is a part of the St Petersburg target, commonly referred to as the global wildlife conservation goal TX2, which aims to double the tiger numbers in the Tiger Range countries by 2022. • There are 13 Tiger Range Countries (TRC), including India, in the world where tigers roam free, but the big cats continue to remain endangered.

9 species of tigers were found originally, out of which three are extinct: Bali, Caspian and Java. The six species still found are: Malayan, Sumatran, South China , Siberian,Indo Chinese and Bengal.

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➢ Sagar Vani” - An Integrated Information Dissemination System • The ‘Sagar Vani’ is a software platform where various dissemination modes will be integrated on a single central server. The ‘Sagar Vani’ includes Multi Lingual SMS, Voice Call / Audio Advisory, Mobile Apps (User / Admin modules), Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), Email, GTS, Fax, Digital Display Boards, Radio / Television broadcast units, IVRS, Cloud Channels, etc. • The system also has facility to provide access to various stakeholders (NGOs, State Fishery Departments, Disaster Management Authorities, etc.) so that they too will be able to further disseminate these ocean information and alerts to the user community.

➢ NCS Launches ‘India Quake’ – An App For Earthquake Parameter Dissemination • National Centre for Seismology (NCS) operates national seismological network with 84 stations. These stations are connected to NCS headquarter through VSAT for real time data communication. • a Mobile App has been developed by the NCS for automatic dissemination of earthquake parameter (location, time and magnitude) after the occurrence of earthquakes. The App will make information dissemination faster with no restrictions on the number of recipients.

➢ India To Contribute USD 100 Million To UN Partnership Fund • India has pledged an additional USD 100 million towards the UN partnership fund, significantly scaling up it support to sustainable development projects across the developing world. • South–South Cooperation is a term historically used by policymakers and academics to describe the exchange of resources, technology, and knowledge between developing countries, also known as countries of the Global South. The India-UN Development Partnership Fund is a dedicated facility within the United Nations Fund for South- South Cooperation established in 2017. It is supported and led by the Government of the Republic of India, managed by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and implemented in collaboration with the United Nations system.

The India-UN Development Partnership Fund supports Southern-owned and led, demand-driven, and transformational sustainable development projects across the developing world, with a focus on least developed countries and small island developing states. United Nations agencies implement the Funds projects in close collaboration with partnering governments.

➢ World’s First ‘White Tiger Safari’ Opened For Public In Madhya Pradesh • The world’s maiden ‘White Tiger Safari’ inaugrated at Mukundpur in Satna district in the state’s Vindhya region where the feline was first discovered more than 100 years ago. • The government is planning to establish a breeding centre for the white tigers in nearby Govindgarh. • The first white tiger was spotted in Madhya Pradesh’s Vindhya region, in which the Satna district falls, in 1915. • In 1951, a white tiger cub, named Mohan, was captured. It later became the progenitor of all known white tigers in the world after the Rewa princely state’s ruler Maharaja Martand Singh for arranged its breeding.

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• White tigers' are animals afflicted with a a condition known as leucism (partial lack of pigmentation), which can be compared to leucoderma in humans.

➢ New Doppler Weather Radar Commissioned • A state-of-the-art, indigenous doppler weather radar, capable of predicting with increased accuracy weather events such as cyclone , was inaugurated at Kochi. • It is the latest in a chain of 27 such advanced radars already installed in various parts of the country, and 25 more, in the Himalayan and northeast, are in the offing. • The S-Band doppler weather radar in Kochi was made with support from ISRO and Bharat Electronics. Doppler weather radar is an observational tool for monitoring and predicting severe weather events. It uses the Doppler effect by bouncing a microwave signal off a desired target to produce velocity data.

Doppler Effect: It is an increase (or decrease) in the frequency of sound, light, or other waves as the source and observer move towards (or away from.) each other.

Radar,Radio Detection And Ranging, is an object-detection system that uses radio waves to determine the range, angle, or velocity of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain

➢ Establishment of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), South Asia Regional Center (ISARC) at campus of National Seed Research and Training Center (NSRTC) in Varanasi • A Centre of Excellence in Rice Value Addition (CERVA) will be set up in Varanasi. This will include a modern and sophisticated laboratory with capacity to determine quality and status of heavy metals in grain and straw. • This Center will be the first international Center in the eastern India and it will play a major role in harnessing and sustaining rice production in the region. • The Centre will help in utilizing the rich biodiversity of India to develop special rice varieties. This will help India to achieve higher per hectare yields and improved nutritional contents. India's food and nutritional security issues will also be addressed. • The Centre will support in adopting value chain based production system in the country. This will reduce wastage, add value and generate higher income for the farmers.

The Philippines-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which has offices in 17 countries, is known for its work in developing rice varieties that contributed to the green revolution in 1960s.

➢ Supreme Court Bans Use Of Heavy Metals In Firecrackers To Prevent Air Pollution • Five harmful heavy metals like lithium, antimony, mercury, arsenic and lead in the manufacturing of firecrackers as they cause air and noise pollution. • The Supreme Court maintained that it is the responsibility of the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) to ensure compliance of ban order to ensure compliance of ban order

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• PESO is a topmost department that controls and administers manufacture, storage, transport and handling of explosives, petroleum, compressed gasses and other hazardous substances in India. • It functions under the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

➢ Assam To Raise New Force For Rhino Protection • The Assam government is going to raise a new Special Rhino Protection Force (SRPF) for better protection of the one-horned rhinos in Assam.

• The greater one-horned rhinoceros is the largest of the Asian Rhinos. Formerly, they were extensively distributed in the Gangetic plains. However, today they are restricted to small habitats in Indo-Nepal terai and North Bengal, and Assam. They are found in Kaziranga. They are on the IUCN list of threatened species

• • ➢ India Ratifies 2nd Commitment Period Of Kyoto Protocol • The first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol was from 2008–2012. The Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Qatar in December 2012. The amendment includes new commitments for parties to the Kyoto Protocol who agreed to take on commitments in a second commitment period from January 2013 to December 2020 and a revised list of greenhouse gases to be reported on by Parties in the second commitment period. The Kyoto Protocol(KP)is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which commits its Parties by setting internationally binding emission reduction targets. Under the Kyoto Protocol (KP) which had become operational in 2005, only developed nations are mandatorily required to undertake mitigation (emission cuts) targets and to provide financial resources and transfer of technology to the developing nation

The KP was adopted in 1997, recognizing that the developed countries are principally responsible for the current high levels of Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) in the atmosphere. Developing countries like India and China have no mandatory mitigation obligations or targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

Unlike the KP which requires only developed countries to take mandatory actions, the Paris Agreement mandates all countries to take action to minimise the impact of climate change as per their voluntary commitments and individual capacity.

➢ Gaj Yatra Campaign • The “Gaj Yatra”, partnered by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), will take the form of a roadshow that will move through 12 elephant range states over the next 15 months, with elephant-sized artworks created by local artists and craftsmen as the centerpiece. • The campaign was launched by the NGO, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI)

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• World Elephant Day is an annual global event celebrated across the world on August 12, dedicated to the preservation and protection of elephants. • African elephants are listed as “vulnerable” and Asian elephants as “endangered” in the IUCN Red List of threatened species.

➢ Aeroplanes May Be Affecting Ozone, Monsoon • Aeroplanes may be ejecting significant amounts of black carbon (BC) — a pollutant known to aggravate breathing disorders, upset the monsoon and quicken glacier melt — and may be depleting the ozone layer. • Though airborne, BC is known to dissipate and settle down in a few months under the influence of rain and wind and is unlikely to travel upward of 4 km, however they have been found till 18km height (stratospheric). • Given the shape and location of these particles, they argue, it could only derive from emissions from aviation fuel and they pose a problem because these black carbon particles can linger long enough to provide a fertile ground for other chemical reactions that can deplete the ozone layer. • Because BC particles strongly absorb solar and terrestrial radiation and heats up the atmosphere it can upset the monsoon system. If deposited on snow, it could accelerate the heating of snow and quicken the melting of glacier. Black carbon is the sooty black material emitted from gas and diesel engines, coal- fired power plants, and other sources that burn fossil fuel. It comprises a significant portion of particulate matter or PM, which is an air pollutant.

➢ India signs Global Environment Facility (GEF) Grant Agreement with the World Bank for USD 24.64 Million for “Ecosystems Service Improvement Project”. • Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) will implement the Project in the States of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh through Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education under the National Mission for Green India. • The project would be financed entirely by the World Bank out of its GEF Trust Fund. The project's duration is five years.

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• The objective of the Project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Departments of Forestry and Community Organisations to enhance forest ecosystem services and improve the livelihoods of forest dependent communities in Central Indian Highlands.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems.

A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP of 18 agencies — including United Nations agencies, multilateral development banks, national entities and international NGOs — working with 183 countries to address the world’s most challenging environmental issues.

The GEF also serves as financial mechanism for the following conventions: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, sustainable forest management, food security, sustainable cities.

➢ In Bandipur, The War Against Lantana • Lantana camara, one of the most invasive of plants that has taken over the country’s forests, driving wild animals out for foraging. • In the Bandipur National Park, an estimated 60% is affected by Lantana.The problem with lantana camara is that it kills native species of plants on which herbivores such as deer and elephants feed on. Further, its fruit is toxic to animals. • Native to South America, Lantana camara was brought to India by the British as ornamental plants, possibly as long as 200 years ago. • The forest department is banking on a bug to deal with the Lantana menace in both Bandipur and Nagarhole. Called Teleonemia scrupulosa, or Lantana Lace, it has made a comeback and has begun eating the Lantana leaves vigorously. • The bug has been used as biological control measure against the invasive plant all over the world.

➢ A Novel Yeast Strain Was Used To Ferment The Glucose And Make Ethanol • Scientists from CSIR’s National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST) have produced ethanol from discarded cotton-stalks by using a combination of chemical and biological techniques. • India has about 9.4 million hectares under cotton cultivation and every hectare generates 2 million tonnes of cotton stalk wastes. • The stalks were first treated with an acid, alkali and different enzymes to breakdown the complex organic polymers of the stalk.

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• These treatments expose cellulose, the major component made of glucose to the action of enzymes. The cellulose was further treated using enzymes to convert it into glucose. • To convert the glucose into ethanol, fermentation using a novel yeast strain was carried out- accharomyces cerevisiae-RRP-03N, from a rotting wild fruit found in the Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad, Kerala. • It is mandatory to blend 10% ethanol with petrol. Bioethanol presently in use is obtained by fermentation of sugar cane molasses which is a byproduct of sugar production, and has food value.

➢ Kerala Varsity Identifies 12 Indigenous Plants That Can Be Used To Colour Silk, Cotton • A study by the College of Agriculture (CoA), Vellayani, as part of the Western Ghat Development Programme (WGDP), has identified 12 indigenous plants capable of giving colour to cotton and silk textiles. • The technology for using these plants for commercial textile industry has been standardised under another research project sponsored by the RKVY (Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana). • The technology will be of great value in the development of eco-friendly and safe clothing, especially for newborns and people allergic to synthetic dyes. • The university has not revealed the names of the plants owing to patent issues.

➢ Ministry Of Earth Sciences To Launch ‘Deep Ocean Mission’ By January 2018 • To explore and harness mineral resources beneath the ocean floor. • India was the first country in the world to have been given the Pioneer Area for exploration of deep-sea mineral viz. Polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin in 1987. • Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are rock concretions on the sea bottom formed of concentric layersof iron and manganese hydroxides around a core.

➢ Tigers To Make A Comeback In Buxa Reserve • Tigers will roar again at Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal. Located in Alipurduar district, the reserve, parts of which border Bhutan, has been identified for the tiger augmentation programme by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). • Buxa consists of moist, deciduous and evergreen forests. Tigers from the forest reserves of Assam, which have a similar flora and fauna, will be introduced in Buxa. • Challenges: Human Habitations Inside, Tea Plantations, broad gauge rail line passing through the reserve, connecting Siliguri and Alipurduar.

➢ Ocean Forecasting System Unveiled At Hyderabad • The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences inaugurated the Ocean Forecasting System for Comoros, Madagascar, and Mozambique . • The system would offer oil spill advisory services, high wave alerts, port warnings, forecast along the ship routes in addition to tsunami and storm surge warnings and help in search and rescue operations.

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• Wave surge ( kallkadal ) and coastal flooding that occurred from July 28 to August 3 in 2016 along Kerala and West Bengal were well predicted and real-time data from Seychelles were highly beneficial for predicting these incidents.

The Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) is an international and intergovernmental institution, owned and managed by its Member States, for the generation and application of early warning information.

RIMES evolved from the efforts of countries in Africa and Asia, in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, to establish a regional early warning system within a multi-hazard framework for the generation and communication of early warning information, and capacity building for preparedness and response to trans-boundary hazard.

RIMES was established on 30 April 2009, and was registered with the United Nations on 1 July 2009.

➢ In A First, Nepal Launches Climate-Smart Snow Leopard Plan • This is the first climate-smart landscape management plan for snow leopard conservation in the world and is evidence of the government of Nepal's high level of commitment to this goal. • The Bishkek Declaration talks about the Conservation of the Snow Leopard in the range countries which include India, china, Pakistan, Russia, Afghanistan,Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan,Bhutan,Nepal,Mongolia,Tajikistan,Uzbekistan

➢ Habitat Connectivity Crucial For Tigers • The isolated tiger population in Ranthambore in Rajasthan demands urgent conservation attention, being at risk of inbreeding and lack of connectivity with other populations. • Apart from poaching and habitat loss, fragmentation is one of the threats India’s tiger’s faces. Tiger populations are now cut off from each other and their genetic profiles reflect this — smaller, isolated populations are less genetically diverse (due to lesser intermixing of different populations) than larger, connected ones. Genetic variation is crucial for evolution and low genetic diversity can threaten the survival of populations. Genetically, India’s tigers comprise three distinct populations: the northwest cluster (consisting only of tigers from Ranthambore), southern (south India) and central (comprising tigers from the Terai, northeast and central India). While the isolated Ranthambore population had the least genetic diversity, the central cluster — which is also the most connected — harboured the highest

➢ How Two Microbes Joined Forces To Produce Bio-Diesel From Carbon Waste • A team of researchers from Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) discovered two distinctly different species of bacteria from Aravalli marble mines near Alwar and from the high-altitude Pangong Lake in Ladakh and found that they can combine forces to produce bio-diesel from carbon-containing waste materials. • The bacterium identified and isolated from the marble rocks in Rajasthan, called Serratia sp. ISTD04, is capable of sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic compounds such as lipids. Meanwhile, lipase, isolated from cold-loving bacterium Pseudomonas sp. ISTPL3, can convert these lipids into bio-diesel.

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• This catalytic process — called transesterification — can be done using either chemical catalysts or enzymes. This lipase is nothing but an enzyme that works as a catalyst to produce bio- diesel.

➢ Environment Ministry To Launch ‘Prakriti Khoj’ – An Environment Quiz • An environment awareness initiative, under which an online environmental quiz competition named “Prakriti Khoj” – an Environment Quiz to be conducted at the national level. • The objective of the quiz is to generate interest among school children about the science related to environment, interactions within it and the problems therein. • The quiz is planned in two phases. For the first phase, it is envisaged that maximum number of children of schools under the National Green Corps (NGC) should get an opportunity to participate in this environmental quiz. • The mode of quiz will be online through multiple choice questions. After this, based on the feedback received from the participants, the second phase of the quiz will be open to students from all schools across the country in the year 2018. • Recently, under the Swachh Bharat Mission “Prakriti Paryavaran aur Hum – Green March” was considered to be launched as a continuous activity and campaign.

NGC was initiated by Ministry in 2001-02 for creating environmental awareness among children by formulating “Eco-clubs” in schools across the country. There are around 1,00,000 Eco-clubs across the country, making it one of the largest conservation networks, wherein students are involved in various kind of activities such as cleanliness drives, carrying out waste segregation, composting using bio-degradable wastes, subsisting the concept of three R’s, viz, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle; Nukkad Nataks etc.

➢ Solar Storms May Have Caused Beaching Of Whales • Solar storms, caused by ejections of charged particles from the Sun, disrupt the Earth’s magnetic field, especially near the poles, where they are also responsible for producing auroras. • Twenty-nine sperm whales washed up on German, Dutch, French and British shores between January and February 2016. • Solar storms have caused the world’s magnetic field to shift by up to 460 km (286 miles) which, he said, would interfere with the whales’ sense of orientation. • That could explain why the whales swam into the relatively shallow North Sea rather than follow their traditional routes in the Atlantic. • If whales enter the North Sea they cannot navigate back as it’s an unnatural environment for them and very shallow.

➢ ‘Re-Curving’ Western Pacific Tropical Cyclones May Have Played A Role In Reducing The August Rainfall • A strange pattern of tropical cyclones (TC) in the Western Pacific appear to be the reason for the drying up of monsoon rains in August across India. • During the monsoon months, cyclones in the Western Pacific move westwards towards India and aid rain-bearing systems over the sub-continent. But during some years they ‘recurve’, or Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 66

start to swing north-east, and do not give as much of a push to the rains as they do in the good monsoon years. • This re-curving frequently happens during the El Nino years but this time it inexplicably occurred when an El Nino didn’t take shape. • El Nino years are those when sea surface temperatures in the east equatorial Pacific rise, and often dampen the monsoon.

➢ Jackals of Pirotan Island • Pirotan is the eastern most island in the Marine National Park in Gujarat’s Jamnagar district. Located 12 km from the coast in the Gulf of Kutch, Pirotan covers an area of around 3 sq km and is partly submerged during high tide. • The jackals are the only large mammals on this isolated island amidst marine fish, crabs and corals. • Although the island has no natural water source, the jackals have adapted to manage their water needs from the crab meat. It was also observed that jackals lick dew on the leaves in the morning just after sun rise. Important Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries in India:

1. Gulf of Kutch Marine National Park is situated on the southern shore of the Gulf of Kutch in the Jamnagar of Gujarat. It is the first national marine park of India with 42 islands on the Jamnagar coast in the Marine National Park. 2. Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park is a national park of India on the Andaman Islands, Situated 29 km. from Port Blair. Most of the coral reefs in the park are fringing reefs and the park is an important breeding ground for turtles. 3. Gahirmatha is the first and the only Marine Sanctuary of Orissa, number of marvelous creatures including Olive Ridley sea turtles migrate in huge numbers. Gahirmatha Beach separates the Bhitarkanika mangroves from the Bay of Bengal is the world’s most important nesting beach for Olive Ridley Sea Turtles. 4. Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park consist of 21 small islands and coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar in the Indian Ocean of Tamil Nadu. The park has a high diversity of plants and animals in its marine and shore habitats, Dugong, a vulnerable marine mammal also found here. 5. Rani Jhansi Marine National Park is located in Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Bay of Bengal. 6. Malvan Marine Sanctuary is the only marine sanctuary is located in Malvan Taluka of Sindhudurg district in Konkan region of Maharashtra. The Malvan Wildlife Sanctuary includes Padamged island and other submerged rocky structures.

➢ Sahara Forest Project (SFP) Of Jordan • The Sahara Forest Project is a scheme that aims to provide fresh water, food and renewable energy in hot, arid regions as well as re-vegetating areas of uninhabited desert. • The SFP is centered around the core technologies of saltwater-cooled greenhouses, concentrated solar power, and desert revegetation practices.

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• Photovoltaic panels will generate solar power at the station, and there are salt ponds to produce salt. Another benefit of the project is job creation; the Sahara Forest Project aims to fight poverty and promote development through green jobs. • The Norwegian government and European Union are the two biggest donors to the project. A pilot project at Qatar has been completed, and Ongoing projects are in Jordan and Tunisia.

➢ Wood Is Good Campaign • The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has launched “Wood is Good” Campaign under Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-Plus). • The purpose of the campaign is to promote wood as a climate-friendly resource and substitute to materials like steel and plastic as it is a renewable resource, having zero carbon footprint, unlike other materials that leave carbon footprint in their production. • The Partnership for Land Use Science (Forest-Plus) is a joint programme by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) to strengthen capacity for REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) implementation in India. • The programme brings together experts from India and the United States to develop technologies, tools and methods of forest management to meet the technical challenges of managing forests for the health of ecosystem, carbon stocks, biodiversity and livelihood.

➢ Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) published compendium “Fauna of Sundarban Biosphere Reserve in Indian Sundarbans • The Sundarbans is the world's largest coastal mangrove forest, with an area of approximately 10,000 sq km, spread across India and Bangladesh, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Ramsar Site. • Zooligical survey of India (ZSI): Established in 1916 to promote the survey, exploration, research, and documentation of animal taxonomy in Indian subcontinent and Designated Repository for National Zooligical collection as per National Biodiversity Act , 2002. • The activities of the ZSI are coordinated by the Conservation and Survey Division under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 68

• Some important functions include: Status survey of Threatened and Endemic species, Preparation of Red Data Book, Fauna of India and Fauna of States, Chromosomal Mapping and DNA Barcoding.

➢ Maharashtra’s Employment-Linked Scheme To Increase Mangrove Cover • Mangrove Protection and Employment Generation Scheme for 2017-18 - a special scheme to preserve mangroves on public and private land and to provide employment opportunities. • Under the scheme, 50 villages in the coastal districts such as Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg will be selected for the current financial year. • The employment would be generated by setting up businesses such as crab farming, bee keeping, rice farming, fish farming and tourism.

Mangroves are salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in harsh coastal conditions. They are adapted to the low oxygen (anoxic) conditions of waterlogged mud. Mangroves occur worldwide in the tropics and subtropics, mainly between latitudes 25° N and 25° S.

The total mangrove area along the Indian coast is estimated to be approximately 700,000 ha. The mangroves along the east coast of India is more (80%) than that of west coast (20%) because the terrain of the east coast has a gradual slope as plains compared with the steep gradient along the west coast.

West Coast: Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala,

East Coast: Tamilnadu(Pichavarm,Mannar),Andhra Pradesh(Krishna Godavari Delta),Odisha(Bhitarkanika) and West Bengal(sundarbans)

➢ A ‘Boat Lab’ To Study Brahmaputra

• Brahmaputra Biodiversity and Biology Boat (B4) on the Brahmaputra River, a major ecology hotspot, in NER, in collaboration with DONER, B4 will establish a large barge on the river with a well-equipped laboratory for analysis of all components of the entire ecosystem of the river and surroundings. The B4 will link to the local research institutions along the river, as well as national and international laboratories. • B4 will have capability to analyse soil, water, environment, plant and animal life, human health and agricultureand an equal component that involves loc

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al citizens in the experimental process of science in data generation and management. B4 will also have a teaching laboratory for school/college children. It is also proposed to have mobile satellite boat labs which will run along the tributaries of Brahmaputra to feed in data to the main B4.

• Important Tributaries Include: Dibang , Lohit ,Dhansiri , Kolong (Left Bank); Kameng , Manasarover,Beki , Raidak ,Jaldhaka , Teesta ,Subansiri (Right Bank)

➢ Phyto-Pharma Plant Mission • This is a Rs 50 crore Mission aimed at conservation and cultivation of endangered and threatened endemic medicinal plants, and discovery of new botanical drugs for unmet medical needs using the rich traditional ethno-botanical knowledge and biodiversity of the North Eastern Region (NER) states. For this Mission, DBT will be the nodal coordinating and implementing department and work closely with Ministry of DONER and other identified institutions. • DBT has announced launch of the Phyto-pharmaceutical Mission in NER with three major objectives: 1.Captive cultivation of selected medicinal plants of NER, which have great demand to ensure supply of authentic and quality botanical raw material to the user industries in the country. 2. Development of technology packages for production of GMP grade medicinal plant extracts for export markets. 3.Production of safe and efficacious phytopharmaceuticals from medicinal plants of NER for unmet medical needs using modern scientific tools and following global standards. ➢ At school levels, DBT has launched the ‘Biotechnology Labs in Senior Secondary schools (BLiSS) programme’, a first of its kind in India, for schools where biotechnology labs have been set up at 88 Senior Secondary Schools from NER with an investment of Rs. 2.20 crore.

➢ VNL Signs Pact With BSNL To Provide Solutions For Disaster Management • The 'Relief 123' service will restore connectivity at disaster sites, help locate the affected and integrate information across platforms to enable informed decision-making for quick relief. • The service is an integrated disaster response solution for first responders and public safety agencies. The solution is designed and manufactured by VNL and the backhaul connectivity will be provided by BSNL. • This model can be scaled for SAARC countries, wherein BSNL would have roaming agreements with local mobile service operators, and have type approvals executed in advance with local regulator.

➢ India Hosts Global Wildlife Programme to Address Illegal Wildlife Trade • It was jointly hosted by Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), World Bank and United Nations Development Programme. Theme of the Conference was – “Peoples’ participation in wildlife conservation”. • The GWP is World-Bank led global partnership of 19 countries in Asia and Africa to promote the conservation and sustainable development by combating t rafficking in wildlife. It was initiated in 2015 by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

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• It serves as a platform to exchange knowledge and coordinate in on-ground action for combating illegal poaching of wildlife and improve governance on wildlife conservation. CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species in the wild

➢ National Wildlife Action Plan(NWAP) 2017-2031 • The Plan focuses on preservation of genetic diversity and sustainable development. The NWAP has five components, 17 themes, 103 conservation actions and 250 projects. The NWAP has been made landscape-based, rather than sanctuary, or national park-based. • The five components are – strengthening and promoting the integrated management of wildlife and their habitats; adaptation to climate change and promoting integrated sustainable management of aquatic biodiversity in India; promoting eco-tourism, nature education and participatory management; strengthening wildlife research and monitoring of development of human resources in wildlife conservation and enabling policies and resources for conservation of wildlife in India. • The Plan will help to mainstream wildlife conservation in development planning processes. Some new action issues have been considered in the Third National Wildlife Action Plan. These issues include – climate change and wildlife, wildlife health, inland, coastal and marine conservation and wildlife conflict mitigation. • The third action plan comes after the first plan in 1983 and second from 2002 till 2016.

➢ 'Secure Himalaya' To Conserve Snow Leopard, Uplift Mountain Community Launched • Launched by Union Environment Ministry in collaboration with United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Will cover Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Sikkim. • Intended to conserve the snow leopards by protecting their habitats and improve the ecology of Himalayan ranges and lives of the mountain communities. Its a six year project • The project includes the Kangchenjunga and Teesta valley areas in Sikkim, the Gangotri- Govind and Darma Bayas valley in the Pithoragarh area of Uttarakhand, Pangi and Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh and Changhang in Jammu and Kashmir.

➢ Turtle Sanctuary To Be Set Up In Allahabad • In order to protect the rich aquatic biodiversity of river Ganga from escalating anthropogenic pressures, development of a Turtle sanctuary in Allahabad along with a River Biodiversity Park at Sangam have been approved under Namami Gange programme. • Rivers Ganga and Yamuna at Allahabad are home to some of the most endangered fauna like turtles (Batagur kachuga, Batagur dhongoka, Nilssonia gangetica, Chitra indica, Hardella thurjii etc.), the National Aquatic Animal - Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica), the Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) and numerous migratory and resident birds. • ‘Namami Gange Programme’, is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as ‘Flagship Programme’ by the Union Government in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs.20,000 Crore to

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accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of National River Ganga • Main pillars of the Namami Gange Programme are: Sewage Treatment Infrastructure,River front Development, River surface Cleaning, Bio-Diversity,Afforestation,Public awareness, Industrial effluent Monitoring and Ganga Gram.

➢ First ‘Negative Emissions’ Plant Opens in Iceland, Turning Atmospheric CO2 Into Stone • The gas will be dissolved in water and piped about 1,000 meters (3,300 ft) underground, where Reykjavik Energy says carbon reacts with basaltic rock and turns to stone. • CarbFix is a project in Iceland intended to lock away carbon dioxide by reacting it with basaltic rock.

➢ Hans Joachim Schellnhuber Wins 2017 Blue Planet Prize • Prof Hans Joachim Schellnhuber from Germany won 2017 Blue Planet Prize, world’s most prestigious award for pioneers in environmental science. • He was awarded for establishing new field of science ‘Earth System Analysis’ and introducing most influential concepts including the notion of tipping elements in the climate system in Tokyo. • Blue Planet Prize is world’s most prestigious award for pioneers in environmental science and often considered as Nobel Prize for environmental research. It honours outstanding thinkers who help to meet challenges of planetary dimensions.

➢ Kaleshwaram Gets MoEF’s Stage-1 Forest Clearance • Kaleshwaram Project would provide both irrigation and drinking water to several districts thus ensuring effective utilisation of Godavari River water in the Telangana state. • The final forest clearance was given for diversion of 3,168.131 hectares of forest land in eight forest divisions —Mahadevpur, Karimnagar-Sircilla, Siddipet, Yadadri, Medak, Nizamabad, Banswada and Nirmal —for the construction of canals, tunnels etc as part of the project in different districts.

➢ IIT Hyderabad Uses Activated Jamun To Remove Fluoride From Water • Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad have used activated jamun seed powder to bring the fluoride content in drinking water to less than the WHO limit of 1.5 mg per litre.

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• Mixing the jamun seed powder thoroughly with potassium hydroxide and heating it to 900 degree C for an hour produces activated jamun powder. • The activation increases the pore volume several times and the surface area by more than 50 times. • The fluoride ion removal increases with a decrease in pH, with maximum adsorption found at pH 3. The activated jamun seed acquires a positive charge at low pH and the positive charge attracts the fluoride ions while the negative charge in an alkaline medium repulses the fluoride ions. • Ingestion of excess fluoride, most commonly in drinking-water, can cause fluorosis which affects the teeth and bones

➢ To Check Flying Coal Dust Hazard, Railways Looking At Covering Its Wagons • Currently, to prevent coal dust from flying into the environment, water is sprinkled on the coal at the loading point, and in many cases — like in Goa — the wagons are covered with tarpaulin. • Railways is thinking to introduce BOXN wagons- open-to-sky boxes on wheels are used for coal- carriage for operational efficiency as they can be loaded and unloaded faster, owing to being coverless.

➢ Mass Bathing In Ganga Aggravates Anti-Microbial Resistance Woes • Mass-bathing in the Ganga during pilgrimages may be contributing to anti-microbial resistance (AMR), says a government-commissioned report on the threat from AMR. • The report was commissioned by the Department of Biotechnology and the UK Research Council and prepared by the Centre for Disease Dynamics and Economic Policy. • The researchers had then said preventing the spread of resistance-genes that promote life- threatening bacteria could be achieved by improving waste management at key pilgrimage sites. • In 2014, India was the highest consumer of antibiotics, followed by China and the United States. However, the per-capita consumption of antibiotics in India was much lower than in several other high-income countries. • Other than ‘cultural factors’ such as bathing in the Ganga, the drivers of AMR included excessive use of antibiotics in the livestock industry and unchecked discharge of effluents by the pharmaceutical industry.

➢ Edible Wild Banana Species Discovered, The Second Such On The Islands Of Andamans In Two Years • The islands are a biodiversity hotspot that hosts seven different species of wild banana • The latest discovery is of a species of wild banana named Musa paramjitiana, in honour of Paramjit Singh, who happens to be the director of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI). • The species was found in North Andaman’s Krishnapuri forest, is declared as ‘Critically Endangered’. • The plant grows to a height of nine metres and bears an edible, sweet-and-sour tasting fruit that is boat-shaped and has numerous bulb-shaped seeds. • The fruit is part of the diet of local tribes. “The fruits and seeds have ethno-medicinal importance.

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➢ Warm Air Helped Make 2017 Ozone Hole Smallest Since 1988 • The smaller ozone hole in 2017 was strongly influenced by an unstable and warmer Antarctic vortex – the stratospheric low pressure system that rotates clockwise in the atmosphere above Antarctica. This helped minimize polar stratospheric cloud formation in the lower stratosphere. The formation and persistence of these clouds are important first steps leading to the chlorine- and bromine-catalyzed reactions that destroy ozone. First detected in 1985, the Antarctic ozone hole forms during the Southern Hemisphere’s late winter as the returning sun’s rays catalyze reactions involving man-made, chemically active forms of chlorine

and bromine. These reactions destroy ozone molecules.

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer regulates ozone-depleting

Compounds. NOAA and NASA collaborate to monitor the growth and recovery of the ozone hole every year Ozone is a molecule comprised of three oxygen atoms that occurs naturally in small amounts. In the stratosphere, roughly 7 to 25 miles above Earth’s surface, the ozone layer acts like sunscreen, shielding the planet from potentially harmful ultraviolet radiation that can cause skin cancer and cataracts, suppress immune systems and also damage plants.

➢ Mysterious Geothermal 'Mantle Plume' Under Antarctica Is Heating Its Ice Sheet, NASA Study • A geothermal heat source called mantle plume lies deep below Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land, formed 50 to 110 million years ago, long before the West Antarctic ice sheet came into existence explaining some of the melting that creates lakes and rivers under the ice sheet. • The heat source may help explain why the West Antarctic ice sheet collapsed rapidly in an earlier era of rapid climate change, and why it is so unstable today. • A mantle plume is an upwelling of abnormally hot rock within the Earth's mantle

➢ Emissions Gap Report 2017 • The eighth edition of UN Environment’s Emissions Gap report, finds that national pledges only bring a third of the reduction in emissions required by 2030 to meet climate targets, with private sector and sub-national action not increasing at a rate that would help close this worrying gap. • This report focuses on the “gap” between the emissions reductions necessary to achieve the agreed targets at lowest cost and the likely emission reductions from full implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which form the foundation of the Paris Agreement.

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➢ Will Delhi's Air Replicate London's 'Great Smog'? • On December 5, 1952, thick yellow smog brought London to a standstill for four days and is estimated to have killed more than 4,000 people. • In London, smog killed because people faced breathing problems. But the toxins in Delhi's air could lead to long-term problems and chronic health disorders, and not just short-term health issues.

Smog is a type of air pollutant, composed of nitrogen oxides, sulphur oxides, ozone, smoke or dirt particles and particulates among others. Human-made smog is derived from coal emissions, vehicular emissions, industrial emissions, forest and agricultural fires and photochemical reactions of these emissions.

Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine with the primary emissions to form photochemical smog. In certain cities, such as Delhi, smog severity is often aggravated by stubble burning in neighboring agricultural areas.

➢ Bonn Climate Talks: COP 23 Of UNFCCC • The Bonn climate talks - officially the COP-23 - is the 23rd annual meeting of countries who are part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. • It is the first time signatory nations of the Paris climate agreement met after the US announced its decision to withdraw. It is the first time a COP is being presided over by a small island nation, Fiji. • Parties have now decided to take stock of what has been achieved and implementations of actions during COP24 in Poland in December 2018. • The submissions in the ‘stocktake’ would include details of the mitigation actions that have been taken in the pre-2020 period, the provision of support of developing and vulnerable countries during the period, and summaries for policymakers that have come as a result of the Marrakesh Partnership for Global Climate Action initiated during COP22 in Marrakesh last year to mobilise immediate climate action. • The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international environmental treaty adopted in Rio earth summit, 1992., objective is to "stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.

➢ Three Point Compromise Formula By Fiji At Bonn Climate Change Talks • Since the start of the COP-23 conference, developing countries have been protesting against non- inclusion of the ‘pre-2020 actions’ in the official agenda of discussions. • The developing countries have been accusing the developed world of trying to run away from their obligations under Kyoto Protocol that has three more years to run. The Paris Agreement, finalised in 2015, is essentially the successor agreement to Kyoto Protocol. • After a few rounds of informal discussions, Fiji put forward a three-point compromise formula, proposing that : (1)discussions on ‘pre-2020 actions’ be held at a scheduled review meeting next year, (2) and every subsequent year after that, and (3) a new website be set up providing information on ‘pre-2020 actions’ being taken.

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➢ Developed , Developing Nations Lock Horns On Pre – 2020 Action • The ‘pre-2020 action’ refers to the obligations of the developed countries under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that has still three more years to run. The Paris Agreement, finalized in 2015, is essentially a successor treaty for the post-2020 world. • Developing countries want to get this included in the formal agenda of discussions. Almost every developing country grouping — the G-77, which is the largest negotiating group with over 130 countries, the African group, the Arab group, the ALBA and AILAC group of Latin American and Caribbean countries, and the small island states — supported the demand.

• ALBA Group of countries: ALBA or ALBA-TCP is an intergovernmental organization based on the idea of the social, political and economic integration of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. • The eleven member countries are Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Venezuela • ALBA nations may conduct trade using a virtual regional currency known as the SUCRE.

• AILAC Group of countries: The Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean is a group of eight countries that share interests and positions on climate change. • AILAC was established as a formal negotiating group under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2012, during the Conference of the Parties in Doha, Qatar • AILAC comprises the following countries: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama,

Paraguay, Peru

➢ Facebook Introduces Disaster Maps In India For Better Response To Disasters

• Facebook Inc. rolled out Disaster Maps for India to help communities across the country recover and rebuild from natural disasters faster by sharing critical pieces of data sets with humanitarian agencies in a timely manner. • Disaster Maps, which was introduced globally in June, uses aggregated, de-identified Facebook data to help organizations address the critical gap in information they often face when responding to natural disasters. • Facebook researchers have built three kinds of maps: Location density maps, Movement maps and Safety Check. • While globally Facebook has partnered with organizations like the Red Cross, in India, initially it will join hands with two organizations: the NDMA and SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society).

➢ Delhi Pollution: A Deadly Pollutant Enters The Mix • Carbon Monoxide has been among the two primary pollutants in Delhi’s air twice over the November mid week. • The most common primary pollutant is PM (particulate matter) 2.5. CO is harmful as it reduces the blood’s capacity to carry oxygen to organs and tissues. • The main cause of CO in air is carbons that have not been burnt completely. This can be because of unburnt fuel such as petrol, diesel, CNG, PNG or even LPG. Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 76

• Another reason for the build-up of CO in Delhi’s air is low inversion height — which is the layer beyond which pollutants cannot disperse into the upper layer of the atmosphere. This has dropped because of dipping temperatures and absence of wind.

National Air Quality Index (AQI): The AQI will consider eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, NO2, SO2, CO, O3,

NH3, and Pb) for which short-term (up to 24-hourly averaging period) National Ambient Air Quality Standards are prescribed.

➢ India Becoming World Top Sulphur Dioxide Emitter: Study • India’s emissions of the air pollutant sulphur dioxide increased by 50 per cent since 2007, while Chinas fell by 75 per cent. • Sulphur dioxide is an air pollutant that causes acid rain, haze and many health-related problems. It is produced predominantly when coal is burned to generate electricity. • China and India are the world’s top consumers of coal, which typically contains up to three per cent sulphur. Most of the two countries sulphur dioxide emissions come from coal-fired power plants and coal-burning factories.

➢ Key Achievements From COP23- Bonn, Germany • 2018 Talanoa Dialogue: An inclusive and participatory process that allows countries, as well as non- state actors, to share stories and showcase best practices in order to urgently raise ambition – including pre-2020 action – in nationally determined contributions (NDCs). • Launch of Ocean Pathway Partnership: launched the Ocean Pathway Partnership to encourage the climate negotiations process to address the relationship between climate change and the ocean. • Launch of InsuRelience Global Partnership: The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) contributed 110 million euros (US $125 million) to bring affordable insurance and other financial protection to millions of vulnerable people around the world. • Finalisation of the Gender Action Plan: Countries finalised the first-ever Gender Action Plan, which aims to increase the participation of women in all UNFCCC processes. It also seeks to increase awareness of and support for the development and effective implementation of gender-responsive climate policy. • America’s Pledge: A delegation of sub-national leaders of America to uphold the emissions reduction target of the United States under the Paris Agreement. • Health Initiative for the Vulnerable: The World Health Organisation, in collaboration with the UNFCCC launched a special initiative to protect people living in Small Island Developing States from the health impacts of climate change. Its goal by 2030 is to triple the levels of international financial support to climate and health in Small Island Developing States.

➢ More than 20 Countries Launch Global Alliance to Phase Out Coal • The United Kingdom and Canada are leading a new global coal alliance aimed at accelerating clean growth and achieving the rapid phase-out of traditional coal power. • More than 20 countries, including France, Finland, and Mexico, are part of the “Powering Past Coal Alliance” which also brings together a wide range of businesses and civil society organizations that have united for climate protection. Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 77

• According to the International Energy Agency, Coal-fired power plants produce almost 40% of global electricity, making carbon pollution from coal a leading contributor to climate change. • The member countries of the alliance, launched during the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, have agreed to phase out existing traditional coal power and place a moratorium on any new traditional coal power stations without operational carbon capture and storage.

➢ Delhi Smog: Gulf Dust Storm Had A Bigger Role Than Stubble Burning • The dust storm was responsible for 40 per cent of the pollution on November 8, when the average air quality index was 478, indicating “severe” levels of pollution. While stubble burning was responsible for 25 per cent of the pollution, “local sources” also played a role. • There was a large multi-day dust storm that emerged in Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the last week of October 2017 and continued up to November 3 and 4. This dust storm was carried by relatively cool winds. • Stubble burning in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryan was very high on November 6 and upper- air winds became North Westerly (towards Delhi) with high speed and started pumping pollution in Delhi.

➢ Mobile App To Monitor Tiger Reserves Launched • In the forthcoming All-India Tiger Estimation, to be taken up in December-January, an app named M- STRiPES (Monitoring System For Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) developed by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, will be used for the first time. • Its usage and application has been made mandatory now for the fourth All-India Tiger Estimation. • Use of the app in habitat monitoring is not new. Bandipur had Hejje or Pugmark, an Andrioid- based app, while BRT started with Huli. • The national tiger estimates are conducted once in four years, with the first conducted in 2006. The last nationwide assessment, held in 2014, pegged the tiger figures across the country at 2,226.

➢ India, UNISDR Sign Statement Of Cooperation On Sendai Framework • The Statement underlined the guiding principles, objectives and areas of cooperation between India and UNISDR (United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction) towards the effective implementation and monitoring of the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). • India will partner with UNISDR to work towards strengthening the capacity of Asian countries in ensuring risk resilient development. • The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 outlines seven clear targets and four priorities for action to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks: (i) Understanding disaster risk; (ii) Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; (iii) Investing in disaster reduction for resilience and; (iv) Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. • It is the successor agreement to Hyogo Framework, successor instrument to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015.

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➢ Bamboo Ceases To Be A Tree, Freed Of Forest Act • For 90 years Bamboo - taxonomically a grass - was registered as a tree in the Indian Forest Act,1927 , but the recent amendment has axed bamboo from a list of plants that also included palms, skumps, brush-wood and canes. • Bamboo grown in non-forest areas has now been omitted from the definition of trees. • The government hoped to promote cultivation of bamboo in non-forest areas to achieve the “twin objectives” of increasing the income of farmers and also increasing the green cover of the country. Bamboo grown in the forest areas would continue to be governed by the provisions of the Indian Forest Act,1927.

The Indian Forest Act, 1927 was largely based on previous Indian Forest Acts implemented under the British. The most famous one was the Indian Forest Act of 1878. Both the 1878 act and the 1927 one sought to consolidate and reserve the areas having forest cover, or significant wildlife, to regulate movement and transit of forest produce, and duty leviable on timber and other forest produce. It also defines the procedure to be followed for declaring an area to be a Reserved Forest, a Protected Forest or a Village Forest. It defines what is a forest offence, what are the acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest, and penalties leviable on violation of the provisions of the Act.

➢ The UN Ocean Conference Concluded With A 14-Point ‘Call For Action’ • The UN Ocean Conference concluded with a 14-point ‘Call for Action’ “to conserve and sustainably use oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development “which is UN Sustainability Goal 14 (SDG14). • Its theme is "Our oceans, our future: partnering for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 14.

➢ Meet ‘Bhoorsingh The Barasingha’ • Kanha has become the first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot — Bhoorsingh the Barasingha . • Barasingha, or swamp deer, is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh. The Kanha tiger reserve, spread over Mandla and Balaghat districts, is the only place in the world where the species exists.

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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ➢ India Gives $100,000 To UN Tax Fund; Becomes First Country To Contribute • India has contributed USD 100,000 to a UN fund to help developing countries actively participate in the discussion of tax issues, becoming the first country to make the contribution. • The UN Tax Trust Fund aims to support the work of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (the UN Tax Committee). • The UN Tax Committee, a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council (ESOSOC), has provided guidance on current issues such as double taxation treaties, transfer pricing (profit shifting) taxation of the extractive industries and taxation of services. • The call for contributions was also emphasised in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted at the third International Conference on Financing for Development in 2015.

The Addis Agenda provides a global framework to ensure the effective mobilisation of resources at the national and international level for sustainable development. Implementation of the Addis Agenda supports the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development .

➢ India Becomes The 71st Country To Ratify The United Nations TIR (Transports Internationaux Routiers) Convention • By joining the convention, the need for inspection of goods at intermediate borders as well as physical escorts en route shall be obviated due to reciprocal recognition of Customs controls. • The TIR Convention can be an instrument for movement of goods along the International “North-South” Transport (INSTC) Corridor, which India is developing along with Russia and can be a counter to chian’s One Belt One Road initiative. • It would be helpful in boosting trade with the Central Asian Republics and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), particularly using ports in Iran like the Chabahar port.

• The Customs Convention on International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnets, 1975 (TIR Convention), is an international transit system under United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. • The INSTC is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road

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➢ Know India Programme By Ministry Of External Affairs • Know India Programme (KIP) is a flagship initiative for Diaspora engagement which familiarizes Indian-origin youth (18-30 years) with their Indian roots and contemporary India. • It is a three-week orientation programme which is aimed at promoting awareness on different facets of life in India as well as the progress made by the country in fields such as economic and education. • In 2016, the scheme was revamped to increase duration from 21 to 25 days, with a 10-day visit to one or two States and preference given to PIOs from Girmitiya countries. Girmityas or Jahajis are descendants of indentured Indian labourers brought to Fiji and the Caribbean to work on sugarcane plantations for the prosperity of the European settlers and save the Fijians from having to work on these plantations and thus to preserve their culture. "Agreement" is the term that has been coined into "Girmit", referring to the "Agreement" of the British Government with the Indian labourers as to the length of stay in Fiji and the Caribbean, and when they would be allowed to go back to India.

➢ India Has Been Re-Elected To The UN’s Principal Organ On Economic, Social And Environmental Issues For Another Three-Year Term • ECOSOC, one of the six main organs of the United Nations, is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for implementation of the internationally agreed development goals. • India’s re-election to ECOSOC comes just a day after Neeru Chadha won a crucial election to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), becoming the first Indian woman to be elected as judge to the tribunal.

➢ China Produces Gas From ‘Flammable Ice’ Under South China Sea • China has successfully produced natural gas from methane hydrate, also known as “flammable ice”, in an experimental project in the South China Sea. • Flammable ice consists of methane trapped within water crystals, and has been identified as a potential new gas source for China, with the South China Sea thought to contain some of the world’s most promising deposits. • Japan reported a similar successful production test in May. India, Canada and the United States are also believed to be looking at hydrates as an alternative energy source.

➢ Sri Lanka, China Sign $1.1 Billion Hambantota Port Deal • Sri Lanka has signed a $1.1 billion deal to sell a 70% stake of the strategic Hambantota port to China, amid concerns over the massive debt the island nation incurred in building the port. • According to the new deal, only Sri Lankan Navy will be responsible for security of the deep-sea port, and the port will not be allowed to become a base for any foreign Navy. • The String of pearls is a geopolitical theory on potential Chinese intentions in the Indian Ocean region. It refers to the network of Chinese military and commercial facilities and relationships along its sea lines of communication, which extend from the Chinese mainland to Port Sudan. The sea lines run through several major maritime choke points such as the Strait of Mandeb,

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the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Lombok Strait as well as other strategic maritime centers in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Somalia.

➢ India Third In World In People Having Highest Trust In Central Govt: OECD Report • While the confidence in public institutions and governments has fallen globally, India is seeing a rise in the trust in the government, according to Government at a Glance report for 2017. • Only Indonesians and the Swiss have more trust at 80%. However, the number of people who trust the government has fallen by nine percentage points between 2007 and 2016.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organisation with 35 member countries, founded in 1960 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of countries describing themselves as committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identify good practices and coordinate domestic and international policies of its members.

Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index (HDI) and are regarded as developed countries.

➢ G-20 Leaders Propose Hamburg Action Plan At Summit Conclusion • The two-day G-20 summit that took place in Germany's Hamburg city ended with the leaders proposing the Hamburg Action Plan to address major global challenges, including climate change, harnessing digitalisation, and to contribute to prosperity and well-being. • Issues addressed: fighting Corruption, Anti-Microbial Resistance, Climate change with focus on Paris Accord,, etc The G20 is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, R ussian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, US, and the European Union. Founded in 1999, the G20 aims to discuss policy pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. It seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization.

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➢ UN Adopts Global Treaty Banning N-Weapons • The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first multilateral legally-binding instrument for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years, was adopted by a vote of 122 in favour to one against (Netherlands) and one abstention (Singapore). • None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons—the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel—took part in the negotiations or the vote. • The treaty prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty: The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty that bans all nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996, but has not entered into force, as eight specific states have not ratified the treaty.

As of 2017, eight states have not ratified the treaty: China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States have signed but not ratified the Treaty; India, North Korea and Pakistan have not signed it.

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons: commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The treaty entered into force in 1970

Four states—India, Israel, Pakistan, and South Sudan—have never signed the treaty. India and Pakistan have publicly disclosed their nuclear weapon programs, and Israel has a long-standing policy of deliberate ambiguity with regards to its nuclear program

Apart from this, a number of Nuclear weapon free zones, comprising of multi- country has been established. These include: 1. African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Pelindaba) 2. Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (Treaty of Semei) 3. South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga) 4. Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Bangkok) 5. Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco)

➢ Doklam Standoff • The Doklam Plateau, north of the tri-junction of Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet, by India's claim, is not just a disputed area, but has huge strategic significance for both India and China.

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• For the Chinese to reach their border posts with Bhutan, Doklam provides an easy way to construct a road, and they have been trying to do so. Not very far from Doklam is the strategically important Chumbi Valley in the Tibetan region, to which Chinese are now planning to expand their rail connectivity. • The disputed area also provides, according to India's perspective, a bigger buffer to its sensitive Chicken’s Neck, or the Siliguri Corridor, which is an extremely narrow stretch of land that connects the Northeast to the rest of the country. From the Chumbi Valley it is just a little over 100 kilometres away.

➢ India-Bhutan Trade & Transit Pact Come Into Force • India and Bhutan mutually decided to bring into force the 'new' bilateral Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit with effect from this July 29. • The agreement provides for a free trade regime between the territories of India and Bhutan. The agreement also provides for duty-free transit of Bhutanese merchandise for trade with third countries.

➢ India Can Go Ahead With Kishanganga, Ratle Projects Under Indus Water Treaty : World Bank • Under the Indus Waters Treaty(IWT), India is permitted to construct hydroelectric power facilities on tributaries of the Jhelum and Chenab rivers with certain restrictions, the World Bank has said. • The World Bank said the IWT designates these two rivers (Jhelum and Chenab) as well as the Indus as the "Western Rivers" to which Pakistan has unrestricted use.wheraeas India was assigned unrestricted use of waters of rivers Sutlej,Beas and Ravi(Eastern rivers).

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• The IWT was signed in 1960 after nine years of negotiations between India and Pakistan with the help of the World Bank, which is also a signatory. • Ratle is a run of the river Hydroelectric Power plant on the Chenab river. Whereas Kishanganga is on the river Kishanganga, a tributary of Jhelum.

➢ Cabinet Clears Proxy Voting For Nris • While NRIs and overseas Indians are free to cast their votes in constituencies where they are registered, according to the proposal, they would also be allowed to use the option of proxy, which as of now is only available to service personnel. • Proxy voting involves casting of a person(NRI in this case)’s vote by another person known as Nominee.( to be authoritated by the NRI).

➢ India, Germany Sign Pact To Improve Grid Integration Of Renewable Energy • An agreement on technical cooperation under the “Indo-German Energy Programme – Green Energy Corridors (IGEN-GEC). • This programme component supports the implementation of the Renewable Energy Management Centre (REMCs), Green Energy Corridors scheme of the Government of India which is a prerequisite for large scale grid integration of renewable energy thus contributing to achieve the 175 GW target of the Government of India for renewable energy generation capacity by 2022. • The main objective of this programme component is to improve the sector framework and conditions for grid integration of renewable energies.

➢ India keeps off ‘Bali Declaration’ • The Bali Declaration, adopted at the World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development in Indonesia, called on all parties to contribute to restoring stability and security in the region. It urged everyone to “exercise maximum self-restraint from using violent means, respect the human rights of all people in Rakhine state regardless of their faith and ethnicity, as well as facilitate and guarantee safe access for humanitarian assistance”. • The Indian delegation, led by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, said it was inappropriate and unjustified to refer to the Myanmar violence in particular as the forum was focused on the Sustainable Development Goals of all countries.

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• This was in view of the fact that the declaration, which was to be adopted at the conclusion of the forum, was not in line with the agreed global principles of ‘sustainable development.

➢ Rohingya Refugee Crisis • The Rohingya refugee crisis refers to the mass migration of thousands of Rohingya people from Myanmar (also known as Burma) and Bangladesh since 2015, collectively dubbed "boat people" by international media. • The Rohingya people are a Muslim minority group residing in the Rakhine state, formerly known as Arakan. The Rohingya people are considered “stateless entities”, as the Myanmar government has been refusing to recognise them as one of the ethnic groups of the country. For this reason, the Rohingya people lack legal protection from the Government of Myanmar, are regarded as mere refugees from Bangladesh, and face strong hostility in the country. • India is home to around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims, inspite of not having a concrete refugee policy [India being a non-signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees and ensuing 1967 protocol]. This is mainly due to porous borders we share with Myanmar and Bangladesh. • India’s official stand is they do not consider Rohingya’s as refugees, they are reportedly considering them as illegal settlers and are planning to deport them.

➢ Trump Ends DACA • Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is a program started by the Obama government in 2012 which proves temporary legal immigration status to people who arrived in the US illegally as children. • People protected under this program are called Dreamers and are given temporary right to live, study and work legally in the United States. • US President defended his decision to scrap DACA saying "American workers" must come first. If the DACA gets scrapped, 7,000 Indian-Americans will be affected by it.

➢ North Korea Conducts 6th Nuclear Test, Says It Was H-Bomb • The explosion created a magnitude-6.3 tremor, making it the most powerful weapon Pyongyang has ever tested.

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• It is almost impossible to independently confirm North Korean statements about its highly secret weapons programme. North Korea is thought to have a growing arsenal of nuclear bombs.

➢ ‘90-90-90’ Target Set By The United Nations Programme On HIV And AIDS • By 2020, 90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status. By 2020, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained antiretroviral therapy. By 2020, 90% of all people receiving antiretroviral therapy will have viral suppression.

➢ Operation Insaniyat • In response to the humanitarian crisis being faced on account of the large influx of refugees into Bangladesh, Government of India extended assistance to Bangladesh. The relief material consists of items required urgently by the affected people, namely rice, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking oil, tea, ready to eat noodles, biscuits, mosquito nets etc.

➢ BRICS Declaration Names Pakistan-Based Terror Groups: Diplomatic Victory For India • This is the first time anti-India groups such as LeT and JeM have been named in a BRICS declaration (Xiamen). The document also contained references to groups such as the Haqqani Network, Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement and Pakistani Taliban that have targeted Afghanistan and China. Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 87

• The document did not specify which region it was referring to but added: “We reaffirm that those responsible for committing, organizing or supporting terrorist acts must be held accountable.” • It was a marked departure from earlier BRICS statements - the declaration issued after last year’s summit in Goa referred to terrorism several times but only named one group, the Islamic State. BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa in 2010. The term "BRIC" was coined in 2001 by then- chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O'Neill, in his publication Building Better Global Economic BRICs.

The BRIC grouping's first formal summit, also held in Yekaterinburg, commenced on 16 June 2009

➢ THE World University Rankings 2018: IISc Slides, No Indian Institute In Top 200

➢ QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2018 • QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2018, which assesses how successfully universities produce employable graduates and foster connections between students and employers. • Of these, Stanford achieved a perfect score in three: (1) employer reputation, (2) alumni outcomes and (3) partnerships with employers. • University of Delhi and University of Mumbai have left two top IITs behind to grab a spot in the top 500 universities in the QS Graduate Employability Ranking.

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➢ ‘Hyper loop One’ Trains Between Bengaluru-Chennai, Mumbai-Chennai Part of Global Challenge Winners • In the Hyperloop One Global Challenge, the company had invited people to submit viable transport plans for their respective countries. • From India, out five teams two were finalized: (1) Hyperloop India - Mumbai-to-Chennai via Bengaluru: 1,102 km. 50 minutes. Phased development for freight and passengers. Boosts capacity at ports of Mumbai and Chennai. (2) Infi-Alpha - Bengaluru to Chennai: 334 km in 20 minutes. Meeting the demand of a passenger and freight super-corridor growing at 15% a year. Connects with major airports. • Hyperloop is a technology that was proposed by inventor and businessman Elon Musk, who is behind the electric car company Tesla and the commercial space transport company SpaceX. It involves sending magnetically levitated pods through low-pressure tubes at very high speeds, carrying goods or people.

➢ Friendship With Robot : UN Report • The report by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says, "despite the hype", use of industrial robots remains low at around 1.6 million in 2015. This is expected to rise by about half to 2.5 million by 2019. • studies suggest robot use benefits sectors such as automobiles, electronics and transport equipment more than labourintensive low-wage sectors such as textiles and apparel, and food and beverages.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. UNCTAD is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues. The organization's goals are to: "maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis.

The primary objective of UNCTAD is to formulate policies relating to all aspects of development including trade, aid, transport, finance and technology. The conference ordinarily meets once in four years; the permanent secretariat is in Geneva.

➢ India Signs Mou To Train Afghan Police • India and Afghanistan exchanged a memorandum of understanding which will see Afghan police forces trained in India for the first time. • It follows a reworking of the US Afghan strategy, outlined by US President Donald Trump- to defeat the Taliban was a bigger role for India in stabilising Afghanistan. • India has pledged $3.1 billion in assistance to Afghanistan since the ouster of the Taliban from Kabul in November 2001. It is one of the biggest donors in the region to the war-torn country.

➢ In A First, India Gets US Crude Oil Shipment

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• India received its first ever shipment crude oil from the US, with State-owned Indian Oil Corporation Ltd importing 1.6 million barrels at the Paradip Port in Odisha. The move comes after US resumed its oil exports last year. • Buying US crude has become attractive for Indian refiners after the differential between Brent (the benchmark crude or marker crude that serves as a reference price for buyers in western world) and Dubai (which serves as a benchmark for countries in the east) has narrowed. • Sweet and sour crude oil are types of crude oil wherein the sulphur content varies. Generally, crude oil with sulphur content less than 0.5 % is called sweet and greater than that is called sour.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an intergovernmental organization of 14 nations as of May 2017, founded in 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela), and headquartered in Vienna. The 14 countries accounted for an estimated 44 percent of global oil production and 73 percent of the world's "proven" oil reserves.

As of May 2017, OPEC's members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (the de facto leader), United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela, while Indonesia is a former member.

➢ New Urban Agenda Unveiled At Habitat III Conference In Quito, 2016 • The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development, also known as Habitat III, is aimed at steering the course of global urbanization towards environmentally sustainable and socially equitable development pathways. • The highlight of Habitat III is the adoption of the New Urban Agenda, which is a policy document that will set global standards for the way cities are built, managed and inhabited. • The Habitat conferences happens once in every 20 years, with Habitat II being held in Istanbul in 1996 and Habitat I in Vancouver in 1976. • The Vancouver Declaration from Habitat I responded to the rapidity and magnitude of urbanisation, calling for “bold, meaningful and effective human settlement policies and spatial planning strategies. • Habitat II, popularly known as the ‘City Summit’, aimed at providing adequate shelter for all as well as creating sustainable cities and towns in an urbanising world. • The New Urban Agenda, which was taken up in Habitat III, aims at implementing the targets of Goal 11 in the Sustainable Development Goals, which specifically deals with making human cities and towns inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

➢ World Space Week • World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology, and their contribution to the betterment of the human condition. The United Nations General Assembly declared in 1999 that World Space Week will be held each year from October 4-10. These dates commemorate two event:

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(1) October 4, 1957: Launch of the first human-made Earth satellite, Sputnik 1, thus opening the way for space exploration (2) October 10, 1967: The signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activites of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies. The 2017 World Space Week Theme focuses attention on astrobiology missions like New Horizons (NASA’s first mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt); feats of engineering such as Lockheed Martin’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (NASA’s first spacecraft designed to facilitate long-duration, human-rated deep space exploration of new worlds) and efforts of New Space actors such as Space X and other entities with a vision for exploration and utilization of extraterrestrial resources, such as metals from asteroids, water from the Moon, and unlimited solar energy in the Earth's orbit.

➢ Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation Disaster Management Exercise (BIMSTEC DMEx-2017) • The Exercise was conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) as the lead agency from October 10-13, 2017 in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). • Most BIMSTEC nations i.e. – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are prone to natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, earthquakes, avalanches and drought. • The main focus of the BIMSTEC DMEx-2017 will be on testing the region's preparedness and resilience towards effective activation of inter-governmental interaction/dialogue/agreements for immediate deployment of regional resources for disaster response.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity. This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration. It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.

The main objective of BIMSTEC is technological and economic cooperation among south Asian and southeast Asian countries along the coast of the bay of Bengal. Commerce, investment, technology, tourism, human resource development, agriculture, fisheries, transport and communication, textiles, leather etc. have been included in it.

➢ International Conference on Dialogue of Civilizations – IV-New Delhi • The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in collaboration with National Geographic Society hosted an international conference on “Dialogue of Civilizations – IV” from 8th – 15th October, 2017 at Delhi, Gandhinagar and Dholavira. • This conference is fourth in this series of ‘dialogues’ initiated by National Geographic Society in 2013 with an objective to encourage scholarly and public discourse about the five ancient, literate

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civilizations of the world, i.e. Egypt, Mesopotamia, South Asia, China and Mesoamerica and how the study of the past can share our present and future towards the right direction. • The first conference of this series was inaugurated in Guatemala in 2013 followed by Turkey in 2014 and China in 2015. The present conference is the fourth in this series, with the final dialogue planned in Egypt.

➢ India Has A “Serious” Hunger Problem And Ranks 100 Among 119 Developing Countries, Lagging Behind Countries Such As North Korea And Iraq • With a Global Hunger Index (GHI) score of 31.4, India is at the high end of the “serious” category. • India’s rank (100) was lower than all its neighbours—Nepal (72), Myanmar (77), Bangladesh (88), Sri Lanka (84) and China (29)—except Pakistan (106). • Prepared by Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ,The GHI score is a multidimensional index composed of four indicators—proportion of undernourished in the population, prevalence of child mortality, child stunting, and child wasting. • On India, the report said that the country’s top 1% own more than 50% of its wealth, India is the world’s second largest food producer, yet it is also home to the second highest population of under-nourished in the world.

➢ India, Brazil, South Africa Sign IBSA Trust Fund Agreement • The IBSA Trust Fund brings together the three emerging economies of India, Brazil and South Africa to combat poverty in other developing countries. • Each country contributes USD 1 million annually to this fund which is managed by the UN Development Programmes (UNDP) Special Unit for South-South Cooperation.

➢ Indian Passport Ranked 75 In Global Power Index 2017 • The Passport Index's Global Passport Power Rank 2017 by global advisory firm Arton Capital has ranked India at a lowly 75thposition. Singapore, for the first time, has topped the Index. • The ranking is based on the score that the countries get after an analysis is made of the access that the different passports allow to countries around the world. The 'Visa-free score' represents the number of countries its holder can visit visa-free or with visa on arrival. • India has a 'Visa-free score' of 51, which in effect means that 24 countries allow Indian passport holders visa-free entry and 27 provide them with the visa on arrival.

➢ Two Italian Regions Vote In Autonomy Referendums • Two wealthy regions of northern Italy, Lombardy and Veneto, voted in referendums for autonomy .Both these regions are run by the once openly secessionist Lega Nord party, to explore mandate to negotiate better financial deals from Rome. • Unlike the Spanish region of Catalonia, which held an independence referendum on Oct. 1 despite it being ruled unconstitutional, the Italian referendums are within the law. • Like Catalonia, Lombardy and Veneto complain they pay far more in taxes than they receive.

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• Under Italy’s Constitution, regions can enter into negotiations at any time with Rome to take on more functions from the centre.

➢ China Again Blocks Bid In UN To List Masood Azhar As A Global Terrorist • A veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has repeatedly blocked India’s move to designate Azhar a terrorist under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, citing a lack of consensus among the members of the UN Security Council. • The JeM, founded by Azhar, has already been in the UN’s list of banned terror outfits. Azhar is accused of several terrorist attacks in India, including one on Pathankot air force station in Jan 2016.

➢ US, Japan, India, and Australia Hold Working-Level Quadrilateral Meeting on Regional Cooperation • Senior officials from the United States, Japan, India, and Australia met in Manila—on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and East Asia Summits—to discuss regional and global cooperation-termed as Quadrilateral dialogue • They agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long- term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large. The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD) is an informal strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India that is maintained by talks between member countries. The dialogue was initiated in 2007 by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, with the support of Vice President Dick Cheney of the US, Prime Minister John Howard of Australia and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India. The dialogue was paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar

➢ India Sends 1st Wheat Shipment To Afghanistan Via Chabahar Port • The shipment is part of commitment made by the Government of India to supply 1.1 million tonnes of wheat for the people of Afghanistan on grant basis. Quick Revision For Prelims 2018 - Current Affairs From Jun to Nov 2017 Page 93

• It will pave the way for operationalisation of the Chabahar port as an alternate, reliable and robust connectivity for Afghanistan. • When linked to the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), the Chabahar-Zahedan- Zaranj corridor would connect South Asia on one hand and Europe on the other. INSTC is an ambitious multimodal transport system established in 2000 by Iran, Russia and India to promote transportation cooperation. It is planned to connect the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf to Caspian Sea through Iran and then onwards to St. Petersburg and northern Europe through Russia.

It was in 2003 that India and Iran first agreed to develop the Chabahar port, located in the Gulf of Oman near Iran’s border with Pakistan, to allow New Delhi to reach markets in Afghanistan and landlocked Central Asia. The project was delayed due to international sanctions on Iran over its suspect nuclear programme and India’s focus on concluding a civil nuclear pact with the US. Interest in the project was rekindled in 2013 after Iran and the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany reached an interim agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme and some sanctions were lifted.

And in May last year, India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a trilateral trade pact when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tehran to enable the movement of goods from Chabahar to Afghanistan.

➢ India Signs Loan Agreement with World Bank for “Odisha Higher Education Programme for Excellence and Equity (OHEPEE) Project • The Objective of the project is to improve the quality of 'students’ equitable access to selected institutions and enhance governance of the higher education system in Odisha. IBRD would provide loan of US$ 119 million (equivalent).

➢ Global Nutrition Report 2017: India Carries a Serious Burden of Anemia, Obesity and Malnutrition • The Global Nutrition is an independently produced annual report of the state of the world’s nutrition. It tracks global nutrition targets on maternal, infant, and young child nutrition and on diet-related non-communicable diseases. • In order to determine the significant burden of malnutrition in every country, the report uses three important trends as indicators: 1.childhood Stunting 2. Anaemia in women of Reproductive age 3.Overweight adult Women.

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• As far as India is concerned, the numbers are disappointing. About 38 per cent of the children under 5 are affected by stunting– which means that they do not weigh enough for their height. Moreover, 51 per cent of the women of reproductive age suffer from anemia and more than 22 per cent of adult women are overweight.

➢ Bandhan Express – Inaugurated Between Kolkata And Khulna In Bangladesh • The air-conditioned passenger train will run every Thursday from both Kolkata and Khulna.

➢ India's Hopes Fade For Farzad-B Gas Field Deal • The Indian consortium — comprising ONGC Videsh, Indian Oil Corporation, and Oil India — discovered gas reserves in the field under an exploration contract signed in 2002. The field in the Persian Gulf holds about 19 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to Indian estimates. • Initially, the deal was meant to be completed by February 2017, but has been delayed.Iranians cite India’s lack of flexibility when it comes to pricing, for delayed negotiations. • It is a very difficult field to extract gas, and the gas itself is very impure, so ONGC videsh will have to undertake additional costs to clean it. Gas prices have been steadily falling globally as supply is outstripping demand.

➢ APEC Summit Held In Vietnam • Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit was held in Da Nang, Vietnam. The theme of summit was ‘Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future’. • The summit laid emphasis on collaborative activity, such as provision of support for small businesses, promoting sustainable growth and deepening economic integration. It is regional economic forum of 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

It was established in 1989 in order to leverage growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific region’s economies and promote free trade in the region. Its headquarters are in Singapore.

21 Members countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Chile, Peru, Russian and Vietnam..

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➢ Why Paradise Papers Matter • The Paradise Papers are a huge leak of financial documents that throw light on the top end of the world of offshore finance- A trove of 13.4 million corporate records, primarily from Bermuda firm Appleby, as well as from Singapore-based Asiaciti Trust and corporate registries maintained by governments in 19 secrecy jurisdictions, often referred to as “tax paradises”. • As with last year's Panama Papers leak, the documents were obtained by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which called in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) to oversee the investigation. • Like the three major global financial leaks in the past, Paradise Papers also reveal tracks of veiled offshore financial activities. Like Mossack Fonseca (of Panama Papers, 2016), Appleby helps set up companies and bank accounts overseas, provides nominee office-bearers, and facilitates bank loans or transfer of shares, in multiple secrecy jurisdictions. • But unlike in the previous leaks, the latest revelations are more about mega corporates than individual players and how they took advantage of and, in many cases, misused offshore jurisdictions.

➢ International Consortium of Investigative Journalists • The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) is an independent Washington D.C.-based international network. Launched in 1997 by the Center for Public Integrity, ICIJ was spun off in February 2017 into a fully independent organisation which includes more than 200 investigative journalists in over 70 countries who work together on "issues such as "cross-border crime, corruption, and the accountability of power. • They have been instrumental in the recent Paradise Paper Leaks and Panama paper leaks.

➢ Global Conference on Cyber Space 2017 • India, for the first time ever hosts the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS), one of the world’s largest conferences in the field of Cyber Space and related issues. Its the 5th edition of the event. • Incepted in 2011 in London, second GCCS was held in 2012 in Budapest with focus on relationship between internet rights and internet security. The third edition of GCCS was held in 2013 in Seoul with commitment to Open and Secure Cyberspace. The fourth version GCCS 2015 was held in 2015 in The Hague, Netherlands • Themed on Cyber4All: A Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development. 6 oldest IITs and IISc are among academic partners of the GCCS • The State Bank of India also hosted Ideathon, wherein ideas to strengthen their soon-to-be launched app YONO (You Only Need One) were invited from the participants.

➢ Moody’s Lifts India’s Rating To Baa2, Outlook Stable • India’s sovereign rating has been upgraded by Global rating agency Moody’s Investors Services for the first time in 14 years, taking cognizance of the Centre’s ongoing reforms such as the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime and the mechanisms for resolving bad loans and re- capitalise ailing public sector banks.

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• Obligations rated Baa2 are subject to moderate credit risk. They are considered medium grade and as such may possess certain speculative characteristics. Baa3, by contrast, was the lowest investment grade rating. • While India's high debt burden remains a constraint on the country's credit profile, Moody's believes that the reforms put in place have reduced the risk of a sharp increase in debt.

➢ 31st ASEAN Summit Hosted By The Philippines Top accomplishments of the 2017 ASEAN Summit: • After a decade, ASEAN finally made progress in ensuring the protection of migrant workers by signing the “ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers”. • Leaders of ASEAN and China agreed to start talks on a Code of Conduct (COC) in the South China Sea. • ASEAN member-countries “placed strong emphasis on the aspect of deradicalization in rehabilitation and reintegration programs as part of comprehensive measures in countering terrorism according to the "Manila Declaration To Counter The Rise of Radicalization and Violent Extremism".

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN ) is a regional intergovernmental organisation comprising ten Southeast Asian states which promotes Pan-Asianism and intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational and socio-cultural integration amongst its members and Asian states.

Members: Indonesia, Malaysia,Philippines, Singapore Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar.

. ➢ Solar Alliance To Set Up 1000 GW Of Solar Energy By 2030 • The International Solar Alliance (ISA) has just been ratified by enough number of countries to make it operational. It will become operational by December 6 this year. • The ISA has a set for itself a target of installing 1000 GW of solar electricity in its member countries by the year 2030. This will be one of the biggest global efforts to shift away from fossil fuels and move towards cleaner sources of energy. • The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 121 countries, most of them being sunshine countries, which come either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. The alliance's primary objective is work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

➢ Blue Flag 2017 • Air forces from eight countries kicked off the Blue Flag exercise in southern Israel — the largest aerial exercise ever held by the Israel Defense Forces. • Teams from India, the United States, Greece, Poland, France, Italy and Germany are taking part in the exercise, along with Israel.

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• It is the first time that India is taking part in the biennial exercise, a sign of the improving military ties between Jerusalem and New Delhi. • The goal of the exercise is to both improve technical ability and to strengthen the “diplomatic cooperation between the countries.”

➢ Cabinet Approves India's Membership For EBRD • The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. • The EBRD was founded to support countries of the former Eastern Bloc in the process of establishing their private sectors. The Eastern Bloc was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. • EBRD's core operations pertain to private sector development in their countries of operation. The membership would help India leverage the technical assistance and sectoral knowledge of the bank for the benefit of development of private sector.

➢ Justice Dalveer Bhandari re-elected to ICJ • Justice Dalveer Bhandari was re-elected as a judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), making him the third Indian to secure a prominent position in a United Nations (UN) body in recent months. • International law expert Neeru Chadha was elected to the UN body, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and Soumya Swaminathan was appointed deputy director general for programmes at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. • Bhandari, was declared elected for a fresh term at the ICJ after Britain withdrew its candidate Christopher Greenwood . It is for the first time that a candidate from a permanent member of the UN Security Council (P-5) has not found a seat at the ICJ The International Court of Justice (ICJ ) is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations (UN). Seated in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, the court settles legal disputes submitted to it by states and provides advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international branches, agencies, and the UN General Assembly.

➢ China Draws 3-Stage Path For Myanmar, Bangladesh To Resolve Rohingya Crisis • The first phase is to effect a ceasefire on the ground, to return to stability and order, so the people can enjoy peace and no longer be forced to flee. • Once a ceasefire is seen to be working, Talks between Myanmar and Bangladesh should find a workable solution for the return of refugees. • The final phase should be to work toward a long-term solution based on poverty alleviation.

➢ Particle Accelerator For Art Revs Up

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• The 37-metre AGLAE accelerator housed underneath the huge Paris museum will be now be used for the first time to routinely study and help authenticate paintings and other items made from organic materials. • The AGLAE works by speeding up helium and hydrogen nuclei to speeds of between 20,000 to 30,000 km per second and then bombarding the object, which emits radiation that can be captured and analysed. • The tool offers non-invasive technology to analyse paintings and sculptures.

➢ Collaboration Agreement to support the Belmont Forum Secretariat • The Belmont Forum, created in 2009, is a high level group of the world's major and emerging funders of global environmental change research and international science councils. • It provides an opportunity to identify study and deliver international environmental research priorities, for the society, in an accelerated way through transnational research collaboration between natural and social scientists and alignment of international resources • India is a member of Belmont Forum, besides Australia, Brazil, Canada, European Commission, France, Germany, Japan, Netherland, South Africa, UK and USA etc. • In order to coordinate the activities of the Belmont, and to ensure certain degree of continuity in operations, a Secretariat is hosted by one of the Belmont forum member on rotational basis. ANR, France is hosting the Secretariat from January, 2015 to December, 2017.

➢ Australia Abolishes 457 Visa Programme • The programme, known as 457 visa, allows business to employ foreign workers for a period up to four years in skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australian workers. • The visa programme was used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country.

➢ Asian Highway Network • The Asian Highway (AH) project, also known as the Great Asian Highway, is a cooperative project among countries in Asia and Europe and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), to improve the highway systems in Asia. • Some of the countries taking part in the highway project are India (Look-East connectivity projects), Sri Lanka, Pakistan, China, Iran, Japan, South Korea and Bangladesh.

➢ G33 (Developing Countries) • The G33 (or the Friends of Special Products in agriculture) is a coalition of developing countries, established prior to the 2003 Cancun ministerial conference, that have coordinated during the Doha Round of World Trade Organisation negotiations, specifically in regard to agriculture. • Dominated by India, the group has "defensive" concerns regarding agriculture in relation to World Trade Organisation negotiations, and seeks to limit the degree of market opening required of developing countries. The group has advocated the creation of a "special products" exemption, which

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would allow developing countries to exempt certain products from tariff reductions, and also a "special safeguard mechanism" which would permit tariff increases in response to import surges.

➢ List of Military Exercises Participating Country ARMY NAVY AIRFORCE

Russia Indra

USA, Japan Malabar Japan Sahyog-Kaijin

USA Yudh Abhyas Red Flag China Hand in Hand

France Shakti Varuna Garuda UK Ajeya Warrior Konkan Indradhanush Nepal Surya Karan Bangladesh Sampriti Sri Lanka Mitra Shakti SLINEX Thailand Maitree

Indonesia Garuda Shakti CORPAT UAE Desert Eagle

Oman Naseem AlBahr EasternBridge

Kazakhstan Prabal Dostyk

Mongolia Nomadic Elephant Seychelles LAMITIYE Singapore Bold Kurukshetra SIMBEX Australia Ausindex

Kyrgyzstan Khanjar ASEAN + Force 18

Maldives Ekuverin

South Africa, Brazil IBSAMAR

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➢ Indexes and India’s Rankings Index Published by India’s ranking (2017) Global Competitiveness index World Economic Forum 40 Global Innovation index Cornell University, INSEAD and WIPO 60 Global Peace index Institute of Economics and Peace 137 Human Development index United Nation Development Programme 131 (UNDP) World Happiness Index United Nation Sustainable Development 122 Solutions Network

Prosperity Index Legatum Institute 100 Ease of Doing Business Index World Bank 100

Correction Perception Index Transparency International 79 Global Talent Competitiveness index Global business school INSEAD in 92 partnership with Adecco Group and Human capital Leadership Institute (HCLI) of Singapore. Inclusive development Index World Economic Forum 60

Climate Change Performance Index German NGO and Climate Action Network 20 Europe Logistics Performance Index World Bank’s 35

World Press Freedom Index Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) 136

Sustainable Development Goals Index Sustainable Development Solutions 116 Network(SDSN) International Intellectual Property Index US Chamber of Commerce’s GIPC 43

Global Hunger Index International Food Policy Research 100 Institute (IFPRI) Global Human Capital Index World Economic Forum 103

Travel and Tourism Competitiveness World Economic Forum 40 Index

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MISCELLANEOUS ➢ UNESCO Declares Sharjah As World Book Capital 2019 • UNESCO has named Sharjah as 'the World Book Capital' for 2019 by for the quality of its literary and cultural activities and for its efforts to make books accessible to the entire population of the nation. • The honour is a recognition of the emirate's pioneering role in supporting and expanding the local and regional publishing industries, promoting reading to become an intrinsic cultural practice, as well as embracing intercultural, knowledge-based dialogue. • Sharjah is the 19th city to become World Book Capital. New-delhi was declared the same in 2003.

The accolade is an important addition to Sharjah's existing portfolio of milestones like, Capital of Arab Culture (1998), Capital of Islamic Culture (2014), and Capital of Arab Tourism (2015). More so, the emirate is the first in the GCC and third in the Arab world and Middle East to have received this recognition

➢ Centenary Celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram • Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the centenary celebrations of Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad . • Sabarmati Ashram otherwise called as Gandhi Ashram, Harijan Ashram, or Satyagraha Ashram is located on the banks of the River Sabarmati. • Gandhiji started the Dandi march also called as Salt Satyagraha from Sabarmati Ashram on 12 March 1930. • The Prime Minister has also released the coin and postal stamp in the honour of Shrimad Rajchandraji on his 150th birth anniversary at Abhay Ghat. • Shrimad Rajchandra is a Jain poet, philosopher, scholar and reformer, known for his teachings of Jainism. He was the spiritual guide to Mahatma Gandhi.

➢ Srinivas Gokulnath From Maharashtra Became The First Indian To Complete The 4,900-Km Race Across America (RAAM) • RAAM is not a stage based cycle race. It is a continous cycle race that allows less than two hours of rest per day and is supposed to be finished inside 12 days. The cyclists pedal around 400 kilometres per day. • The RAAM race begins from climes in Pacific Coast and enters the Mojave Desert and laters goes through Arizona. The extreme race then leads the cyclists to Colorado and it’s cold mountains. Entering America again, it passes through central America where strong winds blow. The final stage is the Appalachian Mountains before riders finish at the Atlantic.

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➢ Prime Minister’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Promotion and Development of Yoga • The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute,Pune has been selected as the first recipient of the Prime Minister's Award for outstanding contribution to promotion and development of Yoga. • The Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute has worked to spread Yoga, internationally, over a period of 4 decades. The Institute has published books on Yoga and these have been translated into multiple languages. There are thousands of Iyengar Yoga teachers popularising and propagating yoga across the world.

➢ Muntra, Country's First Unmanned Tank, Rolls Out From The Chennai Lab • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed an unmanned, remotely operated tank which has three variants - surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and bio threats. • Muntra-S is the country's first tracked unmanned ground vehicle developed for unmanned surveillance missions while Muntra-M is for detecting mines and Muntra-N is for operation in areas where there is a nuclear radiation or bio weapon risk.

➢ Japan’s Men-Only Island, Okinoshima Gets UNESCO Heritage Tag • A men-only island in Japan where women are banned and male visitors must bathe naked in the sea before visiting its shrine, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. • The tiny landmass of Okinoshima is permanently manned by a Shinto priest who prays to the island’s goddess, in a tradition that has been kept up for centuries. The island, sits off the north- west coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands • It is considered dangerous for women to travel by sea to get to the island. It is meant to protect women, the birth-giving gender.

➢ Ahmedabad Declared India’s First Heritage City By UNESCO • More than 600 year old Walled City of Ahmedabad founded by Ahmed Shah has been declared India’s first World Heritage City.

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• The 5.5 km walled city area with approximate population of four lakh living in century old wooden residences in around 600 pols or neighbourhoods is regarded as living heritage and the UNESCO had preferred Ahmedabad’c entry over Delhi and Mumbai, country’s two main metro cities. • Ahmedabad’s nomination received huge support from around 20 countries, who lauded the peaceful co-existence of dominant Hindu, Islamic and Jain communities in the Walled City area. • The city has now joined the privileged club of heritage cities like Paris, Cairo, Edinburg and two cities in subcontinent Bhaktpur in Nepal and Galle in Sri Lanka.

➢ Meet OLLY- The Turtle, Mascot Of The 22nd Asian Athletics Championship • Olly, the Olive Ridley sea turtle was unveiled as the official mascot for the 22nd edition of the Asian Athletics Championships, 2017 held at Bhubaneshwar. • Olly has rightfully being designated as the mascot as it belongs to the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles that travel thousands of miles in the ocean and arrive in millions every year on the Rushikulya and Gahirmatha beaches in Odisha the state for their annual nesting.

➢ New Israeli Crysanthumun Flower Named After PM Modi • A new fast-growing Israeli flower was named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Crysanthumun flower will now be called ‘MODI’. • The three-day visit to Israel is the first by an Indian prime minister to the Jewish nation.

➢ Renowned Dhrupad Singer Ustad Sayeeduddin Dagar Passes Away • Ustad Hussain Sayeeduddin Dagar, one of the foremost exponents of the Dhrupad tradition, passed away. • Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music. It is one of the oldest forms of compositions in the classical Indian music and a form that is also found in its Carnatic tradition. • It is a Sanskrit name, derived from the words dhruva (immovable, permanent) and pad (verse), a combination that means "pillar". The roots of Dhrupad are ancient, and it is discussed in the Hindu Sanskrit text Natyashastra (200 BCE - 200 CE).

➢ India’s First Private Missile Production Facility Unveiled • India’s first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility, a joint venture between Kalyani Group and Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd., was inaugurated near Hyderabad. • The Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS) plant will make anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) Spike. Besides supplying to the Indian Army, the plan is to export to South East Asian countries. • Formed in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Centre and the policy to encourage private sector participation in defence production, the 51:49 joint venture will develop a wide range of advanced capabilities.

➢ Measles-Rubella (MR) Campaign Widens Its Reach

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• India, along with ten other WHO South East Asia Region member countries, have resolved to eliminate measles and control rubella/congenital rubella syndrome (CRS) by 2020. • All children from 9 months to less than 15 years of age will be given a single shot of Measles-Rubella (MR) vaccination during the campaign. • Following the campaign, MR vaccine will become a part of routine immunization and will replace measles vaccine, currently given at 9-12 months and 16-24 months of age of child. • Measles is a highly contagious infection caused by the measles virus.

➢ Malpelo Plate: New Tectonic Microplate Discovered Off The Coast Of Ecuador • It has been named Malpelo plate, after a Colombian island and an oceanic ridge it contains. It is overall 57th tectonic mircoplate to be discovered so far and the first in nearly a decade. Microplates are tectonic plates with an area less than 1 million km2. • Malpelo microplate is located west of the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador. It is wedged in-between the Nazca, Cocos, and Caribbean minor plates. It is linked to a nearby oceanic ridge along the Ring of Fire. • A tectonic plate is essentially a part-crust, part-mantle that is pushed around by the convecting currents of superheated rock (magma) beneath them. • Malpelo plate is the thumb of the Nazca plate between South American plate and Cocos plate.

➢ Completion Of Balance Works Of North Koel Reservoir Project • The project is situated on North Koel river which is a tributary of Sone river finally joining the river Ganga. The North Koel Reservoir is located in the most backward tribal areas in Palamau and Garhwa districts of Jharkhand State. • The construction was originally started in the year 1972 and continued till 1993 when it was stopped by the Forest Department, Govt. of Bihar. Since then, the work on dam is at a standstill. • Under the fresh approval, the proposed concrete dam - called Mandal dam - will store 190 million cubic metre (MCM) of water instead of 1160 MCM envisaged earlier • It will take care of irrigation needs of farmers in the most backward and drought-prone areas of Palamu and Garhwa districts in Jharkhand and Aurangabad and Gaya districts in Bihar.

➢ Navika Sagar Parikrama • Navika Sagar Parikrama is a project wherein a team of women officers of the Indian Navy would circumnavigate the globe on an Indian-built sail boat INSV Tarini. This is the first ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. The journey began in September,2017 and will end by March, 2018. • The first Indian Solo circumnavigation was undertaken by Capt Dilip Donde, SC (from 19 Aug 09 to 19 May 10 onboard the Indian built vessel, INSV Mhadei. The first Indian non-stop solo circumnavigation was undertaken by Cdr Abhilash Tomy, KC from 01 Nov 12 to 31 Mar 13

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• Navika Sagar Parikrama would be covered in five legs with stop-overs at four ports for replenishment of ration and repairs as necessary. • Additional aims of the Expedition are as follows: - Nari Shakti., Environment and Climate Change, Make in India. Meteorological/ Ocean/ Wave Data Observation, Marine Pollution, Interaction with Local PIOs.

➢ Nationwide Programme To Test All TB(Tuberculosis) Patients • The new policy, called the Universal Drug Sensitivity Test, will be implemented using a molecular diagnostic test called GeneXpert, a US-developed technology tool being used worldwide since 2010. • It can detect the TB bacterium as well check for resistance to rifampicin, one of the standard key TB drugs, within 90 minutes • India tops the world in the number of Tuberculosis cases. • Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of body.

➢ Fighter Planes Dilemma for India • F-16 and Gripen, built by Swedish company Saab, are competing for the proposed single engine fighter acquisition for the IAF. French Rafale and Boeing’s F/A-18 are competing for the contract for the Navy’s twin engine fleet for its aircraft carriers. Lockheed Martin and Tata have formed a joint venture to make F-16, while Saab announced a JV with the Adani group last week for Gripen.

➢ Navy Sinks ‘Graveyard’ INS Sindhurakshak • The Navy has sunk decommissioned submarine INS Sindhurakshak after using it for target practice. • A fire and series of explosions on the submarine in 2013 had killed 18 Navy personnel. • INS Sindhurakshak was a Russian-made Kilo-class 877EKM diesel-electric submarine of the Indian Navy.

➢ President Lays Foundation For Link-4 SAUNI Project • The Link-4 Sauni project based on Narmada dam will fill up Hiran-II dam which is in Gir Somnath area.SAUNI stands for Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Yojana. The project is aimed at bringing the waters of Narmada River to the reservoirs of parched Saurashtra region.

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➢ Cabinet Approves Revamped ‘Khelo India’ Programme • A revamped Khelo India (Play India) scheme under which 1,000 selected athletes will receive an annual scholarship of Rs500,000 each for eight years. The new scheme will focus on nurturing talent and connecting rural India to global games • The programme would impact the entire sports ecosystem, including infrastructure, community sports, talent identification, coaching for excellence, competition structure and sports economy.

➢ INS Kalvari: All You Need To Know About Navy’s First Scorpene Submarine • Kalvari is named after the dreaded Tiger Shark, a deadly deep sea predator of the Indian Ocean, developed as a part of ‘Make in India’ campaign. • Kalvari was built indigenously under a venture called Project 75, at Mumbai’s Mazagon Docks. Under this project, the Indian Navy was authorised to build six submarines in collaboration with French firm DCNS. • It has superior stealth and the ability to launch crippling attacks on the enemy with precision- guided weapons. • This Scorpene submarine is designed to operate in all theatres of war, including the tropics. • Kalvari is capable of handling various missions such as anti-surface warfare (attacking surface ships), anti-submarine warfare (destroying submarines), intelligence gathering, mine-laying and area surveillance.

➢ Fossil Remains Found In The Newest Found Continent –Zealandia • Drilling into the crust of Zealandia, thousands of feet below the surface, researchers discovered the remains of hundreds of species including pollen from land plants. • Now it is believed Zealandia was once much closer to the ocean's surface and may have served as a land bridge for animals moving around the south Pacific region.

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➢ President Launches Incredible India 2.0 Campaign; ‘Adopt A Heritage’ Project • Incredible India 2.0 campaign will be focusing on specific promotional plans, with greater emphasis to be given to social media, whereas, ‘Adopt A Heritage’ Project plans to entrust heritage sites to the public sector and private sector companies and individuals for the development of tourist amenities. • Adopt a Heritage Project', was launched with the efforts of the Tourism Ministry, Culture Ministry and Archaeological Survey of India, has great potential to make our rich and diverse heritage monuments, tourist-friendly.

➢ Meenakshi Temple Gets ‘Cleanest Iconic Place’ Tag • Dedicated to Meenakshi, an incarnation of Parvati, and her consort Sundareswar, an incarnation of Shiva , Meenakshi temple in Madurai has been adjudged the best ‘Swachh Iconic Place’ (clean place) in India.

➢ HDFC Life Launches Service BOT Neo • HDFC Life Insurance Company has launched Neo — a servicing bot for Twitter that uses artificial intelligence(AI) for customer service. The insurer hopes to deploy the bot in answering policy —related queries on social media. • Other life insurers like PNB Metlife have launched VR humanoids like Kushi leveraging the power of AI, chat bots, natural language processing. This is the second bot put in operation by HDFC Life, after the launch of SPOK, which was an email bot to answer customer queries. • Ira, a humanoid bot was launched by HDFC, first bank in India to do so. Lakshmi, an AI bot by city Union Bank also captured attention.

➢ Russia Launches ‘World’s Biggest And Most Powerful’ Nuclear Icebreaker Ship • Sibir, designed to transport cargo along the Northern Sea Route is powered by two nuclear reactors and will be able to break ice fields up to three metres thick, clearing the path for Russian ships delivering gas to Asia. • Russia is building nuclear powered Ice –Breakers under Project 22220.Arktika and Ural are other two ice breakers. • Russian authorities want to maintain control in Arctic waters due to drilling opportunities, minerals and strategic importance.

➢ World Food India 2017 • World Food India aims to transform Food Economy and realize the vision of doubling of famers’ income by establishing India as a preferred investment destination and sourcing hub for the global food processing industry. • A special highlight of the event was renowned chef Sanjeev Kapoor creating a world record by preparing 'Brand India Khichdi' using 800 kg of grains in a giant kadhai .

➢ Project CHAMAN

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• Coordinated programme on Horticulture Assessment and Management using geo informatics • Under the project, the remote sensing technology and sample survey techniques will be used for production forecasting of major horticultural crops in select districts. Other components include geospatial applications for horticultural development and management planning (site suitability, post-harvest infrastructure, crop intensification, GIS database creation, orchard rejuvenation, aqua-horticulture). • Fruits such as banana, mango, citrus and vegetables such as potato, tomato, onion and chilli will be covered under the project. • This project is being implemented by Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC) using remote sensing technology and is likely to be completed in March 2018.

➢ Deen Dayal SPARSH Yojana • Under the scheme of SPARSH (Scholarship for Promotion of Aptitude & Research in Stamps as a Hobby), it is proposed to award annual scholarships to children of Standard VI to IX having good academic record and also pursuing Philately as a hobby through a competitive selection process in all postal circles. • Philately is the hobby of collection and study of Postage stamps. It also entails the collection, appreciation and research activities on stamps and other related philatelic products. • Philately is called the king of hobbies because Stamp collection as a hobby has lot of educational benefits - it teaches a lot about the socio economic political reality of the period in which the stamp is issued or the theme on which it is issued.

➢ Banaganapalle Mangoes Get GI Tag • A GI is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory. • The famous Banaganapalle mangoes of Andhra Pradesh and Tulaipanji rice of West Bengal are among the seven commodities that have been granted Geographical Indication (GI) this fiscal year by the Indian patent office. • The other five products which have received the GI tag this year include Pochampally Ikat of Telangana; Gobindobhog rice of West Bengal; Durgi stone carvings and Etikoppaka toys of Andhra Pradesh; and Chakshesang shawl of Nagaland. • Recently , Rosogolla from West Bengal was given GI tag, putting an end to Odisha’s clam for the same.

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➢ The Rise Of The Bots • A bot is a computer programme designed to work automatically. It is mainly used to gather information on the Internet or perform repetitive jobs. • Some popular examples of bots are Apple’s Siri, the Google Assistant, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana. • One of the typical beneficial uses of a bot is to gather information. Bots in such guises are called web crawlers. • Norton defines a malicious bot as self-propagating malware that infects its host and connects back to a central server(s). Malicious bots can gather passwords, log keystrokes, obtain financial information, relay spam, and exploit back doors opened by viruses and worms. • Artificial intelligence-based bots are increasingly being used by organisations and entities to provide customer care, and sales and marketing services. • Some banks have also introduced AI-based chatbots that are capable of interacting with users and answering information-related queries.eg. Lakshmi, Eva

➢ Former PM Manmohan Singh To Get Indira Gandhi Peace Prize • Manmohan Singh will receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development this year for his leadership of the country between 2004 and 2014 and for enhancing India's stature globally. • The international award named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was instituted in 1986, given to Parliamentarians for Global Action. The last two recipients have been the Indian Space Research Organisation (2014) and the UN High Commission for Refugees (2015).

➢ India's Longest Bridge In Assam • India's longest bridge - the 9.15 km long Dhola-Sadiya bridge, built over the River Brahmaputra, in Assam has been named After , Musician,Lyricist and Poet, Bhupen Hazarika . • The bridge will enhance connectivity and greatly reduce travel time between Assam and Arunachal.

➢ VIDYA VEERTA ABHIYAN • Through this campaign a wall of valour will be built in colleges and universities across the country and this will be built on contributory funding by students and teachers on voluntary basis. • This wall will be 15X20 feet in size and will depict the portraits of all the 21 Paramveer Chakra recipients. This will help revive and re-energize the patriotic fervour in our young minds.

➢ UNESCO Inscribes Yoga In Representative List Of Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Humanity • Yoga, India’s one of the ancient practices has now been inscribed as an element in the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity . • Recognising its universal appeal, in December 2014, the United Nations had proclaimed June 21 as International Yoga Day. • Yoga has become the 13th intangible cultural heritage that has been listed from India so far with UNESCO.

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• Previous ones includes the :Chhau dance( Inscribed in 2010), the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh ( inscribed in 2012), Sankirtana –the ritual singing, drumming, and dancing of Manipur( inscribed in 2013), the traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab(inscribed in 2014) and Ramlila- the traditional performance of the Ramayana ( inscribed in 2008). Ramman, Vedic Chanting, Koodiyattam,Mudiyettu, Kalbelia, Nowruz, Kumbh Mela are others.

➢ Empowering The Soldier By Project Yash Vidya • Under the scheme , a MoU was signed between Indian Army and Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), Nasik for Bachelors degree programme. • The Bachelor’s degree Programme designed for the Army Personnel gives special recognition to the in-service training/Army courses completed and by providing exemption from studying certain courses. • The University will award Diploma in Self Empowerment and a Bachelors Degree in Arts or Commerce under Project Yash Vidya enabling them with academic qualifications for better future.

➢ Important Awards Jnanpith Award/Winner (2017) : krishna sobti Vyas SammanAward (2017) : Mamta Kalia“sukkham dukkham” Saraswati Samman (2016) : Mahabaleshwar Sail“ Hawthan” (Konkani) Moortidevi Award (2017) : Joy Goswami “ Du Dondo Phowara Matro”(Bengali) Bihari Puraskar (2016) : Satya Narayan2016 "Yeh Ek Dunia" Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (2017) Prize: Pawan Kumar Chamling

➢ Important committees Committes Chairpersons Mandate N.K.Singh N.K.Singh To review the Fiscal Responsibility And Budget Management (FRBM) Act. Amitabh Amitabh Chaudhry To analyze the existing framework of IRDA Chaudhry N S Kang N.S.Kang To frame uniform rules for the states to avoid delay in committtee proper implementation of the Rights Of Persons with Disabilities Act across the country. Timothy Prof. Timothy Gonsalves Suggested to create 20 percent reservation seats for the Gonsalves girl students in IITs Committee Sports Code Injeti Srinivas To suggest improvements in the National Sports committee Development Code functioning of sports federations. 11member RBI Executive Director Meena To review the threats emerging from the Use of technology, Inter- Hemchandra Suggest appropriate policy interventions to strengthen disciplinary cyber security and resilience. Standing Committee on Cyber Security

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D B Shekatkar D B Shekatkar To reform the military financial management Committee

Agricultural Produce Market Mr.Ashok Dalwai To establish a regulated wholesale agri-market at Committee a distance of every 80km Inter-Disciplinary Committee Dinesh Sharma To propose new regulations related to digital currencies or virtual currencies Chitale Committee Madhav Chitale To recommend measures for desiltation of river Ganga High-level taskforce Arvind Panagariya To compute timely data on employment situation in the country. RBI Overseeing Committee Pradeep Kumar To look at the stressed assets of the banking sector. Panel on National Education Krishnaswamy To draft the National Education Policy Policy Kasturirangan Task Force on Artificial Dr.V.Kamakoti Artificial Intelligence(AI) for India’s Economic Intelligence Transformation Hate speech on internet T.K.Viswanathan The committee has suggested thatsection78 of the IT Act needs to be substituted and Section153 & 505A of the Indian Penal Code needs to be amended Group of Ministers on the Hasmukh Adhia To look at the issues of exports sector and to implementation of GST. recommend to the GST Council Group of Ministers on the Sushil Kumar Modi To monitor and resolve IT challenges faced in implementation of GST. implementation of Goods and Services Tax(GST) Water resources in the North Rajiv Kumar A high-level committee for proper management of Eastern Region(NER). the water resources in the North Eastern Region Sub Categorization of OBCs G Rohini To examine sub categorization of OBCs Under Article340 of the Constitution Standing Committee on External Shashi Tharoor Examine the issue of cooperation between India Affairs and China in International organisations.

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