The Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) was the first regional currency swap arrangement launched by the ASEAN+3

countries in May 2000 at an annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank to address the short-term liquidity

difficulties in the region and to supplement the existing international financial arrangements. CMI is composed of: (a) the

ASEAN Swap Arrangement (ASA) among ASEAN countries, and (b) a network of bilateral swap arrangements (BSAs)

among the ASEAN+3 countries.

Gopal Hari Deshmukh, was an Indian activist, thinker, social reformer, and writer from Maharashtra. At age 25,

Deshmukh started writing articles aimed at social reform in Maharashtra in the weekly Prabhakar under the pen

name Lokhitawadi.

• NITI Aayog and USAID jointly launched India Energy Modeling Forum on 2 July 2020. The forum will

engage US and Indian researchers, knowledge partners, think tanks, both national and international, and

government agencies and departments for modeling and long-term energy planning exercise.

• The Hindu and Swadesamitran under the editorship of G. Subramaniya Iyer,

• Kesari and Mahratta under B.G. Tilak,

• Bengalee under Surendranath Banerjea,

• Amrita Bazar Patrika under Sisir Kumar Ghosh and Motilal Ghosh,

• Sudharak under G.K. Gokhale,

• Indian Mirror under N.N. Sen,

• Voice of India under Dadabhai Naoroji,

• Hindustani and Advocate under G.P. Varma and

• Tribune and Akhbar-i-Am in Punjab,

• Indu Prakash, Dnyan Prakash, Kal and Gujarati in Bombay, and

• Som Prakash, Banganivasi, and Sadharani in Bengal.

• Since the Moon is tidally locked with Earth, we only see one side of the Moon, which is also known as the ‘near side’. This

Earth-facing side is perpetually different from the ‘far side’ that always faces away from Earth. A recent research paper proposed an explanation for this asymmetry. As per the paper, radioactive decay of certain elements like Uranium and

Thorium in lunar maria may be responsible for imminent asymmetry of the Moon. The near side features dark regions called ‘lunar maria’ which are believed to be craters or volcanic features.

All India States' People's Conference was a national-level body founded in 1927 with its headquarters at Bombay with

the objective to coordinate political activities in different states and also to raise moderate demands for democratic

rights and constitutional changes in Princely States.

• The men chiefly responsible for its formation were Balwantrai Mehta, Manikial Kothari and G.R. Abhayankar. It was an

independent organisation and not formed by Indian National Congress.

• In 1939, the AISPC elected Jawaharlal Nehru as its President for the Ludhiana session and remained so until 1946.

• HRA was founded in October 1924 in Kanpur by Ramprasad Bismil, Jogesh Chandra Chatterjee and Sachin

Sanyal, with an aim to organise an armed revolution to overthrow the colonial government. The most important action of

the HRA was the Kakori robbery in 1925. Ashfaqulla Khan, Ramprasad Bismil, Roshan Singh and Rajendra

Lahiri were hanged.

• Lala Lajpat Rai died due to lathi blows received during a lathi- charge on an anti-Simon Commission procession. Later

Bhagat Singh, Azad and Rajguru dead Saunders, the police official responsible for the lathi charge in Lahore. Bhagat

Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were tried in the Lahore conspiracy case.

• The rapid growth of communist and The Workers and Peasants Party (WPP) influence over the national movement in

1920s was checked by British by two developments. One was the severe repression to which Communists were subjected

by the Government. Second, in 1924, the Government had tried to cripple the nascent communist movement by trying

S.A. Dange, Muzaffar Ahmed, Nalini Gupta and Shaukat Usmani in the Kanpur Bolshevik Conspiracy Case.

• The lunar maria are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by ancient volcanic eruptions. They were dubbed maria, Latin for "seas", by early astronomers who mistook them for actual seas. There is a very, very thin layer of gases on the

lunar surface that can almost be called an atmosphere. Technically, it's considered an exosphere. • One of the sources for the moon's atmosphere is outgassing, the release of gases from the lunar interior, usually due

to radioactive decay. Outgassing events may also occur during moonquakes. After being released, lighter gases escape

into space almost immediately. Outgassing replenishes the tenuous atmosphere.

• A 22° halo is an optical phenomenon which forms as direct sunlight or moonlight is refracted in millions of

hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere. The halo appears large; its radius is roughly the length of an

outstretched hand at arm's length.

• A transient lunar phenomenon (TLP) is a short-lived light, color or change in appearance on the surface of the Moon.

The transient phenomenon may be a result of events such as outgassing.

Union HRD Ministry recently released PRAGYATA Guidelines on Digital Education.

• The Mahalwari system was introduced by Francis Hastings & R.M. Bird in 1822. It covered the States of Punjab,

Awadh, and Agra, parts of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.

• It was introduced in NWFP in 1822 by Regulation VIII in 1822. This Regulation was introduced by Holt Mackenzie.

• It was further extended from Central Provinces to British Punjab.

William Bentinck passed Regulation IX of 1833. This regulation made the terms and conditions of the Mahalwari

system more flexible. The new scheme worked under the supervision of Martins Bird.

MHRD recently launched MANODARPAN initiative to provide psychosocial support to students for their

mental health and well-being during the COVID outbreak and beyond.

• The Scientific Society was founded by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in 1864. In 1862 Syed formed a Translation Society

which used to translate the scientific books of English and other European languages into Urdu and Hindi. This society

later evolved into the Scientific Society of Aligarh.

• In 1866, Dadabhai Naoroji organised the East India Association in London to discuss the Indian question and to

influence British public men to promote Indian welfare. Later he organized branches of the association in prominent

Indian cities.

• In May 1884., S.Ramaswami Mudaliar, P. Rangaiah Naidu, P. Anandacharlu and G. Subramaniya Iyer

established the Madras Mahajana Sabha. The Sabha adopted a moderate policy in its early days. However, still, its

aims and objectives were considered seditious.

• Subramaniya Siva was an Indian freedom fighter, writer and pure Tamil movement activist, born in 1884.

In the 1930s, in the Malabar region of Kerala, a powerful peasant movement developed as the result of the efforts mainly

of Congress Socialist Party activists. They toured villages and set up Karshak Sanghams (peasant associations).

• UNEP and IEA have jointly released a report titled ‘Cooling Emissions and Policy Synthesis Report: Benefits of cooling efficiency and the Kigali Amendment’ report.

• Key Findings:

o Increased cooling demand is contributing to the emissions of HFC, CO2 and black carbon.

o Direct and indirect emissions are projected to rise by 90% above 2017 levels.

o world will need more than 10 billion new cooling appliances by 2050, taking the count of such machines to 14 billion.

o Around 3.6 billion appliances are being used and it is increasing by up to 10 cooling appliances every second.

Sahadaran Ayyapan: was a social reformer, thinker, rationalist, journalist, and politician from Kerala. A vocal follower

of Sree Narayana Guru, he was associated with a number of events related to the Kerala reformation movement and was

the organizer of Misra Bojana in Cherai in 1917. He founded Sahodara Sangam, and the journal Sahodaran and was

the founder editor of the magazine Yukthivadhi. He changed the call of his guru (1) to - "no religion, no caste and no

God for mankind."

Rogan is a 300 year-old craft tradition that once flourished in Gujarat’s Kutch region. All the Rogan crafts are made

without khaka (which means layout or blueprint). It's basically a huge canvas and a metal rod with colourful paint. • Jharkhand’s Sohrai Khovar painting is a traditional and ritualistic mural art being practiced by local tribal women during local harvest and marriage seasons using local, naturally available soils of different colours in the area of Hazaribagh.

Helium flash occurs at the late stage of a star's evolution as helium accumulates at its core and causes its

temperature and pressure to rise. This state as called the red clump stage.

• The intelligentsia of Bengal organized a powerful campaign in support of the rebellious peasantry. Harish Chandra Mukherji, editor of the Hindoo Patriot and Din Bandhu Mitra’s play, Neel Darpan, was to gain great fame for portraying the

oppression by the planters. In Anandmath novel of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Sanyasi rebellion was described. • The indigo peasants imagined that the British government would support them in their struggle against the planters. The

revolt was mainly directed against the planters not the British.

To stem the students' participation in the Civil Disobedience Movement, the 'Cunning Circular' was

implemented in 1930 by the British in Assam. This ruling forbade students from participating in political

activities. It forced students and their guardians to furnish assurances of good behaviour.

The Peshwas imposed a tax called patdam on remarriage of widows.

• Congress was divided into two ideologies, the Swarajist and the No Changers, based on the council participation or boycott. Swarajist’s main aim was to end the boycott of the council, whereas No-Changers argued to continue the boycott. • Swarajists were further divided into Responsivists and Non-Responsivists:

• Responsivists' like Madan Mohan Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai and N. C. Kelkar offered to cooperate with the

governments to secure the so-called Hindu interests.

• Congress, for the first time at its Nagpur Session in 1920, enunciated its policy towards the peoples’ movement in the Princely States. It called upon the Princes to grant full responsible government in their States. However, it was pointed out that though the people belonging to the States could enroll themselves as members of the Congress, they could not initiate political

activity in the State in the name of the Congress. They could carry on political activity in their individual capacity as members of the local Praja Mandals. Whereas, even in the Haripura session in 1938, the Congress had reiterated its policy.

• Following upon this, the Congress at Tripuri in 1939 passed a resolution enunciating its new policy: ‘The great awakening that is taking place among the people of the States may lead to relaxation, or to complete removal of the restraint which the Congress imposed upon itself, thus resulting in an ever increasing identification of the Congress with the States’ peoples’. Also in 1939, the All

India States Peoples' Conference (AISPC) elected Jawaharlal Nehru as its President for the Ludhiana session, thus

setting the seal on the fusion of the movements in Princely India and British India.

• The Bombay plan argued for comprehensive land reform, including co-operativization of production, finance and

marketing. Key principle was that the economy could not grow without government intervention and regulation. Under

the assumption that the fledgling Indian industries would not be able to compete in a free-market economy, the Plan

proposed that the future government protect indigenous industries against foreign competition in local markets.

• The Bombay Plan, seriously took up the question of rapid economic growth and equitable distribution, even arguing

for the necessity of partial nationalization, the public sector, land reform and a series of workers’ welfare schemes.

The first World Solar Technology Summit (WSTS) was organized by the International Solar Alliance

(ISA). Around 26,000 participants from 149 countries are scheduled took part virtually in the first World Solar

Technology Summit. An international journal on solar technology was also launched.

She enrolled herself in the nationalist struggle as a member of the Congress party. She had the unique

distinction of being the first woman in India to run for political office. Kamala Devi Chattopadhyay

competed for a seat in the Madras Legislative Assembly and lost by a mere 55 votes.

Vaishwik Bharatiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Summit is a collaborative initiative by S&T and Academic Organisations

of India to enable deliberations on thought process, practices and R&D culture with a problem solving approach.

The Government appointed in 1928 the Royal Commission on Labour with H. H. Whitley as the chairman and

N. M. Joshi and Dewan Chaman Lal as members to enquire into and report on the existing of labour in industrial

undertakings and plantations in British India on the health, efficiency, and the standard of living of the workers

and on the relations between employers and to make recommendations.

• Royal commission on expenditure (Welby Commission) was set up to inquire into the administration and

management of the military and civil expenditure incurred by British India.

• Lord Curzon dispatched a military expedition to Lhasa, the Capital of Tibet, under Francis Younghusband.

• In August 1904, the expedition reached Lhasa without coming across any Russians on the way. A treaty was signed

after prolonged negotiations.

• Cabinet recently gave its approval to a new pan India Central Sector Scheme- Agriculture Infrastructure Fund. The

scheme will provide a medium and long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-

harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial

support. Under the scheme, one lakh crore rupees will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to

Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, Marketing Cooperative Societies, Farmer Producers Organizations, Self Help

Group, Farmers, Startups and Centre and State agency among others.

• The duration of the Scheme will be for ten years from Fiscal year 2020 to 2029. Under it, loans will be disbursed in

four years starting with sanction of 10 thousand crore rupees in the current year and 30 thousand crore rupees each crore

in next three financial years. Interest subvention scheme.

• Apprehending the emergence of a competitive rival in the Indian textile industry under conditions of cheap and

unregulated labour, Capitalist lobby in Britain demanded the regulation of working conditions in the Indian factory.

• The first Indian Factory Act was passed in 1881. The Act dealt primarily with the problem of child

labour. It laid down the following conditions:

o children below 7 could not work in factories,

o while children between 7 and 12 would not work for more than 9 hours a day.

o Children would also get four holidays in a month.

o proper fencing off of dangerous machinery.

• The second Factories Act was passed in 1991. It must be noted that neither of the two acts applied to British owned tea

and coffee plantation.

• Tibet had to pay Rs. 25 lakhs as indemnity; the Chumbi valley was to be occupied by the British for 3 years; a British

trade mission was to be stationed at Gyantse.

• The British agreed not to interfere in Tibet's internal affairs. On their part, the Tibetans agreed not to admit the

representatives of any foreign power into Tibet.

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 organisations and institutions.

Recently, India has fallen 26 spots to the 105th position on the Global Economic Freedom Index 2020 released

by Canada‘s Fraser Institute has been released in India in conjunction with New Delhi-based think tank Centre

For Civil Society.

The latest 'The 2019 Global Hunger Index' report, jointly published by the International Food Policy

Research Institute (IFPRI), Concern Worldwide, and Welthungerhilfe (WHH), shows that, while the world

has made gradual progress in reducing hunger on a global scale since 2000, this progress has been uneven.

• Behramji M. Malabari: He was a Parsi Zoroastrian who became a prominent Indian poet, author, and social reformer.

• Literary Work: Malabari began writing a serial column for the Indian Spectator, an English language weekly magazine.

He eventually served as editor of the Indian Spectator from 1880 until its merger in 1900 with the Voice of India, a monthly

magazine he had edited from 1883 onward with Sir William Wedderburn and the Honorable Dadabhai Naoroji.

• Even before moving to Bombay, Malabari had authored a collection of Gujarati poems titled Nītivinoda―Pleasures of

Morality‖ or ―Pleasures of the Right Path. In Britain, Malabari published The Indian Eye on English Life, in which he as

a colonial subject sought to examine and better understand the colonizer while demanding ―the same equal treatment in the

case of the nation as in the case of individuals‖.

• Social reformer: In August 1884, Malabari published a set of Notes on Infant Marriage and Enforced Widowhood, that

he sent to 4,000 leading Englishmen and Hindus. Two other widely-read publications were issued by Malabari to strengthen

his cause—Social Reform in India: Its Scope and Importance (1886) and An Appeal from the Daughters of India

(1890). Malabari‘s actions quickly led to Parsi Zoroastrians voluntarily turning away from both underage marriages and from

forced marriages.

• In 1885, a girl named Rukhmabai was ordered by a Judge Pinhey to return to her husband or be jailed. Malabari's

editorials of the Rukhmabai case gave the issue a popular focus, and it "was largely by his efforts" and the agitation of

William Thomas Stead in the Pall Mall Gazette that brought about the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, and the

Age of Consent Act (which regulated the age of consent for females in Britain and India) in 1891.

• Malabari chose not to extend his influence into the arena of national politics involving Indian independence. Although

Malabari participated in the First Session of Indian National Congress at Bombay in December 1885, he remained focused

on freedom of the individual through changing archaic social customs rather than turning his attention to ending British rule.

Ever true to his modest Indian roots and demeanour too, Malabari also declined the British Viceroy‘s offer of a

knighthood.

• Lord Willingdon served as 22nd Viceroy and Governor General of India (1931 to 1936).

o Communal Award was announced by the Ramsay McDonald in 1932. It declared the depressed classes to be

minorities and entitled them to separate electorates. Gandhi went on an indefinite hunger strike against Communal

award.

o Second Round table Conference was held in 1931. Gandhi represented Indian National Congress and Sarojini Naidu

represented Indian women. The talk failed and there was resumption of Civil disobedience movement.

o Poona Pact was signed in 1932. It abandoned separate electorate for depressed classes and increased the seats

reserved for depressed classes in central and provincial legislature.

o Third Round table conference was held in 1932.

o The British enacted Government of India Act 1935.

o Civil disobedience Movement was launched in 1933.

o Congress Socialist Party was formed in 1934 by socialists such as Jayaprakash Narayan and Acharya

Narendra Dev. It was a socialist group within the Indian National Congress (INC).

Dev Samaj founded in 1887 at Lahore by Shiv Narayan

Agnihotri (1850-1927), earlier a Brahmo follower.

Dharma Sabha was founded by Radhakant Deb in

1830. An orthodox society, it stood for the preservation of

the status quo in socio-religious matters, opposing even the

abolition of sati. However, it favoured the promotion of

Western education, even for girls.

• Radhaswami Movement: Tulsi Ram, a banker from

Agra, also known as Shiv Dayal Saheb, founded this

movement in 1861. Radhaswamis believe in one supreme

being, supremacy of the guru, a company of pious people

(Satsang), and simple social life. Andhra Pradesh ranked the worst with 66.4% literacy rate with Bihar having 70.4%

Raja Ram Mohan Roy protested against the Government's oriental proposal to strengthen the Calcutta,

Madras, the Benares Sanskrit College and establishment of more oriental colleges in Bengal. He wrote to

Lord Amherst in 1823 that Sanskrit education could "only be expected to load the minds of youth with

grammatical niceties and metaphysical distinctions of life which are of little or no practical use to their possessors

or to society. The pupils will there acquire what was known two thousand years ago, with the addition of vain and

empty subtleties since then produced by speculative men."

• Pandit Ramabai started a school for child widows in 1882 in Bombay. She advocated women's education and shed

light on the plight of child brides and child widows. She founded the Arya Mahila Samaj (Arya Mahila Society), which

is known as the first feminist organisation in India. She set up Mukti Mission for young widows, and Krupa Sadan and

Sharda Sadan (House of Learning) in 1889 at Bombay for destitute women.

• She pleaded for improvement in the educational syllabus of Indian women before the English Education Commission

which was referred to Queen Victoria. This resulted in medical education for women which started in Lady Dufferin

College. She also wrote a book 'The High Caste Hindu Women'.

• Rudra M-I is an anti-radiation missile can locate and target any radiation-emitting source like enemy radars,

communication sites and other Radio Frequency (RF) emitting targets. It is being developed by Defence Research

Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, as the nodal agency. It is a joint effort involving several DRDO labs, the IAF,

the HAL and several public and private sector enterprises. This is the first indigenous anti-radiation missile of the country. It

has a range of up to 200 km depending upon the launch conditions. It can be launched from altitudes of 500 m to 15 km and

speeds of 0.6 to 2 mach.

• Abhyas is a High-speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) being developed at ADE. It offers a realistic threat scenario

for practice of weapon systems. Abhyas is designed for autonomous flying with the help of an autopilot, under development

at ADE. Abhyas has RCS, Visual and IR augmentation systems required for weapon practice.

• The Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) is a towed 155 mm/52 calibre howitzer that is being developed

for the Indian Army by Defence Research and Development Organization in collaboration with private sector. ATAGS has

greater than 95% indigenous content.

A very significant proposal made by Tilak at the Lucknow session (1916)— that the Congress should appoint a small and cohesive Working Committee that would carry on the day to day affairs of the Congress and be responsible for implementing

the resolutions passed at the annual sessions, a proposal by which he hoped to transform the Congress from a deliberative body into one capable of leading a sustained movement — was unfortunately quashed by Moderate opposition. Four years later, in 1920, when Mahatma Gandhi prepared a reformed ‘constitution for the Congress, this was one of the major changes considered necessary if the Congress was to lead a sustained movement.

• Delhi Durbar 1877: In 1876, Queen Victoria in addition to her title of 'Queen of Great Britain and Ireland' assumed the title of ‘Empress of India’. The Viceroy, Lord Lytton was asked to proclaim this on her behalf throughout India. He decided to hold an Imperial Assemblage at Delhi on 1 January 1877 for this purpose. A significant decision taken at this Durbar was the creation of the Privy Council. • Delhi Durbar 1903: This Durbar marked the succession of Edward VII. On the orders of King Edward VII, it was attended by the Duke of Connaught.

• Delhi Durbar 1911: The Darbar of 1911 marked the succession of King George V. This Durbar was historic as it was the only one

attended by the Emperor himself. The Royal State Entry was one of the major events of the Durbar that had to be carefully planned and organized by the Darbar Committee. Two major political announcements were made during the Delhi Durbar of 1911, one shifting of capital of British India from Calcutta to Delhi and annulment of the partition of Bengal.

• At the 1927 Madras Congress Session, a resolution boycotting the Simon Commission was passed. The Working

Committee was authorized to prepare a constitution for India in consultation with other organizations. Congress

representatives, as well as representatives of other organizations such as the Muslim League, Hindu Mahasabha, etc., met at

a conference in February 1928. This came to be known as the All Parties Conference.

• This Conference was presided over by Dr. M.A. Ansari. It was agreed that in framing the Constitution of India, the

following principles should be kept in mind:

o Demand for Dominion Status

o Responsible governments at the Center as well as in the Provinces.

o Responsibility of the Cabinets was to be joint or collective

o Possibility of a Federal structure for India to be explored

o Defense budgets were subject to the approval of the Central Legislature

o Provisions for incorporating fundamental rights (19 fundamental rights were suggested for inclusion in the proposed

statute), though moderately worded.

o A Supreme Court was to be established, to serve as the final court of appeal and all appeals to the Privy Council were

to be stopped.

o Securing the rights of the Native Rulers on the condition that they must allow for the establishment of responsible

governments in the States.

The Chamber of Princes (Narendra Mandal) was an institution established in 1920 by a royal proclamation of King-

Emperor George V to provide a forum in which the rulers of the princely states of India could voice their needs and

aspirations to the colonial government of British India. The Chamber had no real power and evoked limited participation

of the Princes whose rivalries and concern for honor further reduced its potential effectiveness.

The major recommendations of the Harcourt Butler Committee were:

o British paramountcy to stay intact to preserve the princely state.

o State should not be transferred without their own consent to a relationship with a new government in British India

responsible to an Indian legislature.

Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) is the systematic and periodic collection and transmission of

“bulk” taxpayer information by the source country to the country of residence of the taxpayer, without the

latter having to make a request for the same. Exchange of information by way of AEOI is permitted under the

provisions of DTAAs (unless specifically prohibited) and under the Multilateral Convention (MAAC).

• On 7 March 1939 Gandhiji broke his fast after Viceroy asked Chief Justice of India, Sir Maurice Gwyer, to decide

whether in fact the Thakore had violated the agreement.

• The Rajkot Satyagraha demonstrated the complexity of situation in the Princely states, with the British always

ready to interfere in its own favor but ever willing to use legal independence of the Rulers as an excuse for non-

intervention when demanded by those in opposition.

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had released the final rule for non-road Bharat Stage (CEV/Trem) IV and V

emission standards,1 including stringent emission limits on particulate matter (PM), particulate number (PN) (BS V only), nitrogen

oxide (NOX), hydrocarbon (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO). This is the first time India has adopted one set of consistent standards regulating both agricultural and construction equipment. • The amendment replaced Bharat Stage (CEV/TREM) IV and Bharat Stage (CEV/TREM)V to TREM Stage-IV and TREM Stage-V. This would be applicable for agricultural machinery including agricultural tractors, power tillers and combined harvesters. While the new CEV Stage – IV and CEV Stage-V norms would define the emission standards for Construction Equipment Vehicles.

• Minister of Textiles and Women & Child Development launched the 1st ever brand and logo for Indian Cotton. Now

India’s premium Cotton would be known as ‘Kasturi Cotton’ in the world cotton Trade.

• Cotton cultivation requires high moisture retention. Black soils are very fine grained and dark, contain a high

proportion of calcium and magnesium carbonates and highly argillaceous. When wet, they are very tenacious of moisture

and exceedingly sticky. ... Black soils are poor in nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter. Some of the major crops grown

on the black soils are cotton, wheat, jowar, linseed, Virginia tobacco, castor, sunflower and millets.

• Suvin is the world's longest and finest cotton fibre. It was developed by the Central Institute for Cotton Research

(CICR). Suvin is a crossbreed between Sujata and St Vincent (a sea island cotton). An Egyptian variety called Karnak, a

sea island cotton was selected by Indian scientists and made to acclimatize to our growing conditions. Once it got

acclimatized, it was named Sujata.

• Talks to buy the Sprut SDM1 light tanks were initiated late in July under a fast-track, government-to-government

process. The need for such tanks was felt after increased Indian deployments at the LAC following border hostilities with

China, which has also fielded a range of equipment, including its Type 15 light tanks.

• The Arjun is a third-generation main battle tank developed by DRDO for the Indian Army. The Arjun features a 120

mm main rifled gun with indigenously developed armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot ammunition, one PKT

7.62 mm coaxial machine gun, and a NSVT 12.7 mm machine gun.

• T-90s The Bhishma, Main Battle Tank: T-90S tank is 9.63m long ,3.73 m wide and 2.22 m high. It weighs around 46

tonnes. India got the licence to manufacture the T-90S. Russia supplied documents for the local manufacture of the tank in

India. A T-90S Bhishma tank was thus manufactured by the Heavy Vehicles Factory at Avadi, Tamil Nadu in 2004.

Meerut Thesis declared that there was a need to build 'a united Indian Socialist Party by mutual

cooperation between socialist and communist based on Marxism-Leninism'.

In order to formulate a long term policy and strategy for promoting domestic manufacture of APIs/Bulk

Drugs in the country, a high-level committee headed by Dr. V.M.Katoch was constituted.

Individual Satyagraha was the resultant of August offer. It started with the mass Civil Disobedience

Movement but M.K Gandhi insisted on Individual Satyagraha. This was a movement for not only to seek

independence but also to affirm the right of Speech.

• Regulation of Persistent Organic Pollutants Rules,2018

o (i) Chlordecone,

o (ii) Hexabromobiphenyl,

o (iii) Hexabromodiphenyl ether and Heptabromodiphenylether (Commercial octa-BDE),

o (iv) Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and Pentabromodiphenyl ether (Commercial penta-BDE),

o (v) Pentachlorobenzene,

o (vi) Hexabromocyclododecane,

o (vii) Hexachlorobutadiene

o In Bombay, S.A. Dange published a pamphlet Gandhi and Lenin and started the first socialist weekly, The

Socialist;

o in Bengal, Muzaffar Ahmed brought out Navayug and later founded the Langal in cooperation with the poet

Nazrul Islam;

o in Punjab, Ghulam Hussain and others published Inquilab;

o in Madras, M. Singaravelu founded the Labour-Kisan Gazette.

Champaran satyagraha was Gandhiji's first Civil disobedience ; Kheda satyagraha was his first Non-cooperation.

o C.R. Das as the President and Motilal as its Secretary put forward this programme of ‘either mending or

ending’ the councils at the Gaya session,1922. Das moved a proposal to enter the legislatures but it was

defeated. Das and other leaders broke away from the Congress and formed the Swaraj Party.

• The Lucknow Pact in 1916 offered a joint League-Congress scheme for constitutional reforms, demanding

representative government and dominion status for India. The principle of separate electorate was accepted, and

proportional representation in both imperial and provincial legislature was agreed upon.

o The government should declare that it would confer self-government on Indians at an early date.

o Further expansion of legislative councils with an elected majority and more powers should be given to them.

o Half of the members of the Viceroy‘s Executive council should be Indians.

• Before the formation of a committee under Motilal Nehru to draft a constitution for India, a larger section of Congress was inclined towards the dominion status instead of complete independence. • Even before the finalization of the report, Nehru joined hands with Bose to organize Independence for India League as Secretaries. Srinivasa Iyengar was its first president. • Its main objective was to fight for complete independence and ‘a socialist revision of the economic structure of society.’

• When the Nehru Report came before the annual session of the Congress in Calcutta in December 1928, the left-leaning members lashed it out on the fact that it did not want the complete Independence and wanted only a dominion status.

• on October 14, 1919, the Government of India announced the formation of the Disorders Inquiry Committee, which came to be more widely and variously known as the Hunter Commission. The purpose of the commission was to “investigate the recent disturbances in Bombay, Delhi, and Punjab, about their causes, and the measures are taken to cope with them”.

• There were 3 Indians among the members, namely, Sir Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, Vice-Chancellor of Bombay University, and advocate of the Bombay High Court; Pandit Jagat Narayan, lawyer and Member of the Legislative Council of the United Provinces; and Sardar Sahibzada Sultan Ahmad Khan, a lawyer from Gwalior State.

• The Wavell's Plan (1945) had the provision of equal representation of high-class Hindus and the Muslims in the

Viceroy's Executive Council.

•The Depressed Classes Mission Society of India was founded in Bombay in 1906, by Shri Karam Vir Shinde. This

was, perhaps, the first organized attempt for the uplift of the Depressed classes.

• B.R Ambedkar founded Depressed Classes Welfare Institute ( Bahishkrit Hitakarini Sabha) in 1924 in Bombay.

• Diwan Bahadur Mylai Chinna Thambi Rajah (M.C. Rajah) was a Tamil politician, a social and political activist. Rajah

was born to a Tamil family of Madras. He founded the All India Depressed Classes Association in Nagpur in 1925.

Dalhousie recognized the right of the adopted son to succeed to the personal property of the chieftain but drew a

distinction between succession to private property and succession to the royal gaddi: in the latter case, he held, that

the sanction of the Paramount Power must be obtained. The Paramount Power could refuse 'adoption' in case of states

covered by categories II and Ill and declare the states having passed back or 'lapsed' to the supreme authority.

o In 1819, he started a Bengali newspaper Sambad Kaumudi to make the public aware of various socio-religious

issues such as Sati, child marriages, women education, etc.

o Calcutta Unitarian Committee was founded by Rammohun Roy, Dwarkanath Tagore, and William Adam in 1823.

o In 1825, he established Vedanta College for the teaching of the monotheistic doctrines of the Upanishads.

o In August 1828 it was initially founded as Brahmo Sabha which was later renamed as Brahmo Samaj.

• Sumit Sarkar has identified three phases of the Quit India movement.

o It initially started as an urban revolt, marked by strikes, boycott and picketing, which were quickly suppressed.

o Second phase witnessed a major peasant rebellion, marked by destruction of communication systems, such as railway

tracks and stations and finally, the formation of “national governments” in isolated pockets. This brought in severe

government repression forcing the agitation to move underground.

o Parallel governments were established at many places:

▪ Ballia (in August 1942 for a week)—under Chittu Pandey. He got many Congress leaders released.

▪ Tamluk (Midnapore, from December 1942 to September 1944)—Jatiya Sarkar undertook cyclone relief work,

sanctioned grants to schools, supplied paddy from the rich to the poor, organised Vidyut Vahinis, etc.

▪ Satara (mid-1943 to 1945)—named “Prati Sarkar”, was organised under leaders like Y.B. Chavan, Nana Patil, etc.

Village libraries and Nyayadan Mandals were organised,

o Third phase was characterized by violent activities, which primarily involved sabotaging of war efforts by dislocating

communication systems and propaganda activities. Nor only the educated youth participated in such activities, but also

bands of ordinary peasants organized such subversive actions by night, came to be known as the “Karnataka method”.

• In 1913, in order to review the works done in the village and in order to assess what kind of change or reform is needed,

Bengal Government set-up the "District Administration Committee" under the Commissioner of Burdwan Division

with some other non-officials as members.

• The Committee minutely examined the Chowkidari Act of 1870, Local Self-Government Act of 1885 and provisions

of all other prevalent rules and regulations and came to a decision that these prevalent rules must totally be overhauled.They

proposed that each district be divided into unions which would be the lowest unit of administration and they be placed under

Union Boards or Panchayats.

•The Union Boards or Panchayats will be responsible for local law and order, maintenance of roads, water supply,

keeping an eye towards health and sanitation and they will even have the power to deal with civil and criminal cases. It was

not related to labor issues. Union Boards were given the superficial power of taxation where it could impose taxes but could

not utilize it independently.

• Birendranath Sasmal started an important anti-Union Board Movement in the Midnapore District.

• It was the determination of this broad front to resist oppression on one hand and to reassert the rights of rural society and

self-respect of people on the other hand that made it impossible for Government to work the Union Board in Midnapore.

United Provinces Kisan sabha was set up in February 1918 by Gauri Shankar Mishra and Indra Narayan

Dwivedi. Madan Mohan Malaviya supported their efforts. All India Kisan Sabha was established in 1936

under the leadership of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati.

Lord Kitchener who came to India as Commander-in-Chief in 1902 objected to this cumbrous department

machinery and desired an end to this dual control of military affairs. In fact, Kitchener wanted the abolition of

the office of the Military Member of the Viceroy's Executives Council and all functions regarding military

administration to be entrusted to the care of the Commander-in-Chief. (Curzon-Kitchener Controversy)

• Lord Hastings, with the approval of the Court of Directors of the East India Company, decided to eliminate the Pindaris.

The organized campaign by Britishers against Pindaris, known as the Pindari War, became the Third Anglo-Maratha

War. Since the Pindaris gave a portion of their loot to the Maratha leaders, the Peshwa at Pune, the Bhonsle Raja at

Nagpur and the army of the infant Holkar of Indore each took up arms but were separately defeated.

• The Battle of Koregaon was fought on 1 January 1818 between the British East India Company and the Peshwa faction

of the Maratha Confederacy, at Koregaon Bhima. A 28,000-strong force led by Peshwa Baji Rao II whilst on their way

to attack the company-held Pune were unexpectedly met by an 800-strong Company force.

•S Mulgaonkar v Unknown (1978) led to a landmark ruling on the subject of contempt. By 2:1 majority, the court held

Mulgaonkar (then editor of Indian Express) not guilty of contempt although the same Bench had initiated the proceedings.

This counsel of caution in exercising the contempt jurisdiction came to be called the Mulgaonkar principles.

The Five Eyes (FVEY) is the world’s most powerful intelligence-sharing group. It comprises of Australia,

Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. The origin of the alliance can be traced back to

the post-WWII period when the Allies issued the Atlantic Charter.

Shore committee was set up by the local Indian community to assist the passengers of the Komagata Maru

with food, provisions and legal challenges.

On 12 February 1922, Bardoli resolution was passed. Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-cooperation

movement through this resolution. The Chauri Chaura incident took place on 4 February 1921.

Tata Group has announced that it is building a Super App that would go live by December 2020.

• The party took its name Gadar to consciously identify itself with the first war of Independence in 1857, which the

British termed the “Gadar”(revolt). And its masthead read: ‘Angrezi Raj ka Dushman", "Angrezi Raj Ka Kacha

Chittha". The first issue of Ghadar was in Urdu was published and next came the Gurmukhi edition.

• Golden langur is a species of monkey which is found only in Assam and parts of Bhutan.

• Nayekgaon Forests in Assam and Manas National Park are some of the habitats of the golden langur.

• Chakrashila Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Assam, situated close to the Bhutan border, is famous for being protected

habitat of the Golden Langur.

• The increase in the population of golden langurs in Chakrashila despite the threats posed by encroachment, tree felling has

led the conservationists to push for the national park status to the sanctuary.

• It is listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List.

• Innate immunity is a non-specific type of defence, that is present at the time of birth.

• Acquired immunity is pathogen-specific. It is characterized by memory.

• The primary and secondary immune responses are carried out with the help of B-cells and T-cells. Thus, both B-cells

and T-cells are responsible for acquired immunity. B-cells are responsible for antibody-mediated immunity response.

T-cells are responsible for cell-mediated immunity response.

• B-cells produce antibodies to fight with the pathogens into our blood. The T-cells themselves do not secrete

antibodies but help B cells produce them.

“The only hope of India is from the masses. The upper classes are physically and morally dead.” - was made by Swami Vivekananda in the context of the need for mass action by the Indian people. Vivekananda described India’s

neglect of the masses as a national sin.

• Mousuni Island lies in Sunderbans Archipelago. It was in the news as Cyclone Amphan wrecked havoc on the island.

• Sagar Island is the largest and most populated island in the Sunderbans Archipelago. It lies at the confluence of

the river Hooghly and the Bay of Bengal. Every year Ganga Sagar Mela is held in January on the island to celebrate

Makar Sankranti. The Ganga Sagar Mela usually witnesses a mammoth gathering of nearly 40 lakh people.

• Ghoramara Island lies in Sunderbans Archipelago. This island is slowly submerging in the sea due to rise in sea

level because of climate change.

The ideology of Ramakrishna Mission consists of the eternal principles of Vedanta as lived and experienced

by Sri Ramakrishna and expounded by Swami Vivekananda. It believes in the synthesis of the Yogas namely

Jnana Yoga (Yoga of Knowledge); Bhakti Yoga (Yoga of Devotion); Raja Yoga (Yoga of Meditation);

Karma Yoga (Yoga of Work). Each Yoga is an independent means of realizing God.

SC held that the right to conserve the language includes the right to agitate for the protection of the

language. Hence, the political speeches or promises made for the conservation of the language of a section of the

citizens does not amount to corrupt practice under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

• Lord Cornwallis: The forward policy of Wellesley created much apprehension in the minds of the Directors who appointed

Lord Cornwallis for a second time as Governor-General with clear instruction to pursue a policy of peace and non-intervention. Cornwallis immediately on his arrival in India sought to allay the fears of Scindia, Holkar etc.

• Sir John Barlow: On the sudden death of Lord Cornwallis Sir John Barlow, a member of the Calcutta Council, was appointed Governor-General as a stop-gap. He followed the policy of non-intervention and in 1805 signed a new treaty with Scindia by which some modifications were made of the treaty of Surji- Arjangaon. • Lord Minto-I: Lord Minto had a clear idea of the Company’s internal affairs as he had served as a member of the Board of

Control before his assumption of Governor-Generalship. Lord Minto followed the policy of non-intervention.

• Ashok Mehta, Nyaya panchayats should be kept as separate bodies from that of development panchayats. They

should be presided over by qualified judges.

• GVK Rao a post of District Development Commissioner should be created. He should act as the chief executive officer

of the Zila Parishad and should be in charge of all the development departments at the district level.

• LM Singhvi the judicial tribunals should be established in each state to adjudicate controversies about the election

to the Panchayati Raj institutions, their dissolution and other matters related to their functioning.