Self Study Materials

Complete

CURRENT
AFFAIRS

2016

OCTOBER

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NATIONAL
1. Indian Bridge Management System
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping launched the Indian
Bridge Management System (IBMS) in New Delhi to create an inventory of all
bridges in the country and rate their structural condition so that timely repair and
rehabilitation work can be carried out based on the criticality of the structure.

IBMS is the largest platform in the world owned by a single owner, with database
that could exceed 1,50,000 bridge structures.

Key features:

During inventory creation each bridge is assigned a unique identification number or

National Identity Number based on the state, RTO zone and whether it is
situated on an National Highway, State Highway or is a district road.

Then the precise location of the bridge in terms of latitude-longitude is collected

through GPS and based on this, the bridge is assigned a Bridge Location
Number.

Thereafter, engineering characteristics like the design, materials, type of bridge, its
age, loading, traffic lane, length, width of carriage way etc are collected and are used
to assign a Bridge Classification Number to the structure.

These are then used to do a structural rating of the structure on a scale of 0 to 9, and
each bridge is assigned a Structural Rating Number.

The rating is done for each component of the structure like integral and non integral
deck, superstructure, substructure, bank and channel, structural evaluation, deck
geometry, vertical clearance, waterway efficiency etc.

In addition to the structural rating, the bridges are also being assigned SocioEconomic Bridge Rating Number which will decide the importance of the
structure in relation to its contribution to daily socio-economic activity of the area in
its vicinity.

Based on this inventory IBMS will analyse data and identify bridges that need
attention. Further inspection will be carried out wherever required to improve the
operational availability of the structure, enhance its life and prioritize repair and
rehabilitation work.

The data will help to decide which bridge needs critical attention, or which needs to
be rebuilt.

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2. National Mission on Bioeconomy

In order to boost rural economy by utilising bio-resources, a National Mission on
Bioeconomy was launched by the Institute of Bio-resources and Sustainable
Development (IBSD) under the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The mission is unique to south-east Asia and India has become one of the few
countries to have tapped bio-resources, which when optimally utilized can create a
large number of jobs at village level.

It focuses on sustainable utilization of renewable biological resources for food, biobased products and bio-energy through knowledge-based approaches.

It could have the potential to generate new solutions for the planet's major
challenges in the field of energy, health, food, water, climate change and deliver
social, environmental and economic benefits.

The latest estimate pegs India's fast-growing bioeconomy at USD 35 billion in 2015,
which can even rise to USD 100 billion.

What is Bioeconomy?
Biobased economy, bioeconomy or biotechonomy refers to all economic activity derived
from scientific and research activity focused on biotechnology. In other words,
understanding mechanisms and processes at the genetic and molecular levels and
applying this understanding to creating or improving industrial processes.The evolution
of the biotechnology industry and its application to agriculture, health, chemical or
energy industries is a classic example of bioeconomic activity.
3. BRICS Nations Adopts New Delhi Declaration on Education
In the the 4th Meeting of BRICS Ministers of Education held in New Delhi, the BRICS
nations have adopted the New Delhi Declaration on Education resolving to ensure
inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities
for all.

The nations pledged to develop an enabling framework to promote research

cooperation and knowledge transfer among these countries in collaboration with
other BRICS initiatives.

Highlights of the Declaration:

1. Reiterate commitment to SDG4 which aims to Ensure inclusive and equitable quality
education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all and the Education 2030
Framework for Action, which serve as the overall guiding framework for the
implementation of the Education 2030 agenda.
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2. Initiate actions to formulate country-specific targets within the broader scope of the
SDG4 and corresponding targets, taking into account the past gains and achievements
in the education sector, emerging national development priorities, availability of
resources, and institutional capacities; integrate the SDG4-related targets with the
national and subnational-level education sector development plans/programmes; and
build capacity at the national and subnational levels for measuring and monitoring
progress towards SDG4 and corresponding targets using the indicators adopted by the
UN General Assembly in September 2016.
3. Reaffirm the need for universal equal access to quality education, including secondary
and higher education, technical and vocational education and training, and lifelong
learning opportunities for all.
4. Share the best practices available in BRICS countries on collaboration in education,
research and innovation through the BRICS Network University.
5. Organize an annual conference of the BRICS Network University in the country of the
current BRICS Chair.
6. Encourage more universities to participate in the BRICS University League to facilitate
student mobility and collaborative research.
7. Expand technical and vocational education and skills development programmes, for
facilitating acquisition of skills and competencies by young people and adults for
enhancing their employability and encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
8. Strengthen coordination within the BRICS TVET Working Group to:
(a) develop national reports,
(b) share experiences relating to workforce demands and supply of skilled personnel in
BRICS member countries,
(c) undertake skill gap analysis in consultation with industry/employers for designing
TVET programmes,
(d) study skill qualification framework in different countries and draft a BRICS TVET
qualification framework, and
(e) undertake studies to evaluate outcomes of TVET interventions and suggest policy
responses.
9. Use information and communication technologies (ICTs) for improving access to
education, enhancing the quality of teaching-learning process, teacher development, and
strengthening educational planning and management.

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10. Identify a nodal institution within each country and create an institutional network to
share ICT policies, Open Educational Resources and other e-resources, including eLibraries, among BRICS member countries.
11. Share information on higher education systems, approval and recognition processes,
quality assurance and accreditation, and prevalent procedures and practices for
evaluation and recognition of qualifications to facilitate academic mobility; may also
consider subsequently to constitute an expert group to work towards the development of
a framework for mutual recognition of qualifications across BRICS countries.
12. Facilitate mobility of students and scholars, and encourage

exchange of teaching

faculty, especially those working in the areas relating to the six domains identified for
cooperation within the BRICS Network University.
13. Develop an enabling framework to promote research cooperation and knowledge
transfer among BRICS countries in collaboration with other BRICS initiatives.
4. Monetary policy review: RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps
On the basis of an assessment of the current and evolving macroeconomic situation, the
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to reduce the policy repo rate under the
liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 6.5 percent to 6.25
percent with immediate effect.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.75 percent,
and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.75 percent.

The decision of the MPC is consistent with an accommodative stance of monetary

policy in consonance with the objective of achieving consumer price index (CPI)
inflation at 5 percent by Q4 of 2016-17 and the medium-term target of 4 percent
within a band of +/- 2 percent, while supporting growth.

Causes for concern:

1. Weak global demand to drag down trade volumes
2. Further possible downgrading of global growth
3. Global central banks continue to pose uncertainty to emerging markets
4. Seventh pay panel impact poses upside risk to inflation
5. Economic activity loses some pace in H1, investment demand muted
5. HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2014 Amendments
The Union Cabinet has given its approval to introduce official amendments to the
HIV and AIDS (Prevention and Control) Bill, 2014.

The HIV and AIDS Bill, 2014 has been drafted to safeguard the rights of people
living with HIV and affected by HIV.
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The provisions of the Bill seek to address HIV-related discrimination, strengthen

the existing programme by bringing in legal accountability and establish formal
mechanisms for inquiring into complaints and redressing grievances.

The Bill seeks to prevent and control the spread of HIV and AIDS, prohibits
discrimination against persons with HIV and AIDS, provides for informed consent
and confidentiality with regard to their treatment, places obligations on
establishments to safeguard rights of persons living with HIV arid create
mechanisms for redressing complaints.

It also aims to enhance access to health care services by ensuring informed consent
and confidentiality for HIV-related testing, treatment and clinical research.

It lists various grounds on which discrimination against HIV positive persons and
those living with them is prohibited.

These include the denial, termination, discontinuation or unfair treatment with regard to:
employment, educational establishments, health care services, residing or renting property,
standing for public or private office, and provision of insurance.

The requirement for HIV testing as a pre-requisite for obtaining employment or

accessing health care or education is also prohibited.

Every HIV infected or affected person below the age of 18 years has the right to
reside in a shared household and enjoy the facilities of the household.

The Bill also prohibits any individual from publishing information or advocating
feelings of hatred against HIV positive persons and those living with them.

The Bill also provides for Guardianship for minors.

A person between the age of 12 to 18 years who has sufficient maturity in

understanding and managing the affairs of his HIV or AIDS affected family shall be
competent to act as a guardian of another sibling below 18 years of age to be
applicable in the matters relating to admission to educational establishments,
operating bank accounts, managing property, care and treatment, amongst others

The Bill requires that "No person shall be compelled to disclose his HIV status
except with his informed consent, and if required by a court order".

Establishments keeping records of information of HIV positive persons shall adopt

data protection measures.

According to the Bill, the Central and State governments shall take measures to:
(i) Prevent the spread of HIV or AIDS,
(ii) Provide anti-retroviral therapy and infection management for persons with HIV or
AIDS,
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(iii) Facilitate their access to welfare schemes especially for women and children,
(iv) formulate HIV or AIDS education communication programmes that are age
appropriate, gender sensitive, and non-stigmatizing, and
(v) Lay guidelines for the care and treatment of children with HIV or AIDS.

Every person in the care and custody of the state shall have right to HIV prevention,
testing, treatment and counseling services.

The Bill suggest that cases relating to HIV positive persons shall be disposed' off by
the court on a priority basis and duly ensuring the confidentiality.

There are no financial implications of the Bill.

Most of the activities are being already undertaken or can be integrated within the
existing systems of various Ministries under training, communication and data
management, etc.

The Bill makes provision for appointment of an ombudsman by State Governments

to inquire into complaints related to the violation of the Act and penal actions in
case of non-compliance.

The Ombudsman need not be a separate entity, but any existing State Government
functionary can be deputed or given additional charge.

6. SBI opens branch in Myanmar

State Bank of India opened its branch in Yangon, Myanmar. This is the 54th
foreign branch of Indias largest bank.

Earlier this year, SBI was awarded a banking licence to open a branch in Myanmar
with the primary objective of extending wholesale banking services to foreign
corporates.

The branch aspires to become an important link in trade and commerce between
Myanmar and the world.

The launch of this branch has extended the global presence of SBI in 37 countries
through 198 offices.

7. World Sustainable Development Summit 2016

President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the first edition of World Sustainable
Development Summit (WSDS) organised by The Energy and Resources Institute TERI

with

emphasis

on

the

need

to

limit

the

rise

of

climate

change.

Theme : 'Beyond 2015: People, Planet & Progress'

WSDS has evolved from the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit, the annual
event of TERI.

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It brings together Nobel laureates, political leaders, decision-makers from bilateral

and multilateral institutions, among others, to deliberate on issues related to
sustainable development.

It aims to provide long-term solutions for the benefit of the global community by
assembling the various stakeholders on a single platform.

Components of the WSDS:

(a) World CEO Sustainability Summit : It is a platform for business leaders to define a
path and evolve a strategy to facilitate development whilst protecting the
environment.
(b) Thematic Tracks : It is a parallel breakaway sessions led by area experts that aim at
providing feasible solutions to challenges faced by local and global communities in
maintaining the balance between securing environmental sustainability and
development.
(c) Media Colloquium : It is a forum to sensitise mid-career journalists from around the
world on issues of sustainability and climate change.
(d) Youth Leaders : The platform aims at engaging youth from around the globe in the
sustainable development discourse, record their experiences, and encourage positive
action on their part.
(e) Greenovation Exhibition : It provides an opportunity for global players to showcase
technologies in the areas of renewable energy, waste management, sustainable
buildings, sustainable transport, water management and financing for sustainable
development and energy efficiency.
8. National Committee on Trade Facilitation
The Centre has constituted a National Committee on Trade Facilitation (NCTF)
under the Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary.

This follows Indias ratification of the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA)
in April this year.

The establishment of the committee is part of the mandatory, institutional

arrangement of the TFA.

Its secretariat will be housed within the Central Board of Excise and Customs
(CBEC) in the Directorate General of Export Promotion, New Delhi.

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What are the Objectives?

The defined objective behind setting up the NCTF is to have a national-level body
that will facilitate domestic co-ordination and implementation of TFA provisions.

It will play the lead role in developing a pan-India roadmap for trade facilitation
and will be instrumental in synergising various trade facilitation perspectives across
the country.

It will also focus on an outreach programme for sensitisation of all stakeholders

about TFA.

Composition:

The committee has a three-tier structure with the main national committee as the
pivot for monitoring the implementation of the TFA.

There will be a steering committee below it that will be chaired by Member,

Customs, CBEC, which will be responsible for identifying the nature of required
legislative changes and spearheading the diagnostic tools needed for assessing
compliance to TFA.

9. INS Arihant
India has completed its nuclear triad [i.e. capable of delivering nuclear weapons by
aircraft, ballistic missiles and submarine launched missiles] by inducting the
indigenously built strategic nuclear submarine INS Arihant into service.

INS Arihant was formally commissioned by Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba in
August.

INS which stands for Indian Naval Ship is affixed to a ship only after it is
inducted into service.

Highlights:

Arihant is capable of carrying nuclear tipped ballistic missiles, the class referred to
as Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear (SSBN).

SSBNs are designed to prowl the deep ocean waters carrying nuclear weapons and
provide a nation with an assured second strike capability - the capability to strike
back after being hit by nuclear weapons first.

Second strike capability is particularly important for India as it had committed to a

No-First-Use policy as part of its nuclear doctrine.

The vessel weighing 6000 tonnes is powered by a 83 MW pressurised light water

nuclear reactor.

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The project to build a strategic vessel began as the Advanced Technology Vessel
(ATV) project in the 1980s and the vessel was launched in 2009 by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh.

Since then it was put to extensive sea trials and the reactor on board went critical in
2013.

It will be armed with the K-15 Sagarika missiles with a range of 750 km and
eventually with the much longer range K-4 missiles being developed by the Defence
Research and Development Organisation.

10. ICGS Aryaman and Atulya Commissioned into Indian Coast Guard
The Indian Coast Guard Ships Aryaman and Atulya, the eighteenth and nineteenth
in the series of twenty Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs), designed and built by Cochin
Shipyard Limited, were commissioned at Kochi.
Key features:

The 50m long indigenous FPVs displace 317 tonnes of water and can achieve a
maximum speed of 33 knots with range of 1500 nautical miles at an economical
speed of 13 knots.

Equipped with state-of-the-art weaponry, advanced communication and navigational

equipment, the ships are ideal platform for undertaking multifarious close-coast
missions such as surveillance, search and rescue and interdiction.

The special features of the ships include an Integrated Bridge Management

System (IBMS) and Integrated Machinery Control System (IMCS).

The ships have been christened ICGS Aryaman and Atulya.

Aryaman literally meaning Possessor of Greatness will be based at Kochi under the
administrative control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (West) and Atulya
meaning Unrivalled will be based at Visakhapatnam under the administrative
control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (East).

11. Mitra Shakti 2016

The fourth edition of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Military Exercise Mitra Shakti 2016
began on 24 October 2016 at Sinha Regimental Centre in Ambepussa, Sri Lanka.

The joint exercise is to enhance inter-operability while carrying out Counter

Insurgency (CI)/Counter Terrorism (CT) operations under the United Nations
Mandate.

The Indian Contingent is represented by a platoon from the Rajputana Rifles

Regiment and the Sri Lankan Army by a platoon from the Sinha Regiment.
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Mitra Shakti series of bilateral exercises is one of the major bilateral defence
cooperation initiatives between India and Sri Lanka since 2013.

12. Workshop On Forest Rights Act, 2006

A Workshop on Forest Rights Act, 2006 - its Implementation, benefits to tribal and
other traditional forest dwelling communities and its challenges was held in New Delhi
as part of National Tribal Carnival 2016.

The Workshop was Chaired by Jual Oram, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs.

Forest Rights Act (FRA):

The legislation, which was passed in December 2006, concerns the rights of forestdwelling communities to land and other resources, denied to them over decades as a
result of the continuance of colonial forest laws in India. The Act grants legal recognition
to the rights of traditional forest dwelling communities, partially correcting the injustice
caused by the forest laws.
Rights under the Act are the following:
1. Use rights : to minor forest produce, to grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.
2. Title rights : ownership to land that is being farmed by tribals or forest dwellers
subject to a maximum of 4 hectares; ownership is only for land that is actually being
cultivated by the concerned family, meaning that no new lands are granted.
3. Relief and development rights : to rehabilitation in case of illegal eviction or forced
displacement and to basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection.
4. Forest management rights : to protect forests and wildlife.
13. Range of BrahMos to be doubled
India and Russia have agreed to double the range of the BrahMos supersonic
cruise missile that the two produce together.

This follows Indias recent accession to the Missile Technology Control Regime
(MTCR).

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Significance:

Brahmos' current range is 300 km, which makes it difficult to hit targets deep inside
Pakistan.

The range will be extended to over 600 km and it would only require slight reengineering.

Extending the range will significantly enhance the stand-off capability and the
operational radius in striking targets.

This range enables these missiles to strike anywhere within Pakistan.

India has ballistic missiles with longer range than the next generation Brahmos.

But Brahmos' ability to take down specific targets , even well-protected ones, makes
it a potential game changer in any conflict with Pakistan.

Ballistic missiles are powered for the initial half of their flight path and they use
gravity to complete their trajectory. But cruise missiles are powered throughout.

This makes a cruise missile like Brahmos similar to a pilot-less fighter jet that can
be maneuvered in flight, programmed to attack targets from any angle and evade
enemy missile defence systems.

Brahmos can take down terror camps or hideouts even in mountain areas, where
natural protection makes any other offensive action, bar crossing the border,
ineffective.

14. National Academic Depository

The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
accorded its approval for establishment and operationalisation of a National
Academic Depository (NAD).

The decision aims at bringing another dimension and enhancement of the vision of
Digital India.

The NAD would be established and operationalised within the next three months
and would be rolled out throughout the country in 2017-18.

This is to establish a Digital Depository for school learning certificates, degrees

and other academic awards of Higher Education Institutions, on the pattern of a
Securities Depository.

The NAD would be operationalised by NSDL Database Management Limited

(NDML) and CDSL Ventures, Limited (CVL) - two of the wholly owned subsidiaries
of the Depositories registered under Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Act,
1992.

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Academic institutions would be responsible for the authenticity of data digitally

uploaded by them into the system.

The depositories will ensure the integrity of the data in the NAD.

How NAD works?

TheNADwillregistereducationalinstitutions/boards/eligibility

assessment

bodies,

students and other users/verifying entities like banks, employer companies,

government agencies and academic institutions.

It will provide digital or a printed copy of the academic award with security features
to the students or other authorized users.

NAD will verify academic awards online on the same day of request initiated by any
authorized user.

Requests for access to academic awards, for example, from potential employers, and
academic institutions would be only on the basis of consent of the student.

NAD shall maintain the authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of its database.

It will also train and facilitate academic institutions/boards/ eligibility assessment

bodies to efficiently lodge academic awards in the database.

15. 'Mobile Air Dispensary' for remote areas of the North-East

Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Dr Jitendra Singh
has proposed Mobile Air Dispensary" service for remote and far-flung areas of
Northeast.

It would envisage a mobile dispensary in a Helicopter with a Doctor, necessary

equipments and medicines that can fly to remote and far-flung on regular basis and
also, as and when required.

The same experiment, which would possibly be the first of its kind in the country,
can also be replicated in other hill States and remote areas having poor connectivity
like Jammu and Kashmir.

The Union Government accords high priority to Northeastern States and therefore,
it is the responsibility of the State Governments to extend full cooperation in
implementing the Central Government schemes.

16. Only a few debit cards were misused, says RBI

The Reserve Bank of India has clarified that the number of debit cards misused in
the recent revelation of fraud was few. The issue is currently being investigated by an
approved forensic auditor, under PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry-Data Security
Standard) framework.

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Background:

Recently, SBI had blocked close to 6 lakh debit cards following a malware-related
security breach in a non-SBI ATM network.

Several other banks, such as Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, too have
admitted being hit by similar cyber attacks - forcing Indian banks to either replace
or request users to change the security codes of as many as 3.2 million debit cards
over the last two months.

What is PCI DSS?

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a widely accepted
set of policies and procedures intended to optimize the security of credit, debit and cash card
transactions and protect cardholders against misuse of their personal information. The PCI
DSS was created jointly in 2004 by four major credit-card companies: Visa, MasterCard,
Discover and American Express.
The PCI DSS specifies and elaborates on six major objectives which are as
follows:
I. A secure network must be maintained in which transactions can be conducted :

This requirement involves the use of firewalls that are robust enough to be effective
without causing undue inconvenience to cardholders or vendors.

Specialized firewalls are available for wireless LANs, which are highly vulnerable to
eavesdropping and attacks by malicious hackers.

In addition, authentication data such as personal identification numbers (PINs) and

passwords must not involve defaults supplied by the vendors.

Customers should be able to conveniently and frequently change such data.

II. Cardholder information must be protected wherever it is stored :

Repositories with vital data such as dates of birth, mothers' maiden names, Social
Security numbers, phone numbers and mailing addresses should be secure against
hacking.

When cardholder data is transmitted through public networks, that data must be
encrypted in an effective way.

Digital encryption is important in all forms of credit-card transactions, but

particularly in e-commerce conducted on the Internet.

III. Systems should be protected against the activities of malicious hackers by using
frequently updated anti-virus software, anti-spyware programs, and other anti-malware
solutions :

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All applications should be free of bugs and vulnerabilities that might open the door
to exploits in which cardholder data could be stolen or altered.

Patches offered by software and operating system (OS) vendors should be regularly
installed to ensure the highest possible level of vulnerability management.

IV. Access to system information and operations should be restricted and controlled :

Cardholders should not have to provide information to businesses unless those

businesses must know that information to protect themselves and effectively carry
out a transaction.

Every person who uses a computer in the system must be assigned a unique and
confidential identification name or number.

Cardholder data should be protected physically as well as electronically.

Examples include the use of document shredders, avoidance of unnecessary paper

document duplication, and locks and chains on dumpsters to discourage criminals
who would otherwise rummage through the trash.

V. Networks must be constantly monitored and regularly tested to ensure that all security
measures and processes are in place, are functioning properly, and are kept up-do-date :

For example, anti-virus and anti-spyware programs should be provided with the
latest definitions and signatures.

These programs should scan all exchanged data, all applications, all random-access
memory (RAM) and all storage media frequently if not continuously.

VI. A formal information security policy must be defined, maintained, and followed at all
times and by all participating entities :

Enforcement measures such as audits and penalties for non-compliance may be

necessary.

17. Era of e-postal ballots dawns, courtesy ECs new initiative

A change in The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 now empowers a returning officer
in any constituency to send postal ballots to an eligible voter by electronic means as
specified by the Election Commission.

The new rule was published in a central gazette notification issued on October 21.

Benefits:

The change will go a long way in easing logistical issues involved in ensuring that
the ballot paper of the constituency, where a voter is eligible to vote, is sent in time.

The change will cut time in transmission of the ballot paper and help the EC
overcome logistical problems.

Till now, postal ballots were sent through the Department of Posts.
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OTP for voters:

With the new rule, the returning officer can send it through a web portal with a One
Time Password to voters.

The voter needs to download the ballot for voting.

The process of physically returning the ballot through post remains unchanged.

18. The Inter-State Council was reconstituted with Prime Minister Narendra
Modi as the head
Besides chief ministers of all states and Union Territories, the Council has six Union
Ministers as its members Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Manohar
Parrikar, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley,
Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkiah Naidu and

Road Transport

Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari.

Administrators of Union Territories which do not have legislative Assembly will also
be on the Council.

19. Biotech-Kisan & Cattle Genomics

As a part of the Governments focus on the development of programmes that aim to
directly and positively impact peoples lives rapidly, the Ministry of Science and
Technology has

launched two Farmer-Centric initiatives - Biotech-KISAN and

Cattle Genomics. The two programs are intended to have major impact on rural
livelihood through science.
I. Biotech- KISAN (Krishi Innovation Science Application Network) is:
1. For Farmers: It is a Farmer centric scheme, where scientists will work in sync with
farmers to understand problems and find solutions.
2. By Farmers: Developed in consultation with the farmers. Soil, Water, Seed and
Market are some key points that concern small and marginal farmers.

Biotech-KISAN aims to link farmers, scientists and science institutions across

the country in a network that identifies and helps solve their problems in a
cooperative manner.

3. Empower women: It is important to empower the women farmer, help her meet
her concerns for better seed, storage of seed and protection of the crops from disease
and pest.

The women farmer is also the prime caretaker of livestock and she is eager to
combine traditional wisdom in handling the livestock and with current best
practices, especially in the context of emerging livestock disease.

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The scheme includes the Mahila Biotech- KISAN fellowships, for training and
education in farm practices, for women farmers.

The Scheme also aims to support the women farmers/ entrepreneur in their
small enterprises, making her a grass root innovator.

4. Connects Globally: Biotech-KISAN will connect farmers to best global practices;

training workshops will be held in India and other countries. Farmers and Scientists
will partner across the globe.
5. Impacts Locally: The scheme is targeted towards the least educated marginalised
farmer; Scientists will spend time on farms and link communication tools to soil,
water seed and market. The aim is to understand individual problems of the
smallholding farmers and provide ready solutions.
6. Across India: Biotech KISAN will connect farmers with science in the 15 agroclimatic zones of the country in a manner, which constantly links problems with
available solutions.
7. Hubs and Spoke: In each of these 15 regions, a Farmer organisation will be the
hub connected to different science labs, Krishi Vigyan Kendra and State Agriculture
Universities co-located in the region. The hub will reach out to the farmers in the
region and connect them to scientists and institutions.
8. Farmers as Innovators: The hub will have tinkering lab, communication cell and
will run year-long training, awareness, workshops and which will act as education
demonstration units to encourage grass root innovation in the young as well as
women farmers.
9. Communicating Best Practises: There will be a communication set-up to make
radio and TV programmes for local stations, as well as daily connectivity through
social media.
II. Cattle Genomics: Genomic selection will ensure high-yielding, disease-resistant,
resilient livestock.
1. Selecting hardy livestock that give high-yields: Better livestock can be
genetically, selected which ultimately leads to enhancement of productivity in a
sustainable, resilient manner.
2. Traditional Breeding takes time: Genetic improvement of livestock through
traditional selection for increasing livestock productivity has major limitations. To
overcome these, genomic selection has played a crucial role in livestock industry
globally.

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3. Global best methods for local livestock: Genomic selection will transform local
livestock breeding. This uses information on variation in DNA sequences between
animals to predict the breeding value of animals more accurately.
4. Development of high-density DNA chips: This will reduce the cost and time
interval of breeding program in future and productivity of indigenous cattle will be
enhanced.
20. One India concept
The Centre, in collaboration with State governments, plans to introduce One India
concept, the biggest and the most comprehensive ease of doing business initiative.

Under the one-form-one-portal model, aimed at attracting huge investments,

the processes will be simplified to an extent where investors will need to fill only a
single e-form for investing and doing business anywhere in India.

The reform plan is among steps aimed at helping raise Indias global ranking on the
World Bank Groups Doing Business index from 130 in 2016 to the top 50
among the 189 economies featured on the list.

The proposed concept will also make it easy for investors to even change plans
midway and shift projects to different locations in India where it is easier to do
business.

The services offered under the portal which firms and investors can use 24X7
online are on starting, running and closing down a business.

Introduced in January 2014, the portal has an integrated payment gateway and
currently offers 17 pan-India services (at the Central government-level).

The state-level services on offer include that of Delhi (two services), Andhra
Pradesh (13) and Odisha (15).

The focus now is on revamping this portal by identifying and removing glitches.

The thrust will be on quality by reducing the cost, time and processes involved, and
ensuring greater transparency.

The portal will also be soon shifted to an open source multi-platform

system/browser.

Also in the pipeline is a permanent account number (PAN)-based Business

Identification Number (BIN) for firms.

This unique business ID will integrate about 18 identification numbers including

the existing Company Identification Number.

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21. SC widens ambit of Domestic Violence Act

In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court has widened the scope of the Domestic
Violence Act by ordering deletion of the words adult male from it, paving the
way for prosecution of women and even non-adults for subjecting a woman relative to
violence and harassment.

The apex court has ordered striking down of the two words from Section 2(q) of
the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which deals with
respondents who can be sued and prosecuted under the Act for harassing a married
woman in her matrimonial home.

What is Section 2(q)?

Section 2(q) of the Act reads: respondent means any adult male person who is, or
has been, in a domestic relationship with the aggrieved person and against whom
the aggrieved person has sought any relief under DV Act.

The microscopic difference between male and female, adult and non-adult, regard
being had to the object sought to be achieved by the 2005 Act, is neither real or
substantial, nor does it have any rational relation to the object of the legislation.

Dealing with the term adult, the bench said it is not difficult to conceive of a nonadult 16 or 17-year-old member of a household who can aid or abet the commission
of acts of domestic violence, or who can evict or help in evicting or excluding from a
shared household an aggrieved person.

According to the court, these words violated right to equality under the Constitution
and are discriminatory.

Also, a residence order which may be passed under Section 19(1)(c) can get
stultified if a 16 or 17-year-old relative enters the portion of the shared household in
which the aggrieved person resides after a restraint order is passed against the
respondent and any of his adult relatives.

The apex court Bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and R.F. Nariman in its 56-page
judgment said the remaining part of the legislation had been kept untouched and
would remain operative.

Background:
The major verdict came on an appeal against the Bombay High Court judgement, which had
resorted to the literal construction of the term 'adult male' and discharged four persons,
including two girls, a woman and a minor boy, of a family from a domestic violence case on
the ground that they were not "adult male" and hence cannot be prosecuted under the DV
Act.
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Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005:

It was brought into force by the Indian government from 26 October 2006.

The Act provides for the first time in Indian law a definition of "domestic violence".

Domestic violence is defined by Section 3 of the Act as any act, omission or

commission or conduct of the respondent shall constitute domestic violence in case it:
a) harms or injures or endangers the health, safety, life, limb or well-being,
whether mental or physical, of the aggrieved person or tends to do so and
includes causing physical abuse, sexual abuse, verbal and emotional abuse and
economic abuse; or
b) harasses, harms, injures or endangers the aggrieved person with a view to coerce
her or any other person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any
dowry or other property or valuable security; or
c) has the effect of threatening the aggrieved person or any person related to her by
any conduct mentioned in clause (a) or clause (b); or
d) otherwise injures or causes harm, whether physical or mental, to the aggrieved
person.

22. 4th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting at Jaipur
The 4th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting was convened
on 8 October, 2016 at Jaipur to strengthen the collaboration amongst the BRICS
countries in the areas of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
Keyfeatures:

Adopting a five-pronged approach, viz. Institution Building, Implementation,

Integration, Innovation and Continuity.

The emphasis is on institution building, implementation of previous commitments,

tapping synergies of the existing BRICS cooperation mechanisms, exploring some
new areas of cooperation and maintaining continuity in the existing areas.

In alignment with the theme of Indias Chairmanship - Building, Responsive

Inclusive and Collective Solutions, the Jaipur Declaration was unanimously
adopted by all the BRICS countries.

23. Himansh
As part of the Indian government's initiatives to better study and quantify the
Himalayan glacier responses towards the climate change, the National Centre for
Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), Goa, under the Ministry of Earth
Sciences has established a high altitude research station in Himalaya called Himansh

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(literally meaning, a slice of ice), situated above 13,500 ft at a remote region in Spiti,
Himachal Pradesh.

The Himalayan region has the largest concentration of glaciers outside the polar
caps, as this region is aptly called the "Water Tower of Asia" is the source of the 10
major river systems that provide irrigation, power and drinking water for over 700
million people live in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh- nearly 10% of the world's
population.

The ongoing initiatives by NCAOR would contribute to the integrated study the
glaciers in the upper Indus basin (Chandra basin) in Himachal Pradesh and their
contribution to discharge.

According to the UN data, the contribution of snow/glacier melt in annual stream

runoff is substantially higher (>40%) in Indus basin as compared to Ganga and
Brahmaputra basins (<10%).

24. India, Indonesia conduct maritime exercise in Andaman Sea

An Indian Navy corvette and a maritime patrol aircraft joined Indonesian Navy assets
for the 28th India-Indonesia Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) and second bilateral
maritime exercise.

The two navies have been carrying out CORPAT on respective sides of the
international maritime boundary line (IMBL) twice a year since 2002, with the aim
of keeping this vital part of the Indian Ocean Region safe and secure for commercial
shipping, International trade and legitimate marine activities.

24. National Summit on Fortification of Food

The National Summit on Fortification of Food was inaugurated in New Delhi to
address interventions in combating micronutrient malnutrition in the country.

The two day summit was co-hosted by the Food Safety and Standards Authority
of India (FSSAI) in partnership with related central ministries/departments and
development partners.

Fortification requires neither changes in existing food patterns, habits nor

individual compliance.

It is socio-culturally acceptable and does not alter the characteristics of the food.

It can be introduced quickly and can produce nutritional benefits for populations in
a short period of time.

It is safe and cost effective, especially if advantage is taken of the existing

technology and delivery platforms.

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Food

fortification

reinforces

and

supports

existing

nutrition

improvement

programmes and is part of a broader, integrated approach to prevent micronutrient

deficiencies, thereby complementing other approaches to improve health and
nutrition.

FSSAI has formulated a comprehensive regulation on fortification of foods namely

Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2016.

These regulations set the standards for food fortification and encourage the
production, manufacture, distribution, sale and consumption of fortified foods.

The regulations also provide for specific role of FSSAI in promotion for food
fortification and to make fortification mandatory.

25. Draft Water Bill suggests basin-level management

The Central Government has brought final draft of the National Water Framework
Bill, 2016 to provide uniform national legal framework to manage water in a better and
efficient way.

The draft Bill pitches for establishing River Basin Authority for each inter-State
basin to ensure optimum and sustainable development of rivers and valleys.

It suggests States to recognise the principle that the rivers are not owned by the
basin-States but are public trustees.

Water being a State subject under VII Schedule of constitution the law will be
not binding on States for adoption.

The bill says all basin States have equitable rights over a river water provided
such use does not violate the right to water for life of any person in the river basin.

It says every person has a right to sufficient quantity of safe water for life within
easy reach of the household regardless of caste, creed, religion, age, community,
class, gender, disability, economic status, land ownership and place of residence.

It proposes establishing institutional arrangements at all levels within a State and

beyond up to an inter-State river basin level to obviate disputes through
negotiations, conciliation or mediation before they become acute.

26. National SC/ST hub and Zero Defect Zero Effect scheme
The Prime Minister launched the National SC/ST hub, and the Zero Defect, Zero
Effect (ZED) scheme for MSMEs at Ludhiana in Punjab.

It was started with an objective to provide professional support to entrepreneurs

from the SC/ST sections.

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The hub with an initial outlay of 490 crore rupees will work towards
strengthening market access/linkage, monitoring, capacity building, leveraging
financial support schemes and sharing industry-best practices.

It will also enable central public sector enterprises to fulfill the procurement target
set by the government.

Public Procurement Policy, 2012 specifies that 4% of procurement done by

ministries, departments, and CPSEs should be from enterprises owned by SC/ST
entrepreneurs.

Zero Defect, Zero Effect (ZED) Scheme Maturity Assessment Model:

It has been conceived and structured to offer graded benchmark levels of an organisation's
performance through a set of standard enabler and outcome parameters focusing on quality
and environmental performances. It aims to rate and handhold all MSMEs to deliver topquality products using clean technology.
Benefits:
1) Credible recognition of the industry for international customers seeking investment in
India
2) Streamlined operations and lower costs
3) Superior quality, reduced rejection and higher revenues
4) Increased environmental & social benefits
5) Additional employment generation
6) Other benefits as announced by the Government from time to time
27. The Indian Navy commissioned a high tech water jet fast attack craft, 'INS Tihayu',
built by Garden Reach Shipbuilder and Engineers, at the Naval Dockyard in
Visakhapatnam.

It would enhance the coastal security potential of the city-headquartered Eastern

Naval Command.

INS Tihayu, specifically built for meeting needs of extended coastal and offshore
surveillance and patrol, has a length of 49.9 metres and maximum breadth of 7.5
meters.

The ship has a 30 mm CRN 91 gun and an electronic day-night fire control system.

It is also equipped with two 12.7 mm heavy machine guns and multiple medium
machine guns besides shoulder launched air missiles to combat aerial threats.

28. SCs poser on misuse of religion in elections

Questioning the practice of using the mass appeal of religious leaders to canvas votes for
candidates, the Supreme Court asked whether it amounts to a corrupt electoral
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practice to rope in clerics or priests to flex their religious sway over their flock to swing
votes.

A seven-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur is testing the
limits of Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act for an
authoritative pronouncement on what are the various means by which misuse of
religion or faith of the masses for electoral gains can be categorised as a corrupt
practice.

Article 324 to 329 of Part XV of the Constitution deals with the electoral system in
our country.

The Representation of People Act, 1951:

It is an act of Parliament of India to provide for the conduct of elections of the Houses of
Parliament and to the House or Houses of the Legislature of each State, the qualifications
and disqualifications for membership of those Houses, the corrupt practices and other
offences at or in connection with such elections and the decision of doubts and disputes
arising out of or in connection with such elections.

The Bench is re-considering its 1995 verdict which held that canvassing votes in the
name of Hindutva/Hinduism did not prejudicially affect any candidate as Hindutva
is a way of life of the people in the sub-continent and a state of mind.

The 1995 judgment, delivered by Justice J.S. Verma, found that the statement by
Joshi that the first Hindu State will be established in Maharashtra did not amount
to appeal on ground of religion.

29. UDAN
The Centre unveiled a regional connectivity scheme, known as UDAN (Ude Desh
ka Aam Nagrik), with flights priced at Rs.2,500 for one hour of flying time to and from
regional airports, but raised the subsidy amount to be paid to regional airlines from the
level proposed in a draft scheme.

It is a market-based mechanism in which airlines bid for seat subsidies.

This first-of-its-kind scheme globally will create affordable yet economically viable
and profitable flights on regional routes so that flying becomes affordable to the
common man even in small towns.

This scheme ensure affordability, connectivity, growth and development.

It would provide a win-win situation for all stakeholders citizens would get the
benefit of affordability, connectivity and more jobs.

The state governments would reap the benefit of development of remote areas,
enhance trade and commerce and more tourism expansion.
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The scheme envisages providing connectivity to un-served and under-served airports

of the country through revival of existing air-strips and airports.

It would be in operation for a period of 10 years.

The operators could seek a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) apart from getting
various concessions.

All such route proposals would then be offered for competitive bidding through a
reverse bidding mechanism and the route would be awarded to the participant
quoting the lowest VGF per Seat.

This would be achieved through:

(1) A financial stimulus in the form of concessions from Central and State governments and
airport operators and
(2) A Viability Gap Funding to the interested airlines to kick-off operations from such
airports so that the passenger fares are kept affordable.

Regional Connectivity Fund would be created to meet the viability gap funding
requirements under the scheme. The RCF levy per departure will be applied to
certain domestic flights.

The partner State Governments (other than North Eastern States and Union
Territories where contribution will be 10 %) would contribute a 20% share to this
fund.

30. Govt unveils satellite surveillance to curb illegal mining

The Mines Ministry launched the Mining Surveillance System (MSS), a pan-India
surveillance network using latest satellite technology, to check illegal mining.

This technology will help design planned development of mining as also provide
complete data of labourers working in the sector online, which will lead to better
safety standards.

MSS is a satellite-based monitoring system, which aims to check illegal mining

activity through automatic remote-sensing detection technology.

The Indian Bureau of Mines, on behalf of the mines ministry, has developed MSS, in
co-ordination with the Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Applications and Geo
informatics (BISAG), Gandhinagar, and the Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology (MEITY).

The system checks 500 meters around the existing mining lease boundary to search
for any unusual activity relating to illegal mining.

Any discrepancy is flagged off as a trigger.

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Automatic software leveraging image - processing technology will generate

automatic triggers of unauthorised activities.

These triggers will be studied at a remote-sensing control centre of IBM and then
transmitted to district - level mining officials for field verification.

IT services major Wipro has been selected, through a tender process, to develop the
Mining Tenement System (MTS).

MTS is an online computerised register that is intended to bring computerisation

and automation in the functioning at directorates of mining and geology (DMGs) of
11 states, IBM, GSI and the mines ministry.

The system will display applications under process, ownership and details of area
granted, period of concession, taxes, compliance of rules and regulations, area
available for grant of concession, quality and quantity of the ore deposit, portion
relinquished after reconnaissance or prospecting operations, land details with
ownership and the like.

31. Women of India Festival 2016

The Minister of Women & Child Development, Smt Maneka Sanjay Gandhi inaugurated
Women of India Festival 2016 of organic products by women at Dilli Haat at INA, New
Delhi.

The Festival offered on sale the biggest selection of organic products ranging from
food, fabrics and furniture to wellness, personal care and solar products.

This initiative is a move to benefit women entrepreneurs, and also actively promote
organic food and products.

The Festival is intended to highlight the health and environmental advantages of

organic goods, provide a platform for women engaged in this economy and encourage
the development of sustainable and easily accessible sales outlets for organic
producers from remote areas.

32. Saraswati river existed

The K.S. Valdiya committee in its report says that the Saraswati river, so far
considered mythical, did exist.

It originated in the Himalayas, passed through Haryana, Rajasthan and North

Gujarat, and met gulf at the western sea.

One-third of the river stretch fell in present-day Pakistan. The longer, two-third
stretch measuring nearly 3000 km in length fell in India.

In its report, the seven-member committee has stated that the river had two
branches: western and eastern.
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The Himalayan-born Satluj "of the PAST", which flowed through the channels of
present-day Ghaggar-Patialiwali rivulets, represents the western branch of the
ancient river.

On the other hand, Markanda and Sarsuti (corruption of Saraswati) represented the
western branch of Saraswati, known as Tons-Yamuna.

On his part, Valdiya, came across "an unique" palaeochannel (a path abandoned
by river when it changes its course) relating to present Ghaggar, Sarsuti, Hakra and
Nara rivers.

Historically, around 1700 "small and big" towns and villages were located around
the palaeochannel concerned during Harappa Civilisation.

Constituent minerals of the palaeochannels, at several spots, have come from

catchment areas of Sutlej and Yamuna and from Greater and Lesser Himalaya.

33. Indo-Pak. border will be sealed by 2018

Amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the surgical strikes across
the Line of Control, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the entire stretch of
3,323-km-long border between the two countries would be completely sealed by
December 2018.

The procedure for sealing the international border would be developed in a planned
manner, with a mechanism in place for its periodic monitoring at multiple levels in
the defence establishment as well as the governments of the four border States.

The project will be periodically monitored by Home Secretary at the Central level,
BSF from the security forces' perspective and Chief Secretaries at the State and the
government would apply technological solutions for sealing the border in difficult
terrains.

A border security grid would also be formed, with guidelines to be framed with
suggestions from all stakeholders in the border areas.

34. India was ranked 97 in the Global Hunger Index (GHI)

The GHI is calculated by taking into account four key parameters: shares of
undernourished population, wasted and stunted children aged under 5, and infant
mortality rate of the same age group.

This year, for the first time, two measures of child hunger -wasting and stunting have been used to give a more complete picture.

Wasting refers to low weight in relation to a child's height, reflecting acute

undernutrition.

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Stunting refers to the deficiency in height in relation to age, reflecting chronic

undernutrition.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) makes the annual
calculations of GHI.

Challenges:

Basing its readings on the most recent data, the 2016 GHI for India was derived
from the fact that an estimated 15% population is undernourished -lacking in
adequate food intake, both in quantity and quality.

The share of under-5 children who are `wasted' is about 15% while the share of
children who are `stunted' is a staggering 39%.

This reflects widespread and chronic lack of balanced food.

The under-5 mortality rate is 4.8% in India, partially reflecting the fatal synergy of
inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.

34. Global Conference to Strengthen Arbitration held in New Delhi

The three daylong conference titled, National Initiative On Strengthening
Arbitration And Enforcement In India from October 21st to 23rd, 2016 was a
major initiative to change the face of dispute resolution in India.

NITI Aayog, Ministry of Law and Justice, DIPP, National Legal Services Authority,
International Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, National Institute of Labour
Economics Research and Development have collaborated to make India the centre of
arbitration.

The conference seeks to provide impetus to commercial arbitration in India, which is

fast gaining pace across the world, for faster, more efficient dispute resolution
outside the court room.

What is Arbitration?

It is a technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts.

The parties to a dispute refer it to arbitration by one or more persons and agree to be
bound by the arbitration decision.

A third party reviews the evidence in the case and imposes a decision that is legally
binding on both sides and enforceable in the courts.

It can be either voluntary or mandatory although mandatory arbitration can only

come from a statute or from a contract that is voluntarily entered into, where the
parties agree to hold all existing or future disputes to arbitration, without
necessarily knowing, specifically, what disputes will ever occur and can be either
binding or non-binding.
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Non-binding arbitration is similar to mediation in that a decision cannot be imposed

on the parties.

35. Tamil Nadu tops list of endemic flowering plants

The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) has revealed that Tamil Nadu accounts for the
highest number of endemic flowering plant species with 410, followed by Kerala with
357 and Maharashtra with 278.

Of the 18,259 flowering plants reported in the country, 4,303 (over 23 per cent) are
found only in India, as per scientific data in a recently released book, Endemic
Vascular Plants of India.

When it comes to the geographical distribution of endemic plants, the Western

Ghats tops the list with about 2,116 species, followed by the Eastern Himalayas
with 466 species. These two regions are among the biodiversity hot spots of the
country.

Almost 37 species of Black plum Syzyguim (Jamun), 10 varieties of Musa (banana),

along with 274 species of orchids, four different varieties of roses, two herbs and two
climbers and 12 species of jasmines are exclusively found in India.

When it comes to spices 45 species belongs to the common black pepper family, 19
species of ginger and 13 different kinds of large cardamom. There are also 40 species
of bamboos (Bambusoideae), which are endemic to India.

Some of these endemic species are restricted to only certain areas of the country,
like Nepenthes khasiana, an insectivorous plant only found in the Khasi hills of
Meghalaya. A total of 58 generea of flowering plants have been found to be endemic
to India.

Of the 19, 635 vascular plants found in the country, 4,381 are endemic. This includes
4,303 angiosperms or flowering plants, 12 gymnosperms - mostly Cycads, and 66
ferns and fern allies which come under the group Pteridophytes.

Among the Gymnosperms, non-flowering plants, at least six species of Cycas are
found in the country. These plants are known to have existed from the Jurassic era
and are commonly referred as living fossils as they grow very slowly.

Around 53 per cent of all endemic flowering plants are herbs, 20 per cent are shrubs
and 15 per cent are trees.

Among the most widely exploited endemic plants in country is Pterocarpus

santalinus, commonly known as red sandal wood, which is found only in the
southern parts of the Eastern Ghats. This plant is classified as critically

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endangered under International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN)

category because of its dwindling habitat due to economic over-exploitation.
36. Rajasthan has become the first state in India to adopt Centres Street Lighting
National Programme (SLNP) in all its urban local bodies (ULB).

Under this programme, around 5 lakh conventional street lights were replaced with
LED street lights across the state.

The project was funded by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Public
Energy Services Company under the administration of the Union Ministry of
Power.

The project has resulted in energy savings of 6.36 million units per annum as
well as monetary savings to the municipality of over Rs 4.4 crore.

37. Jharkhand becomes first state to implement Direct Benefit Transfer in Kerosene.
The scheme is being implemented in four identified districts of the State from October 1.
These districts are Chatra, Hazaribagh, Khunti and Jamtara.

Under the DBT Scheme, PDS kerosene is being sold at non-subsidised price and the
subsidy is being transferred to consumers directly into their bank accounts.

This initiative is aimed at rationalising subsidy and plugging the leakages.

38. Tamil Nadu to get first medical park

The Union Cabinet approved setting up of a Medical Devices Manufacturing Park
(Medipark) at Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu through a
special purpose Vehicle.
Keyfeatures:

The project will boost the local manufacturing of hi-end products at a significantly
lower cost, resulting in affordable healthcare delivery to a large section of people.

It will contribute to the development of medical devices and technology sector and
allied disciplines in the country.

HLL will sublease the land to investors, through a transparent bidding process to
investors desirous to set up manufacturing units for Medical equipment and
devices.

It will be developed in phases, spread over seven years for completion.

In the first phase, physical infrastructure will be developed and plots will be leased
from third year onwards : - The land cost to the qualifying entrepreneurs from
Medical Device and Equipment, Manufacturing Industry will be at a subsidized
rate and Knowledge management center will be developed in the second phase,
with grants and assistance from departments, which funds similar initiatives.
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It will reduce the dependence on imports and create a strong base for the growth of
indigenous and domestic industry by providing access to state of art infrastructure
and technology.

For the project , HLL Lifecare Ltd, a Mini Ratna PSU under Union Ministry of Health &
Family Welfare, will sub-lease 330.10 acres of land at Chengalpattu. The shareholding of
HLL in the project will be above 50 percent.
39. Public Debt Management Cell
The Finance Ministry has decided to set up a Public Debt Management Cell
(PDMC) to better manage government's debt management functions.

The cell which will function from the RBI premises will be upgraded to an
independent and statutory debt management agency - Public Debt Management
Agency (PDMA) - in the course of two years.

This interim arrangement will allow separation of debt management functions from
RBI to PDMA in a gradual and seamless manner, without causing market
disruptions.

The transition process from PDMC to PDMA would be implemented by a joint

implementation committee (JIC).

The PDMC will have 15 experts on debt management from budget division of the
Finance Ministry, RBI and other government units.

But it will only have advisory functions to avoid any conflict with the functioning of
RBI.

Its functions will include planning borrowings of the government, management of

central liabilities, monitoring cash balances of the government, advise the Finance
Ministry on external borrowings, etc.

PDMC has also been asked to develop an Integrated Debt Database System as a
centralised database for all liabilities of the government.

The cell would also advise on matters related to capital market operations and
undertake research work, including those relating to new products development.

40. Sports Sector Gets the Infrastructure Status

For addressing the issue of deficit of sports infrastructure in the country, the Ministry of
Finance have decided that sports infrastructure will be included under the Harmonized
Master List of Infrastructure Subsectors so that the sports sector becomes eligible for
obtaining long term financial support from banks and other financial institutions on the
same principle as is available to other infrastructure projects.

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It includes the provision of Sports Stadia and Infrastructure for Academies for
Training / Research in Sports and Sports-related activities.

This inclusion would encourage private investment in a public good which has socioeconomic externalities in a country with young population.

It will also bolster investment in sports infrastructure sector which will contribute to
the economy and help in promotion of health and fitness of the people of this country
as also provide opportunities for employment in the new and exciting sectors.

41. Rs. 114 Crore Under HRIDAY Scheme

The Union Ministry of Urban Development approved Rs.114 crore under Heritage
Infrastructure Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) scheme
projects for enhancing infrastructure facilities in heritage sites in five cities which are
selected with the recommendation from inter-ministerial HRIDAY National Empowered
Committee. These five cities are: Varnasi in Uttar Pradesh, Amritsar in Punjab,
Dwaraka in Gujarat, Puri in Odisha and Warangal in Telangana.

HRIDAY:

HRIDAY was introduced to renew the rich cultural heritage in the country by
creating infrastructural facilities around the heritage sites.

Its main objectives are :- to bring together urban planning, economic growth, and
heritage conservation in heritage cities; promote inclusive, sustainable, and
integrated development of heritage sites, paying attention to the maintenance of
monuments and advancement of entire ecosystem; beautification of heritage cities
with focus on livelihoods, skills, cleanliness, security, safety, accessibility and faster
service delivery; guide conservation, restoration, future use, and development of
heritage cities; provide improved connectivity and access to tourists; and to bind 35
UNESCO recognized natural, cultural and mixed heritage sites into Indias tourism
sector.

42. 64,275 declarants disclose Rs 65,250 crore black money

In the biggest ever black money disclosure, at least Rs 65,250 crore of undisclosed
assets were declared under the Income Disclosure Scheme, 2016 , yielding Rs
29,362 crore in taxes to the government.

Government had offered a one-time chance to holders of income and assets that had
illegally escaped taxes, to come clean by paying a tax and penalty of 45 per cent.

On the declarations compiled so far, the government will get Rs 29,362.5 crore in tax
and penalty. The declarants can pay this amount in two instalments up to
September 30, 2017.
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The additional revenue will help the government meet its fiscal deficit target of 3.5%
for the current financial year.

Last year, under a similar scheme for foreign black money holders, 644 declarations
of undisclosed foreign income and assets were received, and just Rs 2,428 crore was
collected in taxes.

Income Declaration Scheme:

With the objective of "Reducing litigation and providing certainty in taxation", the
Central Government has launched Income Declaration Scheme, 2016, whereby one
time opportunity has been given to all the persons, who have not complied with the
provision of the Income-tax Act whether resident or non-resident so that they would
come forward and take advantage of the scheme and buy peace with the
Government.

The new Scheme is broadly framed on the lines of one-time compliance window
provided under the Black Money Act, 2015.

The Scheme provides immunities under the Income-tax Act, 1961, the Wealth Tax
Act, 1957 and the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988.

INTERNATIONAL
1. Second Joint tactical Exercise held by Indian and Chinese army in Ladakh
As part of the ongoing initiative to enhance interaction and cooperation between India
and China, under the provisions of Border Defense Cooperation Agreement, 2013,
the Indian and Chinese armies held Second Joint Exercise Sino India Cooperation
2016, as a sequel to the first Joint Exercise held on 06 Feb 2016 in the area of Border
Personnel Meeting Hut at Chushul Garrison of Eastern Ladakh, along with Chinese
troops of Moldo Garrison.

During the day long exercise on Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR),
a fictitious situation of earthquake striking an Indian Border village was painted.

The joint exercise, compliments the Hand in Hand series of the India -China joint
exercises and the effort of both the nations to enhance cooperation and maintain
peace and tranquility along the border areas of India and China.

2. The worlds largest marine protected area (MPA) has been established in
Antarcticas Ross Sea

A 1.55 million km2 area of the Ross Sea will have special protection from human
activities such as commercial fishing.

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Declaring an area an MPA means that certain activities are limited or prohibited in
order to meet specific conservation and habitat protection objectives.

Ross Sea is an important area for marine life: it is home to 38 percent of the worlds
population Adelie penguins, 30 percent of the worlds Antarctic petrels and six
percent of the worlds Antarctic minke whales. It is also home to huge numbers of
krill, the staple food for whales and seals and whose oil is critical for salmon
farming.

The new MPA will come into force in December 2017, and under the new rules,
around 72 percent of the Ross Sea will be a no-take zone which forbids all fishing,
while other sections will permit some harvesting of fish and krill for scientific
research.

This monitoring work is essential for assessing the success of the MPA and if it is in
the optimal place to preserve these unique and vulnerable animals.

3. World Banks ease of doing business index - 2017

India has been ranked 130th among the 190 countries in the World Banks ease of
doing business index for the year 2017.

This marginal improvement came on the back of slight improvement in four

indicators - getting electricity, enforcing contracts, trading across borders and
registering property.

The index was released as part of the World Banks annual report Doing Business
2017: Equal Opportunity for All.

This report had revised Indias rank to 131 from earlier 130th for the year 2016.

The World Bank ranks countries on 9 parameters:- Starting a business, Dealing

with construction permits, Getting electricity, Registering property, Getting credit,
Protecting minority shareholders, Paying taxes, Enforcing contracts, Trading across
borders and resolving insolvency, and Ease of Doing Business Index.

4. WEFs Global Gender Gap Report 2016

India has climbed 21 spots to rank 87th on the World Economic Forums Global
Gender Gap Report 2016.

The report measures gender gap as progress towards parity between men and
women in four areas educational attainment, health and survival, economic
opportunity and political empowerment.

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AGREEMENTS
1. Dassault Reliance Aerospace
The Anil Ambani-led Reliance Groups ambitions in the defence equipment space
received a fillip with the announcement of a joint venture, Dassault Reliance
Aerospace Pvt. Ltd, with French-aircraft maker Dassault Aviation SA that is in
line to benefit from a Rs 24,500 crore seven-year offset deal.

The entire offset will be routed through the joint venture in two ways:
1. First, it will spread work to 100-300 micro, small and medium enterprises, creating
a supply chain for the aircraft.
2. The second part will be direct manufacturing at Nagpur of aerostructures (or
components of the aircraft frame), electronics and engine components, and work related
to designing of aircraft and improving its efficiency, manoeuvrability and range over
time.

This is the largest offset contract to be executed by any defence company in India
till date as the contract value is estimated up to Rs. 30,000 crore.

The proposed strategic partnership between Dassault and Reliance will also focus on
promoting research and development projects under the IDDM program
(Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured program).

Background
Last month, India and France signed an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) for 36
Rafale multi-role jets in fly-away condition worth 7.87 billion or about Rs. 59,000 crore.
The deal has a 50 per cent offset clause to be executed by Dassault and its partners in
India.
2. India and Russia
I. India and Russia announced three major deals which include two InterGovernmental Agreements (IGA) for five S-400 Triumf air defence systems and
four stealth frigates and a joint venture to manufacture Kamov-226T helicopters in
India.
S-400 air defence system:

The S-400 is considered one of the most advanced long range missile system in the
world and can tackle all incoming airborne targets at ranges of up to 400 km.

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The deal for five systems will cost over Rs. 39,000 crore and the system be operated
by the Indian Air Force.

China became the first export customer of the S-400 last year when it signed a USD
3 bn deal for six systems.

Additional Frigates:

The deal signed for four improved Krivak or Talwar class stealth frigates is expected
to cost upwards of USD 3 billion.

Under the agreement, two will be built in Russia and the other two in India with
Russian assistance.

India had procured six frigates of the same class in two different batches and has
been very pleased with the performance of the 4,000 tonne frigate, which pack a lot
of firepower in comparison to their size.

Helicopters:

An MoU was signed for a Joint Venture to be set up by Hindustan Aeronautics

Limited (HAL) and Rostec State Corporation of Russia to manufacture
Kamov-226T utility helicopters in India in a deal worth over USD one billion.

Under the agreement, at least 200 helicopters would be produced to replace the
aging and obsolete Cheetah and Chetak fleets of the armed forces.

The Kamov helicopters are capable of operating at heights of 20,000 feet and once
inducted will take over the role of maintaining the forward posts on the Siachen
glacier.

II. India and Russia ink agreement to set up 25 Agro Irradiation Centres

It was signed between Indian Agricultural Association, Hindustan Agro Co-Op Ltd
(HACL) and United Innovation Corporation (UIC), a subsidiary of ROSATOM State
Atomic Energy Corporation of Russia.

As part of it, India-Russia joint venture (JV) will be formed in which HACL will
have the majority 51% stakeholding.

UIC will be a technology partner and will help set up the irradiation centres.

III. Russia has agreed to lease a second Akula-II class nuclear attack submarine
(SSN) to India in a deal which will cost around USD 2 billion.

The lease to transfer a multipurpose Project 971 nuclear submarine to India from
the Russian Navy was signed in Goa on the sidelines of 8th BRICS Summit.

The Indian Navy already operates an Akula 2 class nuclear submarine, INS Chakra
(formerly known as K-152 Nerpa) , which was leased by Russia for 10 years and

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commissioned on April 4, 2012 after India paid for its completion of its construction
and sea-trials.
3. India and Estonia
The Union Cabinet under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has
given its approval for signing and ratification of an Agreement between India and
Estonia on the transfer of sentenced persons.

Signing the Agreement shall facilitate the Indian prisoners imprisoned in Estonia or
vice-versa to be near to their families, for serving remaining part of their sentence
and shall facilitate their social rehabilitation.

Background:

Prior to 2004, there was no domestic Legislation under which foreign prisoners could
be transferred to the country of their origin to serve the remaining part of their
sentence, nor was there a provision for the transfer of prisoners of Indian origin
convicted by a foreign court to serve their sentence in India.

The transfer of such prisoners to their own native countries shall facilitate their
social rehabilitation.

Hence, the Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003 was enacted for serving the above
purpose. For achieving the objectives of the Act, a Treaty/Agreement is required to
be signed with countries having mutual interest with India and later to the notified
in the Official Gazette.

4. CBDT signs 5 Unilateral Advance Pricing Agreements with Indian taxpayers

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) entered into five Unilateral Advance
Pricing Agreements (APAs) with Indian taxpayers.

The agreements cover a range of international transactions, including sale of

finished goods, purchase of raw materials, software development services, IT
enabled services, exports and interest payment.

The agreements provide certainty to the taxpayers for 5 years with regard to the
covered international transactions.

With this signing, the total number of APAs signed so far has reached 108.

These include 4 bilateral APAs and 104 unilateral APAs since 2013-14.

Of these, 44 APAs have been concluded in 7 months of the current Financial Year
itself.

APA Scheme:

The APA Scheme was introduced in the Income-tax Act in 2012 and the Rollback
provisions were introduced in 2014.
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The Scheme endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer

pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and determining the arms length price
of international transactions in advance for a maximum period of five future years.

Further, the taxpayer has the option to roll-back the APA for four preceding years.

Since its inception, the APA scheme has attracted tremendous interest among Multi
National Enterprises (MNEs) and more than 700 applications (both unilateral and
bilateral) have been filed in just four years.

5. EPFO and CSC SPV

To expand the reach of convenience offered to EPF members, Employees Provident
Fund Organisation (EPFO) has joined the network of Common Services Centers (CSC).
An MoU has been signed between EPFO and CSC e-Governance Services India
Limited (CSC SPV) initially for a period of five years.

To start with, the pensioners of Employees Pension Scheme of EPFO can submit
their digital life certificates via Jeevan Pramaan Patra programme through a
large number of points of Presence (PoP) of CSC networking in addition to those
available at EPFO offices.

The pensioners living in remote areas can avoid cost and inconvenience of travelling
down to the EPF offices or their banks for filing paper based life certificate.

It is also planned to enable various other online services namely aadhaar seeding
with Universal Account Number (UAN), e KYC operated upload and update facility,
UAN card related services and online claim related services.

Common Services Centers (CSC) network:

It is one of the largest government approved online service delivery channels in the
world.

CSC are broadband enabled rural service delivery points established by District e
Governance Societies (DeGSs), selected by the State Governments, for aggregating
content and offering relevant Government to Customers (G2C), Business to
Customers (B2C), Business to Business (B2B) and other services.

EPF subscribers may access these services at their convenience from the nearest
CSC network.

6. India and AARDO

The Union Cabinet gave approved the signing of an MoU between India and the
African Asian Rural Development Organisation (AARDO) for capacity building
programmes in the field of rural development.

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The MoU for the triennium 2015-2017 is being signed under which capacity building
programmes for AARDO member countries will be organised every year during the
triennium at various institutions of excellence in India such as National Institute of
Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRD and PR), institutions governed by the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Institute of Management
(IIM) and others.

The duration of each training programme shall be of two to three weeks.

The post graduate diploma in rural development management at the NIRD and PR
under this scheme is for one year.

Background:

It is an autonomous, inter-governmental organisation established in 1962 with the

objective of promoting cooperation among the countries of the African-Asian region
in the direction of eradicating thirst, hunger, illiteracy, disease and poverty in the
region.

India is one of the founder members of AARDO and is the largest contributor in
terms of membership contribution of USD 141,100 apart from contributing by way of
providing 70 fully paid training scholarships for human resource development
programme under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme
(ITEC) to the organisation.

India has also provided a building for housing the AARDO Secretariat in Delhi and
considerable financial assistance is given to AARDO for maintenance of the building.

AARDO currently has 31 countries of the African - Asian Region under its fold.

Since the year 2009, India is continuing to provide an additional contribution of

USD 600,000 to AARDO for each triennium 2009-2011 to expand its scale and scope
of the capacity building programmes of AARDO for the benefit of member countries.

7. India and Singapore

India and Singapore signs three agreements during Singapore Prime Minister Lee
Hsien Loong's Delhi visit.

One MoU was signed between Singapore's Institute of Technical Education (ITE)
Education Services (ITEES) and India's National Skill Development Corporation on
collaboration in technical and vocational education and training.

Another MoU was signed between the Assam government and ITEES Singapore also
on collaboration in technical and vocational education and training.

The third MoU was signed in the field of industrial property cooperation.

8. India and the European Union

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The Union Cabinet gave its approval for the signing of MoU between India and the
European Union in the field of water resources.

The MoU envisages strengthening the technological, scientific and management

capabilities of India and the European Union in the field of water management on
the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit.

It provides for technical exchange on water issues, including on integrated water

resource management plans within river basins and through study visits.

It also aims to identify key environmental issues and approaches to sustainable

development where exchange of experiences and cooperation could be mutually
beneficial to strengthen and further develop cooperation between the countries on
water management.

It also envisions a more sustainable management of water resources in India with

an objective of tackling the challenges posed by water management in the context of
growing population, competing water demands and a changing climate.

9. The Union Cabinet has given its approval for signing of an MoU on General Cooperation
with New Development Bank (NDB) or BRICS Bank and Export Import Bank
of India (EXIM Bank).

The proposal will enhance trade and economic relations among the BRICS countries.

There is no financial implication involved with signing of the MoU.

The MoU is a non-binding umbrella agreement aimed at establishing a cooperation

framework in accordance with the national laws and regulations, besides skills
transfer and knowledge sharing amongst the signatories.

Establishment of the NDB reflects the close relations among the BRICS countries
and provides a powerful instrument for increasing their economic cooperation and
help India play an enhanced international role.

10. India and Myanmar

India and Myanmar signed three agreements to boost the bilateral relations between the
two nations which includes:
1) MoU for designing an academic and professional building programme for insurance
industry of Myanmar. It was signed between Financial Regulatory Department of
Myanmar and Insurance Institute of India.
2) MoU on Cooperation in the field of Power Sector: India has also offered to enhance
power supply from Moreh in Manipur to Tamu in Myanmar.
3) MoU on Banking Supervision between RBI and Central Bank of Myanmar.

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Besides, the two countries also agreed to enhance engagement in several areas like
to develop a mutually beneficial arrangement for trade in pulses.

11. The Union Govt has signed an agreement for $650 million loan agreement with the
World Bank towards the third tranche for construction of the Eastern Dedicated
Freight Corridor (EDFC)-III project designed for faster movement of goods between
northern and eastern parts of India

The objective of the EDFC-III Project is to augment rail transport capacity, improve
service quality and enhance freight carriage throughput on the 401 km LudhianaKhurja section of the EDFC, and develop institutional capacity of the Dedicated
Freight Corridor Corp. to build, maintain and operate the entire DFC network.

EDFC is 1,840 km long and extends from Ludhiana in Punjab to Kolkata in West
Bengal as a series of projects with three sections.

The project will benefit industries of northern and eastern India, which rely on
railway network for transportation of material inputs.

12. India and Bhutan

The Union Cabinet approved an Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit
between India and Bhutan.

The Agreement provides for a free trade regime between two countries.

It also provides for duty free transit of Bhutanese merchandise for trade with third
countries.

The bilateral trade between both countries had grown by 55% year-on-year in FY
2016 to $750 million.

During this period, Indias exports have increased 40.4% to $469 million, while
imports from Bhutan rose 87% to $281 million.

13. India and Switzerland

India and Switzerland signed three agreements which include:
a) Mutual Visa Exemption Agreement for Holders of Diplomatic Passports
b) Technical Arrangements on Identification and Return of Illegal Migrants
c) Arrangement for Dependent Person of Diplomatic, Consular, Technical and
Administrative Staff of Diplomatic and Consular Mission to Perform Gainful
Employment.

India proposed setting up of training facilities for Indian police officers in

Switzerland police academies/other training institutes in the fields of anti-hijacking
and cyber forensic, etc.

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14. India and New Zealand

India signed three agreements with New Zealand on issues pertaining to avoidance of
double taxation, cooperation in the field of youth and sport affair and food
safety cooperation between FSSAI in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

The agreements were signed post their one-on-one meeting at Hyderabad House in
the capital.

New Zealand supports India's membership of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and
promises to work on this constructively.

15. India-South Korea revised DTAA notified

In order to avoid double taxation, India has notified the revised Double Tax
Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) with South Korea under which capital gains tax
will be levied at the source.
Benefits:

It aims to avoid the burden of double taxation for taxpayers of two countries in order
to promote and stimulate flow of investment, technology and services between India
and Korea.

It will provide tax certainty to the residents of India and Korea.

The existing DTAA, which has been in vogue for three decades, provides for
residence-based taxation of capital gains on shares, which means taxes were to be
paid where the investor was a resident.

The revised DTAA provides for source based taxation of capital gains arising from
alienation of shares comprising more than 5% of share capital.

In order to promote cross border flow of investments and technology, the revised
DTAA provides for reduction in withholding tax rates from 15% to 10% on royalties
or fees for technical services and from 15% to 10% on interest income.

The treaty also allows investors to invoke Mutual Agreement Procedure (MAP)
in transfer pricing disputes as well as apply for bilateral Advance Pricing
Agreements (APAs).

It provides for exchange of information, including by financial institutions.

Information exchanged under the revised DTAA can now be used for other law
enforcement purposes with authorization of information supplying country.

To facilitate movement of goods through shipping between two countries and in

accordance with international principle of taxation of shipping income, the revised

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DTAA provides for exclusive residence-based taxation of shipping income from

international traffic.

The reworked DTAA inserted new Article for assistance in collection of taxes
between tax authorities.

It also inserted new Limitation of Benefits Article i.e. anti-abuse provisions to

ensure the benefits of the agreement are availed only by the genuine residents of
both the countries.

Background:
The revised DTAA was signed on May 18, 2015 and was notified on September 12, 2016, on
completion of procedural requirements by both the countries.

SPACE
1. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has started using its new facility
at Challakere in Chitradurga, Karnataka, for Chandrayaan-2 tests[ ground and
aerial].

Chandrayaan-2 is India's second mission to the moon, which is likely to be more

advanced than the earlier Chandrayaan-1 mission.

The Chandrayaan-2 mission will consist of, Orbiter, Lander and Rover:

The Orbiter will orbit the moon with its scientific payloads while the Lander will
land on the moon and deploy the Rover on the surface.

The Orbiter and Rover are expected to perform mineralogical and elemental studies
of the moon's surface.

The Chandrayaan-2 Lander does not use parachutes; the configurations and gravity
issues of the two missions are different.

Chandrayaan-2 will be launched by GSLV.

Currently, the launch date for Chandrayaan-2 mission has been tentatively set for late
2017 or early 2018.
2. India's GSAT-18 Communication Satellite Launched Successfully
India's latest communication satellite GSAT-18 was successfully launched by European
Ariane 5 VA-231 launch Vehicle from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.

The 3404 kg GSAT-18, built by the ISRO aims at providing telecommunications

services for the country by strengthening ISRO's current fleet of 14 operational
telecommunication satellites.

GSAT-18 carries 48 communication transponders in C-band, upper extended C-band

and Ku-band for providing various services to the country.
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GSAT-18 will be positioned at 74 deg East longitude in the geostationary orbit and
will be co-located with the Indian operational geostationary satellites. Later, it is
planned to experimentally turn on the communication payloads of GSAT-18.

GSAT-18 is the 20th satellite from ISRO to be launched by the European space
agency and the mission is the 280th for Arianespace launcher family.

ISRO, which has been dependent on Ariane-5 rocket for carrying its heavier
satellites, is developing GSLV Mk III for this purpose.

3. China successfully launches its longest manned space mission

The mission of the orbiting space lab Tiangong-2 and the Shenzhou-11 manned
spacecraft marks the first time that Chinese astronauts will stay in orbit for medium
term.

The astronauts are expected to stay in the Tiangong-2 lab for 30 days before
returning to Earth.

The main tasks in the space lab will include testing computers, as well as propulsion
and life support systems and other experiments, according to CCTV.

The activities in the lab are intended to help China reach its goal of launching a
more permanent space station, Tianhe-1, in 2018.

TECHNOLOGY
1. EO App
The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) under the Ministry of Personnel,
Public Grievances and Pensions has launched Employees Online (EO) App.

The App aims to update on Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC)

appointments and postings on real time basis and to bring transparency.

It has been developed keeping in mind the spirit of maximum Governance,

minimum Government and meet the need of the hour to bring high-tech systems
in the governance.

Key Features:
1) Enable its users, to stay updated on real time basis with appointments and postings
approved by the ACC and vacancies at senior level in the Central Government.
2) Eliminate the information asymmetry in appointments and postings and will reduce
speculations regarding transfers and postings in the Union Government.
3) Make the system completely transparent as all the relevant orders and notifications
will now be instantly available in the public domain.

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4) Provide personal records like Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APAR),

Immovable Property Return (IPR), Executive Record (ER) sheet to IAS officers on
Pan India basis and officers serving under Central Staffing Scheme.
2. Protein-enriched Rice
Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya (IGKV) in Chhattisgarh developed a
protein-enriched rice variety along with high zinc content.

It has over 10% protein content 3% more than any popular variety and also has 30
PPM (parts per million) zinc content.

This protein rice variety will play a crucial role in addressing issues of protein
deficiencies and it will serve as a boon for malnourished population, especially
children, in tribal-dominated Chhattisgarh.

In May 2015, zinc-enriched was developed by scientists from Indira Gandhi

Agriculture University (IGAU), Raipur called Chhattisgarh Zinc Rice-1, which
was the first zinc fortified rice variety in India.

3. Cyber Security Engagement Centre

US tech giant Microsoft has set up a Cyber Security Engagement Centre (CSEC)
in the Delhi-NCR region that will help it work with partners to identify and respond
to cyber threats in the country.

The India centre, which is the seventh such facility for the company globally, will
function as a satellite to Microsofts Redmond Digital Crimes Unit (DCU).

The CSECs mission is to help build a trusted and secure computing environment, a
critical enabler for Indias digital transformation.

It will work towards fostering deeper cybersecurity collaborations with public and
private sector organisations for this.

The three common IT environment issues plaguing organisations in India are unmanaged/unregulated IT assets usage, poor knowledge of cyber hygiene and
inability to timely monitor, detect and remove cyber threats.

The centre would help the company collaborate with government organisations to
quickly and reactively address cyber threat and cyberattacks.

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ENVIRONMENT
1. Historic Global Greenhouse Gas Emission Agreement Signed in Kigali
Historic global climate deal was reached in Kigali, Rwanda at the 28th Meeting of 197
Nations on the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
(MOP28).
Keyfeatures:
1. The agreement which amends the 1987 Montreal Protocol aims to phase out
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
2. Under this, in all 197 countries, including India have agreed to a timeline to reduce the
use of HFCs by roughly 85% of their baselines by 2045.
3. Helps to prevent a possible 0.5 degree Celsius rise in temperature. This move will
prevent a potential 0.5 degree Celsius rise in global temperature by the end of the
century.
4. The Agreement will be binding on countries from 2019.
5. There will be provisions for penalties for non-compliance.
6. Unlike the 2015 Paris agreement, the Kigali deal is legally binding, has very specific
timetables and has an agreement by rich countries to help poor countries adapt their
technology.
7. All participant countries are divided into 3 groups with different timelines for
reductions of HFCs.
First group: - It includes richest countries such as, US and those in European Union (EU).

They will freeze production and consumption of HFCs by 2018.

They will decrease them to about 15% of 2012 levels by 2036.

Second group: - It includes countries such as, China, Brazil and all of Africa etc.

They will freeze HFC use by 2024.

They will decrease them to about 20% of 2021 levels by 2045.

Third group: - It includes countries like India, Pakistan, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia etc.

They will be freezing HFC use by 2028.

They will be decreasing them to about 15% of 2025 levels by 2047.

2. India ratifies historic Paris climate deal at U.N

India ratified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change on 2nd October by depositing
the instrument of ratification with the United Nations.

The Paris deal is the world's first comprehensive climate agreement.

India is the 62nd country to ratify the agreement.

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The agreement will enter into force one month after 55 countries that account for 55
percent of global emissions ratify the agreement.

With this action by India, which accounts for 4.1 per cent of the emissions, the
Agreement only needs slightly more than 3 percentage points to reach the 55 per
cent threshold.

Under the deal, India has committed to ensuring that at least 40% of its electricity
will be generated from non-fossil sources by 2030.

To meet the national commitment made under the agreement, India has to
implement an array of standards in its energy production and emission monitoring.

India had also linked the ratification of the treaty to its admission to the Nuclear
Suppliers Group.

Highlights of the Agreement:

To keep global temperature increase "well below" 2C and to pursue efforts to limit it
to 1.5C.

To peak greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible and achieve a balance

between sources and sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century.

To review progress every five years.

$100bn a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, with a

commitment to further finance in the future.

Background:
CO2 emissions are believed to be the driving force behind climate change.

Last December in Paris, countries agreed to cut emissions in a bid to keep the global
average rise in temperatures below 2C.

The US and China - together responsible for 40% of the world's carbon emissions both formally joined the Paris global climate agreement earlier this month.

3. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to declare the

Kashmiri Red Stag (Hangul) as a critically endangered species.

Known for its giant antlers bearing 11 to 16 points, Hangul has been hunted over
centuries and its habitat destroyed, leading to its population in the wild plunging to
a mere 150.

It is known to be a subspecies of elk native to India. Mitochondrial DNA genetic

studies have revealed that it is part of the Asian clade of elk.

It is listed under Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and J&K
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1978 and has also been listed among the top 15 species of
high conservation priority by the Government of India.
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This status will help it to get more protection and enhance the conservation efforts
to increase its continuously declining population.

4. All ASI Protected Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites Declared

Polythene Free Zones
Advisory has been issued to all State Governments/UTs to support ASI in keeping
Monuments Polythene Free up to 300 meters from the protected boundaries of the
Monuments.

The Ministry of Culture has sanctioned Rs.350 crores to provide facilities like
Protected Boundaries, Toilets and Disabled Friendly Access in all ASI Protected
Monuments.

ASI has ranked top 25 Adarsh Monuments on the basis of Cleanliness parameters
such as amenities like toilets, green lawns, Polythene Free Zone, signage for
awareness, disabilities access, drinking water and provision for garbage bins etc.

Rani ki Vav (Gujarat) a World Heritage Site has been declared as the cleanest
iconic place in the country.

75 more Adarsh Monuments protected by ASI have been identified to be included in

the Swachh Paryatan Mobile App launched by the Ministry of Tourism.

With this a total of 100 Adarsh Monuments protected by ASI will be included in the
Swachh Paryatan Mobile App. This App was launched in February 2016 and is
monitored by the Project Monitoring Unit of Swachh Bharat Mission in Ministry of
Tourism.

This useful mobile App enables a citizen to take photograph of garbage at the
monument and upload the same along with his/her remarks.

5. New species of Pika discovered

Scientists from Bengalurus National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) announced the
discovery of a new species of Pika, a mammal belonging to the rabbit and hare family (
Lagomorpha ), in the Himalayas in Sikkim.

Pikas are members of the rabbit family and live in the mountains or in temperate
regions.

The common name "pika" is used for any member of the Ochotonidae family.

Pikas do not hibernate unlike other mammalian species inhabiting such cold
climates.

Pikas are a keystone species and ecosystem engineers, and studying their evolution
can shed more light on the Himalayan ecosystem.

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Although the animal looks similar to the Moupin Pika, genetically it is completely
different.

AWARDS
1. Swachh Bharat Short Film Festival
Young filmmaker Katyayan Shivpuri, from Maharashtra, won the first prize at the
Swachh Bharat Short Film Festival for his work Murga.

The short film promoting the idea of clean India had Murga as the metaphor
depicting the victims that citizens have made of themselves and of the children by
not keeping the surroundings clean.

The second prize was shared by filmmakers Sudanshu Sharma, KVK Kumar and
Akshay Danavale for their films Nahna Doot, Chembuku Moodindi (The Dying
Vessel) and Sarkarmi Rati Wadho!, respectively.

2. Sakharov human rights prize

Two Yazidi women - Nadia Murad and Lamiya Aji Bashar who survived sexual
enslavement by Islamic State before escaping and becoming inspirational advocates
for their community in Iraq have won the EUs prestigious Sakharov human rights
prize.

Murad, who won the Council of Europes Vclav Havel human rights prize earlier
this month, was captured in 2014 and was sexually exploited.

Later she addressed the UN security council and became the goodwill ambassador
for the UN office on drugs and crime.

Aji Bashar was used as a sex slave by the militants and forced to make bombs and
suicide vests.

She has been active in raising awareness of the plight of the Yazidi community and
continues to help women and children who were victims of IS enslavement and
atrocities.

Sakharov prize
The annual Sakharov prize for freedom of thought, established in 1988, is named after the
Soviet physicist and outspoken dissident Andrei Sakharov and is awarded to individuals
who have made an exceptional contribution to the fight for human rights across the globe.
It has previously been awarded to the likes of Aung San Suu Kyi and Nelson Mandela.

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3. Prajna Chowta
Film-maker and elephant researcher Prajna Chowta has been appointed Chevalier de
l'Ordre National du Mrite (Knight in the National Order of Merit), one of the
highest civilian recognitions of the French government.

The appointment by the President of the French Republic comes in recognition of a

life devoted to caring for wild Asian elephants."

She is the founder of Aane Mane Foundation, and has also authored the
Elephant Code Book on captive elephant management as well as the French book
Enfant dElephant (Elephants Child) in 2014, which is based on the sketches of
tribals and their relationship with elephants.

4. Man Booker prize

Paul Beatty has become the first American writer to win the Man Booker prize, for a
caustic satire on US racial politics that judges said put him up there with Mark Twain
and Jonathan Swift.

This Los Angeles-born writer won for 'The Sellout', a laugh-out-loud novel whose
main character wants to assert his African American identity by, outrageously and
transgressively, bringing back slavery and segregation.

His other novels are The White Boy Shuffle, Tuff, Slumberland.

5. NOBEL PRIZE 2016

I. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has

been awarded to Yoshinori

Ohsumi for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy, a fundamental process for
degrading and recycling cellular components.

The 1974 Medicine laureate, Christian de Duve, coined the term autophagy
(meaning self eating) in 1963.

By studying the process in yeast cells, Ohsumi identified the main genes involved in
autophagy and showed how the proteins they code for come together to build the
autophagosome membrane.

He later showed that a similar cellular recycling process occurs in human cells - and
that our cells would not survive without it.

What is Autophagy?

Autophagy is the bodys internal recycling programme - scrap cell components

are captured and the useful parts are stripped out to generate energy or build new
cells.

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The process is crucial for preventing cancerous growths, warding off infection and,
by maintaining a healthy metabolism, it helps protect against conditions like
diabetes.

Dysfunctional autophagy has been linked to Parkinsons disease, type 2 diabetes,

cancer and a host of age-related disorders.

II. The Nobel prize in Economics has been awarded to UK-born Oliver Hart and
Bengt Holmstrm of Finland for their work on contract theory, which has covered
a range of issues from public-private partnerships to executive pay.

Their work is a key to understand the real-life contracts and institutions that hold
together modern economies.

The award reflects the pairs role in launching contract theory as a fertile field of
basic research and their subsequent work that had helped lay a foundation for
designing policies and institutions in areas from bankruptcy legislation to political
constitutions.

III. The Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three British physicists David
Thouless, Duncan Haldane and Michael Kosterlitz for revealing the secrets of
exotic matter suitable for quantum computers, new superconductors, and advanced
designer materials.

Working separately, the three laureates conceived a new way to understand the
topology of materials, or the study of shapes that change in increments.

At an atomic level, variations in the structural topology of electrons can yield

materials with properties unknown among the commonplace solids, fluids and gases
of the ordinary world.

Dr. Thouless, explored the behavior of swirling vortexes in superfluids and other
problems related to topological quantum numbers.

Dr. Kosterlitz, sorted out an apparently impossible contradiction between theory and
experiment by explaining the existence of the superfluid state, in which fluids flow
without apparent friction in thin films of helium.

Dr. Haldane, discovered how topology can be used to understand chains of small
magnets found in some materials.

IV. The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to the American singersongwriter, artist and writer Bob Dylan for creating new poetic expressions
within the great American song tradition.

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Mr. Dylan is the first musician to win the award, and his selection is perhaps the
most radical choice in a history stretching back to 1901.

He became the first American to win the literature prize since Beloved author Toni
Morrison in 1993.

He had received 11 Grammy Awards, Golden Globe Award and Academy Award
(Oscar) and in 2008, the singer-songwriter won the Pulitzer Prize for his
contributions to music and American culture.

Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any
country who has, in the words of the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of
literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction".
V. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Sir J.
Fraser Stoddart and Bernard L. Feringa for developing molecular machines.

Molecular machines will most likely be used in the development of new sensors,
materials and energy storage systems.

The first step towards a molecular machine was taken by Jean-Pierre Sauvage in
1983, when he succeeded in linking two ring-shaped molecules together to form a
chain, called a catenane.

The second step was taken by Fraser Stoddart in 1991, when he developed a
rotaxane. Among his developments based on rotaxanes are a molecular lift, a
molecular muscle and a molecule-based computer chip.

Bernard Feringa was the first person to develop a molecular motor; in 1999 he got
a molecular rotor blade to spin continually in the same direction.

Using molecular motors, he has rotated a glass cylinder that is 10,000 times bigger
than the motor and also designed a nanocar.

VI. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Colombian President Juan Manuel
Santos for his efforts to end his country's long-running civil war with FARC rebels.

He is the first Latin American and the second Colombian to win the Nobel prize.

Santos had initiated the negotiations with the guerrilla group Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (FARC).

These negotiations had culminated into a peace agreement between the Colombian
government and the FARC guerrillas.

6. Sir David Cox

Prominent British statistician Sir David Cox has been named the inaugural recipient
of the International Prize in Statistics for survival analysis model.
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He is recognized specifically for his 1972 paper in which he developed the

proportional hazards model that today bears his name.

The Cox Model is widely used in the analysis of survival data and enables
researchers to more easily identify the risks of specific factors for mortality or other
survival outcomes among groups of patients with disparate characteristics.

From disease risk assessment and treatment evaluation to product liability, school
dropout, re-incarceration and AIDS surveillance systems, the Cox Model has been
applied essentially in all fields of science, as well as in engineering.

Successful application of the Cox Model has led to life-changing breakthroughs with farreaching societal effects, some of which include the following:
1. Demonstrating that a major reduction in smoking-related cardiac deaths could be
seen within just one year of smoking cessation, not 10 or more years as previously
thought.
2. Showing the mortality effects of particulate air pollution, a finding that has changed
both industrial practices and air quality regulations worldwide.
3. Identifying risk factors of coronary artery disease and analyzing treatments for lung
cancer, cystic fibrosis, obesity, sleep apnea and septic shock.
7. Kiara Nirghin
The 16-year-old Indian-origin South African teen - Kiara Nirghin has won a
$50,000 scholarship at the annual Google Science Fair in the US for using orange
peel to develop a cheaper "super-absorbent material" that helps soil retain water.

Kiara Nirghin submitted her project titled 'No More Thirsty Crops' aimed at
alleviating the severe drought plaguing South Africa.

Nirghin was successful in creating a low-cost super-absorbent polymer, made out of

waste products found in the juice manufacturing industry, that is biodegradable,
can retain large amounts of water, keep soil moist and improve crop growth without
regular water supplements.

The only resources involved in the creation of the 'orange peel mixture' were
electricity and time, with no special equipment or materials required.

Her discovery has huge financial implications for agriculture, as her creation could
retail at $30 to $60 per metric tonne, as compared to the $2,000 plus costs of SAPs.

Her mixture will help assist farmers in agricultural drought disaster areas, where
food security could increase by 73 per cent.

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8. Prof Udupi Ramachandra Rao

Internationally acclaimed space scientist and former chairman of ISRO, Prof Udupi
Ramachandra Rao, became the first Indian to be inducted into The 2016 IAF Hall
of Fame by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF).

This unique honour was bestowed on Prof Rao for his outstanding contributions to
development of space technology in India and for his relentless efforts towards
sharing the greater benefits of space technology with developing countries and the
world at large.

He had served as Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) from

1984 to 1994.

Under his leadership, India had initiated the development of GSLV and the
development of cryogenic technology in 1991.

Presently, he is the Chairman of Governing Council of the Physical Research

Laboratory at Ahmedabad and also Chancellor of Indian Institute for Space
Science and Technology (IIST) at Thiruvananthapuram.

IAF Hall of Fame:

It consists of a permanent gallery of these personalities, including a citation, biographical
information, and a picture, in a special part of the IAF web presence.
9. Jitu Rai
Ace shooter Jitu Rai has been awarded the 'Champion of Champions' title for
pistol shooting in 2016 by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).

He beat Serbia's Damir Mikec, 29.6 to 28.3 in the Champions Trophy 10m Air Pistol
final held at the TSN Shooting Range in Bologna, Italy..

10. Nayanjot Lahiri

Nayanjot Lahiri, Professor of History at the Ashoka University, has been awarded the
2016 John F. Richards Prize for her book Ashoka in Ancient India.

The book has been critically acclaimed for its riveting account of an emperor who
spoke to his people through his edicts; his victories and loss that left a legacy that
surpassed him.

Lahiri deftly adjudicates between archaeological, textual, and geographical evidence

to offer a dazzling interpretation of a remarkable figure of the ancient world and a
deep history of ancient society.

Her innovative linking of archaeology and biography recasts our understanding of

historical methods and ancient worlds alike.

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APPOINTMENTS
1. Kersti Kaljulaid
Estonias Kersti Kaljulaid, a non-aligned EU auditor and trained biologist, was
sworn in as the first female President of the tech-savvy Baltic state.

Kaljulaid, a former EU budget auditor, received 81 votes in the election for the fiveyear presidential term, well above the two-thirds majority of 68 required.

2. M.S. Sahoo
Moving to put in place a bankruptcy framework in India,

M.S. Sahoo has been

appointed as the Chairperson of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India.

Sahoo is currently a member at anti-trust regulator Competition Commission of

India and was earlier a member at capital markets regulator Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016:

It was enacted earlier this year, paving the way for India to have a new bankruptcy
law that will ensure time-bound settlement of insolvency, enable faster turnaround
of businesses and create a database of serial defaulters.

The new code replaced existing bankruptcy laws and covers individuals, companies,
limited liability partnerships and partnership firms.

It will amend laws including the Companies Act to become the overarching
legislation to deal with corporate insolvency.

It will also help creditors recover loans faster.

3. Sushil Chandra
The Government has appointed Indian Revenue Service Officer Sushil Chandra
as the next Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
Central Board of Direct Taxes:

It is a statutory authority functioning under the Central Board of Revenue Act,

1963.

The officials of the Board in their ex-officio capacity also function as a Division of the
Ministry dealing with matters relating to levy and collection of direct taxes.

It is headed by a Chairman and can have a maximum of six members.

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4. Sunil Bharti Mittal

The global mobile operators' body, GSMA has elected Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder
and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, as its Chairman for the two-year period from
January 2017 to December 2018.

GSMA Chairman Jon Fredrik Baksaas will step down from the board at the end of
2016, after holding this position for the past three years.

As GSMA Chairman, Mittal will oversee the strategic direction of the organisation,
which represents nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than
300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem.

The first Indian to be elected chairman of the prestigious global telecom industry
board, Mittal took over as Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC) early this year.

The GSMA board has 26 members, including 25 operator representatives from the
worlds largest operator groups as well as smaller, independent operators with
global representation.

5. Ajay Kumar Bhalla

Senior IAS officer Ajay Kumar Bhalla was appointed as the Director General of
Foreign Trade (DGFT).

The DGFT is entrusted with responsibilities for formulating and implementing the
foreign trade policy with the main objective of promoting India's exports.

6. Antonio Guterres
Antonio Guterres was appointed as the ninth Secretary-General of the United
Nations by the General Assembly.

Mr. Guterres, who was Prime Minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002, and the U.N.
High Commissioner for Refugees from June 2005 to December 2015, will assume his
new role on January 1, 2017 for a five-year term that can be renewed by member
states for an additional five years.

DAYS
1.

October 1

: International Day of Older Persons, World Vegetarian Day.

2.

October 2

: Gandhi Jayanthi, International Day of Non-Violence.

3.

October 3

: World Nature Day & World Habitat Day.

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Theme

: Housing at the Centre.

4.

October 4

: World Animal Day.

5.

October 5

: World Teachers Day.

6.

October 8

: Indian Air force Day.

7.

October 9

: World Post Day.

Theme

: Innovation, Integration and Inclusion.

October 10

: World Mental Health Day.

Theme

: Psychological First Aid.

October 11

: International Girl Child Day.

Theme

: Girls Progress = Goals Progress: What Counts for Girls.

8.

9.

10. October 12

: World Arthritis Day.

11. October 13

: International Day for Disaster Reduction.

Theme

: Live to Tell: Raising Awareness, Reducing Mortality.

12. October 14

: World Standards Day.

13. October 15

: World Students Day.

14. October 16

: World Food day

Theme

: Climate is changing. Food and agriculture must too.

15. October 17

: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

16. October 20

: World Statistics Day.

17. October 24

: United Nations Day.

18. October 28

: National Ayurveda Day.

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Theme
19. October 31

: Ayurveda for Prevention and Control of Diabetes.

: National Unity day [Rashtriya Ekta Diwas - Sardar Vallabhai
Patel's Birth Anniversary].

Theme
20. October 31
Theme

: Integration of India.
: World Cities Day.
: Inclusive Cities, Shared Development.

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