March Week 4 - dnyandeepias.com 4th... · 4/18/2018 · March Week 4 National Vector Borne Disease...
Transcript of March Week 4 - dnyandeepias.com 4th... · 4/18/2018 · March Week 4 National Vector Borne Disease...
March Week 4
National Vector Borne Disease Control Program (NVBDCP)
As per Global Burden of Disease Study, 2013 Visceral Leishmaniasis (Kala Azar) was the second largest
Neglected Tropical Diseases causing mortality.
NVBDCP, which is a part of the National Health Mission, plays a crucial role in the Kala azar elimination.
Kala-azar elimination project is being implemented in four endemic States namely Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar
Pradesh and West Bengal.
Directorate of National Vector Borne Disease Control Program (NVBDCP) is the central nodal agency for the
prevention and control of following vector borne diseases
1. Malaria
2. Dengue
3. Filariasis
4. Kala Azar
5. Chikungunya
6. Japanese encephalitis
It is one of the Technical Departments of Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family
welfare.
Indian Navy’s indigenously built warship INS Ganga (F22) was decommissioned in Mumbai, Maharashtra after over
three decades of service.
The warship was commissioned in December 1985 and had represented big step forward in India’s indigenous
warship building capability.
The decommissioning ceremony was attended by several officers and men, many now retired, who had served
on board ship.
INS Ganga (F22) was a Godavari-class guided-missile frigate of the Indian Navy.
It was built by Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai and was commissioned into Indian Navy on 30 December 1985.
The Godavari class was first indigenous warship design and development initiative of Indian Navy.
The warship along with Shakti and INS Godavari were deployed to Somalian capital Mogadishu in December
1994 to support withdrawal of Indian Army’s 66 Brigade, including the 2nd Battalion, Jammu & Kashmir Light
Infantry (2 JAKLI).
The launch of Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the moon will be in October this year.
Chandrayaan-2 includes soft-landing on Moon and moving a rover on its surface. It is an advanced version of the
previous Chandrayaan-1 mission. It consists of an orbiter, lander and rover configuration.
The Orbiter spacecraft when launched from Sriharikota will travel to the Moon and release the Lander, which
will in turn deploy a tiny Rover to roam the lunar surface — all three sending data and pictures to Earth.
It is planned to be launched as a composite stack into the earth parking orbit (EPO) of 170 X 18,500 km by
GSLV-Mk II.
The six wheeled rover will move on lunar surface and collect soil or rock samples for on-site chemical analysis
to gather scientific information on lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and
signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice. The data will be relayed to Earth through orbiter. The rover will move
around landing site in semi-autonomous mode as decided by the ground commands.
The soft-landing on the lunar surface of the moon will be most complex part of Chandrayaan 2 mission. Only
the US, Russia and China have been able to soft-land spacecraft on lunar surface.
Earth Hour is being observed on March 24 from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Earth Hour is also a part and parcel of the “Green
Good Deeds” movement, in which every individual ought to take small, voluntary green actions to protect and
conserve the environment and the earth.
Give Up to Give Back: On the occasion of Earth Hour, the World Wide Fund India has made a strong pitch for
“Give Up to Give Back”.
The “Give Up to Give Back” initiative to inspire organisations, institutions and individuals to make the choice
to curb some habits, practices and lifestyles that burden our lives and the environment. It includes taking steps
like giving up single-use plastics, giving up fossil fuels, giving up lonely car rides for your employees, give up e-
waste.
Earth Hour: Dating back to 2007, Earth Hour is an annual event organized by the World Wildlife Fund that
promotes conservation and sustainable energy. During this time, civilians are encouraged to switch off their
lights for one hour to help reduce the effect of global warming and raise awareness for climate change and
wildlife conservation.
It was famously started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then it has grown to engage
more than 7000 cities and towns worldwide. Today, Earth Hour engages a massive mainstream community on
a broad range of environmental issues. The one-hour event continues to remain the key driver of the now
larger movement.
Difference between Earth Hour and Earth Day: Whereas Earth Hour stands as a climate change initiative
where people reduce their electricity usage, Earth Day (April 22) celebrates our natural environment by
inspiring people to plant trees, recycle regularly and keep the planet tidy.
With Earth Hour, the WWF aims to engage people across the globe to adopt more sustainable lifestyle. Turning
off lights for an hour is just an annual reminder that if the world does not mend its ways, it will be heading to
a dark age, literally.
NAIPUNYA RATHAM or World on Wheels is a multi-utility vehicle which aims to bring technology to the remote
corners.
It was launched recently in Andhra Pradesh.
As part of the Smart village Smart Ward Programme, the Naipunya Rathaams will facilitate and look to improve
digital literacy, digital skills and create an awareness on various government schemes that are underway in
the new state of Andhra Pradesh.
The first-ever National Conference on Drug Law Enforcement was held in
New Delhi.
The 2-day conference was organized by Narcotics Control Bureau
(NCB), Ministry of Home Affairs.
The working sessions of conference focused on various topics such
as ‘Wider context of drug trafficking in India’, ‘Financial
Investigations’ and ‘Foreign & Cyber Investigations’.
Mandate
Fight drug trafficking on all-India level.
Provide resources and training to personnel of India’s law
enforcement agencies in fighting drug trafficking
Monitor India’s frontiers to track down points where smuggling
activities take place with foreign traffickers.
Work in close cooperation with Customs and Central Excise, State
Police Department, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Central
Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB) and other Indian intelligence
and law enforcement agencies both at the national and states level.
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)
NCB is nodal drug law enforcement
and intelligence agency of India. It is
responsible for fighting drug
trafficking and the abuse of illegal
substances. It functions under
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and is
headquartered in New Delhi.
It was established in March 1986 to
enable full implementation of Narcotic
Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Act, 1985 and fight its violation
through Prevention of Illicit Trafficking
in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic
Substances Act, 1988.
World Tuberculosis Day 2018
Observed on March 24 every year, World Tuberculosis Day is
designed to build public awareness about the global epidemic
of TB and efforts to eliminate the disease.
World TB Day commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert
Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis,
the bacteria that causes TB.
According to WHO, World TB Day provides a platform for
affected persons and communities, civil society organizations,
health-care providers, policy makers, development partners
and others to advocate, discuss and plan further collaboration
to fulfil the promise of reaching all people with quality TB
prevention and care services, as well as enabling TB prevention
through multisectoral development efforts.
The theme of World TB Day 2018 – “Wanted: Leaders for a TB-
free world”.
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has entered into Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) with Bharat
Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) to transfer technology for manufacturing space grade Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) cells
The ISRO uses Li-Ion batteries as power sources for satellite and launch vehicle applications due to their high
energy density, reliability and long cycle life.
Lithium-ion battery or Li-ion battery is type of rechargeable battery that contains several cells. Each cell
consists of cathode, anode and electrolyte, a separator between electrodes and current collectors. In it,
lithium ions move from negative electrode to positive electrode during discharge and back when charging. Li-
ion battery use intercalated lithium compound as one electrode material.
Benefits of Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery
The lithium-ion battery is light weighted and is one-third the weight of lead acid batteries.
It is nearly 100% efficient in both charging and discharging as compared to lead battery which has 70%
efficiency.
It completely discharges i.e. 100% as compared to 80% for lead acid.
The rechargeable lithium-ion battery has life cycle of 5000 times or more compared to just 400-500 cycles in
lead acid.
It also maintains constant voltage throughout the entire discharge cycle whereas voltage in lead acid battery
drops consistently throughout its discharge cycle.
It is much cleaner technology and is safer for environment as it does not have environmental impact as lead
acid battery.
Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by bacteria
(Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most
often affect the lungs. Tuberculosis is
curable and preventable.
TB is spread from person to person
through the air. When people with lung
TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the
TB germs into the air. A person needs to
inhale only a few of these germs to
become infected.
Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among
the health targets of the Sustainable
Development Goals.
SARAS Aajeevika Mela 2018
An endeavour of Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) to provide
to the rural women producers a national platform and an opportunity to showcase their products, and seek
buyers, either individuals or bulk buyers for sale nationally / internationally.
The first International Exhibition of Graphic
Prints ‘Print Biennale India 2018’
inaugurated in New Delhi
Organised by Lalit Kala Akademi.
An exhibition Eminent Printmakers of
India showcasing master Indian
printmakers was also held on side-
lines of it.
Lalit Kala Akademi
It is also called as National Academy of Art. It is India’s national
academy of fine arts. It is autonomous organisation It was
established in 1954 to promote and propagate understanding of
Indian art, in and outside the country. It provides scholarships and
fellow program and sponsors and organises exhibitions in India and
overseas. It publishes bilingual journal. It is funded by Ministry of
Culture. Its headquartered are at Ravindra Bhawan, New Delhi.
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is one of the flagship
programmes of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India to alleviate rural poverty.
The programme aims to organize the rural poor women into their own institutions like Self Help Groups and their
federations, Producers’ Collectives etc
A major component under DAY-NRLM relates to skilling of rural poor youth for self-employment and wage
employment.
Ministry of Rural Development is implementing the DeenDayal Upadhyay –Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-
GKY) under DAY-NRLM. DDU-GKY is a placement Linked Skill Development scheme which seeks to build the
Skills of the poor rural youth and place them in relatively higher wage employment sectors of the economy.
DAY-NRLM also provides support for establishing Rural Self Employment Training Institutes (RSETIs) in each
district of the country in collaboration with the Banks and the State Governments to provide training to the rural
youth from the poor households to take-up economic activities.
The Ministry is also implementing Mahila Kisan Sahshaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP), as a sub scheme under DAY-
NRLM with an aim of promoting agriculture based livelihoods of rural women by strengthening community
institutions of poor women farmers to promote sustainable agriculture. MKSP focuses on agriculture, non-timber
forest produce and livestock interventions. It provides three kind of services to the farmers, namely:
o Extension services
o Training capacity building and handholding services
o Facilitation for convergence with other line department to access the benefit from other schemes/
programmes.
Another sub-scheme under DAY-NRLM is the Start-up Village Entrepreneurship Programme (SVEP).SVEP aims
to support entrepreneurs in rural areas to set up local enterprises.
In August 2017 the Ministry launched the Aajeevika Grameen Express Yojana as another sub-scheme of DAY-
NRLM with the (AGEY) aim to provide safe, affordable and community monitored rural transport services to
connect remote rural villages.
In order to empower the rural women artisans and to bring them above the poverty line, through access to
better market and marketing systems, the Ministry of Rural Development has been supporting the organisation
of exhibitions under the brand name of SARAS where Self Help Groups from different states participate and
sell their products.
The Ministry has been organizing SARAS fairs at Delhi as a part of India International Trade Fair (IITF) and also
as ShishirMela in DilliHaat. Taking this forward, this Ministry had organized the Aajeevika Mela in May, 2017
at India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO).
The Brazzaville declaration was singed to promote better management and conservation world’s largest tropical
peatlands-Cuvette Centrale region in Congo Basin from unregulated land use and prevent its drainage and
degradation.
It was signed jointly by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo and Indonesia on the side-lines
of Third Partners Meeting of Global Peatlands Initiative held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo.
Peatlands are wetlands that contain mixture of decomposed organic material, partially submerged in layer of
water, lacking oxygen.
The complex biodiversity of peatlands means they are home to variety of species.
Their high carbon content makes them uniquely vulnerable to incineration if they are drained.
They are globally important carbon store. The unregulated exploitation of peatlands can potentially be
detrimental to environment and to climate, as it could release carbon emissions that have been locked in for
millennia.
The Cuvette Centrale region in Congo Basin is world’s largest natural tropical peatlands, which are about size
of England. It stores three years equivalent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Ministry of Culture is organizing the Madhavpur Mela in Madhavpur Ghed, District Porbandar in Gujarat in a
grand way.
The purpose of this integration is to bring various parts of the country especially the North-East, close to each
other under the banner of Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat announced by the Prime Minister.
The Madhavpur Mela of Gujarat shares it’s connect to the Mishmi Tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. The Mishmi
Tribe traces its ancestry to the legendary King Bhishmak and through him to his daughter Rukmini and Lord
Krishna.
Brazzaville declaration
It aims to implement coordination and cooperation
between different government sectors to protect
the benefits provided by peatland ecosystems. It also
recognizes the importance of the scientific
breakthrough of mapping the world’s largest tropical
peatland area.
Global Peatlands Initiative
GPI is multi-partner United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) initiative launched at the Global
Landscapes Forum in Marrakesh in 2016. It is effort by
leading experts and institutions to save peatlands as
the world’s largest terrestrial organic carbon stock and
to prevent it being emitted into the atmosphere.
Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat:
It was announced on 31st October, 2015 on the occasion of the 140th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel. Subsequently, the Finance Minister announced the initiative in his Budget Speech for 2016-17.
Through this innovative measure, the knowledge of the culture, traditions and practices of different States &
UTs will lead to an enhanced understanding and bonding between the States, thereby strengthening the unity
and integrity of India.
All States and UTs will be covered under the programme. There will be pairing of States/UTs at national level
and these pairings will be in effect for one year, or till the next round of pairings. The State/UT level pairings
would be utilized for state level activities. District level pairings would be independent of the State level
pairings.
The activity will be very useful to link various States and Districts in annual programmes that will connect
people through exchanges in areas of culture, tourism, language, education trade etc. and citizens will be able
to experience the cultural diversity of a much larger number of States/UTs while realising that India is one.
The Government of India has decided to nominate Professor J S Rajput, former Director NCERT, as India’s
representative to the Executive Board (EXB) of UNESCO. Professor J S Rajput is an eminent educationist with rich
experience in various fields including UNESCO.
The Executive Board has a four-year term of office and 58 seats.
The executive board is one of the constitutional organs of UNESCO and is elected by the General Conference.
The executive board examines the work for the organization and the corresponding budget estimates.
In practice, the executive board is the main organ responsible for all policies and programmes of UNESCO.
Being a member of the board enables India in principle to play a role in shaping and reviewing UNESCO’s policies
and programmes corresponding to its five major programs on education, the natural science, the social and human
Sciences, Culture and Communication and Information.
The general conference consists of the representatives of the states members of the organisation.
It meets every two years, and is attended by member states and associate members, together with observers
for non-member states, intergovernmental organisations and non- governmental organisations (NGOs).
Each country has one vote, irrespective of its size or the extent of its contribution to the budget.
The general conference determines the policies and the main lines of work of the organisation. Its duty is to
set the programmes and the budget of the UNESCO. It also elects the members of the executive board and
appoints, every four years.
“Surrender-cum-rehabilitation” scheme:
Surrender-cum-rehabilitation scheme for Northeast States was meant to “wean away the misguided youth and
hard-core militants who have strayed into the fold of militancy and find themselves trapped in that net.”
The scheme also seeks to ensure that the militants who have surrendered do not find it attractive to join
militancy again.
The MHA reimburses the amount paid to the surrendered militants by the State governments under the
Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme
A National Conference on Drug Law Enforcement was recently organized by Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The Narcotics Control Bureau is the apex coordinating agency. 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.
The Bureau, subject to the supervision and control of the Central Government, is to exercise the powers and
functions of the Central Government for taking measures with respect to:
Co-ordination of actions by various offices, State Governments and other authorities under the N.D.P.S. Act,
Customs Act, Drugs and Cosmetics Act and any other law for the time being in force in connection with the
enforcement provisions of the NDPS Act, 1985.
Implementation of the obligation in respect of counter measures against illicit traffic under the various
international conventions and protocols that are in force at present or which may be ratified or acceded to by
India in future.
Assistance to concerned authorities in foreign countries and concerned international organisations to facilitate
coordination and universal action for prevention and suppression of illicit traffic in these drugs and substances.
Coordination of actions taken by the other concerned Ministries, Departments and Organizations in respect of
matters relating to drug abuse.
The government has launched “E- Tribes”, TRIFED’s websites. It includes www.tribesindia.com, www.trifed.in and
Retail Inventory Software and M-commerce app.
TRIFED is an apex organisation at National Level and functioning under the administrative control of Ministry
of Tribal Affairs.
TRIFED is serving the interests of Tribals, who are engaged in collection of NTFP and making of Tribal Art &
Handicraft Products for their livelihood so as to ensure better remunerative price for their products as well as
for the socio-economic betterment through Self Help Groups, Empanelled NGOs, State level Tribal
Development Corporations, Forest Development Corporations for undertaking marketing development of the
tribal products.
It also organizes exhibitions like National Tribal Craft Expo called “Aadi Mahotsav” etc. in which it promotes
and markets tribal products.
TRIFED also organizes exhibitions like National Tribal Craft Expo called “Aadi Mahotsav”.
TRIFED is a PSU under Ministry of Tribal Affairs with a objective is to promote tribal art and craft for the benefit
of tribal artisans of the country.
The government has initiated the process of sale of more than 9,400 enemy properties by issuing guidelines and
directing the office of the custodian to submit the list of all such movable and immovable assets within three
months.
The move comes after the amendment of the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Act 2017 and the
Enemy Property (Amendment) Rules, 2018, which ensured that the heirs of those who migrated to Pakistan and
China during partition and afterwards will have no claim over the properties left behind in India.
Enemy properties Act:
After the Indo-Pakistan War of 1965, the
Enemy Property Act was enacted in
1968, which regulates such properties
and lists the custodian’s powers.
The government amended the Act in the
wake of a claim laid by the heirs of Raja
Mohammad Amir Mohammad Khan,
known as Raja of Mahmudabad, on his
properties spread across Uttar Pradesh
and Uttarakhand.
The government has vested these
properties in the Custodian of Enemy
Property for India, an office instituted
under the Central government.
Bt Cotton
Cotton farmers all over the world were losing much of their cotton to tobacco budworms, cotton bollworms,
and pink bollworms
Bt cotton is an insect-resistant transgenic crop designed to combat the bollworm.
It was created by genetically altering the cotton genome to express a microbial protein from the bacterium
Bacillus thuringiensis.
Traditionally, the cotton bollworm has been combated by the use of pesticides.
Bt cotton was developed with the intention of reducing the amount of pesticides needed for cotton
monoculture, thereby reducing the cost of growing cotton and reducing the environmental impact of heavy
pesticide use.
Enemy properties
When wars broke out between India and China in 1962, and India
and Pakistan in 1965 and 1971, the central government took
over properties of citizens of China and Pakistan in India under
the Defence of India Acts. These Acts defined an ‘enemy’ as a
country that committed an act of aggression against India, and
its citizens.
The properties of enemies in India were classified as enemy
property. The properties included land, buildings, shares held in
companies, gold and jewellery of the citizens of enemy
countries. The responsibility of the administration of enemy
properties was handed over to the Custodian of Enemy Property,
an office under the central government.
Bt cotton contains the following three genes inserted via genetic engineering techniques:
1. Cry1Ac gene
2. nptII gene
3. aad gene
NPTII and AAD proteins are used as a selectable marker and have no pesticidal activity and are not known to
be toxic to any species
In 2005, Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC) of India approved only one variety of Bt cotton
hybrid out of the 13 listed for commercial cultivation.
Indian Railways Finance Corporation (IRFC)
Ministry of Finance has approved Government guarantee for Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) bonds
to be subscribed by Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).
IRFC was set up 1986 as the dedicated financing arm of the Indian Railways for mobilizing funds from domestic
as well as overseas Capital Markets.
RFC is a Public Sector Enterprise under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways, Govt. of India.
It is also registered as Systemically Important Non–Deposit taking Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC –
ND-SI) and Infrastructure Finance Company (NBFC- IFC) with Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
The primary objective of IRFC is to meet the predominant portion of ‘Extra Budgetary Resources’ (EBR)
requirement of the Indian Railways through market borrowings at the most competitive rates and terms.
IRFC has also been lending to various entities in Railway sector like Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), Railtel,
Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL), Pipavav Railway Corporation Limited (PRCL) etc.
The National Conference on Down syndrome was held in New Delhi. It was organised by the National Trust under
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
Down syndrome is a chromosomal condition associated with intellectual and learning disabilities.
It leads to delayed development and behavioural problems in children suffering with it.
The objective of conference was to provide excellent opportunities to parents to obtain information about
latest development in education and skilling and inclusive living of persons with Down syndrome.
The conference brought intellectuals from all walks of life on one platform to spur ideas and channelized
knowledge on Down syndrome which was very beneficial to enable a positive change in people with Down
syndrome.
National Trust
It is statutory body under Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (Divyangjan), Ministry of
Social Justice & Empowerment. It is headquartered in New Delhi. Its mandate is to discharge two basic duties –
legal and welfare for persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.
It fundamental purpose is to create enabling environment, i.e. provide opportunities for Persons with Disabilities
(PwDs) through comprehensive support systems which will lead towards development of inclusive society.
It has been running various schemes and programmes for welfare of PwDs. Its major activity is to create awareness
amongst general public by organizing various workshops, seminars and conferences on these disabilities and the
capabilities of such persons.
Objectives
Enable and empower PwD to live as independently and fully as possible within and close to their community
as possible.
Facilitate realisation of equal opportunities, protection of rights and full participation of persons with
disability.
Extend support to its registered organisations to provide need based services.
Evolve procedures for appointments of guardians and trustees for persons with disabilities.
Surat district in Gujarat become first in country to have 100% solar powered Primary Health Centers (PHCs). All 52
PHCs in the district are now powered by solar system. With this, Surat sets an example for country by developing
villages that use sustainable forms of energy at a time when global warming is mounting with each passing day.
The SWIFT (Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication System) platform has expanded its GPI
(Global Payment Innovation) Tracker system to help banks track their global transactions at all times and keep full
vigil on payments activity.
From November 2018, GPI Tracker system i.e. unique end-to-end transaction reference will be included in all
payment instructions carried between all 11,000 customers on SWIFT at all times, across more than 200
countries and territories.
SWFIT GPI was launched in May 2017 to help banks to track their global transactions at all times, keeping full
vigil on payments activity. It covers all payment instructions sent across network, enabling GPI banks to track
all their SWIFT payment instructions at all times, and giving them full visibility over all their payments activity.
It improves customer experience by increasing speed, transparency and automatically provides status updates
to all GPI banks involved in any GPI payment chain. It allows banks to confirm when payment has been
completed.
It facilitates more accurate reconciliation of payments and invoices, optimises liquidity with improved cash
forecasts and reduces exposure to Foreign exchange risk, with same-day processing of funds in beneficiaries’
time zones.
NASA and SpaceX joining hands for their all-new combined mission known as Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
(TESS) mission. The mission will be launched in April this year.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is an upcoming NASA mission that will look for planets orbiting
the brightest stars in Earth’s sky. Its launch vehicle will be a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX.
Mission: The mission will monitor at least 200,000 stars for signs of exoplanets, ranging from Earth-sized rocky
worlds to huge gas giant planets. TESS, however, will focus on stars that are 30 to 100 times brighter than those
Kepler examined. This will help astronomers better understand the structure of solar systems outside of our Earth,
and provide insights into how our own solar system formed.
Orbit: TESS will occupy a never-before-used orbit high above Earth. The elliptical orbit, called P/2, is exactly half of
the moon’s orbital period; this means that TESS will orbit Earth every 13.7 days. Its closest point to Earth (67,000
miles or 108,000 kilometers) is about triple the distance of geosynchronous orbit, where most communications
satellites operate.
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Development
(MHRD) is organizing Smart India Hackathon 2018.
Smart India Hackathon 2018 is a non-stop digital product development competition, where problems are
posed to technology students for innovative solutions. It will harnesses creativity & expertise of students and
sparks institute-level hackathons.
It builds funnel for ‘Startup India’ campaign and crowdsources solutions for improving governance and quality
of life. It also provides opportunity to citizens to provide innovative solutions to India’s daunting problems
Smart India Hackathon 2018 would be the second massive scale hackathon initiative in India following Smart
India Hackathon 2017.
Winners stand to get cash prizes and a chance to be part of the NASSCOM’s 10,000 Startups program.
Department of Posts under Ministry of Communications has launched Cool EMS Service between India and Japan.
It is one-way service from Japan to India which allows customers in India to import Japanese food items for
personal use which is allowed under Indian regulations.
The Cool EMS Service came into force from March 2018. Initially, it will be available in Delhi only.
Food items will be carried by Japan Post in special cool boxes containing refrigerant to preserve quality of food
items.
The recipient addressee will collect them from Foreign Post office, Kotla Road, New Delhi in-person or through
a messenger in prescribed time frame.
Cool EMS service also has all other features like track and trace, etc of Express Mail Service (EMS).
India’s first insect museum with state-of-the-art amenities was unveiled at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University
campus in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
It is fully dedicated to insects.
It will display insects preserved as specimens as also live ones depicting their different developmental stages.
It will provide information about insects through images, videos and models of their unique behaviour, habits
and habitats.
The lobby of the museum depicts theme “BUGS ARE KINGS”.
Its exhibiting area comprises seven radial walls (bay) on right side and an undivided wall on the left side.
It also has section on social insect exhibiting termite mounds (whole and sectioned) and bee hives of different
kinds and forms.
It also has souvenir shop and mini auditorium to screen insect movies and documentary films are available.
Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS)
IM-PDS is central sector scheme that has been approved for implementation during 2018-19 and 2019-20.
The key objectives of the scheme are
1. To integrate PDS system/portals of States/UTs with Central System/portals,
2. Introduction of National Portability
3. De-duplication of ration cards/beneficiary
It will bring more transparency and efficiency in distribution of food grains.
Kaziranga National Park
The rhino census at the Kazaringa National Park has begun.
The Park lies partly in Golaghat District and partly in Nagaon
District of Assam.
It is the oldest park in Assam along the river Brahmaputra on the
North and the Karbi Anglong hills on the South.
It is UENSCO World Heritage Site, which is home to two-thirds
of the world's population of the species.
The landscape of Kaziranga is of sheer forest, tall elephant grass,
rugged reeds, marshes & shallow pools.
Along with the iconic Greater one-horned rhinoceros, the park
is the breeding ground of elephants, wild water buffalo, and
swamp deer.
The park is also a Tiger reserve.
NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) has signed Statement of Intent (SOI) with German tech company SAP
to promote culture of innovation and entrepreneurship across 100 Atal Tinkering Labs across India.
As part of SOI, SAP will adopt 100 Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATL) in 2018 for five years to nurture science,
technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning among secondary school children across India.
SAP will select secondary schools from Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana.
The collaboration will allow SAP to further ignite innovation in India’s large student population by providing
right guidance, knowledge and infrastructure.
SAP employee volunteers will coach and mentor students in advanced technology topics. Design lab of SAP
Labs India, will provide trainings and allow students to gain hands-on experience with technology gadgets.
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)
AIM is flagship initiative to promote culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in country. Its mandated is to
create umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of country and revolutionize innovation eco-system.
Objectives
Develop new programmes and policies for fostering innovation in different sectors of economy.
Provide platform and collaboration opportunities for different stakeholders, create awareness.
Create umbrella structure to oversee innovation ecosystem of the country.
Its sub-schemes include establishing Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) and Atal Incubation Centers (AICs), for providing
scaling up support to Established Incubation Centres. It also includes finding ultra-low cost solution to India’s most
intractable problems through Atal Grand Challenges and Atal Vikas Challenges.
Till date, AIM has selected 2441 schools across India to establish ATLs, covering 93% of total districts in India and
98% of upcoming smart cities representing all states and 5 out of 7 UTs.
According to National Annual Rural Sanitation Survey (NARSS) 2017-18, over 93% households in villages who have
access to toilets are using them and about 77% homes in rural areas have got toilets.
The survey was conducted by Independent Verification Agency (IVA) under World Bank support project to
Swachh Bharat Mission Gramin (SBM-G).
The survey was conducted between mid-November 2017 and mid-March 2018. It covered 92040 households
in 6136 villages across States/UTs of India.
It also covered schools, Anganwadi and public/community toilets in these villages. It used the PPS (Probability
Proportion to Size) sampling methodology and its data was collected using Computer Assisted Personal
Interviewing (CAPI) platform.
Key findings of NARSS 2017-18
77% of households were found to have access to toilets.
4% of people who had access to toilets used them.
6% of villages which were previously declared and verified as ODF were confirmed to be ODF. The remaining
4.4% villages also had sanitation coverage of over 95%.
70% of villages surveyed found to have minimal litter and minimal stagnant water.
Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)
SBM was launched in October 2014 to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put focus on sanitation. The
mission aims to achieve Swachh Bharat or make India clean by 2019, as a fitting tribute to 150th Birth Anniversary
of Mahatma Gandhi. It world’s largest sanitation program that aimed bring behavioural change of people with
respect to toilet access and usage
The SBM consists of two sub-missions Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), implemented in rural areas, and Swachh
Bharat Mission (Urban), implemented in urban areas. SBM-G seeks to eliminate open defecation in rural areas by
improving access to sanitation by ensuring use of toilets, besides their construction. It also seeks to generate
awareness to motivate communities to adopt sustainable sanitation practices, and encourage the use of
appropriate technologies for sanitation.
Over 6.5 crore toilets were built across rural India under SBM. Over 3.38 lakh villages and 338 districts were
declared ODF, along with 9 ODF States/3 Union Territories, namely Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Haryana,
Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and
Daman & Diu. Over, 300 million people have stopped defecating in open since launch of SBM.
The Ministry of Power has partnered with Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship to train the manpower
in six states for speedy implementation of its Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna (Saubhagya Scheme). These
six states are Assam, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
Under this partnership, around 47,000 Distribution Lineman-Multi Skills and 8,500 Technical Helpers will be
trained to meet the requirement of power sector projects under Saubhagya scheme.
The training infrastructures will be available with ITI’s at district level as well as infrastructures available with
State Power Distribution Utilities will be utilized for skill training of candidates ensuring successful
implementation of scheme.
Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna (Saubhagya Scheme)
Objective: To achieve universal household electrification in all parts of the country. The scheme primarily
benefits rural areas, which have vast majority of households without power connections.
Funding: Total outlay of scheme is Rs. 16,320 crore of which Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) is Rs. 12,320 crore.
It is being funded to extent of 60% by central grants, 30% by bank loans and 10% by states. Of total outlay of
Rs 16,320 crore, rural areas will get Rs 14,025 crore. For urban households outlay is Rs. 2,295 crore. States will
be provided with incentive of 50% of their loan being converted to grants, if electrification targets under the
scheme are met by 31 December 2018.
Identification of beneficiaries: The government will use Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data
to identify beneficiaries for free electricity connections. Un-electrified households not covered under SECC
data will also be provided electricity connections on payment of Rs. 500 which will be recovered by DISCOMs
in 10 installments through electricity bill.
Implementing agencies: The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited under Ministry of Power is nodal agency
for the operationalization of the scheme throughout the country. To ensure on-the-spot registration, mobile
applications will be used. Gram Panchayat and public institutions in rural areas will be authorised to carry out
billing and collection tasks.
Benefits: Free connections will be provided to below poverty line (BPL) households and even those not
covered under this category can avail electricity connection by paying Rs. 500 in 10 instalments with their
monthly bill. There will be no subsidy component for monthly electricity consumption.
Remote areas: For those household where national electricity grid cannot reach, households will be provided
with solar power packs along with battery banks. Remote hamlets will be powered with solar panels along
with 5 LED lamps, DC fan and plug point along with repair and maintenance for five years.
The Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) has approved ‘Study in India’ programme to attract foreign
students to pursue higher education in India. Government has approved expenditure of Rs. 150 crores for
programme for two years 2018-19 and 2019-20 which will be primarily for brand promotion activities.
Study in India programme
Objectives
Encourage more foreign students to choose India as destination for higher education.
Double India’s market share of global education exports from less than 1% to 2%.
Improve global ranking of Indian educational institutes.
The Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has inked line of credit (LoC) agreement with Bank for Investment and
Development (EBID) to provide US $500 million credit facility to fund various development projects in 15-member
countries of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region in western-south Africa.
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
The ECOWAS is regional group of 15 West African countries. It was founded in May 1975, with the signing of
the Treaty of Lagos. Its mandate is to promote economic integration in all fields of activity of the constituting
countries. Its 15 member countries are Benin, Cape Verde, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea
Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.