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Register now : Call/ Whatsapp 6238427443 | 7594875084 Etikoppaka dolls In the Mann Ki Baat speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a special mention of the famous Etikoppaka dolls saying that the toys would be useful to unleash the creativity in children in the current Pandemic situation.

Key points

• Etikoppaka dolls are native to Andhra Pradesh, they come from the village by the same name Etikoppaka. • This village is located on the banks of the Varaha river in Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. • The village has a glorious history where the local jamindars started recognizing the possibility of making splendid and attractive toys much before independence. These are well known for canon toys, lord Ganesha form and bullock etc. • Made in the Etikoppaka region of Andhra Pradesh, these toys are made with lacquer color and are traditionally known as Etikoppaka toys or Etikoppaka Bommalu. • The village is very famous for its toys made of wood. The toys are also called as lacquer toys because of application of lacquer coating. • The toys are made out of wood and are coloured with natural dyes derived from seeds, lacquer, bark, roots and leaves. • The wood used to make the toys is soft in nature and the art of toy making is also known as Turned wood Lacquer craft. • While making the Etikoppaka toys, lac, a colourless resinous secretion of numerous insects, is used. The already prepared vegetable dyes are further mixed to the lac, during the process of oxidation. After this process, the end product obtained is rich and colored lacquer. • The lac dye is used for decorating the Etikoppaka toys, which are exported all over the world. ‘MEDBOT’

• Indian Railways develops remote-controlled medical trolley ‘MEDBOT’ to deliver food, medicines to COVID-19 patients. • The trolley has been designed and constructed in-house by the Loco Division. It also has cameras and a mic. The special thing is that medicine, water, food, bed sheets etc. can be given through trolleys without coming in contact with the patient. • The control on the fully robotic medboat trolley is remote. • After successful testing it was handed over to the central hospital to serve the isolated patients. Pranab Mukherjee

• Former President Bharat Ratna Pranab Mukherjee passed away . He was 84. Mukherjee had, earlier this month, undergone brain surgery at the Army Research and Referral hospital in the national capital. • Mr Mukherjee served as 13th President of India from 2012 to 2017. He also served as Union Minister of Finance, Defence, External Affairs and Commerce. • Mr Mukherjee was also Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission. He was elected to Rajya Sabha five times and twice to Lok Sabha. Mr Mukherjee served as Leader of both houses of Parliament. India's GDP shrinks by a record 23.9%

• The Indian economy saw its worst contraction in decades, with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrinking by a record 23.9% in the April to June quarter in comparison to the same period last year, according to data released by the National Statistical Office. • The contraction refl•ects the severe impact of the COVID19 lockdown, which halted most economic activities, as well as the slowdown trend of the economy even pre COVID19. • According to D.K. Srivastava, chief policy advisor at EY India, and a member of the Advisory Council to the 15th Finance Commission, expect annual GDP to contract 5%- 7% in 2020-21, noting that the last contraction of the economy occurred in 1979-80, when GDP shrank 5.2%. • There have been four other instances of minor contraction between 1965-68, and 1972-73, but this year is likely to be the worst since Independence. • Agriculture was the only sector which recorded a modest growth of 3.4% in year on year terms. All other sectors saw contraction, with the steepest fall of 50% in construction, and the trade, hotels, transport and communication services category shrinking 47%.

Note

What Is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?

• Gross domestic product (GDP) is the total monetary or market value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country's borders in a specific time period. • As a broad measure of overall domestic production, it functions as a comprehensive scorecard of a given country’s economic health. Renati Chola era inscription

• A rare inscription dating back to the Renati Chola era has been unearthed in a remote village of Kadap. It was found engraved on a dolomite slab and shale, which are part of a fragmentary pillar recently excavated from the fields of Chinnadudyala village. • Going by the language and characters, the inscription was written in archaic Telugu, which was readable in 25 lines — the first side with 11 lines and the remaining on the other side. • It was assigned to the 8th Century A.D, when the region was under the rule of the Chola Maharaja of Renadu. • The inscription seems to throw light on the record of a gift of six marttus (a measuring unit) of land gifted to a person Sidyamayu, one of the Brahmins serving the temple at Pidukula village. • The last lines are indicative of the priority given to morality in those days. “It says the people who safeguard this inscription for future generations will acquire the status of conducting Aswamedha Yaga, and those destroying it will incur sin equivalent to causing a death in Varanasi. Ulcerative Colitis

Japanese PM, Shinzo Abe resigned a year before he would have completed his term (September 2021) in office after the ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease, that he has been battling for many years had worsened recently.

Key points

• Ulcerative colitis, or UC as it is commonly known, is a chronic, lifelong condition and is classified as an autoimmune disorder. • UC is part of a group of conditions known as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). • It causes inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract (gut). • This inflammation occurs in the colon (large intestine) and rectum. The colon’s lining develops small ulcers which produce pus and mucus, leading to abdominal pain, discomfort and urge to frequently empty the colon. Indra 2020

• Amid high operational alert by the Indian Navy in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) due to the ongoing standoff with China in Ladakh. • India and Russia are scheduled to hold the bilateral naval exercise, Indra 2020, in the Andaman Sea, close to the strategic Strait of Malacca later this week. • Three Russian Navy ships will take part in the exercise on September 4 and 5 along with an equal number from the Indian Navy, along with some aircraft. • This is also the first bilateral naval exercise since all such engagements were suspended due to the COVID19 pandemic. • The timing of the exercise coincides with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Russia for the Shanghai Cooperation organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers meet. • It also comes just after India withdrew from the Kavkaz2020 multinational exercise in Russia that is scheduled for later this month. Exercise with U.S.

• In July, frontline warships of the Indian Navy conducted a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Nimitz strike group in the same area near the Andaman and Nicobar (A&N) islands as it was transiting the Indian Ocean.

• USS Nimitz was returning from the South China Sea through the Malacca Strait where it undertook freedom of navigation operations. International Commission of Jurists

• The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan’s conviction for criminal contempt of court by the Supreme Court seemed to be inconsistent with the freedom of expression law guaranteed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that India was a party to. • In a statement, the ICJ, an international human rights organisation comprising judges and lawyers, said it joined 1,800 Indian lawyers in calling for the Supreme Court to review the standards of criminal contempt. Note

• The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non- governmental organization. • It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and international human rights standards through the law. • Commissioners are known for their experience, knowledge and fundamental commitment to human rights. • The composition of the Commission aims to reflect the geographical diversity of the world and its many legal systems. • The Commission is supported by an International Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland, and staffed by lawyers drawn from a wide range of jurisdictions and legal traditions. • The Secretariat and the Commission undertake advocacy and policy work aimed at strengthening the role of lawyers and judges in protecting and promoting human rights and the rule of law. Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India - 2019

The number of suicide cases and accidental deaths registered an increase across the country last year from the 2018 figures, according to the Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India report for 2019 released by the National Crime Records Bureau.

Key findings

• The most cases of mass/family suicides were reported from Tamil Nadu (16), followed by Andhra Pradesh (14), Kerala (11) and Punjab (9) and Rajasthan (7). Suicides in the country went up slightly from 1,34,516 to 1,39,123. • Of the 97,613 male suicides, the most were of daily wage earners (29,092), followed by self employed persons (14,319) and the unemployed (11,599). Of the 41,493 female, over half were housewives. • The most suicides by unemployed persons were in Kerala at 14% (1,963), followed by 10.8% in Maharashtra, 9.8% in Tamil Nadu, 9.2% in Karnataka and 6.1% in Odisha. Most suicides by those in business activities were in Maharashtra (14.2%), Tamil Nadu (11.7%), Karnataka (9.7%), West Bengal (8.2%) and Madhya Pradesh (7.8%). The suicide rate in cities (13.9%) was higher compared to the all India average. In the Central Armed Police Forces, a total of 36 personnel died by suicide, 38.9% were due to “family problems”.

Accidental deaths • Accidental deaths in the country increased by 2.3%. Compared with 4,11,824 in 2018, the figure stood at 4,21,104 last year. The rate (per lakh population) increased from 31.1 to 31.5. • The most casualties of 30.9% were reported in the 30-45 age group, followed by 26% in the 18-30 age group. • Maharashtra reported the highest deaths (70,329), amounting to nearly one sixth of the total figure. Uttar Pradesh, the most populous State, accounted for 9.6% cases, followed by Madhya Pradesh (10.1%). Green Term Ahead Market

Union Power Minister R K Singh launched a pan-India Green Term Ahead Market (GTAM) in electricity through video conference, a first step towards greening the Indian short term power market. Key points • The introduction of the GTAM platform will lessen the burden on renewable energy (RE)-rich States and incentivize them to develop RE capacity beyond their own Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO). • It will also promote RE merchant capacity addition and help in achieving RE capacity addition targets of the country.

What Is Renewable Energy? •Renewable energy, often referred to as clean energy, comes from natural sources or processes that are constantly replenished. For example, sunlight or wind keep shining and blowing, even if their availability depends on time and weather. India to receive development assistance loan worth Rs 3,500 Cr from Japan to fight COVID-19

• Japan has committed an official Development Assistance loan of 3 thousand 500 crore rupees for the COVID-19 Crisis Emergency Response Support.

• The Notes were exchanged between the Additional Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs Dr C.S. Mohapatra and Ambassador of Japan to India Suzuki Satoshi for a Health sector programme loan to fight the COVID-19 crisis.

• Subsequent to the Exchange of Notes, Loan Agreement for the programme loan was signed between Dr Mohapatra and Chief Representative of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) in New Delhi Katsuo Matsumoto. • The programme loan aims to support India’s efforts in fighting COVID-19 and to prepare the health system to manage future epidemics and also to improve the resilience of India’s health systems against infectious diseases. • Notes were also exchanged between Dr. Mohapatra and Mr Satoshi for Grant Assistance of 70 crore rupees from the Government of Japan. • This Grant-in-aid from the Government of Japan is for providing medical equipment to strengthen the public health and medical system in India. It will strengthen the health care facilities for managing critical and serious patients suffering from COVID-19 infection.

Note • Japan International Cooperation Agency, JICA is a governmental agency that coordinates Official Development Assistance for the Government of Japan. Global Innovation Index 2020

• India remained the most innovative country in Central and Southern Asia as it moved up four positions on the annual Global Innovation Index (GII) of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) to make it to the top-50 list for the first time. • India has jumped four places on the Global Innovation Index 2020 to land at 48th position. • The index, compiled by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) along with Cornell University and the INSEAD business school, presents the latest global innovation trends and annual innovation ranking of 131 economies.

Key points

• This year, the annual ranking is topped by Switzerland, Sweden, U.S., U.K. and Netherlands. • As per the Organisation, India, China, the Philippines, and Viet Nam have been the economies with the most significant progress in their GII innovation ranking over the years. • Switzerland, Sweden, U.S., U.K and Netherlands lead the innovation ranking, with a second Asian economy - the Republic of Korea - joining the top 10 for the first time (Singapore is number 8). • The top 10 is dominated by high-income countries. • The top-performing economies in the GII are still almost exclusively from the high-income group, with China (14th) remaining the only middle-income economy in the GII top 30. Malaysia (33rd) follows. • WIPO in its Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020 noted that the COVID-19 pandemic is severely pressuring a long-building rise in worldwide innovation, likely hindering some innovative activities while catalyzing ingenuity elsewhere, notably in the health sector. 'Mission Karmayogi'

Dubbed as the biggest bureaucratic reform initiative, the Union Cabinet approved ‘Mission Karmayogi’, a new capacity-building scheme for civil servants aimed at upgrading the post-recruitment training mechanism of the officers and employees at all levels.

Key points

• Mission Karmayogi aims to prepare the Indian Civil Servants for the future by making them more creative, constructive, imaginative, innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling, transparent and technology-enabled. • Mission Karmayogi programme will be delivered by setting up a digital platform called iGOTKarmayogi. Empowered with specific role-competencies, a civil servant will be able to ensure efficient service delivery of the highest quality standards. • The platform will act as a launchpad for the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB), which will enable a comprehensive reform of the capacity building apparatus at the individual, institutional and process levels. • NPCSCB will be governed by the Prime Minister’s Human Resource Council, which will also include state Chief Ministers, Union Cabinet ministers and experts. This council will approve and review civil service capacity building programmes. • Besides this, there will be a Cabinet Secretary Coordination Unit comprising of select secretaries and cadre controlling authorities. • Also, there will be a Capacity Building Commission, which will include experts in related fields and global professionals. This commission will prepare and monitor annual capacity building plans and audit human resources available in the government. • Finally, there will be a wholly-owned Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which will govern the iGOT-Karmayogi platform. It will be set up under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013. • To cover around 46 lakh central employees, a sum of Rs 510.86 crore will be spent over a period of 5 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The expenditure is partly funded by multilateral assistance to the tune of $50 million. Parliament monsoon session • Leaders of Opposition parties have opposed the suspension of Question Hour and private members’ bills in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, alleging it was an attempt by the Centre to deny opposition members an opportunity to raise questions on the state of the economy and the coronavirus pandemic. • Both Question Hour and Zero Hour and key elements of Parliament Sessions.

Question Hour • During Question Hour, Members can ask starred and unstarred questions to the Government. • Starred questions are answered orally on the floor of the House by the Minister concerned. The Member is also entitled to ask two supplementary questions. • For unstarred questions, written answers are given by Ministers and deemed to have been tabled in the House. Zero Hour • During Zero Hour, members can, with prior notice to the Chair, raise important issues. • Unlike the question hour, the zero hour is not mentioned in the Rules of Procedure. • Thus, it is an informal device available to the members of the Parliament to raise matters without any prior notice. • The zero hour starts immediately after the question hour and lasts until the agenda for the day (i.e., regular business of the House) is taken up. In other words, the time gap between the question hour and the agenda is known as zero hour. • It is an Indian innovation in the field of parliamentary procedures and has been in existence since 1962.

Private Members’ bill

• A bill introduced by the Member of Parliament (MP) who is not a Minister, i.e., a non- government member is known as the Private Members’ bill. Members of Parliament (MPs) other than ministers are private members. PUBG Mobile and 117 Chinese apps banned in India

• The Ministry of Information and Technology bans more Chinese apps including popular PUBG Mobile in the country. This time the government has banned 118 China- based apps. The apps are still available on Google Play store and Apple App store. • PUBG Mobile has millions of downloads and active users in the country and this makes for a big loss of Tencent, the parent company. • The Indian government has also banned the PUBG Lite app available on Google Play store. Meanwhile, the desktop version of the game, PUBG is still available in the country. PUBG Mobile is yet to issue a comment on the matter. • The Chinese apps have been “banned under the section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 118 mobile apps since in view of the information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state and public order.

• This is the second time the government of India has banned Chinese apps in the country.

• The first set of apps banned in India included 59 of them followed by more 47 China based applications. All these apps have been removed from the Google Play store as well as Apple App store. India-China talks at Chushul

• India and China held another round of military talks to ease escalating tension triggered by fresh confrontation between the two sides on the southern bank of the Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh. • The Brigade Commander-level talks began at Chushul on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh with a specific agenda to discuss the situation around the Pangong lake. • The two sides were earlier engaged in a confrontation on the northern bank of Pangong lake but it was for the first time such an incident occurred on its southern bank. About Pangong lake • Pangong Tso or Pangong Lake is an endorheic lake in the Himalayas situated at an elevation of 4,225 m (13,862 ft). • It is 134 km (83 mi) long and extends from Ladakh, India to the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China. • Approximately 60% of the length of the lake lies within the Tibetan Autonomous Region. • The lake is 5 km (3.1 mi) wide at its broadest point. • All together it covers 604 km2. During winter the lake freezes completely, despite being saline water. • It is not a part of the Indus River basin area and geographically a separate landlocked river basin. • The lake is in the process of being identified under the Ramsar Convention as a wetland of international importance. • This will be the first trans-boundary wetland in South Asia under the convention. "Healthy Air"

• Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, a Deemed to be University, Pune has now developed herbal-based immunity boosting room freshener product named “Healthy Air” to contain the spread of COVID-19. • The product Healthy Air has been developed by Deptt of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering with various extracts of herbal oils like Neem, Neelgiri, Camphor, Daalcheeni, Tulsi, Lemon, Turmeric, Pine Oil etc. • The product consists of a blended solution of the natural herbal oils, which instinctively acts as an immunity booster for the body, and exhibits Anti-cancerous, Anti-microbial, Anti-viral and Anti-fungal properties. • It is herbal-based product is non-carcinogenic, non-toxic, non-mutagenic, and purifies the air, and makes it breathable. • The product has resulted to removing the toxic fumes, cleanses the air, and does not contain any synthetic solvent / surfactant in its formulation. Narcotics Control Bureau

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is questioning another person, suspected to be a drug trafficker, in connection with the drugs trafficking case linked to the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.

About Narcotics Control Bureau

• The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 which came into effect from the 14th November, 1985 made an express provision for constituting a Central Authority for the purpose of exercising the powers and functions of the Central Government under the Act. • In presence of this provision, the Government of India constituted the NARCOTICS CONTROL BUREAU on the 17th of March, 1986. Note • The National Policy on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is based on the Directive Principles, contained in Article 47 of the Indian Constitution, which direct the State to endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption, except for medicinal purposes, of intoxicating drugs injurious to health. • The government’s policy on the subject which flows from this constitutional provision is also guided by the international conventions on the subject. • India is a signatory to the single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol,the Conventions on Psychotropic Substances, 1971 and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988. • The broad legislative policy is contained in the three Central Acts, viz. Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and The Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988. • The responsibility of drug abuse control, which is a central function, is carried out through a number of Ministries, Departments and Organisations. GW190521 Scientists announced the discovery of a black hole, the oldest ever detected, that shouldn't even exist according to the current understanding of cosmic monsters so dense not even light can escape their gravitational pull.

Born of a merger between two other black holes, GW190521 weighs in at 142 times the mass of our Sun and is the first "intermediate mass" black hole ever observed, two consortiums of some 1,500 scientists reported in a pair of studies.

Key points • GW190521 had most likely been generated by a merger of two black holes. • It was calculated to have come from roughly 17 billion light years away, and from a time when the universe was about half its age. • According to traditional knowledge, stars that could give birth to black holes between 65 and 120 solar masses do not do so — stars in this range blow themselves apart when they die, without collapsing into a black hole. About Black hole • A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light can not get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying. • Because no light can get out, people can't see black holes. They are invisible. • Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes. The special tools can see how stars that are very close to black holes act differently than other stars.

How Do Black Holes Form?

• Scientists think the smallest black holes formed when the universe began. • Stellar black holes are made when the center of a very big star falls in upon itself, or collapses. When this happens, it causes a supernova. A supernova is an exploding star that blasts part of the star into space. • Scientists think supermassive black holes were made at the same time as the galaxy they are in. How Big Are Black Holes?

• Black holes can be big or small. Scientists think the smallest black holes are as small as just one atom. These black holes are very tiny but have the mass of a large mountain. Mass is the amount of matter, or "stuff," in an object. • Another kind of black hole is called "stellar." Its mass can be up to 20 times more than the mass of the sun. There may be many, many stellar mass black holes in Earth's galaxy. Earth's galaxy is called the Milky Way. • The largest black holes are called "supermassive." These black holes have masses that are more than 1 million suns together. Scientists have found proof that every large galaxy contains a supermassive black hole at its center. • The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is called Sagittarius A. It has a mass equal to about 4 million suns and would fit inside a very large ball that could hold a few million Earths. • A German physicist and astronomer named Karl Schwarzschild proposed the modern version of a black hole in 1915 after coming up with an exact solution to Einstein's approximations of general relativity. Novichok

• Tests performed on samples taken from prominent Russian opposition figure Alexey Navalny showed the presence of the Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok, the German government said. • a politician and corruption investigator who is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's fiercest critics, fell ill on a flight back to Moscow from Siberia on August 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk after the plane made an emergency landing.

About Novichok • Novichok is a deadly group of nerve agents developed by the Soviet military in the 1970s and '80s. • There are more than 100 formulations in the novichok family, all developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s. • Novichok, among the deadliest nerve agents ever created, is the Russian word for "newcomer". How is it used? • Novichok agents are dispersed as an ultra-fine powder rather than a gas or vapour. They can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through the skin.

What are the symptoms? • As with other nerve agents, the chemicals block acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme active in the nervous system. • The result is involuntary contraction of all muscles, leading to cardiac arrest and asphyxiation. Is there an antidote? • All nerve agents have an antidote in atropine, but it needs to be administered as soon as possible. • A common problem is that it can take time to diagnose that a nerve agent has been used. Note On 4 March 2018, Novichok - a military grade nerve agent - was used to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the United Kingdom. Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

• Addressing a ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Moscow, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh underlined that a climate of trust, non- aggression, sensitivity towards each other and peaceful resolution of differences are among key aspects to ensure regional peace and stability.

About Shanghai Cooperation Organisation • The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a permanent intergovernmental international organisation, the creation of which was announced on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai (China) by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It was preceded by the Shanghai Five mechanism. • The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Charter was signed during the St.Petersburg SCO Heads of State meeting in June 2002, and entered into force on 19 September 2003. This is the fundamental statutory document which outlines the organisation's goals and principles, as well as its structure and core activities. • Organisational structureThe Heads of State Council (HSC) is the supreme decision- making body in the SCO. • It meets once a year and adopts decisions and guidelines on all important matters of the organisation. • The SCO Heads of Government Council (HGC) meets once a year to discuss the organisation's multilateral cooperation strategy and priority areas, to resolve current important economic and other cooperation issues, and also to approve the organisation's annual budget. • The SCO's official languages are Russian and Chinese. • The organisation has two permanent bodies — the SCO Secretariat based in Beijing and the Executive Committee of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) based in Tashkent. • The SCO Secretary-General and the Director of the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS are appointed by the Council of Heads of State for a term of three years. SCO member states,observer states, dialogue partners

• The SCO comprises eight member states ; India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyz , Pakistan, Russian , Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. • The SCO counts four observer states; Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia • The SCO has six dialogue partners; Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka. Young child outcomes index

• Kerala, Goa, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram are among the top five States for well being of children, according to a report brought out by nongovernmental organisation Mobile Creches and launched by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu.

Key findings • The young child outcomes index measures health, nutrition and cognitive growth with the help of indicators such as infant mortality rate, stunting and net attendance at the primary school level. • It identifies eight States that have scores below the country’s average: they are Assam, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. • The index is part of the ‘State of the Young Child’ in India report released the 50 year old NGO, which works in the field of early childhood care and development by ensuring creche services at construction sites and slum settlements across several cities. Priority sector lending

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it has revised priority sector lending (PSL) guidelines to include entrepreneurship and renewable resources, in line with emerging national priorities. • Bank finance to start-ups (up to Rs 50 crore), loans to farmers for installation of solar power plants for solarisation of grid-connected agriculture pumps and loans for setting up Compressed BioGas plants have been included as fresh categories eligible for finance under priority sector. • The new guidelines are applicable to all commercial banks including regional rural banks, small finance banks, local area banks and primary (urban) co-operative banks other than salary earners’ banks. Note • Priority Sector Lending is an important role given by the RBI to the banks for providing a specified portion of the bank lending to few specific sectors like agriculture and allied activities, micro and small enterprises, poor people for housing, students for education and other low income groups and weaker sections. • This is essentially meant for an all round development of the economy as opposed to focusing only on the financial sector.

RBI guidelines for PSL for scheduled commercial banks:

40% of the total net bank credit should go to priority sector advances. • 10% of the priority sector advances or 10% of the total net bank credit, whichever is higher should go to weaker section. • 18% of the total net bank credit should go to agricultural advances. Within the 18 target for agriculture, a target of 8 per cent of Adjusted Net Bank Credit (ANBC) or Credit Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure, whichever is higher is prescribed for Small and Marginal Farmers, to be achieved in a phased manner. . • 7.5 of ANBC or Credit Equivalent Amount of Off-Balance Sheet Exposure, whichever is higher should go to Micro enterprises.

Priority Sector includes the following categories:

• Agriculture • Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises • Export Credit • Education • Housing • Social Infrastructure • Renewable Energy • Others Turkey-Greece tensions

• Turkey and Greece have competing ambitions over gas reserves and they disagree profoundly over who has rights to key areas of the Eastern Mediterranean. They have laid claim to overlapping areas, arguing they belong to their respective continental shelves. • In July, Turkey put out a naval alert - known as a Navtex - that it was sending its Oruc Reis research ship to carry out a drilling survey in waters close to the Greek island of Kastellorizo, a short distance from the coast of south-west Turkey. • Turkey and Greece are on separate sides in a race to develop energy resources in the Eastern Mediterranean. • In recent years, huge gas reserves have been found in the waters off Cyprus, prompting the Cypriot government, Greece, Israel and Egypt to work together to make the most of the resources. • As part of that agreement, energy supplies would go to Europe via a 2,000km (1,200- mile) pipeline in the Med. State Business Reform Action Plan 2019

• Andhra Pradesh retained its top position in ease of doing business ranking 2019, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. • The commerce and industry ministry released the State Business Reform Action Plan Ranking. • Uttar Pradesh from North India, Andhra Pradesh from South India, West Bengal from East India, Madhya Pradesh from West India and Assam from North East India topped the ranking. • Among Union Territories, Delhi bagged the top spot. • This ranking is based on the implementation of the business reform action plan. Some of the key focus areas are access to information and technology, the setting up of a single window system, construction permit enablers and land administration, according to Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. The top ten states under State Reform Action Plan 2019 are:

• Andhra Pradesh • Uttar Pradesh • Telangana • Madhya Pradesh • Jharkhand • Chhattisgarh • Himachal Pradesh • Rajasthan • West Bengal • Gujarat Kesavananda Bharati

• Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru, the Kerala seer who stood for protecting the Constitution, has passed away. • Bharati, whose property rights case in the Supreme Court in 1973 helped define basic rights under the Constitution. • The case known as His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru vs State of Kerala was filed in March 1970. The head of Edneer Mutt in Kasaragod district was challenging the Kerala government’s attempts to take over mutt property. • In a wafer-thin majority ruling of 7-6, the 13-judge bench pronounced that while Parliament had “wide” powers, it cannot alter the basic structure of the Constitution. The basic structure doctrine has since been regarded as a tenet of Indian constitutional law. Basic structure

• The ‘basic structure’ doctrine has since been interpreted to include the supremacy of the Constitution, the rule of law, Independence of the judiciary, doctrine of separation of powers, federalism, secularism, sovereign democratic republic, the parliamentary system of government, the principle of free and fair elections, welfare state, etc. • Critics of the doctrine have called it undemocratic, since unelected judges can strike down a constitutional amendment. • At the same time, its proponents have hailed the concept as a safety valve against majoritarianism and authoritarianism. • The case holds the top spot for the longest hearing ever to have taken place. It was heard by the largest ever Constitution Bench of 13 Judges for 68 days. Hearing in the case commenced on October 31, 1972, and concluded on March 23, 1973. • In 2018, Kesavananda Bharati was conferred with Justice VR Krishna Iyer Award. Back to Village (B2V) programme

• The J&K administration announced that the third phase of the public outreach initiative, Back to Village (B2V) programme, will be conducted from October 2 to 12 to address local issues at the doorstep of the villagers. • The flagship programme has generated huge interest, affection and respect among people and the administration has decided another version in the form of Phase III. • The Phase I of B2V was an introductory and interactive programme to understand the people’s grievances and demands. • Phase II focused on the devolution of powers to panchayats and tried to understand how they are functioning and what the grievances and demands are. • Phase III has been designed in the format for grievance redressal. Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme

Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme, SVEP, is propelling enterprises in rural areas and building rural entrepreneurs. It has extended business support services and capital infusion to 153 blocks of 23 States.

About SVEP • Start-Up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP) is implemented by Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana –National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development, as a sub-scheme since 2016. • With an objective to support the rural poor come out of poverty, supporting them setup enterprises and provide support till the enterprises stabilize. • SVEP focusses on providing self-employment opportunities with financial assistance and training in business management and soft skills while creating local community cadres for promotion of enterprises. • SVEP addresses three major pillars of rural start-ups namely - finances, incubation and skill ecosystems.

• Activities under SVEP are strategically designed to promote rural enterprises, one of the key areas is to develop pool of community resource persons – enterprise promotion (CRP-EP) who are local and support entrepreneurs setting-up rural enterprises.

• Another key area is to promote the block resource center (BRC) in SVEP blocks, to monitor and manage the community resource persons, appraise SVEP loan application and acts as the repository of enterprise related information in the concern block.

• BRCs play the role to support sustainable revenue model to operate effectively and independently. Foreign Contribution Regulation Act

• Of the six NGOs whose licence under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) was suspended by the Union Home Ministry this year, four are Christian associations. • At least two U.S.based Christian donors are also under the Ministry’s scanner for funding NGOs and groups here, a senior government official said. About Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) • It is a law enacted by Parliament to regulate foreign contribution (especially monetary donation) provided by certain individuals or associations to NGOs and others within India. • FCRA Act was originally passed in 1976 and majorly modified in 2010. • The government has used the act over the years to freeze bank accounts of certain NGOs who it found were affecting India’s national interest for wrong purposes. • As per the FCRA Act 2010, all NGOs are required to be registered under the Act to receive foreign funding. • According to terms stipulated in the FCRA, an organisation cannot receive foreign funding unless it is registered under the 2010 Act, except when it gets government approval for a specific project. • Under the FCRA Act, registered NGOs can receive foreign contribution for five purposes — social, educational, religious, economic and cultural. • Non-Governmental Organisations

• Worldwide, the term ‘NGO’ is used to describe a body that is neither part of a government nor a conventional for-profit business organisation. • NGOs are groups of ordinary citizens that are involved in a wide range of activities that may have charitable, social, political, religious or other interests. • NGOs are helpful in implementing government schemes at the grassroots. MT New Diamond

• The fire that erupted on oil tanker MT New Diamond off Sri Lanka’s south east coast was completely doused.

• Over the past four days, Indian and Sri Lankan Navy vessels, along with tug boats, were jointly engaged in putting out the flames on the vessel, a 330 metrelong very large crude carrier, carrying 2,70,000 tonnes of crude oil from Kuwait to Odisha.

Oil spill • An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. • The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. • Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their by- products, heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil.

• Oil spills penetrate into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water.

• Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved.

• Spills may take weeks, months or even years to clean up. ‘Moplah rioters’ not freedom fighters: report

• A report submitted to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) in 2016 had recommended the removal of the Wagon Tragedy victims and Malabar Rebellion leaders Ali Musliyar and Variamkunnath Ahmad Haji, and Haji’s two brothers from a book on martyrs of India’s freedom struggle.

• The report sought the removal of names of 387 ‘Moplah rioters’ from the list of martyrs.

• C.I. Issac, an ICHR member, submitted the 2016 report to the Council, recommending the deletion of the names when the fifth volume, covering martyrs of the freedom struggle from south India, came up for review. Malabar Rebellion

• Malabar Rebellion of 1921 was the culmination of a series of riots by Moplahs (Muslims of Malabar) in the 19th and early 20th centuries against the British and the Hindu landlords in Malabar (Northern Kerala). • The resistance which started against the British colonial rule and the feudal system later ended in communal violence between Hindus and Muslims. • The Moplah Rebellion or the Malabar Rebellion was an extended version of the Khilafat Movement in Kerala in 1921. The main leaders of this rebellion were: 1. Variyankunnath Kunjahammed Haji 2. Sithi Koya Thangal 3. Ali Musliyar Wagon Tragedy

• The wagon tragedy was the death of 64 prisoners on 20th of November, 1921 in the Malabar region of Kerala state of India. • The prisoners had been taken into custody following the Mappila Rebellion against British in various parts of Malappuram district . • The British government had sent around 100 rebels in a freight wagon to Podanur Central Jail near Coimbatore from Tirur Railway station on 20 November 1921, after the quelling a rebellion in the south Malabar taluks of Kerala. • When the jail was found, the train returned back to Tirur. On the return journey, 67 people died due to lack of oxygen in the wagon. This incident is known as the 'wagon tragedy', which exposed the inhuman treatment meted out by the British. India,Iran discuss Afghan peace

• The Defence Ministers of India and Iran discussed ways to take forward bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional security issues, including peace and stability in Afghanistan, during their meeting in Tehran.

Afghanistan

• Afghanistan is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central and South Asia. • Afghanistan is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south; Iran to the west; Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan to the north; and China to the northeast. • Occupying 652,000 square kilometers (252,000 sq mi), it is a mountainous country with plains in the north and southwest. • Kabul is the capital and largest city. • The population is around 32 million, composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Govind Swarup

• Father of India's Radio Astronomy, Dr. Govind Swarup passed away . • Dr. Swarup is known not only for his many important research contributions in several areas of astronomy and astrophysics, but also for his outstanding achievements in building ingenious, innovative and powerful observational facilities for front-line research in radio astronomy. • Swarup is credited with conceptualising and leading the team which set up the Ooty Radio Telescope (ORT) and Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT). • He was the founder-director of TIFR – National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) in Pune. Super Typhoon Haishen

• Typhoon Haishen brought heavy rain and powerful gusts of wind to south Japan. • The storm had sustained winds of about 112 mph — equivalent to a category 3 hurricane — as it hit the Okinawa islands and the islands of Kyushu and Amami Oshimi, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Typhoon

• A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. • This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for almost one-third of the world's annual tropical cyclones. • There are six main requirements for tropical cyclogenesis:

• Sufficiently warm sea surface temperatures • Atmospheric instability • high humidity in the lower to middle levels of the troposphere • enough Coriolis force to develop a low pressure center • a pre-existing low level focus or disturbance • low vertical wind shear. International Day of Clean Air for blue skies

• The very first International Day of Clean Air for blue skies was held on September 7th, 2020. • The United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution to hold an International Day of Clean Air for blue skies on December 19, 2019, during its 74th session and invited the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to facilitate the observance of the International Day, in collaboration with other relevant organizations. • The Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) worked with UNEP and the Republic of Korea to advocate for the day in the lead up to the decision.WHO is working with BreatheLife partners to coordinate activities for the day. • International Day of Clean Air for blue skies Day aims to: 1. Raise public awareness at all levels—individual, community, corporate and government—that clean air is important for health, productivity, the economy and the environment. 2. Demonstrate the close link of air quality to other environmental/developmental challenges such as – most and foremost – climate change and the global Sustainable Development Goals. 3. Promote and facilitate solutions that improve air quality by sharing actionable knowledge best practices, innovations, and success stories. 4. Bring together diverse international actors working on this topic to form a strategic alliance to gain momentum for concerted national, regional and international approaches for effective air quality management.

Air pollution • Air pollution refers to the release of pollutants into the air that are detrimental to human health and the planet as a whole. • Health impact: tiny, invisible particles of pollution penetrate deep into our lungs, bloodstream and bodies. These pollutants are responsible for about one-third of deaths from stroke, chronic respiratory disease, and lung cancer, as well as one quarter of deaths from heart attack. Ground-level ozone, produced from the interaction of many different pollutants in sunlight, is also a cause of asthma and chronic respiratory illnesses.

• Climate impact: short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) are among those pollutants most linked with both health effects and near-term warming of the planet. They persist in the atmosphere for as little as a few days or up to a few decades, so reducing them can have an almost immediate health and climate benefits for those living in places where levels fall. Hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle

• The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) on successfully flight tested the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) – an unmanned scramjet vehicle with a capability to travel at six times the speed of sound. • The test which was conducted from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Launch Complex at Wheeler Island, off the coast of Odisha , the Agni missile was used. • A solid rocket motor of Agni missile was used to take to an altitude of 30 kilometers where the cruise vehicle separated from the launch vehicle and the air intake opened as planned. Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle • The HSTDV is an unmanned scramjet demonstration aircraft for hypersonic speed flight. • It is being developed as a carrier vehicle for hypersonic and long-range cruise missiles, and will have multiple civilian applications including the launching of small satellites at low cost. • The HSTDV program is run by the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation.

The hypersonic vehicle and its scramjet engine • The scramjets are a variant of a category of jet engines called the air breathing engines. The ability of engines to handle airflows of speeds in multiples of speed of sound, gives it a capability of operating at those speeds. • Hypersonic speeds are those which are five times or more than the speed of sound. The unit tested by the DRDO can achieve upto six times the speed of sound or Mach 6, which is well over 7000 kilometers per hour or around two kilometers per second. Development of the technology

• The DRDO started on the development of the engine in early 2010s. • The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has also worked on the development of the technology and has successfully tested a system in 2016. • DRDO too has conducted a test of this system in June 2019. • The special project of the DRDO consisted of contributions from its multiple facilities including the Pune headquartered Armament and Combat Engineering Cluster.

Challenges

• While the technology helps achieve hypersonic speeds, it comes with its set of disadvantages, and the obvious one being its very high cost and high thrust-to-weight ratio. • At the hypersonic speeds, the system has to handle temperatures to the range of 2500 degrees celsius as well as the air speed, and thus development of the material is one of the main challenges. • Scientists believe that while the successful test is a major milestone, many more rounds of tests will have to be done to achieve the level of technology with countries like the US, Russia and China. Digital divide

• A recent report on the latest National Statistical Organisation (NSO) survey shows just how stark is the digital divide across States, cities and villages, and income groups. The survey on household social consumption related to education was part of the NSO’s 75th round, conducted from July 2017 to June 2018. The final report was released recently. Key findings • Across India, only one in 10 households have a computer — whether a desktop, laptop or tablet. However, almost a quarter of all homes have Internet facilities, accessed via a fixed or mobile network using any device, including smart phones. • Most of these Internet enabled homes are located in cities, where 42% have Internet access. In rural India, however, only 15% are connected to the Internet. • The national capital has the highest Internet access, with 55% of homes having such facilities. Himachal Pradesh and Kerala are the only other States where more than half of all households have Internet. • At the other end of the spectrum is Odisha, where only one in 10 homes have Internet. There are 10 other States with less than 20% Internet penetration, including States with software hubs such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. • The biggest divide is by economic status, which the NSO marks by dividing the population into five equal groups, or quintiles, based on their usual monthly per capita expenditure. • Even in Odisha, almost 63% of homes in the top urban quintile have Internet facilities. In the poorest quintile of rural Odisha, however, that figure drops to an abysmal 2.4%. • Kerala shows the least inequality: more than 39% of the poorest rural homes have Internet, in comparison to 67% of the richest urban homes. • Himachal Pradesh also fares well, with 40% of the lowest rural quintile having Internet. Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha • Congress Party has decided to support its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) ally Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK) candidate for the post of Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. The post has fallen vacant after the term of Janata Dal (United) MP Harivansh ended in April.

About Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha • The presiding officers of Rajya Sabha are the Chairman and Deputy Chairman. • While Vice President of India serves as ex-officio chairman of Rajya Sabha; the day to day meetings are presided by Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. • The Deputy Chairman is elected by the Rajya Sabha itself from amongst its members. • Whenever the office of the Deputy Chairman falls vacant, the Rajya Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy. The Deputy Chairman vacates his office in any of the following three cases: • if he ceases to be a member of the Rajya Sabha; • if he resigns by writing to the Chairman; • if he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members of the Rajya Sabha. Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days’ advance notice. Deputy Chairman’s functions as Chairman • In certain circumstances, the Deputy Chairman works as Chairman of Rajya Sabha. For example, if Vice-President is elected as President or is discharging his functions as President due to unavailability of the later, Deputy Chairman works as Chairman of Rajya Sabha. Casting Vote • Both chairman and Deputy chairman in Rajya Sabha exercise the casting vote when a tie occurs in voting in Rajya Sabha. • The Deputy Chairman cannot exercise the casting vote when a resolution for his removal is under consideration of the house. Is Deputy Chairman subordinate to Chairman? • Deputy Chairman is not subordinate to the Chairman and he is directly responsible to the Rajya Sabha. ‘Health in India’

• Although almost all children in India are vaccinated against tuberculosis, and receive their birth dose of polio vaccine, two out of five children do not complete their immunisation programme, according to the ‘Health in India’ report recently published by the National Statistical Organisation (NSO). • The report is based on the 75th round of the National Sample Survey ( July 2017- June 2018) on household social consumption related to health.

Key findings

• Most of these children remain unprotected against measles, and partially protected against a range of other diseases. • In the national capital, less than half of all children have been given all eight required vaccines. • Across the country, only 59.2% of children under five years are fully immunised, according to the NSO report.This contradicts the Centre’s Health Management Information System portal data, which claimed that full immunisation coverage for 2017-18 stood at 86.7%. • About 97% of children across the country received at least one vaccination — mostly BCG(Bacillus Calmette–Guérin ) and/or the first dose of OPV(Oral poliovirus vaccines) at birth — a statistic that remains steady across income groups and geographies. • However, only 67% of children are protected against measles. Only 58% got their polio booster dose, while 54% got their DPT booster dose. • Among States, Manipur (75%), Andhra Pradesh (73.6%) and Mizoram (73.4%) recorded the highest rates of full immunisation. • At the other end of the spectrum lies Nagaland, where only 12% of children received all vaccinations, followed by Puducherry (34%) and Tripura (39.6%). Register now : Call/ Whatsapp 6238427443 | 7594875084 Note Universal Immunisation Programme • Immunization Programme in India was introduced in 1978 as ‘Expanded Programme of Immunization’ (EPI) by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. • In 1985, the programme was modified as ‘Universal Immunization Programme’ (UIP) to be implemented in phased manner to cover all districts in the country by 1989-90 with the one of largest health programme in the world. • Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India provides several vaccines to infants, children and pregnant women through the Universal Immunisation Programme.

About immunization • Immunization is the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine. • Vaccines are substances that stimulate the body’s own immune system to protect the person against subsequent infection or disease. Vaccines provided under UIP:

• BCG About-BCG stands for Bacillus Calmette-Guerin vaccine. It is given to infants to protect them from tubercular meningitis and disseminated TB. • OPV About-OPV stands for Oral Polio Vaccine. It protects children from poliomylitis. • Hepatitis B vaccine About – Hepatitis B vaccine protects from Hepatitis B virus infection. • Pentavalent Vaccine About-Pentavalent vaccine is a combined vaccine to protect children from five diseases Diptheria, Tetanus, Pertusis, Haemophilis influenza type b infection and Hepatitis B. • Rotavirus Vaccine About -RVV stands for Rotavirus vaccine. It gives protection to infants and children against rotavirus diarrhoea. It is given in select states. • PCV About- PCV stands for Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine. It protects infants and young children against disease caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae. It is given in select states. • fIPV About- fIPV stands for Fractional Inactivated Poliomylitis Vaccine. It is used to boost the protection against poliomylitis. • Measles/ MR vaccine About-Measles vaccine is used to protect children from measles. In few states Measles and Rubella a combined vaccine is given to protect from Measles and Rubella infection. • JE vaccine About- JE stands for Japanese encephalitis vaccine. It gives protection against Japanese Encephalitis disease. JE vaccine is given in select districts endemic for JE. • DPT booster About-DPT is a combined vaccine; it protects children from Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis.

• TT About- Tetanus toxoid vaccine is used to provide protection against tetanus. Patrika Gate

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Patrika Gate in Jaipur, Rajasthan through video conference.

About Patrika Gate • The Patrika Gate was built by the Patrika group of Newspapers on the Jawaharlal Nehru Marg in Jaipur. • The Patrika Gate is a memorial that reflects the cultural heritage and architectural style of Rajasthan. • This memorial is an attempt to integrate the art, craft and cultural heritage of Rajasthan in one structure. • The design of the Patrika gate incorporates the culture lifestyle and architecture of all the parts of Rajasthan from Sriganganagar to Banswara and from Jaisalmer to Bharatpur. • It is the southern gate of Jaipur. First World Solar Technology Summit Around 26,000 participants from 149 countries are scheduled to take part virtually in the first World Solar Technology Summit.

Key points

• The first World Solar Technology Summit (WSTS) is being organised by the International Solar Alliance (ISA). • The event will see inking of four partnership agreements, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) said in the statement. • An international journal on solar technology will also be launched on the occasion. • The Summit aims to bring together key stakeholders - leading academic scientists, technology developers, researchers and innovators to present and discuss the recent highlights of solar technologies, cost-wise; technology-wise, technology transfers, challenges and concerns in the field. • The main objective of WSTS is to showcase to member countries the state of the art and next-generation solar technologies worldwide and to give an opportunity to decision-makers and stakeholders to meet, and discuss their own priorities and strategic agenda towards a larger integration.

International Solar Alliance (ISA)

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is a treaty-based international intergovernmental organization. • ISA was jointly launched by India and France in the presence of Secretary General of the UN during CoP21. • The Paris Declaration establishes ISA as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its Member Countries. • The major objectives of the organization include deployment of 1000 GW of solar capacity and mobilization of US$ 1000 billion of investment in solar energy sector by 2030. • As an action-oriented organization, ISA intends to bring together member countries to aggregate demand and realise economies of scale, resulting in reduction of costs of solar applications, facilitating deployment of existing solar technologies at scale, and promoting collaborative solar R&D and capacity. • As on June 26 2020, the ISA Framework Agreement has been signed by 86 countries, with 68 having also deposited instruments of ratification. • The ISA is headquartered at Gurugram in Haryana, India. H.E. Mr. Upendra Tripathy is the Director General. AstraZeneca

• The Drug Controller of India has demanded that the Serum Institute of India (SII), Pune, which is conducting Phase3 trials on people in India involving U.K.based AstraZeneca’s COVID19 vaccine candidate, explain why tests have not been paused in India too until safety has been established. • AstraZeneca on late Tuesday put global trials on hold after reports emerged of “severe adverse reaction” in a volunteer being injected with the vaccine, probably in the United Kingdom. The nature of the event was not known. • The Oxford-AstraZeneca candidate vaccine is undergoing phase-3 clinical trials at more than 60 locations in the US, Brazil and South Africa. • It is the same vaccine that was cleared for combined phase-2 and phase-3 trials in India. The trials in India began last month, and about 100 participants have received the dose. Serum Institute of India • Serum Institute of India was founded in 1966 by Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla with the aim of manufacturing life-saving immuno-biologicals, which were in shortage in the country and imported at high prices. • Thereafter, several life-saving biologicals were manufactured at prices affordable to the common man and in abundance, with the result that the country was made self- sufficient for Tetanus Anti-toxin and Anti-snake Venom serum, followed by DTP (Diphtheria, Tetanus and Pertussis) group of Vaccines and then later on MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) group of vaccines. • Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. is now the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by number of doses produced and sold globally (more than 1.5 billion doses) which includes Polio vaccine as well as Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Hib, BCG, r-Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccines. • It is estimated that about 65% of the children in the world receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute. • Vaccines manufactured by the Serum Institute are accredited by the World Health Organization, Geneva and are being used in around 170 countries across the globe in their national immunization programs, saving millions of lives throughout the world. • . • Serum Institute of India is ranked as India's No. 1 biotechnology company, manufacturing highly specialized life saving biologicals like vaccines using cutting edge genetic and cell based technologies, antisera and other medical specialties For Daily Quiz / Interesting facts / Inspiring Videos

Follow Race2IAS on Instagram First India-France-Australia Trilateral Dialogue

With a focus on enhancing cooperation in the IndoPacific region, India, Australia and France held the first trilateral dialogue where they discussed “economic and geostrategic challenges and cooperation” in the region, particularly in the context of the COVID19 pandemic and domestic responses to it.

Key points

• The focus of the dialogue was on enhancing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. • The outcome oriented meeting was held with the objective of building on the strong bilateral relations that the three countries share with each other. The three sides agreed to hold the dialogue on an annual basis. • During the dialogue, the three sides discussed economic and geostrategic challenges and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and domestic responses to it.

• Cooperation on Marine Global Commons and potential areas for practical cooperation at the trilateral and regional level were also discussed, including through regional organisations such as ASEAN, IORA and the Indian Ocean Commission.

• The three countries also had an exchange on the priorities, challenges and trends in regional and global multilateral institutions, including the best ways to strengthen and reform multilateralism. PM SVANidhi The Prime Minister spoke to three vendors from Indore, Gwalior, and Raisen about the benefits they had received under the PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme and the difficulties, if any, they had to face in procuring the seed capital for their business under the scheme.

About PM Street Vendor's AtmaNirbhar Nidhi

• The PM Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for providing affordable Working Capital loan to street vendors to resume their livelihoodsthat have been adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdown. • The scheme would benefit vendors, hawkers, thelewale and people involved in goods and services related to textiles, apparel, artisan products, barbers shops, laundry services etc. in different areas. • The scheme is valid until March 2022. Scheme Benefits • Vendors can avail a working capital loan of up to Rs. 10,000, which is repayable in monthly instalments in the tenure of one year. • On timely/ early repayment of the loan, an interest subsidy @ 7% per annum will be credited to the bank accounts of beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer on quarterly basis. • There will be no penalty on early repayment of loan. • The scheme promotes digital transactions through cash back incentives up to an amount of Rs. 100 per month. • The vendors can avail the facility of escalation of the credit limit on timely/ early repayment of loan.

Implementation agency • Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) World Suicide Prevention Day

• World Health Organization in association with International Association for Suicide Prevention is organizing World Suicide Prevention Day On 10th of September every year to raise awareness around the globe that suicide can be prevented. • Various activities including educational and commemorative events, press briefings and conferences, as well as Facebook and Twitter coverage are organized on this day. • According to WHO, nearly eight lakh people die by suicide every year. Furthermore, for each suicide, there are more than 20 suicide attempts. • Suicides and suicide attempts have a ripple effect that impacts on families, friends, colleagues, communities and societies. Five Star Villages Scheme

• The Department of Posts has launched a scheme called Five Star Villages, to ensure universal coverage of flagship postal schemes in rural areas of the country. • The scheme seeks to bridge the gaps in public awareness and reach of postal products and services, especially in interior villages. • All postal products and services will be made available and marketed and publicized at village level, under the Five Star Villages scheme. • Branch offices will function as one-stop shop to cater all post office - related needs of villagers The schemes covered under the Five Star scheme include:

i) Savings Bank accounts, Recurrent Deposit Accounts, NSC / KVP certificates

ii) Sukanya Samridhi Accounts/ PPF Accounts iii) Funded Post Office Savings Account linked India Post Payments Bank Accounts

iv) Postal Life Insurance Policy/Rural Postal Life Insurance Policy

v) Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana Account / Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Account.

• If a village attains universal coverage for four schemes from the above list, then that village gets four-star status; if a village completes three schemes, then that village get three-star status and so on. • The scheme is being launched on pilot basis in Maharashtra; based on the experience here, it will be implemented nation-wide. • The entire state of Maharashtra will be covered under the scheme. Golden Temple

• The Union Home Ministry has granted Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration to Gurdwara Harmandir Sahib, or the Golden Temple, in Amritsar, enabling it to receive foreign donations. • The gurdwara is currently administered by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC), controlled by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD).

About Golden Temple • Sri Harmandir Sahib, also known as Sri Darbar Sahib or Golden Temple, (on account of its scenic beauty and golden coating), situated in Amritsar (Punjab), is the most sacred temple for Sikhs. • This temple propagates Sikhism's message of tolerance and acceptance through its architecture that has incorporated symbols from other religions. • Guru Arjan Sahib, the Fifth Nanak, conceived the idea of creating a central place of worship for the Sikhs and he himself designed the architecture of Sri Harmandir Sahib. Rafale Fighter Aircraft

• Rafale Fighter Aircraft has been formally inducted into the Indian Air Force at a formal function at Air Force Station, Ambala. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Florence Parly, Minister of the Armed Forces of France graced the occasion. About Rafale Fighter Aircraft • Rafale is a twin-jet combat aircraft manufactured by Dassault Aviation and is capable of carrying out a wide range of short and long-range missions. • It can be used to perform ground and sea attacks, reconnaissance, high-accuracy strikes and nuclear strike deterrence. • The aircraft was developed for the French Navy and French Air Force. • The fighter aircraft was used in combat operations in various nations, including Afghanistan, Mali, Libya, Syria, and Iraq. • Egypt, Qatar and India also ordered the aircraft. • Five French-made multirole Rafales were inducted into the Indian Air Force's "Golden Arrows" Squadron at the Ambala Air Force Station, the country's oldest Air Force base built in 1919. Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 'Matsya Sampada Yojana' for the sustainable development of the fisheries sector during which he said that villages should become pillars of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat'. • The Prime Minister also launched the e-Gopala App for farmers along with several other initiatives in the fisheries and animal husbandry sectors in Bihar.

About Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana • Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana - A scheme to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India” with highest ever investment of Rs. 20050 crores in fisheries sector comprising of Central share of Rs. 9407 crore, State share of Rs 4880 crore and Beneficiaries contribution of Rs. 5763 crore. • PMMSY will be implemented over a period of 5 years from Fiscal Year 2020-21 to Fiscal Year 2024-25 in all States/Union Territories. Aims and objectives of PMMSY

Harnessing of fisheries potential in a sustainable, responsible, inclusive and equitable manner • Enhancing of fish production and productivity through expansion, intensification, diversification and productive utilization of land and water • Modernizing and strengthening of value chain - post-harvest management and quality improvement • Doubling fishers and fish farmers incomes and generation of employment • Enhancing contribution to Agriculture GVA and exports • Social, physical and economic security for fishers and fish farmers • Robust fisheries management and regulatory framework e-Gopala app

• The e-Gopala app is a comprehensive breed improvement marketplace and information portal for direct use of farmers. • The e-Gopala app will provide solutions to farmers in the country for managing livestock including buying and selling of disease free germplasm in all forms, availability of quality breeding services and guiding farmers for animal nutrition, treatment of animals using appropriate medicine. • It will also send alerts on due date for vaccination, pregnancy diagnosis and calving among other issues and also inform farmers about various government schemes and campaigns in the area. India and China

India and China agreed on five points to guide their approach to the situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), including the disengagement of troops and easing of tensions, following talks between external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, on the margins of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meet in Moscow. Key points

• The two Ministers agreed that both sides should take guidance from the series of consensus of the leaders on developing India-China relations, including not allowing differences to become disputes. • The two Foreign Ministers agreed that the current situation in the border areas is not in the interest of either side. They agreed therefore that the border troops of both sides should continue their dialogue, quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions. • The two Ministers agreed that both sides shall abide by all the existing agreements and protocol on China-India boundary affairs, maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas and avoid any action that could escalate matters. • The two sides also agreed to continue to have dialogue and communication through the Special Representative mechanism on the India-China boundary question. They also agreed in this context that the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China border affairs, should also continue its meetings. • Lastly, the Ministers agreed that as the situation eases, the two sides should expedite work to conclude new Confidence Building Measures to maintain and enhance peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

About Line of Actual Control

• The LAC is the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese- controlled territory. • India considers the LAC to be 3,488 km long, while the Chinese consider it to be only around 2,000 km. • It is divided into three sectors: the eastern sector which spans Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, the middle sector in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, and the western sector in Ladakh. ‘Asol Chini’

• The Bangladesh government has launched a campaign named ‘Asol Chini’ or ‘real- sugar’ to fight fake information and rumour spreading on social media. • The campaign aims to create digital literacy to stop fake information and rumours. • The Digital Security Agency (DSA) of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department and the LICT project of the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) will jointly run the campaign to create awareness among people in the country in a three- month campaign. • A digital platform Durbar21.org has been created for this purpose. Ambassadors will be appointed in districts and sub-divisions to create awareness about fighting rumours and fake information. Jammu and Kashmir Integrated Grievance Redress and Monitoring System • Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha launched the Jammu and Kashmir Integrated Grievance Redress and Monitoring System ( JKIGRAMS), in a bid to create an interface with the public and focus on governance issues in the Union Territory. • The system is being launched on a pilot basis in three districts — Jammu, Srinagar, and Reasi — and will gradually be rolled out in the remaining districts by October 2. • It will replace the current portal that was launched in 2018. • JKIGRAMS will make the existing mechanism more robust and efficient. • This is the first UT that will be linked to the central government system—CPGRAMS

Following are the key features of the system: • Allows registration of grievance 24 x 7. • Portal is integrated vertically above with Government of India(CPGRAMS) and below with the districts and its subordinate Officers. • Any Postal/ Registered Complaint addressed to the Grievance Cell also gets fed into the System. • Grievances pertaining to the districts can also be registered by calling on the Toll free District Call Centers • Grievances cannot be deleted/tampered by anyone including the admin. • Fortnightly reports of all Departments/Officers are submitted to the Lieutenant Governor. • Unique Grievance Number available for tracking. • Facility to submit clarification related to the grievance. Ranking of States: 2019

• Gujarat has again emerged as the best performer in developing start up ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs, according to the ranking of States and Union Territories by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). • Gujarat was categorised as the best performer among all States and one Union Territory (UT) Delhi, barring north eastern States and other UTs. • A total of 22 States and 3 UTs participated in the exercise.

The States’ Startup Ranking Framework 2019

• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) conducted the second edition of the States’ Startup Ranking Exercise, with the key objective to foster competitiveness and propel States and Union Territories to work proactively towards uplifting the startup ecosystem. • It has been implemented as a capacity development exercise to encourage mutual learning among all states and to provide support in policy formulation and implementation. The States’ Startup Ranking Framework 2019 has 7 broad reform area, consisting of 30 action points ranging from ; 1. Institutional Support 2. Easing Compliances 3. Relaxation in Public Procurement norms 4. Incubation support 5. Seed Funding Support 6. Venture Funding Support 7. Awareness & Outreach • To establish uniformity and ensure standardization in the ranking process, States and UTs have been divided into two groups. • While UTs except Delhi and all States in North East India except Assam are placed in Category ‘Y’. All other States and UT of Delhi are in Category ‘X’. Disposal of cigarette and beedi butts

• Following a report filed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the board to lay down guidelines pertaining to disposal of cigarette and beedi butts within three months.

Key Points

• The order, passed, was in response to a 2015 petition filed by the organisation Doctors For You, which has made several submissions regarding smoking in public spaces and disposal of cigarette and beedi butts. • The report, based on a study conducted by the Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR), however, says that concentration of various parameters analysed are lower than the prescribed limits and “will not be toxic to humans and environment”. Cellulose acetate

• Cellulose acetate is a major component (95%) of the cigarette butts along with the wrapping paper and rayon. In general, the toxicity date are not available for cellulose acetate. • Cellulose acetate is a major component of the cigarette and beedi butts and its degradation studies show that it will persist for a longer duration. • Recycling of cellulose acetate after recovery from cigarette butts may be suggested as one among the immediate solution to the problem until the degradation and safety data are generated. China hands over five missing youths

• The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China handed over five Arunachal Pradesh youth to the Indian Army, more than 800 km east of where they strayed beyond the McMahon Line separating the two countries. • All the individuals were handed over to the Indian side at Kibitu after formalities were completed, and sent to quarantine for 14-days as per the coronavirus protocol. • The five will be handed over to their families in Nacho area of Upper Subansiri district after they spend 14 days in quarantine as per the COVID19 protocol. • The five teenagers had gone hunting at the Tungdara Mountain, or Sera7, close to the McMahon Line. • They strayed into the Chinese side on September 2, and were reportedly captured by the PLA. • The Indian Army communicated with the PLA on their hotline for tracing and returning them. Rohingya

• Rohingya participate in the general elections scheduled to be held on November 8.

Key points

• In a joint statement issued, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Tunisia, UK and the US asked Myanmar to ensure that individuals of all communities, including Rohingya, are able to participate safely, fully, and equally in credible and inclusive elections. • The UNSC members also called upon Myanmar to address the long-term causes of the crisis in Rakhine and create conditions conducive to the safe, voluntary, sustainable, and dignified return of refugees. In order to find a solution to the problem, they asked Myanmar to intensify bilateral dialogue with Bangladesh to find a solution to the Rohingya refugee problem. Background • Myanmar has long claimed the Rohingya are "Bengali" migrants from Bangladesh, even though their families have lived in the country for generations. • Nearly all Rohingya have been denied citizenship since 1982, effectively rendering them stateless, and they are denied freedom of movement and other basic rights. • In August 2017, a deadly crackdown by Myanmar's army on Rohingya Muslims sent hundreds of thousands fleeing across the border into Bangladesh. • The exodus began on 25 August 2017 after Rohingya Arsa militants launched deadly attacks on more than 30 police posts. • The eight countries, United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Belgium, Estonia, Dominican Republic and Tunisia, encouraged Myanmar to set out "a transparent and credible plan" to implement recommendations of the Rakhine Advisory Commission, and the Independent Commission of Enquiry. • The Rakhine Commission, headed by the late former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, called on Myanmar before the August 2017 attacks began to grant citizenship and ensure other rights to the Rohingya, and urged the government to promote investment and community-directed growth to alleviate poverty in Rakhine. • The Independent Commission of Inquiry, established by Myanmar's government, concluded in January 2020 that there are reasons to believe security forces committed war crimes in counterinsurgency operations that forced Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh but said there is no evidence supporting genocide. Intra-Afghan negotiations in Doha

• Afghan government representatives and Taliban members gathered for historic intra- Afghan peace talks aimed at ending decades of war and conflict in Afghanistan that has killed tens of thousands of people. • The talks follow the February 29, 2020 US-Taliban agreement on the withdrawal of US troops.

Key points • The talks were to begin on March 10. But the Afghan government, excluded from negotiations between the US and the Taliban, held back on the commitment made by US Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad that as a pre-condition, Kabul would release 5,000 Taliban prisoners, especially as there was no “reduction of violence” as promised by the Taliban.But under US pressure, President Ashraf Ghani started freeing prisoners in batches. • The Taliban released 1,000 government-side prisoners including soldiers. • Over the last few days, a tussle over the release of the last few Taliban prisoners held up the talks by a few more days.The withdrawal of US troops has taken place alongside. • In the February 29 agreement, the US had committed to bring down its troops to 8,600 (from 12,000), and shut down five bases, within 135 days. That commitment has apparently been kept. • The US recently announced plans to further bring down troops to 4,500 by late October or early November.

Note

• The US-Taliban agreement said “[a] permanent and comprehensive ceasefire will be an item on the agenda of the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations. Singapore Convention on Mediation

• The Singapore Convention on Mediation (Convention) entered into force , marking a significant development in international commercial dispute resolution. • Businesses around the world will now have greater certainty in resolving cross-border disputes through mediation, as the Convention provides a more effective means for mediated outcomes to be enforced.

Key points

• The Convention, also known as the United Nations (UN) Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, is the first UN treaty to be named after Singapore. • As of 1 September 2020, the Convention has 53 signatories, including the United States, China and India. • Ecuador is the most recent country to ratify the Convention, joining Singapore, Fiji, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Belarus, and bringing the number of countries who have ratified the Convention to six. • With the Convention in force, businesses seeking enforcement of a mediated settlement agreement across borders can do so by applying directly to the courts of countries that have signed and ratified the treaty, instead of having to enforce the settlement agreement as a contract in accordance with each country’s domestic process. • The harmonised and simplified enforcement framework under the Convention translates to savings in time and legal costs, which is especially important for businesses in times of uncertainty, such as during the current COVID-19 pandemic. • With the Convention, businesses can rely on mediation as a dispute resolution option for their cross- border transactions, with greater certainty and assurance that their mediated outcomes are enforceable. The conciliatory nature of mediation also helps to preserve commercial relationships despite the disputes. Bahrain to normalise ties with Israel • Bahrain has become the latest Arab nation to agree to normalise ties with Israel as part of a broader diplomatic push by President Donald Trump and his administration to fully integrate the Jewish state into the Middle East. • Trump announced the agreement , following a three-way phone call he had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The three leaders also issued a brief six-paragraph joint statement, attesting to the deal.

Key points

• Like the UAE agreement, Bahrain-Israel deal will normalize diplomatic, commercial, security and other relations between the two countries. • The agreement makes Bahrain the fourth Arab country, after Egypt, Jordan and the UAE, to have full diplomatic ties with Israel. • Like the UAE, Bahrain has never fought a war against Israel and doesn’t share a border with it. But Bahrain, like most of the Arab world, long rejected diplomatic ties with Israel in the absence of a peace deal establishing a Palestinian state on lands captured by Israel in 1967.

What’s Behind the New Israel-Bahrain ties? • Bahrain’s location in the Persian Gulf long has made it a trading stop and a naval defensive position. • The island is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet and a recently built British naval base. • Bahrain is acutely aware of threats posed by Iran, an anxiety that comes from Bahrain’s majority Shiite population, despite being ruled since 1783 by the Sunni Al Khalifa family. • Iran under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi had pushed to take over the island after the British left, though Bahrainis in 1970 overwhelmingly supported becoming an independent nation and the UN Security Council unanimously backed that. • Since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, Bahrain’s rulers have blamed Iran for arming militants on the island. • Iran denies the accusations, though weapons experts suggest explosives found there bear similarities to others linked to Iran. • Israel and Iran view each other as top regional enemies. • Outside of those tensions, Bahrain’s Shiite majority has accused the government of treating them like second-class citizens. • The Shiites joined pro-democracy activists in demanding more political freedoms in 2011, as Arab Spring protests swept across the wider Middle East. Saudi and Emirati troops ultimately helped violently put down the demonstrations. Three major petroleum projects in Bihar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the Nation three key projects related to the Petroleum sector in Bihar through video conferencing today.

Key points • The projects include, the Durgapur-Banka section of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur Pipeline Augmentation Project and two LPG Bottling Plants in East Champaran and Banka. • They have been commissioned by Indian Oil and HPCL( Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited) • The 193-km long Durgapur-Banka pipeline section, built by IndianOil, is part of the Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur pipeline augmentation project. • The section is the extension of the existing 679-km long Paradip-Haldia-Durgapur LPG pipeline to the new LPG bottling plant at Banka in Bihar. • The pipeline passes through West Bengal (60 km), Jharkhand (98 km) and Bihar (35 km). • The Bottling Plants will empower the Atmanirbhar Bihar' by meeting the rising demand for LPG in the state. • This bottling plant has been built at an investment of around Rs 131.75 crore to serve the districts of Bhagalpur, Banka, Jamui, Araria, Kishanganj and Katihar in Bihar, along with the districts of Godda, Deoghar, Dumka, Sahibganj and Pakur in Jharkhand. • The bottling plant at Harsidhi in East Champaran has been constructed at a cost of Rs 136.4 crores. Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)

• A team from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum (SCTIMST), an autonomous institute of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India has developed a device for the prevention of DVT. • The newly developed device works by compressing the veins in the legs in sequence so that the flow of blood from the veins in the legs is facilitated. • The compression pressure is set in such a way that the veins are compressed but not the arteries. • It is equipped with closed loop monitoring of compression pressure and also has controls through valves which are driven by an electronic circuit. • A dedicated software and a control circuit are provided in the device to ensure that safe compression levels are always maintained. • The device is also equipped with a power supply back-up in case of power failure. About Deep Vein Thrombosis

• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) occurs when a blood clot (thrombus) forms in one or more of the deep veins in your body, usually in your legs. • Deep vein thrombosis can cause leg pain or swelling, but also can occur with no symptoms. • Deep vein thrombosis can develop if you have certain medical conditions that affect how your blood clots. • It can also happen if you don't move for a long time, such as after surgery or an accident, or when you're confined to bed. • Deep vein thrombosis can be very serious because blood clots in your veins can break loose, travel through your bloodstream and lodge in your lungs, blocking blood flow (pulmonary embolism). The Disciple

• Filmmaker Chaitanya Tamhane’s The Disciple won the best Best Screenplay award at Venice International Film Festival. • This is the second award the film got at the festival. Earlier, it was honoured with the International Critics’ Prize awarded by FIPRESCI. • Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland won the prestigious Golden Lion award at the festival. The film stars Oscar-winner Frances McDormand as the lead. • The Disciple was also selected as the only Indian film this year among the official selection of the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. Microsoft • Microsoft said it thwarted recent cyber attacks from China, Russia and Iran targeting both Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns, as technology giants scrambled to protect election security less than two months ahead of the U.S. vote. Key points • Microsoft said that attackers have been targeting staff from the campaigns of President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden. • In recent weeks, Microsoft has detected cyberattacks targeting people and organisations involved in the upcoming presidential election. • The attackers have targeted political operatives, think tanks, consultants and political parties in Europe as well. • It identified a Russia based group called Strontium which has attacked more than 200 organisations,” and China based Zirconium, which has attacked highprofile individuals associated with the election, including people associated with the Joe Biden for President campaign and prominent leaders in the international affairs community. • An Iran based group dubbed Phosphorus has been targeting personal accounts of people associated with the Trump campaign.

Note

• According to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) analysis, Russia is trying to undermine voters' faith in the U.S. electoral system and especially in voting by mail ahead of the November 3 election. • A statement in August from the National Counter intelligence and Security Center said Russia is actively working against Biden's candidacy, favouring Mr. Trump as it did in 2016. Water lily fields in Kottayam The pink vista that covers the backwater villages of Kottayam every monsoon is now going online.

Key points • The pink vista that covers the backwater villages of Kottayam every monsoon is now going online. With just a few weeks left for the water lily blooms to fade, tourism authorities are now capturing the flowers in peak season for online. • The initiative is part of the efforts by the authorities to make sure that people around the world are connected to these destinations despite the existing travel restrictions. • As part of it, agencies including the India Tourism, Kerala Tourism and the Malarikkal Tourism Society have filmed guided tours of the flowering locations and other activities in the region. • These videos will be streamed online through official websites of these agencies over the coming days. • Plans are also afoot to host an e-festival of water lily along the lines of the online Onam celebrations organised by the Kerala Tourism last month.

• Besides the flowers, the tourism departments are shooting videos on the village life experience and backwater tourism potentials of the region covering Kumarakom, Vaikom, Murinjapuzha and Amballur.

• The water lily fields of Kottayam, especially Malarikkal, became one of the most photographed tourist attractions of Kerala during the previous monsoon. These locations were expecting a jump in tourist arrivals when the raging COVID19 made the destination out of bounds for visitors.

• As per estimates, around 80,000 people visited Malarikkal during the flowering season last year and the 120 boat rowers, who ferried these visitors, together earned ₹12 lakh.

• The State government too announced plans to organise a pink water lily festival on the lines of the Tulip Festival in Amsterdam and identified 15 locations for tourism promotion. For Daily Quiz / Interesting facts / Inspiring Videos

Follow Race2IAS on Instagram Water lilies • Nymphaeaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly called water lilies. • They live as rhizomatous aquatic herbs in temperate and tropical climates around the world. • The family contains five genera with about 70 known species. • Water lilies are rooted in soil in bodies of water, with leaves and flowers floating on or emergent from the surface. • The leaves are round, with a radial notch in Nymphaea and Nuphar, but fully circular in Victoria and Euryale. • The tulips are considered a welcome harbinger of spring, and a tulip festival permits residents to see them at their best advantage. • The festivals are also popular tourist attractions. • The tulips are displayed throughout the cities. In certain years the peak of tulips does not coincide with the actual festival due to climatic conditions. Yoshihide Suga

• Japan's ruling party elects Yoshihide Suga as its new leader to succeed PM Shinzo Abe. • Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the country’s longest-serving leader, resigned from his position citing health reasons. • Recently, Japan’s longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ensuring his place as Abe’s successor. • Suga will be formally named as the new prime minister on September 16. • Once he formally takes over, Suga will serve out Abe’s remaining term as party chief until September 2021. UN's Commission on Status of Women

• India has been elected as the member of the Commission on Status of Women (CSW), a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). • India will be a member of the prestigious body for four years from 2021 to 2025. • India, Afghanistan and China had contested the elections to the Commission on Status of Women. While India and Afghanistan won the ballot among the 54 members, China did not make it past the half-way mark. • In June, India was elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. India was elected with overwhelming support, garnering 184 votes out of 192, to become a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the term 2021- 2022. • India's two-year term will begin on January 1, 2021. • This will be the eighth time India will be serving on the Security Council. About UN's Commission on Status of Women( UNCSW) • The UNCSW was established in 1946 as a mechanism to promote, report on and monitor issues relating to the political, economic, civil, social and educational rights of women. • The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women. • UNCSW first met at Lake Success, New York, in February 1947. • The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. • CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women. • Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide. • In April 2017, ECOSOC elected 13 new members to CSW for a four-year term 2018–2022.One of the new members is Saudi Arabia, which has been criticised for its treatment of women. Engineers' Day

• The entire nation celebrates Engineers' Day (September 15) to mark the Birth Anniversary of the renowned Indian engineer Bharat Ratna Mokshagundam Viseswaraya. • Civil Engineer and Statesman, Viseswaraya is popularly known as Sir M.V. He was the Chief Engineer of Krishna Raja Sagara dam in the north west suburb of Mysuru city. • Mokshagundam played crucial role in important constructions and projects in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, two Telugu states. • He used his expertise to solve the erosion problem of Visakhapatnam Port from sea water and also designed flood protection system for Hyderabad, which brought laurels. • Several engineering institutions, organizations and educational institutions celebrate the day by organizing meetings and competitions for students. Mekedatu project

• The Karnataka government is likely to take a delegation, headed by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, to bring pressure on the Centre to approve the construction of the Mekedatu balancing reservoir that has been proposed to store water for drinking purposes. • The ₹ 9,000 crore project, approved by the State government in 2017, has received approval from the Union Water Resources Ministry for the detailed project report and is awaiting approval from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) even as Tamil Nadu has approached the Supreme Court against the project.

Mekedatu • Mekedatu, which literally means ‘Goat’s leap’ in Kannada, is at the confluence of Cauvery and Arkavathi rivers, near Kanakapura in Karnataka state. Harivansh Narayan Singh

• Rajya Sabha re-elected Janata Dal (United) parliamentarian Harivansh Narayan Singh as deputy chairman of the Upper House by voice vote. • Harivansh's name was proposed by BJP president and party MP Jagat Prakash Nadda and seconded by Leader of the House Thavarchand Gehlot. • Harivansh has become Deputy Chairman of the Upper House for the second time. • He was first elected to the post on August 8, 2018. His term as Rajya Sabha member ended in April 2020 and he has been re-elected to the upper House. • Sixty-four-year-old JD-U leader is a post-graduate in economics.

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha • The Deputy Chairman is a constitutional position created under Article 89 of the Constitution, which specifies that Rajya Sabha shall choose one of its MPs to be the Deputy Chairman as often as the position becomes vacant. • The presiding officers of Rajya Sabha are the Chairman and Deputy Chairman. • While Vice President of India serves as ex-officio chairman of Rajya Sabha; the day to day meetings are presided by Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha. • The Deputy Chairman is elected by the Rajya Sabha itself from amongst its members. • Whenever the office of the Deputy Chairman falls vacant, the Rajya Sabha elects another member to fill the vacancy. • The Deputy Chairman vacates his office in any of the following three cases: if he ceases to be a member of the Rajya Sabha; • if he resigns by writing to the Chairman; • if he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the members of the Rajya Sabha. Such a resolution can be moved only after giving 14 days’ advance notice.

Deputy Chairman’s functions as Chairman • In certain circumstances, the Deputy Chairman works as Chairman of Rajya Sabha. For example, if Vice-President is elected as President or is discharging his functions as President due to unavailability of the later, Deputy Chairman works as Chairman of Rajya Sabha Casting Vote • Both chairman and Deputy chairman in Rajya Sabha exercise the casting vote when a tie occurs in voting in Rajya Sabha. • The Deputy Chairman cannot exercise the casting vote when a resolution for his removal is under consideration of the house.

Is Deputy Chairman subordinate to Chairman?

• Deputy Chairman is not subordinate to the Chairman and he is directly responsible to the Rajya Sabha. Three agri reform Bills introduced

Three bills aimed at transformation of agriculture in the country and raising farmers’ income were introduced in Lok Sabha to replace ordinances promulgated on 5th June 2020– The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 • The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 • The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020

The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020

• The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 seeks to provide for the creation of an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to sale and purchase of farmers' produce. • It will also facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels to promote efficient, transparent and barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade and commerce of farmers' produce outside physical premises of markets or deemed markets notified under various State agricultural produce market legislations; to provide a facilitative framework for electronic trading and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020

• The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 seeks to provide for a national framework on farming agreements that protects and empowers farmers to engage with agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for farm services and sale of future farming produce at a mutually agreed remunerative price framework in a fair and transparent manner and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020

• The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 seeks to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities. • This will remove fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference in their business operations. • The freedom to produce, hold, move, distribute and supply will lead to harnessing of economies of scale and attract private sector/foreign direct investment into agriculture sector. The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020

• The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020, that seeks to impose a penalty of up to Rs 1 crore for lapses and violation of airline rules and regulations, was passed by the Rajya Sabha. • The Bill seeks to amend the Aircraft Act, 1934 that regulates the manufacture, possession, use, operation, sale, import and export of civil aircraft, and licensing of aerodromes. • It also seeks to converts three existing bodies—the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), and the Aircraft Accidents Investigation Bureau (AAIB), under the Ministry of Civil Aviation into statutory bodies. • As per the provisions on the Bill, a violation can be punished with up to two years in jail or a fine of up to Rs 10 lakh, or both. • Carrying arms, ammunition, and explosives or other banned goods on board, and illegal construction around airports will attract fines up to Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore. Govt launches Postage Stamp commemorating Mission Shakti's success

• A customized My Stamp on India’s First Anti Satellite Missile (A-SAT) was launched on the occasion of Engineers Day on September 15 in the presence of Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA). The stamp was released by Department of Posts.

About Mission Shakti • Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully conducted an Anti-Satellite (A-SAT) missile test ‘Mission Shakti’ from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha on 27th March 2019. Kerala to have certified snake handlers

• Becoming the first to institutionalise snake handling in the country, the Kerala Forest Department has framed guidelines for rescuing snakes from human dominated places and releasing them in uninhabited areas. • The move to certify snake handlers comes amid allegations of unscientific approaches by snake catchers that tend to create stress to the animal and pose risk to their and others’ lives. • There have also been allegations of snakes being supplied for criminal purposes. The murder of Kollam native Uthra after being bitten by a snake that was allegedly planted in her room by her husband dominated the headlines recently.

Key Points • The guidelines make it mandatory for snake handlers, aged between 21 and 65 years, to seek certification. • The applications will be screened by the Assistant Conservators of Forest (ACF, Social Forestry) to prepare lists of snake handlers in each district. Various parameters, including experience, age, health as well as track record, will be considered during the selection process. • Those shortlisted will be required to undergo a mandatory training on safe and scientific handling of snakes. • While the certification will be valid for five years, the respective ACFs can withdraw or cancel the same if the snake handler is found to be involved in any illegal or unethical practices. • The protocol tasks certified snake handlers with responding to alerts of snake presence in human habitations, informing the caller of the immediate precautions to be adopted, and to intimate the concerned ACF of the activity. They will be required to wear protective gear and equip themselves with safety equipment while on the task. • Rescued snakes will also have to be released in the presence of forest officials at the earliest. If found injured, the snake can be released only after ascertaining its fitness. • Nonnative species, however, cannot be released and have to be handed over to the Forest Department. Beat Forest Officers will also be imparted training on safe handling of snakes at State Forest Training Institutes. • As many as 318 Forest Officers completed the first phase of training recently. National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2020

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is likely to introduce a legislation in the ongoing Parliament session to amend a 1991 Act pertaining to the powers and functions of the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor.

Key Points

• The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2020, to “bring ease in implementation of certain provisions of the Act”, is among more than 20 Bills proposed to be introduced in this Parliament session. • According to a source, the Bill proposes to clearly spell out the functions of the Council of Ministers and the Lieutenant Governor by giving more discretionary powers to the LG. Phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus

• An announcement by an international team of astronomers about the discovery of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus triggered global excitement about the possibility of the presence of lifeforms on the neighbouring planet.

Key findings • In a paper published in Nature Astronomy, a team of scientists have reported traces of phosphine in a concentration of approximately 20 parts per billion, thousands to millions of times more than what could otherwise be expected. • A team of experts used telescopes in Hawaii and Chile’s Atacama Desert to observe Venus’ upper cloud deck, around 60 km from the surface. • They detected traces of phosphine, a flammable gas that on Earth occurs from the breakdown of organic matter. • Apart from being produced in industrial processes, phosphine, a colourless but smelly gas, is known to be made only by some species of bacteria that survive in the absence of oxygen. About Venus • Venus is Earth’s closest planetary neighbour. • Similar in structure but slightly smaller than Earth, it is the second planet from the sun. • Venus is wrapped in a thick, toxic atmosphere that traps in heat. • It has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets, consisting of more than 96% carbon dioxide. • Surface temperatures reach a scorching 880 degrees Fahrenheit (471 degrees Celsius), hot enough to melt lead. • Venus is shrouded by an opaque layer of highly reflective clouds of sulfuric acid, preventing its surface from being seen from space in visible light. • Venus orbits the Sun every 224.7 Earth days. • Venus does not have any moons, a distinction it shares only with Mercury among planets in the Solar System. Phosphine

• Phosphine (IUPAC name: phosphane) is a colorless, flammable, very toxic gas compound with the chemical formula PH3, classed as a pnictogen hydride. • On Earth, microorganisms in “anaerobic” environments – ecosystems that do not rely on oxygen – produce phosphine. These include sewage plants, swamps, rice fields, marshlands, lake sediments and the excrements and intestinal tracts of many animals. • Phosphine also arises non-biologically in certain industrial settings. Sputnik V vaccine to India

• The Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is piloting Russia’s Sputnik V candidate vaccine, currently in Phase 3 trials, has partnered with the Hyderabad based Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to test, and subject to regulatory approvals in India, supply 100 million doses of the vaccine.

About Sputnik V

• The "Sputnik V" is a vaccine developed by the Gamaleya research institute in coordination with the Russian defence ministry. It is based on a proven vaccine against adenovirus - the common cold. • The vaccine is expected to provide immunity from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, for up to two years, according to the Russian health ministry. But the results of the limited trials have yet to be made public. • The vaccine is administered in two doses and consists of two serotypes of human adenovirus, each carrying an S-antigen of the new coronavirus, which enter human cells and produce an immune response. • It is a so-called viral vector vaccine, meaning it employs another virus to carry the DNA encoding of the needed immune response into cells. • The platform used for the vaccine was developed by Russian scientists over 20 years and had formed the basis for several vaccines in the past, including those against Ebola. • Gamaleya's vaccine is based on similar technology to the coronavirus vaccine prototype developed by CanSino, a Chinese vaccine-making company. Solar Cycle 25 • NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced their predictions about the new solar cycle, called Solar Cycle 25, which they believe has begun.

What is a solar cycle? • Since the Sun’s surface is a very active space, electrically charged gases on its surface generate areas of powerful magnetic forces, which are called magnetic fields. • Since the gases on the Sun’s surface are constantly moving, these magnetic fields can get stretched, twisted and tangled creating motion on the surface, which is referred to as solar activity. • Solar activity varied with the stages of the solar cycle, which lasts on average for a period of 11 years. • Scientists track a solar cycle by using sunspots, which are the dark blotches on the Sun that are associated with solar activity. • Sunspots are associated as the origins for giant explosions such as solar flares that can spew light, energy and solar material into space. Sunspots • A Sunspot is an area on the Sun that appears dark on the surface and is relatively cooler than the surrounding parts. • These spots, some as large as 50,000 km in diameter, are the visible markers of the Sun’s magnetic field, which forms a blanket that protects the solar system from harmful cosmic radiation. • When a Sunspot reaches up to 50,000 km in diameter, it may release a huge amount of energy that can lead to solar flares. • The beginning of a solar cycle is typically characterised by only a few sunspots and is therefore referred to as a solar minimum. • Recently, the experts announced that the solar minimum for Solar Cycle 25 occurred in December 2019. It took time for them to announce this because of the variability of the Sun. • Scientists predict a solar maximum (middle of the solar cycle) will be reached by July 2025 and that this solar cycle will be as strong as the last solar cycle, which was a “below-average cycle” but not without risks. How Solar cycles have implications for life and technology on Earth as well as astronauts in space ? • Scientists track solar activity because it can have effects on Earth. For example, when charged particles from coronal mass ejections (CMEs) reach areas near the Earth, they can trigger intense lightning in the skies referred to as auroras. • When CMEs are particularly strong, they can also interfere with the power grids, which can cause electricity shortages and power outages. • Further, solar flares can have a major effect on radio communications, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) connectivity, power grids, and satellites. • NASA notes that solar flares and CMEs are the most powerful explosions in our solar system. • Last month, spaceweather.com reported observing a massive Sunspot group, AR2770, which emitted a few minor solar flares Gaza Strip

• Militants in Gaza launched rockets into Israel and Israeli aircraft hit targets in the Palestinian enclave in an explosive backdrop to the signing of pacts for formal ties between Israel and the two Gulf Arab countries. Gaza Strip • The Gaza Strip or simply Gaza, is a self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, that borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the east and north along a 51 km border. • Gaza and the West Bank are claimed by the de jure sovereign State of Palestine. • The territories of Gaza and the West Bank are separated from each other by Israeli territory. • Both fell under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority, but Gaza has since June 2007 been governed by Hamas, a Palestinian fundamentalist militant Islamic organization which came to power in free elections in 2006. • It has been placed under an Israeli and U.S.-led international economic and political boycott from that time onwards. India joins Djibouti Code of Conduct

• India has joined the Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment, as Observer, following the high level meeting of the Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment (DCOC/JA) held virtually on August 26 boosting its Indian Ocean Region outreach.

Key Points

• DCOC/JA is a grouping on maritime matters comprising 18 member states adjoining the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, the East coast of Africa and Island countries in the IOR. • India joins Japan, Norway, the UK and the US as Observers to the DCOC/JA. • The DCOC, established in January 2009, is aimed at repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean Region, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. • The Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden (the Djibouti Code of Conduct) provides a framework for capacity building in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean to combat the threat of piracy. • It is a partnership of the willing and continues to both deliver against its aims as well as attract increasing membership. • It has evolved with the addition of the Project Implementation Unit and the the Trust Fund into a popular conduit for donors to support ‘bespoke’ counter-piracy projects in the region. • The Code of Conduct concerning the Repression of Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, also referred to as the Djibouti Code of Conduct, was adopted on 29 January 2009 by the representatives of: Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Seychelles, Somalia, the United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen. Comoros, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Mauritius, Mozambique, Oman, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates have since signed bringing the total to 20 countries from the 21 eligible to sign. Kosi Mega Bridge • Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation the "historic" Kosi rail mega bridge through video-conference. • A part from this, the Prime Minister will also inaugurate 12 rail projects related to passenger facilities for the benefit of the Bihar.

Key Points • The 1.9 km long Kosi mega bridge has been completed at a total cost of 516 crore. • With the construction of the bridge the rail distance between Nirmali and Saraigarh would come down from the present 298 kms to 22 kms. • The project was completed during the COVID-pandemic where the migrant labour also participated. The dedication of this project will fulfil the 86 year old dream and the long wait of the people of the region. • During the heavy flood and severe Indo Nepal earthquake in 1934,the rail link was washed away and thereafter due to meandering nature of river Kosi no attempt was made to restore this rail link for long period. • The bridge has connected Mitihila and Kosi region. • This bridge is of strategic importance along Indo - Nepal border. It would also make it easy for long distance travel to Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai for the people of the region.

Note

• Among the 12 other projects to be inaugurated by the PM are two new railway lines,five electrification projects,one electric locomotive shed and third line project between Barh and Bakhatiarpur. • The two new railway line projects that the PM will inaugurate are Hajipur- Ghoswar - Vaishali section as well as Islampur - Nateshar section and Karnauti- Bakhtiarpur by pass rail line between Barh - Bakhtiarpur. Harsimrat Badal

• President of India Ram Nath Kovind has accepted minister of food processing industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s resignation from the Union Cabinet and directed that Narendra Singh Tomar be assigned the additional charge of the ministry. • The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has accepted the resignation of Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal from the Union Council of Ministers, with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution. • Badal resigned from the Union Cabinet in protest against the farm-related Bills. • She walked out of the Lok Sabha when the House was taking up a discussion on the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020, tabled by the NDA government to replace the ordinances issued earlier. Article 75 of the Constitution 1) The Prime Minister shall be appointed by the President and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

1A) The total number of Ministers, including the Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed fifteen per cent. of the total number of members of the House of the People.

2) The Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the President.

3) The Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the House of the People.

4) Before a Minister enters upon his office, the President shall administer to him the oaths of office and of secrecy according to the forms set out for the purpose in the Third Schedule.

5) A Minister who for any period of six consecutive months is not a member of either House of Parliament shall at the expiration of that period cease to be a Minister. Gilgit-Baltistan

• Pakistan has decided to elevate Gilgit Baltistan’s status to that of a fullfledged province, a Pakistani media reported. • India has clearly conveyed to Pakistan that the entire union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including the areas of Gilgit and Baltistan, are an integral part of the country by virtue of its fully legal and irrevocable accession. • The government’s plans were outlined by the federal minister for Kashmir and Gilgit- Baltistan affairs, Ali Amin Gandapur, during an interaction with a group of journalists in Islamabad.

About Gilgit-Baltistan • Gilgit-Baltistan formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory, and constituting the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947, and between India and China from somewhat later. • It is the northernmost territory administered by Pakistan. • It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China, to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered union territories Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the southeast. • Gilgit-Baltistan is part of the greater Kashmir region, which is the subject of a long-running conflict between Pakistan and India. • The territory shares a border with Azad Kashmir, together with which it is referred to by the United Nations and other international organisations as "Pakistan administered Kashmir". • The territory also borders Indian-administered union territories Jammu and Kashmir (union territory) and Ladakh to the south and is separated from it by the Line of Control, the de facto border between India and Pakistan. Zhenhua data leak

• The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) raised the issue of alleged spying carried out by Chinese company Zhenhua Data Information Technology with the Chinese Ambassador. • As per a recent media report, the company has allegedly been spying on prominent Indians. • China said Zhenhua is a private company and stated its position publicly. • Sources said the government is deeply concerned with any report that suggests foreign sources are accessing or seeking to access personal data of Indian citizens without their consent. • According to a investigative report in The Indian Express, A Shenzen-based technology company with links to the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party is keeping an eye on more than 10,000 Indians and organisations. • The company calls itself a pioneer in using big data for 'hybrid warfare' and the 'great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation'. • Over 10,000 prominent Indians including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Kovind, CDS chief Bipin Rawat others are being monitored by China via a Shenzen-based technology company with links to the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party. • The list includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, interim Congress President Sonia Gandhi and their families. • The Government of India has constituted an expert committee under the National Cyber Security Coordinator to study reports released earlier this week saying that a China-based company is mining data and snooping on hundreds of Indian politicians and leaders, including the Prime Minister, President, Chief Justice of India and other chief ministers. • The panel will study these reports, evaluate their implications, assess any violations of law and submit its recommendations within 30 days. Sloth bear

• Authorities at the Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) are concerned over the back to back deaths of two sloth bears at the park.About sloth bears • The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. • Sloth bears live in a variety of dry and moist forests and in some tall grasslands, where boulders, scattered shrubs and trees provide shelter. • Their range includes India, Sri Lanka and southern Nepal. • Historically, sloth bears have also been reported in Bangladesh and Bhutan, but it is unclear whether sloth bears are still present in the wild of these countries. • They are currently considered extirpated, or no longer present, in Bangladesh and may also be absent from Bhutan.It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. • It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss and degradation. Taiwan • While tensions remain high and a military build up continues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, China has ratcheted up tensions on its eastern front, with 18 Chinese fighters and bombers crossing the midline of the Taiwan Strait and flying towards Taiwan in a major show of military force. • The combat drills were aimed to coincide with the visit to Taiwan of U.S. Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach, the most senior official to visit the island in four decades.

About Taiwan

• Taiwan officially the Republic of China (ROC) is a country in East Asia.Neighbouring countries include the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. • The main island of Taiwan has an area of 35,808 square kilometres , with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanised population is concentrated. • Taipei is the capital as well as the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. • With 23.7 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the most densely populated countries, and is the most populous country and largest economy that is not a member of the United Nations (UN). • Taiwan is an island that has for all practical purposes been independent since 1950, but which China regards as a rebel region that must be reunited with the mainland - by force if necessary. • China insists that nations cannot have official relations with both China and Taiwan, with the result that Taiwan has formal diplomatic ties with only a few countries. The US is Taiwan's most important friend and protector. • Despite its diplomatic isolation, Taiwan has become one of Asia's major economic players, and one of the world's top producers of computer technology. Bamboo shoots Bamboo shoots can be among cheapest immunity boosters , experts have said.

Key points • The bamboo, considered the grass of life in the northeast, takes care of almost every requirement from birth to death. But the focus of more than 25 experts from 11 countries who converged digitally to mark ‘World Bamboo Day’ was on the nutraceutical bamboo shoot. • The term ‘nutraceutical’ is used to describe medicinally or nutritionally functional foods while bamboo shoots are the edible sprouts of the perennial grass. “Bamboo shoots are emerging as highvalue and safe edibles and growing in utility globally along with allother value added bamboo products. • The protein content in fresh bamboo shoots, considered as nutraceutical, can range between 1.49-4.04%. • They also contain 17 amino acids, eight of which are essential for the human body. • Bamboo has been a key ingredient in new antimicrobial soaps and hand mists developed by Filipino scientists to fight the novel coronavirus. • Countries such as Philippines have worked wonders with bamboo and bamboo shoots visa-vis COVID19. • Global market • The present global market of bamboo shoots is around $1,700 million. • More than 3 million tonnes of bamboo shoots are consumed across the earth annually, but the shoot production and consumption in India are confined mostly to the northeastern States. • According to the National Bamboo Mission, India has the highest area (13.96 million hectares) under bamboo and is the second richest country after China in terms of bamboo diversity with 136 species. • The annual production of bamboo in India is 14.6 million tonnes and the bamboo rattan industry in the country was worth ₹ 28,005 crore in 2017. • Data with the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) say China exports 68% of the world’s bamboo and rattan products valued at $1,112. Blue Flag • Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) announced at a virtual event that for the first time eight beaches of India are recommended for the coveted International eco-label, the Blue flag certification. • The recommendations are done by an independent National Jury composed of eminent environmentalists & scientists. • Blue Flag beaches are considered the cleanest beaches of the world. • The eight beaches are Shivrajpur in Gujarat, Ghoghla in Daman&Diu, Kasarkod and Padubidri beach in Karnataka, Kappad in Kerala, Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh, Golden beach of Odisha and Radhanagar beach in Andaman and Nicobar. • The event also saw the launch India’s own eco-label BEAMS by e-hoisting the flag - #IAMSAVINGMYBEACH simultaneously at these eight beaches. • SICOM( Society of Integrated Coastal Management) , MoEFCC in pursuit of promoting its policies for sustainable development in coastal regions have embarked upon a highly acclaimed program “BEAMS” (Beach Environment & Aesthetics Management Services) under its ICZM (Integrated Coastal Zone Management) project. • This is one of the several other projects of ICZM that Govt of India is undertaking for the sustainable development of coastal regions, striving for globally recognized and the coveted eco-label ‘Blue flag”. • The flag hoisting program was conducted simultaneously at these 08 beaches virtually from MOEFCC and physically at the beaches by respective States/UTs through its MLAs and/or Chairman of Beach Management Committees (BMCs).

Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)

• With a view to protect and conserve the coastal and marine ecosystems and environment through a holistic coastal management, the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change launched the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) activities in India for a holistic approach with an interactive, dynamic, multidisciplinary, and iterative planning process to promote sustainable development & management of coastal zones through its own wing SICOM. INS Viraat INS Viraat, the Aircraft Carrier with the longest service in the world, commenced its towed final journey on from Mumbai, to be broken at Alang in Gujarat and sold as scrap.

Key points

• The ship was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS (Her Majesty’s Ship) Hermes in November 1959. • During her service with the Royal Navy, the ship operated three fixed-wing planes and a chopper. • The ship belonged to the Centaur class of light fleet carriers from the Royal Navy which were in use since World War II. • She was part of the key formation of the British forces during the Falklands War against the Argentinian forces in 1982. • HMS Hermes was decommissioned within three years after the war. • The Indian Navy, which was at the time operating 1961-commissioned INS Vikrant, zeroed down on Hermes and announced its purchase in 1985-86. • The ship underwent a major refit and modernisation before being commissioned into the Indian Navy in May 1987 as INS (Indian Naval Ship) Viraat, which means enormous. • INS Viraat proved pivotal in Operation Jupiter in 1989 during the Sri Lankan Peacekeeping operation. . The ship was also deployed during 2001-02 operation Operation Parakram following the terror attack on the Indian Parliament. • She has also played a major role in calibrating the flying activities from the carrier, which proved to be of great help at the time of induction of INS Vikramaditya (previously Admiral Gorshkov), which is currently the sole aircraft carrier operated by Indian Navy. • With mounting operating costs and age, the Navy announced the decision to decommission Viraat in early 2015. • After the requisite pre-decommissioning processes at Kochi Shipyard, the ‘Grand Old Lady’ was decommissioned on March 6 in 2017, in a ceremony held at Mumbai. • There were plans and even some movements by the state governments of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh governments at the time towards preserving the historic carrier and converting it into a museum. • Since 2017, India has been operating a single carrier — INS Vikramaditya — as against the minimum essential operational requirement of having two Carrier Battle Groups — which are formations of ships and submarines with Aircraft Carriers at the lead role.

Note

• India’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-I) INS Vikrant which has a displacement comparable to Vikramaditya is under construction at Kochi Shipyard and is soon expected to undergo sea trials. • The Navy’s Maritime Capability Perspective Plan looks at three carriers in total considering one of them requiring to be under refit. • This requirement becomes crucial considering China’s aim to gain control over the Indian Ocean Region and sea routes which are key for world trade. PLA Navy’s present strength is of two carriers with plans to double it by the end of 2020s. 'FELUDA'

• The Tata Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, CRISPR test, powered by CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) FELUDA has received regulatory approvals from the Drug Controller General of India for commercial launch. • As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines, the test has met high quality benchmarks with 96 per cent sensitivity and 98 per cent specificity for detecting the Novel Corona virus. • This test uses an indigenously developed, cutting-edge CRISPR technology for detection of the genomic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 virus. CRISPR is a genome editing technology to diagnosing diseases. • The Tata CRISPR test is the world’s first diagnostic test to deploy a specially adapted Cas9 protein to successfully detect the virus causing COVID-19. • This marks a significant achievement for the Indian scientific community, moving from Research and Development to a high-accuracy, scalable and reliable test in less than 100 days. . Yasukuni Shrine

• Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine for war dead, his first visit since December 2013, after refraining from doing so for most of his term to avoid angering China and South Korea. • Mr. Abe announced the visit on his social media account along with a photo of himself at the shrine, just days after Yoshihide Suga succeeded him as Japan’s leader. • Japan’s longest serving leader announced his resignation in late August, citing health problems. • The shrine is seen by Beijing and Seoul as a symbol of Japan’s past military aggression because it honours 14 Japanese wartime leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal as well as war dead. • Mr. Abe had visited the shrine in person once during his last tenure as Prime Minister but regularly sent offerings via an aide on the anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War Two and during the shrine’s spring and autumn festivals. Brucellosis disease

As the novel coronavirus pandemic continues, the health commission of Lanzhou City in China announced this week that a leak in a biopharmaceutical company last year caused an outbreak of brucellosis disease.

About Brucellosis • Brucellosis is a bacterial disease that mainly infects cattle, swine, goats, sheep and dogs. • Humans can get infected if they come in direct contact with infected animals or by eating or drinking contaminated animal products or by inhaling airborne agents. • According to the WHO, most cases of the disease are caused by ingesting unpasteurised milk or cheese from infected goats or sheep. • Human to human transmission of the virus is rare Symptoms of the disease • Symptoms of the disease include fever, sweats, malaise, anorexia, headache and muscle pain. • While some signs and symptoms can last for long periods of time, others may never go away. These include recurrent fevers, arthritis, swelling of the testicles and scrotum area, swelling of the heart, neurologic symptoms, chronic fatigue, depression and swelling of the liver or spleen.

Other disease outbreaks since COVID-19

Hantavirus

• Hantavirus: In March, China’s English daily Global Times reported the death of a person from Yunnan Province who tested positive for the hantavirus. • The hantavirus is not novel and its first case dates back to 1993, according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC). It is contracted by humans from infected rodents. African Swine Fever

• African Swine Fever (AFS): Amid the COVID-19 lockdown, an outbreak of ASF killed thousands of pigs in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. • ASF is a severe viral disease that affects wild and domestic pigs typically resulting in an acute haemorrhagic fever. • The disease has a case fatality rate (CFR) of almost 100 per cent. • Its routes of transmission include direct contact with an infected or wild pig (alive or dead), indirect contact through ingestion of contaminated material such as food waste, feed or garbage, or through biological vectors such as ticks. Hundreds of whales stranded in Australia

• At least twenty five whales have died and scientists are trying to rescue 250 more that are stranded in a remote bay on the Australian island of Tasmania. • Tasmania’s environment department said the whales had become stuck on a sandbar in Macquarie Harbour, on the island’s rugged and sparsely populated west coast.

Whales • Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. • They are an informal grouping within the infraorder Cetacea, usually excluding dolphins and porpoises. Whales, dolphins and porpoises belong to the order Cetartiodactyla, which consists of even-toed ungulates. • Scientists estimate that there are over 80 species of cetacean. • This distinctive and charismatic group includes the largest animal that ever lived and the longest-lived mammal. • Some cetacean species demonstrate highly developed methods of communication including long and complex ‘songs’. • Others navigate and locate their prey via echo-location, generating their own sound waves.

INTERNATIONAL WHALING COMMISSION • The International Whaling Commission is an Inter-governmental Organisation whose purpose is the conservation of whales and the management of whaling. • The legal framework of the IWC is the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. • This Convention was established in 1946, making it one of the first pieces of international environmental legislation. • All member countries of the IWC are signatories to this Convention. • The IWC has a current membership of 88 Governments from countries all over the world. • The IWC is the global body charged with the conservation of whales and the management of whaling. • The IWC currently has 88 member governments from countries all over the world. • The IWC has a full-time Secretariat with headquarters located near the City of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Govt announces increase in MSPs for six Rabi crops

• Union Government has announced increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all mandated Rabi crops. • The decision was taken in the meeting of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs held under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. • The MSP of six Rabi crops including Wheat, Chana, Masoor, Mustard, Jowar and Safflower has been hiked in the range of 50 to 300 rupees.

Minimum Support Price

• Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices. • The minimum support prices are announced by the Government of India at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). • MSP is price fixed by Government of India to protect the producer - farmers - against excessive fall in price during bumper production years. • The minimum support prices are a guarantee price for their produce from the Government. • The major objectives are to support the farmers from distress sales and to procure food grains for public distribution. • In case the market price for the commodity falls below the announced minimum price due to bumper production and glut in the market, government agencies purchase the entire quantity offered by the farmers at the announced minimum price.

Who Decides MSP ? • The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs announces MSP for various crops at the beginning of each sowing season based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). • The CACP takes into account demand and supply, the cost of production and price trends in the market among other things when fixing MSPs. • The FCI, Food Corporation of India and Nafed, National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India help the Centre procure select food crops with the help of the States. • Procured farm products are kept in government warehouses and distributed through the PDS and various food security programmes.

Difference between MSP and procurement price : • Procurement price are the prices which are higher than the MSP but lower than the market price. • The procurement price are generally announced soon after the harvest. • Another price, issue price, is the price at which the procured and buffer stock food grains are provided through the PDS. Navy’s first women airborne tacticians

• The Indian Navy announced that for the first time, two women officers will operate flying missions from warships. • The Navy deploys women staffers in logistics and medical wings on-board fleet tankers, but it will be for the first time they will be onboard destroyers and frigates. • The two officers, Sub Lieutenant (SLt) Kumudini Tyagi and SLt Riti Singh, are “part of a group of 17 officers of the Indian Navy, including four women officers and three officers of the Indian Coast Guard (13 officers of Regular batch and 4 women officers of Short Service Commission batch)” who were awarded “wings” as observers on Monday at a ceremony in Kochi. No confidence motion

• Twelve Opposition parties gave notice for a no confidence motion against Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Singh, accusing him of violating parliamentary procedures in trying to pass the farm sector Bills in haste, circumventing all demands for proper voting.

What is a no-confidence motion? • A government can function only when it has majority support in the Lok Sabha. • The party can remain in power when it shows its strength through a floor test which is primarily taken to know whether the executive enjoys the confidence of the legislature. • If any member of the House feels that the government in power does not have a majority then he/she can move a no-confidence motion. If the motion is accepted, then the party in power has to prove its majority in the House. • The member need not give a reason for moving the no-confidence motion. • How it works? • A no-confidence motion can be moved by any member of the House. • It can be moved only in the Lok Sabha and not Rajya Sabha. • Rule 198 of the Rules of Procedure and conduct of Lok Sabha specifies the procedure for moving a no- confidence motion. • The member has to give a written notice of the motion before 10 am which will be read out by the Speaker in the House. • A minimum of 50 members have to accept the motion and accordingly, the Speaker will announce the date for discussion for the motion. • The allotted date has to be within 10 days from the day the motion is accepted. Otherwise, the motion fails and the member who moved the motion will be informed about it. • If the government is not able to prove its majority in the House, then the government of the day has to resign. Kakati Devi temple

• The Archaeological Survey of India, Southern Region, has stumbled upon a distinctive limestone idol of Kakati Devi, the family Goddess of Kakatiya rulers. • The idol was discovered on the premises of Balusulamma Temple (The Balusulamma Temple was built by Kakatiya rulers) at Dharanikota village on the right bank of Krishna river in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh. • As part of the temple survey project, the ASI is surveying the shrines in Amaravati region in Guntur district, which flourished under the regime of Kakatiya rulers between 11 AD and 13 AD. what occasion the idol was consecrated at the temple • After successfully annexing the Andhra region into the kingdom, Ganapati Deva also made matrimonial alliances with the Kota chiefs of the Dharanikota region by giving his daughter, Ganapamba, in marriage to Kota Beta Raja. Pandemic puts on hold Kashmiri wedding tradition of eating together from one plate/ • The unprecedented COVID19 pandemic, which is wreaking havoc the world over, has hit the Kashmir Valley’s centuries old culinary tradition of ‘trami’ — eating together from one plate during weddings. • In ‘trami’, four guests join in simultaneously to have their portion of food from around a circular 2X2 ft decorated copper plate. • In a wedding, ‘Trami’ sees people sitting around and eating from one plate irrespective of their class and caste. It symbolised brotherhood and sharing.

Key points • During the Sultan period, especially during eighth Sultan Zainul Abidin, between 1418 and 1470, saw popularisation of ‘Trami’. Since then, it has become central to weddings, with very minor changes in the sequencing of dishes over the centuries. • Serving of ‘Wazwan’ (array of meat dishes) on ‘Trami’ during weddings was adopted increa/singly by the local population during the Sultan period in the 14th century and it became a unique feature./ ABHYAS

• India successfully conducted the flight test of ABHYAS - High-Speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) vehicles from a test range in Odisha. • The trial, carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near Odisha's Balasore, was tracked by various radars and electro-optic systems • ABHYAS has been designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) of the DRDO. • The air vehicle is launched using twin underslung boosters. It is powered by a small gas turbine engine and has an Inertial Navigation System (INS) along with a Flight Control Computer (FCC) for guidance and control. • The vehicle has been programmed for fully autonomous flight. The check out of the vehicle is done using laptop-based Ground Control Station (GCS). • During the test campaign, the user requirement of 5 kilometres flying altitude, vehicle speed of 0.5 mach, endurance of 30 minutes and 2g turn capability of the test vehicle were successfully achieved. YuWaah • Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) have signed a “Statement of Intent” to establish YuWaah, Generation Unlimited (GenU), a global multi-stakeholder platform in India. • As per the Statement of Intent, the objectives of this project are:

Support young people by providing entrepreneurship classes (online and offline) with successful entrepreneurs and experts, towards establishing entrepreneurial mindset among young people. • Upskilling of young people on 21st century skills, life skills, digital skills through online and offline channels and support them through self-learning, for their productive lives and the future of work. • Create linkages with aspirational economic opportunities to connect young people with employment opportunities, including building pathways to connect them with jobs or self-employment. For this, innovative solutions and technology platforms will be engages to take maximize the scale and reach.

// Rajya Sabha passes 7 key bills • In one of the most productive days in its history, Rajya Sabha passed seven key bills, including one that removes cereals, pulses and onion from the essential commodities list, within three-and-half hours even as the Lok Sabha saw the Opposition boycotting proceedings over farm bills and suspension of members in the Upper House.

Key points

• The first Bill passed was the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 that seeks to declare five Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) set up under the public private partnership mode in Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala, and Raichur as institutions of national importance. • The crucial Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, which removes cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, onion and potatoes from the list of essential commodities and removes stock holding limits on them, was passed next. This bill is part of the agriculture reform bills that the government is pushing to raise farm incomes. • Rajya Sabha also passed amendments to the Bank Regulation Act to bring cooperative banks under the supervision of the RBI in a bid to protect the interest of depositors. • Thereafter the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020, which removes the penalty for certain offences, was passed. • The fifth Bill that was cleared was the National Forensic Sciences University Bill, 2020.The Bill seeks to establish the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar and the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Sciences, New Delhi, as a National Forensic Sciences University, Gujarat.The Bill declares the University to be an Institution Of National Importance. • The House also passed the Rashtriya Raksha University Bill, 2020 to upgrade the Gandhinagar police training university to a national university. • The seventh Bill — the Taxation and Other Laws (Relaxation and Amendment of Certain Provisions) Bill, 2020 — was returned by Rajya Sabha. Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros

• Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said India is home to the largest number of Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros in the world with population in the range of 3000 animals in Assam, West Bengal and UP.

About Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros

• The Indian rhinoceros also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros and great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinocerosspecies native to the Indian subcontinent. • It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. • The Indian rhinoceros once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, but excessive hunting and agricultural development reduced its range drastically to 11 sites in northern Indiaand southern Nepal. • It inhabits the alluvial grasslands of the Terai and the Brahmaputra basin. • The Indian rhinoceros is regionally extinct in Pakistan. • One horned rhino was close to extinction with a population of less than 200 in the beginning of the 20th century. • It is the only large mammal species in Asia to be down-listed from endangered to vulnerable in the International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN Red list in 2008 • The Indian and Nepalese governments have taken major steps toward Indian Rhinoceros conservation with the help of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). • The Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park in Assam, Pobitora reserve forest in Assam (having the highest Indian rhino density in the world), Orang National park of Assam, Laokhowa reserve forest of Assam having a very small population and Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal are homes for this endangered animal.

National Conservation Strategy for Indian One-Horned Rhino • During the occasion of World Rhino Day, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar has launched a National Conservation Strategy for the Indian One-Horned Rhino. .// Marathas to get EWS benefits

• To pacify the agitating members of the Maratha community, after the Supreme Court’s stay on the reservation, the State Cabinet extended benefits to the community under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota. • Till now the Maratha community was not eligible for benefits under the EWS quota as they were categorised as the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) and were provided 16% reservation under that category.

Economically Weaker Section (EWS)

• The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019, the Act providing 10 percent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of General Category, came into effect on January 14, 2019. • The move came after the Union Government exercised its powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 and appointed January 14, 2019 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force. • The Act amends Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution, by adding a clause which allows states to make special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of general category. Note • The Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill 2019 is designed to amend the Constitution to extend 10 per cent reservation in direct recruitment in government jobs and for admission in higher educational institutions to “economically weaker” sections among all castes and communities, Christians and Muslims included, who are not eligible under the existing quotas. • The 10 per cent reservation will be in addition to the existing cap of 50 per cent reservation for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes, taking total reservation to 60 per cent. • The quota targets the poor among the upper castes. Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill

• Parliament has passed the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 with Rajya Sabha giving its nod. • The bill amends the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 which regulates the acceptance and utilization of foreign contribution by individuals, associations and companies. Foreign contribution is the donation or transfer of any currency, security or article by a foreign source. • The bill adds that the public servants will be prohibited to accept any foreign contribution. • It provides that any person seeking prior permission, registration or renewal of registration must provide the Aadhaar number of all its office bearers, directors or key functionaries as an identification document. • The bill states that foreign contributions must be received only in an account designated by the bank as an FCRA account as notified by the Central Government.

Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010

• The FCRA Act, 2010 is an act of the Parliament of India, whose scope is to regulate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by certain individuals or associations or companies and to prohibit acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for any activities detrimental to the national interest and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. • Foreign funding of voluntary organizations in India is regulated under FCRA act and is implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs. • The Acts ensures that the recipients of foreign contributions adhere to the stated purpose for which such contribution has been obtained. Under the Act, organisations require to register themselves every five years. China pledges to be ‘carbon-neutral’ by 2060

• China, the world’s biggest producer of greenhouse gases, has said it will cut its carbon dioxide emissions to nearly zero by 2060. • The goals, which include a pledge to reach peak emissions in 2030, are the most concrete ones yet announced by China, which is the world's biggest polluter and accounts for a quarter of the planet's greenhouse gas emissions. • Speaking to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping renewed his support for the Paris climate accord and called for a ‘green focus’ as the world recovers from the COVID19 crisis. About Paris Agreement • The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas- emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016. • The agreement's language was negotiated by representatives of 196 state parties at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC in Le Bourget, near Paris, France, and adopted by consensus on 12 December 2015. • As of February 2020, all UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, 189 have become party to it,and the only significant emitters which are not parties are Iran and Turkey. • The Paris Agreement's long-term temperature goal is to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels; and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 °C , recognizing that this would substantially reduce the risks and impacts of climate change. • This should be done by reducing emissions as soon as possible, in order to "achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases" in the second half of the 21st century. • It also aims to increase the ability of parties to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, and make "finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development." • Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan, and regularly report on the contribution that it undertakes to mitigate global warming. • Under the Paris Agreement, each country must determine, plan, and regularly report on the contribution that it undertakes to mitigate global warming. • No mechanism forces a country to set a specific emissions target by a specific date, but each target should go beyond previously set targets. • In June 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the agreement. Under the agreement, the earliest effective date of withdrawal for the U.S. is November 2020, shortly before the end of President Trump's 2016 term. Group of 4

• Foreign Ministers from the Group of 4 — India, Brazil, Japan and Germany — a group that is seeking permanent membership of the UN Security Council (UNSC), met virtually to further their objective. • The four countries stressed delivering concrete outcomes, in writing and within a time frame.

About G4 • G4 is a group comprising four member countries Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan. • Establishment of the Forum: The group was founded in 2005. The Objectives of Forum: • The main aim of the G4 nations is to support each other’s bid for permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). • According to the G4 nations, it is very important to expand the UNSC, in order to enhance the equitable representation of different regions such as Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin-America, as well the reform of UNSC will ensure the effectiveness of the organisation. Current, Permanent Members of the UNSC: • Currently, there are five permanent members of the UNSC with Veto Power France, China, Russia, The UK, and The US. • Out of five permanent members of the UNSC, three members France, The UK, and The US have maintained their seats since the UN founding and the People's Republic of China replaced the Republic of China in 1971 whereas Russia replaced the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1991. Opposition: • Some countries are opposing the bids of G4 nations in UNSC.

• There is a movement named Uniting for Consensus, also known as Coffee Club, that developed in 1990 in opposition to the possible expansion of permanent seats in the UNSC and currently, its aim is to counter the bids for permanent seats by G4 nations in the UNSC. • The countries opposing the bids of G4 nations for permanent seats in the UNSC. • Countries opposing the bids of Brazil are Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Uruguay. • Countries opposing the bids of Germany are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Spain. • Countries opposing the bids of Japan are China, North Korea, and South Korea. • Countries opposing the bids of India are China and Pakistan. • Headquarter:G4 nations don't have headquarter. Shinkun La Tunnel • National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) under Ministry of Road, Transport & Highways has speeded up the detailed project report (DPR) work on the World’s Longest High-Altitude Shinkun La Tunnel. • Aside from the tunnel, the company has also sped up the DPR of its approach roads in UT of Ladakh and Lahaul-Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh.

About Shinkun La Tunnel • On completion of this tunnel, the Manali - Kargil highway will remain open throughout the year. • The 13.5 Km long tunnel under the Shingo La pass will enable all-weather road connectivity between Manali and Nimu via Shingo La and Padum. • The tunnel will provide all-weather road connectivity between Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir in Zanskar valley. • With the construction of the tunnel, inhabitants of around 15-odd villages of Zanskar Valley in Jammu and Kashmir will be relieved since the valley remains cut off due to heavy snowfall during the winter. Shivangi Singh

• Flight Lieutenant Shivangi Singh is set to become India’s first woman fighter pilot to fly the Rafale aircraft that was formally inducted into the Indian Air Force on September 10. • Singh, who hails from Varanasi, is currently being trained to fly IAF’s newest fighter based in Ambala. • She is undergoing conversion training to fly the Rafale jet and will soon join the Ambala-based No. 17 squadron, also known as “Golden Arrows.” • The officer, who is one of IAF’s 10 women fighter pilots, joined the air force in 2017. • After joining IAF, she has been flying the MiG-21 Bison aircraft and was till recently serving at a fighter base in Rajasthan. The ‘Technology Vision for Cyber Security for Urban Cooperatve Banks (UCBs) 2020-2023’

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has come out with a document to enhance cybersecurity of urban cooperative banks (UCBs). • The ‘Technology Vision for Cyber Security for Urban Cooperatve Banks (UCBs) 2020- 2023’ has been formalised based on inputs from various stakeholders. • It plans to achieve its objective through a five pillared strategic approach GUARD, viz. Governance Oversight, Utile Technology Investment, Appropriate Regulation and Supervision, Robust Collaboration and Developing necessary IT, cybersecurity skill sets. • With concerted efforts and involvement of all stake holders, the Technology Vision Document for Cyber Security for UCBs, with its 12 specific action points, aspires to • Involve more Board Oversight over Cyber security • Enable UCBs to better manage and secure their IT Assets • Implement an offsite supervisory mechanism framework for UCBs on cyber security related controls • Develop a forum for UCBs so that they can share best practices and discuss practical issues and challenges • Implement framework for providing awareness/ training for all UCBs. • The cyber security landscape will continue to evolve with wider adoption of digital banking channels, thus necessitating the UCBs to manage the associated risks effectively. Active collaboration within UCBs and their stakeholders would be necessary for sharing and coordinating various measures taken on cyber security aspects. • The implementation of the approach outlined in this Technology Vision document will strengthen the cyber resilience of the Urban Co-operative Banks. South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

• India and Pakistan crossed swords over terrorism and Jammu and Kashmir at the Foreign Minister’s meetings of the 8 nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the 27nation Conference on Interaction and ConfidenceBuilding Measures in Asia (CICA hosted by Kazakhstan).

About South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) • The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. • SAARC comprises of eight Member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. • The Secretariat of the Association was set up in Kathmandu on 17 January 1987. • Afghanistan became the newest member of SAARC at the 13th annual summit in 2005. Objectives • The objectives of the Association as outlined in the SAARC Charter are: • To promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life • To accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potentials • To promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia • To contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems; to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields • To strengthen cooperation with other developing countries • To strengthen cooperation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interests • To cooperate with international and regional organizations with similar aims and purposes. Principal Organs • Meeting of Heads of State or Government • Meetings are held at the Summit level, usually on an annual basis. • Standing Committee of Foreign Secretaries • The Committee provides overall monitoring and coordination, determines priorities, mobilizes resources, and approves projects and financing.

Secretariat • The SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987. • Its role is to coordinate and monitor the implementation of SAARC activities, service the meetings of the association and serve as a channel of communication between SAARC and other international organizations. • The Secretariat comprises the secretary-general, seven directors, and the general services staff. • The secretary-general is appointed by the Council of Ministers on the principle of rotation, for a non- renewable tenure of three years. Centre for Disability Sports

• The foundation stone of ‘Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh’ was laid at a function organized by DEPwD, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. • Setting up of a Centre for Disability Sports at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh was approved by the Cabinet. Total estimated cost to set up the Centre is Rs.170.99 crore. • The Centre will be registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. • The Centre will provide facilities of international standards to sports persons with disabilities to compete at international level and bring laurels for the country. • It will have an Outdoor Athletic Stadium, Indoor Sports Complex, Basement Parking Facility; Aquatic Centre having 2 Swimming Pools, one covered Pool and an Outdoor Pool; High Performance Centre with classrooms; medical facilities; Sports Science Centre; hostel facilities for athletes, support facilities including accessible lockers, dining, recreational amenities and Administrative Block. National Medical Commission comes into existence

• The National Medical Commission (NMC), in place of the Medical Council of India (MCI), as the country's apex regulator of medical education and profession has come into existence from today. • With the NMC coming into being, the Board of Governors (BoG) which superseded the MCI on September 26th, 2018, to perform its functions, has been dissolved and the nearly 64-year-old Indian Medical Council Act abolished. • The setting up of NMC was a government move to bring reforms in the medical education sector, especially aimed at replacing the MCI, which was tainted by corruption. • The NMC will have four separate autonomous boards: under-graduate medical education, post-graduate medical education, medical assessment and rating and ethics and medical registration. Prepare for IAS at the comfort of your home

SCHOOL & COLLEGE STUDENTS

Register now : Call/ Whatsapp 6238427443 | 7594875084 • The common final year Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) examination will now be known as the National Exit Test (NEXT), according to the new medical education structure under the NMC.

• NEXT will act as licentiate examination to practice medicine, the criteria for admission to post -graduate (PG) medical courses, and also for screening of foreign medical graduates.

• Besides, the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET), NEXT will also be applicable to institutes of national importance such as all the AIIMS in a bid to ensure a common standard in the medical education sector in the country. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has identified the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) and The New India Assurance Co. as Domestic Systemically Important Insurers (DSIIs) for 2020-21. • Given the nature of operations and their systemic importance, the regulator has asked the three public sector insurers to raise the level of corporate governance, identify all relevant risks and promote a sound risk management culture.

Domestic Systemically Important Insurers (DSIIs) • As DSIIs, they will also be subjected to enhanced iregulatory supervision. • DSIIs refer to insurers of such size, market importance and domestic and global inter connectedness whose distress or failure would cause a significant dislocation in the domestic financial system. • Their continued functioning is critical for the uninterrupted availability of insurance services to the national economy. • DSIIs are perceived as insurers that are too big or too important to fail. Such a perception and the expectation of government support may amplify risk taking, reduce market discipline, create competitive distortions and increase the possibility of distress in future. • Thus, DSIIs should be subjected to additional regulatory measures to deal with the systemic risks and moral hazard issues. • Size in terms of total revenue, including premium underwritten and the value of assets under management are among the parameters on which the insurers are identified. About Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is an autonomous, statutory body tasked with regulating and promoting the insurance and re-insurance industries in India. • It was constituted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999, an Act of Parliament passed by the Government of India. • The agency's headquarters are in Hyderabad, Telangana, where it moved from Delhi in 2001. • IRDAI is a 10-member body including the chairman, five full-time and four part-time members appointed by the government of India. India-Japan Maritime bilateral exercise ‘JIMEX’

• The fourth edition of India-Japan Maritime bilateral exercise (JIMEX) begins in North Arabian Sea from today. • The exercise is conducted biennially between the Indian Navy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). • ‘JIMEX’ series of exercises commenced in January 2012 with special focus on maritime security cooperation. • The last edition of JIMEX was conducted in October 2018 off Visakhapatnam coast. • JIMEX 20 will be spread over three days and is being conducted in a ‘non-contact at- sea-only format’, in view of COVID-19 restrictions. • JIMEX 20 will further enhance the cooperation and mutual confidence between the two navies and fortify the long standing bond of friendship between the two countries. Clashes erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan • Clashes erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the volatile Nagorno Karabakh region, reigniting concern about instability in the South Caucasus, a corridor for pipelines transporting oil and gas to world markets. • Both sides, which fought awar in the 1990s, reported fatalities. • Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, a breakaway region that is inside Azerbaijan but is run by ethnic Armenians, declared martial law and mobilised their male populations. • Armenia said Azerbaijan had carried out an air and artillery attack on NagornoKarabakh.

Nagorno-Karabakh - key facts • A mountainous region of about 4,400 sq km (1,700 sq miles) • Traditionally inhabited by Christian Armenians and Muslim Turks • In Soviet times, it became an autonomous region within the republic of Azerbaijan • Internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but majority of population is ethnic Armenian • An estimated one million people displaced by 1990s war, and about 30,000 killed • Separatist forces captured some extra territory around the enclave in Azerbaijan in the 1990s war • Stalemate has largely prevailed since a 1994 ceasefire • Russia has traditionally been seen as an ally of the Armenians SANDALWOOD SPIKE DISEASE (SSD)

• India’s sandalwood trees, the country’s pride — particularly of Karnataka — are facing a serious threat with the return of the destructive Sandalwood Spike Disease (SSD). • The infection has resurfaced in the aromatic tree’s natural habitats in Karnataka and Kerala. • According to a study by scientists R. Sundararaj and R. Raja Rishi of the Bengaluru based Institute of Wood Science & Technology (IWST), the natural population of sandalwood in Marayoor of Kerala and various reserve forests in Karnataka, including MM Hills, are heavily infected with SSD for which there is no cure as of now. • Presently, there is no option but to cut down and remove the infected tree to prevent the spread of the disease, caused by phytoplasma — bacterial parasites of plant tissues — which are transmitted by insect vectors. Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill

• President Ram Nath Kovind gave assent to the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020, which was recently passed by the parliament. • A new law that provides for inclusion of Kashmiri, Dogri and Hindi in the list of official languages in Jammu and Kashmir, in addition to Urdu and English. • Around 74 per cent people in the Union Territory spoke the Kashmiri and Dogri languages. • According to the 2011 census, only 0.16 per cent of the population of Jammu and Kashmir spoke Urdu, while 2.3 per cent spoke Hindi. Note • The central government in August last year abrogated Article 370 which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated the state into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. • The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is currently under the President's rule. International Day for Universal Access to Information

• Recognizing the significance of access to information, the 74th UN General Assembly proclaimed 28 September as the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) at the UN level in October 2019. • The day had been proclaimed by the UNESCO General Conference in 2015, following the adoption of the 38 C/Resolution 57 declaring 28 September of every year as International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI). • IDUAI 2020 will be focus on to the right to information in times of crisis and on the advantages of having constitutional, statutory and/or policy guarantees for public access to information to save lives, build trust and help the formulation of sustainable policies through and beyond the COVID-19 crisis. • IDUAI 2020 themes : “Access to Information – Saving lives, Building Trust, Bringing Hope” India-Sri Lanka Talks

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Sri Lanka to fully implement the 13th amendment as Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa asserted that the aspirations of Tamils will be met as per the electoral mandate and “constitutional provisions”. Key points • According to the joint statement issued after the virtual summit, Modi called on Sri Lanka to “address the aspirations of the Tamil people for equality, justice, peace and respect within a united Sri Lanka, including by carrying forward the process of reconciliation with the implementation of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka”. • This was the first formal meeting between the two leaders after Rajapaksa was elected with an overwhelming majority in August’s parliamentary elections. • After the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) secured an unprecedented landslide win, Colombo moved full steam ahead in starting the legislative process to remove provisions of the constitution that put shackles on presidential powers. • The Sri Lankan cabinet also quickly set up an experts committee to draft a new constitution. There were concern among observers that the main aim of this exercise was to remove the clauses in the constitution introduced by the 13th amendment, especially with ministers asserting that those provisions need to be eliminated. • During the summit, India announced a grant assistance of $15 million for promotion of Buddhist ties, which will include renovation of monasteries, cultural exchanges, reciprocal exposition of sacred relics and supporting the clergy. • It was also agreed that the Indian side would facilitate the visit of a delegation of Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka in the first inaugural flight to Sacred City of Kushinagar.

Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka • The 13th Amendment was a consequence of the Indian intervention in Sri Lanka between 1987-1990. It flowed from the India-Sri Lanka Accord of July 29, 1987. Sri Lanka is a unitary country, and the 1978 Constitution had concentrated all powers in the centre. • As per the 13th amendment, Sri Lanka was divided into nine provinces each governed by a council headed by an elected chief minister. The north and east was merged into one province called North-East province. • The agreement was aimed at finding a way forward on devolution of political powers to the then North- Eastern province, comprising the Tamil dominated areas of the island country. • Under the terms of the Accord (also known as the Jayawardene-Rajiv Gandhi agreement), the Sri Lankan parliament brought in the 13th Amendment, which provided for a system of elected provincial councils across Sri Lanka. United Nations Security Council (UNSC)

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for India’s inclusion as a permanent member of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as he asked how long will his country be “kept out of the decision-making structures” of the global body.

About United Nations Security Council (UNSC) • The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter. • Its powers include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. • The UNSC is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions on member states. • The Security Council consists of fifteen members, of which five are permanent: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. • These were the great powers, or their successor states, that were the victors of World War II. • Permanent members can veto any substantive resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or nominees for the office of Secretary-General. • The remaining ten members are elected on a regional basis to serve a term of two years. The body's presidency rotates monthly among its members. Official Secrets Act

• The Delhi police has arrested a strategic affairs analyst and two others – a 30- year-old Chinese woman and her “Nepalese accomplice” – under the Official Secrets Act (OSA). • The police claimed that Rajeev Sharma, the analyst, had passed on information such as the deployment of Indian troops on the border to Chinese intelligence officers.

• What is the Official Secrets Act? OSA has its roots in the British colonial era. The original version was The Indian Official Secrets Act (Act XIV), 1889. • This was brought in with the main objective of muzzling the voice of a large number of newspapers that had come up in several languages, and were opposing the Raj’s policies, building political consciousness and facing police crackdowns and prison terms. • It was amended and made more stringent in the form of The Indian Official Secrets Act, 1904, during Lord Curzon’s tenure as Viceroy of India. • In 1923, a newer version was notified. The Indian Official Secrets Act (Act No XIX of 1923) was extended to all matters of secrecy and confidentiality in governance in the country. • It broadly deals with two aspects — spying or espionage, covered under Section 3, and disclosure of other secret information of the government, under Section 5. • Secret information can be any official code, password, sketch, plan, model, article, note, document, or information. • Under Section 5, both the person communicating the information and the person receiving the information can be punished. • For classifying a document, a government Ministry or Department follows the Manual of Departmental Security Instructions, 1994, not under OSA. Also, OSA itself does not say what a “secret” document is. It is the government’s discretion to decide what falls under the ambit of a “secret” document to be charged under OSA. • It has often been argued that the law is in direct conflict with the Right to Information Act, 2005. International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction

• The first ever observance of the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction is being celebrated on 29 September, 2020. It was designated in 2019 by the 74th United Nations General Assembly. Key point • With a view to promote and implement global efforts to resolve the issue of food wastage, the United Nations General Assembly in 2019 designated 29 September as International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. • The idea was to take steps towards responsible consumption and production as well as zero hunger, along with working towards addressing the problem of climate change through sustainable food habits. Scrub typhus outbreak • An outbreak of scrub typhus, a bacterial disease, has claimed the lives of five people in Nagaland’s Noklak district bordering Myanmar, officials said. • More than 600 others tested positive for the disease but recovered after treatment. About Scrub typhus • Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi. • Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). • The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body aches, and sometimes rash. Most cases of scrub typhus occur in rural areas of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, China, Japan, India, and northern Australia. • Anyone living in or traveling to areas where scrub typhus is found could get infected. Destination North East-2020

• Union home minister Amit Shah inaugurated Destination North East 2020, a four-day festival to promote and showcase the region’s tourism, culture, heritage and business. • Destination Northeast is an annual festival organised by the DONER(development of north east region) ministry. • It has been conceptualized with the objective of showcasing and celebrating the region to other parts of the country in order to strengthen national integration. • The theme for this year’s event is ‘The Emerging Delightful Destinations’ and will be a virtual event due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Astrosat • Astrosat, India's first multi-wavelength astronomical observatory, completed five years of imaging celestial objects in space. • Launched by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on September 28 2015, in the five years of its operation Astrosat has achieved quite a feat. • It has carried out 1,166 observations of 800 unique celestial sources proposed by scientists both from India and abroad, a statement by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) said. • Astrosat has explored stars, star clusters, mapping of large and small satellite galaxies of the Milky Way called 'Magellanic Clouds', an energetic phenomenon in the Universe such as the ultra-violet counterparts to gamma-ray bursts, supernovae, active galactic nuclei.

Key points • ASTROSAT is India’s first dedicated multi wavelength space observatory. This scientific satellite mission endeavours for a more detailed understanding of our universe. • One of the unique features of ASTROSAT mission is that enables the simultaneous multi-wavelength observations of various astronomical objects with a single satellite. • ASTROSAT observes universe in the optical, Ultraviolet, low and high energy X-ray regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, whereas most other scientific satellites are capable of observing a narrow range of wavelength band. • Multi-wavelength observations of ASTROSAT can be further extended with co-ordinated observations using other spacecraft and ground based observations. All major astronomy Institutions and some Universities in India are participating in these observations. The scientific objectives of ASTROSAT mission are: 1. To understand high energy processes in binary star systems containing neutron stars and black holes 2. Estimate magnetic fields of neutron stars 3. Study star birth regions and high energy processes in star systems lying beyond our galaxy 4. Detect new briefly bright X-ray sources in the sky 5. Perform a limited deep field survey of the Universe in the Ultraviolet region Note

• In a major breakthrough, a global team led by scientists of the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) has discovered one of the earliest galaxies in extreme ultraviolet light using AstroSat, India’s first multi-wavelength satellite that has five unique X-ray and ultraviolet telescopes working in tandem, has detected extreme UV light from a galaxy called AUDFs01, 9.3 billion light-years away from Earth. Bubonic plague

• China’s Yunnan province gets a "confirmed" case of Bubonic plague after Inner Mongolia recorded two deaths due to deadly disease. In South West China’s Yunnan province, local Center for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed a previously suspected case of bubonic plague in a 3-year-old child. • A level-IV emergency response has been launched to prevent the spread of the disease.

What is bubonic plague? Plague is a potentially lethal infectious disease that is caused by bacteria called Yersinia pestis that live in some animals - mainly rodents - and their fleas. • The three types of plague are the result of the route of infection: bubonic plague, septicemic plague, and pneumonic plague. • Bubonic plague is the most common form of the disease that people can get. The name comes from the symptoms it causes - painful, swollen lymph nodes or 'buboes' in the groin or armpit. Biodiversity map of Mumbai

• Rohan Chakravarty, popularly known for his work under the title of Green Humour has illustrated first of its kind biodiversity map of Mumbai to showcase the wildlife hotspots, mangrove forests, urban green spaces and over 90 species that can be spotted in the city. • The map serves as a reminder to Mumbaikars that they must act to protect Mumbai’s biodiversity, which has been under threat due to unsustainable development. • The unique map has been created for the campaign ‘Biodiversity by the Bay’, which is initiated by Ministry of Mumbai’s Magic, a citizen’s collective comprising of Mumbaikars who wish to bring the issue of protecting biodiversity to the forefront. • The map shows urban and forest spaces in the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) and contains pointers to forest patches, intertidal spaces, mangrove areas, as well as animal species that can be found, like the two spiders, a scorpion, and a lizard species that were discovered in recent years. Amnesty International

• Amnesty International India on Tuesday said the government had frozen all its bank accounts, leading to all of its work in the country coming to a halt.

About Amnesty International

• Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is a non-governmental organization with its headquarters in the United Kingdom focused on human rights. • The stated mission of the organization is to campaign for "a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments." • Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961, following the publication of the article "The Forgotten Prisoners" in The Observer on 28 May 1961, by the lawyer Peter Benenson. • Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. • It works to mobilize public opinion to generate pressure on governments where abuse takes place. • Amnesty considers capital punishment to be "the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights." • The organization was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its "defence of human dignity against torture," and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978. • In the field of international human rights organizations, Amnesty has the third-longest history, after the International Federation for Human Rights and the Anti-Slavery Society. Malabar exercise • India will discuss its decision on whether to allow Australia into the Malabar trilateral exercise at the next week’s Quad Foreign Ministers meeting in Tokyo, a defence source said.

About Malabar exercise • Exercise Malabar is a trilateral naval exercise involving the United States, Japan and India as permanent partners. • Originally begun in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States, Japan became a permanent partner in 2015. • Past non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore. • The annual Malabar series began in 1992 and includes diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations from aircraft carriers through Maritime Interdiction Operations Exercises. Defence India Startup Challenge-4

• Defence Minister Rajnath Singh launched the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC 4) during the iDEX event, featuring the initiatives aimed at expanding the horizons of Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) ecosystem in New Delhi. • Mr Singh also launched the iDEX4Fauji initiative and Product Management Approach (PMA) guidelines during the event. • iDEX4Fauji is a first of its kind initiative, launched to support innovations identified by members of the Indian Armed Forces and will bolster frugal innovation ideas from soldiers and field formations. • This was the fourth edition of iDEX, and under the Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC) 4, eleven challenges from armed forces, Ordnance Factory Board and Defence Public Sector Undertakings were thrown open to prospective start-ups and innovators. These include Autonomous Underwater Swarm Drones; Predictive, Preventive & Prescriptive Machine Monitoring and Artificial Intelligence-based Satellite Image Analysis. Register now : Call/ Whatsapp 6238427443 | 7594875084 We are everywhere!

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