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Hyperloop June 2018
HYPERLOOP
JUNE 2018
CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR ESE 2019
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Contents
1. NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ISSUES ............................................................................................ 7
1.1 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT............................................................................................................ 7
Centralised Authority for Advance Rulings ......................................................................................... 7
Methanol Economy .............................................................................................................................. 7
Monetary Policy Tools.......................................................................................................................... 8
Co-op banks can become small finance banks .................................................................................... 9
Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes ........................................................................................ 10
Low recoveries of NPAs ...................................................................................................................... 10
Public Sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency ........................................................................................ 11
MCLR and base rate merger ............................................................................................................... 11
Annual Meeting of AIIB ...................................................................................................................... 11
SEBI set to open commodities to MFs ............................................................................................... 12
1.2 INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................................ 13
Mandatory pre-litigation mediation in commercial disputes .......................................................... 13
Krishi Kalyan Abhiyan......................................................................................................................... 14
JANAUSHADHI SUVIDHA .................................................................................................................... 14
Consortium to help women entrepreneurs....................................................................................... 15
Draft Pesticides Management Bill ..................................................................................................... 15
New technology for shrimp feed ....................................................................................................... 16
Solar Charkha Mission ........................................................................................................................ 16
The new National Auto Policy............................................................................................................ 16
National Strategy for Standardization ............................................................................................... 17
Water aerodromes ............................................................................................................................. 17
The Kaleshwaram project .................................................................................................................. 17
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ....................................................................... 18
Sagarmala receives Gold Award ........................................................................................................ 19
1.3 SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................................ 20
SATH program..................................................................................................................................... 20
Cauvery Water Management Authority ............................................................................................ 20
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana ............................................................................................................ 20
Benefits:
● Adopting Methanol in this scale would bring down pollution in the country
by more than 40%.
● Methanol is a clean burning drop in fuel.
● Because it requires minimal infrastructure modifications and capital and
can replace both petrol & diesel in transportation & LPG, Wood, Kerosene
in cooking fuel.
● Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country (Reserve Bank
of India in case of India) lends money to commercial banks in the event of
any shortfall of funds.
● Repo rate is used by monetary authorities to control inflation.
Reverse Repo Rate:
● Reverse repo rate is the rate at which the central bank of a country
(Reserve Bank of India in case of India) borrows money from commercial
banks within the country.
● It is a monetary policy instrument which can be used to control the money
supply in the country.
Marginal Standing Facility (MSF):
● Marginal standing facility (MSF) is a window for banks to borrow from the
Reserve Bank of India in an emergency situation when inter-bank liquidity
dries up completely.
● Banks borrow from the central bank by pledging government securities at a
rate higher than the repo rate under liquidity adjustment facility
Statutory Liquidity Ratio:
● The ratio of liquid assets to net demand and time liabilities (NDTL) is called
statutory liquidity ratio (SLR).
● Apart from Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR), banks have to maintain a stipulated
proportion of their net demand and time liabilities in the form of liquid
assets like cash, gold and unencumbered securities.
● Treasury bills, dated securities issued under market borrowing programme
and market stabilisation schemes (MSS), etc also form part of the SLR.
● Banks have to report to the RBI every alternate Friday their SLR
maintenance, and pay penalties for failing to maintain SLR as mandated.
Cash Reserve Ratio:
Inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is
rising and, consequently, the purchasing power of currency is falling
About UCB:
• Banks with a small finance bank license can provide basic banking service of
acceptance of deposits and lending.
• The aim is to provide financial inclusion to sections of the economy not
being served by other banks, such as small business units, small and
marginal farmers, micro and small industries and unorganized sector
entities
● Base rate is the minimum rate set by the Reserve Bank of India below which
banks are not allowed to lend to its customers.
● Base rate is decided in order to enhance transparency in the credit market.
About MCLR:
● Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR) is the minimum interest
rate, below which a bank is not permitted to lend, barring a few exceptional
cases as permitted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
● MCLR is more sensitive to policy rate signals
● It has been decided to link the base rate to the MCLR.
● MCLR replaced the existing base rate system from 1 April 2016
Annual Meeting of AIIB
The third annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) held
in Mumbai.
● The theme for this year’s meeting is “Mobilizing Finance for Infrastructure:
Innovation and Collaboration.”
● Aims ideas for a sound infrastructure investment.
● The meeting will launch the inaugural Asian Infrastructure Forum
Infrastructure
● Infrastructure can include a variety of systems and structures as long as
there are physical components required.
● Soft infrastructure: These types of infrastructure makeup institutions that
help maintain the economy. Examples include the healthcare system,
financial institutions, governmental systems, law enforcement and
education systems.
● Hard Infrastructure: These make up the physical systems that make it
necessary to run a modern, industrialized nation. Examples include roads,
highways, bridges, as well as the capital/assets needed to make them
operational (transit buses, vehicles, oil rigs/refineries).
● Critical Infrastructure: These are assets defined by a government as being
essential to the functioning of a society and economy, such as facilities for
shelter and heating, telecommunication, public health, agriculture, etc.
SEBI set to open commodities to MFs
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) as the next set of reforms in the
commodity market plans to allow mutual funds to participate in the commodity
market.
Commodity market
Derivatives
Physical settlement:
Commercial disputes:
● The person filing the suit should exhaust the remedy of pre-litigation
mediation before filing in the court.
● Any settlement arrived at through mediation will have the status of an
arbitral award on agreed terms and be enforceable like a decree of court.
● The process is managed by a neutral person called the mediator but has no
authority to impose a settlement.
● The participation of the disputants is voluntary.
● The discussions are confidential.
Krishi Kalyan Abhiyan
The Krishi kalyan Abhiyaan runs from 1st June, 2018 till 31st July, 2018 so as to aid,
assist and advice farmers on how to improve their farming techniques and raise
their incomes.
Objectives:
Nutrifloc
INSS:
Water aerodromes
Water aerodromes, where amphibian planes can land and takeoff, are likely to be
a reality soon, with aviation regulator DGCA(Directorate General of Civil Aviation)
issuing licensing norms for setting up such facilities.
● Water aerodromes will help pave the way for operations of seaplanes,
which are also known as amphibian aircraft
● Water bodies can be coastal/ river/ canal as well as terrestrial
The Kaleshwaram project
The country’s biggest irrigation project, the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, in
Telangana will start receiving water from the Godavari River.
● The project had to be built at such a size and scale because while the
Godavari flows at 100 metres above mean sea level (MSL), Telangana
region is located at 300 to 650 metres above MSL.
● The first time in the world an irrigation project is using 139 MW pumps to
lift huge volume of 2 TMC of water.
National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
● The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), India is a
quasi-judicial commission in India which was set up in 1988 under the
Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
● Its head office is in New Delhi.
● The commission is headed by a sitting or retired judge of the Supreme
Court of India along with eight members.
● It provides for a 3-tier structure of the National and State Commissions and
District Forums for speedy resolution of consumer disputes.
● Called the District Forums, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commissions and the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
respectively.
● The provisions of this Act cover ‘goods’ as well as ‘services’.
Sagarmala receives Gold Award
The Ministry of Shipping’s flagship programme for port-led-prosperity ‘Sagarmala’
received the ‘Gold Award’ in infrastructure sector in the recently concluded 52nd
Skoch Summit 2018 in New Delhi.
Skoch Awards:
● The authority will decide the sharing of the river water between Karnataka,
Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry.
● The chairman of the authority will be appointed by the Central
government.
● Four part-time members are nominated by the party State governments
and Union territory administration respectively.
Mandate
● The size of houses built have been increased to 25 square metre from 20
square metres.
● The financial assistance for the scheme has also been enhanced upto Rs.
1,25,000.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) PMAY(U):
● Intended beneficiaries of scheme are Poor people (BPL) and People living
under Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and LIG (Low income Group)
and MIG (middle income Group)categories.
● Provides central assistance to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and other
implementing agencies for:
a) In-situ Rehabilitation of existing slum dwellers using land as a
resource through private participation
b) Credit Linked Subsidy
c) Affordable Housing in Partnership
d) Subsidy for Beneficiary-led individual house
construction/enhancement.
● Credit linked subsidy component will be implemented as a Central Sector
Scheme while other three components will be implemented as Centrally
Sponsored Scheme
● Use of innovative and fast-track construction technology has been adopted
in a big way under the scheme.
● The progress of the houses on the ground has been monitored through
geo-tagging using space technology.
● The Ministry has further rolled out eight models of Public-Private
Partnerships for Affordable Housing.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Gramin:
which provides for free transport and care for pregnant women have also
contributed to the success.
QS World Best Universities Ranking 2019
24 universities feature from India, of which 7 improve their rank, 9 remain stable
and 5 are newly-ranked.
Highlights:
SHGs
● The SHGs are a perfect example of how livelihoods of households can
transform through a collective approach.
● The SHG has contributed to several community level activities for the
common good.
● These include awareness promotion for constructing household toilets,
environmental sanitation, liquid waste management and support for
maintenance of village commons.
New Swachh Iconic Places
Ten new heritage sites of the country are declared as Swachh Iconic Places.
● The joint secretary level positions are normally filled by career bureaucrats,
who join the service after passing UPSC exam.
● This is the first move towards implementing the idea of lateral entry.
● The lateral entry candidates would bring in a vast number of fresh and
vibrant ideas.
● It may affect the regular selection candidates through entrance exam and
promotions
World Hindi Conference
The 11th World Hindi Conference is in Mauritius. The World Hindi Secretariat
(WHS) supported by India is located in Mauritius.
Objectives:
Steps Taken:
● For certification, all countries in the WHO Region need to have no case of
wild polio for 3 consecutive years in presence of high quality AFP(acute
flaccid paralysis) surveillance systems.
● No single country can be certified as polio-free. WHO regions as a whole
are certified as polio-free.
● There are certification of polio eradication at the country level.
● Three regions (Americas, 1994; Western Pacific, 2000; Europe, 2002) have
already been certified as polio-free.
The Bill:
Vision
● The city award is being given to Surat for showing great momentum in
implementation of projects.
The Innovative Idea award:
● The Project awards are being given to most innovative and successful
projects in seven categories that have been completed by April 1, 2018.
About Smart cities:
● The World Bank has supported PMGSY since its inception in 2004
● The additional finance will bring a new shift in construction technology
using green and low carbon designs and climate resilient construction
techniques
About Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana:
Li-Ion batteries have applications in Energy Storage System – from hearing aid to
container sized batteries to power a cluster of villages, Electric Vehicles (2-
wheeler, 3-wheeler, 4-wheeler and Bus.
ISRO invites multiple qualified companies or startups to use its power storage
technology to produce a range of Li ion cells for many purposes, mainly EVs or
electric vehicles.
● The conference will be a forum for discussing key physics and technology
issues.
● The conference will address emerging challenges faced by fusion energy
community - technological feasibility of fusion power plants and the
economic considerations related to the introduction of fusion energy.
About International Atomic Energy Agency:
● Widely known as the world’s “Atoms for Peace” organization within the
United Nations family, the IAEA is the international centre for cooperation
in the nuclear field.
Artificial leaf that creates biofuel
IISc scholars have developed an artificial ‘leaf’ that’ll help reduce carbon footprint
and create biofuel.
Key findings:
● The term "band gap" refers to the energy difference between the top of the
valence band and the bottom of the conduction band.
● Wide-band gap semiconductors (WBG or WBGS) have a relatively large
band gap compared to typical semiconductors.
3+ carbon neutrality
The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has set itself an ambitious
target of running Airport completely on solar power by 2020.
● The offshore wind turbines are of much larger dimensions and capacities
than onshore turbines.
● Globally there has been installation of about 17 to 18 GW of off-shore wind
power led by countries such as UK, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands &
China.
Smart electricity meters
Under the Uday scheme old meters are being replaced with new smart meters. It
was done in district Panipat as a pilot project.
● Russia is the latest country to begin supplying long-term LNG to India after
US, Australia and Qatar.
● India imports 45% of the total amount of natural gas it consumes.
2.2 ENVIRONMENT
Groundwater recharge
Intensity of rainfall determines the ground water recharge.
● The Western Ghats and the Himalayas are home to most of the plant and
animal discoveries.
● Among the States, Kerala recorded the highest number of discoveries.
● Tamil Nadu and West Bengal follows.
Nitrogen emissions going up
Nitrogen particles make up the largest fraction of PM2.5, the class of pollutants
closely linked to cardiovascular and respiratory illness.
● According to the model, the cold pool was obstructed by the Eastern Ghats
from flowing downward.
● Hence it piled up and remained stationary over the Chennai region
Severe uranium contamination in India’s groundwater
Scientists have found widespread uranium contamination in groundwater from
aquifers across 16 states in India, much above the WHO provisional standard for
the country.
The Standards
Single-use plastics, or disposable plastics, are used only once before they are
thrown away or recycled.
The Index:
● The priority areas identified under the scheme fall in the states of Gujarat,
Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh.
● They also cover two major types of groundwater systems found in India -
alluvial and hard rock aquifers.
The Ken- Betwa river interlink project
The Ken- Betwa river interlink project is accorded clearance by the National
Wildlife Board.
About Project:
● It is India’s first river interlinking project that will connect Ken river in
Madhya Pradesh with the Betwa in Uttar Pradesh.
● To transfer surplus river water to dry and arid areas of Bundelkhand region.
● Provide drinking water
● It will generate 78 megawatt of power.
Drone Surveillance
The Gurugram forest department on Saturday completed the drone mapping of
two villages in the first phase to check encroachment or illegal activities in the
Aravallis.
● The discussions were on the outcome for COP 24 and its main deliverables.
● Key matters of the Paris Agreement Work Programme
About MoCA
The Plan:
● Ban the manufacture, use, transport, distribution, wholesale and retail sale,
storage and import of plastic bags.
● The ban also covers disposable products, made from plastic and thermocol
(polystyrene), such as single-use disposable dishes, cups, plates etc.
● The ban is not applicable to PET bottles.
● Plastic manufactured for export in SEZs and plastic to wrap the material at
the manufacturing stage are excluded from the ban.
● The ban is applicable to manufacturers and consumers as well as the chain
in between, which includes shops, hawkers, vendors and offices.
Rhino habitat under threat
The rampant mining, quarrying and stone crushing activities are threatening the
ecology of the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape.
The Threat:
● The stone mining/quarrying and stone crushers are responsible for the
destruction of wildlife corridors and wildlife habitat.
● They are also responsible for drying up and siltation of several natural
streams and rivulets
Mycorrhizae
Effects of pollution:
● High levels of the nutrition elements like nitrogen and phosphorus in the
mycorrhizae changes them to act as pollutants rather than as nutrients
● The signs of malnutrition can be seen in the form of discoloured leaves and
excessive falling of leaves
● Ecosystem changes can determine which species of mycorrhizae fungi
would be present and their numbers.
The Caribbean reef (The Mesoamerican Reef) under recovery
The reef
● Second largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef in Australia
● A popular spot with divers
● One of the largest ecosystems in the Atlantic.
● The portion 380 kilometers in the waters off Belize is covered by World
Heritage status.
● Was placed on endangered status in 2009 because of Belize’s plans to allow
oil exploration nearby and the general lack of laws to protect the site
Present Status
Heliosphere
● Cosmic rays created locally and from the galaxy and likely play a role in the
presence of life itself in the universe.
Indigenous device to track-and-kill enemy drones
Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has developed a ground-based
system
AI may be a useful tool for faster, easier diagnosis of skin cancer, allowing surgical
removal before it spreads.
Highlights:
Aadhar Act
● Under Aadhaar Act, the biometrics data collected by UIDAI can be used
only for the purpose of generating Aadhaar and for authentication of
identity of the Aadhaar holders and cannot be used for any other purpose.
● Section 33 of the Aadhaar Act permits use of or access to Aadhaar
biometric data in cases involving national security only after pre-
authorisation by an oversight committee headed by the cabinet secretary.
About UIDAI:
About UNOOSA:
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) works to
● India ranked eighth globally in the list of Web Application Attack source
countries.
● Bot-based credential abuse targets the hospitality industry
● Credential abuse is the deliberate theft and use of stolen username and
password to access sensitive or high-value data for personal gain,
espionage, or other malicious intent.
● Threats include advanced DDoS attacks
● Denial-of-service attack is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks
to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended
users
4. KEY GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES
Support to Training and Employment Programme for Women (STEP)
● It is a Central Sector Scheme that aims to provide skills that give
employability to women and to provide competencies and skill that enable
women to become self-employed/entrepreneurs.
● The Scheme is intended to benefit women who are in the age group of 16
years and above across the country.
SHe-box Portal
● It comprises of five schemes, namely - (1) Indira Gandhi National Old Age
Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), (2) Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension
Scheme (IGNWPS), (3) Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme
(IGNDPS), (4) National Family Benefit Scheme NFBS) and (5) Annapurna.
UDAAN (Giving Wings to Girl Students)
● This project aims at addressing the lower enrollment of girls in engineering
colleges/IITs and technological institutions.
● It involves training 1000 selected girl students to compete for admission at
premier Engineering colleges in India by providing course in an online and
offline format.
● Another scheme of the same name is implemented by Ministry of Human
Resource Development.
SANKALP and STRIVE
● Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness for Livelihood Promotion
(SANKALP) aimed at providing market relevant training to youths across the
country.
● Skill Strengthening for Industrial Value Enhancement (STRIVE) aimed at
improving the quality and the market relevance of vocational training
provided in ITIs.
● The project will also strengthen the apprenticeship programme
● Both Schemes are under the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship and supported by World Bank loan assistance.
● The two schemes will help in setting up national body for vocational
education – Vocational Education and Training (VET).
● SANKALP is a centrally sponsored scheme and STRIVE is a central sector
scheme
Mission Parivar Vikas
● The aim of the mission is to accelerate access to high quality family
planning
● It will focus on 146 high fertility districts in 7 states with high TFR (Total
Fertility Rate).
Sudoor Drishti:
● It is a project launched by the Indian Bureau of Mines in collaboration with
National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) and Department of Space for
monitoring of Mining activity through satellite.
● Bhuvan-based services will be used for the monitoring of periodic changes
of the mining areas
● A mobile app for field data collection to verify the ground realities.
TAMRA:
● Transparency, Auction Monitoring and Resource Augementation (TAMRA)
is a web portal and mobile application, to streamline the process of various
statutory clearances required for mining operations.
● It will display block-wise, state-wise and mineral-wise information of the
blocks to be auctioned.
Portal PENCIL
● PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for No Child Labour) is an
electronic platform by the Labour Ministry.
● For enforcement of the legislative provisions of National Child Labour Policy
(NCLP).
● This online portal aims to connect the Centre to the state government,
district and to all project societies for effective implementation of NCLP.
● The portal has a component of child tracking system.
Jeevan Pramaan
● It is an AADHAR Biometric Authentication based digital life certificates for
Pensioners.
● It will do away with the requirement of a pensioner having to submit a
physical Life Certificate every year.
Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS)
● It is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the National e-Governance Plan.
● A nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state-of-
the-art tracking system around ―investigation of crime and detection of
criminals
● To automate police functions at police Station and higher levels.
● It will also create facilities and mechanism to provide public services like
registration of online complaints, ascertaining the status of case registered
at the police station, verification of persons etc
LPG PANCHAYAT
● Union Petroleum Ministry has launched LPG Panchayat, aimed at
encouraging rural communities to turn to clean fuel.
● It created an interactive platform to discuss safe and sustainable usage of
LPG, its benefits and linkages between using clean fuel and empowering
women.
MERIT Portal
● MERIT - Merit Order Despatch of Electricity for Rejuvenation of Income and
Transparency
● The portal has been developed by Ministry of Power in association with
POSOCO and Central Electricity Authority.
● Information available in the Portal shall help State Discoms to optimize
their power procurement in more efficient way leading to lower cost of
power to consumers.
Mobile Applications launched by Ministry of Power:
● Grameen Vidyutikaran (GARV) app to help citizens track rural
electrification under DDUGJY.
● Vidyut Pravah app to provide real time information of electricity price and
availability
● URJA (Urban Jyoti Abhiyaan) app for Urban Power Distribution Sector to
enhance Consumer Connect, Project Monitoring of projects and providing
information on the monthly performance on parameters like Consumer
complaints redressal, Release of New service connection etc.
● E-Tarang app to monitor the real time status of Transmission System
● E-Trans app to help in better price discovery in respect of Inter State
Transmission projects.
Central sector schemes and Centrally Sponsored Scheme
● Central sector schemes are 100% funded by the Union government and
implemented by the Central Government machinery.
● Central sector schemes are mainly formulated on subjects from the Union
List.
● In Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) a certain percentage of the funding is
borne by the States and the implementation is by the State Governments
● Centrally Sponsored Schemes are formulated in subjects from the State List
to encourage States to prioritise in areas that require more attention.
5. GENERAL KNOWLEDGE
Nuclear-capable Agni-5
Long-range ballistic missile Agni-5 was successfully test fired off Odisha coast
proving its reliability.
● Measured the mass of the planet using the indigenously designed PRL
Advance Radial-velocity Abu-sky Search or PARAS spectrograph
● The spectrograph is the first of its kind in the country.
● The planet will be known as EPIC 211945201b or K2-236b.
● This discovery is very important for understanding the formation
mechanism of such super-Neptune or sub-Saturn kind of planets.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
India and Pakistan are making their maiden appearance as full members of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Highlights: