INS Mormugao

• The second of the Project 15B stealth guided missile destroyers built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL).
• The ship, named after a key port in Goa

Project 15B

• INS Visakhapatanam (November 2021)
• Mormugao, (Dec 2022)
• Imphal, and 
• Surat

Project 15A: built by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), Mumbai

• The Indian Navy has commissioned three guided missile destroyers of the Kolkata class — INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, and INS Chennai — under the project codenamed 15A.
• Their precursor Delhi class of ships — INS Delhi, INS Mysore, and INS Mumbai.

Link

• The Indian Express
  

Harissa: Spicy

• Harissa is a condiment popular in Tunisia.
• Got special heritage status from UNESCO

Nirbhaya Fund

• The Centre had in 2013 introduced the ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ to help women in distress, provide improved infrastructure and manpower to help women, and create a safer space for them.
• The Nirbhaya Fund has been launched as a non-lapsable fund which is handled by the MoWCD and Ministry of Finance.

Source: The Indian Express

Aurobindo Ghosh

• Aurobindo was a yogi, seer, philosopher and was associated with Indian national movement.
• He held various administrative post in Baroda and Calcutta.
• He took part in the freedom struggle between 1902 and 1910 and during this time he was charged under the ALIPORE BOMB CASE.
• He is credited with publishing Arya magazine between 1914 to 1921 i.e. a periodic magazine which included philosophical messages.
• He is also credited with publishing poem SAVITRI of around 24000 lines.
• English newspaper called Bande Mataram is also associated with him.
• He also developed a kind of Yoga i.e., is known as INTERNAL YOGA.
• He founded a community of spiritual seekers which took place as Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
• He played an instrumental role in setting up Anushilan Samiti and even attended congress sessions.

PRADHAN MANTRI KISAN SAMMAN NIDHI SCHEME (PM-KISAN)

• To provide income support to all land-holding eligible farmer families.
• Central Sector Scheme
• 2018

Mahakaleshwar temple, Ujjain

• It is situated in Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh) on the banks of the river Shipra.
• The Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga is among the most eminent of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India.
• The temple complex bears strong influences of the Bhumija, Chalukya, and Maratha architectural styles. 
• It is the only jyotirlinga facing the south
• One of the most famous features of Mahakaleshwar Temple is the Bhasma aarti
• It is believed to be swayambhu i.e. self-manifested 

**

Note 12 Jyotirlingas 

Navigation with Indian Constellation (NaVIC)

• Navigation with Indian Constellation, is an independent stand-alone navigation satellite system developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation
• NavIC was originally approved in 2006 at a cost of $174 million. It was expected to be completed by late 2011, but only became operational in 2018.
• NavIC consists of eight satellites and covers the whole of India’s landmass and up to 1,500 km (930 miles) from its boundaries.
• NavIC’s use is limited. It is being used in public vehicle tracking in India, for providing emergency warning alerts to fishermen venturing into the deep sea.

Navigation Systems

• Galileo from the European Union,
• Russia-owned GLONASS and 
• China’s Beidou. 
• QZSS, operated by Japan

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act

• The Act came into force on November 14, 2012
• To deal with offences including child sexual abuse and child pornography.
• Act includes punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault to be increased to include the death penalty.
• The punishment has increased including the minimum punishment for penetrative sexual assault, which has been increased from seven years to 10 years — and, if the child is below 16 years of age, the minimum punishment has been increased to 20 years.

Index For Industrial Production (IIP)

• data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) 
• The base year for ‘Index For Industrial Production (IIP) was changed to 2011-12 from 2004-05 in the year 2017.

Equal Access to Green cards for Legal Employment (EAGLE) Act of 2021

The White House has supported Congress to pass a legislation that seeks to eliminate the per-country quota on green cards to allow US employers to focus on hiring people based on merit, not their birthplace, a bill if passed would benefit several hundreds of thousands of immigrants specially Indian-Americans.

Electoral Bonds

 Electoral bonds are interest-free bearer instruments (like Promissory Notes) that will be available for purchase from the State Bank of India within a designated window of 10 days in every quarter of the financial year.

Source: The Indian Express

United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

 Aichi Targets

• adopted during the 2010 CBD summit in Nagoya, located in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, included goals such as reducing deforestation by at least half during the coming decade and curbing pollution so that it no longer harmed ecosystems.

World Bank

The Bretton Woods Conference, officially known as the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, was a gathering of delegates from 44 nations that met from July 1 to 22, 1944 in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire (USA), to agree upon a series of new rules for international financial and monetary order after the conclusion of World War II.

The World Bank Group consists of five development institutions. 

1. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) provides loans, credits, and grants. 
2. International Development Association (IDA) provides low- or no-interest loans to low-income countries. 
3. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) provides investment, advice, and asset management to companies and governments.
4.  The Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA) insures lenders and investors against political risks such as war. 
5. The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) settles investment disputes between investors and countries. 

• India was one of the forty-four original signatories to the agreements reached at Bretton Woods that established the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 
• It was also one of the founding members of the IFC in 1956 and the IDA in 1960. 
• India later became a member of the MIGA in January 1994. 
• India is not a member of ICSID.

Reports

• Ease of Doing Business 
• Human Capital Index.
• World Development Report.

**

The World Bank launched a “Toolkit on Enabling Gender Responsive Urban Mobility and Public Spaces in India” with the aim of suggesting ways to make public transport in Indian cities more inclusive of women’s traveling requirements.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

The UNEP is a leading global environmental authority established on 5th June 1972. 

Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya

Functions: 

It sets the global environmental agenda, promotes sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for global environment protection. 

Major Reports: 

• Emission Gap Report, 
• Adaptation Gap Report, 
• Global Environment Outlook, 
• Frontiers, Invest in Healthy Planet. 

Major Campaigns: 

• Beat Pollution, UN75, 
• World Environment Day, 
• Wild for Life. 

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

• The formation of the IMF was initiated in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference. IMF came into operation on 27th December 1945.

Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) 

They are the IMF’s unit of account and not a currency.

The currency value of the SDR is determined by summing the values in U.S. dollars, based on market exchange rates, of a SDR basket of currencies

SDR basket of currencies includes the

• S. dollar,
• Euro,
• Japanese yen,
• pound sterling and
• Chinese renminbi (included in 2016).

The SDR currency value is calculated daily (except on IMF holidays or whenever the IMF is closed for business) and the valuation basket is reviewed and adjusted every five years.

Reports

Global Financial Stability Report

• It is released twice per year, in April and October.

World Economic Outlook

• It is a survey by the IMF that is usually published twice a year in April and October.

PYQs

Global Financial Stability Report’ is prepared by the (2016)

(a) European Central Bank
(b) International Monetary Fund
(c) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(d) Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

Asian Development Bank

• Asian Development Bank ADB is a regional development bank established in 1966. 
• It has 68 members. 
• India is a founding member. 49 are from within Asia and the Pacific and 19 outside. 
• It aims to promote social and economic development in Asia and the Pacific. 
• As of 31st December 2019, ADB’s five largest shareholders are Japan and the United States (each with 15.6% of total shares), the People’s Republic of China (6.4%), India (6.3%), and Australia (5.8%). 
• It is headquartered in Manila, Philippines.

Central Asia

Central Asian countries: 

• Kazakhstan, 
• Kyrgyzstan, 
• Tajikistan, 
• Uzbekistan, and 
• Turkmenistan 

Importance

• Central Asia is extremely rich in mineral and natural resources. 
• Kazakhstan has one of the biggest reserves of uranium, besides stores of coal, lead, zinc, gold, and iron ore. 
• Kyrgyz  Republic is rich in gold and hydro-power, and 
• Turkmenistan has one of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas. 
• Tajikistan has huge hydro-power potential and Uzbekistan has gold, uranium, and natural gas.

Square Kilometre Array (SKA)

The world's largest radio astronomy facility is currently under construction in Australia and South Africa. Scientists will use the exceptionally powerful Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to probe the mysteries of the universe.

Source: The Indian Express

National Party

Criteria

1. it is ‘recognized’ in four or more states; or

2. if its candidates polled at least 6% of total valid votes in any four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and have at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls; or
3. if it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from not less than three states.

ECI has recognized nine**parties as national parties  

1. BJP, 
2. Congress, 
3. Trinamool Congress, 
4. CPI(M), 
5. CPI, 
6. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), 
7. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP),  
8. Conrad Sangma’s National People’s Party (NPP)
9. Aam Adami Party (AAP)

Uniform Civil Code (UCC)

 Directive Principle of State Policy (DPSP)

• Article 44