apsc prelims 2018 Revision notes Archives

Current Affairs for APSC Prelims 2018 – Science & Technology, Defence & Security (Revision Notes)

Posted on December 26, 2018October 11, 2020 by admin

Current Affairs for APSC Prelims 2018

(REVISION NOTES from Nov 2017 – Nov 2018)

Science & Technology, Defence & Security

Global Conference on Cyberspace organized in India.

Theme – Cyber4All: A Secure and Inclusive Cyberspace for Sustainable Development.

Brahmos missile successful air launch

The Indian Air Force conducted the first-ever successful air launch of the BrahMos cruise missile from a Sukhoi Su-30 MKI multirole aircraft.
It is the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missile

Glide Bomb – Smart Anti Airfield Weapon

DRDO successfully test fired the Glide Bomb – a Smart Anti Airfield Weapon (SAAW).

India successfully test fires Indigenous Subsonic Cruise Missile Nirbhay

Chandipur test range along the Odisha coast.
It is India’s first indigenously designed and developed Long Range Sub-Sonic Cruise Missile.

NASA Launches Next-Generation Weather Satellite Joint Polar Satellite System-1 (JPSS-1)

to monitor weather around the world and help improve forecasts.
is a joint venture between the US space agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Moscow Declaration on TB &HIV

Representatives from 120 countries adopted the Moscow Declaration to eliminate additional deaths from HIV co-infection by 2020 and achieving synergy in coordinated action against TB and non-communicable diseases.

ISRO’s Sun Mission to take off in 2019

India will send ISRO’s solar mission Aditya-L1 to a vantage point in space, known as the L1 Lagrange point, to do imaging and study of the sun.

Facebook Rolls out Disaster Maps in India

In a bid to help communities recover and rebuild faster in the aftermath of natural disasters in India, Facebook introduced new measures, including its Disaster Maps feature in the country.

First Power Plant under PM Ladakh Scheme commissioned in Drass

The 1.5-mw small hydropower plant in Biaras Drass of Kargil has become the first project to be commissioned under the Prime Minister’s Ladakh Renewable Energy Initiative.
to minimize dependence on diesel in the Ladakh region and meet power requirement through local renewable sources.

International Solar Alliance and India

the first treaty-based international government organisation to be based in India, with 19 countries ratifying its framework agreement.
countries located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
The ISA is headquartered in Gurgaon

International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography

The Union Cabinet approved the agreement with UNESCO on establishment of International Training Centre for Operational Oceanography, as a Category-2 Centre (C2C) of UNESCO, in Hyderabad.

AAROGYAM – 2017

The 1st International Exhibition & Conference on AYUSH & Wellness.

Ajeya Warrior Military Exercises

This is a biennial joint military exercise between India and army of United Kingdom

Ekuverin

The joint military exercise between Indian Army and Maldives National Defence Force

Sentinel-5p Satellite

a European satellite being commissioned by the European Union and the European Space Agency, tracking the levels air pollutants around the world
designed to make daily global maps of the gases and particles that pollute the air.

New Graphene-Based Battery Charges Five Times Faster

Scientists has developed a new graphene-based battery material with charging speed five times faster than today’s lithium-ion batteries.
Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms bound together in a honeycomb lattice pattern, is hugely recognized as a “wonder material” due to the myriad of astonishing attributes it holds.

Monkey Fever

Kyasanur forest disease (KFD) is a tick borne viral haemorrhagic fever endemic in Karnataka.
The virus causing the disease: KFD virus (KFDV) is a member of the genus Flavivirus and family Flaviviridae.

What Is CYBORG

The term Cyborg was first coined by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. kline to describe man-machine system in which the control mechanism of the human portion are modified externally by drugs or regulatory devices so that the being can live in an environment different from the normal one
an organism with organic and biomechatronic body parts that is partly human and partly machine .

Agni 5

India successfully conducted the “first pre-induction trial” of its over 5,000-km range Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile
Agni -5 is the fifth in the line of the Agni Missiles

NASA to launch Parker Solar Probe to explore Sun’s outer atmosphere

Bharat Bio Typhoid Shot

Bharat Biotech has received a pre-qualification from the World Health Organisation (WHO) for Typbar Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine.
Typbar TCV is the first typhoid vaccine clinically proven to be administered to children from 6 months of age to adults, and confers long-term protection against typhoid fever.

GOLD and ICON Mission to explore the Ionosphere

NASA has announced that it would launch two missions to explore the little-understood area of 96 km above Earth’s surface.
The Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission will be launched in January 2018, and the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) will be launched later in 2018.

India’s Fastest Supercomputer

Pratyush, India’s fastest supercomputer yet, was unveiled at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune.
Pratyush is a collection of several computers that can deliver a peak power of 6.8 petaflops, facilitating the weather forecasting and climate monitoring in the country.
Pratyush is fourth fastest supercomputer in world dedicated for weather and climate research

India Misses Kala Azar Elimination Deadline

India has missed the 2017 deadline for elimination of Kala Azar (black fever).
Elimination is defined as reducing the annual incidence of Kala Azar (KA) to less than 1 case per 10,000 people at the sub-district level.
Kala Azar is a slow progressing indigenous disease caused by a single-celled parasite of the Leishmania family.
In India Leishmania donovani is the only parasite causing the disease. The parasite is found in abundance in the bone marrow, spleen and liver.

Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer

In SCNT the nucleus, which contains the organism’s DNA, of a somatic cell (a body cell other than a sperm or egg cell) is removed and the rest of the cell discarded.

Rotavac is the First Indian designed vaccine to pass the WHO Test

Rotavac became first indigenously developed vaccine from India to be pre-qualified by World Health Organisation (WHO). It means that vaccine can be sold internationally to several countries in South America and Africa.
The Rotavac vaccine, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Limited, was included in India’s national immunization programme.

Venezuela becomes first country to launch its own Digital Currency

Venezuela became the first country to launch its own cryptocurrency.
The official cryptocurrency has been named Petro

World Congress on Information Technology

The Government of Telangana has hosted the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) in 2018, at Hyderabad.

World Sustainable Development Summit 2018 held in India

organized by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

International Conference on Sustainable Biofuels 2018 organized in New Delhi

jointly organized by Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India on behalf of Mission Innovation and Biofuture Platform
Biofuels – fuels produced directly or indirectly from organic material – biomass – including plant materials and animal waste.

India Energy Congress 2018 was held in New Delhi

organised by World Energy Council India (WEC India) and inaugurated by Union Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister.

Milan 2018 multinational mega event at Andaman & Nicobar

With the underlying theme of ‘Friendship Across the Seas’

Rustom 2

India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully completed the test flight of its Rustom 2 drone at the Aeronautical Test Range.
It is part of the Rustom line of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) that includes Rustom-I, Rustom-H and Rustom-C.

Three-parent Babies

Mitochondrial replacement therapy, which creates “three-parent babies”, involves a portion of the child’s DNA coming from their mother, father and a third person – an egg donor.
Britain’s fertility regulator Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has allowed doctors to create country’s first ‘three-parent’ babies through mitochondrial donation therapy.
aimed at preventing passage of incurable genetic diseases from mothers to offsprings

India Successfully Test-Fires Nuclear Capable Ballistic Agni II Missile

An indigenously developed intermediate-range nuclear capable ballistic Agni II was successfully test-fired from Launch Complex-4 of Integrated Test Range (ITR) from the Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast.

India Successfully Test-Fires Nuclear Capable Prithvi-II

India successfully test-fired it’s indigenously developed nuclear capable Prithvi-II missile as part of a user trial by the Army from a test range in Odisha.

Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP)

was conceived by renowned scientist Dr A P J Abdul Kalam to enable India attain self-sufficiency in the field of missile technology.
IGMDP was sanctioned to develop Prithvi, Trishul, Akash, Nag and a Technology Demonstrator Agni Missile.

Japanese Encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a flavivirus related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses, and is spread by mosquitoes.

Nearly 100 New Exoplanets Have Been Found in Kepler Space Telescope (K2 mission) Mission Data of NASA

Exoplanets – are all the planets in the universe beyond own solar system.
Rocky planets: Rocky planets are mainly composed of heavier elements
Super-Earths: Super-Earths are planets of between 1 and about 10 Earth masses
Ocean planets and desert planets: planets with enough water to completely cover the entire surface of the planet with oceans.
Gas Giants: All planets with masses exceeding 10 Earth masses
Hot Jupiter: a gas giant that orbits its host star in a very close orbit
Rogue planets: planets without a central star; they are free-floating throughout our galaxy

India To Launch Mission To Explore Moon’s South Pole

India’s second lunar mission – Chandrayaan-II – is scheduled for an April 2018 launch.
It is under Chandrayaan-1 mission that the ISRO spotted water on the moon.
Chandrayaan-2 is a further extension of the project and it is as good as landing a man on the moon.

Chandrayaan-2 Mission

India’s second mission to the Moon is a totally indigenous mission comprising of an Obiter, Lander and Rover.

Marshall Islands to Issue World’s First Legal Tender cryptocurrency

It will be world’s first sovereign cryptocurrency that can be used as legal tender.
This cryptocurrency will be called Sovereign (SOV), has been developed in partnership with Israeli startup Neema.
Unlike Venezuela’s Petro cryptocurrency, the SOV will be recognized in law as legal tender, holding equal status as the US dollar, which is the Pacific island nation’s current currency.

Arctic Seed Vault celebrated the 10th anniversary

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway in the Arctic Circle got a delivery of more than 76,000 seed batches from gene banks in 22 countries.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is meant as a natural deep freeze to back up the world’s gene banks in case of disasters ranging from nuclear war to global warming. It has about 900,000 seed samples.

Exercise Samvedna

a Multilateral Air Force exercise, aimed to ensure better understanding and sharing of response procedures between a number of friendly neighbouring nations.
It was the first Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in association with South Asian Region nations.
involved representatives from air forces of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the UAE.

MILES-18: first ever multi-nation naval exercise at sea held in Andaman

As part of the tenth edition of MILAN 2018.
Australia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand were the participating countries.

MILAN:

Milan’ was first held in 1995 with the participation of just five navies.
The aim of the initiative was to have an effective forum to discuss common concerns in the Indian Ocean Region and forge deeper cooperation among friendly navies.

Saposhi – a new malware

It is capable of taking over electronic devices and turning them into ‘bots’, which can be then used for any purpose, including a Distributed Denial Of Service attack which, with enough firepower, can cripple entire industries.

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is an illegal large-scale cyber campaign where a big number of devices are used to create traffic to a certain server.

Lamitye 2018

Joint military exercise ‘Lamitye’ was held between India and Seychelles. It is conducted biennially between the two countries.

Varuna-18

The navies of India and France conducted a joint bilateral exercise, “Varuna-18”, in the Arabian Sea off the Goa coast

India-Based Neutrino Observatory Project gets Centre’s approval

The project in Theni district has been cleared by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).
aims to study atmospheric neutrinos in a 1,300-m deep cavern in the Bodi West Hills in Theni district, Tamil Nadu.
If completed, the INO would house the largest magnet in the world, four times more massive than the European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN’s Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector’s magnet.

India Successfully Tests 3rd-Gen Anti-Tank Missile NAG In Desert Conditions

Anti Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) Nag is one of five missile systems developed indigenously by DRDO under integrated guided missile development programme (IGMDP). The other four missiles are Agni, Akash, Trishul and Prithvi.

India’s First Cloned Assamese Buffalo Born

The Central Institute for Research on Buffaloes (CIRB) claimed that a cloned Assamese buffalo male calf was born for the first time in India.

New State Of Matter Rydberg polarons Created

created “giant atom” and filled it with ordinary atoms, creating a new state of matter termed Rydberg polarons. These atoms are held together by a weak bond and are created at very cold temperatures.
It uses ideas from two different fields: Bose Einstein Condensation and Rydberg atoms.
BEC (Bose Einstein Condensate) is a liquid-like state of matter that occurs at very low temperatures. A BEC can be perturbed to create excitations which are akin to ripples on a lake.
A ‘Rydberg atom’ is an atom in which an electron has been kicked out to a very large orbit.

TESS: NASA, SpaceX Collaborate To Search For Exoplanets

NASA’s little spacecraft, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, will ascend on a Falcon 9 rocket of the SpaceX to go up in the space.
The primary mission objective of TESS is to survey brightest stars near Earth for transiting exoplanets over two-year period.

ISRO–BHEL Tie up for the Production of Space Grade Lithium-Ion Cells

ISRO has entered into a Technology Transfer Agreement (TTA) with Bharat Heavy Electricals
Limited (BHEL), to transfer the technology for the manufacture of space grade Li-Ion cells

Li-Ion Battery

type of rechargeable battery that contains several cells. Each cell consists of cathode, anode and electrolyte, a separator between electrodes and current collectors.
It is light weighted and is one-third the weight of lead acid batteries. It is nearly 100% efficient in both charging and discharging as compared to lead battery which has 70% efficiency. It completely discharges i.e. 100% as compared to 80% for lead acid.

Scientists discovered a new human organ ‘interstitium’

It will be the 80th organ in the human body. It might be also the biggest organ in human body.
The discovery of interstitium will help to explain how cancer spreads in body and pave way for new ways to detect and treat the disease.

Defence Planning Committee under National Security Advisor Ajit Doval

The committee will drive the country’s military and security strategy, draft capability development plans, guide and accelerate defence equipment acquisitions.

AFSPA lifted in Meghalaya

However, it has been partially revoked in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act

enacted in 1958 to bring under control what the government of India considered ‘disturbed’ areas.
States under AFSPA (before April 1, 2018) included: Assam, Nagaland, Manipur (except the Imphal municipal area), Arunachal Pradesh (only the Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts plus a 20-km belt bordering Assam), Meghalaya (confined to a 20-km belt bordering Assam) and J&K.

Cybersecurity Tech Accord singed by 34 global technology and security companies

It represents a watershed agreement among the largest-ever group of companies agreeing to defend all customerseverywhere from malicious attacks by cybercriminal enterprises and nation-states.
The 34 companies include ABB, Arm, Cisco, Facebook, HP, HPE, Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, and Trend Micro, and together represent operators of technologies that power the world’s internet communication and information infrastructure.

Internet Security Threat Report 2017 – India emerged as 3rd most cyber-threat vulnerable

released by security solutions provider Symantec, summarizes the state of cyber threats across the world.

ISRO loses contact with GSAT-6A Satellite

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has lost contact with GSAT-6A, a satellite launched aiming to provide mobile communication facilities.

Chinese Space Station Tiangong 1 Falls to Earth

China’s prototype space station, whose name translates as “Heavenly Palace 1,” breaking apart and burning up in the skies over the southern Pacific Ocean.

Tiangong-1 was China’s first prototype space station or space laboratory. It was placed in orbit in September 2011.

The spacecraft cemetery / Point Nemo

considered the most remote place on Earth (at about 2400 km from any spot of land).
used to crash-land defunct satellites.

Harimau Shakti 2018

joint training exercise between Indo-Malaysian defence is being conducted in the dense forests of Sengai Perdik, Hulu Langat, Malaysia.

SAHYOG-HYEOBLYEOG 2018

The Indo-Korean joint anti-piracy exercise

Govt. bans imports of hormone Oxytocin

to stop its misuse in the livestock industry because it causes hormonal imbalances and shortens the lives of milch animals.
Often called the ‘love hormone’

Oxytocin is a neurotransmitter and a hormone that is produced in the hypothalamus. From there, it is transported to and secreted by the pituitary gland, at the base of the brain.

It plays a role in the female reproductive functions, from sexual activity to childbirth and breast feeding.

Odilorhabdins (ODLs) – new class of Antibiotics to combat Drug Resistance

which has a distinct way of killing bacteria, has been discovered which may help combat drug-resistant or hard-to-treat bacterial infections.
The bacteria help to kill the insect and importantly secrete the antibiotic to keep competing bacteria away. The antibiotic kills bacteria by binding to ribosome.

IIT-Delhi Installs India’s First 5G Lab

It will be the first of its kind 5G lab in the country and has been setup at Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management.

IRNSS-1I Navigation Satellite successfully launched aboard ISRO’s PSLV-C4

from Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
IRNSS-1I is expected to replace IRNSS-1A, the first of the seven navigation satellites that was rendered ineffective after its three rubidium atomic clocks failed.

The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)

is an independent satellite based regional system developed indigenously by India
The NAVIC system is constellation of seven satellites, (namely IRNSS-1I, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F and 1G) of which three are geostationary and four are nongeostationary.

NASA launches planet-hunter Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)

It will discover thousands of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest stars in the sky.

Brahmos Supersonic Cruise Missile extended life of 15 years

The BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with an extended life of 15 years was for the first time
successfully test fired from the Integrated Test Range in Balasore in Odisha.
BrahMos has become the first Indian missile whose life has been extended from 10 to 15 years.
The missile had also reached the maximum speed of 3 Mach, i.e. three times faster than the speed of sound.
BrahMos is supersonic cruise missile developed by joint-venture between Russia’s Mashinostroyenia and India’s Defence Research and Development Organization
It has been named after two rivers Brahmaputra and Moskva (river in western Russia).

Punjab government organised First census to estimate Indus Dolphin

Indus Dolphins, one of the world’s rarest mammals
Punjab government along with WWF-India are conducting a first organised census.
Found only in India and Pakistan, the Indus Dolphins are confined to only 185 km stretch between Talwara and Harike Barrage in India’s Beas river in Punjab.

Technology to tackle Space Junk

A spacecraft that will demonstrate a range of innovative technologies to clean up space debris has been deployed from the International Space Station (ISS)
RemoveDEBRIS – will attempt to address the build-up of dangerous space debris orbiting Earth.
RemoveDebris will deploy a large sail that will drag it into the Earth’s atmosphere, where it will be destroyed.

Net Generation SFDR Surface-to-Air Missile

successfully carried out the first test of a new surface-to-air missile with nozzle less booster making its mark as a military superpower in South East Asia region.
Indigenously designed and developed by DRDO, the missile flew in its intended trajectory at a
speed of Mach 3 (thrice the speed of sound).
The missile, powered by Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet (SFDR), was test-fired at Integrated Test Range (ITR) off Odisha coast.

Russia Launches Soyuz-2.1B

Russia has successfully launched Glonass-M positioning satellite on board of Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket

GLONASS is Russian acronym for Global Navigation Satellite System, which provides real-time

positioning data for surface, sea and airborne objects around globe, at accuracy reportedly at par with US Global Positioning System (GPS).
now total 26 Glonass satellites in orbit.
Glonass is considered as counterpart to GPS of US, Galileo of European Union (EU) and Beidou of China.

Genome Valley 2.0

The Telangana Government has signed a MoU with Singapore-based Surbana Jurong for preparing a roadmap for Genome Valley 2.0, an upgraded version of life sciences and biotechnology.

The Genome Valley cluster has emerged as the largest life sciences destination in Asia, being home to over 200 companies employing 10,000 people.

Meghalayan – Newest phase in Earth’s History

named it The stalagmite from a cave in Meghalaya helped define climatic events 4,200 years ago, marking the beginning of the phase that continues till today.
The Meghalayan Age began with a mega global drought that devastated ancient agricultural civilizations from Egypt to China.
It is part of a longer period known as the Holocene Epoch, which reflects everything that has happened over the past 11,700 years.
This discovery done by the International Commission on Stratigraphy of the International
Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS)

Biodiesel in India

India’s domestic crude oil output stagnating and the demand for oil continuing to rise at an everincreasing pace, India has an opportunity to use substitutes of fossil fuels for both, economic and environmental benefits.
Ethanol is one such substitute that can be produced from sugarcane and used for transport by blending it with petrol/gasoline.
Another option is biodiesel, which can be produced from the oil-bearing seeds of certain plants and blended with diesel.
India’s first-ever environment friendly biofuel powered flight between Dehradun and Delhi was propelled by blend of oil from jatropha seeds and aviation turbine fuel.
Bio-jet fuel is greenhouse gas (GHG) neutral, carbon neutral, reduces air pollution.

Jatropha

Jatropha is drought-resistant perennial plant that can grow in marginal or poor soil.
The Problem of Jatropha is availability of it’s seeds.

Delhi Police gets india’s first All-Women SWAT Team

Delhi Police is the first police force in the country to have an all-women Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) team.

SCO Peace Mission 2018

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Peace Mission 2018 exercise was started on 24 August 2018 at Chebarkul, Russia.
All eight members of SCO (China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) participitated

Roadmap for ‘Gaganyaan’ manned flight to space

ISRO unveiled details of its first indigenous human space mission to be launched in 2022.
This will be the first human space mission to be indigenously developed by ISRO. If successful,
India will become fourth nation in the world to send astronaut into space after US, Russia and China.
Indian Air Force (IAF) Rakesh Sharma was first Indian to travel to space.

World’s First Wind-Sensing Satellite ‘Aeolus’

European Space Agency (ESA) successfully launched wind-sensing satellite named ‘Aeolus’ into orbit on board of Vega rocket from French Guyana.
satellite dedicated to map Earth’s wind on global scale in particular tropical winds which are very poorly mapped.

IIT Madras developed first microprocessors under Project Shakti

The first of family of six industry-standard microprocessors under Project Shakti.
Project Shakti was started in 2014 as IIT-M initiative and part of it is funded by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

The International Nitrogen Initiative

Indian scientist and academician Nandula Raghuram was elected as the Chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI), a global policy making initiative.

Government bans Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) Drugs

Central government has banned 328 combination drugs in the background of growing antibiotic resistance due to the misuse of medicines.
Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) drugs includes two or more active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) combined in a single dosage form, which is manufactured and distributed in fixed doses.

Zika Virus cause of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome

Transmission: Zika virus is primarily transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito from the Aedes genus, mainly Aedes aegypti in tropical regions. Sexual transmission of Zika virus is also possible.
Zika virus is a cause of microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Microcephaly – It is a condition where a baby is born with a small head or the head stops growing after birth.

Guillain-Barre syndrome – the body’s immune system attacks part of the peripheral nervous

system muscle weakness and loss of sensation in the legs and/or arms.

National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) released the report HIV Estimations 2017.

The HIV Estimations 2017 is the 14th round in the series of HIV Estimations under National AIDS Control Programme (NACP).
India had around 21 lakh people living with HIV (PLHIV) with adult prevalence of 0.22%.
Around 87000 new HIV infections and 69000 AIDS related deaths happened in 2017.
The impact of the NACP has been significant with more than 80% decline in estimated new infection from peak of epidemic in 1995. Similarly, estimated AIDS related death declined by 71% since its peak in 2005.
goal of attaining the ‘End of AIDS’ by 2030.

World’s first human case of Rat Hepatitis E has been detected in Hong Kong.

Hepatitis E is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV): a small virus, with a positive-sense, single-stranded ribonucleic acid (RNA) genome.

India-US 2+2 Dialogue

India hosted inaugural 2+2 Dialogue with United States in New Delhi.
US defence secretary Jim Mattis and secretary of state Mike held talk with Indian Foreign minister and defence minister.

G-4 Summit

India hosted summit meeting of the G-4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India and Japan) at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN.
The summit aimed at pushing for early UN Security Council reforms.
They restated their support for Africa’s appropriate representation in a reformed and expanded
Council, which bears primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Saudi Arabia to join CPEC Project

Saudi Arabia is set to join the multibillion-dollar project China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as a third major economic partner.

CPEC

The $46-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project focuses on road building and
energy infrastructure to end chronic power shortages in Pakistan and to link China’s landlocked
north-west with the deep-water port Gwadar on the Arabian Sea.
The ambitious project is a part of China’s “One Belt and One Road” or new Silk Road project. It is being built from the restive Xinjiang province in China to Gwadar in southwestern Pakistan.

India’s four more nuclear facilities under IAEA Safeguards

The four reactors included under IAEA are – two Russian-designed Pressurised Light Water Reactors and two Pressurised Heavy Reactors being built with Indian technology.

India’s Nuclear Programme

India plans to build 21 reactors by 2030 for power generation as well as to promote Cancer research.
In power generation, a notable achievement was one of the longest run of reactor Unit-1 of Kaiga plant.It has become the third longest running plant in the world.

IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)

It is the world’s central intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical co-operation in the nuclear field.
Headquarters: Vienna, Austria
Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 7 October 2005.

4^th International Ayurveda Congress in The Netherlands.

The congress was organized jointly by The International Maharishi AyurVeda Foundation, The Netherlands; the All India Ayurvedic Congress, New Delhi; and the International Academy of Ayurveda, Pune.

Germany has rolled out World’s First Hydrogen Train

Nicknamed Hydrail, these trains are called Coradia iLint trains and have been manufactured by Alstom, one of Europe’s largest railway manufacturers.
The train has batteries made of lithium-ion that is used in mobile phones and home appliances.
the train is equipped with fuel cells that produce electricity through a combination of hydrogen and oxygen, a process that leaves steam and water as the only emissions. Excess energy is stored in lithium ion batteries on board the train.

International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence

NITI Aayog, Intel and the TIFR have come together to setup a model International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI) towards developing and deploying AI-led application-based research projects.
It will be located in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Dickinsonia – ancient fossil of the earliest animal

Scientists have discovered an ancient fossil of the earliest animal on geological record -Dickinsonia – that lived on Earth 558 million years ago.

Apsara U Reactor, India’s first and oldest atomic reactor

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has set in motiona higher capacity version Apsara-upgraded (U).
Radioisotopes generated via power generation in nuclear reactors, research reactors, accelerators and spent fuel are used in agriculture, healthcare, industry and even municipal waste management.
Apsara reached criticality in August 1956, was also the first in Asia.

Oneer – innovative technology for Drinking Water Disinfection System

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIRIITR), Lucknow has developed an innovative technology for Drinking Water Disinfection System with trade name Oneer.

Train 18 – India’s First Engine-less train

A 16-coach prototype known as Train 18 or T18, Indian Railways’ first engine-less train, made its inaugural trial run recently.
Capable of running at a speed of up to 160 kmph, it is being referred to as a successor to the Shatabdi Express.
The fully air-conditioned semi-high speed train has been manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.

2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine

jointly awarded to James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo.
for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.

2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Frances H. Arnold “for the directed evolution of enzymes” half of the prize and other half of the prize to George P. Smith and Sir Gregory P. Winter ”for the phage display of peptides and antibodies.”

2018 Nobel Prize in Physics

one half to Arthur Ashkin “for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics” and other half jointly to Gérard Mourou “for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems”

Nobel Prize

Nobel Prize is awarded annually from a fund bequeathed by the Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel.
The prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award given for intellectual achievement in the world.
The prize is awarded for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace.
The first distribution of the prize took place in 1901. An additional award in Economic Sciences was established in 1968 and was first awarded in 1969.
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences confers the prizes for physics, chemistry, and economics.
The Karolinska Institute confers the prize for physiology or medicine and the Swedish Academy confers the prize for literature.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee based in Oslo confers the prize for peace.

Gaganyaan

A MoU was signed between ISRO and the Federal Space Agency of Russia ROSCOSMOS on joint activities in the field of the human spaceflight programme Gaganyaan.
If successful, India would be the fourth nation to send a human in space after the US, Russia and China.
Gaganyaan is India’s maiden human spaceflight programme scheduled for completion by 2022.
GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which has the necessary payload capability for this mission, will be used to launch Gaganyaan.

China’s Artificial Moon

China has planned to launch an artificial moon over the city of Chengdu, in Sichuan province, by 2020 to provide an alternative means of street lighting and save on electricity.
As per preliminary reports the artificial moon would be a mirror orbiting Chengdu at a height of 500 km. It would reflect the sun’s light at night, and supplement street lighting in Chengdu, which has a population of 1.6 million.
China is not the first country to try beaming sunlight back to Earth. In the 1990s, Russian scientists reportedly used giant mirrors to reflect light from space in an experimental project called Znamya or Banner.

Andhra, West Bengal withdraws CBI power to investigate

Section 5 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act (DSPEA) gives powers to the CBI over all areas in the country, but Section 6 states that without the consent of the state concerned, it cannot enter that state’s jurisdiction.
Apart from Mizoram, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, the agency has consent in one form or the other for carrying out investigations across the country.

Kilogram re-defined

At the 26th CGPM, General Conference on Weights and Measures, in Versailles, Paris more than 60 nations came together to vote unanimously for a new system that redefines the kilogram.
kilogram, the ampere (electrical current), the kelvin (thermodynamic temperature) and the mole (amount of a substance) were redefined at the conference.
The kilogram has been defined since 1889 by a shiny piece of platinum-iridium kept in a special glass case, the International Prototype of the Kilogram (IPK), also known as Le Grand K (The Big K). It is housed at the headquarters of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), just outside Paris.
Now the kilogram will be defined by the Planck Constant, denoted as h, is a physical constant that is the quantum of action, which relates the energy carried by a photon with the frequency of its electromagnetic wave.

SpiNNaker (Spiking Neural Network Architecture) Supercomputer

designed and built to work in the same way a human brain does, has been fitted with its landmark one-millionth processor core and has been switched on for the first time.
The SpiNNaker is capable of completing more than 200 million actions per second, with each of its chips having 100 million transistors.
Biological neurons are basic brain cells present in the nervous system that communicate primarily by emitting spikes of pure electro-chemical energy.
Neuromorphic computing uses large scale computer systems containing electronic circuits to mimic these spikes in a machine.
One billion neurons is one per cent of the scale of the human brain, which consists of just under 100 billion brain cells, or neurons, which are all highly interconnected via approximately one quadrillion synapses.

European Human Brain Project

The HBP Flagship was launched by the European Commission’s Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) scheme in October 2013

HysIS (Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite)

ISRO has successfully launched the PSLV-C43 mission that carried HysIS (Hyper Spectral Imaging Satellite) as part of its payload.

GSAT 29 launched

ISRO’s GSAT-29 communication satellite recently launched successfully by the second developmental flight of Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III (GSLV Mk III-D2) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

GSAT 29 – weighing 3,423 kg at lift-off, GSAT-29 is the heaviest satellite to be launched from India.

GSLV Mk III – three-stage heavy lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO. The vehicle has two solid strap-ons, a core liquid booster and a cryogenic upper stage.

Earth BioGenome Project

with an ambitious objective was recently announced to map the entire genome of every known animal, plant, fungus and protozoan on earth.
A decade-long experiment to map the genomes of roughly 1.5 million species — all the complex life forms known to man

China unveils heavenly palace space station ‘Tiangong’

a replica of its first permanently crewed space station, which would replace the international community’s orbiting laboratory and symbolises the country’s major ambitions beyond Earth.

The International Space Station – a collaboration between the US, Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan, has been in operation since 1998 but is due to be retired in 2024.

INS Arihant

INS Arihant, India’s first nuclear ballistic missile submarine, has completed its first deterrence patrol.
With the induction of INS Arihant, India is ready with its nuclear triad – the capability of firing nuclear weapons from land, air and sea.
India has now become part of an elite club of countries – Russia, the US, China, France and the UK that possess nuclear ballistic missile submarines – the only non-Permanent member of UNSC having a sea-based nuclear deterrent.

India’s Nuclear Doctrine

made in 2003.
The basic principle of India’s nuclear doctrine is “No First Use”.
Nuclear weapons will only be used in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian Territory or on Indian forces anywhere.

10th Indian Ocean Naval Symposium

26 of the 32 countries that constitute the membership of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) are participating in the 10th edition of the event that commenced in Kochi

CCRAS Developed AYUSH Drug QOL-2C for Cancer Patients

APSC Science & Technology Notes Download PDF

Current Affairs for APSC Prelims 2018 – Environment & Ecology (Revision Notes)

Posted on December 18, 2018March 4, 2022 by admin

Current Affairs for APSC Prelims 2018

(REVISION NOTES from Nov 2017 – October 2018)

Download PDF

ENVIRONMENT & ECOLOGY

Banaganapalle Mangoes, Six Others Get GI Tag

Banaganapalle mangoes of Andhra Pradesh and Tulapanji rice of WB are granted GI tags
The other five products include Pochampally Ikat of Telangana; Gobindobhog Rice of West Bengal; Durgi Stone Carvings and Etikoppaka Toys of Andhra Pradesh; and Chakshesang Shawl of Nagaland

Musa Paramjitiana – new species of wild banana discovered in North Andaman

New Ant Species Discovered in the Western Ghats

discovered a new species of ant in the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghats,
Western Ghats is one of the world’s ‘hottest hotspots’ of biological diversity.
named as Tyrannomyrmex alii after Prof. Musthak Ali, an eminent Indian myrmecologist.
Myrmecology is the branch of entomology focusing on the scientific study of ants.

Bamboo ceases to be a tree, freed of Forest Act

Bamboo has legally ceased to be a tree with Govt amending the Indian Forest Act,1927
Govt hoped to promote cultivation of bamboo in non-forest areas
The earlier act wrongly classified Bamboo as a tree.
Bamboo is a scientifically recognized grass.
India is the world’s second largest bamboo producer and has 13.96 million hectares, the largest area, under bamboo cove

India Awarded Certificate of Commendation by CITES

India has been awarded the Certificate of Commendation by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau by the Convention on Illegal Trade on Endangered Species (CITES) at Geneva.
for its specific wildlife enforcement Operation, “Operation Save Kurma” under “Operation Thunder bird”.

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna and Flora)

multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals.
The convention was opened for signature in 1973 and CITES entered into force on 1 July 1975.

International Conference on Climate Change held in Nepal

to draw attention towards the adverse effects of global warming in the Hindu Kush mountain range.

FAME-India Scheme

The FAME-India (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (hybrid &) Electric vehicles in India) is intended to support the hybrid/electric vehicles market
Its manufacturing eco-system to achieve self-sustenance.
launched in 2015 under the National Electric Mobility Mission (NEMM).
scheme has four focus areas: technology development, demand creation, pilot projects and charging infrastructure.

National Electric Mobility Mission (NEMM)

GoI launched National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020 in 2013.
aims to achieve national fuel security by promoting hybrid and electric vehicles

NDMA conducts Training of Trainers for Sendai Framework

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), 2015-2030, is the first agreement of the post-2015 development agenda and identifies targets and priority actions towards reducing disaster risks
India one of the first countries to align its National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) with the SFDRR

Mankidia Denied Habitat in Simlipal

Mankidia, one of the 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in Odisha, were denied habitat rights inside the Similipal Tiger Reserve under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
Particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) govt classification created for enabling improvement in conditions of certain vulnerable tribal group.
Dhebar Commission within Scheduled Tribes existed an inequality in the rate of development

Sikkim allows people to forge Fraternal Ties with trees

Govt of Sikkim – unique way of preserving trees by encouraging people to forge a relationship of brotherhood or sisterhood with trees through a practice – known as Mith/Mit or Mitini.
allow any person to associate with trees by entering into a Mith/Mit or Mitini relationship.

India ranks 177 out of 180 in Environmental Performance Index(EPI)

India is among the bottom five countries on the Environmental Performance Index 2018, biennial report by Yale and Columbia Universities along with the World Economic Forum.
to poor performance in the environment health policy and deaths due to air pollution categories.

Zero Budget Natural Farming Project

ZBNF project launched by the Himachal Pradesh government to promote organic farming
set of natural farming methods under which the cost of growing and harvesting plants is zero.
The programme involves almost no monetary investment and envisages the use of ‘Jeevamrutha’ and ‘Beejamrutha’
‘Zero Budget’ refers to zero net cost of production of all crops, which means that farmers don’t have to buy fertilizers and pesticides to ensure the healthy growth of crops
The main aim is to eliminate the use of chemical pesticides and use biological pesticide instead.
advised to use cow dung, urine, plants, human excreta, earthworms and similar biological fertilizers for crop protection.
protect soil from degradation and help in retaining soil fertility

Floating ‘Island’ to clean up Neknampur Lake

The Floating Treatment Wetland (FTW) was inaugurated in Neknampur Lake in Hyderabad to clean and purify the pollution.
World Wetlands Day on 2 February

Pelican Bird Festival

The ‘Pelican Bird Festival-2018’ was held for the first time at Atapaka Bird Sanctuary on Kolleru lake in Andhra Pradesh.
Atapaka Bird Sanctuary was recognized as one of the largest pelicanry in the world.
Kolleru Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in India located in Andhra Pradesh – designated wetland of international importance in November 2002 under Ramsar Convention.

Rhodendron Park In Tawang

Rhododendron is a genus of 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae), either evergreen or deciduous, and found mainly in Asia
national flower of Nepal.
Rhododendrons of India about 80 species. It is distributed mainly in different regions and altitudes of Himalayas with a greater concentration in the eastern Himalayas.

Cabinet approves Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury

The approval entails Ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury along with flexibility for continued use of mercury-based products and processes involving mercury compound up to 2025.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury urges the enterprises to move to mercury-free alternatives in products and non-mercury technologies in manufacturing processes.
Mercury is considered by experts to be one of the most toxic metals known.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury was adopted and signed in 2013 at a Diplomatic Conference held in Kumamoto, Japan, named after the Japanese city

India State of Forest Report 2017

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017
Forest and Tree Cover of the country has increased by 8,021 sq km (1 %) as compared to assessment of 2015.
national policies aimed at conservation and sustainable management of our forests like Green India Mission, National Agro-Forestry policy (NAP), REDD plus policy, Joint Forest Management (JFM), National Afforestation Programme and funds under Compensatory Afforestation to States.
Top 5 states where maximum forest cover has increased are Andhra Pradesh (2,141 sq kms), Karnataka (1,101 sq kms), Kerala (1,043 sq kms), Odisha (885 sq kms) and Telangana (565 sq kms).
Top 5 states where forest cover has decreased are Mizoram (531 sq km), Nagaland (450 sq km), Arunachal Pradesh (190 sq km), Tripura (164 sq km) and Meghalaya (116 sq km) – due to – shifting cultivation, other biotic pressures, rotational felling, diversion of forestlands for developmental activities, submergence of forest cover, agriculture expansion and natural disasters.

mangrove forests have increased by 181 sq kms. Maharashtra (82 sq kms), Andhra Pradesh (37 sq kms) and Gujarat (33 sq kms) are the top three gainers in terms of mangrove cover.
India NDC goal of creating additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3.0 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
As per present assessment total carbon stock in forest is estimated to be 7,082 million tonnes.

Assam will mark September 22 as Rhino Day to raise awareness about the animal

to generate public awareness on protection of the one-horned pachyderm.
A State Rhino Project in line with National Rhino Project will be launched in Assam soon for protecting the pachyderms from threats of poaching.

The Global Host of World Environment Day 2018 – Drive Against Plastic Pollution

India will be the global host of this year’s World Environment Day on June 5
‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ will be the theme of this year’s event

World Wildlife Day – Wildlife Under Threat

March 3 is celebrated as World Wildlife Day to raise awareness about our planet’s flora and fauna.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was finalised on March 3 and has been celebrated as World Wildlife Day since 2014.

Newton-Bhabha Fund for Arsenic Research in Ganga Basin

An India-UK Joint Team has won the Newton-Bhabha Fund for a project on Groundwater Arsenic Research in Ganga River Basin.
Arsenic is an element that occurs in organic and inorganic compounds, its presence in inorganic compounds is highly toxic and carcinogenic.

Arsenic contamination of ground water in india

Within India, arsenic concentration is particularly high in and around the Ganges delta in eastern and northeastern India.
This is due to silt from the Himalayas containing arsenopyrite

Introduction of BS VI Fuel

BS VI fuel to be available in Delhi from 1 April 2019 and the country from 2020.

The Bharat Stage (BS) Fuel Norms

India is the third largest consumer of oil after China and the US.
The vehicular pollution norms introduced in the early 1990s.
BS VI norms seek to cut down sulphur content to 10 ppm from 50 ppm.
State-owned refineries in Mathura and Panipat are already producing BS VI fuel.
The shift from BS IV to BS VI, skipping a stage, is estimated to cost refiners Rs28,000 crore.
Based on the European regulations (Euro norms), these standards set specifications/limits for the release of air pollutants from equipment using internal combustion engines, including vehicles.
Typically, higher the stage, more stringent the norms.
BS V standard was earlier scheduled for 2019, now been skipped. BS VI has been now advanced to 2020.

Government unveils Draft National Forest Policy

India’s environment ministry has unveiled a draft of the new National Forest Policy (NFP).
aim of bringing a minimum of one-third of India’s total geographical area under forest or tree cover.
The first National Forest Policy in independent India took effect in 1952
suggests setting up of two national-level bodies—National Community Forest Management (CFM) Mission and National Board of Forestry (NBF) – for better management of the country’s forests.
also calls for “promotion of trees outside forests and urban greens”, while stating that it will be taken up in “mission mode”.

Delhi becomes first city to roll-out Euro VI Fuel

aim to combat the rising levels of air pollution in Delhi-NCR region.
Cities in the national capital region like Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad as well as 13 major cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Pune will switch over to cleaner Euro-VI grade fuel from January 1 next year.
Rest of the country will follow suit from April 2020.

Assam’s Spring Festival begins in Manas National Park

The festival was organized by Indian Weavers’ Association and the Swankar Mithinga Onsai Afat, an association of reformed poachers in Manas who are now engaged in wildlife conservation and preservation.
Manas National Park or Manas Wildlife Sanctuary is UNESCO Natural World Heritage site, a Project Tiger reserve, an elephant reserve and a biosphere reserve
rare and endangered endemic wildlife such as the Assam roofed turtle, hispid hare, golden langur and pygmy hog, wild water buffalo.
contiguous with Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. It covers five districts of Assam- Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang, Udalguri and Barpeta.

Coal Bed Methane

CBM is simply methane found in coal seams.
It is called ‘sweet gas’ because of its lack of hydrogen Sulphide.
The methane is in a near –liquid state, lining the inside of pores within the coal (called the matrix).
contains very little heavier hydrocarbons such as propane or butane, and no natural gas condensate.

Meghalaya Landscapes Management Project

A loan agreement worth USD 48 million for the “Meghalaya Community-led Landscapes Management Project (MCLLMP)” – signed between India and the World Bank.
to strengthen community-led landscapes management in selected landscapes in Meghalaya.

Sunderban Reserve Forest to get Ramsar Site Status

The West Bengal government gave its approval to the State Forest Department to apply for recognition under the Ramsar Convention.
State Forest Department through Central Government will apply to Ramsar Convention Secretariat.

Ramsar convention

The Convention on Wetlands – inter-governmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for conservation and wise use of wetlands
Adopted in 1971 in Ramsar, came into force in 1975.
only one Ramsar site in West Bengal- East Kolkata Wetlands.
Sunderban was identified as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 for its exclusive biodiversity.
Once it is conferred Ramsar site status, Sundarban Reserve Forest will be largest protected wetland in the country.
Currently 26 sites in India recognised as Ramsar wetland sites of international importance.

Sunderban

vast contiguous mangrove forest ecosystem in the coastal region of Bay of Bengal spread
across India and Bangladesh.
It covers approximately 10,000 square kilometres of area of which 60% is in Bangladesh and remaining in India.
It comprises almost 43% of the mangrove cover in the country.
the largest tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world.
world’s largest tiger habitat
Royal Bengal Tiger, including Chital Deer, Crocodile and Snakes.

April 22: Earth Day

to increase the awareness among people about the environment safety as well as to demonstrate the environmental protection measures.
First time celebrated in the year 1970
The theme for 2018 Earth Day is ‘End Plastic Pollution’.

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

apex forecaster of pollution trends in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Ahmadabad
generates likely air quality profile for a day in advance, for these cities.
SAFAR monitors pollutants like PM1, PM2.5,PM10, NOx (NO, NO2), CO, Ozone, SO2, BC, Methane (CH4), Non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), Benzene, VOC’s, Mercury.
Union Environment Ministry also released draft of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)

Restructured National Bamboo Mission

CCEA approved the centrally sponsored scheme ‘National Bamboo Mission’ (NBM) under the National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA) for the remaining period of Fourteenth Finance Commission.
benefit directly and indirectly the farmers as well as local artisans and associated personnels engaged in bamboo sector including associated industries.
focus on development of bamboo in limited States where it has social, commercial and economical advantage – North Eastern region and MP, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, TN and Kerala.

Indian cities in WHO’s 20 Most Polluted

Delhi and Varanasi are among the 14 Indian cities that figured in a list of 20 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM2.5 levels in 2016
very high levels of PM2.5 pollutants were Kanpur, Faridabad, Gaya, Patna, Agra, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur followed by Ali Subah Al-Salem in Kuwait and a few cities in China and Mongolia.
In terms of PM10 levels, 13 cities in India figured among the 20 most-polluted cities of the world in 2016.

South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN)

The fourth meeting of SAWEN was held at Kolkata.
SAWEN is regional inter-governmental wildlife law enforcement support body of South Asian
Countries – combatting illegal trade in the region.
launched in January 2011 in Bhutan. In 2016, the Union Cabinet of India adopted the statute of SAWEN.
secretariat is in Kathmandu
Eight South Asia countries – Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives

International Biodiversity Day 2018: 22 May

to increase awareness on various biodiversity issues such as habitat destruction, marine pollution and climate change.
first observed in 1993 by the Second Committee of the UN General Assembly.
UN SDG # 15: Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss

CBD

1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro – adopted Convention on Biological Diversity – ratified by 196 nations.
international legal instrument for “the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources”

Biodiversity Award for Arunachal Reserve

Singchung Bugun Village Community Reserve Management Committee (SBVCR) of Arunachal
Pradesh was awarded the India Biodiversity Award, 2018 by the National Biodiversity Authority.

Indore is India’s cleanest city – Swachh Survekshan 2018

Indore is India’s cleanest city for second year in a row, followed by Bhopal and Chandigarh
Jharkhand has been declared the best performing state, followed by Maharashtra.
Best city in Innovation and Best practices: Nagpur
Best city in Solid Waste Management: Navi Mumbai
The processing rate of solid waste management in India stands at 29 per cent

Swachh Survekshan

First launched in July 2017, a ranking exercise taken up by Government of India to levels of cleanliness and active implementation of Swachhata mission initiatives

Cochin airport – UNEP United Nations Environment Programme recognized Cochin International Airport as the world’s first fully solar energy-powered airport.

India’s E-Waste Generation

India continues to be generating highest e-waste vis-à-vis China, USA, Japan and Germany-according to an ASSOCHAM-NEC study
Maharashtra contributes the largest e-waste of 19.8%, followed by Tamil Nadu (13%) and Uttar Pradesh (10.1%) respectively.
E-waste generated in India is about 2 million TPA (tonnes per annum), the quantity that is recycled is about 4, 38,085 TPA.
mere 5% of India’s total e-waste gets recycled due to poor infrastructure, legislation and framework.

E-Waste Management Rules, 2016

Manufacturer, dealer, refurbisher and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) have been introduced as additional stakeholders in the rules.
Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury containing lamp brought under the purview of rules.
Collection mechanism based approach has been adopted to include collection centre, collection
point, take back system etc for collection of e-waste by Producers under Extended Producer
Responsibility (EPR).
Option for setting up of PRO, e – waste exchange , e – retailer, Deposit Refund Scheme
Pan India EPR Authorization by CPCB – replacing the state wise EPR authorization.
manufacturer is also now responsible to collect e – waste generated

UN World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

observed on June 17 to raise awareness on the global and national actions that address desertification, land degradation and drought.
Established in 1994, the United Nations to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management.
The new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN)

Uttarakhand HC declares animals to be ‘legal persons’

The entire animal kingdom, including avian and aquatic ones, are declared as legal entities having a distinct persona with corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person.
All the citizens throughout the State of Uttarakhand have been declared persons in loco parentis as the human face for the welfare/protection of animals.

India’s genetically modified crop area fifth largest in World

India has the world’s fifth largest cultivated area under GM crops, at 11.4 million hectares (mha) in 2017.
entire GM crop area is under a single crop – cotton – incorporating genes from the Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt soil bacterium coding for resistance against heliothis bollworm insect pests.
highest share in the world’s total 189.8 mh GM crop area for 2017 to be of soyabean (94.1 mh), followed by maize (59.7 mh), cotton (24.1 mh), canola (10.2 mh), alfalfa (1.2 mh) and sugar-beet (0.50 mh).
GM crops that are under regulatory consideration – include glyphosate-tolerant cotton and biotech hybrid mustard.

National Bamboo Mission

In October 2006, GOI had launched the National Bamboo Mission (NBM) on the basis of the National Mission on Bamboo Technology and Trade Development Report, 2003.
to focus on research and development, plantation on forest and non-forest lands through Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMCs) or Village Development Committee (VDCs)
Around 80 per cent of bamboo forests lie in Asia with India, China and Myanmar having 19.8 million hectares of bamboo.
India is the world’s second largest cultivator of bamboo after China, with 136 species and 23 genera spread over 13.96 million hectares.
India’s annual bamboo production is estimated at 3.23 million tonnes. – the country’s share in the global bamboo trade and commerce is only 4 per cent.
To facilitate the benefit flow to the farmers, bamboo outside forest areas has been excluded from the definition of tree of Indian Forest Act, 1927

Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is running “Ganga Vriksharopan Abhiyan” in five main stem Ganga basin states – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research- India to expand polar research to Arctic

renamed the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), since 1998, charged with conducting expeditions to India’s base stations to arctic as the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research
India’s earth sciences community also views the Himalayas as a “third pole” – already established a high-altitude research station in the Himalayas, called HIMANSH, at Spiti, Himachal Pradesh.
three bases in Antarctica

India is an observer at the Arctic Council — a forum of countries that decides on managing the region’s resources and popular livelihood and, in 2015, set up an underground observatory, called IndARC, at the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way between Norway and the North Pole.
In 1996, the Ottawa Declaration formally established the Arctic Council intergovernmental forum to provide a means for promoting cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States
Arctic Council Member States – Canada, the Kingdom of Denmark (including Greenland and the Faroe Islands), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America.

International Tiger Day: 29 July

the conservation strategy aimed at doubling them by 2022, Tx2
latest WWF estimates (2016), there are only 3,890 tigers left in the wild, whilst at the beginning of the 20th century their number exceeded 100,000.
Doubling wild tigers: In 2010, Saint Petersburg hosted the Tiger Summit, in which countries committed to the goal Tx2, i.e. doubling wild tigers by 2022.
Tigers are on the rise for the first time in 100 years
Celebrating tigers: Global Tiger Day is celebrated on the 29th of July worldwide, with numerous initiatives mostly organised by the 13 countries home to this feline: Bangladesh, India, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Bhutan, Nepal, and Russia.

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has launched the M-STrIPES (Monitoring

System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status), a mobile monitoring system

for forest guards.

PARIVESH

PARIVESH (Pro-Active and Responsive facilitation by Interactive, Virtuous and Environmental Singlewindow Hub) launched on World Biofuel Day, 10th of August, 2018.

National Wildlife Genetic Resource Bank dedicated to Nation

The Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), is a dedicated laboratory of the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad and the only institute in the country working towards conservation of endangered wildlife using modern biotechnologies to save endangered wildlife species of India.
Wildlife Genetic Resource Banking (GRB) is the systematic collection and preservation of tissues, sperm, eggs and embryos, genetic material.

Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve in World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR)

Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve become the 11th Biosphere Reserve from India that has been included in the UNESCO designated World Network of Biosphere Reserves (WNBR).
India has 18 Biosphere Reserves and with the inclusion of Khangchendzonga, the number of internationally designated WNBR has become 11, with 7 Biosphere Reserves being domestic Biosphere Reserves.
Khangchendzonga National Park is also a World Heritage Site ‘mixed’ category.

Revival of Cheetah Reintroduction Project

The Madhya Pradesh forest to revive the plan to reintroduce cheetahs in the state’s Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary.
India’s last spotted cheetah died in Chhattisgarh in 1947. the fastest land animal was declared extinct in India in 1952.
Nauradehi was found to be the most suitable area for the cheetahs as its forests are not very dense to restrict the fast movement of the spotted cat.
As per the earlier action plan, around 20 cheetahs were to be translocated to Nauradehi from Namibia in Africa.
The species is IUCN Red Listed as vulnerable.
MP houses six major tiger reserves and is often called as the ‘tiger state‘. Prominent are Bandhavgarh, Pench and Kanha tiger reserves.

Nilgiri Tahr population increased

the population of the Nilgiri tahr (an endangered mountain goat) at the Mukurthi National Park has grown by an impressive 18% in the last two years, from 480 to 568.

The Nilgiri Tahr – lives at altitudes of 1,100 to 2,700 meters in the mountainous grasslands and rocky cliffs of the southern portion of the Western Ghats.

India’s National REDD+ Strategy

The Strategy Report has been prepared by Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dehradun.
The Strategy builds upon existing national circumstances updated in line with India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change, Green India Mission and India’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to UNFCCC.
The National REDD+ Strategy will be communicated to the UNFCCC
REDD+ means “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation”, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries.
India has communicated in its NDC – will capture 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of Carbon dioxide through additional forest & tree cover by 2030.

Green Agriculture

The Green Agriculture project synergises biodiversity conservation, agriculture production, and development.
implemented by the Indian govt and FAO takes a novel approach to support the NBAP and synergise biodiversity conservation, agriculture production and development.
being implemented in five landscapes adjoining Protected Areas/Biosphere Reserves: Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand
India is signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
four of the 35 biodiversity hotspots are located in India, it is biodiversity-rich.
India’s National Biodiversity Action Plan (NBAP) recognises the importance of biodiversity for inclusive development.
It envisages a transformation in Indian agriculture for global environmental benefits by addressing land degradation, climate change mitigation, sustainable forest management, and biodiversity conservation.

India Cooling Action Plan

India is the first country in world to develop such a document – addresses cooling requirement across sectors and lists out actions which can help reduce the cooling demand.
goal of ICAP is to provide sustainable cooling and thermal comfort for all while securing environmental and socio-economic benefits for the society.

World Ozone Day on 16th September

Theme: Keep Cool and Carry on: The Montreal Protocol

Montreal Protocol (The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer)

the only environmental treaty which enjoys universal ratification of 197 UN numbers countries. recognized as the most successful international environment treaty in history.
implementation led to the phase-out of around 98% of ozone depleting chemicals, averted more than 135 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.

Ozone Depleting Substances

those substances which deplete the ozone layer and are widely used in refrigerators, airconditioners, fire extinguishers, in dry cleaning, as solvents for cleaning, electronic equipment and as agricultural fumigants.
controlled by Montreal Protocol include

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Halon, Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), Methyl chloroform (CH3CCl3), hydrobromofluorocarbons (HBFCs), Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), Methyl bromide (CH3Br), Bromochloromethane (CH2BrCl)

PM Narendra Modi gets top United Nations Champions of the Earth award

awarded the United Nations’ Champions of the Earth award for the year 2018.
recognised Modi with its highest environmental honour in the policy leadership category for his extensive efforts to ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’- including an ambitious pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022.
Cochin International Airport was also awarded for its leadership in use of sustainable energy in the category of entrepreneurial vision.
The airport is world’s first fully solar-powered airport.
The Champions of the Earth award is the United Nations highest environmental honour recognizing
visionary people and organisations all over the world that exemplify leadership and advocate action on sustainable development, climate change and a life of dignity for all.

Sikkim was awarded FAO’s Future Policy Gold Award for 100% organic farming.

GI Tag for Alphonso

Alphonso from Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts of Maharashtra, has recently been registered as Geographical Indication (GI).
The king of mangoes, Alphonso, better known as ‘Hapus’ in Maharashtra
long been one of the world’s most popular fruit and is exported to various countries including Japan, Korea and Europe, USA and Australia

Geographical Indication or a GI

indication used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
an assurance of quality and distinctiveness – attributable to its origin in that defined geographical locality.
governed by WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

Shahi Litchi gets GI tag

After Katrani rice, Jardalu mango, and Magahi paan (betel vine), Bihar’s Shahi litchi has got the GI tag and has become an exclusive brand in the national and international market.
Bihar produces 40 per cent of the litchi grown in the country on 38 per cent of the area.

Delhi’s Air Quality set to Worsen

likely to deteriorate as burning of paddy stubble by farmers in Punjab and Haryana intensifies.
An AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), air quality is set to worsen, as levels of two main pollutants, PM 2.5 and PM 10

Stubble Burning

Farmers in Punjab and Haryana usually burn the paddy straw after combine harvesters leave a 7-8 inch stubble on the field following harvest, and farmers have to prepare the field for planting of wheat crop in two to three weeks.

India’s First Dolphin Research Centre

National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC), India’s and Asia’s first, is likely to be set up on the banks of the Ganga river in the Patna University premises.
important role in strengthening conservation efforts and research to save the endangered mammal.
K. Sinha, known as the Dolphin Man for his research on Gangetic dolphins as professor in Patna University
The Gangetic River Dolphin – is India’s national aquatic animal

Centre sets ‘Minimum River Flows’ for the Ganga

In a first, the Union government has mandated the minimum quantity of water – or ecological flow – that various stretches of the Ganga must necessarily have all through the year.
The new norms would require hydropower projects located along the river to modify their operations
so as to ensure they are in compliance.
The Central Water Commission would be the designated authority to collect relevant data and
submit flow monitoring-cum-compliance reports on a quarterly basis to the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG)

UNDP supported project to boost Climate Resilience

the approval of a US$43 million grant from the Green Climate Fund for project to support climate resilience of millions of people living in the coastal states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha.
India’s coastline is expected to be among the regions most affected by climate change globally.
The Climate change projections predict a 2ºC rise in average annual temperatures across South Asia by the mid-21st century, exceeding 3ºC by the late 21st century.
an increase in global mean surface temperatures of 2ºC will make India’s monsoon highly unpredictable, while a 4ºC increase would result in an extremely wet monsoon occurring every 10 years by the end of the century.
India has about 6,740 km2 of mangroves, including some of the largest mangrove forests in the world.

SDG Goal 13- Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impact.

The Green Climate Fund (GCF)

new global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change. GCF helps developing countries limit or reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change.
set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010
headquarters in Songdo, Republic of Korea, in December 2013.

Siberian Amur falcons in Umru village of Assam-Meghalaya Border

Amur falcons, the world’s longest travelling raptors.
Doyang Lake in Nagaland’s Wokha district is better known as a stopover for the Amur falcons during their annual migration from their breeding grounds in Mongolia and northern China to warmer South Africa, a flock has been seen since 2010 in Umru.
Local community organises the Amur Falcon Festival since 2015 to celebrate the “birds that have this back-of-beyond area famous”.

Living Planet Report Earth’s Wild Animal population plummets 60% in 44 years:

Living The Living Planet Report 2018 has been published by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) –

international non-governmental organization founded in 1961
wilderness preservation, and the reduction of human impact on the environment
world’s largest conservation organization with over five million supporters worldwide

Appointment/Awards

Sikkim – FAO’s Future Policy Gold Award for 100% organic farming.

Seoul Peace Prize for 2018: PM Narendra Modi

World Food Prize 2018- awarded to Lawrence Haddad and Dr. David Nabarro.

Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel – Chairperson of National Green Tribunal.

Download PDF

Current Affairs for APSC Prelims 2018 – Polity & Governance (Revision Notes)

Posted on December 13, 2018January 10, 2019 by admin

Current Affairs for APSC Prelims 2018

(REVISION NOTES from Nov 2017 – October 2018)

Download PDF

POLITY & GOVERNANCE

Appointment of Second National Judicial Pay Commission

for recommending pay revision for the subordinate judiciary.
headed by retired justice of the Supreme Court, J.P.Venkatrama Reddi.

TRAI Upholds Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is a concept where content and application providers get equal treatment by telecom operators.
it advocates that individuals should be free to access all content and applications equally, regardless of the source, without Internet Service Providers discriminating against specific online services or websites.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is a statutory body

Founded on 20 February 1997 – Ram Sewak Sharma (Chairman)

PRAGATI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired an interaction through PRAGATI , the ICT-based multimodal platform for Pro-Active Governance and timely implementation.
Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) platform was launched in 2015

Darpan Project

Ministry of communications has launched DARPAN (Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India)
It aims at realising financial inclusion of un-banked rural population.
provide a low power technology solution to each Branch Postmaster (BPM) which will enable each of approximately 1.29 Lakhs Branch Post Offices (BOs) to improve the level of services being offered to rural customers across all the states.

Good Governance Day on 25th December

observed in India on the birth anniversary of former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
established in 2014

India’s First Social Audit Law in Meghalaya

Meghalaya became the first state in India to operationalize a law that makes social audit of government programmes and schemes a part of government practice.
launched ‘The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act,
2017’ that will allow citizens’ participation in the planning of development, selection of beneficiaries, concurrent monitoring of programmes, redress of grievances and audit of works, services and programmes on an annual basis.

Social audits refer to a legally mandated process where potential and existing beneficiaries evaluate the implementation of a programme by comparing official records with ground realities

Triple Talaq Bill

‘The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017’
its objective is “to protect the rights of married Muslim women and to prohibit divorce by pronouncing talaq by their husbands”.
In August 2017, the Supreme Court passed a judgment in the Shayara Bano v UoI on the practice of instant triple talaq, stating that it was “manifestly arbitrary” and “against the basic tenets of Islam”.

Plea to bar Politicians from contesting from Two Seats

A petition was filed in Supreme Court challenging Section 33(7) of Representation of People Act, 1951.
This section allows politicians to contest Parliamentary as well as Assembly elections from two constituencies

18th All India Whips Conference

at Udaipur, Rajasthan on 8th-9th January 2018
organized by Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA).
The conference focused on the efficient functioning of legislatures.

Whip – an important member of a political party’s parliamentary body, having a central role in ‘Floor Management’ in both the Houses of Parliament and is responsible for discipline within the party.

e-Sansad and e-Vidhan projects

These are mission mode projects of Government of India under Digital India, to make the functioning of Parliament and State Legislatures paperless.

Government notifies Electoral Bonds for Political Donations

In a bid to curb influence of illicit cash in Indian political system, the Finance Ministry has notified the contours of new electoral bonds.
these bonds will now be the only way to make donations to political parties.
Political parties, secured at least 1 per cent votes in the last Lok Sabha election or the state Assembly election and are registered under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, will be eligible to receive donations through electoral bonds.

Haj Subsidy Abolished

Haj subsidy funds will be used for educational empowerment of girls and women of minority community.
In 2012, a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court had directed that the Haj subsidy be done away with.
All Haj air traffic is now shared by Air India and Saudi Arabia’s national airline. – many beginning to view it as a subsidy for the airline rather than the Muslim community.
if Haj travel is opened to more airlines, the airfare will be cheaper.
Many Muslim leaders arguing that it is “un-Islamic” as according to the Quran, only those Muslims who can afford the expenses should perform Haj.

Constitution Bench to examine Citizenship Act

The Supreme Court to examination will include the cut-off date for awarding citizenship to Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam. Section 6A of the Act relates to provisions for citizenship of people covered by the Assam Accord.
Therefore, this act fixes March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for granting citizenship to Bangladeshi migrants in Assam.

E-way Bill

The Government has made it mandatory for all States to implement the national e-way bill system for intra-state movement of goods by June 1 2018.
The E-way bill, is a document to be generated online under the GST system, when goods of the value of more than ₹50,000 are shipped inter-State or intra-State.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM) 3.0 launched

Offer standardised and enriched catalogue management, powerful search engine, real time price comparison, template-based Bid and RA creation, demand aggregation, e-EMD, e-PBG, user rating, advanced MIS and analytics and more.
GeM – aims to transform the way in which procurement of goods and services is done by the Government Ministries/Departments, PSUs, autonomous bodies etc.

Panel Recommends Separate Flag for Karnataka

If adopted with clearance from the MHA, Karnataka will be the second state after Jammu and Kashmir to have an official state flag.
Constitutional Position – So far, Jammu and Kashmir is only state having separate flag of its own due to special status granted by Article 370 of the Constitution.
no separate Central or State law to deal with this issue. In addition, the Indian Constitution does not prohibits States to have their own flag.

Atal Bhoojal Yojana

Government of India is going to launch this Water Conservation scheme
will be implemented by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation.
Through this scheme, the underwater level will be raised for providing pure and clean water for the use in agriculture.

President approves bill allowing Kambala in karnataka

making Kambala a legal rural sport in Karnataka.
The Bill seeks to exempt kambala and bullock-cart racing from the ambit of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act, 1960.
Kambala is an annual buffalo race which is a tradition in the Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts’ farming communit

Committee to select 20 ‘Institutes of Eminence’

N Gopalaswami has been appointed chairperson of the empowered expert committee (EEC) that will be the final authority to select 20 “institutes of eminence”, which will be free from government regulations.
The institutes of eminence scheme under the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry aims to project Indian institutes to global recognition.
The 20 selected institutes will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy.

Mahanadi Water Disputes

for adjudication of dispute on Mahanadi River Waters. The dispute is between Odisha and Chhattisgarh on sharing the waters of the river Mahanadi.
The tribunal will consist of a chairman and two other members nominated by the Chief Justice of India from among judges of the Supreme Court or high courts.
Article 262 of the constitution provides for the adjudication of inter-state water dispute.

NITI Forum for Northeast

created to accelerate the central government’s efforts to spur inclusive growth in the northeastern region of the country.
To identify constraints that stand in the way of achieving accelerated, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the eight states of the Northeast region.
co-chaired by the vice chairman of the Niti Aayog and the DoNER minister.

National Financial Reporting Authority to be set up

National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), an independent regulatory body to regulate the auditing and accounting standards as well as for oversight of auditing profession in India in line with global best practices.
under the Companies Act 2013, 15 members including a chairperson, 3 full-time members and a secretary.

Arbitration Council of India

Union cabinet approved the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill providing for creation of the Arbitration Council of India (ACI) which will grade arbitral institutions and accredit arbitrators in the country.
Currently in India there is a preference to ad-hoc arbitration contrary to the global practice where about 86% of arbitrary awards given in the last decade have been institutional arbitration.

Andhra Pradesh’s demand for Special Category Status

The Union government has declined the Andhra Pradesh’s demand of special category status
Special category status was awarded by the then National Development Council to certain states that were historically disadvantaged as a result of their geography, socio-economic status and other such parameters.
bases for the grant of SCS status: difficult hilly terrain, low population density, sizeable share of tribal population, strategic location along international borders, economic and infrastructural backwardness, and non-viable nature of the state’s finances.
SCS was accorded to the eight North Eastern and three Himalayan states (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and J&K)

Maiden Electoral Bond issued

Electoral Bonds worth Rs 222 crore were sold in its maiden issue in order to fund political parties.
to increase transparency in electoral funding in India.
India is the first country to introduce electoral bonds

Move to Impeach CJI Dipak Misra

parties has submitted a notice for an impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra citing five reasons. This is the first such move against the top judge of the apex court in the country.
minimum of 50 members are required to agree to the motion.

MyGov 2.0

Government’s biggest official digital platform MyGov has recently decided to scale up both the quality and quantity of its audience reach.
built on open source technology by the NIC

Panchayati Raj Act Turns 25 Years

On April 24, 1993 India conferred the constitutional status on the panchayati raj system.
The Panchayati Raj Act institutionalized PRIs as the mandatory third tier of governance.
Representation to the women

Indu Malhotra to be First Woman Judge in Supreme Court directly from bar

Seventh woman judge of SC
At present Justice R Banumathi appointed in August 2014 is the lone woman judge in the apex court
in August 2007 SC designated her as Senior Advocate only the 2^nd woman to be elevated by SC

Facebook partners with NCW to launch Digital Literacy Programme

to train women on safe use of internet and social media.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) has set up cloud-enabled National Data Centre @ Bhubaneswar

offer round-the-clock operations with secure hosting for e-governance applications of ministries and departments.
It is fourth cloud-enabled National Data Centre of NIC after Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune.

The Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018

intends to jump-start India as a soughtout business destination in the world.
It aims to create a conducive regulatory environment for investors to set up and operate businesses.
Lowering of the specified value of a commercial dispute to Rs 3 lakh from the present 1 crore so that commercial disputes of a reasonable value can be decided by commercial courts.
Commercial court at the district level
State government to specify pecuniary value for commercial dispute at district level
Commercial appellate tribunal

RBI Note on Data Localization

RBI asked all payment companies operating in India to set up data storage facilities within the country in the next six months.

EU New Data Norms European Union General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR)

came in to effect on May 25, 2018.
amid growing scrutiny about how major tech companies collect and use people’s personal information.
Gives citizen greater control over personal data
Citizen’s request to delete data, Right to opt in or opt out, Intimation about data breach, Constitution of supervisory authority, Strengthened regulation, Penalty

BharatNet Connect Every Village Home

Widen the scope of its national broadband project and help every village home surf the web.
deepening internet penetration which, as of September 2017, 33.22 subscribers per 100 persons.
Objective: envisages delivering broadband connectivity to 250000 gram panchayats

Law Commission to Codify Personal Laws

towards bringing a uniform civil code (UCC) for the country
Currently, different personal laws for Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsis and others. – cover matters of property, marriage, divorce, inheritance and succession.
Article 44 of the Directive Principles sets implementation of uniform civil code as the duty of the State.

North Eastern Council to come under direct control of Home Ministry

The council is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern region, was till now chaired by the Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Minister.
Home Minister will be ex-officio chairperson of the Council.
The DoNER Minister will be Vice Chairman and all the Governors and Chief Ministers of North Eastern States as Members.

Composite Water Management Index by NITI Aayog

to assess and improve the performance of States/ Union Territories in efficient management of water resources.

7-Star Gram Panchayat Rainbow Scheme by Haryana govt

give star rankings to its panchayats on the basis of seven social parameters
Ambala has topped star ranking followed by Gurugram and Karnal.

Strategic petroleum reserve at Chandikhol and Padur

Union Cabinet has approved establishment of additional 6.5 Million Metric Tonne (MMT) Strategic Petroleum Reserves facilities at Chandikhol in Odisha and Padur in Karnataka.
India, UAE, and Saudi Arabia would create tri-lateral cooperation to secure India’s energy security to check rising oil prices.
UAE was the first country to supply oil to India’s strategic oil reserve facility in Mangalore.

Jaitapur Nuclear plant

NPCIL to build for construction of 6 nuclear reactors of capacity 1,650 megawatt each at Jaitapur nuclear plant in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra.

Government declares national targets for off-shore wind power

5 GW by 2022 and
30 GW by 2030.

Suresh Mathur committee to review norms related to Insurance Marketing Firms.

Rail MADAD App (Mobile Application for Desired Assistance During travel)

to expedite and streamline passenger grievance redressal.

Reunite’ App launched to track missing kids

The Union Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation has launched mobile
application “ReUnite” to track and trace missing and abandon children in India.
developed by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi‘s NGO Bachpan Bachao Andolan.

Taj Declaration to beat Plastic Pollution adopted in Agra

to make the 500-metre area around the historic ivory-white marble monument litter-free and phase out single-use plastic.

Ten New Swachh Iconic Places launched under Swachh Bharat Mission

Raghavendra Swamy Temple (Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh), Hazardwari Palace (Murshidabad, West Bengal), Brahma Sarovar Temple (Kurukshetra, Haryana), Vidur Kuti (Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh), Mana village (Chamoli, Uttarakhand), Pangong Lake (Leh-Ladakh, J&K), Nagvasuki Temple (Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh), Ima Keithal/market (Imphal, Manipur), Sabarimala Temple (Kerala) and Kanvashram (Uttarakhand) have been taken up in phase III.

EVMs, VVPATs

VVPAT machines are used to verify that the vote polled by a voter goes to the correct candidate.
VVPAT prints a slip containing candidate and symbol – chance for the voter to verify their vote

AAI to set up Civil Aviation Research Organisation in Hyderabad.

Ravindra Dholakia committee to upgrade norms for state, district level economic data collection.

India join European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

as the 69th member
EBRD Founded 1991; Headquarters London
President – Suma Chakrabarti

17th World Sanskrit Conference

held at Vancouver, Canada from 9th July to 13^th July, 2018.

Gujarat government grants religious minority status to Jews

third state in India to have granted minority status for Jews, following Maharashtra and West Bengal.
Union Government accords the status of minority communities to six religious communities
Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Zoroastrians (Parsis), Buddhists, and Jains.
The Constitution of India does not define the word minority but refers to the word while according rights to religious and linguistic minorities.
Article 25 guarantees freedom of religion
Article 29, rights to promote and preserve their own culture.
Article 29 forbids discrimination on grounds of race, religion, caste, language, in admission to educational institutions run by the state or receiving
Article 30 right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice

Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala – Right of Temple Entry

prohibits women of menstruating age (between 10 and 50 years of age) from entering it, a prohibition enforced under Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965.

Election of Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha

Constitution is silent on the time period within which the Deputy Chairperson of the Upper House should be chosen.
Article 89(2) states that the Council of States shall choose a member of the Council to be Deputy Chairman

Debate on Section 377 of IPC

Section 377 refers it as ‘unnatural offences’

Bru Community

Union Home Minister signed an agreement – repatriate displaced Bru families living in Tripura since 1997 to Mizoram

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (2nd Amendment) Bill, 2017

for no-detention policy in schools. – till the completion of elementary education.

Higher Education Financing Agency

CCEA approved increasing authorized share capital of HEFA to Rs. 10,000 crore from Rs. 2000 crore and approved additional infusing additional government equity of Rs. 5,000 crore.
HEFA set up as a Non Profit, Non Banking Financing Company (NBFC) for mobilising extra-budgetary resources for building crucial infrastructure in the higher educational institutions.

Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) Scheme

to step up investments in infrastructure in premier educational institutions, including health institutions, the government launched Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE).
All centrally-funded institutes (CFIs), including central universities, IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERs can
borrow from a Rs 1,00,000 crore corpus over next 4 years to expand and build new infrastructure.
financed through suitably structured Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA).

NETA App

allows voters to rate and review their political representatives.

Bond-i

World Bank launches world’s first blockchain bond.

Kanyashree Prakalpa

a West Bengal Government sponsored scheme –
would not be any ceiling for a family’s annual earnings to be a beneficiary.
conditional cash transfer scheme aiming at improving the status and well being of the girl child by incentivising schooling of teenage girls and delaying their marriages until the age of 18

Odisha government announced Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY)

universal health coverage scheme – by providing secondary and tertiary cashless health care assistance up to Rs 5 lakh per family per annum.

Meghalaya government made it mandatory for married people to produce marriage certificates for all official purposes.

No Confidence Motion

Article 75(3) of our Constitution embodies this rule by specifying that the Council of Ministers are collectively responsible to Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha rule on NCM: any Lok Sabha MP who can garner the support of 50 colleagues, to
introduce a motion of no confidence against the Council of Ministers
during the third Lok Sabha in 1963 that the first one was moved by Acharya J B Kripalani against the government headed by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The first successful no-confidence motion in 1979 against the government of Prime Minister Morarji Desai.

More Assembly Seats for Sikkim

The Home Ministry has moved the Union Cabinet to increase the number of seats in the Sikkim Assembly from 32 to 40.
Inadequate tribal representation: The seats are being increased to accommodate the Limboo and Tamang.

Cap on Election Expenses by parties and Candidates

The EC has asked the government to amend the Representation of People’s Act and Rule 90 of The Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, to introduce a ceiling on campaign expenditure by political parties in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
Limits on expenditure by a candidate: EC imposes limits on campaign expenditure incurred by a candidate, not political parties.
by a Lok Sabha candidate is capped between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 70 lakh.
In Assembly elections, ceiling is between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 28 lakh.

Government claims RBI has enough power to regulate Banks

RBI’s Contention
- Lacuna in 1949 Act: RBI says a banking company is defined in Section 69 (c) of that Act as any company, which transacts the business of banking in India. State Bank of India and nationalized banks, which are PSBs are not companies but corporations formed by statutes, therefore not banking companies. Thus, Banking regulation Act, 1949 does not apply to PSBs in full.
This forms a great constraint for a regulator and supervisor.

Sports University Bill, 2018

to establish a National Sports University in Manipur.

Swadesh Darshan Scheme – Development of North East Circuit

Governor of Manipur, launched the project “Development of North East Circuit: Imphal & Khongjom”
covers two sites i.e. Kangla Fort and Khongjom – first project under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme
Khongjom is the place where the last war of resistance of Anglo Manipur War of 1891 was fought.

Swadesh Darshan Scheme

flagship scheme of Ministry of tourism for development of thematic circuits
to promote cultural and heritage value of the country by developing world-class infrastructure
13 thematic circuits have been identified for development – Buddhist Circuit, North-East India Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Tribal Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, and Heritage Circuit.
Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) aims to beautify and improve the amenities and infrastructure at pilgrimage centres of all faiths and harness the value of religious tourism.
13 sites – Amritsar, Ajmer, Dwaraka, Mathura, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Amaravati, Kanchipuram, Vellankanni, Kedarnath, Kamakhya, and Patna.

Srinivas Committee on CSR

Government sets up Injeti Srinivas High Level Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility.

GSTN

Cabinet approves conversion of GSTN into 100% government entity.

Financial inclusion Index

Government launches Financial Inclusion Index.
The index has three measurement dimensions (i) Access to financial services (ii) Usage of financial services and (iii) Quality.

www.psbloansin59minutes.com

Finance Ministry launches web portal to grant loans to MSMEs within hour.

Pakyong airport

PM Narendra Modi inaugurates Sikkim’s first airport.

Umeed Scheme

Union Cabinet has approved the extension of Umeed Scheme for Jammu & Kashmir for one more year during 2018-19.
Special programme for J&K, implemented under Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), launched in J&K in 2013 to encourage rural women to make small savings so that their Self-Help Groups (SHGs) to eventually become bankable at reduced rate of interest.

2nd World Hindu Congress

The 2nd World Hindu Congress was organized in Chicago, United States. It was held to commemorate 125 years of Swami Vivekananda’s historic Chicago address on September 11, 1893.

Aadhar Bill as Money Bill

Aadhar judgment concluded that govt was justified in the passage of the Aadhaar Act as a Money bill.
Section 7, which enables the use of Aadhaar to avail of any government subsidy, benefit or service for which expenditure is incurred out of the Consolidated Fund of India is the core provision in law and that this makes it a Money bill.
Article 110: Definition of Money Bill

Odisha Plans for Legislative Council

Article 171: states can have a Legislative Council in addition to the Legislative Assembly.
Article 169, a Legislative Council can be formed, if the Legislative Assembly of
the State passes a resolution to that effect by a majority of the total membership of the Assembly
and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the Assembly present and voting.
Parliament can then pass a law to this effect.
Members: Article 171, the Legislative Council of a state shall not have more than one-third of the total number of MLAs of the state and not less than 40 members. But in J&K, LA has 87 members and the LC 36.
Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) is six years, with one-third of the members retiring every two years.
7 States have MLC – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, J&K, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

SC Decision on Criminalization of Politics

The Supreme Court expressed its inability to make a law to check creeping criminalization of the polity
Section 8 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, bans convicted politicians. But those facing Trial are free to contest elections.

State Finance Commission (SFC)

created by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments to rationalize and systematize State/sub-State-level fiscal relations in India.
Article 243I mandated the State Governor to constitute a Finance Commission every five years.
primary task – rectify growing horizontal imbalances in the delivery of essential public services to citizens.

Government sets up Lokpal Search Panel

to recommend the names of chairman and members of anti-corruption watchdog Lokpal
Chaired by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai

Setting up of an Independent Payments Regulatory Board (PRB)

The growth in the financial tech sector has enabled non-banks to play a significant role in payments.
The government itself is keen to promote digital payment systems and set up a Committee on digital payments in 2016.

Delhi launches doorstep delivery of Government Services

Delhi government has launched its ambitious project Phone-a-sahayak scheme to deliver public services at the doorstep of residents.
Delhiites can now apply for 40 govt documents to be delivered at their homes for a fee of Rs. 50 per service.
The applicant would have to call 1076 and mobile sahayak will go to their home and help with filling forms, payment of fees and collection of documents.

Government replaced Scientific Advisory Committees (SAC) with PM-STIAC

scrapped two Scientific Advisory Committees (SAC) for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, and replaced them with a nine member, Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC).
The PM-STIAC will be chaired by the government’s Principal Scientific Advisor, Dr. K. Vijay Raghavan.

Odisha’s Food Security Scheme

On Gandhi Jayanti, the Odisha government launched its own food security scheme to benefit
who were left out of the National Food Security Act.

Michelle Bachelet appointed as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

OHCHR was appointed by the UN General Assembly to realise a demand of the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993.

Operation Samudra Maitri

to assist victims of earthquake and tsunami in Central Sulawesi Province of the Republic of Indonesia.

E Sreedharan committee to lay down standards for metro rail systems.

WEF launches Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution in India.

IWAI has launched Ro-Ro service from Neamati to Manjuli Island in Assam.

Mahila Mall, the first mall in the country with an all-women crew will come up in Kozhikode in the month of November.

Appointment/Awards

AG Rohatgi – Lokpal Selection Panel as Eminent Jurist

Gita Gopinath has been appointed as Chief Economist of IMF.

Fali S. Nariman -19th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration.

Sikkim – FAO’s Future Policy Gold Award for 100% organic farming.

Seoul Peace Prize for 2018: PM Narendra Modi

Sharad kumar: appointed as new vigilance commissioner in CVC.

Arvind saxena: Arvind Saxena has been appointed as acting Chairman of UPSC.

World Food Prize 2018- awarded to Lawrence Haddad and Dr. David Nabarro.

Public Affairs Index 2018: Kerala has topped the list of best governed States for third time.

Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel: appointed as a Chairperson of National Green Tribunal.

R S Sharma re-appointed TRAI chairperson.

Rekha Sharma appointed as Chairperson of National Commission for Women.

Ashish Kumar Bhutani appointed CEO of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Justice Ranjan Gogoi – Chief Justice of India (46th CJI).

Kamlesh Nilkanth Vyas – Chairman of Atomic Energy Commission.

LK Advani – renominated as Chairman of Ethics Committee of Lok Sabha.

Observation Days

June 20: World Refugee Day.

National Statistics Day: June 29

Download PDF

AssamExam

APSC Online Coaching – Tests, Study Materials & Assam Current Affairs

Tag: apsc prelims 2018 Revision notes

Current Affairs for APSC Prelims 2018 – Science & Technology, Defence & Security (Revision Notes)

Like this:

Current Affairs for APSC Prelims 2018 – Environment & Ecology (Revision Notes)

Like this:

Current Affairs for APSC Prelims 2018 – Polity & Governance (Revision Notes)

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: