May 2018 4th Week Summary

Healthcare access and quality (HAQ) index India ranked 145th among 195 countries in terms of Healthcare access and quality (HAQ) index in the year 2016,

behind its neighbours like China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.

The index was released as part of Global Burden of Disease study released by Lancet, one of the world’s oldest and

best known peer-reviewed general medical journal.

Healthcare access and quality (HAQ) Index

The study used index to measure quality and accessibility of healthcare, based on 32 causes of death which should

be preventable with effective medical care. Each of 195 countries and territories assessed were given score between

0 (lowest)-100 (highest). For the first time, it also analysed healthcare access and quality between regions within

seven countries: Brazil, China, India, England, Japan, Mexico, and US.

Top five countries with highest levels of healthcare access and quality in 2016 are Iceland (rank-1st, score-97.1

points), Norway (2nd, 96.6), Netherlands (3rd, 96.1), Luxembourg (4th, 96.0), and Finland and Australia (5th, each

with 95.9).

The global average healthcare access and quality score in 2016 was 54.4, increasing from 42.4 points in 2000. The

countries with lowest scores are Central African Republic (18.6), Somalia (19.0), Guinea-Bissau (23.4), Chad (25.4),

and Afghanistan (25.9).

India’s Neighbours: India lags behind China (48th), Sri Lanka (71st), Bangladesh (133rd) and Bhutan (134th) in terms

of levels of healthcare access and quality. But it is better than Nepal (149th), Pakistan (154th) and Afghanistan

(191st).

India related Facts

India has seen improvements in healthcare access and quality since 1990.

In 2016, India’s healthcare access and quality scored at 41.2 (up from 24.7 in 1990).

India performed poorly in tackling cases of rheumatic heart diseases, Ischaemic heart diseases, stroke, tuberculosis,

testicular cancer, colon cancer and chronic kidney disease among others.

Though, India’s improvements on HAQ index has hastened from 2000 to 2016, but gap between country’s highest

and lowest scores widened (23·4-point difference in 1990, and 30·8-point difference in 2016).

Goa and Kerala have highest HAQ index scores in 2016, each exceeding 60 points, whereas Assam and Uttar Pradesh

have lowest, each below 40.

Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Training (PMMMNMTT). The National Institute of Educational Research and Planning (NIEPA) is in the process of rolling out the National

Resource centre, an initiative that is part of the Pandit

Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers

and Training (PMMMNMTT).

About the National Resource Centre:

The National Resource Centre is envisaged as a one-

stop point for Indian academicians to enhance their

research and teaching skills.

The centre will enable college and university teachers

to access a detailed database of academic resources,

including lists of books, top journals and subject experts

in their area of interest.

It will also suggest a mechanism to higher education

institutions to assess students’ satisfaction with

teaching and research in the institutions, so that the

faculty are able to figure out what students think about

their college/university and make improvements.

About PMMMNMTT:

Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on

Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT) is a Scheme

launched by the Ministry of Human Resource

Development, Government of India.

The aim of the scheme to improve the quality of school

and higher education by addressing comprehensively

all issues related to teachers, teaching, teacher

preparation, professional development, Curriculum

Design, Designing and Developing Assessment &

Evaluation methodology, Research in Pedagogy and

developing effective Pedagogy.

Mahamana Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya

Indian educationist and politician notable for his role in

the Indian independence movement and as the twice

president of Indian National Congress.

Mahamana is most remembered as the founder

of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) at Varanasi in 1916,

which was created under the B.H.U. Act, 1915. The

largest residential university in Asia and one of the

largest in the world, having over 40,000 students

across arts, sciences, engineering, medical,

agriculture, performing arts, law and technology from

all over the world. He was Vice Chancellor of Banaras

Hindu University from 1919–1938.

Malaviya was one of the founders of Scouting in

India. He also founded a highly influential, English-

newspaper, The Leader published from Allahabad in

1909. He was also the Chairman of Hindustan

Times from 1924 to 1946. His efforts resulted in the

launch of its Hindi edition named Hindustan Dainik in

1936.

Pandit ji was posthumously conferred with Bharat

Ratna, India's highest civilian award, on 24 December

2014, a day before his 153rd Birth Anniversary.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

The Mission proposes to have following components:

Schools of Education (in Central Universities).

Centres of Excellence for Curriculum and Pedagogy.

Inter-University Centres for Teachers’ Education.

National Resource Centre for Education.

Centres for Academic Leadership and Education Management.

Innovations, Awards, Teaching Resource Grant, including Workshop & Seminar, Subject Networks for Curricular

Renewal and Reforms.

Model Code of Conduct Violation Reporting App

Election Commission of India (ECI) is launching multi-lingual mobile application called Model Code of Conduct

Violation Reporting App ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The app aims at empowering people across the country to share evidence of malpractice by political parties, their

candidates and activists directly with ECI.

Through this mobile app, ECI intends to encourage larger public participation in checking corrupt practices in elections

and ensure free and fair election process. The app will be launched across the country as part of steps taken by ECI

to prevent abuse of money and muscle power.

The app allows sharing of photos and short audio and video clips related to electoral malpractices from spot itself. It

also records geo-location of reported incidents and the officials concerned will immediately receive the alerts. This

will ensure an effective response.

The app was made available for first time in Bengaluru (capital of Karnataka) in run-up to recently concluded state

assembly elections. It had registered total of 780 downloads and complaints were received from users. Accordingly,

officials concerned in all the cases had taken actions.

Election Commission of India (ECI)

ECI is permanent and independent constitutional body established directly by Constitution of India to ensure fair and

fair elections in the country. It is multi-member body and currently has three members including Chief Election

Commissioner (CEC) appointed by President of India.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS) Pakistan is hosting its first ever Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (SCO-RATS)

meeting in Islamabad.

The participants of the meeting include the executive committee of the SCO and of RATS along with legal advisors

from eight member states.

The main agenda is to talk over the issue related to terrorist threats in the region and how to overcome them.

The Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is a permanent organ of the

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which serves to promote cooperation of member states against the three

evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism.

The Head of RATS is elected to a three-year term. Each member state also sends a permanent representative to

RATS.

Model Agriculture Produce and Livestock Contract Farming and Services (Promotion & Facilitation) Act,

2018 The government has released the Model Agriculture Produce and Livestock Contract Farming and Services

(Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2018. It is drafted as a promotional and facilitative act and not regulatory in its

structure.

With a view to integrate farmers with bulk purchasers including exporters, agro- industries etc. for better price

realization through mitigation of market and price risks to the farmers and ensuring smooth agro raw material supply

to the agro industries, Union Finance Minister in the budget for 2017-18 announced preparation of a “Model Contract

Farming Act” and circulation of the same to the States for its adoption.

Salient features of the Act:

The act lays special emphasis on protecting the interests of the farmers, considering them as weaker of the two

parties entering into a contract. It brings contract farming outside the ambit of the APMC Act.

It provides for a “Registering and Agreement Recording Committee” or an “Officer” at the district/block/taluka level

for online registration of sponsor and recording of agreement. The contracted produce will also be covered under

crop/livestock insurance in operation.

In a bid to allay the fears of individual farmers, the act explicitly states that no permanent structure can be developed

on farmers’ land/premises under such contracts.

It gives no right, title of interest of the land to the sponsor. Similarly, no rights, title ownership or possession to be

transferred or alienated or vested in the contract farming sponsor.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

The act provides for the promotion of Farmer Producer Organization (FPOs)/Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) to

mobilise small and marginal farmers. The FPO/FPC can also be a contracting party if so authorized by the farmers.

As per the law, the contracting party will be obliged to buy the entire pre-agreed quantity of one or more of agricultural

produce, livestock or its product of contract farming producer as per contract.

It also envisages the setting up of Contract Farming Facilitation Group (CFFG) for promoting contract farming and

services at village/panchayat level.

It also includes an accessible and simple dispute settlement mechanism at the lowest level possible for quick

disposal of disputes.

What is Contract farming?

The concept of Contract Farming (CF) refers to a system of farming, in which bulk purchasers including agro-

processing/exporting or trading units enter into a contract with farmer(s), to purchase a specified quantity of any

agricultural commodity at a pre-agreed price.

Contract farming in India:

Although varied forms of contract farming existed in pockets in the country, the formal contract farming is not,

however, wide spread in India. By and large, cultivation of commercial crops like cotton, sugarcane, tobacco, tea,

coffee, rubber and dairy have had some elements of informal contract farming for a long time.

What is the existing regulatory structure?

Currently, contract farming requires registration with the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) in few

states. This means that contractual agreements are recorded with the APMCs which can also resolve disputes arising

out of these contracts. Further, market fees and levies are paid to the APMC to undertake contract farming. The

Model APMC Act, 2003 provided for contract farming and was released to the states for them to use this as reference

while enacting their respective laws. Consequently, 20 states have amended their APMC Acts to provide for contract

farming, while Punjab has a separate law on contract farming. However, only 14 states notified rules related to

contract farming, as of October 2016.

What are the issues with the current structure?

Over the years, expert bodies have identified issues related to the implementation of contract farming. These include:

(i) role of APMCs which are designated as an authority for registration and dispute settlement in most states, (ii)

provisions of stockholding limits on produce under contract farming, and (iii) poor publicity of contract farming among

the farmers about its benefits.

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu recently laid the foundation-stone for the southern campus of the National Institute of

Disaster Management (NIDM) at Kondapavuluru village of Gannavaram mandal in Andhra Pradesh.

About NIDM:

NIDM is a premier institute of the Government of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

It was constituted under an Act of Parliament with a vision to play the role of a premier institute for capacity

development in India and the region.

Under the Disaster Management Act 2005, NIDM has been assigned nodal responsibilities for human resource

development, capacity building, training, research, documentation and policy advocacy in the field of disaster

management.

NIDM also serves as international SAARC Disaster Management Centre (SDMC) and works as focus for its operation

and planning.

‘Nidaan’ It is a new software launched in Rajasthan for presumptive diagnosis and monitoring of seasonal and non-

communicable diseases as well as the trends of ailments found in specific areas. It is expected to help in formulation

of specific action plans for control of diseases.

It will facilitate online entries of as many as 46 diseases and healthcare services available for their treatment in

different institutions.

Oumuamua: Alien asteroid discovered in Solar system Scientists have discovered an asteroid named Oumuamua (or (514107) 2015 BZ509) nestling in Jupiter’s orbit that

had migrated from another star system.

It makes it first known permanent immigrant to our solar system.

It confirms suspicions of scientists’ that asteroids from other stars have arrived in our solar system.

The asteroid Oumuamua was actually first discovered in 2014, but after four years of tracking it, scientists were able

to determine that it had arrived in our solar system some 4.5 billion years ago – just as Earth was beginning to form.

GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On)

May 2018 4th Week Summary

Elon Musk-led SpaceX has successfully launched twin NASA satellites GRACE-FO (Follow-On) that will track Earth’s

water Cycle i.e. water movement and ice melt. It was launched on-board of SpaceX’s preflown Falcon 9 Rocket from

Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US.

GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On)

GRACE-FO is joint project between National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and German Research

Center for Geosciences (GFZ). It is follow-on mission to original GRACE mission, which had mapped Earth’s water and

ice by measuring changes in Earth’s gravity field from 2002 to 2017.

GRACE-FO will pick up where GRACE left off to continue study of rising sea levels, melting of glaciers and polar ice

caps and other changes in distribution of water on Earth. The two GRACE-FO satellites will orbit together at 490km

altitude near-polar orbit, circling Earth every 90 minutes.

To measure Earth’s gravity, two satellites will orbit around Earth together, with one trailing behind other at distance

of 220km. The instruments on board of these satellites are so sensitive that they can detect changes with precision

of about 1 micrometer (i.e. about one-tenth of a human hair over long distance).

These satellites have payload called Laser Ranging Interferometer. It can precisely measure gravity field changes due

to change in separation distance between two satellites, revealing information about what kinds of features they are

flying over. Earth is not perfect sphere) different features, like mountains and oceans, across its surface, so

gravitational pull exerted on these satellites is not consistent. When gravity field changes, separation between two

satellites changes slightly.

Nepal becomes first country in south-east Asia to eliminate Trachoma: WHO World Health Organization (WHO) has validated Nepal for having eliminated trachoma, a contagious bacterial

infection of the eye.

It makes Nepal first country in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to defeat trachoma, world’s leading infectious cause of

blindness.

The eye disease was second leading cause of preventable blindness in Nepal in 1980s.

Its prevalence in Nepal has fallen by 40% following implementation of sustained control activities including national

trachoma programme which provided incentives to local communities and districts to build and maintain latrines,

measures that were crucial to improve sanitation and reduce disease carrying flies.

WHO Criteria used to assess country’s claim for having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem

Less than 5% of children aged 1–9 years have signs of active trachoma

Less than 0.2% of people aged 15 years and older have trachomatous trichiasis.

Health system which can identify and manage new cases of trachomatous trichiasis.

Trachoma

It is an eye disease caused by infection with bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis.

Infection is particularly common in young children. It causes

inflamed granulation on inner surface of eye lids.

It spreads through contact with infective eye or nose

discharges. Ocular or nasal discharge can be transmitted

directly from person to person or be mediated by flies which

have been in contact with eyes and noses of infected people.

Trachoma transmission is associated with poor sanitation and

hygiene, which increase availability of eye discharges and

encourage breeding of flies.

It can be treated with antibiotics in case of children. Older

people infected with it require eyelid surgery to cure it.

India had self-declared itself free from infective Trachoma in

December 2017 after it met goal of trachoma elimination as

specified by WHO under its GET2020 (Global Elimination of

Trachoma by the year 2020) program.

Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD-Divyangjan Shashaktikaran Vibhag), Ministry of

Social Justice & Empowerment has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with

Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) for the Financial Year 2018-19.

It covers major developments to be achieved in this year for the Empowerment of Divyangjan

of the country.

ALIMCO is a “Not for Profit” Central Public Sector Undertaking working under the

administrative control of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

WHO adopted the SAFE strategy in 1993.

Its mandate is to provide technical leadership and coordination to the international efforts aiming to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem.

In 1996, WHO launched the WHO Alliance for the Global Elimination of Trachoma by the year 2020 (GET2020).

GET 2020 is a partnership which supports country implementation of the SAFE strategy and the strengthening of national capacity through epidemiological assessment, monitoring, surveillance, project evaluation and resource mobilization.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

For past 40 years, it has been relentlessly manufacturing various types of aids and appliances on mass scale to meet

the requirements of PwDs including orthopedically, visual and hearing impaired etc.

Since its inception, it has been serving on an average around two lakhs of disabled population every year and has

supplied 42 lakhs of aids & appliances (approx.).

National Sports University The Union Cabinet has approved an ordinance to set up the country’s first national sports university in Manipur. A bill

to set up the university in Imphal is already pending in parliament.

The ordinance will be on the lines of the bill introduced in Lok Sabha in August, 2017.

Highlights of the Bill

Establishment of the University: The Bill establishes a National Sports University located in Manipur. It will promote

sports education in the areas of: (i) sports sciences, (ii) sports technology, (iii) sports management, and (iv) sports

coaching. It will function as a national training centre for select sports disciplines.

It may also establish campuses and study centres in other parts of the country.

The University will be empowered to grant degrees, diplomas and certificates.

Objectives: The key objectives of the University are: (i) research, development and dissemination of knowledge in

physical education and sports sciences, (ii) strengthening physical education and sports training programmes, (iii)

generating knowledge capabilities, skills and competence at various levels, and (iv) training talented athletes to help

them to evolve into international level athletes.

Authorities of the University: The Bill provides for several authorities under the University. These include: Court,

Executive Council, Academic and Activity Council, Board of Sports Studies etc.

Role the central government: The central government will review and inspect the functioning of the University. The

Executive Council may take action based on the inspection report. If it fails to take action to the satisfaction of the

central government, it will have to comply with the directions issued by the central government. Further, the central

government may annul any proceeding of the University which is not in line with the Act.

Funding: The University will be required to maintain a fund which will be credited with the funds that it receives from

the central government, state government, and fees and money received from any other sources (grants and gifts). All

funds of the University will be invested as decided by the Board on the recommendation of the Finance Committee.

PRAGATI –Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, recently chaired his twenty-sixth interaction through PRAGATI – the ICT-

based, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation.

The 25 PRAGATI meetings so far have seen a cumulative review of 227 projects with a total investment of over Rs.

10 lakh crore. Resolution of Public Grievances has also been reviewed across a range of sectors.

PRAGATI is a unique integrating and interactive platform. The platform is aimed at addressing common man’s

grievances, and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of

India as well as projects flagged by State Governments.

Unique features:

The PRAGATI platform uniquely bundles three latest technologies: Digital data management, video-conferencing and

geo-spatial technology.

It also offers a unique combination in the direction of cooperative federalism since it brings on one stage the

Secretaries of Government of India and the Chief Secretaries of the States.

With this, the Prime Minister is able to discuss the issues with the concerned Central and State officials with full

information and latest visuals of the ground level situation. It is also an innovative project in e-governance and good

governance.

It is a three-tier system (PMO, Union Government Secretaries, and Chief Secretaries of the States).

Issues to be flagged before the PM are picked up from the available database regarding Public Grievances, on-going

Programmes and pending Projects.

The system will ride on, strengthen and re-engineer the data bases of the CPGRAMS for grievances, Project Monitoring

Group (PMG) and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. PRAGATI provides an interface and

platform for all these three aspects.

The system has been designed in-house by the PMO team with the help of National Informatics Center (NIC).

NITI Aayog and ABB: signed Statement of Intent (SoI) NITI Aayog and ABB India have signed Statement of Intent (SoI) to help India leverage power of advanced

technologies, including robotics and artificial intelligence.

Under it, two parties will work towards making key sectors of Indian economy ready for digitalised future and realise

potential of AI, big data and connectivity.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

NITI Aayog will work with ABB across various sectors of economy, such as power and water utilities, industries like

food, heavy industries and transport (rail and metro), electric mobility and infrastructure to suggest solutions for

digitalization, incorporating Internet of Things (IoT) and AI technologies.

Through this SoI, NITI Aayog will facilitate participation of policymakers and government functionaries in workshops

and training programs organized by ABB India. Such programs will aim to sensitize policymakers and officials about

relevant AI capabilities, and explore ways they can be used for revolutionizing manufacturing productivity.

NITI Aayog and ABB will jointly work with government ministries, solicit feedback for areas critical to them and discuss

solutions using industrial automation, and digitalization technologies. Based on the interactions with ABB India, NITI

Aayog will also make recommendations to government ministries for guidelines and policies regarding development

and adoption of AI technology in such sectors.

ABB

It is Zurich-based Technology Company with presence across 100+ countries and over 1.3 lakh employees.

It is pioneering technology leader in electrification products, robotics and motion, industrial automation and power

grids, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally.

India-Netherlands-Sweden to collaborate for research programme on HIV/AIDS Governments of India, Netherlands and Sweden launched first-of-its-kind collaborative research programme on

HIV/AIDS.

It is aimed at harnessing complementary research strengths and diverse expertise across three nations to catalyse

development of better tools to understand and address burgeoning global epidemic of HIV.

The collaborative research programme will focus on accessing relevant populations of research interest, and

leveraging next-generation technologies and advanced predictive analytics to better understand geographic diversity

and different clades of HIV/AIDS virus. It will also focus on divergent human immune responses based on genetic,

immunological and behavioural determinants. This information will be key in developing new and improved tools for

treatment, prevention and possible cure for HIV in near future.

ASEAN India Film Festival India is hosting the ASEAN India Film Festival. The Film Festival will be a platform for people of the film industry of

member countries to explore areas of cooperation in the domain of “cinema and cultural cooperation.

The Film Festival will be non-competitive. The tagline of the Festival is proposed to be ‘Friendship through Films’.

The Directorate of Film Festivals is organising ASEAN India Film Festival in collaboration with the Ministry of External

Affairs (ASEAN Multilateral Division) as part of the series of events to commemorate the 25 years of ASEAN and India

relations.

Aim of the Festival:

As a vehicle of Cultural Exchange, the Directorate of Film Festival aims to provide access to new trends in filmmaking

by providing the platform for an exchange of ideas, culture and experiences in the field of cinema.

Participants:

The ASEAN film festival will have countries which have immense and colourful cultural diversity but share common

historical thread. This will be showcased through screenings of films, alongside exchange of ideas, discussions

between the film personalities and interactive sessions with the audience.

About ASEAN:

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten

Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos,

Myanmar and Vietnam) which promotes Pan-Asianism and intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic,

political, security, military, educational and socio-cultural integration amongst its members and other Asian countries,

and globally.

Its principal aims include accelerating economic growth, social progress, and sociocultural evolution among its

members, alongside the protection of regional stability and the provision of a mechanism for member countries to

resolve differences peacefully.

ASEAN is an official United Nations observer, as well as an active global partner. It also maintains a global network

of alliances, and is involved in numerous international affairs. Communication by member states takes place in

English.

Universal Service Obligation Fund [USOF] The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the “Universal Service Obligation

Fund [USOF]” supported scheme to provide mobile services at 4072 tower locations identified by MHA in inhabited

uncovered areas affected by Left Wing Extremism [LWE] of 96 districts in 10 States for Phase-ll project.

This network would be used by the security personnel deployed in LWE affected areas.

Project will also provide the mobile services to help the residents in unconnected inhabited villages which would

improve the economic activities in the region.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

It will give impetus to the e-Governance activities in the backward and LWE affected area with the availability of digital

mobile connectivity.

What are LWE affected states?

Districts which span 10 States — Bihar, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, West Bengal,

Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — are described as those affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE)

and constitute the ‘Red Corridor.’

The considerations on which the government has examined the districts with LWE features are:

1. Their violence profile.

2. An assessment of the kind of logistical and other support provided to armed Maoist cadres by their sympathisers

and over ground workers.

3. The kind of positive changes brought about by development work that these districts have seen.

Universal Service Obligation Fund:

USOF, established in 2002, provides effective subsidies to ensure telegraph services are provided to everyone across

India, especially in the rural and remote areas.

It is headed by the USOF Administrator who reports to the Secretary, Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

Funds come from the Universal Service Levy (USL) of 5% charged from all the telecom operators on their Adjusted

Gross Revenue (AGR) which are then deposited into the Consolidated Fund of India, and require prior parliamentary

approval to be dispatched.

The USOF works through a bidding process, where funds are given to the enterprise quoting the lowest bid. However,

the funds for NOFN were made an exception to this process since BBNL was the sole party involved in the

implementation having being specifically created for it.

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav To celebrate the idea of unity in diversity, the Ministry of Culture is organising the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav in

Tehri, Uttarakhand.

The paired state for Uttarakhand under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha

Bharat matrix is Karnataka, and while troupes from all over the

country will be performing, special emphasis is being given to

Karnataka.

Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav was conceived by the Ministry of

Culture in the year 2015, when the Ministry decided to organize it

with an intent to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Country

in all its rich and varied dimensions, viz Handicrafts, Cuisine,

Painting, Sculpture, Photography, Documentation and Performing Arts-Folk, Tribal, Classical and Contemporary- all in

one place.

The Ministry of Culture is organising the event under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat matrix.

Tehri Lake Festival where one can explore the water sports, organized by the Uttarakhand Tourism every year, will be

subsumed within the Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav.

Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat:

The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme was launched by the Prime Minister on 31st October, 2016 to promote

engagement amongst the people of different states/UTs so as to enhance mutual understanding and bonding

between people of diverse cultures, thereby securing stronger unity and integrity of India.

Samagra Shiksha scheme Union Human Resource Development Ministry has launched Samagra Shiksha scheme for school education.

Samagra Shiksha is a program that unifies learning from the pre-school to

class 12 levels and encapsulates elements of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan,

Rashtriya Madhyamk Shiksha Abhiyan and teacher education. The scheme

will focus on digital education.

The objectives of the scheme include:

Provision of quality education.

Enhancing learning outcomes of students.

Bridging social and gender gaps in school education and promoting

vocationalisation of education.

Strengthening teacher education institutions like SCERTs and Diets to improve quality of teachers.

Annual grant of Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 per school for strengthening of libraries.

CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Conclave

May 2018 4th Week Summary

5th India – CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) Business Conclave was recently held at Phnom Penh,

Cambodia.

During the conference, government and business community of CLMV countries were invited to actively partner in

India’s initiative to strengthen manufacturing capacities.

Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam collectively, is the third largest economy in ASEAN, followed by Indonesia

and Thailand.

India’s trade with the CLMV countries has grown from USD 1.5 bn to more than USD 10 bn in the last 10 years.

CLMV conclave:

The CLMV conclave is an annual feature which provides an

opportunity for Indian business leaders to interact with government

and business stakeholders representing the four countries. The

conclave facilitates to create and provide a platform for the decision

makers from CLMV countries to interact with a range of Indian

business companies involved in trading, manufacturing, processing,

engineering, consultancy, construction etc.

Clean Air India initiative Clean Air India initiative was recently launched by Prime Minister of Netherlands Mark Rutte, who is in India on a two-

day visit.

About Clean Air India initiative:

The Clean Air India Initiative is a collaborative project between Get in the Ring, a platform for start-ups, the

government of the Netherlands, Start-up India, and INDUS Forum, an online matchmaking platform of Indian and

Dutch businesses.

The campaign aims to curb air pollution in Indian cities by promoting partnerships between Indian start-ups and Dutch

companies and build a network of entrepreneurs working on business solutions for cleaner air.

Governments need to be articulate about the problems they want to solve, bring together the right partners, and

channelize entrepreneurs in the right direction to find solutions to global problems.” “Sustainable businesses present

an opportunity to do social good, as they represent a for-profit orientation in the right framework.

They advance the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] in a smartly profitable way.

Nari Shakti Puraskar: Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017 was recently presented to the INSV Tarini Team.

The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, had conferred the Nari Shakti Puraskars on International Women’s

Day (08th March 2018) in Rashtrapati Bhavan.

As the INSV Tarini team was sailing then, the award could not be presented to the team.

About Nari Shakti Puraskars:

To acknowledge Women’s achievements, the Government of India confers Nari Shakti Puraskars on eminent women

and institutions in recognition of their service towards the cause of women empowerment. The Nari Shakti Awards

were initiated in the year 1999.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development announces these national level awards for eminent women,

organisations and institutions.

The Nari Shakti Puraskar carries a cash award of Rs.1 Lakh and a certificate for individuals and institutions.

SURYA KIRAN-XIII It is a joint Military Exercise between India and Nepal that will be conducted at Pithoragarh.

About Surya Kiran

The Surya Kiran series of Exercises are being conducted annually, alternatively in Nepal and India. Notably in the

series of military training exercises undertaken by India with various countries, Surya Kiran series with Nepal is the

largest in terms of troop’s participation.

The aim of this exercise is to conduct battalion level joint training with emphasis on Counter Terrorism in mountainous

terrain. Aspects of Disaster Management have also been included in the exercise.

The Joint Battalion Level Exercise will enhance defence co-operation and relations between the two nations. It is an

ideal platform for the contingent of both nations to share their experience and gain mutually. The Exercise will be yet

another step towards taking traditional friendship between the two nations to greater heights.

UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund) launched Data Visualisation App The UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund) launched Data Visualisation App to provide user-friendly

visual representation of complex analytics of education scenario in India. It was developed with technical inputs

from the UNICEF, in collaboration with National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and

National Institute of Education Planning and Administration (NIEPA).

May 2018 4th Week Summary

The app uses UDISE (Unified District Information System for Education), NAS (National Assessment survey) and

demographic data. It can be used as visual tool by policy makers, academia, senior government officials, and

researchers to address gaps and monitor programs in field of education.

Shiksha Mela Education Open Day

UNICEF India in partnership with Ministry of Human Resource Development organised Shiksha Mela Education

Open Day to demonstrate case stories showcasing holistic and equitable quality education achieved through

convergent programming across 17 states.

Singchung Bugun Village Community Reserve wins India Biodiversity Award 2018

Arunachal Pradesh-based NGO Singchung Bugun Community Reserve (SBVCR) won the India Biodiversity Award

2018 in the “Conservation of wildlife species” category. It was awarded for its efforts to conserve rare critically

endangered bird Bugun Liocichla.

India Biodiversity Award

The award is joint initiative of Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), National

Biodiversity Authority (NBA) and United Nations Development programme (UNDP). It recognises contribution of a

range of stakeholders towards the conservation of biodiversity. It is given in four categories viz. Conservation of

Threatened Species, Sustainable use of biological resources, Successful models for access and benefit sharing and

Biodiversity Management Committees.

Singchung Bugun Community Reserve

Singchung Bugun Community Reserve is 17 square km biodiversity hotspot in Arunachal Pradesh. It was instituted

under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It is home to critically endangered bird species Bugun Liocichla, which is not

reported anywhere else in world. It lies right next to Eaglesnest Wildlife sanctuary, a biodiversity hotspot, which is

also home to the bird species.

Bugun Liocichla

The bird was identified as a new species in 2006 and is reportedly only new bird species to have been discovered

in India since 1947. It has been named after Bugun tribe because of their conservation efforts. International Union

for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified Liocichla as Critically Endangered (CR). There are only about 20-24

pairs which live in the area.

Community Reserve

It is established under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. It enables any state government to declare community-

owned forest area as “community reserve” if locals are willing to participate in conservation efforts for same. Under

it, community reserve receives same legal protection as National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

Fifteenth Finance Commission The Fifteenth Finance Commission has constituted high level group to explore and give recommendations for a

balanced expansion of the health sector. It will be headed by Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS, and New Delhi

and shall consist of eminent experts in health sector from across the country.

Functions of High Level Group

It will evaluate existing regulatory framework in health sector and examine its strength and weaknesses for

enabling balanced and faster expansion keeping in view India’s demographic profile. It will suggest ways and

means to optimize use of existing financial resources and to incentivize state governments’ effort on fulfilment of

well-defined health parameters in India. It will also holistically examine best international practices for health sector

and seek benchmark frameworks to these practices for optimizing benefits keeping in mind local issues.

SIDBI, CSC SPV ink MoU to provide financial support to village level entrepreneurs Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Common Service Centres (CSC) Special Purpose Vehicle

(SPV) signed MoU for providing financial support village level entrepreneurs in CSCs. Through the MoU, SIDBI will

extend financial support to VLEs of CSCs, with minimum one year of operation, under its Direct Financing Window.

Through the MoU, both CSC SPV and SIDBI seek to work together to bring more citizens under ambit of financial

inclusion. Moreover, it will also aim to enhance financial viability of CSCs by including additional services in their

bouquet of products.

Under Direct Financing Window, CSC SPV will approve list of VLEs, within 25 km distance of SIDBI Branch Offices,

who require financial support. To avail loan, VLEs need to submit their CSC project, with maximum project outlay of

Rs. 3.50 lakh and term loan requirement not exceeding Rs. 2 lakh per project.

Common Service Centres (CSC)

CSC is an initiative of Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY). It is strategic cornerstone of the Digital India programme.

It is pan-India network catering to regional, geographic, linguistic and cultural diversity of country, thus enabling

Government’s mandate of a socially, financially and digitally inclusive society.

There are as many as 2.91 lakh CSCs operate in the country today. They are mostly ICT enabled front end service

delivery points at village level for delivery of government and private services. These CSCs serve as access points

May 2018 4th Week Summary

for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, and financial, healthcare, education and

agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country.

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI)

SIDBI is principal development financial institution for promotion, financing and development of Micro, Small and

Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector in India. It was established on April 2, 1990 through an Act of Parliament (thus,

it is statutory body). It is headquartered in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. It facilitates and strengthens credit flow to

MSMEs and address both financial and developmental gaps in MSME eco-system across the country.

Government reconstitutes FSDC: Includes secretaries from Revenue Department, MeitY, IBC Chairman The Union Government has reconstituted Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) to include secretaries

from revenue department as well as Ministry of Information Technology (MeitY).

It will include Chairman of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI).

This decision will make FSDC more broad-based to incorporate changes in economic regulatory framework of the

country.

Inclusion of MeitY Secretary in FSDC becomes significant given massive digitisation push in country and rising

apprehensions around safety of personal data as both public and private sectors are collecting and using personal

data on an unprecedented scale and for multiple purposes. Moreover, inclusion of revenue secretary in follows

increasing safeguards being put in place by Department of Revenue to check tax evasion (both direct and indirect

taxes).

Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC)

FSDC is super regulatory body for regulating financial sector which is vital for bringing healthy and efficient financial

system in economy of the country. Its mandate is to strengthen and institutionalise mechanism of maintaining

financial stability, financial sector development, and inter-regulatory coordination along with monitoring macro-

prudential regulation of economy. Union Finance Minister is chairman of FSDC. Its members are heads of financial

sector regulatory authorities (i.e., RBI, SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA), Finance Secretary and Secretary, Department of

Economic Affair; Secretary, Department of Financial Services, and Chief Economic Adviser. FSDC was set up in

2010 by then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to strengthen and institutionalise mechanism for maintaining

financial stability, enhancing inter-regulatory coordination and promoting financial sector development.

Women Safety Division in Ministry of Home Affairs The division, headed by a joint secretary level officer, would deal with all aspects of women’s safety in coordination

with the relevant ministries, departments and state governments.

Besides dealing with crimes against women, the new division will deal with crimes against SCs and STs, crimes against

children and elderly persons, the anti-trafficking cell, matters relating to prison legislation and prison reforms, all

schemes under the Nirbhaya fund, Crime and Criminal Tracking and Network System and the National Crime Records

Bureau.

In order to address offences against women, particularly rape, in a time-bound manner, the division would focus to

enhance capacity of the existing administrative, investigative, prosecution and judicial machinery, along with

appropriate measures for rehabilitation of victims and bringing attitudinal changes in society.

Patratu Super Thermal Power Project in Jharkhand. Prime Minister laid foundation stone for first phase (2400MW) of NTPC’s coal based Patratu Super Thermal Power

Project in Jharkhand.

The project is 74: 26 Joint Venture between Government of Jharkhand (GoJ) and Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd.

(PVUN), a subsidiary company of NTPC.

The Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) contract of project is awarded to BHEL.

Patratu Super Thermal Power Project

NTPC’s PVUNL will develop project in two phases viz. 2,400 MW (3x800MW) in Phase-I and 1,600 MW (2×800 MW)

in Phase-II later.

The first unit is envisaged to be commissioned in 2022 and subsequently other two units each of 800 MW after

interval of six months each from the preceding unit.

This project will allocate 85% of power to Jharkhand that will benefit state in the long run and help in economic growth

of region. It will ensure providing 24×7 power availability to households in Jharkhand under Pradhan Mantri Sahaj

Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (Saubhagya) scheme.

The project also complies with new emission norms with high efficiency ESP, FGD and Nox emission control systems.

It has dry ash disposable system (second to NTPC Dadri), zero liquid discharge system, air-cooled condenser

technology (only second to North Karanpura STPP) and rail loading facility for transportation of ash.

Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP)

May 2018 4th Week Summary

NITI Aayog has signed Statement of Intent (SoI) with noted media personality and entrepreneur Sushant Singh Rajput

to collaborate and support its flagship Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) initiative.

NITI Aayog had launched Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) in March 2018 on the occasion of the

International Women’s Day.

Objectives

Build ecosystem for women across India to realize their entrepreneurial aspirations, scale-up innovative initiatives

and chalk-out sustainable, long-term strategies for their businesses.

Power vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem through enabling network of industry collaborations, partnerships, mentors

and peer-to-peer connect.

WEP helps aspiring women entrepreneurs in three different ways which is manifested as its three pillars. They are

1. Ichha Shakti: Motivating aspiring entrepreneurs to start their enterprise.

2. Gyaan Shakti: Providing knowledge and ecosystem support to women entrepreneurs to help them foster

entrepreneurship.

3. Karma Shakti: Providing hands-on support to entrepreneurs in setting-up and scaling up businesses

Inter-State Council Inter-State Council Standing Committee under the chairmanship of Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh

completes its deliberations on Punchhi Commission report.

The recommendations in Volume VI of the Punchhi Commission report are related to Environment, Natural Resources

and Infrastructure.

The recommendations in Volume VII are related to Socio-economic Development, Public Policy and Good Governance.

Punchhi Commission:

Punchhi Commission notified in 2005 submitted its report in 2010. The recommendations of the Punchhi

Commission, which are contained in seven Volumes pertain to History of Centre-State Relations in India;

Constitutional Governance and Management of Centre-State Relations; Centre-State Financial Relations and

Planning; Local Self-Governments and Decentralized Governance; Internal Security, Criminal Justice and Centre-State

Cooperation; Environment, Natural Resources & Infrastructure; and Socio-Economic Development, Public Policy and

Good Governance.

About the inter-state council:

The Council is a recommendatory body to investigate and discuss subjects, in which some or all of the states or the

union government have a common interest.

Article 263 of the Constitution of India provides for the establishment of an Inter-State Council.

It considers recommendations for the better coordination of policy and action, and also matters of general interest

to the states.

The inter-state council is not a permanent constitutional body for coordination between the states and union

government. It can be established ‘at any time’ if it appears to the President that the public interests would be served

by the establishment of such a council.

The Council shall consist of:

Prime minister who is the chairman.

Chief Ministers of all states who are members.

Chief Ministers of union territories and administrators of UTs as members.

Six union ministers of cabinet rank in the union council of ministers nominated by the prime minister are also

members.

Rim of the Pacific naval exercise The United States has decided to disinvite China from participating in the Rim of the Pacific naval exercise, held near

Hawaii. The decision to withdraw the invitation extended to China was made in response to Chinese activity in the

South China Sea.

China first participated in the RIMPAC exercises in 2014, as noted by The Diplomat. Back then China’s participation

was lauded and viewed as a step toward cooperation.

In Asia’s current climate, these exercises are especially important. Tension in both the South China Sea and East

China Sea tends to increase during summer months, when activity is on the rise due to the presence of fishing and

trade vessels.

RIMPAC

RIMPAC is the world’s largest set of international maritime war games. The exercises occur every two years and are

led by the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet, headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. They are seen as a unique opportunity for

Pacific Rim nations to cooperate as they train and work together to solve problems. Also, the games are seen as a

way of ensuring open access to important shipping lanes in Asia’s increasingly contested waters.

The exercises are also a display of power — in the sense that participants are able to understand the technological

capabilities of other participants — and thus perhaps act as a deterrent to further aggressive action.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

Observer nations: Several observer nations are usually invited, including China, Ecuador, India, Mexico, the

Philippines, and Russia. While not contributing any ships, observer nations are involved in RIMPAC at the strategic

level and use the opportunity to prepare for possible full participation in the future.

Rustom 2 drone DRDO chairman S Christopher recently said that Rustom- 2 drones will be delivered to the Indian armed forces by

2020.

About Rustom- 2:

Rustom 2 drone is a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle, developed on the lines of predator

drones of the United States. The objective of this drone is to carry out surveillance for the armed forces with an

endurance of 24 hours.

The drone was developed for use by all three services of the Indian armed forces, primarily for intelligence,

surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) operations.

The medium-altitude prototype can fly at over 22,000 ft and is a long-endurance (MALE) UAV that has an approximate

flight time of 20 hours.

It can fly at around 280 km/h and carry a variety of payloads like Medium Range Electro Optic (MREO), Long Range

Electro Optic (LREO), Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), and Electronic Intelligence (ELINT).

Rustom 2 can fly missions on manual as well as autonomous modes. The on-board way-point navigation system

allows the drone to conduct missions autonomously.

LCU L54: Indian Navy commissions fourth ship of Landing Craft Utility MK-IV Indian Navy inducted Landing Craft Utility MK-IV LCU vessel L54 at Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Island.

It is fourth of total eighth Mark IV LCU vessels to be inducted into Indian Navy.

The Mark IV LCU vessels are further improved version of Mark III LCU vessels presently being used by Indian Navy.

These total 8 vessels under Mark IV category have been ordered by Indian Navy from GRSE.

They are amphibious ships with primary role to transport and deploy Main Battle Tanks (MTBs), armoured vehicles,

troops and equipment from ship to shore.

LCU MK-IV vessels will be based in Andaman and Nicobar Command. It can be deployed for multirole activities like

beaching operations, disaster relief operations, search and rescue, supply and replenishment and evacuation from

distant islands. They will contribute to the nation’s maritime security needs.

The first vessels INS LCU 51 was commissioned in 2016. Moreover, two more LCU ships L52 & L53 have been already

delivered to Indian Navy. The remaining four ships of same class are in advanced stages of construction

LCU L54

LCU L54 has been indigenously designed and built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata. It

has 90% indigenous content. It is 62.8 meters long and 11 meters wide. It is fitted with 2 MTU 16V 4000 M 53

marine Diesel Engines each fitted with one Fixed Pitch Propeller generating 2 X 1840 KW power.

It has displacement capacity of around 950 Tons. It has endurance of around 1500 nautical miles at 12 knots speed.

It is fitted with 2 X CRN-91 indigenous 30mm Guns, 4 X MMG and 2 X HMG to provide artillery fire to support during

attack missions. It also boasts of modern habitability conditions with accommodation for 216 personnel. It is also

fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and advanced systems like Integrated Bridge System (IBS) and Integrated

Platform Management System (IPMS).

National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management Food Processing Ministry to collaborate with international labs for wider acceptability of NIFTEM approved products.

NIFTEM is the brainchild of the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) Government of India.

It was created to cater to the needs of various stakeholders such as entrepreneurs, food processing industry,

exporters, policy makers, government and existing institution.

It works actively for assisting in setting up food standards, businesses incubation and can also include knowledge

sharing.

It would also be an apex institution in the field of food technology and management, networking and co-ordinating

with other institutions in the same field in India and Abroad.

Clarivate Analytics India Innovation Award 2018 Council of Scientific & Industrial Research has been awarded the Clarivate Analytics India Innovation Award 2018 in

the Government Research Organizations Category.

CSIR is a pioneer of India’s intellectual property movement and a leader in terms of sheer volume of patents

published.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

CSIR’s patent portfolio touches a wide spectrum of areas in science and technology, some of the top filing areas

include: polymers and applications in medicine, materials, electrical industry, pharmaceutical research, fermentation,

enzymes, catalysis and applications, chemical & biological treatment of water.

Every year, Clarivate Analytics – formerly the IP & Science division of Thomson Reuters - recognizes the most

innovative companies in India according to patent-related metrics.

The evaluation is strictly driven by metrics for both patent volume (patents published) as well as patent quality (grant

success rate, extent of globalization, and citations).

UGC (Online Courses) Regulations, 2018

In a landmark reform in the field of Higher Education, University Grants Commission has approved UGC (Online

Courses) Regulations, 2018 in its meeting.

Higher Educational Institutions can offer Certificate, Diploma and Degree Programs in full-fledged online mode in only

those disciplines in which it has already been offering the same or similar Programs /Courses at graduation level in

regular mode (of classroom teaching) or in Open and Distance Learning mode.

The online learning shall have minimum four quadrants: video lectures, e- content, and self-assessment and

discussion forum to clarify doubts.

The learners’ engagement will be monitored via participation in asynchronous / synchronous discussions, assignment

activity and Program involvement.

These regulations will be made applicable from the academic session 2018-19.

This initiative is a big step towards attaining the targeted GER of 30% by the year 2020.

Katra forest fire The pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine resumed following a brief halt due to fire in Trikuta hills.

Trikuta hills are the abode of Mata Vaishno Devi in Katra town of Jammu’s Reasi district.

The IAF choppers from the Snow Leopards and Daring Dragons units of the Western Air Command were deployed.

The bambi buckets were suspended by a cable from the choppers.

The 'Bambi buckets' carried approximately 2,500 litres of water from the nearby Reasi reservoir at a time.

May 25: World Thyroid Awareness Day The World Thyroid Day is observed every year on May 25 to spread awareness of thyroid health and educating about

prevention and treatment of thyroid diseases.

Observance of day highlights five major goals to:

Increase awareness of thyroid health.

Promote understanding of advances made in treating thyroid diseases.

Emphasize prevalence of thyroid diseases.

Focus on urgent need for education and prevention programs.

Expand awareness of new treatment modalities.

Thyroid gland

Thyroid gland, often referred to as simply thyroid, is one of the largest endocrine glands. It butterfly-shaped gland

located in neck. Thyroid health is extremely important, as hormones produced by it influence critical body functions

and regulate metabolism. Thyroid disorders are very common worldwide, they affect people of all ages and have large

range of symptoms. The most common thyroid disorders include hypothyroidism (abnormally decreased thyroid

activity), yperthyroidism (abnormally increased thyroid activity), thyroiditis or Goitre (inflammation of thyroid gland)

and thyroid cancer. They are often caused by iodine deficiency.

Background

In 2008, European Thyroid Association (ETA) and American Thyroid Association (ATA) had joined hands to create, for

first time ever day devoted globally to Thyroid Gland and its numerous and often ‘invisible’ symptoms. It was observed

for the first time in 2009. Since then, it has been celebrated annually round globe together with its extension,

International Thyroid Awareness Week, which surrounds main Day.

NIC sets up cloud-enabled National Data Centre in Bhubaneswar National Informatics Centre (NIC) has set up cloud-enabled National Data Centre at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

It will offer round-the-clock operations with secure hosting for e-governance applications of ministries and

departments.

It is fourth cloud-enabled National Data Centre of NIC after Delhi, Hyderabad and Pune.

Bhubaneswar based centre is expected to enhance range of data centre related services offered by government

body.

It will provide benefits like on-demand access to ICT (Information and Communication Technology) infrastructure for

easy availability and quick deployment of applications and standardised platforms of deployment.

Centralised cloud environment of this centre has been established to host multiple applications with simplified

operations and increased application responsiveness to support new generation of distributed applications. The

May 2018 4th Week Summary

cloud service offerings of NIC will allow government departments to provision infrastructure and add to computing

capacity on demand.

National Informatics Centre (NIC)

NIC (Rashtriya Suchna Vigyan Kendra) is premier science & technology organisation of Government in informatics

services and information and communication technology (ICT) applications.

It is part of MeitY’s Department of Electronics & Information Technology. It was established in 1976.

It plays a pivotal role in steering e-governance applications in governmental departments at national, state and district

levels, thus enabling improvement and wider transparency in government services. Almost all Indian-government

websites are developed and managed by NIC.

NASA Curiosity NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has successfully collected the first rock samples on the red planet in over a year, using

a new way to drill rocks and extract powder from them.

Curiosity tested percussive drilling penetrating about two inches into a target called “Duluth.”

This technique, called Feed Extended Drilling, keeps the drill’s bit extended out past two stabiliser posts that were

originally used to steady the drill against Martian rocks

It lets Curiosity drill using the force of its robotic arm, a little more like the way a human would drill into a wall at

home.

Curiosity is a car-sized rover designed to explore Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory

mission (MSL).

3D-printed, driverless boats MIT scientists have designed a fleet of 3D-printed, driverless boats that could ferry goods and people, helping clear

up road congestion in waterway-rich cities such as Amsterdam, Bangkok and Venice.

The autonomous boats offer high manoeuvrability and precise control.

They can be built using low-cost printer, making mass manufacturing more feasible.

In the future, the researchers also envision the driverless boats being adapted to perform city services overnight,

instead of during busy daylight hours, further reducing congestion on both roads and canals.

3D printing is any of various processes in which material is joined or solidified under computer control to create a

three-dimensional object.

It is used in rapid prototyping and Additive manufacturing.

India Netherlands relations Prime Minister of Netherlands inaugurated the Indo-Dutch Ganga Forum to take forward the Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga

Rejuvenation and the Ministry of Infrastructure & Environment of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands has become the 64th signatory member of the International Solar Alliance.

Prime Minster of India noted that the first Indo-Dutch Centre of Excellence CoE in Vegetables had started in

Baramati, Maharashtra.

The Netherlands government also shared the experiences of their collaboration with Uttar Pradesh government to

reduce water consumption and employ cleaner technologies in tanneries in Kanpur.

According to data for 2016-17, the Netherlands was the fifth largest foreign investor in India.

In February 2016, a branch of the Netherlands-India Chamber of Commerce and Trade (NICCT) was established in

Mumbai

Unique telescope link Scientists in South Africa on Friday launched the world’s first optical telescope linked to a radio telescope,

combining “eyes and ears” to try to unravel the secrets of the universe.

The device forms part of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project in the remote Karoo desert, which will be the

world’s most powerful radio telescope system.

The latest move combines the new optical telescope MeerLITCH — Dutch for ‘more light’ — with the recently-

completed 64-dish MeerKAT radio telescope, located 200 kilometres away.

The project has been six years in the making by a joint-team of South African, Dutch and British scientists.

Among the priorities for MeerLICHT, which cost about $1.1 million, is the study of black holes, neutron stars and

stellar explosions.

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a large multi radio telescope project aimed to be built in Australia and South

Africa.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is engaged in restoration works of a trove of more than

600 pages of rare Tibetan manuscripts which contains Buddha’s teachings written in gold letters. The restoration

work is being carried out at Mak Dhog Monastery in West Bengal.

The manuscripts contain the ancient Tibetan text called Gyetongba, which contains teachings of Buddhism. The

manuscripts are in the Tibetan script Sambhota, named after its inventor.

About INTACH:

INTACH is an autonomous non-governmental Indian non-profit society that seeks to preserve Indian culture and

heritage. It was founded in 1984.

In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with United Nations Economic and Social

Council.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has signed Letter of Intent (LoI) with UN

Environment The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has signed Letter of Intent (LoI) with UN Environment to promote

green’ cricket in India. The partnership aims to spread greater awareness about key environmental challenges India

is facing and highlight alternate and more sustainable solutions.

Through this SoI, BCCI will endeavour to reduce its environmental impact by greening its operations and engaging

cricketers and fans in green initiatives.

Partnering with UN Environment will help to make cricket green and sensitise spectators towards minimising waste

generation during matches. It will also focus on phasing out single-use plastic across stadiums in the country.

Green Cricket Initiatives

Film with messages from captains of various franchises will be aired in stadiums highlighting hazards of plastic

pollution during the course of Indian Premier League (IPL). At the four matches played at Holkar Stadium in Madhya

Pradesh, a Green Protocol based on concept of 3Rs – to reduce, reuse and recycle was implemented. M

Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, Karnataka replaced plastic cups and bottles with environment-friendly

alternatives for over 32,000 fans.

UN Environment

UN Environment (or UNEP) is leading global environmental authority that sets global environmental agenda,

promotes coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United

Nations system, and serves as authoritative advocate for global environment. It was established in June 1972. It is

headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Colombia is all set to formally become the NATO’s first Latin American “global partner.” Colombia will join as a “global

partner”, which means it will not necessarily have to take part in military action, and will be fully accredited in Brussels.

The move would improve Colombia’s image on the world stage.

Areas of cooperation include cyber security, maritime security, terrorism and its links to organised crime, as well as

building the capacities and capabilities of the Colombian armed forces.

About NATO:

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded in 1949 and is a group of 29 countries from Europe and

North America that exists to protect the people and territory of its members.

The Alliance is founded on the principle of collective defence, meaning that if one NATO Ally is attacked, then all NATO

Allies are attacked.

The NATO lists Afghanistan, Australia, Iraq, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan as

“partners across the globe”.

Global Wind Summit The first edition of the Global Wind Summit will be held in Hamburg, Germany.

About the Global Wind Summit:

The conference on wind is the largest and most important meeting of the wind industry worldwide. The event

combines two conferences, WindEnergy Hamburg and WindEurope.

The event will provide a platform for experts from across the globe to discuss innovative and green technologies for

harnessing wind energy making.

The focus of the conferences would be on three major subjects. Dynamic markets, cost efficiency and smart energy.

How to develop new markets, make product competitive in auctions and use wind power for all energy applications.

India is fourth largest country — after China, the US and Germany — in terms of wind energy installation capacity at

around 33 GW. The government has set a target of achieving 60 GW by 2022.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

S-400 Triumf Air Defence System India has concluded price negotiations with Russia for deal to procure S-400 Triumf air defence missile systems for

Indian Air Force (IAF).

Now both countries are now trying to find way out to evade provisions of CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries

Through Sanctions Act), a stringent US law that seeks to punish countries and entities engaged in transactions with

defence or intelligence establishment of Russia.

In 2016, India had signed agreement with Russia on Triumf interceptor-based missile system. But there has been

mounting concerns in India over US sanctions against Russian defence majors export as billions of dollars of military

purchases may be impacted because of punitive measure. The US had announced sanctions against Russia under

CAATSA for its alleged meddling in presidential election in 2016.

S-400 Triumf Air Defence System

It is long-range air defence missile system is one of most advanced long-range defence systems in the world. It is

referred to as SA-21 Growler by NATO. It is an upgraded version of the S-300 defence system and is manufactured

by Almaz-Antey. It has been in service in Russia since 2007.

It is capable of firing three types of missiles, creating layered defence, and simultaneously engaging 36 targets. It

has capability to destroy incoming all airborne targets at ranges of up to 400 km. With it, India can destroy

Pakistani or Chinese aircrafts even when they are in their airspace.

China was first foreign country to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia to procure this lethal missile

system in 2014. Russia already has started delivery of unknown number of the S-400 missile systems to China.

Eastern Peripheral Expressway

The 135- km expressway connects National Highway 1 and 2 from the eastern side of Delhi and aims to decongest

and de- pollute the national capital by diverting traffic.

It commences near Kundil in Haryana and terminates near Palwal by passing through Sonepat, Baghpat, Ghaziabad,

Noida, Faridabad and Palwal.

It is India’s first highway to be lit by solar power besides provisions of rain water harvesting on every 500 metres on

both sides and would showcase 36 national monuments and 40 fountains.

The state-of-the-art road will have auto challans for over-speeding as cameras will capture speed of vehicles. It will

also have provisions of tolling only for the distance travelled. The expressway has an iconic toll plaza at the entry

point on Kundli side besides digital art gallery.

Around 2.5 lakh trees have been planted near it, including transplant of 8-10 year old trees. It also has drip irrigation

provision.

Nanocomposite material to treat carbon monoxide Scientists have developed a nanocomposite material that can selectively convert environmental carbon monoxide

into less toxic carbon dioxide.

About the new material:

The new composite material is made of graphene and an alloy of platinum and palladium in the form of nanoparticles.

Graphene was used as a substrate and then “decorated” with alloy nanoparticles made of platinum and palladium.

The material was then used for selective oxidation of CO into CO2.

The catalytic behaviour of the nanocomposite was studied using different morphologies for the oxidation of CO. The

conversion rate varied along with the flow rate of CO as well as temperature, showing full conversion at temperatures

ranging from 75° to 125°.

The new material could find potential use in chemical industries as well as environmental cleaning.

About Graphene:

Graphene has been touted in the global electronics industry as a “miracle material” given its strength, electrical

conductivity and elasticity, and has been seen as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries since its discovery in 2004.

It is a form of carbon that can be used to develop smaller, slimmer batteries but with higher capacity.

Graphene is a carbon material that is one atom thick. Its thin composition and high conductivity means it is used in

applications ranging from miniaturised electronics to biomedical devices. These properties also enable thinner wire

connections; providing extensive benefits for computers, solar panels, batteries, sensors and other devices.

The potential applications of graphene include water filtration and purification, renewable energy, sensors,

personalised healthcare and medicine, to name a few.

Graphene has excellent electronic, mechanical, thermal and optical properties as well. Its uses range from improving

battery performance in energy devices, to cheaper solar panels.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

UNEP recognises Cochin International Airport as world’s first fully solar energy-powered

airport

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has recognised Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) in Kerala

as the world’s first fully solar energy-powered airport. CIAL is India’s first airport to be constructed in public-private-

partnership (PPP) model in 1999. It is the busiest and largest airport in the state of Kerala. It is only PPP airport in

the country that has handled more than 5 million passengers in year. The airport has 15 MWp solar power plant near

the cargo complex of airport comprising 46,150 solar panels laid across 45 acres.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

UNEP is the voice for the environment within the United Nations system. It was founded as result of United Nations

Conference on Human Environment in June 1972. It is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. UNEP also has six regional

offices and various country offices.

UNEP acts as catalyst, advocate, educator and facilitator to promote wise use and sustainable development of

global environment. It works with wide range of partners, including UN entities, international organizations, national

governments, non-governmental organizations, private sector and civil society.

Special Category status Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has implored Centre for granting Special Category Status for the state.

He asserted Special Category status to the state will it will enhance availability of resources by lowering state’s

contribution in centrally sponsored schemes, improve access to external resources.

It will act as catalyst for private investment and will boost employment generation and improve life quality of people

in the land locked state.

Special Category status

The concept of SCS was first introduced in 1969 by Fifth Finance Commission.

It has been not mentioned in Constitution.

The rationale for special status was that certain states were historically disadvantaged in contrast to others, because

of their inherent features, low resource base and cannot mobilize resources for development.

The decision to grant special category status was earlier with former Planning Commission body called the National

Development Council (NDC).

NITI Aayog, which had replaced Planning Commission has no power to allocate funds for states falling under this

category, therefore, now it is discretion of ruling party at Centre to dole out special favours to states.

Criteria for Special Category States

Earlier, NDC accorded this status to states having hilly and difficult terrain, low population density or sizeable share

of tribal population, strategic location along borders with neighbouring countries, economic and infrastructural

backwardness and non-viable nature of state finances.

The 14th Finance Commission also had recommended variables such as “forest cover” for devolution, with weightage

of 7.5 in criteria to benefit north-eastern States.

What Special Category States have in common?

They are special in the sense that they have special socio-economic, geographical problems, high cost of production

with less availability of useful resources and hence low economic base for livelihood activities. States under this

category have low resource base and are not in position to mobilize resources for their developmental needs even

though their per capita income may appear high.

Which are Special Category Status States?

NDC had accorded Special Category Status only to 11

states, out of 29 states to target fund flow for better

balanced growth.

These states includes are seven states of North-East

(Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,

Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura), Sikkim, Jammu &

Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Other

states are referred as General Category States (GCS).

Benefits to Special Category Status States

Special Category Status states are given favoured

treatment in respect of plan financing and financial

devolutions as compared to General Category States

(GCS).

According to Gadgil-Mukherjee formula for devolution of Central assistance for States plan as approved by NDC, 30

% of total funds is earmarked for Special Category States.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

Special category States receive 90% central assistance as grant and just 10% as loan in composition of Central

assistance as compared to central assistance of 30% grant and 70% loan for Special Category States. Moreover,

these states get favoured treatment from hands of Finance Commission in respect of devolution of Central tax

revenues.

Present position of Centre

After establishment of NITI Aayog and recommendations of 14th Finance Commission, Central plan assistance to

SCS States was subsumed in increased devolution of divisible pool to all States (from 32% in 13th Finance

Commission recommendations to 42%).

Many states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha are craving for Special Category State status because of

nature of benefits these states are getting. In response to demand of these states, Central Government held that

14th Finance Commission has effectively removed concept of Special Category States after its recommendations

were accepted in 2015 and it has restricted it only to north-eastern and three hilly states.

Ruthenium (Ru): Fourth element showing magnetism at room temperature discovered

Scientists from University of Minnesota, US have

discovered that chemical element ruthenium (Ru)

is fourth element to have unique magnetic

properties (ferromagnetism) at room

temperature.

So far only three periodic table elements Iron (Fe),

Cobalt (Co), and Nickel (Ni) have been found to be

ferromagnetic at room temperature.

Researchers showed that Ru can be fourth single

element ferromagnetic material by using ultra-

thin films to force ferromagnetic phase. It took

them about two years to find right way to grow this

material and validate it.

The discovery will help to improve sensors, devices in computer memory and logic industry or other devices using

magnetic materials. From an application perspective, Ru is interesting because it is resistant to oxidation and

additional has high thermal stability – a vital requirement for scaling magnetic memories.

Ruthenium

Ruthenium is chemical element with symbol Ru and atomic number 44. It is rare transition metal belonging to

platinum group of periodic table.

Like other metals of platinum group, it is inert to most other chemicals. It was discovered in 1844 by Russian-born

scientist Karl Ernst. It named Ruthenium, after Latin name of Russia.

Ruthenium is usually found as minor component of platinum ores.

It is used in wear-resistant electrical contacts and thick-film resistors. Its minor application is in platinum alloys and

as a chemistry catalyst.

Transformation of Aspirational Districts Programme The Tata Trusts has joined hands with the government to help it in development initiatives in eight worst Naxal-

affected districts in Chhattisgarh, which were covered under the “transformation of aspirational” districts programme.

As per the pact, the Tata Trusts will help the government in conducting surveys and providing ground level and

technical support in raising the living standards of citizens and ensuring inclusive growth for all.

About Transformation of Aspirational Districts Programme:

‘Transformation of Aspirational Districts’ was launched in January with an aim to quickly and effectively transform

some of the most underdeveloped districts in the country.

Implementation strategy:

The broad contours of the programme are Convergence (of Central & State Schemes), Collaboration (of Central, State

level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors), and Competition among districts driven by a mass Movement.

This will converge the central and state schemes, collaborate central, state and district collectors to strengthen these

districts by identifying the low-hanging fruits for immediate improvement, measure progress and then rank the district

by getting the data on a real-time basis.

Selection of backward districts:

The 115 districts, including 35 affected by left-wing extremism, were selected on parameters like deprivation (extent

of landless households), health & nutrition (institutional delivery, stunting of children and wasting in children),

education (elementary dropout rate and adverse pupil-teacher ratio) and infrastructure (un-electrified homes, lack of

toilets, villages not connected by road and lack of drinking water).

Significance of the scheme:

May 2018 4th Week Summary

With states as the main drivers, this program will focus on the strength of each district, identify low-hanging fruits for

immediate improvement, measure progress, and rank districts.

Under the programme, identified districts are prodded and encouraged to first catch-up with the best district within

their state, and subsequently aspire to become one of the best in the country, by competing with, and learning from

others.

Need for the development of backward districts:

India cannot grow at a high rate on a long run until these districts catch up, whatever high are the GDP number, it

has no meaning until the benefit of growth percolates down to very basic level. Ensuring progress in areas facing the

most severe challenges and improving conditions in remote and rural regions are prerequisites for India to reach the

next stage of its economic and human development.

Through its massive scale and innovative use of data, the aspirational districts programme (ADP) will help India move

towards its goals.

Gaj Yatra Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has rolled out the ‘Gaj Yatra’

from Tura, the principal town of Garo Hills in Meghalaya. The event involves taking an elephant mascot across districts

frequented by jumbo herds for generating awareness among the people.

The role of Nokmas, traditional custodians of the land, is important here in supporting the move towards co-existence

between man and animal and helping conservationists for the success of the initiative.

About Gaj Yatra:

‘Gaj Yatra’, a nationwide campaign to protect elephants, was launched on the occasion of World Elephant Day in

2017. The campaign is planned to cover 12 elephant range states.

The elephant is part of India’s animal heritage and the Government celebrates this day to spread awareness about

the conservation of the species.

The 15 months campaign will be led by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). The campaign aims to create awareness

about elephant corridors to encourage free movement in their habitat.

WORLD ELEPHANT DAY:

World Elephant Day is an annual global event celebrated across the world on August 12, dedicated to the preservation

and protection of elephants.

The goal of World Elephant Day is to create awareness about the plight

of elephants and to share knowledge and positive solutions for the

better care and management of captive and wild elephants.

African elephants are listed as “vulnerable” and Asian elephants as

“endangered” in the IUCN Red List of threatened species. As per the

available population estimates, there are about 400,000 African

elephants and 40,000 Asian elephants.

World Elephant Day is celebrated to focus the attention of various

stakeholders in supporting various conservation policies to help

protect elephants, including improving enforcement policies to

prevent illegal poaching and trade in ivory, conserving elephant

habitats, providing better treatment for captive elephants and

reintroducing captive elephants into sanctuaries.

INDOPACOM The US military has renamed its Pacific Command to US-Indo Pacific Command,

underlining the growing connectivity between India and Pacific Oceans. The symbolic

move came in recognition of the growing importance of the Indian Ocean in US strategic

thinking.

What necessitated this move?

The renaming reflects the existing geographic coverage of the command and the

acknowledgment of the increasing connectedness between the two oceans — Pacific

and India —, but also, more broadly, the process of India’s re-entry into the US

government’s “Asia” orbit.”

Formerly known as United States Pacific Command, it is a unified combatant command

of the United States Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. It is the oldest and

largest of the unified combatant commands.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

Its commander, the senior U.S. military officer in the Pacific, is responsible for military operations in an area which

encompasses more than 100 million square miles, or roughly 52% of the Earth’s surface, stretching from the waters

off the west coast of the United States to the west coast of India, and from the Arctic to the Antarctic.

The Commander reports to the President of the United States through the Secretary of Defense and is supported by

Service component and subordinate unified commands, including U.S. Army Pacific, U.S. Pacific Fleet, U.S. Pacific Air

Forces, U.S. Marine Forces Pacific, U.S. Forces Japan, U.S. Forces Korea, Special Operations Command Korea, and

Special Operations Command Pacific.

Significance of INDOPACOM:

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is critical for “a region open to investment and free, fair and reciprocal trade, not bound

by any nation’s predatory economics or threat of coercion, for the Indo-Pacific has many belts and many roads.”

Also, renaming the combatant command is strategically significant, in that it reflects a recognition within the U.S.

government that East Asia and the Indian Ocean Region are gradually becoming a single competitive space. It’s also

shrewd marketing — a way of reaffirming to New Delhi and to the rest of the world that India is, and ought to be, an

indispensable pole of the future Asian order.

Facebook has partnered with National Commission for Women (NCW) to launch Digital

Literacy Programme Social networking giant Facebook has partnered with National Commission for Women (NCW) to launch Digital

Literacy Programme to train women on safe use of internet and social media. The programme was launched by

Facebook in collaboration with Ranchi, Jharkhanda-based Cyber Peace Foundation (CPF), a civil society

organisation involved in training related to all aspects of cyber security.

Digital Literacy Programme

Under it, awareness training will be conducted for 60,000 women in universities across major cities over a one-year

period. These interactive training sessions will provide training on safe and responsible use of internet, social

media and email. It will enable trainees to differentiate between credible and questionable information. The training

will be conducted in local languages. The digital literacy programme will benefit women in universities across major

cities in Haryana, Manipur, Delhi-NCR, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

National Commission for Women (NCW)

NCW is a statutory body established under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990. It was established in

January 1992 to review the constitutional and legal safeguards for women. It recommends remedial legislative

measures, advise Government on all policy matters affecting women and facilitate Redressal of grievances related

to women.

Mission Raftaar

The Indian Railways conducted a one-day workshop ‘Mission Raftaar’ in which officials discussed ways to increase

the average speed of freight and passenger trains. Issues such as “punctuality, rolling stock, removing bottlenecks

in terms of traffic, elimination of unmanned level crossings were discussed” at the workshop.

About Mission Raftaar:

‘Mission Raftaar’ aims at doubling the average speed of freight trains and increasing the average speed of coaching

trains by 25 kmph over a five-year period

Significance of the mission:

The average speed of freight trains is 24 kmph and that of passenger trains, excluding suburban trains, is 44 kmph.

Increasing the average speed of trains is considered essential for reducing travel time for passengers, transit time

for cargo, operational cost, and improving revenues and the railway’s market share.

May 2018 4th Week Summary

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) The Government of India and the World Bank has signed a $500

million loan agreement to provide additional financing for the

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) Rural Roads Project,

implemented by Ministry of Rural Development.

About PMGSY:

PMGSY was launched on 25th December 2000 as a fully funded

Centrally Sponsored Scheme to provide all weather road connectivity

in rural areas of the country. The programme envisages connecting

all habitations with a population of 500 persons and above in the

plain areas and 250 persons and above in hill States, the tribal and

the desert areas.

Andhra Pradesh gets new state bird, state flower Four years after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the government of the residual state has announced its state symbols.

State bird: Rama Chiluka (psittacula krameri) or rose ringed parakeet.

State animal: Blackbuck (antilope cervicapra) or Krishna Jinka.

State tree: Neem (azadirachta indica) or Vepa Chettu.

State flower:

State symbols of Telangana:

State bird: Palapitta.

State animal: Jinka or spotted deer.

State tree: Jammi Chettu (prosopis cineraria).

State flower: Tangidi Puvvu (senna auriculata).

India’s first ever guidelines for Adventure Tourism The Union Ministry of Tourism for first time issued guidelines for Adventure Tourism in India in an effort to make

adventure sports safer. These guidelines were launched Minister of State for Tourism (Independent Charge) K. J.

Alphons in New Delhi. In past few years, adventure tourism has grown rapidly India. It has been playing vital role in

economic growth of the country as well as attracting large number of travellers from across globe to country.

The Ministry of Tourism has formulated guidelines on Safety and Quality Norms for Adventure Tourism in India

along with Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI). The set of guidelines list out basic minimum

standards required for adventure tourism activities in India.

The sole aim of these guidelines is to help adventure tour operators understand and execute safety guidelines in

better manner. These guidelines cover land, air and water based adventure activities which include

mountaineering, bungee jumping, trekking, paragliding, kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, river rafting and many

other sports.

May 2018 4th Week Summary