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Contents
Appointments: ................................................................................................................................................... 2
Apps + FinTech ................................................................................................................................................ 2
ARD .................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Awards:............................................................................................................................................................. 2
Banks:............................................................................................................................................................... 2
Book: ................................................................................................................................................................ 3
Cabinet decisions: ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Committee: ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
Days/ weeks: .................................................................................................................................................... 3
Economic Reforms in India + Privatization ........................................................................................................ 3
Growth and Development + Balance of Payments ........................................................................................... 4
IITs: .................................................................................................................................................................. 7
Industrial and Labour Policies + Export-Import Policy ....................................................................................... 7
International : .................................................................................................................................................... 7
Legislations : ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
Monetary and Fiscal Policy ............................................................................................................................... 8
MoU: ................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Multilateralism + Globalization + International Economic Institutions + WTO + Regional Economic
Cooperation. ..................................................................................................................................................... 9
ADB:.............................................................................................................................................................. 9
EIB: ............................................................................................................................................................... 9
National ............................................................................................................................................................ 9
NITI:................................................................................................................................................................ 10
Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation in India :Skill development / AI : .......................................... 10
Ranks: ............................................................................................................................................................ 10
RBI: ................................................................................................................................................................ 11
Reports: .......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Schemes / campaigns/ initiatives / portals /budgets ........................................................................................ 20
Space /science ............................................................................................................................................... 24
Sports: ............................................................................................................................................................ 24
States : ........................................................................................................................................................... 24
Summit: .......................................................................................................................................................... 24
Superlatives : .................................................................................................................................................. 25
Sustainable Development and Environmental issues ...................................................................................... 25
Targets : ......................................................................................................................................................... 25
UN Agencies : ................................................................................................................................................. 25

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Appointments:
• UNICEF Appointed Ayushmann Khurrana as Celebrity Advocate for Children’s Rights Campaign, ‘For Every
Child’
• Paresh Rawal has been appointed as Chairman of National School of Drama
• Rajesh Khullar Appointed as Executive Director of World Bank &
• Sameer Kumar Khare as Executive Director of ADB
• Yoshihide Suga formally elected as Japan’s New Prime Minister
• JDU’s Harivansh Narayan Singh re-elected as Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman
• United Nations Named Indian Teenager Udit Singhal to the 2020 Cohort of Young Leaders for SDGs
• Narendra Singh Tomar was assigned to the additional charge of the Ministry of Food Processing
Industries(MoFPI
• Brand ambassador:
- Toyota = Ayushman Khurana

Apps + FinTech
• iRAD app – MoRTH to capture spot accident data; ‘Integrated Road Accident Database Project (iRAD)’ will
be applicable across the country. Pilot in in 6 States, viz. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. (all big states )

ARD
• convert rice stubble into biomass fuel: Punjab
• Odisha + NCDC = to Promote Farmer Producer Organisations
• Agriculture Ministry has set target to cover 100 lakh Hectares(Ha) under micro irrigation in 5 years
• 22 bamboo clusters in 9 States (Gujarat, MP, Maharashtra, Odisha, Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Uttarakhand
and Karnataka inaugurated ; Indian Forest Act 1927 was amended in the year 2017 to remove bamboo for
the category of trees, as a result now anyone can undertake cultivation and business in bamboo and its
products; The restructured National Bamboo Mission was launched in 2018-19
• The Bangladesh Government recently granted permission for traders to export Hilsa fish to India
• Animal husbandry :
i. Semen Station with state of the art facilities, which has been established under Rashtriya Gokul Mission
in Purnea, Bihar –the largest with capacity of 50 lakh doses per annum.
ii. A total of 30 ETT and IVF laboratories are being set up across the country through 100% grant in aid.
iii. Prime Minister to launch use of sex sorted semen in artificial insemination under Rashtriya Gokul Mission
by Baroni Milk Union in Begusarai district of Bihar. This will propagate the technology for multiplication of
high yielding animals at a faster rate as through use of technology they can give birth to 20 calves in a
year. Develop only female calves with more than 90% accuracy.
iv. e-Gopala App, = Generation of Wealth through Productive Livestock ; a comprehensive breed
improvement marketplace and information portal (about various government schemes and campaigns in
the area ) for direct use of farmers

Awards:
• second edition of KaushalacharyaSamadar 2020 (Kaushalacharya Awards) = MSDE
• WSIS Winner Prize 2020 for Sabooj Sathi Project = West Bengal Government wins
• Aditya Puri MD of HDFC Bank Honoured with Euromoney’s Lifetime Achievement Award 2020

Banks:
• iStartup 2.0 : , ICICI Bank Launched a Comprehensive Banking Programme for Startups
• InstaBIZ”: ICICI for customers to complete digital banking transactions.
• Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) Testing Platform: Mastercard Launches
• ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Partnered with NSDL Payments Bank to offer insurance products
• Cash Advance for MSMEs = Razorpay Launched
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• IFSCA Signed MoU with India Gold Policy Centre- IIM-A to Set up International Bullion Exchange (IBE) in
India
• ICICI Lombard inks bancassurance tie up with Yes Bank
• Pothgal web portal : for Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society(PACS), in Telangana
• “Apna Ghar Dreamz : ICICI Home Finance Launched for skilled laborers
• Emerging Entrepreneurs Business EEB Vertical = Bandhan Bank
• Vikas Laghu Suvarna : Karnataka Vikas Grameena Bank (KVGB) launched
• i-Lead 2.0 : Canara Bank Introduced to Enhance Customer Services
• SBI:
- Will make B2B platform =Bharat Craft
- Raise Rs 4000 crore AT1 bonds
- SAFAL(Safe and Fast Agriculture Loan) : SBI for organic cotton farmers
- Titan Pay – Titan + SBI YONO Pay - India’s 1st payment watch

Book:
• End of an Era, India Exits Tibet’ authored by Claude Arpi
• “A Promised Land”: Barack Obama’s Memoir

Cabinet decisions:
• new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Darbhanga, Bihar
• Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor Project from Palwal to Sonipat via Sohna-Manesar- Kharkhaud
• Cabinet approves asset monetization of subsidiaries of Power Grid Corporation of India limited through
infrastructure investment trust InvIT; 1st PSU to do so in power sector

Committee:
• Rajiv Mehrishi committee: to assist Government for assessment of relief to bank borrowers on waiving of
interest and waiving of interest on interest on the COVID-19 related moratorium
• 16-member Committee to Study Ancient Indian Culture under K N Dikshit
• Expert Committee under NCSC Rajesh Pant to probe reports of snooping by Chinese
• High-Level Committee Headed by Ajay Tirkey, secretary of the department of land resources under the
ministry of rural development to Prepare Roadmap to Regularise Land Leasing in Agri Sector
• FSSAI constitutes task force to look into guidelines for Vegan Foods under Shankar Narayan
• Government constituted an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) under the chairmanship of Rajnath
Singh to oversee the Corporatisation of Ordnance Factory Board (OFB). KPMG appointed as adviser

Days/ weeks:
• World Suicide Prevention Day 2020 – September 10
• International Literacy Day 2020: 8th Sept- focuses on ‘Literacy teaching and Learning in the COVID-19
crisis and beyond
• The theme of World First Aid Day 2020 is “First Aid Saves Lives
• Shikshak Parv is being celebrated from 8th September- 25th September, 2020 to felicitate the Teachers and
to take New Education Policy 2020 forward
• International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies on 07th September every year starting from 2020; # Clean Air
for All
• World Ozone Day – 16 September ; # Theme: Ozone for life: 35 years of ozone layer protection; 35 years
completed of Vienna convention
• World Bamboo Day – 18th September The Theme for this edition of World Bamboo Day is “BAMBOO NOW”

Economic Reforms in India + Privatization

• Defence Sector, allowing FDI through automatic approval increased from 49% to 74%. SUBJECT TO
‘National Security’ clause
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Growth and Development + Balance of Payments

2021-22

9.9 Ind Ra
11 Fitch
10.6 Moody investor services
10.7 OECD
19% NOMINAL CEA, govt of India

FISCAL DEFICIT
8.2 Fitch
7 Brickwork ratings
7.9 SBI
7.5 Moody Investor services (also 90%
debt to GDP ratio in FY21)
12 LAKH Borrowing target set in FY21
CRORE

2020-21

-14.8% Goldman Sachs Sept 2020

-11.8 Ind RA sept 2020
-11.5 Moody Investor Services
-11% ICRA (Sept 2020)
-10.9 SBI Ecowarp Sep 2020
-10.8 Nomura
- 10.5% Fitch Ratings -4.4% global
-10.2 OECD
-9.6% WB
-9.5 RBI
-9 CRISIL, S&P, ADB
-8 TO -8.2% CARE

-5.9% UNCTAD sept 2020 4.3 global

-6 TO 1% 15 FC’s Committee on Fiscal Consolidation Roadmap
th

-6 DBS

-4.5% IMF WEO June 2020 -4.9 % global

- 4.5 FICCI,
-3 Bank of America

-1.5 % REAL Rbi CONSUMER Confidence Survey

GDP
-0.9 TO 1 CII 2
0 Barclays

1.2 UN WESP May 2020 -3.2 global GS

1.5-2.8 World Bank South Asia Economic
Focus report

4.8 UN ESCAP 2.3 global

5.6 NCAER

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6.0-6.5% Eco Survey 2.9 global

6.1 EIU, 2.2 global

2020-2024 OECD 6.6 %

2021 OECD 5.6

• The United Nations forecast Wednesday that the Covid-19 pandemic will shrink the world economy by
3.2 per cent this year, the sharpest contraction since the Great Depression in the 1930s.
• India’s GDP to Fall 3.1% in 2020; Geo-Political Tensions Will Increase Risk: Moody’s Global Macro
Outlook report 2020
• According to NSO’s 1st revised estimate Net national income at current prices stood at Rs 167.89 lakh
crore in 2018-19, up from Rs 151.50 lakh crore in 2017-18. Thus it grew by 10.8 % in 2018-19
• National Income/ GDP figures:

GDP 2018-19 6.1 %

GDP 2019-20 4.2 %
REAL GDP 2019-20 Rs 145 trillion (4.2%)
Nominal GDP 2019-20 Rs 203 trillion (7.2%)
GVA 3.9% at basic prices, 7% at current prices
Per capita income Rs 94954 in real terms; Rs 134226 Nominal
Agri GVA at base price 4% growth, (14.6% of total GVA )
Agri GVA at nominal prices 11.4 % growth (17.75% of total GVA)

TAXES
Fiscal Deficit 4.6% (target was 3.8%)
Gross tax revenues -3.4%
Direct Tax Buoyancy 1.12

Inflation
CPI 4.8 %
WPI 1.7 %

External Data
FDI • Net FDI – 42.8 billion USD
• 42.69 billion - acc to RBI; Singapore tops; Highest growth from Cayman
islands ; 9th rank globally; highest to Services sector
• FDI in India rose by 13 per cent - to a record USD 49.97 billion in 2019-
20; Total FDI into India including re-invested earnings and other capital in
the last fiscal grew by 18 per cent to USD 73.45 billion as against USD 62
billion in 2018-19.
• Acc to UNCTAD: 49 billion $ in 2019; 16% increase; 9th rank
• India is 9th largest recipient of FDI in 2019 with $51 billion; US topped:
UNCTAD-World Investment Report 2020
•

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CAD 0.8% acc to rbi statistics handbook

Trade Deficit USD 153 billion
IIP -0.7 %
Credit to Deposit Ratio = 76.4%
Import -9.1% (467 billion USD)
Export -4.8% (314 billion USD)

• 2018-19: 6.1%
• 2019-20: Q4: 3.1% , Q3 – 4.7%, Q2 – 5.1%, Q1 – 5.7%; avg 4.2% overall for FY 2019-20
• Real GDP – Rs 145.66 trillion (4.2%), GDP at Current Prices in the year 2019-20 - Rs 203.4 trillion
(7.2% growth)
• FY20 GVA growth at 3.9%
• The Per Capita Income in real terms (at 2011-12 Prices) during 2019-20 is estimated to attain a level of
₹ 94,954
• The Per Capita Income at current prices during 2019-20 is estimated to be ₹ 134,226,
• GNI grew at 4.2% in real terms, 7.1% in nominal terms
• 2019-20 : Agri GVA at base prices = 4.0% growth, Current prices – 11.4%
• For Q4 Agri GVA grew at 5.9% at base prices, 13% in current prices
• 2019-20: Gross tax revenues contracted by 3.4%; Fiscal deficit at 4.6% (against revised 3.8%)
• Gross direct tax mop up dips 4.92% to Rs 12.33 lakh crore in FY20
• Direct Tax buoyancy in FY 20 = 1.12
• 2019-20: annual IIP (-0.7%) ; Trade deficit : Overall trade deficit in 2019-20 was lowered at $152.88
billion ($ 467 b Import, $ 314 b Export)
• Core industries: January: 2.2%, March : - 6.5%, April = -38% (cement contracts 86%)
• CPI: 4.8% overall 2019-20
• WPI: 1.7% in 2019-20.
• FDI: 51.4 billion $ upto Feb, 36.7 billion in Equity; Highest Maharashtra
• IIP : March : -16.7%
• Trade Data India 2019-20:
▪ Exports declined by 4.78% in FY20 to $314.31 billion.
▪ Effect on Imports: overall FY 19-20 import declined by 9.12% to $467.19 billion.–
▪ Overall trade deficit in 2019-20 was lowered at $152.88 billion compared to the trade gap
in 2018-19 at $184 billion. •
• External Data:
▪ At end-March 2020, India’s external debt was placed at US$ 558.5 billion
▪ 20.6 % of External Debt to GDP ratio
▪ Commercial borrowings (39%) > non resident deposits > short term trade credit
▪ USD denominated debt is largest component
• Q1 2021 GDP Data:
• GVA = -22.8%; (construction sector worst hit); Agri = + 3.4 % growth
• GDP at constant prices = -23.9%
• Fiscal deficit at the end of July = 103% of overall FY
• India Debt to GDP ratio = 72.2% of GDP as on March 2020 (Rs 146.9 trillion )
• Policy Rates: May MPC meet
• Repo rate – 4%
• Reverse Repo – 3.35%
• MSF, Bank Rate: 4.25%
• Accommodative stance
• Indian exports to fall by 20% during FY 21: FIEO
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• Govt had revised fiscal deficit target for FY20 to 3.8%: Given the unprecedented conditions arising from
the pandemic and a prolonged slowdown, the government revised its budget deficit for the last fiscal year
to 3.8 percent from an earlier 3.3 percent
• The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 119.9 in July, 2020, which declined by 9.6
(provisional) per cent as compared to the Index of July, 2019.Its cumulative growth during April to July,
2020-21 was -20.5%. Steel-Steel production (weight: 17.92per cent)declinedby 16.4 per cent inJuly, 2020
over July,2019

IITs:
• Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB) + IIT Delhi to set up a Geographical Information System (GIS)
based platform for air quality management in Bihar.

Industrial and Labour Policies + Export-Import Policy

1. Trade Policy:
• total reward which may be granted to an IEC holder under the scheme shall not exceed Rs.2 Crore per IEC
of exports made in the period 1.9.2020 to 31.12.2020 under MEIS
• MEIS Scheme is withdrawn w.e.f. 1.1.2021.
• total claim under MEIS for the period 1.9.2020 to 31.12.2020 does not exceed prescribed allocation by the
Government which is Rs.5,000 Crore.
• Changes in Customs Act: 35% value addition from country of origin compulsory to get FTA benefits; Reason
- increasing trade deficit of India with FTA countries , especially ASEAN countries where trade deficit reached
20 billion USD ; misuse of FTAs to import goods from third country e.g. China
• India has 32 FTAs
2. Defence Exports in India:
- Defense export increased 700% in 3 years; to Rs 10745 crore in 2018-19
- Target: 25 billion USD or Rs 175000 crore turnover by 2025
- Export target – Rs 35000 crore or $ 5 billion by 2025
- FDI in Defence : 49 % automatic; 74% with approval
3. NEP 2020 implementation :
• 300 tasks identified
• Fully transformed exam pattern in 2025-26 : board reform by CBSE
• Teacher trainings – 2021-24
• Redesign textbooks: 2021-24 in 3 phases
• Implementing agencies : 23; includes – MoTribal Affairs, Min of Education, Min of SJE, Min of WCD,
• NCF by NCERT by 2021
• Teacher training curriculum by NCTE by 2022
• National achievement survey in 2021, 2023, 2025
• SCERT will train teachers and develop resources for regional languages teaching upto class 5

International :
• Mexico Became the First Country to Issue 7-year Sovereign SDG Bond worth $890m

Legislations :
1. The Banking Regulation (Amendment) Act, 2020
a. Exclusions: Not applicable to PACS and co-operative societies whose principal business is long
term financing for agricultural development. Further, these societies must not use the words ‘bank’,
‘banker’ or ‘banking’ in their name or in connection with their business, or act as an entity that clears
cheques.
b. Power to make a scheme for reconstruction / amalgamation without imposing
moratorium: Banks placed under moratorium do not face any legal action for up to 6 months. Further,
banks cannot make any payment or discharge any liabilities during the moratorium. The Bill allows RBI

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to initiate a scheme for reconstruction or amalgamation without imposing a moratorium. If a moratorium

is imposed, in addition to the existing restrictions, the Bill adds that banks cannot grant any loans or
make investments in any credit instruments during the moratorium.
c. Issuance of shares and securities by co-operative banks: The Bill provides that a co-operative
bank may issue equity, preference, or special shares. Further, it may issue unsecured debentures or
bonds with maturity of 10 or more years with prior approval of the RBI,
d. The Bill states that no person will be entitled to demand payment towards surrender of shares issued
to him by a co-operative bank. Further a co-operative bank cannot withdraw or reduce its share capital,
except as specified by the RBI.
e. Qualifications for management: Under the Bill, co-operative banks cannot employ as Chairman,
someone who is insolvent or has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, among other
restrictions. RBI may remove the Chairman if he is not fit and proper and appoint a suitable person if
the bank does not do so.
f. the Board of Directors must have at least 51% of members with special knowledge or experience in
areas such as accountancy, banking, economics or law. RBI may direct a bank to reconstitute its Board
if it does not conform to the requirements. If the bank does not comply, RBI may remove individual
directors and appoint suitable persons.
g. Power to exempt cooperative banks: The Bill states that RBI may exempt a cooperative bank or a
class of cooperative banks from certain provisions of the Act through notification. The time period and
conditions for the exemption will be specified by RBI.
h. Supersession of Board of Directors: The Act states that RBI may supersede the Board of Directors
of a multi-state co-operative bank for up to 5 years in conditions like public interest, to protect depositors
etc.
i. In case of a co-operative bank registered with the Registrar of Co-operative Societies of a state, RBI
may supersede the Board of Directors after consultation with the concerned state government,
j. Certain provisions omitted: restriction on a co-operative bank from making loans or advances on the
security of its own shares + prohibition on grant of unsecured loans or advances to its directors, and
to private companies where the bank’s directors or chairman is an interested party. The Act also
specifies conditions when unsecured loans or advances may be granted and specifies the manner in
which the loans may be reported to RBI. The Bill omits this provision from the Act.
2. FSSAI bans sales, ads of junk foods in school canteens, within 50 metres of campus under The Food Safety
and Standards (Safe Food and healthy diets for School Children) Regulations, 2020
3. Govt approved amendments to the Labour Code on Social Security, Code on Industrial Relations (IR), and
Code on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH). The Codes includes benefits like pension, medical benefits
to gig workers allow states to introduces significant changes to their labour laws framework,
4. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020
a. Companies with upto 300 workers don’t need govt nod for firing workers (earlier limit 100)
b. Strike only after 60 day notice
c. Worker Reskilling Fund : contribution from employer, upto last 15 days wage of worker
5. The Code On Social Security, 2020
a. National Social Security Board to be set up
b. Aggregators employing gig workers will have to contribute 1-2% of their annual turnover for social
security subject to max 5% of total amount payable to gig workers
6. The Occupational Safety, Health And Working Conditions Code, 2020
a. Defines Inter state migrant workers as : earning upto 18000 per month
b. Proposed Journey allowance to be paid by employer

Monetary and Fiscal Policy

• IIP contracted -10.4% in July
• CPI at 6.69% in Aug 2020
• WPI at 0.16%
• Forex reserve in Sept : 542 billion $

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MoU:
• BHEL + SwissRapide AG = to bring Maglev trains to India
• Gujarat Signs MoU with SIDBI to support MSMEs
• WhatsApp Partnered with Common Services Centers for Digital Literacy Service Chatbot

Multilateralism + Globalization + International Economic Institutions + WTO + Regional

Economic Cooperation.
• India supports the proposal of declaring 2021 the Year of Culture of the SCO to celebrate 20th anniversary
of the SCO
• India and Japan signed an Agreement between the two countries concerning Reciprocal Provision of
Supplies and Services between the Armed Forces of India and The Self-Defense Forces of Japan
• India, France, Australia hold 1st Trilateral Dialogue on Economic, Strategic Challenges in Indo-Pacific;
• India-Japan- Australia = Supply chain initiative
• Sahitya Akademi is translating ten Indian literary works into the SCO languages Russian and Chinese with
the objective of sharing Indian literature with SCO nations
• US-India-Israel summit held virtually; Decision taken for Trilateral Collaboration on 5G Tech : on the basis
of tech-triangle (Silicon Valley-Tel Aviv and Bangalore) concept
• India & Afghanistan were elected as Members of the United Nations (UN) Commission on Status of Women,
a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC for 2021-25
• Abraham Accord: Israel, Bahrain and UAE sign peace agreement
• India Joined Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment as Observer
• Global Initiative to Reduce Land Degradation and Coral Program: G20 ministers launched;

ADB:
• ADB + ENGIE = Rs 466-cr loan agreement for developing Raghanesda Solar Project in Gujarat
• ADB + Suguna Foods = USD 15 Million Deal to Sustain Rural Livelihoods in India During Pandemic
• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) agreed to partner toward the
“Green Recovery
• India, ADB Sign 1st tranche of $500 Million Loan For Delhi-Meerut RRTS Corridor: Total project $ 1 billion
• Besides ADB, a $3 million grant from ADB’s Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction will support various activities,
including provision of visual, hearing and mobility aids, such as wheelchairs for differently abled persons.
• The ADB-administered multi-donor Urban Climate Change Resilience Trust Fund (UCCRTF) will provide
$2.89 million to support innovations in building information modeling, universal access design features, TOD
and VCF.
• The Maharashtra government approved the Maharashtra Agribusiness Network (MagNet) project worth
about Rs 1,000 crore (USD 142.9 million). The project aims to help farmers across all districts in the state
for the next 6 years. 70% of the project cost (i.e.700 crores) will be funded by Asian Development Bank
(ADB) while the rest of 30% cost (300 crores) is funded by the state government
• ADB Appointed Takeo Konishi as its new country director for India
• India is 4th Largest Shareholder and Largest Borrower of ADB since 2010
• ADB Approved USD 570 mn Loans for Urban Projects in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh : 300 million USD for
Rajasthan for improving sanitation and the drinking water supply infrastructure.; USD 270 million loan for
construction of water supply and integrated storm water and sewage management infrastructure in MP
EIB:
• European Investment Bank to Invest € 650 Million in Kanpur’s 1st City Metro Line

National
• grant of FCRA clearance to the Sri Harmandir Sahib Amritsar to raise foreign donations
• Cannabis Medicine project that is to be set up in Jammu and Kashmir in collaboration with Canada is to be
the first foreign investment in the union territory of JK
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• Metro services in Kochi Inaugurated ; Kochi Water Metro Project at the cost of Rs 747 crore with the financial
assistance of German Bank, KFW. Kochi is the first city in the country wherein water transport has been
integrated as a feeder service to the metro
• RPF has disrupted the operation of illegal software called “Real Mango” used for cornering confirmed
Railway reservation.
• 8 beaches given Blue Flag certification ; Chandrabhaga beach in Odisha was 1st to get Blue flag certification
in South Asia in 2018
• National Generic Document Registration System = J&K

NITI:
• NITI Aayog constitutes Multidimensional Poverty Index Coordination Committee (MPICC) to be chaired by
Ms Sanyukta Samaddar
• NITI AAYOG : is at an advanced stage for preparation of a Multidimensional Poverty Index(MPI) parameter
dashboard to rank states and Union Territories, along with a State Reform Action Plan (SRAP
- Global MPI is part of Government of India’s decision to monitor the performance of the country in 29 select
Global Indices
- Global MPI is an international measure of multidimensional poverty covering 107 developing countries
- According to Global MPI 2020, India is 62nd among 107 countries with an MPI score of 0.123
- Nodal agency for the MPI: NITI Aayog

Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation in India :Skill development / AI :

• UiPath Partners with APSSDC to Train Student in Robotic Process Automation
• Telangana Govt and UK India Business Council Renewed their MoU to Strengthen the State’s Industrial
Development
• WE HUB, India’s first State led incubator for women led startups, under the Government of Telangana
partnered with NutriHub, first of its kind incubator to provide the needs of the startups in the nutricereal
sector, to support women entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector in both urban and rural areas
• Build for Digital India: MeiTY + Google
• Atal Innovation Mission + Freshworks = to empower AIM Startup Innovators
• Skill Tech University to be set up in - Tamil Nadu
• Atal Innovation Mission + ScooNews = to spread awareness of Grassroots Innovations
• Atal Innovation Mission and Dell Technologies Launch Student Entrepreneurship Programme 2.0 (SEP 2.0)
for young innovators of Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs). SEP 2.0 will allow student innovators to work closely
with Dell volunteers. They will receive mentor support; prototyping and testing support; end-user feedback;
intellectual property registration and patenting of ideas, processes, and products; manufacturing support; as
well as the launch support of the product in the market
• NASSCOM Future Skills and Microsoft Launched “AI classroom series” for Students in India to skill 10 lakh
students in India by 2021; FutureSkills is an initiative of IT-ITES Sector Skill Council of NASSCOM
• Rajasthan Govt Signs MoU with SIDBI to Develop Its MSME Ecosystem

Ranks:
• Smart City Index (SCI) 2020 : Singapore tops; Hyderabad tops among Indian cities with 85th rank ; by IMD
• World Bank Human Capital Index: India ranks 116; 0.49 score; The report says that more than 1 billion
children are out of school. There has been a major decline in remittances and the total income has declined
by 11% to 12%. The HCI uses stunting rate and survival rate to measure health. The HDI uses per capita
income but is excluded in HCI.
• Union Minister of Rural Development released the “Financial Management Index for Rural Development
Programmes.”
- Preparation of annual plan, projecting the requirement of funds for the financial year, expeditious release
of State’s share, timely utilization of the funds and submission of the Utilization Certificates etc.;
- Optimum implementation of Public Financial Management System (PFMS) & Direct Benefit Transfer;
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- Internal Audit; and

- Social Audit.

RBI:
• Automation of Income Recognition`, Asset Classification and Provisioning processes in banks by June 30,
2021.
• RBI will make – Digital payment Index
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued Draft Rupee Interest Rate Derivatives (Reserve Bank) Directions, 2020
under Section 45 W of the RBI Act, to allow foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to undertake exchange-traded
rupee interest rate derivatives transactions subject to an overall ceiling of Rs 5,000 crore. This decision
has been taken to encourage higher non-resident participation, enhance the role of domestic market makers
in the offshore market, improve transparency, and achieve better regulatory oversight.
• defer the implementation of the last tranche of 0.625 per cent of the Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB) from
September 30, 2020 to April 1, 2021. The pre-specified trigger for loss absorption through conversion / write-
down of Additional Tier 1 instruments (Perpetual Non-Convertible Preference Shares and Perpetual Debt
Instruments), shall remain at 5.5 per cent of risk weighted assets (RWAs) and will rise to 6.125 per cent of
RWAs from April 1, 2021.
• implementation of NSFR guidelines deferred by six months and shall come into effect from April 1, 2021.
• Positive Pay System shall be implemented from January 01, 2021. The concept of Positive Pay involves a
process of reconfirming key details of large value cheques. Under this process, the issuer of the cheque
submits electronically, through channels like SMS, mobile app, internet banking, ATM, etc., certain minimum
details of that cheque (like date, name of the beneficiary / payee, amount, etc.) to the drawee bank, details
of which are cross checked with the presented cheque by CTS. Any discrepancy is flagged by CTS to the
drawee bank and presenting bank, who would take redressal measures. National Payments Corporation of
India (NPCI) shall develop the facility of Positive Pay in CTS and make it available to participant banks.
Banks, in turn, shall enable it for all account holders issuing cheques for amounts of ₹50,000 and above.
While availing of this facility is at the discretion of the account holder, banks may consider making it
mandatory in case of cheques for amounts of ₹5,00,000 and above
• On Tap TLTRO : The focus of liquidity measures by the RBI will now include revival of activity in specific
sectors that have both backward and forward linkages, and multiplier effects on growth. Accordingly, it has
been decided to conduct on tap TLTRO with tenors of up to three years for a total amount of up to ₹1,00,000
crore at a floating rate linked to the policy repo rate. The scheme will be available up to March 31, 2021.
Liquidity availed by banks under the scheme has to be deployed in corporate bonds, commercial papers,
and non-convertible debentures issued by the entities in specific sectors over and above the outstanding
level of their investments in such instruments. on tap TLTROs are intended to enable banks to conduct their
operations smoothly and seamlessly without being hindered by illiquidity frictions. The objective is to ensure
that liquidity in the system remains comfortable.
• RBI increased the limits under Held to Maturity (HTM) category from 19.5 per cent to 22 percent of NDTL,
in respect of SLR securities acquired on or after September 1, 2020, up to March 31, 2022 for securities
acquired between September 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. The HTM limits would be restored from 22 per
cent to 19.5 percent in a phased manner starting from the quarter ending June 30, 2022.
• To improve liquidity and facilitate efficient pricing, it has been decided to conduct open market operations
(OMOs) in SDLs as a special case during the current financial year.
• it has been decided to discontinue the Automatic Caution-listing of Exporters . The Reserve Bank will
continue with caution-listing based on the case-specific recommendations of the AD bank
• Regulatory Retail Portfolio – Revised Limit for Risk Weight: As per the present RBI instructions, the
exposures included in the regulatory retail portfolio of banks are assigned a risk weight of 75 per cent. In
terms of the value of exposures, it has been prescribed that the maximum aggregated retail exposure to one
counterparty should not exceed the absolute threshold limit of ₹7.5 crore. In order to reduce the cost of credit
for this segment consisting of individuals and small businesses (i.e. with turnover of upto ₹50 crore)

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• Individual Housing Loans – Rationalisation of Risk Weights: it has been decided, as a countercyclical
measure, to rationalise the risk weights by linking them only with LTV ratios for all new housing loans
sanctioned up to March 31, 2022. Such loans shall attract a risk weight of 35 per cent where LTV is less
than or equal to 80 per cent, and a risk weight of 50 per cent where LTV is more than 80 per cent but less
than or equal to 90 percent. This measure is expected to give a fillip to bank lending to the real estate sector
• Co-Origination model: it has been decided to extend the scheme to all the NBFCs (including HFCs), to make
all priority sector loans eligible for the scheme and give greater operational flexibility to the lending
institutions, while requiring them to conform to the regulatory guidelines on outsourcing, KYC, etc. The
proposed framework will be called as “Co-Lending Model”.
• decided to make available the RTGS system round the clock on all days. With this, India will be one of the
very few countries globally with a 24x7x365 large value real time payment system. This facility will be made
effective from December 2020

Reports:
1. Centre for Science and Environment recently released a report on construction waste, according to which,
India recycles only 1% of its demolition and construction waste.
2. ENVISTATS INDIA 2020 REPORT
• National Statistical Office (NSO) released the state-wise data in the EnviStats India 2020 report.
• average number of heat wave days increased 82.6 % year-on-year to 157 in 2019, with the highest
number recorded in Rajasthan (20 days
• Acute respiratory infection led to 3,740 deaths in 2018 — the highest in six years. The highest number
of deaths due to acute respiratory infection were reported in West Bengal (732).
• particulate matter size less than or equal to 10 µm was the highest in Delhi (243).
• Tube well/hand pump remained the primary source of drinking water in rural India in 2018 with 53.8 %
share, while piped water/ tap/ public tap/ standpipe was the primary source in urban areas with 65 %
share
• In rural areas, among states having bottled water as the principal source of drinking water in 2018, Delhi
ranked at the top with 33.4 % households relying on it.
• In urban areas, Daman & Diu has the highest share of households (40.4 %) choosing bottled water as
principal drinking water source.
• Andhra Pradesh has the highest percentage of slum population to urban population (36.10 %)
• Delhi has the highest number of registered motor vehicles (1.02 crore), among million plus cities
3. Happiness Report 2020
• Mizoram tops, Punjab , A&N category wise
• Punjab tops in big states
• Mizoram tops in small states
• A&N in UTs
• Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi have shown worst effect of COVID on Happiness
4. UN FAO report on Milk production
• India tops with 196 million tonne production in 2019
• India contributes 23% of world milk production
5. World Health Organization recently reported that at least half of 25 kinds of health services experienced
disruptions due to COVID-19. The findings were based on the survey conducted by the international
organization in its five of six regions regions. The survey is called the “Global Pulse Survey.
6. State of Young Child in India:
• report was prepared by the Mobile Creches, a policy advocacy organization. The report measured Health
and Nutrition in the country.
• There are 159 million children aged below 6 years in India. Of these, 21% are undernourished, 36% are
underweight and 38% do not receive full immunization.

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• The top 5 high performing states according to Young Child Environment Index are Kerala, Goa, Punjab,
Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh.
• There are 8 states in the country that have scores less than the country’s average in child development.
They are Assam, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh.
• Kerala, Tripura, Goa, Mizoram and Tamil Nadu are the top 5 states that support well being of children to
larger extent
• The public spending on children in the country has increased. The expenses are targeted towards
healthcare, nutrition, education and protection services
• The report framed in two indices namely
• Young Child Outcome Index : Kerala tops; Bihar worst
• Young Child Environment Index :Kerala tops, Arunachal Pradesh worst
• While the population if children under 6 years of age is 159 million, the ICDS covers only 71.9 million
7. Ranking of states based on implementation of Business Reform Action Plan for the year 2019:
• Nirmala Sitharaman announced the 4th edition of Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) ranking of states.
Till date, State Rankings have been released for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017-18
• The Business Reform Action Plan 2018-19 includes 187 reform points covering 12 business regulatory
areas
• 100% Feedback based
• DPIIT formulated 187 reform points
• Andhra Pradesh tops; Uttar Pradesh 2nd ; Telangana 3rd ; Delhi tops among UTs with 12 rank;
• 29th Rank - All NE states except Assam and Mizoram + Chandigarh + Odisha + Sikkim
• Assam best in NE states; Lakshadweep improved most – 19 positions
• State Refrom Action plan : The Action Plan for the year 2020-21 consists of 301 Reform points spread
across 15 Areas.; Sectoral reforms have been introduced for the first time in the Action Plan for 2020-
21; ‘Investment enablers’ has been introduced as a specific area in the Action Plan
8. Global Innovation Index 2020:
• WIPO + INSEAD + Cornell
• India = 48th
• According to the report, India came 3rd in the most innovative Lower Middle-Income Economy, Vietnam
took the top position and Ukraine took the second position.
• India ranks in Top 15 in indicators such as ICT (Information and Communication Technology) services
exports, Government Online Services, Graduates in Science and Engineering, and Research &
Development intensive Global Companies.
• India, Kenya, Republic of Moldova and VietNam hold record of being Innovation achievers for 10
consecutive years

9. NSSO report on: 75th round Health in India 2017-18 (released in July 2020)
• 15-day reference period
• 28% in age group of 60+ reported illness
• TB cases – 38 per lakh
• Anaemia – 5,96,200 cases estimated
• 33% ailments in Rural areas treated in Govt hospital
• 95% prefer Allopathy
• 13% rural population covered in Govt health insurance scheme (before PMJAY)
• Average medical bill – Rs 16676 in rural areas; out of Pocket expenses are - Rs 15937
• In rural areas:
i. 80% managed treatment expenditure from savings
ii. 13% borrowed money
• Institutional Deliveries:
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i. 90% in rural areas = 69% govt; 21% private

ii. 96% in urban areas
• Pre natal care – 97% in rural areas; Post natal care – 87%
• Senior citizens :
i. 6.6 % of rural population = 28% financially independent
ii. 7.8 % of urban population = 33% are financially independent
• Child 0-5 age:
i. 8.6 % of rural population
ii. 7.0% of urban population
• Vaccination : rural areas
i. 58.4 % fully immunized with 8 vaccines (highest in Haryana, Lowest in Nagaland)
ii. 97% got atleast 1 vaccine
• Vaccination overall – 59% vaccinated fully ; However Centre’s Health Management Information System
portal data, which claimed that full immunisation coverage for 2017-18 stood at 86.7%
i. Manipur tops in overall immunization (75%); Nagaland worst 12%

10. NSSO report : Household Social Consumption Report - EDUCATION

• Literacy rate – 77.7% in India; Rural – 73.5%; Urban – 87.7%
• Male Literacy – 84.7%; Female -70.3%
• States – Kerala tops (96.2%), Worst AP (66.4%)
• Lowest female literacy - Rajasthan (57.6%)
• Average Household size in India – 4.3; In rural areas - 4.5
• Average years of schooling – 9.7 yrs (age 15 or above); (9 years in rural areas)
• In rural India:
i. 73.5% literates (81.5% male + 65% female)
ii. 31.5% never went to school
iii. 5.7% graduates (highest in UK)
• In urban areas:
i. 87.7 % literacy rate
ii. 13.9 % not literates
iii. 21.7% graduates (highest in UK)
• Proximity of school: (within 1 km)
i. Rural areas: 92.7 % primary schools ; 68% upper primary schools; 38% secondary schools
ii. Urban Areas: 87.2% primary schools; 80% upper primary schools; 70% secondary schools
• Gross Attendance ratio – almost 100% in primary levels
• 96.1 % enrolled in General education; 3.9% in Technical education
• Free Education:
i. Rural areas: 44 % at pre primary levels; 72% at primary level
ii. Urban areas :14% at pre primary levels; 31% at primary level
iii. Overall - 33% at pre primary level and 62% at Primary level
• Scholarship = 14% getting (16% in rural areas)
• Avg expenditure :
i. Rs 8331 for general courses
ii. Rs 50307 for technical courses
iii. Pre primary education - Rs 8997 (in rural area = 5655 Rs )
iv. Primary education – Rs 6024 (Rs 3545 in rural areas)
• 19.8% go to private coaching overall
• Never enrolled in schools – 13% male and 19% females in rural areas
• Dropouts – 14%
• Tech:

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i. Computer : 4.4 % rural; 23 % urban – overall 10.7%

ii. Internet access = 15% rural (lowest in Odisha, highest in HP) and 42% urban – 24% overall
(highest in Delhi overall); Only Delhi, HP and Kerala has 50% or more internet access
iii. Knowledge of computer = 24% rural; 56% urban
• Households in India – 26.2 crore (17.62 crore in rural areas)
11. E&Y report on Indian Agri tech:
• Present Agri Tech turnover - $ 204 million is 1% of India’s potential
• Potential of 24.1 billion USD in 5 years
• Need to focus on: Supply chain + financial service solutions + maturing digital content ecosystem
• 500 agritech startups in India
• Supply chain and output market linkages component has highest potential
12. National Indicator Framework: 2.1
• 302 indicators now (earlier 306)
• In rural India, 42.49 % population was getting safe and adequate drinking water within premises through
Pipe Water Supply (PWS) in 2019-20
• SHGs bank linkage increased to 26.98 lakh in 2019-20
• Agriculture productivity of wheat and rice has increased to 3,421 Kgs and 2,703 Kgs per hectare
respectively in 2019-20.
• 99.51% beneficiaries were covered under National Food Security Act (NFSA 2013).
• Gross value added in agriculture per worker (at constant price) increased to Rs. 74,044 in 2019-20
• The % of net area under organic farming increased from 1.07 in 2015-16 to 2.75 % in 2019-20.
• Gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education increased to 26.3 % in 2018-19
• In 2017-18, 67.57 % schools had access to electricity
• In 2019, 14.36 % seats in Lok Sabha were held by women representatives
• Number of States/UTs having Gender Budget Cells increased from 14 in 2015-16 to 23 in 2019-20
• The per day wage of casual labourer for male and female was increased to Rs. 310 and Rs. 204 in April–
June 2019, respectively
• per day average agriculture wage earning from causal labour work other than public was Rs. 261 and
Rs. 187 in April–June 2019, respectively
• 100 % districts achieved the Open Defecation Free target.
• The % of households using clean cooking fuel has increased to 98.10 %
• number of banking outlets per 1 lakh population increased up to 145.6 in 2018-19
• The share of budget allocated for welfare of SCs and STs has increased from 2.47 % in 2015-16 to 4.50
% in 2020-21.
• Per capita food availability in India = 179.6 kg per year per person in 2019
• The % reduction in emission intensity of GDP, over 2005 level by 2020 is 21 %
13. NSO Survey on PwBD
• In India prevalence of disability (% of persons with disability in the population) was 2.2 %
• Literacy rate - 52.2 %

• Among persons with disabilities of age 15 years and above, Labour Force Participation Rate in usual
status (ps+ss) was 23.8 %.
14. FINAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE FOR SUB-NATIONAL ACCOUNTS (Chairman: Dr. Ravindra H.
Dholakia):
• A bottom up approach for compilation of National Aggregates from the corresponding State aggregates
is deemed to be the ideal approach
• GST registration data together with annual turnover data may be analyzed to estimate rural and urban
incomes.
• rural – urban break up of GDP for every base year should be done at the State level

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• Ornamental plants and ornamental fishing having a higher value addition are not fully captured currently
in the estimation of the agriculture aggregates. The States need to explore methodology for capturing
the same.
• Output of species-wise fishing should be estimated as being done in Tamil Nadu
15. Women in business can generate 170 mn jobs in India by 2030: Report
• Recently a report titled “Women Entrepreneurship in India — Powering the economy with her”
has been released.
• It was released by Bain & Company and Google.
• Key Findings of the report
• Women in entrepreneurship can generate 150–170 million jobs in India.
• It accounts for more than 25 % of the new jobs required for the entire working-age population by 2030.
• It has found that of the 432 million women in working age, about 343 million are not paid formal workers.
• An estimated 324 million of the unpaid women are not in the labour force, and 19 million are in the labour
force but are not employed.
• It has found that entrepreneurship among women is over-represented in numbers.
• According to Bain’s analysis total share of enterprises that are truly owned and run by women is likely to
be lower than 20 %.
• It has suggested that in addition to job creation by private and government sectors,
entrepreneurship is an untapped opportunity for working-age women in India.
• According to report women entrepreneurs are distinguished in six categories
i. Scalers (1 %) - Who are rural or urban women with non-farm businesses and generate more
than Rs 50 lakh in revenue or employ more than 10 people.
ii. Urban small business owner (6 %) - Includes women-owned businesses that generate less
than Rs 50 lakh in revenue, and typically employees less than 10 people.
iii. Small, rural non-farm local businesses (8 %).
iv. Urban solopreneur (31 %) – Urban, self-employed women who usually work from home,
occasionally with part-time help.
v. Rural soloprenuers (38 %) – Non-farm, home-based business owners who generate
supplemental household income by selling individually or through collectives.
vi. Rural agripreneurs (16 %) - Women entrepreneurs who run farm-based business owners,
focused on growing and selling agriculture products for profit, and may employ people
formally
16. India ranked 12th in women member presence on companies' board globally
• Recently, A study titled 'Women On Board 2020' has been released.
• It was conducted by - Global recruitment platforms MyHiringClub.com and Sarkari-Naukri.info.
• The study was done online amongst 7,824 listed companies across 36 countries.
• Norway has topped the list followed by Sweden, Finland, Germany, South Africa and USA.
• Key Findings of the Report: India has been ranked 12th worldwide in women member presence
on board.
• In India 628 listed companies have participated in study.
• Around 54% of employees in Asia and 39% in India are women.
• Only a fraction of women has made it to middle and senior management level.
• It has revealed that 55% listed companies in India have women directors.
• It was 14% higher than 2019.
• 29% of the boards have two women directors.
• 63% of the boards have only one woman director.
• The average board life of male directors than their women counterpart in India is three years.
It has been about two years in world
14. WWF’s Living Planet Report: 2020:
a. 68% global wildlife population lost since 1970
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b. 85% wetlands lost

c. 75% of ice free earth surface has been altered
d. Reason: Change of Land use
e. Biggest wildlife loss in Latin America
f. 6 plant speices extinct in India
g. 33% of Indian wetlands lost
h. 14 out of 20 rivers in India are water stressed and will move towards extreme water scarcity by 2050
15. Levels & Trends in Child Mortality’ Report 2020,
a. The report was prepared by the United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN
IGME).
b. India’s child mortality rate has declined from 3.4 million in 1990 to 824,000 in 2019
c. 49 % of under-five deaths in 2019 occurred in five countries namely: Nigeria, India, Pakistan, the
Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia. India and Nigeria alone accounted for a 33% of all under-five
deaths in 2019.
d. under-five mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births) in India has declined to 34 in 2019
e. India registered a 4.5 % annual rate of reduction in under-five mortality between 1990-2019.
f. infant mortality rate (deaths per 1, 000 live births) in India declined to 28 in 2019.
g. Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals target on U5MR will save the lives of almost 11 million
children.
16. States’ Startup Ranking Framework 2019
a. has 7 broad reform areas consisting of 30 action points
b. Overall, the weightage given to feedback was 76% of the total score
c. second edition of Ranking of States on Support to Startup Ecosystems were released by DPIIT under
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
d. UTs except Delhi and North East states except Assam are placed in Category ‘Y’. All other States and UT
of Delhi are in Category ‘X’
e. 22 States and 3 Union Territories participated
f. Compendium of Good Practices’ adopted by various States in supporting startups has also been released.
It identifies 166 good practices,
g. Best Performer: Gujarat
h. Top performer: Karnataka, Kerala
i. Leaders: Bihar + Maharashtra + Odisha + Rajasthan
j. Aspiring Leaders: Haryana + Punjab+ UK + Jharkhand + Telangana
k. Andaman Nicobar tops in Y category; Sikkim worst
l. Based on reform areas:
• Institutional Leaders + Regulatory Change Champions + Procurement Leaders : Karnataka
• Seeding Innovation Leaders = Bihar
• Incubation Hubs+ Scaling Innovations Leaders+ Awareness and Outreach Champions = Gujarat
m. India has 3rd largest Startup ecosystem
n. 28000 startups recognized by DPIIT; 15% in IT services alone
o. 32 unicorns in India
p. 12 jobs created per startup
q. $50 billion raised bw 2014-19 ; E-Commerce is biggest sector in raising funds
r. Related terms: Bootstrapping (starting with own money); Valley of Death
s. SIDBI Fund of Funds for investment into startups, set up by the Government with an initial corpus of INR
2,500 crore and a total corpus of INR 10,000 crore over a period of four years
t. estimated that the number of unicorns in India will increase by three times, to 95 in 2025
u. 45% startups from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities)
17. “Countdown to 2023: WHO report on global trans-fat elimination 2020”
a. 58 countries have introduced laws that will protect 3.2 billion people from the harmful substance by the
end of 2021

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b. Target: World free of industrially produced trans fats by 2023, if limit set to 2% of oil & fats:
c. WHO recommends that trans fat intake be limited to less than 1% of total energy intake
18. United Nations Science 2020 report,:
a. world is nearing to pass the temperature limit of 1.5 degree
b. In the next 5 year, the world has about a 1-in-4 chance to experience a year that is hot enough to keep the
global temperature at 1.5 °C above pre-industrial times.
19. 24th Edition of Economic Freedom of the World:
a. 2020 Annual Report by Canada’s Fraser Institute,
b. India ranks 105th; slips 26 places
c. Hong Kong tops
20. 2nd Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) report titled “A World in Disorder”
a. the world will take 500 years to spend on preparing for pandemics due to the loss driven by the novel
coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
b. the cost of COVID-19 is over US$ 11 trillion to fund the response resulting in future loss of US$ 10 trillion
in earnings.
21. NAFIS Survey 2016-17
a. commissioned in 2016. Reference year of survey is 2015-16.
b. in 245 districts and 29 states. It covered 40,327 rural households and a population of 1,87,518.
c. Out of this 48 % are agriculture households.
d. 87 % are small and marginal farmer households.
e. Data was collected through paperless method of Computer Aided Personal Interview CAPI
f. This is the first edition of this survey. NABARD has proposed to perform this survey every 3 years.
g. The survey defines farm households as families having more than Rs 5,000 as value of produce from
agricultural operations in the year prior to the survey.
h. 5.2% OWNED TRACTOR
i. 87% have less than 2 hectare land
j. Income:
• Agricultural households, which accounted for 48% of rural households, earned Rs 107,172 during
2015-16 from cultivation, livestock, non-farm sector activities and wages/salaries. Thus, farmers’
income grew at a compounded growth rate of 12% per annum.
• Agricultural households earned 34% of their income from cultivation. Wage earnings contributed 34%
• Non-agricultural households reported average annual income of Rs 87,228 majorly contributed by
wages (54%), followed by salaries (32%) and non-farm sector activities (12%). Agricultural households
earned 23% more than non-agricultural households.
k. Savings & Investment:
• 48.5% reported savings (all households)
• 88.1 % of the households reported having a bank account.
• 33 % households reported more than one savings account
• 26 % of HH have women with institutional (including SHG) savings account
• 55 % of agricultural households reported any savings during the last year and of these 53 % saved
with institutions like banks, post offices and SHGs.
• Average savings per annum per saver households was Rs 17,488, of which 95 per cent is with
institutional agencies
• 10.4 % of agricultural households also reported investment with the average investment per investing
agricultural households was reportedly Rs 62,734.
• For all investments amounting more than Rs 10,000 in the year, 60% of the amount was funded through
borrowings from either institutional or informal sources.
l. Debt:
• Incidence of Indebtedness IOI is 52.5% for agricultural households and 42.8% non-agricultural
households were reportedly indebted at the time of survey. All India IOI taking all rural households
together stands at 47.4%.
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• Average amount of outstanding debt (AOD) for indebted agricultural households is reportedly Rs
1,04,602 as on the date of the survey. Debt outstanding for indebted non-agricultural households is
reportedly Rs 76,731. Overall extent of indebtedness taking all households combined is Rs 91,407.
• 43.5% agricultural households reported to have borrowed any money during last year from some
source or the other. 60.4% of them reportedly borrowed from institutional sources exclusively. Further,
30.3% borrowed from only informal sources and 9.2% of agricultural households borrowed from both
sources. 56.7% of Non-Agricultural households and 58.6% of all households borrowed from
institutional sources during last year.
• During the year 2015-16, a borrowing Agricultural households reportedly availed a loan of Rs 107,083
from various agencies, 72% of which was availed from institutional sources including MFIs and SHGs.
69% of borrowings of all households and 65% of non-agricultural households were from institutional
sources.
m. Insurance and Pension:
• 26% of agricultural households and 25% of non-agricultural households have insurance
• Among agricultural households who reported to have taken any loan for agricultural purposes in the
last one year [2015-16] from institutional agencies, 6.9% reported being covered under crop insurance.
• The coverage of pension was 18.9 % for non-agricultural households as against 20.1 % for agricultural
households
• When assessed for type of pension received, 32% of all households with senior citizens reported being
covered by old age pension
• Only 23% of rural income from farming:
• Agriculture does not even generate a quarter of rural household incomes in India. Out of the total rural
households, 48 % are agricultural households.
• Only over 43 % of the average income of agricultural households comes from cultivation of crops and
rearing of animals. Remaining 57 % income comes from non-agricultural sources.
• More than half the agricultural households in India have outstanding debts:
• 52.5% of the agricultural households had an outstanding loan. Whereas 42.8% of the non-agricultural
households in rural India had an outstanding loan.
• Also, agricultural households with outstanding debt had higher debt liability compared to non-
agricultural ones.
• The average outstanding debt of the agricultural households is nearly equal to the average annual
income of all agricultural households in India (Rs 1.07 lakh).
• Only 10.5% of agricultural households had a valid Kisan Credit Card. Those with Kisan Credit Card
had used 66% of the sanctioned credit limit.
• 19% of the loans were taken to meet agricultural expenses. Another 19% of loans were taken for
domestic needs. 11 % of loans were taken for housing and 12 % for medical expenses.
• Highest indebtedness was registered by farmers owning more than 2 hectares of land. 60% of such
households are indebted.
• Telangana (79%), Andhra Pradesh (77%), and Karnataka (74%) had the highest levels of
indebtedness among agricultural households. They were followed by Arunachal Pradesh (69%),
Manipur (61%), Tamil Nadu (60%), Kerala (56%), and Odisha (54%).
• 88 per cent rural households have savings accounts:
• 88.1 % of rural households and 55 % of agricultural households have bank account. But only about 24
% of them use ATM services at least once in three months.
• Only 7.4 % of these households use debit or credit card. 7.5 % use cheque to make a payment at least
once in three months.
• Average savings per annum per household was Rs 17,488.
n. Income and savings:
• The annual income of farmers increased 37.4 % between 2012-13 and 2015-16.

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• The average monthly income of rural households was Rs 8,059 in 2015-16 .The average expenditure
was Rs 6,646. Surplus was Rs 1,413 to save or invest.
• For agricultural households that invested more than Rs 10,000 in the year, 60 % was funded through
borrowings from institutional or informal source.
• Punjab, Haryana and Kerala are the top 3 states having average monthly income of Rs 23,133, Rs
18,496 and Rs 16,927, for rural households.
• Uttar Pradesh has the least with average monthly income of Rs 6,668 per month. In Andhra Pradesh,
high expenditure with respect to income was observed. Hence a rural household gets an average
surplus of only Rs 95 a month.
• A family in Bihar retains Rs 262/month. In Uttar Pradesh it is Rs 315/month
22. The International Animal Welfare Organization, World Animal Protection on the eve of World Elephant Day
(August 12) released its report, “Elephants. Not Commodities”. According to the report, over 200 elephants
in India are kept in severe inadequate conditions.
a. India is home to second-highest number of elephants used in tourism in Asia.
23. ARIIA:
a. It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education and implemented by the Ministry’s Innovation Cell and All India
Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to systematically rank higher education institutions (HEIs) and
universities in India on indicators related to Innovation, Startup and Entrepreneurship Development
amongst students and faculty.
b. It should be noted that India has moved up from 81st position in 2015 to 52nd position in 2019 in Global
Innovation Index (GII) ranking.
c. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras topped the category of Institute of National Importance while
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Khordha (Odisha) topped the category of Private or Self-
Financed Universities
d. 6 categories, 9 parameters
24.

Schemes / campaigns/ initiatives / portals /budgets

1. MP tops in implementation of SVANidhi scheme
2. MoSJE Budget has been increased to Rs. 9933.33 Cr(15.46 % increase)
3. Anganwadi Karyakartri Bima Yojana (AKBY) (modified): AWWs/AWHs in the age group of 51 to 59 years
are covered under the AKBY (modified) as long as they are engaged for life cover of Rs.30,000/- (covers life
risk, death due to any reason). In view of the special circumstances prevailing in the country due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the life cover for AWWs/AWHs in the age group of 51-59 years (closed group as on
01.06.2017) has been increased from Rs.30,000/- to Rs.2,00,000/-.
4. Skill India has announced the launch of its specialized program “Food Safety And Sanitization” program that
equips hoteliers and restauranteurs adapt to the new norms of food handling in the current times
5. SPICES: Education ministry launched the Scheme for Promoting Interests, Creativity and Ethics among
Students(SPICES) to promote the healthy co-curricular activities among the students for their development.
6. National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to tackle the problem of air pollution in a comprehensive manner
with a target to achieve 20 to 30 % reduction in PM 10 and PM 2.5 concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as
base year. The plan identified earlier 102 non-attainment cities, across 23 States and Union Territories. 20
more non-attainment cities have been included under NCAP based on latest data trend on air quality – total
122 cities now
7. ANIC - ARISE Challenges (Atal New India Challenges in Applied Research and Innovation for medium and
Small Enterprises) launched by NITI Aayog: for MSMEs
• Atal Innovation Mission is collaborating with ISRO & 4 Ministries to launch 15 sector focussed
AatmaNirbharBharat ARISE Atal New India Challenges.
• to spur applied research and innovation in Indian MSMEs and startups.

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• The programme will be driven by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), four ministries—Ministry
of Defence; Ministry of Food Processing Industries; Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; and Ministry
of Housing and Urban Affairs
• support applied research–based innovations by providing funding support of up to Rs 50 lakh for speedy
development
• ISRO to adopt 100 Atal Tinkering Labs from Atal Innovation Mission
• 15 challenges
8. SHGs and their federations under DAY-NRLM to participate in the annual GPDP planning process and
prepare the Village Poverty Reduction Plan (VPRP). VPRP is a comprehensive demand plan prepared by
the SHG network and their federations for projecting their demands and local area development which needs
to be integrated with the Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). The VPRP is presented in the Gram
Sabha meetings from Oct. to Dec. every year.
9. Road Accident Insurance Scheme for Accident Victims = Maharashtra
10. Arthika Spandana’ Loan Disbursal Scheme = Karnataka
11. Poshan Sarkar = Madhya Pradesh govt for ensuring active participation of local Bodies-Gram Panchayats
and Urban bodies in the Nutrition Campaign
12. Paani Bachao Paisa Kamao scheme = Punjab
13. Government of India increases Scholarship amount under “Pragati and Saksham” Scheme for J&K Students
14. The Doctor-to-Doctor (eSanjeevani) is being implemented under the Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness
Centre (AB-HWCs) programme
15. PMGKY Insurance scheme:
• It is implemented by NIACL. It is operated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare(MoHFW), and
is funded through the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)
16. tele-consultation by ‘eSanjeevani’ has been implemented by 23 states (which covers 75% of the population;
launched in 2019
17. Namaste Bharat: online exhibition for women entrepreneurs by MSME ministry
18. My Family, My Responsibility’ Campaign: Maharashtra to launch to Tackle COVID-19
19. Bhartiya Poshan krishi Kosh:
• Min of WCD
• With Bill and Melinda Gates foundation
• Dr. MS Swaminathan suggested 5 point action program to Make India nutrition secure
1. Ensure calorie rich diet for women, expectant mothers and children.
2. Ensure intake of proteins in the form of pulses to eradicate protein hunger in women and children.
3. Eradicate hidden hunger due to deficiency of micro nutrients like vitamin A, vitamin B, Iron and Zinc.
4. Ensure clean drinking water supply.
5. Spreading nutrition literacy in every village in mothers with children less than 100 days’ old
20. POSHAN Maah 2020: 2 activities:
• Focus on SAM – Severe Acute Malnutrition
• Poshan ke liye Paudhe -Kitchen garden plantation drive
21. Grih Pravesham’ event in Madhya Pradesh through video conferencing, where 1.75 Lakh Families were
delivered pucca houses under the PMAY-G
22. WING: Women Capacity Building program for Start ups
• . The programme aims to reach out to 7500 women entrepreneurs in 26 States and Union Territories.
23. Sabooj Saathi Scheme: West Bengal
• to establish primary and upper primary schools within walking distance to reduce the dropout rates
among the students, especially girls from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
• To provide bi-cycles to the government school students of class between 9 to 12
24. Streets for People Challenge = MoHUA for pedestrian friendly streets; Organized by Smart Cities Mission
• Participants – all 100 smart cities + all cities above 5 lakh population + capital cities
• 140 cities only
25. Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework CSCAF 2.0: MoHUA launched
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• The framework has 28 indicators across five categories namely;

• The Climate Centre for Cities (C3) under National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) is supporting MoHUA
in implementation of CSCAF.
• The framework has 28 indicators across five categories:
1. Energy and Green Buildings
2. Urban Planning, Green Cover and Biodiversity
3. Mobility and Air Quality
4. Water Management
5. Waste Management
26. Madhya Pradesh Govt Reintroduces Deendayal Antyodaya Rasoi Scheme
27. Min of Minority affairs scholarship:
• There are three schemes for availing scholarship: Pre-matric, Post-matric and Merit-cum-Means
schemes.
• mobile app National Scholarships (NSP).
28. ‘SAROD-Ports’ (Society for Affordable Redressal of Disputes – Ports launched by Min of Shipping
• all major Ports are shifting towards ‘Landlord Model
• for dispute redressal
29. Five Star Villages Scheme to ensure 100% rural coverage of postal schemes
• Launched by India Post
• Under Min of Communications
• to ensure universal coverage of flagship postal schemes in rural areas of the country.
• Branch offices will function as one-stop shop to cater all post office - related needs of villagers
• launched on pilot basis in Maharashtra

30. PMMSY:
• Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) is a flagship scheme focused on sustainable
development of fisheries sector in the country with an estimated investment of Rs. 20,050 crores for
• period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25 in 21 States/Union Territories.
• to enhance fish production by an additional 70 lakh tonne by 2024-25, increasing fisheries export
earnings to Rs.1,00,000 crores by 2024-25, doubling the incomes of fishers and fish farmers.
• reduce post-harvest losses from 20-25% to about 10% and generate an additional 55 lakhs employment
• Rs 12340 crores for beneficiary-oriented activities in Marine, Inland fisheries and Aquaculture and Rs
7710 crores for Fisheries Infrastructure.
• Goal is to double the Fish Exports in the next 3 to 4 years.(Rs. 100000 crore by 2024-25)
• Cluster or Area based approaches’ and creation of Fisheries clusters through backward and forward
linkages
• PMMSY in Bihar:
- Establishment of Fish Brood Bank at Sitamarhi, and of Aquatic Disease Referral Laboratory at
Kishanganj, under assistance of PMMSY.
- Fish on Wheels’ assisted at Patna under Blue Revolution.
- Comprehensive Fish Production Technology Centre at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural
University, Pusa, Bihar

31. Schemes Of The MoSJE

• Free Coaching For Scheduled Castes And Other Backward Classes, National Fellowship For
Scheduled Castes & Top Class Education For Schedules Castes :
- Revised the income limits for eligibility of Assistance under the Top Class Education Scholarship
Scheme for SCs, Free Coaching Scheme for SCs and OBCs, and National Overseas Scholarship
Scheme for SCs etc. from Rs.6.00 Lakh to Rs.8.00 Lakh per annum.

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- New mode of implementation has been introduced in the Free Coaching Scheme under which eligible
SCs and OBCs students can obtain assistance for undertaking coaching in institute of their choice.
- The Top Class Scheme has been expanded from 1500 seats to 4200 seats per annum. Top
institutions like IITs/NITs/Top NIRF ranked institutions have been added.
- The scheme for National Overseas Scholarship for SCs has been revised for the students who have
taken admission in reputed (Top 1000) Global institutions.
• Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojna: 3584 more SC majority villages have been taken up under PMAGY
for integrated development taking the total to 13199 villages.
• NATIONAL ACTION PLAN ON DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION: Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan has been
launched in 272 Districts most affected in substance use. This Abhiyan has been launched on 15th
August, 2020 and will continue upto 31st March 2021.
• INTEGRATED PROGRAMME FOR REHABILITATION OF BEGGARS: A project for comprehensive
rehabilitation of people engaged in the Act of begging has been taken up by the Ministry. This project
would be run in 10 pilot cities i.e. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Lucknow,
Patna, Nagpur and Indore. These 10 pilots will be done in the year 2020-21.
• NATIONAL ACTION PLAN for SENIOR CITIZENS:
- At least one Senior Citizen Home in each District will be ensured in this year.
- National Action Plan for Senior Citizen amended and incorporated -Self Help Groups for Senior
Citizens-Day Care Centre restored.
- Setting up a National Helpline for Senior Citizens during the Year which would link Centre, State
Governments, District Administrations and NGOs for resolving Grievances of the elders.

• NATIONAL SAFAI KARAMCHARIS FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (NSKFDC):

National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC) an apex corporation
under the Ministry of Social justice & Empowerment, has launched a new scheme with a view to promote
mechanized cleaning and to minimize the incidents of Manual Hazardous cleaning to providing financial
assistance to its target group for procurement and operation of mechanized cleaning equipment under
its Swachhta Udyami Yojna (SUY) with a provision of 50% capital subsidy for equipment costing upto
Rs.5 Lakh.
• Strengthening Of Machinary For Enforcement Of Protection Of Civil Rights Act 1955 And Prevention Of
Atrocities Act 1989: Setting up a National Helpline against atrocities on members of SCs/STs with Web
based self-service portal for generation of awareness and effective implementation of the PCR Act 1955
and the POA Act 1989
• POST MATRIC SCHOLARSHIP FOR SCS: It is proposed to cover additional 10 lakh students under
the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme for SCs during 2020-21. A central database covering all
beneficiaries under the Scheme will be developed.
• POST MATRIC SCHOLARSHIP FOR OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES: It is proposed to increase
beneficiaries by 35 lakhs.
• VISVAS: Vanchit Ikai Samooh aur Vargon ki Aarthik Sahayta Yojana (VISVAS Yojana)” is for the benefit
of Scheduled Castes and OBC Self Help Groups/Individual member with annual family income uptoRs.
3 Lakh.
- Under the scheme SC and OBC Self Help Groups and Individuals will be able to avail Interest
Subvention on bank loans at 5%.
- VISVAS Yojana will be implemented by NSFDC and NBCFDC
- The scheme will significantly help to expand the outreach to OBC and SC members and reduce
interest burden in these times of pandemic.
32. “GARIMA” Social Security Scheme for Sanitary Workers = Odisha Government
33. Universal Health Insurance Scheme for All Residents of UT = J&K
34. ‘YSR Aasara’ scheme for Women Empowerment = AP
35. MEITY + National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM), Ministry of Jal Shakti has launched ICT Grand Challenge for
Development of ‘Smart Water Supply Measurement & Monitoring System’ to be deployed at the village level.
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The Challenge is supported by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), MEITY Startup
Hub & Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)

Space /science
• 1st ever planet, ‘WD 1856 b’ orbiting a white dwarf or a dead star, ‘WD 1856+534’

Sports:
• Wushu – Poonam Khatri, Pooja Kadiyan,

States :
• Delhi CM Launches Online Portal for filing of Consumer Complaints
• Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) signed MoU with United Nations World Food
Programme (WFP), through which Take-Home ration will be supplied by Women SHGs
• Gujarat Govt Announced Subsidy Schemes for E-Scooters, Rickshaws
• 1st state with AI, blockchain and cybersecurity policies = Tamil Nadu

Summit:
• 4th edition of Global Ayurveda Summit by CII; #Emerging Opportunities for Ayurveda during Pandemic
• World Solar Technology Summit (WSTS) organised by ISA and FICCI:
- First World Solar Technology Summit: being organized by the International Solar Alliance (ISA)
- R.K. Singh, the President of the ISA Assembly
- FICCI as the convenor of ISA Global Leadership Task Force on Innovation, is working with ISA in
organizing the summit
- Globally India now ranks 4th in terms of Renewable power,
- non-fossil fuel-based power generations to 134GW, which is about 35 % of total power generation. And
aims to increasing it to 220 GW by 2022
- India is providing capacity building support to ISA member countries through its ITEC training programme
- The major objectives of the ISA include deployment of 1000 GW of solar capacity and mobilization of US$
1000 billion of investment in solar energy sector by 2030
- ISA Framework Agreement has been signed by 86 countries, On 23rd July 2020, Nicaragua became the
87th country to sign the International Solar Alliance (ISA)
- Launched :
1. ISA launched its technology journal, Solar Compass 360
2. ISA Journal on Solar Energy (I JOSE) launched
3. International Solar Alliance (ISA)’s Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (ISA-CSCA): 5 Public
Sector Undertakings (PSUs) under Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry will be joining as Corporate
Partners
4. Project Preparation Facility to develop bankable Solar Energy projects in ISA member countries
with the help of EXIM Bank of India
- Agreements
1. ISA was given the nodal agency mandate for implementing India’s global electricity grid plan. The
ISA being made the nodal agency for the plan is also important in order to support India’s One Sun
One World One Grid (OSOWOG) plan to counter China’s One Belt One Road initiative.
2. NTPC Ltd to secure solar projects in 47 least developed and small island developing ISA member
countries.
3. Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) as a part of which ISA will provide technical assistance in
deploying 1 million solar irrigation pumps.
4. International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) for setting up solar heating and cooling demonstration
projects in member countries.
- India gets 10 GW proposals for setting up solar equipment manufacturing capacity
- harness the power of the SURAJ: S- Stable, U- Unconditional, R- Renewable, A- Affordable, J- Justice

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Superlatives :
• Delhi Metro Launched India’s 1st Indigenous Signalling Technology ‘i-ATS’
• India’s first General Aviation Terminal at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Delhi to handle the flight
operations and movement and processing of passengers flying through of private jets
• Karnataka Launches Country’s First Integrated Air Ambulance Services. It is the first air ambulance
operating from South India to provide services for medical emergencies.

Sustainable Development and Environmental issues

Targets :
• India to be self-reliant in fertilizers production by 2023

UN Agencies :
• UNICEF world’s largest single vaccine buyer.

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