Recent decision: 

• For this purpose, the government will provide additional capital to IIFCL and also amend certain existing infra investment norms to facilitate this. 
  
  
• The interim Budget 2019-20 raised the capital support for IIFCL to Rs 500 crore for next financial year as compared to Rs 100 crore in 2018-19. 
  
  
• The government had earlier planned to set up a new subsidiary of IIFCL to carry out such investments. But that proposal was subsequently dropped. 
  
  
• Changes in the Scheme for Financing Viable Infrastructure Projects (SIFTI) guidelines, which govern IIFCL’s investment in infra sector, are being finalized to enable social sector investment and loans by the company. 
  
  

About: 

• Scientific Name: Lepidochelys olivacea. 
  
  
• Common name: Olive Ridley, Pacific Ridley. 
  
  
• Features: 
  • They are the smallest of all sea turtles found in the world. They gets its name from its olive coloured carapace, which is heart-shaped and rounded. 
    
    
  • Males and females grow to the same size; however, females have a slightly more rounded carapace as compared to the male. 
    
    
  • They are carnivores, and feed mainly on jellyfish, shrimp, snails, crabs, molluscs and a variety of fish and their eggs. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Habitat: They inhabit warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. These turtles spend their entire lives in the ocean, and migrate thousands of kilometres between feeding and mating grounds in the course of a year. 
  
  
• IUCN Red List Status: In spite of the Olive Ridley being the most abundant sea turtle, their numbers have been declining over the past few years, and the species is recognized as Vulnerable by the IUCN Red list. 
  
  

Arribada: 

• These turtles, along with their cousin the Kemps ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada. i.e. thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs. 
  
  
• Females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs. During this phenomenal nesting, up to 600,000 and more females emerge from the waters, over a period of five to seven days, to lay eggs. 
  
  
• They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers. 
  
  
• The coast of Orissa in India is the largest mass nesting site for the Olive-ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica. 
  
  

About: 

• Objective: To honour the around 26,000 soldiers who have made the supreme sacrifice in wars and operations since Independence. 
  
  
• Location: The NWM adjoins the India Gate complex on Rajpath. 
  
  
• Background: in October 2015, The Ministry of Defence, Government of India has sanctioned the construction of a National War Memorial and National War Museum in New Delhi. 
  
  
• Features: 
  • The landscape-style NWM, consists of four landscaped concentric circles around a 15-metre tall central obelisk with the eternal flame, bronze and stone murals, graphic panels and busts of the 21 Param Vir Chakra awardees. 
    
    
  • The four concentric circles are christened the Amar Chakra, Veerta Chakra, Tyag Chakra and Suraksha Chakra, with the names of around 26,000 fallen soldiers inscribed on 1.5-metre high walls. 
    
    
  • India records around 100 battle casualties every year in counter-insurgency and other operations. Their names will continue to be added to the NWM in an ongoing process. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• The welfare board will give identity cards to the members of the community which will help them obtain education, apart from scholarships for Class X exams. 
  
  
• Eligible third gender students would be provided hostel accommodation under the Babasaheb Ambedkar Swadhar Scheme. Under this scheme, Rs 48,000-60,000 would be given as scholarship annually. 
  
  
• The board would also implement skill development programmes to help educated transgenders get jobs. 
  
  
• The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) activists welcomed the state government's announcement. 
  
  

About: 

• Background: The draft policy comes after the government updated the FDI policy for online marketplaces in December which puts curbs on how large foreign e-tailers operate in India. 
  
  
• Objective: To strengthen consumer rights with regards to counterfeit products and the overall grievance mechanism, apart from putting in measures to stem the flow of goods through illegal means into the country. 
  
  
• Salient Features: 
  • It puts restrictions on how foreign online retailers, including fast-growing Chinese e-commerce firms, operate in India. 
    
    
  • Restricting cross border flow of data and leveraging it to help start-ups are also some of the other key measures proposed. 
    
    
  • All e-commerce websites and applications available for downloading in India must have a registered business entity in India as the importer on record or the entity through which all sales in India are transacted. 
    
    
  • Consumer/business payments from Indian banks and payment gateways to unauthorised and unregistered (GST non-compliant) sites/apps shall be barred. 
    
    
  • If the seller fails to prove the authenticity of the product, the marketplace would have to take it down and remove all information of the same. 
    
    
  • All e-commerce sites/apps available to Indian consumers (displaying prices in rupees) must have MRP on all packaged products, physical products and invoices. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• More than 40% of insect species are declining and a third are endangered. The total mass of insects is falling by a 2.5% a year suggesting they could vanish within a century. 
  
  
• The rate of extinction is eight times faster than that of mammals, birds and reptiles. 41% of global insect species have declined over the past decade compared with 22% of vertebrate species. 
  
  
• Insect population collapses have recently been reported in Germany and Puerto Rico, but the review strongly indicates the crisis is global. In Puerto Rico a recent study revealed a 98% fall in ground insects over 35 years. 
  
  
• Butterflies and moths are among the worst hit. For example, the number of widespread butterfly species fell by 58% on farmed land in England between 2000 and 2009. 
  
  
• Factors: Intensive agriculture is the main driver of the declines, particularly the heavy use of pesticides. Urbanisation and climate change are also significant factors.  
  
  
• Impact: Insects are by far the most varied and abundant animals, outweighing humanity by 17 times. They are “essential” for the proper functioning of all ecosystems as food for other creatures, pollinators and recyclers of nutrients. One of the biggest impacts of insect loss is on the many birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish that eat insects. 
  
  
• Comment: The insect trends confirm that the sixth major extinction event is profoundly impacting on life forms on our planet. The planet is at the start of a sixth mass extinction in its history, with huge losses already reported in larger animals that are easier to study. 
  
  

Key Findings: 

• The Ganga river basin could see crop failures rise three-fold and drinking water shortage go up by as much as 39% in some States between now and 2040. 
  
  
• If there is no intervention, Madhya Pradesh would see a 39%, Delhi 22% and Uttar Pradesh a 25% deficit in drinking water in 2040 as compared to the current levels. 
  
  
• The volume of extracted groundwater is expected to more than double, leading to an increase in the critical blocks. 
  
  
• Low flow values in the rivers are predicted to decline compared to present levels. Water quality and environmental flow conditions already critical will deteriorate further. 
  
  

Solution: 

• The most beneficial intervention is improvement of municipal waste water treatment. 
  
  
• Reduction in pollution loads provides a positive return on investment both in availability of clean water as well as a drastic reduction in water-related illnesses and deaths. 
  
  
• Other interventions such as increasing water use efficiency and implementing a ‘more job per drop’ rather than striving for wholesale crop production are needed. 
  
  
• The natural ecological flow of the river should not be blocked, as that would reduce its propensity to clean itself. ‘Ecological Flow,’ refers to the minimum amount of water that must be maintained at all times through the year to ensure the river’s health. 
  
  

About: 

• Ethnicity: Dongria Kondh people are members of the Kondhs, of the Munda ethnic group. 
  
  
• Location: They are located in the Niyamgiri hills. Niyamgiri is a hill range spread over 250 sq.km which falls under the Rayagada and Kalahandi District in Odisha. 
  
  
• Beliefs: They worship Niyam Raja (Niyamraja), the supreme god of the Niyamgiri jungle. 
  
  
• Population: The Dongria Kondh community numbers approximately 8,000 people, inhabiting about 100 villages. 
  
  
• Nomenclature: They derive their name from dongar, meaning ‘hill’ and the name for themselves is Jharnia: protector of streams. 
  
  
• Language: The people of Niyamgiri use Kui language. Kui language is not written, but it is spoken among the people of Kondh community. 
  
  
• Lifestyle: The Dongria have distinctive jewellery, tattoos and hairstyles. Women wear many rings through their ears and three through their noses, while boys wear two nose rings. Dongria girls wear clips in their hair and rings and beads around their necks. 
  
  
• Economy: They sustain themselves from the resources of the Niyamgiri forests, practising horticulture and shifting cultivation. 
  
  
• Mining dispute: They have been at the centre of a dispute over mining rights in the area. 
  • Vedanta Resources planned to extract the estimated $2billion-worth of bauxite that lies under the surface of the hills. 
    
    
  • The company planned to create an open-cast mine that would have violated Niyam Dongar, disrupted its rivers and spelt the end of the Dongria Kondh as a distinct people. 
    
    
  
  
  

Pakistan on Grey List: 

• Background: In June 2018, The FATF decided to place Pakistan on its ‘Grey list’, that is, Compliance Document for Jurisdictions Monitored by International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG). 
  
  
• Meaning: Being put on the grey list means that Pakistan has been formally identified as a country with ‘strategic deficiencies’ in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime. These deficiencies include – 
  • Inadequate monitoring and regulatory mechanisms, 
    
    
  • Inadequate terrorism financing investigation and prosecution, 
    
    
  • Poor implementation of UNSC resolutions 1267 and 1373 for curbing terror financing and 
    
    
  • Cross-border illicit movement of currency by terrorist groups. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Impact: The Grey listing means downgrading of the country by multilateral lenders like IMF, World Bank, ADB, EU and also a reduction in risk rating by Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. 
  
  
• The resolution gave the Pakistani government a 15-month, 27-point action plan on enforcing measures to counter money laundering and financing of terrorist groups (AML/CFT regime). 
  
  

Recent decisions by FATF: 

• FATF has decided not to remove Pakistan from the ‘grey list’ for its failure to stop funding of terror groups, as Pakistan had lobbied for, but also did not accept an Indian demand to move Pakistan to the ‘black list’ yet. 
  
  
• It urged Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan, particularly those with timelines of May 2019. Following this, a review will be carried out in June 2019. 
  
  
• The FATF criticised Pakistan for not demonstrating “a proper understanding” of the terror financing risks posed by “Da’esh (Islamic State), Al Qaeda, Jamaat-ud Dawa, Lashkar-e Taiba, Jaish-e Mohammad, Haqqani Network, and persons affiliated with the Taliban. 
  
  

Indus Basin: 

• The Indus system comprises of main Indus River, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. 
  
  
• The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan with a small share for China and Afghanistan. 
  
  

Indus Waters Treaty, 1960: 

• Under the Indus Waters Treaty, brokered by the World Bank, was signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of three rivers, namely Ravi, Sutlej and Beas (Eastern Rivers) averaging around 33 million-acre feet (MAF) were allocated to India for exclusive use. 
  
  
• The waters of Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab (Western rivers) averaging to around 135 MAF were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic, non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India. India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through run of the river (RoR) projects on the Western Rivers which. 
  
  

Present status of development in India: 

• To utilize the waters of the Eastern rivers, India has constructed Bhakra Dam on Satluj, Pong and Pandoh Dam on Beas and Thein (Ranjit-sagar) on Ravi. 
  
  
• These storage works, together with other works like Beas-Sutlej Link, Madhopur-Beas Link, Indira Gandhi Nahar Project etc has helped India utilize nearly entire share (95 %) of waters of Eastern rivers. 
  
  
• However, about 2 MAF of water annually from Ravi is reported to be still flowing unutilized to Pakistan below Madhopur. To stop the flow of these waters, following steps have been taken: 
  • Resumption of Construction of Shahpurkandi project: This project will help in utilizing the waters coming out from powerhouse of Thein dam to irrigate 37000 hectares of land in J&K and Punjab and generate 206 MW of power. 
    
    
  • Construction of Ujh multipurpose project: This project will create a storage of about 781 million cu m of water on river Ujh, a tributary of Ravi for irrigation and power generation in districts of J&K. 
    
    
  • The 2^nd Ravi Beas link below Ujh: This project is being planned to tap excess water flowing to Pakistan through by constructing a barrage across river Ravi for diverting water through a tunnel link to Beas basin. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• The species called Moros intrepidus is a small tyrannosaur who lived about 96 million years ago in the present-day Utah, United States during the Cretaceous period. 
  
  
• The tyrannosaur, described in the journal Communications Biology, is the oldest Cretaceous tyrannosaur species yet discovered in North America, narrowing a 70-million-year gap in the fossil record of dinosaurs on the continent. 
  
  
• Early in their evolution, tyrannosaurs hunted in the shadows of archaic lineages such as allosaurs that were already established at the top of the food chain. 
  
  
• Moros is tiny by comparison -- standing only three or four feet tall at the hip, about the size of a modern mule deer. 
  
  
• The bones of Moros also revealed the origin of T rex's lineage on the North American continent. When the scientists placed Moros within the family tree of tyrannosaurs, they discovered that its closest relatives were from Asia. 
  
  
• The research suggests that Moros was part of a transcontinental exchange of biota between Asia and North America during the mid-Cretaceous that is well-documented in other taxa. 
  
  

About: 

• Hachimoji DNA Is a synthesised molecular system that like DNA, can store and transmit information. It meets all the structural requirements that allow our DNA to store, transmit and evolve information in living systems. 
  
  
• The new informational molecular system is like DNA, except in one key area. 
  • DNA components include four key ingredients called nucleotides. However, the new synthetic DNA molecule has eight informational ingredients instead of four. 
    
    
  • It includes the four nucleotides present in Earth life -- adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine -- but also four others that mimic the structures of the informational ingredients in regular DNA. 
    
    
  • The result is a double-helix structure that can store and transfer information. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Significance: 
  • This new molecular system, which is not a new life form, suggests scientists looking for life beyond Earth may need to rethink what they are looking for. 
    
    
  • The finding, published in the journal Science, suggests there could be an alternative to DNA-based life that may be possible on other worlds. 
    
    
  • This new work will help develop effective instruments and experiments for NASA's planetary science missions. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• Saras is the first Indian multi-purpose civilian aircraft. 
  
  
• Designed by: National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL). 
  
  
• Timeline: 
  • The project kicked off in 1991 and the first prototype was introduced in 2004. 
    
    
  • After years of development, the second SARAS prototype crashed outside Bengaluru in 2009 which led to the scrapping of its development program. 
    
    
  • In February 2017, the project was revived. 
    
    
  • The upgraded 14-seater SARAS PT1N completed its test flight earlier in January, 2018. 
    
    
  • The aircraft will soon be certified for both civil and military use. The plane is capable of executing both day and night missions. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Features of the revised version: 
  • It falls in the light transport aircraft category. 
    
    
  • It is capable of executing both day and night missions. 
    
    
  • It can be used for transporting civilians, freight, and in remote sensing exercises. 
    
    
  • It can take off and land from semi-prepared airfields and even on grass runways. 
    
    
  • The aircraft has been designed to travel at 425 km/h and it has a maximum continuous flight time of around five hours. 
    
    
  
  
  

Projects inaugurated: 

• He inaugurated skilling Common Facility Centre (CFC) in Udupi, Karnataka for traditional jewellery manufacturing. It has been established by the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India (GJEPC). 
  
  
• He laid the foundation stone on Common Facility Centre (CFC) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. It has the capacity to train 50, 000 people in the unique jewellery manufacture like Kundan, Meenakari, Bidri, temple jewellery, filigree and Jadau jewellery. 
  
  
• He inaugurated two spices parks in Kota, Rajasthan and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh which will help farmers to get better returns for their produce by elimination of intermediaries in the supply chain. 
  
  
• He also inaugurated National Institute of Design (NID) campus in Jorhat (Assam) and Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh). 
  
  
• Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) campus was inaugurated at Kolkata, West Bengal and Maidangarhi near Delhi and Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) in Banur, Chandigarh. 
  
  

About: 

• Objective: With the Super-Efficient Air Conditioning programme, EESL aims to distribute air conditioners that are 40 % more efficient than, but priced comparably with, the 3-star ACs currently available in the market. 
  
  
• Coverage: EESL and BSES will implement a 12-month pilot of the programme in around 25 lakh residential and institutional consumers in South and West Delhi. 
  
  
• Strategy: 
  • BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL) would assist in aggregating demand and providing local marketing and outreach support to promote energy efficient technologies in the areas it currently services. 
    
    
  • EESL will conduct all activities related to source, supply, complaint management and redressal, and fulfilment of warranty obligations for the products. 
    
    
  • EESL will mobilise a capital of ₹ 150 crore for the programme while redeeming its investment through upfront payments for the super-efficient ACs from customers. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Funding: EESL’s investment in the programme is partially supported by a grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), an independent financing mechanism that was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to address global environmental issues. 
  
  
• Expected benefits: 
  • EESL expects to discover prices that are 20-30 % less than the retail costs of similar technologies currently available in the market. 
    
    
  • Besides promoting energy efficiency, the Super-Efficient AC programme will also help to reduce the peak power demand. 
    
    
  • The programme addresses goals of India’s Cooling Action Plan and Hydrochlorofluro carbons Phase Out Management Plan, enabling achievement of India’s targets under the Kigali and Paris Agreements. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• This was done in order to make them world class and future ready. These airports include -
  • Trivandrum, Calicut airports in Kerala, 
    
    
  • Mangaluru airport in Karnataka, 
    
    
  • Madurai airport in Tamil Nadu, 
    
    
  • Rupsi airport in Assam, 
    
    
  • Jaipur airport in Rajasthan, 
    
    
  • Amritsar airport in Punjab and 
    
    
  • Imphal airport in Manipur. 
    
    
  
  
  
• 620 crore is being spent on these 8 AAI airports in the country to upgrade and revamp airports infrastructure. 
  
  

About: 

• The chemical composition of the used cooking oil is identical to other plant-based oils that have been converted to Bio-ATF. The pilot test has proven that it is very similar to Bio-ATF derived from jatropha oil. 
  
  
• The Institute collected used cooking oil from caterers and hotels in Dehradun for the pilot, which has now set the platform for commercial use of the technology. The Bio-ATF derived from used cooking oil is yet to be tested on a flight. 
  
  
• Significance: 
  • Reducing the re-use of cooking oil in the food industry will have positive public health outcomes and its conversion into Bio-ATF will help the aviation sector reduce its carbon footprint. 
    
    
  • The Indian Air Force (IAF) and the civil aviation sector consume about 100 crore litres and 900 crore litres of ATF per annum, suggesting a huge potential market for Bio-ATF. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Repurpose Cooking Oil (RUCO) initiative: 
  • The test assumes importance as the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has launched the Repurpose Cooking Oil (RUCO) initiative to collect and convert used cooking oil into bio-fuel. 
    
    
  • As many as 64 companies in 101 locations across the country have been identified for the purpose by FSSAI. By 2020, it should be possible to recover about 220 crore litres of used cooking oil for conversion into bio-fuel. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• ‘Flamingo Count’ will be conducted in two phases at a pan-India level. 
  • The first phase will be conducted on February 23-24 and participants are encouraged to visit any of the short-listed sites or any site of their choice where flamingos are seen. 
    
    
  • The second phase will be held in April, 2019. 
    
    
  
  
  
• In India there are two species of flamingos — 
  • Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus rosues): They are widespread in India, and they migrate to South India during winter and spend their time in large reservoirs and mud flats. IUCN status: Least concern. 
    
    
  • Lesser Flamingo (Phoeniconaias minor): They mainly breed at the Rann of Kutch/North-western India. IUCN status: Not threatened. 
    
    
  
  
  

Recent decision: 

• According to a Home Ministry notification, Assam Rifles has been empowered by the Union Government to arrest anyone and search a place without warrant in the border districts of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram. 
  
  
• An officer of the rank corresponding to that of the lowest rank of members of the Assam Rifles” has been given these powers under sub-section(1) of section 41, sections 47, 48, 49, 51, 53, 54, 149, 150, 151 and 152 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). They have to hand over the suspects to the local police within 24 hours. 
  • Section 41 of the CrPC states that any police officer may, without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant, arrest any person. 
    
    
  • Section 47 gives powers for search of place entered by person sought to be arrested. 
    
    
  • Section 48 says a police officer may, for the purpose of arresting without warrant any person whom he is authorised to arrest, pursue such person into any place in India. 
    
    
  • According to Section 49, the person arrested shall not be subjected to more restraint than is necessary to prevent his escape. 
    
    
  
  
  

Comment: 

• Earlier, Assam Rifles was making arrests only in areas where the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act was in effect.
  
  
• But this was making it difficult for them to make seizures and arrest in Mizoram, which doesn’t have AFSPA. The new order is to basically correct that anomaly.
  
  

About: 

• As per the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, the Election Commission allots symbols for anyone contesting in polls. 
  
  
• A person contesting on behalf of a recognised political party will inherit the party's symbol. 
  
  
• An independent candidate or someone contesting on behalf of an unrecognised political party has to approach the Commission and get a symbol allotted from the list of 'free' symbols available. 
  • A candidate will have to provide three symbols from the free list at the time of submission of nomination papers, one of which will be allocated to him/her. 
    
    
  • Any choice other than from the EC's list will be summarily rejected. 
    
    
  
  
  
• In the case of a recognised political party, the Commission allows it to 'reserve' a symbol. 
  • For example, if a political party recognised in a particular State wishes to contest in elections in another State, it can 'reserve' the symbol being used by it. 
    
    
  • The Commission will oblige, provided the symbol is not being used by anyone else. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Two or more recognised political parties can have the same symbol provided they are not contenders in the same State or Union Territory. 
  • Both Federal Party of Manipur and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) use 'Rising Sun' as their symbol. 
    
    
  • But if one of the parties wish to open their account in the other State, it will have to contest on a different symbol. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Losing the symbol? 
  • The ECI may also derecognise a political party if it has not polled at least 6 % of votes or won two seats in the State elections. In case of a national party, it should have polled minimum 6 % votes and 2 MLAs in at least four States. 
    
    
  • Until 1997, unrecognised parties would lose their symbols. Later, the EC modified its order to allow them to retain its symbol. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Party split: 
  • In case a recognised political party splits, the Commission decides which faction can use the symbol. In the case of Samajwadi Party, the EC allotted 'Bicycle' to the Akhilesh Yadav faction. 
    
    
  • The Commission may also choose to freeze the symbol and ask both factions to contest in fresh symbols, just as how it did with AIADMK's 'Two Leaves' recently and with Congress in 1969 when the party had split as Congress (R) and Congress (O). 
    
    
  
  
  

The policy reforms focus on four major areas.  

1. Increasing exploration activities in unexplored/unallocated areas: 
   • In basins where presently no commercial production is there, exploration blocks would be bid out exclusively on the basis of exploration work programme without any revenue or production share to Government. 
     
     
   • For unallocated/unexplored areas of producing basins, the bidding will continue to be based on revenue sharing basis. An upper ceiling of 50% on biddable revenue share at Higher Revenue Point (HRP) has also been prescribed. 
     
     
   • The policy also provides for shorter exploration period and fiscal incentive for commencement of early production. 
     
     
   • Contractor will have full marketing and pricing freedom for crude oil and natural gas to be sold at arm's length basis. 
     
     
   
   
   
2. Marketing and Pricing Reform for Natural Gas:  
   • To incentivize enhanced gas production, marketing and pricing freedom has been granted for those new gas discoveries whose Field Development Plan (FDP) is yet to be approved. 
     
     
   • Fiscal incentive is also provided on additional gas production from domestic fields over and above normal production. 
     
     
   
   
   
3. Production Enhancement Scheme for Nomination fields: 
   • To enhance production from existing large nomination fields of ONGC and OIL, enhanced production profile will be prepared by both PSUs. New technology, capital and National Oil Companies (NOCs) will be allowed to induct private sector partners. 
     
     
   • Steps will also be taken to increase production from marginal/ small nomination fields. 
     
     
   
   
   
4. Measures will be initiated for promoting ‘ease of doing business’: This will be done through setting up coordination mechanism  and  simplification  of approval of DGH, alternate dispute resolution mechanism etc. 
   
   

Expected Benefits: 

• Massive boost to exploration activities with greater weightage to exploration work programme, simplified fiscal and contractual terms. 
  
  
• Early monetization of discoveries also by extending fiscal incentives. 
  
  
• Incentivizing  production including through marketing and pricing freedom. 
  
  
• Induction of latest technology and substantial capital. 
  
  
• More functional freedom to NOCs for collaboration and private sector participation. 
  
  
• Streamlining approval processes and promoting ease of doing business.  
  
  

1) The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Second Ordinance, 2019: 

• It has been promulgated to give continued effect to the provisions brought in by the earlier ordinance. 
  
  
• It declares the practice of instant triple talaq to be void and illegal and also to make it an offence punishable with imprisonment up to three years and fine. 
  
  
• It will protect the rights of married Muslim women and deter the practice of divorce by instant triple talaq. It also provide for payment of subsistence allowance and custody of minor children. 
  
  

2) The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2019: 

• It has been promulgated to give continued effect to the work already done by the Board of Governors as per the provisions of earlier Ordinance. 
  
  
• It enables the Board of Governors appointed in supersession of the Medical Council of India to continue to exercise the powers of MCI for a period of two years or till the Council is reconstituted, to ensure transparency, accountability and quality in the governance of medical education in the country. 
  
  

3) The Companies (Amendment) Second Ordinance, 2019: 

• It has been promulgated to empower the Central Government to allow certain companies to have a different financial year instead of as determined by the Tribunal. 
  
  
• It addresses the need to impose civil liability for technical and procedural defaults of a minor nature and to plug the corporate governance and enforcement frame work, through – 
  • re-categorisation of 16 minor offences as civil defaults which will de-clog special courts; 
    
    
  • transfer of certain routine functions such as permitting conversion of a public company into a private company from NCLT to the Central Government; 
    
    
  • making non-maintenance of registered office and non-reporting of commencement of business as grounds for striking of from register of companies; 
    
    
  • breach of ceiling on Directorships being made a ground for disqualification; and 
    
    
  • Enhancing the pecuniary jurisdiction of Regional Director’s for compounding offences under the Companies Act with a view to unburdening the NCLT of routine functions etc. 
    
    
  
  
  

4) The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Ordinance, 2019: 

• Presently, non-banking entities are allowed to raise deposits from the public under the provisions of various statutes enacted by the Central Government and State Governments. However, the regulatory frame work for deposit taking activity in the country is not seamless. 
  
  
• Thus the ordinance aims to prevent unregulated deposit schemes or arrangements at their inception and at the same time makes soliciting, inviting or accepting deposits pursuant to an unregulated deposited scheme as a punishable offence. 
  
  
• It seeks to put in place a mechanism by which the depositors can be repaid without delay by attaching the assets of the defaulting establishments. 
  
  

About: 

• Mandate: The NTAC acts as think tank of the Ministry of Tourism and advises the Government on various tourism related policy matters. 
  
  
• Timeline: The present NTAC was constituted in 2016 with tenure of 3 years. The first meeting of the current NTAC was held in April, 2018.  
  
  
• Composition: 
  • It has been constituted under the chairmanship of Union Tourism Minister. 
    
    
  • At present, there are 12 stakeholder Central Ministries besides Ministry of Tourism, 16 individual experts in the field of travel and tourism management and 7 Ex-officio members from industry associations as members of the Committee.  
    
    
  
  
  
• The second session of the NTAC included the Gujarat Tourism officials wherein the focus of discussion was Tourist inflow to the Statue of Unity and how to achieve a tourist footfall of 5 million per year. The world's tallest statue of Sardar Patel is 182 meter tall. 
  
  

HOPE: 

• NABH has revamped the entry-level certification process to make it simpler, digital, faster and user-friendly. 
  
  
• The revised process is driven through a new portal called HOPE - Healthcare Organizations’ Platform for entry-level-certification. 
  
  
• It aims to with a focus to promote quality at nascent stages by enrolling a wide range of hospitals across the country including healthcare organizations (HCOs) and small healthcare organizations (SHCOs). 
  
  
• HOPE is not just confined to certification of HCOs/SHCOs but also enables them to comply with quality protocols, improve patient safety and the overall healthcare facility of the organization. 
  
  
• The online platform provides smooth and secure registration and a self-explanatory questionnaire to be filled by the HCO/SHCOs. 
  
  

National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations (NABH): 

• The NABH is a constituent body of Quality Council of India (QCI). 
  
  
• It handles global accreditation in Indian healthcare sector under Ministry of commerce and industry. NABH accreditation provides assurance of quality and care in hospitals at par with international benchmarks. 
  
  
• NABH has designed an exhaustive healthcare standards for hospitals and healthcare providers that have been accredited by International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQUA) the apex international accreditation body. 
  
  

2018 Seoul Peace Prize: 

While awarding the 2018 Seoul Peace Prize, the Award Committee credited recognized – 

• Prime Minister Modi's contributions to the growth of the Indian and global economies.  
  
  
• 'Modinomics' for reducing social and economic disparity between the rich and the poor.  
  
  
• PM's initiatives to make the government cleaner through anti-corruption measures and demonetization. 
  
  
• His contribution towards regional and global peace through a proactive foreign policy with countries around the world under the 'Modi Doctrine' and the 'Act East Policy.' 
  
  

About: 

• Bodies involved: Ministry of Home Affairs has commissioned the Bureau of Police Research and Development to conduct this pan-India survey. The survey will be conducted through the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), New Delhi. 
  
  
• Objective: 
  • To strengthen the good governance practices in the working of police. 
    
    
  • To understand public perceptions about Police, the ground position on crime reporting & recording, timeliness and quality of police response and action, and to assess citizens' perception and experience about women and children’s safety. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Timeline: The survey will commence in March, 2019 and will be completed in 9 months. 
  
  
• Coverage: It will cover a representative sample of 1.2 lakh households spread over 173 districts across the country, based on the National Sample Survey framework. All States and UTs would be included in this survey. 
  
  

About: 

• The Aero India exhibition, with the theme - ‘The Runway to a Billion Opportunities’ is designed to bolster business in the international aviation sector.  
  
  
• Objective: Under its banner, the ‘Drone Olympics’ organized by Ministry of Defence, aims to encourage the UAV industry to connect with potential buyers and business partners in the country and also provide an opportunity to the Armed Forces to assess the capabilities of UAVs. 
  
  
• What next? The winners of the competition will be invited to demonstrate the best of human machine interaction during Lockheed Martin’s Alpha Pilot Race in United States later this year. 
  
  

About: 

• Timeline: 
  • It was established in the year 1918 by Mahatma Gandhi. 
    
    
  • The first Pracharak was Devadoss Gandhi (son of Mahatma Gandhi). 
    
    
  • In 1927, it became an independent organisation and Mahatma Gandhi was its President till his death. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Mandate: It was established with the sole aim of propagating Hindi in southern states. 
  
  
• Status: It is declared by Parliament as an institution of National Importance by Act of 1964. 
  
  
• HQ: Chennai.  
  
  
• Present President: Justice V.S. Malimath. 
  
  
• Significance: Learning the language of another region or another state can be very educative. It can open a window to a culture that is at once familiar and new. Such steps reinforce national harmony. 
  
  

About: 

• Observance: 
  • The day is observed on the 21st of February every year to preserve and promote linguistic diversity and promoting mother tongue-based multilingual education. 
    
    
  • The declaration came up in tribute to the Language Movement done by the Bangladeshis (the then East Pakistanis). In Bangladesh the 21 February is the anniversary of the day when Bangladeshis fought for recognition for the Bangla language. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Bodies involved: UNESCO has been celebrating International Mother Language Day since 2000. 
  
  
• Theme: Since 2019 is also the International Year of Indigenous Languages, the theme of this year’s Mother Language Day is “Indigenous Languages as a factor in development, peace and reconciliation”. 
  
  
• Need to preserve indigenous languages: 
  • At least 43 % of the estimated 6000 languages spoken in the world are endangered. According to UN data, a language disappears every two weeks taking with it an entire cultural and intellectual heritage. 
    
    
  • Only a few hundred languages have genuinely been given a place in education systems and the public domain. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• Venue: The Attukal Pongala held in Attukal Temple, Thiruvananthapuram.  
  
  
• Rituals: 
  • Pongala, which means 'to boil over’, is the ritual in which women prepare sweet payasam (a pudding made from rice, jaggery, coconut and plantains cooked together) and offer it to the Goddess or ‘Bhagavathy’. 
    
    
  • Attukal temple is also called 'women's Sabarimala' as only women perform the ritual. 
    
    
  • The Goddess-fondly referred to as ‘Attukalamma’ is said to be appeased by this ritual. 
    
    
  
  
  
• The festival that has figured in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the single largest gathering of women for a religious activity. 
  
  

Mysore Paints and Varnish Ltd. (MVPL): 

• The MVPL, a Karnataka government company, has a monopoly on the manufacture of indelible ink since 1962, and is a major supplier to the Election Commission of India (ECI). 
  
  
• It also exports the indelible ink for elections in other countries. 
  
  

Invisible ink: 

• Background: The indelible ink was formulated as a deterrent against voting twice. But voters in some countries people don’t want to display such a mark. So MVPL asked NPL to prepare the ‘invisible ink’ as part of a pilot project for use by a client country in Europe. 
  
  
• Features: 
  • The invisible ink when applied on the finger, doesn’t leave a trace — it merely glows a bright orange when a low-intensity beam of ultraviolet light is shone on it. 
    
    
  • The chemical — a transparent liquid — is an “organic-inorganic” mixture that was biodegradable and could be washed off in 48 hours. 
    
    
  • The ink works on the principle of fluorescence — certain materials emit a characteristic glow when exposed to ultraviolet light. The NPL ink, however, glows only when exposed to a narrow band of frequencies of ultraviolet (UV) light. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Way ahead: 
  • The ‘invisible ink’ was only at the discussion stage It may not find immediate application in Indian elections as they are spread out over many weeks. 
    
    
  • The NPL’s invisible ink experiment is linked to a larger project of creating security inks that could be used to make bank notes and documents, such as passports, more secure. 
    
    
  
  
  

Key Findings: 

• In low-and middle-income countries, although, 80 % of women are now mobile owners, women still remain 10 % less likely than men to own a mobile phone, and 23 % less likely than men to use mobile Internet. 
  
  
• In South Asia, the mobile gender gap is widest where women are 28% less likely than men to own a mobile device and 58% less likely to use the mobile Internet. 
  
  
• Indian Scenario: 
  • While 80 % women own mobiles in low- and middle-income countries, it is 59 % among India women. That compares with 80% of Indian men who are mobile owners. 
    
    
  • Indian women are 26 % less likely than Indian men to own a mobile phone, and 56 % less likely to use mobile Internet. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Reasons: Affordability, literacy and digital skills, a perceived lack of relevance, and safety and security concerns are the most important barriers to mobile ownership and mobile internet use for women. 
  
  
• Comment: Unequal access to mobile technology threatens to increase the inequalities women already experience. 
  
  
• Economic impact of closing the mobile internet gender gap: Closing the gender gaps is a substantial commercial opportunity for the mobile industry. 
  • Over the next five years, low-and middle-income countries could gain an estimated additional $140 billion in mobile industry revenue if operators could close these gender gaps by 2023. 
    
    
  • Closing the mobile gender gap could be an important driver of economic growth. These markets could also add an additional $700 billion in GDP growth by 2023. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• Objective: To have digital and interactive boards in every classroom so as to make the learning as well as the teaching process interactive. 
  
  
• Strategy: Launch of e-Pathshala, DIKSHA, NROER,NPTEL, e-pgpathshala SWAYAM and SWAYAM-Prabha DTH Channels etc. by MHRD have provided adequate content of high quality which can be taken to every classroom, and thereby facilitating blended learning and flip class learning. 
  
  
• Timeline: The digital board will be introduced all over the country in government and government aided schools from class 9th onwards as well as in higher education institutions. The process will begin from the coming session of 2019 itself. 
  
  
• Implementation in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): UGC will be the implementing agency for ODB in HEIs. UGC in its Commission meeting held in January 2019, passed a resolution for extending digital education to every classroom in the country by 2022. 
  
  
• Implementation in Schools: Digital/SMART board will be provided in all Government and Government – aided schools having Secondary and Sr. Secondary classes. 
  
  

Key Highlights of the visit: 

• Trade and Investment: 
  • Saudi Arabia will invest 100 billion dollars in India in range of areas including energy, refining, petrochemicals, infrastructure, agriculture and manufacturing. 
    
    
  • A MoU on investing in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund of India was signed. 
    
    
  • The two sides agreed on further deepening trade and investment cooperation by aligning the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 with India’s flagship initiatives of "Make in India”, "Start Up India”, "Smart Cities”, "Clean India”, and "Digital India”. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Energy: 
  • They expressed a desire to grow bilateral trade in the energy sector, acknowledging Saudi Arabia as the world’s most reliable supplier of oil & gas and the key supplier to India. 
    
    
  • The two sides expressed satisfaction at the first Joint Venture West Coast Refinery and Petrochemical Project estimated to cost US $ 44 billion. 
    
    
  • Saudi Arabia signed the Framework Agreement on the International Solar Alliance (ISA). 
    
    
  
  
  
• Strategic relations: 
  • The two sides agreed to cement the existing ‘Strategic Partnership’ with ‘high-level monitoring mechanism by the creation of the Strategic Partnership Council. 
    
    
  • The two sides agreed to hold the inaugural joint naval exercises at the earliest. 
    
    
  • The two sides condemned in the strongest terms, the recent terrorist attack on Indian security forces on 14th February in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. They also noted the need for early adoption of the UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Soft power: 
  • Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman has ordered the release of 850 Indian prisoners lodged in his country's jails on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's request. 
    
    
  • Saudi Arabia has also agreed to resolve issues relating to Indian workers who are currently stranded in the kingdom due to the closure of a foreign company. 
    
    
  • Crown Prince also announced the increase in quota for Indian Haj pilgrims to 200,000. 
    
    
  • India has decided to extend the e-Visa facility to Saudi nationals. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• Objective: The Agricultural Science Congress marks the confluence of researchers, intellectuals, creativity and the custodians of global food security. 
  
  
• Organized by: The National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) in collaboration with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI). 
  
  
• Theme: Innovations for Agricultural Transformation. 
  
  
• Recent initiatives in agricultural science: 
  • During the conference, the minister appreciated the role of ICAR in launching a mega project called NICRA to address the issues of climate change through the KVKs. 
    
    
  • “Soil Health Card Scheme” has been launched to improve crop productivity through judicious use of inputs without deteriorating soil health further. 
    
    
  • IARI has developed ‘Pusa Soil Testing and Fertilizer Recommendation Meter’ for facilitating the reach of soil testing at the farmers’ doorstep. 
    
    
  
  
  
• 50 years of remote sensing in India: 
  • During the conference, he expressed pride in the IARI celebrating 50 years of remote sensing in India. 
    
    
  • The first national initiative on application of remote sensing technology was attempted way back in 1969 by IARI along with ISRO and NASA for the early diagnosis of root (wilt) disease in coconut at Kayamkulam, Kerala. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• Mark I Tejas, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is an Indian single-seat, single-jet engine, multirole light fighter. The aircraft has a tail-less compound delta-wing configuration, which provides for high maneuverability. 
  
  
• LCA is the first Indian fighter aircraft after Marut of the 1960s: 147 HF-24 Marut fighter-bomber aircraft were built by HAL and operated by the IAF between 1967 and 1990. 
  
  
• Bodies involved: Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), the autonomous society of DRDO is the design agency and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) as the manufacturer. 
  
  
• Timeline: 
  • It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India's ageing MiG-21 fighters. In 2003, the LCA was officially named "Tejas", which means "Radiant" in Sanskrit. 
    
    
  • Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) of the aircraft took place in the year 2013 and IOC standard Aircraft were inducted into IAF No. 45 Squadron, in 2016. The IAF Squadron has since flown over 1500 sorties successfully on the Aircraft. 
    
    
  • The Tejas Mark 1 is in production for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the naval version is undergoing flight tests for Indian Navy (IN). 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• Full name: VIVID stands for Vision Insight and Voices as India goes Digital. 
  
  
• Organized by: National Informatics Centre (NIC). 
  
  
• Background: The VIVID annual meet started in 2017. 
  
  
• Dates: 21st and 22nd February, 2019. 
  
  
• Objective: 
  • To interact with the District Informatics Officer (DIO’s) and to share their experiences as digital change-makers at the grass-root level in the States. 
    
    
  • To empower NIC officials in the field of technology. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• Born in 1926 in Varanasi, he was an literary critic, linguist, academician and theoretician. 
  
  
• He had authored over a dozen books in Hindi including 'Kavita Ke Naye Pratiman', 'Chhayavad' and 'Dusri Parampara Ki Khoj' among others. 
  
  
• He also worked as the Editor of a weekly news magazine 'Janyuga' , and 'Alochana' , a Hindi magazine for literary criticism. 
  
  
• He was the founder and first chairman of Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre of Indian Languages. 
  
  
• Awards and Honours: 
  • He received Sahitya Academy Award for literary criticism in 1971 for 'Kavita Ke Naye Pratiman'. 
    
    
  • He also received Sahitya Bhushan Samman by Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan.