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Important Current Affairs – 2018-19

1. Review Petition and Curative Petition

2. Jiban Sampark Project of Odisha
3. Project ReWeave
4. National Museum of Indian Cinema
5. Zearalenone
6. Samagra Shiksha Scheme
7. Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP)
8. World Custom Organisation
9. Central Adoption Resource Authority
10. Hague Adoption Convention
11. BrahMos
12. Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme
13. Poshan Abhiyan
14. Public affairs Index
15. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan
16. ‘Study in India’ Programme
17. System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)
18. Common Service Center (CSC)
19. National Biofuels Policy, 2018
20. UN International Sea Bed Authority
21. PRASHAD Scheme
22. DigiYatra
23. Dedicated freight corridors (DFC)
24. Mission Satyanishtha
25. E-Pashu Haat portal
26. Parker Solar Probe
27. One District One Product (Ek Zila – Ek Utpadan) Scheme
28. Global Innovation Index
29. Serious Fraud Investigation Office
30. Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
31. Rythu Bima Scheme
32. Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO)
33. National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

Review Petition and Curative Petition

Review petition

 A binding decision of the Supreme Court/High Court can be reviewed in Review Petition.
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 The parties aggrieved on any order of the Supreme Court on any apparent error can file a
review petition.
 Article 137 of the Constitution provides that subject to provisions of any law and rule
made under Article 145, the Supreme Court of India has the power to review any
judgement pronounced (or order made) by it.
 Under Supreme Court Rules, 1966 such a petition needs to be filed within 30 days from
the date of judgement or order.
 It is also recommended that the petition should be circulated without oral arguments to
the same bench of judges that delivered the judgement (or order) sought to be reviewed.
 Furthermore, even after dismissal of a review petition, the SC may consider a curative
petition in order to prevent abuse of its process and to cure gross miscarriage of justice.

Curative petition

 The concept of Curative petition was evolved by the Supreme Court of India in the matter
of Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra and Anr (2002) where the question was whether
an aggrieved person is entitled to any relief against the final judgement/order of the
Supreme Court, after dismissal of a review petition.
 The Supreme Court in the said case held that in order to prevent abuse of its process and
to cure gross miscarriage of justice, it may reconsider its judgements in exercise of its
inherent powers.
 For this purpose the Court has devised what has been termed as a “curative” petition. In
the Curative petition, the petitioner is required to aver specifically that the grounds
mentioned therein had been taken in the review petition filed earlier and that it was
dismissed by circulation.
 This has to be certified by a senior advocate. The Curative petition is then circulated to
the three senior most judges and the judges who delivered the impugned judgement, if
available. No time limit is given for filing Curative petition.

Jiban Sampark Project of Odisha

Context

 Odisha has launched Jiban Sampark project for the welfare of the Particularly Vulnerable
Tribal Groups.

Key features:

 The Project is being undertaken in association with UNICEF.

 It aims to generate awareness among Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in
Odisha on various development and welfare initiatives of State Government, especially
on women and child welfare.
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 The focus areas of the Project are skill development, empowering communities,
cooperation and innovation among the groups.

About ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)’

 PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups. In 1975, the Government of India
initiated to identify the most vulnerable tribal groups as a separate category called
PVTGs and declared 52 such groups, while in 1993 an additional 23 groups were added
to the category, making it a total of 75 PVTGs out of 705 Scheduled Tribes, spread over
17 states and one Union Territory(UT), in the country (2011 census).
 Among the 75 listed PVTG’s the highest number are found in Odisha (13), followed by
Andhra Pradesh (12).

Who are the Scheduled Tribes?

 A tribe is a social division in a traditional society consisting of families linked by social,

economic, religious, or blood ties, with a common culture and dialect. A tribe possesses
certain qualities and characteristics that make it a unique cultural, social, and political
entity.
 The nature of what constitutes an Indian tribe and the very nature of tribes have changed
considerably over the course of centuries. Constitution of India has recognized tribal
communities in India under ‘Schedule 5’ of the constitution. Hence the tribes recognized
by the Constitution are known as ‘ Scheduled Tribes’.
 The Constitution ensures certain protection and benefits for communities deemed as
having Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
 Social and political mobilisation has led to the increase of number of STs 225 in 1960 to
700 today.
 As the number of communities demanding ST status expands, it brings the criteria of the
recognition and the legitimacy of the process under scrutiny. The Constitution only states
that STs are specified by the President after consultation with the Governor. It does not
define or specify a particular criterion.

According to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the criterion includes

 Indication of primitive traits

 Distinctive culture
 Geographical isolation
 Shyness of connect with the community at large &
 Backwardness

Project ReWeave

Context
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 Microsoft India Saturday announced the launch of a new e-commerce platform here for
handloom weavers under its Project ReWeave, as part of its philanthropic initiative.

Details

 It is e-commerce platform that would help connect artisans to the buyers directly enabling
them to expand to newer customers and markets.
 It hosts signature collections created by the weaver communities, showcase traditional
designs and products created from natural dyes.
 It would help sell to a broad set of customers, support weavers in increasing their income
and earning a sustainable livelihood while also reviving traditional forgotten Indian art.
 Microsoft, in association with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), has
also curated a special curriculum in ‘CAD and Colour for Handloom Weaving’ to
provide digital training in handloom design.

Benefits of such initiatives

 With the introduction of our new e-commerce platform, digital empowerment centres and
the new design curriculum, the weavers will be able to build on the rich handloom
heritage of India and also reach out to a wider customer base.
 These initiatives like e-commerce marketplace and design training would ensure weaver
communities sustain themselves and provide livelihood to artisans.
 This also is a practical solution to motivate younger generation of weavers to continue
with their traditions and not divert into other professions.

National Museum of Indian Cinema

Context

 Hon’ble PM Modi has inaugurated the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) in
Mumbai.

Details

 The state-of-the-art Museum aims to take its visitors through an absorbing journey of
over a century of Indian cinema in a story telling mode with the help of visuals, graphics,
artifacts, interactive exhibits and multimedia expositions.
 The creation of the Museum has been guided by the Museum Advisory Committee
headed by Shri Shyam Benegal.
 The Museum is housed in two buildings – the New Museum Building and the 19th
century historic palace Gulshan Mahal – in the Films Division campus in Mumbai.

New Museum Building has four Exhibition Halls which encapsulate:

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 Gandhi & Cinema: It not only depicts the movies made on the life Mahatma Gandhi but
also showcases the deep impact his life had on cinema.
 Children’s Film Studio: it gives visitors, particularly children, an opportunity to explore
the science, technology and art behind filmmaking.
 Technology, creativity & Indian cinema: it showcases the creative use of technology by
Indian film makers over the years to produce cinematographic impact on the silver
screen.
 Cinema across India: it showcases the charismatic kaleidoscopic presence of the vibrant
cinematographic culture across India.

Gulshan Mahal

 It is an ASI Grade-II Heritage Structure which has been restored as part of the NMIC
project.
 The displays present here showcase the journey of over a hundred years of Indian
cinema.
 It is divided into 9 sections viz. The Origin of Cinema, Cinema comes to India, Indian
Silent Film, Advent of Sound, The Studio Era, The impact of World War II, Creative
Resonance, New Wave and Beyond and Regional Cinema.

Zearalenone

 Zearalenone is a fungal toxin infesting cereals such as wheat, maize and barley. It attacks
crops while they are growing, but can also develop when cereals are stored without being
dried fully.
 While numerous studies document this toxin in cereals across the world, no data existed
for India until now. This month, a Journal of Food Science study detected zearalenone in
wheat, rice, corn and oats from markets in Uttar Pradesh.
 The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India does not impose maximum limits for
zearalenone, though the European Union (EU) does.
 Fungal toxins are commonly found in food, and can be a public health concern. India
regulates the levels of some of these, including aflatoxin, deoxynivalenol, ergot and
patulin. The first three infest cereals, while patulin is found in apples. Each of these
toxins has been associated with disease outbreaks.
 For example, in 1974, a hepatitis outbreak in Rajasthan and Gujarat, which made 398
people sick and killed 106, was linked to aflatoxin in maize. Meanwhile, chronic
aflatoxin consumption has been shown to cause liver cancer.
 Given this, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies aflatoxin
as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning there is enough evidence for its carcinogenicity.
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 In zearalenone’s case, there is no strong evidence of toxicity in humans so far, though

several research groups are investigating. As a result, the IARC classifies it as a Group 3
carcinogen, which means evidence is not sufficient for an evaluation yet.

Samagra Shiksha Scheme

 The Department of School Education and Literacy (MoHRD) has formulated the
Samagra Shiksha – an Integrated Scheme for School Education as a Centrally Sponsored
Scheme and it is being implemented throughout the country with effect from the year
2018-19.
 This programme subsumes the three erstwhile Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher
Education (TE).
 It is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school
to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of
school education.
 It envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary,
secondary to senior secondary levels.

Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP)

• It is a policy adopted by Government of India on 10.03.2016 indicating the new

contractual and fiscal model for award of hydrocarbon acreages towards exploration
and production (E&P).
• HELP is applicable for all future contracts to be awarded.
• HELP replaces the present policy regime for exploration and production of oil and
gas, known as New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), which has been in
existence for 18 years.

Features of HELP

• Uniform License: It provides for a uniform licensing system to cover all

hydrocarbons such as oil, gas, coal bed methane etc. under a single licensing
framework, instead of the present system of issuing separate licenses for each kind of
hydrocarbons.
• Open Acreages: It gives the option to a hydrocarbon company to select the
exploration blocks throughout the year without waiting for the formal bid round from
the Government.
• Revenue Sharing Model: Present fiscal system of production sharing contract (PSC)
is replaced by an easy to administer “revenue sharing model”. The earlier contracts
were based on the concept of profit sharing where profits are shared between
Government and the contractor after recovery of cost.
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• Marketing and Pricing Freedom: It has been granted, subject to a ceiling price limit,
for new gas production from Deepwater, Ultra Deepwater and High Pressure-High
Temperature Areas.

World Custom Organisation

• The World Customs Organization (WCO) is an intergovernmental organization

headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.
• The WCO maintains the international Harmonized System (HS) goods nomenclature
and administers the technical aspects of the World Trade Organization (WTO)
Agreements on Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin.
• The WCO’s primary objective is to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of
member customs administrations, thereby assisting them to contribute successfully to
national development goals, particularly revenue collection, national security, trade
facilitation, community protection, and collection of trade statistics.
• The WCO is noted for its work in areas covering the development of international
conventions, instruments, and tools on topics such as commodity classification,
valuation, rules of origin, collection of customs revenue, supply chain security,
international trade facilitation, customs enforcement activities, combating
counterfeiting in support of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), drugs enforcement,
illegal weapons trading, integrity promotion etc.

Central Adoption Resource Authority

• Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is a statutory autonomous body of

Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India.
• It functions as the nodal body for the adoption of Indian children and is mandated to
monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.
• CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in
accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption,
1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003.
• CARA primarily deals with the adoption of the orphan, abandoned and surrendered
children through its associated /recognised adoption agencies.

Hague Adoption Convention

• The Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of

Intercountry Adoption is an international convention dealing with international
adoption, child laundering, and child trafficking.
• The Convention was developed by the Hague Conference on Private International
Law, the preeminent organization in the area of private international law. It was
concluded on 29 May 1993 and entered into force on 1 May 1995.
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• It is an effort to protect those involved from the corruption, abuses, and exploitation
which sometimes accompanies international adoption.
• The Convention has been considered crucial because it provides a formal
international and intergovernmental recognition of intercountry adoption to ensure
that adoptions under the Convention will generally be recognized and given effect in
other party countries.
• 96 countries including India has signed and ratified this convention. Whereas Nepal,
South Korea and Russia are yet to ratify it.

BrahMos

• BrahMos is a joint collaboration between India and Russia and is capable of being
launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against the surface and sea-based targets
• It has a strike range of around 290 km and is described as the world’s fastest
supersonic cruise missile.
• The range of the supersonic missile was initially capped at 290 km as per the
obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime
• Since India’s entry into the club, the range has been extended to 450 km and the plan
is to hit 600km.
• The Army and the Navy have already inducted the missile, while the air-launched
variant is undergoing trials.

Mahila Shakti Kendra Scheme

Ministry of Women and Child Development has approved a new scheme namely Mahila Shakti
Kendra for implementation during 2017-18 upto 2019-20 to empower rural women through
community participation.

• The scheme is envisaged to work at various levels and at the national level (domain
based knowledge support) and state level (State Resource Centre for Women)
technical support to the respective governments on issues related to women.
• It is implemented with cost sharing ratio of 60:40 between centre and states except for
North East and Special Category States where the ratio is 90:10.

Provisions of the Scheme

• Community engagement through College Student Volunteers is envisioned in 115

aspirational districts as part of the Block Level initiatives.
• Student volunteers are to play an instrumental role in awareness generation regarding
various important government schemes/ programmes as well as social issues.
• District Level Centre for Women (DLCW) has also been envisaged for 640 districts
to be covered in phased manner.
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• These centres to serve as a link between village, block and state level in facilitating
women centric schemes and also give foothold for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP)
scheme at the district level.

Poshan Abhiyan

• The Government of India has set-up POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition

Mission) which was launched by the PM Modi on 8thMarch, 2018 from Jhunjhunu,
Rajasthan.
• The programme through use of technology, ha a targeted approach and convergence
strives to reduce the level of Stunting, Under-nutrition, Anemia and Low Birth
Weight in Children, as also, focus on Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women & Lactating
Mothers for holistically addressing malnutrition.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to ensure service delivery and interventions by use of
technology, behavioural change through convergence and lays-down specific targets
to be achieved across different monitoring parameters over the next few years.
• To ensure a holistic approach, all 36 States/UTs and 718 districts will be covered in a
phased manner by the year 2020. Never before has nutrition been given such
prominence at the highest level in the country.
• As part of this Abhiyaan, initiative to mobilize a peoples’ movement or Jan
Andolanon Nutrition, the MoWCD has developed a Caller Tune and Ring Tone to
popularize and create a connect with the Abhiyaan’s goal of Sahi Poshan Desh
Roshan.
• It was decided that the activities to be carried in the month of September to celebrate
as National Nutrition Month and this will be celebrated every year.

Public affairs Index

• The index provides a multi-dimensional and comprehensive matrix that attempts to

capture the complexities of governing the plural and diverse people of this sub-
continent.
• It is conducted by the Public Affairs Centre, a Bengaluru-based think tank.
• The think tank has undertaken the study across all the Indian states considering them
across 10 themes such as essential infrastructure, support to human development,
social protection, women and children as well as law and order.
• The states were divided into two categories — large and small — on the basis of their
population. States with more than two crore population were considered large.
• PAI 2018 comprises 10 broad themes, 30 focus subjects and 100 indicators as well as
a special chapter on the children of India relying solely upon government data and no
private data sources that may be interpreted as “biased”.

Performance of the States

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• Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat followed Kerala among the top five
states delivering good governance, according to the report.
• Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar ranked the lowest on the PAI, indicating
higher social and economic inequalities in the states.
• Among smaller states (with a population less than two crores), Himachal Pradesh
topped the list, followed by Goa, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura which figured among
the top five states with good governance.
• Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya were ranked at the bottom of the index among
small states.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan

• This is an HRD Ministry initiative launched in 2014 with the two-fold aim to provide
rural India with professional resource support from institutes of higher education in
the field of STEM
• And Building institutional capacity in Institutes of higher education in research &
training relevant to the needs of rural India
• This programme will be launched in collaboration with the Indian Institutes of
Technology (IIT), Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research (IISERs)
and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) throughout the country
• Each IIT/NIT/IISER will identify 10 villages in its neighbourhood and work out
technologies to solve the most pressing issues of the region
• Various teams from these institutes will visit the villages, identify problems and then
aim to find financially-viable schemes.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0

• Unnat Bharat Abhiyan is a flagship programme of the Ministry of HRD, which aims
to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least 5 villages so that these
institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village
communities using their knowledge base.
• It is a significant initiative where all Higher Learning Institutes have been involved
for participation in development activities, particularly in rural areas.
• It also aims to create a virtuous cycle between the society and an inclusive university
system, with the latter providing knowledge base; practices for emerging livelihoods
and to upgrade the capabilities of both the public and private sectors.
• Currently, 748 Institutions are participating under the scheme.

The objective of the scheme is:

• To engage the faculty and students of Higher Educational Institutions in

understanding rural realities;
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• Identify and select existing innovative technologies, enable customization of

technologies, or devise implementation methods for innovative solutions, as required
by people; and
• To allow Higher Educational Institutions to contribute to devising systems for smooth
implementation of various Government Programs.

‘Study in India’ Programme

• To facilitate Internationalization of Higher Education in India, a Programme viz.

‘Study in India’ has been launched.
• EdCIL(India) Limited is the implementing agency for the Programme.

Its objectives are:

• to make India an education hub for foreign students;

• improve the soft power of India with focus on the neighbouring countries and use it
as a tool in diplomacy;
• to rapidly increase the inflow of inbound International Students in India through a
systematic brand-building, marketing, social media and digital marketing campaigns;
• to increase India’s market share of global education exports;
• improvement in the overall quality of higher education

Provisions of the SIP

• The programme focuses on International students from select 30 countries across

South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa for a period of two years i.e. for the
academic years 2018-19 and 2019-20.
• It envisages participation of select reputed Indian institutes/universities by way of
offering seats for the International students at affordable rates.
• This Programme does not offer any Scholarships, however, fee waivers to meritorious
foreign students ranging from 100% to 25% are offered.
• A centralised admission web-portal (https://studyinindia.gov.in/) acts as a single
window for the admission of foreign students.

System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)

• Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Govt. of India, has introduced a major national
initiative “SAFAR” for greater metropolitan cities of India to provide location-
specific information on air quality in near real time and its forecast 1-3 days in
advance for the first time in India
• It was started under the plan scheme “Metropolitan Advisories for Cities for Sports,
Tourism (Metropolitan Air Quality and Weather Services)
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• The SAFAR system is developed by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune,

along with ESSO partner institutions namely India Meteorological Department (IMD)
and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF)
• The implementation of SAFAR is done with an active collaboration with local
municipal corporations and various local educational institutions and governmental
agencies in that Metro city.
• It was started on a Pilot basis in the cities of Pune, Ahmadabad, New Delhi and
Mumbai

Advanced SAFAR

• Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan unveiled a state-of-the-art Air Quality and

Weather Forecast System– SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting)
at Chandni Chowk in Delhi.
• The giant true colour LED display gives out real-time air quality index on 24×7 basis
with colour coding along with 72-hour advance forecast.
• The system will be an integral part of India’s first Air Quality Early Warning
Systemoperational in Delhi and will strengthen the existing air quality network of
SAFAR.
• The system, first of its kind in the country, was developed indigenously in record time
by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and operationalized by India
Meteorological Department (IMD).

Common Service Center (CSC)

• Nodal Agency: Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY), Government of India.

• Aim: The CSCs would provide high quality and cost-effective video, voice and data
content and services, in the areas of e-governance, education, health, telemedicine,
entertainment as well as other private services.
• CSCs are the access points for delivery of various electronic services to villages in
India, thereby contributing to a digitally and financially inclusive society.
• CSC e-Governance Services India Limited is a SPV incorporated under the
Companies Act, 1956 by the MeitY to monitor the implementation of the CSCs.

CSCs enable the three vision areas of the Digital India programme:

• Digital infrastructure as Utility to Every Citizen

• Governance and services on demand
• Digital empowerment of citizens

CSC 2.0
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• Under the Digital India programme, at least one CSC (preferably more than one) is
envisaged in 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats for delivery of various electronic services to
citizens across rural India.
• CSC 2.0 is a service delivery oriented entrepreneurship model with a large bouquet of
services made available for the citizens through optimum utilization of infrastructure
already created in the form of SWAN, SSDG, e-District, SDC, and NOFN/BharatNet.

National Biofuels Policy, 2018

• The Union Cabinet approved a national policy on biofuels that seeks to not only help
farmers dispose of their surplus stock in an economic manner but also reduce India’s
oil-import dependence.
• The policy expands the scope of raw material for ethanol production by allowing the
use of sugarcane juice, sugar-containing materials like sugar beet, sweet sorghum,
starch-containing materials like corn, cassava, damaged food grains like wheat,
broken rice, rotten potatoes that are unfit for human consumption for ethanol
production.
• The policy also provides for a viability gap funding scheme of ₹5,000 crore in six
years for second generation (more advanced) ethanol bio-refineries in addition to tax
incentives and a higher purchase price as compared to first-generation biofuels.
• Farmers are at a risk of not getting appropriate price for their produce during the
surplus production phase.
• Taking this into account, the policy allows use of surplus food grains for production
of ethanol for blending with petrol with the approval of National Biofuel
Coordination Committee.

UN International Sea Bed Authority

• The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is an intergovernmental body that was

established to organize, regulate and control all mineral-related activities in the
international seabed area beyond the limits of national jurisdiction, an area underlying
most of the world’s oceans
• It is an organization established by the Law of the Sea Convention
• It is based in Kingston, Jamaica
• Currently, the Authority has 167 members and the European Union, composed of all
parties to the Law of the Sea Convention
• The Authority operates by contracting with private and public corporations and other
entities authorizing them to explore, and eventually exploit, specified areas on the
deep seabed for mineral resources essential for building most technological products

PRASHAD Scheme
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• PRASHAD means Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation

Drive
• A 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme under Tourism Ministry

Provisions under the scheme include

• Tourism Promotion and Tourist Ecosystem

• Vocational Training for Tourists and Hospitality Business
• Hunar se Rozgar tak (HSRT) and earn while you learn programs
• Improving Tourist Infrastructure

Provisions regarding Tourist Infrastructure in PRASAD

• ATM, foreign currency exchange counters

• Rail, road water transport
• Green energy streetlights
• Water adventure sports
• First-aid centres, Wi-Fi hotspots, Parking facilities
• Green landscaping, water fountains, walkways, furniture etc.
• Removing encroachments

DigiYatra

• DigiYatra is an industry-led initiative coordinated by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in

line with Digital India programme
• It aims to transform the flying experience for passengers and position Indian Aviation
amongst the most innovative aviation networks in the world
• The facility will use digital technology to enhance air passenger experience all the
way from ticket booking to airport entry check, security check and aircraft boarding
• For this, a passenger needs to enrol into DigiYatra program through AirSewa app and
a DigiYatra verified passenger will get hassle free entry at the airport through E-
Gates
• At the entry gate, a single token for the passenger will be created
• This will also facilitate walk-through security scanners swiftly owing to advanced
biometric security solutions

Dedicated freight corridors (DFC)

• These are freight-only railway lines to move goods between industrial heartlands in
the North and ports on the Eastern and Western coasts.
• The dedicated freight-only lines are being built along the four key transportation
routes – known as the Golden Quadrilateral and connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai,
Howrah and its two diagonals (Delhi – Chennai and Mumbai – Howrah).
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What is the need of Dedicated Freight corridors?

• The above-mentioned routes are highly saturated, with line capacity utilisation
reaching as high as 150 per cent.
• Considering increased transport demands, overtly congested routes and greenhouse
gas (GHG) emissions associated with road transport, the government had proposed
this initiative.
• These freight corridors will help reduce the cost and allow faster transportation.
• Along with that, Indian Railways will open new avenues for investment, as this will
lead to the construction of industrial corridors and logistic parks along these routes.

Benefits of the DFCs

• Freight corridor will permit the trains to carry higher loads, in a more reliable manner.
• These lines are also being built to maximize speeds to 100 km an hour, up from the
current average freight speed of 20 km an hour.
• Freight corridor envisages long-haul operations with trailing loads to increase from
5,000 to 15,000 tonnes and container capacity will go up to 400 per train.
• The DFCs will allow much shorter transit times from freight source to destination
which means it will reduce the time by up to 50 per cent in some cases.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL)

• The DFCCIL is a corporation run by the Ministry of Railways (India) to undertake

planning & development, mobilisation of financial resources and construction,
maintenance and operation of the Dedicated Freight Corridors.
• DFCC has been registered as a company under the Companies Act 1956 on 30
October 2006.

Mission Satyanishtha

• In first of its kind event held by any government organization, the Indian Railways
organized a programme on Ethics in Public Governance and Launched “Mission
Satyanishtha”.
• The issue of Ethics, Integrity and probity in public life has been a matter of concern
all over the government sector.
• This mission aims at sensitizing all railway employees about the need to adhere to
good ethics and to maintain high standards of integrity at work.

The objectives of the Mission are:

• To train every employee to understand the need and value of ethics in Personal and
Public life.
• To deal with ethical dilemmas in life and Public Governance.
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• To help understand the policies of Indian Railways on ethics and integrity and the
employee’s role in upholding the same.
• To develop inner governance through tapping inner resources.

E-Pashu Haat portal

• Nodal Agency: Department of Animal Husbandry Dairying & Fisheries (DADF),

Ministry of Agriculture
• Aim: To connect breeders and farmers regarding availability of bovine germplasm.
• Government has launched e-Pashu Haat portal (www.epashuhaat.gov.in) for
connecting breeders and farmers of indigenous breeds.
• The portal has been launched under the scheme “National Mission on Bovine
Productivity.”
• This provides direct access to the farmers/ breeders to various organizations/sources
wherein frozen semen, embryos and livestock certifications are available.
• This portal is playing crucial role in development and conservation of indigenous
breeds.

Parker Solar Probe

• NASA launched the Parker Solar Probe – the space agency’s first mission to the sun –
that will explore the sun’s atmosphere and its outermost atmosphere, the corona.
• The spacecraft is named after 91-year old solar physicist Eugene Parker, 91, who was
the first scientist to describe solar wind in 1958.
• The probe, about the size of a car, will fly through the Sun’s atmosphere and will
come as close as 3.8 million miles to the star’s surface, well within the orbit of
Mercury.
• It will be more than seven times closer than any spacecraft has come before. The
Parker probe is expected to make 24 loops of the Sun over seven years.

One District One Product (Ek Zila – Ek Utpadan) Scheme

• Under this scheme, UP govt. will provide Rs. 25000/- to local craftsmen and
entrepreneurs in the upcoming 5 years.
• The primary objective of this scheme is to focus on a particular product and raise its
quality to compete in the international market.
• This scheme is aimed to provide job opportunities to 25 lakh unemployed candidates
across the state of UP.
• One District One Product Scheme will raise the GDP of the state up to 2 percent.
• Each district will be assigned a product under Ek Zila – Ek Utpadan Scheme.
• Ex: Kannauj- Perfume, Agra- Leather etc.

Global Innovation Index

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• The Global Innovation Index (GII) is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity
for, and success in, innovation.
• It is published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property
Organization, in partnership with other organizations and institutions.
• It is based on both subjective and objective data derived from several sources,
including the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank and the World
Economic Forum.
• The index was started in 2007 by INSEAD and World Business, a British magazine.
• The GII is commonly used by corporate and government officials to compare
countries by their level of innovation.

Serious Fraud Investigation Office

• The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) is a fraud investigating agency in

India.
• It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India.
• The SFIO is involved in major fraud probes and is the co-ordinating agency with the
Income Tax Department and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
• It is a multi-disciplinary organization having experts from financial sector, capital
market, accountancy, forensic audit, taxation, law, information technology, company
law, customs and investigation.
• These experts have been taken from various organizations like banks, Securities and
Exchange Board of India, Comptroller and Auditor General and concerned
organizations and departments of the Government.
• Based on the recommendation of Naresh Chandra Committee on corporate
governance in the backdrop of stock market scams as also the failure of non-banking
companies resulting in huge financial loss to the public.
• Agency headquarters is in the Indian capital, New Delhi, with field offices located in
major cities throughout India. The SFIO draws most of its officers from the IAS,
ICLS, IPS and IRS.

Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

• It is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between ASEAN and six Asia-Pacific
states.
• Members: ASEAN Members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and the six Asia-Pacific
states (Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand).
• RCEP negotiations were formally launched in November 2012 at the ASEAN
Summit in Cambodia.
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• The FTA is scheduled and expected to be signed in November 2018 during the
ASEAN Summit and Related Summit in Singapore, after the first RCEP summit was
held on 14 November 2017 in Manila, Philippines.
• RCEP is viewed as an alternative to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a proposed
trade agreement which includes several Asian and American nations but excludes
China and India.

Rythu Bima Scheme

• Rythu Bima group life insurance scheme is introduced by the Telangana government
for all the landholding (pattadar) farmers in the age group of 18-59 years from August
14.
• It is proving to be an instant aid to their families in case of death of the enrolled
farmer, irrespective of the cause either natural or otherwise.
• The death of farmers with any reason is compensated within a maximum time of
seven days by NEFT transaction by crediting the amount of ₹5 lakh each to the
nominees.
• The settlement of claims has proved to be the fastest under any life insurance schemes
available in the country.
• Settlement of 52 claims out of deaths of 78 beneficiary farmers in the first five days
of implementation of the scheme is an ample proof of fastest life insurance claims
settlement in the country.

Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO)

• The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) launched RUCO
(Repurpose Used Cooking Oil), an initiative that will enable collection and
conversion of used cooking oil to bio-diesel.
• The initiative has been launched nearly a month after the food safety regulator
notified standards for used cooking oil.
• FSSAI may also look at introducing regulations to ensure that companies that use
large quantities of cooking oil hand it over to registered collecting agencies to convert
it into biofuel.
• Under this initiative, 64 companies at 101 locations have been identified to enable
collection of used cooking oil.
• For instance: McDonald’s has already started converting used cooking oil to biodiesel
from 100 outlets in Mumbai and Pune.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

• NPCI is the umbrella organisation for all retail payment systems in India which aims
to allow all Indian citizens to have unrestricted access to e-payment services.
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• Founded in 2008, NPCI is a not-for-profit organisation registered under section 8 of

the Companies Act 2013.
• The organisation is owned by a consortium of major banks, and has been promoted
by the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India.
• Its recent work of developing Unified Payments Interface aims to move India to a
cashless society with only digital transactions.
• It has successfully completed the development of a domestic card payment network
called RuPay, reducing the dependency on international card schemes.
• The RuPay card is now accepted at all the ATMs, Point-of-Sale terminals and most of
the online merchants in the country.
• UPI is a path breaking innovation that is unprecedented globally. Its high volume,
low cost and highly scalable architecture built on an open source platform is key to
India’s transformation to a digital payment economy.
• The first version of UPI was launched on April 11, 2016 and in the last two years the
platform has emerged as a popular choice among users for sending and receiving
money.