About: 

• She is most remembered for her poem titled “Ajj Aakhaan Waris Shah Nu,” (Today I Invoke Waris Shah), addressed to Punjabi Sufi poet Waris Shah in which she laments the tragedy of the partition of Pakistan from India.
  
  
• Her famous novel “Pinjar”, written in 1950, talks about the torture inflicted on women by their abductors in the wake of the Partition. It was adapted into a Hindi film which won the National award for Best Feature Film on National Integration in 2004.
  
  
• She has written 3 autobiographies: Rasidi Ticket, Kala Gulab' (Black Rose) and Shadows of Words.
  
  
• In 1986, she was nominated to the Rajya Sabha. She died in 2005.
  
  

About:

• Under the scheme of amalgamation,
  • Indian Bank will be merged with Allahabad Bank (anchor bank - Indian Bank);
    
    
  • PNB, OBC and United Bank to be merged (PNB will be the anchor bank);
    
    
  • Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank to be merged (anchor bank - Union Bank of India); and
    
    
  • Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank to be merged (anchor bank - Canara Bank).
    
    
  
  
  
• In place of 27 public sector banks in 2017, now there will be 12 public sector banks after the latest round of consolidation of PSU banks.
  
  
• The merger announcement was followed by an equity infusion move of Rs 55,250 crore in these banks to enable them to grow their loan book.
  
  
• This is a step by government towards building Next-Generation Banks. The consolidation of public sector banks will give them scale.
  
  

About: 

• The number of cases of frauds reported by banks saw a jump of 15 % year-on-year basis in 2018-19, with the amount involved increasing by 73.8 % in the year.
  
  
• In FY19, banking sector reported 6,801 frauds involving Rs 71,542.93 crore as against 5,916 cases involving Rs 41,167.04 crore reported in 2017-18.
  
  
• Among bank groups, PSBs have accounted for the bulk of frauds reported in 2018-19. It was followed by private sector banks and foreign banks.
  
  
• The average lag between the date of occurrence and its detection by banks was 22 months. The average lag for large frauds, i.e. Rs 100 crore and above, amounting to Rs 52,200 crore reported during 2018-19, was 55 months.
  
  
• Number of frauds related to advances were predominant followed by card/internet related frauds and deposits related frauds. Frauds relating to card/internet and deposits constituted only 0.3 % of the total value of frauds in 2018-19.
  
  
• Cheating and forgery was the major component, followed by misappropriation and criminal breach of trust.
  
  

About: 

• The funds will be utilized as per the provisions of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF) Act and rules.
  
  
• The CAF Act 2016 established an independent authority — the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority — to execute the fund.
  
  
• The fund will be utilized for the compensatory afforestation, catchment area treatment, wildlife management, natural regeneration, forest fire prevention, soil and moisture conservation, improvement of wildlife habitat.
  
  
• The funds have been collected as compensation from industry for razing forest land for business. Industrialists pay this money and this is eventually transferred to the States concerned to carry out afforestation.
  
  
• Odisha, the top recipient of funds, got nearly ₹6,000 crore followed by Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh with ₹5,791 crore and ₹5,196 crore respectively.
  
  

About: 

• Nodal officers will be appointed who shall “monitor and coordinate prevention of lynching”.
  
  
• It proposes a jail term from three years to life for those involved in assaulting and injuring a person.
  
  
• In the event of the victim’s death, the perpetrators can be punished with death sentence or rigorous life imprisonment.
  
  
• The Bill, while defining terms like “lynching” and “mob”, also says that a West Bengal Lynching Compensation Scheme may be framed under this legislation.
  
  
• The bill was passed in the aftermath of a string of incidents of people getting beaten to death over rumours of cattle smuggling and child theft. 
  
  

About:

• The National Lab Directory is an online platform created by the National Standards Body of India , Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).
  
  
• It is a one-stop-shop for all testing needs of the industries, academia, researchers and other stakeholders who need to get their Testing Facilities accredited / certified / recognised.
  
  
• 4500 labs have now been linked through this directory. The National Lab Directory presently encompasses NABL accredited, BIS Recognised/Empanelled Labs, Hallmarking Labs. The labs which are recognised/notified by FASAI, APEDA, EIC, can also be indicated accordingly. 
  
  
• All testing facilities for various labs can be searched by Products, IS standards, etc.
  
  

About: 

• The Nar-Par-Tapi linking project, which is a combination of a lift irrigation scheme, tunnels and canals, will ensure 52 thousand million cubic feet (TMCft) water for Marathwada and parts of north Maharashtra.
  
  
• The State Cabinet in July had given its nod to complete the Nar-Par-Tapi and the Damanganga–Pinjal river linking projects to mitigate the water woes of Marathwada and areas of Mumbai city.
  
  
• The projects have been hanging fire for years owing to technical disputes over water sharing with Gujarat.
  
  

Kandangi saree: 

• The Kandangi sarees are manufactured in the entire Karaikudi taluk in Sivaganga district. 
  
  
• These cotton sarees are characterised by large contrast borders. It is manually made using a winding machine, loom, shuttle and bobbin. 
  
  

Dindigul locks: 

• Dindigul locks are known throughout the world for their superior quality and durability. 
  
  
• More than 3,125 lock manufacturing units are limited to an area of 5 km in and around Dindigul, so much so that even the city is called Lock City. The abundance of iron in this region is the reason for the growth of the industry. 
  
  
• There are over 50 varieties of locks made by the artisans using raw materials such as MS flat plates and brass plates procured from the nearby towns. 
  
  

About:

• The Lifeline Express is also known as "Hospital on Wheels".
  
  
• The Indian Railways, in partnership with Impact India Foundation, had launched the Lifeline Express - the worlds first hospital on wheels - in 1991 from CSMT to provide free of cost medical care to the poor living in remote corners of the country.
  
  
• The seven coaches of the Lifeline Express have advanced operation theatres, a pathology lab, a mammography unit, a gynaecology examination room, a dental unit, a pharmacy, consultation cubicles and X-Ray unit, among others.
  
  
• Till now, The Lifeline Express has travelled across 19 states, covering 201 rural locations in 138 districts providing medical treatment to 12.32 lakh patients.
  
  

About: 

• The fossil dubbed MRD, belongs to the species Australopithecus anamensis, which first appeared roughly 4.2 million years ago.
  
  
• This species is considered the direct ancestor of the species Australopithecus afarensis (nicknamed Lucy), earthed in 1974 in Ethiopia. Lucy dates from about 3.2 million years ago.
  
  
• It dates back to a time when our ancestors were emerging from the trees to walk on two legs, but still had distinctly ape-like protruding faces, powerful jaws and small brains, and is the oldest-known member of the Australopithecus group.
  
  
• MRD’s species, which was bipedal but may also have been able to move around in trees, was much smaller than modern humans.
  
  

About:

• The Fit India movement is aimed at encouraging people to inculcate physical activity and sports in their day to day life.
  
  
• PM Modi said many lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension are increasing in India and small lifestyle changes can prevent these diseases. He asserted that the Fit India Movement is to inspire the country for these changes.
  
  
• Sports has a direct relation to fitness but ‘Fit India Movement’ aims to go beyond fitness. Fitness is not just a word but an essential pillar to a healthy and prosperous life.
  
  
• In his words, "Fitness is zero percent investment with infinite returns."
  
  

About: 

• The objective of the course is to create awareness and understanding about natural hazards and help in identification of regions with high vulnerability such as earthquakes, and landslides.
  
  
• The e-course would be a tool for effective and efficient disaster mitigation and management in the field of architecture, civil engineering, urban and regional planning, housing and infrastructure planning, construction engineering.
  
  
• The course would be offered by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs in collaboration with School of Planning & Architecture (SPA), New Delhi and Building Materials & Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC).
  
  

About: 

• The campaign will be rolled out in all Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) [PMAY (U)] cities.
  
  
• It will be initiated in all target cities on 2nd October 2019 and culminate on the occasion of Human Rights Day, 10th December, 2019.
  
  
• Angikaar has been launched for social behaviour change, focusing on issues such as water & energy conservation, waste management, health, tree plantation, sanitation and hygiene for beneficiaries of completed houses under PMAY (U), through community mobilisation.
  
  
• For this purpose, the campaign will converge with schemes/services of various urban missions and other central ministries dealing with these subjects.
  
  
• The convergence would especially focus on Ujjwala for gas connection and Ayushman Bharat for health insurance to the beneficiaries of PMAY (U).
  
  

About: 

• World Skills competition is the world's biggest international vocational skill competition. 
  
  
• Every two years WorldSkills International hosts the world skills competition which attracts competitors from more than 60 countries for the chance to win a prestigious medal in their chosen skill. 
  
  
• There are competitions in 56 skills across a wide range of industries — from joinery to floristry; hairdressing to electronics; and autobody repair to bakery. The Competitors are selected from skills competitions that are held in WorldSkills Member countries and regions. 
  
  
• WorldSkills India is an initiative of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development which leads India's participation at WorldSkills International competitions. 
  
  

The 45th WorldSkills Competition: 

• The 45th WorldSkills Competition took place in Kazan on 22-27 August 2019.
  
  
• Aswatha Narayana from Odisha created history in WorldSkills competition by winning India's first gold medal. He bagged the gold in water technology.
  
  

About: 

• Bodies involved: NERLP is World Bank aided, multi-state livelihood project under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).
  
  
• Launched in: 2012. 
  
  
• Coverage: The project has been implemented in 11 districts of Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.
  
  
• Objective: To improve rural livelihoods especially that of women, unemployed youth and the most disadvantaged, in four North Eastern States.
  
  
• Strategy: The project has focussed on five development strategies, namely, social empowerment, economic empowerment, partnership development, project management and livelihood & value chain developments.
  
  

Key Findings:

• In April 2009, the first case of influenza A H1N1 was reported in Mexico. Later the infection spread and a total of 214 countries were affected by the pandemic worldwide.
  
  
• In India, the past decade (2009-2019) saw as many as 1.58 lakh persons being infected by the virus and over 10,000 succumbing to it.
  
  
• Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases (33,284) and deaths (3,637) since pandemic influenza struck in 2009.
  
  

H1N1 Flu Virus (Swine Flu):

• Swine flu is an infection caused by type A influenza viruses.
  
  
• Who are infected? It's named for a virus that pigs can get. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. In 2009 a strain of swine flu called H1N1 infected many people around the world. The virus is contagious and can spread from human to human.
  
  
• Symptoms: Symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue.
  
  

About: 

• Coprolites are fossilised faeces belonging to animals that lived millions of years ago.
  
  
• Scientists can analyse and study their shape and size and depending on the location they were found in, Scientists can figure out the animal from which they came as well as uncover what those animals ate.
  
  
• For instance, if there are bone fragments in the faeces, it tells scientists that the animal might have been a carnivore. Tooth marks can reveal how the animal ate.
  
  

Recent discovery:

• A team of scientists from Argentina’s National Council of Scientific and Technical Research studied a prehisoric puma’s coprolite taken from a rock-shelter in Catamarca province.
  
  
• With the help of carbon dating, they were able to estimate the age of the coprolite at between 16,500-17,000 years. This led to the identification of the oldest parasite DNA found yet.
  
  

Key findings of the report: 

• 28% police personnel believe that pressure from politicians is the biggest hindrance in a crime investigation. The other obstacles cited were related to society, legal systems and internal working systems in police. 
  
  
• 38% personnel reported always facing pressure from politicians in cases of crime involving influential persons. Roughly one third also reported “always” facing pressure from their seniors in the police force. 
  
  
• 50 % of police personnel feel that Muslims are likely to be “naturally prone” to committing crimes. 
  
  
• 35 % of police personnel think it is natural for a mob to punish the “culprit” in cases of cow slaughter, and 43 % think it is natural for a mob to punish someone accused of rape. 
  
  
• 37 per cent personnel feel that for minor offences, a small punishment should be handed out by the police rather than a legal trial. 
  
  

About: 

• Duration: The project is expected to last two years. 
  
  
• It is will be undertaken by: Motilal Nehru Institute of Technology, Allahabad; National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur; Sardar Patel Institute of Science & Technology, Gorakhpur, as well as start-up companies, Phixgen and Xcelris Labs. 
  
  
• Parent programme: The research project will be undertaken by the National Mission for Clean Ganga under the Jal Shakti Ministry. 
  
  
• Aims of the study: 
  • To assess the microbial diversity along the entire length of the Ganga. 
    
    
  • To indicate the type of “contamination” (sewage and industrial) in the river and “threat to human health (antibiotic resistance surge)”. 
    
    
  • To identify sources of Eschericia coli, a type of bacteria that lives in the gut of animals and humans. While largely harmless, some species have been linked to aggravating antibiotic resistance. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

The 45th G7 summit was held on 24–26 August 2019, in Biarritz, France with the theme “Fighting Inequality”. Key highlights of the summit: 

• The G7 commits to reaching an agreement in 2020 to simplify regulatory barriers and modernize international taxation within the framework of the OECD.
  
  
• The G7 shares the common objective to ensure that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons.
  
  
• in an opaque reference to the Russian military intervention in Ukraine (2014–present), France and Germany announced that they will organize a Normandy format summit in the coming weeks to achieve tangible results.
  
  
• in light of the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests, the G7 reaffirmed the importance of the 1984 Sino-British agreement on Hong Kong and calls for avoiding violence.
  
  
• On the sidelines of summit, PM Modi met US President Donald Trump and discussed various issues including Kashmir. After the meeting, Trump said Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and both the countries will sort it out themselves.
  
  
• Trump and Emmanuel Macron agreed that Russia should be invited to the next G7 Summit in 2020 (In 2014, the G7 declared that a meaningful discussion was currently not possible with Russia in the context of the G8. Since then, meetings have continued within the G7 process).
  
  

About: 

• Launch date: The CDRI is proposed to be launched at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York, USA on 23rd September 2019. 
  
  
• The approval is for the following initiatives: 
  • Establishment of the CDRI along with its supporting Secretariat office in New Delhi. 
    
    
  • Establishment of the Secretariat of the CDRI as a Society under The Societies Registration Act,1860. 
    
    
  • In-principle approval for Government of India support of Rs. 480 crore over a period of 5 years from 2019-20 to 2023-24. 
    
    
  
  
  
• Major Impact: The CDRI will serve as a platform where knowledge is generated and exchanged on different aspects of disaster and climate resilience of infrastructure. It will bring together technical expertise from a multitude of stakeholders. 
  
  

About:

• The project was launched by Union Minister of Shipping in New Delhi. He also handed over the new BSID cards to five Indian seafarers. All the existing seafarers will be given BSID within the next 2 years.
  
  
• The new card is in confirmation of the Convention No. 185 of the International Labour Organisation  on BSID. India ratified the Convention in October 2015.
  
  
• In India the BSID project has been taken up by Ministry of Shipping in collaboration with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Mumbai.
  
  
• The Government notified the Merchant Shipping (Seafarers Bio-metric Identification Document) Rules in
  
  
• The new document will give a foolproof identification to Indian seafarers which will facilitate their movement, provide ease of getting jobs and help in identifying them from any location in the world, while protecting their dignity and privacy.
  
  
• The new facial biometric technology is a marked improvement over the two finger or iris based bio-metric data, with modern security features. It will have a biometric chip embedded in it. The card has two optical security features- Micro prints/micro texts and Unique Guilloche pattern. 
  
  

About: 

• School Education Shagun (URL: htpp://shagun.govt.in/) is an over-arching initiative to improve school education system.
  
  
• This will be achieved by creating a junction for all portals/websites relating to various activities of the Department of School Education and Literacy in the Government of India and States/UTs.
  
  
• Websites of 1200 Kendriya Vidyalayas, 600 Navodaya Vidyalayas, 18000 other CBSE affiliated schools, 30 SCERTs, 19000 organisations affiliated with NTCE among others are integrated with Shagun.
  
  
• Report cards of 15 lakh schools all over the country will be available on the newly created junction. The website also provides vital information relating to availability of nearby schools. Common people can directly give their feedback about schools.
  
  
• The portal seeks to connect approximately 92 lakh teachers and 26 crore students.
  
  

About: 

• INSET is envisaged as a fully integrated, instantly accessible and seamless information network for all parameters relating to the students, teachers, and schools in the country. 
  
  
• The aim is to create an easily accessible multi-layered eco-system of information – school wise, block-wise, district-wise, constituency-wise, state-wise and region-wise. 
  
  
• Using this, parents will soon be able to inform the education authorities directly in real time if a school administration provides incorrect details about its infrastructure, teachers or if the teachers are indulging in absenteeism. 
  
  

Amendments to the FDI Policy:

• Digital Media: It has been decided to permit 26% FDI under government route for uploading/ streaming of News & Current Affairs through Digital Media, on the lines of print media.
  
  
• Contract Manufacturing: It has been decided to allow 100% FDI under automatic route in contract manufacturing in India as well.
  
  
• Coal Mining: It has been decided to permit 100% FDI under automatic route for sale of coal, for coal mining activities including associated processing infrastructure.
  
  
• Single Brand Retail Trading (SBRT):
  • All procurements made from India by the SBRT entity for the single brand shall be counted towards local sourcing, irrespective of whether the goods procured are sold in India or exported.
    
    
  • Further, the current cap of considering exports for 5 years only is proposed to be removed, to give an impetus to exports. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• Location: The plant has been set up in CSIR- Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP) whose scientists will process waste plastics into fuel.
  
  
• Capacity: It has the capacity to produce 800-litre diesel from one tonne of plastic. The fuel will be of automotive grade. It meets the specifications for use in vehicles. This will be made available to government, police and army vehicles for regular use.
  
  
• Technology: Using the technology, polyolefinic waste can be converted into diesel. This type of waste accounts for about 70 % of total plastic waste in the country and is the least bio-degradable.
  
  
• Bodies involved: The technology has been developed by the scientists of the CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun under the GAIL’s sponsorship. GAIL (India) has sponsored the technology development and provided technical support for the endeavour.
  
  
• Way ahead: IIP and GAIL have planned to roll out the technology nation-wide after six months of operation of the pilot plant.
  
  

Methodology:

• The India child well-being index is a tool designed to measure and track children’s well-being comprehensively.
  
  
• The three dimensions of the index include (1) healthy individual development, (2) positive relationships and (3) protective contexts.
  
  
• Focusing on the three key dimensions, 24 indicators were selected to develop the index.
  
  

Key findings:

• Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry topped the child well-being index.
  
  
• Meghalaya, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh featured at the bottom of the list. 
  
  

Key findings of study: 

• IHS has found that Indians have an average resting heart rate of 80 beats per minute which is higher than the desired rate of 72 beats per minute. 
  
  
• Unlike people of other countries, Indians have higher blood pressure in the evenings than in mornings. 
  
  
• There is a high prevalence of masked hypertension and white-coat hypertension in Indians at 42 percent on first visit to a doctor's clinic. 
  
  

About: 

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had constituted an “Expert Committee to Review the Extant Economic Capital Framework of the RBI” under the Chairmanship of Dr. Bimal Jalan. Major recommendations of the Committee with regard to risk provisioning and surplus distribution are as follows:

• RBI’s economic capital: A clearer distinction between the two components of economic capital (realized equity and revaluation balances) was recommended.
  • Realized equity could be used for meeting all risks/ losses as they were primarily built up from retained earnings.
    
    
  • Revaluation balances could be reckoned only as risk buffers against market risks as they represented unrealized valuation gains and hence were not distributable.
    
    
  
  
  
• Risk provisioning for market risk: It has recommended the adoption of Expected Shortfall (ES) methodology under stressed conditions (in place of the extant Stressed-Value at Risk) for measuring the RBI’s market risk. It has recommended the adoption of a target of ES 99.5 % confidence level (CL).
  
  
• Size of Realized Equity: Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB) – made primarily from retained earnings – has been recommended to be maintained within a range of 6.5 % to 5.5 % of the RBI’s balance sheet, comprising 5.5 to 4.5 % for monetary and financial stability risks and 1.0 % for credit and operational risks.
  
  
• Surplus Distribution Policy: It has recommended a surplus distribution policy which targets the level of realized equity to be maintained by the RBI. Under it, only if realized equity is above its requirement, will the entire net income be transferable to the Government.
  
  
• It has also suggested that the RBI’s economic capital framework may be periodically reviewed after every five years.
  
  

Background:

• India faces a severe problem of land degradation, or soil becoming unfit for cultivation. About 29% or about 96.4 million hectares are considered degraded.
  
  
• A report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this month underlined that land everywhere was bearing the brunt of severe climate change impacts already and would lead to extreme food insecurity if steps weren’t taken.
  
  

Initiatives by Government of India:

• In January 2019, India became part of the “Bonn Challenge”, a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.
  
  
• Schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Soil Health Card Scheme, Soil Health Management Scheme and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana will tackle this land degradation.
  
  
• India for the first time will be hosting the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP-14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from September 2 to 13.
  • India will implement provisions of New Delhi Declaration which is to be adopted at the end of conference and a Centre for Excellence will be established at Dehradun.
    
    
  
  
  

Salient features of the draft guidelines:

• The guidelines will be applicable on all business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce platforms.
  
  
• It seeks to protect personally-identifiable information of customers and set a 14-day limit for payments toward refund requests.
  
  
• The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) would be established to promote, protect and enforce consumer rights. It would have the power to take action against violating firms.
  
  
• The platforms are also required to display terms of contract with the seller relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty, delivery and mode of payments.
  
  
• It proposes to make it mandatory for e-commerce entities to accept returns in the event the products delivered are “defective, wrong or spurious” or if they do not have the characteristics or features advertised.
  
  
• Every e-commerce entity has to publish the contact details of its grievance officer, who would have to address complaints within one month from the date of receipt.
  
  
• The final rules will be notified by December 2019. 
  
  

About: 

• The Central government established an online RTI portal whereby any Indian citizen, including Non-Residential Indians (NRIs), can apply for information under the RTI Act with the desired Ministry or Department under the Central government.
  
  
• An applicant can also pay the requisite fee through online payment in this portal and submit the RTI application, the petition said.
  
  
• In 2013, the Centre had also requested the various State governments to explore the feasibility of implementing online RTI portals. However, according to a petition filed by the Pravasi Legal Cell, none of the States except Delhi and Maharashtra, had set up RTI portals.
  
  
• Thus, a person seeking information under the RTI Act of 2005 from any State department, is compelled to make a physical application. This has become difficult for NRIs.
  
  

About:

• In India, Government of India provides security to some high-risk individuals by the police and local government.
  
  
• Individuals under this security blanket include the President, Vice-President, Prime-Minister, Supreme Court and High Court Judges, Service Chiefs of Indian Armed Forces, Governors of State, Chief Ministers and Cabinet Ministers.
  
  

Categories of security:

• Special Protection Group (SPG) category: Strength of security detail is Classified (only provided to the current and former Prime Ministers of India and their immediate family members.)
  
  
• Z+ category: It has a security cover of 55 personnel (Including 10+ NSG Commando) + (Police Personnel)
  
  
• Z category: It has a security cover of 22 personnel (Including 4 or 5 NSG Commando) + (Police Personnel)
  
  
• Y category: It has a security cover of 11 personnel (Including 1 or 2 Commando) + (Police Personnel)
  
  
• X category: It has a security cover of 2 personnel (No Commando, Only Armed Police Personnel)
  
  

About:

• The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) launched the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) in June 2017 to accelerate the Exploration and Production (E&P) activities in India.
  
  
• OALP envisages six monthly periodic bidding rounds starting from July 1, 2017.
  
  
• Government under three (3) OALP Rounds have already awarded Eighty-Seven (87) Blocks covering an area of 1,18,280 Sq. Km with leading E&P companies.
  
  

OALP Bid Round-IV:

• In OALP Bid Round-IV, 7 blocks, with an area of approximately 18,500 sq. km., are being offered for bidding to the investor community.
  • The Vindhyan basin covers areas under the Son valley, Bundelkhand and Rajasthan.
    
    
  • The Bengal Purnea basin is in West Bengal and extends into the offshore region of the Bay of Bengal.
    
    
  
  
  
• OALP-IV is the first round being held on revamped terms approved in February 2019.
  • Unlike previous rounds where blocks were awarded to companies offering a maximum share of oil and gas to the government, blocks in little or unexplored Category-II and III basins will be awarded to companies offering to do maximum exploration programme.
    
    
  • The revamped policy also provides for “shorter exploration period, concessional royalty rates to expedite oil and gas production and introduction of alternate dispute resolution mechanism.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Six new States – Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Jharkhand and Telangana – will be part of this Integrated Online Application Portal with Urban Local Bodies Count.
  
  
• Earlier this system was available only for five urban local bodies of Delhi and one urban local body of Mumbai.
  
  
• This will help in online processing of applications requesting NOC for construction related work in prohibited and regulated area of ASI protected monuments.
  
  

About: 

• Union Minister for Chemicals launched a mobile application “Jan Aushadhi Sugam” to enable people to search Jan Aushadhi generic medicine stores.
  
  
• He also announced that “Jan Aushadhi Suvidha Oxo-Biodegradable Sanitary Napkin” will now be available at only One Rupee per pad (earlier the cost was Rs 2.50 per pad).
  • The Government of India launched Jan Aushadhi Suvidha pad in 2018. It comes with a special additive, which makes it biodegradable when it comes in contact with oxygen after being discarded.
    
    
  • These are available for sale in more than PMBJP Kendras across the country.
    
    
  • About 28 million girls are reported to be leaving education because of lack of availability of good quality Sanitary Napkin” pads at reasonable cost.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• Scientific Name: Poecilotheria metallica
  
  
• Common Name: Peacock Parachute Spider; Gooty Tarantula.
  
  
• Genus: The spider belonging to the genus Poecilotheria.
  
  
• IUCN Status: Critically endangered.
  
  
• Distribution: This specie is endemic to India.
  • It’s known habitat is in Eastern Ghats, in degraded forests near Nandyal in Andhra Pradesh.
    
    
  • Now researchers have sighted it for the first time beyond Eastern Ghats in the Pakkamalai Reserve Forests near Gingee in Villupuram district, Tamil Nadu. 
    
    
  
  
  

About: 

• The Chiefs of Defence of over 33 countries attended the Conference. 
  
  
• The theme for the conference is "Collaboration in a free and Open Indo - Pacific”. 
  
  
• The conference provided perspectives on common challenges faced by attending nations and elicit open discussions on the same. 
  
  
• The participation of Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa, who is also Chairman of Chief of Staff Committee, provided further impetus towards increasing defence cooperation with Thailand.