Aneurysm

• a swelling of the arteries and veins in any part of the body.
• It occurs most commonly in the aorta, back of the knees, brain or intestines. If the aneurysm gets ruptured, it can even cause internal bleeding and stroke.
• remains undetected
• it is not always possible to prevent aneurysm, but certain lifestyle changes can help reduce risk.

Risk factors for aneurysm

• Smoking, age, high cholesterol, obesity, hypertension or tissue disorders. 

Source: The Indian Express

INS Sindhudhwaj

• The Soviet Union in 1987
• Kilo Class diesel-electric submarines 

 

Project 75I

• Six attack submarines were supposed to be built in India

System of Rice Intensification (SRI)

• First developed in Madagascar in the 1980s and since then several countries in the world practicing it.
• India

Benefits

• to save 15 to 20 % improve groundwater, improve rice productivity.
• all types of soil including less fertile soil 

Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR)

• only for mid to heavy textured soils

Source: The Indian Express

Sun Temple

1.  Modhera Sun Temple, Gujarat
2. Konark Sun Temple, Odisha
3. Brahmanya Dev Temple, Unao (Madhya Pradesh)
4. Suryanaar Kovil, Kumbakonam (Tamil Nadu)
5. Suryanarayana Swamy temple, Arasavalli (Andhra Pradesh)
6. Dakshinaarka Temple, Gaya (Bihar)
7. Navalakha Temple, Ghumli (Gujarat)
8. Martand Sun temple, Kashmir

PYQs

Which of the following is/are famous for Sun temples? (CSE 2017)
1. Arasavalli
2. Amarkantak
3. Omkareshwar

Select the correct answer using the code given below

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Mains Question

1. Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of the moment. Discuss 
2. Indian philosophy and tradition played a significant role in conceiving and shaping the monuments and art in India. Discuss

Modhera Sun Temple

• 11th century (1026)
• Raja Bimdev I - Chalukya
• Solanki Dynasty
• Nagara Style
• World Heritage Site
• **India's First 24*7 solar-powered village

PYQs

Which of the following is/are famous for Sun temples? (CSE 2017)
1. Arasavalli
2. Amarkantak
3. Omkareshwar

Select the correct answer using the code given below

(a) 1 only

(b) 1 and 2 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Mains Question

1. Safeguarding the Indian art heritage is the need of the moment. Discuss 
2. Indian philosophy and tradition played a significant role in conceiving and shaping the monuments and art in India. Discuss

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)

 Definition

• MSME definition was announced in the Atmnirbhar Bharat package on 13th May, 2020. 
• As per this announcement, the definition of Micromanufacturing and services units was increased to Rs. 1 Crore of investment and Rs. 5 Crore of turnover. 
• The limit of the small unit was increased to Rs. 10 Crore of investment and Rs 50 Crore of turnover. 
• Similarly, the limit of the medium unit was increased to Rs. 20 Crore of investment and Rs. 100 Crore of turnover.
• For medium Enterprises, now it will be Rs. 50 Crore of investment and Rs. 250 Crore of turnover.

Ministry of MSME has reiterated that it has put in place a very strong handholding mechanism for MSMEs and new entrepreneurs in the name of Champions (www.champions.gov.in) which was recently launched by the Prime Minister.

Source:

• https://msme.gov.in
  

Kargil Vijay Diwas

• 26 July

Heatwaves

• Period of abnormally High Temp.
• India: May-June

Criteria

• for Plains >40 C and Hilly Region >30 C

World Press Freedom Day

• 3rd May

 World Press Freedom Index

• published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
• Theme: "Journalism under digital siege"
• India ranked 150th among the 180 countries.

Source: The Indian Express

Marburg virus disease

• similar to Ebola fever
• Outbreak in Ghana
• Fruit bats
• spread through direct contact with blood

**1st 1967, Marburg (Germany)- Lab

Source: The Indian Express

Vocabulary

1. Consciousness - चेतना
2. Revere - Respect - आदर करना
3. Deceased - मृतक
4. Cognitive intelligence- संज्ञानात्मक बुद्धि

Kali Bein

• starts from Hoshiarpur
• meets the confluence of the rivers Beas and Sutlej in Kapurthala

Significance

• First Guru, Nanak Dev, is said to have got enlightenment here

**CM Punjab: drink water from it

Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh

• Madhya Pradesh
• Cheetah from South Africa and Namibia

Population Viability Analysis

• the cheetahs will have a long-term future only in population size of 50 or more.

Status of Cheetah (Acinonyx Jubatus)

• IUCN - Vulnerable
• CITES - Appendix I

Reference

• Kuno National Park

Gender gap in the STEM field

 Facts

• Women account for over 43 % of all Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) graduates in India, one of the highest in the world, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report 2019-20.
•  just 14 % of them pursue scientific research in universities and institutions.

Problem

• Low: Women's Entry
• stereotype
• Career (male dominance)

Suggestion

• Role Model (e.g.Sunita Williams, Kalpana Chavala, Neena Gupta-Indian mathematician and Ramanujan Prize 2021 winner)
• Social Media
• Mentorship program
• Gender Neutral role
• Facilities

Source: The Indian Express

**Gender Gap Index

Mission Shakti

• 15th Finance Commission period 2021-22 to 2025-26
• an integrated women empowerment program is launched as an umbrella scheme for the safety, security, and empowerment of women for the implementation program.

Sambal

• It is for the Safety and Security of Women. 
• It comprises schemes of One Stop Centre (OSC), Women Helpline (WHL), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), with a new component of Nari Adalats.

Samarthya

• It is for the Empowerment of Women.
• Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh, and Working Women Hostel.
•  Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)  
• Gap Funding for Economic Empowerment

Nari Adalat

• the for providing women with an alternate grievance redress mechanism to resolve cases of petty nature (harassment, subversion, curtailment of rights or entitlements) at the gram panchayat level, which will be implemented in a phased manner.

Source: The Indian Express

**Essay writing

**Society (Mains)

**Scheme Related to Women

**1098 -Child Line

Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

• Centre’s flagship program
• Women and Child Development (WCD) Ministry

Targets

• improvement in the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB) by 2 points every year
• improvement in the percentage of institutional deliveries at 95% or above,
• 1% increase in 1st Trimester ANC Registration per year
• 1 % increase in enrolment at secondary education level and skilling of girls and women per year
• check dropout rate among girls at secondary and higher secondary levels
• raising awareness about safe menstrual hygiene management.

Source: The Indian Express

**Khelo India

**Nari Adalat

Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)

• emergency measures when air quality worsens in Delhi

GPSC | UPDATE ||

 

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

• (PMFBY) scheme was launched in India by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, New Delhi from the Kharif 2016 season onwards.

Objective

• Providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events
• Stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming.
• Encouraging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices
• Ensuring the flow of credit to the agriculture sector which will contribute to food security, crop diversification, and enhancing growth and competitiveness of the agriculture sector besides protecting farmers from production risks.

Coverage of Crops

• Food crops (Cereals, Millets and Pulses),
• Oilseeds
• Annual Commercial / Annual Horticultural crops

Source:

• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
• https://twitter.com/pmfby

Cervical Cancer: HPV vaccine (Cervavac)

• Human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) 

Human papillomavirus

• a viral infection that's passed between people through skin-to-skin contact.

Quadrivalent vaccine

• A vaccine that works by stimulating an immune response against four different antigens, such as four different viruses or other microorganisms.
• e.g. Gardasil, Cervavac

Cervical Cancer

• the second most common cancer type
• in women of reproductive age (15–44)

India

• India accounts for about a fifth of the global burden, with 1.23 lakh cases and around 67,000 deaths per year according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO)

• (CDSCO) headed by the Drugs Controller General (India) is the Central Authority for regulating the quality of drugs marketed in the country under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940. 

Source:

1. IE
2. https://www.cancer.gov

**The Serum Institute of India(SII)'s vaccine Cervavac recently received the Drugs Controller General of India's(DGCI)approval for market authorization.

Gender Gap Index

• released by the World Economic Forum(WEF)
• four key areas: health, education, economics and politics.

Cognizable offences

• Cognizable offenses are those the police can arrest without any warrant.
• serious in nature

e.g. Rape, murder, kidnapping, dowry death , etc

Bail

• CrPC does not define the Bail.
• only categories offenses under the Indian Penal Code as ‘bailable’ and ‘non-bailable’.
• The CrPC empowers magistrates to grant bail for bailable offenses as a matter of right.
• Non-bailable offenses are cognizable, which enables the police officer to arrest without a warrant.

Source: IE

**Topics: Comparing Constitution(UK)

**Related to Mains Exam

Interpol

• the world’s largest international police organization
• HQ: Lyon, France

India

• CBI is a nodal agency

International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE)

• It is Interpol’s initiative against child sexual abuse
• The ICSE database uses video and image comparison to analyse Child Sex Exploitation Material (CSEM)

Related to India

• India is the 68th country to have access to this database and software.

Data

• India reported over 24 lakh instances of online child sexual abuse from 2017 to 2020, with 80% of victims being girls below the age of 14 years, according to Interpol data.

Source: IE

Questions

1.The national motto of India, ‘Satyameva Jayate’ inscribed below the Emblem of India is taken from (CSE 2014)

a) Katha Upanishad
b) Chandogya Upanishad
c) Aitareya Upanishad
d) Mundaka Upanishad

2. Which of the following is the custodian of the Constitution of India? (CSE 2015 )
a) The President of India
b) The Prime Minister of India
c) The Lok Sabha Secretariat
d) The Supreme Court of India

CERN

• world’s largest nuclear and particle physics laboratory.

Key achievements

• The Higgs boson
• The W boson
• The Z boson
• The Large Hadron Collider 
• The Birth of the web
• Antimatter

Recent News

• The scientists at CERN say they have observed a new kind of “pentaquark” and the first-ever pair of “tetraquarks”, adding three members to the list of new hadrons found at the LHC.

India

• 2016- Associate member
• ALICE experiment:  Study of Quark-Gluon Plasma

Source: IE

floating solar plant

• largest floating solar plant in Telangana 
• NTPC

Krishi Jagran

James Webb Space Telescope

Agency

• European Space Agency 
• Canadian Space Agency
• Launched on December 25, 2021
• 1st photo on July 12, 2022

About

• second Lagrange point (L2)
• At L2, the gravitational pulls of the sun and the Earth keep Webb’s motion around the sun in synchronization with Earth’s.
• Infrared light

Aim

• to understand the Universe and our origins

38th Parallel

• Divided North and South Korea

World Population Prospects 2022

• UN
• India Will Surpass China as the world's most populous country by 2023.
• World Population will reach 8B.

Nord Stream 1 Pipeline

• Russia to Germany
• Under the Baltic Sea

Location-Based Question

• Baltic Countries
• Map
• Keyword Type Qs
• Refer

Baduy: Indigeneous People of Indonesia

• Live in the hinterlands of Banten, Java
• Practice Sunda Wiwitan - Religion

Digital Nomads

Digital Nomads are people who work remotely while traveling to different places and spending their earned income in the host country.

**Indonesia Announced Digital Nomad VISA

Source: IE

Nehru Trophy

• Related to Boat Race
• Kerala 

Singalila National Park

• Singalila Ridge,  in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal.

Red Panda

• IUCN Red List: endangered species 
• Red pandas are shy, solitary, and arboreal animals and are considered an indicator species for ecological change.

Zonal Councils

• Zonal Councils were set up vide Part-III of the States Re-organisation Act, 1956. 

five Zonal Councils

1. The Northern Zonal Council
2. The Central Zonal Council 
3. The Eastern Zonal Council
4. The Western Zonal Council
5. The Southern Zonal Council

The North Eastern Council was set up under the North Eastern Council Act, 1972.

STRUCTURE

• Chairman - The Union Home Minister is the Chairman of each of these Councils.

• Vice Chairman - The Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone act as Vice-Chairman of the Zonal Council for that zone by rotation, each holding office for a period of one year at a time.
• Members- Chief Minister and two other Ministers as nominated by the Governor from each of the States and two members from Union Territories included in the zone.
• Advisers- One person nominated by the Planning Commission for each of the Zonal Councils, Chief Secretaries, and another officer/Development Commissioner nominated by each of the States included in the Zone

Reference

• Zonal Councils

Asian Clearing Union (ACU)

• HQ: Tehran, Iran
• established on December 9, 1974
• the initiative of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP)
• to promote regional cooperation.

Members

• Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Asian Monetary Unit(AMU) is the common unit of account of ACU and is denominated as ‘ACU dollar’, ‘ACU euro’,  and ‘ACU yen’.

Source: The Indian Express

Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation (TiHAN)

• Funded by the Union Ministry of Science & Technology
• The multi-departmental initiative includes researchers from electrical, computer science, mechanical and aerospace, civil, mathematics, and design at IIT-H.
• TiHAN aims to fill this gap by developing a fully functional and exemplary testbed facility dedicated to connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs).

Source: The Indian Express

Co-location

Co-location is typically associated with a facility where a third party can lease a rack/server space along with other computer hardware.

Uses

• Co-location facility provides infrastructure such as power supply, bandwidth, and cooling for setting up servers and storage of data.

Source: The Indian Express

Artemis(goddess of the moon) Mission: NASA

• NASA’s Artemis mission aims to put humans back on the moon
• Space Launch System (SLS), which will carry all the spacecraft part of Artemis missions.
• next generation of lunar exploration.

CAPSTONE

• Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment
• It will study a specific orbit where NASA plans to build a small space station for astronauts to stop at before and after going to the moon’s surface.
• about the size of a microwave oven
• Not Launched by Space-X or NASA

Halo orbit

• The orbits are those influenced by the gravity of two bodies

Space agencies

1. Canadian Space Agency
2. The European Space Agency
3. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

Kai (red ant) chutney

• Odisha’s district of Mayurbhanj
• Geographical Indicator (GI): set to register
• Red ants are also rich in protein, vitamin B-12, and minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium, sodium, and as many as 18 amino acids.

Entomophagy: the practice of eating insects 

Muslim pilgrims

• Mount Arafat in Saudi Arabia
• 20 kilometers east of the holy city of Mecca.

Muslim

Muslim society in India can be broadly classified into 

1. Ashrafs (the “noble” elite or “honorable ones”)
2. Ajlafs (backward Muslims)
3. Arzals (Dalit Muslims)

**PASMANDA Muslim Community

Source: The Indian Express

FINANCIAL Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB)

The body formed by the government to select the CEOs and Directors of public sector banks, insurance companies, and financial institutions will select top officials of banks via a grooming process under a leadership development programme.

• Replaced with Banks Board Bureau.

Gati Shakti scheme

• a digital platform initiative to bring together 16 core sector ministries for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.
• It has launched a Rs100  lakh crore plan for multimodal connectivity.

Election Commission

• An autonomous constitutional authority
• The body administers elections to the Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies in India, and the offices of the President and Vice President in the country. 
• The concept of a multi-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision-making power by majority vote. 

Appointment

• President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.
• tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament.
• The same status and receive salary and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India. 

Dispute

• The Commission also has advisory jurisdiction in the matter of post-election disqualification of sitting members of Parliament and State Legislatures.
• The decisions of the Commission can be challenged in the High Court and the Supreme Court of India by appropriate petitions.
• In respect of elections for the offices of the President and Vice President, such petitions can only be filed before the Supreme Court.

Power

• Article 324 of the Constitution provides that the superintendence, direction, and control of elections are vested in the Election Commission.
• Commission has the power to recognize the party, from amongst splinter groups or rival sections.
• Commission power to settle such disputes pertaining to symbols between factions of a party, is entirely legal

Previous Years Questions.

• In the light of recent controversy regarding the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), what are the challenges before the Election Commission of India to ensure the trustworthiness of elections in India? (2018)
• To enhance the quality of democracy in India the Election Commission of India has proposed electoral reforms in 2016. What are the suggested reforms and how far are they significant to make democracy successful? (2017)

Add on

Source:

• https://eci.gov.in/

India-Japan Relation

Cloudburst

A cloudburst is short-term extreme precipitation that takes place over a small area.

Rainfall of 10 cm or more in an hour over a roughly 10 kmx10 km area is classified as a cloudburst event.

• a cloudburst that hit a camp near the Amarnath cave shrine in J&K
• flash flood

Updates

22/08/2022:

• destruction caused by cloudbursts and flash floods in different parts of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Source: The Indian Express

Alluri Sitharama Raju

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 30-foot-tall bronze statue of Alluri Sitharama Raju at Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh as the year-long celebrations of the freedom fighter’s 125th birth anniversary.
• inspired by the Non-Cooperation Movement
• talked of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi

Source: The Indian Express

Wheat

• Rabi Crop

Information Technology Act, 2000

• Section 69(A): allows the Centre to issue blocking orders to social media intermediaries

Elephant

 

• Asian elephants' ears are smaller compared to the large fan-shaped ears of the African species

PYQs

With reference to Indian elephants, consider the following statements:

1. The leader of an elephant group is a female. 

2. The maximum gestation period can be 22 months. 

3. An elephant can normally go on calving till the age of 40 years only. 

4. Among the States in India, the highest elephant population is in Kerala. 

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?[CSE 2020] 

(a) 1 and 2 only 

(b) 2 and 4 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 3, and 4 only

Ans.[A]

E V Ramasamy Periyar

E V Ramasamy Periyar

• The Self Respect Movement
• a political party, Dravidar Kazhagam (DK)
• He advocated major social reforms, including equality for women in society, and supporting birth control for women for their health and well-being.

South Indian Liberal Federation (Justice Party)-1917

• Sir Pitti Theagaraya Chetty, Dr T M Nair, and Dr C Natesa Mudaliar
• anti-Brahminism
• Government of India Act, 1919: Won the first legislative council elections

1938

• The Justice Party and Self-Respect Movement came together
• Dravidar Kazhagam

1949

• Annadurai split from Periyar

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)

• C N Annadurai 

 Linguistic Provinces Commission (S K Dhar Commission) -1948

 

1952

• The freedom fighter Potti Sriramulu died at the end of a 56-day hunger strike undertaken to demand a separate Telugu state.

1953: States Reorganisation Commission (SRC)

• Justice Fazl Ali, historian K M Panikkar, and parliamentarian H N Kunzru.

The States Reorganisation Act, 1956

• created the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Mysore, and Kerala 

Source: The Indian Express

Anti-Defection Law

1. YouTube

Enforcement Directorate (ED)

A multi-disciplinary organization mandated with the investigation of offenses of money laundering and violations of foreign exchange laws.

• Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance

Acts:

1. The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA)
2. The Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA)
3. The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 (FEOA)

Source:

• Enforcement Directorate

Derecho

 A widespread, long-lived, straight-line windstorm.

• Strom System
• Area: Nebraska, Minnesota, and Illinois (US)

Progressive Derecho

• Short line of thunderstorms
• Summer phenomenon

Serial Derecho

• Extensive Squall Line - wide and long
• Large Area
• During Spring

Hybrid: Both Progressive and Serial

Sabizabulin

• Developed to fight cancer
• Targeting a process called microtubule trafficking, has both dual anti-inflammatory and antiviral activity.

Source

1. The Indian Express

Sub-Categorising OBCs

• Justice Rohini Commission (2 Oct 2017)
• ensure equitable Distribution
• National Commission For Backward Class (NCBC)

Police Custody

Police Custody means that police have the physical custody of the accused while Judicial Custody means an accused is in the custody of the concerned Magistrate.

• In the former, the accused is lodged in a police station lockup while in the latter, it is the jail. When Police take a person into custody, the Cr. P.C kicks in and they were produced him/her before a Magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest. 

Reference

1. District Court

The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999

 Reference

• legislative.gov.in

The Consumer Protection Act, 2019

Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA)

• Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) was established in July 2020.
• To promote, protect, and enforce the rights of consumers as a class, and to investigate, prosecute, and punish violators.

Recent Updates

1. The new guidelines against service charges.

For Reference

1. The Indian Express

Fields Medal

• The Fields Medal is awarded every four years to one or more mathematicians under the age of 40.
• International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM)

2022

• work on the sphere-packing problem in 8 and 24 dimensions: Maryna Viazovska (Ukrain)

Reference

1. The Indian Express

Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

Reference:

1. The Indian Express
2. Three New Sub atomic particles

Banni grasslands

• The target of restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his keynote speech at the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought.
• Banni grassland was declared a Protected Forest in 1955, under the Indian Forest Act, 1927.
• Home to the Indian wolf, jackal, Indian fox, desert fox, desert cat, caracal, hyena, chinkara, Nilgai, wild boar, Indian hare, and common monitor lizard.
• Prosopis Juliflora

Source: The Indian Express

Bhagyalakshmi Temple

• Dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi.
• Hyderabad.

Nairobi flies: also called Kenyan flies or dragon bugs

• A species of insect native to East Africa.
• Also called Kenyan flies or dragon bugs.