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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. ART AND CULTURE 1-3 2. SOCIAL ISSUES 4-25 a. Education b. Health and Sanitation c. Women d. Child e. Vulnerable Groups 3. POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 26-33 4. ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE 34-51 a. Indian Economy b. Banking And Finance c. Agriculture d. Industry e. Infrastructure f. Human Resource Development 5. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND BILATERAL ISSUES 52-63 6. SUMMITS AND ORGANISATION 64-71 7. DEFENCE AND SECURITY 72-76 8. ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 77-106 9. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 107-133 a. IT And ICT b. Space c. Defence Technology d. Biotechnology e. Health And Medicines 10. MISCELLANEOUS 134-151 VAJIRAM AND RAVI Quick Revision For Prelims (Jun-Nov 2018) ART AND CULTURE ➢ Aadi Mahotsav • Aadi Mahotsav, a National Tribal Festival, is being organized in New Delhi by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED to celebrate, cherish and promote the spirit of tribal craft, culture, cuisine and commerce. • Theme of The Festival: “A Celebration of the Spirit of Tribal Culture, Craft, Cuisine and Commerce”. • The Mahotsav will comprise of display and sale of items of tribal art and craft, tribal medicine & healers, tribal cuisine and display of tribal folk performance, in which tribal artisans, chefs, folk dancers/musicians from 23 States of the country shall participate and provide glimpse of their rich traditional culture. ➢ International Buddhist Conclave 2018 • The International Buddhist Conclave (IBC) 2018 held in India saw participation from 29 countries having significant Buddhist population. Japan was the partner country. • The 4 days Conclave was held at New Delhi and Ajanta (Maharashtra), followed by site visits to Rajgir, Nalanda and Bodhgaya (Bihar) and Sarnath (UP). • The biennial Conclave was organized by the Ministry of Tourism in collaboration with the State Governments of Maharashtra, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. • The theme of the conclave was “Buddha Path – The Living Heritage. • The aim of the Conclave was to boost tourism to the Buddhist sites in the country and cultivate friendly ties with countries and communities interested in Buddhism. ➢ INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) • INTACH has called for transforming heritage buildings in Rajasthan into “economic assets” for the society. Economic benefits could be derived from these properties as an alternative to paying for their upkeep on a regular basis • It has launched an exercise for mapping of natural heritage in Thar desert with the participation of local communities for modern planning INTACH is a non-profit charitable organization working for conserving the cultural heritage of India. In 1984, INTACH was established as a Registered Society under the Societies' Registration Act, 1860. It is Headquartered in New Delhi .In 2007, UNESCO granted INTACH a ‘special consultative status’. ➢ 11th World Hindi Conference • The 11th World Hindi Conference was held in Port Louis (capital of Mauritius) with the theme “Hindi World and Indian Culture (Hindi Vishwa Aur Bharatiya Sanskriti)”. • The 1st World Hindi Conference was held in 1975 in Nagpur, with a pledge to develop, enhance and conserve Hindi language in its original form. To commemorate this event, every year 10th January is being observed as World Hindi Day. • MEA has also established a World Hindi Secretariat in Mauritius for working towards recognition of Hindi at the United Nations as an Official Language. VAJIRAM AND RAVI Quick Revision For Prelims (Jun-Nov 2018) Page 1 ➢ Project Navlekha • At the fourth ‘Google for India’ event, Google unveiled Project Navlekha to bring India’s 135,000 Indic language publications online in a hassle-free manner. • Navlekha, which means ‘a new way to write’ in Sanskrit, will allow local publishers who do not have websites (around 90%) to make their offline content fit for online publishing in less than a minute • It comprises a tool that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to render any PDF containing Indian language content into editable text, making it easy for print publishers to create mobile-friendly web content. ➢ Seva Bhoj Yojana • The Ministry of Culture has launched a new scheme namely Seva Bhoj Yojana • The scheme envisages to reimburse the Central Government share of CGST and IGST on Food/Prasad/Langar offered by Religious/Charitable Institutions to reduce the financial burden of such charitable or religious institutions who provide food free of cost without any discrimination to public/ devotees. • The GST is not levied on food served, but is charged on the purchase of raw material used to prepare the food • The scheme applies to only those charitable or religious institutions — temple, gurdwara, mosque, church, dharmik ashram, dargah, and monasteries — that have been in existence for at least 3 years before applying for grant, and who serve free food to at least 5,000 people a month.. ➢ Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony • The Tagore Award for Cultural Harmony for the years 2014, 2015, & 2016 was recently conferred on the doyen of Manipuri dance Rajkumar Singhajit Singh; Chhayanaut (a cultural organization of Bangladesh); and on one of India’s greatest sculptors, Ram Vanji Sutar, respectively. • The annual award was instituted by the government during the commemoration of 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The award is open to all persons regardless of nationality, race, language, caste, creed or sex. • The first Tagore Award was conferred on Pt. Ravi Shankar, the Indian Sitar Maestro in 2012 and second was conferred on Shri Zubin Mehta in 2013. • Ram Vanji Sutar also designed the Statue of Unity which it is the world's tallest statue at the height of 182 metres ➢ The coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi are all set for the kambala • Kambala in its traditional form is non-competitive with buffalo pairs made to race one after another in paddy fields, which is considered a thanksgiving to the Gods for protecting the animals from diseases. • Over the years, it has however become an organised sport with animal rights activists claiming that the buffaloes run in the race due to fear of being beaten. VAJIRAM AND RAVI Quick Revision For Prelims (Jun-Nov 2018) Page 2 • Karnataka government had promulgated Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment)Ordinance, 2017 on July 20 last year. The President gave his assent to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Karnataka Amendment) Bill making Kambala a legal rural sport in Karnataka. The Bill seeks to exempt kambala and bullock-cart racing from the ambit of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960. ➢ Sangai Tourism Festival • Every year the State of Manipur celebrates the “Manipur Sangai Festival” from 21st to 30th November. • Sangai Festival is an annual cultural extravaganza in Manipur. The festival is labelled as the grandest festival of the State today and helps promote Manipur as a world class tourism destination. • The ‘Festival’ is named after the State animal, Sangai, the brow-antlered deer found only in Manipur. It started in the year 2010 and has grown over the years into a big platform for Manipur to showcase its rich tradition and culture to the world. • The State’s classical dance form, ‘Ras Leela’ is quite famous all over the world for its distinctiveness from any other dance forms in India. The Ras Leela will form an important part of the dance performances at the Manipur Sangai Festival besides the various other folk dance performances like the Kabui Naga dance, Bamboo dance, Maibi dance, Lai Haraoba dance, Khamba Thoibi dance etc. which will be showcased at the festival. ➢ UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage • UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has added Reggae to its list of cultural institutions worthy of protection and preservation. • Reggae is Jamaican music originating from marginalized groups, mainly in Western Kingston. It started out as voice of marginalized. But now it is played and embraced by wide cross-section of society, including various genders, ethnic and religious groups. List From India 1.Tradition of Vedic chanting, 2.Ramlila, the traditional performance of the Ramayana, 3. Kutiyattam: Sanskrit theatre, 4. Ramman, religious festival and ritual theatre of the Garhwal Himalayas 5. Mudiyettu, ritual theatre and dance drama of Kerala , 6.Kalbelia folk songs and dances of Rajasthan, 7.Chhau dance, 8. Buddhist chanting of Ladakh: recitation of sacred Buddhist texts in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh region, Jammu and Kashmir,9. Sankirtana, ritual singing, drumming and dancing of Manipur,10. Traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras , Punjab 11. Yoga 12. Nawrouz 13. Kumbh Mela ➢ The world’s earliest-known cave painting of an animal has been discovered in Indonesia (Borneo). It dates back to at least 40,000 years ago. VAJIRAM AND RAVI Quick Revision For Prelims (Jun-Nov 2018) Page 3 SOCIAL ISSUES EDUCATION ➢ Replacing UGC with a New Higher Education Regulator • Government has announced that it will dissolve the University Grants Commission (UGC) and replace it with a new Higher Education Commission of India (HECI). • HECI will be the new apex regulator for university and higher education. It will set benchmarks for academic performance, ensure that institutions adhere to these, and act against those that violate standards. • The UGC was set up in 1953 and became a statutory body through an Act of Parliament in 1956. The UGC seeks to promote responsible understanding between the institutions, the Government, and the community at large ➢ Higher Education Financing Agency • CCEA has approved increasing the authorized share capital of HEFA to Rs. 10,000 crore from the current sum of Rs. 2000 crore and approved infusing additional government equity of Rs. 5,000 crore. • HEFA has been set up on May 31, 2017 by the Central Government as a Non Profit, Non Banking Financing Company (NBFC) for mobilising extra-budgetary resources for building crucial infrastructure in the higher educational institutions under Central Govt.