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Important Current Affairs – 2018-19

1. Review Petition and Curative Petition

2. Jiban Sampark Project of Odisha

3. Project ReWeave

4. National Museum of Indian Cinema

5. Zearalenone

6. Samagra Shiksha Scheme

7. Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP)

8. World Custom Organisation

9. Central Adoption Resource Authority

10. Hague Adoption Convention

11. BrahMos

12. Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme

13. Poshan Abhiyan

14. Public affairs Index

15. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

16. ‘Study in India’ Programme

17. System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)

18. Common Service Center (CSC)

19. National Biofuels Policy, 2018

20. UN International Sea Bed Authority

21. PRASHAD Scheme

22. DigiYatra

23. Dedicated freight corridors (DFC)

24. Mission Satyanishtha

25. E-Pashu Haat portal

26. Parker Solar Probe

27. One District One Product (Ek Zila – Ek Utpadan) Scheme

28. Global Innovation Index

29. Serious Fraud Investigation Office

30. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

31. Rythu Bima Scheme

32. Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO)

33. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

Review Petition and Curative Petition

Review petition

A binding decision of the Supreme Court/High Court can be reviewed in Review Petition.

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The parties aggrieved on any order of the Supreme Court on any apparent error can file a

review petition.

Article 137 of the Constitution provides that subject to provisions of any law and rule

made under Article 145, the Supreme Court of India has the power to review any

judgement pronounced (or order made) by it.

Under Supreme Court Rules, 1966 such a petition needs to be filed within 30 days from

the date of judgement or order.

It is also recommended that the petition should be circulated without oral arguments to

the same bench of judges that delivered the judgement (or order) sought to be reviewed.

Furthermore, even after dismissal of a review petition, the SC may consider a curative

petition in order to prevent abuse of its process and to cure gross miscarriage of justice.

Curative petition

The concept of Curative petition was evolved by the Supreme Court of India in the matter

of Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra and Anr (2002) where the question was whether

an aggrieved person is entitled to any relief against the final judgement/order of the

Supreme Court, after dismissal of a review petition.

The Supreme Court in the said case held that in order to prevent abuse of its process and

to cure gross miscarriage of justice, it may reconsider its judgements in exercise of its

inherent powers.

For this purpose the Court has devised what has been termed as a “curative” petition. In

the Curative petition, the petitioner is required to aver specifically that the grounds

mentioned therein had been taken in the review petition filed earlier and that it was

dismissed by circulation.

This has to be certified by a senior advocate. The Curative petition is then circulated to

the three senior most judges and the judges who delivered the impugned judgement, if

available. No time limit is given for filing Curative petition.

Jiban Sampark Project of Odisha

Context

Odisha has launched Jiban Sampark project for the welfare of the Particularly Vulnerable

Tribal Groups.

Key features:

The Project is being undertaken in association with UNICEF.

It aims to generate awareness among Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in

Odisha on various development and welfare initiatives of State Government, especially

on women and child welfare.

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The focus areas of the Project are skill development, empowering communities,

cooperation and innovation among the groups.

About ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)’

PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups. In 1975, the Government of India

initiated to identify the most vulnerable tribal groups as a separate category called

PVTGs and declared 52 such groups, while in 1993 an additional 23 groups were added

to the category, making it a total of 75 PVTGs out of 705 Scheduled Tribes, spread over

17 states and one Union Territory(UT), in the country (2011 census).

Among the 75 listed PVTG’s the highest number are found in Odisha (13), followed by

Andhra Pradesh (12).

Who are the Scheduled Tribes?

A tribe is a social division in a traditional society consisting of families linked by social,

economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect. A tribe possesses

certain qualities and characteristics that make it a unique cultural, social, and political

entity.

The nature of what constitutes an Indian tribe and the very nature of tribes have changed

considerably over the course of centuries. Constitution of India has recognized tribal

communities in India under ‘Schedule 5’ of the constitution. Hence the tribes recognized

by the Constitution are known as ‘ Scheduled Tribes’.

The Constitution ensures certain protection and benefits for communities deemed as

having Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Social and political mobilisation has led to the increase of number of STs 225 in 1960 to

700 today.

As the number of communities demanding ST status expands, it brings the criteria of the

recognition and the legitimacy of the process under scrutiny. The Constitution only states

that STs are specified by the President after consultation with the Governor. It does not

define or specify a particular criterion.

According to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the criterion includes

Indication of primitive traits

Distinctive culture

Geographical isolation

Shyness of connect with the community at large &

Backwardness

Project ReWeave

Context

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Microsoft India Saturday announced the launch of a new e-commerce platform here for

handloom weavers under its Project ReWeave, as part of its philanthropic initiative.

Details

It is e-commerce platform that would help connect artisans to the buyers directly enabling

them to expand to newer customers and markets.

It hosts signature collections created by the weaver communities, showcase traditional

designs and products created from natural dyes.

It would help sell to a broad set of customers, support weavers in increasing their income

and earning a sustainable livelihood while also reviving traditional forgotten Indian art.

Microsoft, in association with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), has

also curated a special curriculum in ‘CAD and Colour for Handloom Weaving’ to

provide digital training in handloom design.

Benefits of such initiatives

With the introduction of our new e-commerce platform, digital empowerment centres and

the new design curriculum, the weavers will be able to build on the rich handloom

heritage of India and also reach out to a wider customer base.

These initiatives like e-commerce marketplace and design training would ensure weaver

communities sustain themselves and provide livelihood to artisans.

This also is a practical solution to motivate younger generation of weavers to continue

with their traditions and not divert into other professions.

National Museum of Indian Cinema

Context

Hon’ble PM Modi has inaugurated the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) in

Mumbai.

Details

The state-of-the-art Museum aims to take its visitors through an absorbing journey of

over a century of Indian cinema in a story telling mode with the help of visuals, graphics,

artifacts, interactive exhibits and multimedia expositions.

The creation of the Museum has been guided by the Museum Advisory Committee

headed by Shri Shyam Benegal.

The Museum is housed in two buildings – the New Museum Building and the 19th

century historic palace Gulshan Mahal – in the Films Division campus in Mumbai.

New Museum Building has four Exhibition Halls which encapsulate:

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Gandhi & Cinema: It not only depicts the movies made on the life Mahatma Gandhi but

also showcases the deep impact his life had on cinema.

Children’s Film Studio: it gives visitors, particularly children, an opportunity to explore

the science, technology and art behind filmmaking.

Technology, creativity & Indian cinema: it showcases the creative use of technology by

Indian film makers over the years to produce cinematographic impact on the silver

screen.

Cinema across India: it showcases the charismatic kaleidoscopic presence of the vibrant

cinematographic culture across India.

Gulshan Mahal

It is an ASI Grade-II Heritage Structure which has been restored as part of the NMIC

project.

The displays present here showcase the journey of over a hundred years of Indian

cinema.

It is divided into 9 sections viz. The Origin of Cinema, Cinema comes to India, Indian

Silent Film, Advent of Sound, The Studio Era, The impact of World War II, Creative

Resonance, New Wave and Beyond and Regional Cinema.

Zearalenone

Zearalenone is a fungal toxin infesting cereals such as wheat, maize and barley. It attacks

crops while they are growing, but can also develop when cereals are stored without being

dried fully.

While numerous studies document this toxin in cereals across the world, no data existed

for India until now. This month, a Journal of Food Science study detected zearalenone in

wheat, rice, corn and oats from markets in Uttar Pradesh.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India does not impose maximum limits for

zearalenone, though the European Union (EU) does.

Fungal toxins are commonly found in food, and can be a public health concern. India

regulates the levels of some of these, including aflatoxin, deoxynivalenol, ergot and

patulin. The first three infest cereals, while patulin is found in apples. Each of these

toxins has been associated with disease outbreaks.

For example, in 1974, a hepatitis outbreak in Rajasthan and Gujarat, which made 398

people sick and killed 106, was linked to aflatoxin in maize. Meanwhile, chronic

aflatoxin consumption has been shown to cause liver cancer.

Given this, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies aflatoxin

as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning there is enough evidence for its carcinogenicity.

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In zearalenone’s case, there is no strong evidence of toxicity in humans so far, though

several research groups are investigating. As a result, the IARC classifies it as a Group 3

carcinogen, which means evidence is not sufficient for an evaluation yet.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme

The Department of School Education and Literacy (MoHRD) has formulated the

Samagra Shiksha – an Integrated Scheme for School Education as a Centrally Sponsored

Scheme and it is being implemented throughout the country with effect from the year

2018-19.

This programme subsumes the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva

Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher

Education (TE).

It is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school

to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of

school education.

It envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary,

secondary to senior secondary levels.

Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP)

• It is a policy adopted by Government of India on 10.03.2016 indicating the new

contractual and fiscal model for award of hydrocarbon acreages towards exploration

and production (E&P).

• HELP is applicable for all future contracts to be awarded.

• HELP replaces the present policy regime for exploration and production of oil and

gas, known as New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), which has been in

existence for 18 years.

Features of HELP

• Uniform License: It provides for a uniform licensing system to cover all

hydrocarbons such as oil, gas, coal bed methane etc. under a single licensing

framework, instead of the present system of issuing separate licenses for each kind of

hydrocarbons.

• Open Acreages: It gives the option to a hydrocarbon company to select the

exploration blocks throughout the year without waiting for the formal bid round from

the Government.

• Revenue Sharing Model: Present fiscal system of production sharing contract (PSC)

is replaced by an easy to administer “revenue sharing model”. The earlier contracts

were based on the concept of profit sharing where profits are shared between

Government and the contractor after recovery of cost.

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• Marketing and Pricing Freedom: It has been granted, subject to a ceiling price limit,

for new gas production from Deepwater, Ultra Deepwater and High Pressure-High

Temperature Areas.

World Custom Organisation

• The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization

headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

• The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System (HS) goods nomenclature

and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO)

Agreements on Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin.

• The WCO’s primary objective is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of

member customs administrations, thereby assisting them to contribute successfully to

national development goals, particularly revenue collection, national security, trade

facilitation, community protection, and collection of trade statistics.

• The WCO is noted for its work in areas covering the development of international

conventions, instruments, and tools on topics such as commodity classification,

valuation, rules of origin, collection of customs revenue, supply chain security,

international trade facilitation, customs enforcement activities, combating

counterfeiting in support of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), drugs enforcement,

illegal weapons trading, integrity promotion etc.

Central Adoption Resource Authority

• Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is a statutory autonomous body of

Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India.

• It functions as the nodal body for the adoption of Indian children and is mandated to

monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.

• CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in

accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption,

1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003.

• CARA primarily deals with the adoption of the orphan, abandoned and surrendered

children through its associated /recognised adoption agencies.

Hague Adoption Convention

• The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of

Intercountry Adoption is an international convention dealing with international

adoption, child laundering, and child trafficking.

• The Convention was developed by the Hague Conference on Private International

Law, the preeminent organization in the area of private international law. It was

concluded on 29 May 1993 and entered into force on 1 May 1995.

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• It is an effort to protect those involved from the corruption, abuses, and exploitation

which sometimes accompanies international adoption.

• The Convention has been considered crucial because it provides a formal

international and intergovernmental recognition of intercountry adoption to ensure

that adoptions under the Convention will generally be recognized and given effect in

other party countries.

• 96 countries including India has signed and ratified this convention. Whereas Nepal,

South Korea and Russia are yet to ratify it.

BrahMos

• BrahMos is a joint collaboration between India and Russia and is capable of being

launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against the surface and sea-based targets

• It has a strike range of around 290 km and is described as the world’s fastest

supersonic cruise missile.

• The range of the supersonic missile was initially capped at 290 km as per the

obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime

• Since India’s entry into the club, the range has been extended to 450 km and the plan

is to hit 600km.

• The Army and the Navy have already inducted the missile, while the air-launched

variant is undergoing trials.

Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme

Ministry of Women and Child Development has approved a new scheme namely Mahila Shakti

Kendra for implementation during 2017-18 upto 2019-20 to empower rural women through

community participation.

• The scheme is envisaged to work at various levels and at the national level (domain

based knowledge support) and state level (State Resource Centre for Women)

technical support to the respective governments on issues related to women.

• It is implemented with cost sharing ratio of 60:40 between centre and states except for

North East and Special Category States where the ratio is 90:10.

Provisions of the Scheme

• Community engagement through College Student Volunteers is envisioned in 115

aspirational districts as part of the Block Level initiatives.

• Student volunteers are to play an instrumental role in awareness generation regarding

various important government schemes/ programmes as well as social issues.

• District Level Centre for Women (DLCW) has also been envisaged for 640 districts

to be covered in phased manner.

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• These centres to serve as a link between village, block and state level in facilitating

women centric schemes and also give foothold for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)

scheme at the district level.

Poshan Abhiyan

• The Government of India has set-up POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition

Mission) which was launched by the PM Modi on 8thMarch, 2018 from Jhunjhunu,

Rajasthan.

• The programme through use of technology, ha a targeted approach and convergence

strives to reduce the level of Stunting, Under-nutrition, Anemia and Low Birth

Weight in Children, as also, focus on Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women & Lactating

Mothers for holistically addressing malnutrition.

• POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to ensure service delivery and interventions by use of

technology, behavioural change through convergence and lays-down specific targets

to be achieved across different monitoring parameters over the next few years.

• To ensure a holistic approach, all 36 States/UTs and 718 districts will be covered in a

phased manner by the year 2020. Never before has nutrition been given such

prominence at the highest level in the country.

• As part of this Abhiyaan, initiative to mobilize a peoples’ movement or Jan

Andolanon Nutrition, the MoWCD has developed a Caller Tune and Ring Tone to

popularize and create a connect with the Abhiyaan’s goal of Sahi Poshan Desh

Roshan.

• It was decided that the activities to be carried in the month of September to celebrate

as National Nutrition Month and this will be celebrated every year.

Public affairs Index

• The index provides a multi-dimensional and comprehensive matrix that attempts to

capture the complexities of governing the plural and diverse people of this sub-

continent.

• It is conducted by the Public Affairs Centre, a Bengaluru-based think tank.

• The think tank has undertaken the study across all the Indian states considering them

across 10 themes such as essential infrastructure, support to human development,

social protection, women and children as well as law and order.

• The states were divided into two categories — large and small — on the basis of their

population. States with more than two crore population were considered large.

• PAI 2018 comprises 10 broad themes, 30 focus subjects and 100 indicators as well as

a special chapter on the children of India relying solely upon government data and no

private data sources that may be interpreted as “biased”.

Performance of the States

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• Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat followed Kerala among the top five

states delivering good governance, according to the report.

• Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar ranked the lowest on the PAI, indicating

higher social and economic inequalities in the states.

• Among smaller states (with a population less than two crores), Himachal Pradesh

topped the list, followed by Goa, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura which figured among

the top five states with good governance.

• Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya were ranked at the bottom of the index among

small states.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

• This is an HRD Ministry initiative launched in 2014 with the two-fold aim to provide

rural India with professional resource support from institutes of higher education in

the field of STEM

• And Building institutional capacity in Institutes of higher education in research &

training relevant to the needs of rural India

• This programme will be launched in collaboration with the Indian Institutes of

Technology (IIT), Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research (IISERs)

and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) throughout the country

• Each IIT/NIT/IISER will identify 10 villages in its neighbourhood and work out

technologies to solve the most pressing issues of the region

• Various teams from these institutes will visit the villages, identify problems and then

aim to find financially-viable schemes.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0

• Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is a flagship programme of the Ministry of HRD, which aims

to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least 5 villages so that these

institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village

communities using their knowledge base.

• It is a significant initiative where all Higher Learning Institutes have been involved

for participation in development activities, particularly in rural areas.

• It also aims to create a virtuous cycle between the society and an inclusive university

system, with the latter providing knowledge base; practices for emerging livelihoods

and to upgrade the capabilities of both the public and private sectors.

• Currently, 748 Institutions are participating under the scheme.

The objective of the scheme is:

• To engage the faculty and students of Higher Educational Institutions in

understanding rural realities;

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• Identify and select existing innovative technologies, enable customization of

technologies, or devise implementation methods for innovative solutions, as required

by people; and

• To allow Higher Educational Institutions to contribute to devising systems for smooth

implementation of various Government Programs.

‘Study in India’ Programme

• To facilitate Internationalization of Higher Education in India, a Programme viz.

‘Study in India’ has been launched.

• EdCIL(India) Limited is the implementing agency for the Programme.

Its objectives are:

• to make India an education hub for foreign students;

• improve the soft power of India with focus on the neighbouring countries and use it

as a tool in diplomacy;

• to rapidly increase the inflow of inbound International Students in India through a

systematic brand-building, marketing, social media and digital marketing campaigns;

• to increase India’s market share of global education exports;

• improvement in the overall quality of higher education

Provisions of the SIP

• The programme focuses on International students from select 30 countries across

South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa for a period of two years i.e. for the

academic years 2018-19 and 2019-20.

• It envisages participation of select reputed Indian institutes/universities by way of

offering seats for the International students at affordable rates.

• This Programme does not offer any Scholarships, however, fee waivers to meritorious

foreign students ranging from 100% to 25% are offered.

• A centralised admission web-portal (https://studyinindia.gov.in/) acts as a single

window for the admission of foreign students.

System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)

• Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Govt. of India, has introduced a major national

initiative “SAFAR” for greater metropolitan cities of India to provide location-

specific information on air quality in near real time and its forecast 1-3 days in

advance for the first time in India

• It was started under the plan scheme “Metropolitan Advisories for Cities for Sports,

Tourism (Metropolitan Air Quality and Weather Services)

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• The SAFAR system is developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune,

along with ESSO partner institutions namely India Meteorological Department (IMD)

and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF)

• The implementation of SAFAR is done with an active collaboration with local

municipal corporations and various local educational institutions and governmental

agencies in that Metro city.

• It was started on a Pilot basis in the cities of Pune, Ahmadabad, New Delhi and

Mumbai

Advanced SAFAR

• Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan unveiled a state-of-the-art Air Quality and

Weather Forecast System– SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting)

at Chandni Chowk in Delhi.

• The giant true colour LED display gives out real-time air quality index on 24×7 basis

with colour coding along with 72-hour advance forecast.

• The system will be an integral part of India’s first Air Quality Early Warning

Systemoperational in Delhi and will strengthen the existing air quality network of

SAFAR.

• The system, first of its kind in the country, was developed indigenously in record time

by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and operationalized by India

Meteorological Department (IMD).

Common Service Center (CSC)

• Nodal Agency: Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), Government of India.

• Aim: The CSCs would provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data

content and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine,

entertainment as well as other private services.

• CSCs are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in

India, thereby contributing to a digitally and financially inclusive society.

• CSC e-Governance Services India Limited is a SPV incorporated under the

Companies Act, 1956 by the MeitY to monitor the implementation of the CSCs.

CSCs enable the three vision areas of the Digital India programme:

• Digital infrastructure as Utility to Every Citizen

• Governance and services on demand

• Digital empowerment of citizens

CSC 2.0

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• Under the Digital India programme, at least one CSC (preferably more than one) is

envisaged in 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats for delivery of various electronic services to

citizens across rural India.

• CSC 2.0 is a service delivery oriented entrepreneurship model with a large bouquet of

services made available for the citizens through optimum utilization of infrastructure

already created in the form of SWAN, SSDG, e-District, SDC, and NOFN/BharatNet.

National Biofuels Policy, 2018

• The Union Cabinet approved a national policy on biofuels that seeks to not only help

farmers dispose of their surplus stock in an economic manner but also reduce India’s

oil-import dependence.

• The policy expands the scope of raw material for ethanol production by allowing the

use of sugarcane juice, sugar-containing materials like sugar beet, sweet sorghum,

starch-containing materials like corn, cassava, damaged food grains like wheat,

broken rice, rotten potatoes that are unfit for human consumption for ethanol

production.

• The policy also provides for a viability gap funding scheme of ₹5,000 crore in six

years for second generation (more advanced) ethanol bio-refineries in addition to tax

incentives and a higher purchase price as compared to first-generation biofuels.

• Farmers are at a risk of not getting appropriate price for their produce during the

surplus production phase.

• Taking this into account, the policy allows use of surplus food grains for production

of ethanol for blending with petrol with the approval of National Biofuel

Coordination Committee.

UN International Sea Bed Authority

• The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is an intergovernmental body that was

established to organize, regulate and control all mineral-related activities in the

international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, an area underlying

most of the world’s oceans

• It is an organization established by the Law of the Sea Convention

• It is based in Kingston, Jamaica

• Currently, the Authority has 167 members and the European Union, composed of all

parties to the Law of the Sea Convention

• The Authority operates by contracting with private and public corporations and other

entities authorizing them to explore, and eventually exploit, specified areas on the

deep seabed for mineral resources essential for building most technological products

PRASHAD Scheme

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• PRASHAD means Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation

Drive

• A 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme under Tourism Ministry

Provisions under the scheme include

• Tourism Promotion and Tourist Ecosystem

• Vocational Training for Tourists and Hospitality Business

• Hunar se Rozgar tak (HSRT) and earn while you learn programs

• Improving Tourist Infrastructure

Provisions regarding Tourist Infrastructure in PRASAD

• ATM, foreign currency exchange counters

• Rail, road water transport

• Green energy streetlights

• Water adventure sports

• First-aid centres, Wi-Fi hotspots, Parking facilities

• Green landscaping, water fountains, walkways, furniture etc.

• Removing encroachments

DigiYatra

• DigiYatra is an industry-led initiative coordinated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in

line with Digital India programme

• It aims to transform the flying experience for passengers and position Indian Aviation

amongst the most innovative aviation networks in the world

• The facility will use digital technology to enhance air passenger experience all the

way from ticket booking to airport entry check, security check and aircraft boarding

• For this, a passenger needs to enrol into DigiYatra program through AirSewa app and

a DigiYatra verified passenger will get hassle free entry at the airport through E-

Gates

• At the entry gate, a single token for the passenger will be created

• This will also facilitate walk-through security scanners swiftly owing to advanced

biometric security solutions

Dedicated freight corridors (DFC)

• These are freight-only railway lines to move goods between industrial heartlands in

the North and ports on the Eastern and Western coasts.

• The dedicated freight-only lines are being built along the four key transportation

routes – known as the Golden Quadrilateral and connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,

Howrah and its two diagonals (Delhi – Chennai and Mumbai – Howrah).

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What is the need of Dedicated Freight corridors?

• The above-mentioned routes are highly saturated, with line capacity utilisation

reaching as high as 150 per cent.

• Considering increased transport demands, overtly congested routes and greenhouse

gas (GHG) emissions associated with road transport, the government had proposed

this initiative.

• These freight corridors will help reduce the cost and allow faster transportation.

• Along with that, Indian Railways will open new avenues for investment, as this will

lead to the construction of industrial corridors and logistic parks along these routes.

Benefits of the DFCs

• Freight corridor will permit the trains to carry higher loads, in a more reliable manner.

• These lines are also being built to maximize speeds to 100 km an hour, up from the

current average freight speed of 20 km an hour.

• Freight corridor envisages long-haul operations with trailing loads to increase from

5,000 to 15,000 tonnes and container capacity will go up to 400 per train.

• The DFCs will allow much shorter transit times from freight source to destination

which means it will reduce the time by up to 50 per cent in some cases.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL)

• The DFCCIL is a corporation run by the Ministry of Railways (India) to undertake

planning & development, mobilisation of financial resources and construction,

maintenance and operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors.

• DFCC has been registered as a company under the Companies Act 1956 on 30

October 2006.

Mission Satyanishtha

• In first of its kind event held by any government organization, the Indian Railways

organized a programme on Ethics in Public Governance and Launched “Mission

Satyanishtha”.

• The issue of Ethics, Integrity and probity in public life has been a matter of concern

all over the government sector.

• This mission aims at sensitizing all railway employees about the need to adhere to

good ethics and to maintain high standards of integrity at work.

The objectives of the Mission are:

• To train every employee to understand the need and value of ethics in Personal and

Public life.

• To deal with ethical dilemmas in life and Public Governance.

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• To help understand the policies of Indian Railways on ethics and integrity and the

employee’s role in upholding the same.

• To develop inner governance through tapping inner resources.

E-Pashu Haat portal

• Nodal Agency: Department of Animal Husbandry Dairying & Fisheries (DADF),

Ministry of Agriculture

• Aim: To connect breeders and farmers regarding availability of bovine germplasm.

• Government has launched e-Pashu Haat portal (www.epashuhaat.gov.in) for

connecting breeders and farmers of indigenous breeds.

• The portal has been launched under the scheme “National Mission on Bovine

Productivity.”

• This provides direct access to the farmers/ breeders to various organizations/sources

wherein frozen semen, embryos and livestock certifications are available.

• This portal is playing crucial role in development and conservation of indigenous

breeds.

Parker Solar Probe

• NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe – the space agency’s first mission to the sun –

that will explore the sun’s atmosphere and its outermost atmosphere, the corona.

• The spacecraft is named after 91-year old solar physicist Eugene Parker, 91, who was

the first scientist to describe solar wind in 1958.

• The probe, about the size of a car, will fly through the Sun’s atmosphere and will

come as close as 3.8 million miles to the star’s surface, well within the orbit of

Mercury.

• It will be more than seven times closer than any spacecraft has come before. The

Parker probe is expected to make 24 loops of the Sun over seven years.

One District One Product (Ek Zila – Ek Utpadan) Scheme

• Under this scheme, UP govt. will provide Rs. 25000/- to local craftsmen and

entrepreneurs in the upcoming 5 years.

• The primary objective of this scheme is to focus on a particular product and raise its

quality to compete in the international market.

• This scheme is aimed to provide job opportunities to 25 lakh unemployed candidates

across the state of UP.

• One District One Product Scheme will raise the GDP of the state up to 2 percent.

• Each district will be assigned a product under Ek Zila – Ek Utpadan Scheme.

• Ex: Kannauj- Perfume, Agra- Leather etc.

Global Innovation Index

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• The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity

for, and success in, innovation.

• It is published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property

Organization, in partnership with other organizations and institutions.

• It is based on both subjective and objective data derived from several sources,

including the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank and the World

Economic Forum.

• The index was started in 2007 by INSEAD and World Business, a British magazine.

• The GII is commonly used by corporate and government officials to compare

countries by their level of innovation.

Serious Fraud Investigation Office

• The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is a fraud investigating agency in

India.

• It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.

• The SFIO is involved in major fraud probes and is the co-ordinating agency with the

Income Tax Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation.

• It is a multi-disciplinary organization having experts from financial sector, capital

market, accountancy, forensic audit, taxation, law, information technology, company

law, customs and investigation.

• These experts have been taken from various organizations like banks, Securities and

Exchange Board of India, Comptroller and Auditor General and concerned

organizations and departments of the Government.

• Based on the recommendation of Naresh Chandra Committee on corporate

governance in the backdrop of stock market scams as also the failure of non-banking

companies resulting in huge financial loss to the public.

• Agency headquarters is in the Indian capital, New Delhi, with field offices located in

major cities throughout India. The SFIO draws most of its officers from the IAS,

ICLS, IPS and IRS.

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

• It is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between ASEAN and six Asia-Pacific

states.

• Members: ASEAN Members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,

Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six Asia-Pacific

states (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).

• RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN

Summit in Cambodia.

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• The FTA is scheduled and expected to be signed in November 2018 during the

ASEAN Summit and Related Summit in Singapore, after the first RCEP summit was

held on 14 November 2017 in Manila, Philippines.

• RCEP is viewed as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed

trade agreement which includes several Asian and American nations but excludes

China and India.

Rythu Bima Scheme

• Rythu Bima group life insurance scheme is introduced by the Telangana government

for all the landholding (pattadar) farmers in the age group of 18-59 years from August

14.

• It is proving to be an instant aid to their families in case of death of the enrolled

farmer, irrespective of the cause either natural or otherwise.

• The death of farmers with any reason is compensated within a maximum time of

seven days by NEFT transaction by crediting the amount of ₹5 lakh each to the

nominees.

• The settlement of claims has proved to be the fastest under any life insurance schemes

available in the country.

• Settlement of 52 claims out of deaths of 78 beneficiary farmers in the first five days

of implementation of the scheme is an ample proof of fastest life insurance claims

settlement in the country.

Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO)

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched RUCO

(Repurpose Used Cooking Oil), an initiative that will enable collection and

conversion of used cooking oil to bio-diesel.

• The initiative has been launched nearly a month after the food safety regulator

notified standards for used cooking oil.

• FSSAI may also look at introducing regulations to ensure that companies that use

large quantities of cooking oil hand it over to registered collecting agencies to convert

it into biofuel.

• Under this initiative, 64 companies at 101 locations have been identified to enable

collection of used cooking oil.

• For instance: McDonald’s has already started converting used cooking oil to biodiesel

from 100 outlets in Mumbai and Pune.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

• NPCI is the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in India which aims

to allow all Indian citizens to have unrestricted access to e-payment services.

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• Founded in 2008, NPCI is a not-for-profit organisation registered under section 8 of

the Companies Act 2013.

• The organisation is owned by a consortium of major banks, and has been promoted

by the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India.

• Its recent work of developing Unified Payments Interface aims to move India to a

cashless society with only digital transactions.

• It has successfully completed the development of a domestic card payment network

called RuPay, reducing the dependency on international card schemes.

• The RuPay card is now accepted at all the ATMs, Point-of-Sale terminals and most of

the online merchants in the country.

• UPI is a path breaking innovation that is unprecedented globally. Its high volume,

low cost and highly scalable architecture built on an open source platform is key to

India’s transformation to a digital payment economy.

• The first version of UPI was launched on April 11, 2016 and in the last two years the

platform has emerged as a popular choice among users for sending and receiving

money.