May June 2018 PDF

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“Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must. "
MayJun-18
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INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
 Windrush generation: The crisis has unfolded rapidly over the past few weeks after it emerged
that changes to Britain‘s immigration system had resulted in injustices to members of the
Windrush generation — men and women largely from former British colonies in the Caribbean
whose families had been encouraged to come to the U.K. to fill labour shortages before legislation
in 1971 no longer gave Commonwealth nationals the right to remain in the U.K. Because new
rules required individuals to produce documentation to receive a host of public services, and
treated anyone without documentation as illegal, many who were British citizens were treated as
illegals. Some were unable to work, some were denied lifesaving medical treatment, or were
unable to return to Britain from holiday abroad or even deported.
 The Peace House in Panmunjom, the truce village in the Demilitarised Zone that separates the
two Koreas, was where Mr. Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in met for a historic
summit.
 The “Third Tunnel of Aggression” (Third Infiltration Tunnel or 3rd Tunnel) is one of four
known tunnels under the border between North Korea and South Korea, extending south of
Panmunjom.
 India and Pakistan held a Track-2 dialogue in Islamabad after a long gap, indicating a probable
shift in views on both sides towards such an initiative. The “Neemrana dialogue” is, perhaps, the
oldest Track-2 initiative between both countries, going back at least two decades. It was
intermittently paused, but has always enjoyed tacit government recognition from both sides.
Track-2 initiatives began to fall in relevance after both governments initiated backchannel
processes. This was, in fact, the key to the Manmohan Singh government‘s approach, but the
Modi government decided to do away this. The meeting was a revival of the Neemrana dialogue
among former diplomats and military officials on both sides. The initiative this time was taken by
Pakistan, which wanted this dialogue to happen in Islamabad.
 UAE deploys troops in Yemeni island “Socotra”. Yemen‘s alliance with the UAE may be
coming to an end after the latter deployed forces in a Yemeni island, recognized by UNESCO
as a world heritage site, without prior consultation with the exiled government.
 The Asian Development Bank- The multilateral agency has embarked on “Strategy 2030”,
designed to eradicate extreme poverty and achieve sustainable growth in Asia and the Pacific
region.
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 The ―Press Freedom Index” is an annual compiled and published by ‗Reporters Without
Borders‘ based upon the organisation's own assessment of the countries' press freedom records in
the previous year. It intends to reflect the degree of freedom that journalists, news organisations,
and netizens have in each country, and the efforts made by authorities to respect this freedom.
Reporters Without Borders is careful to note that the index only deals with press freedom and
does not measure the quality of journalism nor does it look at human rights violations in general.
The World Press Freedom Index 2018 compiled by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), reflects
growing animosity towards journalists in which India dropped two ranks from 136 to 138.
The parameters that are evaluated are: level of pluralism, media independence, environment and
self-censorship, transparency, legal framework, quality of the infrastructure that supports the
production of news and information. It has downgraded India's position and mentioned the
following reasons for the same:
 Section 124a of IPC under which sedition is punishable by life imprisonment

 The killing of journalists in connection with their work
 Hate speech targeting journalists shared and amplified on social networks
 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) assigned Pakistan to the ‗grey list‟.
 15th Asia Media Summit 2018. This is the first time the summit has been organized in India.
The theme is ‗Telling Our Stories Asia and More‘.
 Indian- Nepal: ―Arun III power project”. This is the largest hydropower project to be
undertaken in Nepal. Both sides are likely to discuss the Pancheshwar power project as well.
Arun-3 Project is largest capacity project in history of hydroelectricity of Nepal. It is scheduled
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to be constructed within next five years on Arun river. It is an export-oriented project and it will
sell the electricity to India.
 ―Pancheshwar multi-purpose project”-It is located on ―Mahakali” River (also known as Kali

Ganga in Uttarakhand ) in Nepal.
 India-Indonesia: ‗Merdeka Palace‘ is one of the presidential palaces in Indonesia. In a joint press
statement after the meeting, Mr. Modi said India‘s Act East Policy and the vision of SAGAR
(Security and Growth for all in the Region) matched Mr. Widodo‘s ―Maritime Fulcrum
Vision.”
 The final report of a bilateral committee appointed to advise governments in Delhi and
Kathmandu — is likely to suggest that the 1950 India-Nepal Peace and Friendship Treaty
should be revised. The treaty allows free movement of people and goods between the two nations
and a close relationship and collaboration on matters of defense and foreign policy.
 Changes quietly made by the U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the Optional
Practical Training (OPT) for foreign students could adversely affect H-1B aspirants among
them. The USCIS is currently processing 2017 petitions under the H-1B visa scheme meant for
skilled workers in America. ―OPT allows some foreign students to continue in the country
up to three years after completing their courses and do paid work”. The US-CIS now
stipulates that OPT workers cannot be placed at ―third party sites. ―
 Kalba is located on the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates. Unlike the capital Abu
Dhabi 200 km west, which faces the Arab Gulf states, Kalba is perched on the Gulf of Oman,
looking out toward Pakistan and India beyond.
 The U.S. renamed its strategically important Pacific Command (PACOM) as the “U.S. Indo
Pacific Command”, in a move widely seen as a public expression of America‘s keenness to
count India as key partner in its strategic planning. Moreover, the U.S. and India have different
ideas of what constitutes the Indo Pacific— India includes the whole Indian Ocean region, which
U.S. CENTCOM and AFRICOM cover as well.
 Ugandan users of Whatsapp, Facebook, Skype and other social media will from July have to pay
a ―daily tax”, according to a new law which rights activists said was a bid to stifle free speech.
 The speech by Mr. Modi, the first Indian Prime Minister to have accepted an invitation to
address the Shangri-La dialogue, which draws Defence Ministers from the Asia-Pacific
region each year, was awaited with much anticipation due to the timing of the conference.
In his keynote address at the ‗Shangri-La Dialogue‘ organised by the ―London-based think-
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tank IISS” and hosted by Singapore, PM also called the relationship with China a ―multi-
layered‖ one, as he drew out his seven-point vision for the Indo-Pacific region (Indian Ocean
and Pacifc Ocean).
 The IISS Asia Security Summit: The Shangri-La Dialogue (SLD) is a "Track One" inter-
governmental security forum held annually by an independent think tank, the International
Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) which is attended by defense ministers, permanent heads of
ministries and military chiefs of 28 Asia-Pacific states. The forum gets its name from the Shangri-
La Hotel in Singapore where it has been held since 2002. The International Institute for Strategic
Studies (IISS) is a British research institute (or think tank) in the area of international affairs.
 Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong a replica of the
5th century CE ―Buddha gupta stone.‖ The original stone, housed in the Indian Museum in
Kolkata, bears a Sanskrit inscription in ‗Pallava script‟ and serves as important evidence of the
transmission of Buddhism from India to Southeast Asia.
 The “Golden Crescent” is the name given to one of Asia's two principal areas of illicit opium
production (with the other being the ‗Golden Triangle’), located at the crossroads of Central,
South, and Western Asia. This space overlaps three nations, Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan,
whose mountainous peripheries define the crescent.
 The Golden Triangle is the area where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet at
the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers. Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent,
it has been one of the most extensive opium-producing areas of Asia, and of the world, since the
1950s. Most of the world's heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21st century
when Afghanistan became the world's largest producer.
 „Woody Island‟ in People's Republic of China (PRC) is the largest of the Paracel Islands in the
South China Sea (SCS). The Paracel Islands, also known as Xisha in Chinese, is a group of
islands, reefs, banks and other maritime features in the South China Sea.
 Historic ―Trump-Kim” meeting at the Capella hotel on the resort ―island of Sentosa”,
Singapore.
 Pentagon‟s Project Maven - U.S. Department of Defense artificial intelligence (AI) project that
studies imagery and could eventually be used to improve drone strikes in the battlefield, in
cooperation with Google.
 India, Japan and the U.S. will hold the annual Malabar trilateral naval war games off the coast
of Guam in the Philippine Sea in 2018.
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 European Union‟s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force. These
stringent regulations that aim to protect all EU citizens from data breaches, provide for hefty
penalties of up to €20 million or 4% of a company’s global revenue for noncompliance. Analysts
expect this regulation to have a ripple effect on how consumers‘ data is treated across the world.
The regulation, which was approved by the EU Parliament in April 2016 after about four years of
preparation and debate, came into effect on May 25, 2018. However, many firms in India are still
not ready for compliance with the new law which will cover all entities doing business in the EU.
 India summoned Pakistan‘s Deputy High Commissioner to protest Islamabad‘s order to integrate
the region of ―Gilgit Baltistan” into the federal structure of the country. It was clearly
conveyed that the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir which also includes the so called ‗Gilgit
Baltistan‘ areas is an integral part of India by virtue of its accession in 1947.
 India and Singapore have signed implementation agreement between their Navies concerning
mutual coordination, logistics and services support for naval ships, submarines and naval aircraft
(including ship borne aviation assets) visits. In a strategic move that is likely to irk China, India
and Singapore signed a bilateral agreement that will allow Indian Navy ships logistical support,
including refuelling, at Singapore‟s “Changi naval base” located near the disputed South China
Sea. The naval logistics agreement is the first for India with a country located east of Malacca.
The nearest Indian base is in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Changi base will therefore
enhance the navy‘s operational reach, keeping in mind that the navy from June this year began its
Malacca patrol to protect the (Sea lines of communication) SLOCs. India has also conducted the
SIMBEX exercise with Singapore at the naval base and in the South China Sea.
 The Arctic Council, which is an intergovernmental organisation, has eight member states, six
independent permanent participating organisations and observers which are non Arctic states like
India and China. Eight member countries constitute the council: Canada, Denmark, Finland,
Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States as these are the 8 countries with
sovereignty over the lands within the Arctic Circle.
 India joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a full fledged member for the
first time at the Qingdao summit, 2018. The SCO summit also gave India fresh leads to engage
with Central Asia. Landlocked Uzbekistan will now funnel goods through the Iranian port of
Chabahar — a joint undertaking of Iran, India and Afghanistan. But perhaps more significantly,
India is re-exploring a transit corridor to Central Asia through Pakistan under the SCO‘s
multilateral connectivity initiative. If the Pakistan Central Asia two way route works, it can soften
the ground for improved ties between New Delhi and Islamabad, as a subset of the rise of Eurasia.
During the summit, China and Russia repeatedly highlighted that the SCO was a platform for
narrowing India Pakistan difference.
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 The historical rivalry between the British Empire in the Indian subcontinent and Tsarist Russia in
the 19th and early 20th centuries, known as the Great Game, was a clash of imperial ambitions
between two great powers, in which the territory of Afghanistan helped minimize the risk of direct
confrontation between them. In the early and mid 19th century, British officials of the East India
Company feared that the advance of Tsarist Russia into the Khanates of Central Asia might prove
detrimental to British interests in the Indian subcontinent. The officials were worried that if the
Russians crossed Afghanistan, it would be easier for them to cross over the plains of Punjab and
advance deep into the territories of northern India. This logic applies equally to what has come to
be known as the “New Great Game”, or the modern geopolitics in Central Asia since the 1991
breakup of the Soviet Union, characterized by competition among the U.S., the U.K. and other
NATO member states on the one hand, and Russia, China and other states of the SCO on the
other. Central Asia has historically witnessed tussles over access to the region‘s rich natural
resources, because preferential access to these resources better enable energy hungry global
powers to meet their domestic demand.
 A Saudi Arabia led alliance of Arab states launched an attack on Yemen‘s main port city
recently, the largest battle of the war, aiming to bring the ruling Houthi movement to its knees at
the risk of worsening the world‘s biggest humanitarian crisis. Arab war planes and warships
pounded Houthi fortifications to support ground operations by foreign and Yemeni troops massed
south of the ―port of Hodeidah” in operation “Golden Victory”.
 The controversial clause 322(5) of Britain‘s immigration system to deny those who had made
amendments to their tax returns and income statements the right to remain in Britain. The
migrants were treated as a ―threat to national security‖ despite many of the cases involving
nothing but an ―honest mistake‖ and the tax authorities viewing the matter as closed.
 The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (commonly known
as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)) is a department of the
Secretariat of the United Nations that works to promote and protect the human rights that are
guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
of 1948. The office was established by the UN General Assembly on 20 December 1993 in the
wake of the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights. „Kashmir report‟ was by OHCHR. The
office is headed by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who co-ordinates human rights
activities throughout the UN System and acts as the secretariat of the Human Rights Council in
Geneva, Switzerland.
 The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission
within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the
―United Nations Human Rights Council‖ in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of the UN
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and was also assisted in its work by the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR). It was the UN's principal
mechanism and international forum concerned with the promotion and protection of human rights.
On 15 March 2006, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to replace UNCHR with the
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UN Human Rights Council.
 Nepali officials are mulling over China‘s proposal of a “two plus one” mechanism, where
Beijing and New Delhi can jointly hold a dialogue with a third country in South Asia.
 The “Clean Air India Initiative‟ is a collaborative project between Get In The Ring, a platform
for startups, the government of the Netherlands, Startup India, and INDUS Forum, an online
matchmaking platform of Indian and Dutch businesses. An „INDUS impact‟ projects aims to
―halt the hazardous burning of paddy stubble‖ by promoting business partnerships that
―upcycle‖ it. This entails using paddy straw as feedstock to make materials that would find use in
construction and packaging a technology and expertise that Dutch companies are keen to market
in India.
 India would soon be getting access to the strategic ―port of Sabang”, in Indonesia, on the Strait
of Malacca.
 The World Food Programme (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the
world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security. From
its headquarters in Rome and from more than 80 country offices around the world, the WFP
works to help people who cannot produce or obtain enough food for themselves and their families.
It is a member of the United Nations Development Group.
 “Bandung spirit of 1955” that led to the formation of the ―Non Aligned Movement”. The first
large-scale Afro–Asian Conference—also known as the Bandung Conference was a meeting of
Asian and African states, most of which were newly independent, which took place on 18-24
April 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia. The conference was organised by Indonesia, Burma
(Myanmar), Pakistan, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and India. The conference's stated aims were to
promote Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation and to oppose colonialism or
neocolonialism by any nation. The conference was an important step toward the Non-Aligned
Movement.
 The MoU signed by Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC )was to
jointly develop and build an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex at Ratnagiri in
Maharashtra. The project would be implemented by Ratnagiri Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd.
(RRPCL). It is a strategic partnership between India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE which is
symbolised by the MoU.
 India and Seychelles will ensure mutually beneficial steps regarding stalled plans for a military
base at the ―island of Assumption‖. The National Assembly of Seychelles last week refused to
ratify the naval base that India has been planning to build on Assumption to provide a foothold in
the western Indian Ocean.
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 India and Bangladesh have agreed to institute a Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) as an annual
feature between the two navies. The first edition will be inaugurated by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil
Lanba during his visit there from June 24 to 29. The Navy regularly conducts CORPATs with
Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand. It also conducts EEZ surveillance of Maldives, Mauritius and
Seychelles on their request.
 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the 1985 Air India bombing as was the ―single
worst terrorist attack‖ in the country‘s history as he paid tribute to the 329 victims of the
Kanishka Flight 182 which was blown off midair.
 Negotiations on India‘s proposed purchase of Guardian Avenger armed drones from the U.S.
is dependent on the progress of talks on the Communications, Compatibility, Security
Agreement (COMCASA) between the two countries.
 UNESCO promotes the notion that schools must provide an environment conducive to learning
where children feel physically and mentally safe, encouraged to make and learn from mistakes,
and be recognised and respected for their multiple talents apart from academic excellence. But
these factors can be easily forgotten in a highly competitive environment. To tackle this issue, the
UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, based in Bangkok, has launched the
―Happy Schools Project”, with the aim of promoting happiness in schools through enhanced
learner well-being and holistic development. In the process of operationalising the Happy Schools
framework, with the involvement of the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education
for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP).
 MGIEP is the first UNESCO institute of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region and is generously
supported by the Indian government. It has developed a social and emotional learning (SEL)
curriculum called ―Libre”, which is designed to build four competencies – critical inquiry,
mindfulness, empathy and compassion. School pilots of this curriculum start this year in India
and Malaysia.
 The final version of the ―U.S. John McCain National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)”, a
compromise between the House and Senate versions of the defense bill, will grant the Trump
administration authority to waive mandatory sanctions on countries under the Countering
America‟s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchasing Russian military
equipment. The NDAA ―Provides flexibility for strategic partners and allies to move away from
the use of Russian military equipment to American equipment, while ensuring that U.S. defense
and security interests remain protected, through a modified waiver under CAATSA. The final bill
is expected to exempt three countries — India, Indonesia, and Vietnam — from sanctions under
CAATSA, which was passed in August 2017 to punish Russia for reportedly influencing and
manipulating the 2016 presidential election process. CAATSA came into effect in January 2018.
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 Japan‟s is the only Parliament with an in-house Yoga Promotion League, launched last year, on
the occasion of a visit to the DIET by Art of Living founder, Shri Shri Ravi Shankar.
 The United States announced that it is withdrawing from the UN Human Rights Council, which
it accuses of bias against Israel. Since President Donald Trump took office, the United States has
quit the UN cultural agency UNESCO, cut UN funding and announced plans to quit the UN
backed Paris climate agreement.
 Apart from the foundational agreements, the U.S. is also keen on a broad based intelligence-
sharing agreement with India as the two countries have vastly expanded their counter-terror
cooperation. In this context, the 4th foundational agreement, ―Basic Exchange and Cooperation
Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA)‖, will be significant. BECA foundational
agreement that India is yet to sign. It has already signed the General Security Of Military
Information Agreement (GSOMIA), Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) and
COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement). The most significant of
them is LEMOA, which gives both nations access to each other‘s military facilities. But it
does not make it automatic or obligatory. The COMCASA will facilitate transfer of encrypted
communications systems. The agreements are a key requirement by Washington for sharing
hi tech military hardware, especially armed drones which the U.S. is willing to supply to India.
Sale of armed drones is high on the agenda of the 2+2 dialogue.
 Yemen‟s “port of Hodeidah” was under the control of the Houthi rebels who are believed to
be drawing support from Iran. The Arab coalition, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, claims
that the Iranian military has used the port to supply the Houthis with weapons and
ammunition. As per the Arab Coalition, the Houthis have been supporting pirates in the
western Indian Ocean region. The campaign will ultimately help Indian maritime goals as the
Houthis used the port for facilitating the piracy network in the western Indian Ocean region that is
vital for India‘s energy security.
 The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) is an intergovernmental

organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money
laundering. In 2001 its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing. It monitors progress in
implementing the FATF Recommendations through "peer reviews" ("mutual evaluations") of
member countries. The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris. India is a
member while Pakistan is not.
 The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (also known as the APG) is the FATF-style
regional body for the Asia-Pacific region. It is an inter-governmental (international) organisation
founded in 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand. The APG secretariat is located Sydney, Australia.
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 The Odisha government entered into a collaboration with the Regional Integrated Multi Hazard
Early Warning System (RIMES), a body of 48 members and collaborating countries, aimed at
automating risk management, advisory generation and dissemination. The Regional Integrated
Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) is an international and inter-
governmental institution, owned and managed by its Member States, for the generation and
application of early warning information. RIMES evolved from the efforts of countries in Africa
and Asia, in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, to establish a regional early
warning system within a multi-hazard framework for the generation and communication of early
warning information, and capacity building for preparedness and response to trans-boundary
hazards. RIMES was established on 30 April 2009, and was registered with the United Nations
on 1 July 2009. RIMES operates from its regional early warning center located at the campus of
the Asian Institute of Technology in Pathumthani, Thailand.
 The Navy launched ―Operation Nistar” to evacuate 38 Indians stranded on Socotra island of
Yemen close to the horn of Africa due to ―Cyclone Mekunu‖. Socotra is 1180 nautical miles
from Mumbai.
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POLITY
 Nagaland is the only State in the northeast India, apart from eight police stations in Arunachal
Pradesh, where the AFSPA continues to be imposed by the Union Home Ministry. Nagaland,
Manipur and Assam are the only three States in northeast India that continue to be under the
AFSPA. Last year, the Home Ministry gave up its powers and asked Assam to take a decision on
continuing the AFSPA in the State.
 In the clarification sought by the DoPT on the 50% cap on reservations, the Telangana
government quoted a Supreme Court judgment that said reservation under Clause (4) of Article
16 might exceed 50% of the appointments or posts by showing the existence of exceptional
circumstances for exceeding the limit. It might happen that in far flung and remote areas, the
people inhabiting those areas might, on account of their being out of mainstream national life,
need to be treated in a different way, and some relaxation in this strict rule might become
imperative.
 Trial courts need to give only photocopies of case records to higher courts. The transfer, to and
fro, of original records impedes speedy trial, the Supreme Court ordered. The order came on a
plea filed by Asian Resurfacing of Road Agency P. Ltd. And another against the CBI.
 The Interstate Council (ISC), set up in accordance with Article 263 of the Constitution. Even
though by November 2017 the ISC was reconstituted with the Prime Ministers its Chairman,
and with membership comprising six Union ministers and all Chief Ministers, no effort has been
made to widen its functions. Zonal Councils too are restricted in terms of their geographical
scope.
 Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLAD): Under the scheme,
every MP can recommend the works in his/her constituency to district collector up to 5 crore per
year. Elected Members of Rajya Sabha representing the entire state may select works for
implementation in any district of the state. MPs can also recommend works outside their
constituencies/state for construction of assets that are permissible in the guidelines, for
rehabilitation measures in the event of “Calamity of Severe nature” in any part of the country
for an amount not exceeding of `1.00 crore, for each calamity. Members of Legislative Assembly
Local Area Development Scheme (MLALAD):The objectives of this scheme are to create local
need based infrastructure development, to create assets of public utility and to remove regional
imbalances in development. This scheme is being implemented in rural as well as urban areas of
the state. Every MLA is authorized to recommend the works up to 2.25 crore per year for his/her
constituency. At least 20 Per cent of total allotment amount annually must be recommended for
the development of SC/ST personnels.
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 Justice Lokur said the Constitution attached great degree of solemnity to the oath of office. For
example, Article 60 provides that before entering upon his office, the President shall make and
subscribe the oath or affirmation. Similarly, Article 69 requires the Vice-President to make and
subscribe the oath or affirmation before entering upon his office.
 The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable
organisation registered under the Societies' Registration Act, 1860. In 2007, the United Nations
awarded INTACH a special consultative status with United Nations Economic and Social
Council. INTACH has established chapters not only within India but also outside it. It now uses
funds raised by its international chapters in Belgium and the United Kingdom, to take up
restoration, conservation and protection projects of historical structures and heritage buildings
across India.
 Anantnag (J&K) by-election. It is the first time that a Lok Sabha seat has been vacant for 22
months. Earlier in 1991, the EC could not hold elections to any Lok Sabha seat in the State due to
stepped up militancy. On April 18, 1991, the President promulgated the Representation of the
People (Amendment) Ordinance to enable the EC to conduct Lok Sabha elections without taking
into account the seats in J&K. Anantnag has become the longest delayed bypoll in the country
since 1996, Election Commission data show, in yet another reflection on the state of affairs in
Jammu and Kashmir. Now with less than a year left for the next general elections, there is every
possibility of it continuing to stay vacant until then — that will take it to three years since
Mehbooba Mufti vacated the Lok Sabha seat in June 2016 to become the chief minister. Section
151 (A)b of the Representation of People‘s Act allows a latitude if the EC, in consultation with
the central government, certifies that it is difficult to hold polls within the period, as is the case of
Anantnag.
 Countering the Centre‘s argument that the sole intent of the Aadhaar Act is to act as a
weapon for delivering subsidies to targeted beneficiaries, the Constitution Bench led by Chief
Justice Dipak Misra pointed to Section 57 of the Act. This provision contemplates the use of
Aadhaar card as an identication document not only by the government but also by any body
corporate or person.
 Money Bill only in six specific circumstances or matters incidental to them as enumerated in
Article 110. The Aadhaar law does not relate to any of these circumstances.
 The Idol Wing of Tamil Nadu police recovered two ancient bronze idols of emperor Raja Raja
Chola I and his royal consort Lokamadevi believed to be worth over Rs 150 crore from the
Calico Museum and Sarabhai Foundation galleries in Ahmedabad.
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 Clause 6 of the Assam Accord which provides for constitutional, legislative and administrative
safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of
Assamese people.
 Kasturirangan — now head of the panel to prepare the final draft of India‘s new education
policy.
 Government has hiked Floor Space Index (FSI) for Mumbai. The FSI is the ratio of con-struction
allowed on a plot to the size of the plot. The FSI for the island city has been increased from 2 to 3,
while that for the suburbs has been kept at 2.5. The State has announced 15% free FSI for
redevelopment of private buildings and raised the FSI for commercial development to 5 from
the existing 2.5 to spur economic activity. Citizens now have the choice to design their houses
as long as they do not disturb the structural elements or plumbing systems.
 Indian School of Business (ISB), in partnership with Ministry of External Affairs, organised the
maiden edition of Deccan Dialogue focusing on the theme ‗Economic Diplomacy for
Development‘.
 The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved restructured National
Bamboo Mission (NBM), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under National Mission for Sustainable
Agriculture (NMSA) during remaining period of 14th Finance Commission (2018-20) with an
outlay of Rs. 1290 crore. NECTAR, though, isn‘t all about bamboo, it covers ―local and natural
resources‖ of the region comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. Apart from providing technical expertise to market
local products, its mission included women empowerment and skill development. But
NECTAR‘s role, entrepreneurs say, has been minimal except for occasional tours by
officials to ―use up funds‖ meant for creating livelihoods and employment. India has the
world‘s largest fields of bamboo. It grows on nearly 13% of the country‘s forest land. The eight
North-eastern States –Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Sikkim and Tripura – grow 67% of India‘s bamboo and have 45%of global bamboo reserves.
 A committee set up by the Centre to prepare a report on the issue of inter-country parental
child abduction has questioned one of the basic principles of the Hague Convention by arguing
that the return of the child to his or her habitual residence may not necessarily be in the best
interest of the child. There is immense pressure on India from the U.S. to accede to the Hague
Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which is a multinational
treaty that seeks to protect children wrongfully removed by one of the parents from the custody
of the other parent. At the heart of this treaty is the criterion of ―habitual residence‖ of the
child, which is used to determine whether the child was wrongfully removed by a parent as
well as to seek the return of the child. ―The Committee feels that the concept of habitual residence
is not synchronous with the best interest of the child,‖ says a report by the Justice Rajesh
Bindal Committee, which was set up last year to suggest a model legislation to safeguard the
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interest of the child as well those of the parents when an NRI (Non Resident Indian) marriage
goes sour and one of the parents flees from one country to another with the child.
 “All packaged food with at least 5% content from genetically engineered sources need to be
labelled so”. Moreover, foods that exceed norms of sugar and fat will need to carry ‗red‘ and
‗green‘ labels specifying the extent to which they do so, according to draft regulations from the
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). This is ―the first time the Centre has
laid down norms for labelling genetically modified food”. The government has been
contemplating a system for labelling genetically modified foods for at least 2 years. Current
laws, however, prohibit any GM food unless cleared by the ―Genetic Engineering Appraisal
Committee(GEAC)”, a Union Environment Ministry body from being sold in India. Through
a 2007 notification, the Environment Ministry had exempted processed foods from this
requirement. This has been stayed by the courts. There was also dispute between the FSSAI, a
Union Health Ministry body, and the Environment Ministry on who checks if a particular
food had a GE provenance.
 Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission (IPC) is an autonomous institution of the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfarewhich sets standards for all drugs that are manufactured, sold and
consumed in India. I.P., the abbreviation of 'Indian Pharmacopoeia' is familiar to the consumers in
the Indian sub-continent as a mandatory drug name suffix. Drugs manufactured in India have to
be labelled with the mandatory non-proprietary drug name with the suffix I.P. This is similar to
the B.P. suffix for British Pharmacopoeia and the U.S.P. suffix for the United States
Pharmacopeia. The IPC was formed according to the Indian Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940
and established by executive orders of the Government of India in 1945.
 “The Domestic Violence Act” —meant to punish men who abuse women in a relationship
extends to all man-woman relationships, and also protects divorced women from their former
husbands, the Supreme Court has upheld. A three-judge Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi, R.
Banumathi and Naveen Sinha confirmed a Rajasthan High Court ruling of 2013 that the term
‗domestic violence‘ cannot be restrained to marital relations alone. Domestic relationship
includes any relationship between two persons who either live at the present moment or have at
any point of time in the past lived together in a shared household.
 The government is planning to issue an ordinance to overturn the Supreme Court‘s verdict
that bars immediate arrest of individuals accused of discriminating against Dalits under the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and introduce a Bill to
insulate the Act from further judicial scrutiny. The government may introduce the Bill in the
monsoon session of Parliament to incorporate the legislation in the Ninth Schedule of the
Constitution. Any law under it cannot be challenged in court. Once included in the Ninth
Schedule, the legislation gets protection under Article 31-B (validation of certain Acts and
Regulations) and is not subject to judicial scrutiny.
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 DNA data banks will be setup at the national and the State levels to store profiles, and those who
leak such information will be punished with jail terms of up to three years, according to a draft
Bill on DNA technology being finalised by the Law Ministry. The data is to be used for
identifying victims, accused, suspects, undertrials, missing persons and unclaimed bodies.
 Come January 2019, low-risk foreign travellers to India will not have to wait in long queues at
airport immigration counters as the government plans to install automated kiosks — ―e-Gates” —
for speedy document and identity verification. At the e-Gates, foreigners can present their
machine-readable passports, place their fingerprints on the scanner and complete a customs
declaration.
 Excess mortality is the difference between observed and expected mortality rates in both genders.
Most studies of India‘s skewed sex ratios have focused on prenatal mortality. The National
Family Health Survey in 2017 said that India‘s sex ratio at birth increased to 919 in 2015-16
from 914 in 2004-05.
 Article 35A of the Constitution gives the State Legislature carte blanche to decide who all are
the “permanent residents” of the State and grant them special rights and privileges in public
sector jobs, acquisition of property within the State, scholarships and other public aid and welfare
programmes. The provision mandates that no Act of the State legislature coming within the ambit
of Article 35A can be challenged for violating the Indian Constitution or any other law of the
land. Petitioner said Article 35A was in violation of the fundamental right of equality under
Article 14. Article 35A was incorporated into the Indian Constitution in 1954 by an order of
President Rajendra Prasad on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet. Parliament was not
consulted when the President incorporated Article 35A into the Indian Constitution through a
Presidential Order issued under Article 370. Article 368 (i) of the Constitution mandates that
only Parliament can amend the Constitution by introducing a new Article.
 The Home Ministry plans to outsource the preparation of the proposed sex offenders‘ registry to
the private sector. Private contractors are expected to design and maintain the database that will be
integrated with the Aadhaar database. The Home Ministry said the offenders would be classified
on the basis of their criminal history to ascertain if they pose a serious danger to the community.
The data will be stored for 15 years in the case of those who pose a low danger, 25 years for
those posing ―moderate danger‖ and lifetime for ―habitual offenders, violent criminals, convicts
in gang rape and custodial rapes‖. The information on ―arrested and chargesheeted‖ offenders will
be available only to law enforcement agencies, whereas the data for ―convicted‖ offenders will be
accessible to the public and can be searched on various parameters such as State, district, police
station and even modus operandi. The database will contain records (including photographs and
fingerprints) related to offenders across India and will also include records on juvenile offenders
and paedophiles based on reports by district nodal officers. It will also contain the current status of
the offender as updated by the police station and the district nodal officer.
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 Operation Vijay (1961), the operation by the Military of India that led to the capture of Goa,
Daman and Diu and Anjediva Islands. Operation Vijay (1999), the Indian operation to push back
infiltrators in the Kargil War.
 “National Ganga Council”: National Council for Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of
River Ganga is an authority created in October 2016 under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation,
Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016, dissolving the National Ganga River
Basin Authority. In this backdrop, National Ganga Council has been established as an authority
and National Mission for Clean Ganga has been also converted into an authority. The jurisdiction
of the National Ganga Council shall extend to the States comprising River Ganga Basin, namely,
Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Rajasthan,
Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Haryana, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi
and such other States, having major tributaries of the River Ganga as the National Council for
Rejuvenation, Protection and Management of River Ganga may decide for the purpose of
effective abatement of pollution and rejuvenation, protection and management of the River
Ganga. National Ganga Council Composition
1. Prime Minister will be the ex-officio Chairperson for the council

2. Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation will be
the ex-officio Vice-Chairperson.
3. The ex-officio members of the council.
a. Union Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change
b. Union Minister for Finance
c. Union Minister for Urban Development
d. Union Minister for Rural Development
e. Union Minister for Power, Union Minister for Science and Technology
f. Union Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation
g. Union Minister of State for Tourism
h. Union Minister for Shipping
i. Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog
j. Chief Ministers of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
Secretary to Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation will be
The Director General of National Mission for Clean Ganga will serve as the ex-officio Member
Secretary. The Headquarter of the National Ganga Council shall be at New Delhi or at such
other place as it may decide.
 Lokpal will consist of a ―chairperson and a maximum of 8 members”, of which 50% will be
judicial members , 50% members of Lokpal shall be from SC/ST/OBCs, minorities and women.
Selection of chairperson and members of Lokpal through a selection “committee consisting of
PM, Speaker of Lok Sabha, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha, Chief Justice of India or a
17
sitting Supreme Court judge nominated by CJI.” Eminent jurist to be nominated by President
of India on basis of recommendations of the first four members of the selection committee
"through consensus". Lokpal's jurisdiction will cover all categories of public servants. All entities
(NGOs) receiving donations from foreign source in the context of the Foreign Contribution
Regulation Act (FCRA) in excess of Rs 10 lakh per year are under the jurisdiction of Lokpal.
 The Quality Council of India (QCI) was set up as a public private partnership model on the
model existing in Netherlands at the time, where although the NAB was not owned by the
government, yet it was supported by it and was exceedingly used as a third party agency to
improve quality in departments and industry. QCI thus, came to be organized as an independent
autonomous body that worked towards assuring quality standards across all spheres of economic
and social activities. Key industry associations, i.e. Associated Chambers of Commerce and
Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) and Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) became the promoters of the organizers and QCI
got established under the Societies Registration Act in 1997 to provide accreditation services in
various sectors for product, services and persons. The Council is independent and works under the
directions of its Governing Body (GB) having equal representation of government, industry and
industry associations. It does not get funded by the government and is a self-sustaining non-
profit organization. Chairman of QCI is nominated by the Hon‘ble Prime Minister of India
and is a non-executive post.
 In 2006, the court held that the existing National Forest Policy (NFP), 1988 has a “statutory
flavour‖. This was reiterated by the Supreme Court in 2011, in ―Lafarge Umiam Mining (P)
Ltd. versus Union of India”. Thus, for the first time, the government was obligated to consider
the provisions of NFP, 1988 while considering proposals for clearing forest land for activities
such as mining, laying roads and building dams. One of the strongest provisions in the existing
NFP.
 Seeking to bring in transparency, accountability and quality in the homoeopathy education

system, the Union Cabinet approved an Ordinance which will replace the existing Central
Council of Homoeopathy (CCH) with a board of governors. The members of the board of
governor will replace the existing functionaries of the CCH, and will comprise seven persons who
will be eminent homeopathy practitioners and administrators. They will be appointed by the
government. The move comes in the backdrop of allegations of corruption against office
bearers of the CCH.
 The Union Cabinet approved a ―national policy on biofuels” that seeks to not only help farmers
dispose of their surplus stock in an economic manner but also reduce India‘s oil import
dependence. The policy ―expands the scope of raw material for ethanol production by
allowing use of sugarcane juice, sugar containing materials like sugar beet, sweet sorghum,‖
starch containing materials like corn, cassava, damaged food grains like wheat, broken rice,
rotten potatoes that are unfit for human consumption for ethanol production.
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 The ILP (Inner Line Permit) is an official travel document that allows entry for an Indian
citizen into a protected or restricted area for a limited period. Apart from Arunachal
Pradesh, the ILP is also needed to enter Mizoram and Nagaland.
 The National Institute of Open Schooling, which is an autonomous institution under the
Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD), has set the ball rolling to open such
opportunities for Sanskrit learners whose traditional learning did not enjoy certification. Any
student who is 15 years of age and self-certifies that he can read and write Sanskrit is
eligible to apply for Class 10 certification with the NIOS. The student will be assigned a
‗gurukul‟ nearby to be able to attend classes. The NIOS has also prepared Sanskrit textbooks.
The ‗gurukuls‘ chosen under this scheme are ones that have Sanskrit teachers, classrooms and
other basic infrastructure. The scheme is part of an initiative to promote ―Indian Knowledge
Tradition‖ courses.
 Currently, after a case is admitted in the National Company Law Tribunal, it has to be
resolved within 180 days, failing which the company goes into liquidation. In exceptional
cases, the NCLT may allow another 90 days for resolution. PNB is warned and advised to be
cautious in future to ensure compliance with all applicable provisions of the SEBI LODR
Regulations. ―LODR” refers to the Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulation
of ―SEBI” which every listed entity has to comply with. PNB, which is the second largest lender
after State Bank of India (SBI), released a copy of the letter as part of a stock exchange
announcement.
 The Ministry of Commerce issued a notification for a united “Directorate General of Trade
Remedies (DGTR)” that would subsume the Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied
duties, Directorate General of Safeguards and some functions of the Directorate General of
Foreign Trade. DGTR will be the apex national authority for all trade remedial measures
including anti-dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard measures. The body will also
provide trade defence support to domestic industry and to exporters in trade remedy investigations
instituted by other countries.
 University and college teachers across the country will soon be able to connect with experts in
their fields of study and also pose queries on academic questions that they wish resolved
through suggestions offered by these experts or other teachers of their discipline. ―A National
Resource Centre”, envisaged as a one-stop point for Indian academicians to enhance their
research and teaching skills, will make such cooperation across universities possible with the
launch of a portal within months from now. The National Institute of Educational Research
and Planning (NIEPA) is in the process of rolling out the centre, an initiative that is part
of the Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Training
(PMMMNMTT), an ambitious scheme launched by Prime Minister in Varanasi. The
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PMMMNMTT calls for a National Resource Centre to be set up with the vision of developing
teachers who are able to enhance their potential and push the frontiers of knowledge through
research, networking and sharing of existing resources in the competitive knowledge world.
The portal will be launched with detailed information on resources in some key subjects:
History, Political Science, Sociology, Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology.
Education and Management will also feature among the chosen disciplines.
 Article 180 (1) of the Constitution gives the Governor the power to appoint a protem Speaker.
The Article says that if the chair of the Speaker falls vacant and there is no Deputy Speaker to fill
the position, the duties of the office shall be performed by such member of the Assembly as the
Governor may appoint for the purpose.
 The Department of Telecommunications has allowed the use of e-SIM or ‗Embedded-

Subscriber Identity Module‘. The eSIM is a virtual equivalent of normal SIM cards and come
embedded in the device. These cannot be removed from the device but can be updated over-
the-air. To cater to the needs of modern technological developments in M2M/IoT, it has been
decided to permit the use of ‗embedded-subscriber identity module (eSIM)‘ with both single
and multiple profile configurations with over the air subscription update facility. This
follows a tussle between Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel over eSIM technology that is currently
being used in Apple Watch Series 3. The smartwatches are sold by both the firms in India.
While the service can also be rolled out for smart-phones — enabling users to port from one
service provider to another without changing physical SIMs, the primary focus is to enable
machine-to-machine communication.
 Census towns are an anomaly that burst into the limelight during the last census in 2011. They
are settlements which are larger (at least 5,000 people) and denser (at least 400 people per sq. km)
than most villages, with at least three-fourths of their male population not working in agriculture.
They are still governed like villages by rural panchayats, unlike statutory towns which are
governed by urban local bodies (ULBs).The census has been tracking this phenomenon since
1961. But their growth was relatively low, touching 1,362 census towns by 2001. However, in the
2011 census, there were 2,600 new census towns, taking the total to almost 4,000. West Bengal
has the most, with Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh also having large
numbers.
 Two years after it was launched by the Union government, the ―Permanent Residency
Status (PRS)” scheme providing a host of facilities for foreigners who invest at least Rs 10
crore under the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) route is yet to find a single applicant. A senior
Home Ministry offcial said no foreigner had applied, but cautioned that the lack of applicants
should not be seen as ―no foreign investment‖. Except Pakistani citizens or third-country nationals
of Pakistani origin, the scheme is open for citizens of every country. Most European Union
countries, the U.S., Canada and others offer permanent residency to foreign investors. The U.S.
offers the EB-5 visa programme where foreigners could apply for permanent residency if
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they created employment opportunities for 10 people with a minimum investment of Rs 6.5 crore.
An official said this was not a ―citizenship‖ that was being offered to foreigners and was
subject to review every 10 years. The Union Cabinet had cleared the PRS in 2016 to boost its
“Make in India” policy. The scheme is open for foreign investors who invest a minimum of
Rs10 crore within 18 months or Rs 25 crore in 36 months. ―The foreign investment should
result in generating employment to at least 20 resident Indians in every financial year. PRS
will be granted for a period of 10 years with multiple entry and can be renewed for
another 10 years. There will be no requirement of registration with the Foreigners Regional
Registration Office (FRRO). The PRS card holders are also eligible to buy residential property
in India.
 The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is a division of the Ministry of Civil Aviation,
Government of India which investigates aircraft accidents and incidents in India. The
Commission of Railway Safety is a government commission of India, subordinate to the Ministry
of Civil Aviation, the commission is the rail safety authority in India, as directed by The
Railways Act, 1989. The agency investigates rail accidents. Its head office is in the North-East
Railway Compound in Lucknow.
 The seven flagship schemes of the Modi government in 16,500 villages. The schemes are the
Ujjwala Yojana or free cooking gas connections to below poverty line households, the Ujaala
yojana of free LED bulb distribution, Jan Dhan or financial inclusion scheme, the Saubhagya
yojana of rural electrification, Jeevan Jyoti or low premium life insurance schemes, Suraksha
Bima Yojana or accidental death coverage, and the mission indradhanush of immunization for
children below two years and pregnant women.
 Apart from preventing unlawful assembly, Section 144 can be imposed to meet any emergency
requirements. In this case, the order has been promulgated to prevent trucks from parking along
the highway.
 The provisions of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public
Safety) Rules, 2017, are used by law enforcement agencies to ban internet.
 The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) of the Department of Telecommunications.

The USOF is aimed at giving the people in the rural and remote areas widespread and non-
discriminatory access to quality information and communications technology services at
affordable prices.
 Political parties are out of the purview of the Right to Information Act, the Election
Commission has said in an order, which is contrary to the directive of the Central Information
Commission (CIC) to bring six national parties under the law.
21
 The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor or Western DFC is a broad gauge freight corridor under
construction in India by Indian Railways. It will connect India's capital, Delhi, and its economic
hub, Mumbai. This corridor will cover a distance of 1483 km and would be electrified with double
line operation.
 The “Cauvery Water Management Authority” will decide water-sharing among Karnataka,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The authority‘s mandate will
be to monitor the storage, apportion shares, supervise operation of reservoirs and regulate
water releases with the assistance of the Regulation Committee. It will regulate water release by
Karnataka at the Biligundulu gauge and discharge station located on the common border of
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. If the Authority finds that any Government of the party States,
namely Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Union territory of Puducherry do not cooperate in
implementing the decision or direction of the Tribunal, it can seek the help of the Central
Government for implementation of the Award of the Tribunal as modied bythe Hon‘ble
Supreme Court. The chairman of the authority will be appointed by the Central government for a
tenure of five years. He has to be a senior and eminent engineer with wide experience in water
resource management or an IAS officer in the rank of secretary or additional secretary. There
will be two part-time members —representatives of the Central Government of the rank of Joint
Secretary to be nominated by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga
Rejuvenation and Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers‘ Welfare respectively and four part-
time members from party States — administrative secretaries in charge of Water Resource
Departments of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry who shall
be nominated by the State governments and Union territory administration respectively.
 The recent notification of the University Grants Commission (UGC), in response to an

Allahabad High Court judgment of April 2017, directing all the universities and colleges to
implement the reservation policy by treating the “department or subject as a unit‖ rather than
the university or college has received strong opposition. When the department is taken as a unit,
then at least one appointment from each reserved category will be made only when a minimum of
14 appointments are made (known as the 13 point roster). However, when the university or
college is taken as a unit, every reserved category gets the earmarked percentage of reservation
when a minimum of 200 appointments are made (known as the 200 point roster). The advantage
of the 200 point roster over the 13 point roster is that deficit in reservation in one department is
compensated by other departments.
 The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a proposal for
introduction of the Dam Safety Bill, 2018 in Parliament. The Bill envisages a National Dam
Safety Authority, which will liaise with State level dam safety organisations and the owners of
dams for standardising safety related data and practices. The NDSA will investigate dam failures
and have the authority to fine the States that are found remiss in implementing safety measures. It
will look into unresolved points of issue between the States which share dam territory and look to
22
eliminating potential causes for inter State conflicts. A case in point is the Mullaperiyar dam in
Kerala, which is a perennial flash point between the State and neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
 The nodal body for adoption in the country has barred partners in live-in relationships from
adopting a child on the ground that cohabitation without marriage is not considered a stable
family in India. The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) permits a single woman to
adopt a child of any gender, while single men can adopt only boys. In case an applicant is
married, both spouses must give their consent for adoption and should be in a stable marriage for
at least two years. Candidates must be physically fit, financially sound, mentally alert and highly
motivated to adopt a child, as per the Adoption Regulations 2017. It has been decided that the
cases of single PAP (prospective adopting parent) in a live-in relationship with a partner will not
be considered eligible to adopt a child and their registration through the AFAAs (authorized
foreign adoption agencies) will not be considered for approval. However SC have previously said
that even the legislature recognised live-in relationships through the provisions under the
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. Under the Act, women in a live-in
relationship have been accorded protection as it allows females living with a male person in a
relationship in the nature of marriage to file a complaint of domestic violence.
 A speed governor is installed in a vehicle to bring its maximum speed down to 80 km per hour. In
May last year, the government made it mandatory for all commercial vehicles to have a speed
governor following an order from the Karnataka High Court. The government has made it
mandatory for manufacturers to equip cars, from July 2019, with speed alarms which will be
activated after 80 kmph.
 The government is set to replace the apex higher education regulator, University Grants
Commission (UGC), with a higher education commission by repealing the UGC Act, 1951. There
is no plan to merge all higher education regulators, as was proposed through a planned agency
called HEERA, which was supposed to be put in place as a super regulator.
 Supreme Court order of July 3, 2017. The Court‘s order did away with the system of obtaining a
separate commercial licence to drive a taxi. Now anyone can become a taxi driver if he has a valid
driving licence.
 The Cabinet approved the establishment of strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) facilities at two
locations —Chandikhol in Odisha, and Padur in Karnataka— with a total capacity of 6.5
Million Metric Tonnes (MMT), which works out to another 12 days of reserves. Indian Strategic
Petroleum Reserve, a government owned special purpose vehicle, has already built underground
rock caverns for storing a total 5.33 MMT of crude oil at Vishakhapatnam (1.33 MMT),
Mangaluru (1.5 MMT) and Padur (2.5 MMT).
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 The Union government has proposed to set up a network of ―social media communication hubs‖
to monitor the digital chatter of citizens. To be implemented by the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, this initiative came to light when the Broadcast Engineering Consultants India
called for bids to provide software and service support for the hubs. The bidder, once successful,
would be required to monitor local editions of newspapers, cable channels, FM radio stations, and
influential social media handles. Coming on the heels of the Cambridge Analytica
investigations, this proposal raises serious questions about the surveillance state, right to privacy
and data protection. With the proposed network of hubs poised to cover all 716 districts across
India, we are reminded of George Orwell‘s famous words in 1984: ―Big Brother is watching you‖.
 After the abolition in 2014 of the Planning Commission, which played a critical role in the
Indian transfer system, the Finance Commission has emerged as the principal agency to handle
this delicate task. Article 280(3) and its first three clauses clearly spell out the core duties of the
UFC: tax devolution, grants-in aid, and augmenting the resources of panchayats and
municipalities. Over the years, the open ended sub clause, 280(3)(d), that provides for ―any other
matter... in the interests of sound finance‖, has been exemplified in the Terms of References of
recent UFCs.
 There are 24 standing committees (eight with Rajya Sabha and 16 with Lok Sabha) to scrutinise
in detail decisions, legislation and workings of the government.
 Government is awaiting the Attorney General‘s opinion on whether cess on GST can be imposed
for welfare purposes, since it can only be imposed for compensation purposes. Goods and
Services Tax (GST) rates could rise by 1% to finance a Farmer Welfare Fund, according to a
proposal under consideration of a Group of Ministers (GoM) setup by the GST Council. The hike
is seen as an alternative to a sugar cess that had been proposed by the government to alleviate
distress among sugar cane farmers.
 Government is planning to introduce BA (Professional), B.Com (Professional), and B.Sc

courses where students will get 1,000 hours of additional courseware, 250 hours of soft skills
and 250 hours of ICT [information and communication technology] skills so that after
graduation they become employable.
 As per DoT‘s merger and acquisition (M&A) guidelines notified in 2014, the combined entity
has to reduce its subscriber share to below 50%, in circles where such cap is breached, within a
year from the effective date of licence transfer.
 The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India recommended setting up of a pan India broadband
public protection disaster relief (PPDR) communications network based on ―3G PP PSLTE‖
technology for an ‗advanced, reliable, robust and responsive communication networks‘ to be used
during disasters. Existing PPDR networks in the country are analog and digital systems supporting
narrow band voice and data communications. Introduction of advanced broadband PPDR
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communication networks can be a great enabler in decision making and handling of PPDR
operations for personnel and organisations involved. PPDR communication supports a range of
services such as maintenance of law and order, protection of life and property, disaster relief and
emergency responses. In its recommendations, TRAI said a hybrid model of broadband PPDR
network in India should be set up. The regulator recommended creating a Special Purpose Vehicle
under the Ministry of Home Affairs to plan, coordinate and steer the nationwide network besides
implementation and subsequent operation.
 Every employer is obliged to constitute an ICC through a written order, according to the Sexual
Harassment at Workplace Act, 2013. The committee must complete its probe within 90 days of
a complaint being filed and action must be taken within 60 days of the inquiry concluding. The
law also requires that all parties involved be informed about the findings of the inquiry and be
given a chance to make representation before the committee finalizes its report.
 Section 124 of the IPC provided for punishment including imprisonment of upto seven years to
those attempting to restrain the President of India or the Governor of any State from exercising his
or her lawful power.
 A day after the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) made a case for limited Aadhaar data
access for the police to crack crimes, the UIDAI asserted that use of Aadhaar biometric data for
criminal investigation is not allowed under the Aadhaar Act. It also said that Aadhaar data has
never been shared with any crime investigating agency. The ―very limited‖ exception to this, said
UIDAI, is allowed under Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act, which permits use of or access to
biometric data in cases involving national security, only after preauthorization by an oversight
committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
 India‘s first river interlinking project-―Ken-Betwa river interlink” project. The project, which
involves deforesting a portion of the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. Another hurdle is
a dispute over how Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh — the two beneficiaries, will share water
in the Rabi season. Conceived as a two-part project, this is India‘s frst river interlinking
project. It is perceived as a model plan for similar interstate river transfer missions.
 The Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal headed by Justice Bachawat was constituted by the
Government in April, 1969 for adjudication of Inter-State Water Disputes regarding Godavari
river. While the adjudication proceedings were going on, several Inter-State agreements between
the party States viz. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka were
reached during the year 1975. The Tribunal gave its Award in July, 1980.
 As the Smart Cities Mission enters its fourth year, the Centre has finally announced the
100th and the last city which will be part of the project: Shillong.
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 Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project – ―Godavari River to Krishna River”. Pattiseema Lift
Irrigation Scheme will help revive the Krishna delta to its past glory and infuse life back into the
Krishna that has dried up completely. The project has one of the largest pump houses in Asia with
24 pumping units spread across an area of 7,476 sq m. The project has a combined capacity to
discharge 240 cumecs of water. These pumps deliver water drawn from the river Godavari in
Pattiseema into the Polavaram Project Right Main Canal for the benefit of farmers in the Krishna
river delta. Under the “Bachawat tribunal” and inter-state agreement between Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, 100 tmc of water can be diverted from River Godavari to
River Krishna. Pattiseema project will bring the 100 TMC water to River Krishna.
 Operation Blue Star was the code name of an Indian military action carried out between 1 and 8
June 1984 to remove militant religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from
the buildings of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab. Operation
Woodrose was a military operation carried out by the Indira Gandhi-led Indian government in the
months after Operation Blue Star to "prevent the outbreak of widespread public protest" in the
state of Punjab. The government arrested all prominent members of the largest Sikh political
party, the Akali Dal, and banned the All India Sikh Students Federation, a large students' union.
 A right-of-way (ROW) is a right to make a way over a piece of land, usually to and from another
piece of land. A right of way is a type of easement granted or reserved over the land for
transportation purposes, such as a highway, public footpath, rail transport, canal, as well as
electrical transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines.
 Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal has issued notice under Rule 4 of the Inter-State River
Water Disputes Rules, 1959 to the State Governments of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra to nominate their representatives for adjudication of Mahanadi
River Water Disputes latest by August 06, 2018. The notice also mentioned that if no
nominations were received by the due date, the case may be decided in the absence of any
representation of State Government.
 Transgender people, who identify as the opposite gender to the one they were born with, should
no longer be considered mentally ill, according to a new UN categorisation. The World Health
Organisation has issued a new catalogue covering 55,000 diseases, injuries and causes of death,
in which it discreetly recategorised transgenderism. According to the new catalogue, so called
―gender incongruence‖ is now listed under ―conditions related to sexual health‖, instead of
―mental, behavioural and neuro developmental Disorders.
 The Centre‘s controversial proposal to set up a social media communication hub appears to be
headed for a quiet burial. Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd., a public sector firm
26
which is supposed to be handling the project, has extended the last date for tenders. This is the
fourth time the date has been extended.
 The Union Ministry of Labour has called for tenders to design, develop and run the new UWIN
— Unorganised Workers Identification Number — Platform. The Unorganised Workers Social
Security Act, 2008 had first mandated that every worker be registered and issued a smart ID card.
According to the notice, the ―single unified sanitized database‖ will assign a 10 digit UWIN to
every worker and include details of both nuclear and extended families of unorganised workers.
 The Centre will set up the country‘s biggest data centre in Bhopal with a capacity to host five
lakh virtual servers, Electronics and IT. The data centre, which will take about two years to
come up, will be set up by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), under the Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).This will be the fifth National Data Centre
after the ones at Bhubaneswar, Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune. These National Data Centres host
government websites, services and applications.
 National Testing Agency (NTA) is an Indian government agency that has been approved by the
Union Council of Ministers and established in November 2017 to conduct entrance examinations
for higher educational institutions. The NTA will be chaired by an eminent educationist who will
be appointed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
27
ECONOMY
 Downs-Thomson paradox: This refers to the observation that increasing the supply of roads for
transit does not necessarily lead to less traffic congestion. It is named after economists Anthony
Downs and John Michael Thomson who theorised that any increase in the supply of roads would
bring additional demand for these roads from people who earlier used various forms of public
transport. The phenomenon has been used by many economists to argue that the problem of traffic
jams cannot be solved merely by increasing the number of road lanes. Instead, they recommend
that citizens be charged a price for the use of roads.
 RBI has allowed foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to invest in treasury bills issued by the
central government. The central bank‘s move comes close on the heels of foreign portfolio
investors being permitted to invest in corporate bonds with minimum residual maturity of above
one year. The requirement that investment in securities of any category (Gsecs, State
Development Loans or, in terms of this circular, corporate bonds) with residual maturity below
one year shall not exceed 20% of total investment by an FPI in that category applies, on a
continuous basis.
 The USTR is currently reviewing India‘s eligibility under its Generalized System of Preferences
(GSP), a programme that allows duty free imports of certain goods. India was the largest GSP
beneficiary at $5.6 billion.
 The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), rose from 51.0 in
March to 51.6 in April, indicating faster improvement in the health of the manufacturing
economy than in the prior month.
 The Bombay High Court has extended the deadline for filling of GST Tran-1 by 10 days
after it was highlighted that technical glitches made it impossible for many to make the
submission before the due date of April 30. It also said taxpayers would have to provide proof of
their inability to access the portal due to technical glitches. GST Tran-1 is a filing that is
required to avail credit in lieu of the taxes led before the roll out of the Goods & Services
Tax.
 Global Macro Outlook: 2018-19 Report – Moody’s
 The Goods and Services Tax Council decided to convert the GST Network into a 100%
government enterprise, and implement a single form for GST filing from the current three.
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 Paddy and sugarcane are India‟s most water- guzzling crops — using up over half of the
country‘s total irrigation water resources — but procurement policies and water and power
subsidies are skewing profitability and distorting crop decisions, says a recent study. It has
been published as a working paper by the Indian Council for Research on International
Economic Relations (ICRIER). The ICRIER team has also completed work on a ―Water
Atlas”, to be published by NABARD, which will track the water usage of ten major crops.
 The economic term EBITAis an acronym that stands for ―earnings before interest, taxes and
amortization‖ .The EBITA formula, simply shown, is as follows: EBITA = earnings before tax
(EBT) + interest expense + amortization expense. EBITA is a variation of the more commonly
used EBITDA, which stands for ―earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization‖.
Therefore, ―EBITA‖ differs from ―EBITDA‖, in that the latter calculation deducts depreciation
expenses. However both metrics are used to gauge a company's operating profitability, which
refers to earnings generated throughout the normal course of doing business--without regards
capital expenditures and financing costs. Both measures are frequently considered to be reliable
indicators of a company‘s cash flow.
 GSTR-1 is a monthly or quarterly return that should be filed by every registered dealer. It
contains details of all outward supplies i.e sales.
 A series of measures from the central bank to lure foreign buyers into the country‘s short-
term debt market could easily backfire, investors fear, exposing the economy to volatile “hot
money” flows. The Reserve Bank of India lifted (RBI) a restriction limiting foreign investors
to buying bonds with three years or more to maturity and also gave them access to short-term
sovereign treasury bills. The RBI‘s lifting of the maturity restriction came after government
bonds tanked when sovereign bond auctions failed to attract many buyers, followed by a
spike in yields when surprisingly hawkish minutes of a monetary policy meeting raised fears of
the RBI hiking interest rates. The new rules have stoked fears of an influx of ―bond tourists‖
and the associated rapid-fire switching in and out of short-term debt by foreign traders. Such
volatile flows could make India‘s financial markets more vulnerable at a time when the
rupee has been the worst performer in the region, high oil prices are driving up the current
account deficit, and interest rates could soon rise on heightened inflation risks, ―It encourages
more short term inflows and therefore exposes India to more hot money flows and volatility in
the long run.
 Good hart‟s law Public policy: This refers to the adage that any measure that becomes the target
of a policy eventually stops being a useful measure. This is because people simply trying to meet
the target, as gauged by a certain measure, may fail to focus on the underlying basis of the target.
For instance, a government that is solely focused on boosting gross domestic product may decide
to engage in wasteful spending just to boost GDP even though such spending does not improve
the living standards of citizens. It is named after British economist Charles Goodhart who
proposed it while serving as the chief economic adviser to the Bank of England.
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 India‘s low dependence on foreign currency borrowing limits risks to the sovereign even if the
Indian currency weakens by more than 7% against the dollar in 2018, ratings agency Moody‟s
said in a note. ―India‘s low dependence on foreign currency borrowing to fund its debt burden
limits the risk of currency depreciation transmitting into materially weaker debt affordability‖.
 An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is an employee-owner program that provides a

company's workforce with an ownership interest in the company. In an ESOP, companies provide
their employees with stock ownership, often at upfront cost to the employees.
 A government committee has drafted the definition of „shell-company‟ to plug a loophole in

existing laws that empower enforcement agencies to initiate legal proceedings against such
entities. The issue had come up after a large number of entities, against which action had been
taken, contested their classification as shell companies. The committee also examined the
definition provided by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD), which has defined a ‗shell company‘ as ―a company that is formally registered,
incorporated, or otherwise legally organised in an economy but which does not conduct any
operations in that economy other than in a pass-through capacity‖.
 BSE, Asia's oldest stock exchange, has become the first Indian exchange to be recognised as a
designated offshore securities market (DOSM) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC). The DOSM status allows sale of securities to U.S. investors through the trading venue of
BSE without registration of such securities with the U.S. SEC and thus eases the trades by U.S.
investors in India.
 While external debt may be denominated in either the rupee or a foreign currency like the U.S.
dollar, most of India‘s external debt is linked to the dollar. This means Indian borrowers will
have to pay back their lenders by first converting their rupees into dollars. External debt is the
money that borrowers in a country owe to foreign lenders. India‘s external debt was $513.4 billion
at the end of December 2017, an increase of 8.8% since March 2017. Most of it was owed by
private businesses which borrowed at attractive rates from foreign lenders. The raising of
interest rates by the U.S. Federal Reserve has already caused borrowing rates to rise in various
countries including in India where bond yields have shot up sharply. The yield on the 10-year
government bond, for instance, has risen to about 8% from around 6.5% at the end of June last
year. Another major risk is unexpected changes in the exchange rates of currencies.
 The Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) is one of the oldest trade preference
programmes in the world, and was designed to provide zero duties or preferential access for
developing countries to advanced markets. The U.S. GSP programme was established by the
U.S. Trade Act of 1974, and promotes economic development by eliminating duties on
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thousands of products when imported from one of the 129 designated beneficiary countries and
territories. In April 2018, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)
announced that it would review the GSP eligibility of India, Indonesia, and Kazakhstan.
The proposed review for India was initiated in response to market access petitions led by the
U.S. dairy and medical device industries due to recent policy decisions in India, which were
perceived as trade barriers.
 The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was a national agency of Government of
India, with the remit to consider and recommend foreign direct investment (FDI) which does not
come under the automatic route. Acted as a single window clearance for proposals on foreign
direct investment (FDI) in India. The Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) was housed in
the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. FIPB was abolished on 24 May 2017.
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STATES AND SCHEMES
 The Saubhagya scheme defines the electrification of a household as including a service line
cable, energy meter, and single point wiring. For unelectrified households in remote areas,
electrification will involve the provision of power packs of 200 to 300 W (with battery bank) with
a maximum of 5 LED lights, 1 DC Fan, and 1 DC power plug. According to the definition, in
place since October 1997, a village is deemed to be electrified if basic infrastructure such as a
distribution transformer and distribution lines are in place in the inhabited locality, electricity is
provided to public places like schools, panchayat office, health centres, dispensaries, community
centres, and at least 10% of the households in the village are electrified.
 After developing Raghurajpur, Orissa, a place famous for its master „Pattachitra‟ artists and
„Gotipua‟ dance troupes as a heritage village, which has now become a major rural tourist
destination, it later used the same pattern to develop Padmanabhpur village, Ganjam district,
Orissa, famous for its weavers and folk dancers, into another heritage destination.
 Maharashtra became the first State to provide digitally signed land record receipts (also known
as 7/12 receipts), which Chief Minister claimed would check irregularities and bring in
transparency.
 Bina Refinery is an oil refinery located at Bina in Bina of district sagar of Madhya Pradesh state.
 'Adopt a Heritage' scheme, a collaboration among the Tourism and Culture Ministers, the
Archaeological Survey of India and the State government. The four sites chosen in Assam
include the Kaziranga National Park, Rang ghar, Asia‘s oldest amphi-theatre, Kareng Ghar, a
palace and Shiva Dol, a temple – all in Sivasagar district built during the 600-year reign of the
Ahom dynasty before the British took control of the Northeast in 1826.The four sites selected
are the pride of Assam.
 The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to notify Rose ringed parakeet
(Psittaculakrameri), known as Rama Chiluka, as the State bird. The Neem ( Azadirachta indica)
is the official tree. The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) is the official animal while Jasmine
(Jasminum officinale) the flower.
 “Tiwa” is an ethnic group inhabiting the states of Assam and Meghalaya in Northeast India.
Tiwa tribe celebrate ‗Yangli festival‟ once in three years.
 The government launched a oxo-biodegradable sanitary pad 'Suvidha' on Thursday to mark

International Women's Day. The oxo-biodegradable sanitary pads priced at Rs. 2.50 per pad
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will be available at Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi centres. Oxo-biodegradable plastic,

is often referred to as ―degradable‖ plastic, since it does not require a biological process to
degrade. Microorganisms will speed up the degradation process, but they're not required. This
gives oxo-biodegradation a distinct advantage over prior methods for degrading plastic.
 UMANG app or Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance, is a Government of India
all-in-one single unified secure multi-channel multi-platform multi-lingual multi-service
freewaremobile app for accessing over 1,200 central and state government services in multiple
Indian languages over Android, iOS, Windows and services such as AADHAR, DigiLocker,
Bharat Bill Payment System, PAN, EPFO services, PMKVY services, AICTE, CBSE, tax and fee
or utilities bills payments, education, job search, tax, business, health, agriculture, travel, birth
certificates, e-District, passport and much more. This a key component of Digital India
government initiative to make all traditional offline government services available 24/7 online
through single unified app. App is initially available in 13 language and will replace or
compliment 1500 apps launched by the government so far.
 This is the last piece of land belonging to Karnataka, beyond it lies Telangana. On paper, for the
government, it‘s no man‘s land. Yet, on the ground it is a thriving village. Residents of
Kuruvakula, an island (locally called gadde) formed in Krishna river, now have a
demand for those coming to seek their votes, help them get back titles to the land their
families surrendered for the ‗Jurala project‟ in what is present-day Telangana.
 The Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) Scheme approved by the Union
Government draws its inspiration from the similar pioneering scheme implemented by the
Government of Gujarat. This scheme will enable to initiate much awaited reforms in the rural
areas. It focuses on feeder separation (rural households & agricultural) and strengthening of
sub-transmission & distribution infrastructure including metering at all levels in rural areas.
This will help in providing round the clock power to rural households and adequate power to
agricultural consumers .The earlier scheme for rural electrification viz. Rajiv Gandhi Grameen
Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY) has been subsumed in the new scheme as its rural electrification
component. The major components of the scheme are feeder separation; strengthening of sub-
transmission and distribution network; Metering at all levels (input points, feeders and distribution
transformers); Micro grid and off grid distribution network & Rural electrification- already
sanctioned projects under RGGVY to be completed.
 The Prime Minister has launched a new scheme Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana
–“Saubhagya” to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as
urban areas here today. The beneficiaries for free electricity connections would be identified
using Socio Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data. However, un-electrified households
not covered under the SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the
33
scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 instalments through
electricity bill.
 The Kerala Government is planning to set up Common Communication Service to facilitate

inter-department communication. The Kerala State Unified Communication Service (KSUCS)
envisages bringing an estimated six lakh employees and 10,000 or so government offices
across the State irrespective of the kind of communication system they use under a common
digital mail network. Currently, government offices use different software and applications for
management. These include e-office at the state level, e-district at the district levels, and various
apps for the police force. The communication service will be hosted by the General
Administration Department, with C-DIT as the implementing agency.
 The “Gram Swaraj Abhiyan” was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14,
the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, to reach out to villages, most of which have a
majority of Dalit and tribal homes. The objective of the outreach programme, which was
launched a fortnight after nationwide protests against the dilution of the Scheduled Caste and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, was to ―promote social harmony, spread
awareness about pro-poor initiatives of government, reach out to poor households to enroll
them in various welfare programmes. As a special endeavour during the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan,
saturation of eligible households/persons would be made under seven flagship pro-poor
programmes in 21,058 identified villages covering 530 districts (except Karnataka, West Bengal
where Election Code of Conduct is in place). The identified schemes are as follows.
 Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

 Saubhagya
 Ujala scheme
 Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
 Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana
 Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana and
 Mission Indradhanush.
An important aspect of the campaign would also be the public disclosure to the Gram Panchayats
(GP) regarding funds made available under various schemes of the line departments and activities
to be taken up in each GP area.
 “Mission Indradhanush” is a health mission of the government of India. It was launched by

Union Health Minister on 25 December 2014. It aims to immunize all children under the age of 2
years, as well as all pregnant women, against seven vaccine preventable diseases.
 The famous “Aranmula snake boat regatta” in Kerala will not be a competitive race in the
Pampa river waters at this year‘s Onam festival, and will instead return to its roots as a spectacle
34
of colour and song. Ruling in favour of regalia, the Palliyoda Seva Sanghom (PSS), which
conducts the show, has decided to do away with the race format. The ―Mannam Trophy‖ will thus
go to the snake boat that is adjudged the best in terms of paddling style, discipline, costume of the
oarsmen, and Vanchippattu singing.
 The Odisha government started distribution of pattas (land owner-ship certificates) to urban
slum dwellers at a function in Ganjam district. The project, „Odisha Liveable Habitat
Mission‟, will benefit over one million people residing in 2,500 urban slums across the
State. Apart from land rights, the beneficiaries will also get basic amenities.
 “Khadakwasla Dam” is a dam on the Mutha River 21 km (13 mi) from the centre of the city of
Pune in Maharashtra, India. The dam created a reservoir known as Khadakwasla Lake which is
the main source of water for Pune and its suburbs.
 “Nagoba Jatara” is a tribal festival held in Keslapur village, Telangana, India. It is the second
biggest tribal carnival and celebrated by Mesaram clan of Gond tribes for 10 days. Tribal people
from Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh belonging to the Mesram clan offer
prayers at the festival.
 National Nutrition Mission- The mission targets a 2% reduction in both under-nutrition and
low birth weight per annum. It also aims to bring down anaemia among young children,
women and adolescent girls by 3% per year until 2020. The government will also strive to
reduce the prevalence of stunting from the current level of 38.4% (as per the National Family
Health Survey 4) to 25% by 2022. Under NNM, the ministries of women and child development,
health and family welfare, and water and sanitation will work together.
 “Malsisar dam” is in Rajasthan. Water supply from a dam built at the Kumbha Ram Arya lift
canal project near Malsisar town in Rajasthan‘s Jhunjhunu district, which had breached on
March 31this year, has been restored. The lift irrigation project, bringing the Himalayan waters to
Jhunjhunu district through Indira Gandhi Canal, was completed at a cost of Rs 588 crore and had
started supplying drinking water in its first phase.
 The Union Cabinet approved increasing the investment limit from Rs 7.5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh
under the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY), aimed at senior citizens. It
also extended the time limit for subscription from May 4, 2018 to March 31,2020.
 Jharkhand has emerged as the best-performing State in terms of cleanliness, while Indore in
Madhya Pradesh was adjudged the cleanest city in the country, according to the government
swachhta survey released . Maharashtra stood second behind Jharkhand, while Chhattisgarh was
at the third position in the category of ‗best-performing States‘ in the ‗Swachh Survekshan
2018‘ released by Housing and Urban Affairs minister. The Ministry of Housing & Urban
Affairs, Government of India takes up the Swachh Survekshan in urban areas and the Ministry of
35
Drinking Water and Sanitation in rural areas. The Quality Council of India (QCI) has been
commissioned the responsibility of carrying out the assessment. The New Delhi Municipal
Council (NDMC) got the tag of India‘s ‗cleanest small city‘ (urban local body) with population
between 1 lakh and 3 lakh in the 2018 survey. In the ‗cantonment‘ category, the Delhi
Cantonment has emerged as the cleanest, followed by Almora, Ranikhet and Nainital (all three in
Uttarakhand). Uttar Pradesh‘s Ghaziabad was adjudged the ―fastest mover big city‖ in this
survey. Mysuru has been ranked the cleanest medium-sized city in the country. Mysuru has
been ranked the cleanest among cities with a population of between 3 lakh and one million.
Mangaluru has been ranked the best city in solid waste management.
 “Banihal Pass” is a mountain pass across the Pir Panjal Range at 2,832 m maximum elevation.
This mountain range connects the Kashmir Valley in the Indian state Jammu and Kashmir to
the outer Himalaya and plains to the south. In the Kashmiri language, "Banihāl" means blizzard.
The road from Jammu to Srinagar transversed Banihal Pass until 1956 when Jawahar Tunnel
was constructed under the pass. The road now passes through the tunnel and the Banihal Pass is
no longer used for road transport.
 Arunachal enters India‘s commercial aviation map with the launch of Pasighat Airport.
Pasighat airport, too,made it to the record books— as India‘s easternmost airport with civilian
operations. Pasighat airport, one of six operational advance landing grounds (ALGs) in
Arunachal Pradesh primarily for military use, was laid in 1952 but was virtually abandoned after
the China-India war in 1962, until the Indian Air Force took it over in 2010. The airport was
inaugurated in August 2016 with the landing of a SukhoiSu-30 fighter jet. A civilian terminal
was built in 2017 and a test landing of Alliance Air‘s commercial fight was carried out in
April this year.
 Kerala - the revival of dance drama, „Ashtapadiyattam‟, based on ‗Gita Govindam‘ written by
12th century poet Jayadeva.
 Pandavulagutta in Telangana is home to painted rock shelters dating back to 10000 BC-8000
BC, an 8th century inscription of the Rashtrakuta period, and painted frescoes from the 12th
century Kakatiya empire. The rock paintings resemble those at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh,
with flora, fauna and human figures seen in red ochre. The Kakatiya artists, on the other
hand, painted scenes from the Mahabharata and of the elephant-headed Ganesha.
 As the first State to pass a ―social audit law‖,Meghalaya‟s experience is instructive on how to
increase awareness of entitlements.
 A new software, „Nidaan‟, has been launched in Rajasthan for presumptive diagnosis and
monitoring of seasonal and non-communicable diseases as well as the trends of ailments found in
specific areas. It is expected to help informulation of specific actionplans for control of diseases.
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 Much of NH37 that ran from Goalpara in western Assam to Roing in Arunachal Pradesh is now
part of NH27, India‘s second longest highway from Porbandar in Gujarat to Silchar in southern
Assam. Locals, though, refuse to acknowledge the new number, preferring the fancier Asian
Highway 1instead.
 The Centre will give government schools grants for buying sports equipment so as to promote
sports in schools. This is the integral part of ―Samagra Shiksha”, a scheme to make school
education an integrated whole from preschool to Class 12.
 Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik „Paree Pain Katha Tiye‟ (A word for the little angel), a
Statewide awareness campaign against child sexual abuse. UNICEF and the State police have
joined hands for the campaign to create awareness on the importance and role of every member of
society in preventing child sexual abuse, need for reporting and need for trauma care.Fifteen vans
modified as ‗Paree Express‘ flagged off by Mr. Patnaik will cover all 30 districts during the
campaign from May 28 to June 12. According to the State police, ‗Paree Express‘ will move
across each district following a carefully charted route that touches the most vulnerable pockets.
 The Punjab government has decided to deploy drones at all major toll plazas across the State to
monitor and streamline traffic snarls, especially at peak hours.
 In the wake of an alarming increase in the number of rape and harassment cases against women in
public transport, the Andhra Pradesh government plans to launch a fool proof safety mechanism
through project „Abhaya‟, the safety scheme based on IoT (Internet of Things). The first lot of
around 50,000 IoT device boxes will be installed in autorickshaws. The devices will have an
inbuilt Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and Global System for Mobile
Communication (GSM) or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) for both real time location
tracking and data communication. Without asking for any personal information about the
passenger, the app will enable her to capture photos, send alerts, share the route and vehicle
location with a guardian/confidante. Before boarding an autorickshaw, the passenger will have to
capture the QR code sticker on the vehicle that will give the details of the vehicle and the driver
alongwith his photograph. This is to crosscheck the driver‘s photograph with the person at the
wheel. The passenger will then have to say ‗Yes‘ or ‗No‘ to confirm the driver‘s photo match. If
the police get an alert they can even seize the vehicle‘s ignition system, arresting its movement.
 Polavaram irrigation project on the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. The project has been
accorded national project status by the Union Government of India and will be the last to be
accorded the status. Its reservoir spreads into parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha States also. It gives
major boost to tourism sector for the state of andhra pradesh as the reservoir covers the famous
Papikonda National Park where we can reach from left side navigation channel linked with
National Waterway 4.
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 In Madhya Pradesh, after garlic prices dropped sharply, the government decided to include it in
the ―Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana ― (Price Deficit Payment Scheme) that was introduced in the
Kharif 2017 season. Farmers, however, rue that with the conditions associated with the scheme,
most of them are unable to gain any benefit. The scheme is aimed at providing price deficit
payments to farmers if the market prices are below the minimum support price.
 In an effort to encourage and equip PhD scholars and post doctoral fellows with skills to
communicate science with lay people, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) plans to
reward students who write popular articles about their research. The articles can either be
submitted to DST directly or published in newspapers. The “Augmenting Writing Skills for
Articulating Research (AWSAR)” initiative will each year reward 100 best articles by PhD
students with cash prize of Rs.1,00,000 each and a certificate of appreciation. The reward for post
doctoral fellows will be Rs.10,000 each and a certificate of appreciation for 20 best articles.
 Founded as a joint initiative of the Army, the Centre for Social Responsibility (CSRL) and
PETRONET LNG Limited (PLL), Project Kashmir Super 50 this year saw 32 students clear the
JEE (Mains) and seven crack the JEE (Advanced).
 In an attempt at making research projects awarded by the Indian Council of Social Science
Research (ICSSR) move from ―pure ideological research‖ to one that is in sync with policy
imperatives, the apex social science research body has formulated a blue print of key areas for
future research. It has sent a vision document called IMPRESS (Impactful Policy Research in
Social Sciences) to the government. The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is
the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. It is under MHRD.
 „Eruvaka festival‟ in Andhra Pradesh is aimed at gearing up the farmers for starting agricultural
operations with the onset of the south-west monsoon and to inspire them to achieve higher
productivity in agriculture in the ensuing season.
 Amarnath cave is a Hindu shrine located in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The cave is situated at
an altitude of 3,888 m (12,756 ft) about 141 km from Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and
Kashmir and reached through Pahalgam town. Inside the 40 m (130 ft) high Amarnath cave, a
stalagmite is formed due to freezing of water drops that fall from the roof of the cave on to the
floor and grows up vertically from the cave floor.
 The Centre is considering a proposal to set up a Centre of Excellence for blockchain technology
in Hyderabad to drive innovation. The proposal has been submitted by CDAC Hyderabad, along
with the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT) and Veermata
Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI), Mumbai. The Centre of Excellence, proposed to come up
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at CDAC‘s Hyderabad unit, will be the first one by the government for blockchain technology.
 30centres in the country have been selected for converting them into „Swachh Iconic Places‟ and
the project has already been executed in 20 places. The Union government has selected
Sabarimala as a ‗Swachh Iconic Place‘ as part of the Swachh Bharat Mission.
39
SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT
 India‘s developmental activities are affecting the environment to a considerable extent, through
overexploitation of natural resources and indiscriminate discharge of waste. This has been
interpreted by the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis which suggests that as per
capita income grows, the increase in environmental impact hits the maximum and thereafter
declines. According to the hypothesis, in the initial stages of economic growth, when more
resources are used, there is greater waste generation and more emissions. But when a country has
achieved a certain level of development, pollution reduces with greater protection of the
environment, technological improvements, diversification of the economy from manufacturing to
services, and increasing scarcity and prices of environmental resources, leading to lower
consumption.
 In a dampener for celebrants, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has banned “party
poppers” — a popular decorative used at parties and celebrations, including at IPL matches — on
the grounds that the devices posed a health risk. It is a sealed cardboard case, as big as a rolled up
newspaper, and stuffed with shredded paper and glitter. Pulling an attached string sets off a mild,
chemical explosive, which ‗pops‘ open the case and releases a confetti of coloured paper and
glitter. It is observed that the plastic glittering material and the other charge chemicals, which are
generally low intensity explosive, often composed of red phosphorous, potassium chlorate and
potassium perchlorate, are harmful to human health and environment. Armstrong‟s Mixture
which is used to create the explosives consisting of Red Phosphorus, Potassium Chlorate,
Potassium perchlorate and Sulphur.
 State of the World's Forests (SOFO) is by FAO. The State of the World‘s Forests 2018 (SOFO
2018) analyses the role that forests and trees – and the people who use and manage them – can
play in helping countries achieve their objectives and bring about a brighter future. SOFO 2018
shines a light on the profound interlinkages that exist between forests and many other goals and
targets of the 2030 Agenda, enabling policymakers to strike the right balance in actions,
investments and partnerships directed towards food security, poverty alleviation, ecological
conservation and, ultimately, to find pathways to sustainable development.
 Experts say that the discolouration of the Taj Mahal —the „browning‟, as observed by the
Supreme Court is due to a mix of weathering as well as industrial pollution, but thorough
studies are required before remedial measures are implemented. Beginning from the 1970s,
activists and conservationists have raised concerns that there were various environmental
threats to the Taj from sulphur dioxide emanating from the Mathura refinery to the constituents
of the marble itself.
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 The Delhi High Court (HC) judgment revoking Monsanto‟s Boll-gard-2 patent is
fraught with problems. Bollgard-2 is an insecticidal technology which uses a gene called
Cry2Ab from the soil bacterium Bacillus Thuringiensis (Bt). When inserted into a cotton plant,
the gene confers resistance against cotton pests. Monsanto‘s 2008 patent on Bollgard-2 protects
several aspects of this technology: the modification of Cry2Ab to make it compatible with the
cotton genome, the process of introducing this gene at a specific location in the cotton genome,
and the protein expressed by the plant containing the gene.
 The phenomenon of Mumbai‘s beaches glowing in the dark maybe a consequence of global
warming and not industrial pollution, according to a year long investigation by Indian and
American scientists. The Noctiluca algae, commonly known as sea tinkle, is a parasite and
occurs in patches or ‗blooms‘ in the northern Arabian Sea. Their bioluminescence has earned
them the name „sea sparkle‟. However, these patches ring an alarm bell for ecologists because
the algae compete with fish for food and choke their supply. Noctilucadevours one of the most
important planktonic organisms at the base of the fish-food chain, namely diatoms, and also
excretes large amounts of ammonia, which is linked with massive fish mortality.
 Tourists gasp for breath as they climb for two hours to a peak in the Peruvian Andes that
stands 5,000 metres above sea level. They‘re dead tired, but stunned by the magical beauty
unfurled before them. Stripes of turquoise, lavender and gold blanket what has become known
as “Rainbow Mountain”, a ridge of multicoloured sediments laid down millions of years ago
and pushed up as tectonic plates clashed. It‘s only within the last five years that the natural
wonder has been discovered by the outside world, earning it must-see status on Peru‟s
burgeoning back packer tourist circuit.
 Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to launch a project to conserve leopards by
improving their prey base, mitigating conflicts with humans and controlling poaching. Leopard is
an endangered animal under schedule one of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The big cat‘s
population in Rajasthan has declined over the years. According to 2015 wildlife census, there are
434 leopards in the state. Around 20 leopards have been killed between 2014 and 2016 in
accidents or by humans when they strayed into human habitations or agricultural fields.
 The steering committee of Project Leopard will be chaired by forest minister; principal chief
conservator of the forest will be the vice-chairman, chief wildlife warden, and member secretary.
Directors of eight leopard sanctuaries, chief conservator of forest of those areas and wildlife
experts will be members of the committee. The committee will report to the state board of
wildlife.
 The Nipah virus is a type of RNA virus in the genus Henipavirus. It can both spread between
people and from other animals to people. Spread typically requires direct contact with an infected
source. The virus normally circulates among specific types of fruit bats. Diagnosis is based on
symptoms and confirmed by laboratory testing. The disease was first identified in 1998 during an
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outbreak in Malaysia while the virus was isolated in 1999. It is named after a village in Malaysia,
Sungai Nipah.
 Long Period Average (LPA) during July, and 94% of the LPA during August — both with a
model error of plus or minus 9%. Anything between 90% and 96% of the LPA is considered
“below normal” while rainfall in the range of 96% and 104% of the LPA is considered
“normal”. Also, rainfall is considered “deficient” if it ranges below 90% of the LPA, and
“above normal” if it falls between 104% and 110%cent of the LPA. Above 110% of the LPA is
considered “excess” rainfall.
 The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has seized 66 orchids and eight Pitcher plants (Nepenthes
khasiana). The seized orchids include 49 rare Blue Vanda (Vanda coerulea) orchids and 17 Ladies
slipper orchids.
 Black carbon — a major air pollutant and the second largest contributor to warming after carbon
dioxide. The Brick Kiln Initiative, launched by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development, found a way to redesign the ovens and stack the bricks differently so that less toxic
soot is produced. By stacking the bricks inside the kilns in a zigzag pattern, the heat snakes
through the gaps more efficiently, ensuring coal is completely burned so less soot is produced.
Emissions are cut by 60%, but more importantly for the kiln owners, it nearly halves coal
consumption.
 Black plastics, constituting about 15% of the domestic waste stream, is not easily recyclable.
Black plastics (that is, literally plastics that are black) are colored with carbon black, which is in
many cases produced by burning petroleum byproducts.
 Bromine, in the form of brominated compounds, is and has been used in electrical plastic
housings as a flame retardant, while lead is often encountered in electronic plastics as a
contaminant. However, both elements were found extensively in non-electrical black consumer
products tested, where they are not needed or desirable. In many products, including cocktail
stirrers, coat hangers, various plastic jewellery, garden hosing, Christmas decorations,
concentrations of bromine potentially exceeded legal limits that are designed for electrical items.
 Just 40 cm long and iridescent brown, Bhupathy‟s shield tail is the latest addition to the
snake fauna of the Western Ghats. The snake, currently observed only in the forests of the
Anaikatty hills in Tamil Nadu‘s Coimbatore district, has been named Uropeltis bhupathyi,
after the late herpetologist S. Bhupathy, for his contributions to the field. The reptile belongs to
a family of snakes found only in peninsular India and Sri Lanka. They are non-venomous,
burrowing and mostly earth-worm-eating.
 A Western Disturbance is an extra tropical storm originating in the Mediterranean region that
brings sudden winter rain to the northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent. It is a non-
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monsoonal precipitation pattern driven by the westerlies. The moisture in these storms usually
originates over the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Extratropical storms are a global
phenomena with moisture usually carried in the upper atmosphere, unlike their tropical
counterparts where the moisture is carried in the lower atmosphere. Western Disturbances are
important for the development of the Rabi crop, which includes the locally important staple
wheat.
 A 24 hour fast may reverse the age related loss of stem cell function that regenerates new
intestinal cells, according to a study. Researchers, including those from Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT) in the U.S., found that fasting dramatically improves stem cells‘ ability to
regenerate, in both aged and young mice. In fasting mice, cells begin breaking down fatty acids
instead of glucose, a change that stimulates the stem cells to become more regenerative.
 A mandatory evacuation order remained in effect in parts of Hawaii after the Kilauea volcano
erupted, spitting red hot lava out of ground fissures and releasing dangerous gases into residential
areas. Kīlauea is an active shield volcano in the Hawaiian Islands, and the most active of the
five volcanoes that together form the island of Hawaii.
 In a first, astronomers have detected helium gas in the atmosphere of a planet that orbits a star far
beyond the solar system. Led by Jessica Spake from the University of Exeter in the U.K.,
scientists have found evidence of the inert gas on exoplanet WASP-107b, 200 light years from the
earth.
 The World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended that adults and children should
consume a maximum of 10% of their daily calorie intake in the form of saturated fat (found
in meat and butter) and 1% in trans fats. These draft recommendations, the first since 2002, are
aimed at controlling non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are responsible for an estimated
39.5 mil-lion deaths (72%) of the 54.7million deaths worldwide in2016.
 GravityRAT, a malware allegedly designed by Pakistani hackers, has recently been updated
further and equipped with anti-malware evasion capabilites.
 It‘s bad news for Kashmir Valley, the fruit bowl of India. The brown peach aphid – an
insect that attacks temperate fruit trees – has been recorded here for the first time. The spread
of the aphid could affect the local economy which is dependant on fruit trees to a large
extent, say scientists who documented the presence of the aphid in their recent paper published
in Journal of Threatened Taxa. Aphids feed on the saps of plants, attacking plant tissues that
transport food to all different plant parts. The brown peach aphid Pterochloroides persicae is a
notorious pest of peach and almond trees in the Mediterranean regions. In India, the aphid
was recorded for the first time in the 1970s from Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Now,
almost 40 years later, it has resurfaced in the Kashmir Valley.
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 Plastids are found in plants and some algae. They are necessary for essential life processes, like
photosynthesis and food storage. Plastids are double membrane-bound organelles found inside
plants and some algae, which are primarily responsible for activities related to making and storing
food. Many plastids are photosynthetic, but some are not. The chloroplasts are probably the most-
known of the plastids. These are responsible for photosynthesis.
 NASA launched its latest Mars lander, InSight, designed to perch on the surface of the red
planet and listen for „Marsquakes‟. Its name, InSight, is short for Interior Exploration using
Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport.
 Using three bacterial species isolated from domestic sewage, researchers from India have
successfully removed ―chloropyrifos” pesticide from both water and soil. Chloropyrifos is
an organo phosphorous pesticide and is moderately toxic to humans. Poisoning from
chlorpyrifos may affect the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system and the
respiratory system.
 Omniphobic material: In designing various kinds of surfaces, material science researchers are
looking to develop surfaces that are resistant to a wide variety of agents, or ‗spills‘. Thus, an
ideal „omniphobe‟ would be one that swiftly sheds water, oils, alcohols and even peanut butter.
Researchers claim that a material recently crafted from fusing fluorinated polyurethane and a
specialized fluid-repellent molecule called F-POSS is the closest science has got to crafting a
perfect omniphobe. While several composites have repelled ice and water, this new coating is the
first that is durable and clear and can be easily applied to virtually any surface.
 Heat Wave need not be considered till maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40*C
for Plains and atleast 30*C for Hilly regions. Heat wave conditions are declared when the
departure from normal temperature is 5 to 6 degrees Celsius and severe heat wave condi-tion is
declared if the departure from normal temperature is more than seven degrees Celsius.
 A team from the Tohoku University in Japan found the mineral, called moganite, in a lunar
meteorite discovered in a desert in north west Africa. Moganite, a crystal of silicon dioxide, is
known to form on the earth in specific circumstances in sedimentary settings from alkaline
fluids. It has never before been detected in samples of lunar rock. Researchers believe the
mineral formed on the surface of the moon in the area called Procellarum Terrane, as water
originally present in lunar dirt evaporated due to exposure to strong sunlight. In the
subsurface, water remains as ice.
 The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), also known as the Indian antelope, is an antelope found in
India, Nepal and Pakistan. In India, hunting of blackbuck is prohibited under Schedule I of the
Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. IUCN status is Least Concern.
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 Anitha-SAT, a lightweight satellite developed by a 17-year-old Plus Two pass out student of
R.S.K. Higher Secondary School, Tiruchi, to measure the effects of air pollution and global
warming, was launched from Aztra Labs in Mexico City.
 The pyrogen test is carried out to check impurity or substance that can cause adverse side effects.
For the test, the drug is injected into a rabbit and the animal is closely observed for feverish
symptoms. The abnormal toxicity test is carried out to check potential hazardous biological
contamination in vaccine formulations. This batch test is done before the product is approved for
marketing. In this, mice or guinea pigs are injected with the vaccine.
 In the 2018 edition of Indian Pharmacopoeia, that provides guidelines on tests for drugs
manufactured and marketed in India, the IPC has replaced the pyrogen test carried out on rabbits
and the abnormal toxicity test carried out on guinea pigs and mice with tests that can be done in
test tubes. With the Indian Pharmacopoeia Commission‟s new mandate, the pyrogen test will be
replaced by a bacterial endotoxin test or a monocyte activation test which can be carried out in test
tubes. Vaccine manufacturers can apply for waiver for the abnormal toxicity test by getting a
compliance certify.
 Chordoma is a rare type of cancer that occurs in the bones of the skull base and spine. A
chordoma tumour usually grows slowly and is often asymptomatic for years. In a first, a robot was
used to successfully remove a rare tumour from a patient‘s neck in a surgery led by an Indian
origin surgeon.
 A rock sample recovered nearly eight years ago from Champua in Odisha‘s Kendujhar district
has put India at the forefront of geological research in the world. Scientists have found in the rock
a grain of magmatic zircon (a mineral that contains traces of radioactive isotopes) that is an
estimated 4,240 million years old — a discovery of great promise to study the earth‘s early years.
Rajat Mazumder, geologist and one of the authors of the paper, said that the only instance of
zircon older than this discovery was the one found in Jack Hill, Western Australia, which was
4,400 million years old. But the zircon in this case was from metamorphosed sedimentary rock,
unlike the Singhbhum one, which was formed from magma.
 The Indian star tortoise (Geochelone elegans) is a threatened species of tortoise found in dry
areas and scrub forest in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. IUCN status is Vulnerable.
 Four billion kilometers from Earth in a region of the outer solar system near Neptune floats a
nearly 305-kilometer-long asteroid that looks not like its fellow Kuiper belt objects, but, rather,
like those in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. That‘s because the space anomaly, 2004
EW95, is rich with carbon, a first for any object so distant. It is the first carbon-rich asteroid ever
observed in the Kuiper belt.
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 The Bengaluru based environmental research organisation ATREE has documented how the
Arkavathi, a major tributary of the Cauvery in Karnataka, has been sucked dry by farmers using
deep bore wells.
 India‘s first Butterfly Park was established at Bannerghatta National Park, Karnataka. Butterfly
National Park near Srirangam in Tamil Nadu. The butterfly park at Trichy which is considered as
one of the biggest butterfly parks in Asia, is being constructed over 35 acres at the cost of
approximately 8 crores.
 Poompuhar, or Kaveri poompattinam, in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu, where the

Cauvery meets the sea, symbolises a civilisation in ruin.
 Butterfly enthusiast Arjan Basu Roy photographed the black wind mill butterfly
(Byasacrassipes) in Arunachal Pradesh‟s Dibang Valley in the Lower Dibang Valley district,
where the controversial Dibang Dam is proposed to be built. So far the butterfly has been
mentioned only in two books: the 10 volume ‗Lepidoptera Indica‘, a book on India‘s butterflies
by the East India Company‘s Frederic Moore in 1913, and ‗The Fauna of British India‘ written
in 1939 by George Talbot. The butterfly has not been recorded in India ever since.
 A NASA programme that cost $10 million per year to track carbon and methane, key greenhouse
gases that contribute to global warming, has been cancelled. The end of the programme— called
the Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) — which tracked sources and sinks for carbon and made
high resolution models of the planet‘s flows of carbon — was first reported by the journal
Science.
 “Krishna Raja Sagara”, also popularly known as KRS, is a lake and the dam that creates it.
They are close to the settlement of Krishnaraja sagara in the Indian State of Karnataka. The
gravity dam made of surki mortar is below the confluence of river Kaveri with its tributaries
Hemavati and Lakshmana Tirtha, in the district of Mandya . There is an ornamental garden,
Brindavan Gardens, attached to the dam.
 „Forest produce‟ under the 1961 Act defines many things, including timber, charcoal, wood oil,
gum, resin, natural varnish, flowers and fruits, but does not mention tusks. Supreme Court has
ruled that tusks are the property of the government. The court was examining the Kerala Forests
Act of 1961 and the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. The Supreme Court observed that there is
a clear ―declaration‖ in the1972 Act on elephant tusks being government property.
 Scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have reported progress in the
development of an environment-friendly propellant to power satellites and spacecraft. The
effort is to replace the conventional hydrazine rocket fuel, a highly toxic and carcinogenic
chemical, with a greener propellant for future missions. Due to its high performance
characteristics, hydrazine has dominated the space industry as the choice of propellant for over
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six decades despite the hazards. A mono propellant is a chemical propulsion fuel which does not
require a separate oxidizer. It is used extensively in satellite thrusters for orbital correction and
orientation control.
 China‘s first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier started sea trials, a landmark in
Beijing‘s ambitious plans to modernise its navy as the Asian giant presses its claims in disputed
regional waters. The carrier, known only as “Type 001A”, set out for the trials from a port in
north eastern China. China‟s sole operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is a
repurposed Soviet ship bought from Ukraine, which went into service in 2012. The
possession of a home-grown aircraft carrier places China among the few military powers with
such vessels, including the United States, Russia and Britain.
 Vitamin D can help treat damaged beta cells in pancreas that produce, store and release the
hormone insulin, paving the way for a new approach to treat diabetes. Scientists used beta cells
from embryonic stem cells for the study.
 A team of researchers has managed to exploit a vulnerability in melanoma or skin cancer that
develops resistance to a targeted therapy, providing a potential new therapeutic strategy to
selectively kill the drug-resistant cancer cells. The study has shown that when cancer cells
develop drug resistance, they also acquire a new vulnerability, the Xinhua reported. The
researchers, led by Rene Bernards of the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Oncode Institute in
Denmark, exposed this new vulnerability in melanoma that has developed resistance to treatment
with a BRAF inhibitor — a targeted therapy that blocks a signalling pathway in the cancer
cell through which it gets the message to keep on dividing. Since more than half of all melanoma
patients have a mutation in this BRAF gene, the BRAF-inhibitor stops tumour growth in those
patients. But within a few months, the tumour cell adapts the original signaling pathway and
becomes active again, and even hyperactive free radicals. The researchers, however, found that
the hyperactive resistant melanoma cells produced large amounts of reactive oxygen species,
but cancer cells still sensitive to the drug did not do so. The study, published in the journal Cell,
found that the abundance of free radicals caused the resistant melanoma cells to stop dividing,
but they did not die. When tested on mice along with an existing drug, vorinostat, which is
known to stimulate the production of free oxygen radicals, the researchers saw tumours
shrinking under the influence of the drug Vorinostat treatment. This laid the foundation for a
new therapeutic strategy: Treating patients with BRAF-mutated melanoma, as usual, with
signal path way inhibitors. When the tumour becomes resistant, stop giving those inhibitors
and immediately treat the patients with vorinostat to kill the resistant cancer cells.
 The rare phenomenon, known as the 22 degree halo of the sun, occurs due to refraction of light
against ice crystals in the thin wisp like strands of clouds in the sky.
 Six tigers will be relocated to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha‘s Angul district from
Madhya Pradesh as part of the State government‘s plan to revive big cat population in the
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protected forest.
 The Long-billed Vulture or Indian Vulture (Gyps indicus) is critically endangered. According
to conservationists, the way to conserve its present population and increase it is to step up
conservation efforts at the Palarapucli vulture habitat in Kumram Bheem Asifabad. A team of
Forest Department officials connected with the conservation of vultures at Palarapu habitat —
the only one in Telangana, recently visited the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre (
JCBC), Pinjore, Haryana, to study the methods and status of conservation. Nine species of
vulture can be found living in India, but most are now in danger of extinction after a rapid and
major population collapse in recent decades.
 The decline in the atmosphere of an ozone-depleting chemical banned by the Montreal

Protocol has recently slowed by half, suggesting a serious violation of the 196 nation treaty.
Measurements at remote sites, including the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, of the
chemical, known as CFC-11, point to East Asia as the source or renewed production. The ozone
layer in the stratosphere, 10 to 40 kilometres above Earth‘s surface, protects life on the planet
from deadly ultraviolet radiation. The 1987 Montreal Protocol banned industrial aerosols such
as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) that were chemically dissolving ozone, especially above
Antarctica.
 The latest addition to India‘s frog fauna is the Mangaluru narrow-mouthed frog, which has
been found in a small industrial region in coastal Karnataka. The new found, described by a
team of Indian scientists in the international journal Zootaxa, is christened Microhyla
kodialafter the city of Mangaluru (called kodial in the Konkani language) from where they
spotted it two years ago.
 Chinese private firm launches space rocket. A nine-metre-long sub-orbital rocket, called the
Chongqing Liangjiang Star, was launched into space by a start-up in China‘s growing
commercial aeronautics industry, as private firms snap at the heels of American rivals. OneSpace,
a Beijing-based company, is behind the launch.
 A pair of American astronauts completed a space walk outside the International Space Station to
swap and check on two external cooling boxes, nicknamed “Leaky”and “Frosty”. NASA said
the boxes, each about the size of a mini-refrigerator, are crucial to keeping the batteries cool
aboard the orbiting lab.
 El Nino — an abnormal warming of the sea surface in the central and eastern equatorial
Pacific — is usually associated with a weak monsoon.
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 The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft mission, a joint project
of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, to track global trends in freshwater in 34 regions
around the world. The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) was a joint mission
of NASA and the German Aerospace Center. Twin satellites took detailed measurements of
Earth's gravity field anomalies from its launch in March 2002 to the end of its science mission in
October 2017. By measuring gravity anomalies, GRACE showed how mass is distributed around
the planet and how it varies over time. Data from the GRACE satellites is an important tool for
studying Earth's ocean, geology, and climate.
 The Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer(GOCE) was the first of ESA's
Living Planet Programmesatellites intended to map in unprecedented detail the Earth's gravity
field.
 The Living Planet Programme (LPP) is a programme within the European Space Agency
which is managed by the Earth Observation Programmes Directorate. LPP consists of two classes
of Earth observation missions (listed below) including research missions known as Earth
Explorers, and the Earth Watch class of missions whose objective is to develop support
operational applications such as numerical weather forecasting or resource management.
 The Ranjit Sagar Dam, also known as the Thein Dam, is part of a hydroelectric project
constructed by the Government of Punjab on the Ravi River on the Border of two states of India
Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. 60% of the lake is part of J&K. The project is the largest
hydroelectric dam of the state of Punjab.
 Andhra Pradesh - The authorities have for the first time used a new app Tigers – Intensive
Protection and Ecological Status (M-StrIPES) to avoid human error in the traditional
recording of the pugmarks and other signs during the carnivore sign survey.The department has
engaged about 250 members of the Particularly VulnerableTribal Group of Chenchus as trackers
for protecting and monitoring the tigers.
 Birgaon is proof of change. This tiny tribal hamlet, home to about 100 people in 20 households
lies in the hilly Gumla District of Jharkhand. It is one of the 249 remote villages which got
solar microgrids last year, thanks to a Rs110-crore project by the Jharkhand Renewable Energy
Agency ( JREDA), as part of the Centre‘s Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana. Private
solar provider Azure Power won the bid to build and maintain microgrids in 11 villages in
Gumlaand Hazaribagh districts.
 Rustom, a long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the DRDO. The DRDO
Rustom (English: Warrior) is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV)
being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation for the three services,
Indian Army, Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force of the Indian Armed Forces. Rustom is
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derived from the NAL's LCRA (Light Canard Research Aircraft) developed by a team under
the leadership of late Prof Rustom Damania in the 1980s.
 NAL Saras is the ―first civilian multi-purpose aircraft manufactured in India.‖ National
Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), is India's second largest aerospace firm after Hindustan
Aeronautics (HAL). It was established by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR) at Delhi in 1959 and its headquarters was later moved to Bangalore in 1960. The firm
closely operates with HAL, DRDO and ISRO and has the prime responsibility of developing
civilian aircraft in India. It is India‘s only civilian aerospace laboratory with a high level of
competence and the expertise of its scientists is globally acknowledged.
 The DRDO Netra is an Indian, light-weight, autonomous UAV for surveillance and
reconnaissance operations. It has been jointly developed by the Defence Research and
Development Organisation's Research and Development Establishment (R&DE), and IdeaForge, a
Mumbai-based private firm.
 The DRDO Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AEWACS) is a project of India's
Defence Research and Development Organisation to develop an airborne early warning and
control system for the Indian Air Force. It is also referred to as DRDO NETRA AEW&CS
system.
 “ToneTag” is a technology which is a communication protocol that will enable data transfer
using soundwaves. ToneTag is a Fintech and Retail Solutions company, which uses encrypted
sound waves to make offline, proximity-based contactless payments on any device. The company
uses proprietary Software Development Kit (SDK) that encodes data into sounds. These sounds
are transmitted over air and can enable payments over the existing payments infrastructure.
ToneTag uses its revolutionary data over sound (DoS) technology to communicate between
devices - enabling contactless proximity payments, marketing solutions, and on-the-go mobility
solutions.
 INSV Tarini became the first Indian vessel with an all-woman crew to successfully
circumnavigate the world. The expedition, named Navika Sagar Parikrama, met all the criteria of
circumnavigation, including crossing the equator twice, crossing all the longitudes and
touching the three great capes (Cape Leeuwin, Cape Horn and Cape of GoodHope). The journey
had six legs, with halts at five ports: Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port
Stanley (Falklands), Cape Town (South Africa) and Port Louis (Mauritius).
 Black panther or melanistic leopard is a colour variant of the Indian leopard and the
footage of this animal has been captured repeatedly by cameras installed in Garjanpahad
Reserve Forest of Hemgir Range of Sundargarh Forest Division. It was the first ever footage of
a black panther in the forests of Odisha. The leopards‘ skins vary in colour and the jet black
melanistic form is called black panther. Black panthers have also been reported from Kerala
(Periyar Tiger Reserve), Karnataka (Bhadra Tiger Reserve, Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve and
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Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary), Chhattisgarh (Achanakmar Tiger Reserve), Maharashtra (Satara),

Goa (Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary), Tamil Nadu (Mudumalai Tiger Reserve), Assam and
Arunachal Pradesh.. Leopard IUCN status in Vulnerable
 DNA methylation is a process by which methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule.
Methylation can change the activity of a DNA segment without changing the sequence. When
located in a gene promoter, DNA methylation typically acts to repress gene transcription.
 China hopes to become the first country to soft-land a probe on the moon‘s far side, also
known as the darkside because it faces away from the earth and is comparatively unknown. The
satellite, named Queqiao, or “Magpie Bridge”, after an ancient Chinese folk tale. According
to the administration and website space.com, Queqiao was expected to arrive shortly at the
Earth-moon Lagrange point 2, a gravitationally stable spot located 64,000 km beyond the far
side of the moon. China previously landed its Jade Rabbit rover on the moon. Yutu ("Jade
Rabbit") was a robotic lunar rover that formed part of the Chinese Chang'e 3 mission to the
Moon. It reached the Moon's surface on 14 December 2013. The mission marks the first soft
landing on the Moon since 1976.
 The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is a species of hyena native to North and East Africa, the
Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It is listed by the IUCN as
near-threatened. It is thought to occur in arid ecosystems across India. It is found in human-
dominated landscapes in Rajasthan, a region with 4.3 percent of land area protected under nature
reserves.
 Worsening air quality in the last two decades has emerged as one of the major reasons for high
numbers of premature deaths, says a new study conducted in 11 north Indian cities. The findings
titled „Know what you breathe‟, released, were researched by Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) Delhi in collaboration with environmental NGO Centre for Environment and Energy
Development (CEED). The study has attributed residential (cooking, heating and lighting)
sources as the largest contributors to annual ambient PM 2.5 concentration (73.8%).
 A new study has discovered the first known permanent immigrant to our solar system. The
asteroid, currently nestling in Jupiter‘s orbit, is the first known asteroid to have been captured
from another star system. The object known as „Oumuamua‟ was the last interstellar interloper to
hit the headlines in 2017. However, it was just a tourist passing through, whereas this former exo-
asteroid given the catchy name (514107) 2015 BZ509 – is a long-term resident. All of the planets
in our solar system, and the vast majority of other objects as well, travel around the Sun in the
same direction. However, 2015 BZ509 is different – it moves in the opposite direction in what is
known as a ―retrograde‖ orbit. Asteroid immigration from other star systems occurs because the
sun initially formed in a tightly-packed star cluster, where every star had its own system of planets
and asteroids.The close proximity of the stars, aided by the gravitational forces of the planets, help
these systems attract, remove, and capture asteroids from one another.
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 Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Mekunu was the strongest storm to strike Oman's Dhofar
Governorate since 1959. The second named storm of the 2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone
season, Mekunu developed out of a low pressure area. It gradually intensified, passing east of
Socotra on May 23 as a very intense tropical cyclone.
 The Mugger crocodile (Crocodyluspalustris), also called the Indian or marsh crocodile, was
listed „Vulnerable‟ on the IUCN Red List and was protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife
Protection Act 1972.
 In 1978, India signed the ―Alma Ata Declaration‖- International conference on primary health
care at the World Health Assembly, promising “Health for All” by 2000. Following up on that
promise, with the aim of reaching as many patients as possible, the Indian government sought to
increase the number of hospitals in the country by roping in the private sector. It allowed banks to
fund privately owned hospitals. While the Centre will give 60% of the funds for the National
Health Protection Scheme (NHPS), 40% will come from the States.
 A massive clean-up drive was organised in 12 hill states across the country with armies of
volunteers collecting solid waste and depositing them at designated dumps. A total of 245 sites in
the 12 states were cleaned by the "waste warriors" as part of the Himalayan Clean-Up 2018
campaign. The clean-up focused on plastic waste in line with the objectives of the World
Environment Day on June 5, whose theme is "beat plastic pollution". The ―Himalayan Clean-up‖
initiative was taken by the environment conservation non-profit groups Integrated Mountain
Initiatives or IMI and Zero Waste Himalayas, Sikkim branch. The government, as part of the
‗Himalayan Cleanup‘ programme, urged people to replace their plastic bags with biodegradable
ones.
 “Konar dam” is the second of the four multi-purpose dams included in the first phase of the
Damodar Valley Corporation. It was constructed across the Konar River, a tributary of the
Damodar River in Hazaribagh district in the Indianstate of Jharkhand and opened in 1955.
 Led by partners Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and International Fund for Animal Welfare
(IFAW), Gaj Yatra is the biggest event ever planned around India‘s National Heritage Animal –
the Asian elephant. It will move through 12 elephant range States over the next few months,
generating a groundswell of popular and policy support to help secure Right of Passage for
elephants through 101 vital migratory corridors mapped across India.
 African elephants are listed as ―vulnerable‖ and Asian elephants as ―endangered‖ in the IUCN
Red List of threatened species.
 Two Hoolock Gibbons, the only apes to be found in India, were seized by officials of the
Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Kolkata Zonal Unit, near the India Bangladesh border.
Hoolock Gibbons are extremely rare primates, listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection
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Act (1972) and as an endangered as per the red list of IUCN. Hoolock Gibbons are found in
certain specific habitats of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh and also in Eastern Bangladesh.
According to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, Hoolock Gibbons are one of the most
endangered 25 primate species in the world.
 The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), of which India is signatory too,is hindering
biodiversity research and preventing international collaborations due to regulations that have risen
due to its implementation. The CBD is aimed at conserving biological diversity, sustainably using
biological components and fair and equitable sharing of benefits (with local or indigenous
communities) that may arise out of the utilisation of genetic resources. The latter was delineated
in the Nagoya Protocol, which came into effect in 2014. But this has generated ―unintended
consequences‖ for research; due to national level legislations instituted by countries under the
CBD, obtaining field permits for access to specimens for non-commercial research has become
increasingly difficult.
 The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture or the “Seed
Treaty”, which ensures worldwide public accessibility of genetic resources of essential food and
fodder, could be used as a model for exchange of biological materials for noncommercial
research. Another solution may be to add an explicit treaty or annex in the CBD to promote and
facilitate biodiversity research, conservation, and international collaboration.
 Complex organic molecules have been discovered originating from one of Saturn‘s moons,
Enceladus, adding to its potential to support life. The Cassini spacecraft first flew close to the ice
covered moon in 2005 as part of a mission to gather data on Saturn that will be analysed for years
to come. Team had identified fragments of large organic molecules in nice grains that were
ejected from geysers through cracks in the moon‘s icy exterior. Their findings were published in
the journal Nature. It is the first ever detection of complex organics coming from an extra-
terrestrial water world.
 Augmented reality (AR) allows viewers to see virtual structures superimposed on their
surroundings via their smartphones or other devices. It is the technology used in mobile game
PokemonGo, and by industry, such as factories seeking to map new assembly lines. The system,
called Cloud Anchors, requires the first player to scan his or her environmentand then upload the
raw mapping data to Google‘s servers, where it is translated into a rough representation of the
area. The subsequent players perform a scan that sends more limited information to the same
server, which matches the phones up and lets them each see the same virtual object on the same
physical space.
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 The study showed that activity in the “parietal cortex”— an area of the brain involved in
awareness of self and others as well as attention processing — seems to be a common element
among individuals who have experienced a variety of spiritual experiences.
 Mediastinum - membranous partition between two body cavities or two parts of an organ,
especially that between the lungs.
 The heart has two sides: the left side and the right side. Each side of the heart is divided into two
parts producing 4 chambers. The upper chambers are called the atriums and the lower chambers
are the ventricle. The heart not only has four chambers but also has four valves.
 NASA is targeting 2024 for the launch of a new mission to learn more about the generation of
cosmic rays in the heliosphere, a sort of magnetic bubble surrounding and protecting our solar
system. Cosmic rays created locally and from the galaxy and beyond affect human explorers in
space and can harm technological systems, and likely play a role in the presence of life itself in
the universe. The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) mission will help
researchers better understand the boundary of the heliosphere. Heliosphere is the region where the
constant flow of particles from our Sun, called the solar wind, collides with material from the rest
of the galaxy. This collision limits the amount of harmful cosmic radiation entering the
heliosphere. IMAP will collect and analyse particles that make it through. The spacecraft will be
positioned about 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth towards the Sun at what is called the
first Lagrangepoint or L1.
 Rainfall is classified as low intensity if the amount is between 135mm per day. High intensity
rainfall is characterized by rainfall in excess of 35 mm per day. Groundwater recharge with
respect to intensity of precipitation in the three regions studied is related to the nature of the
aquifers. While aquifers across north India, particularly in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, are
characterized by alluvial soil, southern India is characterised by hardrock aquifers. Though
specific yield of alluvial soil is higher than hardrock aquifers, alluvial aquifers take longer time to
get recharged in response to rainfall. Low intensity rainfall provides maximum time for water to
percolate and recharge the aquifer and so is favourable for groundwater in north India. High
intensity rainfall mostly leads to surface runoff and doesn‘t contribute much to groundwater
recharge in north India. In contrast, hardrock and basaltic aquifers are seen in south India.
Here,high intensity rainfall contributes more to groundwater recharge than lowintensity rainfall in
south India.
 An international team of ocean researchers has now generated a comprehensive insitu

observational data set of the physical, chemical and biological parameters of the southern Bay
of Bengal, air–sea interface and the overlying atmosphere. The ocean–atmosphere interaction
plays a major role in controlling the weather systems associated with the Indian summer
monsoon( June–September). The field programme was carried out as a part of the Bay of Bengal
Boundary Layer Experiment (BoBBLE) to collect the dataset, onboard one of India‘s research
ships Sindhu Sadhana. The two month study —June to July 2016 — was carried out on multiple
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platforms (ship, ocean gliders and Argofloats) to measure salinity, conductivity, temperature,
dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll content in the sea water.
 Air pollution is one of the biggest global environmental challenges of today. A time bound
national level strategy for pan India implementation to tackle the increasing air pollution problem
across the country in a comprehensive manner in the form of National Clean Air Programme
(NCAP) was launched by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in New
Delhi. The tentative national level target of 20%–30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10
concentration by 2024 is proposed under the NCAP taking 2017 as the base year for the
comparison of concentration. The NCAP will be a mid-term, five-year action plan with 2019 as
the first year. However, the international experiences and national studies indicate that significant
outcome in terms of air pollution initiatives are visible only in the long-term, and hence the
programme may be further extended to a longer time horizon after a mid-term review of the
outcomes. The approach for NCAP includes collaborative, multi-scale and cross-sectoral
coordination between the relevant central ministries, state governments and local bodies.
Dovetailing of the existing policies and programmes including the National Action Plan on
Climate Change (NAPCC) and other initiatives of Government of India in reference to climate
change will be done while execution of NCAP.
 Greater adjutants are an endangered species of stork. Once found widely across southern Asia,
mainly in India but extending east to Borneo, the greater adjutant is now restricted to a much
smaller range with only three breeding populations; two in India, with the largest colony in
Assam, some 400 around Bhagalpur(Bihar); and another breeding population in Cambodia.
 Agni-5 can carry nuclear war heads weighing 1.5 tonnes to a distance of over 5,000 km and is the
longest missile in India‘s arsenal capable of reaching most parts of China. With a smaller payload
the range can goup much higher. The missile features many new indigenously developed
technologies, including the very high accuracy Ring Laser Gyro based Inertial Navigation
System (RINS) and the most modern and accurate Micro Navigation System (MINS) which
improves the accuracy of the missile.
 A CT scan, also known as computed tomography scan, and formerly known as a computerized
axial tomography scan or CAT scan, makes use of computer-processed combinations of many X-
ray measurements taken from different angles to produce cross-sectional (tomographic) images
(virtual "slices") of specific areas of a scanned object, allowing the user to see inside the object
without cutting. The term "computed tomography" (CT) is often used to refer to X-ray CT,
because it is the most commonly known form. But, many other types of CT exist, such as positron
emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). CT
produces data that can be manipulated in order to demonstrate various bodily structures based on
their ability to absorb the X-ray beam.
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 Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form
pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body in both health and disease.
MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate
images of the organs in the body. MRI does not involve X-rays or the use of ionizing radiation,
which distinguishes it from CT or CAT scans and PET scans. Magnetic resonance imaging is a
medical application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). An MRI may yield different
information compared with CT. There may be risks and discomfort associated with MRI scans.
Compared with CT scans, MRI scans typically take longer and are louder, and they usually need
the subject to enter a narrow, confining tube. In addition, people with some medical implants or
other non-removable metal inside the body may be unable to undergo an MRI examination safely.
Certain atomic nuclei are able to absorb and emit radio frequency energy when placed in an
external magnetic field. In clinical and research MRI, hydrogen atoms are most often used to
generate a detectable radio-frequency signal that is received by antennas in close proximity to the
anatomy being examined. Hydrogen atoms are naturally abundant in people and other biological
organisms, particularly in water and fat.
 A Japanese probe has reached an asteroid 300 million km away to collect information about the
birth of the solar system and the origin of life after a more than three year voyage through deep
space. The Hayabusa 2 probe successfully settled into an observation position 20 km above the
Ryugu asteroid. The successful mission came just days before the UN‘s International Asteroid
Day on June 30, an event to raise awareness about the hazards of an asteroid impact and on how
to counter such a threat. Photos of Ryugu which means ―Dragon Palace‖ in Japanese, a castle at
the bottom of the ocean in an ancient Japanese tale, show an asteroid shaped a bit like a spinning
top with a rough surface.
 When Google first introduced its phone calling digital concierge Duplex in May, some thought it
sounded too human. Others worried that it would secretly record calls with people. The search
giant says it has been working to address these concerns.
 Odisha‟s Satkosia Tiger Reserve (STR), which had eight tigers in 2008 and is now down to two
ageing females, is all set to repopulate itself with a pair of young tigers borrowed from Madhya
Pradesh. Sundri, a 27 month old tigress from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh,
arrived in Satkoshia recently.
 Indian Navy is sending indigenous stealth frigate INS Sahyadri, anti submarine corvette INS
Kamorta, fleet tanker INS Shakti and P8I long range maritime patrol aircraft.
 Spike is an Israeli fire-and-forgetanti-tank guided missile and anti-personnel missile with a

tandem-chargeHEAT warhead, currently in its fourth-generation. It was developed and designed
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by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. It is available in man-portable,

vehicle-launched, and helicopter-launched variants.
 The Chandrabhaga beach on the Konark coast of Odisha will be the first in Asia to get the Blue
Flag certification, the tag given to environment friendly and clean beaches, equipped with
amenities of international standards for tourists. To achieve the Blue Flag standards, a beach had
to strictly comply with 33 environment and tourism related conditions. The standards were
established by the Copenhagen based Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) in 1985.
The Environment Ministry embarked on the Blue Flag project in December 2017.
 The unique “E-mammal Citizen Science Project”. The project, aimed at grassroots conservation
through collection of scientific information by children, is being implemented by the Bombay
Natural History Society (BNHS), along with the Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra (SNM). It started in
2105, with three schools joining their contemporaries in Mexico and the U.S. In its second phase
in 2017, the project included 2,000 children in Class VIII and IX in 20 schools in Palghar, Thane,
Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Satara districts. Each school was given three camera
traps — they have motion detectors which trigger the shutter — a laptop, a projector, an Internet
connection and old-school binoculars to cover nearby areas not protected by the Forest
Department.
 To increase the State‘s green cover, the Punjab government recently launched a smartphone
application that lets users order free plant saplings. The ‗i Hariyali‘ app under ‗Mission
Tandarust‘ can be downloaded from the app store for free.
 Scientists rediscovered after150 years a rare species of spider, which was believed have become
extinct, from Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) located in the Western Ghats region of
Kerala. World famous Arachnologist Dr. Ferdinand Anton France Karsch of Berlin Zoological
Museum, Germany, had described the inventory of a species of spider from Periyej Lake in
Gujarat in1868. But subsequently it had vanished. The spider belonged to the family of jumping
spiders (Salticidae) and scientifically named as Chrysilla volupes. Recently a team of researchers
of the Centre for Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Christ College, Irinjalakuda, have rediscovered
both male and female specimens of this spider from the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.
 On World Environment Day, June 5, India was the host nation, with the theme for this year
being ‗Beat plastic pollution‘.
 A drug (Pranlukast) currently used for treating asthma has been found to be effective against
tuberculosis, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, have found.
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 Analysing the infrared spectra of Saturn‘s largest moon, Titan, obtained from Cassini‟s flyby,
researchers have found a spectral signature for the presence of solid benzene in Titan‘s
atmosphere. They conclude that Titan has stratospheric clouds of benzene ice, particularly over
its South Pole.
 Huntington's disease (HD), also known as Huntington's chorea, is an inherited disorder that
results in death of brain cells. The earliest symptoms are often subtle problems with mood or
mental abilities. A general lack of coordination and an unsteady gait often follow.
 In February 2018, NITI Aayog had released a report on ―Healthy States, Progressive India‖
which covered the ranking of States/ UTs in various health parameters. As a step further in
direction and keeping in view the criticality of water for life, NITI Aayog has prepared a report on
Composite Water Management Index (CWMI). The CWMI is an important tool to assess and
improve the performance of States/ Union Territories in efficient management of water resources.
This has been done through a first of its kind water data collection exercise in partnership with
Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation and all the States/ Union
Territories. The report released today ranks Gujarat as number one in the reference year (2016-
17), followed by Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. In terms of
incremental change in index (over 2015-16 level), Rajasthan holds number one position in general
States and Tripura ranks at first position amongst North Eastern and Himalayan States. For the
purposes of analysis, the reporting states were divided into two special groups – ‗North Eastern
and Himalayan states‘ and ‗Other States‘, to account for the different hydrological conditions
across these groups.
 The process to translocate three pairs of tigers from Madhya Pradesh to Odisha began with a
tiger from Kanha Tiger Reserve (KTR) being shifted to the eastern State. The translocation is
carried out under a project to shift three pairs of tigers from the State to the Satkosia Tiger
Reserve (STR) in Odisha. This is for the first time in the country when big cats are being
shifted from one State to another.
 Living the high life, growing up, in other words, at extreme altitude, forces a developing
human body to conserve energy, and that can translated into shorter arms, according to a study.
Intriguingly, adjoining parts of the anatomy —the upper arms and hand remain the same for
both groups. For similar reasons, indigenous peoples of the Himalayas and Andes often have
barrel chests, the better to expand lung capacity and take in more oxygen. Although air
contains 21% oxygen at all altitudes, it feels as if there is less of it in the mountains due to
lower air pressure.
 “Grindadráp” is the local name for a yearly event that sees the people of the Faroe Islands, a
self-governing archipelago under Denmark, hunt long-finned pilot whales as well as other
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species of cetaceans such as bottlenose dolphins, white-sided dolphins and Risso‘s

dolphins. These species aren‘t on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)‘s
list of endangered animals, but the organisation suggests that there is a lack of data to prove that
long-finned pilot whale populations in the North Atlantic aren‘t depleting. The Faroe Islands‟
inhabitants have been fishing the local seas for centuries; the first recorded grindadráp goes as far
back as the 1584. Whaling is deeply embedded in their tradition and used to be essential to their
survival, as the meat and blubber of the animals was used for sustenance.
 The number of hungry people in the world has risen for the first time in more than a decade,
according to a United Nations report. There are now approximately 38 million more under
nourished people in the world, rising from 777 million in 2015 to 815 million in 2016, the year
for which the latest statistics are available. According to the UN‘s Sustainable Development
Goals 2018 report, conflict is now one of the main drivers of food insecurity in 18 countries.
 Indian startups and participants at the meeting shared the details of the training proposal, called
the Indo UN Small Satellites Programme (UNSSP). The countries are marking the 50th year of
the first UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space — called
UNISPACE+50. Three such conferences held earlier recognized the potential of space and laid
the guidelines for human activities and international cooperation related to outer space. ISRO‘s
Bengaluru based U.R. Rao Satellite Centre (URSC) — until recently known as ISAC (ISRO
Satellite Centre) — will train the overseas students in November and December this year through
2020.
 Influenza is a virus that is known to cause the flu.
 Musi River or Musinuru is a tributary of the Krishna River in the Deccan Plateau flowing
through Telangana state in India. Hyderabad stands on the banks of Musi river, which divides the
historic old city and the new city. Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar are dams built on it which
used to act as source of water for Hyderabad. The river was known as Nerva during Qutub Shahi
period.
 The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is an annual flagship report jointly
prepared by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children‘s Fund (UNICEF), the
World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to inform on progress
towards ending hunger, achieving food security and improving nutrition and to provide in-depth
analysis on key challenges for achieving this goal in the context of the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development. The report targets a wide audience, including policy-makers,
international organizations, academic institutions and the general public.
 The Belize Barrier Reef is a series of coral reefs straddling the coast of Belize, roughly 300
meters (980 ft) offshore in the north and 40 kilometers in the south within the country limits.
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Belize is a country located on the eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the
northwest by Mexico, on the east by the Caribbean Sea, and on the south and west by Guatemala.
Just a stone‘s throw away from the coast of Belize, brightly coloured tropical fish mingle with
sharks, manta rays and sea turtles around a sprawling reef beneath the waters of the Caribbean.
The Meso american Reef, an underwater wonder world whose survival was considered to be at
risk for years, may now be removed from UNESCO‟s list of threatened World Heritage Sites,
thanks to bold steps to save it by activists and the Belizean government. Second in size only to the
Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Caribbean reef was named to the prestigious World Heritage
List in 1996, but placed on endangered status in 2009 because of Belize‘s plans to allow oil
exploration nearby.
 Gaia hypothesis: This refers to a scientific hypothesis which states that the earth is a complex
living entity, with the sustenance of life dependent on the self regulating interactions among
organisms and their inorganic surroundings. For instance, climatic conditions depend on the
interactions among living organisms like human beings and their non-living atmosphere, all of
which regulate each other constantly. The Gaia hypothesis is named after the mythical Greek
goddess Gaia who personifies the earth.
 The century old tuberculosis vaccine called BCG (Bacillus Calmette–Guérin) might lower blood
sugar in diabetes patients several years after they get the shot, a small but path breaking study.
Hypoglycaemia, or dangerously low blood sugar, a potentially life threatening side effect in
patients taking insulin. Even though the BCG vaccine doesn‘t work very well against childhood
TB, it protects against leprosy, sepsis among babies, and leishmaniasis. It is also the first
approved immune therapy against bladder cancer.
 Mycorrhizal fungi is hosted by the trees in their roots to receive nutrients from the soil. These
fungi provide essential nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium from soil in exchange
for carbon from the tree. This plant fungal symbiotic relationship is crucial for the health of the
tree. However, high levels of the nutrition elements like nitrogen and phosphorus in the
mycorrhizae changes them to act as pollutants rather than nutrients, the findings showed.
 Reports of widespread uranium contamination in groundwater across India demand an urgent

response. A study, published in Environmental Science and Technology Letters, has found
over 30 micrograms per litre (mcg/l) of the heavy metal in parts of north-western, southern and
south-eastern India. Drinking such water can damage one‘s kidneys, and the World Health
Organization prescribes 30 mcg/l as an upper limit. Unfortunately, the residents of the regions
surveyed were using the contaminated wells as their main source of drinking water. These
findings highlight a major gap in India‘s water quality monitoring. As the Bureau of Indian
Standards does not specify a norm for uranium level, water is not tested regularly for it. This is
despite the fact that evidence of uranium contamination has accumulated from across India over
the last decade. Another critical area of research is the mechanism by which uranium enters
groundwater. The Environmental Science paper identified two types of terrains with heavy
contamination. In Rajasthan and other northwestern regions, uranium occurs mostly in alluvial
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aquifers; while in southern regions such as Telangana, crystalline rocks such as granite seem to be
the source. When groundwater is over extracted from such soils, the researchers suggest, the
uranium is exposed to air, triggering its release. These hypotheses must be explored, because they
will help determine where to find safer water. This is what happened in West Bengal, where a
decade of research revealed why the contaminant arsenic mainly occurred in shallow aquifers.
Researchers found that a combination of geological and chemical triggers brought arsenic to the
Ganga delta in the Holocene era, and then released it into the sediments from that period. Similar
research across India‘s uranium hotspots can uncover who is at risk, and how to protect them.
 India Gifts Dornier Do-228 aircraft to Seychelles. The Dornier is equipped with a 360 degree
surveillance radar, a forward looking Infrared system, satellite communication, a traffic collision
and avoidance system and an enhanced ground proximity warning system, among others. The
Do228 can be used for EEZ monitoring, maritime surveillance, pollution monitoring and control,
search and rescue and commuter services.
 The Billion Tree Tsunami was launched in 2014, by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
(KPK), Pakistan, as a response to the challenge of global warming. Pakistan‘s Billion Tree
Tsunami restores 350,000 hectares of forests and degraded land to surpass its Bonn Challenge
commitment. The project aimed at improving the ecosystems of classified forests, as well as
privately owned waste and farm lands, and therefore entails working in close collaboration with
concerned communities and stakeholders to ensure their meaningful participation through
effectuating project promotion and extension services. The projected was completed in August
2017, ahead of schedule.
 The first World Food Conference was held in Rome in 1974 by the United Nations under the
auspices of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in the wake of the devastating
famine in Bangladesh in the preceding two years. World Food Council (WFC) was a United
Nations organization established by the UN General Assembly in December 1974 by
recommendation of the World Food Conference. Its headquarters was in Rome, Italy. WFC's goal
was to serve as coordinating body for national ministries of agriculture to help reduce malnutrition
and hunger. WFC was officially suspended in 1993. WFC is one of very few (if not the only) UN
organization which has been suspended. WFC's functions were absorbed by the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Food Programme. The World
Food Programme (WFP) is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world's
largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security. According to
the WFP, it provides food assistance to an average of 91.4 million people in 83 countries each
year. From its headquarters in Rome and from more than 80 country offices around the world, the
WFP works to help people who cannot produce or obtain enough food for themselves and their
families. It is a member of the United Nations Development Groupand part of its executive
committee.
61
 The SEPECAT Jaguar is a British-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal
Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in
service in significantly upgraded form with the Indian Air Force.
 Nitrogen particles make up the largest fraction of PM 2.5, the class of pollutants closely linked
to cardiovascular and respiratory illness, says the first ever quantitative assessment of nitrogen
pollution in India. Agricultural soils contributed to over 70% of N2O emissions from India in
2010, followed by waste water (12%) and residential and commercial activities (6%). Since 2002,
N2O has replaced methane as the second largest Greenhouse Gas (GHG) from Indian agriculture.
Chemical fertilizers (over82% of it is urea) account for over 77% of all agricultural N2O
emissions in India, while manure, compost and so on make up the rest. Most of the fertilizers
consumed (over 70%) go into the production of cereals, especially rice and wheat, which accounts
for the bulk of N2O emissions from India. Cattle account for 80% of the ammonia production,
though their annual growth rate is 1%, due to a stable population. India is globally the biggest
source of ammonia emission, nearly double that of NOx emissions.
 India was committed to reducing the use of plastic and would join the Clean Seas programme —
a Sweden led initiative to reduce littering of marine ecosystems.
 Days on the Earth are getting longer, thanks to the movement of the Moon away from the planet,
according to a study which found that 1.4 billion years ago a day lasted just over 18 hours. The
study shows that 1.4 billion years ago, the Moon was closer and changed the way the Earth spun
around its axis.
62
MISCELLANEOUS
 Two locations in Arunachal Pradesh for border personnel - meetings (BPMs) - At

Bumla&Kibithu.
 Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Madhya Pradesh
 Visva-Bharati University is a publiccentral university located in Santiniketan, West Bengal. It

was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it Visva-Bharati, which means the
communion of the world with India. Until independence it was a college. Soon after
independence, in 1951, the institution was given the status of a university and was renamed
Visva-Bharati University.
 For the first time in almost 70 years, there will be no Nobel Literature Prize this year, after the
Swedish Academy that selects the laureate failed to contain a deep crisis stemming from the anti-
sexual harassment #MeToocampaign.
 Tholu Bommalata, the shadow puppet theatre tradition of Andhra Pradesh.
 Brake vacuum hose is a rubber pipe that helps create and release vacuum while applying brake,
but does not lead to any loss of braking function.
 President Ram Nath Kovind visited the Army base camp located at an altitude of 18,875 feet in
Siachen in Ladakh, first time by a President in 14 years. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the first
President to visit the Siachen glacier.
 An advance directive is a document executed by patients authorising the cessation of medical

treatment when the doctor deems they are beyond recovery. The Ulysses Clauseis a built-in
exception: it authorises doctors to ignore the objection under some conditions and continue
treatment. The term is derived from a story in Greek mythology. Ulysses, eager to hear the
beguiling song of the Sirens, which will draw the listeners to their death, asks his men to
cover their ears with wax, while he himself is to be bound to the ship‘s mast, but free to
listen to the song. They have orders to prevent him from breaking free.
 The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will add 30 doppler radars in the next two-three
years across the country, of which 14 will be in the northeast, a senior department official said. A
doppler radar is a tool to provide precise information about thunderstorms, dust storms,
63
hailstorms, rainfall and wind patterns. With a radius of 250 km, it helps in issuing now casts two-
three hours prior to severe weather condition
 Van Vihar National Park is in MP.
 The two major rivers of Tripura are Gomati and Haora.
 Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, will present the replica of the first edition of
Rabindranath Tagore‘s anthology of poems Gitanjali, published in London in 1912, to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi when he presides over its convocation. Prime Minister is the
Chancellor, or Acharya, of this Central university.
 Flights, a philosophical rumination on modern day travelby Polish author Olga Tokarczuk, won
the Man Booker International Prize for works of translated fiction. The Man Booker
International Prize is awarded by the same organisation that gives the Man Booker Prize for
fiction. It is for a single work of fiction that has been translated into English and published in the
United Kingdom in the last year.
 Anna Burns has become the first Northern Irish author to win the Man Booker prize (for
fiction), award for Milkman, her timely, Troubles-set novel about a young woman being sexually
harassed by a powerful man.
 BMI is a ratio of height to weight used to divide people into low to high risk categories for
developing heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. A person with
a BMI of 25 or more is considered overweight, and 30 or higher obese. A healthy BMI ranges
from 18.5 to 24.9.
 Satyendranath Tagore (elder brother of Rabindranath Tagore), the first Indian to join the Civil
Services, was posted in Ahmedabad.
 Baduli Kurung (bat cave) in the Bamuni hill, 17 km south of Nagaon town in central Assam, is
home to a number of colonies of both fruit and insect eating bats.
 National Sports University (NSU) at Manipur.
 Flipkart owned digital payments startup PhonePe.
 Exactly 110 years after the historic trial of eminent nationalist, poet, philosopher and spiritual
figure Aurobindo Ghosh (popularly known as SriAurobindo) in the Alipore Bomb case, the
documents related to the event are crumbling due to poor preservation.
64
 IMD World Competitiveness Centre, comes up with the annual IMD World Competitiveness
Rankings. The IMD rankings, now in their 30th year, compares 63 of the world‘s most important
economies across 258 indicators. ‗Hard‘ data such as national employment and trade statistics are
weighted twice as much as ‗soft‘ data from an Executive Opinion Survey that measures the
business perception of issues such as corruption, environmental concerns and quality of life. As
for India, moved up one place from 45 out of 63countries in 2017 to 44 in 2018.
 The India leg of the first ever 24 hour Global Run, organized by the International Federation of
Athletics Associations (IAAF), will be held in New Delhi. The unique concept, named “Let‟s
Outrun the Sun”, would be a one mile (1.6 km) run across 24 cities around the world and would
begin in Auckland and culminate in Vancouver over a period of 24 hours with live streaming
throughout. The relay event would begin at 4.30 p.m. from RajGhat and end at Shanti Van.
 400 year old Ashoorkhana: It was built sometime in 1611 by Hyderabad‘s founder Muhammad
Quli Qutb Shah. It is a race against the monsoon as Hyderabad‘s 17th century Badshahi
Ashoorkhana, famed for its resplendent tile work, is restored to its original finery. The
Ashoorkhana turns into a pilgrimage site when alams (battle standards) are installed to
commemorate the battle of Karbala in 680A.D. Ashoora or 10th day of Muharram is when the
battle took place. The monument was lost for several decades when Emperor Aurangzeb‘s forces
turned it into abandi khana to keep wheeled vehicles.
 Swarajya is an Indian monthly print magazine and online daily. It was a weekly magazine
founded in 1956 by Khasa Subba Rao with the patronage of C. Rajagopalachari, one of the
founders of the Swatantra Party, and a regular contributor to the magazine in the form of his Dear
Reader column.
 Rekla (bullock cart racing) events are held in Tamil Nadu.
 Rajasthan will be the first State to produce manure from biogas plants at the cow shelters.
 Noted social reformer and founder of Sulabh International Bindeshwar Pathak was honoured with
Japan‘s prestigious „Nikkei Asia Prize for Culture and Community‟ for his significant work in
tackling poor hygiene and discrimination. The award honours people in Asia who have made
significant contributions in one of the three areas: regional growth; science, technology and
innovation; and culture and community. Former PM Manmohan Singh and Infosys chairman N.
R. Narayana Murthy are among the few Indians who have won the prize in the past. Mr. Pathak‘s
two pitpour flush ecological compost toilets have provided cheap and environment friendly toilets
to millions of people in the developing world.
 Sukhna Lake in Chandigarh, India, is a reservoir at the foothills (Shivalik hills) of the
Himalayas.
65
 Hussain Sagar is a necklace shaped lake in Hyderabadbuilt by Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah, and
named after Hussain Shah Wali. It is spread across an area of 5.7 square kilometers and is fed by
River Musi. A large monolithic statue of the Gautama Buddha, erected in 1992, stands on
Gibraltar Rock in the middle of the lake. It also separates Hyderabad from its twin city
Secunderabad.
 Anandamath (“The Abbey of Bliss”) is a Bengali fiction, written by Bankim Chandra

Chattopadhyay and published in 1882. It is inspired by and incorporates various contemporary
acts of patriotism performed by Vasudev Balwant Phadke during his freedom struggle. Set in the
background of the Sannyasi Rebellion in the late 18th century, it is considered one of the most
important novels in the history of Bengali and Indian literature. Its importance is heightened by
the fact that it became synonymous with the struggle for Indian independence from the British
Empire. Its first English publication was titled The Abbey of Bliss (literally Anand=Bliss and
Math=Abbey). Vande Mataram, "Hail to the Mother", first song to represent Bengal - or India,
which is almost synonymous at that time as far as nationalism is concerned - as the Mother (the
goddess Durga) was published in this novel.
 The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has placed Pakistan on the ‗grey list‘ for failing to
curb terror financing.
 Shillong is popularly known as ‗Scotland of the East‘.
 The last of the five fast patrol vessel (FPV) project of Coast Guard „Rani Rashmoni‟ was
Commissioned in Vishakapattanam.
 Visva-Bharati University (VBU), founded by Rabindranath Tagore, will set up a yoga

centre inside the campus, named yoga gram (village). The centre is aimed at increasing
awareness about yoga.
 Mohammad bin Tughlaq, who ruled from 1321 to 1351 as the Delhi Sultan, captured large
parts of the Deccan including Gulbarga. In 1347, a Tughlaq officer named Alauddin Hasan
revolted against Tughlaq and declared his independence by establishing the Bahmani kingdom
(1347-1527) with Gulbarga as its capital. Hasan built Gulbarga as a fortress city. The Bahmani
Sultans ruled from here till the capital of the kingdom was shifted to Bidar in1424.
 Rajasthan‟s “Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan” launched for the water sector in 2016 had helped
restore most of the irrigation potential of the identified water bodies largely through
community-managed ponds and tanks.
66
 India, South Korea to align policies for Southeast Asia : Modi‘s Act East policy and Moon‘s
New Southern policy.
 Ambubachi Mela, a four day fair to mark the annual menstruation of the goddess at Kamakhya
temple in Guwahati. Kamakhya, atop Nilachal Hills in Guwahati, is one of 51 shakti peeths or
seat of Shakti followers, each representing a body part of Sati, Lord Shiva‘s companion. The
temple‘s sanctum sanctorum houses the yoni — female genital — symbolized by a rock.
 Operation Sagar Rani was launched by the Kerala Food Safety department last year to ensure
the safety of fish sold in the market and to ensure that it was handled hygienically at the handling
and distribution centres.
 J&K Governor N.N. Vohra is also chairman of the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
 Oil India Limited (OIL), one of India‘s largest public sector oil exploration and production
companies, has made its second hydrocarbon discovery in the on land KG Basin. The well
“Thane lanka1” is the first high pressure high temperature (HPHT) well drilled by OIL and has
encountered multiple sands in Gollapalli Formation of late Jurassic early Cretaceous and one zone
in Raghavapuram Formation of intra Cretaceous.
67
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☆☆☆ ENIGMA MASTERCOPY ☆☆☆

☆☆☆ ENIGMA MASTERCOPY☆☆☆

 Section 124a of IPC under which sedition is punishable by life imprisonment

 ―Pancheshwar multi-purpose project”-It is located on ―Mahakali” River (also known as Kali

UN Human Rights Council.

 The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) is an intergovernmental

1. Prime Minister will be the ex-officio Chairperson for the council

 Seeking to bring in transparency, accountability and quality in the homoeopathy education

 The Department of Telecommunications has allowed the use of e-SIM or ‗Embedded-

 The Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) of the Department of Telecommunications.

 The recent notification of the University Grants Commission (UGC), in response to an

 Government is planning to introduce BA (Professional), B.Com (Professional), and B.Sc

 Global Macro Outlook: 2018-19 Report – Moody’s

 An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is an employee-owner program that provides a

 A government committee has drafted the definition of „shell-company‟ to plug a loophole in

STATES AND SCHEMES

 The government launched a oxo-biodegradable sanitary pad 'Suvidha' on Thursday to mark

will be available at Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi centres. Oxo-biodegradable plastic,

 The Kerala Government is planning to set up Common Communication Service to facilitate

 Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana

 “Mission Indradhanush” is a health mission of the government of India. It was launched by

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENT

 Poompuhar, or Kaveri poompattinam, in Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu, where the

 The decline in the atmosphere of an ozone-depleting chemical banned by the Montreal

Kabini Wildlife Sanctuary), Chhattisgarh (Achanakmar Tiger Reserve), Maharashtra (Satara),

 An international team of ocean researchers has now generated a comprehensive insitu

 Spike is an Israeli fire-and-forgetanti-tank guided missile and anti-personnel missile with a

by the Israeli company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. It is available in man-portable,

species of cetaceans such as bottlenose dolphins, white-sided dolphins and Risso‘s

 Influenza is a virus that is known to cause the flu.

 Reports of widespread uranium contamination in groundwater across India demand an urgent

 Two locations in Arunachal Pradesh for border personnel - meetings (BPMs) - At

 Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Madhya Pradesh

 Visva-Bharati University is a publiccentral university located in Santiniketan, West Bengal. It

 Tholu Bommalata, the shadow puppet theatre tradition of Andhra Pradesh.

 An advance directive is a document executed by patients authorising the cessation of medical

 Van Vihar National Park is in MP.

 The two major rivers of Tripura are Gomati and Haora.

 National Sports University (NSU) at Manipur.

 Flipkart owned digital payments startup PhonePe.

 Rekla (bullock cart racing) events are held in Tamil Nadu.

 Anandamath (“The Abbey of Bliss”) is a Bengali fiction, written by Bankim Chandra

 Shillong is popularly known as ‗Scotland of the East‘.

 Visva-Bharati University (VBU), founded by Rabindranath Tagore, will set up a yoga

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