Crack Grade B 1

6th March

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare

8 years of PM-Fasal Bima Yojana (PM-FBY)

 In past 8 Years of implementation of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) –
56.80 crore farmer applications have been enrolled and over 23.22 crore farmer
applicants received claims.

 During this period, nearly Rs. 31,139 crore were paid by farmers as their share of
premium against which claims of over Rs. 1,55,977 crore have been paid to them.
Thus, for every 100 rupees of premium paid by farmers, they have received about
Rs. 500 as claims.

 The number of farmer applications has grown 33.4% and 41% year-on-year
during 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively.

 Further, during the year 2023-24, there in an increase of 27% in terms of

farmers enrolled under the scheme so far.

 Also 42% of total farmers insured under the scheme in FY 2023-24 are non-loanee
farmers.

Ministry of Finance

CBDT clarifies provisions under the Finance Act 2023

 It is related to donations made by a trust/institution to another trust/institution
for purposes of application of income exemption.

I. Income Exemption Criteria

 Applies to funds, institutions, trusts, universities, hospitals under section 10 of

the Income-tax Act, 1961, or
 Any trust or institution registered under Section 12AA/12AB of the Income Tax
Act, 1961.

II. Conditions for Income Exemption

 At least 85% of income of the trust/institution should be applied during the year
for the charitable or religious purposes.

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 Donations made by a trust/institution to another trust/institution for religious or
charitable purposes.
- 85% of eligible donations are tax exempted.
- The rest 15% would be taxable.
- Donations to other trusts should not be towards corpus of the
trust/institution.
- Application through self-use or donations to trusts with similar objectives.

Phase I News

109 KM long Indian Oil’s Muzaffarpur- Motihari LPG Pipeline

 It will provide cleaner cooking fuel in the state of Bihar and neighbouring country
Nepal.

Indian Oil’s LPG Bottling Plant & storage terminal in Motihari, Bihar
 It would also act as a strategic supply point for the export of petroleum products
to Nepal.
 It would also serve 8 districts of North Bihar.

Holistic Agriculture Development Programme

 It is launched to boost agri-economy viz Horticulture, Agriculture and Livestock
husbandry in Jammu and Kashmir.
 The programme will equip about 2.5 lakh farmers with skill development via a
dedicated Daksh Kisan portal.
 Under the programme, about 2000 Kisan Khidmat Ghars will be established and
robust value chains will be put in place for the welfare of the farming community.

42 tourist destinations selected under Challenge Based Destination

Development (CBDD) Scheme
 The 42 destinations have been identified in four categories - 16 in Culture & Heritage
Destination, 11 in spiritual destinations, 10 in Ecotourism and Amrit Dharohar and
5 in Vibrant Village.
 CBDD scheme was announced during Union Budget 2023-24.
 It aims to provide end-to-end tourist experiences by catalyzing the development
of tourist destinations while also promoting sustainability and ushering
competitiveness in the tourism sector.
Dekho Apna Desh People’s Choice 2024
 It is first-ever nationwide poll aims to engage with citizens to identify the most
preferred tourist attractions and understand tourist perceptions across 5
tourism categories- Spiritual, Cultural & Heritage, Nature & Wildlife, Adventure,
and other categories.
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 This poll is hosted on the MyGov platform, the citizen engagement portal of the
Government of India.

India’s First underwater Metro in Kolkata

 It is Esplanade- Howrah Maidan Metro route.
 The metro tunnel has been built under Kolkata's Hooghly River that will connect
Howrah Maidan to Esplanade.
 Metro will take to a 520-metre stretch under the river Hooghly in 45 seconds.
 It is the deepest metro station in India.

Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign

 To inspire the Indian diaspora to become Incredible India ambassadors and
promote tourism to India.
 The campaign is being launched based on the clarion call of the Prime Minister,
wherein he requested Indian diaspora members to encourage at least 5 non-
Indian friends to travel to India.

National Workshop on 'Digital Forecasting Techniques and Decision

Support System for Climate Resilient Agriculture in Rainfed Eco-
systems'
 Organizer: National Rainfed Area Authority, Department of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare.
 Venue: Pusa, New Delhi.
 The workshop witnessed in-depth technical discussions, vibrant open-house
discussions on the outcomes of the NRAA-FAO project, with a focus on assessing
effectiveness and devising strategies for upscaling technologies.

Coal Gasification Mission

 It aims to gasify 100 million tonnes of coal by 2030 through surface coal/lignite
gasification projects.

Joint Venture Agreement signed between Coal India Limited (CIL) and
Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL)
 It aims to set up an ammonium nitrate plant through coal gasification at
Lakhanpur area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, Odisha.

NLC India Green Energy Limited (NIGEL) Signs Power Purchase

Agreement with Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL)
 It is signed for 600 MW Solar Power Project at Khavda Solar Park, Bhuj District,
Gujarat.

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 The entire power from the project will be procured by GUVNL with the PPA tariff
for the electricity from the project at Rs. 2.705/kWhr.

APEDA facilitates exposure visit of Farmer Producer Organizations to

UAE; aim to unlock region's vast agricultural and food product export
opportunities
 The delegation comprised 47 members, representing FPOs from UP, Bihar, and
Uttarakhand.

Q. Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority

(APEDA) comes under which ministry?

Central Consumer Protection Authority issues advisory on Prohibition

of Advertising, Promotion, and Endorsement of Illegal Activities
 The advisory, in accordance with the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
 Betting and gambling are strictly prohibited under the Public Gambling Act,
1867, and are considered illegal in the majority of regions across the country.

INS Jatayu commissioned

 It is commissioned by the Indian Navy at Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep.

STARS Workshop on Financial Management and Education Planning

 It is held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
 It was attended by the officials from the Ministry of Education; Education
Departments of the 6 STARS States, namely, Rajasthan, Kerala, Madhya
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha and Maharashtra; and representatives from
the World Bank.

4th Semicon India FutureDesign Roadshow

 It held at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), Kerala.
 At this event the MOU was signed between IBM and C-DAC.
 To accelerate India’s Processor Design and manufacturing capabilities for
High Performance Computing.
 New Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) centres is established in
- Thiruvananthapuram
- Kochi.
 The upcoming Bharat Semiconductor Research Centre (BSRC) will have a regional
centre at IIST, Thiruvananthapuram.

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Section 49M of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (as amended in
2022)
 Section 49 M of the Act provides for registration of possession, transfer and birth
and reporting of death of living scheduled animal species which are listed in
the Appendices of CITES and as such listed in the Schedule IV of the Wild Life
(Protection) Act, 1972.

 Persons possessing a living specimen of an such animal species are required to

apply for registrations of such possession within a period of six months from the
date of commencement of these rules and thereafter within thirty days of
possession of such animal species to the concerned State Chief Wild Life Warden,
through the PARIVESH 2.0 portal.

India Global Forum Annual Investment Summit- NXT10

 It held in Mumabi, Maharashtra.

MOA has signed between the Ministry of Jal Shakti and Indian
Institute of Science, Bangalore
 It is signed to establish an International Centre of Excellence for Dams, IISC
Bangalore under externally supported Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement
Project (DRIP) Phase II and III.
 This MoA will remain valid for ten years or till the duration of the DRIP Phase-II
and III Scheme, whichever is earlier, from the date of signing this MoA.

 ICED will act as a technological arm of the Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) to
provide specialized technical support in investigations, modelling, research and
innovations, and technical support services for the Indian and overseas dam
owners.

 Ministry of Jal Shakti will provide grant of Rs.118 crore for setting up and
functioning of ICED.

 ICED will carry out research in two core areas (i) Advanced construction and
rehabilitation materials & Material testing for dams and (ii) Comprehensive (multi-
hazard) risk assessment of dams.

 In addition, ICED will have a Centre Development Fund. A part of the

consultancy charges, short term training programs and any other revenue earning
activity will be contributed to this fund.

 ICED, IISc Bangalore is the second International Centre in the area of Dam
Safety. The first ICED has been institutionalized at IIT Roorkee upon signing of
MoA in February 2023.

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CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum signs MoU with UCOST

 To deploy the Pine Needles-based fuel-making technology in Champawat under

the aegis of the “Adarsh Champawat” mission.

 CSIR - Indian Institute of Petroleum will implement two major technologies at the
grassroots level in Champawat.
- Briquetting unit with a capacity of 50 kg per hour based on Pine Needles.
- 500 units of Improved Cookstoves for rural households.

17th Annual International Biocuration Conference: AIBC-2024

 Organizer: Indian Biological Data Centre.
 Venue: Regional Centre for Biotechnology, Faridabad, Haryana.
 It is first ever Biocuration conference happening in India.
 3 data Submission portals launched-
1. Indian Nucleotide Data Archive –Controlled Access (INDA-CA) portal
2. Indian Crop Phenome Database Portal
3. Indian Metabolome Data Archive Portal.
 Launch of ‘ICE’-Integrated Computing Environment, a cloud-based
computational facility for life science researchers.
- ICE is a dedicated Supercomputing environment accessible across the country
and aims to build a cloud environment for storing, retrieving and analysing
genomic data.

Khelo India medal winners eligible for government jobs

 Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT) of the Government of India, in
collaboration with the Department of Sports, has introduced comprehensive
reforms in the recruitment, promotion, and incentives framework for athletes.

 Under the revamped regulations, individuals who excel in events such as the
Khelo India Youth Games (for participants aged 18 and above), Khelo India
Winter Games, Khelo India Para Games, and Khelo India University Games
will now qualify for government employment opportunities.

 Furthermore, achievers in the School Games Federation of India will also

maintain their eligibility for such positions.

Winners of National Youth Parliaments 2024

1. Yatin Bhaskar Duggal from Haryana wins the first prize

2. Vaishna Pitchai from Tamil Nadu wins second prize.
3. Kanishka Sharma from Rajasthan wins Third prize.

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‘National Conference to Accelerate Sustainable Development Goals’

 Organizer: NITI Aayog and Government of Rajasthan.

 Technical Partners: UNDP and UN in India.
 Venue: Jaipur, Rajasthan
 Three knowledge portals were inaugurated:

- UNDP ‘SDG Knowledge hub’: The UNDP SDG Knowledge hub is a one-stop
portal which brings together good practices, SDG indicator frameworks, SDG
linked budgets, among other knowledge products produced by States and UTs.

- ‘Food and Nutrition Security Analysis Dashboard’ of Government of

Rajasthan

- ‘SDG -2 (Zero Hunger) Dashboard’ of Government of Rajasthan.

Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog and Meta join hands to establish
Frontier Technology Labs in schools

 The purpose of this collaboration is to democratize future technologies and

empower youth to innovate by setting up Frontier Technology Labs in schools.

- The FTL is an advanced version of Atal Tinkering Lab equipped with state-of-
the-art infrastructure, including all components of the Tinkering Lab to
empower students to innovate using technologies like Artificial Intelligence,
Augmented & Virtual Reality, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Robotics, 3D Printing,
and Internet of Things.

 Funded by: Meta.

 Knowledge Partner: Atal Innovation Mission.
 Managed by: Meta’s partner 1M1B (One Million for One Billion).
 The FTLs are a part of Meta’s Education to Entrepreneurship initiative, launched
in September 2023, to seamlessly connect students, youth, workforce, and micro-
entrepreneurs with futuristic technologies, taking digital skilling to the
grassroots.

NITI Aayog’s- NITI for States Platform

 It is unveiled by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology.

 NITI for States is a cross-sectoral knowledge platform and offers a centralised

repository of valuable resources, including best practices, policy documents,
datasets, and NITI Aayog publications, spanning various sectors and cross-cutting
themes like gender and climate change.

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 The knowledge products on the platform span 10 sectors including Agriculture,
Education, Energy, Health, Livelihoods and Skilling, Manufacturing, MSME,
Tourism, Urban, Water resources & WASH across two cross-cutting themes -
Gender and Climate Change.

 ‘NITI For States’ platform will facilitate the digital transformation of governance
by equipping government officials with robust, contextually relevant, and
actionable knowledge and insights, thereby enhancing the quality of their
decision-making.

 It will help strengthening cooperative federalism and empower data-driven

governance”.

 Key Features of the ‘NITI for States’ platform:

- Extensive Knowledge Base

- Multilingual Accessibility and support by BHASHINI: In the near future the
platform will be available in 22 major Indian languages and 7 foreign languages,
ensuring inclusivity for diverse user groups.
- Capacity Building Initiatives: It includes iGOT Karmayogi bringing online training
modules called “SAMARTH” which can be accessed by the platform.
- Expert Help Desk:
- Data Integration: Leverages data from the National Data & Analytics Platform
(NDAP) for comprehensive and actionable insights, fostering data-driven decision-
making.
- PM Gatishakti BISAG-N team, with the support of DPIIT, has also been integrated
providing for the geospatial tool for Area Based Planning.

NITI for States- ‘Viksit Bharat Strategy Room’

 It is an interactive space where users will be able to visualise data, trends, best
practices and policies in an immersive manner allowing them to make a holistic
assessment of any problem statement.

 It also allows user to interact through voice-enabled AI, and connect to multiple
stakeholders through video conferencing. It is designed to be a plug-and-play model
to enable replication by states, districts and blocks.

 National E-Governance Division (NeGD) has extended support to develop the first-
of-its-kind Viksit Bharat Strategy Room.

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