Current Affairs - June

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Current Affairs: (21 – June - 2019)

Article 87(1) says: “At the commencement of the first session after each general election to the House of the People and at the commencement of the first session of each year the President shall address both Houses of Parliament assembled together and inform Parliament of the causes of its summons.”

Article 21 – Right to life also include right to proper health care from government hospitals

Operation Sankalp – Two indian navy ships (INS Chennai and INS Sunayna) have been deployed in Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman & Strait of Hormuz to protect Indian ships that carry oil tankers. It is to protect the energy security of India since it is dependent on crude oil imports.

P-8I Poseidon – used as a surveillance in Indian Navy. It is acquired from Boeing, USA.

Information Fusion Centre – It is an ambitious initiative by Indian Navy established in December 2018. To gain insights about Maritime security in the IOR region

Project 75(I) –> To build 6 submarines

United Nations Convention Law of Seas (UNCLOS) – It speaks about Territorial Waters, International Waters, Exclusive Economic Zone and Contiguous Zones. The boundaries are defined by UNCLOS.

IUCN status of the North Pacific Right Whale – Endangered

Local Self Government – It can be best explained as an exercise in Democratic Decentralisation

National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies (NABCB)

•India’s national accreditation body, has secured international equivalence for its accreditation programme for personnel certification bodies.

•Is a constituent Board of the Quality Council of India, an autonomous body attached to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, is responsible for accreditation(मान्यता/அங்கீகாரம் :) of certification/ inspection bodies as per applicable international standards under an international system of equivalence.

•Accreditation reduces risk for business and its customers

◆Namma Kolhapuri chappal gets GI boost

•The approval for GI tag was jointly received by Karnataka and Maharashtra recently for making these chappals.[ There is a perception that these artisans are from Maharashtra alone]

•GI is primarily an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicrafts and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.

◆‘Back to Village’ program begins in J&K

•It has four main goals:

1. energising panchayats.

2. collecting feedback on delivery of government schemes and programmes.

3. capturing specific economic potential.

4. undertaking assessment of needs of villages.

•The government has deployed one gazetted officer as nodal officer in each panchayat halqa

◆Summer solstice 2019

•On this day the Sun seems to stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn and then reverses its direction as it reaches its southernmost position as seen from the Earth

•The term ‘solstice’ derives from the Latin word ‘solstitium’, meaning ‘Sun standing still’.

•At the June solstice, Earth is positioned in its orbit so that our world’s North Pole is leaning most toward the sun. As seen from Earth, the sun is directly overhead at noon 23 1/2 degrees north of the equator,

[at an imaginary line encircling the globe known as the Tropic of Cancer – named after the constellation Cancer the Crab.]

◆Kaleswaram project

•The Kaleshwaram project is an off-shoot of the original Pranahitha-Chevella Lift Irrigation Scheme taken up by the Congress government in 2007 when Andhra Pradesh was not divided.

Lift irrigation is a method of irrigation in which water is not transported by natural flow, (as in gravity-fed canal) but is lifted with pumps or surge pools etc.

◆Varunastra torpedoes

•Varunastra is basically a ship-launched, electrically-propelled underwater weapon equipped with one of the most advanced automatic and remote-controlled guidance systems.

•It is the only torpedo in the world to have a GPS-based locating aid.

•The anti-submarine electric torpedo when fired can travel at 40 knots, or 74 kmph.

◆Operation Sankalp

•Indian Navy launched Operation Sankalp in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman to reassure Indian flagged vessels transiting through the area following the recent maritime incidents in the region.

◆International Yoga Day 2018:June 21

•The main aim is to create an awareness worldwide on the importance of staying fit and healthy

•It was first introduced by the United Nations on June 21, 2015.

•2019 Theme: Yoga for Climate Action

Current Affairs: (22 – June - 2019)

Operation Bandar - Indian government used this code Operation Bandar for its attack on Balakot, Pakistan. It is a retaliation by Indian Govt. for Pulwama attack where 40 security personnels were killed.

FATF - Financial Action Task Force established by G7 countries in 1989. 36 countries are part of FATF and 2 regional Organisations (Gulf Cooperation Council and European Commisssion). Pakistan is in Grey list. If a country is put in Blacklist they will be under all economic sanctions. It is an Inter Governmental Organisation. FATF when established – it is for Money Laundering and in 2001 they had terrorist funding included.

Trafficking in Persons report released by US State Department - India ranks No.2

World Population Prospects 2019 - report released by United Nations. It says india will become most populous country in 2027.

No Poverty and Gender Equality are part of UN Sustainable Goals.

◆Rashtriya Gokul Mission:

↪objective is to get native breeds to produce more milk, be more fecund, and to raise the quality of Indian cows and bulls to eventually outdo Jerseys and Holsteins

•FM Piyush Goyal announced the allotment of ₹750 crore to the Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM){earlier was around ₹350Cr}

•Rashtriya Gokul Mission will be implemented through the “State Implementing Agency (SIA viz Livestock Development Boards)

◆National Anti-Profiteering Authority (NAA)

•It is to ensure the reduction in rate of tax or the benefit of input tax credit is passed on to the recipient by way of commensurate reduction in prices. [constituted under Section 171 of the Central GST Act, 2017.]

◆International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

•Is a UN specialized agency, established by States in 1944 to manage the administration and governance of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago Convention)

•ICAO also coordinates assistance and capacity building for States in support of numerous aviation development objectives; produces global plans to coordinate multilateral strategic progress for safety and air navigation

◆Superconductivity

•is a phenomenon in which the resistance of the material to the electric current flow is zero

•The problem is that superconductivity, ever since it was first discovered in 1911, has only been observed at very low temperatures, somewhere close to what is called absolute zero (0°K or -273.15°C). In recent years(temperatures are still below -100°C)

•IISc researchers have reported superconductivity at room temperature.[If the claimed discovery were confirmed, it could be one of the biggest breakthroughs in physics in this century so far.]

•Superconductors are used to make extremely powerful electromagnets to accelerate charged particles very fast (to near the speed of light)

◆E-2020 initiative

•In May 2015, the World Health Assembly endorsed a new Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016-2030

•A key milestone for 2020 is the elimination of malaria in at least 10 countries that had the disease in 2015. To meet this target, countries must report zero indigenous cases in 2020

•India (4 %) was among the five countries, the others being — Nigeria (25%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (11%), Mozambique (5%), and Uganda (4%) — that accounted for nearly 50% of all malaria cases worldwide

◆Trichophyton rubrum:

~is a dermatophytic fungus in the phylum Ascomycota. It is an exclusively clonal, anthropophilic saprotroph that colonizes the upper layers of dead skin

https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/0f990dd1eedff6c701c0420f3a4ca4051e71f3b53e9101097662ac7dbad2c770.png

◆Bihar bans tree-felling

•The order was passed under the Forest Conservation Act.

Trees on private land, however, can be felled in the absence of a tree-protection Act in Bihar.

◆Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report:

released by "U.S. State Department"

•The report categorises countries into three groups based on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), U.S. legislation enacted in 2000.

• The categorisation is based on efforts to meet minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking

•India continued to be placed in Tier 2 on the 1-3 country trafficking scale.

•Tier 2 comprises “countries whose governments do not fully meet the TVPA’s minimum standards but are making significant efforts to bring themselves into compliance with those standards.”

India stands at 140th place out of 156 in the World Happiness Report produced by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network in partnership with the Ernesto Illy Foundation.

Current Affairs: (24 – June - 2019)

◆Common Services Centers (CSCs)

~are a strategic cornerstone of the Digital India programme. They are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in India, thereby contributing to a digitally and financially inclusive society.

•NSIC signs MoU with Commom Service Centres– eGovernance Services India for enhancing new offerings for the MSME sector.

◆National Freight Index: released by Gurgaon-based tech-enabled logistics start-up "Rivigo"

•NFI offers an aggregated picture of both live rates and historical trends of spot price movements in the road freight industry

•The Indian road freight market for 2018 is estimated to be in the range of USD 150-160 billion

◆Saudi Arabia becomes 1st Arab country to get FATF membership

•Financial Action Task Force (FATF);-

~Is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.(also included terrorism financing in 2001)

•FATF has decided to keep PAK into 'grey list'

~grey list can hurt Pakistan’s economy as well as its international standing.

【As of now there are only two countries in the blacklist — Iran and North Korea — and seven on the grey list, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Syria and Yemen.】

◆Removal of Judges

•Article 124(4) and the Judges Inquiry Act 1968 determine the procedure of removal of the judges

•A motion of impeachment addressed to the President is to be signed by at least 100 members of the Lok Sabha or 50 members of the Rajya Sabha [and then delivered to the Speaker of Lok Sabha or the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.]

•The judge is then removed by the requisite majority, i.e. majority of total and 2/3 of its members present and voting.

•【panel found an Allahabad High Court judge, Justice S.N. Shukla, guilty of misconduct, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has written to PM Modi to initiate a motion for his removal】

◆DD(Doordarshan) Distributes Free Dish Set Top Boxes in J&K

•DD Free Dish is the biggest direct-to-home (DTH) operator in the country with 3.5 crore connections.

◆Odisha flood hazard atlas

•A unique flood hazard atlas on the basis of historic flood inundation captured through satellite imagery over the period from 2001 to 2018, which is expected to help the State manage floods more efficiently.

◆Centrally-controlled Air Traffic Flow Management (C-AFTM) system

•Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working towards the implementation of C-AFTM system across country’s airspace and major airports, particularly those with high traffic density, in its bid to cut travel time for fliers

◆Device to trap ocean plastic relaunches

•A floating device designed to catch plastic waste has been redeployed in a second attempt to clean up an island of trash swirling in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii.

•It is part of the Ocean Cleanup Project [is non-government engineering environmental organization based in Netherlands]

◆Arogyapacha (Trichopus zeylanicus)

•Scientists from the University of Kerala have decoded the genetic make-up of Arogyapacha (Trichopus zeylanicus), a highly potent medicinal plant endemic to the Agasthya hills.

•This ‘miracle plant’ is known for its traditional use by the Kani tribal community to combat fatigue. Kani tribal community is found in Kerala.

Convention on Biological Diversity - CBD Convention - > Fair share of benefits between Kani tribe and the govt. Since kani tribe found this and enjoys the IPR for this.

◆Saudi launches residency scheme to boost revenue

•Saudi Arabia has launched a new special residency scheme aimed at luring wealthy expats as it seeks to boost non-oil revenue.

•The scheme offers a permanent residency for 800,000 riyals ($213,000) and a one-year renewable residency costing 100,000 riyals ($27,000)

◆Nepalese nationals require visa to enter India !

•if they are entering India from Pakistan, China, Hong Kong and Macau

•Similarly, Nepalese nationals travelling to Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Lebanon, are required to acquire a ‘no objection certificate’ from the respective Nepalese Embassies

Article 280 – Setting up of Finance Commission

Aedes aegypti mosquito can spread Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika Virus Disease

Article 266 – Provides for Consolidated Funds for India and The States

CAG can audit Consolidated Funds for India and The States

Any species protected under Schedule 1 of the wildlife protection act, 1972 will enjoy the same level of protection as the tiger

Current Affairs: (25 – June - 2019)

Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission

•Is a unique programme, designed to deliver catalytic interventions to rural areas on the threshold of growth.

•There is a funding support of up to 30% of the estimated investment for each Rurban cluster, given as Critical Gap Funding (CGF)

•The objective of the National Rurban Mission (NRuM) is to stimulate local economic development, enhance basic services, and create well planned Rurban clusters.

•As per Census of India Statistics, the rural population in India stands at 833 million, constituting almost 68% of the total population

• Some clusters typically illustrate potential for growth, have economic drivers and derive location and competitive advantages.[these clusters once developed can then be classified as ‘Rurban’.]

National Policy on biofuels-2018;-

The Policy categorises biofuels as “Basic Biofuels” like 1G,2G,3G, bio-CNG etc. to enable extension of appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category.

Biofuels;-

•First Generation(1G)↪produced directly from food crops(wheat, sugar etc.)

•2G↪produced from non-food crops(wood, organic waste etc.)

•3G↪Specially engineered energy crops such as algae

•4G↪created using petroleum-like hydroprocessing, advanced bio-chemistry

【Government envisages an indicative target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol and 5% blending of bio-diesel in diesel by 2030】

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana(PMUY)

~aims to provide LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) connections to poor households [identified through the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) ]

•A report from the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare places Household Air Pollution (HAP) as the second leading risk factor contributing to India’s disease burden

National Policy on Domestic Workers

•Its aimis to protect the domestic workers from abuse, harassment, violence and guarantee them rights in the matter of social security and minimum wages.

•The policy also includes social security cover and provisions against sexual harassment and bonded labour

•It will also have a tripartite implementation committee at centre, state and district levels.

•It will also clearly define various termssuch as part time workers, full time workers, live in workers, employers and private placement agencies

Complaint Management System (CMS): by RBI

•is a software application to facilitate RBI’s grievance redressal process.

•Aim is to improve customer experience in timely redressal of grievances.

•Customers can lodge complaints against any regulated entity with public interface such as commercial banks, urban cooperative banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs).

•The complaint would be directed to the appropriate office of the Ombudsman/Regional Office of the RBI.

Jal Hi Jeevan Hai

•The farmers of northern districts of Haryana have shown a keen interest in crop diversification scheme called ‘Jal Hi Jeevan Hai’ of the Haryana government which promotes to diversify paddy area into maize, arhar dal (pigeon pea) and soybean.)

•The scheme is for replacement of Paddy by Maize and other crops in 7 dark zone blocks.

•The target is to diversify around 50000 Hectare area from this season.

Lunar Evacuation System Assembly, or LESA

•is a pyramid-like structure whose purpose is to rescue an astronaut should he or she suffer an injury on the lunar surface.

•Developed by the European Space Agency (ESA)

•Among preparations for NASA’s 2024 Moon mission, one has been to test a device called Lunar Evacuation System Assembly, or LESA

Vaishno Devi shrine to have own disaster response force

•The shrine is located atop the Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu region

International Olympic Committee formally opens $145M new headquarters in Switzerland

•The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a not-for-profit independent international organisation that is committed to building a better world through sport. Created on 23 June 1894, just under two years before the first Olympic Games of the modern era in April 1896

Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)

•Is a simple indicator which tells how much of the ground is covered with vegetation.

•It basically calculates the difference between the red and near infrared components of light reflected by objects, from, say, a satellite

Current Affairs: (26 – June - 2019)

◆Beekeeping Development Committee report

•BDC was constituted with the objective of identifying ways of advancing beekeeping in India, that can help in improving agricultural productivity, enhancing employment generation, augmenting nutritional security and sustaining biodiversity

•Some of the recommendations in the report include:

•Recognizing honeybees as inputs to agriculture and considering landless Beekeepers as farmers

•Training and development of beekeepers by state governments etc.

[India has a potential of about 200 million bee colonies as against 3.4 million bee colonies today]

◆Motion of thanks to President’s Address

•The President makes an address to a joint sitting of Parliament at the start of the Budget session, which is prepared by the government and lists its achievements

•President’s Address and Motion of Thanks are governed by Articles 86 (1) and 87 (1) of the Constitution and Rules 16 to 24 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha

•Members of Parliament vote on this motion of thanks. This motion must be passed in both of the houses.

A failure to get motion of thanks passed amounts to defeat of government and leads to collapse of government. This is why, the Motion of Thanks is deemed to be a no-confidence motion.

◆North Eastern Council

•NEC was established under the North Eastern Council Act, 1971as an apex level body for securing balanced and coordinated development and facilitating coordination with the States

•The Cabinet also approved that Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of DoNER would serve as Vice Chairman of the Council.

•NEC and all the Governors and Chief Ministers of North Eastern States will be Members.

◆Fall Armyworm (FAW)

•A native of the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the Americas, FAW was first detected in the African continent in 2016. Since then, it has spread to other countries such as China, Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

•It was reported in India for the first-time last year, when it affected crops in Karnataka. Within a span of only six months, almost 50 per cent of the country

•It is the polyphagous (ability to feed on different kinds of food) nature of the caterpillar and the ability of the adult moth to fly more than 100 km per night

◆National Register of Citizens (NRC);-

~ti address the issue of illegal migrants in Assam, specifically from Bangladesh

•Who is a citizen in Assam??????

~all Indian-origin people who came from Bangladesh before January 1, 1966 to be deemed as citizens

~Those who came b/w JAN 1,1966 & March 25, 1971 were eligible for citizenship(after living 10 years)

•Assam NRC additional draft exclusion list

These over one lakh people were found ineligible during re-verification for any one of the following reasons: Persons who were found to be DF (Declared Foreigner) or DV (Doubtful Voter) or PFT (persons with cases Pending at Foreigners Tribunals) etc.

◆NITI Aayog’s Health Index: with technical assistance from the World Bank, and in consultation with MoHFW

•The report ranks states and Union territories innovatively on their year-on-year incremental change in health outcomes, as well as, their overall performance with respect to each other.

•Kerala has emerged as the top-ranking state in terms of overall health performance.

•Uttar Pradesh is the worst when it comes to overall health performance followed by Bihar

•Among the UTs, Chandigarh jumped one spot to top the list with a score of (63.62)

•Haryana, Rajasthan and Jharkhand top the index based on incremental performance

◆Russia has extended its ban on food imports from the European Union until the end of 2020

◆Plastic Parks

•There is a scheme in place to establish Plastic Parks across the country.

•As per the Scheme guidelines, a Special Purpose Vehicle set up by the concerned State government, which is the implementing agency, is responsible for all statutory approvals, including environmental clearances from the state level authorities at the DPR stage.

◆Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)

•It was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act 1985

•APEDA is mandated with the responsibility of export promotion and development of products like

•Fruits, Vegetables and their Products.

•Meat and Meat Products.

•Poultry and Poultry Products.,Dairy Products etc.

•Chairman – Appointed by the Central Government.

•Director – Appointed by APEDA

Facts:

Contesting in Elections is not a fundamental right and it is a legal/statutory right.

IUCN status of the Asian Forest Tortoise – Critically Endangered

Wildlife Protection Act provides the statutory backing of National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Gulf of Carpentaria is located at the North of Australia.

Empowered Action Group States - Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh -> Socio Economically backward states

Current Affairs: (27 – June - 2019)

◆DNA technology Bill

•By providing for the mandatory accreditation and regulation of DNA laboratories, the Bill seeks to ensure that with the proposed expanded use of this technology in the country

•DNA data will only be used for identification of the person(DNA data) to solve crimes cases

◆Space Activities Bill, 2017

•It is a proposed Bill to promote and regulate the space activities of India.

The new Bill encourages the participation of non-governmental/private sector agencies in space activities in India under the guidance and authorisation of the government

•If any person undertakes any commercial space activity without authorisation they shall be punished with imprisonment up to 3 years or fined more than ₹1 crore or both

◆Methane On Mars

•NASA’s Curiosity rover recently discovered high amounts of methane in the air on Mars, leading to excitement whether this was an indication of life on the Red Planet, or beneath its surface.

•Curiosity unfortunately doesn’t have the instruments to determine whether the source of methane is biological or geological.[still curious!:)]

•Scientists are hoping to detect the source of the gas, and in the process clues that might point to the existence of life on the Red Planet.

◆Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

•Under JCPoA Tehran agreed to significantly cut its stores of centrifuges, enriched uranium and heavy-water, all key components for nuclear weapons

•Iran is permitted to keep up to 300 kilograms, or about 660 pounds, of uranium enriched to 3.67% purity, a level that can be used for civilian purposes like nuclear power fuel.

•Amid escalating tensions with the United States, Iran has said that it would surpass the limit on the uranium supply permitted under the 2015 nuclear agreement

◆UN Security Council

•The Security Council consists of fifteen members. Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, and the United States—serve as the body’s five permanent members.

[The Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve two-year terms. The body’s presidency rotates monthly among its members]

•India’s candidature for a non-permanent seat in the Security Council (for 2021-22 term )has been endorsed unanimously by the Asia Pacific group, which comprises 55 countries, including Pakistan

[India has been a non-permanent member of the Security Council eight time previously]

◆Falcon Heavy launch

•Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently launched its Falcon Heavy spacecraft on its third mission, and the most complex one yet by the company

•ASCENT green fuel:

It is a safer rocket fuel.( a hydroxyl ammonium nitrate fuel/oxidiser blend)

[Unlike the traditional fuel used in satellites, which is hydrazine, which is extremely toxic to humans as well as the environment]

◆Various Ethnic communities across the world

•Thailand: Yao, Hmong, Karen and Sea Gypsies.

•Syria: Kurds.

•Kuwait: Bedouin tribes.

•Iraq: Bidoon and Faili Kurds.

◆UNHCR #IBelong Campaign

•it aims to end statelessness by 2024 by resolving existing statelessness, preventing new cases from emerging and better identifying and protecting stateless populations.

•At least 10 million people worldwide are currently stateless and a baby is born stateless every 10 minutes

◆Parole :It is a system of releasing a prisoner with suspension of the sentence. The release is conditional, usually subject to behaviour, and requires periodic reporting to the authorities for a set period of time

•furlough :A broadly similar but subtly different concept is furlough, which is given in case of long-term imprisonment

•In India, parole and furlough are covered under the Prison Act of 1894.

◆goAML:

•UAE Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) launched the new reporting platform, (goAML), developed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), to facilitate the receipt, analysis and dissemination of suspicious transactions and activity reports.

•All financial institutions in the country have to now report any suspicious transactions through “goAML”.

◆Proton Therapy:

•Proton therapy, also called proton beam therapy, is a type of radiation therapy.

•It uses protons rather than x-rays to treat cancer.

•Like x-ray radiation, proton therapy is a type of external-beam radiation therapy

◆Yamuna Water Taxi Project:

•It has been conceived as an integrated development project combining several functions like terminal development and vessels operation.

•The project covers a total length of 16 km and comprises five locations on the banks of River Yamuna in Delhi

◆Impressive tortoise: from Arunachal Pradesh

•A tortoise considered beautiful enough to be named ‘impressed’ has been discovered in Arunachal Pradesh.

•India was known to be the home of only the Asian Forest Tortoise (Manouria emys) until the discovery of the Impressed Tortoise

Current Affairs: (28 – June - 2019)

◆G20 Summit 2019

•World leaders from 19 countries – and the European Union – are meeting in Osaka, Japan for latest edition of G20 summit.

•The G20 is an annual meeting of leaders from the countries with the largest and fastest-growing economies. Its members account for 85% of the world’s GDP, and two-thirds of its population

•G-20 summit- 2020 : Saudi Arabia

•G-20 summit- 2022 : India

◆National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013

•The objective is to provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.

•The Act provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population.

•The eligible persons will be entitled to receive 5 Kgs of foodgrains per person per month at subsidised prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per Kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains.

•The existing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 Kgs of foodgrains per household per month.

◆Electoral bond scheme

•electoral bonds are aimed at rooting out the current system of largely anonymous cash donations made to political parties which lead to the generation of black money in the economy.

[electoral bond, which will be a bearer instrument, will not carry the name of the payee and can be bought for any value, in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh or Rs 1 crore.]

•State Bank of India (SBI) has been authorized to issue and encash Electoral Bonds through its 29 Authorized Branches

◆Atal Tinkering Labs

•With a vision to ‘Cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’, Atal Innovation Mission is establishing Atal Tinkering Laboratories (ATLs) in schools across India.

• The objective of this scheme is to foster curiosity, creativity and imagination in young minds

•AIM will provide grant-in-aid that includes a one-time establishment cost of Rs. 10 lakh and operational expenses of Rs. 10 lakh for a maximum period of 5 years to each ATL

◆Fortified rice

•Rice fortification is the practice of increasing the content of essential micronutrients in rice and to improve the nutritional quality of the rice

•Fortified rice are contains Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B12, Folic Acid, Iron and Zinc.

•Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2016’ These regulations set the standards for food fortification and encourage the production, manufacture, distribution, sale and consumption of fortified foods.

◆Jal Shakti Abhiyan

•The Centre is set to initiate the Jal Shakti Abhiyan to ramp up rainwater harvesting and conservation efforts in 255 water-stressed districts from July 1

•The campaign would be coordinated by 255 central IAS officers of Joint or Additional Secretary-rank.

[The campaign would run from July 1 to September 15 in States receiving rainfall during the south-west monsoon]

◆International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) : is to hold its 32nd Congress in Hyderabad

•It is an association of laboratories which are authorised to check on the marketability of seed as defined in various countries’ laws.

•Founded in 1924, with the aim to develop and publish standard procedures in the field of seed testing

◆Sister-city agreement between Kobe(Japan) and Ahmedabad

•This agreement will formalize the relationship between the two cities, both of which are unique in their own ways. While Kobe is the Creative Design City of Asia, Ahmedabad is India’s first World Heritage City.

•After the agreement, a plan will be laid out on creating more opportunities for cooperation between the two cities on the academic, cultural as well as business fronts.

◆Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Punjab

•A statue of Ranjit Singh, who ruled Punjab for almost four decades (1801-39), was recently inaugurated in Lahore

•Ranjit Singh overthrew the warring Misls and established a unified Sikh empire after he conquered Lahore in 1799.

•He was given the title Lion of Punjab (Sher-e-Punjab) because he stemmed the tide of Afghan invaders in Lahore

•The maharaja was known for his just and secular rule; both Hindus and Muslims were given powerful positions in his darbar.

◆TrackChild” and “Khoya-Paya” web portals: by MoWCD

•to track the missing and found children.

•The TrackChild Portal is implemented in association with various stakeholders including Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Railways, State Governments/UT etc.

◆Centre for Inland and Coastal Maritime Technology (CICMT)

•As per a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), signed between the Union Ministry of Shipping and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur,

[CICMT will be set up at IIT Kharagpur.]

•CICMT will be a state-of-the-art centre which will be set up under the flagship Sagarmala Programme.

◆SMART’ policing

•PM Modi had first called for making the police force ‘SMART’ — strict and sensitive, modern and mobile, alert and accountable, reliable and responsive, techno-savvy and trained

•The Kalu police station in Rajasthan’s Bikaner came first rank in the country for having recreational facilities for police personnel, and a helpdesk for women besides being equipped with wi-fi servers

•Rahimatpur police station in Satara district in western Maharashtra has emerged as the State topper in a survey based on the ‘SMART’ policing

Current Affairs: (29 – June - 2019)

◆One Stop Centre Scheme

•to support women affected by violence

•Popularly known as Sakhi, Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) has formulated this Centrally Sponsored Scheme.

•Under the scheme, One Stop Centres are being established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces in phased manner

◆Van Dhan Yojana

•The initiative aims to promote MFPs-centric livelihood development of tribal gatherers and artisans.

•It mainstreams the tribal community by promoting primary level value addition to MFP at grassroots level.

•The scheme will be implemented through Ministry of Tribal Affairs and TRIFED

◆Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban;-{launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA)}

•Mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programme verticals

•government is providing an interest subsidy of 6.5% on housing loans which can be availed by beneficiaries for 15 years from start of loan date

◆First Resilient Kerala Program

•GoI, Government of Kerala and the World Bank have signed a Loan Agreement of USD 250 million for the First Resilient Kerala Program to enhance the State’s resilience against the impacts of natural disasters and climate change.

•The Program will focus on strengthening the State’s institutional and financial capacity to protect the assets and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable groups through an inclusive and participatory approach

◆EQUIP project

•Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has finalized and released a 5-year Vision Plan titled as Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP)

•EQUIP is meant to bridge the gap between policy and implementation. The project is made to bring transformation in the higher education system in the upcoming 5 years

◆Article 370

•It is a ‘temporary provision’ which grants special autonomous status to J&K

•Indian citizens from other states cannot purchase land or property in J&K

•Centre has no power to declare financial emergency under Article 360 in the state

◆National Mission on Natural Language Translation

•It aims to make science and technology accessible to all by facilitating access to teaching and researching material bilingually — in English and in one’s native Indian language

•The Ministry of Electronics and IT is planning to launch a National Mission on Natural Language Translation

◆The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)

•It was set up in March 2007 under the Commission for Protection of Child Rights Act, 2005.

•It works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Women & Child Development.

•The Child is defined as a person in the 0 to 18 years age group.

◆Grievance Against Misleading Advertisements” (GAMA) Portal

•Government has launched an online portal called (GAMA) where complaints relating to misleading advertisements can be lodged.

◆Go Tribal Campaign:

•TRIFED has organized this event to institutionalize collaborations and partnerships with different organizations to promote tribal products