About:

• Rahi Sarnobat is a Sport shooter who competes in the event of 25 metres pistol shooting.
  
  
• She hails from
  
  
• Medal record:
  
  

About:

• Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has a sent a report containing analysis of cyber-attacks from April-June 2018 to the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and other security agencies.
  
  
• Findings of the report:
  • 35% of the total number of cyber-attacks on official Indian websites are from China. This is followed by U.S (17%), Russia (15%), Pakistan (9%), Canada (7%) and Germany (5%).
    
    
  • There is a possibility of “malicious actors from Pakistan using German and Canadian cyberspace for intruding into Indian cyberspace.”
    
    
  • Common institutions targeted are Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), National Informatics Centre (NIC), State Bank of India and state data centres.
    
    
  • They are targeting by sending spear phishing emails with malware attachments. Phishing attacks are in the form of an email from a trusted source where they ask for personal details such as bank details personal details, passwords.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Particulate matter (PM) pollution consists of solid and liquid particles in the air. Particles can consist of materials such as dust, dirt, soot, smoke, salt, acids, and metals.  PM varies in size, and the smallest particles are of greatest health concern.
  
  
• PM 2.5: It is an atmospheric particulate matter of diameter of fewer than 2.5 micrometres. They can only be detected with the help of an electron microscope because they are so small.
  
  
• Source of PM2.5:
  • Vehicular emission and burning of fuels such as wood, heating oil or coal and natural sources such as forest and grass fires are the major source.
    
    
  • Fine particles also form from the reaction of gases or droplets in the atmosphere from sources such as power plants.
    
    
  • 5 can also be produced by common indoor activities such as cooking (e.g., frying, sautéing, and broiling), burning candles or oil lamps etc.
    
    
  
  
  
• Implications:
  • Due to their smaller size, the PM 2.5 particles can easily bypass the nose and throat and can easily enter the circulatory system. it could lead to premature death from heart and lung disease.
    
    
  • It also reduces visibility.
    
    
  
  
  
• Indian scenario: According to the WHO Global Ambient Air Quality Database for 2018, India has 14 out of the 15 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM2.5 concentrations.
  
  

E-waste Generation in India:

• India ranks fifth in the world in generating e-waste, according to the UN’s Global E-Waste Monitor, 2014.
  
  
• According a report by Assocham released in June 2018 –
  • India is among the top five e-waste generating countries in the world besides China, the US, Japan and Germany.
    
    
  • Among states, Maharashtra contributes the largest e-waste of 19.8% but recycles only about 47,810 tonnes per annum (TPA).
    
    
  
  
  

E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016: Salient features

• E-Waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2018:Setting up of Producer Responsibility Organizations and e-waste exchange to facilitate collection and recycling,
  
  
• Assigning specific responsibility to bulk consumers of electronic products for safe disposal,
  
  
• Providing for economic incentives for collection of electronic waste, and
  
  
• Simplified permission process for setting up of dismantling and recycling facilities etc.
  
  

In March 2018, government notified the E-Waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2018 thereby amending the E-Waste Management Rules 2016. Its Salient features are:

1. The e-waste collection targets under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) have been revised and will be applicable from 1 October 2017.
   1. The phase-wise collection targets for e-waste in weight shall be 10% of the quantity of waste generation during 2017-18, with a 10% increase every year until 2023.
      
      
   2. After 2023 onwards, the target has been made 70% of the quantity of waste generation as indicated in the EPR Plan.
      
      
   
   
   
2. Separate e-waste collection targets have been drafted for new producers, i.e. those producers whose number of years of sales operation is less than the average lives of their products.
   
   
3. It is mandatory for the PROs to register themselves with the CPCB. This will help the CPCB to keep a constant watch on them to check their activities.
   
   
4. Under the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) provisions, cost for sampling and testing shall be borne by the government for conducting the RoHS test. If the product does not comply with RoHS provisions, then the cost of the test will be borne by the Producers.
   
   

About:

• Objective: Providing insurance of deposits and guaranteeing of credit facilities.
  
  
• Banks insured by DIGC:
  • Deposit insurance by DICGC covers all commercial banks, local area banks, regional rural banks and co-operative banks and branches of foreign banks in India.
    
    
  • Primary cooperative societies, Non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and mutual funds are not insured by the DICGC.
    
    
  
  
  
• What does the DICGC insure? In the event of a bank failure, DICGC protects bank deposits that are payable in India. The DICGC insures all deposits such as savings, fixed, current, recurring, etc. except the following types of deposits –
  • Deposits of foreign Governments; 
    
    
  • Deposits of Central/State Governments;
    
    
  • Inter-bank deposits;
    
    
  • Deposits of the State Land Development Banks with the State co-operative bank;
    
    
  • Any amount due on account of any deposit received outside India;
    
    
  • Any amount, which has been specifically exempted by the corporation with the previous approval of Reserve Bank of India.
    
    
  
  
  
• Maximum deposit amount insured by the DICGC:
  • Each depositor in a bank is insured upto a maximum of Rs.1 Lakh.
    
    
  • The coverage under the DICGC was last revised in 1993. Thus, there have been frequent demands for raising this cover which is seen as too small
    
    
  
  
  
• Parent Body: DICGC is a subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
  
  
• Established in:
  
  
• Status: A statutory body established under Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Act, 1961.
  
  
• HQ:
  
  
• Administration: Deputy Governor of RBI acts as its Chairman.
  
  

About:

• Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban), as of August 2018, urban areas of 18 states, and a total of 3,223 cities have become Open Defecation Free (ODF).
  
  
• Now, to address the issue of sanitation in a holistic way (by addressing the entire sanitation value chain), SBM ODF Plus and SBM ODF Plus Plus protocols have been launched. These contain activities in addition to ODF status thereby ensuring total sanitation.
  
  

About:

• UGC directed reminded colleges and universities to adhere to the advisory issued in November 2016 regarding the ban.
  
  
• UGC has also suggested creating wellness clusters under the students’ welfare department, to offer counselling to students on proper nutrition, exercise and ill effects of junk food.
  
  

According to UGC, banning junk food in colleges will make the students live better, learn better and reduce obesity levels, thus preventing life style diseases

About:

• Bailout package:
  • Since 2010, Greece borrowed €289 billion from a ‘troika’ of lenders, the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank when it was on the verge of bankruptcy and close to be pushed out of the eurozone.
    
    
  • In return, Greece undertook structural reforms including the controversial austerity programme.
    
    
  • Greece also agreed to need to maintain a 3.5% primary surplus (a budget surplus prior to interest payments) until 2022 and then around 2% until 2060.
    
    
  
  
  
• Impact of Bailout package:
  • The bailout has left Greece with a debt of 180 % of GDP.
    
    
  • Moreover, the austerity programme resulted in 25% contraction in Greece’s economy, soaring unemployment and poverty, massive emigration and high rates of suicide.
    
    
  
  
  
• Comment:
  • While several of the required reforms were initiated during the bailout period, a lot remains to be done as challenges remain.
    
    
  • According to IMF, maintaining 3.5% primary surplus will constraint government spending programmes that could, for instance, be used to stimulate growth.
    
    
  • Some of the recommended steps are simplifying licensing processes for companies, banking reforms to help clean up the non-performing assets and widening the Tax base.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Route:
  • The 1,814-kilometre pipeline will start from the Galkynysh gas field in Turkmenistan.
    
    
  • It will then pass through Afghanistan and Pakistan to finally reach the Indian town of Fazilka (near the Indo-Pak border).
    
    
  
  
  
• Capacity:
  • The pipeline aims to bring 33 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas to South Asia for 30 years.
    
    
  • Of this, 5 billion cubic metres (180 billion cubic feet) will be provided to Afghanistan and 14 billion cubic metres (490 billion cubic feet) to each Pakistan and India.
    
    
  
  
  
• Background:
  • The original project started in 1995, but got delayed due to various reasons.
    
    
  • In February 2018, ground-breaking ceremony for Afghanistan's section of TAPI gas pipeline was held in the western Afghan city of Herat.
    
    
  
  
  
• Pricing: In 2013, the four nations signed a Gas Sale Purchase Agreement (GSPA) that bench-marked the price of natural gas that Turkmenistan is to export at 55% of the prevailing crude oil price.
  
  

About:

• Names: EId-ul-Zuha is also known as Eid-ul-Adha, Eid-ul-Azha and Bakr-Id.  It is also referred to as the festival of sacrifice. The word ‘Eid’ in Arabic means ‘festival’ and ‘zuha means ‘sacrifice’.
  
  
• Background:
  • Muslims around the world believe that Allah (God) commanded Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ishmael.
    
    
  • Ibrahim followed God's orders, but his son was replaced by a sheep at the last moment. Muslims celebrate this at Eid al-Adha. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Celebration:
  • It is a festival that Muslims celebrate with special prayers, greetings and gifts
    
    
  • They may sacrifice a sheep or goat and share the meat with family members and others. Because of the tradition of sacrificing a goat (‘bakri’ in Urdu) it is known as Bakr-id.
    
    
  
  
  
• Eid al Adha is that it also marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which is a mandatory religious journey undertaken by Muslims to the holy place of Kabbah.
  
  

Eid al Adha vs Eid al Fitr:

Eid al Adha which is one of the two main celebrations in Islam, another being, Eid al Fitr. While both festivals are identified as Eid, the two differ in the reasons and celebrations.

About:

• The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) is one of two instruments that NASA contributed to Chandrayaan-1 (India's first mission to the moon), the other being Mini-SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar).
  
  
• It is an imaging spectrometer that provided the first mineralogical map of the lunar surface (a high-resolution spatial and spectral map revealing the minerals of which lunar surface is made).
  
  
• In 2009, it made one of its biggest discoveries when it found water molecules in the polar regions of the moon.
  
  

Background:

• Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) was launched in 2016 to make air travel affordable for people through subsidised ticket rates and to provide air connectivity to smaller towns.
  
  
• Now, to expand UDAN to international circuits, Centre has unveiled the draft International Air Connectivity (IAC) scheme.
  
  

Salient Features:

• Target: To increase the international ticketing to 20 crore by 2027.
  
  
• States covered: it will cover only those states which provide the required support for promoting operations under the scheme.
  
  
• Working:
  • Under it, state governments will identify the routes to be connected, and airline operators will assess demand on the identified routes and submit proposals for providing connectivity.
    
    
  • Operations under the scheme will be permitted through fixed-wing aircraft only with more than 70 seats.
    
    
  • Subsidy support (for up to three years) will be provided to selected airlines only for the passenger seats, which remain unsold at the time of IAC flight operation.
    
    
  
  
  
• International Air Connectivity Fund (IACF): it will be a dedicated fund under the scheme for providing subsidy support. It will be established through the contributions of state governments.
  
  
• Implementing agency of the scheme: Airport Authority of India (AAI)
  
  

Findings:

• Informal economy: The Indian labour market is characterized by high levels of informality. Of the total employed in 2011–12, 51 % were self-employed, and of the 195 million wage earners, 62 % were employed as casual workers.
  
  
• Average wage:
  • Average daily wages almost doubled between 1993–94 and 2011–12, increasing more rapidly for casual than for regular workers and for women than for men.
    
    
  • But low pay remains pervasive. In 2011–12, the average wage in India was about 247 rupees (INR) per day.
    
    
  
  
  
• Wage inequality:
  • Although overall wage inequality in India has declined since 2004–05, wage inequality remains very high with the Gini coefficient for wages being 0.49.
    
    
  • Regional disparities in average wages have increased over time; wages rose more rapidly in high-wage states than in low-wage ones.
    
    
  • The gender wage gap also remains very high by international standards, although it declined from 48 % in 1993–94 to 34 % in 2011–12. This gender wage gap can be observed among all types of workers: regular and casual, urban and rural.
    
    
  
  
  
• Labour share:
  • India’s labour share has declined from 38.5 % in 1981 to 35.4 % in 2013 because average labour productivity (as measured by GDP per worker) has increased more rapidly than real average wages.
    
    
  • Labour share refers to the proportion of national income which goes into labour compensation, as opposed to capital or landowners.
    
    
  
  
  

Recommendations:

• Recommendations for improving the current minimum wage system:
  • Extend legal coverage to all workers in an employment relationship,
    
    
  • Consolidate and Simplify minimum wage structures,
    
    
  • Take stronger measures for effective application of minimum wage law,
    
    
  • Collect statistical data on regular basis.
    
    
  
  
  
• Recommendations for achieving decent work and inclusive growth:
  • Skill development to boost labour productivity and growth for sustainable enterprises,
    
    
  • Promote equal pay for work of equal value,
    
    
  • Formalize the informal economy and
    
    
  • Strengthen social protection for workers.
    
    
  
  
  

Test Practice Centres (TPCs):

• Test Practice Centres (TPCs) will be setup in rural areas so that students will have an opportunity to practice before appearing for following entrance exam conducted by NTA –
  • UGC-NET
    
    
  • JEE Main
    
    
  • CMAT & GPAT
    
    
  
  
  
• Under it, 2,697 Schools/engineering colleges with computer centres are being made available on every weekend (w.e.f 1^st September, 2018). Any student can use the facility free of charge.
  
  
• The TPCs will have a downloaded Computer Based Test (CBT) which will be similar to the actual test to be conducted on the exam day.
  
  

Decision on NEET:

• Union HRD Ministry withdrew its decision to conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) online and twice a year from 2019.
  
  
• The entrance examination for admissions to medical institutions across the country) will be held as a pen-and-paper test and only once next year.
  
  

Recent decision:

• Under section 79 of the IT Act, 2000, the Ministry of Home Affairs has designated NCRB as the nodal agency to curb easy availability of online child porn and Rape videos.
  
  
• NCRB has been mandated to take steps either on the basis of complaints (via online portal) or by taking suo motu cognizance.
  
  
• A list of 500 key words used in searching such child porn and rape videos has also been compiled and will be shared with the ISPs, including Google, Facebook, WhatsApp etc.
  
  

National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB):

• Background: NCRB was set-up in 1986 on the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977-1981).
  
  
• Objective: To function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
  
  
• Key Activities:
  • Developed Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & System (CCTNS) to connect police stations and higher offices in the country.
    
    
  • Publishes National Crime Statistics i.e. “Crime in India, Accidental Deaths & Suicides and Prison Statistics”.
    
    
  • Maintains Counterfeit Currency Information and Management System (FICN).
    
    
  
  
  
• HQ:
  
  
• Parent ministry: Union Ministry of Home Affairs.
  
  

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib:

• Location: Gurdwara Darbar Sahib is located at Kartarpur in Pakistan’s Narowal district. It stands on the bank of the River Ravi, about 120 km northeast of Lahore. The shrine is visible from the Indian side.
  
  
• Significance: It was here that the First Sikh Guru (Nanak Dev) assembled a Sikh community and lived for 18 years until his death in 1539.
  
  
• Background: The gurdwara was opened to pilgrims after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee paid a visit to Pakistan in 1999. Since then Sikh Pilgrims are visiting the shrine regularly.
  
  

Sikh Pilgrim Corridor:

• Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) and political leaders in India are demanding to construct a ‘corridor’ surrounded by barbed wire to allow pilgrims from India to visit Kartarpur Sahib shrine, and return the same day. They will not require passports or visas.
  
  
• Concerns:
  • The corridor would bring Pakistan’s infrastructure close to the Indian border which can be misused by both state and non-state actors in that country.
    
    
  • Over the past year, gurdwaras in Pakistan have been used for a pro-Khalistan campaign called ‘Sikh Referendum 2020’.
    
    
  
  
  

Background:

• Article 370 of Indian constitution allows the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to have its own separate state constitution. The constitution of J&K came into force in 1957.
  
  
• It vests the executive powers of the state in the Governor.
  
  

Key provisions:

• Head of State: The Head of the State shall be designated as the Governor.
  
  
• Appointment: Governor is appointed by the President of India.
  
  
• Term of Office: Governor holds the office for a five years tenure during the pleasure of the President.
  
  
• Qualifications for appointment: Should be a citizen of India and has completed the age of 30 years.
  
  
• Functions: All functions of the Governor except those under sections 36, 38 and 92 of the state constitution shall be exercised by him only on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
  
  

None of the Above (NOTA):

• Supreme Court, in the PUCL v Union of India (2013) directed the ECI to introduce NOTA in direct elections to allow voters to register their protest if none of the candidates is acceptable to them.
  
  
• NOTA has only symbolic value in a direct election. Regardless of NOTA numbers, candidate polling most votes is elected.
  
  
• However, it is a step towards encouraging political parties to field candidates with integrity.
  
  

Application to Rajya Sabha Elections:

• ECI, through a series of circulars issued in 2014, 2015 and 2017 stated that the option of NOTA would be applicable to elections in Rajya Sabha.
  
  
• Arguments given:
  • In the PUCL case, although Supreme Court referred to the direct elections, but it did not specifically rule out NOTA’s relevance in indirect elections.
    
    
  • Using NOTA is a Right of electors guaranteed to them under Section 79A of the Representation of Peoples Act (RPA), 1951.
    
    
  
  
  

Recent Supreme (SC) Court verdict:

• The Supreme Court, in the recent case, Shailesh Manubhai Parmar v ECI, scrapped the ECI’s circulars.
  
  
• It also told ECI to act within the law by not “conceiving concepts or ideas” antithetical to the purity of elections.
  
  
• Arguments against NOTA in an indirect election:
  • It is contrary to Article 80(4) of the constitution, provisions of RPA, 1951 and the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
    
    
  • NOTA is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections and not elections held by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as done in the Rajya Sabha.
    
    
  • It will alter the outcome of Rajya Sabha elections because candidates need a particular number of votes to be elected. If the first preference is for NOTA, the vote becomes invalid.
    
    
  • In the words of SC, it would encourage ‘Satan of defection’ and indiscipline by discouraging legislators to disobey the directions of party whip under the 10^th 
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Neuroplasticity – or brain plasticity – is the ability of the brain to modify its connections or re-wire itself.
  
  
• Cause: Neuroplasticity occurs in the brain under two primary conditions:
  1. During normal brain development when the immature brain first begins to process sensory information through adulthood.
     
     
  2. As an adaptive mechanism to compensate for lost function and/or to maximize remaining functions in the event of brain injury.
     
     
  
  
  
• Significance:
  • This flexibility plays an incredibly important role in our brain development (or decline) and in shaping our distinct personalities.
    
    
  • Without this ability, brain, would be unable to develop from infancy through to adulthood or recover from brain injury.
    
    
  
  
  

Gadgil Committee:

In 2010, Union Environment Ministry set up the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel under ecologist Madhav Gadgil to recommend measures to protect the ecology and biodiversity of the Western Ghats. It submitted its report in 2011. Its key highlights are:

• According to it, Western Ghats included an area of 1,29,037 km², running about 1.490 km from Maharashtra to Tamil Nadu.
  
  
• It declared the entire Western Ghats as Ecologically Sensitive Area (ESA). Within this area, it designated sub-regions as Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) I, II or III based on the threat.
  
  
• Its recommendations for ESA:
  • Ban on cultivation of genetically modified in entire area; Phase-out of all chemical pesticides within five to eight years in ESZ I and ESZ II
    
    
  • Strict regulation of tourism
    
    
  • Plastic bags to be phased out in three years;
    
    
  • No new special economic zones or hill stations to be allowed;
    
    
  • Ban on diversion of forest land for non-forest purposes in ESZ I and II; No new dams in ESZ I; No new polluting industries in ESZ I and ESZ II areas;
    
    
  • Setup a Western Ghats Ecology Authority to regulate these activities in the area.
    
    
  
  
  

Kasturirangan committee:

Its recommendations were opposed by the six concerned states. Subsequently Environment Ministry constituted a High-Level Working Group on Western Ghats under Kasturirangan to ‘examine’ the Gadgil Committee report which submitted its report in 2013. Its key highlights are:

• It broadened the definition of Western Ghats and included a total of 1,64,280 square km in it.
  
  
• It then classified it as comprising cultural landscape and natural landscape.
  • 60% of the Western Ghats was cultural landscape, where human settlements, agriculture and plantations existed.
    
    
  • The remaining was natural landscape, of which the ‘biologically rich’ area was only 37%. It was only this part that needed to be classified as ecologically sensitive area (ESA).
    
    
  
  
  
• Its recommendations for ESA:
  • Ban on mining, quarrying and sand mining;
    
    
  • No new thermal power projects, but hydro power projects allowed with restrictions;
    
    
  • Ban on new polluting industries;
    
    
  • Building and construction projects up to 20,000 km² was to be allowed but townships were to be banned;
    
    
  • Forest diversion could be allowed with extra safeguards.
    
    
  
  
  

Implementation status:

• In 2017, Union Environment Ministry notified an area of 56,285 km² in Western Ghats as ESA.
  
  
• This was slightly less than the 59,940 km² recommended by the Kasturirangan committee.
  
  

About:

• Background: In June 2018, RBI announced setting up of a public credit registry. The move is based on the recommendations of a committee headed by Y.M. Deosthalee which submitted its report in April 2018.
  
  
• Objective: It would be an information repository that collates all loan information of individuals and corporate borrowers.
  
  
• Significance of establishing PCR:
  • Helping banks to distinguish between a bad and a good borrower and accordingly offer attractive interest rates to good borrowers and higher interest rates to bad borrowers.
    
    
  • Addressing information asymmetry, improving access to credit and strengthening the credit culture among consumers.
    
    
  • Addressing the bad loans problem facing the banking system, as corporate borrowers will be unable to lend from multiple banks without disclosing their existing debt.
    
    
  
  
  

Professor Assisted Learning (PAL):

• PAL stands for Professor Assisted Learning.
  
  
• Under PAL programme, IIT students and teachers record lectures to help school students crack the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE).
  
  
• This is a step towards addressing concerns regarding students’ dependence on coaching institutes for cracking JEE (Advanced).
  
  
• These will be now telecast on Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry’s Swayam Prabha Channels. This was announced at the 52^nd Meeting of the Council of IITs chaired by Union HRD minister.
  
  

SWAYAM:

• SWAYAM stands for ‘Study Webs of Active–Learning for Young Aspiring Minds’.
  
  
• Bodies involved: SWAYAM platform is indigenously developed by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) with the help of Microsoft.
  
  
• Objective: To bridge the digital divide for students.
  
  
• Content:
  • It hosts courses of learning covering school, under-graduate, post-graduate and other professional courses.
    
    
  • The courses hosted on SWAYAM is in 4 quadrants (1) video lecture, (2) specially prepared reading material that can be downloaded/printed, (3) self-assessment tests through tests and quizzes and (4) an online discussion forum for clearing the doubts.
    
    
  
  
  

Pictorial warnings:

• This has been done amending the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Rules, 2008.
  
  
• The new set of specified health warnings are –
  
  

• Tobacco Quit-line Services:Violation of the provision is a punishable offence with imprisonment or fine under Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003.
  
  

• A new feature of warnings is inclusion of telephone Quit-line number “QUIT TODAY CALL 1800-11-2356”.
  
  
• This will give tobacco users access to counselling services to effect behaviour change.
  
  

About:

• BIMSTEC is an international organization involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia.
  
  
• Membership: Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.
  
  
• Objective:
  • Its primary objective is to improve connectivity between the members through multi-modal transport corridors.
    
    
  • In general, there are ‘14 priority sectors’ which cover almost all areas of cooperation such as energy, handling of refugees, anti-narcotic measures.
    
    
  
  
  
• Evolution:
  • Encouraged by India’s Look East Policy (LEP) and Thailand’s Look West Policy it was Initiated in 1997 as BIST-EC (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
    
    
  • With Myanmar joining the grouping as a full member the same year, the ‘BIST-EC’ was renamed as ‘BIMST-EC’.
    
    
  • With Nepal and Bhutan becoming its members in 2004, the grouping was renamed as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Hate Speech is not defined in Indian constitution or by any Law.
  
  
• In this background, Law Commission of India submitted its 267^th report on Hate Speech in 2017, in which it drafted The Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2017 by inserting new Sections in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to deal with hate speech.
  
  
• New Sections recommended:
  • Insert Section 153C to penalise incitement to hatred.
    
    
  • Insert Section 505A to make ‘causing fear, alarm, or provocation of violence in certain cases’ a specific criminal offence.
    
    
  
  
  
• Incidence of Hate speech: According to An Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) report released in April 2018, 58 sitting MPs and MLAs had declared cases relating to ‘hate Speech’ in their poll affidavits.
  
  

About:

• MPLADS stands for ‘Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme’.
  
  
• It is an ongoing Central Sector Scheme which was first launched in 1993-94.
  
  
• Salient Features:
  • It was launched to enable MPs to recommend small developmental works of capital nature to meet local needs.
    
    
  • The kind of projects recommended includes assets building such as drinking water facilities, primary education, public health, sanitation, roads etc. 
    
    
  • Fund allocation: Under this, an MP gets ₹5 crore a year to spend on local area development. Funds released under the scheme are non-lapsable.
    
    
  • The Scheme is administered by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which is responsible for policy formulation, release of funds and monitoring.
    
    
  
  
  
• Jurisdiction:
  • Member of Lok Sabha can select works for implementation in his/her constituency while a Member of Rajya Sabha can select works in one or more districts of his/her choice in the State from which he/she has been elected.
    
    
  • However, after the 1999 super cyclone in Odisha, MP were allowed to spend the money outside their constituency and their State in case of Rajya Sabha MPs.
    
    
  
  
  
• During Calamity of severe nature:
  • In the event of a ‘calamity of severe nature’ in any part of the country, an MP can recommend works up to a maximum of ₹1 crore for the affected district.
    
    
  • From the day an MP makes such contribution, concerned authorities have to identify relief works in one month and the same should be implemented within eight months.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Ismat Chughtai (1911 – 1911) was an Indian Urdu language writer who championed free speech, social liberation, and gender equality through her writing.
  
  
• Her key works:
  • Some of her best-known works are Lihaf (The Quilt), Chu Mui (Touch-me-not), Gainda (Marigold) etc.
    
    
  • Her unfinished autobiography Kaghazi Hai Pairahan was published posthumously.
    
    
  • She also wrote the screenplay for Bollywood movies like Ziddi, Arzoo and Garam Hawa.
    
    
  
  
  
• Awards and Honour: Padma Shri (1976).
  
  

About:

• Vinesh Phogat (born 25 August 1994) is an Indian wrestler from Haryana.
  
  
• She is the first Indian woman wrestler to win gold in both Commonwealth and Asian games.
  
  
• Medal record:
  
  

• She is the cousin of wrestlers Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari, who have won gold in 55kg category in Commonwealth Games.
  
  

About:

• Bajrang Punia is a freestyle wrestler from Haryana, India.
  
  
• He is a recipient of Arjuna Award (2015).
  
  
• Medal record:
  
  

National calamity:

• In the recent past, there have been similar demands from states to declare certain events as natural disasters (such as the Uttarakhand flood in 2013, Cyclone Hudhud in Andhra Pradesh in 2014, and the Assam floods of 2015).
  
  
• However, there is no provision, executive or legal, to declare a natural calamity as a national calamity.
  
  
• During the recent monsoon session of Parliament, Union government informed Parliament that, “The existing guidelines of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)/ National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), do not consider declaring a disaster as a ‘National Calamity’.”
  
  

Calamity of Severe Nature:

• Factors to be considered: The 10th Finance Commission (1995-2000), although did not define a ‘calamity of rare severity; but it stated that it would have to be adjudged on a case-to-case basis considering the –
  • intensity and magnitude of the calamity,
    
    
  • level of assistance needed,
    
    
  • capacity of the state to tackle the problem etc.
    
    
  
  
  
• Examples: In the past, flash floods in Uttarakhand and Cyclone Hudhud have been classified as calamities of ‘severe nature’.
  
  
• Assistance: When a calamity is declared to be of ‘rare severity’/’severe nature’, the state receives the following assistance from centre –
  • Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) is set up, with the corpus shared 3:1 between Centre and state.
    
    
  • When resources in the CRF are inadequate, additional assistance is considered from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF), funded 100% by the Centre.
    
    
  • The Centre also considers additional assistance from the NDRF.
    
    
  • Grant of loans on concessional terms to the affected persons affected is also considered.
    
    
  
  
  

Background:

• In July 2018, National Green Tribunal (NGT) asked Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to display a prominent map showing where the river water was fit for bathing and drinking.
  
  
• The NGT bench said that “If cigarette packets can contain a warning, why not the people be informed of the adverse effects of the river water.”
  
  

CPCB Map:

• Subsequently, CPCB released a Map in August 2018 in which it dotted the length of the Ganga with red markers.
  
  
• Criteria: CPCB used the criteria of dissolved oxygen (more than 6 mg/litre), bio-chemical oxygen demand (less than 2 mg/litre), total coliform levels (5000 most probably number per 100 ml) and pH (range between 6.5 to 8.5) to assess the health of the river.
  
  
• Finding: Apart from stretches in Uttarakhand and a couple of places as the river enters Uttar Pradesh that are marked in green (fit), the CPCB has indicated that the river is unfit for drinking and bathing the whole way till it drains into the Bay of Bengal in West Bengal (except one spot at the UP-Bihar Border).
  
  
• Comment: The development comes at a time when the Centre has claimed that the Namami Gange project, with a budget of ₹20,000 crore, has achieved considerable success.
  
  

About:

• In April 2018, RBI issued a directive on data localisation which mandated all payments companies, global and local, to set up data storage facilities within India by October 2018. i.e. the payment companies will have to physically store Indian citizens’ payment data in India.
  
  
• Recently B.N. Srikrishna committee on data privacy recommended that all “critical personal data” should be processed only within the country.
  
  
• Argument given:
  • This is required to gain “unfettered supervisory access” to such data for better monitoring and regulation, which is essential for reducing risks from data breaches.
    
    
  • The move came in the aftermath of the Cambridge Analytica data leak, which has led to concern about the fate of Indian data.
    
    
  
  
  

China has already enacted laws to ensure that all kinds of personal data of its citizens are stored on local servers

AMCA Programme:

• Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) is an Indian programme of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
  
  
• Agencies involved: It is being designed by Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
  
  
• Features:
  • It will initially fly with two GE-414 engines (the same engine used in LCA Mk-2 variant).
    
    
  • It will initially be based on geometric stealth. During later stages, steps will be taken towards Material Stealth.
    
    
  
  
  
• Timeline: Development work on the jet is under way. First flight of Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft expected in 2032.
  
  
• Comment: This is India’s only fifth generation aircraft programme following the decision not to go ahead with the fifth-generation project with Russia.
  
  

5^th Generation Aircrafts:

• Although there are no clearly defined strict criteria, but generally an aircraft is considered 5^th generation if it has stealth profiles and advanced avionics with integrated all-digital flight systems,
  
  
• United States Airforce’s Lockheed F-22 Raptor remains the only fully-operational 5^th generation fighter to date. Russian Sukhoi T-50 PAK FA, the Lockheed Martin F-35 and the Chinese J-20 and J-31 are in advanced stadium of development.
  
  

About:

• HeliNa stands for Helicopter-launched Nag. It is a variant of the land-launched Nag anti-tank guided missile.
  
  
• It is indigenously developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
  
  
• HeliNa is designed to be launched from the HAL Light Combat Helicopter, the HAL Dhruv and its armed variant, HAL Rudra.
  
  
• The Nag missile, and HeliNa, are 'fire-and-forget' missiles (i.e. once locked on to a target before their launch, it is guided by an Infrared Imaging Seeker (IIR) that would help track the target's movements and make changes to their trajectory to ensure a hit).
  
  
• Anti-tank guided missiles are designed to destroy or debilitate tanks and armoured vehicles.
  
  
• Present status: The Nag along with HeliNa is also undergoing trials, and is yet to be inducted into the Indian Army (although it has been in development since the 1980s).
  
  

Pension Fund and Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA):

• Function: PFRDA is the pension regulator of India. It regulates and administers the National Pension System (NPS) along with administering the Atal Pension Yojana (APY).
  
  
• Established in:
  
  
• Status: A statutory autonomous body under the PFRDA Act, 2013.
  
  
• Administration: PFRDA consists of a Chairperson and not more than 5 members, of whom at least 3 shall be whole-time members, to be appointed by the Central Government.
  
  

Standing committee:

• Mandate: Standing committee on ‘Information Systems & Technology and Cyber Security’ will:
  • Suggest steps to deal with cybersecurity challenges and
    
    
  • Advise PFRDA wrt development of Management Information Systems (MIS) for efficient discharge of its responsibilities
    
    
  
  
  
• The standing committee has to meet once in six months (at minimum), for advising on matters referred to it.
  
  

About:

• SWIFT stands for “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.”
  
  
• Status: SWIFT is a global member-owned cooperative society under Belgian law.
  
  
• Establishment: It was founded in 1973 by a group of 239 banks from 15 countries.
  
  
• Headquarters: La Hulpe, Belgium.
  
  
• Functions:
  • SWIFT is a secure financial message carrier. its core role is to provide a secure transmission channel so that Bank A knows that its message to Bank B goes to Bank B and no one else.
    
    
  • Apart from this, it also sells software and services to financial institutions, much of it for use on the SWIFTNet Network.
    
    
  
  
  
• What it doesn’t?
  • SWIFT does not facilitate funds transfer: rather, it sends payment orders, which must be settled by correspondent accounts that the institutions have with each other.
    
    
  • It does not hold accounts for its members.
    
    
  • It does not perform any form of clearing or settlement.
    
    
  
  
  
• Usage:
  • SWIFT is used by financial institutions like Banks, Depositories, Exchanges, Corporate Business Houses etc.
    
    
  • The majority of international interbank messages use the SWIFT network.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Exercise Pitch Black is a biennial multi-national air warfare exercise conducted by Australia.
  
  
• The 2018 version was hosted by Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from 24 July – 18 August 2018 in Darwin, Australia. 16 nations participated in it.
  
  
• Its Objectives were to foster closer relationship between the participating forces and to provide an opportunity to operate in a dynamic warlike environment.
  
  
• Indian Air Force (IAF) participated for the first time in ‘Exercise Pitch Black’. IAF had earlier participated in the exercise as observers.
  
  
• This move, coming after the successful conclusion of Exercise Gaganshakti-2018, showcases India’s capability to be an effective net security provider in the Indo-Pacific region.