66TH BPSC SPECIAL

CURRENTS
ENGLISH

BPSC NEXT 12/1/20

Research approved for higher yield in less water: Hydrogel

On 2 October, 2020; Now the farmers' crisis will not increase due to lack of water. Farming will not be affected.
The use of hydrogels will also lead to higher yields in less water. This discovery of Bihar Agricultural University,
Sabour has been approved by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Now it has been sent to the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry for patenting.
 According to scientists, 30-35 percent of production is affected every year due to lack of water. In such a
situation, the use of hydrogels is expected to change the picture of farming.
 The Department of Ceramics of BAU has prepared hydrogel in the shape of powder. After preparing the
field it will be infused with seeds.
 The scientist of BAU's team, who prepared it, told Dr. Nintu Mandal that it will have the ability to absorb
so much water for the first time that the field will not need water till the crop is ready.
 There will be moisture in the soil for three months. They reported that one gram of hydrogel has the
capacity to absorb 500 grams of water.
 Ten kilograms of hydrogels will be used in one hectare. One kg of hydrogel will come for 350 rupees.
Saving of four patwans, profit of 40-50 thousand in one hectare.

Bihar General Elections 2020

 The term of the Bihar Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on November 29, 2020.The Legislative
Assembly of Bihar has a total strength of 243 members, among whom 38 seats are reserved for SCs and
two for STs.

Ghar Tak Fibre Scheme and Highway Projects launched

in Bihar

 The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched nine highway projects and Ghar tak Fiber scheme in
Bihar on 21 September, 2020. Under the Ghar tak fibre Scheme, optical fibre services will be provided to
households.
Ghar Tak Fibre scheme
 The project is to be implemented Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the Ghar Tak
Fibre Scheme. It will connect 45,945 villages in the state.
 The project thus enables the Digital revolution to reach even to the remote areas of Bihar.
Highway Projects
 The Highway projects will construct 350 km of road. The roads will be built at a cost of Rs 14,250 crores.
 These roads will improve connectivity among people Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
 The road projects would also enhance convenience and economic growth in and around the state.


Special arrangements to avoid spread of COVID-19

 Each of the polling booths will have 1000 voters, instead of earlier 1500. Over 7 lakh hand sanitizer units,
46 lakh masks, 6 lakh PPE kits, 6.7 lakh face shields and 23 lakh pairs of hand gloves have been arranged.
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  For voters specially, 7.2 crore single-use hand gloves have been arranged. The elections will now be held
from 7 am to 6 pm instead of 7 am to 5 pm.

Sanjeevan' App

 On 1 August, 2020, the Health Department of Bihar launched a mobile app called 'Sanjeevan'. This app
will help the common citizens of the state to provide regular updates related to the management of
Corona virus (Kovid-19) as well as register for Kovid-19 tests.
 Through this app, citizens will be able to get information about the availability of beds in the nearby
Kovid-19 testing centers, Kovid-19 care centers and hospitals.

KOSI RAIL MAHASETU

 The Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the historic Kosi Rail Mahasetu to the Nation
on the 18th of September 2020.
 The Kosi Rail Mahasetu is 1.9 KM long. In 1887, a meter gauge link was built in between Nirmali and
Bhaptiahi (Saraigarh).
 During the heavy flood and severe Indo Nepal earthquake in 1934, the rail link was washed away and
thereafter due to meandering nature of river Kosi no attempt was made to restore this Rail link for long
period. The Kosi Mega Bridge line project was sanctioned by Government of India during 2003-04.
 The dedication of the Kosi Rail Mahasetu is a watershed moment in the history of Bihar and the entire
region connecting to the North East. This bridge is of strategic importance along the India-Nepal border.

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 Bihar Budget 2020-21

The Finance Minister, Mr. Sushil Kumar Modi, presented the Budget for Bihar for the financial year 2020-
21 on February 25, 2020. The state government will present a Green Budget which will indicate the
state's spending on programmes related to environment conservation and climate change. The Jal Jeevan
Hariyaali Yojana is estimated to be one of the major schemes under the Green Budget. In 2020-21, Rs
3,051 crore will be spent on: (i) rejuvenation of water bodies, (ii) rainwater harvesting, (iii) solar energy
and energy efficiency, (iv) drip irrigation, and (v) tree plantation.

Budget Highlights:
 The Gross State Domestic Product of Bihar for 2020-21 is projected to be Rs 6,85,797 crore. This is 11.1%
higher than the revised estimate for 2019-20. GSDP for 2019-20 is estimated to be 19.6% higher than
that in 2018-19.
 Total expenditure for 2020-21 is estimated to be Rs 2, 11,761 crores, a 2.8% decrease over the revised
estimates of 2019-20. In 2019-20, total expenditure is estimated to increase by 8.6% (Rs 17.259 17,259
crore) from the budget estimates.
 In 2020-21, the highest increase in allocations was observed in Water Supply, Sanitation, Housing and
Urban Development (8%), police (6%), and irrigation and flood control (6%) sectors over the revised
estimates of the previous year. Significant decreases in allocation were observed in Energy (48%) and
transport (19%) sectors.
 According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (July 2017-June 2018), the unemployment rate in Bihar
was 7.2%, which is higher than that at the all-India level (6.1%). In 2020-21, Bihar is estimated to spend
Rs 58,380 crore on committed expenditure (Committed expenditure of a state typically includes
expenditure on payment of salaries, pensions, and interest). This is 9.8% higher than the revised
estimates of 2019-20.

In 2018-19, agriculture, manufacturing, and service contributed to 20%, 19% and 61% to the economy. These
sectors grew by 0.6%, 6.3%, and 13.3%, respectively. The per capita GSDP of Bihar in 2018-19 (at constant prices)
was Rs 33,629, 9% higher than the corresponding figure in 2017-18. In 2017-18, the per capita GSDP of Bihar was
the lowest among all states.

In 2020-21, Bihar is estimated to spend 32% of its revenue receipts on committed expenditure items. This
comprises of spending on salaries

The Department wise allocation for Annual Scheme (2020-20)

(14% of revenue receipts), pension (11%), and interest payments (7%).

Name of Department Scheme Percentage

Outlay
total
outlay

1. Education 21264.24 20.20

2. Rural 16014.88 15.21

Development

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3. Rural Works 9619.00 9.14

4. Social Welfare 7997.63 7.60

5. Health 5610.00 5.33

6. Road Construction 5581.00 5.30

7. PHED 5351.00 5.08

8. Finance 3950.00 3.75

9. Urban 3418.00 3.25

Development &
Housing

10. Water Resources 3000.00 2.85

11. Others 23456.29 22.29

TOTAL 105262-34 100-100

 The 15th Finance Commission's (154 FC) report for the financial year 2020-21 was tabled in Parliament on
February 1, 2020. The 15 FC recommended a 41% share for states in the central government's tax
revenue in 2020 21, a 1% decrease from the 42% share recommended by the 14" FC (2015-20). The 1%
decrease is to provide funds to the newly formed union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh
from the share of the central government.


Bihar Economic Survey 2019-20

On 24 February Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi presented its 14th Economic Survey 2019-20 in the Assembly

Key Points:

 According to the new series of data on Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), the growth rate of Bihar's
economy in 2018-19 was 10.53 percent (at constant prices) and 15.01 percent (at current prices), which
is higher than the growth rate for the Indian economy.
 The GSDP of Bihar at current prices was Rs 5,57,490 crore at current prices and Rs 3,94,350 crore at
constant (2011 12) prices in 2018-19.
 Share of various sectors in the GSVA:

• Primary Sector: 21.3%

• Secondary Sector: 19.7%

 Tertiary Sector: 59.0%

 The per capita income in Bihar increased from Rs21,750 in 2011-12 to Rs30,617 in 2018-19. It, noted that
the Bihar has the lowest per capita income among the states and it was at only 33.1% of the national
average (Rs92,565) in 2018-19
 The main growth drivers of the economy in Bihar, which registered a double-digit growth and contributed
towards real growth of the overall economy of Bihar during 2018 19, are air transport (36%), other
services (20%), trade and repair services (17.6%), road transport (14.0%), and financial services (13.8%).
 The "fiscal deficit of the State was 2.68% of GSDP, revenue surplus 1.34% of GSDP, and the outstanding
public debt liability of the State government was 32.34% of GSDP during the year 2018-19".

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  Egg production has increased in the state from 111.17 crore in 2016-17 to 176.34 crore in 2018-19 and
the total fish production gone up from 4.79 lakh tones in 2013-14 to 6.02 lakh tones in 2018-19".
 As per the 15th Finance Commission recommendation, the share of Bihar in the total shareable resource
pool of the centre has increased from 9.67 percent to 10.06 percent for the year 2020-21.
 Cropping intensity was 144 percent in 2017-18. The Government of India has conferred the Krishi Karman
Award to the state on 2nd January 2020, for its achievements in production and productivity of Maize and
Whear. In Bihar, 11 sugar mills are presently operating spread across six districts.

Major employment-generating industries for male workers:

 Agriculture, forestry and fishing (44.6 percent)

 Construction (17.1 percent),
 Wholesale and retail trade, repair of vehicles (12.3 percent)
 Manufacturing (9.3 percent).

Major employment-generating industries for female workers:

 Agriculture, forestry and fishing (53.6 percent)

 Education (25.7 percent).
 Bihar was the sixth highest state in terms of building additional road length (1, 30,799 km), during 2008-
2017. Bihar was at the third position among major states of India in 2017 in terms of rail route per
thousand sq.km, of area.
 Presently, the rural tele-density in Bihar is 46 connections per 100 persons. The urban tele-density in
Bihar is 149 connections per 100 persons.
 The projected peak demand for electricity in Bihar was 5300 MW in 2018-19. The per capita
consumption of the electricity in the state has risen to 311 kwh in 2018-19.
 The power capacity availability in the state was 3889 MW in 2018, and increased to 4767 MW in
2019.The total generation capacity of power as on March 2019 for the state was 4767 MW.
Out of this:
1. 82 percent is from coal-based thermal power
2. 2 11 percent from hydropower
3. 3. 7 percent from renewable energy sources.
 In Bihar, the rate of urbanization has been low compared to the all-India level. At one extreme,
the rate of urbanization was as high as 43.1 percent in Patna and, on another; it was only 3.5
percent in Banka.
 During 2018-19, Bihar recorded an annual rainfall of 780 mms. Kisangani received the highest
annual rainfall of 1522 mms. While the lowest rainfall was observed in the district of Jehanabad
(403 mms.).
 Bihar has about 285 wetlands, with a total area of 3992 hectares, accounting for nearly 0.6
percent of the total recorded forest area of the state in 2019.
 The total forest and tree cover together in Bihar constituted about 9309 sq. kms. In 2019, this is
about 9.9 percent of the total geographical area of the state.
 Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali is a flagship programme of the State Government which is intended to tackle
issues relating to climate change and environmental degradation.

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 Padma Vibhushan 2020

Name Field State

Sujoy K Guha Science & Engineering Bihar

Bimal Kumar Jain Social Work Bihar

Shanti Jain Art Bihar

Smt. (Dr.) Shanti Roy Medicine Bihar

Shyam Sunder Sharma Art Bihar

Ramjee Singh Social Work Bihar

Vashishtha Narayan Singh Science & Engineering Bihar

(Posthumous)

Padma Shri 2020

Name Field State

1. George Fernandes Public Affairs Bihar

Kamal Bahadur Singh

 On January 05, 2020, Former Member of Parliament (MP) of the country's 1st Lok Sabha - constituted in
1952 and last maharaja of Dumraon Raj Kamal Bahadur Singh passed away at the age of 94 in Buxar
district of Bihar due to old age ailments.
 He was elected as MP as an independent candidate from Shahabad in 1st general election after
independence.
 Kamal Singh also won the second Lok Sabha election held in 1957 as an independent candidate from
Buxar parliamentary constituency which then came into existence,

Pyaar ka Paudha' Campaign

 On February 14, 2020, the state Government of Bihar's Department of Environment and Forest in Patna
has launched Pyaar ka Paudha' drive under the Jal Jeevan Hariyali campaign with an aim to promote the
practice of planting trees in the state.

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  As a part of this imitative, the environment department has appealed to the people to gift the plant of
love to their close ones as it will be alive for years & also stalls of Patna plants have been planted for this
purpose.

Baidyanath Prasad Mahto

 On February 28, 2020 Baidyanath Prasad Mahto, Janata Dal (United) MP (Member of Parliament) from
Bihar passed away at the age of 72 in AIIMS, New Delhi, He was born on June 2, 1947 in West Champaran,
Bihar.
 2 times MP Baidyanath Prasad Mahto was a JD(U) MP from Bihar's Valmiki Nagar constituency as well as a
Member of Indian Parliament to the 15th and 17th Lok Sabha.

Five more States/UTs integrated with 'One Nation One Ration Card'

 On May 1, 2020, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Shri RamVilas Paswan
approved the integration of 5 more States and Union Territories under "One Nation One Ration Card"
plan with the already 12 existing states taking a total number of states/UTs to 17.
 The newly approved states/UTs under this plan are Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. Supply "Shahi Litchi" & "Zardalu Mango" to the people at
doorstep

Supply of "Shahi Litchi" & "Zardalu Mango" to the people at

doorstep

 On May 24, 2020 the Department of Posts, Government of India and Department of Horticulture,
Government of Bihar has partnered to supply "Shahi Litchi" of Muzaffarpur & "Zardalu Mango" of
Bhagalpur at the doorstep of people.
 Bihar Postal Circle has made an agreement with the Bihar's Horticulture department for its logistics &
delivery. People can place orders on the website horticulture.bihar.gov.in online.
 Zardalu Mango got its GI tag along with Katrani rice, Magahi paan and sahi lichi from Bihar in 2018.

National infant mortality rate: SRS Bulletin 2020

 On May 10, 2020, Registrar General of India has released its Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin-
based data collected for 2018 which has presented the estimates of Birth Rate, Death Rate, and Infant
Mortality Rate (IMR) for the year 2018 for India and its States/UTs.

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  Birth Rate: It is a crude measure of fertility of a population and a crucial determinant of population
growth.
 It has declined from 36.9 in 1971 to 20.0 in 2018. The rural-urban differential has also narrowed.
However, the birth rate has continued to be higher in rural areas compared to urban areas.
 Bihar-26.2 Rural- 26.8 Urban- 21.9) continues to remain at the top of list in birth rate while Andaman and
Nicobar (11.2) is at the bottom.

 Death Rate: It is one of the basic components of population change and the data is essential for
demographic studies and public health administration.
 It has decreased from 14.9 in 1971 to 6.2 in 2018.The decline has been steeper in rural
areas.
 Chhattisgarh has the highest death rate at 8 and Delhi has a lowest death rate of 3.3.

• Bihar has -5.8 (Rural-5.9 Urban- 5.1)

Infant mortality rate (IMR): It is the number of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births.

• It has decreased to 32 in 2018 from 50 in the last decade and about one-fourth as compared to 1971 (129).

•Madhya Pradesh has the highest IMR of 48 and Nagaland has the lowest IMR of 4.

•Bihar has - 32(Rural-32 Urban-30)

Centre allocates over Rs 1,832.66 cr for implementation of JJM in Bihar

 Centre has allocated Rs. 1832.66 crore for implementation of JJM in Bihar during 2020-21. Bihar is
planning to provide tap connections to the remaining 1 crore 50 lakh households in 2020-21
therefore the state will have 100% coverage of all households with functional tap water
connections by 2020-21.
 Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has been launched in partnership with States, to enable every household
in villages to have a FHTC within the premises by 2024.

India registers a steep decline in maternal mortality ratio

 The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined to 113 in 2016-18 from 122 in 2015-17 and
130 in 2014-2016, according to the special bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India 2016-18, released by
the Office of the Registrar General's Sample Registration System (SRS) on July 2020.
 The MMR of various States according to the bulletin includes Assam (215), Bihar (149), Madhya Pradesh
(173) Chhattisgarh (159), Odisha (150), Rajasthan (164), Uttar Pradesh (197) and Uttarakhand (99).
 The southern States registered a lower MMR - Andhra Pradesh (65), Telangana (63), Karnataka (92),
Kerala (43) and Tamil Nadu (60).

Important facts

 The target of United Nation's (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of 3.1 is to reduce the global
maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 1,00,000 live births.
 The maximum proportion of maternal deaths during 2016-18 is 33% in the age group of 20-24.
 Maternal Mortality Ratio is defined as the proportion of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births,
reported under the SRS.

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 MMR is calculated as maternal deaths to women in the ages 15-49 per lakh of women in that age group,
reported under SRS.
 As per World Health Organization (WHO), maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or
within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or
its management.

Niti Aayog's delta ranking of Aspirational districts

 In accordance with the delta rankings for aspirational districts by government think-tank Niti (National
Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh has topped the list of
aspirational districts in Overall Delta Ranking for the February-June 2020 period.
 The delta rankings for aspirational districts considers an incremental progress in five developmental
areas viz. Health and Nutrition, Education, Agriculture and Water Resources, Financial Inclusion & Skill
Development and Basic Infrastructure.
 In Basic Infrastructure category, the list has been topped by Khagaria (Bihar) followed by Araria (Bihar) &
Purnia (Bihar)
 In Agriculture & Water Resource Category, the list has been topped by Nawada (Bihar) followed by Pakur
(Jharkhand) & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh).
 Top 5 Aspirational Districts in overall Delta Ranking
1. Bijapur (Chhattisgarh)
2. Ri-Bhoi (Meghalaya)
3. Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh)
4. Nawada (Bihar)
5. Moga (Punjab)

Nitin Gadkari Inaugurated upstream carriageway of Mahatma

Gandhi bridge in Bihar

 On July 31, 2020, as a part of the renovation of the Mahatma Gandhi Bridge/Setu over river Ganga in
Bihar, Union Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkari virtually inaugurated its upstream carriageway.
 Mahatma Gandhi Bridge: 1st ever Indian Bridge to use modern tech for renovation Over 5.5 km, this
four-lane bridge at NH-19 between Patna and Hajipur is being renovated to replace its existing concrete
superstructure by new steel deck superstructure, consisting of about 6600 metric steel.
 This is first ever bridge in India using modern technology for improving the existing structure.
 The designing of the bridge has been done by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee in discussion
with international consultants.

Flipkart signs MoU with IIT Patna for Industry Focused Research

 On 18th August 2020, Flipkart signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) Patna to support the industry focused applied research in the fields like Artificial
Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML).

President U Win Myint pald' visit to Bodh Gaya

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  Myanmar President U Win Myint paid two days visit to Bodh Gaya, Bihar.
 Myanmarese first couple offered prayers at the Maha Bodhi temple.
 The President, the First Lady and delegation went to the Mahabodhi Temple.

Swachh Survekshan 2020: Patna in Dirtiest city in India

 The Swachh Survekshan 2020 report has been launched by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs (MOHUA).
 It is the fifth edition of the annual cleanliness urban survey conducted by the MoHUA. It is one of the
world's largest sanitation surveys.
 Indore won the title of the Cleanest City of India and Surat and Navi Mumbai won the second and third
position respectively in the < 1 lakh population category). Indore has created Record by Winning Title of
Cleanest City Fourth Time in A Row, While Patna is the Dirtiest City in India.

Facts about Bihar: Swachh Survekshan 2020

 Among the towns along the banks of river Ganga, Muger has been awarded the 3rd position (more than 1
lakh category) cleanest town award.

Top 5 cleanest and dirtiest cities with pop: 25 to 50 thousand

Ranking Cleanest cities Dirtiest cities

Dalmiya Nagar Gaya

01

02 Begusarai Buxar

03 Munger Bhagalpur

04 Muzaffarpur Parsa Bazar

05 Bettiah Biharsharif

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Top 5 cleanest and dirtiest cities with pop: 50,000-1 lakh

Cleanest dirtiest cities

cities
Ranking

01 Supaul Mokameh

02 Lakhisarai Barh

03 Bhabua Benipur

04 Dumraon Forbesganj

05 Samastipur Madhepura

Top 5 cleanest and dirtiest cities with pop. 1 to 10 lakhs

Ranking Dirtiest Cities

Cleanest
cities

01 Ramnagar Jhanjhapur

Nokha Piro

02

03 Bodh Gaya Maner

04 Kasba Kahalgaon

05 Barbigha Jogabani

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 North India's first bird ringing station

 On 17 February, 2020 Bihar becomes North India's first "bird ringing station" for observation,
monitoring & research on migratory birds and 4th state in the country after Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and
Orissa.
 The bird ringing station will be at Bhagalpur, located close to the Ganges and is known to be a favourite
destination of migratory birds.
 This will be the first bird-ringing station in the country to be set up with support of a state government. It
is one among the only three breeding places of Greater Adjutant across the world, the other two being
in Assam and Cambodia

Bihar 1st NDA state to adopt resolution against NRC and NPR

CAAQMS

 NTPC has signed an MoU with Central Pollution Control Board to provide financial support for
installation & commissioning of Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Stations
 NTPC will provide financial support of Rs 80 crore for installation of 25 CAAQMS across 6 states and 3
Union Territories (UTS).
 6 States: CAAQMS will be installed in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Ranchi (Jharkhand), Patna (Bihar),
Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur & Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh), Pimpri Chinchwad (Maharashtra) and Madurai
(Tamil Nadu).3 UTs: CAAQMS will also be installed in Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Port Blair), Dadra &
Nagar Haveli (Silvassa) and Daman & Diu (Daman).

We Think Digital

 We Think Digital Programme to provide digital literacy training to 1 lakh women launched by Facebook.
 Facebook launched "We Think Digital Programme to provide digital literacy training to 1 lakh women
across 7 states- Uttar Pradesh (UP), West Bengal, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand and
Bihar.
 It has been launched in partnership with National Commission for Women (NCW) and Cyber Peace and
Foundation for Women News.
 UP has become the first state, where this launched.
 The program aims to provide digital literacy training addressing issues around privacy, safety and
misinformation to one lakh women across seven states throughout the year.

Turtle rehab centre, Bhagalpur

 A first-of-its-kind rehabilitation centre for freshwater turtles has inaugurated in Bihar's Bhagalpur forest
division in January 2020.

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 The turtles have come under serious threat primarily for two reasons - food and the flourishing pet
trade.

Kanhaiva Kumar & Prashant Kishor included in the Forbes

India 2020

 Kanhaiya Kumar finds 12th position in the list while Prashant Kishor is at 16th position
Prashant Kishor is former JDU National Vice President while Kanhaiya Kumar is former President of
Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union.
 Indian origin US-born political commentator Hasan Minhaj is on the Ist position while Keyna's Marathon
runner Eliud Kipchoge in on the 20th place.

The Global Bihar Excellence Award 2019

 The award was given to recognize and facilitated Piyush Jaiswal's contribution towards social welfare,
women empowerment and introducing new talent in the field of arts and culture.
 This award was presented by Rajya Sabha MP and Padma Shri Awardee Dr. CP Thakur and Bihar Women
Commission president Dilmani Devi in Patna to promote women empowerment

The 2nd ICP at Jogbani (India) Biratnagar (Nepal)

 Indian Prime Minister (PM) Shri Narendra Modi along with the PM of Nepal Shri Khadga Prasad Sharma
Oli jointly inaugurated the 2nd Integrated Check Post (ICP) Jogbani (Araria) in Indian State Bihar -
Biratnagar through video conference.
 Jogbani- Biratnagar acts as an important trade point between the two nations and is equipped with
modern facilities.

SDG India Index and Dashboard 2019

 Government think tank the NITI Aayog has released the 2nd edition of Sustainable Development Goals
(SDG) India Index and dashboard for the year 2019 in New Delhi.
 The Index comprehensively documents the progress made by India's States and Union Territories towards
achieving the 2030 SDG targets.
 Kerala achieved the first rank in the composite SDG Index with a score of 70, followed by Himachal
Pradesh at 69.
 Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu ranked at the third position with the score of 67, While Bihar
is at the bottom of Niti Aayog's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index.

Water crisis in Patna

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 Patna seven other cities stare at water crisis.
 Even as Bihar continues to face acute shortage of potable water, the proposed "State Groundwater
Authority' is yet to see the light of the day.

Shiv Das Meena -PMRC

 Mr. Shiv Das Meena has assumed the charge of Chairman of Patna Metro Rail Corporation Limited
(PMRC), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) formed to implement Patna Metro Rail project in Bihar.

Bihar new population control policy

 A Bihar, one of the most populous states in the country, will have a new population-control policy soon,
the state's health minister said.
 The Bihar government in July 2018 introduced Antara, an injectable contraceptive that can block
pregnancy for up to three months.
 It was made available for free to every health centre in the state, with an advisory citing that pregnancy
can occur 7-10 months after the last dose of the contraceptive.

Jal-Jivan Hariyali Yatra

 Bihar CM Nitish Kumar launched altogether 167 development schemes, worth Rs 137 crore, through
remote control during a 'Jagrukta Sammelan' at Collectorate ground in Sheohar.
 The sammelan was organised as part of the fourth leg of his Jal-Jivan-Hariyali' yatra.
 The CM also released a book based on the 'Jal-Jivan- Hariyali Abhiyan' on this occasion.

IITF awarded Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

 The Bihar pavilion at the two-week India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi
bagged the gold medal in 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' category for the second consecutive year.
 On sale and display at the pavilion were various native artworks, including Sikki, terracotta and
Madhubani painting, Bhagalpuri silk and handmade bamboo, coconut shell and bronze items of the
Upendra Maharathi Sansthan were also on sale at the 46 stalls in the state pavilion at the fair.
 IITF is an annual event, in which the states of India as well as traders from across the globe participate.

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Projects worth Rs 385 crore at Purnia's historic Tikapatti
village
 Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Friday launched altogether 473 projects worth Rs 385.2 crore during a
programme at Tikapatti village under Rupauli block of Purnia district.
 Tikapatti is a historic village where Mahatma Gandhi visited three times in 1925, 1927 and 1934.
 The CM said the Tikapatti-based District Institute of Education Training (DIET) would now be named after
Mahatma Gandhi.
 He also announced to establish a life size statue of Babu in the premises of local "Gandhi Sadan after
beautifying its entire campus.
 Gandhi Sadan was built by the state government after independence in memory of Mahatma's visit to the
village.

India's first Khadi Mall in Patna

 Bihar CM Nitish Kumar inaugurated country's first Khadi Mall in the state capital by cutting the
ceremonial ribbon
 The four-storeyed mall, which is the biggest store of Khadi items in the country, is located on the eastern
side of the historic Gandhi Maidan near the state government's Udyog Bhavan.

CDAC, Patna
 C-DAO to open its centre in Patna.
 The state government will pay Rs65.55 crore to the Pune based Centre for Development of Advanced
Computing (C-DAC) for opening its centre in Patna. It will be the 12th such centre in the country.

Vashishtha Narayan Singh

 Renowned mathematician Vashishtha Narayan Singh passes away at 74, 14 November, 2019 in PMCH
Patna.
 He was suffering from mental disorder Schizophrenia since he was 40.
 Vashishtha Narayan Singh was known for challenging theories of Albert Einstein.
 Vashishtha Narayan passed away at the age of 74 at Patna Medical College and Hospital.
 He was awarded the Padma Shri.
 The fourth highest civilian award of India, Posthumously in 2020.
 Bihar Government has plan to established 'Vashisht Narayan Research Center for Mathematical Science
in Science College Patna

India Justice Report

 The study, titled 'India Justice Report' which Tata Trusts published, developed an index of justice system
across the country using four parameters police, prisons, judiciary and legal aid
 An assessment of 18 bigger states revealed that UP and Bihar have the worst justice system in India.
While UP ranked at the bottom of the list, Bihar stood at number 17,
The state with the best justice system according to the report is Maharashtra. It is followed by Kerala,
Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Haryana.
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 70ft tall Lord Buddha's statue in Rajgir

 Bihar chief minister unveiled a 70-feet tall statue of Lord Buddha at Rajgir in Nalanda district.
 It is the second tallest statue of Buddha in the country
 The statue has been installed above a 16-metre radius pedestal in the middle of the lake Ghora Katora
and has been made from 45,000 cubic foot pink sandstone.

Manisha Kulshreshtha
 Noted writer Manisha Kulshreshtha has been awarded the 28th Bihari Puraskar for 2018 for her novel
'Swapnapash'.
 The award is presented annually to writers of Rajasthani origin by the KK Birla Foundation for their
outstanding work in Hindi or Rajasthani published in the past 10 years.

The award named after famous Hindi poet Bihari (Bihari Lal Chaube) and carries a cash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh, a
citation, and a plaque.

Patna High Court new Chief Justice

 Bihar Governor Phagu Chauhan administered the oath of office to Justice Karol at the Raj Bhavan.
 Patna High Court is the High Court of the state of Bihar, established on 3 February 1916 and later
affiliated under the Government of India Act 1915.

Golden Jubilee celebrations of Vishwa Shanti Stupa, Rajgir

 President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the golden jubilee celebrations of the Vishwa Shanti Stupa here,
a place pagoda situated on the Ratnagiri hills.
 The pagoda was built by a Japanese Buddist rattled by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
 He also found solace in the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.
 Addressing a gathering at 50th anniversary of Vishwa Shanti Stupa in Rajgir in Bihar today the President
said the message of peace, unity, and non-violence of shanti stupa resonates with the spiritual message
of Lord Buddha.

Waterman adopts Gaya Pond in Bihar

 Water conservationist and Magsaysay award winner Rajindra Singh has adopted Rasalpur pond on the
eastern outskirts of Gaya town.
 Rasalpur used to be one of the biggest water bodies in Gaya district.
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  The pond, spread over 10 acres, had been a source of water recharge as well as irrigation through nearly
half-a hundred of activists on Friday morning to create awareness about water conservation. The yatra
began from Sita Kund near Vishnupad temple.

Bihar first floating solar power plant in Darbhanga

 Known by the City of Ponds, Darbhanga will soon have state's first floating solar power plant.
 The 2 MW capacity grid-tied floating solar power project is an initiative of Bihar Renewable Energy
Development Agency (BREDA).

Patna-Kathmandu rail link likely by 2021: ECR

 The East Central Railway (ECR) has submitted a blueprint to the Railway Board and sought its approval to
establish a direct rail link between Patna and Kathmandu in Nepal.

67 km-long Jayanagar-Barbidas projects, which is funded by the ministry of external affairs, is being implemented
by Indian Railway Construction Company (IRCON).

Bihar mental disorder graph rises 30% per year

 In an alarming trend that has emerged as the world observed mental health day on Thursday, Bihar has
been witnessing an annual increase of around 30% in cases of people suffering from mental disorders
since 2012, according to the state health department officials.

School education: Bihar 19th among 20 states

 Niti Aayog's school education quality index (SEQI) aimed at evaluating the performance of states and
Union Territories (UTS) in the school education sector.
 To facilitate like-to-like comparisons, states and UTs have been grouped as large states, small states and
UTs. In the large states category, the top performing states are Kerala, Rajasthan, (SEQI) report released
by NITI Aayog.
 The neighbouring Jharkhand has bagged the last rank.
 The ranking evaluated all states and Union territories (UTS) on the basis of two categories outcomes and
governance processing aiding outcome.
 Manipur has topped the list of small states followed by Tripura and Goa.

Anjali Singh

 Wing Commander Anjali Singh has become India's first female military diplomat to be posted in any of
the Indian missions abroad.
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 She has joined the Indian Embassy in Russia as the Deputy Air Attache.
 Until now, only male officers from the three services (Indian Air Force, Navy and Army) were appointed as
military attaches in overseas Indian missions.
 Anjali Singh hails from Bihar.

Motihari-Amlekhgunj cros petroleum pipeline border

 Prime Minister Modi and Nepal's Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli jointly inaugurated Motihari-Amlekhgunj
cross border petroleum products pipeline.
 This is the first transnational petroleum pipeline from India and first South Asian oil pipeline corridor.
 It is 69 km long pipeline from Motihari in Bihar to Amlekhgunj in Nepal has been constructed by India.

Bihar 2nd tiger reserve in Kaimur

 Bihar government has recently identified forests in Kaimur as a possible site for the state's second tiger
reserve.
 After seeing the increasing number of tigers in Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) the Bihar government has
initiated to develop second tiger reserve in Kaimur forests.
 According to n Forest Officer the number of pug marks are being counted here.
 The proposal will be sent to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) very soon,
 The Kaimur district has the highest green cover in Bihar which is about 41.12 per cent.
 The Kaimur forests are the biggest in the state in terms of area.
 The Kaimur forests are connected to forests in the neighbouring states of Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and
Madhya Pradesh.

Mandal Dam Project (Bihar and Jharkhand)

 Prime Minister has laid the foundation stone for the Mandal Dam Project on the North Koel River.
 The Mandal Dam Project would be boon for the states of Jharkhand and Bihar.
 60 Percent would be financed by the union government as a grant from Long -Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF)
under Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana.
 Remaining 40% will be borne by the States through loan financed by NABARD

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 Kosi-Mechi Interlinking project

 Centre approves Rs 4,900 crore Kosi-Mechi Interlinking project for interlinking of Kosi and Mechi rivers of
Bihar.
 Kosi-Mechi is the second major river interlinking project in the country to be approved by Central
Government after the Ken-Betwa project in Madhya Pradesh.
 About Kosi-Mechi Interlink envisages diversion of part of surplus water of Kosi river through existing
Hanuman Nagar barrage to Mechi River of Mahananda basin.
 Mechi River is important tributary of Mahananda river.
 Its basin is mostly deficient in providing adequate water for irrigation.

Ramon Magsaysay Award 2019; won by Ravish Kumar

 India's senior executive editor of NDTV, Ravish Kumar was awarded 2019 'Raman Magsaysay Award'
which is regarded as the Asian version of the Nobel Prize.
 He was awarded for "harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless".
 Four other individuals were declared winners of this award along with Ravish Kumar. Four other winners
of the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay award are as follows:
 Ko Swe Win Myanmar
 Angkhana Neelapaijit Thailand
 Raymundo Pujante Cayabyab Philippines
 Kim Jong-Ki South Korea

Bihar's first lightning sensor to be installed in Gaya

 On 22 August, 2019, Once the lightning sensor at Gaya becomes operational, it will cover several districts
in the surrounding areas, including Patna, Nalanda, Nawada, Jehanabad, Ara, Sasaram, Aurangabad etc.
 This lighting sensor will provide information about the occurrence of lightning with a lead of about 30
minutes in an area of around 100-200 km.
 Its system, once in place, will inform the BSDMA, district collectors, municipal officers and other public
representatives about an impending lightning strike 30 minutes before its occurrence.

Bihar Government dissolves all four police zones

 The Government announced four police zones of Bihar Police headed by IG rank officers have now
become a history as the state government has dissolved them as part of major restructuring of the police
department for better crime control.
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  The zinc system was introduced in 1982. After changes, only rail police zone will exist in the state.
 The government has also created an additional police range, Begusarai.
 These new police range will also cover Khagaria district

Jal Chaupal
 Bihar government is ready to roll out various water conservation methods, including 'Jal Chaupal' in
every village to spread awareness about rain water harvesting and misuse of water.
 Bihar government is committed to provide tap water to every household by 2020.

Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC)

 Bihar Education Project Council launches state's first career portal Bihar Education Project Council (BEPC),
with support of United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), launched 'Career Guidance Portal for providing
bunch of options related to career, college, entrance exam and scholarship information to secondary and
higher secondary students of Bihar

World Bank: Biennial Poverty and Shared Prosperity report

On 7 October, 2020, the World bank released the biennial poverty and shared prosperity report. According
to the report, around 150 million people are likely to enter extreme poverty due to covid-19 pandemic in
different countries.

 The report says that covid-19 pandemic will push an additional 88 million to 115 Million people to
Extreme poverty: This will raise the count of of the poor to 150 million by 2021.
 If the pandemic had not entered the globe, the poverty rate would have dropped by 7.9% in 2020.
Unfortunately, the Global recession caused by the pandemic will now push 1.4% of the world population
into extreme poverty. The Global poverty rate is projected to increase to 9.2 percent in 2020.

Atal Tunnel
 On 3 October, 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Atal Tunnel, world's longest highway
tunnel in Himachal Pradesh's Rohtang.
 The 9.02 Km long tunnel connects Solang Valley near Manali to Sissu in Lahaul and Spiti district
throughout the year. Earlier the valley was cut off for about 6 months each year owing to heavy snowfall.
The tunnel reduces the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km. The tunnel will also reduce the time
taken to cover the same diste distance from 4 hours to just around 15 minutes.
 The Tunnel is built with ultra-modem specifications in the Pir Panjal range of Himalayas at an altitude of
3000 Mtrs (10,000 Feet) from the Mean Sea Level (MSL).
 The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had taken the decision to construct a strategic tunnel below the
Rohtang Pass on June 3, 2000.

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 100 Most Influential People of 2020: Time
 TIME Magazine's annual list of the world's 100 most influential people was released in September 2020.
The List has named people in five categories: Pioneers, Artists, Leaders, Titans, Icons.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been featured in TIME Magazine's annual list for the fourth time since
2014. Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana has been included in Artist category.
 Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been named under the category of "Titans'.
 Professor Ravindra Gupta who spearheaded a study that led to the second man in history being cured of
HIV in London, last year, has been listed under the 'Pioneers' category. He is a professor of clinical
microbiology at the Cambridge University.
 TIME's list this year also featured 82-year-old Bilkis, who was one of the most prominent faces during the
anti CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, carlier this year. She is in the list under the category of 'Icons'.

Nobel Prize Winners List 2020

Winners Description

Peace World Food Programme Italy for its contribution to bettering

(Rome) 1961 conditions for peace in conflict
affected areas and for acting as
a driving force in efforts to
prevent use of hunger as a
weapon of war and conflict.

Physiology Harvey J Alter, (USA), Charles M for the discovery of the

Rice (USA), Houghton (UK) hepatitis C virus

Physics Roger Penrose(UK) Roger Penrose received prize

for the discovery that a black
hole formation is a robust
Reinhard Genzel (Germany) prediction of the general theory
of relativity. Dr Penrose proved
that iftoo much mass
Andrea Ghez (USA) accumulated in too small a
place, collapse into a black hole
was inevitable. Genzel and
Ghez received the prize for
discovery of a supermassive
black hole at the centre of the
Milkyway galaxy, now known to
be the Sagittarius A.

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Chemistry Emmanuelle Charpentier Binco Development of a method for
s (France) and Jennifer A Genome Editing, namely
Doudna (USA) CRISPR Cas9 Snipping Scissors

Literature Louise Gluck (USA) for her unmistakable poetic

voice that with austere beauty
makes individual existence
universal

*This is the first time 2 women have jointely won the nobel prize in Chemistry.

Expansion of NIA
 Ministry of Home Affairs sanctioned 3 (Three) additional branches for National Investigation Agency on 25
September to be located at Imphal, Chennai and Ranchi.
 This decision of Government of India will help in ensuring quick response to any emergent situation in the
concerned States by the premier anti-terror investigation agency of the country.

SAMVEDNA
 The apex child rights body NCPCR (National Commission for Protection of Child Rights) has launched a
toll-free tele-counselling helpline number 1800-121-2830 for children affected during COVID-19 for
providing counselling and psycho-social support
 Recognized as SAMVEDNA (Sensitizing Action on Mental Health Vulnerability through Emotional
Development and Necessary Acceptance), the Toll-Free Tele counselling will be in service from Monday
to Saturday, 10 am - 1 pm and 3 pm to 8 pm.
 The tele-counselling support will cater to children all over India in various regional languages also.

Blue Flag Beaches

 On 18th September 2020. Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC)
announced at a virtual event that for the first time eight beaches of India are recommended for the
coveted International eco-label, the Blue flag certification.
 Blue Flag beaches are considered the cleanest beaches of the world. The eight beaches are Shivrajpur in
Gujarat, Ghoghla in Daman & Diu. Kasarkod and Padubidri beach in Karnataka, Kappad in Kerala,
Rushikonda in Andhra Pradesh, Golden beach of Odisha and Radhanagar beach in Andaman and
Nicobar.

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 SAATHI App
 The ministry of Tourism celebrated world tourism day on Sunday (27 Sep. 2020) through a virtual event
and launched the SAATHI application for the hospitality industry
 The ministry said SAATHI is an initiative of the tourism ministry with the Quality Council of India to assist
the hospitality industry in continuing to operate safely and instill confidence among staff employees and
guests about the safety of the hotels and units.
 Swachh Bharat Abhiyan - QCI held surveys regarding the progress of the initiative.

Two women Navy officers to be posted on a warship

 In a landmark event, in September 2020 two women officers have been selected to join as Observers
(Airborne Tacticians) on Indian Navy warships as part of the crew.
 With this, Sub Lieutenant Kumudini Tyagi and Sub Lieutenant Riti Singh will be the first women officers
in the Indian Navy to operate from warships.
 The duo will be part of Multi-Role-Helicopters (MRH) crew.
 Both, Sub Lieutenant Kumudini Tyagi (hails from Ghaziabad) and Sub Lieutenant Riti Singh (hails from
Hyderabad), are engineering graduates in computer science.
 They were commissioned into the Navy in 2018.

World's 2nd largest road network: India

 India has now the second largest road network in the world being fuelled by the tremendous growth in
construction of expressways and highways.
 Road, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said this while addressing the 60th annual
convention of SIAM.
 He informed that the current rate of road building per day has averaged to 30 Kilometre a day, with the
highest being 40 Kilometre per day of highways.

NCRB data about Farmers and daily wagers

 According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data on accidental deaths and suicides,
42,480 farmers and daily wagers committed suicide in 2019, an increase of about 6% from the previous
year, as the number of farmers committing suicide fell marginally while that of daily wagers increased 8%.
 10,281 farmers committed suicide in 2019. down from 10. 10,357 in 2018, whereas the figure for daily
wagers went up to 32,559 from 30,132.

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 International Webinar on Textile Traditions
 On 3 October 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the textiles sector is a key sector that will
help build an Atmanirbhar Bharat or self-reliant India.
 Addressing an International Webinar on Textile Traditions organized by Indian Council for Cultural
Relations – ICCR Yesterday Mr Modi said to assist our weavers in continuing make world class products,
we want to leam global best practices and also our best practices.
 The programme is organized in the context of Gandhiji's 150th Birth Anniversary celebrations.
 The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) was founded in 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad,
independent India's first Education Minister.

Living Planet Report 2020

 Living Planet Report 2020 has been released Relcased by: World Wildlife Fund. It is published every two
years since 1998. It is based on the Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculations.
 There has been a reduction of 68% in the global wildlife population between 1970 and 2016.
 75% of the Earth's ice-free land surface has already been significantly altered, most of the of the oceans
are polluted, and more than 85 % and the area of wetlands has been lost during this period.
 The highest biodiversity loss due to land use change globally has been found in Europe and Central Asia
at 57.9%, followed by North America at 52.5%, Latin America and Caribbean at 51.2%, Africa at 45.9% and
Asia at 43%.

Indo-Pacific trilateral dialogue

 The first Indo-Pacific trilateral dialogue was held between India, Australia and France.
 Objective: To build strong bilateral ties that the three countries share with each other and synergise their
respective strengths to ensure a peaceful, secure, prosperous and rules-based Indo-Pacific Region.
 The dialogue was co-chaired by Indian foreign secretary, secretary-general from the French ministry for
Europe and foreign affairs and Australian foreign affairs secretary

UN Women
 UN Women and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has released a report titled "From Insights to
Action: Gender Equality in the wake of COVID-19".
 What the report says: The report says that the coronavirus pandemic and its fallout will likely push 47
million more women into poverty, reversing decades of progress to eradicate extreme poverty.
 The projections estimated that by 2021, for every 100 men aged between 25 and 34 living in extreme
poverty, there will be 118 women. The gap is further expected to widen to 121 women per 100 men by
2030.

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 First African country to end sleeping sickness
 The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that Togo has become the first country in Africa to
eliminate human African Trypanosomiasis or sleeping sickness.
 Sleeping Sickness or Human African trypanosomiasis: It is a vector-borne parasitic disease.
 It is caused by infection with protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Trypanosoma.
 Transmission: They are transmitted to humans by tsetse fly bites which have acquired their infection
from human beings or from animals harbouring human pathogenic parasites.
 The discase is currently found in 36 sub-Saharan African countries. According to WHO, if untreated, the
disease can become fatal.
 Togo is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the cast and Burkina Faso to the
north. The country extends south to the Gulf of Guinea where its capital Lomé is located.

RBI draft on Rupee interest rate derivatives

 On 15 September 2020, The Reserve Bank proposed allowing foreign portfolio investors to undertake
exchange-traded rupee interest rate derivatives transactions subject to an overall ceiling of Rs. 5,000
crores.
 Interest Rate Derivatives (IRD) are contracting whose values is ves (k). derived from one or more interest
rates, prices of interest-rate instruments, or interest rate indices.

EASE Banking Reforms Index

 Union Finance Minister has felicitated the best performing banks on EASE Banking Reforms Index.
 EASE Banking Reforms Index: EASE stands for “Enhanced Access and Service Excellence”. It was launched
in 2018 with the aim to institutionalize clean and smart banking.
 EASE 2.0 further progresses the reforms built in EASE 1.0 by making the reforms journey irreversible,
strengthening processes and systems and driving outcomes.
 The index is prepared by the Indian Banking Association (IBA) and is commissioned by the Finance
Ministry.

$500 Million Loan for Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor

 The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $500 million loan, the first
tranche of a total $1 billion facility, to build a modern, high-speed 82 kilometer Delhi-Meerut Regional
Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor.
 It will improve regional connectivity and mobility in India's national capital region (NCR).
 The first tranche loan will support construction of the first of three priority rail corridors planned under
the NCR Regional Plan 2021 to connect Delhi to other cities in adjoining states.

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 India successfully test-fires BrahMos supersonic cruise missile
 On 30 September 2020, India successfully test-fired BrahMos supersonic cruise missile with several
indigenous features.
 The test firing of the missile was carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation,
DRDO from Balasore in Odisha.
 BrahMos surface-to-surface supersonic cruise missile features indigenous Booster and Airframe Section
along with many other Made in India' sub-systems.
 The BrahMos Land-Attack Cruise Missile (LACM) was cruising at a top speed of Mach 2.8. The missile
weighs around 2.5 tonnes and has a strike range of more than 400 km.

Galaxy other than Milky-Way

 Astronomers recently found a strong possibility of planet candidate in a galaxy much far away from our
Milky Way.This galaxy is known as Whirlpool galaxy or M51 ULS-1b.
 The study regarding the discovery of first new planet in a outer galaxy has been done by Rosanne Di
Stefano at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics along with several colleagues.
 They have found a candidate planet in the M51 Whirlpool Galaxy some 23 million light years from Earth
near the constellation of Ursa Major.
 This new planet named as M51-ULS-16, is probably slightly smaller than Saturn and orbits a binary star
system. The planet is revolving round the system at a distance of perhaps ten times Earth's distance from
the Sun.
 The observation was possible because of a special set of conditions which are created by emission of X-
Rays from a nearby neutron star to this system.

JIMEX-2020
 The 4th edition of India - Japan Maritime bilateral exercise JIMEX held in North Arabian Sea from 26 to 28
September 2020.
 JIMEX is conducted biennially between the Indian Navy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force
(JMSDF). JIMEX series of exercises commenced in January 2012 The last edition of JIMEX was conducted
in October 2018 off Visakhapatnam, India.

Pixxel agreement to launch Satellite

 On 23 September 2020; Pixxel, Bengaluru based, Indian space-tech startup, has announced about its
programme to launch second satellite.
 Pixxel regarding the launch of its second satellite signed an agreement with Silicon Valley-based in-space
satellite transportation and infrastructure company Momentus Inc.
 Pixxel's second small satellite will be placed into the SSO (Sun-synchronous orbit) in December 2021
onboard a SpaceX Falcon-9 launch, as well as options to fly again in 2022. The point to be noted that
Pixxel till now has not launched even its first satellite.

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 The company's first satellite is scheduled to be launched towards the end of this year on a Russian Soyuz
rocket.
 The Momentus Shuttle Service will provide rideshare for multiple Pixxel spacecraft to predefined orbits.
 Pixxel was founded in 2019 by then 21-year-olds, Awais Ahmed and Kshitij Khandelwal.

Zero-emission commercial aircraft

 On 21 September 2020, Airbus has revealed three concepts for the world's first zero-emission
commercial aircraft.
 These concepts each represent a different approach to achieving zero-emission flight.
 All of these concepts rely on hydrogen as a primary power source.
 It is expected by the company that such a concept could soon become a reality, and could enter service
by 2035. The company, exploring various technology pathways, and aerodynamic configurations, for zero-
emission commercial aircraft.

First Intact Planet Near a White Dwarf

 An international team of astronomers’ planet found closely orbiting a white dwarf. They got it by using
NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and retired Spitzer Space Telescope.
 They have reported that the planet may be the first intact planet found closely orbiting a white dwarf.
Discovery details about this planet in the Sept. 17 issue of Journal Nature.
 It should be known that white dwarf is dense leftover of a Sun-like star, only 40% of the size of Earth. This
newly discovered planet called WD 1856 b, as large as Jupiter.

World Solar Technology Summit

 Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas has addressed the first World Solar Technology Summit.
World Solar Technology has been organised by International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).
 Five Public Sector Undertakings (PSUS) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas will be joining
International Solar Alliance (ISA)'s Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (ISA-CSCA) as Corporate
Partners.

Chandrayaan-3
 Minister of State for Space Dr Jitendra Singh has said that the launch of Chandrayaan-3 may now take
place somewhere in carly 2021.
 Chandrayaan-3 will be a mission repeat of Chandrayaan- 2 and will include a Lander and Rover similar to
that of Chandrayaan-2, but will not have an orbiter.
 He also said that Images sent by Chandrayaan-1 show that Moon may be rusting along the poles. The sign
of this finding is that even though the surface of the Moon is known to have iron-rich rocks, it is not

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 known for the presence of water and oxygen, which are the two elements needed to interact with iron to
create rust.

India Russia biennial naval exercises

 The 11th edition of exercise INDRA NAVY, a biennial bilateral maritime exercise between Indian Navy and
Russian Navy is scheduled in the Bay of Bengal from 04 to 05 September 2020.
 Initiated in 2003, Ex INDRA NAVY epitomises the long-term strategic relationship between the Navies of
India and Russia.

Italian Open 2020

 Men's Singles:
 World number one Novak Djokovic won Italian Open at Rome on September 21 2020.He defeated
Diego Schwartzman by 7-5, 6-3 in the final.
 With this victory, Djokovic Masters title overall count rose to 36.
 Women's Singles:
• Top-seeded Simona Halep of Romania won her first Italian Open title. She has been declared winner
after defending champion Czech Karolina Pliskova retired midway through the final with an injury.
 Halep was leading 6-0, 2-1 when Czech player Pliskova stopped playing after just 31 minutes.

Tribes India E-Marketplace

 On october 2, 2020 Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda virtually launched India's largest
handicraft and organic products marketplace, Tribes India E-Marketplace.

RAISE 2020
 On 5th October 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated RAISE 2020, a Mega Virtual Summit on
Artificial Intelligence (AI).
 The summit is being organized by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and NITI Aayog
from October 5-9, 2020.

AIFF Footballer of the Year 2019-20

 All India Football Federation (AIFF) awards 2019-20 have been announced.
 Indian National Team goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu has won the 2019-20 AIFF Men's Footballer of
the Year Award.
 The women's squad's midfielder Sanju Yadav has won the 2019-20 AIFF Women's Footballer of the Year
Award.

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 Syeda Anwara Taimur
 Syeda Anwara Taimur, the only woman to have become the Chief Minister of Assam till now, passed
away in Australia on 28 September, 2020. She was 84.

Shekhar Kapur
 Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur has been appointed the new President of FTII Society and Chairman of FTII
Governing Council. His tenure will be till March 3, 2023.
 Kapur, known for films like Masoom (1983), Mr India (1987), Elizabeth (1998) and Bandit Queen (1994),
will replace television producer B P Singh.

Yamin Hazarika Award 2020

 Renowned historian and author Rana Safvi have won this year's Yamin Hazarika Award.
 The prestigious award is given in the memory of Yamin Hazarika, the first woman police officer from
Assam.
 She was also the first woman police officer from the North East.

CDRI Award 2020

 The CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow yesterday felicitated young researchers with
CDRI Award for their outstanding contribution in drug discovery and development, at a virtual event.
 Dr Bushra Ateeq, Dr Surajit Ghosh and Dr Ravi Manjithaya received the prestigious CDRI Award 2020.
These scientists have made outstanding contribution in unfolding the knot of Cancer.
 One of the CDRI awardee Dr Bushra Ateeq also got this year's Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in medical
sciences.

SP Balasubrahmanyam
 On 25th September 2020, Iconic Indian singer SP Balasubrahmanyam died in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, after
suffering a cardiorespiratory arrest. He was 74.

Jaswant Singh
 Former Union Minister and BJP leader Jaswant Singh passed away on 27 September, 2020.
 Major Jaswant Singh Jasol (1938-2020) was one of the founding members of the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP).
 During the Vajpayee administration between 1998 and 2004, he held multiple cabinet portfolios including
Finance, External Affairs and Defence.
 He also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission between 1998 and 1999.

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 Isher Judge Ahluwalia
 Renowned economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia passed away on 26 September, 2020.
 The 74-year old died battling brain cancer over the past ten months.
 She was awarded India's third highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan in 2009.

India Denmark pact

 India and Denmark on Saturday inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to increase cooperation
in the area of intellectual property rights (IPRs) by exchanging best practices and collaborating in training
programmes.

Anil Dhasmana
 Former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief Anil Dhasmana was appointed as the new chief of
National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).
 Dhasmana would be the head of NTRO for next two years.
 He will replace former Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer Satish Jha.

Requirement Climate Risk Report

 On 15 September 2020 New Zealand Government announced that New Zealand will be the first country in
the world to require the financial sector to report on climate risks.
 The announcement regarding such provisions came from James Shaw Minister for Climate Change, New
Zealand.

Elephant tragedy in Botswana

 On 21 September, 2020 Wild Life Department officials in Botswana announced the test result about
mysterious death of large number of elephants in that country during July, 2020.
 The test result established that toxins in water produced by cyanobacteria killed more than 300 elephants
in Okavango delta in Botswana this year. The animals were found with tusks intact, ruling out poaching
and deliberate poisoning.

Real Mango
 Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Indian Railways has disrupted the operation of illegal software called
"Real Mango".
 Real Mango Software: It is an illegal software developed for cornering confirmed Railway reservation over
the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation).

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 Project for Conservation of Dolphins
 Prime Minister announced Project Dolphin on Independence Day. The project is aimed at the
conservation of the Gangetic Dolphins - both riverine as well as the oceanic dolphins in India.
 Significance: Aquatic life is an indicator of the health of river ecosystems. As the Gangetic dolphin is at the
top of the food chain, protecting the species and its habitat will ensure conservation of aquatic lives of
the river.

Lok Sabha Passes Bill to reduce salaries of MPs by 30%

 The Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed by the
Lok Sabha. The bill seeks to cut salaries of MPs by 30%.
 30% Salary Cut is applicable to all MPs, including the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, for the
financial year 2020-2021.
 The President and Vice-President of India along with all the State Governors, have also decided to cut
their salary by 30%.

India Post launches Five Star Villages Scheme

 Five Star Village Scheme has been launched by The Department of Posts. The scheme ensures the
universal coverage (100% coverage) of flagship postal schemes in rural areas of India.
 Scheme will be first implemented in Maharashtra. 50 villages in each district will be covered during
2020-2021.
 Five Star scheme will look after following sub schemes or initiatives in a comprehensive manner:
1. Savings Bank accounts, Recurrent Deposit Accounts, NSC or KVP certificates.
2. Sukanya Samridhi Accounts or PPF Accounts.
3. Funded Post Office Savings Account linked India Post Payments Bank Accounts.
4. Postal Life Insurance Policy or Rural Postal Life Insurance Policy
5. Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana Account or Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana Account.
 It will be implemented by a team of five Gramin Dak Sevaks. The team will be headed by Branch Post
Master.

India Report
On 4 September, 2020 Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu has released "The State of Young Child in India"
report. The report was prepared by a policy advocacy organization, Mobile Creches.

 The report measured Health and Nutrition in the country.

 According to the report, there 159 million children aged below 6 years in India out of the 21 per cent are
undernourished, 36 per cent are underweight and 38 per cent do not receive full immunization.
 The report has also released the list of Best-performing states & worst-performing states based on the
Young Child Outcomes Index.

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  Best-performing states
 Kerala
 Goa
 Tamil Nadu
 Tripura
 Mizoram
 Worst-performing states
 Bihar
 Uttar Pradesh
 Madhya Pradesh
 Jharkhand
 Chhattisgarh

Index of Eight Core Industries July, 2020

 The Office of Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is releasing
Index of Eight Core Industries for the Month of July, 2020.

List of MUDRA Loan Scheme Beneficiaries

 As on March 31 women in Tamil Nadu had availed Rs. 58,227 crore loan from the scheme followed by
West Bengal Rs. 55,232 crore, Karnataka Rs. 47,714 crore, Bihar Rs. 44,879 crore and Maharashtra Rs.
42,000 crore loan as per the data provided by the Ministry of Finance to the Rajya Sabha.
 Together women from these five States have got 52 per cent of the total MUDRA loan for women.

New Circles of Archaeological Survey of India

On 26 August 2020, The Ministry of Culture has announced 7 new circles of Archaeological Survey of India.

 The step has been taken in accordance with the Prime Minister's call to facilitate and strengthen the
process of preservation and registration of archaeological monuments.
 New circles have been created in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Trichy (Tamil Nadu), Jhansi and Meerut
(Uttar Pradesh), Hampi (Karnataka), Raiganj (West Bengal) and Rajkot (Gujarat).

Chunauti
On 28 August 2020, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad has launched
"Chunauti" Next Generation Startup Challenge Contest to further boost startups and software products with
special focus on Tier-II towns of the country.

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 It aims at identifying around three hundred startups working in identified areas and providing them seed
funds of upto 25 lakh rupees and other facilities.
 Under this challenge the Ministry of Electronics and IT will invite startups in the areas of work including
Edu Tech, Agri Tech and FinTech solutions for masses, Supply Chain and Logistic management,
Infrastructure, Medical Healthcare as well as jobs and skilling.

Honey Mission
 Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has taken a big leap towards “Aatmanirbhar Bharat" by
creating local employment for migrant workers through its flagship "Honey Mission" program.
 The Honey Mission was launched by KVIC in 2017 which aimed at creating employment for the Adivasis,
farmers, unemployed youth, and women by roping them in beekeeping while also increasing India's
honey production.

Dekho Apna Desh series

 Ministry of Tourism's Dekho Apna Desh Webinar Series organized the 50th webinar titled "Cultural
heritage of Hyderabad".
 Hyderabad: It is known as the "City of Pearls" and the "City of Nizams” and has been the centre of a
vibrant historical legacy ever since its inception by the Qutub Shahi dynasty.
 Established by: Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah established Hyderabad in 1591 to extend the capital
beyond the fortified Golconda

Bondas
 The COVID-19 pandemic has reached the Bondas, a tribal community residing in the hill ranges of
Malkangiri district in Odisha.
 Bondas are classified as the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) who live in the hill regions of
the Malkangiri district of Odisha.
 They are members of a group of Austroasiatic tribes and are believed to be part of the first wave of
migration out of Africa about 60,000 years ago.

RBI releases National Strategy for Financial Education

 Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has launched the National Strategy for Financial Education 2020-2025 (NSFE).
It is the second NSFE, the first one being released in 2013.
 Aim: To create a financially aware and empowered India.
 Financial Education: The policy has recommended a 5 C' approach for dissemination of financial education
in the country:
 Content: Financial Literacy content for various sections of population.
 Capacity: Develop the capacity and Code of Conduct' for financial education providers.
 Community: Evolve community led approaches for disseminating financial literacy in a
sustainable manner.

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  Communication: Use technology, media and innovative ways of communication for
dissemination of financial education messages.
 Collaboration: Streamline efforts of other stakeholders for financial literacy.

Swachh Survekshan 2020 Report

 The Swachh Survekshan 2020 report has been launched by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs (MOHUA).
 It is the fifth edition of the annual cleanliness urban survey conducted by the MoHUA. It is one of the
world's largest sanitation surveys.
 Swachh Survekshan 2020 surveyed a total of 4242 cities, 62 Cantonment Boards and 97 Ganga Towns.
 Indore won the title of the Cleanest City of India and Surat and Navi Mumbai won the second and third
position respectively in the > 1 lakh population category).
 Indore has created Record by Winning Title of Cleanest City Fourth Time in a Row.
 Chhattisgarh won the title of the Cleanest State of India in the > 100 ULB (Urban Local Bodies) category
while Jharkhand was adjudged the Cleanest State of India in the <100 ULB category.
 Among the towns along the banks of river Ganga, Varanasi has been awarded the cleanest town award.
 New Delhi has been awarded as the cleanest capital city in the country.
 Jalandhar Cantonment Board was conferred the cleanest cantonment board in the country.
 Ahmedabad in Gujarat was awarded for being the cleanest city with over 40 lakh population.
 A total of 6 cities (Indore, Ambikapur, Navi Mumbai, Surat,Rajkot and Mysuru) have been rated as 5-star
cities, 86 cities as 3-Star and 64 cities as 1-Star, as per MOHUA's Star Rating Protocol for Garbage Free
Cities

Top 5 cleanest and dirtiest cities with population between 1 and 10 lakhs

Ranking Cleanest cities Dirtiest cities

01 Ambikapur Gaya

02 Mysore Buxar

03 New Delhi (NDMC) Abohar

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04 Chandrapur M Bhagalpur

05 Khargone Parsa Bazaar

Top 5 cleanest and dirtiest cities with population more than 10 lakh

Ranking Cleanest cities Dirtiest cities

01 Indore Patna

02 Surat East Delhi

03 Navi Mumbai Chennai

04 Vijayawada Kota

05 Ahmedabad North Delhi

National Council for Transgender Persons

On 24 August 2020, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has constituted the National Council for
Transgender Persons.

 The Union Minister of Social Justice & Empowerment will be Chairperson (ex-officio) and Union Minister
of State for Social Justice & Empowerment will be Vice Chairperson (ex-officio).
 Five nominated members from the community are-Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, Gopi Shankar Madurai, Meera
Parida, Zainab Javid Patel and Kak Chingtabam Shyamcand Sharma.
 The council is formed in exercise of the powers conferred by section 16 of the Transgender Persons
(Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

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 National Recruitment Agency
 Union Cabinet has given its approval for creation of National Recruitment Agency (NRA).
 It will be a multi-agency body which will conduct the Common Eligibility Test (CET) to screen/shortlist
candidates for the Group B and C (non-technical) posts.
 The NRA will initially conduct the CET for three sectors Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment
Boards (RRBs) and Institute of Banking Service Personnel (IBPS).
 It will have representatives of the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial
Services, SSC, RRBs and IBPS.
 Score of the candidate shall be valid for a period of three years from the date of declaration of the result.
The best of the valid scores shall be deemed to be the current score of the candidate.

World's Tallest Pillar Bridge

 Indian Railways is constructing the world's tallest pillar bridge in Manipur.
 The bridge which is being constructed across river Ijai near Noney is an engineering marvel because the
tallest pier height will be 141 meter.
 It will surpass the existing record of 139 meter of Mala - Rijeka viaduct, Montenegro in Europe.
 The Manipur bridge is located at the hilly terrain of Marangching village in Noney district, about 65 km
west of Imphal. It will be completed by March 2022.
 The bridge is a part of Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal new BG line project. The total length of the bridge will be 703
meters.

Tribal Health & Nutrition Portal, 'Swasthya'

 A series of initiatives were announced by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs here (Delhi) today (17 August,
2020), which included the Tribal Health and Nutrition Portal 'Swasthya' and e-newsletter on health and
nutrition ALEKH; opening of National Overseas Portal and National Tribal Fellowship Portal.

India's first Kisan Train

Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal and Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar flagged off the country's first
Kisan Special Parcel Train or Kisan Rail through video link on 7 August, 2020.

 The first train will transport material between Maharashtra's Devlali and Bihar's Danapur Railway
station.
 The Kisan Rail will carry fruits and vegetables and will make stoppages at several stations and pick-up and
deliver them.

22 million children from South Asia missed out on early childhood education due to
COVID-19: UNICEF
 Nearly 22 million children from South Asian countries, including India, have missed out on early childhood
education in their critical pre-school year due to coronavirus outbreak, according to a new research by
UNICEF.
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 First five Rafale jets land at Ambala air force station
 On 27 July 2020, first five out of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft took off from Dassault Aviation Facility,
Merignac, France.
 On July 29, 2020, these aircrafts touch down at Ambala Air Force Station.
 India & France signed an inter-governmental deal in September 2016 for procurement of 36 Rafale fighter
jets.

National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

 On 29 July 2020, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the National
Education Policy 2020.
 The policy targets making way for large scale, transformational reforms in both school and higher
education sectors.
 The policy aims to make "India a global knowledge superpower".
 This policy will replace the National Policy on Education (NPE), 1986.
 Prior to 1986, the first National Education Policy was released in 1968 on the basis of recommendations
of Kothari Commission.

Consultations

 The National Education Policy 2020 is based on the recommendations of a committee chaired by former
ISRO chief K Kasturirangan.

Renaming of MHRD

 The Cabinet has also approved the renaming of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to the
Ministry of Education.

India Report Digital Education 2020

 Union Minister for HRD Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' virtually launched India Report on Digital Education,
2020 on July 28.
 The report elaborates on the innovative methods adopted by Ministry of HRD, Education Departments of
States and Union Territories for ensuring accessible and inclusive education to children at home and
reducing learning gaps.

MHRD initiatives on Digital Education

 The Ministry has initiated many projects to assist teachers,scholars and students in their pursuit of
learning like DIKSHA platform, Swayam Prabha TV Channel, On Air - Shiksha Vani, e-PathShala and
telecast through TV channels.
 MHRD has released PRAGYATA’: Guidelines on Digital Education for school heads, teachers, parents, and
students.
 MHRD has also launched MANODARPAN initiative to provide psychosocial support to students for their
Mental Health and Well-being


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 India's first public EV charging plaza
 Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy, RK Singh inaugurated India's first public EV (Electric
Vehicle) charging plaza at Chelmsford Club in New Delhi on July 20, 2020.
 The EV charging plaza is a new avenue for making e mobility ubiquitous and convenient in India. Such
innovative initiatives are imperative for the creation of a robust e-mobility ecosystem in the country.

Net zero carbon emission by 2030: Indian Railways

 Indian Railways has stepped up its efforts to become a Green Railway within a span of 10 years.
 It has set the target to achieve net zero carbon emission by the year 2030.

India Global week 2020

 Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the India Global week 2020, an international event on India's
globalisation. Its theme is "Be the Revival: India and a Better New World".
 The three-day virtual conference, being organised in the UK, is being held from 9 to 11 July.
 It will also feature a special 100th birth anniversary concert in tribute to the sitar maestro Ravi Shankar
by three of his most eminent students.

India's External Debt: RBI

 Latest external debt data released on Jun 30, 2020.
 At end-March 2020, India's external debt was placed at US$ 558.5 billion, recording an increase of US$
15.4 billion over its level at end-March 2019.
 Commercial borrowings remained the largest component of external debt, with a share of 39.4 per cent,
followed by non-resident deposits (23.4 per cent) and short-term trade credit (18.2 per cent).

Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary

 The Assam government has decided to upgrade Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary into a national park.
 The 111.942 sq km Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is located within the larger Dehing Patkai Elephant
Reserve, which spreads across the coal- and oil-rich districts of Upper Assam (Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and
Sivasagar).
 It is believed to be the last remaining contiguous patch of lowland rainforest area in Assam.
 Dehing Patkai will be the sixth national park in Assam the other five being Kaziranga, Nameri, Manas,
Orang and Dibru-Saikhowa.

MATSYA SAMPADA
 On 30th June, 2020, Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri Giriraj Singh
launched the first edition of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Newsletter "MATSYA SAMPADA”.

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 It would be published on a quarterly basis starting from the first quarter of the year 2020-21. Matsya
Sampda is associated with PMMSY.
 The Government of India in May, 2020 launched a new Flagship Scheme i.e. the Pradhan Mantri Matsya
Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) for sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector at an
investment of Rs. 20050 crores.

UP Govt to setup UPSSF on lines of CISF

 Uttar Pradesh government has decided to set up the Uttar Pradesh Special Security Force (UPSSF) to
ensure security of important establishments and buildings.
 The security force which will be constituted on the lines of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) will
be deployed at places like metro rail, airports, industrial institutions, courts, religious places, banks and
other financial institutions.
 The force would be headquartered in Lucknow.
 In the first phase, five battalions of this force will be formed from Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Forces
PAC (Provincial Armed Constabulary).

"PM SVANidhi" Portal

 Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary, Housing & Urban Affairs, launched the Beta version of PM Street
Vendor's Atma Nirbhar Nidhi "PM SVANidhi" Portal on June 29, 2020.
 PM SVANidhi was launched on June 1, 2020.

Bhitarkanika National Park

 Odisha Government has started a two-year conservation project for Fishing Cats in Bhitarkanika
National Park.
 They are a medium-sized wildcat found in South and Southeast Asia.
 In India, fishing cats are mainly found in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, on the foothills of the
Himalayas along the Ganga and Brahmaputra river valleys and in the Western Ghats.
 In 2012, the West Bengal government officially declared the Fishing Cat as the State Animal.
 Bhitarkanika National Park is a 145 km large national park in northeast Kendrapara district in Odisha in
eastern India.
 The national park is home to Saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus), Indian python, king cobra, black
ibis, darters and many other species of flora and fauna.

Annual TB Report 2020

 Union Minister for Health released the annual TB Report 2020. He also released a Joint Monitoring
Mission (JMM) report, a manual on Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to TB patients under NIKSHAY system, a
Training Module, and the quarterly newsletter NIKSHAY Patrika.

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 Devika Bridge in Udhampur & Puneja Bridge in Doda
 On 24 June 2020, Union Minister of State PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Dr Jitendra
Singh e inaugurated two important Bridges Devika and Puneja in Udhampur and Doda districts
respectively in Jammu and Kashmir.
 10-meter-long Devika Bridge is situated in Udhampur District of Jammu and Kashmir.
 Puneja Bridge is a 50-meter-long bridge at Bhaderwah in Doda District of Jammu & Kashmir.

Kushinagar Airport: International Airport

 On 24 June 2020, Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has given its approval for
declaration of Kushinagar Airport in Uttar Pradesh as an International Airport.
 Kushinagar Airport is located in the vicinity of several Buddhist Cultural Sites like Sravasti, Kapilvastu,
Lumbini.
 The present Kushinagar is identified with Kusavati in the pre-Buddha period) and Kushinara in the post-
Buddha period). Kushinara was the capital of Mallas which was one of the sixteen mahajanpads of the 6th
century BCE.

YUKTI 2.0
 On June 23, 2020, Union Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' launched
an initiative 'YUKTI 2.0' to help systematically assimilate technologies having commercial potential and
information related to incubated startups in our higher education institutions.
 The YUKTI (Young India combating COVID with Knowledge, Technology and Innovation) web portal was
launched earlier on 11 April, 2020.

India elected as Non-Permanent member of the UN Security Council

 On 18 June 2020 India was elected Non-permanent member of the UN Security Council from the Asia-
Pacific Group.
 India garnered 184 votes out of the 192 ballots cast in the General Assembly.
 Along with India, Ireland, Mexico and Norway also won the Security Council elections. These countries will
take their seats on the Council beginning January 1, 2021.
 This is the eighth time that India will sit at the UN high table. United Nation Security.

Cow Slaughter Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020: Uttar Pradesh

 In order to give effect a stringent Act to protect cows and prevent their slaughter, Uttar Pradesh
government approved Cow Slaughter Prevention (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

Government declares six cities as 5-star garbage-free cities

 The central government has declared six cities-Ambikapur, Rajkot, Surat, Mysore, Indore and Navi
Mumbai as five star garbage-free cities.

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 The star rating of garbage-free cities was announced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on May
19, 2020.
 Overall, six cities were rated 5-star, 65 cities were rates 3 star and 70 cities were rated with one star.

Cyclone Amphon'
 On 16 may 2020, The National Crisis Management Committee reviewed the preparedness for the
impending cyclone and directed immediate assistance to West Bengal and Odisha, which are likely to hit
by the storm.
 Cyclone Amphan (pronounced as UM-PUN) is a tropical cyclone formed over Bay of Bengal that has
intensified and likely to turn into a "super cyclonic storm (maximum wind speed is 120 knots)".

Vande Bharat Mission

 On May 13, 2020, Indian seafarers stranded in different parts of the world will have to register for
evacuation through the Vande Bharat Mission so that the government can evacuate them.
 It is the biggest evacuation exercise to bring back Indian citizens stranded abroad amidst the coronavirus-
induced travel restrictions.

Manipur black rice, Gorakhpur terracotta got GI tag

 Both the products have been in circulation for centuries and are important sources of income.
 Chak-Hao, the black rice of Manipur and the Gorakhpur terracotta have bagged the Geogrphical
Indication (GI) tag.
 The application for Chak-Hao was filed by the Consortium of Producers of Chak-Hao (Black Rice), Manipur
and was facilitated by the Department of Agriculture, Government of Manipur and the North Eastern
Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC).
 In the case of Gorakhpur terracotta, the application was filed by Laxmi Terracotta Murtikala Kendra in
Uttar Pradesh.
 Chak-Hao has also been used by traditional medical practitioners as part of traditional medicine.

Extradition treaty between India & Belgium

 The Union Cabinet has approved the signing and ratifying of the Extradition Treaty between the Republic
of India and the Kingdom of Belgium.

Time magazine's list- 100 Women of the Year

 Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and freedom fighter Amrit Kaur were named in the TIME magzine's
100 Most Powerful Women List.
 TIME magzine named Amrit Kaur as Women of the Year for 1947 and Indira Gandhi for 1976.
 TIME magzine is an American weekly news magazine establised in 1923.
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 Rajkumari Bibiji Amrit Kaur was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. She was first Health Minister
(1947-1957) of India. Amrit Kaur was also secretary of Mahatma Gandhi.

Sir Creek Dispute

 Recently at the WION's Global Summit held in Dubai, the Pakistan representative, Minister Khurshid
Mahmud Kasuri recalled Sir Creek Pact.
 Theme of the WION's Global Summit was: Navigating and Negotiating Global Imperatives.
 Sir Creek is a 96-km strip of water disputed between India and Pakistan in the Rann of Kutch marshlands.

Bhoomi Rashi Portal

 The Bhoomi Rashi Portal is an e-Governance initiative of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
 The portal intends to expedite the process of land acquisition for National Highways. It has helped to
make land acquisition error-free & more transparent with notifications at every stage being processed on
a real-time basis.

GOI Nominated 2 sites from India for World Heritage Sites 2020
 Government of India nominated Dholavira; a Harapan City and Monuments and Forts of Deccan
Sultanate to be included in the World Heritage Sites List for the year 2020.
 Dholavira is an archaeological site that is located in Kutch Desert Wildlife Sanctuary, Gujarat. The site
spreads over an area of 100 hectares was first discovered by archaeologist JP Joshi in 1956.
 The Monuments of the Deccan Sultanate is a serial property comprising of four components that
constitute the most representative, most authentic and best conserved examples of Deccani Sultanate
monuments in India.

Female Labour-force Participation in India

 Female labour-force participation in India has declined from 34 per cent in 2006 to 24.8 per cent in 2020,
according to a new study.
 According to the UNGC (United Nations Global Compact) India study, India is the only country among the
153 surveyed countries where the economic gender gap is larger than the political gap.

Jammu Airport and the Jammu University to renamed

 On 3rd March, The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has proposed to name the state-run University
and Airport here after Dogra kings.
 To rename Jammu Airport and the Jammu University after Hindu Dogra monarchs Maharaja Hari Singh
and Maharaja Gulab Singh, respectively.
 The Dogra dynasty was a Hindu Dogra Rajput dynasty that formed the royal house of Jammu and
Kashmir.
 The founder of the dynasty, Gulab Singh, was an influential noble in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of
Lahore.

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 National Chambal Sanctuary is an eco-sensitive zone
 On March 2, 2020, The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has declared the National
Chambal Sanctuary as an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ).
 It is also called the National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary.
 It is home to critically endangered Gharial (small crocodiles), the red-crowned roof turtle and the
endangered Ganges river dolphin.

108th Indian Science Congress

 108th Indian Science Congress from 3-7th January, 2021 at Symbiosis International University, Pune.
 Theme - Science and Technology for Sustainable Development with Women Empowerment.

Bio-Asia Summit, 2020

 The largest bio-technology and life sciences forum of Central Asia, Bio-Asia Summit, 2020 was held in
Hyderabad, Telangana during 17-19 February 2020.
 The theme of this three-day conference is Today for Tomorrow.
 Switzerland is the partner country for this conference.
 It is organized by the Telangana Government.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated projects worth Rs 1,200

crore in Varanasi
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated development projects worth more than Rs 1,200 crore in
Varanasi.
 PM Modi unveiled a 63-feet-tall statue of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay at Chandauli.
 He also inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of several schemes worth Rs 1200 crore in Varanasi.

India's first inter-city electric bus service

 The first intercity electric bus service between Mumbai and Pune was started on February 14, 2020.
Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated this electric bus service.

First Covid-19 Hospital in India

 On March 23, 2020, Reliance had set up the first hospital of India that will operate exclusively to treat
Corona Virus patients.

State-wise Horticulture Production Data

 On January 20, 2020, the State-wise horticulture production data was released by the Ministry of
Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
 The state of West Bengal has topped in vegetable production in 2018-19 (3rd advance estimates) in the
country. In West Bengal the production of vegetables was 29.55 million tonnes).

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 First Waste to Energy Plant
 On 28th January 2020, the Indian Railways has commissioned first Waste to Energy Plant in
Bhubaneswar in Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop at Bhubaneswar in East Coast Railway.
 The capacity of this Waste to Energy Plant is 500 Kg waste per day.

Hydrogen-powered Train in India

 Indian Railways, during 107th Indian Science Congress (on 3rd January 2020 in Bengaluru), has announced
that it will build a hydrogen-powered rail engine by the end of 2021.
 The Indian Railways Organisation for Alternate Fuels will be developing a hydrogen-powered rail engine.
 The proposed train will have four passenger coaches operating at 75 km/hr speed.

Wetlands from India get the Ramsar site tag

 The conservation of wetlands would also go a long way in achieving 'Nal se Jal' in cach household. The
government in July 2019 has launched the new 'Nal se Jal' scheme, which aims to provide piped water
connection to every household by 2024.

Greenpeace India Report 2020

 The fourth issue of Airpocalypse report by Greenpeace was released in January 21, 2020.
 The report has details of the air quality of different cities of India as well as it traces the improvement and
degradation in it. The report has different projections which mention about the impact of the government
policies on the air quality.
 Jharia city of Jharkhand has been again declared as the most polluted city of India for the second time
in a row.

Vigyan Samagam
 On 21 January, 2020, Union minister, Jitendra Singh inaugurated global Mega Science Exhibition "Vigyan
Samagam" in New Delhi.
 This is fourth such exhibition after being organised at Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata.

India's 71st Republic Day 2020

On January 26, 2020, India celebrated its 71st Republic Day. The day honours the date on which the Constitution
of India came into effect i.e. on 26 January 1950.

72nd National Martyrs' Day/Shaheed Divas

 The National Martyr's Day is observed annually on January 30.
 The year 2020 marks the 72nd anniversary of the Martyr's Day or Shaheed Divas to pay homage to the
freedom fighters who lost their lives for India's Independence from British rule.
 This day also marks the 72nd death anniversary of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi who was
assassinated on Jan 30, 1948 by Nathuram Vinayak Godse.

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 World Leprosy Day observed on Jan 30, 2020
World Leprosy Day is observed annually on the last Sunday of January every year. This year, the day was observed
on January 26, 2020. In India, it is celebrated on January 30 every year to commemorate the death of Mahatma
Gandhi who was assassinated on this day in 1948. This year 2020 marked the 72nd death anniversary of
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

Theme:"Leprosy isn't what you think"

 Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, is a highly contagious infection caused by the bacterium
Mycobacterium leprae. This day was chosen by the French humanitarian Raoul Follereau as a tribute to
Mahatma Gandhi, who helped people affected with leprosy.

NITI Aayog's Aspirational District Ranking released: Chandauli of UP tops

On January 29, 2020, the NITI Aayog released the ranking of Aspirational Districts of the country for the month of
December 2019. The ranking is released every month.

GoI signs "Historic Accord", Bodo Agreement

10 more wetlands from India declared as Ramsar sites

On January 28, 2020, in an effort to improve the conservation, restoration and rejuvenation of wetlands, the
Ramsar Convention has declared 10 more wetland sites from India as sites of national importance. Ramsar sites
are those which are declared under the Ramsar Convention signed in 1971 to preserve wetlands of national
importance. Thus, India now has a total of 37 Ramsar sites covering an area of 1,067,939 hectares.

The 10 newly added Ramsar sites are as follows:

 Nandur Madhameshwar: This is the 1st Ramsar site of Maharashtra.

 Keshopur-Miani, Beas Conservation Reserve, Nangal: These 3 ramsar sites are newly added from Punjab.
Apart from these 3 sites, Punjab already has 3 ramsar sites. Thus, the total number ofRamsar sites in the
states went up to 6.
 Nawabganj, Parvati Agra, Saman, Samaspur, Sandi and SarsaiNawar: These 6 Ramsar sites have been
newly added to Uttar Pradesh (UP) apart from 1 ramsar site it already had. Thus, UP now has 7 Ramsar
sites.

GoI new Target: Indian Railways to run 100% on electricity by 2024

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 India's 1st War Memorial for Animals
On 23 January, 2020 the govt has announced to set up country's 1st war memorial for service animals such as
dogs, horses, mules in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh (UP). This war memorial will come at army's specialized breeding,
rearing and training centre for animals in the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC) Centre and College in Meerut.

 Mansi, a labrador breed dog who was awarded the highest honour of animals, will top the list of animals
to be remembered.
 The Indian army currently has more than 100 dogs, 5000 mules and 1500 horses.

Supreme Court: Access to Internet-a fundamental right

On January 10, 2020, the Supreme Court of India said that right of access to internet is a fundamental right. The
Court had asked the administration of Jammu and Kashmir to review the curbs on internet in a week.

Lately the Indian Government had been using internet shut down as a tool to control protest in the country
against the Citizenship Amendment Act. It was predominant in the north eastern states.

Odisha's Bhitarkanika National Park Census: Increase in Salt Water

Crocodiles
According to the recent census at the Bhitarkanika National Park, the population of salt water (or estuarine)
crocodiles have increased to 1,757 as compared to 1,742 in 2018.

Chenab bridge: World's highest rail bridge

On January 9,2020 Government of India set a new deadline for the completion of the world's highest railway
bridge Chenab bridge.

Kashmir will be connected to the rest of India by Indian railways by 2021.

 Once completed, it will surpass the record of the Beipan river Shuibai railway bridge (275 m) in China.
 The massive arch-shaped structure will be 359 meters above the Chenab river bed.
 It is designed to withstand the wind's speeds of up to 260km per hour.
 The 1.315-km-long engineering marvel' will connect Bakkal (Katra) and Kauri (Srinagar).
 The bridge forms a crucial link in the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal, which is part of the
Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project.

NCRB 2018: 50 lac crimes registered: UP tops in economic

offence

Project NETRA'
 The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has initiated Project NETRA' (NETRA-Network for space
object Tracking and Analysis) in the middle of its Chandrayaan campaign last month, in-order to detect
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 debris in space and other hazards in Indian satellites which would act as a step for Space Situational
Awareness (SSA). The project is estimated to be worth of Rs. 400 Crore.
 NETRA is a network of observational tools like telescopes and radars, which will be connected to a data
processing unit and a control centre, which have the ability to track objects/debris as small as 10cm upto
a range of 3400km and also equal to space orbit of 2000k m.

Award for effective implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission 2019

 United Nations International Children's and Education Fund (UNICEF) has awarded Kamareddy district of
Telangana for effective implementation of Swachh Bharat Mission in water sanitation and hygiene
sectors for the year 2019.
 This award was given under the categories like construction of individual sanitary lavatories, swachh
darpan wall paintings, swachh survekshan, swachh sundar shouchalay and other activities.

India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2019

 The Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change has released the India State of Forest Report
(ISFR), 2019.
 Forest Cover (Area-wise): Madhya Pradesh > Arunachal Pradesh > Chhattisgarh > Odisha > Maharashtra.
 Forest Cover (Percentage): Mizoram (85.4%)>Arunachal Pradesh (79.63%) > Meghalaya (76.33%)
 The country's forest cover includes all patches of land with a tree canopy density of more than 10% and
more than 1 hectare in area, irrespective of land use, ownership and species of trees.
 The total forest cover of the country is 7,12,249 sq km which is 21.67% of the geographical area of the
country.
 The top five states to have shown an increase in forest cover include Karnataka (1,025 sq km) > Andhra
Pradesh (990 sq km) > Kerala (823 sq km) > J&K (371 sq km) > Himachal Pradesh (334 sq km).
 Total forest cover in the North Eastern region is 1,70,541 sq km, which is 65.05% of its geographical area.
 There has been a decrease of forest cover to the extent of 765 sq km (0.45%) in the region. Except Assam
and Tripura, all the States in the region show decrease in forest cover.
 The total forest cover in the tribal districts is 4,22,351 sq km, which is 37.54% of the geographical area of
these districts.
 Tree cover comprises of tree patches of size less than 1 hectare occurring outside the recorded forest
area.
 The tree cover of the country is estimated as 95,027 sq km which is 2.89% of the geographical area.
 Maharashtra has had the highest increase in tree cover and a large part of that is due to horticulture.
 The 2019 survey has found an increase of 5,188 sq km in total forest and tree cover in the country.
 Tree and forest cover together made up 24.56% (8, 07,276 sq km) of India's area. In the last assessment
it was 24.39%.
 The nation's tree and forest cover has largely hovered from 21-25% and is short of the National Forest
Policy, 1988, which envisages 33% to be under such cover.
 Mangrove cover in the country has increased by 54 sq km (1.10%) as compared to the previous
assessment. The total carbon stock of the country was estimated at 7124 million tons, which is an
increase of 42.6 million tons from the last assessment.
 It implies that India is on the right track to achieve its Paris Agreement commitment of 2.5-3 billion
carbon sinks.
 The total number of wetlands located within the RFA/ GW is 8.13%.
 Amongst the States, Gujarat has the largest area of wetlands within RFA in the country followed by West
Bengal.
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 Tripura's First Ever SEZ
 First-ever Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was laid to foundation stone by the Chief Minister Biplab Kumar
Deb at Sabroom which is the southernmost town of the state bordering Bangladesh.
 It is around 120 km from Agartala. It would emerge as the commercial capital of the Northeast.
 SEZ would be set up at Jalefa in Sabroom subdivision, Total investment on the project is Rs. 635 crore.
 The SEZ would be focussed on four sectors namely, Food processing, Rubber, Bamboo and Textile sector.

'Must-see Monuments': Ministry of Culture

On December 9, 2019, as per the Minister of State of Culture and Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel,
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), an Indian government agency attached to the Culture Ministry, has identified
138 numbers of monuments as 'Must-see' Monuments.

 A total of 38 World Heritage Sites currently present in India. Out of this, ASI has protected 22 Cultural
Sites including monuments/buildings and caves.
 The 'Must-see' list of ASI features first-class Indian monuments and archaeological sites including those
that feature on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Such monuments and sites showcase exceptionality in
terms of art and architecture, planning and design.

India Skills Report 2020

On December 10, 2019, the 7th edition of the India Skills Report 2020 for the year 2019-20 was launched.

 As per the report, about 46.21% students were found employable or ready to take up jobs in 2019,
compared with 33% in 2014, and 47.38% in 2018.
 The India Skills Report, is a joint initiative of Wheebox (global talent-assessment company), PeopleStrong
and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with UNDP (United Nations Development
Programme), AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) and AIU (Association of Indian Universities).
 Maharashtra emerged as the top ranked state terms of employability. It was followed by Tamil Nadu and
Uttar Pradesh(UP) in the second and third rank respectively. Availability of employable talent has also
improved over the past six years.
 In the terms of cities, Mumbai (Maharashtra) emerged as the top employable city. It was followed by
Hyderabad (Telangana) in the second place respectively.
 The report showed a growth rate of 47% in 2019 against 3 8% in 2017 and 46% in 2018 in female
employability.
 The most employable candidates as per courses were MBA (Master of Business Administration) students
at 54% rate. It was 40% in both 2017 and 2018.

CSIR, BHEL signs MoU to push Make in India' initiative
 The Council of Scientific & Industrial Research has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
Khadi and Village Industries Commission on promotion of honey production Khadi outlets to also display
CSIR products.

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 MoU is signed to leverage expertise available in CSIR with effort of KVIC for promotion of honey
production as well as to enable wider outreach of CSIR technologies and products.

India 5th worst country in terms of invasive use of biometric data

 According to a new report from Comparitech, a Britain based tech research firm, India is fifth worst
country after China, Malaysia, Pakistan and United States in terms of extensive and invasive use of
biometric data.
 India scored 19 and was ranked relatively lower in the list of worst countries for biometric data collection.
India was based on not permitting law enforcement to get acces to national biometric database known as
Aadhaar. Indi shares fifth position with Indonesia, Philippines and Taiwan. China was scored 24.
 United Kingdom, Portugal, Cyprus, Ireland and Romani emerged as 5 best countries in terms of collection,
storag and use of biometric data.

Country's first 'Eat Right' railway station

 The Mumbai Central Terminus of Western Railway has been certified as India's first 'Eat Right Station'
with a 4-Star rating awarded by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), as a part of 'Eat
Right India' movement launched in 2018.
 The Indian Railways as part of its efforts to help passengers make a healthy and right food choice,
launched 'Eat Right Station as part of *Eat Right India' initiative of FSSAI started in 2018.

First Tripartite Agreement on Fisheries and Aquaculture Development

Fund
On 23 December, 2019, the department of fisheries of Govt. of India, NABARD and the Govt. of Tamil
Nadu has signed the ist Tripartite Memorandum of Agreement for implementation
of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development Fund.

 The total outlay of the fund is Rs. 7522.48 crores. The FIDF will provide finance to the eligible entities, co-
operatives, individuals and entrepreneurs for development of identified fisheries infrastructure.

Nagpur Resolution
On 22 December, 2019, the 'Nagpur Resolution' which is an approach to empower citizens, was adopted
during the 2-day organised Regional Conference on 'Improving Public Service Delivery-Role of
Governments', in Nagpur, Maharashtra.
 The conference was organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
(DARPG) along with Maharashtra Govt. and the Maharashtra State Commission for Right to Public
Services' collaboration.
 Previously, Shillong Declaration and the Jammu Resolution were adopted for good governance in 2019.

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 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019
 The CCEA approved Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Second Amendment) Bill, 2019. This bill will amend
the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (code).
 The aim of the amendment is to remove certain difficulties that are faced during insolvency resolution
process to realise the objects of the code and to further ease doing of business.

Pilot Project for using Fastags for Parking

 To ensure the benefits of FASTag beyond tolling, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
(MORTH) has launched a pilot project for using FASTags for parking purposes at Hyderabad Airport.
 Conceptualised as FASTag 2.0, the tag would cover parking payments, fuel payments, etc. After the
success of project in Hyderabad, it will be launched at Delhi airport.
 Pilot project has been launched in two phases. In Phase I, a controlled pilot testing is being undertaken,
wherein only ICICI tags would be used, while the Phase II of pilot would cover all other Issuer Bank tags.

Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019

On 9 December, 2019, Parliament passed the landmark The Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019' for Safe and
Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships in India.
 It will raise brand value of India's Ships Recycling Yards located at Alang (Gujarat), Mumbai Port, Kolkata
Port & Azhikkal (Kerala).
 10% of country's Secondary steel needs, which is an outcome of Recycling of Ships, will meet in an eco-
friendly manner.

Data on POCSO from HCs

 The data from the High Courts across the country say that more than 96% of 1,66,882 rape trials
registered under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) are pending.
 After receiving the data, law ministry has drawn comprehensive plans to fast track disposal of pending
rape cases within a year. The plan is to set up fast track courts to hasten the process.

5500th station to get free WiFi facility

 Jharkhand's Mahuamilan station which comes under East Central Railway (ECZ) zone has become 5500th
station to get free wifi facility.
 The RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. (RCIL), the digital arm of Indian Railways, has thus provided free WiFi
at 5,500 stations across country. RailTel is a 'Miniratna' enterprise that focuses on providing broadband
and VPN services.
 Indian Railways began the service of providing free WiFi at its railway stations from January 2016.

Artificial Intelligence introduced as a subject in CBSE schools

 The Ministry of Human Resource and Development has introduced Artificial Intelligence in classes VIII, IX
and X in CBSE schools. The study materials have already been provided to the schools through official
CBSE website.
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 The CBSE has collaborated with several organization like Microsoft, Intel, IBM and so on in order to
create the module of Artificial Intelligence.

Head on Generation technology introduced in Indian Railways

 The Indian Railways has introduced an environment friendly and energy efficient solution in passenger
trains to address noise and air pollution.
 The technology changes the locomotives and coaches and makes them suitable for Head on Generation.
The Railways has developed and improvised converter that are to be fitted in electric locomotives.
 Between April 2018 and November 2019, around 436 trains have been converted into HOG compliant.
The technology reduces noise level, reduces emission of carbon dioxide, diesel consumption.

Transgender Persons Bill, 2019

Parliament has passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019 with the Rajya Sabha
approving it by a voice vote on 26 November, 2019.
 The Bill defines a transgender as- 'a person whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth'. It
provides recognition of identity of Transgender Persons and to confer upon them right to self-perceived
gender identity.

Global Climate Risk Index 2020

On 4 December, 2019, the 15th Global Climate Risk Index 2020, published by environmental think tank
Germanwatch found Japan to be the most vulnerable country to climate change, followed by
Philippines, Germany, Madagascar and India.
 Japan topped the list of the most affected countries with the CRI score of 5.50. It was severely affected by
three strong extreme weather events including Typhoon Jebi in September 2018) during 2018.
 The report was on 181 countries and quantifying the impacts of climate change through economic
fatalities.

Fourth Phase of UDAN scheme

 The Union Government of India has launched the fourth round of UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik) to
enhance the connectivity to regional areas of the country. This phase is to focus on Hilly states, North East
Region, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and Islands.
 The Viability Gap Funding has been revised. The funding that was provided for Category 2 and 3 aircrafts
(> 20 seats) has now been enhanced to all flights in the states of HP, Uttarakhand, J&K, North Eastern
states and the islands. Also, the phase will allow operation of helicopter and sea planes. The phase also
plans to promote short haul routes, meaning no monetary support will be given to operators with stages
more than 600 kms.

GoI maps Tiger Corridors in the country

On 2 December, 2019, the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change provided the details of
tiger corridor mapping in Rajya Sabha. The corridors were mapped by the National Tiger Conservation
Authority and Wildlife Institute of India. The institutes have mapped 32 corridors in all.

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  The Corridors grouped under 4 major categories were listed state-wise. The corridors are located in the
Shivalik hills and Gangetic plains, Central India and Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats and the North
Eastern hills.

Shivangi: India Navy's First Woman Pilot

The Indian Navy got its first woman pilot as 'Sub-Lieutenant Shivangi Swroop' completed her operational
training in Kochi, Kerala. A batch of 3 trainee officers of 7th Dornier Conversion Course (DOCC) including a
lady officer, qualified as Dornier pilots and were awarded Golden 'Wings' at a ceremony held at INS
Garuda.
 She has created history as first woman pilot of Indian Navy, on successful graduation from the course. She
is a native of Muzaffarpur, Bihar. She was inducted into Indian Navy under Short Service Commission
(SSC)-Pilot entry scheme and was commissioned into the Navy in June 2018.

Loktak Inland Waterways Project

 Government of India approved development of Loktak Inland Waterways improvement project under its
objective of promoting the beautiful region North-east which holds a lot of opportunity for tourism
purposes.

Lokpal Logo & Motto launched

 The Chairman of Lokpal, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose launched the Logo of Lokpal, at an event held in
New Delhi. The Motto of Lokpal मा गध
ृ ः क यि व धनम ्" (Do not be greedy for anyone's wealth) was also
adopted. The Logo design of Prashant Mishra, Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh was selected for adoption as Logo
of Lokpal.
 The logo is in tricolour representing the national essence of LOKPAL and symbolizes how Lokpal protects
and cares for people of India by establishing justice as per law. It also symbolizes various essence of
LOKPAL figuratively in shapes like- people (three human figures), ombudsman (judges bench), vigilance
(Ashok Chakra forming eye-pupil), judicial (the tricolor two hands are placed below forming a unique
balance) and law (shape of book in orange)

CRY Report on Crime against Children in India

 The report says that the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh topped the list of states for
crimes against children. There were over 19,000 cases in both the states.
 The highest increase in crimes between the years 2016 and 2017 was seen in Jharkhand. The Child labour
in the country saw a substantial increase of 126%. The report says that in 2016, child labour was 204 and
it increased to 462 in 2017.
 As far as Child Marriage is concerned there, was an increase of 21.17%. The numbers were based on the
cases registered under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006.

Bill to merge UTs Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
The Government of India has planned to merge the Union Territories Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
The bill regarding the merging of the territories is to be tabled in Lok Sabha on 29 November, 2019.

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  The merged territory will be named Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu. The headquarters of the
territory is to be located in Daman and Diu.
 With the creation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, there are nine UTs in India. With the new merger,
the count will come down to eight.

Janaushadhi Sugam
 Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers launched a mobile application "Janaushadhi Sugam”. This
app will enable people to search for Janaushadhi generic medicines and the stores at the tip of their
fingers.
 "Janaushadhi Sugam" mobile application would have user -friendly options like- to locate nearby
Janaushadhikendra, direction guidance for the location of the Janaushadhikendra through Google Map,
search Janaushadhi generic medicines, analyse product comparison of Generic vs Branded medicine in
form of MRP & overall Savings, etc. The mobile application is available on both Android & iOS platforms.

National Institute of Sowa Rigpa

 The Union Cabinet has approved establishment of National Institute for Sowa-Rigpa (NISR) in Leh, Union
Territory of Ladakh. It will be an autonomous National Institute under Union Ministry of AYUSH.
 Sowa-Rigpa system of traditional medicine
 It will be apex Institute for Sowa-Rigpa.
 It is aimed at bringing a valid and useful synergy between traditional wisdom of Sowa-Rigpa system of
medicine and modern science, tools and technology.

UNICEF Report: India Second largest in Pneumonia deaths

On November 14, 2019, United Nations' new report on Pneumonia stated that India has the second largest
deaths of children under the age of five due to Pneumonia in 2018. Globally more than 800,000 children died
due to Pneumonia under the age of 5.

 The five countries that were responsible for more than half of child deaths due to Pneumonia were
Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia.
 Pneumonia is responsible for 15% of deaths in children under 5.
 The report named the disease as "Forgotten Epidemic" Around half of pneumonia deaths are associated
with air pollution.

Jair Bolsonaro: Chief Guest at Republic Day 2020

 Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has to be Chief Guest at India's Republic Day celebrations in 26 January,
2020.
 Prime Minister Modi met Bolsonaro on the sidelines of 11th BRICS Summit, which is being held in Brasilia,
Brazil. During the meeting, PM Modi invited the President of Brazil to be chief guest at Republic Day in
2020, which was accepted by Bolsonaro with pleasure.
 Both leaders agreed to comprehensively enhance strategic partnership between the two countries as well
as discussed other areas of co-operation including space and defence sectors.
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 CJI Office under RTI act
On November 13, 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the 2010 judgement of Delhi High Court that the RTI (Right To
Information) Act was applicable to the office of CJI (Chief Justice of India) as well.

 The CJI office and the SC are not two different public authorities. Under Article 124, SC includes office of
CJI and the other judges as well.

Dal Lake, J&K to be declared Eco-Sensitive Zone

World's first CNG port terminal to be built in Gujarat

 Gujarat government has given its approval to a Compressed Natural Gas terminal facility at Bhavnagar
port. This would be the world's first CNG port terminal.
 The Gujarat Maritime Board had signed Memorandum of Understanding with UK-based Foresight Group
to set up this port terminal at Bhavnagar in the Vibrant Gujarat Summit held in January 2019. The existing
port at Bhavnagar is administered by Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB).
 The terminal will be jointly built by Foresight Group and Mumbai-based Padmanabh Mafatlal Group. The
consortium of company will invest Rs.1,900 crores out of which Rs.1,300 crores will be invested in 1st
phase and Rs.600 crores in 2nd phase.

1st country to make entire Haj process digital

 India has become the 1st country to make the entire process for pilgrims going on Haj completely
digital.
 An online application, e-visa, Haj mobile app, 'e- MASIHA' health facility, "e-luggage pre-tagging"
providing all information in India itself regarding accommodation and transportation in Mecca and
Madina will be provided to 2 lakh Indian Muslims going for Haj in 2020.
 Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi signed the bilateral annual Haj-2020 agreement between
India and Saudi Arabia with Haj and Umrah Minister of Saudi Arabia.

Global Prosperity Index 2019

 The first-ever Prosperity & Inclusion City Seal and Awards (PICSA) Index, released in the Basque Country
capital of Bilbao in northern Spain.
 The Index is designed to showcase not only the quantity of economic growth of a city but also its quality
and distribution across populations.
 Bengaluru emerged as India's highest-ranked city at No. 83 in a new index of the world's 113 cities in
terms of economic and social inclusivity, topped by Zurich in Switzerland.
 Delhi at 101 and Mumbai at 107 are the other Indian cities to make at the index, with the top 20
awarded a PICSA Seal as the world's highest-ranked cities building inclusive prosperity

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  Vienna, the Austrian capital in second place, scores close to top marks on healthcare.
 Copenhagen, Luxembourg and Helsinki complete the top five.

Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill 2019

 Parliament has passed the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
 The Bill seeks to amend the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act, 1951.
 It has a provision to remove the President of the Congress party as a trustee and clarifies that when
there is no Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, the leader of the single largest Opposition party
will be the trustee.
 The Bill also allows the Central government to terminate the term of a nominated trustee before the
expiry of the period of his term, without assigning any reason.

Census-2021 to be conducted in 16 languages

 Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed that Census-2021 will be conducted in
16 languages.
 During Census-2021, a mix mode approach is being adopted for data collection. Census will be conducted
in two phases - House-listing and Housing Census from April to September 2020 and Population
Enumeration during February 09-28, 2021.
 The Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) has recommended an amount of Rs. 8754.23 crores for
conducting Census 2021 in 16 languages.

GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development

Union Minister for Environment has approved setting up of a New Regional Centre of the GB Pant Institute of
Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development in newly created Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh.

Books on teachings of Guru Nanak Dev

The three Punjabi titles are- 'Guru Nanak Bani'- Compiled by Bhai Jodh Singh,' Nanak Bani'- Compiled by Manjit
Singh and 'Sakhian Guru Nanak Dev'- Compiled by Jagtarjit Singh.

 They have been published by National Book Trust (NBT) to spread the message of Guru Nanak Dev's
writings among readers of Indian sub-continent.

Shaala Darpan portal

The App has been developed with the assistance of the Oracle Foundation and the Tamil Nadu Agriculture
University. PANNAI means PANNAI Pest-disease advance notification and need-based agriculture information.

Red Atlas Action Plan Map' unveiled for flood mitigation in Chennai
 Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu unveiled the 'Red Atlas Action Plan Map' atlas and the Coastal Flood
Warning System App (CFLOWS-Chennai)' for flood mitigation in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

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 Container Cargo Movement first time in River Brahmaputra
A landmark container cargo consignment will sail on inland waterway from the Haldia Dock Complex, Kolkata to
the Inland Waterways Authority of India terminal at Pandu in Guwahati. It begins on November 4, 2019.

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