arts and culture - civilserviceindia...nearly 25 years before the jallianwallah bagh massacre...
TRANSCRIPT
1
www.civilserviceindia.com
Arts and Culture
Patharughat Uprising in Assam:
Nearly 25 years before the Jallianwallah
Bagh massacre (1919), more than a hundred
peasants fell to the bullets of the British on
January 28, 1894 in Patharighat, previously
known as Patharughat in Assam.
Nearly 25 years before the Jallianwallah
Bagh massacre (1919), more than a hundred
peasants fell to the bullets of the British.
These unarmed peasants were protesting in
Patharughat against the increase in land
revenue levied by the colonial
administration, when the military opened
fire.
After the British annexation of Assam in
1826, surveys of the vast lands of the state
began. On the basis of such surveys, the
British began to impose land taxes. In 1893,
the British government decided to increase
agricultural land tax reportedly by 70-80%
much to the resentment of the farmers.
Previously the peasants would pay taxes in
kind or provide a service in lieu of cash.
As a result, peasants began protesting the
British move of increasing taxes by
organising Raij Mels, or peaceful peoples’
conventions across Assam.
The British authorities began to view the
peasant protests and gatherings as grounds
for sedition.
On 28 January 1894, when the British
officers were refusing to listen to the
farmers’ grievances, things heated up and
there was a lathi charge, followed by an
open firing which killed around 140
peasants (according to unofficial sources)
who were gathered at Patharughat, a small
village nearly 60km northeast of Guwahati.
Patharighat is known as Assam's
Jallianwala Bagh. Since 2000, the army has
been paying homage to the martyrs in full
military honour on 29 January every year
and has also set up martyrs' column in
memory of those killed.
Every year the, on 28 January the
government and local people pay respects
to the martyrs of the incident. This day is
observed as Krishak Swahid Diwas.
Recently, Assam chief Minister Sarbananda
Sonowal on January 28, 2021 attended the
Krishak Swahid Diwas where he offered
floral tributes to farmer martyrs of the
historic Patharughat uprising. On the
occasion, the chief minister felicitated
progressive farmers of the state for their
contribution to the agricultural sector.
Assam CM also inaugurated an Integrated
Training and Skill Development Centre for
the farmers near the site that will be
equipped to teach farmers new skills and
technology.
Assam: Assam is a state in northeastern
India known for its wildlife, archeological
sites and tea plantations. It is situated
south of the eastern Himalayas along the
Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys.
Assam is known for Assam tea and Assam
2
www.civilserviceindia.com
silk. The state was the first site for oil
drilling in Asia. Its capital is Dispur. The
current Governor and the Chief Minister of
Assam are Professor Jagdish Mukhi and
Sarbananda Sonowal respectively.
Jail Tourism of Maharashtra:
The Prison Department of Maharashtra
launched its jail tourism initiative, starting
with more than 150-year-old Yerawada
Central Prison in Pune. The jail tourism
initiative was inaugurated by Maharashtra
Chief Minister Uddhav Balasaheb
Thackeray on January 26, 2021 on the
occasion of 72nd Republic Day.
The initiative was launched in a move to
help students learn about historical
experiences.
Yerawada Jail: Yerawada jail was
constructed in 1866, and is the largest jail
in Maharashtra. It is one of the largest
maximum security prisons in the country.
This 150 years old jail is where several
freedom fighters, including Mahatma
Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini
Naidu, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Lokmanya
Tilak and Subhas Chandra Bose were
imprisoned.
Historical Significance: Mahatma Gandhi
was imprisoned at Yerawada jail three
times — from March 1922 to February 1924,
from January 1932 to May 1933, and for
three days in August 1933. The cell where
Mahatma Gandhi was lodged is called the
Gandhi Yard. The historic Poona Pact
between Gandhi and Dr Babasaheb
Ambedkar was signed within the premises.
The visitors will also get to see the faasi
yard, the area where the death sentence is
executed.
Faasi yard is the place where Chapekar
brothers were executed in 1899 for the
assassination of British Plague
Commissioner of Pune WC Rand.
The last execution that the faasi yard
witnessed was in November 2012 of Ajmal
Kasab, a convict of 26/11 attacks, who was
buried inside the prison premises.
Note: There are 16 functioning prisons in
Maharashtra.
They were built in the 19th century.
The oldest jail is the Byculla District
Prison in Mumbai which started in 1840.
Maharashtra: Maharashtra is a state in the
western peninsular region of India
occupying a substantial portion of the
Deccan Plateau.
It was formed on 1 May 1960 by merging
the western and south-western parts of the
Bombay State, Berar and Vidarbha, and the
north-western parts of the Hyderabad State
and splitting Saurashtra (in present-day
Gujarat) by the States Reorganisation Act.
Its capital is Mumbai. The Chief Minister
and the Governor of Maharashtra are
Uddhav Thackeray and Bhagat Singh
Koshyari respectively.
It is famous for its caves and rock-cut
architecture as in Ajanta Ellora Caves that
is also one of the UNESCO as World
Heritage Site.
3
www.civilserviceindia.com
Bharat Parv 2021:
The Bharat Parv 2021, a festival to
celebrate the spirit of India was recently
organized from 26th January till 31st of
January.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla inaugurated
‘Bharat Parv-2021’ organised by the
Ministry of Tourism. The festival was
organized on a virtual platform
www.bharatparv2021.com. due to the
ongoing circumstances created by the
COVID-19 pandemic, this year.
It is being organized with the overall theme
focusing on the Aatmanirbhar Bharat and
Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat.
Ministry of Tourism reserved three virtual
pavilions, Dekho Apna Desh, Statue of
Unity, and Incredible India.
In addition to that, the Bharat Parv 2021
showcased other pavilions, including
Central Ministries, State themed pavilions,
food festival/studio kitchen from various
states and UTs, handicrafts, handlooms,
folk performances, performances by
cultural troupes from different states and
Union Territories, etc.
Background: Bharat Parv is a festival to
celebrate spirit of India. This event is being
celebrated as part of Republic Day
celebrations since 2016.
The mega event is organized with an aim
to generate patriotic fervour and showcase
the rich and varied cultural diversity of the
country.
The event is organized in front of the
ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of
Republic Day Celebrations.
The handicrafts, music, dance, handlooms,
paintings, literary material and other
features from across the country are
showcased at the event.
It is organized by the Ministry of Tourism
in collaboration with other ministries such
as Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Ayush,
media units of I & B Ministry, Ministry of
Railways, Ministry of Consumer Affairs,
Archaeological Survey of India, Lalit Kala
Academy, National Museum, National
Gallery of Modern Arts, Khadi & Village
Industries Commission.
Kala Utsav 2020:
The Ministry of Education recently
organized the Kala Utsav 2020 annual
event to promote the development of arts
in education.
At the event, the Union education minister
Ramesh Pokhriyal addressed the
valedictory function of Kala Utsav on
January 28, and lauded the introduction of
indigenous toys and games for promoting
the ‘vocal for local’ initiative.
Background: Kala Utsav is an initiative of
the Ministry of Education (MoE) to
4
www.civilserviceindia.com
Defence
National
50 New Kendriya
promote the development of arts in
education.
Kala Utsav 2020 was launched online on 10
January 2021 through a digital platform.
The Indigenous Toys and Games segment
was introduced in Kala Utsav 2020.
It keeps pace with the recommendations of
the National Education Policy 2020, which
emphasizes the promotion of art and
culture through education.
Kala Utsav National Competition was
launched in 2015.
The programme was initiated by Rashtriya
Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and
has now been merged with other schemes
under the "Samagra Shiksha- an integrated
scheme for School Education".
Kala Utsav aims to cultivate and showcase
the artistic talents of secondary stage
school students in the country.
Children with special needs too will have
the opportunity to display their talents.
It also plays an important role in raising
awareness of India’s rich cultural heritage
and its vibrant diversity with 'Ek Bharat
Shreshtha Bharat' effect.
The other initiatives taken for promoting
arts are - Kala Sanskriti Vikas Yojana
(Ministry of Culture) and Scheme for
Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural
Heritage (Ministry of Culture).
IN FAC T-81:
It refers to the Indian Naval Fast Attack
Craft T-81. The IN FAC T-81 of the Super
Dvora MK II class, was decommissioned on
28 January 2021 at Naval Dockyard,
Mumbai after having served the nation for
more than 20 years.
Rear Admiral V Srinivas, Flag Officer
Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area was
the Chief Guest on the occasion.
IN FAC T-81: It is a 25 meters long vessel
with 60 tonnes displacement built at Goa
Shipyard Ltd in collaboration with M/s
Ramta of Israel. She was commissioned
into the Indian Navy in 1999.
The ship, specially designed for shallow
waters, could achieve speeds up to 45 knots
and had the capability of day/night
surveillance and reconnaissance, Search &
Rescue, beach insertion, extraction of
Marine Commandoes and high speed
interception of intruder craft.
The ship’s crest depicts a Blue and Black
‘Sea Horse’ with the characteristic curved
tail against a Blue background.
This has relevance to Indian mythology,
where it is identified as Lord Varun’s
‘Vahana’. The ship has proudly lived up to
her motto ‘First Fast Fearless’.
Gallantry Awards:
5
www.civilserviceindia.com
The President of India Ram Nath Kovind
recently approved awards of 455 Gallantry
and other Defence decorations to Armed
Forces personnel and others on the eve of
72nd Republic Day celebrations.
These include
▪ 1 Mahavir Chakra
▪ 5 Kirti Chakras
▪ 5 Vir Chakras
▪ 7 Shaurya Chakras
▪ 4 Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry)
▪ 130 Sena Medal (Gallantry)
▪ 1 Nao Sena Medal (Gallantry)
▪ 4 Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry)
▪ 30 Param VishishtSeva Medal
(PVSM)
▪ 4 UttamYudhSeva Medal (UYSM)
▪ 51 AtiVishishtSeva Medal (AVSM)
▪ 11 YudhSeva Medal (YSM)
▪ 3 Bar to Sena Medal (Devotion to
Duty)
▪ 3 Sena Medal (Devotion to Duty)
including 02 COVID Warriors,
▪ 8 Nao Sena Medal (Devotion to Du-
ty)
▪ 14 Vayu Sena Medal (Devotion to
Duty)
▪ 3 Bar to VishishtSeva Medal (VSM)
including one COVID Warrior
▪ 131 VishishtSeva Medal (VSM) in-
cluding 12 COVID Warriors
Colonel B Santosh Babu, the Commanding
Officer of 16 Bihar Regiment, who lost his
life during the Galwan Valley clash last
year, will be posthumously awarded with
Maha Vir Chakra.
All the 20 soldiers who had died fighting
the Chinese troops in hand-to-hand
combat at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh
on June 15, in which the Chinese had used
rods, batons wrapped with barbed wire and
other objects, have been awarded gallantry
awards posthumously.
The awards to these soldiers comprise 1
Maha Vir Chakra, 4 Vir Chakras and 15
Sena Medals. One soldier who survived the
clash has been awarded a Vir Chakra.
About the awards: These gallantry awards
are announced twice in a year. First, the
awards are on the occasion of the Republic
Day and then second, on the occasion of
the Independence Day.
The Order of precedence of these awards is
the Param Vir Chakra, the Ashoka Chakra,
the Mahavir Chakra, the Kirti Chakra, the
Vir Chakra and the Shaurya Chakra.
Background: Three gallantry awards
namely Param Vir Chakra, Maha Vir
Chakra and Vir Chakra were instituted by
the Government of India on 26th January,
1950.
Thereafter, other three gallantry awards i.e.
the Ashoka Chakra Class-I, the Ashoka
Chakra Class-II and the Ashoka Chakra
Class-III were instituted in 1952.
These awards were renamed as Ashoka
Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra
respectively in 1967.
PTM:
6
www.civilserviceindia.com
It refers to the President’s Tatrakshak
Medal. President Ram Nath Kovind, on the
occassion of the 72nd Republic day 2021,
awarded President’s Tatrakshak Medal
(PTM) and Tatrakshak Medal (TM) to the
Indian Coast Guard (ICG) personnel for
their act of conspicuous gallantry and
distinguished/meritorious service.
President’s Tatrakshak Medal
(Distinguished Service)
▪ IG Dev Raj Sharma, TM (5015-V)
▪ IG Arun Shrivastav, TM (4025-V)
Tatrakshak Medal (Gallantry)
▪ DIG Anurag Kaushik (0428-V)
▪ Pratap Narayan, P/Adh(ME), 02433-
L
▪ Yaduraj Yadav, P/Adh(ME), 02497-
Z
▪ Ravi Kumar, U/Nvk(ME), 13104-M
Tatrakshak Medal (Meritorious Service)
▪ DIG Kailash Negi(0311-E
▪ Som Lal, P/Adh(RP), 00826-H
These awards are being given to the
personnel of Indian Coast Guard on
Republic Day and Independence Day every
year, since 26 Jan 1990 onwards.
AMPHEX – 21:
A large-scale tri-service joint amphibious
exercise AMPHEX – 21 was conducted in
Andaman & Nicobar group of islands from
21 to 25 Jan 2021.
The Naval ships, amphibious troops of the
Army and different types of aircraft from
the Air force participated in this exercise.
The main aim of this exercise is validating
India’s capabilities to safeguard the
territorial integrity of it’s island territories.
It also sought to enhance operational
synergy and joint war fighting capabilities
amongst the three Services.
The exercise involved multi-faceted
maritime operations by synergized
employment of amphibious assault ships,
surveillance platforms, execution of
maritime air strikes and complex
maneuvers at sea.
The Ex KAVACH for defence of Andaman
& Nicobar Islands formed a part of
AMPHEX – 21.
A joint intelligence, surveillance and
reconnaissance exercise under the aegis of
HQ Integrated Defence Staff was also run
concurrently to achieve Maritime Domain
Awareness by employment of a multitude
of sensors.
Bhawana Kanth:
7
www.civilserviceindia.com
Economics
ironment
Flight lieutenant Bhawana Kanth created
history by becoming the first woman
fighter pilot to take part in the Republic
Day parade.
She was a part of the Indian Air Force's
(IAF's) tableau that showcased mock-ups
of the light combat aircraft, light combat
helicopter and the Sukhoi-30 fighter plane.
She is currently posted at an airbase in
Rajasthan where she flies the MiG-21 Bison
fighter plane.
Kanth is also one of the first women fighter
pilots in the IAF.
ICD:
It refers to the International Customs Day.
ICD is celebrated on 26 January globally
every year. It is the day designated to
honour the custom officials and agencies
for their function in taking care of the flow
of goods across the world borders. On this
day, members of the World Customs
Organization (WCO) also showcase their
efforts and activities.
The theme for 2021 as given by World
Customs Organization (WCO) is “Customs
bolstering Recovery, Renewal and
Resilience for a sustainable supply chain”.
In India, the Central Board of Indirect
Taxes and Customs (CBIC) observed the
International Customs Day, 2021.
The day celebrated the 30th anniversary of
the first CCC session. In 1994, the CCC was
renamed the WCO. Today, the WCO is the
only international body dedicated
exclusively to international customs and
border control matters.
It was on January 26, 1953 that the Customs
Cooperation Council (CCC) had held its
inaugural session in Brussels which was
attended by representatives from 17
European countries.
In 1983, the CCC created International
Customs Day.
In 1994, CCC was renamed as World
Customs Organization (WCO).
WCO: World Customs Organization
(WCO) is the only international body
looking after international customs and
matters concerning border control. It is
headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. WCO
currently has custom organizations from
182 countries as its members. More than
98% of world trade is administered by
WCO.
What is customs?
8
www.civilserviceindia.com
Customs is the body in charge of tariffs
collection in a country. The flow of goods
(ranging from personal items, animals,
precarious objects) in and out of the
country is monitored by the customs. The
aim of this agency is to safely bridge gaps
while borders continue to demarcate. The
agencies believe that by lending support
and guidance to the customs
administration process, they connect
countries.
Customs management works towards
creating a sustainable future by facilitating
economic, social, environmental needs in
the process
CBIC: It is an acronym for the Central
Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. CBIC
is the nodal national agency responsible for
administering Customs, GST, Central
Excise, Service Tax and Narcotics in India.
It comes under the Department of
Revenue, Ministry of Finance. It was
founded on 1 January 1964. The current
CBIC is M. Ajit Kumar.
MSP for Copra:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi recently gave its
approval for the Minimum Support Price
(MSP) of copra for 2021 season.
The MSPs was approved for for milling
copra and ball copra. The approval is based
on recommendations of the Commission
for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
The government has increased MSP for
Fair Average Quality (FAQ) of milling
copra by ₹375 from 2020. Thus, the Copra
would cost ₹10,335 per quintal and
contributes in boosting the farmers’
income. This hike in MSP for copra will be
impacting the farmers of 12 coastal states.
The cost of production for both the
variants of copra is Rs. 6,800 and the
government will be giving 52% and 55%
more than the cost of production.
The National Agricultural Cooperative
Marketing Federation of India Limited
(NAFED) and National Cooperative
Consumer Federation of India Limited
(NCCF) will continue to act as Central
Nodal Agencies to undertake price support
operations at the MSP in the coconut
growing States.
What is Copra?
Copra is the dried meat or kernel of the
coconut, which is the fruit of the coconut
palm (Cocos nucifera). Coconut oil is
extracted from copra, making it an
important agricultural commodity for
many coconut-producing countries.
Minimum support price (MSP):
The MSP is an agricultural product price
which is set by the Government of India
(GoI) to purchase the commodities directly
from the farmer. The MSP is not enforcable
by Law. MSP seeks to safeguard the farmer
interest by providing them a minimum
profit for their harvest in case the open
market has lesser price than the actual cost
incurred.
9
www.civilserviceindia.com
The price of the 23 commodities is set by
the government twice a year.
The MSP is fixed based on the
recommendations of the Commission for
Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
CACP sets the price since 2009 on the basis
of cost of production, demand & supply,
price fluctuations, market price trends,
international market prices and
agricultural wage rate.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Skill
Development:
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021. The
Economic Survey 2020-21 states that only
2.4% of the workforce of age 15-59 years
has received formal vocational/technical
training and another 8.9% of the workforce
received training through informal sources.
Key Highlights:
❖ Out of the 8.9% workforce who re-
ceived non-formal training, the
largest chunk is contributed by on-
the-job training (3.3 per cent), fol-
lowed by self-learning (2.5 per cent)
and hereditary sources (2.1 per
cent) and other sources (1 per cent).
❖ Among those who received formal
training, the most opted training
course is IT-ITeS among both males
and females.
❖ The Unified Skill Regulator- Na-
tional Council for Vocational Edu-
cation and Training (NCVET) was
operationalized recently.
❖ Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas
Yojana 3.0 was rolled out in 2020-21
with a tentative target to skill 8
lakh candidates including migrants.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Bare
Necessities:
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021. Economic
Survey 2020-21 constructs a Bare
Necessities Index (BNI) at the rural, urban
and all India level.
Key Highlights:
❖ The BNI summarizes 26 indicators
on five dimensions viz., water, sani-
tation, housing, micro-
environment, and other facilities.
❖ The BNI has been created for all
States for 2012 and 2018 using data
from two NSO rounds viz., 69th
and 76th on Drinking Water, Sani-
tation, Hygiene and Housing Con-
dition in India.
❖ In most of the States the access to
the Bare Necessities for the house-
hold in 2018 is significantly better
compared to 2012.
❖ Access to drinking water to house-
holds in most of the States has im-
proved in 2018 compared to 2012 in
rural as well as urban areas.
❖ Regional disparity in access to sani-
tation has declined as the States
10
www.civilserviceindia.com
having low access to sanitation in
2012 have gained more.
❖ Survey observes improvement in
Housing Index also indicating im-
provement in access to housing and
reduction in inter-States disparities
with disproportionate benefits for
the lowest income group in 2018
vis-à-vis 2012.
❖ The economic Survey also notes
improvement in micro environ-
ment for all States in 2018 except
for Assam in rural and Odisha and
Assam in urban areas as compared
to 2012.
❖ Survey also points to a positive cor-
relation between access to bare ne-
cessities and better health and edu-
cation outcome. It observes im-
provement in child survival, decline
in still births, malnutrition, and in-
fant mortality with improved access
to sanitation and clean drinking
water.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Agriculture:
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021. The
Agriculture and Allied activities clocked a
growth of 3.4 per cent at constant prices
during 2020-21 (first advance estimate) says
the Economic Survey 2020-21.
Key Highlights:
❖ As per the Provisional Estimates of
National Income released by CSO
on 29th May, 2020, the share of Ag-
riculture and Allied Sectors in
Gross Value Added (GVA) of the
country at current prices is 17.8 per
cent for the year 2019-20.
❖ In the Agriculture year 2019-20 (as
per Fourth Advance Estimates), to-
tal food grain production in the
country is estimated at record
296.65 million tonnes which is
higher by 11.44 million tonnes than
the production of food grain of
285.21 million tonnes achieved dur-
ing 2018-19.
❖ In 2019-20, the major agricultural
and allied export destinations were
USA, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Nepal and
Bangladesh.
❖ The top agriculture and related
products exported from India were
marine products, basmati rice, buf-
falo meat, spices, non-basmati rice,
cotton raw, oil meals, sugar, castor
oil and tea.
❖ The contribution of livestock in to-
tal agriculture and allied sector
GVA (at Constant Prices) has in-
creased from 24.32 per cent (2014-
15) to 28.63 per cent (2018-19). Live-
stock sector contributed 4.19 per
cent of total GVA in 2018-19.
❖ During the last 5 years ending 2018-
19, Food Processing Industries (FPI)
sector has been growing at an Aver-
age Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) of
around 9.99 per cent as compared
to around 3.12 per cent in Agricul-
ture and 8.25 per cent in Manufac-
turing at 2011-12 prices.
11
www.civilserviceindia.com
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY):
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021. The
Economic Survey 2020-21 said the PM-JAY
reveals strong positive impact on Health
Outcomes. This was stated in the
Economic Survey 2020-21 which was laid by
Union Minister for Finance & Corporate
Affairs, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman in
Parliament.
Key Highlights:
❖ PM-JAY is being used for high fre-
quency but low-cost care such as
dialysis.is being used for high fre-
quency but low-cost care such as
dialysis.
❖ The proportion of households with
any usual member covered under
health insurance or financing
scheme increased by 54 per cent
from NFHS 4 to NFHS 5 in the
states that adopted PMJAY, it de-
creased by 10 per cent in the states
that did not adopt PMJAY, reflect-
ing the success of PMJAY in en-
hancing health insurance coverage.
❖ The reduction in Infant Mortality
Rate (IMR) was 20 per cent vis-à-vis
12 per cent in PMJAY and non-
PMJAY states respectively, an in-
crement of 8 per cent for states that
adopted PMJAY versus those that
did not.
❖ The proportion of people ensuring
family planning rose across all the
states between the two surveys, the
increase is much more significant
in the states that adopted PM-JAY
indicating its effectiveness.
❖ The proportion of women with to-
tal unmet family planning needs
decreased by 31% in the PMJAY
states, the decline in the non-
PMJAY states was merely 10%.
PMJAY: It is a fully-funded government
health insurance scheme that provides Rs 5
lakh medical insurance coverage per year
for 107.4 million families identified as per
the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Saving a Life
That Is In Jeopardy Is The Origin Of
Dharma:
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021.
Economic Survey is all about how the
governments, at the centre and states, have
handled this once in a century crisis.
“Saving a life that is in jeopardy is the
origin of Dharma”, the Economic Survey
quotes from the epic Mahabharat while
explaining the India’s policy response to
the pandemic wherein the trade-offs
12
www.civilserviceindia.com
between lives and livelihood was inherent
in the crisis triggered by COVID-19.
Key Highlights:
❖ COVID-19 pandemic engendered a
once-in-a-century global crisis in
2020 where 90 per cent of countries
are expected to experience a con-
traction in GDP per capita and In-
dia’s efforts focused on saving lives
and livelihoods by its willingness to
take short-term pain for long term
gain.
❖ The Economic Survey states the ex-
ample of Spanish Flu to prove the
point that the timing matters - ear-
ly and extensive lockdowns leading
to greater delays in reaching peak
mortality, lower peak mortality
rates and overall lower mortality
burden.
❖ 40 day lockdown period was used
for scaling up the necessary medical
and para-medical infrastructure for
active surveillance, expanding test-
ing, contact tracing, isolation and
management of cases and
educating citizens about social
distancing and masks.
❖ The Survey credits the flattening of
curve and lives saved to the early
lockdown imposed by the govern-
ment.
❖ While the lockdown resulted in a
23.9 per cent contraction in GDP in
Q1, the recovery has been a V-
shaped one as seen in the 7.5 per
cent decline in Q2 and the recovery
across all key economic indicators.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Employment:
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021.
The Economic Survey 2020-21 states that
the years 2019 and 2020 are landmark years
in the history of labour reforms.
The country saw the nearly 29 Central
Labour laws being amalgamated,
rationalized and simplified into four labour
codes viz.:
1. The Code on Wages, 2019,
2. The Industrial Relations Code,
2020,
3. The Occupational Safety, Health
and Working Conditions Code,
2020 and
4. The Code on Social Security, 2020.
COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of
urban casual workers, who account for 11.2
per cent of urban workforce (All-India) as
per Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS),
January-March, 2020.
The size of labour force in 2018-19 was
estimated at about 51.8 crore persons:
about 48.8 crore employed and 3.0 crore
unemployed.
Industry-wise estimates on workforce
shows that the largest, about 21.5 crore
persons are employed in 'Agriculture',
13
www.civilserviceindia.com
which is still the largest employer with 42.5
per cent of workforce.
Next important industry is ‘other services’
where about 6.4 crore persons (13.8 per
cent) were engaged.
'Manufacturing' and ‘Trade, hotel &
restaurants’ each employed about 5.9 crore
persons with the share of nearly 12.1 per
cent and 12.6 per cent respectively, while
‘Construction’ sector employed about 5.7
crore persons in 2018-19 with share of 12.1
per cent.
Economic Survey 2020-21 -
AatmaNirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana
(ABRY):
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021.
The Economic Survey says that ABRY, a
component of Aatmanirbhar Bharat
package announced in November, 2020 has
total estimated outlay of Rs 22,810 crore for
the scheme period i.e., up to wage month
31st May, 2023.
The scheme proposes to pay:
1. Entire employees’ and employers’
contribution (12% of employees’ EPF and
12% of employers' EPF contribution or
statutory rate applicable to establishment)
i.e. 24% of wages towards EPF in respect of
new employees in establishments
employing up to 1000 employees
(contributing EPF members with UAN)
during the period from October, 2020 to
June, 2021 and also to re-employ who lost
their jobs due to COVID-19.
2. Only employees' share of EPF
contribution (i.e. 12 per cent) of wages in
respect of new employees in
establishments employing more than 1000
employee during the period from October
2020 to June 2021, and also to re-employee
who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.
Other Measures:
The Survey says that to provide relief to the
organized sector employees, a notification
issued on 28th March, 2020 by the
Government provisioning non-refundable
advance of 75% of outstanding balance or 3
months’ wages whichever is lower, allowed
to the members of EPFO.
Under Prime Minister’s Garib Kalyan
Package (PMGKP) financial assistance was
given to building & other construction
workers (BOCW) which largely included
migrant workers from the funds collected
under BOCW’s cess.
31 State/UT Governments have announced
cash benefits, ranging from Rs. 1000 to Rs.
6000 per month to around 2.0 crore
workers and total amount of Rs. 4973.65
crore was disbursed.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Combined
Social Sector Expenditure:
14
www.civilserviceindia.com
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021. The
Economic Survey 2020-21 states that the
combined (Centre and States) social sector
expenditure as per cent of GDP has
increased in 2020-21 compared to last year.
Key Highlights:
❖ The expenditure on social services
(education, health and other social
sectors) by Centre and States com-
bined as a proportion of GDP in-
creased from 7.5% in 2019-20 (RE)
to 8.8% in 2020-21 (BE).
❖ According to the Survey, India’s
rank in HDI 2019 was recorded 131
compared to 129 in 2018, out of a to-
tal 189 countries.
❖ By looking at the sub-component
wise performance of HDI indica-
tors, India's "GNI per capita (2017
PPP $)" has increased from US$
6,427 in 2018 to US$ 6,681 in 2019,
and "life expectancy at birth" has
improved from 69.4 to 69.7 years
respectively.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Sovereign
Credit Ratings:
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021. The
Economic Survey 2020-21 has called for
sovereign credit ratings methodology to be
made more transparent, less subjective and
better attuned to reflect an economy’s
fundamentals.
Highlights:
❖ Never in the history of sovereign
credit ratings, has the fifth largest
economy in the world been rated at
the lowest rung of the investment
grade (BBB-/Baa3) except in the
case of China and India.
❖ Reflecting on the economic size
and thereby ability to repay debt, at
all other times, the fifth largest
economy has been predominantly
rated AAA.
❖ The Survey points out that the Sov-
ereign Credit Ratings can be pro-
cyclical and affect equity and debt
FPI flows of developing countries,
causing damage and worsening cri-
sis.
❖ Hence, it has called for addressing
the bias and subjectivity inherent in
sovereign credit ratings methodol-
ogy
❖ India has already raised the issue of
pro-cyclicality of credit ratings in
G20.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Banking
Sector:
15
www.civilserviceindia.com
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021.
According to Economic Survey 2020-21,
Gross Non-Performing Assets ratio of
Scheduled Commercial Banks decreased
from 8.21 per cent at the end of March 2020
to 7.49 per cent at the end of September
2020.
Key Highlights:
❖ This has to be seen in conjunction
with the asset classification relief
provided to borrowers on account
of the pandemic, says the Economic
Survey.
❖ Further, the Survey notes that Capi-
tal to risk-weighted asset ratio of
Scheduled Commercial Banks in-
creased from 14.7 per cent to 15.8
per cent between March 2020 and
September 2020 with improvement
in both Public and Private sector
banks.
❖ The recovery rate for the Scheduled
Commercial Banks through Insol-
vency & Bankruptcy code-IBC
(since its inception) has been over
45 per cent.
❖ Due to the pandemic, initiation of
Corporate Insolvency Resolution
Process (CIRP) was suspended for
any default. The suspension along
with continued clearance has al-
lowed a small decline in accumu-
lated cases.
❖ The financial flows to the real
economy however remained con-
strained on account of subdued
credit growth by both banks and
Non-Banking Financial Corpora-
tions.
❖ Credit growth of banks slowed
down to 6.7 per cent as on January
1, 2021. The credit off take from
banking sector also witnessed a
broad-based slowdown in 2020-21.
Future Investment Initiative Forum
2021:
The Union Minister for Health and Family
Welfare Dr. Harsh Vardhan recently
addressed the 4th edition of the Future
Investment Initiative (FII) Forum, through
Video Conference.
The purpose of this year's forum was to
find solutions on how business and
government can expand access to
healthcare, train healthcare workers,
remove regulatory barriers and encourage
investment in advanced health
technologies
The Future Investment Initiative (FII) is an
annual investment forum. It is held in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss trends in
the world economy and investment
environment. It is hosted by the Public
Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF).
The first event was held in October 2017.
MoU between India and Japan:
A formal MoU (Memorandum of
Understanding) signing ceremony was
recently held between Textiles Committee,
Ministry of Textiles, Government of India
16
www.civilserviceindia.com
(GoI) and M/s. Nissenken Quality
Evaluation Centre Japan.
The key aim of the MoU is to provide
required support to textile’s trade and
industry for ensuring quality as per the
requirement of Japanese buyers through
Testing, Inspection & Conformity
Assessment.
It is expected that the MoU will strengthen
the bilateral trade by enhancing India’s
export of Textile and Apparels (T&A) to
Japan, which is the third largest export
destination of the world.
Textiles Committee: The Textiles
Committee is a statutory body under the
Ministry of Textiles to ensure quality of all
textiles and textile products for domestic
and export markets. It was established in
the year 1963 by an Act of Parliament. It is
the only body which provides for all the
quality related needs of the entire Textiles
Value Chain (TVC) in an integrated format
on a pan-India basis.
Indo-French year of Environment:
The Indo-French Year of the Environment
is the Indo-French partnership on
Environment, Biodiversity, Climate Change
and other allied areas to be undertaken
throughout 2021.
The Indo-French Year of the Environment
was recently launched by the Union
Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate
Change Prakash Javadekar along with
Barbara Pompili, the French Minister for
Ecological Transition.
The basic objective of this collaboration is
to strengthen Indo-French cooperation in
sustainable development, increase the
effectiveness of actions in favour of global
environment protection and give them
greater visibility.
The Indo-French Year of the Environment
will be implemented over the period 2021-
2022 on five main themes. They are as
follows:
1. Environmental protection
2. Climate change
3. Biodiversity conservation
4. Sustainable urban development
5. Development of renewable energies
and energy efficiency
This collaboration and the Indo-French
Environment year will be held under the
Ministry of Ecological Transition, in
association with the Ministry of Europe
and Foreign Affairs along with the support
of the Embassy of France in Delhi and its
partners from the French side.
From the Indian side, it will be coordinated
by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change (MoEFCC) along with the
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA),
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
(MoHUA), Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy and other concerned
Ministries/Departments/Organizations.
Note: India-France alliance is the main
pillar of the International Solar Alliance
launched by PM Narendra Modi.
Environment
17
www.civilserviceindia.com
National Marine Turtle Action Plan:
The Ministry of Environment Forest and
Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has recently
released ‘Marine Mega Fauna Stranding
Guidelines’ and ‘National Marine Turtle
Action Plan’.
National Marine Turtle Action Plan and
Marine Mega Fauna Stranding Guidelines
have been released acknowledging the
need for a conservation paradigm for
marine turtles and marine megafauna. The
main objective is conserving both floral
and faunal diversity including marine
biodiversity.
Both these documents contain ways and
means to promote inter-sectoral action for
conservation. They also guide improved
coordination amongst the government,
civil society and all relevant stakeholders
on the response to cases of stranding,
entanglement, injury or mortality of
marine mammals and also conservation of
marine turtles.
The key highlight of these two documents
is as follows:
❖ Actions to be taken for handling
stranded animals on shore stranded
or entangled animals in the sea or
on a boat,
❖ Management actions for improved
coordination,
❖ Reducing threats to marine species
and their habitats,
❖ Rehabilitation of degraded habitats,
❖ Enhancing people’s participation,
❖ Advance scientific research and ex-
change of information on marine
mammals and marine turtles and
their habitats.
Marine biodiversity in India: India has rich
marine biodiversity along a vast coastline
of over 7,500 km. It comprises of colorful
fish, sharks, including Whale Sharks,
turtles and big mammals like whales,
dolphins and dugongs to bright corals.
The need for action plan:
Marine habitats not only harbor diverse
species but also provide resources essential
for human wellbeing. Millions of people
depend on these resources ranging from
maritime trade and transport, food,
mineral resources, cultural traditions,
spiritual values and inspiration that draws
tourists from around the world.
But sadly, the marine mega fauna species
and marine turtles face a wide variety of
challenges which include stranding and
entanglement.
Thus, India needs to conserve the marine
resources to meet the demands and
increasing people’s participation.
CAS 2021:
18
www.civilserviceindia.com
It refers to the Climate Adaptation
Summit 2021. The CAS 2021 was recently
addressed by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
Key points of Pm Modi's Address:
❖ India is targeting 450 gigawatt of
renewable energy capacity by 2030.
❖ India is promoting LED lights and
saving 38 million tons of carbon-di-
oxide emissions annually.
❖ By the year 2030 India will restore
26 million hectares of degraded
land.
❖ India is providing clean cooking
fuel to 80 million rural households.
❖ India is connecting 64 million
households to piped water supply.
About the Summit:
❖ The Government of Netherlands
government hosted an online in-
ternational Climate Adaptation
Summit (CAS Online) on 25 Janu-
ary 2021.
❖ The climate adaptation summit was
built on the advances of the UN
Climate Action Summit.
❖ It also showcased the pioneering
solutions of the climate emergency
and sustaining momentum through
UNFCCC’s COP26.
❖ Climate adaptation summit 2021
will help in delivering the action
and inspire the change to help the
societies build back better.
❖ The organizers of the 2021 summit
also called for major new funding
for agricultural research.
❖ They also expanded the access to
farmer advisory services, risk man-
agement and financial services.
❖ The summit saw the launch of a
comprehensive Adaptation Action
Agenda (AAA), setting out clear
commitments to deliver concrete
new endeavors and partnerships to
make our world more resilient to
the effects of climate change.
India-Japan Act East Forum:
The 5th joint meeting of the India-Japan
Act East Forum (AEF) was recently held by
India and Japan in New Delhi.
The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign
Secretary Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, and
Suzuki Satoshi, Ambassador of Japan to
India.
During the 5th meeting, AEF reviewed the
progress of ongoing projects in the North
Eastern Region of India under the
assistance of Japan in various areas
including connectivity, hydropower,
sustainable development, harnessing of
water resources, and skill development.
Both the sides discussed several new
projects being undertaken under India-
Japan bilateral cooperation.
They also exchanged views on cooperation
in new areas such as healthcare, agro-
industries and SMEs, bamboo value chain
National
19
www.civilserviceindia.com
development, smart city, tourism and
people-to-people exchanges.
The ongoing ODA projects supported by
Japan amounts to more than 231 billion yen
(appx. INR 1,600 crore).
AEF ofIndia-Japan: The AEF was
established in 2017 to provide a platform
for India-Japan collaboration in the North
Eastern (NE) Region under India’s “Act
East Policy” and Japan’s vision for a “Free
and Open Indo-Pacific”.
Japan: Japan is an island country located in
East Asia. It is made up of 6,852 islands.
The Japanese name for Japan is Nihon or
Nippon which means sun origin.
It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the
west and the Pacific Ocean to the east, and
spans from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north
to the East China Sea and Philippine Sea in
the south.
Tokyo is the capital of Japan. The currency
used there is Japanese Yen. The current
Prime Minister of Japan is Shinzo Abe.
AYU SAMVAD:
"AYU SAMVAD" (My Health My
Responsibility) is one of the largest public
awareness campaign programme on
AYURVEDA and COVID 19 PANDEMIC.
It is being organized by All India Institute
of Ayurveda New Delhi, as envisioned &
supported by Ministry of AYUSH.
More than five lac lectures will be
organized across the nation by Ayurveda
Physicians for citizens of India.
The key objective of the campaign is
creating awareness through Lecture series
and to make common people aware about
the theme “Ayurveda for COVID 19
Pandemic”.
NGCD:
It refers to the National Girl Child Day. The
NGCD is celebrated on 24th January every
year in India. The day is celebrated to raise
awareness about the rights of girls and to
highlight the inequalities that they face in
their lives.
The theme for this year was “A girl is
flower, not a thorn”.
Apart from Girl child day, Women and
Child Development Department will also
celebrated National Girl Child Week from
January 24 to 30.
During the week, many important
programmes like “Beti Bachao-Beti
Padhao” (BBBP) signature campaign,
plantation and name plate drive in the
names of daughters, awareness campaign
on women’s rights and mass oaths for girl
child protection was administered.
NGCD was started by the Ministry of
Women and Child Development in 2008.
The main objective behind is:
20
www.civilserviceindia.com
• to highlight the inequalities faced
by girls, to promote awareness in-
cluding the rights of a girl child, the
importance of education, health,
and nutrition. Nowadays also gen-
der discrimination is a major prob-
lem that girls or women face
throughout their life
• to generate awareness on the issue
of declining Child Sex Ratio (CSR)
and create a positive environment
around valuing the girl child.
An event was organized by the Women and
Child Development Ministry in Delhi to
observe the anniversary of 'Beti Bachao Beti
Padhao' scheme. Women and Child
Development Minister Maneka Gandhi was
the Chief Guest at the event.
The Government of India (GoI) has taken
several steps over the years to change this
and improve the conditions of girls. Several
campaigns and programs such as Save the
Girl Child, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, free or
subsidized education for the girl children,
reservations for women in colleges and
universities have been initiated to reduce
this discrimination.
BBBP Scheme: Beti Bachao Beti Padhao
scheme was launched by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in January 2015 at Panipat
in Haryana. Through this scheme, many
important issues related to girls and
women are raised. Many inhuman
practices towards women such as feticide
are now reduced. These campaigns have
helped change the mindset of the people,
especially in rural areas, there has been a
lot of awareness about the education of
girls.
NEP-2020: National Education Policy
(NEP)-2020 has introduced “Gender
Inclusion Fund for targeting the
development of girl child. The fund will
focus on ensuring 100% enrolment of girls
in schooling and a record participation rate
in higher education.
PMRBP:
It refers to the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya
Bal Puraskar. It is awarded to the children
with exceptional abilities and outstanding
achievement in the fields of innovation,
scholastic achievements, sports, arts &
culture, social service and bravery.
The Government of India (GoI) confers the
Bal Shakti Puraskar under Pradhan Mantri
Rashtriya Bal Puraskar.
This year, 32 applicants from across the
country, under different categories of Bal
Shakti Puraskar, have been selected for
PMRBP-2021.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on 25th
January 2021, interacted with the ‘Pradhan
Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar’ awardees
via video conferencing and lauded their
contributions.
Vaccine Maitri:
21
www.civilserviceindia.com
International
Vaccine Maitri is the name given to an
initiative launched by India to gift COVID-
19 vaccines to neighbouring countries.
Recently, Sri Lanka and Bahrain have
received the COVID-19 vaccines from India
under the initiative. Sri Lanka has received
5 lakh Covid-19 vaccines while Bahrain will
receive 10,800 vaccines.
India has already delivered over 5 million
doses to seven countries in the
neighbourhood under the initiative before
Sri Lanka and Bahrain.
The 7 countries are as follows:
1. Maldives (100,000 vaccines)
2. Bhutan (150,000 vaccines)
3. Nepal (1 million vaccines)
4. Bangladesh (2 million vaccines)
5. Myanmar (1.5 million vaccines)
6. Mauritius (100,000 vaccines)
7. Seychelles (50,000 vaccines)
Commercial supplies of Covishield have
also been sent to Morocco, Brazil, (2
million doses each), and Bangladesh (5
million doses).
COVID-19 Vaccination Programme in
India: The COVID-19 vaccination
programme started in India on January 16,
2021, with the two approved vaccines
(Emergency-use) – Covishield and Covaxin.
In phase 1, health workers are being
vaccinated followed by people above the
age of 50 years.
WEF's Common Trust Network:
Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare
Dr. Harsh Vardhan, recently addressed the
event on Restoring Cross Border Mobility
by World Economic Forum’s Common
Trust Network through Video Conference.
The main purpose of the event was to
discuss the policies, practices and
partnerships needed to reopen borders and
enable essential travel, tourism and
commerce in a safe and sustainable way.
Background: The countries around the
world are working to overcome the
COVID-19 pandemic and restart their
economies. They are all facing the
challenge of how to reopen their borders
and allow travel and commerce to resume
while protecting their populations’ health.
So to address this challenge, The Commons
Project Foundation and the World
Economic Forum have launched the
Common Trust Network in collaboration
with a broad voluntary network of public
and private stakeholders.
The Common Trust Network is designed
a) to empower individuals with digital
access to their health information,
22
www.civilserviceindia.com
b) to make it easier for individuals to
understand and comply with each
destination’s requirements, and
c) to help ensure that only verifiable lab
results and vaccination records from
trusted sources are presented for the
purposes of cross-border travel and
commerce.
Common Trust Registry: The Common
Trust Network is enabled by a global
registry of trusted laboratory and
vaccination data sources, standard formats
for lab results and vaccination records, and
standard tools to make those results and
records digitally accessible.
It is also enabled by a common global
registry for governments and other
destinations to publish their health
screening entry rules in a common format,
making it easier for travellers and the travel
industry to understand and comply with
each destination’s requirements.
World NTD Day:
It refers to the World Neglected Tropical
Diseases Day. January 30, 2021 marked the
second annual World Neglected Tropical
Diseases (NTD) Day, highlighting the
global community’s commitment to ending
Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Background: World Neglected Tropical
Diseases Day was celebrated for the first
time on 30 January 2020. Originally
announced by the Crown Prince Court of
Abu Dhabi at the 2019 Reaching the Last
Mile Forum, hundreds of partners signed
up to mark World NTD Day and demand
action to Face NTDs and End The Neglect.
The WHO Executive Board recommended
support of World NTD Day, an important
milestone in adding the day to the official
global calendar.
Why 30th January?
30th January was marked as the World
NTD Day because it marks the anniversary
of the 2012 London declaration on NTDs.
The declaration unified the partners across
the sectors, countries and disease
communities to enable greater investment
and action on NTDs.
2021 World NTD Day:
On World NTD Day this year, more than
50 landmarks representing 25 nations
across the world will be lit up to celebrate
how far we have come together in beating
NTDs.
India too will join these countries, by
illuminating UNESCO world heritage site
Qutub Minar.
What are NTDs?
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a
group of 20 conditions that affect more
than a billion people in rural regions, poor
urban areas and conflict zones, with
devastating health, social and economic
consequences – but they are preventable
and treatable.
These NTDs are common in low-income
populations in developing regions of
Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
They are caused by a variety of pathogens
such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa and
23
www.civilserviceindia.com
parasitic worms (helminths). They include
dengue, rabies, blinding trachoma, Buruli
ulcer, endemic treponematoses (yaws),
leprosy (Hansen disease) etc.
These diseases are contrasted with the big
three infectious diseases (HIV/AIDS,
tuberculosis, and malaria), which generally
receive greater treatment and research
funding.
One in five people around the world are
affected by NTDs.
India is home to the world’s largest
absolute burden of at least 11 of these major
neglected tropical diseases.
International Energy Agency (IEA):
The Framework for Strategic Partnership
between the International Energy Agency
(IEA) members and the Government of
India GoI) was recently signed.
Objective: Its main objective is to
strengthen mutual trust and cooperation &
enhance global energy security, stability
and sustainability.
This partnership will lead to an extensive
exchange of knowledge and would be a
stepping stone towards India becoming a
full member of the IEA.
About IEA: The International Energy
Agency (IEA) is a Paris-based autonomous
intergovernmental organization. It was
established in the framework of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development (OECD) in 1974 in the
wake of the 1973 oil crisis.
The IEA is made up of 30 member
countries. In addition, the IEA family also
includes eight association countries which
include Brazil, China and India.
Three countries are seeking accession to
full membership, Chile, Israel and
Lithuania.
World Economic Forum’s Davos
Dialogue:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently
addressed the World Economic Forum’s
Davos Dialogue on 28th January, 2021 via
video conferencing.
Key Highlights:
The virtual session was attended by more
than 400 top industry leaders from across
the world.
PM Modi will be delivered his speech on
the “Fourth Industrial Revolution- using
technology for the good of humanity”. He
also interacted with the CEOs during the
Davos Dialogue.
This is the 51st annual meeting of the
World Economic Forum. The Davos
Dialogues agenda marks the launch of the
World Economic Forum’s Great Reset
Initiative in the post COVID world.
24
www.civilserviceindia.com
The WEF annual meeting in Davos helps to
bring together the top leaders of the world
who will help in shaping the regional,
global and industry agendas for 2021.
Great Reset Initiative: The Great Reset
Initiative organised in June 2020 was the
50th annual meeting of WEF. The initiative
had brought together the high profile
business and political leaders who were
convened by WEF and Prince of Wales.
The meeting was organised under the
theme of Rebuilding the society and
economy in a sustainable way for the post-
COVID-19 world.
WEF: It refers to the World Economic
Forum.
The WEF is headquartered in Cologny,
Geneva Canton, Switzerland.
It is an international NGO, founded in
January 1971.
The WEF's mission is stated as "committed
to improving the state of the world by
engaging business, political, academic, and
other leaders of society to shape global,
regional, and industry agendas".
The annual meeting of WEF is held in
Davos, Switzerland every year at the end of
the month January.
The founder and Executive Chairman of
WEF is Klaus Schwab.
US and Palestine:
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration
recently announced that it was restoring
relations with the Palestinians and
renewing aid to Palestinian refugees.
It is a reversal of the Donald Trump
administration’s cutoff and a key element
of its new support for a two-state solution
to the decades-old conflict agreed to by
Israelis and Palestinians.
Palestine: Palestine, recognized officially as
the State of Palestine by the United
Nations and other entities, is a de jure
sovereign state in Western Asia claiming
the West Bank (bordering Israel and
Jordan) and Gaza Strip (bordering Israel
and Egypt) with Jerusalem as the
designated capital, although its
administrative center is currently located
in Ramallah.
The entirety of territory claimed by the
State of Palestine has been occupied since
1948, first by Egypt and Jordan and then by
Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967.
The region (or at least a part of it) is also
known as the Holy Land and is held sacred
among Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
Since the 20th century it has been the
object of conflicting claims of Jewish and
Arab national movements, and the conflict
has led to prolonged violence and, in
several instances, open warfare.
Estonia:
25
www.civilserviceindia.com
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia,
is a country on the eastern coast of the
Baltic Sea in Northern Europe.
It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of
Finland across from Finland, to the west by
the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the
south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake
Peipus and Russia.
The territory of Estonia consists of the
mainland and of 2,222 islands in the Baltic
Sea. The capital of Estonia is Tallinn.
The currency used here is Euro.
Recently, the former Member of the
European Parliament, Kaja Kallas, the
leader of the Reform Party has become
Estonia’s first female prime minister.
The Reform Party, led by Kallas, won the
2019 parliamentary election in Estonia with
34 MPs in the country’s 101-seat parliament,
Riigikogu.
With this win, Estonia has currently
become the only country in the world
where both the president Kersti Kaljulaid
and the prime minister are women.
About Kaja Kallas: The 43 years old Kaja
Kallas is a lawyer and the former European
Parliament Member. She is the daughter of
Sim Kallas who founded the Reform Party
and was PM of Estonia from 2002-2003.
Union Budget Mobile App:
The Finance Minister of India, Nirmala
Sitharaman recently launched the “Union
Budget Mobile App” ahead of the
presentation of the Union Budget on
February 1, 2021. The App was launched by
her during the hosting of the customary
Halwa ceremony at the North Block on the
30th of January 2021.
The mobile app was launched for hassle-
free access of Budget-related documents by
Members of Parliament (MPs) and the
general public.
The budget will completely be paperless for
the first time after. This decision was taken
in the light of ongoing coronavirus
pandemic.
This will be the first time since the
presentation of independent India's first
Budget on November 26, 1947, that the
documents containing income and
expenditure statement of the Union
Government along with the Finance Bill,
detailing new taxes and other measures for
the new financial year, will not be
physically printed.
About the Union Budget Mobile App:
The mobile app will provide complete
access to 14 Union Budget documents,
India Polity
26
www.civilserviceindia.com
including the Annual Financial Statement
or the Budget, Demand for Grants (DG)
and the Finance Bill, etc. as prescribed by
the Constitution.
The App has a user-friendly interface
comprising of features like downloading,
printing, search, zoom in and out,
bidirectional scrolling, table of contents
and external links, etc.
It is bilingual (English & Hindi) and will be
available on both Android and iOS
platforms.
The App has been developed by the
National Informatics Centre (NIC) under
the guidance of the Department of
Economic Affairs (DEA).
Union Budget:
The “Annual Financial Statement” is
commonly known as Budget. However, the
term Union Budget has not been
mentioned in the constitution.
This annual financial statement is prepared
in accordance with Article 112 of the
Constitution of India.
The Union Budget comprises Capital
Budget, Revenue Budget, Expenditure
Budget, and this also has the next fiscal
year's estimates. In 2016, the Rail Budget
was also merged with union budget.
The Capital Budget part of the Union
Budget has accounts for capital payment
and receipts which are government-
related.
Until 1999, the Union Budget was
announced at 5:00 pm on last working day
February but since the Budget 1999, the
timing was changed to 11 am.
In 2016, Narendra Modi shifted the date of
Budget presentation to February, 1.
The printing of budget documents starts
with the customary Halwa ceremony in
which the Halwa is served by the Finance
Minister.
The tradition of carrying budget in a
leather briefcase was also changed in July
2019 when the finance minister carried the
budget in a Bahi-Khata.
What is Halwa Ceremony?
Halwa ceremony has been a tradition
which has continued for long.
As part of the ritual, a sweet dish or Indian
dessert ‘halwa’ is prepared in a big ‘kadhai’
(vessel) and served to the officials of the
Finance Ministry and support staff, who are
directly involved in the Budget making and
printing process.
In a bid to prevent the leak of information,
the officials are required to stay in the
ministry and remain cut off from their
families till the presentation of the Budget
by the finance minister in the Lok Sabha.
The ceremony also recognizes and lauds
the efforts of every staff who have been a
part of the budget-making process.
NIC: It refers to the National Informatics
Centre. NIC works under the Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology
(MeitY).
It provides infrastructure that support the
delivery of IT services by the government
and the delivery of initiatives under the
Digital India Mission
Budget Session 2021: The first part of the
Budget Session started on January 29 and
will continue till February 15, 2021 and the
27
www.civilserviceindia.com
second part of the session will be from
March 8 to April 8 2021.
The Rajya Sabha will function from 9 am to
2 pm and Lok Sabha from 4 pm to 9 pm
with Zero Hour and Question Hour.
Members of Parliament have been
requested to undergo an RT-PCR test to
prevent spread of Covid-19.
NVD:
It refers to the National Voters Day. The
NVD has been celebrated on the 25th of
January every year since 2011, all across the
country to mark the foundation day of
Election Commission of India (ECI), i.e.
25th January 1950.
The main objective of the NVD celebration
is to encourage, facilitate and maximize
enrolment, especially for the new voters.
New voters are felicitated and handed over
their Elector Photo Identity Card (EPIC) in
the NVD functions
Recently, the 11th National Voters Day was
celebrated on 25th January 2021 by ECI.
President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind,
virtually graced and addressed the event
held at Ashok Hotel, New Delhi.
The theme for this year’s NVD, ‘Making
Our Voters Empowered, Vigilant, Safe and
Informed’.
Note: Earlier the eligibility age of the voter
was 21 years but in 1988 it was lowered to 18
years. The Sixty-First Amendment Bill of
1998 lowered the voter's eligibility age in
India.
During the event, the President conferred
the National Awards for the year 2020-21
and also launched the Election
Commission of India's Web Radio: 'Hello
Voters' – an online digital radio service.
The National Awards for the Best Electoral
Practices was conferred on State and
District level officers for their outstanding
performance in the conduct of elections in
different spheres such as IT initiatives,
Security Management, Election
Management during COVID-19, Accessible
Election and contribution in the field of
voter awareness and outreach. National
Awards will also be given to important
stakeholders like national icons, CSOs and
media groups for their valuable
contribution towards voters’ awareness.
ECI’s Web Radio:‘Hello Voters’: This online
digital radio service will stream voter
awareness programmes. It will be
accessible through a link on the ECI
website.
The programming style of Radio Hello
Voters has been envisaged to match that of
popular FM radio services. It will provide
information and education on electoral
processes through songs, drama,
discussions, spots, stories of elections etc.
in Hindi, English and regional languages
from all over the country.
28
www.civilserviceindia.com
Padma Awards 2021:
This year, On the evening of 72nd Republic
Day, the President approved conferment of
119 Padma Awards from diverse field
including 1 duo case (in a duo case, the
Award is counted as one). This year the
President of India has approved
conferment of 119 Padma Awards. In the
list, there are 7 Padma Vibhushan, 10
Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri
Awards. Women awardees counts at 29. It
also includes 10 persons from the category
of Foreigners or NRI or PIO or OCI,16
Posthumous awardees and 1 transgender
awardee.
• Padma Vibhushan (7)
• Shinzo Abe (Japan) - Public Affairs
• Belle Monappa Hegde - Medicine
• Narinder Singh Kapany (Posthu-
mous) - Science and Engineering
• Maulana Wahiduddin Khan - Oth-
ers: Spiritualism
• B. Lal - Others: Archaeology
• S P Balasubramaniam (Posthu-
mous) - Art
• Sudarshan Sahoo – Art
Padma Bhushan (10)
• Krishnan Nair Shantakumari
Chithra - Art
• Tarun Gogoi (Posthumous) - Public
Affairs
• Chandrashekhar Kambara - Litera-
ture and Education
• Sumitra Mahajan - Public Affairs
• Nripendra Misra - Civil Service
• Ram Vilas Paswan (Posthumous) -
Public Affairs
• Keshubhai Patel (Posthumous) -
Public Affairs
• Kalbe Sadiq (Posthumous) - Others:
Spiritualism
• Rajnikant Devidas Shroff - Trade
and Industry
• Tarlochan Singh - Public Affairs
Padma Shree was awarded to 102 Awardees.
About Padma Awards: Padma Awards are
one of the highest civilian Awards of the
country conferred in three categories,
namely –
1. Padma Vibhushan: For Exceptional
and distinguished service.
2. Padma Bhushan: For Distinguished
service of high order.
3. Padma Shri: For distinguished ser-
vice in any field.
Padma Vibhushan: It is the second-highest
civilian award of the Republic of India. The
award was instituted on January 2, 1954.
This award is given for the “exceptional
and distinguished service”. It does not
differentiate between race, occupation,
position, or sex. The award is given for the
exceptional and distinguished service.
Satyendra Nath Bose, Zakir Hussain,
Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, Nand Lal Bose
were among the first recipient of the award
in 1954.
Persons in News
29
www.civilserviceindia.com
Padma Bhushan: It is the third-highest
civilian award in India. The award is
preceded by the Bharat Ratna & Padma
Vibhushan while followed by the Padma
Shri. The award was Instituted on January
2, 1954.
Padma Shri: It is the fourth-highest civilian
award of India after Bharat Ratna, Padma
Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan. It is
awarded by the Government of India every
year on the occasion of republic day since
1954.
These awards are conferred by the
President of India at ceremonial functions
at Rashtrapati Bhawan. It is given in
various disciplines and fields of activities
including the art, public affairs, social
work, Trade and industry, science and
engineering, medicine, literature,
education, sports and civil service.
All persons without distinction of race,
occupation, position or sex are eligible for
these awards. However, Government
servants including those working with
PSUs, except doctors and scientists, are not
eligible for these Awards.
The awards are announced on the occasion
of Republic Day every year. These awards
are conferred by the President of India at
ceremonial functions which are held at
Rashtrapati Bhawan usually around March/
April every year.
The nomination process is open to the
public. Even self-nomination can be made.
All nominations received for Padma
Awards are placed before the Padma
Awards Committee headed by the Cabinet
Secretary, which is constituted by the
Prime Minister every year. The
recommendations of the committee are
submitted to the PM and the President for
approval.
The awardees are then presented a
certificate and a medallion. The recipients
are also given a small replica of the
medallion, which they can wear during any
ceremonial/State functions etc., if the
awardees so desire.
The award does not amount to a title and
cannot be used as a suffix or prefix to the
awardees’ name.
The total number of awards to be given in a
year (excluding posthumous awards and to
NRI/foreigners/OCIs) should not be more
than 120.
The award is normally not conferred
posthumously. However, in highly
deserving cases, the Government could
consider giving an award posthumously.
A higher category of Padma award can be
conferred on a person only after a gap of
five years. However, in highly deserving
cases, a relaxation can be made by the
Awards Committee.
Nandita Hazarika:
She is a conservationist who has recently
been appointed by the Supreme Court of
India as Member of a Technical Committee
constituted by it on October 14 last year to
hear complaints by land owners against the
action taken by the Nilgris Collector, which
30
www.civilserviceindia.com
included “arbitrary variance in acreage of
the elephant corridor.”
About: On October 14, the top court
upheld the Tamil Nadu government’s
authority to notify an ‘elephant corridor’
and protect the migratory path of the
animals through the Nilgiri biosphere
reserve, the largest protected forest area in
India, spanning across Tamil Nadu,
Karnataka and Kerala.The corridor is
situated in the ecologically fragile Sigur
plateau.
Sigur Plateau: It is a plateau in the north
and east of Nilgiri District in the Nilgiri
Hills of Tamil Nadu. It connects the
Western and the Eastern Ghats and
sustains elephant populations and their
genetic diversity. It has the Nilgiri Hills on
its southwestern side and the Moyar River
Valley on its north-eastern side. The
elephants cross the plateau in search of
food and water.
Manjamma Jogathi:
She is a transgender who has been included
in the list of Padma awards recipients this
year. She is from Karnataka who has over
the past many decades practised and
single-handedly popularised rural folk arts.
The Padma Shri came to Manjamma
Jogathi after decades of social and financial
struggle.
Overcoming personal odds, Manjavva
Jogati held aloft the cause of these art
forms, especially the Jogati Nritya and
Janapada songs, practiced in rural
Karnataka, Maharashtra, and parts of
Andhra Pradesh.
Now in her early 60s, Manjamma Jogati,
originally named Manjunath Shetty by her
parents. She began to identify as a woman
in her teens. Her family from Ballari
district then disowned her by making her
part of a transgender community in rural
Deccan that reveres the fiery Goddess
Renuka Yellamma. Members of this
community are considered married to the
goddess. The community's lifestyle and the
plight of its members were highlighted in
the national award-winning 2009 Marathi
movie Jogwa.
Subhash Bose Aapda Prabandhan
Puraskar:
The Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda
Prabandhan Puraskar 2021 has recently
been conferred upon Dr Rajendra Kumar
Bhandari in the Individual category and
Sustainable Environment and Ecological
Development Society (SEEDS) in
Institutional category.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs 51 lakh
and a certificate for an institution and Rs 5
lakh and a certificate in case of an
individual.
About: The Government of India (GoI)
announces the award every year on January
23, the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash
31
www.civilserviceindia.com
Chandra Bose, to recognise and honour the
invaluable contribution and selfless service
rendered by individuals and organisations
in India in the field of disaster
management.
R. S. Sharma:
R. S. Sharma has recently been appointed
as the new Chief Executive Officer (CRO)
of the Ayushman Bharat scheme or the
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana which is
an insurance scheme by the National
Health Authority’s (NHA). He will replace
Indu Bhushan. He will be assuming the
office as CEO, NHA from February 1, 2021.
RS Sharma has worked as the Chairman of
the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India
(TRAI). He is also the head of the
Empowered Group on Technology and
Data Management to combat the Covid-19
and the Covid-19 vaccine delivery
technology platform—Co-WIN. He also
works as a member of the National Expert
Group on Covid-19 Vaccine
Administration.
Ami Bera:
He is the US veteran Indian-American
Congressman who has been re-elected as
chairman of the House Foreign
Subcommittee on Asia, Pacific, Central
Asia and Non-proliferation.
Bera is the longest-serving Indian
American currently in Congress.
Meghalaya:
It is a state in northeastern India.
Meghalaya was formed by carving out two
districts from the state of Assam: the
United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills, and
the Garo Hills on 21 January 1972. Its capital
is Shillong. The current Governor and
Chief Minister of Meghalaya are satya Pal
Malik and Conrad Sangama respectively.
Recently, Meghalaya won the National
Award for Best Electoral Practices 2020.
President Ram Nath Kovind virtually
conferred the award to Meghalaya CEO
F.R. Kharkongor at the National Voters’
Day Award function held in New Delhi.
The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer,
Meghalaya was selected for a Special
Award for Information Technology
applications in Elections by the Election
Commission of India (ECI), in the National
Best Electoral Practices Awards-2020.
The ECI has consistently been
championing the use of Technology
covering non-election period, such as voter
Places in news
32
www.civilserviceindia.com
portal, voter helpline app, SMS, 1950
helpline, political party registration and
online tracking.
The ECI on Monday also launched digital
radio “Hello Voters “ with a view to
connect and engage with young voters.
About the award: The award recognizes the
sustained and consistent IT application
efforts in electoral activities being made by
the Office of the CEO in the entire
Enrolment to Elections (E2E) process and
for leveraging technology for the benefit of
all categories of voters, both general and
persons with disabilities (PWDs).
Republic Day Parade 2021 Awards:
The Union Sports Minister, Kiren Rijiju
presented the Republic Day Awards for
2021 Parade Tableaux.
In the parade of 72nd Republic Day, 32
tableaux participated. These Tableaux were
selected from the 17 States and Union
Territories (UTs). Six of the Tableaux were
from the Defence Ministry while Nine were
from other ministries, departments and
paramilitary forces.
Best Tableau Award:
The Uttar Pradesh tableau was given the
award for best tableau out of total 32. The
theme of the UP tableau was “Ayodhya:
Cultural Heritage of Uttar Pradesh”.
The tableau of Tripura was chosen as the
second-best tableau. The Tripura tableau
displayed the eco-friendly traditions to
achieve the self-reliance in the socio-
economic parameters.
The third best tableau award was presented
to the tableau of Uttarakhand.
Uttarakhand Tableau was displayed with
the theme of the “Dev Bhoomi– The Land
of the Gods”.
Other Awards:
Out of 9 tableaux of the different
ministries, departments, and paramilitary
forces, the Department of Biotechnology
tableau was chosen for the top award. The
department had presented the Tableau
with the theme of “Atmanirbhar Bharat
Abhiyan: COVID vaccine development”.
Apart from that, the tableau of Central
Public Works Department (CPWD), with
the theme ‘Amar Jawan’, bagged a special
prize for paying tribute to the fallen heroes
of the armed forces.
The award for best cultural performance
was given to student of Mount Abu Public
School and Vidya Bharti School Rohini,
Delhi. In their performance they had
displayed the vision for Self-Reliant India-
Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Selection of tableauxs:
• The tableaux are selected by the
Ministry of Defence (MoD) for the
Republic day parade.
• In order to shortlist the tableaux,
an expert committee is set up by
the defence ministry comprising of
the distinguished people from vari-
ous fields of arts.
• The expert committee consists of
prominent persons from the field of
art, painting, culture, music, archi-
33
www.civilserviceindia.com
tecture, sculpture and choreogra-
phy.
• States are given representation on a
rotational basis.
Rajasthan's New M-sand Policy 2020:
The Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok
Gehlot, has recently released the new M-
Sand Policy of Rajasthan. The M-sand
policy is in light with the government’s
commitment to meet the quantity of sand
which is needed for construction work.
The main aim of launching the M-sand
policy is as follows:
1. To reduce the dependency on the
traditional sand from rivers.
2. To encourage the use and produc-
tion of manufactured sand or M-
sand in the state.
3. To solve the problem of waste gen-
erated from the mines in the min-
ing areas of Rajasthan.
4. To create huge employment oppor-
tunities at the local level.
The policy designated the M-sand units the
status of an industry.
What is M-Sand?
M-Sand means Manufactured sand. It is a
substitute of river sand for concrete
construction. It is produced by crushed
hard granite stone.
The sand is derived from the minerals
which are locally available such as granite,
silica, basalt, sandstone and quartile. The
crushed sand is of cubical shape with
rounded edges, washed and graded to as a
construction material. The crushed
material is then segregated and used in
differently based on the size. In order to
reduce the impurities, the sand is washed
after crushing it to make it more durable
and suitable for construction process.
The size of manufactured sand (M-Sand) is
less than 4.75mm. The M-sand meet the
standards of ISO code 383: 2016.
The need for M-sand Policy in Rajasthan:
The need for this policy is felt in the state
of Rajasthan as the availability of sand is
not as per the requirement of construction
works. There is a demand of around 70
million tonnes of river sand for various
construction works. But, only 20 M-sand
units are operating in the state and they
produce 20,000 tonnes of M-sand every
day. Now, with this new M-sand policy it
will promote it as a long-term alternative
to gravel and help in setting up of new
mining units.
Usage of Manufactured Sand
Due to the fast-growing construction
industry, the demand for sand has
increased tremendously causing deficiency
of suitable river sand in most parts of the
world. Hence, to avoid the depletion of
good quality river sand for the use of
construction, the use of manufactured sand
has been increased.
Benefits of M-Sand:
It is easily available and has less
transportation cost.
❖ It does not contain organic and sol-
uble compounds that affect the set-
34
www.civilserviceindia.com
ting time and properties of cement,
therefore the required strength of
concrete can be maintained.
❖ M-Sand does not have the presence
of impurities such as clay, dust and
silt coatings which help in produc-
ing better quality concrete.
❖ In addition, it can also be dust-free
and the sizes of m-sand can be con-
trolled easily so that it meets the
required grading for the given con-
struction.
❖ It eliminates the environmental
impact that occurred due to the lift-
ing of natural sand from the river
bed.
Dhannipur:
It is a village of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh
where the Dhannipur mosque project was
formally launched on Republic Day at the
five-acre plot.
The plot was allotted by the Uttar Pradesh
(UP) Government on the directions of the
Supreme Court in the Babri Masjid Ram
Janmabhoomi title suit.
The Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation
(IICF) is overseeing the construction of the
mosque.
The project would take around 30 months
to be completed.
The project comprises three parts: a
mosque based on a modern design; a
multi-speciality 200-bed hospital and
community kitchen; and an Indo-Islamic
Cultural Research Centre.
PSU Privatization Policy:
The Union Cabinet recently cleared the
policy on the privatization of public sector
undertakings (PSUs). Detailed information
regarding the policy will be announced in
the upcoming Union budget that will be
presented on February 1, 2021.
Important Features of the Policy:
❖ The policy will provide a roadmap
for the existence of government-
owned entities in strategic and
non-strategic areas.
❖ This policy is part of the Aatma-
Nirbhar Bharat package announced
by the Minister of Finance in May
2020.
❖ This is a coherent policy announc-
ing that all sectors will be open for
private sector participation. The
government had also announced to
limit the presence of PSUs to one to
four in strategic sectors.
❖ The government wanted to privat-
ize, merge or bring the remaining
companies under a holding compa-
ny. After this policy will come into
force, the government will com-
India Policy
35
www.civilserviceindia.com
pletely exit from the companies in
non-strategic sectors.
❖ The timing of the privatization of
non-strategic sector companies will
be decided on a case-by-case basis.
❖ According to the initial draft of the
policy, the Ministry of Investment
and Public Asset Management had
classified 18 departments as strate-
gic departments. It includes-
fertilizer, telecommunications,
power, banking, defense and insur-
ance. These industries have been
classified as mining and explora-
tion, manufacturing and processing
and services.
❖ Pubic Sector Undertaking (PSU): In
India, state-owned enterprises are
called public sector enterprises
(PSU) or public sector enterprises.
The majority of the stock of the
company in a PSU is owned by the
union Government or one of the
state or territorial governments. It
can also be partially owned by two.
PSUs are of two types. They are
1. Central public sector enterprises
(CPSUs, CPSEs) or
2. State level public enterprises
(SLPEs).
PSUs are administered by the Ministry of
Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
PSUs in India: Till the year 1951, there were
just 5 enterprises in the public sector. Over
the time the number has increased. As of
March 2019, the number has increased to
348.
STARS Project:
The full form of STARS project is
Strengthening Teaching-Learning and
Results for States project. Agreement for
the financial support of the
implementation of STARS project of
Ministry of Education (MoE) was recently
signed between Department of Economic
Affairs (DEA) and World Bank along with
Ministry of Education.
Earlier Union Cabinet has approved the
proposal of STARS project in October 2020.
The Program envisions improving the
overall monitoring and measurement
activities in the Indian school education
system through interventions in 6 States
viz Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Kerala.
Implementation of the STARS Project:
❖ STARS project would be imple-
mented as a new Centrally Spon-
sored Scheme under the Depart-
ment of School Education and Lit-
eracy (DoSEL), MOE.
❖ At the Naional level, the project will
be implemented through DoSEL,
MoE and at the State level, the pro-
ject will be implemented through
the integrated State Implementa-
tion Society (SIS) for Samagra Shik-
sha.
Financing:
36
www.civilserviceindia.com
❖ The total project cost of STARS pro-
ject is Rs 5718 crore with the finan-
cial support of World Bank
amounting to US $ 500 million (ap-
proximately Rs. 3700 crore) and rest
coming as State share from the par-
ticipating States, over a period of 5
years.
❖ The proposed World Bank support
under STARS is primarily in the
form of a results-based financing
instrument called Program for Re-
sults (PforR). This will ensure major
reforms at the State level through a
set of disbursement-linked indica-
tors (DLIs).
❖ A State Incentive Grant (SIG) will
be used to encourage States to meet
desired project outcomes. The SIG
matrix has been aligned with the
intermediate outcome indicators as
per the requirement of the PforR
instrument.
❖ The Independent Verification
Agency (IVA) will verify each result
before disbursement of funds.
STARS project will be instrumental in the
implementation of various
recommendations of National Education
Policy 2020.
The Program envisions improving the
overall monitoring and measurement
activities in the Indian school education
system like Strengthening Early Childhood
Education and Foundational Learning,
Improving Learning Assessment System,
ICT-enabled approaches in education,
Teachers Development and Vocational
education etc through interventions in
selected states.
Economic Survey 2020-21:
The Economic Survey 2020-21 was
presented by the Union Minster for
Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt Nirmala
Sitharaman in the Parliament on 29
January 2021. The survey is generally
presented a day before the Union Budget.
However, this year, the survey was
presented earlier because the day-before-
budget is a Sunday. The major focus of this
year’s economic survey is the losses and
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The survey will provide an assessment of
how the Indian economy has been
impacted by the deadly COVID-19 virus
and how it is improving. It will also project
India’s gross domestic product growth for
2021-22.
The Economic Survey document is
prepared by the Economics Division of the
Department of Economic Affairs (DEA)
under the guidance of the Chief Economic
Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian.
The Economic Survey 2020-21 will be
followed by the Union Budget 2020-21
which will be tabled on February 1.
The theme of Economic Survey, 2020-21
are:
❖ #SavingLives&Livelihoods
❖ #VshapedRecover
Economic Survey: The Economic Survey is
an annual document of the Ministry of
37
www.civilserviceindia.com
Finance. It reviews the economic progress
of the country and issues in the last 12
months.
The survey provides information related to
the performance of key developmental
schemes launched by the government. The
document also explains the performance of
major government policies and their
impact.
It not only discusses major fiscal
developments, macroeconomic factors,
inflation, and other economic factors but
also highlights the impact of agriculture,
climate change, and employment on the
economy of the country.
The 1st Economic Survey was tabled in
1950-51. However, till the year 1964, it was
presented along with the budget.
Economic Survey 2020-21- Monetary
Policy Transmission:
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021. The
Economic Survey said that the monetary
policy transmission has improved resulting
in fast lowering of interest rate for
borrowers.
The monetary policy was significantly
eased from March 2020 onwards owing to
the unprecedented COVID 19 pandemic
and remained accommodative in 2020,
states the Economic Survey 2020-21.
As a result of accommodative monetary
policy during 2020, the RBI has cut the
repo rate by 115 bps since March 2020, with
75 bps cut in first Monetary Policy
Committee (MPC) meeting in March 2020
and 40 bps cut in second meeting in May
2020.
Also, Systemic liquidity in 2020-21
remained in surplus while RBI undertook
various conventional and unconventional
measures to manage liquidity situation in
the economy.
The year 2020 saw an improvement in
transmission of policy repo rates to deposit
and lending rates, as reflected in the
decline of 94 bps and 67 bps in Weighted
Average Lending Rate on fresh rupee loans
and outstanding rupee loans respectively
from March 2020 to November 2020.
Similarly, the Weighted Average Domestic
Term Deposit Rate declined by 81 bps
during the same period.
Apart from the reduction in term deposit
rates, many banks also lowered their saving
deposit rates during the current easing
cycle. The saving deposit rates of five major
banks, which ranged 3.25-3.5 per cent prior
to the introduction of the external
benchmark (in end September 2019), were
placed at 2.7-3.0 per cent as on January 15,
2021.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Health:
38
www.civilserviceindia.com
Science and Technology
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021. The
Economic Survey 2020-21 has strongly
recommended an increase in public
spending on healthcare services from 1% to
2.5-3% of GDP, as envisaged in the
National Health Policy 2017.
Key Highlights:
It notes that this can significantly reduce
the Out-of-Pocket-Expenditure (OOPE)
from 65% to 35% of the overall healthcare
spend.
The Survey has recommended that the
National Health mission (NHM) should be
continued in conjunction to with
Ayushman Bharat Yojana
Drawing from the lessons learned during
the ongoing global pandemic of COVID-19,
the Economic Survey makes a strong case
for complete adoption of telemedicine for
meeting the last-mile challenges of
healthcare delivery in the country.
Economic Survey 2020-21 - Education:
The Union Minister for Finance and
Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman
presented the Economic Survey 2020-21 in
Parliament on 29th January 2021. The
Economic Survey 2020-21 states that online
schooling took off in a big way during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Key Highlights:
There was an enormous increase of the
percentage of enrolled children from
government and private schools owning a
smartphone from 36.5 per cent in 2018 to
61.8 per cent in 2020 in rural India.
PM eVIDYA which is a comprehensive
initiative to unify all efforts related to
digital/online/on-air education to enable
multi-mode and equitable access to
education for students and teachers.
Around ninety two courses have started
and 1.5 crore students are enrolled under
Swayam MOOCs which are online courses
relating to NIOS.
PRAGYATA guidelines on digital education
have been developed with a focus on
online/blended/digital education for
students who are presently at home due to
closure of schools.
The MANODARPAN initiative for
psychological support has been included in
Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
India has attained a literacy level of almost
96 per cent at the elementary school level.
As per National Sample Survey (NSS), the
literacy rate of persons of age 7 years and
above at the All India level stood at 77.7 per
cent.
PPP Research Reactor:
39
www.civilserviceindia.com
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC),
the premier research organization of the
Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has
recently evolved a design for the first PPP
Research Reactor for production of Nuclear
Medicines.
Key Highlights:
In the proposed partnership, the private
entities will get exclusive rights to process
and market the isotopes produced in the
research reactor, in lieu of investing in the
reactor and processing facilities.
Earlier, in May 2020, the Union Finance
Minister had announced establishment of a
Research Reactor in PPP mode for
production of medical isotopes as a part of
Aatma Nirbhar Bharat initiatives for DAE.
Significance: This project will be a major
step towards making India self-reliant in
key radio isotopes used in medical and
industrial applications.
Globally, nuclear medicine is a USD 6
Billion market and is expected to grow
rapidly to reach USD 30 Billion by
2030.India produces all major isotopes in
the country under the aegis of BARC.
BARC: BARC is India's premier nuclear
research facility, headquartered in
Trombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra.It is a
multi-disciplinary research centre with
extensive infrastructure for advanced
research and development covering the
entire spectrum of nuclear science,
engineering and related areas. Previously,
the Government of India (GoI) created the
Atomic Energy Establishment, AEET with
Homi J. Bhabha (also known as the "Father
of Indian Nuclear Programme"), as the
founding director on 3 January 1954. After
Homi Jehangir Bhabha's death in 1966, the
centre was renamed as the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre on 22 January 1967.
AXIOM MISSION 1 (AX 1):
SpaceX Axiom Space-1 is a planned SpaceX
Crew Dragon mission to the International
Space Station (ISS), operated by SpaceX on
behalf of Axiom Space.
The Axiom Mission 1 (AX 1) flight is the
first entirely-private orbital space mission.
A former Israeli fighter pilot, an American
technology entrepreneur and a Canadian
investor are all set to be a part of the crew
of this flight. The flight will launch in
January 2022.
These three men are paying $55 million
each to fly aboard a SpaceX rocket for an
eight-day visit to the International Space
Station, organized by Houston-based
spaceflight firm Axiom.
The Axiom Mission 1 (AX 1) flight is being
arranged under a commercial agreement
with NASA. The mission will be led by
former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-
Alegria, who now works for Axiom space.
While private citizens have travelled to
space before, the AX 1 mission will be the
first to use a commercially built spacecraft,
the SpaceX Dragon 2, best known for flying
its first two crews to the ISS late last year.
Note: This is not the first time that civilians
have been launched into space. Private
40
www.civilserviceindia.com
civilians have travelled to the space station
before.
Since 2001, Russia has been selling rides to
the ISS to wealthy businessmen around the
world. They travelled onboard the Russian
Soyuz aircraft along with professional
cosmonauts and NASA astronauts.
NICSI:
It stands for National Informatics Centre
services Incorporated. NICSI celebrated 25
years of its establishment on 28 January
2021.
The NICSI is a Public Sector Enterprise
under National Informatics Centre(NIC),
Ministry of Electronics & Information
Technology (MeitY), Government of India
(GoI).
NICSI started its journey in the ICT service
industry on 29th August 1995. It has
provided end-to-end IT solutions for e-
governance projects for Central and State
Governments and other PSUs across India.
NICSI extends its services to the
International level too in certain projects.
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Union
Minister for Electronics and Information
Technology, Communications and Law and
Justice honoured the event as Chief Guest.
On this occasion, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad
launched: TEJAS - A Visual Intelligence
Tool, e-Auction India, Work from
AnyWhere, NIC Products Portfolio and
rolled out the Silver Jubilee e-Brochure of
NICSI.
• Tejas – a Virtual Intelligence tool
(NIC&NICSI-CEDA) that extracts
critical information from data to
make its meaningful information
for policy decisions and improving
efficiency in government services
and citizen delivery;
• e-Auction India – to cater to elec-
tronic forward and reverse auction
requirements of the Govt. organiza-
tions serving online 24×7;
• Work from Anywhere Portal
(WAW) – a virtual environment,
provisioned shall empower employ-
ees access routine applications like
eoffice, calendar, mail, and other
departmental applications and
communicate across through VC
ensuring safety during this pan-
demic with social distancing and
work assurance from anywhere;
• NIC Products Portfolio- for Interna-
tional Offering to augment Digital
India branding through promotion
of productized software applica-
tions at global level.
LUNAR SAMPLE 76015,143:
NASA has loaned a Moon rock for display
in the Oval Office of the White House at
the request of the Joe Biden
administration.
41
www.civilserviceindia.com
Sports
Reason: As per tradition in the United
States (US), every incoming President gets
to redecorate the Oval Office – the
commander-in-chief’s principal place of
business which is visited by the most
powerful people in the world.
So, after taking office as the 46th US
President on January 20, Democrat Joe
Biden has made a couple of changes to the
Oval Office, including replacing portraits,
carpets, and removing the “Diet Coke
button”.
The Moon rock now sits in the Oval Office
in symbolic recognition of earlier
generations' ambitions and
accomplishments, and support for
America's current Moon to Mars
exploration approach.
About: The "Lunar Sample 76015,143" is
from the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility
at NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston. Lunar Sample 76015,143, which
weighs 332 grams, was collected by Apollo
17 astronaut Ronald Evans and
moonwalkers Harrison Schmitt and
Eugene Cernan.
Apollo 17 was the last mission to send
humans to set foot on the lunar surface.
This sample was chipped from a large
boulder at the base of the North Massif in
the Taurus-Littrow Valley, 3km from the
Lunar Module. It was collected in 1972. It is
a 3.9-billion-year-old sample formed
during the last large impact event on the
nearside of the Moon, the Imbrium Impact
Basin, which is 1,145 km in diameter.
Note: NASA plans to land the first woman
and next man on the Moon by 2024.
\
Anti-doping:
Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports
Shri Kiren Rijiju recently launched a
breakthrough Reference Material (RM) for
use in chemical testing in the field of anti-
doping synthesized by collaborative efforts
of National Dope Testing Laboratory
(NDTL) and National Institute of
Pharmaceutical Education and Research
(NIPER), Guwahati.
This Reference Material (RM), has been
identified by NDTL as one of the rarely
available RMs globally and would be used
to strengthen anti-doping measures in all
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-
accredited laboratories.
The Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) between NDTL and NIPER
Guwahati was signed in August 2020 which
proposes to synthesize 20 rarely available
Reference Materials (RMs) during a period
of 3 years.
The RMs are used essentially during dope
testing for quality control purposes and
therefore their availability remains critical
in sports dope testing, globally.
The availability of these RMs would help
the anti-doping laboratories to strengthen
their testing capacity. This will help in the
42
www.civilserviceindia.com
greater cause of promoting fair play in
sports.
NDTL has taken several initiatives towards
further strengthening its research activities
in collaboration with premier scientific
institutes in India and also initiated the
collaborations with other WADA
accredited laboratories in Cologne, Tokyo
and Rome and have exchanged thought
and ideas for the furtherance of the anti-
doping efforts.
About NDTL: National Dope Testing
Laboratory (NDTL) is an autonomous body
under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,
Government of India (GoI). It is
headquartered in Delhi. It is the only
laboratory in the country responsible for
human sports dope testing.
The NDTL in India was established in 2008
with an aim to get permanently accredited
by International Olympic Committee (IOC)
and World Anti Doping Agency to do the
testing for the banned drugs in human
sports.
2K Time Trial:
It refers to the two-kilometre time trial.
The cricket world is growing so fast, so the
challenge is and so the demand for better
physical fitness so the Indian cricket board
has introduced mandatory 2-km time trials
to measure speed and endurance levels in
its training programme for top players.
According to this new rule, the 2K Time
Trial which has been set at 8 minutes and
15 seconds for fast bowlers and 8:30 for
batsmen, spinners and wicketkeepers —
has become mandatory for India’s
centrally-contracted cricketers.
What is the 2k time trial?
On a standard athletics track, the timings
of the distance is covered in five laps of 400
metres each can be measured with a stop-
watch or an electronic clock. The 2k time
trial is a speed-endurance test, according to
Ramji Srinivasan, the 2011 World Cup-
winning Indian team’s strength and
conditioning coach.
What are the benefits of a time trial?
If an athlete meets the standard set for the
time trial, he or she can be termed ‘fit’.
Another benefit of the time trial is that it
will help to redraw the fitness schedule of a
cricketer, if needed.
For example, a batsman is in the 90s, it is
extremely hot and humid outside. The time
trial will help in terms of when to push
(and) when to sprint.
According to Srinivasan, Sri Lanka, South
Africa, and New Zealand also put cricketers
through the time-trial test.
How is the time trial different from a Yo-Yo
test?
In the Yo-Yo test, two cones are placed 20
metres apart. At the first beep, the athlete
starts and must reach the cone at the other
end before the second beep, and then turn
and run back to cross the starting point
before the third beep.
As the Yo-Yo test level gets tougher, the
frequency of the beeps increases and the
43
www.civilserviceindia.com
number of shuttles (up and down runs)
also goes up before a player gets a short
break.
Yo-Yo tests have been used in football for
ages.
Yo-Yo has a lot of acceleration and
deceleration and rapid change of direction.
Yo-Yo test is probably a far more sport-
specific test for cricket.
The BCCI made clearing the Yo-Yo test
mandatory for Indian cricketers in 2016.
However, in recent years there seems to be
a preference amongst certain sports
scientists to be testing this 2-kilometre
time trial with elite-level cricketers
Jay shah:
He is the secretary of BCCI who has been
appointed as the new President of the
Asian Cricket Council (ACC). The 32 years
old replaces the chief of Bangladesh Cricket
Board (BCB) Najmul Hasan Papon. He is
also the youngest person ever to be
appointed to the office.
About ACC: The Asian Cricket Council
(ACC) is a cricket organization which was
established in 1983, to promote and
develop the sport of cricket in Asia. It is
headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It
currently consists of 24 member
associations. ACC is responsible for
organizing the Asia Cup tournaments. The
current ACC Chairman is Amitabh
Choudhary.
Note: The 2020 edition of the Asia Cup was
postponed to June this year because of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Pakistan was to
originally host the tournament but the
tournament is now expected to be held in
either Sri Lanka or Bangladesh.
44
www.civilserviceindia.com