About:

• Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers (sores) in a person’s digestive tract. Ulcerative colitis affects the innermost lining of large intestine (colon) and rectum.
  
  
• The colon’s lining develops small ulcers which produce pus and mucus, leading to abdominal pain, discomfort and urge to frequently empty the colon.
  
  
• Symptoms usually develop over time, rather than suddenly. Signs and symptoms may include: Diarrhea, often with blood or pus, Abdominal pain and cramping, Rectal pain, Rectal bleeding — passing small amount of blood with stool and Urgency to defecate.
  
  
• Ulcerative colitis can be debilitating and can sometimes lead to life-threatening complications.
  
  
• While it has no known cure, treatment can greatly reduce signs and symptoms of the disease and even bring about long-term remission.
  
  

About:

• He cited the examples of places like Channapatna in Ramnagaram in Karnataka, Kondaplli in Krishna in Andhra Pradesh, Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, Dhubari in Assam, and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh which are developing as toy clusters.
  
  
• The Global Toy Industry is more than 7 lakh crore rupees but India's share is very little in this.
  
  
• In the new National Education Policy, a lot of attention has been given on the impact of toys on different aspects of children's lives. Learning while playing, learning to make toys, and visiting toy factories, have been made part of the curriculum.
  
  

About:

• ‘Armageddon’ in chess is similar to a Super Over in cricket or a penalty shootout in hockey or football.
  
  
• In an Armageddon game White has more thinking time on the clock than Black but a draw on the board scores as a Black win. Normally White has five or six minutes and Black four or five for the entire game.
  
  
• Black, considered at a disadvantage, is given a minute less to process the game and the handicap effectively puts the onus of a win on White.
  
  

About:

• GSTR-2B is an auto-drafted ITC statement which will be generated for every registered person on the basis of information furnished by his suppliers in their respective GSTR-1, GSTR-5 (non-resident taxable person) and GSTR-6 (input service distributor).
  
  
• It is a static statement and will be available for each month on the 12th day of the succeeding month, an official release said. The data in GSTR-2B is reported in a manner that allows taxpayers to conveniently reconcile ITC with their own books of accounts and records.
  
  
• The launch of this GSTR-2B is expected to reduce the time taken for preparing return, minimise errors, assist reconciliation and simplify compliance relating to filing of returns.
  
  

About:

The guidelines outline a set of 10 principles and detail the steps for implementation. The 10 principles are:

• Principle 1: All persons with disabilities have legal capacity and, therefore, no one shall be denied access to justice on the basis of disability.
  
  
• Principle 2: Facilities and services must be universally accessible to ensure equal access to justice without discrimination of persons with disabilities.
  
  
• Principle 3: Persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, have the right to appropriate procedural accommodations.
  
  
• Principle 4: Persons with disabilities have the right to access legal notices and information in a timely and accessible manner on an equal basis with others.
  
  
• Principle 5: Persons with disabilities are entitled to all substantive and procedural safeguards recognized in international law on an equal basis with others, and States must provide the necessary accommodations to guarantee due process.
  
  
• Principle 6: Persons with disabilities have the right to free or affordable legal assistance.
  
  
• Principle 7: Persons with disabilities have the right to participate in the administration of justice on an equal basis with others.
  
  
• Principle 8: Persons with disabilities have the rights to report complaints and initiate legal proceedings concerning human rights violations and crimes, have their complaints investigated and be afforded effective remedies.
  
  
• Principle 9: Effective and robust monitoring mechanisms play a critical role in supporting access to justice for persons with disabilities.
  
  
• Principle 10: All those working in the justice system must be provided with awareness-raising and training programmes addressing the rights of persons with disabilities, in particular in the context of access to justice.
  
  

About:

• India had earlier planned to send around 150 Indian Army troops, 45 Indian Air Force personnel and a number of Navy officers to the multilateral military exercise to be held in the Astrakhan region in southern Russia from 15th to 26th September.
  
  
• Both China and Pakistan are going to be a part of the multinational exercise. China's participation in the exercise was also a reason for India to pull out of the multilateral tri-services military exercise.
  
  
• India is locked in a military conflict with the Chinese in eastern Ladakh and on high alert all along the 4,000 kilometre Line of Actual Control (LAC).
  
  

About:

• The prize money for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award has been increased to 25 lakh rupees from the previous amount of 7.5 lakh rupees.
  
  
• Arjuna Award has been enhanced to 15 lakh rupees from 5 lakh.
  
  
• The Dhronacharya (Lifetime) awardees, who were earlier given 5 lakh rupees will now be given 15 lakh rupees as cash prize, while Dhronacharya (Regular) will be given 10 lakh instead of 5 lakh rupees per awardee.
  
  
• The prize money for the Sports Awards was last reviewed in 2008.
  
  

About:

• The maiden 'Roll On Roll Off' (RORO) train between Bengaluru and Solapur in Maharashtra consists of open flat wagon on which trucks with goods are loaded.
  
  
• It will be operated by the South Western Railway (SWR).
  
  
• The train will take 17 hours to reach its final destination which is at a distance of about 682 kms.
  
  
• The train will run via Dharmavaram, Guntakal, Raichur and Wadi to reach Bale near Solapur in Maharashtra.
  
  

About:

• While Khan is the first woman of Indian origin to be honoured with a blue plague, it has been erected on houses and venues associated with several Indian men including Mahatma Gandhi, Raja Ram Mohon Roy, and B R Ambedkar.
  
  
• An emblem of English heritage pride, the plaque has been placed on the house at Taviton street, Bloomsbury, London, where Khan once lived.
  
  
• The idea of placing commemorative plaques on historically significant buildings was first mooted in 1863. The idea was to honour important people and organisations who have lived or worked in London buildings.
  
  
• Currently, the blue plaque scheme is being run by the charity organisation, English Heritage, that takes care of historic sites and buildings in England.
  
  

About:

• More than 750 people from across the globe have signed up for the course that started on August 22. The first edition will end on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti.
  
  
• The institute has lined up fortnightly programmes to teach metallurgy, astronomy, medicines and plant sciences in Sanskrit. Students can study classical Indian scientific texts in their original forms and converse about them in the ancient language.
  
  
• Most of the traditional Indic scientific treatises in sustainable water resource management, agriculture, mathematics, metallurgy, astronomy, medicine, plant sciences, economic and political texts are in Sanskrit. Understanding Sanskrit with a view to studying these texts is important to preserve India's scientific heritage.
  
  

About:

• In 2010, by its resolution 65/209 the UN General Assembly welcomed the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, and decided to declare 30 August the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, to be observed beginning in 2011.
  
  
• Both the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which came into force on 1 July 2002, and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 2006, state that, a "forced disappearance" qualifies as a crime against humanity.
  
  

About:

• On 2 December 2009, the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly declared 29 August the International Day against Nuclear Tests by adopting resolution 64/35. 2010 marked the inaugural commemoration of the International Day against Nuclear Tests.
  
  
• The resolution calls for increasing awareness and education “about the effects of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions and the need for their cessation as one of the means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.”
  
  
• The resolution was initiated by Kazakhstan with a view to commemorating the closure of the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test site on 29 August 1991.
  
  

About:

• National Sports Day (also known as Rashtriya Khel Divas) is celebrated on 29^th August every year to mark the birth anniversary of legendary hockey player Major Dhyan Chand.
  
  
• Dhyan Chand was born in 1905 and was known for his magical hockey skills. He was part of the Indian hockey team which struck gold in the Olympics of 1928, 1932, and, 1936.
  
  
• National Sports Awards which include the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the Arjuna award, the Dronacharya award, and the Dhyan Chand award, are conferred on athletes every year by the President of India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on the National Sports Day. However, this year, the names would be announced by President Ram Nath Kovind virtually.
  
  

About:

• According to the transaction of business rules, “police, public order, All India Services and anti-corruption” will fall under the executive functions of the L-G, implying that the Chief Minister or the Council of Ministers will have no say in their functioning.
  
  
• The rules say that matters which affect the interest of any minority community, the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes “shall essentially be submitted to the Lieutenant Governor through the Chief Secretary, under intimation to the Chief Minister, before issuing any orders”.
  
  
• The Council of Ministers, led by the CM, will decide service matters of non-All India Services officers, proposal to impose new tax, land revenue, sale grant or lease of government property, reconstituting departments or offices and draft legislation.
  
  
• However, in case of difference of opinion between the L-G and a Minister, when no agreement could be reached even after a month, the “decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be deemed to have been accepted by the Council of Ministers.”
  
  

About:

• Scientific name: Tyto alba.
  
  
• Common name: Common barn owl.
  
  
• Distribution: It is the most widely distributed species of owl. It is found almost everywhere in the world except polar and desert regions, in Asia north of the Himalayas, most of Indonesia, and some Pacific islands.
  
  
• Physical description: The plumage on head and back is a mottled shade of grey or brown, the underparts vary from white to brown and are sometimes speckled with dark markings. The face is characteristically heart-shaped and is white in most subspecies.
  
  
• Diet: Barn owls specialise in hunting animals on the ground and nearly all of their food consists of small mammals which they locate by sound, their hearing being very acute.
  
  
• IUCN status: Least Concern.
  
  
• Cultural significance: The Barn Owl is respected as the acolyte of the Goddess Chamunda in Karnataka. In Bengal, it is revered as the carrier of Lakshmi, the deity of wealth.
  
  

About:

• In many states, the voters’ list for the panchayat and municipality elections is different from the one used for Parliament and Assembly elections.
  
  
• This is because the supervision and conduct of elections in our country are entrusted with two constitutional authorities — the Election Commission (EC) of India and the State Election Commissions (SECs).
  • Set up in 1950, the EC is charged with the responsibility of conducting polls to the offices of the President and Vice-President of India, and to Parliament, the state assemblies and the legislative councils.
    
    
  • The SECs, on the other hand, supervise municipal and panchayat elections. They are free to prepare their own electoral rolls for local body elections, and this exercise does not have to be coordinated with the EC. Each SEC is governed by a separate state Act.
    
    
  
  
  
• However, some state laws allow the SEC to borrow and use the EC’s voter’s rolls in toto for the local body elections. Currently, all states, except Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, adopt EC’s rolls for local body polls.
  
  

About:

• The RLB Central Agriculture University is located in Jhansi and is a prominent institute of the Bundelkhand region.
  
  
• The University has started its first academic session in 2014-15 and is offering Under Graduate and Post Graduate courses in Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry.
  
  
• It is currently operating from the Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute, Jhansi as the main buildings were getting ready.
  
  

About:

• UN Security Council Resolution on ‘women in peacekeeping' calls for full, effective and meaningful participation of women in peacekeeping operations.
  
  
• India is one of the largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping operations.
  
  
• In June, India was elected non-permanent member of the Security Council for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2021.
  
  
• India has a long tradition of being associated with UN Peacekeeping since its inception. The country made history in 2007 when she deployed the first all-women Police Unit in the UN Mission in Liberia.
  
  
• India is the fifth largest contributor of uniformed personnel to the UN Peacekeeping Forces.
  
  

About:

• The government has earmarked a budget of over 95 crore rupees over a period of three years for this programme.
  
  
• It aims at identifying around three hundred startups working in identified areas and providing them seed funds of upto 25 lakh rupees and other facilities.
  
  
• Under this challenge the Ministry of Electronics and IT will invite startups in the areas of work including Edu Tech, Agri Tech and FinTech solutions for masses, Supply Chain and Logistic management, Infrastructure, Medical Healthcare as well as jobs and skilling.
  
  

About:

• Ayyankali (1863 – 1941) was a social reformer who worked for the advancement of deprived untouchable people in the princely state of Travancore, British India. He belonged to the Pulayar community of untouchable people.
  
  
• Ayyankali founded the Sadhu Jana Paripalana Sangham (SJPS) (Association for the Protection of the Poor) which campaigned for access to schools and raised funds to set up Pulayar-operated schools in the interim.
  
  
• Ayyankali later became a member of the assembly of Travancore, known as the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly (SMPA) or Praja Sabha.
  
  

About:

• The consultation was held on 26th, 27th and 28th August over virtual platform which brought forth thematic discussions around some key aspects of Sustainable Finance.
  
  
• The Collaborative saw a host of thematic discussions centred around the broad scope of Sustainable Finance architecture in India.
  
  
• It included dialogues on barriers to deploying new and innovative financing such as impact investing, role of blended finance instruments, green finance instruments for sustainable development, need for taxonomy of environmentally sustainable activities etc.
  
  

Justice Mishra judgement:

• The Constitution Bench led by Justice Mishra said reservation has created inequalities within the reserved castes itself. There is a “caste struggle” within the reserved class as the benefits of reservation are being usurped by a few.
  
  
• It is clear that caste, occupation, and poverty are interwoven. The State cannot be deprived of the power to take care of the qualitative and quantitative difference between different classes and to take ameliorative measures.
  
  
• In his 78-page judgment for the Bench, Justice Mishra said the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Central List do not constitute a “homogenous group”.
  
  
• Justice Mishra’s judgment is significant as it fully endorses the push to extend the creamy layer concept to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
  
  

Chinnaiah judgment?

• With this, the Bench took a contrary view to a 2004 judgment delivered by another Coordinate Bench of five judges in the E.V. Chinnaiah case.
  
  
• The Chinnaiah judgment had held that allowing the States to unilaterally “make a class within a class of members of the Scheduled Castes” would amount to tinkering with the Presidential list.
  
  
• Now with two numerically equal Benches of judges holding contrary viewpoints, the issue has been referred to a seven-judge Bench of the court.
  
  

About:

• The Textile Grand Challenge 2019 was organized by the Ministry of Textiles with the active support of National Jute Board and the Start up India Team of the Department for Promotion of Industry & Industrial Trade (DPIIT).
  
  
• The aim of organizing this event was to bring forward innovative ideas by start-ups/entrepreneurs for development of cost effective and low-weight carry bags using Jute Bio-mass, Jute Plant based bio-polymer and cotton fibre waste tophase out plastic bags.
  
  
• Under it, innovative solutions were sought for (i) Alternative to single use Plastic bags and (ii) Alternative to Multi-use Plastic bags, using domestically grownnatural fibres viz; Jute and Cotton.
  
  

About:

• PMJDY was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address on 15th August 2014. It was launched on 28th August.
  
  
• Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely, Banking/ Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner.
  
  
• The scheme was launched based upon the following 6 pillars:
  • Universal access to banking services – Branch and BC
    
    
  • Basic savings bank accounts with overdraft facility of Rs. 10,000/- to every household
    
    
  • Financial Literacy Program– Promoting savings, use of ATMs, getting ready for credit, availing insurance and pensions, using basic mobile phones for banking
    
    
  • Creation of Credit Guarantee Fund – To provide banks some guarantee against defaults
    
    
  • Insurance – Accident cover up to Rs. 1,00,000 and life cover of 30,000 on account opened between 15 Aug 2014 to 31 January 2015
    
    
  • Pension scheme for Unorganized sector
    
    
  
  
  
• The Government decided to extend the comprehensive PMJDY program beyond 28.8.2018 with some modifications
  • Focus shift from ‘Every Household’ to Every Unbanked Adult’
    
    
  • RuPay Card Insurance - Free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards increased from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 lakh for PMJDY accounts opened after 28.8.2018.
    
    
  • Enhancement in overdraft facilities: OD limit doubled from Rs 5,000/- to Rs 10,000/-; OD upto Rs 2,000/- (without conditions) and Increase in upper age limit for OD from 60 to 65 years.
    
    
  
  
  

About:

• With the ambitious plan of achieving 100% electrification for Railways by the year 2023, Indian Railways energy consumption is set to become more than 33 billion units by 2030 from its current annual requirement of about 21 billion units.
  
  
• Railways have developed a mega plan for installing solar plants of 20 Gigawaat capacity by utilizing its vacant land by 2030.
  
  
• The use of solar power will accelerate the mission to achieve conversion of Indian Railways to ‘Net Zero Carbon Emission Railway’.
  
  

About:

• The plan aims at increasing tourist footfall and boosting the social economic development of Jammu region. Mansar, as a tourist destination, had immense potential for adventure sports, Eco-tourism, sightseeing, wildlife preservation and recreational activities.
  
  
• Mansar Lake is situated 62 km from Jammu. It is a lake fringed by forest-covered hills, over a mile in length.
  
  
• Surinsar-Mansar Lakes are designated as Ramsar Convention in November 2005.
  
  

About:

• The App will assist in conducting countrywide online training of NCC cadets.
  
  
• The DGNCC Mobile Training App aims at providing NCC cadets entire training material (syllabus, précis, training videos and frequently asked questions) on one platform.
  
  
• The App has been made interactive by including a query option. By using this option, a cadet can post his question related to the training syllabus and the same will be answered by a panel of qualified instructors.
  
  

About:

• The Education Minister also announced that Urdu writers and literators will be honoured with awards and honours in the name of important personalities of Urdu like Amir Khusrow, Mirza Ghalib, Agha Hashar, Ram Babu Saxena and Daya Shankar Naseem to encourage Urdu writers for literary and creative services by the Urdu Council from next year.  
  
  
• The National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL) is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Department of Secondary and Higher Education, Government of India.
  
  
• It was setup in 1996 as the National Nodal Agency for the promotion of the Urdu language.
  
  

About:

• The Bureau of Police Research and Development was raised on 28th August, 1970, through a resolution of Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.
  
  
• It was raised with a mandate to promote excellence in policing, promote speedy and systematic study of police problems, apply science and technology in the method and techniques by the Police.
  
  
• The Bureau was initially started with two Divisions, i.e., Research, Publication & Statistics Division and Development Division.
  
  
• In 1973, the Training Division was added, on the recommendation of the Gore Committee on Police training. In 1995, Correctional Division was started to study the issues of Prisons and Prison Reforms. In 2008, the National Police Mission was added and Development Division was restructured as Modernization Division.
  
  
• Now, with the raising of a new unit, Central Academy for Police Training at Bhopal, specialized as Centre of Excellence for Police & Correctional Administration, BPR&D has 6 outlying units.
  
  

About:

• The 4th round of UDAN was launched in December 2019 with a special focus on North-Eastern Regions, Hilly States, and Islands.
  
  
• The airports that had already been developed by AAI are given higher priority for the award of VGF(Viability Gap Funding) under the Scheme.
  
  
• Under UDAN 4, the operation of helicopter and seaplanes is also been incorporated.
  
  
• Since its inception, MoCA has operationalized 274 UDAN routes that have connected 45 airports and 3 heliports.
  
  
• So far, 766 routes have been sanctioned under the UDAN scheme. 29 served, 08 unserved (including 02 heliports and 01 water aerodrome), and 02 underserved airports have been included in the list for approved routes.